The doors have opened to the new Cobán Guatemala Temple, the third house of the Lord of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Central American nation.
The Cobán temple began its formal introduction to the public with a media day Monday, April 22, as four General Authority Seventies — the three members of the Church’s Central America Area presidency and an assistant executive director of the Temple Department — welcomed media representatives to a news briefing prior to taking them on a tour of the sacred edifice.
Elder Taylor G. Godoy, area president, was joined by his counselors, Elder Patricio M. Giuffra and Elder Ryan K. Olsen, as well as Elder Juan Pablo Villar of the Temple Department for Monday’s event.
In conjunction with the media day, the Church released interior and exterior images of the Cobán temple as well as additional information on the sacred edifice Monday morning on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Cobán temple milestones
Following Monday’s media day activities, invited guests will visit the temple prior to its public open house, which will run from Thursday, April 25, 2024, through Saturday, May 11, excluding Sundays.
Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the Cobán Guatemala Temple on Sunday, June 9, in two sessions, scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local time. The sessions will be broadcast to all units within the temple district.
The Cobán temple will become the Church’s 193rd operating house of the Lord. The Church of Jesus Christ has 350 total temples worldwide that are dedicated, under construction, or announced and in planning.
President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Cobán during the women’s session of the 2019 October general conference, one of eight locations he identified then for new houses of the Lord. The Cobán temple’s exterior rendering was released on May 25, 2020.
Elder Brian K. Taylor, a General Authority Seventy who was then president of the Central America Area, presided at the Nov. 14, 2020, groundbreaking for the temple, held just days after Hurricane Eta had hit Guatemala and other parts of Central America, resulting in the loss of more than 100 lives.
A closer look at the Cobán temple
A single-story edifice of approximately 8,800 square feet, the Cobán temple is on a 5.4-acre site adjacent to 4a. Avenida 4-48 Zona 8, Barrio Bella Vista, in Cobán, Guatemala. The property also includes a meetinghouse and temple patron housing.
The architecture and appearance reflect the Spanish Colonial style common for religious and government buildings in the area, with the design motifs reflecting the patterns typical of the Cobán area textiles.
The building is constructed with cast-in-place concrete walls and roof, with an exterior finish of stucco and granite accents along the roofline, foundation and exterior doors.
Inside, the flooring features decorative wool area rugs in main rooms, entries and corridors, complemented by stone flooring using crema marfil marble with emperador claro and rojo alicante for accents.
The art-glass design is based on the geometric textile motifs, which are also found in the area rugs, banding on lighting fixtures and furniture carvings. The millwork features Guatemalan mahogany.
The Church in Guatemala
The first recorded Latter-day Saint in Guatemala was John Forres O’Donnal, who arrived in 1942 on assignment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After World War II ended, O’Donnal wrote to Church President George Albert Smith requesting that missionaries be sent to that country.
Missionaries arrived in September 1947; O’Donnal’s wife, Carmen Galvez O’Donnal, was the first Guatemalan to be baptized. In the mid-1950s, missionaries began studying and learning the local Mayan languages.
By 1962, Guatemala was home to some 10,000 Latter-day Saints in the cities and throughout the highlands. The country’s first stake was organized in 1967 in Guatemala City, the capital city.
At that time, the closest house of the Lord for Church members to do temple work was the Mesa Arizona Temple, 1,850 miles to the northwest — requiring Guatemalan Latter-day Saints to cross Mexico lengthwise from south to north and well into the United States’ Southwest.
In 1984, Guatemala’s first house of the Lord was dedicated — the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple. It was followed by the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple, dedicated in 2011. The new house of the Lord in Cobán will be the country’s third operating temple.
A fourth — the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple — has been under construction since its December 2022 groundbreaking. A temple in Huehuetenango has its site publicly announced, and another in Retalhuleu is in planning.
Today, more than 290,000 Latter-day Saints in nearly 440 congregations reside in Guatemala.
Cobán Guatemala Temple
Address: 4a. Avenida 4-48 Zona 8 Barrio Bella Vista, Cobán, Guatemala
Announced: Oct. 5, 2019, by President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: Nov. 14, 2020, by Elder Brian K. Taylor, a General Authority Seventy and then president of the Central America Area
Public open house: Thursday, April 25, 2024, through Saturday, May 11, 2024, excluding Sundays
To be dedicated: Sunday, June 9, 2024, by Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Property size: 2.1 acres
Building size: 8,772 square feet
Building height: 80 feet to the top of the spire