Arequipa Peru Mormon Temple
On 6 October 2012, during the opening session of the 182nd Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Thomas S. Monson, President and Prophet of the Church, announced that a temple would be built in southern Peru in the city of Arequipa. The Arequipa Peru Temple will be the third temple built in Peru. The other temples are the Lima Peru Temple (1986) and the Trujillo Peru Temple (2015).
Seven stakes currently operate in the city with several additional stakes and districts in the surrounding region. The units that will be served by the Arequipa Peru Temple have not yet been announced.
Mormon missionary work first started in Peru in 1956. In 1959 there were 300 members. [1] Since then, the Church has grown quickly in Peru. In January 1988, 32 years after missionary work began in Peru, seven stakes (diocese) were created in one weekend by a visiting Church Apostle, Elder M. Russell Ballard. At the end of 2011, there were 508,812 Latter-day Saints in 788 congregations in Peru, and 10 Mormon missions.
Arequipa is Peru's second largest city, but its citizens must travel 500 miles to Lima to attend a Mormon temple.
