Cebu Temple--a spiritual, cosmopolitan center

July 14, 2011

The Cebu Temple is a cosmopolitan gathering spot. Yesterday in the temple we had two Scottish teenagers, their half sister (an RM who served in Austria/ Switzerland/Germany) with their dad from the Shetland Islands, (Sophie, Judith—13 & 14 and Robert Williamson), two German teenagers (Janina Schwock, almost 15, her brother Janik Schwock, 12) and their mother, Sister Upas, from Frankfort), a couple from England who were actually New Zealanders (Cancy Redmond and her husband), a sister missionary from India, a family from Singapore, plus all the Filipino saints! (And there were some Americans too, but we didn’t get to meet them.)

July 15, 2011

As I walked into the temple this morning I saw several people clustered around the recommend desk waiting for their recommends to be scanned. I realized that several of them were there for their own endowment. Brother Richey asked if I would take one couple into the office to have their paper work done. Unlike the past several weeks when the temple has been wrapped in a metamorphic expectant quiet, the office was bursting with life. People filled all the chairs and others were standing at the counter while their records were being checked. The spirit in the room was palpable. I caught my breath and looked at these dear people so excited to be in the temple, so anxious to receive the blessings of their endowment and sealings. I shook hands with each one, looking into their faces and absorbing their joy. I could not contain those shared emotions and tears trickled down my cheeks. For just a moment I had an opportunity to glance into eternity and feel what it would be like in the Celestial Kingdom. Money could not buy that exquisite feeling. These humble Filipino people from Leyte were obviously not wealthy, nor were they people of prominence or prestige, and yet they were filled with the spirit. Most of them spoke very little English, but the spirit is a much stronger communicator than verbal language. I think I did not realize the power and blessing when I received my own temple endowment like these people did.

I left to go to the dressing room to change to my white clothes, hoping that when I went to preparation meeting to receive my assignment for the day that I would be privileged to assist one of the sisters I had just met. A lump of disappointment formed in my throat as I read that I was to check out ordinance cards and be the librarian the first hour. I knew the sisters would be through initiatory and on the nine o clock session when I finished. I never complain about my duties, but today I was truly disappointed. However, as I thought about who had been assigned to help, I realized that those sisters needed someone who spoke Cebuano to make their experience more meaningful. I repented of my negative feelings and went to my second assignment. Three sisters from Davao on Mindinao had come to the temple and I worked with them in initiatory, feeling a very strong influence of the spirit. My spirits soared and I realized I had experienced another tender mercy from the Lord. Later, after they finished initiatory, we sat in the dressing room whispering, and Sister Insong, the Stake President’s wife, said, “My daughter told me about you, Sister Ward. She said she loved the things you told the youth when they came to do baptisms for the dead a few months ago and she hoped I would get to meet you.” Had I been assisting the sisters from Leyte, I would not have met these sisters from Davao. When a door is closed, two windows are opened. Two of Sister Insong’s companions, Sister Barrizo who was celebrating her birthday, and Sister Laureano who was celebrating her wedding anniversary for the day before, told me it was their stake that had been hit hardest by the recent flash flood. Five of their ward members, a grandmother and her four grandchildren, had drowned when the fast moving torrents came without warning in the middle of the night. Several of the families lost their homes and were living at the Church. Sister Laureano was the chief cook for all the displaced families. I remembered the dedicatory prayer for one of the chapels here; President Teh had dedicated the building as a place of refuge for people who lost their homes during storms. . . I do not recall that being said in any of the dedicatory prayers in chapels in the US.

A young father who has been working overseas was hired to fill the vacancy in the temple laundry. What a hard decision Brother Mel Fajarda, the temple recorder had; there were so many capable people who applied. But by hiring this father, a family has been reunited. One of the sweet sisters who has been working as a volunteer in the laundry several nights a week after she finishes work, and who was hired on a temporary basis to work, was one of the twelve finalists for the position. She has seven children that she is supporting. When she was not hired, I asked her about her feelings. She said, “I love the Lord, I love the temple. I will continue to come to serve. I have been so blessed by being here.” There was no feeling of animosity or jealousy. Sister Vestil is a jewel. I remember helping her in initiatory when she received her endowment a year ago. Somehow that experience has created a bond between us.

We invited Brother Fajardo and his wife, Gloria, and son Richard (11) for dinner last Sunday. She had been very ill and was in Australia for several months and then in Manila receiving medical help. Before she was no more than a toothpick in size, but now seems very healthy. Mel is so grateful to have his family reunited. They have a daughter on a mission. Mel is such a spiritual giant, but he also amazing with his managerial skills; he is over the maintenance of the temple, the grounds, the patron house, plus all the employees, AND the record keeping in the temple which, of its self would be a full time job. We also had Sosi Telmo and her husband and Judith Pua and her husband for dinner on Wednesday. President Pua was just called as a counselor in the Cebu City Stake Presidency. Brother Telmo is in a bishopric. They are both young men. Both couples want children so much but haven’t been blessed with children yet. Both husbands were in church meetings and thought they would be finished by 7:30 so that is when we scheduled dinner. It was after 9 pm when they arrived, so apologetic. I told them we were used to having to eat around Church meetings. Luckily, I had prepared chicken broccoli casserole, so it wasn’t overcooked. There are so many we would love to have come for dinner but getting schedules to mesh is a trick.

Four of the young sister missionaries were released last week. Two American sisters, Sister Hershey and Sister Williams (Samoan or Tongan from the Portland, Oregon area) have returned to the US. They will be missed, they have been powerful missionaries. Two of our senior sister missionaries, Sister Kimber and Sister Byrd, will be leaving in two months and one of the senior couples, Elder and Sister Luke, will be leaving about that same time. WE have grown to love them all very much. We have already shed a few tears when we think about leaving these beautiful people and the temple.

We had an opportunity to meet with our Area President, President Teh, last week. He told us that our sacrifices would bless our families. We know that is the case. He was in Cebu to do the first year check on the temple. He was so pleased, and even amazed at the progress that has been made in one year. He is a great man. He said when he was called as a general authority he thought about having to leave his Filipino home and extended family, uproot his children, (he is a young man in his 40’s and has three children living at home) and experience living in a different culture. Fortunately, he has been able to stay in his home outside Manila while his children are still in school, but he said he became very appreciative of the senior missionaries’ sacrifices of leaving family and the comforts of home. Our blessings here have more than compensated for our sacrifices. We have missed family and friends very much, but we have been able to communicate readily through the miracles of technology, and may have talked to some of you more than we did when we lived at home. . .

Somehow I missed writing about a young man we heard speak in one of the Consolation Wards. He is a recent convert to the Church. The missionaries had given him a Book of Mormon and he was reading it diligently. He had been taught several of the lessons and had a testimony that the Church and Book of Mormon were true. He went to a member’s home to participate in another lesson. While he was gone, his family burned his Book of Mormon. When he came home his parents told him that he had to choose between his family and the Church. He told them he knew the Church was true and that he couldn’t deny his feelings. They kicked him out of their home. He was heartbroken and misses his family very much. He said in Church, “I chose to follow Jesus Christ and leave my family. Every step is full of surprises and challenges and trials, but I will follow one step at a time.”

We had a wonderful 4th of July/ Filipino-American Friendship Day Dinner. Elder and Sister Bringhurst were in charge. She spent days making darling centerpieces, painting flower pots dark blue with white stars and a red striped rim. She bent wire around a star shaped cookie cutter and then sprayed those red, white or blue. She inserted the wire stars into a Styrofoam base in the pot with American and Filipino flags. As a finishing touch, she shredded red, white and blue paper to fill the pots and spread on the tables. Her daughter sent red and blue plastic tablecloths and patriotic flag napkins from the US. Larry and Elders Ganir and Bringhurst grilled hamburgers and all of the couples filled in the rest of the menu with traditional 4th food. I made up a quiz about US and Filipino history, geography and culture. We had fun with that. President and Sister Teh and President and Sister Schmutz, the new mission president were special guests. That may be the last pot luck we have. The new District President for the missionaries has elected to go out to dinner as a group once a month. Some people don’t like to cook. Oh well, we have had one great year of fun get-togethers.

We are leaving Monday for a week on Luzon; we will be traveling to Manila, Subic Bay, Corregidor, Urdeneta, and Baguio. We won’t be here to talk to anyone or write emails this week. We have a two week temple break. I know—you are all thinking, is this a vacation, or a mission?

WE love you.