In 1911 John Stosich became the first Latter-day Saint missionary to preach the restored gospel in Slovenia, but no one joined the Church during his brief stay in Ljubljana. Five decades passed before Maria Gruden, whose son had joined the Church abroad, accepted the restored gospel in 1968 and became the only member in Ljubljana. With the exception of making irregular trips to branch meetings in Klagenfurt, Austria, and receiving occasional visits from Church members, Gruden spent many years in faithful, isolated devotion to the gospel.
Missionary work officially began in Yugoslavia in 1978, but missionaries were not assigned to Ljubljana specifically until 1990. By then, several converts living in Slovenia were making regular trips to Klagenfurt to attend Church meetings. They welcomed the missionaries’ arrival and excitedly helped them make contacts, find accommodations, and translate Church materials into Slovene.
The seeds of faith planted by Saints in Slovenia and their continued “faith with great diligence, and with patience” soon bore fruit (Alma 32:41). In just two years, from 1990 to 1992, branches were established in Ljubljana, Celje, and Maribor and a district was organized. In 2002 the Book of Mormon was published in Slovene, and in 2017 the Slovene translation of the Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price was announced.
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