Desideña Yáñez and The Relief Society in the Mexican Mission/Desideña Yáñez y la Sociedad de Socorro en la Misión Mexicana
The Mexican Mission was officially established in 1879 and lasted until 1889 before it was reestablished in 1901. During that first ten years, less than 300 people had been baptized, many of which had become indifferent, lukewarm, or had renounced their membership entirely. Little wonder, that as the American missionaries labored to keep branches alive and holding regular Sunday services, they seem to have placed auxiliary organizations, like the Relief Society, on hold. It is unclear how much the elders may have instructed Mexicans about such things as the Relief Society. Unfortunately, a number of records that are known to have existed are not currently known and the records that do exist that I have perused do not make mention of the Relief Society at all. Aside from lacking organizational stability, the absence of any women in the mission who both spoke Spanish and also had more than a passing familiarity with Church organization (from the perspective of the elders), no doubt played a factor in why the auxiliary organizations did not develop.
That is not to say that there were not women during this period or that they did not play a role in Church life. I will mention one of these briefly. Just three months after arriving in Mexico, Moses Thatcher was visited by one Jose Yáñez from Nopala. Thatcher noted, “I had a very interesting discussion.” Two months later, in April, 1880, plans were laid to organize a branch of the Church in Nopala. Thatcher did not elaborate in his writings on the nature of the discussion, but Jose Yáñez, years later, related to missionaries what had happened. He said, “before his mother had seen a Mormon, that she received vision, that in Mexico were some men who had a book called “Voice of Warning”. She sent him to Mexico to hunt for the book, but after hunting for a long time, he met a man who told him that in Hotel San Carlos were some men who published a book by that name. Arriving at the Hotel, the Elders knew his mission and told him that he had been sent out by his mother to hunt a book or paper called “The Voice of Warning”…He accepted the book and went home, and upon arriving, his mother was very happy. She told him that she knew he had the book, and desiring to test her he told her that he had no book, but she knew by inspiration that he had it.”
On April 22, Desideña Yáñez was baptized and became the first woman to be baptized in the Mexican Mission. She and her family hosted Church meetings in their home, preached to neighbors, and otherwise supported the elders. In 1886, missionary Horace Cummings brought a unique gift to Sister Yáñez, He said, “[I] gave her an unbound Book of Mormon which I had sent to Utah for. It was the first in Spanish that had been received in Mexico, and she was the first woman baptized in the Republic…”
Other women were converted and contributed materially to the Elders’ efforts. As my research matures, I hope to tell their stories in greater detail.
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La Misión Mexicana se estableció oficialmente en 1879 y duró hasta 1889 antes de ser restablecida en 1901. Durante esos diez años, menos de 300 personas se habían bautizado, y muchos de ellos en el transcurso del tiempo se inactivaron o renunciaron su membrecía por completo. A medida que los misioneros Americanos laboraron para mantener vivas las ramas y llevar a cabo reuniones regulares de domingo, parece que dejaron a un lado las organizaciones auxiliares como la Sociedad de Socorro. No se sabe cuánto los élderes hayan ensenado a la gente sobre estas organizaciones. Desafortunadamente, unos registros que se sabe que existían ahora no son existentes y los registros que existen que he leído no hacen mención de la Sociedad de Socorro. Aparte de la organización precaria de la iglesia, la ausencia de mujeres en la misión que estuviesen familiarizadas con la organización de la Iglesia (desde el perspectivo de los élderes) y que hablaran español sin duda fue parte de la razón de que no fueron desarrolladas las organizaciones auxiliares.
Esto no quiere decir que no había mujeres durante este periodo o que no tuvieron lugar en la Iglesia. Menciono una de éstas brevemente. Solo tres meses después de llegar en México, Moisés Thatcher fue visitado por José Yáñez de Nopala. Thatcher notó en su diario, “Tuve una conversación muy interesante.” Dos meses después en Abril de 1880, se hicieron planes de organizar una rama de la Iglesia en Nopala. Thatcher no elaboro en su diario sobre los detalles de la conversación, pero José Yáñez unos anos después relato a unos misioneros lo que ocurrió. Ammón Tenney dijo que, “antes que su madre hubiera visto a un Mormón, ella recibió una visión que en México había unos hombres con un libro llamado “Voz de Amonestación.” Ella le mando a México a buscar el libro. Después de buscar por mucho tiempo, encontró a un hombre que le dijo que en el Hotel San Carlos había unos hombres quienes publicaron un libro con ese nombre. Llegando en el Hotel, los Elderes sabían su misión y le dijeron que el había sido mandado por su madre a buscar un libro o papel llamado “Voz de Amonestación…” El aceptó el libro y fue a casa. Al llegar, su madre estuvo muy feliz. Ella le dijo que sabía que él tenía el libro. Queriendo probarle, él le dijo que no tenía el libro, pero ella supo por inspiración que él lo tenía.”
El 22 de Abril de 1880, Desideña Yáñez se bautizo y llego a ser la primera mujer de ser bautizada en la Misión Mexicana. Ella y su familia tuvieron reuniones de la Iglesia en su casa, predicaron a sus vecinos, y en otras maneras apoyaron a los élderes. En 1886, misionero Horacio Cummings le trajo a la Hermana Yáñez un regalo único. El dijo, “Le di una copia no encuadernada, lo cual yo había pedido de Utah. Fue la primera copia que había sido recibida en Español en México y ella fue la primera mujer bautizada en la Republica.”
Otras mujeres se convirtieron y contribuyeron substantivamente a los esfuerzos de los élders. A medida que vayan madurando mis investigaciones, espero contar sus historias en mayor detalle.
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*Special thanks to my wife for looking over my translation.
Thanks, Jared. Any sense of Desidena’s ethnic/racial background? Was she indigenous? Mestiza?
Comment by David G. — December 16, 2009 @ 10:33 am
I so much like hearing the names and learning even a little of the personal experiences of individual Latter-day Saints in other times and places. Thanks for this, and congratulations for what must be a landmark post in the Bloggernacle. It would be a tremendous commitment of time and effort to make dual language blogging a habit (especially if it caught on to the point of having ongoing conversations in two languages) — but how great is it that you’ve made this material visible online to a potential audience with perhaps the greatest natural interest in the story!
Comment by Ardis Parshall — December 16, 2009 @ 11:15 am
David, that family, the Yanez family was very proud of the family tradition that they were descended from Cuauhtémoc, one of the last Aztec rulers. There is a lot to tell about this family. Suffice it to say that Jose and another brother in the area joined a nationalistic church and became officers. Helaman Pratt learned of it only by reading a notice in that Church’s paper. A copy of which Jose gave to him. Pratt wrote with chagrin that “Patriotism [Mexican] with him was above all else.”
Comment by Jared T. — December 16, 2009 @ 12:28 pm
Ardis, thank you. I’d like to do this more. That’s why I kept this one short, but on the bright side, my wife only corrected a few things
Comment by Jared T. — December 16, 2009 @ 12:29 pm
Fascinating postscript to the story, Jared. When did they join? Was it after the Revolution?
So was the family from the elite class? I can’t imagine descendants (real or imagined) of Cuauhtémoc living in a small village in southern Mexico.
Comment by David G. — December 16, 2009 @ 12:48 pm
They were among the first in 1880. And, it does sound from the records that Desidena had money and Jose had a ranch, but I don’t get a good sense of their place. I need to find out more about Nopala.
Of course, a lot of this will be in my thesis
Jose claims later (1902-ish) that his mother died in full faith and that he was believing, but rejected the organization. The incident with the Mexican Church happened around 1887.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 12:56 pm
Sorry, I wasn’t clear. I meant when did they join the nationist church. 1887, huh? That’s right after Diaz ran the second time, right?
Comment by David G. — December 16, 2009 @ 1:01 pm
Fairly soon after. I think the election was 1884 and he didn’t leave until the revolution. But I believe that Church is one that Benito Juarez began during his presidency that was designed to be a Mexican Catholic Church, independent of Rome. I need to get a bit more clear on that.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 1:06 pm
You’re right, 1884 was when he was reelected. The anticlericalism fits Juarez, but I’m under the impression that Diaz toned it down during his reign. How long did the independent Church last, do you know?
Comment by David G. — December 16, 2009 @ 1:18 pm
Yea, that’s my impression too. Not sure…I need to find out a bit more on that Church.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 1:19 pm
What I wonder about is what happened to that unbound Spanish Book of Mormon! I haven’t come across anything that says it was recovered by a later set of missionaries, etc.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 1:24 pm
I assume you would have mentioned it had you found anything, but did you find anything in the missionary writings about their views of her indigenous heritage? Were the somehow more impressed because she claimed to be of royal blood?
Comment by David G. — December 16, 2009 @ 1:31 pm
It’s mentioned in a few journals, but I don’t remember it being elaborated on. Moses Thatcher, however, does go on and on about Ignacio Altamirano and his indigenous heritage and being very accomplished. In his view, Indians like Altamirano were the only hope that Mexico had to rise up from it’s “degraded” nature. There are other examples too, but I’d need to look them up.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 1:37 pm
Fascinating, Jared. Do you know of any good books on Indigenismo during the Porfiato? That essay by Alan Knight in The Idea of Race in Latin America is fantastic, but he doesn’t deal to much with the pre-1910 era.
Comment by David G. — December 16, 2009 @ 1:41 pm
Yea, Knight’s the best I can think of, with the caveat you mention. there are other studies that tie it in, but I’m unclear on something that focuses as cleanly on race in this period as Knight. Also, though I’ve done some cursory searches in Spanish, there may very easily be things I’m missing.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 1:58 pm
This really is wonderful stuff, Jared. Thanks for the hard work. When is your thesis slated to be finished?
Comment by J. Stapley — December 16, 2009 @ 2:06 pm
Better be this spring
I want to have a draft done in a few weeks and I think March is when I need to turn it in with a defense coming in April sometime. Crunch time.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 2:19 pm
You guys get it so easy at the U, Jared. The thesis is just the length of a publishable article, right? Not the 90-120 pp that BYU made us do. But I agree with Paul’s reasoning. I certainly makes more sense to do it y’all’s way.
Comment by David G. — December 16, 2009 @ 2:21 pm
Jared, this is awesome stuff. Thanks for sharing it. I look forward to reading the completed thesis. Good luck finishing up.
Comment by Christopher — December 16, 2009 @ 2:26 pm
True dat. Paul said 50 pages. I just read one from 2002 that was 48. I think I should, in the end, be able to come up with one and maybe two articles and a number of document edits. I’m not even going to be able to get into the reestablishment period 1901->. I want to do that period, but it will have to wait.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 2:38 pm
Thanks Chris and Stapley!
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 2:39 pm
As I go through the Presbyterian mission correspondence, it’s interesting to see the struggle between sects that tries to be very civil, but exhibits some strain none theless as each group carves out a niche for itself. Man, that would be a great project in itself, but I will only end up (due to size) touching on Protestant efforts lightly.
Comment by Jared T — December 16, 2009 @ 2:40 pm