Scriptures tell us that one day as the Savior was walking by the sea of Galilee He saw two brothers, fishermen by trade, casting their net into the sea. One was called Peter, and the other was Andrew. The Savior beckoned to them to be His followers, promising them that He would make them “fishers of men.” We are told that without hesitation, they left their nets and followed Him (see Matthew 4:18 – 20). As He went a little further, He saw two other brothers, James and John, in a ship mending their nets with Zebedee their father. And He beckoned them as well to come follow Him, and we learn that they immediately left their father and their nets and followed Him (see Matthew 4: 21, 22). Perhaps unbeknownst to these humble fishermen, by being obedient and answering the call to follow the Savior, they had begun their missionary training under the tutelage of the Master Missionary – the Lord Jesus Christ.

Missionary Work – Taking the Gospel to the World

At the close of His earthly ministry, before ascending to the Father, the Lord commanded His disciples:

Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover (Mark 15:15-18).

A quote explaining that love for god is unselfish love with Christ's hand in the background.David O. McKay, the 9th President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (inadvertently referred to as the Mormon Church by the media and others), taught, “True Christianity is love in action. There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for your fellow men. This is the spirit of missionary work” (David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals [1954], 129.)

Concerning the importance of missionary work, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (the second highest governing body of The Church of Jesus Christ) taught:

Missionary work isn’t the only thing we need to do in this big, wide, wonderful Church. But almost everything else we need to do depends on people first hearing the gospel of Jesus Christ and coming into the faith. … With all that there is to do along the path to eternal life, we need a lot more missionaries opening that gate and helping people through it (Jeffrey R. Holland, We Are All Enlisted, Ensign, November 2011, 46–47.)

Today, in response to the Lord’s Great Commission, there are thousands of Mormon missionaries throughout the world, who like the fisherman on the Sea of Galilee, have left their boats and their nets – their educational aspirations, professions, and career goals – and as a result of their willingness and obedience to follow the Master and to do His will, He has made them literal “fishers of men”, filling their nets with precious souls that are waiting to hear and to accept the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel to be preached in Season and Out of Season

Modern-day revelation, as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 58:64, teaches that “the sound must go forth from this place into all the world, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth—the gospel must be preached unto every creature, with signs following them that believe.” However, despite the humble efforts of those who are willing to take “the sound” of the glorious message of the gospel to the uttermost parts of the world, the message is not always readily received in all areas. As in all things, there are oppositions. These oppositions attempt to hinder the spreading of the Good News. Such is the case with preaching the gospel in countries such as Italy.

Since the early years of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Italy has drawn the attention of Church leaders as a “field [which] is white already to harvest” (see Doctrine and Covenants 4:4). In 1850, Lorenzo Snow, the 5th President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ, dedicated the land of Italy to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thus, Italy became one of the first non-English-speaking countries opened to missionary work by the Church. Over the course of time, the Church of Jesus Christ has faced many challenges in trying to move the work forward, but in spite of the opposition, the Church has maintained a solid presence.

The challenges and oppositions that The Church of Jesus Christ have faced over the years ring true to the teachings of the Apostle Paul to his young son in the faith, Timothy, when he exhorted him:

Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry (2 Timothy 4:2-5).

Laboring in the Father’s Vineyard in Italy – The Beginning

Early Church leaders had a keen interest in the country of Italy because of its notable role in religious and cultural history, and because of its strategic geographical location in the Mediterranean world. The first missionaries were called to preach the gospel on the continent of Europe by Brigham Young, the President of The Church of Jesus Christ at that time, during the October 1849 General Conference. Lorenzo Snow, then serving as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Joseph Toronto, an Italian convert, were assigned to begin the missionary work in Italy. While en route to Italy from England, Elder Snow called Elder Thomas B.H. Stenhouse, a recent British convert, and Elder Jabez Woodard to serve as missionaries in the new mission. Elder Snow arrived in Italy on Sunday, 23 June 1850.

Upon his arrival in Genoa, Italy on 25 June 1850, Elder Snow carefully surveyed the conditions of the area, as well as the possible prospects, and made the decision to begin proselyting among the people (known as Waldenses) of a small Protestant community in the Piedmont region of northwest Italy, located at the base of the Alps in the Luzerne Valley. Soon after his arrival he wrote:

With a heart full of gratitude, I find an opening is presented in the valleys of Piedmont, when all other parts of Italy are closed against our efforts. I believe that the Lord has there hidden up a people amid the Alpine mountains, and it is the voice of the Spirit that I shall commence something of importance. [1]

The Italian Mission was officially organized on Thursday, 19 September 1850, when Elder Snow, accompanied by Elders Stenhouse and Woodard, atop a prominent mountain peak near the city of La Tour, Italy (today known as Torre Pellice), offered a prayer dedicating the land of Italy to the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By this time, Elder Stenhouse had departed to teach his family in Sicily.

The work had begun, and the missionaries were busy about the Father’s business, teaching the gospel to all who would listen. Elder Snow had written and published a missionary tract titled The Voice of Joseph which circulated throughout northern Italy. They received the first fruits of their labors on Sunday, 27 October 1850, when Elder Snow baptized Jean Bose, the first convert. He also supervised the translation of the Book of Mormon (Libro di Mormon) into the Italian language, and the first edition was published in London in 1852.

During the next 15 years, missionary work was hindered by opposition from ministers, anti-Mormon literature, deeply rooted religious and political traditions, and the poverty of the people. By the time the mission closed in 1867, about 180 persons had been baptized: approximately 70 of these immigrated to Utah, and the remainder either apostatized or were excommunicated. Many prominent Latter-day Saint families – Beus, Cardon, Malan, Bertoch, Pons, and Chatelain – are descendants of these original Waldensian converts. [2]

World War II and Beyond

Through the reading of Latter-day Saint publications, some Italians were converted prior to World War II. Among those converts was Vincenzo di Francesca. His conversion story was told in a 1987 Church film titled How Rare a Possession (you can view the video in Italian by going here). During World War II, Latter-day Saint servicemen’s branches were established in several locations in Italy, but there were no proselyting efforts made during that time.

The first member conferences were held in April 1963 in Vicenza, Italy, and in March 1964 a new edition of the Italian translation of the Book of Mormon was published. In November 1964 Elder Ezra Taft Benson met with Italian government officials in Rome, Italy to discuss the reopening of missionary work in Italy. Later that month he organized the Italian District of the Swiss Mission. By February 1965, 22 elders from the Swiss mission were called to preach the gospel in seven cities in Italy.

On 2 August 1966 Elder Benson reestablished the Italian Mission in Florence with John Duns Jr. as president, and in November 1966 he rededicated Italy for the preaching of the gospel at Torre Pellice, near the site of Elder Snow’s 1850 dedicatory prayer. The Italian Church periodical La Stella (The Star) commenced circulation in June 1967 and was thus published until its title, along with those of all other Church international magazines, was changed to Liahona in January 2000. By June 1971 Church growth necessitated the formation of two missions, and by 1977 four missions had been organized: Italy Rome, Italy Catania, Italy Milan, and Italy Padova. A major historical event was the first visit of a Church president to Italy – President Spencer W. Kimball arrived in August 1977. After years of groundwork, a milestone was achieved on 22 February 1993 when Italian president Oscar Luigi Scalfaro signed papers granting formal legal status to the Church. A total of three stakes exist in Italy: the first was established in Milan (June 1981), the second in Venice (September 1985), and the third in Puglia (March 1997). The Church Educational System, which has operated in Italy since 1975, includes five full-time supervisors, 220 teachers, and about 1,500 students enrolled in seminary and institute classes. [2]

A Little Child Shall Lead Them

Marie Madeleine Cardon was born in 1834 to Waldensian parents. She was just 5 or 6 years of age, living near Torino, Italy in the Alps, when in 1840 she received a witness of “a marvelous work about to come forth among the children of men” (see Doctrine and Covenants 4:1) on the other side of the world. She would later state that it was an event that would change “the career of my whole life.” [3] She recounted the dream in which three messengers bearing the restored gospel of Jesus Christ came to Italy:

I was upstairs in bed. A strange feeling came over me. It appeared that I was a young woman instead of a mere child. I thought I was in a small strip of meadow, close to our vineyard, keeping my father’s milk cows from the vineyard. It seemed that I was sitting in the grass reading a Sunday school book. I looked up and saw three strangers in front of me. As I looked into their faces I dropped my eyes instantly, being very much frightened. Suddenly the thought came to me that I must look at them that I might remember them in the future. I raised my eyes and looked them straight in the face. One of them, seeing that I was afraid said: “Fear not, for we are the servants of God and have come from afar to preach unto the world the everlasting gospel, which has been restored to the earth in these last days, for the redemption of mankind.” They told me that God had spoken from the heavens and had revealed his everlasting gospel, to the young boy Joseph Smith. That it would never more be taken from the earth, but that His kingdom would be set up and that all the honest in heart would be gathered together. They told me that I would be the means of bringing my parents and family into this great gathering. Moreover, the day was not far off when we would leave our homes and cross the great ocean. We would travel across the wilderness and go to Zion where we could serve God according to the dictates of our conscience. When they had finished their message to me they said they would return soon and visit us. They took some small books from their pockets and gave them to me, saying, “Read these and learn.” Then they disappeared instantly. [3]

She straightaway told her father, Phillipe Cardon, about the dream she had. Approximately 10 years later, after a royal decree granted from to the Waldensians, the family moved to Piedmont, Italy. It was there that Phillipe heard of three men preaching the same message that his young daughter had related to him from her dream.  He “became so excited and so intensely interested that he could not proceed with his work.” Instead, he went home, changed into his Sunday clothes, and went off in search of the three strangers. [3]

Marie recalls:

He traveled over mountains and through valleys and arrived on Sunday morning just in time to hear Elder Lorenzo Snow preach. My dear father was most happy to hear the pure truth so well and so earnestly explained. His heart was full of joy. After the meeting my father approached these servants of God, shook hands and kindly invited them to come to our home where he desired them to make their headquarters. They kindly and willingly accepted his hospitality. [3]

Marie and most of her family soon came to accept the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in its entirety, and became members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She also did member missionary work by accompanying the missionaries and translating their messages as they preached to her neighbors in the mountains. In 1854, the family immigrated to Utah. In Utah, she married John A. Guild and together they had eleven children, and eventually settled in Piedmont, Wyoming. Marie died in 1914, but she left a legacy for her children in the form of an autobiography in which she bore her testimony of the faith and the gospel that had changed the course of her life.

 My dear children, I cannot doubt the faith and the principals which I have embraced. My whole soul is filled with joy and thankfulness to God for his regard for me and for you in His manifesting to me the divinity of his great work in so remarkable a manner. How sincere is my prayer that you my children may realize how wonderful and yet how real and true is this, my life’s testimony to you. [3]

The Work Rolls Forth

Current statistical reports of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints indicate that there are 24.970 members of the Church; 2 missions; 100 congregations; and 49 Family History Centers throughout Italy, with a Mormon temple complex under construction near Rome.

The work continues to roll forth as faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ continue to answer the call of the Master, “Andate dunque, e ammaestrate tutte le nazioni, battezzandole nel nome del Padre, e del Figlio, e dello Spirito Santo” (Matteo 28:19) [Translation: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 28:19)]. As they are willing and obedient to “launch out into the deep, and let down [their] nets for a draught” (see Luke 5:4), the Savior has promised to make them “pescatori di uomini” (“fishers of men”).

About Keith L. Brown
Keith L. Brown is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having been born and raised Baptist. He was studying to be a Baptist minister at the time of his conversion to the LDS faith. He was baptized on 10 March 1998 in Reykjavik, Iceland while serving on active duty in the United States Navy in Keflavic, Iceland. He currently serves as the First Assistant to the High Priest Group for the Annapolis, Maryland Ward. He is a 30-year honorably retired United States Navy Veteran.

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