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    2 October 2020 - Salt Lake City
    News Release

    Groundbreakings Announced for Two South American Temples

    Temples to be built in the neighboring countries of Chile and Argentina

    The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced groundbreakings for the Antofagasta Chile Temple and the Mendoza Argentina Temple.

    Antofagasta-Chile-Temple-exterior-rendering.jpg
    A rendering of the Antofagasta Chile Temple. 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
        

    The groundbreaking for the Antofagasta Chile Temple will take place in November 2020. Elder Juan Pablo Villar of the South America South Area Presidency will preside at the event.

    Plans call for an approximately 23,000-square-foot temple, built on a 2.2-acre site around Avenida de Las Palmeras 44 in Antofagasta, Chile.

    The new temple will be the third in Chile. Latter-day Saints in Antofagasta currently travel 830 miles (1,335 kilometers) to participate in temple ordinances at the Santiago Chile Temple (dedicated in 1983 and rededicated in 2006). The second temple was completed in Concepción in October 2018. There are over 600,000 Latter-day Saints in Chile.

                                             

    Church leaders will break ground for the Mendoza Argentina Temple in November 2020. Elder Allen D. Haynie of the South America South Area Presidency will preside at the ceremony.

    The temple will be built along Avenida Champagnat between Calle Dr. Pose and Calle Dr. Coni E. Plans call for a temple of approximately 21,000 square feet. An adjacent meetinghouse and temple patron housing will also be built on the site.

    The Mendoza Argentina Temple will be the fourth temple in the country, which is home to more than 470,000 Latter-day Saints. Other temples include the Salta Argentina Temple, scheduled to break ground in November 2020, the Córdoba Argentina Temple (dedicated in 2015) and the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple (dedicated in 1986 and rededicated in 2012).

    Due to local government social-distancing guidelines, attendance at these groundbreaking ceremonies is by invitation only. Photos and videos of the events will be available to the media and the public on Newsroom after the groundbreaking services.

    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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