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President Russell M. Nelson, 17th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, announced the Natal Brazil Temple on April 2, 2023, during the Sunday afternoon session of April 2023 general conference. A house of the Lord for this coastal city in eastern Brazil was among 15 announced worldwide by the Church President — and the 20th for this South American nation.
Upon hearing the announcement of a temple for Natal, Bishop Paraguassu Pereira of the Cidade Verde Ward, Natal Ponta Negra Stake, found it hard to “hold back the emotion and the tears when a blessing anticipated for decades is finally coming true.”
“We shouted joyfully as if our national soccer team had scored at a World Cup,” he wrote in an email about members’ reactions. Latter-day Saints in that part of Brazil, Bishop Pereira related, originally had to travel some 50 hours by bus to the São Paulo Brazil Temple until a sacred edifice was dedicated in Recife, reducing travel time to four hours.
Now there will be a temple in Natal. “The city and state members feel the Lord’s tender mercies bestowed upon them,” he wrote, adding, “I remember with gratitude all the missionaries who put their lives on hold ... to share the message of the restored gospel with the people of this region. Each of them will have a spiritual brick in this holy place [a house of the Lord in Natal].”
Church President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple for Natal, Brazil, on April 2, 2023, during April 2023 general conference. It was one of 15 temples announced at the conference — including another Brazil house of the Lord in Teresina — and will be the 20th such edifice for this South American nation.
The Natal Brazil Temple was announced by Church President Russell M. Nelson on April 2, 2023. The Church released a site location on Aug. 28, 2023, for a sacred edifice in the Nova Parnamirim neighborhood in the Natal suburb of Parnamirim. Details about the temple’s groundbreaking have not yet been released.
According to site plans released by the Church on Aug. 28, 2023, the Natal Brazil Temple will be a single-story building of approximately 19,800 square feet. The edifice will stand on a 5.53-acre site in the Nova Parnamirim neighborhood in the Natal suburb of Parnamirim, in Brazil’s easternmost coastal state of Rio Grande do Norte.
2 April 2023
Avenida Senador Salgado Filho, 50
Nova Parnamirim
Parnamirim, Rio Grande do Norte
Brazil
This will be the 20th Latter-day Saint temple in Brazil.
When this house of the Lord was announced, Brazil had approximately 1.5 million Latter-day Saints in nearly 2,200 congregations.
The closest temple to Natal is currently the Recife Brazil Temple, a distance of approximately 150 miles to the south.
Located on Brazil’s northeastern coastal tip, Natal — known for its extensive coastal sand dunes — is the capital and largest city in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.
Three temples will be situated along the eastern point of Brazil, with the farthest distance apart under 260 miles. These will include sacred edifices in Natal and Maceió, planned; and Recife, operating.
This port city along the eastern coast of South America will be one of more than 10 Brazilian port cities that will have a temple operating or in planning stages. At the time of the Natal Brazil Temple’s announcement, these also included Belém, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Maceió, Santos and Vitória.
This will be the 20th Latter-day Saint temple in Brazil.
When this house of the Lord was announced, Brazil had approximately 1.5 million Latter-day Saints in nearly 2,200 congregations.
The closest temple to Natal is currently the Recife Brazil Temple, a distance of approximately 150 miles to the south.
Located on Brazil’s northeastern coastal tip, Natal — known for its extensive coastal sand dunes — is the capital and largest city in the state of Rio Grande do Norte.
Three temples will be situated along the eastern point of Brazil, with the farthest distance apart under 260 miles. These will include sacred edifices in Natal and Maceió, planned; and Recife, operating.
This port city along the eastern coast of South America will be one of more than 10 Brazilian port cities that will have a temple operating or in planning stages. At the time of the Natal Brazil Temple’s announcement, these also included Belém, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Maceió, Santos and Vitória.