Stake Conference

May 23, 2010

Dearest Ones,

It was so fun to see and talk to Dallen, Liz and Jacob, Maddie and Ethan, Jeff, Elizabeth, Connor, Maryn and Camille (She walked into Jeff and Elizabeth’s while we were on Skype with them—perfect timing! We just wish we’d had a chance to visit with the rest of you. Maybe the best time will be our Sunday Mornings and your Saturday evenings! We are 10 hours ahead of Utah, 11 hours ahead of Oklahoma (and probably Illinois). I have no idea what the time difference is between us and Albania! We really don’t know what our Sunday schedule will be. Today was Stake Conference, but we may be assigned to outlying branches or wards. Until after the dedication we likely will not have any assignments.

We heard and saw Emily’s concert video. It was great. I played it three times.

WE hope everyone is well. WE pray for you daily.

We spent from 8:30 to 2pm hosting a video room for the temple tours on Saturday. A group of 150 Saints from Ilo Ilo had left their island on a boat at 6pm Friday night and got here at 7 Saturday morning and were ready to assist with the tours at 8:30. WE are humbled by the sacrifices these people make—and they are returning for the dedication and cultural celebration in June. They did tell us that coming to Cebu will cut the time by half of what it took them to go to the temple in Manila. And it will save them money too! Two of the tour guide couples were in Stake Presidencies from Ilo Ilo and I felt a special bond with them even before I knew what positions they held. The Isons and theTorres’ both had a special radiance. President Torres is the CES Coordinator for this region; his wife was a chemical engineer before their 7 children were born. The Filipino people are so warm and friendly. They shake your hand and make you feel like it is a privilege to be with you! ONe of the Cebu ward bishops was a tour guide with his wife. Bishop Dy is so young—probably in his late 20’s. They have a 4 year old and a 2 year old with one on the way. He ran for political office in the last campaign but lost—sadlyI’m sure he is a very good man, and so dynamic. When we finished Elder and Sister Spencer,one of the other senior couples in charge of the new history center in our building, invited us to go to lunch with them. It turned out that 10 of us went: The Lukes from the Phoenix area here on an employment resource mission, Sisters Byrd, Sister Kimber, Sister Saunders, and Sister Fullmer, all older single proselyting missionaries. They took us to a place called Georg’s . I ordered a mandarin salad (mixed lettuce, mandarin oranges, almonds, jicama, and chicken) Daddy got an oriental salad with chicken, jicama, carrots over dry rice noodles. He also ordered a pork and cucumber sandwich and I had a brownies and cream dessert that was rich and delectable! All that good food cost about $14. The others told us that a 20 peso tip was sufficient (about 40 cents) but Daddy left a 50 peso tip; we have been feeling so sad about how they have a hard time making ends meet. We’ve been to one other restaurant called the BananaLeaf where they serve your food on a banana leaf—no plates!

TheSaturday night adult meeting was held at the old Stake Center because tours were still being conducted from the new Stake Center. The old Stake Center is only about six blocks from here but we still got a taxi. My feet have been giving me problems and I felt I couldn’t walk that far. When we got in the taxi we asked the driver if he knew where the Mormon Stake Center was by the JY Shopping Center. He said yes, but then drove us to the shopping center; the Stake Center was a block beyond! Oh well, they probably have as hard a time understanding us as we do them.

The Saturday Night Session of conference was amazing. A 60 voice Stake Choir sang “Secret Prayer” I don’t know what I was expecting, but they were wonderful and so inspiring. They have been practising for over 2 months and their dynamics and enunciation were excellent—even if their pronunciation was a little different from ours: Unmurred for unmarred and weth for with, etc. When the 2^nd counselor in the Stake Presidency stood to conduct, I was shocked. I thought he was an Aaronic Priesthood boy! So many of the Filipino people look young. I was also surprised when the Stake President stood to speak. He had been in charge of the Open House and had talked to the group each morning; he had told us to call him Brother John and so we had—not President, but Brother John…No pretense! President and Sister Mortimer talked and bore strong testimony of temple work. The Mission President’s wife, Sister Hansen told how temple worship has affected 3 families she knew—one was her own. When they were living in LasVEgas, the week the temple was dedicated there, their young 14 month old son had his hand so badly burned that the doctors told them he would lose his hand. Their Bishop gave them a blessing and told them them that if they were faithful in their temple attendance that his hand would heal and be fine. They went regularly to the temple and today he has full use of his hand!

Elder Teh, the Area Authority , and his wife both spoke. Sister Tey reported that one woman from the media group told her, “Thank you for letting me experience heaven” after she finished the temple tour.

She also commented that the main reason she kept the commandments was that she could not bear the thought of breaking Heavenly Father’s heart. I thought that very powerful. She is a beautiful young woman with three teen-age children. All the women here are beautifully groomed and dressed modestly but very fashionably. Some of the other missionaries told us that even if the members live in shacks, they are clean and well groomed when they come to Church.

Elder Teh (pronounced Tay) said it was incorrect if he called his wife his better half; “she is my better 7/8!” He told the Saints that this land will be blessed because of the temple that is here—even those who are not members. This temple will make it possible for members to attend the temple once a week instead of once a year. He said just because we have a temple close now, we must not take it for granted. “Apathy towards the work of the Lord is the greatest threat to the Church.”

In the Sunday morning session, the Choir sang a lovely arrangement of“I Love to See the Temple”; I was touched by the small boy sitting right beside me who sang along with them. Brother John (I don’t even know the Stake President’s last name…) talked about some of the requirement s to enter the temple told a story about a widow in the congregation. Her husband died leaving her with 7 young children, all in school. She knew she would have no money for food after two more days, but she told her children that they must pay their tithing and the Lord would provide. And sure enough a neighbor would bring a kilo of rice or something else and say, “ I felt you needed this.” ”Tithing is the solution to financial problems,” he remarked.

It has been a wonderful day. One of the sisters mentioned that the tablecloths that were used for the open house were really soiled but they didn’t have a way to wash them. Daddy and I gathered them up and brought them to our big community laundryroom, washed and dried them and carried them back to the Stake Center. The sisters who were setting up for tomorrow were so appreciative. We told them we’d wash them every night this week.

WE went to a fireside at the Mortimers this afternoon. The Construction Manager talked about building the temple. I will have to write that later. I’m up to my old trick of falling asleep at the computer!