Buenos, Aires Argentina - Mormon Temple
There has never been a man or woman who has not asked, "Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going? What is my relationship to God? Will death rob me of the treasured associations of life? What of my family? Will there be another existence after this, and, if so, will we know one another there?"
These answers are found only in the Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS/Mormons). These Temples are sacred in which these and other eternal questions are answered. Each Mormon Temple is dedicated as a house of God, a place of peace, a place of holiness to shut apart from the world.
Much of the work that is done in the Mormon Temple is concerned with the family; we are each a member of God’s eternal family and we are each members of an earthly family. Emphasis is placed on the sanctity and eternal nature of the marriage covenant and family relationships. Marriage partners who come to the Mormon Temple and who partake of its blessings are joined not only for their earthly life, but also for eternity if they live worthy of the blessings.
There are millions who have walked the earth and have never had the opportunity to hear the gospel. Through living proxies, the same ordinances are available to those who have passed from mortality. In the spirit world these same individuals are free to accept or reject the earthly ordinances that have been performed for them, including baptism, marriage, and the sealing of family relationships. Everyone must have the opportunity!
Mormon missionaries, Melvin J. Ballard, Rey L. Pratt and Rulon S. Wells, arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1925 after thirty-four days of traveling by land and sea. When they arrived there were only four members of the Mormon Church present. On Christmas Day, Elder Ballard dedicated South America for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
The missionaries tried to advertise in the newspaper, public missionary meetings, but the newspaper refused to print the ad. So, each day, the Mormon missionaries would prepare two to five hundred handbills to be distributed to those on the street. For eight months the Mormon missionaries walked the streets of Buenos Aires handing out handbills anxious to teach the people the Gospel of Jesus Christ.1
Since that time the membership of the Mormon Church in Argentina has grown rapidly, insomuch that the high point coming was with the construction of the Buenos Aires Argentina Mormon Temple.
As visitors to Argentina travel from the airport to downtown Buenos Aires, many are awestruck as they drive by the beautiful Buenos Aires Mormon Temple. Since its dedication on January 17, 1986, this Temple has stood as a sentinel to the Mormon people of Argentina. It is symbol of all that is beautiful and sacred to members of the Church.
Although Argentine Saints were generally unable to contribute much in the way of finances toward the building of the temple, they contributed in other ways. A group of sister’s crocheted sixty-four cloths, when all that was asked was seven.
"May all who enter this, thy house, be privileged to say, as did the psalmist of old, ‘We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company’…We pray thou wilt accept of our offering and hallow this house which we have built." 2
For more information about Mormon Temples, please see the following links:
Mormon Temple: Information From Answers.com
Mormanity: Mormon Temples and "Secrecy"
History of Mormon Temples