NAIROBI, Kenya — The parents of Elder Ulisses Soares, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, were baptized in Brazil in 1965. At that time, there were no temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in South America. The closest house of the Lord was in Mesa, Arizona, an expensive, one-way trip of more than 6,000 miles.
The couple waited 13 years to receive their ordinances and covenants in the São Paulo Brazil Temple after it was dedicated in 1978.
As a young missionary, Elder Soares labored for most of his mission without receiving his temple endowment. In January 1980, his mission president authorized him and his companion to travel all night by bus to the São Paulo temple, arriving at 7 a.m. He received his endowment, was sealed to his parents who had come, then boarded a bus back to his mission for his final two months.
“It was a blessing because it changed the direction of my service to focus on eternal families,” he said. “It was a beautiful, beautiful experience that I will never forget.”
As a mission president in Portugal, when new missionaries arrived from countries without temples, Elder Soares sent them to the closest house of the Lord, in Madrid, Spain, to receive their temple blessings.
Elder Soares was reminded of these personal experiences as he met the faithful Church members of East Africa and dedicated the Nairobi Kenya Temple — the Church’s 204th dedicated house of the Lord and the first in the region — on Sunday, May 18.
He felt of the members’ deep commitment to follow the Lord, knowing some had traveled great distances or humbly waited years for their temple blessings.
“These members in Africa, generally speaking, they embrace the gospel in such a way that they make it the center of their lives,” he said. “Having a temple in Nairobi is a moment of celebration of that covenant confidence they have in the gospel with the Lord and a celebration of their faith.”
Elder Soares continued: “The decision to extend temples closer to the people is a sign that God and His Beloved Son want to extend Their blessings to all people. Seeing temple ordinances and covenants extended to every person who is worthy is a marvelous blessing.”
Elder Soares was accompanied at the dedicatory services by his wife, Sister Rosana Soares. They were joined by Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Church’s Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Nancy Duncan; and Elder Thierry K. Mutombo, a General Authority Seventy and Africa Central Area president, and his wife, Sister Nathalie Tshayi Mutombo.
The dedicatory session was conducted in English, with translations offered in Swahili, French and Amharic, languages spoken in the temple district.
The Nairobi temple will serve members in Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan.
Elder Mutombo greeted members with hugs and smiles as they approached the temple doors.
“It’s a great day — a day of miracles," he said. “We have been waiting for this day. Thank you for being here.”
After hugging 10-year-old Jaden Orina, Elder Mutombo asked the young boy why he wanted to attend the dedication.
“To feel the Holy Spirit,” Orina said, to which Elder Mutombo warmly replied, “Yes, we need it daily.”
Friends and returned missionaries Eric Nshimiyimana, 35, and Sinayobye Fidele, 37, both traveled 30 hours by bus from from Kigali, Rwanda, to attend the Nairobi temple dedication.
“This will be our temple, and this is the first time we have ever seen a temple dedicated,” Nshimiyimana said. “That is why we traveled two days by bus, ... and it has been amazing.”
President Fredrick B. Shamola of the Nairobi Kenya South Stake first attended the temple after his mission in 2003 when he boarded a five-hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa, then the only house of the Lord on the African continent.
Having a temple in Nairobi now means some East African Saints can attend the temple and return home “the same day,” he said. Members will also have the opportunity to serve as ordinance workers, a dream come true for many.
“That is extremely remarkable,” said President Shamola, who attended the dedication with his wife and twin sons, Jarom and Ammon. “This is something I never thought would happen in my lifetime. I am grateful for the temple in Nairobi. This is very dear to me.”
A message about the temple
After walking through the Nairobi temple Saturday afternoon, Elder Soares said he hopes members will learn and appreciate the following truths about the house of the Lord.
First, understand that God loves His children.
“God has a perfect and infinite love for His children and has inspired our dear Prophet to announce and to build a temple in this part of the world, where so many people from different countries will rejoice together,” he said.
Second, as members receive ordinances and make covenants with the Lord, they will feel closer to Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. They will desire to be better, to continue in their discipleship and to walk on the covenant path in preparation for the Second Coming of the Savior.
“This house promotes an environment that helps us to have a willing and continuous desire to be better and better,” Elder Soares said. “We feel God’s love for us. We increase in our gratitude for the Savior’s sacrifice for us and what we receive through the ordinances and covenants.”
He encouraged members who attend the temple to reflect on their covenants and promises and to delight in the opportunity to receive personal revelation in His holy house. As they do, blessings will come in “ways they will never imagine.”
“In His house, we can listen to the voice of the Lord clearly without any barriers. We can receive insights for our lives. We can receive the instruction to guide our children and families in righteousness. We can all walk together toward Jesus Christ,” he said. “My message is: ‘Welcome to the temple, and enjoy as much as you can inside of the holy house of the Lord.’”
How members felt at the dedication
Ernest Rwamucyo, ambassador of the Republic of Rwanda to the Republic of Kenya, and Niankoro Yéah Samaké, a former ambassador from Mali — both Latter-day Saints — attended the Nairobi dedication.
“It’s such a blessing to have a temple here in Nairobi,” said Rwamucyo, who was baptized in Japan and endowed in the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple last year.
Said Samaké, a BYU graduate: “It’s a joyful day. Temples are growing in Africa. Lots of Saints here have to travel long distances. To have a house of the Lord right here in Nairobi for the Saints is an incredible miracle. We are thankful and grateful.”
Friends Ester Arudo, 25, and Givens Lmende, 26, wore colorful dresses and attended the dedication with their husbands. Both women served as volunteers during the open house, “a fulfilling experience, like I was doing work on behalf of Jesus Christ,” Lmende said. “I am so happy that finally, in Kenya, we get to have a temple of our own.”
Added Arudo: “It’s overwhelming, it’s exciting. It’s such a big pleasure to be part of such a historic day.”
Open house blessings
Gordon and Rose Ondiek, converts to the Church who met and fell in love while in an institute class together, served as temple open house coordinators for the Nairobi temple.
The task felt overwhelming at first, but the couple found strength in serving for a short time in the Johannesburg South Africa Temple and in the support of many faithful members who served with them. They noted that nearly 40 Latter-day Saint youth assisted as ushers during the open house.
“I felt a strong impression that the Lord would help us with His work,” Rose Ondiek said, “and He did.”
The open house attracted more than 9,700 visitors, with over 60% being youth or young parents. Many commented on the calm, peaceful feeling they felt in the temple’s celestial room then asked how they might learn more about the Church.
One man, without knowing about the Church’s Word of Wisdom, said after being in the celestial room that he knew he needed to stop drinking. Children were especially reverent during the tours and didn‘t want to leave. One little boy’s countenance changed as he entered the temple and saw a portrait of the Savior. He whispered, “Jesus” and folded his arms.
“They already had the feeling that this indeed is the house of the Lord,” Rose Ondiek said.
Looking back, the couple is grateful for their experience, which has strengthened their faith in Jesus Christ. With so many youth and young parents visiting, they know the future of the Church is bright in Kenya.
“I know this is the time that our Heavenly Father wanted the Nairobi Kenya Temple to be built because the Saints are prepared to receive the Lord’s instructions, and I am grateful for it,” Rose Ondiek said.
A new temple, a tent and a chapel
A “beautiful” chapel once stood where the Nairobi temple now stands, said Geoffrey Shikokoti, who serves as second counselor in the Mountain View Ward bishopric of the Nairobi Kenya West Stake.
The old meetinghouse was torn down to make way for the temple.
In the meantime, the Mountain View Ward held Sunday meetings in a tent and in a modest home across the street. Members could no longer plant gardens on the old chapel grounds, which benefited those with welfare needs.
Heavy rain sometimes made meeting in the tent difficult, and there was no place to park vehicles, but the members were patient and persevered.
As the temple open house approached, members made a strong effort to invite neighbors and friends to come and ask any questions. Many came and felt the Spirit.
Before the temple open house, weekly ward attendance was 90. Since the open house, attendance at the tent has spiked to 240 and is still growing. More than 30 individuals, including three families, have joined the Church.
On the day before the Nairobi temple dedication, missionaries sat with a family in the tent and taught them the gospel. The Mountain View Ward Saints will begin meeting in a new building adjacent to the temple on Sunday, May 25.
“We are so excited to now have a new temple — and a new chapel," Shikokoti said. “What I’ve learned is that the Lord loves us and we should be patient because there are so many blessings waiting for us. God’s timing is always the best, and if we serve our Heavenly Father diligently and do the things He wants us to do, He is going to bless us more.”
‘Seeing the Church take root’
Elder Joseph W. Sitati, an emeritus General Authority Seventy, and his wife, Sister Gladys Sitati, were not able to attend the dedication in Kenya on Sunday — they were in Tooele, Utah — but their hearts were with the Saints in East Africa.
The Sitatis were among the first converts to join the Church in Kenya, in 1986.
In 1985, Elder Sitati said, they were looking for “spiritual fulfillment” when they met an American senior missionary couple serving in Nairobi. The Church had yet to receive legal recognition in the country, and proselyting was not allowed, but the Sitatis were invited to attend small Sabbath services with some Latter-day Saint expatriates and native Kenyans.
The Sitatis, with their five children, felt immediately at home. “It felt right being there,” he said. “After six months, we were not quitting, so they asked us, ‘Do you want to be baptized?’ We said, ‘Yes.’ We joined the Church and here we are.”
The Sitati family embraced their new faith, serving in callings, holding family home evening, learning to sing the hymns and reading the Book of Mormon each day at 5 a.m. before work and school.
Elder Sitati was instrumental in helping the Church gain legal status in Kenya in 1991. The same year, they traveled to the Johannesburg temple to be sealed as a family.
Elder Sitati served in leadership callings ranging from branch and stake president to Area Seventy. When he was sustained as a General Authority Seventy, he was presiding over the Nigeria Calabar Mission.
“What was foremost in my mind was to do the right thing,” he said of the Church’s early days in Kenya. “For me, [it was] seeing the Church take root, seeing young missionaries going and returning and becoming branch presidents and leaders in the Church. ... Now you have all these young people minding the critical positions of the Church, and they know what to do. That was transformative for me, to see that kind of growth happen.”
After decades of service, it was an emotional experience for Elder Sitati and Sister Sitati to be at the Nairobi temple groundbreaking in 2021, where he presided.
“It was a time of joy,” Sister Sitati said.
Added Elder Sitati: “There is something unbelievable about a dream coming true. It was unbelievable, but it was happening.”
In addition to blessing the Sitatis’ children and grandchildren, Elder Sitati said, having a house in Kenya is significant for the region and symbolic of a spiritually prepared people. It will accelerate the gathering of Israel in Africa on the other side of the veil and help prepare the people for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
“I look forward to the influence of the temple being manifest, not just in Kenya, but in the region,” he said. “The temple will be a beacon of light and hope to the people of East Africa.”
Nairobi Kenya Temple
Location: LR# 13646/4, Hinga Road, Mountain View, Nairobi, Kenya
Announced: April 2, 2017, by President Thomas S. Monson
Groundbreaking: Sept. 11, 2021, presided over by Elder Joseph W. Sitati, a General Authority Seventy and Africa Central Area president
Dedicated: May 18, 2025, by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Property size: 3.435 acres
Building size: approximately 19,000 square feet
Building height: 107.25 feet
