August 30, 2010
How blessed we are to be able to attend many Stake Conferences. Yesterday we visited the Talisay Stake Conference where Elder Won Yong Ko of the Seventy was the presiding authority and concluding speaker. One of the sisters in the temple commented that Elder Ko and his wife had attended an endowment session and that he was here for a Stake Conference. Larry spent an hour on the internet Saturday night and again Sunday morning trying to figure out where the Stake Center was, and finally gave up and called one of the temple presidency to get directions. WE called our friends, the Ganirs to see if they wanted to go with us. (I realized later that I should have called all the temple couples; they were really sad that they hadn’t known about the Conference and so did not go). So many times the taxi drivers are not sure where we want to go, but this time the driver knew exactly where the chapel was; it was very close to his company’s taxi garage! Our fare was 150 pisos for our 25 minute ride.
If these Filipino Saints had a red carpet, they would roll it out for us. We are treated as celebrities. After many hugs and handshakes, we entered the chapel. President Ko greeted us personally. One of the ushers brought us orchid corsages and pinned them on us. WE took our seats mid-way back—just far enough that we could sit on the plastic chairs rather than the very straight back small wooden benches in the chapel proper which were not built for Larry’s long legs or our taller bodies. WE had been sitting for only a few minutes when one of the young adult ushers approached us and said, “President Ko requests that you missionaries come and sit on the stand.” WE felt so honored—and we were thrilled to have padded soft seats! What a vantage point we had being able to look down into the faces of these beautiful people and feel their spirit.
Again, the Stake Choir comprised of only 18 people, brought the spirit into the meeting with their touching “Consider the Lilies of the Field”. My emotions are directly connected to my tear ducts and I wept as the Spirit testified of Christ. They had worked so hard to copy the pronunciation, dynamics and musicality of the Tabernacle Choir arrangement. The Stake President of only six months, President Oppus, gave a wonderful talk based on D & C 87: 8: “Stand ye in holy places, and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come…” He urged us to attend the temple, to make our homes as holy as the temple, to make our attendance at church a holy experience, to seek out friends who would help us make our lives holy and then use D & C 88:119 as a guide for personal holiness—Organize yourself, live a life of prayer, a life of fasting, a life of faith, a life of learning, a life of order and ready yourself to meet God.
President Mortimer spoke, quoting Malachi 4:1 “. . .the day cometh. . .that it shall leave them neither root nor branch” in other words, not being tied to ancestors or posterity because they lacked the temple sealing ordinances. All ordinance of the Gospel lead to the sealing room of the temple; the work of the temple is to create eternal families.
President Ko told all members that our lives should be focused on the temple. He told of talking to the mayor of Cebu while the temple was being built and the mayor told him of the Japanese building tunnels under the hill where the temple was. The rumor was that the Japanese had hidden gold in those tunnels. The mayor said to Elder Ko, “Now if you find that gold, let me know.” Local people thought that that gold was used for the angel Moroni statue! He talked about the ordinances and reminded us that all of the ordinances with the exception of the sacrament are a one time occurrence, but because we forget so easily, the sacrament taken weekly reminds us of all the other ordinances and covenants. The temple work done for the dead also reminds us of our own covenants.
The temple presidency had hired a jeepney to take them to Stake Conference and they invited us to ride home with them. The jeepney was a small one so we were packed in like sardines; I was afraid I would get leg cramps but I didn’t, thank goodness. WE had invited Mortimers to come for dinner, but when we checked the crock pot, the chicken-rice casserole was not done; we had only turned it on low. So we called and told Mortimers it would be two hours before we ate. I had baked apple pies and had made sugar-free lime and pear jello on Saturday so I just had to make a green salad and cook carrots. President and Sister Mortimer are fun to talk to; we enjoyed their company.
After they left, Larry laid down on the bed for a nap but was aroused just minutes after he had fallen asleep by a blaring fire alarm accompanied by a booming, penetrating voice “A fire has been reported in this building, please evacuate immediately”. From the looks of people assembled in the hallway, a lot of people were taking naps. It was a false alarm. Tonight while we were eating cake and ice cream in honor of Elder Richey’s 76th birthday, the alarm went off again. It is so loud everyone was holding their ears. This is the fourth time we have had a false alarm this month. WE did descend to the first floor just in case. Security cannot figure out what is causing the alarm to go off.
Elder Ganir and Larry explored a different section of Cebu and discovered a zoo; it was so run down—Larry thought maybe the US servicemen here after WW II had built it and that nothing had been done to it since. Unfortunately the animals and the facility were in bad condition; the Bengal tiger had open sores on its body; the 60 year old 20 foot crocodile was so lethargic Larry and Elder Ganir got in the enclosure with it—but jumped out in a hurry when it roared. Larry got to hold the baby monkeys and said they were cute. Other animals included goats, chickens, a macaw, some hawks, python snakes and Civet cats. The zoo was built on a steep hill with many eroding steps; I likely will not visit it!
One day last week when I came out of the temple I stopped and talked to a young father whose two sons were dressed in Sunday best sitting by the temple fence. The parents had come by boat that morning from the neighboring island of Bohol and the father had attended a morning session while the mother tended the two boys, Ezra 7 and Brennen 3. The mother was in an endowment session while the father tended the boys during the afternoon. Such devotion! Only those who stay in the patron house are supposed to use the youth center there, but somehow, there needs to be some arrangement made for small children who have to wait all day while their parents are in the temple.
The Apas Ward primary children hosted a musical program on Wednesday night. The little ones were so darling, dressed as bees and flowers and one white bird covered in white feathers which were molting he must have been three at the most and did not do what all the others were doing, but stole the show with his antics! All the different classes danced to popular music, lip syncing and acting out the words, sort of music video style—and they put themselves into the music; they have an ability to really move gracefully and feel the beat. Those in charge had gone all out with stage decorations. Two of the primary teachers, a young couple, had choregraphed the dances; they even had the audience get up and try some of the steps. I felt like a fish out of water—all fins and no feet.
Tonight we attended a farewell program in honor of the Reeds, and again we saw the dancing abilities of these people. All the primary presidency and teachers were doing some pretty fancy dancing; they even had matching costumes. Each organization presented a talent number. The MCs did a terrific job including video taped farewell testimonials about the Reeds from the President of the Philippines, President Obama and Oprah! Someone had taken clips from the TV and then dubbed in the voices to match the length of the clip. It was very clever. The High Priests were hilarious. Their leader said because there had been a drought in Cebu this summer, they felt it important to teach members ways to conserve water. Four men demonstrated how to conserve water brushing teeth, gargling, washing your face and taking a bath, each using just one cup of water. (The cup was actually empty). The funniest was taking a bath: he “poured” the water over his head, and then “squeezed” the water from his hair back into the cup, “poured” it over his shoulder and “caught” the water as it trickled down his body. The last man called out of the audience works for the city with water conservation; he thanked them for their suggestions and then said he would demonstrate the final way to conserve water. He picked up the cup of water everyone else had been using and “drank “ it! I thought, “WE will never have this close relationship to members of one ward since we go to many wards and cannot hold positions in a ward as the Reeds have done, but we do have the blessing of meeting with many of the members here.” Again we were honored as we were served their light supper before any one else!
Our mission is full of interesting experiences; no day is just like the day before. The one thing that is the same is the love and respect the Filipinos show us.
WE love you! Mary and Larry, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa
No comments:
Post a Comment