Temples

McAllen Texas Temple dedication bridges borders, Elder Uchtdorf says

In the U.S.-Mexico border town where families are sometimes divided by literal and figurative walls, the temple represents peace and unity

By Kaitlyn Bancroft and Sarah Jane Weaver Oct 8, 2023 3:15 p.m. EDT

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in white, and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, left, talk with Gabrielle and Christylee Jara and their children — Gabrielle, 10, Sarai, and Jasmine — prior to the the McAllen Texas Temple’s dedication on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.

Temples

McAllen Texas Temple dedication bridges borders, Elder Uchtdorf says

In the U.S.-Mexico border town where families are sometimes divided by literal and figurative walls, the temple represents peace and unity

By Kaitlyn Bancroft and Sarah Jane Weaver Oct 8, 2023 3:15 p.m. EDT

MCALLEN, Texas — The McAllen Texas Temple sits on a busy street corner, its arches and belfry reminiscent of Spanish colonial architecture.

Mere miles away is a long, tall metal fence: the U.S.-Mexico border, which sometimes divides McAllen families with ties on both sides.

It’s a particularly poignant setting for a new temple — a symbol of unity and connection in a border town so often divided by literal and figurative walls.

The wall “is a sign of individual problems and challenges, but here at the temple you are in a place of peace,” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “The Spirit and your love for one another have no borders.”

Elder Uchtdorf has personally experienced the divisions that walls and other barriers create. As a child, he and his mother fled East Germany for West Germany in a harrowing, on-foot border crossing.

Germany was later reunified when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, but plenty of other barriers remain.

That’s why, “in a world with a lot of walls, we need to continue to build bridges,” Elder Uchtdorf said. “The temple is a beautiful symbol for that peaceful effort, and it will radiate throughout the community here, … and it will spread out all across the world.”

A sign over the McAllen Texas Temple front door.

Elder Uchtdorf dedicated the McAllen Texas Temple on Sunday, Oct. 8, in two sessions. He was accompanied to the dedicatory services by his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf. Also participating were Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella, a General Authority Seventy, and Sister Elaine Finholdt Parrella; Elder Jose L. Alonso, a General Authority Seventy, and Sister Rebeca Salazar Alonso; and Bishop W. Christopher Waddell of the Presiding Bishopric and Sister Carol S. Waddell.

The 27,897-square-foot McAllen temple is the fifth dedicated house of the Lord in Texas and the 183rd operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It sits on a 10.61-acre site located at the northwest corner of Col. Rowe Boulevard and Trenton Road and will serve members in Corpus Christi and Laredo, Texas, in addition to those in Rio Grande Valley.

Its design features Spanish colonial architecture and citrus blossoms, a nod to the area’s climate that nurtures some of the nation’s sweetest oranges and grapefruit, locals say. Additionally, blue colors used in the design connect to both bluebonnets, the Texas state flower, and the nearby Gulf of Mexico.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, react to a member of the Church who waved to them from their car at the McAllen Texas Temple.

Gospel expansion ‘on both sides of the Rio Grande’

Prior to the dedication, Elder and Sister Uchtdorf visited the U.S.-Mexico border with Elder and Sister Alonso — looking upon the wall that is a “symbol of division,” said Elder Uchtdorf.

In speaking about the McAllen Texas Temple, Elder Uchtdorf emphasized that the gospel connects and unites in a world filled with walls and divisions. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he explained, is available to all, regardless of language, cultural background or socioeconomic circumstances.

“The spreading of the restored gospel did not stop at political or social boundaries; it expanded on both sides of the Rio Grande,” he said.

At the McAllen temple, local Church members will experience some of life’s defining moments, he continued, from marriages to sealings to receiving endowments.

They will also find the balm of Gilead when they bring their trials and troubles to the temple, he promised; and when they come to give thanks, they will feel a “special measure of affirmation” from Heavenly Father.

“For each of us, the temple can be a place where we feel that the veil is thin to commune with the Lord,” Elder Uchtdorf said.

This temple will enrich lives and endow members with “blessings from on high.”

Gabriel Jara’s family joined the Church in McAllen when he was 6 years old. Since then, he has witnessed both the community and the Church grow here. Now the second counselor in the McAllen Texas Stake presidency, Jara and his family waited outside the temple before the first dedicatory session and were greeted by President and Sister Uchtdorf.

The day was tender for them. After joining the Church, Jara’s father, Juan Jara, completed so much family history and temple work for his ancestors that many Latter-day Saints in this community dubbed him “John the Baptist.”

Jara has no doubt that his father, who died in 2020, has been awaiting the day that a dedicated temple will stand in McAllen.

Elder Uchtdorf greeted Juan Jara’s 10-year-old grandson, Gabriel Jara. Wearing a “future missionary badge,” Gabriel received a pocket-sized version of the Church’s “For the Strength of Youth” guide from Elder Uchtdorf, who also carries a guide in his front pocket and who encouraged him to spend time in the temple as soon as he is old enough for a limited-use recommend.

Greeting Elder Uchtdorf on such a historic day was a great blessing for the family, said Jara.

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf hands a “For the Strength of Youth” guide to Michael Solis.

Church is dedicating 6 temples in just 36 days — but as many have been dedicated in shorter times before

Jason Hess, a member of the Weslaco Ward, attended the dedication’s first session with family members.

The dedication “is so special to be a part of,” he said, adding that having a temple in McAllen “makes it so much easier ... to have the Spirit and the temple feeling close to home.”

Local members share blessings, experiences

In the days before the dedicatory services, local Church members also expressed gratitude and excitement for the new temple, and shared faith-affirming experiences from their lives.

Ricardo Mendez and his wife, Maria Leticia Mendez, of the Harlingen Texas Stake, previously traveled about five hours twice a month to the San Antonio Texas Temple, where they served as ordinance workers.

Now, with a temple in McAllen, they can enter the house of the Lord as often as they want.

Reflecting on the years spent traveling to San Antonio, Mendez said he doesn’t see the time and expense as a sacrifice; rather, “I look at it as a privilege. [Not many people] can say they had that privilege [to] work in the temple, learn what you can never learn anywhere else and … have a closeness to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. That’s the kind of experience you can never exchange for anything else.”

Mendez grew up in southern Texas, one of 12 children in a family of migrant workers. As a 10-year-old boy, he came to know God and Jesus Christ through prayer and made a decision to follow Them throughout his life; he met missionaries and was baptized three months before his 18th birthday and served as a missionary in Spokane, Washington.

He met his wife after completing university studies and military service.

Maria Mendez and her family were pioneer members of the Church in Navolato, Mexico. She remembers traveling through the night to participate in the Mexico City Mexico Temple dedication and participating in subsequent temple trips to Mexico’s capital city. She would later return to the grounds of the temple for missionary preparation before serving in the Mexico Monterrey Mission.

After their marriage in the Oakland California Temple, the couple returned to Texas and Ricardo Mendez’s roots to raise their four children. The area’s culture is one of understanding that fosters compassion and service, they said.

Temple Department Managing Director Michael Suhaka and Sheri Suhaka; Elder Adilson de Paula Parrella, a General Authority Seventy, and Sister Elaine Finholdt Parrella; Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Harriet Uchtdorf; Elder Jose L. Alonso, a General Authority Seventy, and Sister Rebeca Salazar Alonso; and Bishop Christopher Waddell of the Presiding Bishopric and Sister Carol S. Waddell, at the McAllen Texas Temple on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023.

‘My prayer has been answered’

Tim Brann, a member of the Monte Cristo Ward and a longtime McAllen resident, recalled his mother’s conversion when he was 6 years old.

At that time, members met in a borrowed building in San Juan, and Brann remembers men cleaning up cigarette butts and other litter every Sunday morning before services. The branch later purchased and remodeled its own building.

“So the Church has grown from about zero to temple strength in 70 years,” Brann said.

Jason Solis, who served on the temple dedication committee and now works as the temple grounds supervisor, said members in the area see their culture reflected in the temple’s design — including the sign in front with the temple’s name written in both English and Spanish.

He recalled local Latter-day Saints’ reactions to the October 2019 announcement by President Russell M. Nelson that the Church would build a temple in McAllen. “Wow! The emotion in the room was so powerful,” he said. “It was a beautiful experience. … This is really special for us.”

For some Latter-day Saints, McAllen is a city “in between,” he added.

“There are many Saints that are unable to go north because of their immigration status, and they can’t go back south to Mexico to the nearest temple, so they [live] in between.”

But now, he said, they get “to be here in the temple.”

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, right, and his wife, Sister Harriet Uchtdorf, greet members in line for the McAllen Texas Temple’s dedication.

Solis’ parents, Sergio and Carmen Solis, members of the McAllen West Stake, are the temple’s open house and dedication committee chairs.

“I just can’t express all of the love that we have felt in this assignment,” said Carmen Solis.

Growing up in Mexico, Sergio Solis recalled his mother saving for two years so she could travel to the Mesa Arizona Temple and receive her endowment. She took her young children with her and returned to Mesa on subsequent temple trips with other Latter-day Saints, each time at considerable personal sacrifice.

Sergio Solis and his wife have carried on the temple tradition she started, serving as temple workers twice a month in the San Antonio Texas Temple — a commitment that required a four-hour drive each way and an overnight stay in the city.

For Sergio Solis, the McAllen temple dedication is an answer to a decades-old prayer in the area. In 1975, while serving as a missionary in the McAllen area, he prayed that someday the Rio Grande Valley would have a temple of its own.

At that time, without a baptismal font in the area, a young Elder Solis performed baptisms in the Rio Grande River.

“My prayer has been answered, along with so many other members that have been praying before me,” he said. “I am witnessing that the Lord does answer prayers in His time, not our time. In my case, it was His time, and I get to live it, and I’m going to enjoy it.”