MADRID -- In Spain to dedicate the 56th operating temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Gordon B. Hinckley paid a visit to King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia at the royal palace Thursday.
During the noon-time visit, President Hinckley presented a Lladro figurine, "Christus," to the royal couple.President Hinckley called his visit "very pleasant," adding the king gave him a "warm embrace" at the end of their meeting. The LDS leader also invited the royal couple to Salt Lake City for the 2002 Winter Games.
A certificate accompanying the figurine said that it was made by Lladro artists, drawing inspiration from the original by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1768-1844) and that it "was created in commemoration of the opening of the very first temple in Spain pertaining to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Earlier, Jose Lladro, president of the family owned Lladro company, traveled from corporate headquarters in Valencia to the temple grounds and personally delivered the first five issues of the figurine to President Hinckley, President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve.
In return, President Hinckley gave Lladro three CDs of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and a copy of the book "The Mission."
Thursday marked President Hinckley's third visit with the Spanish king. In 1978, President Hinckley -- then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve -- visited with King Juan Carlos during a visit to Madrid.
During a 1992 trip to Spain, President Hinckley met with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia and presented the couple with a leatherbound copy of the Book of Mormon.
President Hinckley and his wife, Marjorie, arrived in Madrid Wednesday evening.
A chorus of about 50 adults, youths and children sang "Follow the Prophet" as the church leader and his wife entered what has come to be known as "Temple Square of Madrid," a plaza where the new temple is located.
Besides the temple, the Spanish "Temple Square" includes a six-story building that houses a distribution center, an institute of religion and accommodations for temple patrons.
A multipurpose stake center and three fountains are also found on the 3.1-acre plaza surrounded by a pleasant Madrid suburb.
Friday morning, President Hinckley is to seal in place a symbolic cornerstone marking the completion of the Madrid temple, the seventh such edifice in Europe and the first on the Iberian Peninsula. The temple district includes all of Spain and Portugal and one stake in France.
More than 100,200 people visited the temple in a public open house, Feb. 20 through March 13.
The temple, which has an exterior of white Italian marble, will serve some 80,000 LDS Cburch members in the temple district.
The LDS Church was officially organized here in 1968, although there had been an LDS presence in the country for several years, mostly through servicemen and businessmen.
R. Raymond Barnes, who was president of the first LDS mission in Spain, and his family returned for the dedicatory events. Visiting the temple grounds, he told the Deseret News, "When we come here, we started with one room in a rented place. Seeing this temple is almost like a miracle. I get choked up. This is a spine-tingling sight."