Mormon Life - Philippines tag

Millions of records, images added to FamilySearch

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 10:37:00 -0600

source: MormonTimes.com

Millions of new records and images have been added recently to FamilySearch.org for more than 20 countries, including Argentina, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Hungary, Italy, Micronesia, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Sweden and the U.S.

LDS, Catholics team up for tropical storm recovery in Philippines

Wed, 14 Mar 2012 10:17:00 -0600

source: sunstar.com.ph

THE Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has teamed up with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) to provide transitional houses to victims of Tropical Storm Sendong in Cagayan de Oro.

Representatives of the groups signed a memorandum of agreement last week and agreed to pledge a hefty amount of $350,000 for the construction of decent temporary houses.

Book of Mormon translation: The Philippines

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:09:00 -0700

source: deseretnews.com

Editor's note: This is one in a series on Book of Mormon translations and translators.

An article titled “Translation and Transculturation in the Pacific,” by Lowell Bishop and Bruce Van Orden, part of a collection in the book “Pioneers in the Pacific,” details the struggles of getting the Book of Mormon translated for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Pacific Islands and Southeast Asia. The Philippines provide a prime example of years-long work.

Members, missionaries safe following Philippine earthquake

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:17:00 -0700

source: news.lds.org

Mormon Life says: Good news. Keep the Philippines in your prayers. A magnitude 6.9 earthquake struck the Philippine island of Negros on Monday, February 6, 2012, causing severe damage in many villages and communities.

All missionaries and members are safe. At least 22 deaths have been confirmed—most of them in the small village of Planas, where 30 houses were buried under concrete debris. The local Department of Health reports 33 wounded, and more than 82 people are still missing.

Church members among those killed in catastrophic Philippine tropical storm

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 00:52:00 -0700

source: ldschurchnews.com

Mormon Life says: Our hearts go out to all the families who have lost loved ones in the storm. Seven Church members died during a catastrophic tropical storm that hit the southern Philippines island of Mindanao in the early hours of Dec. 17. Cyclone Washi, known in the Philippines as Sendong, dumped large amounts of rain, triggered flooding and landslides, and caused widespread destruction and hundreds of deaths. As of press time, five Latter-day Saints in the Philippines remained missing.

Elder Holland, Elder Callister Testify of Christ in the Philippines

Thu, 10 Nov 2011 11:24:00 -0700

source: news.lds.org

On October 14, 2011, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Tad R. Callister of the Presidency of the Seventy arrived in the Philippines, where they conducted a series of leadership trainings and devotionals, as well as an area audit.

Three days after arriving, Elder Holland presided over a special priesthood leadership meeting in San Fernando La Union. Also present were Elder Callister; Elder Michael John U. Teh, Philippines Area President; Elder Abenir Pajaro and Elder Miguel Valdez, Area Seventies, and Manila Temple president Moises Mabunga.

25,000 Filipino Families Receive Humanitarian Aid

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:22:00 -0600

source: news.lds.org

In response to two typhoons that hit the Philippines in late September, causing massive flooding, the Church Welfare Department has joined hands with other local non-governmental organizations such as the Rotary Club and Soroptomist Church, as well as with the Philippine Army in distributing goods and hygiene kits to the affected cities and villages.

The Church has provided rice, purified drinking water, canned goods, noodles, mosquito nets, sleeping mats, and blankets to approximately 25,000 families.

Celebrating growth in the Philippines

Sat, 14 May 2011 10:16:00 -0600

source: ldschurchnews.com

In commemoration of the 50th year of the rededication of the Philippines for the preaching of the gospel, thousands of Latter-day Saints recently gathered in Quezon City to participate in a two-day Jubilee cultural show and area conference.

The festivities centered on Moses 7:18: "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them."

Nineteen stakes came together in Saturday's cultural show of song and dance to celebrate the rich cultural heritage and the growth of the Church in the Philippines. More than 3,500 children, youth, young single adults and adults were involved.

Philippine Latter-day Saints celebrate 50 years of the Church in the islands nation

Tue, 10 May 2011 10:35:00 -0600

source: Newsroom.lds.org

Mormon Life says: This article features a great video of the celebration. Thousands of Philippine Latter-day Saints recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints being established in the Philippines.

More than 4,000 members performed traditional songs and lively dances in elaborate costumes at a cultural celebration on Saturday, 30 April 2011. The event depicted the Church’s history as well as the local culture and history. The youth started practicing their dance routines and making their colorful costumes as early as two years ago.

“This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our young members to demonstrate their talents and come together to celebrate the founding of the Church in the Philippines,” said Elder Miguel R. Valdez, Area Seventy for the Church and chairman of the Jubilee Committee.

Don't Fall in Love with the Children

Sat, 23 Aug 2003 10:33:00 -0600

by Cathy Geigle
source: MormonLife.com

Mormon Life says: Thirty years later, an adopted son returns to his old Philippines orphanage to adopt a child of his own.

A warm rush ran through James’ body as the taxi pulled up to the front doors of the Philippines orphanage where he’d spent his first eight months of life. An old black-and-white photograph attached to his birth certificate was all he’d seen of the Hospicio de San Jose in the past 30 years, but his heart confirmed the importance of this visit.

“I felt an incredibly strong impression I knew could come from only one place. It told me to be prepared to have a great deal of information revealed to me during these next few days,” James wrote.

Thirty years earlier, James Badham had been adopted by an American family and brought to the United States. An unexpected business trip to the Philippines allowed him to return to the orphanage.

“I remember getting off the plane in awe, thinking to myself that never in my wildest imagination did I think I would have had the opportunity to return to the Philippines, yet here I was in the land of my heritage,” James recalled.

Entering the orphanage, he was greeted by Catholic sisters who took him on a room-to-room tour. When he was escorted to the nursery, he saw the same cribs and thin mats he’d slept on 30 years before when, as a sickly baby, he was adopted by his new mother.

As James looked upon the orphan children, the sisters gave him the same counsel they’d given his mother many years before. “Don’t fall in love with the children,” they said. “It will hurt too much to leave them.”

Strong Promptings

But it was too late. As he played with and hugged those loving little babies, he felt as if they’d been his from the beginning. In a moment of reflection, he realized that the principles of the gospel, instilled in his own heart from childhood, allowed him to feel a profound love for these children. He loved them as individuals and children of God, and he knew he had an important mission to fulfill.

“I probably had as many spiritual experiences in those few days as I’d had in my whole full-time mission in Honduras. It was almost like ‘do this’ and ‘do that.’ It was that strong,” Badham said. “My eyes filled with tears knowing that not long ago it was me being held by another who’d felt the same thing.”

As he hugged and looked upon the little orphans, James’ thoughts turned to his own family back in the states. He thought of his wife Jennifer and their three children. Then he thought of his unborn baby who’d died in the womb a few months earlier without having the chance to come to earth.

As Jennifer recalls, “It took us a year and a half to get pregnant, and we were overjoyed when it finally happened. Just 19 weeks into the pregnancy, we learned that the baby’s heart had stopped beating and we had lost our child. Our hearts were broken.”

The miscarriage sparked an interest, but it wasn’t until a business trip that they seriously considered adoption. Scheduled for the very month she would’ve given birth, James would have been with her instead of going to the Philippines.

After two days spent visiting the orphanage, it was time for James to return home. “I stood and faced the front of the Hospicio de San Jose, pondering on the short visit and the experiences I’d just had. My heart filled with great emotion and I had tears in my eyes—and once again the Holy Ghost came and comforted me.” Immediately upon his return, James related his experience. He and Jennifer began researching to learn all they could about adoption so they, too, could bring one of those children home.

The Badhams searched, and finally found an adoption agency they wanted to work with. “We went to our first meeting and found that it would cost nearly $15,000 to adopt from the Philippines. We went home disappointed. It would take us at least a few years to come up with that much money,” Jennifer wrote.

'A God of Miracles'

While expense was disheartening, James and Jennifer decided they still wanted to do something to help the orphanage during Christmas. They began a fundraiser and wired the $4,400 they collected to the humanitarian missionaries in Manila. They missionaries took the children to a department store and let them pick out their own Christmas presents. The missionaries were also able to buy a DVD player and some movies for the handicapped children, as well as a few computers for educational use.

A week later, the missionaries went to the orphanage to sing songs and celebrate Christmas with the children and the orphanage staff. “It touched our hearts and the hearts of others to watch the video of these missionaries singing ‘I am a Child of God’ to God’s most precious gifts—His children. Oh, how we wish we could have been there,” Jennifer wrote.

While adoption seemed so far away, it remained constantly in their thoughts. In an act of faith, they decided to start filling out the papers right after Christmas, even though they didn’t have the needed money.

Not long after that decision, James lost his job. It seemed yet another setback in their plans, but they didn’t lose faith. Friends and neighbors helped in the job search and offered prayers in their behalf.

Then a miracle happened. “James came in from getting the mail and called me down to the office. He handed me a $10,000 check that had anonymously arrived in the mail,” Jennifer wrote. Adding up the adoption fees, they discovered they now had enough money to cover them.

An Act of Faith

“How many of us say to ourselves, ‘If I were only a multimillionaire, what could I do?’ I’ve felt the Spirit say to me, ‘First, I want to see what you will do without it. Will you give all that you have, even though you don’t have much right now?’ The test is now. Are we like the widow who cast in her mite? Will we give all that we have?” Not long after receiving the check in the mail, James found a job. The job was not only better but paid more as well.

“I was raised in a land of opportunity, but the greatest blessing is that I have the Gospel, and that has given me eternal freedom,” James said. “The adoption allows me to provide this opportunity for someone else. ‘How great shall be your joy’—adopting a child into a covenant family is exactly that.”

James likes to ask himself this question: “‘What am I willing to sacrifice?’ Most people have to really get on their knees,” he said. “I want to be able to reach out and help somebody. You only need to ask, ‘Lord, am I doing it the right way?’ He will consecrate those efforts. Then we will begin to fulfill President Hinckley’s counsel to ‘get out of your comfort zone and watch yourself grow.’”