Postponements and delays didn’t dampen the spirit of the Saturday, April 8, groundbreaking services for the Port Vila Vanuatu Temple, with leaders and members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints joined by the president and prime minister of the South Pacific island nation and other local dignitaries.
Elder K. Brett Nattress, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Church’s Pacific Area, presided at the event, signaling the start of construction for the temple in Port Vila, the capital city of the archipelago of 13 principal islands west of Fiji and some 70 smaller ones.
Attending and joining Elder Nattress and his wife, Sister Shawna Nattress, in a ceremonial turning of the first shovelfuls of dirt were Vanuato’s president, Nikenike Vurobaravu; his wife, Rima Vurobaravu; Vanuatu’s prime minister, Altoi Ismael Kalsakau; and his wife, Ellene Kalsakau, reported the Church’s Pacific Newsroom.
The groundbreaking for the temple, originally scheduled for March 4, was postponed following cyclones that hit the island nation the week of the scheduled event. The April 8 ceremony — announced on March 27 — came with its own late delays for flights for Elder Nattress and others coming into Vanuatu, pushing the morning services to late afternoon.
‘Upon the isles of the sea’
In his remarks, Elder Nattress read a verse from the Book of Mormon: “Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?” (2 Nephi 29:7).
Said Elder Nattress: “The Vanuatu temple is evidence of God’s promise. God remembers His children.”
He also related the First Vision of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appearing to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove. “I know God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ visited this young boy. They told Joseph that through him the gospel of Jesus Christ would be restored,” Elder Nattress said. “I testify that in connection with this Restoration, Jesus Christ’s priesthood authority has been restored and temples are now built in His name.”
In his prayer dedicating the site and the construction process, Elder Nattress prayed for protection for the Latter-day Saints and their families — particularly the youth and children comprising the rising generation — that they will draw strength from the Lord’s holy house. He asked that their “thoughts, their hearts and their eyes will look upward to God, for guidance and direction; that they will lay hold upon the prophetic blessings promised to those who faithfully search out their ancestors to bless them with the ordinances of salvation and exaltation.”
He also prayed for the youth to “be steadfast and immovable in their faith in Jesus Christ; that they will serve their fellowmen with joy.”
Guests were invited to turn the soil to mark the start of the temple’s construction, which will begin next month. The Church’s Pacific Newsroom included a video link to the groundbreaking ceremony.
Temple announcement and details
President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Port Vila, Vanuatu, on Oct. 4, 2020, during October 2020 general conference.
On May 19, 2021, the Church announced the temple’s site location and exterior rendering. A single-story, 10,000-square-foot building with a center spire will be built on the 1.62-acre site at Port Vila’s Blacksands Crossroads, where a Church meetinghouse is located. Plans call for the construction of an ancillary building, which will include an arrival center, patron housing and distribution center.
Vanuatu is home to more than 11,000 Latter-day Saints, one stake, three districts and 37 congregations. With a national population of a little more than 300,000, one out of every 28 island residents is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ.
The island nation is currently part of the Suva Fiji Temple district. But that temple is more than 660 miles away (more than 1,070 kilometers), due east across the Pacific Ocean.
A branch in Port Vila was first organized in July 1973, with missionary work beginning the following year after several Latter-day Saint families moved there from Tonga. The first full-time missionaries arrived in January 1975.
What they’re saying
Comments published by Pacific Newsroom from Latter-day Saints attending the groundbreaking ceremony included:
Lionel Patterson Lui: “I loved seeing our Prime Minister and President turn the soil. It was a great day. I felt the Spirit and joy, and I can just imagine Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ smiling. 2 Nephi 29:7 tells us that Heavenly Father remembers those who are on the islands of the sea. I am grateful that He remembers His children and is blessing us with a temple.”
Sandrina Yunack: “When Elder Nattress was offering the dedication prayer, I felt the Spirit and the presence of Heavenly Father. I felt like I was already in the holy temple. I truly know this is the place that Heavenly Father has blessed for the temple to be.”
Rose Vano: “The temple is a big blessing to me and my family because it represents the presence of Heavenly Father and His love for us.”
May Hilliman: “Without the temple, we don’t know who we are. We learn in the temple who we are and where we come from and where we will go.”
Preston Thomas: “The temple teaches us the plan of salvation so we can prepare for God’s Kingdom. We are saving our money to go to the Fiji temple as soon as we can, because we want our family to be sealed. We will be ready for our own temple, and we won’t have to go so far away.”
Asha Boehula: “My name, Asha, means hope. A temple also means hope. It means that I don’t have to travel so very far to be in heaven on earth. Even though we live in Santo Island, we will come to the temple often. We want to come more often. I want my family to understand and experience the blessings of the temple, the blessings of eternity and the blessing of finding peace. There is a sacred feeling in the temple that you can’t get anywhere else.”
