Elder Renlund Dedicates the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles invited all to learn for themselves that Jesus Christ is the Christ, the Savior of the world, as he dedicated the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple in two sessions on Sunday, October 13. “Know Jesus Christ as He knows you,” he said.

“A monumental change occurs in our lives when we know for ourselves that Jesus Christ lives and that He is our Savior,” he explained. “Assuredly, believing on the words of those who know and acting on that belief can lead to eternal life. But the Lord desires that we know it for ourselves.”

Elder Renlund also taught that when Latter-day Saints make and keep covenants with God in the temple, it strengthens their bond with Him and gives them greater access to His power. This in turn helps them endure the trials of life.

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Elder Renlund compared making multiple covenants with God with the steep and powerful Honduran Cangrejal River, which is fed by three smaller rivers. In order for Latter-day Saints to become who God wants them to be, they need to make more than one covenant with Him, he taught.

These multiple covenants, which include baptism and and being sealed into families, are sequential and cumulative in our relationship with God. “Just as each tributary strengthens the Cangrejal River, each covenant gives us greater access to the power of God,” he said.

Elder Renlund told about a difficult time for his family when his wife, Ruth, developed ovarian cancer, and how their temple covenants helped comfort them. Acknowledging recent natural disasters in Honduras, Elder Renlund testified, “Making multiple covenants with God enables the Savior to heal those who have been wounded, shattered or crushed by the rains, floods and winds of life,” he said.

Jesus Christ “waits with open arms, with the hope and willingness to heal us, forgive us, cleanse us, strengthen us, purify us and sanctify us,” he said. He invited Church members to come to the house of the Lord often “to be strengthened and reminded how much God loves you.”

Elder Renlund was accompanied at the dedication by his wife, Ruth; Elder Patricio M. Giuffra, a General Authority Seventy and First Counselor in the Central America Area Presidency, and his wife, Maria; and Elder Craig C. Christensen, a General Authority Seventy and assistant executive director of the Church’s Temple Department, and his wife, Debbie. The leaders took time to greet members as they entered the temple before each session.

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Both dedicatory sessions were conducted in Spanish, and speakers delivered messages in Spanish and English with translations offered. Elder Renlund delivered his talks and the dedicatory prayer in Spanish. The sessions were broadcast to meetinghouses in the temple district.

The new house of the Lord, located in northwest Honduras in San Pedro Sula, will serve 15 stakes and one district. It is the second temple in Honduras and the thirteenth in Central America; the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple in the south-central region of the nation was completed and dedicated in 2013.

During the pubic open house in September, Elder Taylor G. Godoy, General Authority Seventy, President of the Church’s Central America Area, said the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple has special meaning for Latter-day Saints in the area.

“It is God’s sign of love and mercy for the Saints by bringing them the sacred covenants of the Temple,” he said. “It is a blessing for people who follow God.”

Read more in this related Church News story Deep, wholehearted faith: Elder Dale G. Renlund dedicates the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple