Mormons temple opens media tour

CEBU, Philippines - Days before its scheduled public open house, the 29, 556 square feet Cebu City Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Gorordo Avenue Lahug was opened yesterday to the members of the media.

The temple, which is said to be the first in the Visayas and second in the country, is set to have an open house starting on Friday, May 21 to Saturday, June 5, 2010, for the public to see.

The 21-day public open house serves as a means for anyone to be toured around the elegantly designed temple, meetinghouse and the Church’s patron house, before its dedication on June 13.

The temple’s exterior is faced with mountain grey granite from China, while the interior stones came from Italy and Greece. The spire rises 140 feet and is crowned with a gilded statue of the angel Moroni, covered with gold, who is significant to the members of the Church for his role in the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The interior features are beautifully grained Sapele Mahogany from Africa. Several native flowers were used as patterns for fabrics and for decorative art paintings. The most widely featured motif however are the pearls which were harvested throughout the country.

As for the interior colors, shades of turquoise, aqua blue, range of greens, highlights of gold and soft rose, which were said to be selected to mirror the colors of nature in the country, perfectly blend with furniture made of the country’s Mahogany tree.

Several paintings depicting scenes from the bible and Chandeliers made from Schonbek with Swarovki Crystals from Austria are also found in most of the rooms of the temple.

The temple is made up of a number of rooms designed to accommodate certain functions such as marriages, baptisms, and religious instructional sessions.

Marriages are held at the temple’s “sealing room”. In this room, the bride and the groom are said to be married, not only for this lifetime but also for eternity. Two big mirrors are placed parallel to each other to symbolize eternity.

At the “baptistry” of the temple, baptismal rites are made. The baptismal font rests on the backs of twelve oxen, symbolically representing the twelve tribes of Israel in the bible. Also found in the room is a painting of Jesus Christ being baptized in the Jordan River.

On the other hand, the Church’s patron house, serves as a guest facility to house members who will be coming from other islands to participate in temple worship. Despite its complete and convenient facilities, renting rooms in the patron house would only cost a maximum of 120 pesos per family, per night.

When asked regarding the difference between the temple and the meeting house (chapel), tour guide Uriel O. Oppus said that the meeting houses are always open to all, and that everyone is welcome to attend the Sunday worship services and other activities held there.

Oppus further stated that after the temple is dedicated, only faithful Latter-day Saints, who their ecclesiastical leaders choose after being interviewed, may enter the temple.

The Cebu City Temple is the 133rd temple of the church worldwide, and second to the temple in Manila, located in Quezon City. After its dedication on June 13, it will serve more than 200,000 members of the Church in the Visayas and Mindanao.

The history of the Church in the Philippines began with the liberation of the country from the Japanese by the American landing in Leyte on October 20, 1994, culminating in the fall of Manila in February, 1945.

From the outset, servicemen’s group leaders organized Latter-day Saint (LDS) meetings, the first was held in Tacloban at the coast of Leyte, in a U.S. Naval installation. With the significant continued U.S. military presence in the country, numerous LDS servicemen stayed in the country even after the war.

Following the war years, the Church’s worldwide leader Joseph Fielding Smith, dedicated Korea and the Philippines for the preaching of the gospel at Clark Air Base on August, 1995. The country became part of the Southern Far East Mission of the Church. — Joanna Mae T. Eborda, UP Masscomm intern/FPL (FREEMAN NEWS)