Sister Amanda Sevier Says "Adios, Tambien!"

Amanda Sevier, youngest daughter of Rudy and Tami Sevier, left February 10 for the Provo MTC where she will study for 3 weeks then travel to the Guatamala MTC for another 6 weeks before serving in the Honduras Comayaguela Mission. A 2005 graduate of Dixie High School, Amanda notes she hoped to be called to a Spanish-speaking mission since "my whole family is Hispanic on my Dad’s side. Everyone in the family tried to guess where I might be sent . . . but Honduras wasn't on anyone's list." Sister Sevier will be in the Provo MTC at the same time as her brother Cameron who entered the MTC on January 13.

The Church in Honduras has grown steadily since 1952 when the gospel was first introduced by Elders Spencer W. Kimball and Marion G. Romney of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The first convert was a hotel waiter with whom they left a copy of the Book of Mormon. A month later, missionaries began actively preaching the gospel and the first branch was organized less than a year later in Tegucigalpa in March 1953. Today there are 20 stakes, three missions and the country’s first temple under construction in Tegucigalpa, the largest and capital city of Honduras. Until this temple is completed, Saints in Honduras and Nicaragua will continue to travel 214 miles each way to attend the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple (dedicated in 1984).

According to recent estimates, Honduras is one of the church’s fastest-growing Central American countries with an estimated 16% growth in membership in 2007, bringing the total number of members in the country to about 125,000. Comayaguela, where Sister Sevier will labor, was founded in 1537 and became the most important city in colonial Honduras. Today, as a manufacturing center with an estimated population of 65,000, Comayaguela serves as the westernmost commercial center of Honduras.