Tegucigalpa Temple Opens Doors to Public

The public is invited to tour the recently constructed Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The First Presidency of the Church (the Church’s highest governing body) announced the temple will be open to the public from Saturday, 9 February, through Saturday, 2 March 2013. Guided tours will be conducted Mondays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Tuesdays through Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The temple is located at 3ª Calle Sur, Residenciales Roble Oeste, Comayagüela M.D.C., Honduras.

Following this public open house, on 17 March 2013, a member of the First Presidency of the Church will formally dedicate the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple as the 141st temple operating of the Church. Three dedicatory sessions will allow a large number of Latter-day Saints in the region to participate.

The Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple will serve approximately 233,000 members of the Church in Honduras and Nicaragua. The new temple is the sixth temple in Central America. The other five are located in Guatemala City, Guatemala (dedicated in 1984); San José, Costa Rica (2000); Panama City, Panama (2008); San Salvador, El Salvador (2011); and Quetzaltenango, Guatemala (2011).

Exterior features of the temple include granite from China and art-glass windows with designs inspired by the Mayan culture, which are also included in interior features, together with original murals that depict Honduran landscapes. Motifs of the orchid, national flower of Honduras, are found on the furniture, doors and other places in the temple.

The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Honduras began in 1952 when Elder Spencer W. Kimball, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (one of the highest governing bodies of the Church) met with then president of the Republic Dr. Juan Manuel Gálvez and received authorization for representatives of the Church to begin preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ in Honduras.

Today there are approximately 153,000 members of the Church who reside in Honduras, in 227 congregations.

Latter-day Saint temples are different from meetinghouses or chapels where members gather for Sunday religious services. Temples are considered a “house of the Lord,” where the teachings of Jesus Christ are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other ordinances and covenants that unite families for eternity. Inside, members of the Church learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants to follow Jesus Christ and render service to their fellow man.