Elder Soares Begins Central America Ministry, Meets Guatemala’s President

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles traveled to the Guatemala National Palace in Guatemala City for a historic meeting with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, who took office in January.

Me reuní con Ulisses Soares y miembros de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días, conversamos sobre las iniciativas humanitarias que tiene esta iglesia para implementar en nuestro país por el bienestar de los guatemaltecos. pic.twitter.com/ZtXfwZM3AA

— Alejandro Giammattei (@DrGiammattei) February 11, 2020

President Giammattei’s tweet roughly translates to: I met with Ulisses Soares and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we talked about the humanitarian initiatives that this church has to implement in our country for the welfare of Guatemalans.

“We spent 30 minutes together talking about his initiatives, his projects, his ideas about humanitarian projects, nutrition of the children in this country,” said the apostle. “I think he has a great future, and people are very confident that he can do something. And we as a church, we want to join him on these initiatives as we are doing here in this country already.”

Elder Soares, a native of Brazil, is traveling with his wife, Rosana. On Sunday, February 9, 2020, they ministered to Latter-day Saints and missionaries in Guatemala City.

“They are sweet and dear people and they want to do what the Lord wants them to do,” said the apostle, who participated in a special Family Home Evening broadcast to the homes of Central America Area members on Sunday evening.

“We knew that we would be only a few places in Central America, so that idea [for the broadcast] came to our hearts that we would love to see and talk with everybody,” he explained.

Elder Soares shared his impressions of his visit to Guatemala on social media.

“Rosana and I have arrived in the beautiful country of Guatemala,” Elder Soares wrote. “I have loved meeting and visiting with our members here, and we look forward to meeting many more. As I contemplated what to say to our members in Guatemala, I felt impressed to address how we can live in this world, facing challenges every day, and yet still come closer to Christ.”

 

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Rosana and I have arrived in the beautiful country of Guatemala. I have loved meeting and visiting with our members here, and we look forward to meeting many more. As I contemplated what to say to our members in Guatemala, I felt impressed to address how we can live in this world, facing challenges every day, and yet still come closer to Christ. We should remember that although we face difficult trials, they are part of our mortal experience. Remember that our mortal life is temporary, and our individual trials are designed to test our faith to see if we will do what the Lord asked us to do before we came to earth. I have gone through many trials in my own life—some of those challenges involved the loss of loved ones, or health issues. In those trials, I found that I was closer to my Heavenly Father. I promise you that if you will press forward, strengthening your faith, and show your Heavenly Father that you are faithful, you will receive divine help. Heavenly Father wants nothing more than to bring us back to His presence. I testify that He is eager to hear your prayers and help you through your trials.

A post shared by Ulisses Soares (@ulisses__soares) on Feb 10, 2020 at 9:29am PST

During his visit to Central America, Elder Soares will also travel to Costa Rica and El Salvador for meetings with government, interfaith leaders and media.

Elder Soares and his wife return to Salt Lake City on Sunday, following special meetings with local Church leaders and Latter-day Saints in El Salvador.

This news release was provided by the Church Newsroom.