The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nicaragua

Commander William Scouten, from Chesapeake, VA, and Nicki Brody, from Phoenix, AZ, a nurse with Latter-day Saints Charities, examine a patient at the Escuela Humberto Mendez Juarez medical site during a Continuing Promise 2011 medical community service event.

The first missionaries entered the country in 1953. The first Nicaraguan convert, José de Guzman, was baptized on April 11, 1954, a year after the first missionaries arrived in the country.[4] These missionaries, Elders Manuel Arias and Archie R. Mortensen, were serving in the Central American Mission, which Elder Spencer W. Kimball organized in 1952.[5] In 1959, the first Nicaraguan district was formed. The first stake (the Managua Stake) was created in March 1981 and reorganized in June 1998.[5] Several natural disasters and political crises, including an earthquake that devastated Managua in 1972 and a civil war that began in the late 1970s, slowed missionary work throughout the 1970s and '80s.[5] Foreign missionaries were removed from the country in 1980, and locals continued the work until full-time missionaries returned about ten years later.[5] The first Nicaraguan members entered the temple in Guatemala City in 1987.[4] The Nicaragua Managua Mission opened in October 1989.[4]

In April 2018, church president Russell M. Nelson announced the first temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be built in Nicaragua. The Managua Nicaragua Temple was announced at the same time as six other temples.[6] In May 2018, a church spokesman announced that all missionaries would be removed from Nicaragua until further notice. [7]

A brief history can be found at LDS Newsroom (Nicaragua) or Deseret News 2010 Church Almanac (Nicaragua).

As of February 2023, Nicaragua had the following stakes and districts:[8]

• Church News and Events - Nicaragua
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Official Site
• ComeUntoChrist.org Latter-day Saints Visitor site