Check out the new Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple! Cool blue spire, right? A few facts:
- It was dedicated on May 8, 2022, by Elder Gary E. Stevenson.
- It’s the eighth temple to be dedicated in Brazil, where there are nearly 1.5 million members of the Church.
- There are eight more temples in Brazil that haven’t been finished yet.
Whenever the Church builds a new temple, they have a dedication ceremony, where a Church leader says a special prayer asking God’s blessing on the building. In his prayer, Elder Stevenson specifically mentioned the “rising generation.” That’s you!
“We pray that they be led down the covenant path, including their baptisms, confirmations, ordinations, and their holy ordinances in holy temples, even this temple,” Elder Stevenson said in his dedicatory prayer. “That these may be for a defense and for a refuge from the storm.”1
The night before the dedication, Elder Stevenson spoke at a devotional for youth. He told them to build “fires of faith” that can help them find their way when life is confusing. He said these fires of faith can include keeping good thoughts in our minds, serving the people we love, and being obedient.
“The gospel brings us good things,” he said. “Good things come from seminary. Good things come from institute. Good things come from the gospel.”2