The San José Costa Rica Temple is the 87th operating

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

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 Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(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 Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. The announcement of the San José Costa Rica Temple made it the first temple in

and the second temple in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

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)—often referred to as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and c ...

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, 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 and first counselor in the presidency of the Central America

Area Area is the measure of a region's size on a 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 open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

, 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 consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

from the northern Mexican city of

Torreón Torreón () is a city and seat of Torreón Municipality in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Coahuila. The city's population is 720,848 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the state of Coahuila. Also Torreón is par ...

. 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 A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. 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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

.Stack, Peggy Fletcher
"All Latter-day Saint temples to close due to coronavirus"
''

The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'', 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 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