1986 Dedication of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple
When Frederick S. Williams came to Argentina as a missionary in the late 1920s, the country had only 11 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There was just one mission in the region back then, with the boundaries encompassing the whole of South America. This mission — the South American Mission — was divided in 1935 into the Argentine and Brazilian missions, and Williams was called to serve as the Argentine Mission’s president from 1938 to 1942 — starting with only 45 missionaries.
“How missionary work has progressed,” Williams reminisced at the dedication of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple in 1986. “We said someday there would be a temple here, but no one thought it would be during our lifetime.” Before the dedication, he and former missionaries held a special reunion to celebrate how far the country’s Saints had come in gathering Israel — now possible for Argentina on both sides of the veil.
When the Buenos Aires temple was dedicated, its temple district comprised 162,500 Latter-day Saints in 40 stakes.
From Jan. 17-19, 1986, President Thomas S. Monson — second counselor in the First Presidency — dedicated the Buenos Aires temple, Argentina’s first, in 11 sessions. Around 9,630 Saints attended a dedicatory session, including 400 who came by bus from Uruguay and a handful who came from Paraguay.
“We are dedicating a monument to resurrection and exaltation of the human family,” he said at the ceremony. “If the outside knew about what was happening here, the cars would stop, planes would not take off, and people would gather to see what the Lord hath wrought. This work we have a part in. It is cause for great rejoicing.”
Church leaders accompanying President Monson included Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Robert L. Simpson, a General Authority Seventy and managing director of the Church’s Temple Department. Members of the South America South Area presidency were also in attendance: Elders J. Thomas Fyans, Spencer H. Osborn and Waldo P. Call.
Maria Victoria Chiapparino Abrea, the Buenos Aires temple’s first matron, said, “I hope that after the fervor of the dedication has passed, you will continue to come to the temple. We hope the temple is always full.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We are grateful for this long-awaited time when Thy house has been completed. The sacrifice of the Saints through the years of patient waiting and constant striving has helped bring to fulfillment this glorious day of dedication. Let peace prevail as we lift our voices in songs of praise and words of prayer for Thy beneficent blessings unto us.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple here.
2012 Rededication of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple
In 1986, President Monson said at the original dedication of the Buenos Aires temple that “the temple is not like a China doll to be placed on a shelf; the Lord wants it to be well used.” Members in the temple district faithfully and joyfully heeded the invitation. With an increase in the building’s usage by faithful Saints for almost 24 years, the temple needed to be renovated to nearly double the floor area.
The structure’s closure in November 2009 prevented Argentine Saints from attending a local temple for almost three years. So, when the edifice finally reopened in September 2012, “There [was] so much enthusiasm to return to the house of the Lord,” said Temple President Carlos Fernández.
The Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was rededicated in three sessions on Sept. 9, 2012, by President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency.
President Eyring was accompanied by Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as well as Elder William R. Walker, executive director of the Church's Temple Department. Members of the South America South Area Presidency were also in attendance: Elders Mervyn B. Arnold, Jorge F. Zeballos and Francisco J. Viñas.
Elder Arnold said, “Many thousands of the Saints in Argentina have not been able to visit a temple for three years during the time that the Buenos Aires temple was being renovated — traveling to Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia or Chile [was impossible] with their limited budgets. How grateful the Saints are that once again they will have that privilege”
With the reopening of the Buenos Aires temple, Saints in Argentina could continue to perform sacred ordinances for themselves and their deceased loved ones. As one member put it, “This temple will again be a blessing for this country.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We pray that all that we now dedicate to Thee will be protected against harm and human weakness. May it be a house of peace, a house of order and a house of worship, whatever tumult may surround it. And may the influence that will come from this holy place spread a sense of peace, a love of covenants, and a desire to worship Thee and so bless communities across this land and on to other nations.”
Read the rededication prayer of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple here.
Timeline of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple
The Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was announced April 2, 1980, and ground was broken for the building’s construction on April 20, 1983. After an open house from Dec. 17-24, 1985, the Buenos Aires temple was dedicated from Jan. 17-19, 1986, in 11 sessions, by President Thomas S. Monson.
The edifice underwent renovations from November 2009 to August 2012. After an open house from Aug. 4-25, 2012, the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was rededicated Sept. 9, 2012, by President Henry B. Eyring.
Architecture and Design of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple
Originally with an area of 17,687 square feet, the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was expanded to 28,299 square feet in its renovation. A row of many back-to-back arches surrounds the temple’s light-gray granite exterior. Six tall, gray spires stand around the building, and a large fountain sits in front of the entrance, in the temple’s courtyard.
Patron housing and a distribution center can be found adjacent to the temple, and the Argentina Missionary Training Center formerly operated on the site. The 3.73-acre temple grounds are adorned with benches, walking paths, grass plots and flower gardens.
Inside the temple are four instruction rooms, three sealing rooms, the baptistry and the celestial room. Anigre and makore hardwoods from Africa are used in wood trim and paneling throughout the rooms. The three colors on Argentina’s flag — blue, white and gold — can be found both in and around the building, such as in the art glass within the temple and the flowers outside.
Interior Photos of the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple
