TRUJILLO, PERU — President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said Sunday that Father's Day's was a perfect holiday for the LDS Church to dedicate its 147th temple.

“We are told to celebrate, honor and worship our Father in Heaven — and this is Father’s Day,” he said at the cornerstone ceremony of the dedication of the Trujillo Peru Temple. “What an honor and a wonderful privilege it is to give to our Heavenly Father this house of the Lord.”

The Trujillo temple was dedicated in three sessions. It is the second such edifice in this South American nation and opens 29 years after the opening of the Lima Peru Temple.

Peru has long been a stronghold for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are 100 stakes in operation here. Now there is a second temple in Peru that will serve Latter-day Saints in the country's northern region.

President Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency of the church, said blessings await all who come to the new temple to make and receive sacred covenants and instruction.

“There will be a confluence of spiritual streams in the lives of individuals, of families, of communities and of this nation,” he said.

President Uchtdorf was joined in his travels from church headquarters by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Michael John U. Teh of the Seventy.

Thousands arrived throughout the day Sunday to participate in the dedication of the temple, designed in classical Spanish colonial architecture. Many more across the region watched the proceedings from LDS meetinghouses via closed circuit broadcast.

The overcast skies that are common here on June mornings soon gave way to sunshine. Even though small children were not allowed inside the new temple, many youngsters came to the temple grounds to enjoy the outdoor cornerstone ceremony and be with their families.

“These children are building a legacy for their own lives, for the lives that went before and for generations to come,” said President Uchtdorf.

The Church leader has been to Peru several times prior to the dedication — but this trip marked his first visit to Trujillo. He was able to deliver several lines in Spanish on the eve of the temple dedication during a Church-sponsored cultural event at a nearby sports arena.

Hundreds of youth from the new temple district performed a variety of folk dances as part of the traditional cultural event held the day before temple dedications.

The visiting General Authorities and their wives attended the festivities, along with the South America Northwest Area Presidency — Elder Juan A. Uceda, Elder W. Christopher Waddell and Elder Carlos A. Godoy.

Prior to the cultural event, President Uchtdorf counseled the young performers to gain a solid secular and spiritual education and to prepare for missions and temple marriages.

jswensen@deseretnews.com @JNSwensen