"The San Salvador - El Salvador Temple Dedicated"

22 August 2011
San Salvador, El Salvador

"The fourth..."

The San Salvador El Salvador Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon) was dedicated Sunday by President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the Church’s First Presidency. This is the Church’s fourth temple in Central America and 135th operating temple worldwide.

Prior to the dedication, President Eyring sealed the temple cornerstone, a tradition marking the end of construction and the beginning of the sacred work inside the temple.

May 1949 marked the beginning of the Church’s presence in El Salvador, when the first missionaries were sent there to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ among the people of Santa Ana in the western region of the country.

In 1952 Elder Spencer W. Kimball, then a senior Church leader and later the worldwide leader of the Church, visited El Salvador and offered a prayer of peace and prosperity upon the nation. By 1986 Church membership had grown to more than 15,000. Today there are more than 110,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 161 congregations throughout El Salvador.

"Attending"
Also attending the cornerstone and dedicatory services were Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Elders William R. Walker, Enrique R. Falabella, James B. Martino and Carlos H. Amado of the Seventy; and Sister Silvia H. Allred, first counselor in the Relief Society presidency and El Salvador native.


Sixteen thousand people attended two cultural celebrations Saturday that retold the rich cultural history of the area through song and dance.


Visitors walk grounds of the San Salvador El Salvador Temple after taking a tour during the open house June 28-July 23. More than 165,000 toured the temple interior and the grounds.

Prior to this weekend’s events, more than 162,000 people from many faiths were given a guided tour of the temple during a two-week open house.

Ground was broken for the San Salvador El Salvador Temple 20 September 2008. Before this temple’s completion, Latter-day Saints in El Salvador traveled to Arizona to attend a temple — an eight-day journey that required early El Salvadorian Latter-day Saints to make great sacrifices, often selling belongings and even homes to cover the travel costs.

Images of the San Salvador - El Salvador Temple

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