Salta Argentina Temple Wiki

As part of a seven-temple announcement at the April 2018 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson named Salta, Argentina as the location for a future temple. The Salta Argentina Temple would be the country’s third after the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple and the Córdoba Argentina Temple. It would serve members living the Argentine Northwest who traveled to the Córdoba Argentina Temple to participate in temple services. Argentina was home to approximately 450,000 Latter-day Saints organized into over 100 stakes and districts.

Argentina Temples at the Time of Announcement

Announced

• –

Under Construction

• –

Dedicated

• Buenos Aires Argentina Temple [1986]
• Córdoba Argentina Temple [2015]

On June 5, 2020, an official exterior rendering of the Salta Argentina Temple was released.^[1]“Groundbreaking Date Further Postponed for Salta Argentina Temple.” newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org, 5 June 2020, newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreaking-date-salta-argentina-temple.

“Heavenly Father, receive our grateful hearts for this significant and special day,” prayed Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, president of the South America South Area, in his site dedicatory prayer for the Salta Argentina Temple. The prayer was uttered at the temple’s groundbreaking ceremony held on Wednesday, November 4, 2020. Due to social distancing restrictions, the number of participants was limited. Several Church and government leaders were in attendance including the governor of Salta, Gustavo Sáenz.^[5]”Ground Broken for Salta Argentina Temple,” The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, 4 Nov. 2020.

Prior to the public open house, a media day was held on Tuesday, 30 April and tours for invited guests occurred on Wednesday and Thursday, May 1 and 2.

The public was invited to tour the Salta Argentina Temple from Friday, 3 May through Saturday, 18 May excluding Sundays.

Sixty years after helping construct the first Latter-day Saint chapel in Salta, Argentina, as a full-time missionary in the mid-1960s, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Salta Argentina Temple on June 16, 2024.

Elder Christofferson was accompanied by his wife, Sister Kathy Christofferson; Bishop L. Todd Budge, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and his wife, Sister Lori Budge; Elder Alan R. Walker, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the South America South Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Inés Walker; and Elder Juan Pablo Villar, a General Authority Seventy and assistant executive director in the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Carola Villar.

While his presence at the dedication was a major homecoming for him, replete with reunions with converts he taught and other friends he made as a young missionary, Elder Christofferson focused his message on the purpose and blessings of temples — to perform sacred ordinances and make sacred covenants with God, receiving eternal blessings made possible because of the Savior, Jesus Christ.

“This temple and all latter-day temples constitute our visible, tangible testimony of the living reality of the Redeemer, since without His Atonement and Resurrection, the temple would serve no purpose,” he told the Church News.

Elder Christofferson reiterated counsel from Church President Russell M. Nelson during the April 2018 general conference that members find a quiet place — like the Prophet Joseph Smith did — to “pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father” and find answers, comfort and strength.^[6]Taylor, Scott. “Elder Christofferson Dedicates Salta Argentina Temple.” Church News, 19 Dec. 2024, www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2024/06/16/salta-argentina-temple-dedication-elder-christofferson.