Saints in Mexico City Rejoice in Rededicated Temple
Contributed By Jason Swensen, Church News staff writer
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, left, and President Henry B. Eyring stand outside the Mexico City Mexico Temple.
Article Highlights
- After two years of renovations, the Mexico City Mexico Temple was rededicated.
- The Mexico City temple district includes more than 340,000 members of the Church.
- The temple was the first temple built in Mexico.
“Each rededication of the temple has also offered each of us an opportunity to rededicate our own lives to the Lord.” —Elder Jorge A. Rojas, former member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy
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By his own admission, Dario Gomez has had a rough year.
The 23-year-old Pachuca, Mexico, resident underwent a kidney transplant several months ago. His ongoing recovery requires him to travel to Mexico City every few weeks for medical tests and doctor consultations.
But Brother Gomez has found a silver lining encircling his challenges.
“I’ll be in Mexico City every month, which means I can go to the temple every month—that’s my goal,” he said with a wide smile just moments after the third and final September 13 rededication session at the Mexico City Mexico Temple.
Brother Gomez’s circumstances seem an apt metaphor for this beloved edifice in the Spanish-speaking world’s largest city. Mexico City, as with all massive urban areas, faces many challenges and struggles. But Latter-day Saints here say “nuestro querido temple”—our beloved temple—is once again a place of sacred respite from the troubles of the world. Again, the legions of members here can visit a dedicated house of God in their own city and reconnect with the matters of eternity.
President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, rededicated the Mexico City Mexico Temple on September 13. The veteran Apostle’s ecclesiastical duties have taken him to all corners of the globe. He’s participated in countless Church gatherings of great import, but he will never forget the mild autumn Sabbath day that he presided over the reopening of the most storied building of the Church in Mexico.
“This was one of the great days of my life,” he told the Church News following the event.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles accompanied President Eyring at the rededication. Other General Authorities participating included Elder Kent F. Richards of the Seventy and director of the Temple Department and the Mexico Area Presidency—Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, Elder Paul B. Pieper, and Elder Arnulfo Valenzuela.
Members wait in line to attend a session of the September 13, 2015, rededication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple. Photo by Jason Swensen.
Originally dedicated in 1983, the Mexico City Mexico Temple was rededicated on Sunday, September 13, 2015, by President Henry B. Eyring. Photo by Jason Swensen.
The Mexico City Mexico Temple was closed for almost two years to allow for extensive renovation of the interior of the 32-year-old building. The changes have only enhanced the building’s distinctly Mexican aesthetic, seen prominently in its Mayan-influenced exterior architecture. Interior highlights include celestial room carpeting and decorative art glass crafted with a Mesoamerican design. Oak and cast bronze doors have been installed, along with elaborate millwork found most prominently in carved columns with waterfall designs. The closure of the 35,551-square-foot edifice also allowed for an exhaustive exterior cleaning.
The September 13 event was not the first rededication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple. President Thomas S. Monson presided over a November 16, 2008, rededication following a renovation that focused primarily on the building’s exterior.
The rededicated temple impacts a sizable number of Mexico’s Latter-day Saints. The Mexico City temple district includes more than 340,000 members living in the capital city, along with states of Mexico, Baja California South, Durango, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Michoacan, Morelos, Puebla, Querataro, and San Luis Potosi.
Jorge A. Rojas and his wife, Marcela Rojas, reside in Monterrey—a city far north of the Mexico City temple boundaries. No matter. They simply would not miss the opportunity to witness Church history being made once again at the temple site located in the city’s Colonia San Juan de Aragon. They traveled to Mexico City to be a part of the September 13 temple rededication.
The Rojases have enjoyed a front row seat to this country’s rich Mormon history. Both grew up in northern Mexico near the Mormon colonies. They befriended the families with familiar “colony” names such as Pratt, Call, and Wagner. They graduated from the Church-sponsored Juarez Academy in Colonia Juarez.
Later, Brother Rojas would teach at the LDS-owned Benemerito de las Americas Academy (now home to the Mexico City Missionary Training Center) and serve in a variety of Church leadership positions. He was a member of the Second Quorum of the Seventy from 1991 to 1996.
Elder and Sister Rojas remember well the joy they felt with their fellow Mexicans when they heard the general conference announcement that Mexico’s first temple would be built in the capital city. Three years later they watched as Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve picked up a shovel and broke ground on the temple construction site.
Then on December 2, 1983, the Church in Mexico was forever changed. President Gordon B. Hinckley, then a counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the Mexico City Mexico Temple.
A well-spoken man who shifts effortlessly from Spanish to English, Elder Rojas said he still can’t find words—in any language—to adequately describe the gratitude he felt when a temple opened in his homeland.
“This temple has provided us with all we really need in life,” he said.
For LDS Mexicans, the country’s first temple stands as a happy reminder “that there are sacred ordinances that allow us to be with our families forever,” added Sister Rojas.
Elder and Sister Rojas attended the first temple rededication in 2008. They returned again for the 2015 rededication. Yes, each event allowed them to catch up with old friends and enjoy memories of the original dedication.
“But each rededication of the temple has also offered each of us an opportunity to rededicate our own lives to the Lord,” said Elder Rojas.
Three Church Presidents—President Spencer W. Kimball, President Gordon B. Hinckley, and President Thomas S. Monson—will be forever linked to the Mexico City Mexico Temple.
It was President Kimball—a Church leader beloved in Mexico to this day—who made the inspired decision to build the country’s first temple.
It was President Hinckley who, in his 1983 dedicatory prayer, uttered these prophetic words:
“Bless Thy saints in this great land … who will use this temple. Most have in their veins the blood of Father Lehi. Thou hast kept Thine ancient promise. Many thousands ‘that walked in darkness have seen a great light.’
“May the harvest that we have witnessed here foreshadow greater things to come.”
“Greater things” have indeed come to this land. Twelve temples are now in operation across Mexico, including the rededicated Mexico City Temple.
And it was President Monson who, just moments after rededicating that same temple in 2008, told the Church News that temple building would continue in Mexico.
“There will be more,” he said.
More indeed. In a few months Mexican Latter-day Saints will gather once again to participate in the dedication and opening of the country’s 13th temple—the Tijuana Mexico Temple.
As he stepped from the temple following the September 13 rededication, President Eyring—who has ancestors who lived in Mexico, thereby making him a by-product of the Church’s history here—marveled at the days that await the Church in Mexico City and across this nation.
“The [Mexican members] don’t have to do anything different from what they are doing,” he said. “They have tremendous faith, and they are going to do great work here.”
Mexican Latter-day Saints gather near the entrance of the Mexico City Mexico Temple to attend the first rededication session. Photo by Jason Swensen.
President Henry B. Eyring arrives for the September 13, 2015, rededication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple. Elder Kent F. Richards stands behind him. Photo by Jason Swensen.
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Families gather near the entrance of the Mexico City Mexico Temple prior to the rededication of the temple. Photo by Jason Swensen.
President Henry B. Eyring bids farewell to members following the September 13, 2015, rededication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple. Photo by Jason Swensen.
Elder Jorge A. Rojas and Sister Marcela Rojas have witnessed many key moments in Church history in Mexico, including the September 13, 2015, rededication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple. Photo by Jason Swensen.
The Romero family of Mexico City participates in the rededication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple. Photo by Jason Swensen.
