The Church in Madagascar

Malagasy Latter-day Saints who had been baptized abroad began returning home in the 1970s and shared the gospel they had embraced. They formed the first official congregation in 1990.

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History of the Church in Madagascar

The Church announced that it would send missionaries to Madagascar in March 1979. However, plans changed because of government reluctance to grant permission to an unknown church. Instead, Malagasy men and women who were baptized while living abroad laid the foundation for the Church in their country. Perhaps the first was Mamy Raoelijaona, a student living in France who was baptized in 1971. He returned to Madagascar the next year but did not know of any other Latter-day Saints in the country and had no contact with the Church. He married and had four children before returning to France in 1981, partly so he and his family could participate in the Church.

Dominique Andriamanantoa was baptized in Toulouse, France, in 1985. In 1986 he was called to the California Anaheim Mission, becoming the first Malagasy Latter-day Saint to serve a full-time mission.

After joining the Church in France, Razanapanala Ramianadrisoa returned to Madagascar in 1988, began teaching others about the Church, and held unofficial church services in his father’s home. One of those whom Razanapanala taught was Jean-Claude Rafenonirina, who on November 9, 1988, became the first person baptized in Madagascar . An official branch of the Church was organized on September 23, 1990, with Razanapanala as president.

The first missionaries the Church sent to Madagascar, Fred and Eileen Forsgren, arrived in March 1991 to support the new branch. Proselytizing missionaries Elders Jeffry Gifford and Jason Tarbet came in September 1992. Despite missionaries initially teaching in French rather than the more widely understood Malagasy language, many Malagasies responded enthusiastically to their message. There were enough Latter-day Saints to organize a district on April 14, 1996. Missionaries eventually began teaching in Malagasy, and a Malagasy translation of the Book of Mormon was published in 2000. That same year, the first stake was organized on September 17, with Dominique Andriamanantoa as president.

In addition to sending missionaries who spread the message about the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Church provided development and humanitarian assistance in Madagascar, including funds for a small birthing hospital and for shelters for those displaced by natural disasters. On October 3, 2021, Church President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple would be built in Madagascar. Ground was broken and construction officially began on March 15, 2025.