The Church Comes to Paraguay
Carlos Alberto Rodríguez met a returned missionary from Argentina in 1943, but they lost contact. A few years later, Carlos and his girlfriend, Mafalda Figueira, a Brazilian singer, became good friends with Latter-day Saints Samuel J. and Beth Skousen in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and began attending Church meetings and activities. In 1946, Carlos and Mafalda married and moved to Asunción, Paraguay. When Samuel and Beth were transferred to Asunción for work, they continued their friendship with the Rodríguezes.
Two years later, Carlos and Mafalda flew to Buenos Aires to participate in a mission conference. While there, they asked the president of the Brazil Mission for permission to be baptized. Since they lived in Paraguay, Frederick S. Williams, president of the Uruguay Mission, received permission for Samuel to perform the baptism and was directed to retain the baptismal register and supervise Church activity in Asunción.
On August 21, 1948, Samuel baptized Carlos. Mafalda was pregnant at the time and chose to wait until after the birth of their child. A few months later, she entered the waters of baptism.
The Rodríguez and Skousen families worked tirelessly to create good feelings about the Church in Paraguay, meeting regularly with dignitaries and government officials and sharing their testimonies of the restored gospel. Carlos and Mafalda were pillars of their small branch after the Skousens were transferred elsewhere for work. After several years, they stopped actively participating in the Church, but they left a lasting impression because of their service and love.
The first full-time missionaries arrived from the Uruguay Mission in 1950. The work progressed slowly. Clara Ana Victoria Gigglberger de Krisch was the first contact the missionaries made who expressed a sincere desire to learn more, especially about the Book of Mormon. After meeting regularly with the missionaries and participating in Church activities, she was baptized on January 13, 1951.
Clara Ana Victoria Gigglberger de Krisch, circa 1950.
She was the only member of her immediate family to be baptized at that time, but she had a lasting spiritual impact on her three nieces, Ofelia, Nery, and Edith Gigglberger. Nery recalled that her “Aunt Clara had a strong testimony of Jesus Christ and the restoration of the Gospel. She was president of the Relief Society and played the piano, taught classes, and organized branch activities.” To show her gratitude for learning about the Church, “she paid special attention to caring for the missionaries, washing their clothes and sharing food,” and she focused on introducing the gospel to others she knew needed it in their lives.