Guatemala City Guatemala Temple
The Guatemala City Guatemala Temple is the 32nd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In 1947 Latter-day Saint missionaries were sent to Guatemala to begin preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Seventy-five percent of the population is Catholic with Evangelical and other Protestant denominations present. Thus far, the missionaries have been quite successful in Guatemala; so much that in 1984 the membership of the Church had reached 40,000 and by 1998 it had quadrupled to 164,000. In 2022, the membership of the Church in Guatemala was almost 285,000.[1] In just the last twenty years, Church membership in Latin America has exploded to 700,000 members strong. [1]
Because of this growth in the Church of Jesus Christ, the leaders announced the building of the new Guatemala City Guatemala Temple to be built in Guatemala City. This announcement was made on April 1, 1981, with the groundbreaking taking place on September 12, 1982, with Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church presiding.
The site for the Guatemala Temple is on a little more than one acre and set in a location referred to as "Vista Hermosa," which means "beautiful view." Faced with white Guatemalan marble and flanked by six elegant spires, the temple stands at the foot of rolling hills in southeastern Guatemala City. The interior of the temple has 11,500 square feet, four ordinance rooms, and three sealing rooms, and is adorned with authentic Mayan articles. The temple serves over 190,000 members from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
Former Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, then an apostle, dedicated the beautiful edifice on December 14, 1984, and stated that the temple was a blessing "for which many generations have prayed behind the veil [many] who have been taught the gospel [of Jesus Christ]... so they may continue with their journey to eternal life." [2]
Other temples include the Cobán Guatemala Temple, Huehuetenango Guatemala Temple, Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple, Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple, and Retalhuleu Guatemala Temple.
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Notes
- "Mormon Conversions surge in Latin America", NBC News, July 13, 2004, Leonor Ayala
- "The First 100 Temples", by Chad Hawkins, 2002, p. 91
