Belize is located on the Eastern coast of Central America and was formerly known as British Honduras. It has a parliamentary government and a population that speaks English, Spanish, and Creole.
5 May 1980 – Missionary work began in Belize when President Samuel Flores of the Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission and missionary Robert Henke arrived. Ten additional missionaries arrived the next day. The Belize City Branch was organized with missionary Merlin Mikkelson as president.
11 May 1980 – The first meeting was held.
1 June 1980 – Ernesto Alay was baptized as the first member in Belize.
Belize received independence from Great Britain.
17 April 1983 – The Belize District was organized with Harold Smith as president.
By 1987 the church membership in the Belize District numbered approximately 1,000. Hilberto Cassanova was the first missionary called from Belize. He served in the Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission from 1987 to 1989.
August 1987 – A meetinghouse was completed in Orange Walk.
September 1987 – A meetinghouse was completed in San Ignacio.
1 July 1990 – The Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission was divided and Belize was placed in the new Honduras San Pedro Sula Mission.
18 June 1991 – Cayo Belize District organized.
7 December 1992 – Belize was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel by Elder Russell M. Nelson. The ceremony took place in the suburb of Burrell Boon, nineteen miles west of Belize City. About thirty-six members gathered in a secluded, grassy garden on a farm. These members included the district and branch leaders. Rain fell before and after the service, but only a light sprinkle fell as Elder Nelson offered the prayer.
Elder Nelson dedicated Belize “for the purposes of bringing a rich harvest of choice souls unto thee, our beloved Father. . . . We pray that thou wilt help us to raise up a generation of obedient and faithful souls who will be worthy of all the blessings that thou has in store for thy faithful sons and daughters.” (“Tiny Nation of Belize is Dedicated,” Church News, December 19, 1992)
13 November 1997 – President Gordon B. Hinckley became the first Church President to visit Belize, speaking to approximately 1,200 members gathered in St. John´s College Gymnasium in Belize City. It was the largest gathering of members in the country to date. They had arrived in buses from all over the country. A small group even traveled by boat.
President Hinckley said: “It is a great pleasure to be with you. I have never before been to Belize. No president of the Church has ever before been to Belize. This is a small country, but a very important country. And I am grateful for the privilege to be here. . . . Yesterday, we were at Chichen Itza, and a young man who had served a mission there and learned the Mayan languages, sang to us in Mayan. He sang, ´I Am a Child of God.´ It was beautiful. I hope my dear friends, that every one of you can sing, ´I Am a Child of God,´ that you will never forget, whether there be adversity, whether there be trouble, that there is something of divinity within you, something which came from your Eternal Father, who is our God.” (President Hinckley speaks to 75,000 in Mexico, Makes Visit to Belize,” Church News, Saturday, November 22, 1997)
Membership reached 2,827.
1 January 2011 – Membership 3,852; Districts, 2; Branches, 11; Percent LDS, 1.1, or one in 90
Historical information was taken from the 2012 Church Almanac and the Church News.
For more information on the Church in English, please see www.lds.org.
For more information on the Church in English, please see www.lds.org.