Good morning
brothers & sisters, what a joy it is to be here with you this morning! I am grateful have this opportunity to
express my gratitude to the AWESOME members of this ward! We dearly love and appreciate your friendship
and your good examples. We are thrilled
to have our family and friends here today and I pray that we may be able to
express our testimonies and our desire to serve in the Philippines, Quezon City
Mission.
As we read
together our mission call, my thoughts were: This is a place we have never been or know
hardly anything about. However, one link
did come to my mind.
Three months
after graduating from High School, The Korean war was in full swing and a 19
yr. old man found himself in the United States Navy as a gunners mate. He served in the Philippines and aboard ship
the U.S.S. Bayfield 33. He soon had
traveled over 7,000 miles from home and felt very alone. This was the time in his life that religion
and the closeness of our Father in Heaven started to take on real meaning. Some of his closest friends turned out to be
returned missionaries who were drafted into the war. He started attending church services and read
the Book of Mormon. His testimony began
to grow.
He was
serving the last two years of his navy tour when a telegram from his parents
arrived, telling him that his 5 yr. old brother was dying of leukemia. The Navy made arrangements for him to fly out
of Manila to attend the funeral. During
this 30 day leave, he and his High School sweetheart, whom had expressed marriage
for some time through their correspondence, got married while he was home. He was later assigned back aboard ship and
returned to duty.
When he
finally returned home, he reunited with his wife and saw for the 1st
time, their three month old baby girl.
That baby was me! So, for me it
will be exciting to see and experience what he did in the Philippines.
The
following week after we received our call, there were big full page articles in
the Church News about Filipino youth celebrating the gospel entitled “Upon the
Isles of the Sea”. Elder Shayne M. Bowen, General Authority Seventy and president of
the Church’s Philippines Area, said “This is a remarkable day in the history of the Church. The Philippines now joins the United States,
Mexico, Brazil, and Peru as the 5th country in the world to have 100
LDS Stakes. What began in a quiet
cemetery with only a small group now has 21 missions, 2 operating temples with
2 more to be built and a total membership of 750,000 in 100 stakes and 75
districts. Upon the Isles of the Sea we
have 7,100 islands. The thing that
really binds them together is the gospel.
There are more than 4,000 native Filipinos serving in the country.
The very
next week, another full page article appeared.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had dedicated the expanded MTC just six days
after creating the 100th Stake.
The expanded facility includes two new buildings on a five building
campus located adjacent to the Church’s Philippines Area offices (where we will
be living) and across the street from the Manila Temple. The buildings house missionary apartments and
instruction rooms, a cafeteria, medical facilities and an activity center. The expansion doubles the capacity of the MTC
from 140 to 280 missionaries.
Our mission
encompasses the northern and eastern suburbs of Metro Manila and adjacent
communities and is located in the southern portion of Luzon. This is a densely populated area of millions
of people with an approximate distance of 35 miles across. This distance can take as long as three hours
to travel because of the usual heavy traffic.
The outlying province areas of our mission have more of a mountainous
rural setting with rice fields, farm land, and tropical vegetation. Our mission also includes the western half of
Mindoro Occidental Island. This Island
is sparsely populated and mostly agricultural.
Our primary assignment will be to labor as office specialists in the
mission home.
I would like
to share with you an unbelievable true story that happened 42 yrs. ago.
United
States Navy Captain Larry Chambers was just a month into his command of the
aircraft carrier Midway when he faced a life-defining choice that came,
curiously, in the form of a hand-scribbled note.
In a moment
of noisy chaos, he chose—as the hymn enjoins—to “do what is right; let the
consequence follow.” His decisive
actions would redefine ethical leadership in the military and beyond.
It was April
29, 1975. Saigon had fallen and
thousands of South Vietnamese were fleeing their country to escape the
advancing North Vietnamese Army. In a
final effort to save his own family, South Vietnamese Air Force Major Buang-Ly
crammed his wife and five children into a two-seat Cessna, took off from Con
Son Island and flew out over the South China Sea.
The major
had no defined destination. Hope was his
only option.
The tiny
plane’s fuel tank was almost dry when he spotted the 972-foot Midway
the famed carrier was assisting with the evacuation of Saigon and its
flight deck was crowded with helicopters being used to ferry hundreds of
at-risk people from the Vietnamese mainland.
As he flew
over the carrier, Buang-Ly dropped a note describing his family’s desperate
situation and asking that space be cleared on the Midway’s flight deck so
he could land his Cessna. The “request
to land” note soon reached the hands of Chambers.
The captain
had assumed command of the Midway just weeks earlier. He was still learning his way around the
massive “city at sea.” But the veteran
naval officer knew there was no easy way to accommodate Buang-Ly’s request.
Given the
Cessna’s fuel situation, Chambers had few options. There was no time to call the president, the
Pentagon or even his fleet command for direction.
But, as
always, there was time to choose the right.
Chambers immediately dispatched every available seaman to the flight
deck. Then he issued an unorthodox order;
Begin pushing helicopters overboard to make room on deck for Buang-Ly to land.
The Midway’s
men followed their captain’s orders. An
estimated $10 million in aircraft was soon sinking to the bottom of the South
China Sea. Moments later, a young
Vietnamese family safely landed on the deck of an American aircraft
carrier.
“I figure
I’ve been in charge about a month, and I’m going to go down as the shortest command
on record, but my whole attitude was, I’m going to do what I think is right and
have the courage of my convictions, and if I’m wrong, OK. The court martial can come, ‘” Chamber’s
said. I was out there in a war
zone. If you’re going to let women and
children drown over pushing some equipment over the side, that’s an easy
decision to make.”
The humble
naval officer was quick to praise his men for also choosing the right without
fear of the consequences. That day it took over a 3,000 man working party to
clear that flight deck.
Chamber’s
choice that day to scuttle the helicopters was later judged correct and
appropriate. He was eventually promoted
to rear admiral—becoming the first African-American to achieve flag rank.
There are
many lessons to learn from that day on the Midway flight deck. Long before a Vietnamese father asked
permission to land on his ship, a naval officer had decided to always do the
right thing.
We to can
make the right decision when a choice is placed before us. We don’t face such choices alone. As the hymn reminds, “in the right the Holy
Spirit guides”.
Brother
Ferney & I are going to be “Senior” missionaries. We are called “Senior” because we have lived
on this earth a bit longer than most of you here in this congregation, and
because we have had more experience making choices. In fact a few weeks ago at a wonderful
Melchizedek Priesthood meeting, our age group was referred to as the Lehi’s and
Sariah’s of our stake! When you are our
age, you will prize your children, your grandchildren, & their children
above any fame or fortune that otherwise might have come. So with that in mind I would like to share a
quote from Pres. Ezra Taft Benson:
“Men and
women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot
more out of their lives than they can.
He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds,
strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings,
increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends and pour
out peace. (Jesus Christ – Gifts & Expectations, Ensign, Dec. 1988).
Now who
wouldn’t want those blessings?
None of us
are perfect! Judgment Day awaits each of
us. How will you prepare for your
personal interview with the Savior?
In a talk
entitled “What Will You Choose? By
Elder Russell M. Nelson, He says:
“Each day on
earth gives you time and opportunity to prepare for that interview. Please know this: As you choose to live on the Lord’s side, you
are never alone. God has given you
access to His help while you move along mortality’s perilous pathway. As you diligently, earnestly pour out your
heart to Him in daily prayer, He will send His angels to help you. He has given you the Holy Ghost to be by your
side as you live worthily. He has given you
the scriptures so that you can fully feast upon the words of Jesus Christ. He has given you words to heed from living
prophets. Keep doing the things that build your faith in Jesus Christ. And then notice the wise choices you are
naturally drawn to make.
I am pretty
excited about serving with my missionary companion. He has always taken good care of me and he is
a lot of fun! One member said to us a
few weeks ago, “You two better take a vacation from each other for a week
before you go because you are going to be together for the next 18 months. But, I actually think we started a bit of our
preparation two years ago when Bishop Steadman called us to teach the Marriage
and Family Relations class. Teaching
that class, we learned powerful truths that strengthened our relationship. You know, “We never really know anything of
the teachings of the gospel until we have experienced the blessings that come
from living each principle.” I would
highly recommend that class to newlyweds, middle-age couples and all
grandparents. Everyone can benefit.
I know, we
are created in God’s image. We are
lawful heirs to be tried and tested. May
we choose to be a light to the world
to help save God’s children, to have joy, and ultimately to earn the blessings
of eternal life.
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