Bellota A Roble Project (Acorn to Oak)
Bellota A Roble Project (Acorn to Oak)
Bellota A Roble was established in early 2006 by returned missionaries who hope to establish a private LDS school in Latin America. At the end of Elder Melvin J. Ballard's mission (1926) to Argentina, he prophesied, "The work of the Lord will grow slowly for a time just as an oak grows slowly from an acorn... The work here is the smallest it will ever be. The South American Mission will become a power in the Church." Undoubtedly, the Church has grown by leaps and bounds - but not without its struggles. Today the Church struggles with the public image of an American church, many unemployed and underemployed members, and a weak Latter-Day Saints (LDS) business network. Also, many young, faithful Saints have difficulty in finding a companion because LDS communities are often small and geographically dispersed.
Bellota A Roble represents both Hispanic and US born LDS returned missionaries who are committed to the creation of a private higher education LDS institution in South America for the local Saints. They are either young professionals or university students, and hold the hope of gathering the expertise and resources needed to establish such a school. The hope is that the creation of an institution of higher learning in South America will foster the development of a much stronger LDS community among the local members (as is occuring on the campuses of BYU-Hawaii, BYU-Idaho, and Southern Virginia University).
Anyone with a desire to help this effort is invite to become a member of the Bellota A Roble project at http://www.bellotaaroble.org or in Spanish