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SALT LAKE CITY -- The newly completed San Salvador El Salvador Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints opens for public tours Friday.
The public open house begins Friday, July 1 and will continue through Saturday, July 23, excluding Sundays. Tours will run Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Then a member of the church's First Presidency will formally dedicate the temple during three sessions on Aug. 21.
- Guatemala City, Guatemala (1984)
- San José, Costa Rica (2000)
- Panama City, Panama (2008)
- Quetzaltenango, Guatemala
- Tegucigalpa, Honduras
This temple is the church's fourth in Central America and 135th in the world.
The exterior of the building features Bianco Sienna granite from Brazil. The design is inspired by Spanish colonial architecture, with prominent arches and conches inside and out.
El Salvador's national flower, the flor de izote, is highlighted in the art-glass windows and the exterior granite, as well as in the detail of the interior wood. The wood is genuine mahogany from Honduras and nearby countries. The flooring and interior ornamentation are of limestone from Israel.
Once the temple is dedicated, it will be open to members of the church who are actively engaged in the faith. The church's standard meetinghouses throughout the world are open to everyone for regular Sunday services.
Church history in El Salvador
According to the LDS church website, "May 1949 marked the beginning of the Church's presence in El Salvador, when the first missionaries were sent there to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ among the people of Santa Ana in the western region of the country.
"In 1952 Elder Spencer W. Kimball, then a senior Church leader and later the worldwide leader of the Church, visited El Salvador and offered a prayer of peace and prosperity upon the nation. By 1986 Church membership had grown to more than 15,000. Today there are more than 110,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 161 congregations throughout El Salvador."
