Dedication of the Mérida Mexico Temple
The groundbreaking of the Mérida Mexico Temple was attended by around 550 people. Elder Carl B. Pratt, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Mexico South Area, presided at the groundbreaking. At the ceremony, Elder Pratt said, “We want to establish a culture of temple attendance. From sacrifice comes blessings. I know that the construction of this temple will add to the strength of the home; it will add to the love of husbands and wives; it will add to the peace in the Yucatán Peninsula.”
Church members in the Yucatán Peninsula would travel many days at great sacrifice in order to attend the house of the Lord. José Andrés Parra, a local member, recounted the sacrifice involved with attending the temple. “Sometimes it would take four days to travel to the temple, then we would spend four days in the temple, then another four days to return to our homes.”
The four-day journey to the house of the Lord not only was a sacrifice of time and money, but there also was great risk that came during the travels. During one trip, the bus that the members had rented tumbled into a gully along the highway. Nobody was severely injured, but outside of the bus were three men who apparently had planned to rob the bus as it passed by. After the accident, the three men simply walked away.
After the Mérida temple was dedicated July 8, 2000, by President Thomas S. Monson —first counselor in the First Presidency — the access for local Saints made it possible for regular temple attendance. “Now the Lord has a house in Yucatán. Now we have a place here to find His comfort,” said local member Deborah de Ortiz.
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “May we ever carry in our hearts a great sense of gratitude for its presence in this, our land and city. May we make ourselves worthy to come to Thy house, to engage in those holy ordinances which will here be administered. May we be tireless in our efforts to bring these blessings unto ourselves and unto our families, and then go forward, standing for those who have gone beyond in extending to them the sacred ordinances of Thy divine gospel.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Mérida Mexico Temple here.
Timeline of the Mérida Mexico Temple
The Mérida Mexico Temple was announced by the First Presidency on Sept. 25, 1998. The groundbreaking ceremony was held on Jan. 16, 1999, with Elder Carl B. Pratt presiding. The open house was held from June 24 to July 1, 2000. On July 8, 2000, President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the house of the Lord.
Architecture and Design of the Mérida Mexico Temple
The 10,700-square-foot temple is clad in Blanco Guardiano white marble from Torreón, Mexico, and stands on a 1.53-acre plot. Inside the single-spired house of the Lord is a celestial room, a baptistry, two instruction rooms and two sealing rooms.