KANSAS CITY, Mo. — What does communist leader Fidel Castro have to do with the birth of the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah?
Actually a lot, Shawn Bennion argued on May 28 during the Mormon History Association annual conference.
Bennion set the stage by explaining that in the 1950s and '60s two movements were trying to "gain a foothold in the nation Mexico: The first was the communist movement, mostly directed by Fidel Castro; the second was The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
And while not connected, these two groups worked concurrently in Mexico on parallel projects — albeit with different objectives.
Bennion, of Claremont Graduate University in California, outlined the similarities:
In the early 1950s, Castro took his men to Mexico and wrote and distributed propaganda. In 1952, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints printed the Book of Mormon in Spanish, and missionary tracts were printed and distributed around that same time.
Castro went on a speaking tour around Mexico to raise awareness and funds. LDS missionaries also went on tour in Mexico. President Joseph T. Bentley organized a missionary basketball/choir tour, where the missionaries would play basketball games with Mexican teams on one day and give a fireside/choir concert on the next day, which, as Bennion stated, had much success.
For both groups, this time in Mexico was one of preparation. Castro trained his troops and purchased guns, and while "Castro was raising arms in Mexico, the church was raising schools … and building churches," Bennion explained.
And both the communists and the church "were trying to gain converts for which they could change the face of Central and South America."
So how does Castro connect to the MTC? It has to do with visa problems and lack of language skills.
As the world watched, Castro gained more power in Cuba. After he left Mexico, he admitted he was a communist, and Mexican authorities feared he would again try to infiltrate their country and overthrow the government. This fear caused problems for the missionaries who just wanted to gain visas into the country to preach the gospel. But government officials imposed strict rules and long delays for getting into the country, even to the missionaries.
Church leaders were also realizing that missionaries sent out to countries without proper language training slowed their effectiveness. So the church decided to use the visa-delay time to institute foreign language training at BYU. In December 1961, 14 elders going to Argentina and 15 elders going to Mexico first went to BYU to the new Missionary Language Institute, which later expanded into the Missionary Training Center.
Bennion concluded: "Over the years, (missionary training) centers have been established all over the world. It's interesting to think that a communist, who sought to destroy religion, actually enabled the Mormon missionary movement."
e-mail: ejensen@desnews.com
More online
To read more coverage of the Mormon History Association conference, go to MormonTimes.com and click on "Studies" and "Church History." Among the stories are:
Non-LDS historians often ignore Mormon women, researcher says
Mormon History Association honors former Missouri governor
Haun's Mill: witnesses to a massacreMore online
To read more coverage of the Mormon History Association conference, go to MormonTimes.com and click on "Studies" and "Church History." Among the stories are:
Non-LDS historians often ignore Mormon women, researcher says
Mormon History Association honors former Missouri governor
Haun's Mill: witnesses to a massacre