House of the Lord in Salvador, Brazil, dedicated to help Saints prepare for the Second Coming (2024)

SALVADOR, Brazil — “Members of the Church here are full of love for God — their Father — and Jesus Christ and are willing to serve others in keeping the first and second commandments,” Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said of the Latter-day Saints in Salvador on the day of the dedication of the house of the Lord in this Brazilian city.

Elder Andersen was accompanied at the Sunday, Oct. 20, dedication by his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen. Elder Mathias Held, a General Authority Seventy who serves as an assistant executive director in the Temple Department, attended the dedication with his wife, Sister Irene Held. Elder Ciro Schmeil, a General Authority Seventy and new first counselor in the Brazil Area presidency, was joined by his wife, Sister Alessandra Schmeil.

This is Brazil’s 11th dedicated house of the Lord, with another 12 announced or under construction. Elder Andersen also dedicated the latest temple to be dedicated in the country — the Brasília Brazil Temple in September 2023. Temples are under construction in Belo Horizonte, Ribeirão Preto and Londrina.

While visiting the temple grounds the day before its dedication, Elder Andersen said that Church members will be endowed with power in the new house of the Lord. He added that “the city will prosper, and all those in [the state of] Bahia will be blessed because the temple is here.”

Sister Andersen spoke about the feelings she experiences in the temple.

“When I come to the temple, I feel peace and the love of Heavenly Father,” she said. “It is a beautiful blessing.”

The temple is also the 199th operating temple of the Church in this dispensation, including eight dedicated temples closed for extensive renovations. The Church’s 200th house of the Lord is scheduled to be dedicated Nov. 10 in Tooele, Utah. The Deseret Peak Utah Temple will be dedicated in a single session at 4 p.m., with a rebroadcast at 7 p.m. for those in the temple district.

Different forms of sacrifice

When Elder and Sister Andersen were first married and living in Florida, they sacrificed to travel to the nearest temple, in Atlanta, Georgia. The two attended the dedication of that temple in 1983, more than 40 years ago. In that same year, it took Latter-day Saints in Salvador 36 hours to travel to the São Paulo Brazil Temple.

“We honor those Saints who traveled sometimes 12 hours per day for three days to worship in the temple or rode buses 36 hours straight to serve there,” Elder Andersen said.

Most of the caravans consisted of groups of members traveling the large distance by bus. More recently, they have traveled nearly 18 hours to the temple in Recife since its dedication in December 2000.

“They have dreamed, they have hoped, they have prayed, they have traveled great distances,” Elder Andersen said. “Now, the house of the Lord is closer to 36 minutes away than 36 hours.”

On Friday, Oct. 18, Elder Andersen met with Carlos and Janete Obata. They were among the first members in the Salvador area, where the gospel was first taught nearly 50 years ago. Carlos served as the second district president in Salvador and helped organize some of those caravans.

“They have been wonderful, wonderful pioneers,” Elder Andersen said of the Obatas in a social media post with them, published on Saturday, Oct. 19.

Another aspect of sacrifice is the paying an honest tithe, Elder Andersen said.

“The Church can build these temples because of the honest tithes paid by its members,” he said.

President Nelson is God’s Prophet

Two weeks removed from October’s semiannual general conference, Elder Andersen said he hopes that individuals will remember the words of President Russell M. Nelson, who talked about the impending Second Coming of the Savior.

“My dear brothers and sisters, in a coming day, Jesus Christ will return to the earth as the millennial Messiah,” President Nelson said as he closed the two-day conference. “So today I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord. I call upon you to talk of Christ, testify of Christ, have faith in Christ and rejoice in Christ!”

In an interview on the temple grounds on Saturday, Oct. 19, Elder Andersen said that President Nelson has repeatedly invited members of the Church to attend the temple as often as they can, based on their individual circumstances.

“My dear brothers and sisters, here is my promise. Nothing will help you more to hold fast to the iron rod than worshipping in the temple as regularly as your circumstances permit,” President Nelson said in his closing remarks of the April 2024 general conference.

Smiling after sharing that quote from President Nelson, Elder Andersen said, “And the circumstances in Bahía have certainly improved.”

Elder Andersen also shared that spiritual experiences with President Nelson are not limited to when he speaks in general conference.

“Having daily experiences with the First Presidency is beyond description,” he said.

One example is the endowment ceremony in the temple.

“President Nelson refined the endowment to focus on the Savior because He is central to all that is learned in the temple,” Elder Andersen explained. “Nothing changed about the power of the ordinances, but [President Nelson] has allowed it to be understood in a more potent way. That is part of the ongoing Restoration.”

Elder Schmeil said he was touched when listening to President Nelson’s message in October’s general conference.

“President Nelson has explained the many blessings of the temple,” he said. “And at general conference, he promised that ‘the best is yet to come.’”

Elder Schmeil said that individuals face different kinds of adversity in their lives, and that will not change.

“But President Nelson has given us assurance that it will all be OK,” he said.

‘Salvador written in their hearts’

The name of the city — Salvador — translates in English to “Savior.”

Elder Andersen said the significance of having a temple in a city named for the Savior is less important than having the temple dedicated in a place where “so many wonderful people have the Savior — ‘Salvador’ — written in their hearts.”

The city of now nearly 2.5 million inhabitants was formerly the capital city of Brazil. The city was made the capital of what was then a Portuguese colony in 1549.

Elder Held recalled the times his family was called on to move for changes in employment.

“We went places where we had no friends,” he said. “But we always found family.”

He said that was a beautiful blessing for his family as they attempted to get used to a new location and new circumstances.

“The values, the beliefs, the beauty of the gospel is always the same. And the wards and their members are a miracle,” he said.

Sister Held, an adult convert, said that moving from one location to another was a challenge.

“But coming to the temple is like going home for my spirit,” she said. “We know who we really are. We are eternal spirits having a human experience.”

In 1763, Brazil’s capital moved to Rio de Janeiro, which is home to the Church’s eighth temple in Brazil. In 1960, the capital city changed again. This time, Brasília — located in the geographic center-west region of Brazil — would become its capital. That city is home to the Church’s 10th temple in the country, dedicated just over a year ago.

Desert flower on Brazil’s northeast coast

The new house of the Lord in Salvador has many stained-glass windows allowing the bright, coastal sun to provide colorful light throughout the temple’s interior. Crafted in Brazil, the windows feature the mandacaru flower found on a treelike cactus commonly found on the western side of the state of Bahía. While Brazil is known internationally for being home to the Amazon rainforest, the bright mandacaru flower is familiar to those in this region of the country.

The Old Testament prophet Isaiah wrote that “the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1).

In this case, the desert and coast of Brazil both rejoice and blossom as the mandacaru.

In that chapter of Isaiah, the prophet speaks of the time leading to the Second Coming of the Savior.

Elder Andersen said that people who listened to the prophets prior to the Savior’s birth looked for the signs they were taught about and promised.

“They looked, and saw, and could say, ‘He came,’” Elder Andersen said.

Now, President Nelson is teaching about those things that will happen and are happening prior to His Second Coming, Elder Andersen said.

“In the very same way, we now look, and we will also say, ‘He came.’”

The temples, he explained, are central to the preparation needed before the Second Coming.

“President Nelson has taught that ‘every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple,’ and I know that is true.”

Miracle of a temple

Ana Paula Barreto, from Salvador’s Sete de Abril Ward in the Salvador Brazil North Stake, was born in Salvador and wasn’t sure she would ever see a temple in her hometown.

“It is literally a miracle,” she said.

Barreto conducted the choir that sang in the dedication’s first session.

“I have heard people say it happens, but I felt it today. It felt like there were angels from the other side of the veil singing with us in joy for this temple,” she said.

Between dedicatory sessions, the small choir sang hymns on the steps in front of the temple. Among the hymns they sang was “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet” as an expression of gratitude for this and many other temples being built around the world, she said.

Luis Claudio served a full-time mission in Salvador more than a decade ago. Recently, he and his wife moved to the city and the Periperi Ward in the Salvador Brazil Liberdade Stake. He said it is exciting to move to a city with a brand new temple.

“A lot of people worked very hard for this to happen. They shared the gospel with their friends and helped the Church grow,” Claudio said.

He said being present in the temple for its dedication added to the special feeling he and his wife have for living so close to it.

“The message Elder Andersen shared — that is something I will never forget. We can’t forget how special having a temple is.”

Salvador Brazil Temple

Location: Avenida Luís Viana Filho, Patamares, Salvador, Bahia, 41301-110, Brazil

Announced: Oct. 7, 2018, by President Russell M. Nelson, President of the Church

Groundbreaking: Aug. 7, 2021, presided over by Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella, a General Authority Seventy and then president of the Brazil Area

Public open house: Aug. 22 to Sept. 7, 2024, excluding Sundays

Dedicated: Oct. 20, 2024, by Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Property size: 4.6 acres

Building size: 29,963 square feet

Building height: 148 feet 8 inches (45.3 meters), including the spire