Members Prepare Themselves for Reopening of Santiago Chile Temple

By Jason Swensen, Church News staff writer

Waiting more than a year to attend the temple was apparently too much to ask of the members from Arica, Chile.

While their country’s sole temple was closed for reconstruction, the Arica members traveled east to Bolivia via rail to attend the Cochabamba Bolivia Temple. The trip was not without risk. Amid tensions between the bordering nations, trains carrying Chilean goods had sometimes come under attack in Bolivia.

Recognizing the danger, the Arica members prayed for safety, then traveled to the temple without incident, said Elder M. Gonzalo Sepúlveda, an Area Seventy in Chile. “It’s obvious that people are thirsty to attend the temple again,” Elder Sepúlveda said.

After undergoing extensive refurbishing, the Santiago Chile Temple was to be rededicated on February 26, 2006, to once again serve more than 535,000 Latter-day Saints in 106 stakes and districts in Chile and Argentina.

The Santiago Chile Temple was originally dedicated in 1983 as the 24th operating temple of the Church by President Gordon B. Hinckley, then a counselor in the First Presidency.

Besides being enlarged, the temple also underwent improvements to its exterior. The temple baptistry was renovated and a new font, supported by a dozen sculpted oxen, was installed, Elder Sepúlveda said.

While the Arica members traveled to Bolivia for temple worship, other Chilean members made excursions to the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple. Thousands of other faithful Chileans simply crossed off the days and prepared for their temple to once again open its doors.

“When we learned that the temple would be closed for remodeling, we suggested to the Chilean members that this would be a great opportunity to remodel our own lives in harmony with the principles of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Elder Francisco J. Viñas of the Seventy, President of the Chile Area.

Even as Chilean members prepared for the time when they could return to the temple, they also used the rededication of the Santiago Chile Temple as a vehicle to share the gospel with others. Elder Sepúlveda said many brought friends and relatives to the temple’s open house, which began on January 26, 2006. Church public affairs officials in Chile worked with local media to gain attention for the temple.

A Chilean cultural celebration was planned at a 14,000-seat stadium in Santiago on February 25, 2006, a day before the dedication ceremony. Two dedicatory sessions were scheduled to accommodate Latter-day Saints in the area who will be served by the temple. [The celebration was held March 11, 2006, and the temple was dedicated March 12.]

Adapted from Church News, December 3, 2005.

Workers remodel the interior of the Santiago temple. (Photograph courtesy of Chile Area.)

Extensive remodeling of the Santiago Chile Temple was completed before the temple’s dedication in March. (Photograph courtesy of Chile Area.)