When Silvano Roberto García was a child, his family made trips “with faith and sacrifice” to travel from their home in Nicaragua to the Mesa Arizona Temple in the United States. Later, they would go to the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple.
“Many families had to make great sacrifices to travel [to the temple],” he said.
On Saturday, Nov. 26, García — a pioneer for the Church in his country and a member of the Managua Nicaragua Bello Horizonte Stake — shared his feelings and joy at the groundbreaking of the new Managua Nicaragua Temple, reported the Church’s Nicaragua Newsroom.
“This occasion, this ceremony, is fulfilling the dreams and prayers of thousands of Latter-day Saints here in Nicaragua,” he said.
Elder Taylor G. Godoy, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Central America Area presidency, presided over the ceremony.
In the dedicatory prayer, Elder Godoy thanked Heavenly Father for “the wonders of Thy creation and for the infinite mercies and blessings that Thou hast allowed to be poured out on us.”
“Bless the members of the Church in this wonderful country, so that at the same time that the temple is built, they can build and strengthen their testimonies of the Savior Jesus Christ with the resolution to be His disciples forever,” he said.
Nicaragua has more than 101,000 Latter-day Saints in 12 stakes and two missions. The country’s first temple was announced by President Russell M. Nelson in April 2018 general conference.
The plans released in October call for a single-story temple of approximately 25,000 square feet. The temple will be built on a 8.9-acre site located off of Carretera Masaya near Residencial Las Colinas in southeast Managua.
Open house dates for tours to the general public will be announced when construction is complete. The dedication date will also be announced at a later date.
At the groundbreaking, a youth choir sang the Hymn “O My Father,” and Jennifer López, a young woman from Managua, bore her testimony and expressed gratitude for God’s great love for His children.
“This temple is a great blessing to live sacred experiences,” she said. “My parents have taught me to stay true to the covenants I have made with my Heavenly Father, and I have been blessed.”
Elder Godoy urged members to conduct themselves as “citizens of heaven,” and one of the ways to do that is through attending the holy temple.
“Outside the temple there will be a very large sign that will say ‘Holiness to the Lord.’ The temples are a representation of what we try to be as people, Latter-day Saints, trying to align our way of living to what the life of the Savior was,” Elder Godoy said.
