Elder Gong Speaks to Cebu Temple Workers, Asks What The Temple Means For Them

Elder Gerritt W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with his wife, Sister Susan Lindsay Gong, came and visited Cebu City on February 19, 2022, and spoke to The Temple Workers at the Cebu City Stake Center.

With him were Philippines Area President Taniela Wakolo and his wife Sister Anita Wakolo and Area Authority Seventy Elder Edmarc Dumas and his wife, Donna Dell Dumas. Elder Gong spoke to 155 workers coming from different parts of Cebu island led by Cebu Temple President Gomez C. Siady.

During the devotional, two temple workers were asked to share their testimonies. One of them was Brother Allan Juralbal, a deaf-mute temple worker who shared how the Church has helped him develop his relationship with Jesus Christ despite his condition. “I am happy that I have a supportive family. They inspire me to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ”, he shared.

Sister Wakolo, in her remarks, related on how the temple is a place of healing and related the story on bringing her father’s name for ordinance work in the Tonga Temple. “You are temple workers,” she said, “You know how real people are, on the other side of the veil.”

Elder Wakolo quoted the Book of Mormon scripture Alma 26: 5-6 in his remarks and related the teachings of Ammon to the workers. He read, “Yea, they shall not be beaten down by the storm at the last day; yea, neither shall they be harrowed up by the whirlwinds”, comparing the recent typhoon Odette and pandemic as the “storms” in their lives and the Temple as a refuge.

Sister Gong posed the question, “Can we really know who we are?” and related the story of when Moses was visited by the Lord in The Pearl of Great Price and learned of his true purpose. She later shares, “The purpose of the Temple is to expose us to the Spirit that helps us understand that we are children of our Heavenly Father.”

Elder Gong approached the congregation and asked the collective question, “What does the Temple mean to you?” as several temple workers individually shared their thoughts and feelings. Elder Gong further shared, “The restoration is a process, not an event. We (the brethren) seek guidance regularly on how to bring the blessings of the temple to everyone in the world to which the Lord reveals more insights. On-going restoration requires ongoing revelation.”

He further emphasizes that outside of the Americas, the Philippines has the most number of Temples in operation, under construction and announced more than any other country in the world and thanked the workers for “being part of history both present and future.”