The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints officially began construction of the Cape Town South Africa Temple — to be the southernmost temple in its country and continent — with a groundbreaking ceremony held Saturday, Oct. 25.
This ceremony was presided over by Elder Carlos A. Godoy, president of the church’s Africa South Area, and was attended by more than 400 Latter-day Saints, along with local dignitaries and friends of the church.
“We are especially grateful, Father, for the holy temples which are thy houses among us, where heaven and earth meet,” said Elder Godoy, as he offered a prayer to dedicate the construction site of the future temple.
“Allow this holy house to be a light upon the hill and a place of peace, reverence and inspiration for all who come near.”
Preceding his prayer of gratitude and pleading for God to bless the site and its workers, Elder Godoy also delivered a message focused on answering why temples are “so important” to Latter-day Saints.
The short answer? Temples “unite families forever,” he said. But he also noted temples are “being built for the rising generation.”
“This temple is being built especially for you ...,” he said. “So please come, rising generation. When the temple is ready, come, because they were built specially for your days.”
Following his message and prayer, Elder Godoy and other invited guests participated in the traditional turning of the soil. Yet unique to this ceremony, the soil was bordered with white stones, each inscribed with the names of Latter-day Saint children from the area.
“These stones symbolized the faith of future generations, physically and spiritually woven into the foundation of this temple,” according to a release published Sunday on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Planned as a single-story structure of approximately 9,500 square feet, the Cape Town South Africa Temple will become the church’s third operating temple in South Africa.
It will stand on a 3.79-acre site on 3 Liesbeek Ave., Observatory, in Cape Town, and will join the Johannesburg and Durban, South Africa, temples in serving the more than 76,000 Latter-day Saints that reside in the country. Also on the 3.79-acre site, will stand patron housing and arrival facilities.
