Ground Broken for Construction of Panama City Panama Temple

Elder Spencer V. Jones of the Seventy, President of the Central America Area, broke ground to begin construction for the new Panama City Panama Temple on Sunday, October 30, 2005.

Elder Jones cited D&C 109:8, telling those in attendance that the duty of Panamanian members during the temple’s construction is to make sure their own houses are in order. He said that families who study the scriptures, hold family home evening, and pray together consistently will receive promised blessings.

Elder José A. Garcia, Area Seventy, spoke of all those who had gone before. Domingo Estribí, who served as the second stake president in Panama, reminded those in attendance of the time when there was only one branch in the country. Now there are 7 stakes, 8 districts, and more than 39,000 members.

Announced on August 23, 2002, the temple will be built upon land partially occupied by the existing Cárdenas Ward, Panama City Panama Stake, meetinghouse located not far from the Panama Canal.

Though Hurricane Beta had hovered off the Panamanian and Costa Rican coasts the day before, it moved north the day of the groundbreaking, leaving beautiful skies for the ceremony.