Latter-day Saints and other members of the Belem, Brazil, community turned soil in a ceremony marking the groundbreaking of the Belem Brazil Temple on Saturday, Aug. 17.
Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis, General Authority Seventy and president of the Brazil Area for the Church, presided at the groundbreaking.
“The building being constructed here is in honor of the Father and (His Son) Jesus Christ,” he said, according to a Newsroom release.
During the dedicatory prayer, he said, “May the members of the Church be inspired to find solutions to the problems and challenges that arise. May the neighbors feel the spirit of the work and may (they) be happy as they pass by and may the temple contribute to the beautification of this beautiful city.”
The Belem Brazil Temple is among 11 temples in Brazil in operation, under construction or announced.
The seven temples in operation in Brazil are the Campinas, Curitiba, Fortaleza, Manaus, Porto Alegre, Recife and Sao Paulo temples. The Fortaleza Brazil Temple became the most recently dedicated temple in the Church on June 2.
The Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple groundbreaking was held on March 4, 2017, and construction is ongoing.
Other temples have also been announced for Brasilia, in April 2017 by President Thomas S. Monson, and for Salvador, in October 2018 by President Russell M. Nelson.
Read the full release on Newsroom.