What is the history of the Church in Trinidad?

We can trace the start of the history of the Church in Trinidad back to the conversion of Elizabeth Ann Rogers, whose maiden name was Ali. Elizabeth, who was from Trinidad met and married a young LDS man named Emil Paul Dopson at the age of 19 while on vacation to England. The Dopsons had moved from Trinidad a few years before. Having been introduced to the gospel by Emil’s mother, Dora, Liz was baptized on April 21, 1974.

During a vacation to Trinidad two years later, Emil and Liz brought their 2-year old son Ben and were visited by a close relative of Liz named Lucy Payne. Liz secretly left a Book of Mormon and a Joseph Smith pamphlet with Lucy as a gift and then returned to England. Lucy read the literature and told her husband that she felt Joseph Smith’s testimony was something “special and serious.”

During a visit to Trinidad in October of 1976 of the Dopsons including Dora, Liz said she wanted to share the message of the gospel to her friends and relatives. Liz wrote a letter to the prophet of the Church, who was President Spencer W. Kimball and asked that missionaries be sent to Trinidad.

The letter was referred to President Howard B. Marsh of the Venezuela Caracas Mission, who immediately sent two young missionaries to Trinidad. When they arrived at the Trinidad Airport, the elders were intensely questioned by immigration officials.

Immigration officers were sent to Liz’s move in Diego Martin and after cross-examining the family, told them to “graciously think of returning to England if your intentions are to pursue the establishment of the Latter-day Saints’ Church in Trinidad.” They then deported (sent back) the two elders back to Venezuela.

Two more elders were then sent back to Trinidad to see if they could get in to the Country. Their names were Elder K. Don Bigalow from Salt Lake City, Utah; and Elder La Mae Olds from Hurricane, Utah. This time the elders easily entered the country with little objection from a different immigration officer who examined their passports. (Some people tell the story by saying the missionaries sneaked into the country by dressing up like American tourists with baseball caps and did not look like missionaries. However that is just a story.)

The first Sacrament meeting was held in Trinidad in November 1976, barely one month after the letter had been sent to President Kimball.

On June 2, the following year, Lucy Josephine Payne became the first member baptized in Trinidad. She was assisted in her study of the gospel by Dora Dopson and taught the lessons by Elder Steven W. Walters and Elder Michael Willis. She was baptized by Emil Paul Dopson and confirmed by Elder Daniel Rector, son of General Authority Elder Hartman Rector, Jr. at the Galfar Beach in Cedros. (Elder Rector is the man who performed the sealing in the Salt Lake Temple of Grandpa and Grandma Robison on March 29, 1974.)

Later that summer, August 31, 1977, Basil, Felicia, Anna and Jean Borde converted to the gospel and all but Jean were baptized. Jean was just 5 years old at the time. The Borde family was the first family to be baptized in Trinidad at Small Boats, Chaguaramas. The young Elder Rector recalls that he and his companion fasted for many days that a family would be baptized and while fasting their prayers were answered in the baptism of the Borde family.On September 4, 1977 Ulric Edison Ferran, Lieba Amanda Payne, and her father James William Payne were also baptized. Sacrament meetings at the time alternated between the Payne home and the Borde home.

Questions:

When did the Church first get to Trinidad? (Did you know that was the year Justin was born?)

Who was the prophet when the Church was started in Trinidad? Did he have anything to do with missionaries coming to Trinidad?

What happened to the first missionaries who tried to come to Trinidad? Were the immigration people happy to see them?

What is the Church like today in Trinidad? (There are 9 branches in Trindad and two districts comprised of 1850 members. There are also 35 missionaries serving in Trinidad.)