COBÁN, Guatemala — On June 5, 1979, President Boyd K. Packer, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was in La Grandeza, San Marcos, Guatemala, for the historic dedication of a new meetinghouse.
Before offering the dedicatory prayer, the Apostle told those gathered that a temple was under construction in Mexico and the Church had plans to build more houses of the Lord. He then prophesied about the future of temples in Guatemala.
“There will be a temple in Guatemala City, a temple in Quetzaltenango and in Cobán,” Elder Packer said, according to a history written by John Forres O’Donnal, the first recorded Latter-day Saint in Guatemala.
Five years later on Dec. 14, 1984, President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Guatemala City Guatemala Temple.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, then serving as second counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple on Dec. 10, 2011, more than 32 years after the prophecy.
On Sunday, June 9 — 45 years later — Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve will dedicate the Cobán Guatemala Temple in two sessions, scheduled for 10 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. local time. The sessions will be broadcast to all units within the temple district.
A fourth — the Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple — has been under construction since its December 2022 groundbreaking. A temple in Huehuetenango has a publicly-announced site, and another in Retalhuleu is in planning stages.
Speaking at the Cobán temple groundbreaking held on Nov. 14, 2020, Julio Ovalle, a “pioneer” of the Church in the area, wept as he reflected on the fulfillment of President Packer’s prophecy.
“Brothers and sisters, in the 45 years since I was baptized in the Church, I have seen many promises and miracles come true in many ways and times. I have felt the embrace of God and His comfort in times of trials and satisfactions,” he said in Spanish. “I thank God for giving me the privilege and joy to see the fulfillment of these words.”
‘Unique in every way’
Elder Taylor G. Godoy, a General Authority Seventy who is president of the Church’s Central America Area, said the new temple in Cobán reflects the love of the Lord for all of His children.
“In addition to bringing the blessings that come from making covenants in the House of the Lord closer to the members in that area, the temple in Cobán stands as another witness of having a living prophet who is blessing more remote places and different languages with saving ordinances.”
The new house of the Lord is “unique in every way,” Elder Godoy said.
“First by being the only place where saving ordinances are received through the covenants made there,” he said. “Unique in how it looks and its architecture that radiates the Spirit even in the surrounding areas, which makes it become, in a way, a missionary. And of course, unique in blessing people with a different language. Perhaps in one’s imagination it was difficult to think how ordinances could reach distant places in other languages, but once again, that is a testimony of having a living prophet.”
Symbol of ‘strength and testimony’
During the open house, held from April 25 through May 11, Elder Godoy and his counselors, Elder Patricio M. Giuffra and Elder Ryan K. Olsen, as well as Elder Juan Pablo Villar of the Temple Department, conducted tours for news media, government leaders and other special guests.
Elder Olsen, second counselor in the area presidency said it was an honor to show and explain to others why the temple is so important.
“Those who participated left with a greater understanding of why we build temples and of the importance of covenants and ordinances made in the House of the Lord,” he said. “While they were struck with the beauty of the building and its surrounding area, they were even more impressed with the feeling of peace they found inside. This experience reminded me that the Lord is mindful of all of His children and wants them to draw near to Him through the ordinances and covenants performed in temples.”
During the open house, Elder Olsen and his wife, Sister Julie Olsen, met Latter-day Saints from as far away as Belize City, a 300-mile, 10-plus hour drive. Many asked about obtaining a temple recommend after the dedication. Elder Olsen expressed gratitude to know the house of the Lord will be more accessible for them.
“The Lord loves the people of northern Guatemala and Belize, and has made it easier for them to follow Him,” he said. “The Cobán temple ... is a symbol of the strength and testimony of the people who are humble and steadfast in their faith in the Savior Jesus Christ. This temple is unique in that it will bless the indigenous people of the region who speak Qʼeqchi’ and Spanish.”
Among those who toured the temple with Elder and Sister Olsen was former Cobán mayor Leonel Arturo Chacón Barrios, who Elder Olsen said has been instrumental in his support of the temple.
“Both he and his wife were touched by the beauty and peace in the temple and recognized what a blessing it would be to the people of Cobán,” Elder Olsen said. “He said, ‘Now I understand why building temples is so important to members.’ His wife said how helpful it would be ‘if everyone took a few minutes every day, in a sacred place like the temple, to think about our relationship with Jesus Christ.’”
The Church in Guatemala
O’Donnal, the first recorded Latter-day Saint in Guatemala, came to the country in 1942 on assignment from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. After World War II ended, O’Donnal wrote to Church President George Albert Smith requesting that missionaries be sent to Guatemala.
Missionaries arrived in September 1947; O’Donnal’s wife, Carmen Galvez O’Donnal, was the first Guatemalan to be baptized. John and Carmen were later called as mission leaders in Guatemala City and then over the Guatemala Quetzaltenango Mission. They instituted a program to train missionaries in four Mayan languages to share the gospel with indigenous Guatemalans.
President Spencer W. Kimball, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, dedicated Central America for the preaching of the gospel on Nov. 16, 1952.
By 1962, there were more than 10,000 Guatemalan Latter-day Saints living in the cities and throughout the highlands. The first stake was created in Guatemala City, the capital city, in 1967. At that time, many of these members made great sacrifices to travel over 1,800 miles across Mexico to the Mesa Arizona Temple in the United States to receive temple ordinances.
The first Latter-day Saint missionaries arrived in the Polochi Valley, an indigenous and rural area in northern Guatemala, in 1977.
Latter-day Saints in the Cobán region, including Alta Verapaz, Baja Verapaz, Petén and Belize, have attended the Guatemala City temple since its dedication in 1984. Having a temple in Cobán will now save them four to six hours of driving that can be difficult depending on traffic and weather.
The Guatemala Cobán Mission was created in 2013.
The country’s 50th Stake was organized in Chulac, Guatemala, on May 5, 2019.
Less than six months later on Oct. 5, 2019, President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Cobán, Guatemala.
Elder Brian K. Taylor, a General Authority Seventy who was then president of the Central America Area, presided at the groundbreaking ceremony of the Cobán Guatemala Temple on Nov. 14, 2020.
Today, more than 290,000 Latter-day Saints in nearly 440 congregations reside in Guatemala.
‘Immense joy’
The new temple will serve stakes in Cobán, Chulac, San Benito and Senahú, as well as districts in Sacsuha and Salama, Guatemala; and Belize City and Cayo, Belize.
Missionary work in Senahú began in 1977 with the arrival of young elders John Bringhurst of the United States and Raúl Zelaya from El Salvador, according to ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The same year, Bringhurst, with the assistance of another missionary, Óscar Delgado, and a young convert and interpreter named Miguel Chub, work began in Chulac. The first individuals and families in Chulac — 37 people — were baptized in December 1977, according to a 1980 Liahona article.
On a “clear and beautiful day” in Chulac, Bringhurst later wrote, a small dam was built in a stream to create a pool for the baptisms, which were performed in the Spanish and Q’eqchi’ languages. Bringhurst wrote that the new members “had all suffered persecution for accepting the gospel, and together they formed a strong and brave nucleus of new members.”
The first baptisms in Senahú were carried out in a river on the neighboring farm called Trece Aguas, which was for many years a “wonderful natural monument,” wrote Benjamín Poóu, a former counselor in the Guatemala Cobán Mission presidency.
The first Latter-day Saint convert in Senahú, Alberto Coy Yaxcal, remembers how he felt after his baptism on May 6, 1978: “What immense joy filled our hearts, that together with the other four families we immediately began to share the restored gospel. We started with our relatives, which led several of them to join our faith.”
Church growth came through the years but not without opposition. Yaxcal said he and his family suffered humiliations and he lost his job.
“They burned down our house so that we would leave,” he said. “The reason was because we committed ourselves to the Lord to advance his work and preach the gospel. For me it has been a great experience, but mostly a great blessing to be one of the first members of the Church in this place.”
Guillermo Bol, another early convert, initially rejected the missionaries but changed his mind when his wife expressed interest in hearing what they had to say. They felt a “special spirit” and joined the faith.
“The first experience after my baptism was that many people began to mock me,” he said. “Even so, I accompanied the missionaries to share the restored gospel. We found people who rejected us, threw stones at us, threw hot water at us, and many others. But these experiences only strengthened my testimony of this truth. Now I can testify with more firmness than ever that it is a living and true work.”
The Book of Mormon in Q’eqchi’
Q’eqchi’ (also spelled K’ekchi’) is a Mayan language spoken by hundreds of thousands in the remote highlands of Guatemala.
While serving a mission in Guatemala in the 1970s, Bringhurst learned both Spanish and Q’eqchi’. Following his mission, and days after marrying his wife, Betty, the couple traveled back to Guatemala, where Bringhurst began working with native speakers to translate selections of the Book of Mormon into the Q’eqchi’ language.
They found a place to live in the small village of San Pedro Carcha, which is outside of Cobán and far from modern comforts and conveniences. Within a short time, Betty discovered she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.
“So there they were in their first weeks of marriage, in San Pedro Carcha day after day, hour by hour, week after week, translating the Book of Mormon,” said Elder David Frischknecht, who shared the account in an 2005 Ensign College devotional. Frischknecht also served as a young missionary and mission president in Guatemala. Elder Frischknecht currently serves as an Area Seventy in the 12th Quorum of the Seventy with responsibilities in the Utah Area.
The first full translation of the Book of Mormon in the Q’eqchi’ language was published in 1983. The Bringhursts declined any monetary compensation for their time and efforts.
“They did the work with an eye single to the glory of God,” Frischknecht said in his devotional remarks. “The Bringhursts’ sacrifices helped lay a foundation for the Church among the Q’eqchi’ people.”
On a related historic note, the Church broadcast a devotional featuring Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Rosana Soares, for the first time in the Q’eqchi’ language last February.
