Announced: Jan. 13, 1995.
Location: Rua Dr. Jose de Goes 284; Parnamirim 52.060-380 Recife – PE, Brazil; phone: (55) 81-32674300.
Site: 5.59 acres.
Exterior finish: Asa Branca granite from state of Ceara.
Temple design: Classic modern.
Architects: J&P Arquitetos Ltd. and Church A&E Services.
Project manager: Raul Lins.
Contractor: Hochtief do Brasil SA.
Rooms: Celestial room, baptistry, two ordinance rooms and three sealing rooms.
Total floor area: 37,200 square feet.
Dimensions: 114 feet by 158 feet.
District: 39 stakes and five districts in northern Brazil.
Groundbreaking, site dedication: Nov. 15, 1996, by President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Dedication: Dec. 15, 2000, by President Gordon B. Hinckley; 4 sessions.
Dedicatory Prayer
Done by President Gordon B. Hinckley
We are met to dedicate this beautiful temple which has been erected in honor to Thee and Thy Beloved Son, our Redeemer. Our hearts are full on this occasion for which we have longed and prayed.
We are grateful to have in our midst a House of the Lord to which we may come frequently and with convenience. We thank Thee, Father, for this wonderful blessing.
And now, acting in the authority of the holy priesthood, that priesthood which is Thine, we dedicate this the Recife Brazil Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, unto Thee and to Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, as Thy holy house.
We dedicate this beautiful site, the ground on which Thy temple stands with its trees and shrubs, grass and flowers. May they beautify this stately structure that it may be appreciated by the millions who pass this way.
We dedicate this sacred building from the footings to the crowning figure of Moroni. We dedicate the walls and windows, the roof, the offices and corridors, and the mechanical equipment. We dedicate the Baptistry, the ordinance rooms, the beautiful Celestial Room, the sealing rooms with their sacred altars, and every other facility found in this Thy house.
We ask that Thou wilt accept it as the offering of our hands and our hearts. We pray that Thou wilt be pleased to honor it with Thy presence. May Thy Holy Spirit abide here at all times, and may it ever remain hallowed and sanctified unto Thee.
May no hand with evil intent desecrate it in any way. May all who pass by look upon it with respect, even with reverence. May all who enter be clean of hand and heart and worthy in every respect. May it stand secure against the storms of nature and be kept inviolate from evil of every kind.
May this sacred edifice be an inspiration to all who serve here, be they workers or patrons. May it represent to them the holiest of all things holy; and may the work they accomplish here be sacred and divine unto them. May they know they are in the service of the Master in that which they do in behalf of others.
Now, dear Father, we invoke Thy blessings upon the temple presidency, the matron and her assistants, the recorder, and all who serve here in any capacity. Grant them strength and vitality and dedicated hearts as they strive to move Thy work forward. May Thy people in this temple district be motivated to qualify themselves to come to Thy house and be worthy of the blessings here to be gained.
Smile with favor upon this great nation of Brazil where Thy work has grown in a remarkable and wonderful way. Prosper its economy. May peace prevail throughout the land. May Thy messengers, the missionaries, be welcomed here; and may their labors be exceedingly fruitful.
Thou great Elohim, we pray “That thy church [in all the earth] may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners; And be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens, and cause the mountains to flow down at thy presence, and the valleys to be exalted, the rough places made smooth; that thy glory may fill the earth” (D&C 109:73-74).
We thank Thee for Thy great prophet of this dispensation, even Joseph Smith, through whom Thou hast revealed the ordinances of Thy house. These ordinances are eternal in their nature. They bless not only those who receive them in their own behalf, but also the eternal lives of the vast number of Thy children beyond the veil of death.
Bless those who have been called to direct Thy work throughout the earth in our time. Strengthen them for their duties. Shield them from the darts of evil and designing men. Bless them to stand strong against the powers of the adversary. Crown their labors with that satisfaction which comes of witnessing the growth and strengthening of Thy work.
And now, on this day of dedication, we rededicate ourselves and all that we have and are to the advancement of Thy work and the building of Thy kingdom; and do it in the sacred name of Thine Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Excitement grows, as work on new temple in Recife, Brazil, progresses
As site work on the Recife Brazil Temple progresses, excitement among the members is growing, said Elder W. Craig Zwick of the Seventy and president of the Brazil Area.
“It is very satisfying to see the spiritual interest of an entire community being generated by the construction of the new temple in Recife,” said Elder Zwick. “This significant project has had a very positive impact upon our retention and activation efforts.”He said the project is ahead of schedule and is anticipated to be completed before the turn of the century. “The piling work is under way. The foundation system and site work are progressing well while the final working drawings are being completed. This accelerated approach will ensure an earlier-than-normal completion and has helped us avoid untimely construction shutdowns due to heavy seasonal rain,” Elder Zwick noted.
The exterior of the medium-sized temple will be of a natural Brazilian white stone. The temple will have two ordinance rooms and three sealing rooms, and is designed for “ease of expansion,” Elder Zwick said. It also has a patron housing facility located on the site.
He said the temple site is easily visible because an elevated highway passes the property, giving a vantage point for all passersby.
The temple district will include eight missions, including the newly announced Joao Pessoa mission, and 47 stakes and 13 districts.
“This is a very rapidly growing part of Brazil where the gospel is really blessing lives in ways that have an amazing impact,” Elder Zwick continued. “Recife is an area of incredible natural beauty, and the beautiful people who live there are understanding the eternal values of a temple.
“Those members in that area frequently travel by bus caravan to
the temple inT Sao Paulo. It takes them more than 50 hours of travel on the highway to get here.” Elder Zwick said that after they arrive, they spend several days working in the temple.
The temple in Recife “is going to bless lives and the missionary work will be greatly enhanced by it,” Elder Zwick explained. He also said the family history centers in the stakes in Recife have stepped up family research work. “We see the results of that in the work that is being done in the Sao Paulo Temple right now.”
Elder Cleto Oliveira, Area Authority Seventy and vice chairman of the temple committee, said the members are grateful and very happy to see the start of a temple in Recife.
“Since the groundbreaking ceremony,” he said, “anyone who passes slows down to look with interest at the temple. Because the temple is in a place where many cars pass, it is now easier for members to talk about the temple. People ask questions. Even those building the temple are interested in what the Church is doing.
“The temple has provided something for the missionaries to talk about as they knock on doors.”
Distant members in north Brazil ‘closer to heaven’
By Fernando Assis
Brazil public affairs director
In a day of emotion and joy for those present, the Recife Brazil Temple was dedicated Dec. 15, 2000, by President Gordon B. Hinckley. Twenty-two years after the dedication of Brazil’s first temple, the second temple here was dedicated, in four sessions, as the 101st of the Church, presided over by President Hinckley.
He was accompanied by his wife, Marjorie, and President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency. Also at the dedication were Elder Claudio R.M. Costa of the Seventy, president of the Brazil North Area, and his counselors, Elders Robert S. Wood and Darwin B. Christenson of the Seventy and their wives.
Even in a heavy downpour of rain, more than 7,100 members from throughout northern Brazil attended. While participating at the cornerstone ceremony, President Hinckley thanked the children, teenagers and adults for braving heavy rains to attend; some 100 youth sang at the ceremony.
The new temple serves members in north and northeast Brazil, some of whom had made the 72-hour trip to the temple in Sao Paulo. One of these, Ana Maria Agra de Oliveira of Recife, commented: “Now I live closer to heaven.” She was among members attending from such northern cities as Fortaleza, Maceio, Salvador and Natal.
“It was an unforgettable day,” said Ivete Soares, a member of the Milton Jr. and Irene Bandeira Soares family, the first family to be baptized in Recife. Their son, Elder Iraja Soares, is an Area Authority Seventy.
Also in attendance was the missionary who help baptize this family, Elder Stanley W. Dunn. Elder Dunn and his senior companion, Elder Michael W. Norton, opened the work in northern Brazil in 1960. In addition to Elder Dunn were many other returned missionaries who served in Recife. They came from many cities in Brazil and from the United States.
“We love these people,” said Samuel Dahlin, who served in the Recife mission from 1992-1994. “We rejoice in the knowledge that now there is a temple in our own [mission] city.”
The first missionaries soon started meetings that were attended by a small congregation. The meetings were held in the suburb of Cabanga. Several months later, the congregation was visited by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith of the Quorum of the Twelve.
In the past 40 years, the Church has grown from that small congregation to 30,000 members in Recife and 230,000 in northern Brazil, which suggests that the Church was established in a solid and consistent manner following the arrival of the missionaries four decades ago.
The temple is located on property that had a high water table, so other prospective buyers were not interested in it, according to agents who bought and sold land in the area. The land seemed to be hidden to everyone until the Church purchased it and started construction of the temple. To prepare the soft land for construction, more than 1,000 pilings, which in Brazil are called stakes, were driven to stabilize the land. The stakes supporting the temple have become a metaphor to the local stakes of the Church.
“Now I understand why the temple has to be supported by stakes,” said President Francisco D. Granja of the Recife Brazil Stake. “These [construction] stakes are a reminder to the members in the surrounding stakes — who will do the majority of the work — that it is necessary to have strong Church stakes so the temple can function. “
A large number of people attended the three-week temple open house, including media representatives from three television stations and two newspapers, who were personally hosted by Elder Costa. A prominent national magazine also published information about the temple before the open house began. Interest in the temple increased as the open house progressed so that more than 16,000 people visited the temple on the final day.
One visitor, a prominent economist, summed up the feelings of many: “The temple is something majestic, yet it is filled with simplicity and peace.”
