SALTA, Argentina — On a bright and sunny Sunday, June 16, when Elder D. Todd Christofferson dedicated the Salta Argentina Temple as one of two newest temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the only thing warmer on the temple grounds were the feelings of friendship, fellowship, reunions and remembrances.
And all were magnified by the Spirit as Latter-day Saints joyfully and tearfully welcomed a house of the Lord in the northern Argentina city of Salta.
Sunday’s gatherings included Latter-day Saints not only from in and around Salta and the province of the same name but also from surrounding provinces in a temple district that also extends into southern Bolivia. The reunions were among local members and former full-time missionaries who had served in northern Argentina who hadn’t seen each other for decades.
That included Elder Christofferson, who served as a full-time missionary in the Argentina North Mission from 1964 to 1966. Salta was his second assigned area.
He recalled working with his missionary companions during some of their preparation days to help build the first chapel in Salta as well as returning with his mission president — President Richard G. Scott, later Elder Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles — for the dedication of that chapel in 1966.
“I never dreamed that there would be a temple here or that I would have the privilege of participating in its dedication,” Elder Christofferson told the Church News. “This temple is a testament to me that the Lord has been doing His work here for many years and that He is now hastening His work.”
Reunions and remembrances aside, Elder Christofferson underscored the purpose of the house of the Lord — to make sacred covenants with God and to perform sacred ordinances, all with eternal blessings and benefits. And all because of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
“This temple and all latter-day temples constitute our visible, tangible testimony of the living reality of the Redeemer, since without His Atonement and Resurrection, the temple would serve no purpose,” he said.
The Salta Argentina Temple was one of two temples dedicated Sunday, with Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicating the Layton Utah Temple three hours after the Salta dedication. That brings the Church’s total number of dedicated temples to 195, part of the 350 total that are dedicated, under construction or announced and in planning.
For the weekend dedication, Elder Christofferson was accompanied by his wife, Sister Kathy Christofferson; Bishop L. Todd Budge, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and his wife, Sister Lori Budge; Elder Alan R. Walker, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the South America South Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Inés Walker; and Elder Juan Pablo Villar, a General Authority Seventy and assistant executive director in the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Carola Villar.
‘A quiet place where you can regularly go’
Elder Christofferson said Latter-day Saints should examine their lives from time to time, to see if there is something unworthy to put out of one’s life or a Christlike attribute to more fully cultivate each time they prepare to enter the temple. He suggested President Russell M. Nelson’s counsel from his first address as President of the Church in April 2018 general conference:
“Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph [Smith],” President Nelson taught. “Find a quiet place where you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.”
One such quiet place when Latter-day Saints can regularly go is the temple, where they can expect to find answers and guidance while contemplating their lives, Elder Christofferson said.
“With a broken heart and a contrite spirit, we will individually receive impressions about what we need to do to present ourselves as a worthy offering to the Lord in His holy house,” the Apostle said. “We can receive peace and reassurance that the Lord is pleased with our desires and efforts to follow Him. We can receive encouragement and needed strength to continue in His path. We can receive the guidance and revelation that President Nelson spoke about.”
And he turned again to counsel from President Nelson, given in the October 2021 general conference. “I plead with you to seek — prayerfully and consistently — to understand temple covenants and ordinances,” the President of the Church said. “Spiritual doors will open. You will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you, and how better to receive direction from heaven. Your diligent efforts to do so will reinforce and strengthen your spiritual foundation.”
Years of sacrifice to attend the temple
Both Elder Walker and Elder Villar — native sons of Argentina and Chile, respectively — have served in the South America South Area presidency and know well the faith, commitment and sacrifices of the Latter-day Saints in northern Argentina.
Argentina is the second-largest country in South America, the fourth-largest in the Western Hemisphere and the eighth-largest in the world. It measures 2,360 miles (3,800 kilometers) from north to south and 884 miles (1,420 kilometers) from east to west and is just under 30% of the size of the United States.
Salta was established in the mid-16th century by Spanish explorers as a midpoint for travel and trade routes between Buenos Aires, the modern-day capital city of Argentina, and Lima, today’s capital of Peru. And yet Salta is closer in distances to the capital cities of La Paz, Bolivia; Santiago, Chile; and Asunción, Paraguay.
However, obstacles such as the looming Andes Mountains and the costs for passports, visas and such for international travel kept Latter-day Saints in northern Argentina traveling to temples in their own country.
Initially, the travel was to Buenos Aires, more than 900 miles (nearly 1,500 kilometers) away, after the Buenos Aires Argentina Temple was dedicated in 1986. And when the Córdoba Argentina Temple was dedicated in 2015, the distance was cut not quite in half — but still required traveling 10 to 15 hours by car or bus.
“With the distances involved and the poor quality of the roads and traveling by buses, it takes much longer,” Elder Walker said. “Members here over the years have done temple excursions, organized by the stakes once or twice a year, and they make large sacrifices in having to save to be able to make that trip and find the time to take a couple of days to travel.”
The temple in Salta will not only provide Latter-day Saints living across northern Argentina closer proximity for temple worship and work, but the temple district extends into southern Bolivia, including several districts and stakes there.
“It will be a blessing for those who have had to travel long distances, including those from Bolivia and the members in the Tucumán, Jujuy and Santiago provinces [of Argentina],” Elder Walker said. “All these areas are very faithful in attending the temple, having traveled to Córdoba faithfully to serve and participate in the temple. Now they’re going to be really, really blessed by having a temple here.”
Elder Villar underscored the patience and preparations of those residing in the Salta temple district. “People here have been waiting for a temple for a long time,” he said, “and I can see that they have been making efforts and doing what is in their own capacities to have this house of the Lord here now. This is a blessing for all the efforts they have made all these years to have a temple.”
He added: “I can see in the faces of the members in this area how the temple has blessed their lives — even before being dedicated, it was already blessing their lives. This is a highlight for them, a special moment to have the house of the Lord in this part of Argentina.”
Reunions and remembrances
Over the dedication weekend, Elder Christofferson acknowledged longtime friends and acquaintances from his mission service nearly 60 years ago. He was able to spend a few minutes in private conversations with members he had helped convert, members he had proselyted with, and pioneer members who have been the foundation of the Church’s growth in Salta and northern Argentina.
Sergia Arce is one of those members, a woman in her mid-80s and suffering the effects of advanced age with limited hearing, mobility and memory. But she grinned and exclaimed with glee when she and several daughters and other family members met with Elder and Sister Christofferson on Saturday afternoon.
In previous interviews, Elder Christofferson had spoken with fondness of the Arce family, remembering Desiderio Arce and Sergia Arce and their family as being humble yet stalwart members of the Church who had been baptized in 1961, just a couple of years before his arrival.
He recalled Desiderio Arce wanting to move his home farther back on the narrow property so he could build a small neighborhood store on the front of the property to help supplement the family’s income. Elder Christofferson was among eight missionaries who helped move the existing adobe home — brick by brick — to the rear of the property on a preparation day.
He also spoke of Arce as a popular folk singer in the Salta area who went by the performing name of Antonio Arce. However, at the height of the nationwide popularity gained by the folk music quartet that he performed with, Desiderio and Sergia Arce opted to serve a full-time mission, becoming the first senior missionaries to leave and serve from Salta. They were assigned to serve in Arce’s hometown of Quiriza in southern Bolivia, just across the border from Argentina.
The Arces served for several years, with Desiderio “Antonio” Arce returning to his singing career. In addition to being known as an expert in Argentine folklore, he was known for his extensive collection of photographs, histories and stories of the early years of the Church in Salta.
When meeting with the Christoffersons, Sergia Arce presented the Apostle with a photo album containing selected photos and accounts from her late husband’s collection.
Said Elder Christofferson later: “What a privilege to see her again after so many years.”
And how did she feel about seeing Elder Christofferson again?
“Very good,” she said. “I felt very good, very happy to see him.”
Her daughters echoed the sentiment. “We were very happy, very grateful, very joyful,” said Maria Elena Arce, tearfully expressing appreciation that Elder Christofferson offered and then gave a blessing to her mother. “My father and others would always recount to us the spiritual experiences they had. For us, it has all been an ongoing witness of Jesus Christ and what He has done for all of us here.”
‘Salta the beautiful’
Elder Christofferson wasn’t the only former full-time missionary who had served in the Salta area and returned for the temple dedication. Many who had served over the past half-dozen decades came from across Argentina and as far away as North America.
Tricia Baird of Gilbert, Arizona, came for the Salta dedication with her husband to meet several former missionary companions from when she served in Salta as part of her 1992-94 mission in northwest Argentina.
When asked about being back 30 years later, she simply responded: “Salta la linda” — the oft-repeated and beloved phrase meaning “Salta the beautiful.”
And what of seeing a new temple in the growing southern sector of the city, near a modern airport that offers domestic and international flights?
“There was nothing out here in this area before,” she said. “I mean, nobody came out here except to go to the old, small airport.”
Besides waxing nostalgic from her experiences 30 years ago, Baird offered a present-day perspective of the Church in Salta and its temple district.
“It’s the strength of the people, the descendants of the people that we knew, who are now running the wards. It’s incredible that their strength has brought in more growth and made this possible,” she said, pointing to the Salta Argentina Temple.
Salta Argentina Temple milestones
The Salta Argentina Temple will be the third dedicated temple in Argentina, following the aforementioned houses of the Lord in Buenos Aires and Córdoba. A fourth is coming in three months, with the Mendoza Argentina Temple scheduled for dedication in September.
President Nelson announced a temple for Salta, in the mountainous northwest region of the southeastern South American nation, at the close of the April 2018 general conference. It was one of seven temples he identified as the new President of the Church, having been set apart less than three months earlier — and Salta was the first location he mentioned.
In his six-plus years leading the Church, President Nelson has announced 153 new houses of the Lord; in addition to Salta and Mendoza, he has also announced temples for Bahía Blanca, a second for Buenos Aires in the city’s central area, and Rosario.
The Nov. 4, 2020, groundbreaking of the Salta Argentina Temple was presided over by Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, who was then a General Authority Seventy and president of the South America South Area. The ceremony, originally planned for Aug. 15, was postponed twice due to concerns with the COVID-19 pandemic. Local government leaders, including Salta Gov. Gustavo Sáenz, were in attendance.
The 27,111-square-foot Salta temple is built on a 17.66-acre site across from the airport in the city’s southern area. An accommodation center was built on the property, as well as a residence for the temple president and matron.
A concrete structure with Portuguese moleanos stone cladding and a central tower with a domed cupola on top, the single-story building features architecture influenced by the heritage of the Salta region and design based on the local environment and cultural motifs.
Design elements include the cardon cactus flower and the “guarda pampa” pattern from regional costumes and handicrafts. The color palette features blue, green, yellow, red and ocher.
Salta Argentina Temple
Location: Ing. Mario Saúl Banchik No. 6050, Salta, Salta Province, Argentina.
Announced: April 1, 2018, by President Russell M. Nelson.
Groundbreaking: Nov. 4, 2020, by Elder Benjamín De Hoyos, General Authority Seventy and then president of the South America South Area.
Public open house: May 3-18, 2024
Dedicated: June 16, 2024, by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Property size: 17.66 acres.
Building size: 27,111 square feet.
Building height: 100 feet, 5 inches, including the Angel Moroni statue.
More photos: Dedication day
More photos: Day before
More photos: Salta Argentina Temple
