The Cobán Guatemala Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will begin welcoming the public to come and participate in an open house beginning Thursday, April 25, through Saturday, May 11, 2024, excluding Sundays.
The open house event started with a news conference attended by more than 30 local and national media organizations on Monday, April 22, 2024, in Cobán.
Participating in the event were Elder Taylor G. Godoy, President, Central America Area and Elder Juan Pablo Villar, Assistant Executive Director, Temple Department, for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Because of this blessing from God, thousands of members from Baja and Alta Verapaz, Petén, and Belize will be blessed with the presence of this temple in the city of Cobán,” said Elder Godoy. “This is the ‘house of the Lord’, but its greatest influence is when we try to extend what the temple means in our lives. That’s why this place is very important to us and brings blessings to the community where it is established.”
Elder Villar said he knows God wants His children to make promises with Him.
“Temples are not something new; they have been spoken of since biblical times, and our Heavenly Father has desired to have a covenant people. In temples, we make promises and covenants with Him, where we accept those promises and covenants, and He promises us eternal life,” he said.
Elders Patricio M. Giuffra and Ryan K. Olsen, counselors in the Central America Area Presidency, also helped guide tours for the media and other invited guests.
Following the open house, the temple will be dedicated on Sunday, June 9, 2024, by Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“As the Church grows, more temples will be built so that more families can have access to that greatest of all blessings, that of eternal life,” Church President Russell M. Nelson said during the announcement of the Cobán Guatemala Temple during the October 2019 General Conference. “We regard a temple as the most sacred structure in the Church. Whenever plans are announced to construct a new temple, it becomes an important part of our history.”
This is one of four temples built or under construction by the Church of Jesus Christ in Guatemala. There are 290,000 Latter-day Saints in Guatemala, spread across nearly 440 congregations.
In 1984, the Guatemala City Temple was dedicated. The Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple was dedicated in 2011. The Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple is currently under construction.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider temples to be the “house of the Lord” and the most sacred places of worship on the earth. Temples provide a place where members of the Church of Jesus Christ make sacred agreements with God.
This is an official press release re-published by LDSDaily.com from Newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
