Philippines MTC Dedication remarks

Dear Friends and Neighbors: Last Sunday, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the Chairman of the Executive Missionary Committee of the Church was here in the Philippines to dedicate the new Philippines MTC. He and the Dedication were marvelous! I have included a copy the agenda of the Dedication. Sister Taylor gave a very inspiring closing prayer. I have attached a copy of my remarks. George & Debbie GT & DT Remarks On the Dedication Of the Philippines Missionary Training Center George T. Taylor, President May 20, 2012 Dear Brothers and Sisters: It is a humbling honor for Sister Taylor and I to participate in this special Dedicatory Service presided over by Elder Russell M. Nelson. We love and thank so many for so much and for so long in constructing and beautifying this magnificent center of learning and missionary preparation. We witness this day the unfolding arms of the Lord to the nations of the earth. We perceive more clearly Isaiah’s prophetic vision glimpsing our time: “And now I say unto you that the time shall come that the salvation of the Lord shall be declared to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. Yea, Lord, thy watchmen shall lift up their voice; with the voice together shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together, …for the Lord hath comforted his people… The Lord hath made bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” -Mosiah 15: 28-31; Isaiah 52:8-10 “And O how beautiful upon the mountains were their feet! And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those that are still publishing peace! And again, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who shall hereafter publish peace, yea, from this time henceforth and forever!” -Mosiah 15:15-17; Isaiah 52:7; 3 Nephi 20:40. We see the beautiful bronzed bare feet of these young missionaries in their flippers, slippers or sandals running, wheeling, jumping and dodging as they play their games of basketball, badminton, volleyball or jump-rope. One of the missionaries came into Sister Taylor’s office with his shoes in his hand and said, “Sister Taylor, my shoes are laughing!” She looked at him in surprise. She thought she heard just about everything, but “laughing shoes? “My shoes are laughing!” “What do you mean, your shoes are laughing?” He handed over his shoes showing where the upper toes of the shoes were disconnected from the soles showing a wide open laughing mouth! Sister Taylor has seen lost heels, worn treads, undone stitching, missing tongues, but never laughing shoes. She asked Elder Riddle, our MTC senior missionary and onsite cobbler, if he could mend the laughing shoes. His eyebrows raised high above his glasses as he responded, “I’ll try!” We all smiled and chuckled after the missionary left. Elder Riddle opened the white drawer and removed the “3rd Generation TURBO GLUE.” Sister Taylor told him that he had better go outside to glue the laughing shoes or we would find the cobbler woozily laughing after sniffing glue. How beautiful are the feet of these humble sweet and powerful missionaries! They follow the harkening voice of the good shepherd. How beautiful are they! “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that my people shall know my name; yea, in that day they shall know that I am he that doth speak. And then shall they say: How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings unto them, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings unto them of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion: Thy God reigneth!” - 3 Nephi 20:39-40; D&C 128:19 “Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; for the feet of those who are in the east shall be established: and break forth into singing….for they shall be smitten no more; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted.” – Isaiah 49:13. “Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I will lift up mine hand …and set up my standard to the people; and they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders.” –Isaiah 49:22; 2 Nephi 22:11-12; 2 Nephi 22:24-25 “For the day of the Lord of Hosts soon cometh upon all nations, yea, upon every one; yea, upon the proud and lofty, and upon every one who is lifted up, and he shall be brought low.” –Isaiah 2:12 “And he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth; and behold, they shall come with speed swiftly; none shall be weary nor stumble among them. None shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken; Whose arrows shall be sharp, and all their bows bent, and their horses’ hoofs shall be counted like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind, their roaring like a lion. They shall roar like young lions; yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry away safe, and none shall deliver. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea ….” –Isaiah 5:26-30 If you could watch as we watch missionaries depart from the MTC in vans, buses, Jeepneys, and modern jet aircraft after just 19 days of training, you would know as we know, about that which Isaiah could clearly see. On Monday, April 30 the MTC flag poles were fully painted; pulleys and ropes attached. Wednesday, May 2 was a monumental day at the Philippines MTC. We had in residence missionaries from the Philippines, Mongolia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Taiwan, and Thailand. This group included two signing Elders who are hearing impaired. At 8:30 a.m. on a beautiful bright but very warm morning, all of the missionaries, without any prior rehearsal, prepared their country’s flag for hoisting, sang their National Anthem in their own language, and on a signal spritely and in unison hoisted their banners to the sky. Then, joining together in one voice brightly and vigorously sang Julia Ward Howe’s words, “Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory of the Coming of the Lord!” The Lord’s Spirit pervaded and reverberated in every heart, witnessing the raising of the ensigns of the nations of the Philippines and of Asia to the Lord. His glory is brightening, enlightening the world with brilliant rays, warming the hearts of people in these eastern lands and numerous islands of the sea. “And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; …and his rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people…from the islands of the sea. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather together the dispersed…from the four corners of the earth.” –Isaiah 11:10-12 Just one year ago, In the Area Conference held during the Jubilee celebration of missionary work in the Philippines, Elder Michael John U. Teh, newly designated Philippines Area President said, “In the next few years, the work of the Lord will burst forth. He will hasten His work in this land.” We are witnessing today its bursting! In the future, we will observe the burgeoning growth of missionary work in these beautiful islands and the lands of Asia. In March, we enjoyed the successful MTC Open House where over 5000 local youth and their leaders and other specially invited guests toured the new MTC Facility; they were inspired by the example of missionaries going forth to Preach the Gospel! The voice of the Lord’s Beloved Apostle John, banished to an island of the sea, prophesied of a latter-day angel, proclaiming with a clarion trump a clear vision of today: “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Revelation 14:6-7 We see the great symbol of that beloved angel Moroni gilded with a gleaming gold appearance standing atop the rising temple spire to the east of these magnificent training buildings. There, stands he, with the trump of God heralding the rising up and coming forth of the Lord Jesus Christ and of His latter-day work. “Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?” 2 Nephi 29:7. “Therefore, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, yea, a marvelous work and a wonder. Isaiah 29: 14; “…the light breaking forth among them that sit in darkness, [and it] shall be the fullness of my gospel.” – D&C 45:28 That marvelous work, this triumphant ensign raised to the nations; this heralding trumpet resounding to all people; this day proclaiming long and loud the coming of the Great and Dreadful Day of the Lord; this beckoning morning light, has broken over the eastern horizons into a world of apostasy and darkness; the unveiling of this glorious Missionary Training Center, the purpose of which is to prepare the Lord’s servants to invite all to “Come unto Christ and receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.”

Punxsutawney, Philippines

Here in Manila, we get a 24-hour break or brief vacation every 19 days.  We make the most of a short time to recuperate, rejuvenate, revamp, revitalize, recover, renovate, resuscitate, and restore our energies.  We try to renew, resolve, rededicate, recommit, rediscover, redefine, refocus, and regenerate our spirit.

             In a word, this is called Repentance (to become repenitant and make penance for our constant blunders). How grateful we are for the Restoration of the Gospel and to know that there is One who can renew and resurrect us some day! 

Remember, when all is said and done, there is nearly always more said than done!.   See Sister Taylor’s “Punxsutawney, Philippines,” attached.   

Love,

GT & DT

George & Debra

Punxsutawney, Philippines

You probably recognize the name Punxsutawney, but you don’t connect it to the Philippines. Punxsutawney is in Pennsylvania, USA, not in the Philippines. This famous Pennsylvania town is the traditional location for celebrating “Ground Hog Day:” If the day is cloudy when the ground hog emerges from his hole, it will be an early spring.  If the day is sunny when the ground hog emerges he will see his shadow, retreat, and winter will last another six weeks.

The other day, as I was looking back upon my life, I was wishing that I could live some of it over again.  The Lord in His great love and wisdom said, “Debra, you do get to live it over again! I give you a chance each and every new day!”  He then asked me, “What is your priority? What are you going to do today to make this day what you want?”

My mind then remembered the movie, “Ground Hog Day.”  I never liked it! Bill Murray playing the weather man, Phil Conners, covered the long awaited event in Punxsutawney, where the ground hog was supposed to appear from his burrow. I wondered why Phil was so slow. “Why did it take him so long to figure things out and change?” Of course the same thing can be asked of me, “Why do I take so long to figure things out and to repent?”

Well, I can’t say that I don’t get a chance to “get it” here in the Philippines. Here in the MTC we must constantly repeat our schedule and curriculum every 19 days.  The longer I am here, the more applicable this movie message is for me as I experience the   seemingly repetitive cycle of days and watch the Filipino people do everything they can to hide themselves from the sun.

By the time we return home we will have repeated the training 36 times!  This cyclone of cycles comes faster and faster.  I say to myself, “This is indeed, “Ground Hog day!”  So, I ask myself, “Why do I need to repeat and repent so much?” Then in gratitude I realize that most people do not have the opportunity to repeat so intently and in such a wonderful environment.  But everyone has the opportunity to face a new day that is grey, cloudy, or sunny.

It took Phil Conners a long time to “get it.”  He finally realized that he was the one who made his life miserable—that he was the only one who could make his life happy.  He tried drastic ways to stop the repetition, but he found that he could only change himself!  He chose to acquire knowledge, learn new skills, to play the piano and even learn a foreign language.  He made friends with those who irritated him, saved lives, assisted others many times, and built close relationships.

Oh, why does it take me so long to learn and change? I guess that my memory is short, my vision is covered by clouds, and my will to change is just an occasional or sporadic habit.

What do I want? I want to live in the sunshine where I can see my shadows more clearly. I want many more “cycle of days” filled with the light of good works, good words and goodly deeds.

 

So, from Punxsutawney Philippines,

 “May your Ground Hog Day(s) be filled with the sunshine of hope!

Debra S. Taylor May, 2012

And The Children Wait

Sister Taylor keeps going to the Temple and having visions.  She’s always dreaming of children and families—it’s always new and everlasting!  I’m trying to keep up with her—I hope I can get in there too? 

George & Debbie

Last Thursday I had the opportunity of escorting the new missionaries as they received their endowments. Since I was the first to enter the Celestial Room, I waited patiently to greet each one as they entered. I chose to sit at the side of the room in the corner of the flesh-colored velvet French provincial couch where I could witness everything. The couch seemed to embrace me. I felt the impression that there were little children of varying ages all around the room, dressed in white, sleeping peacefully awaiting their parents to come through the veil.

I could almost see their black hair, and golden curls falling softly down their faces. Their breathing was steady. I wanted to pick them up and hold them to my breast. I couldn’t hold back the tears.

After greeting all the missionaries I reluctantly arose to leave.  Then I lingered at the door. I looked back around the room grateful for the insight I had received. I wondered how long the children would need to wait for their parents-–how long would they remain in the Living Room of God?

Debra Taylor 4/2012