Temple Tours

First Tour:

This will be a brief picture tour of entering the Cebu Temple complex.  The pictures will be the tour.

Second Tour:

We have mentioned several times how much we enjoyed our interaction with the staff at the Prestigio where our first apartment was.  Each day we would greet them in Cebuano and they would "try" to teach us new words. We took the opportunity to ask if they went to church, they were all Catholic, and told them a little about some of our beliefs and gave them the Articles of Faith cards (in Cebuano).  We also invited them to come and visit the temple where we are serving.

This past Tuesday as we were in the temple we received a note that the staff from the Prestigio had called and were coming to see us on Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.  We were excited but a little unsure what to do.  We are scheduled to work on Wednesday afternoons so arrangements needed to be made to be able to go outside the temple to meet them.  We also were unsure about the best way to make their experience at the temple grounds an uplifting one.  We offered a prayer and were guided in how to proceed.  We contacted the mission office and made arrangements for missionaries to give the tour of the temple complex, they do this all of the time.  Since Wednesday is the p-day for the missionaries the only ones that would be available at 4:00 p.m. would be Elder Glines and Elder Peck, the assistants to the president.  We were truly blessed.

We didn't know who or how many of the staff were coming so we were excited to see who we would be with.  We left the temple and walked out to the guard station to the temple entrance and as soon as the staff saw us coming they jumped up and started waving.  There were three of the women staff that had come.  Of course Sister Sorensen received hugs from all of them, they all just love her.  They said there were other staff that wanted to come but were working.  They even brought us a gift of pineapple and bananas (they tell us we are the best quests they have had). As we entered the temple grounds they immediately mentioned how quiet it was and how clean and beautiful.  We met the Elders at patron housing and they immediately began conversing with them in Cebuano, which they did almost all of the time with them.   At one point one of the women just grinned at us because she knew we didn't understand what they were saying.  We laughed with them that they hadn't taught us enough Cebuano.

We started out with the Elders taking them to the stake center.  The Elders explained how it was used and how it was different than the temple. Two of the staff were constantly asking questions and the Elders were so good at answering them.  Elder Sorensen needed to return to the temple for an assignment so Sister Sorensen continued on with the staff and the Elders.  They next went to the temple entrance and had them read "Holiness to the Lord the House of the Lord" and told them that things inside were sacred and not secret.  They then went to the back side of the temple and talked about couples and families being sealed together and that families can be together forever and more.  They then returned to the front of the temple and went in the temple doors to the non-patron waiting area and just sat there without talking.  The Elders had told them they wouldn't talk to them inside the temple but they should see how they felt while they were there.  As they sat there two of them bowed their heads and one was wiping away tears.  After leaving the temple they went back to the mission office and each received pamphlets that go with the missionary discussions and copies of the Book of Mormon, English and Cebuano.  They also met President Schmutz, the Cebu Mission President.

What a wonderful experience.  Hopefully to be continued.

The entrance to the temple complex.  The guards meet everyone that walks in and log every vehicle that drives in.

One of the guards greeting a patron as she enters the complex.  Probably going to patron housing.

Some of the contracted grounds crew mowing the lawn.

As you enter the complex you walk past the South Side of the temple.  The baptismal font is just through the windows.

The Cebu City Stake Center next to the temple.

A view of  "The great and spacious building" over the top of the stake center.  This building is actually a casino.

Patron housing, missionary housing, distribution center and mission office.

Temple President's Home (on the left) and Mission President's home (behind the trees).  They are pretty much the same.

Cebu City Philippines Temple.

One of the guards, Arnold Pantaleon, opening the door for patrons.  He is a counselor in the Lahug Ward Bishopric.

Elder and Sister Sorensen with the Prestigio Staff at the temple.  Left to right, Karenena receptionist, Merriam, housekeeping, Elder Sorensen, Sister Sorensen, Jasmin security.

Patron Housing

We moved from the Prestigio into patron housing at the temple complex in March so thought we would show you where we are living now.  Patron housing is a three story complex.  The ground floor contains Distribution Services, the Mission Office, the Housing Office, the Family History Center, lobby and a cafeteria.  The second floor is patron rooms for those attending the temple.  Youth baptism groups that travel stay here for several days as the youth participate in baptisms two or three times a day.  Patrons are only here from Monday to Saturday.  There are bunk beds in each room to help maximize the number of patrons that can stay.  The third floor is Temple Missionary Housing and has apartments, a laundry and storage rooms.  You need a security card to allow the elevator to go to the third floor.

There are some definite advantages to being in patron housing.  Here are a few of them.

It is quieter since we are not right next to a main road with a jeepney stop.
The air is cleaner since we are not right next to a main road with all of the exhaust fumes.
We are closer to the temple.  It takes us one minute to walk to the temple now and since it is getting hotter this is a real advantage.
Being close the the stake center we are more aware of what is going on and can be more involved.
We are now close to the other temple missionaries so are able to have more interaction with them.
We only have to go down the hall to do our laundry instead of carrying it down the street several blocks.
We have more room and a place to store things, including access to an additional refrigerator and a freezer.
We have hot water in the sinks.
The internet is filtered.  Along with always being alert for a virus, malware, spyware, and other fun things, there were other internet problems that suddenly disappeared when we moved.

Things we miss from our first apartment at the Prestigio.

We could walk across the street and shop.  We can still walk there but it isn't as convenient.
There were two bathrooms, granted they were small but there were two of them.
The Staff.  This is by far the thing we miss the most.  We had so much fun practicing our Cebuano with them and greeting them each time we would come and go.  Last week LuAnn made some treats and we took them to the Prestigio staff.  They were truly excited to see us again and Sister Sorensen got a hug from each of the women who work there.  They were glad to see Elder Sorensen also.

It is good for us to be in the patron housing.  This is where we will call home for the rest of the time that we serve in the Philippines.

Patron Housing at the temple complex.  Our apartment is on the third floor on the back side of the building.

Patron Housing Office with some of the staff.

The lobby on the ground floor.

Entering our apartment.  Dinning area and living room.

Kitchen area.  Cabinet space a stove and two sinks.  The one sink has filtered water.

Our bedroom.  Not a king size bed but a nice queen.

The view out of our windows.  We are still in the Philippines.  The red Jolly Bee sign towards the top left corner is across the street from where we were staying before moving to patron housing.

Our neighbors drying their clothes.  Despite the conditions Filipinos keep themselves and their clothes clean.

The laundry room just down the hall.  We would carry our clothes here from our other apartment.

Some of the refrigerators and freezers.  We have this treadmill to work out on.

This is the view of the Cebu Stake Center and downtown Cebu looking out the window from the laundry room.