The San José Costa Rica Temple is the 87th operating

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian Christian church that considers itself to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The ch ...

(LDS Church). The church's

First Presidency Among many churches in the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (also known as the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is the highest presiding or governing body. Present-day denominations of the movement led by a First Presidency ...

announced on March 17, 1999 that a temple would be built in San José, Costa Rica. The announcement of the San José Costa Rica Temple made it the first temple in Costa Rica and the second temple in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

History

The LDS Church is relatively new in Costa Rica. A U.S. ambassador who was LDS ran the first church meetings from his home between 1943 and 1946. The first

Mormon missionaries Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and commu ...

arrived in 1946, and temporarily left during Costa Rica's 1948 Civil War. By 1974 church membership had grown enough that Costa Rica became its own mission. In 1977 the first stake was created in Costa Rica. In 1992, Boyd K. Packer, a member of the

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

, dedicated the land of Costa Rica for missionary work and membership grew even faster. Today there are 23,000 members in Costa Rica. Before the building of the temple in Costa Rica, members had to travel to the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple. The trip was expensive, costing many families twice their monthly income. On April 24, 1999 a groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication were held. Lynn G. Robbins, a member of the

Seventy 70 (seventy) is the natural number following 69 and preceding 71. In mathematics 70 is: * a sphenic number because it factors as 3 distinct primes. * a Pell number. * the seventh pentagonal number. * the fourth tridecagonal number. * the fif ...

and first counselor in the presidency of the Central America

Area Area is the quantity that expresses the extent of a region on the plane or on a curved surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an ope ...

, presided at the ceremony. Construction began soon after the groundbreaking and progress was quick to reach a deadline of finishing the temple in one year. The deadline was met and the temple was dedicated in June, fourteen months after the announcement to build the temple. The temple was open for tours May 20–27, 2000. The temple plot is . The exterior finish of the temple is made of Blanco Guardiano white

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Marble is typically not foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the term ''marble'' refers to metamorphose ...

from the northern Mexican city of

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2021, the city's population was 735,340. The metropolitan population as of 2015 was 1,497,734, making it the ninth-biggest metropolitan area in ...

. More than 20,000 people attended the open house and toured the temple. James E. Faust, a member of the First Presidency, dedicated the San José Costa Rica Temple on June 4, 2000. The San José Temple serves over 35,000 church members in twelve stakes and fourteen districts. The San José Costa Rica Temple has a total of , two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms. In 2020, the San José Costa Rica Temple was closed temporarily during the year in response to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

.Stack, Peggy Fletcher
"All Latter-day Saint temples to close due to coronavirus"
'' The Salt Lake Tribune'', 26 March 2020. Retrieved on 28 March 2020.

References

Additional reading

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External links

*
San José Costa Rica Temple Official site

San José Costa Rica Temple
at ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org {{DEFAULTSORT:San Jose Costa Rica Temple 20th-century Latter Day Saint temples Religious buildings and structures in Costa Rica Temples (LDS Church) completed in 2000 Buildings and structures in San José, Costa Rica Temples (LDS Church) in Latin America Temples (LDS Church) in North America The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Costa Rica 2000 establishments in Costa Rica

History

See also

References

Additional reading

External links