SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras — The first stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Honduras was created in San Pedro Sula on April 10, 1977, with Samuel B. Ventura as president and Ricardo Galeas and Hernan Arguelles as counselors. Then-Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided at the conference.
It was the first stake organized within the boundaries of the Costa Rica San José Mission and was considered a major milestone for Central America, the Church News reported on April 23, 1977.
Forty-seven years later, Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple in two sessions on Sunday, Oct. 13, at 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local time. The sessions will be broadcast to meetinghouses in the temple district.
The new house of the Lord in San Pedro Sula will be the Church’s 198th operating temple. It is situated in northwest Honduras, less than 30 miles from the coastline to the Gulf of Honduras and Caribbean Sea, and will be the second temple in the Central American country.
The first — the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple, located in the capital city in the south-central region of the nation — was dedicated in 2013 and is 153 driving-miles (247 km) away.
‘God’s sign of love, mercy’
Members of the Church’s Central America Area presidency and General Authority Seventies — Elder Taylor G. Godoy, president, and his counselors, Elder Patricio M. Giuffra and Elder Ryan K. Olsen — guided tours at the opening of the San Pedro Sula temple open house in September. They were joined by Elder Kevin R. Duncan, also a General Authority Seventy and the executive director of the Temple Department.
Elder Godoy said the new house of the Lord has special meaning for everyone in San Pedro Sula.
“It is God’s sign of love and mercy for the Saints by bringing them the sacred covenants of the Temple,” he said. “It is a blessing for people who follow God.”
During the tours, Elder Godoy noted that everyone was moved by something in the temple, including the order, silence and both exterior and interior beauty. Many visitors left knowing the temple is a sacred place where Latter-day Saints worship God, he said.
Elder Godoy hopes those who come to the temple will value and take advantage of having a temple close by to make covenants with the Lord.
“The San Pedro Sula temple represents the importance of covenants and ordinances. If we focus our lives on them we will be better disciples of Christ,” he said. “May our daily life be a reflection of what the temple means to us.”
The Church in Honduras
Missionaries first arrived in Honduras in December 1952, shortly after the Central American Mission was organized. The first converts were baptized and the first congregation organized in March 1953.
Missionaries began serving in San Pedro Sula on Oct. 4, 1954, and a branch was organized in January 1955. The San Pedro Sula District was organized on June 4, 1961.
One of the early converts in the city was 17-year-old Alma Gloria Chavez, who gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon and was baptized in 1957. Despite losing lifelong friends, her job and being evicted from her home, the young woman stayed true to her faith. She served as a Sunday School teacher and later as a full-time missionary, becoming a respected example of faith and resilience among the Latter-day Saints in San Pedro Sula, according to ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Nearly 15 years after the first stake was organized in San Pedro Sula in 1977, the first known regional conference of the Church in Honduras was held in San Pedro Sula in February 1991. Nearly 5,000 people attended the conference, which was held in a large auction arena cleaned and painted by local Latter-day Saints for the occasion. Then-Elder James E. Faust of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided and spoke at the conference.
In June of the same year, then-Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles prayed for Honduras as preaching of the gospel began there.
The late President Gordon B. Hinckley became the first Church president to visit Honduras in January 1997 as part of a six-country tour of Central America. He was accompanied by then-Elder Nelson and other leaders. While in San Pedro Sula, President Hinckley met with nearly 200 missionaries and spoke about the importance of retaining converts.
After meeting with the missionaries, President Hinckley spoke to more than 8,000 members at an outdoor meeting held at the National Stadium, the Church News reported on Feb. 1, 1997. He also spoke to 15,000 in Tegucigalpa on the same trip.
“I hope the Church is the greatest thing in your lives,” he told the Saints in San Pedro Sula. “I hope you live it, love it, pray for it, send your sons and daughters in the mission field for it, and serve in it when you are called. This is God’s holy work.”
President Hinckley felt prompted to return and minister to Saints in Nicaragua and Honduras after Hurricane Mitch caused widespread flooding and killing thousands in October 1998. San Pedro Sula was among the areas hardest hit by the hurricane. As part of the relief effort, the Church sent more than 500,000 pounds of food to Honduras. Accompanied by the late Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, then-Presiding Bishop H. David Burton and members of the Church’s Central American Area presidency, President Hinckley spoke to Saints in Managua, Nicaragua and San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa in Honduras — more than 19,000 members combined — sharing messages of hope and encouragement. The Church leaders toured storm-damaged areas and homes, expressing love and assurance that they would not forget those affected, the Church News reported on Nov. 28, 1998.
In April 2012, Honduran First Lady Rosa Elena de Lobo met with President Thomas S. Monson and others and toured the Church Humanitarian Center and Welfare Square. She praised the Church for its generosity in helping the needy in her country after recent flooding.
In the 1970s, Honduran Saints began making long journeys to the nearest temple — first in Mesa, Arizona (2,500 miles), then Mexico City, Mexico, and Guatemala City, Guatemala. For Latter-day Saints in Tegucigalpa, it was roughly 400 miles to the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple, which was dedicated in 1984.
The members rejoiced on March 17, 2013, when Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who then served as second counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple.
At the April 2019 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced eight new temples, including one for San Pedro Sula, Honduras, a second temple in the country. One local church member, Roger Zavala, said he felt his heart would burst with joy.
“Our hearts are filled with joy knowing that so many faithful members here are helping to make this temple possible through their faithfulness and service,” he told the Church News.
The groundbreaking of the San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple was presided over by Elder José Bernardo Hernández, an Area Seventy from San Pedro Sula, on Sept. 5, 2020. Due to COVID-19, in-person attendance was limited with most in the area viewing by live-stream.
When dedicated, the new house of the Lord in San Pedro Sula will serve 15 stakes and one district. Today there are more than 187,000 members attending nearly 240 congregations in Honduras.
Seeing the fruits of missionary work
Nearly 65 years ago, Gaylon Hopkins, of Lehi, Utah, was a new missionary in San Pedro Sula.
When he arrived on Jan. 6, 1960, there was one small branch which had not had a baptism in some time.
Three months later, Hopkins and his companion knocked on “one more door” before lunch and found Anita Galindo and her mother, a life-changing meeting that resulted in baptisms of 20 people. Around the same time, Hopkins was called as president of the San Pedro Sula Branch and served there for several months.
After his mission, Hopkins and his wife, Margaret, served as mission leaders of the Venezuela Valencia Mission (1994-1997), leaders of the Guatemala Missionary Training Center (2002-2004) and president and matron of the Montevideo Uruguay Temple (2006-2009), and he has served as a sealer and patriarch since then.
The announcement of a temple in San Pedro Sula in 2019 was emotional and awe-inspiring for Hopkins. Knowing how much it would mean to him, family members arranged for and traveled with him to the temple’s open house in September. His family also tried to locate members Hopkins knew in an effort to reconnect with them during their visit. Hopkins had already met two of Anita Galindo’s grandsons when they entered the Guatemala MTC in 2003.
Outside the temple, Hopkins was overjoyed to see Gonzalo Galindo. Taught as a young man and baptized in a muddy river, Gonzalo Galindo now serves as patriarch of the San Pedro Sula Honduras Stake.
“As we stood on the sacred temple grounds, Brother Gonzalo and I embraced each other. The power and love of Heavenly Father enveloped us and I felt a powerful confirming spirit that let me know that my feeble efforts 63 years previous to this had not been in vain,” Hopkins said.
Returning to see the new temple and old friends stirred precious memories for the 85-year-old Hopkins. He remembered walking dusty streets in 100-plus-degree heat with oppressive humidity while serving as president of a small branch and learning to speak Spanish, among other memories.
“To think that now I stood on the grounds of a beautiful house of the Lord, surrounded by mission presidents, missionaries from two missions, and thousands of faithful members, just experiencing this left me so emotional and weak that I could hardly stand,” Hopkins said.
“I know that as missionaries we have those moments when our efforts seem to bring little success or seem to be of little value. It is then that we must remember that what we do will never have an end in the accomplishment of God’s desire that all His children might be saved and find eternal joy in His kingdom. It is difficult for me to explain appropriately what I experienced as I was able to return to a land and people that I love and witness the Lord’s great love for His children in blessing them with His holy house.”
