Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple
During the Sunday morning session of General Conference on 3 April 2016, President Thomas S. Monson stood at the pulpit, and before beginning his formal remarks, he announced four cities where new temples would be constructed, including the city of Lima, Peru, where a second temple would be constructed.
Peru is home to well over half a million members of the Church and is one of only four nations with more than 100 stakes. There are 42 stakes in the Lima metropolitan area alone, yet it operates one of the smallest temples in the Church. Long waiting lines outside the temple are common in Lima, especially on Saturdays when Saints from around the country travel to the capital to participate in temple ordinances.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has two other dedicated temples in the South American country of Peru — the Lima Peru Temple was dedicated 10 January 1986, and the Trujillo Peru Temple was dedicated 21 June 2015. The Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple will be the first temple built outside of the United States in the same city as another operating temple. The open house and dedication dates were recently announced for this November and December for the Arequipa Peru Temple. Countries in the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple District, include Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela.
The Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple evokes the lines of the so-called “Solomon” temples of the early twentieth century in Laie, Hawaii; Cardston, Alberta; and Mesa, Arizona. It does not have a spire or an Angel Moroni.
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Construction Status
On 20 October 2018, President Russell M. Nelson visited the site for the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple, which will be located on the property of the Lima North Institute of Religion building and meetinghouse for the Habish and Cayetano Heredia wards on Avenida Eloy Espinoza in the San Martín de Porres District, just east of the Los Olivos District. Plans call for the existing buildings to be razed to allow for construction of the temple, a patron housing facility, a missionary housing facility, a utility building, and an underground parking garage.
On 27 January 2019, the Lima North Institute of Religion building and the meetinghouse for the Habish and Cayetano Heredia wards were permanently closed for demolition. The site will be prepared for construction of the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple and two housing facilities for patrons and temple missionaries.
A special devotional with Elder César E. Villar of the Seventy was held the evening of 27 January 2019 at the retiring institute building where a new Lima Northwest Institute was established. The stakes that had been assigned to the Lima North Institute were divided between the new Lima Northwest Institute and the relocated Lima North Institute.
Groundbreaking Ceremony
The official rendering of the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple was released on 7 March 2019, in conjunction with the groundbreaking announcement.
Nearly three years after it was announced in General Conference, a groundbreaking ceremony for the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple was held on Saturday, 8 June 2019, under the direction of Elder Enrique R. Falabella of the Seventy and president of the South America Northwest Area. He was joined by his counselors in the area presidency, Elder Hugo Montoya, first counselor, and Elder Mathias Held, second counselor. The general public was invited to watch the services from local meetinghouses, while attendance at the temple site was by invitation only.
Elder Falabella told Latter-day Saints this groundbreaking is something they will never forget. It is the feeling in their hearts. "There is something special in the temples. As we spend more time in the Lord's house, our life will have greater meaning." Elder Held added, "Temples have always been a beacon of light. [It has been] "a source of strength for His people and today is no different. This will be a beautiful building, where the spirit of the Lord will be strongly felt."
