First Week of Temple Closure

The temple was closed for two weeks for maintenance beginning July 14th so the temple missionaries took the opportunity to see more of the Philippines close to Cebu.  We went with four other couples to the Island of Bohol, which is a two hour boat ride from Cebu City, on a fast boat.  It is hard to truly convey what it was like but hopefully through pictures you will get a feel for what we were able to experience.

This is the type of boat that we traveled on to the Island of Bohol.  Some of the baptistry groups use this type of transportation to come to the temple. There are lots of seats inside and no one got sea sick either going or coming back.

This is the Oasis Resort where we stayed.  It is located on Panglao Island just  across a bridge from Bohol.  It was a nice place to stay, remember we are in the Philippines though, and was very close to the beach.  The food here was very good.  The owner actually lives in Cebu not far from the Temple.  He was here when we were and visited with us several times while we were eating.  He was impressed with how the church takes care of its buildings and helps people.

This is an old Catholic Church and school built in 1872.  It sustained damage from the earthquake that hit the Philippines on October 15, 2013 just one month before the Super Typhoon hit.  The epicenter of the earthquake was in Bohol.

This is inside the church.  There was some damage in this area but more on the opposite end from where I took this picture.  It was interesting that they allowed pictures in the church but not in the museum which was also in this building.

This was a different old Catholic Church in another part of Bohol that received extensive damage in the earthquake.  There were numerous old churches in the Philippines that were damaged either by the earthquake or the typhoon.

We stopped at a small zoo, maybe a dozen animals total, where Sister Sorensen wanted to play with this iguana. 

Sister Sorensen playing with Melia the Burmese Python.  It was hard to hold up because of how heavy this snake is.  The world's largest python was here last year when the missionaries came but it died a month after they saw it.

Men working in a rice pattie. Rice is the number one staple food in the Philippines.

This is a bamboo bridge that we walked across, mainly to say we did.

A close up view of how the bamboo was woven to make the bridge.

We had to stop at the Tarsier Conservation Area.  Philippine Tarsiers are among the smallest primates in the world and are only found in the Philippines.

Tarsiers are nocturnal so we caught them while they were trying to sleep.  They eat mainly insects but will eat other small animals such as lizards.  The biggest threat to their survival is habitat destruction.

This Tarsier opened his eyes part way to see what was waking him up.  They are small enough to easily fit in your hand.

We had to visit the chocolate hills of Bohol.  The chocolate hills consist of no less than 1268 hills. They are very uniform in shape and mostly between 30 and 50 meters high. They are covered with grass, which, at the end of the dry season, turns chocolate brown. We were there during the rainy season so they were green not chocolate.  Geologists have not reached consensus on how they where formed. The most commonly accept theory is that they are the weathered formations of a kind of marine limestone on top of a impermeable layer of clay.  Many of the hills experienced land slides during the Bohol earthquake.  

While we were in Bohol there was a typhoon that hit Manila and caused several deaths.  We were far enough south that we got some  of the rain and wind.  Some of the waves were fairly high and I was glad we weren't in the typhoon.  As we were watching the waves crash into the shore this Filipno walked out into the waves and then started swimming out to the boat on the left.  I didn't want to try swimming in this rough water.  Shortly after he made it to the boat two more men went into the water and swam to a different boat.  They were checking to make sure their boats were safe.  There were two boats that sank here this day because of the waves. 

Our final day in Bohol we took this boat out to the Island of Balicasag to do some snorkeling.  The wind had died down so we were safe.  What a beautiful area and a great snorkeling area.  There was a steep drop off out just a small distance and there were lots of fish there.  One of the other guides was feeding fish close to us and there were so many fish around him it was amazing.  To bad we don't have an underwater camera to share with you.

These are a few of the resident of Balicasag.  We sat here and ate food that we brought and they were very willing to sell us items to remind us of our trip.  The tourist trade is the main source of income for the residents. 

Sister and Elder Sorensen walking barefoot on the beach.  We never expected this kind of experience on our mission.

Fruits of Labor Past

We serve as the baptistry coordinators on Tuesday Afternoons so we get to meet groups coming from many areas within the Cebu City Temple District.   The groups that come the first of the week usually arrive on Monday evening and stay in patron housing until Thursday Morning.  While here the youth will perform baptisms twice a day on Tuesday and Wednesday and then once on Thursday before they leave for a total of five experiences in the baptistry while they are here.  The leaders also participate in other temple ordinances when not assisting their youth in the baptistry.  It takes some of the groups up to twelve hours by boat to get to Cebu and the temple.  Other groups fly into Cebu to serve in the temple.

Our son, Ammon, served in the Tacloban Philippines Mission in 2002 and 2003, which is now in the Cebu City Temple District.  We had Ammon send us information on the areas where he served so that when groups come from those areas we could find out if they knew him from his mission.  Last week, July 1, 2014, the group that came for baptisms was from the Biliran District.  That was the second area where Ammon served and he was assigned in Cabucgayan.  Sister Sorensen has an opportunity to visit with the youth and leaders so she inquired if they remembered an Elder Sorensen.  Two of the sisters said they remembered him but there have been several Elder Sorensens that served in Tacloban so we often wonder if they are remembering our Elder Sorensen.  We contacted Ammon and asked if he could send some pictures of him on his mission so we could show them to make sure it was him they remembered.  Ammon immediately sent us some pictures which we printed and LuAnn saw the sisters in the temple the next day and shared the pictures with them.  They said that Ammon was the Elder Sorensen they remembered.  One of the pictures he sent was of a baptism service at Kasabangan Falls and when they saw that picture they immediately began pointing out people in the picture they knew and said that one of the men was also here with their group.  Sister Sorensen arranged for us to meet with them at patron housing when we finished in the temple that evening.  What a tender mercy that meeting was.  Santiago Masuela said that the picture of the baptism was his baptism and that Elder Sorensen (Ammon) had taught him.  What a wonderful experience we had visiting with them and seeing some of the fruits of the labors of one of our children.  We felt Ammon had been guided in sending the picture of Kasabangan Falls because that was the picture that really connected us with these dear members. We wanted to share these pictures with you.

Elder Ammon Sorensen on Biliran looking South South East toward Leyte. 

The baptism service at Kasabangan Falls on Biliran.  At this time the area was almost like walking down a jungle path to get to the falls.  It has become quite commercialized since.  Elder Sorensen is on the left.

These are the Filipino Saints we had such a wonderful experience meeting.

Pictured Left to Right.

Elder and Sister Sorensen

President Leonard Mollare, 2nd counselor in the Biliran District Presidency.  Two of his children were in the picture of the falls and are now serving missions in the Philippines.

Santiago Masuela, this is the brother that Ammon taught and was baptized when the picture was taken.  He served as a counselor in the Branch Presidency under President Corpin and was called as the next Branch President when President Corpin was released.  He has also served twice on the District High Council.

Isagani L. Corpin, he was the Branch President at the time of the baptisms and his daughter was one of those baptized.  He was released as Branch President to serve on the District High Council and has also served twice in that calling.

Helen C. Carroll, sister to Isagani L. Corpin and wife of Bob Carroll an American who has since passed away.  She was one of the sisters that remembered Elder Sorensen.  She was not a member when he was serving his mission but her husband, who was a member, was always inviting the missionaries over.  Ammon has a picture of him with Helen, Bob and their son.

Marlvic Urgel Corpin, she was the other sister that remembered Elder Sorensen.

President Alkie T. Corpin, 1st Counselor in the Biliran District Presidency and husband to Marlvic.  He was not a member when Elder Sorensen served in Biliran.