Curitiba Brazil Temple Dedication

Last Sunday was an important day for our church in Brazil. With the Curitiba Brazil Temple dedicated, there are five operating temples in Brazil.  Another Temple is under construction in Manaus. Since a temple dedication is such an important event, it was broadcast throughout Brazil and we were able to see the proceedings here in Sao Paulo.

For Mormons, a temple is a special place. Unlike an ordinary building, it is a place where we make covenants and participate in sacred ceremonies. We hold the buildings and what happens in them in the highest regard. The church invests millions of dollars to have appropriate facilities all throughout the world.  Worth members over the age of eight are all invited to participate.  JTP and TSP each went and will share their insights below.

JTP 

For me the highlight was seeing how church President Thomas S. Monson interacts with people. In one of the most touching moments, a child was brought up to help place mortar in the ceremonial corner stone. When she was brought up you could hear Russell M. Nelson say to President Monson “she can’t see”. Then they helped her apply the mortar. Even though she will never see the temple, she was still a big part of its dedication.

TSP

Like other temples, the Curitiba temple is beautiful.  There was a picture tour before the ceremony which allowed us to see the décor of the temple.  Inside there are incredible murals that look like they were taken right out of the landscape of Brazil.  One of the most impressive is the mural of Iguaçu falls.  It was exciting to see the personal touches that the temple received.  Another exciting thing for me was that the vast majority of the dedication was in Portuguese.  I am not yet fluent nor understand everything but that did not seem to matter.  I knew what was happening and I was joyful.  

My biggest take-away from the dedication was that President Monson is the prophet of God.  He has been in the first presidency for about 20 years so seems very familiar.  In fact, when I saw him in the pictures as the new president of the church or at conference, it did not seem any different from other pictures or conferences.  The real change happened when I watched the dedication.  He did not say or do anything particularly spectacular.  However, a strong witness came over me that he was the prophet of God.  It was one of those amazing and small instances when the Spirit of God witnesses a truth.