The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.Â
This sometimes storm-tossed and beleaguered Caribbean isle is filled with friendly, faithful, fortified Saints who heard their beloved Prophet make them a promise one year after deadly Hurricane Maria devastated the territory in September 2017.
“As you individually grow to become more of the person God wants you to be, you can know for yourself that better days are ahead for the people of Puerto Rico,” President Russell M. Nelson said while visiting San Juan in September 2018. One month later, he announced the temple for Puerto Rico in October 2018 general conference.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the new temple on Sunday, Jan. 15, bringing a new light to La Isla de Encanta — the Island of Enchantment.
“The temple will bless this island,” he said. “It has had a lot of challenges in recent years, natural disasters and other kinds of difficulties that have been serious and caused a lot of destruction. It will make a difference.”
Elder Jorge M. Alvarado, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Caribbean Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Cari Lu Alvarado, are “Boricuas” — Puerto Rican born and raised.
“This will bring what we need,” Elder Alvarado said. “Puerto Rico needs joy, it needs happiness. There is so much beauty around us, but now with the temple, people can have hope of a better Puerto Rico.”
Ginny Cartagena from the Caguas Puerto Rico Stake felt that hope Sunday morning as she stood in the bright Caribbean sunshine on the temple grounds.
“It’s such a special day. We’ve been waiting for this for so long. It means hope for all of us, for our children and our future grandchildren,” she said.
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