Maracaibo Venezuela Temple Wiki

Quick Facts

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Description

At the time of the announcement, Venezuela was home to more than 175,000 Latter-day Saints spread over 230 congregations.

History

In the early 1960s, U.S. expatriates working in Venezuela held Church meetings in their homes until 1966 when the first official congregation was organized. The first Venezuelan Latter-day Saint was baptized in 1967.

At a special fireside held August 3, 1999, President Gordon B. Hinckley addressed approximately 5,000 Venezuelan members who had gathered in the city of Maracaibo to hear the prophet of the Lord. He encouraged members in their missionary work, noting that as membership increases, so does the possibility of new temples in the land. He foresaw the growth of the Church in South America declaring, “Where there are now hundreds of thousands, there will be millions and our people will be recognized for the goodness of their lives and they will be respected and honored and upheld. We shall build meetinghouses, more and more of them to accommodate their needs, and we shall build temples in which they may receive their sacred ordinances and extend those blessings to those who have gone beyond the veil of death.”

President Hinckley pointed out the construction of the temple in Caracas, an eight-hour drive from Maracaibo. “You really need a temple over here,” he said. “I am not making any promises, but I feel satisfied the time will come when we will have a temple in this part of Venezuela. Make your plans to drive that eight hours to Caracas and eight hours back and then look forward to the time when you won’t have to drive so far.”^[1]”Pres. Hinckley urges more missionary effort in Venezuela,” Church News 14 Aug. 1999, 27 Aug. 2010 https://www.thechurchnews.com/archive/1999-08-14/pres-hinckley-urges-more-missionary-effort-in-venezuela-16135.

Announcement

Dedicated

Dedication Order

It will be the second in the country. The Caracas Venezuela Temple was dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley in 2000.

Region

TEMPLES IN SOUTH AMERICA _{by country}

Argentina	7	Bahía Blanca · Buenos Aires Argentina · Buenos Aires City Center · Córdoba · Mendoza · Rosario · Salta
Bolivia	3	Cochabamba · La Paz · Santa Cruz
Brazil	23	Belém · Belo Horizonte · Brasília · Campinas · Curitiba · Florianópolis · Fortaleza · Goiânia · João Pessoa · Londrina · Maceió · Manaus · Natal · Porto Alegre · Recife · Ribeirão Preto · Rio de Janeiro · Salvador · Santos · São Paulo · São Paulo East · Teresina · Vitória
Chile	5	Antofagasta · Concepción · Santiago · Santiago West · Viña del Mar
Colombia	3	Barranquilla · Bogotá · Cali
Equador	2	Guayaquil · Quito
Paraguay	1	Asunción
Peru	9	Arequipa · Chiclayo · Cusco · Huancayo · Iquitos · Lima · Lima Los Olivos · Piura · Trujillo
Uruguay	1	Montevideo
Venezuela	2	Caracas · Maricaibo

Sources and Citations

See Also