Story and photos
by Laurie Williams Sowby
Editor’s
note: Laurie Williams Sowby is currently serving
in the Chile Santiago West Mission with her husband, Steve.
SANTIAGO, CHILE — "There
is peace in my soul." "I found what I needed in
your temple." "The peace of the Celestial Room
filled me completely."
These were typical of the comments
made by thousands of non-LDS who visited the remodeled Santiago
Temple the first week of its open house.
The Santiago Temple, in Chile’s
capital city, opened its doors to the public Jan. 21, after
a year of remodeling and refurbishing. The "puertas
abiertas" — "open doors" — continues through
Feb. 11. After its rededication in two sessions Feb. 26,
the temple will be open only to members of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who hold a temple recommend.
It will be the Church’s 123rd temple in operation.
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The enlarged and rerfurbished Santiago Temple, first dedicated
in 1983, is welcoming thousands of visitors during its three-week
open house in Chile's summer.
Officials expected perhaps
1,000 visitors on the opening day, but more than three times
that many attended. They waited in a line that wrapped
around the block known locally as Temple Square. On the
same block are area and mission offices of the Church, a
chapel, small distribution center, and a missionary training
facility that also serves as dorms for visiting temple groups.
Gardens behind the temple give the area a serene setting.
Before the temple was
closed for renovation, several buses a day were arriving,
filled with faithful members wanting to attend the temple.
Members in outlying areas are especially happy to have "their"
temple — the only one in Chile — open again. For a year,
they have been traveling to Buenos Aires, Argentina, to
receive first-time endowments or be sealed.
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A shot from a sixth-floor apartment across the street
shows the temple, gardens, and other buildings that constitute
"Temple Square" in Chile.
First dedicated in September
1983, as the Church’s 24th operating temple,
the small temple in Santiago’s Providencia district has
undergone a complete renovation and been enlarged by one-third,
to 21,000 square feet. It now contains two more sealing
rooms, enlarged dressing areas, and offices in addition
to the two sealing rooms and two endowment session rooms
that existed originally. A notable addition is the baptistry,
greatly enlarged and with the font now resting on the backs
of 12 oxen.
The temple features local craftsmanship
and detail in its furnishings, from the native Chilean marble
and blue lapis lazuli stone in the entryway and baptistry
floors to the flower motif of the country’s national flower,
the copihue, used on furniture, door handles, and art glass.
Several reproductions of Minerva Tiechert’s Book of Mormon
paintings hang on the walls.
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A small group begins the temple tour at
the main entrance on the south side. The remodeled temple
will be rededicated in two sessions on Feb. 26.
After entering the chapel next
door and seeing a 15-minute film about temples, groups of
25 are taken on a tour through all areas of the temple,
including locker rooms, laundry area and administrative
offices. People are astounded by the quiet beauty of the
place and often feel an unexpected reverence, especially
as they stand in the Celestial Room. Someone is stationed
at the door to offer tissues as they leave.
The Celestial Room and the
sealing room across the hallway elicit such comments as,
"The spirit of Christ is present." "I felt
great joy and I felt like crying." A young person offered,
"It felt good to be in the house of Christ with my
family." A Catholic said, "I want to understand
more about being sealed for eternity."
Others expressed appreciation
to the Church for making the temple open to everyone during
the open house. "It is a special place and will be
very important to all Christians as a place to feel God,"
said one. Said another, "I give thanks to your members
for permitting me to know you a little more." Even
one who professed no religion said she’d felt the Spirit
of our Father in Heaven: "I arrived with great pain,
but after the tour, I left without pain." Said an atheist,
"If God exists, today I found his house."
The tour ends at the back door,
which opens into the gardens. Most visitors return to the
chapel cultural hall to view exhibits and visit with sister
missionaries. Many fill out cards requesting a visit from
missionaries in their area. Information from the cards is
entered into a computer the same day, and those referrals
are immediately sent to the appropriate one of Chile’s nine
missions.
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The
gardens in back of the temple offer a view of the large,
art glass window in the Celestial Room. A new Angel Moroni
graces the spire.
Eduardo Lamartine, coordinator
of temple committee over the open house and rededication,
said he is happy to know that nonmembers are having a spiritual
experience as they walk through the temple, and he hopes
those experiences translate into many baptisms of people
who will become strong members. But he also hopes the renewal
of the temple will be reflected in the personal lives of
the Latter-day Saints in Chile.
"We hope there’s an individual
spiritual renovation of the people of Chile — more fervor,
more faithfulness, more activity — as members remember the
covenants they have made and receive the blessings promised
by President Hinckley."
He refers to visits in 1996,
President Hinckley’s first as a prophet, and again in 1999,
in the midst of the country’s economic problems. Brother
Lamartine remembers that both times, President Hinckley
promised the Saints in Chile "we would have all the
bread we need and a roof over our heads if we would follow
his counsel to be worthy and faithful in keeping our covenants,
paying tithing, having family prayer and Family Home Evening,
and creating harmony in our homes." But, he says, pride
has entered in and people have not been faithful.
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An LDS extended family from Ecuador, now living in Santiago,
attended the open house together during the first week,
dressed in their traditional satin embroidered blouses.
Interestingly, the Church counts
more than a half million baptized members in Chile, while
only about 104,000 (over 15 years of age) reported themselves
as Latter-day Saints on the country’s 2002 census.
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Hermana Poloche, from Colombia, visits with
an interested nonmember following a tour of the temple.
Church leaders and mission
presidents are familiar with the fact that fewer than 15
percent of baptized members in Chile are "active"
in attending meetings and associating with other Church
members regularly. Everyone is hoping that the focus on
the open house visits and temple worthiness will translate
into greater commitment on the part of individual members,
as well as many baptisms of well-taught, well-fellowshipped
converts. It is hoped that the spirit that accompanies the
rededication temple will inspire currently inactive church
members to return to full fellowship in the gospel.
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Angel Moroni and the temple spire during
renovation. Spanish words were also added to the top of
the building. Translation: "Holiness to the Lord.
The House of the Lord."
President Hinckley, who dedicated
the temple in 1983, is expected to return to Chile for the
two rededicatory sessions on Sunday, Feb. 26. The night
before, a stadium that holds 50,000 will be the showcase
for a celebration of Chilean culture by 4,000 LDS youth
from the Santiago area.
