This is the editorial that was put in the local paper by the wife of an employee that works in the Church Perpetual Education department in our building.
THURSDAY MAY 27, 2010 PHILIPPINES
CEBU PHILIPPINES TEMPLE
Beauty and bliss
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has recently completed the Cebu City Philippines Temple, establishing a new landmark in the Queen City of the South.
Located on a hill on Gorordo Avenue, Lahug, the temple will be open to the public until June 5.
Considered by members of the Church as the most sacred place—the "House of the Lord"—it is where sacred ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ are performed. It is different from a meetinghouse where members of the Church gather for the weekly Sunday services.
"To members of the Church, temples are literally Houses of the Lord. They are dedicated to the Lord that is why we take special care to use the finest materials fitting for an edifice that will be called as such. In temples, we perform sacred ordinances that cannot be performed in any other place. There, we also have the opportunity to be taught the true meaning of life and make covenants with God," said Michael John U. Teh, second counselor in the Philippines Area presidency.
The Cebu temple was completed after more than two years of construction. It will be the 133rd temple of the Church throughout the world and the second in the country. The first one, built in 1984, is located along Temple Drive, White Plains in Quezon City.
Because it is esteemed highly by Church members, only the finest materials and craftsmanship were used in its construction. It stands 140 feet and is capped with a gilded statue of angel Moroni, a prophet in the Book of Mormon. The exterior of the temple is a stone fascia imported from China. Interior stone is from Italy and Greece. The interior is adorned with decorative paintings, gold leaf detail, and original murals that reflect the local culture and landscape. It also features beautifully grained sapele mahogany from Africa. Two large paintings, on each side of the grand staircase, were commissioned for the temple by Filipino artist Adler Llagas. Most of the furniture was also produced locally from Philippine mahogany.
The 4.7-hectare temple complex include patron housing, a meetinghouse, a temple president’s residence, a mission president’s residence and a mission office. The temple itself has an area of 2,746 square meters.
Inside the temple, various rooms for ordinances are shown such as the baptistry, the sealing room and celestial room.
So far, thousands have visited the temple complex since it was opened to the public on May 21. It will be dedicated by the Thomas S. Monson, president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on June 13. It will be preceded by a cultural celebration on June 12. After the dedication, only members of the Church who meet the worthiness requirement would be allowed to enter the temple.
The tour, which is being offered now to the public, consists of a 12-minute video presentation on the history of temple-building, followed by a 30-minute walk through the temple. Parking is available at the site.
"We want the public to be able to see all of the rooms inside the temple. We also take the time to explain to them the ordinance that is performed there. We help them to understand that what we do there is sacred and not a secret. Once a temple is dedicated to the Lord, they will not have the opportunity to enter. We want them to be able to do so before then," said Teh.
The Cebu temple will serve around 200,000 members living in the Visayas and Mindanao.
There are approximately 650,000 members throughout the country.
"Those who enter the temple can find the peaceful serenity the Savior promised His followers in the New Testament: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you (John 14:27)," says a brochure on the Cebu temple distributed at the open house. - Minnie Advincula
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