Asunción Paraguay Temple

The Asunción Paraguay Temple is the 112th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

On April 2, 2000 an announcement was made that the Mormon Church was planning to build a temple in Paraguay. Although there were already eleven other dedicated temples in South America, the Asunción Temple was the first temple to be built in Paraguay. The Asunción Temple will serve more than 68,000 members in the area.

In 1949 Paraguay was officially opened to Mormon missionaries under the mission headquartered in Uruguay. In 1977 Paraguay became its own mission area and soon after converts to the Mormon Church began to increase. The average number of baptisms per year in Paraguay up to that time had been just over 200. In the year following the announcement 400 people were baptized into the Church. Currently, there are approximately more than 152,000 Mormon members in Paraguay.

On February 3, 2001 the site for the Asunción Paraguay Temple was dedicated and a groundbreaking ceremony was held. Despite it being a rainy, cloudy day, many members came to be a part of the building of the temple. An open house was held Saturday May 4-11, 2002. This allowed Mormons and those not of the Mormon faith to see the inside of the temple and learn more about what takes place inside. On Sunday May 19, 2002 four dedicatory sessions were held allowing all those members who wanted to attend the opportunity to be present at the dedication of the temple. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley gave the dedicatory prayer.

The Asunción Paraguay Temple has a total of 10,700 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms.

ee also

* List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
* List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by geographic region
* Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
* Temple architecture (Latter-day Saints)

External links

* [http://www.lds.org/temples/main/0,11204,1912-1-153-0,00.html Official LDS Asunción Paraguay Temple page]
* [http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/asuncion/ Asunción Paraguay Temple page]
* [http://www.lds.org/ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] - Official Site
* [http://www.mormon.org/ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints] - Visitors Site
* [http://www.lightplanet.com/mormons/temples Mormon Temples] - Lightplanet
* [http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/2671/ECLDSEn.html Early Christianity and Mormonism: The LDS Temple Endowment: An Introduction]