Coordinates: 2°9′22.48559″S 79°54′17.55719″W / 2.1562459972°S 79.9048769972°W / -2.1562459972; -79.9048769972 The Guayaquil Ecuador Temple is the 58th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In 1982, President Spencer W. Kimball, then President of the LDS Church, announced that there would be a Mormon temple built in Ecuador. It took fourteen years to secure the necessary government authorizations and the temple was not completed and dedicated until 1999.
Before the temple in Ecuador was finished, Mormons in Ecuador would travel by bus to attend the temple in Lima, Peru, three days journey away by bus. Before the Mormon temple was dedicated, an open house was free to all in the community, including government officials. Over one hundred thousand members and non-members came to support the arrival of the Mormon temple in their country.
The Guayaquil Ecuador Temple was dedicated on 1 August 1999 by President Gordon B. Hinckley.
The Ecuador Temple resides on a hill in Urdesa, a peaceful suburb of northern Guayaquil, Ecuador's main port and most populous city. The Guayaquil Ecuador Temple has a total of 70,884 square feet (6,585.3 m2), four ordinance rooms, and three sealing rooms.
Lynn Shawcroft of Arizona was the first President to oversee the operations of the temple. He presided from July 1999 to November 2002.
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