This week in Church history
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25 years ago
Elder James E. Faust, then an Assistant to the Twelve, presided over the March 20, 1976, groundbreaking ceremony of the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple — South America's first temple.
Elder Faust told the 2,000 members gathered for the ceremony that the temple signaled "a great new era for the work of God in South America," according to the March 27, 1976, Church News.
"The challenge for all of us who are privileged to stand on this sacred spot where the first temple in South America will be built is to strengthen our faith and to begin anew with a great desire to be faithful saints of God in these lands," Elder Faust said.
Elder Faust spoke to the congregation in Portuguese, a language he learned during a full-time mission to Brazil.
"On the front door of this temple will be written 'The House of the Lord' and 'Holiness to the Lord,' " he said. "It will be the first time these words will have been written in any language on a sacred building in South America."
