More than 800 people, including Church and community leaders, gathered in Quito, Ecuador, for the groundbreaking of Ecuador’s second temple on Saturday, May 11, Newsroom reported.

Elder Enrique R. Falabella, General Authority Seventy and president of the South America Northwest Area, presided at the ceremony and dedicated the temple site.

Elder Hugo Montoya, General Authority Seventy and a counselor in the South America Northwest Area presidency, said at the groundbreaking, “As members we support each other to serve the citizens of this country. The temple will be a refuge. We should not be distressed, despite our problems. If we can be in a safe place, this place is the temple.”

The Quito Ecuador Temple will serve Latter-day Saints in Quito, Otavalo, Ambato, Santo Domingo and other areas in the region.

Ecuador’s first temple, located in Guayaquil, was dedicated in 1999, just 34 years after missionaries from the Church first began proselyting in the country. The Church’s membership in the country is now more than 248,000.

More information on the groundbreaking can be found at the Ecuador Newsroom.