San Juan Puerto Rico Temple
On 7 October 2018, Prophet and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Russell M. Nelson announced that a temple will be built in San Juan Puerto Rico. Construction on the temple with an adjacent meetinghouse began in 2019. The San Juan Puerto Rico Temple is the first temple in Puerto Rico and the third temple in the Caribbean following the dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple in September 2019.
On 12 January 2019, the Church released an artist rendering of the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple, which features a single-story temple with an end spire reflective of the architectural styles in the area. The temple is located at 123 Calle Ronda Urb Villa Andalucía in the Trujillo Alto area of San Juan.
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The Church of Jesus Christ in Puerto Rico
The Church’s presence in Puerto Rico dates to 1947, when Latter-day Saint military personnel began holding meeting in Guajataca, in the island’s northwest area. In January 1964, the first missionaries arrived in Puerto Rico, with the first convert baptism coming the following month. In 1980, the first meetinghouse opened and home seminary began.
Today, the Church counts nearly 23,300 members among 38 congregations and five stakes in Puerto Rico.[1]
Groundbreaking Ceremony for San Jan Puerto Rico Temple
A groundbreaking ceremony for the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was conducted on Saturday, 4 May 2019. Elder Walter F. González, president of the Caribbean Area for the Church, presided over the groundbreaking and dedicated the temple site.
During his remarks, Elder González said, "Without a doubt, this is a day to remember, a day that we will keep in our memories and in which the longing of so many brothers and sisters of this beautiful Island of Enchantment becomes reality. Build the temple first in your hearts."
Open House and Dedication
A public open house was held from Thursday, December 1, to Saturday, December 17, excluding Sundays. A media day was held Monday, November 28, with invited guests touring the temple November 29-30 before the start of the public tours.[2]
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided at the temple’s dedication on Sunday, January 15, 2023, with sessions scheduled for 9 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m. He was accompanied by Sister Kathy Christofferson, Elder Kevin R. Duncan, General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Nancy Duncan; Elder Benjamin De Hoyos, General Authority Seventy, and his wife, Sister Evelia De Hoyos; Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, General Authority Seventy, and his wife Sister Cari Lu Alvarado; and Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and his wife, Sister Carol Waddell.
This was the first new temple Elder Christofferson has dedicated. He rededicated the Asunción Paraguay Temple on November 3, 2019. Then, like now, he spoke in fluent Spanish, which he learned on a mission as a young man to Argentina and has practiced over many years of his career and Church assignments in Latin America.[3]
The San Juan Puerto Rico Temple features a domed spire rising over the temple entrance, very much in the Spanish colonial style found not just in historic Old San Juan and its famous Castillo San Felipe del Morro, but also in many homes in “el campo” — the countryside.[4]
The interior glass patterns were inspired by the quatrefoil motifs also found in Spanish colonial architecture. Similar patterns are repeated in ordinance-room fabrics and the patterns on the tile floor, using the colors blue, gold, white opal and green. Some of the artwork resembles views of the trees in mountains leading down to the beach. And many paintings throughout the temple depict the Savior Jesus Christ.[5]
This 7,000-square-foot temple sits on a little less than three acres of ground. Elder Christofferson said it feels very much like a home, and it is the Lord’s house “where we are invited to be with Him.”
Picture Gallery of the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple at sunrise
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple exterior
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple exterior
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple exterior
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple exterior
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple grounds
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple reception
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple interior
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple interior
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple baptistry
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple sealing room
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple celestial room
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple celestial room
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple light fixture
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple Spanish colonial architecture motifs
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple stained glass detail
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple exterior
San Juan Puerto Rico Temple exterior
©2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. Pictures of the San Juan Puerto Rico Temple downloaded from the 28 November 2022 Church Newsroom article "San Juan Puerto Rico Temple Open House Offers Hope to Storm-Tossed Island".
External Links
- Official San Juan Puerto Rico Temple page
- San Juan Puerto Rico Temple page
- San Juan Puerto Rico Temple dedicatory prayer
- What is the Purpose of the Temple
- What Are Temples?
- FamilySearch RootsTech, Temple Invitation by Russell M. Nelson
