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    4 November 2020 - Salt Lake City
    News Release

    Ground Broken for Salta Argentina Temple 

    Will be the Church's third temple in Argentina

    Church leaders in Salta, Argentina, gathered to break ground for the Salta Argentina Temple on Wednesday, November 4, 2020. Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, South America South Area President, presided at the service and offered the dedicatory prayer.

       
    Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. 1 / 2
         
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      “For quite some time, Father, your children have longed to enter and serve in a Holy House with more frequency … Heavenly Father, receive our grateful hearts for this significant and special day that begins the reality of this righteous desire,” said Elder De Hoyos.  

      The number of attendees was limited because of local COVID-19 social distancing restrictions. 

      Celeste Viveros, a young woman from Salta who was asked to represent Latter-day Saints from her age group, also spoke at the event.

      “I am grateful to God to live at a time when a temple will be built. Like the primary hymn’s lyrics, ‘I love to see the temple,’ here, in the city of Salta,” said Viveros.

      In addition to Latter-day Saints from the area, local government leaders attended the event, including Salta Governor Gustavo Sáenz.

      The Salta Argentina Temple was announced in April 2018 by Church President Russell M. Nelson and will be the third temple in Argentina, joining the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple (dedicated in 1986) and Córdoba Argentina Temple (dedicated in 2015).

      The temple will serve more than 470,000 Latter-day Saints in the South American country, which has a population of 40 million people.

      “Although two years have passed since President Nelson, our beloved prophet, announced that we would have a temple in Salta, I remember the happiness our brothers and sisters felt. They didn’t stop commenting from that day until now. We are delighted to have a Holy House for our God,” said Angel D. Rui Díaz, a local Church leader who helped organize the service.

      Details for the open house and temple dedication will be announced nearer to the temple’s completion.

      Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints differ from meetinghouses or chapels, where members meet for Sunday worship services. Each temple is considered a “house of the Lord,” where Jesus Christ’s teachings are reaffirmed through baptism and other ordinances that unite families for eternity. In the temple, Church members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants to follow Jesus Christ and serve their fellow man.

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