BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil — Less than 48 hours before the dedication of the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple, small groups of local members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered outside the new house of the Lord Friday afternoon, Aug. 14, speaking in anticipation of Church President Dallin H. Oaks being here to dedicate the temple.
Many Latter-day Saints worldwide might be wondering why the Prophet would assign himself to dedicate the Belo Horizonte temple — his first international temple dedication and his first international ministry as President of the Church.
Brazil is home to 1.5 million members, which along with Mexico, represents the largest memberships outside of the United States. But Belo Horizonte and the inland southeastern Brazil state of Minas Gerais are relatively unknown beyond the South American nation, without the name recognition of the likes of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Recife and other coastal destinations in Brazil.
However, longtime Latter-day Saints in Belo Horizonte — the city’s name meaning “Beautiful Horizon” in Portuguese — see President Oaks’ dedication as a homecoming of sorts. And those outside the new temple Friday afternoon were relating among themselves the times he has been in the city in decades past as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, participating in stake conferences, leadership training and even in-home visits.
“This is the first time a prophet has come to our state,” said Alessandra Myrrha, who is serving with her husband, Rodrigo Myrrha, as co-chairs of the temple open house and dedication committee. “The fact that he personally planned to come and perform the dedication makes us deeply feel his love. He must have fond memories of his previous visits.”
Prophet’s teachings across the temple district
President Oaks has arrived to dedicate the Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple on Sunday, Aug. 16. The event will be his second time dedicating a new house of the Lord in his 10-month administration, his first dedication of an international temple during that period and his first international ministry since being set apart and announced as President of the Church on Oct. 14, 2025.
Few Latter-day Saints here will actually see President Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks, in person. The pair’s only public appearance will be Sunday’s 10 a.m. dedicatory session in the temple, and attendance for that is limited by special ticketing to some 200 local Church leaders and members.
However, Latter-day Saints throughout much of Minas Gerais and the neighboring state of Espírito Santo will be watching and listening to President Oaks as the dedicatory session is transmitted live to meetinghouses throughout the temple district and then rebroadcast again later that afternoon. Attendance at the dedicatory broadcasts is available to active Latter-day Saints ages 8 and older who obtained a special dedication-session pass from their bishops.
So, while there won’t be a large-scale public event in an arena or conference setting in Belo Horizonte like for past ministries for traveling Church presidents and apostles, Latter-day Saints throughout the temple district will know that the Prophet is among them, speaking to them of their temple and dedicating the house of the Lord where they will be making covenants and participating in temple worship and work.
“Although there are no public meetings scheduled, the people are happy to know that his ministry is for all of us — for our entire state of Minas Gerais — because he is God’s prophet not only for Church members but for non-members as well,” said Alessandra Myrrha.
And for members in the state of Espírito Santo, the dedication will be a preview of sorts, as they anticipate a new temple in coming years, with a house of the Lord announced in 2021 for the state’s coastal capital city of Vitória. Construction has yet to begin there.
A photo in 2005, a handshake in 1998
The Myrrhas stood outside the temple Friday afternoon recalling visits by then-Elder Oaks to Belo Horizonte in 2005 and 2007. In the next-to-last day before Sunday’s dedication, they were busy with others doing last-minute tasks and preparations late into the evening.
Alessandra Myrrha pulled out a snapshot from October 2005, when her husband was serving as an Area Seventy. The photo shows Elder and Sister Oaks with the Myrrha family and Elder Mervyn B. Arnold — then a General Authority Seventy who was the Church’s Brazil Area president — and his wife, Sister Devonna Arnold. The Oakses and Arnolds were in Belo Horizonte for meetings and had been welcomed by the Myrrhas to their home for dinner.
She also recalled another time following a large member meeting in Belo Horizonte when Elder Oaks — after shaking hands with many — sat down, leaned back and looked around, asking half jokingly and half seriously if there weren’t more members he could greet and shake their hands.
She knows that as committee co-chairs, the Myrrhas have a good chance to meet again with President and Sister Oaks either before or after the dedication and shake their hands. “I certainly hope so,” she said of possibly reconnecting with the Prophet and his wife.
Lafaiete Brazil Stake President Julio Prado had driven from his home in Conselheiro Lafaiete — about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of Belo Horizonte — to the temple to pick up tickets to attend Sunday’s dedication.
He spoke of his conversion to the gospel as a 15-year-old, when his mother and sister wanted to step away from lessons with the missionaries. The elders instead cornered him, and he agreed to listen. Their brief message on the plan of salvation touched him to where he learned more and was eventually baptized, with other family members following later.
The following year, in 1998, the 16-year-old Prado happened to step into a Belo Horizonte meetinghouse where then-Elder Oaks had been in a meeting with member couples. “I saw him,” President Prado recalled. “I met him. I shook his hand. It was amazing.”
And what was his feeling when he learned from the announcement earlier this week that President Oaks is coming back to Belo Horizonte for the temple dedication? “My wife is still crying — we’ll probably all be weeping in there Sunday,” he said, pointing to the temple. “It gave me goose bumps — just like I’m feeling now.”
What others are saying
Other Church members and leaders elsewhere in Belo Horizonte and Minas Gerais state shared with the Church News their thoughts and feelings about President Oaks coming for the dedication.
Elder Pierre Portes, the Area Seventy who leads the stake presidents composing the local coordinating council, said having the Prophet in Belo Horizonte will be “a crowning moment to this very anticipated weekend — one no one will ever forget, especially for the rising generation to have the opportunity to listen to a living Prophet speak in their city. I’m confident this weekend will live on in generations to come.”
“There is no better place to be taught by a prophet than in the house of the Lord,” he continued. “So having President Oaks at the dedication will really connect the members to the Lord Jesus Christ and the covenants available in the temple.”
President Adriano Fernandes of the Brazil Belo Horizonte Mission emphasized the local importance of President Oaks being with the Latter-day Saints in Belo Horizonte and the state of Minas Gerais.
“The Savior loves the Mineiros people in such a way that He has assigned His Prophet to dedicate His house at this very moment in order to fulfill the hundreds of thousands of prayers through the years to have this magical moment in Belo Horizonte.”
He called the Sunday broadcasts of the dedication and President Oaks’ message “an enormous blessing through technology” to reach all members within the temple district and “make available the word of God through His Prophet.”
Sister Lú Fernandes, his wife and mission leader companion, added: “Even the children from 8 years old [and older] will have the chance to participate in this unique moment of gathering the Saints in this temple district.”
President Daniel J. Ribeiro, president of the Belo Horizonte Brazil West Stake, underscored the visit by the Prophet, calling it “a unique and special moment.”
“We know of no other occasion when the President of the Church has visited Minas Gerais, which makes this experience even more meaningful for the members.”
His wife, Gardênia Ribeiro, said news of President Oaks’ visit and upcoming temple dedication was received by the Ribeiro family “with great joy and anticipation.”
“We are all eager to hear the dedicatory prayer for the Belo Horizonte Temple as well as the Prophet’s instructions and counsel for the members of the temple district,” she said. “It is a feeling that blends anticipation, reverence and profound joy.”
