Celebrating International Mother Language Day: Immigrant Latter-day Saints Find Faith and Support in Their Mother Tongue

International Mother Language Day (IMLD), celebrated annually on February 21, provides an opportunity for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Canada to recognize the linguistic diversity of their fellow Church members. IMLD was established by UNESCO in 1999 and is officially recognized in Canada through the International Mother Language Day Act, passed in 2023.

With recent spikes in immigration, over 12.7% of Canadians now speak a language other than French or English at home. This linguistic diversity is also apparent in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In addition to English and French-speaking congregations, there are now 44 congregations organized by language in Canada: 20 Spanish, 11 Tagalog, six Chinese (Mandarin, Cantonese or combined), four Portuguese, two Korean and one Ukrainian.

Chinguacousy Park Spanish Ward in Brampton, Ontario

Jeffrey Barillas, bishop of the Spanish-speaking Chinguacousy Park Ward in the Brampton Ontario Stake, was born in Costa Rica and raised in Canada. He said, “For immigrants, like my parents, to be able to come to church in the language that you understand makes a big difference.”

Bishop Barillas noted that being in a language unit allows Saints with limited English to serve and participate fully in the Church, take on leadership responsibilities and strengthen their faith. Spanish-language congregations are a place where Church members can express their culture. “We definitely have more activities,” Barillas said. “We dance a lot, because that’s just part of our Latin culture.”

Bishop Barillas also explained the blessing of a Spanish-language congregation to newcomers. “Immigrants need to find housing and work, and they need to learn to do things, like take the bus and register their kids for school. And [the ward] has people who have already gone through that whole process. So [new immigrants] find access to practical support.”

Language-based congregations, Barillas added, are partial fulfillment of the Latter-day Saint scriptural prophecy: “For it shall come to pass in that day, that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue, and in his own language” (Doctrine and Covenants 90:11).

In the Brampton Ward, Saints From Around the World Worship and Serve Together

In the nearby English-speaking Brampton Ward, Church members from all over the world come to worship together despite language and cultural differences. Paul Senoron, who came to Canada from the Philippines, serves in the presidency of the Elders Quorum. He noted that his ward has many recent converts from Africa and has members from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Israel, Europe and Latin America.

Senoron explained that when there are “visitors or recent converts who don’t speak English well, we then call the members who [speak] the same language as them and have them mingle with each other.”

The Church takes the work of translation seriously. Scriptures and Church curriculum materials are translated into over 115 languages. People can follow along during a Sunday School class with written materials in their mother language. When there are adequate numbers, the Brampton Ward offers classes in other languages. Senoron said, “As of now, we have Twi-language Sunday School for the members from Ghana, Africa, and Hindi-language Sunday School for members from India and Pakistan.”

Brazilian Sayonara Oliviera Serves in the Church in Montreal

At the English-speaking Montreal Ward in the Montreal Mount Royal Stake, Church members and their friends represent nearly 60 nationalities. The stake has French-, Spanish- and Mandarin-speaking congregations. Sayonara Oliviera, whose mother tongue is Portuguese, came to Canada from Brazil with her family in 2022. She serves as the stake Relief Society president, overseeing the women’s organization for nine congregations in the Montreal area.

Oliviera thought that when her family came to Canada, they would be surrounded by lifelong Canadians, but instead, they found themselves in a giant melting pot. She said, “I think this is the biggest blessing, because sometimes we think there is only one way to do something, and we learn that in another country, they do it differently, and it works.”

A Prophetic Prayer

When President Gordon B. Hinckley, then a counsellor in the First Presidency of the Church, dedicated the Toronto Ontario Temple in 1990, he offered a special dedicatory prayer, which said: “This nation has become a gathering place for people from scores of other lands. … Many have hearkened to the testimony of Thy servants and have been favoured with a knowledge of the principles and ordinances of Thine everlasting gospel. May their numbers increase.” Thirty-six years later, President Hinckley’s prayer is the lived experience of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints all around Canada.

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