The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced three temple dedication dates: two in Central America and one in South America.
Open houses were also announced at three of the Houses of the Lord: the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple, the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple, and the Managua Nicaragua Temple.
All three dedication sessions will be held at 10 a.m., broadcast to all units in the temple district, and rebroadcast at 2 p.m.
First published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org on April 13th and dates:
Dedication ceremony and open house schedule
Belo Horizonte, Brazil: The Belo Horizonte Temple will be dedicated on August 16, and the governing authority will be announced at a later date.
The open house is scheduled for June 13 through June 27, excluding Sundays, following a media day on June 10 and invited tours on June 11-12.
Miraflores Guatemala: The Miraflores Guatemala City Temple will be dedicated on October 11 by Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
The public is invited to tour the sacred building from August 27 to September 12, except Sundays. A media day will also be held on August 24th, with invited guests on August 25th and 26th.
Managua/Nicaragua: The Managua Temple will be dedicated on October 18 by Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
The previous month, it will be open to the public from September 10th to September 26th, excluding Sundays. The temple’s media day is scheduled for September 7th, and invited guest tours will be held on September 8th and 9th.
Read below to learn about the history of these temples and churches in Brazil, Guatemala, and Nicaragua.
church in brazil
On April 4, 2021, then-Church President Russell M. Nelson announced that the House of the Lord would be built in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
On June 17, 2023, Elder Juan A. Uceda, then a General Authority Seventy and Second Counselor in the Brazil Area Presidency of the Church, presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for the temple. “May the light of the Gospel shine throughout this region,” he said in dedicating the site.
Brazil has 24 temples in various stages. Eleven temples were consecrated: those in Belem, Brasilia, Campinas, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo.
Five other temples are also in the construction phase: Belo Horizonte Temple, João Pessoa Temple, Londrina Temple, Natal Temple and Ribeirão Preto Temple.
This leaves eight locations in the planning stage: Campo Grande, Florianopolis, Goiania, Maceio, Santos, São Paulo East, Teresina and Vitoria.
Latter-day Saint missionaries began their mission in southern Brazil in 1928. By the time the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple, the first in South America, was dedicated in 1978, membership in the country had reached 54,000.
Today, more than 1.5 million Latter-day Saints live in Brazil and meet in more than 2,000 wards and branches.
church in guatemala
On October 4, 2020, President Nelson announced the construction of a temple in the greater Guatemala City area, later renamed the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the House of the Lord was held on December 3, 2022, with Elder Patricio M. Giuffra officiating and offering a dedicatory prayer on site.
“May our neighbors and all who pass through this sacred place feel the influence of your Spirit flowing from this place and have a desire to learn about this sacred building,” prayed Elder Jufra, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Central America Area Presidency at the time.
Three temples operate in Guatemala: Guatemala City, Quetzaltenango, and Cobán. Two more temples are under construction, Miraflores Guatemala City and Huehuetenango Temple, and the final temple is in the planning stages at Retalhuleu.
The first Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in Guatemala in 1947. Many years later, in 1952, the Central American Mission was established and headquartered in Guatemala City.
There are currently more than 297,000 members of the Church living in Guatemala, spread across approximately 440 wards and branches.
church in nicaragua
On April 1, 2018, in his first general conference as President of the Church, President Nelson announced the establishment of a house of the Lord in Managua, Nicaragua.
On November 26, 2022, Elder Taylor G. Godoy, a General Authority Seventy and then First Counselor in the Central America Area Presidency, presided over a groundbreaking ceremony for the temple.
Elder Godoy said this during the dedication prayer at the site. “Bless the members of the Church in this great nation, so that as we build the temple, they build and strengthen their testimonies of our Savior, Jesus Christ, with a commitment to become His disciples forever.”
The Managua temple will be the first House of the Lord in Nicaragua and the only temple currently announced in the country.
Missionary work first began in Nicaragua in December 1953, and its first branch, the Managua branch, was established in November 1954. The Nicaragua District was organized in 1959 and the Managua Stake in March 1981.
When the Nicaragua Managua Mission was established in October 1989, there were 3,453 members of the Church in this country.
Currently, approximately 107,000 Latter-day Saints live in more than 100 wards and branches in Nicaragua.
