A Wonderful Opportunity to visit the Manilla Philippines Temple

Dear Family and Friends,

   We had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Manilla Temple.  It was an outing for our Urdaneta Mission President and Sister Monahan, and all the Senior Couple Missionaries. 

The hour sunrise ride to Rosales city at 4:30 am was beautiful. We met at 1st Counselor President Mortensen's home breakfast.

We saw beautiful fields and landscapes along the tollway to Manilla. 

We arrived in Manilla, with 20 million people .

  As home for us in our small farm town in Utah is 300 people, Elder Roberts was thankful not to be the driver. 

Yes, we are still going straight forward in this pic, but there was a break and tons of vehicles took the advantage to turn left in front of us  ---

Now consider there are no tickets issued on the freeway,,, move in front of your neighbor car if you can, even if you need to make your own lane,,,

Motorcycles are allowed to go anywhere without a lane, on your right, left, or through...

Now off the freeway, we were thankful to be alive, without dent or incident.  We passed by the People's Power Monument  commemorating the People back in charge of the Philippine Government after the overthrow of dictators.

We arrived at the beautiful, peaceful LDS Manilla Temple.  It was a beautiful blue sky day too.

 We visited the LDS Distribution Center, where we bought some  Pictures of Christ, the Children's songbooks were only $2.00, so I bought some for our Mangaldan Branches Primary Presidents.  There are never any pics of the Manilla Temple in stock.  But everyone wants one for their home...

The Philippines MTC on the left has flags from many countries.  We did not have time to visit there.

We are fortunate to be here.  We were able to enter the LDS Manilla Temple and accomplish work for our Sr. Couple - Sister Shamrell's ancestors.  All who work and participate in the Temple wear white clothing.   You can read what our Prophet President Thomas S. Monson has said, upload the video by pasting the www address into your computer.  Sorry, I don't know how to put it here. 

Temple Blessings—Worth Every Sacrifice 

 

Temple Blessings—Worth Every Sacrifice

• www.lds.org/youth/video/temple-blessings-worth-every-sacrifice

Why are so many willing to give so much in order to receive the blessings of the temple? Those who understand the eternal blessings which come from the temple know that no sacrifice is too great, no price is too heavy, no struggle too difficult in order to receive those blessings. There are never too many miles to travel, too many obstacles to overcome or too much discomfort to endure. They understand that the saving ordinances received in the temple that permit us to someday return to our Heavenly Father in an eternal family relationship and to be endowed with blessings and power from on high are worth every sacrifice and every effort. . . .
Now, my young friends who are in your teenage years, always have the temple in your sights. Do nothing which will keep you from entering its doors and partaking of the sacred and eternal blessings there. I commend those of you who already go to the temple regularly to perform baptisms for the dead, arising in the very early hours of the morning so you can participate in such baptisms before school begins. I can think of no better way to start a day.
Read, watch, or listen to the entire talk.

Topics: Temple, Sacrifice

 We are happy to be here at the Temple.  We took many pics, but did not get a group picture.

Elder Roberts with President Monahan

 The others drove home that day.

We stayed overnight at Microhotel. Very surprisingly, the girl at the front desk lives in her home on the weekends - where we work back at Mangaldan City !   We gave her an Articles of Faith Card,,, a referral right where we live.   The Lord really is the one who finds his sheep.

   We checked out the night lights of Eastwood Mall, walking the over the road pedestrian bridge.

At Dairy Queen, we actually ran into another Sr. Couple Missionaries Elder and Sister Sheffer from Panguitch UT.  Oh may God bless their hearts, they work so hard and drive through these scary roads everyday, all day for 6-8 hours, checking and repairing Missionary Apartments.  
   They told us this week of hoisting a bed and furniture up 3 floors with ropes on the outside of a tower apt for some young Missionaries.   They live on the 27th floor of a skyscraper. 

  We are thankful just to be where we work, in a Philippine farming area.  Now our "crazy driving roads" where we work don't seem quite    a s      b a d .   May God bless us all.

 The next morning,  we had delicious breakfast.  A mango later.

 In one hallway, the Spirit told Sister Roberts very strongly to give an Articles of Faith card to the guard woman.  When given it, the guard pulled out the LDS Restoration booklet, and said the Missionaries were teaching her.  Sister Roberts bore her testimony to her and cleared up a misconception that our LDS Temple was not from the Church of the Eglisia Jesu Cristo.

 Then we had the wild experience of a Manilla taxi driver.   He was skilled in  ah...   maneuvering.... and making his   own...  lane....  So Sister Roberts closed her eyes and prayed to God for safety again...

 We boarded a North Star bus and had a 5 hour trip home.  We saw on-board vendors when we made stops.  We bought what we thought was a Buko coconut pie,,, but it was several individual pies.

We gave some Article of Faith cards to our co-passengers.  They said Salamat-po Thank you.

We went passed some Sports Arenas  (basketball ?).  There are "squatters" in front of them, people that just decide to campout and live there for a while.

We saw a beautiful freeway exit landscape.

We are thankful to God to be home safe.  What an interesting and inspiring and still Missionary Work experience.

Love,
Elder and Sister Roberts