Three other Elders and I arrived in Montevideo harbor aboard the SS Brazil, a ship of the Moore-McCormac Steamship Lines. President Frederick S. Williams met us and took us to the mission home located at Calle Brito del Pino 1525. President Williams commented that there were over four hundred members in the country. The first Elders sent to Asuncion, Paraguay went up from the Uruguayan mission. I was transferred there in March of 1951 and we rented a new "local" and opened a new branch of the church called the Deseret Branch located at Amambay frente a Parapati.

The work was much slower in the Paraguayan district than it had been in Uruguay. After a year of missionary work there were three baptized members in all of Paraguay. Brother Alberto Rodriguez, his wife Mafalda (from Brazil) and a dear German sister, Clara de Krisch.

Tracting was the major thrust of missionary work but we also had some success with organizing a Primary and then encouraging the parents to accompany the children to programs. Although most work was carried on in Spanish, nearly everyone in Paraguay spoke Guarani, the indian language.

The Uruguayan Mission had a great chorus under the direction of Elder Maughan McMurdie and a dancer from Hollywood who had made several movies before his mission, Elder Roy Fitzell. The chorus toured the mission giving musical programs and telling the people about the church.

The first native Uruguayans were ordained Elders in 1952 and then called as branch presidents. This was a big step in the mission as they really relied on the full time missionaries to do things.

President Lyman S. Shreeve replaced President Williams and he organized a group of Uruguayan members as local missionaries which really moved the work ahead.

A soft ball team was organized in Montevideo with Elders and local members and they beat the rival team the "White Sox" 21 to 17 in a heated game.

Elder Richard G. Scott was in Uruguay at this time and he played his clarinet when the mission chorus went on tour. He was an outstanding missionary, a graduate engineer before he came to Uruguay. He spent many hours helping get the first chapel in Uruguay built in Montevideo.

During the week of carnival, Holy Week, the Montevideo District leaders took all of the boy scouts out of the capital and into the country near Rocha for a week long scout camp under the direction of Elder Rulon D. Skinner (who later became a professional scouter.) During the camp a young scout nearly drowned but was revived by an Elder who then taught the boys first aid as he really had their attention.

The early days of missionary work in Uruguay became a training ground for many futures leaders os the church both there and back in the states. Many mission presidents, stake presidents, some General Authorities and more bishops than you could count came from those early days in Uruguay.

[General Authorities who served in Uruguay included: Richard G. Scott -- 1950-1953, Gene R. Cook -- 1960-63, F. Burton Howard, J. Thomas Fyans, Francis K Gibbons, and Waldo Pratt Call.]