As the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues to grow in the Philippines, more meetinghouses will be needed for members of the Church and their friends to worship, pray and learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ. One of which will be in Inabanga, Bohol.
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| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
On 22 June 2019, the Church held a special groundbreaking ceremony to signal the start of the construction of a new meetinghouse for Latter-day Saints and their friends in the Inabanga Branch (small congregation) of the Calape Philippines District (small diocese).
President Ricardo Saballa, first counselor of the Philippines Cebu East Mission Presidency, presided over the groundbreaking ceremony on behalf of President and Sister Maughan of the Philippines Cebu East Mission.
In his message, President Saballa expressed deep gratitude to the members for their faithfulness, kindness, efforts, sacrifices and generous offerings, such as their time and talents, for the growth of the Church in the municipality. He then invited them to remain true to their covenants.
“Brethren and sisters, we urge you to continue to pay tithes and offerings,” President Saballa said. “The new building will soon rise here on this holy place where men, women and children will be taught how to live the gospel of Jesus Christ, in the home, in this generation and the generations to come.”
In addition to having a place of worship and gospel learning, President Saballa shared that the new chapel “will be a great blessing to the community.” He then urged everyone to remain faithful, to be obedient to the commandments of God and their Church leaders, and to be good citizens and members of the community.
Other speakers who shared brief messages to the attendees included Cogon Barangay Captain Vicente Pelayo who spoke on behalf of Inabanga Municipal Mayor Josephine Socorro “Roygie” Jumamoy, Calape District President Geroncio Nueva, and Church pioneer member Rosita Celocia.
President Nueva spoke on the importance of Church meetinghouses for the work of salvation, which included the performance of ordinances, such as baptism. He then encouraged the members to care for the chapel once completed as it is a blessing. He reminded them that the meetinghouse is a symbol of their faith and diligence.
In her message, Rosita Celocia recounted the sacrifices the Latter-day Saints made at the time when the Church was still young in the Visayan Island 26 years ago. She then shared the blessings they received for remaining faithful in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Celocia expressed with gladness that the biggest blessing they have received is the construction of the chapel in Inabanga.
Meanwhile, Barangay Captain Pelayo shared a brief message and expressed gratitude to the Church in Barangay Cogon. He also assured the Church leaders and those present that the Cogon Barangay Council is ready to help the Church in the area.
Over 40 people were present in the groundbreaking ceremony, which included leaders of the Philippines Cebu East Mission, Calape Philippines District and the Inabanga Branch Presidency.
Once completed, the Inabanga Meetinghouse will be the fourth one under the Calape Philippines District and will join the roster of 938 meetinghouses located in various parts of the country.