Cebu visit with OIC's and Security Staff January 4th through the 6th

This is a view of the Patron Housing at dusk
Great Picture of the Temple at Dusk. The nativity is just to the left of the picture.

Nativity at night.

Cebu Temple at dusk January 6th 2011

Daytime view of the Nativity at Cebu Temple January 6th 2011

Centurion Guards in front of Patron Temple Housing

From left Manny Francisco, Lot Revillo, Elder Burningham, Sister Burningham,Edwin Quiray and Francis Dolino

On Tuesday January 4th we got up early and headed to Manila Airport to catch our flight to Cebu to arrive at 8 am. Once in Cebu we taxied to the Cebu Temple Complex where Lot Agustin our Security Supervisor in Cebu met us. We spent the morning greeting and speaking with our Supervisor there, Lot and OIC's Manny Francisco, Edwin Quiray and Francis Dolino. It was good to see them as we were not able to visit Cebu since the dedication due to no travel budget for the latter part of the the year 2010.

At 1:00 pm we had a staff meeting with our officers and the outsource agency Centurion together in the Stake Center on the complex. During the meeting we served Pizza and soda which everyone loved. One of the staff of the Centurion Security agency also attended. There were at least 8 maybe more of the Centurion Guards who attended.

Manny conducted the meeting. It was started with a song and prayer which was great as all but one of the Centurion guards are nonmembers. Manny reported the minutes from the last meeting and then turned some time over to the Agency representative for a few remarks. He said he was pleased with all that he saw regarding the guards post responsibilities. The Centurion guards all had yellow barongs which signifies Tuesday wear. They have two other colored barongs which signify and other day. They dress very sharp and with black patent leather shoes. Our OIC's wear white shirts and Ties which signify that they are OIC's. They were attentative, sharp looking and so respectful. A note about the guards. There have been a few who have been taking missionary lessons and one has accepted an invitation to be baptized. Others have quit smoking and drinking alcohol. Smoking here in the Philippines is quite common. People can buy cigarettes off the street by the singles. So the Temple has an influence upon those guards who work here that are not LDS. One Centurion Guard expressed his gratitude for his job there at the Cebu Temple Complex. He said that everyone that comes there is religious and happy and he enjoys that. They all were smiling and glad to have the job. That pleases us very much.

Wednesday morning we had interviews with each OIC and our supervisor Lot Revilla. All of our interviews are prefaced with a report called "Regular Results Discussions" We have interviews with our staff in Manila also and have interviewed each full time employee who is on the security staff. It should be stated here that the Manila outsource guards from Vallum Security agency number about 6 and the Full Time Employees are 12 including our supervisor Jess Batoon. There is a difference in number from Manila to Cebu. A fifth OIC will most likely be hired for Cebu soon as it has been proven that the work load requires one more OIC. The interviews with the Cebu staff went well and we are very very pleased with what we see. We took notes on items stated that needed our attention.

In the afternoon of January 5th we held a goal setting session with our OIC's and Lot for the year 2011. This was based on incidents from the previous year where improvements can be made. Some incidents are a bit comical as they described a trash can being lit on fire at the Stake Center on the complex and one of the guilty parties is the son of the counselor in the stake presidency. Oops...I think he will a have a good talking to. One is, ooops, the fire alarm is accidentally pulled. Not accidentally as the camera showed a girl who purposely pulled the alarm. Some things are funny but they have to be dealt with.

All the meetings went very well and we are very very pleased with what we see. We will see them more often now...perhaps every other month until we leave. It is our goal to have a Family Home Evening with the staff in May. This will include food, fun and get together with all the staff. We have to hurry to do all that we want to by the time we leave in July 2011.

I should make note that Manny was following up on Elder B's Ferrari spoof. Elder is always saying that he wants to see his Ferrari there, so Manny has been collecting Ferrari toy cars. He told Elder that he had his Ferrari ready for him. Elder said "Good" and Manny said what color do you want? Then he brought out an assortment of colors of his Ferrari's, so he picked out a red one although too embarrassed to accept it. I accepted it because I wanted the keepsake of his shtick with the guys regarding the Ferrari. I thought it was pretty funny but heartwarming at the same time. Thanks Manny. It is a nice remembrance.

On Thursday we were able to attend the 11 am session at the Cebu Temple. We did not get a chance to do that after the dedication as the Filipino Saints just flocked to the temple and there was a waiting list to get in. The rush has slowed down now and we could get in. We had our own family file cards to do endowments for and then in the afternoon we performed a number of sealings of families and spouses by proxy. All the family file cards were from Elder B's mother's side of the family. Names and genealogy information were found on a website for the Balcom Family. The website was just a family website not affiliated with the church. So Elder was able to look up the names to see if ordinances were done and if not clear the names for Temple work. We had a great day in the temple before heading back to Manila in the evening.

Now we are back at our desks this Friday January 7th catching up with the work we have set goals with. Attached are pictures of our OIC's, Temple grounds and a a couple of guards from Centurion.

Good visit to Cebu.