We Are So Much Grateful

One of the endearing phrases that we hear Filipinos say in their prayers is "We are so much grateful." So I'll borrow the phrase for today and share some of the things I am "so much grateful for."

First of all, I'm grateful for being able to take this classic missionary picture. Because of Covid we were not able to attend the Provo MTC last spring and we were not able to take this picture pre-mission. I was surprised and grateful last week when we were at our mission leader seminar at the Manila MTC to discover this map and take this picture. I love that the Philippines is located in the middle of the map.  

I am so much grateful that we were able to attend our mission leader seminar, a semi-annual gathering of the mission leaders from all 23 missions in the Philippines. Because of Covid and hotel restrictions, and because all MTC training for young missionaries is still being done online, we were privileged to spend five days at the Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Manila for our first in-field mission leader seminar.

Fortunately for us Manila is within driving distance of our mission so getting there was easy. A good number of mission leaders flew in from islands all across the Philippines. When we first arrived, we had to do a rapid antigen test, which I mistakenly thought was the easy covid blood test. No, that's the rapid antibody test. The rapid antigen test is nothing other than the swab test. I now deserve two "I survived the swab test" t-shirts. 

The Manila MTC is a beautiful property located in Quezon City. It's directly across the street from the Manila temple and we had plenty of opportunities to walk the temple grounds, both during the day and in the evening, when the temple was lit up so beautifully. If you look closely at the daytime picture below, you can see the temple spire in the background. 

Because this was my first experience at an MTC, I felt a little bit like a young missionary taking pictures all over the place but I'm glad I did.

Our week at the MTC was a spiritual highlight of my life. I loved everything about it ... associating with the other mission leaders, listening to the musical presentations, even the food was outstanding. The best part for me was the teaching and training, which was our focus and priority for the week. The three members of our Philippines Area Presidency taught insightful and inspirational lessons and we had an opportunity to be taught remotely by an apostle, Elder D. Todd Christofferson. 

During Elder Christofferson's presentation, we were given the opportunity to ask questions and I asked a question about the challenges facing the church as it grows into new areas in the world. Much to my surprise, the day after his presentation, Elder Christofferson, in a one-of-a-kind (for me) moment of personal ministry, followed up on the question that I had asked the day before and had a member of our Area Presidency personally deliver to me a more thorough answer to my question. His answer was a printed copy of his most recent article in our church's December Ensign publication. The article "Why We Need Jesus Christ" includes the following picture, which I love. 

I was deeply touched by this moment of personal ministry and came away even more deeply committed to individually ministering to each of our remarkable missionaries. 

I am so much grateful that we were recently able to participate in a seaside baptismal service in the lovely town of Mabayo.

Here's our meetinghouse in Mabayo, one of the few places we don't have a chapel. Look closely and you'll see the name of our church in the middle of the picture.

We had to carefully navigate our way through the alley to go from the meetinghouse to the ocean.

I am also so much grateful that we were able to host a Christmas devotional. We had over 200 devices join in our Zoom devotional last Sunday. We're estimating that represents somewhere around 300 or more people. We shared music from the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square and we each spoke for about 15 minutes. It was a great experience for us to share our thoughts and feelings about Finding Joy in the Savior's Birth with our missionaries, with members and leaders throughout our mission, and with those not of our faith who were invited to join us.

And lastly, I am so much grateful that we were able to go on another hike recently, this time to the Linasan Falls, about 45 minutes north of us. We drove through a small village and then drove to the end of a narrow dirt road and then hiked for about 45 minutes to reach the falls. Thankfully we had two members of our local congregation as our guides. It was a lovely morning and our missionaries are great hiking companions and I was reminded again that we live in paradise.