(by Sarah Jane Weaver deseretnews.com 9-10-17)
Five and a half decades after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was legally registered in the Philippines, Elder Neil L. Andersen created the church's 100th stake in the country on Sunday.
To a capacity congregation gathered in the Kia Theater in Metro Manila, Elder Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke of the historic milestone for the Philippines — the first nation outside of the Western Hemisphere to experience this level of LDS growth.
Why among all the nations of the earth “has the Savior set his feet so firmly here in the Philippines?” he asked. “It is because of who you are.”
Elder Andersen and his wife, Sister Kathy Andersen, praised the Filipino church members for their gentleness, humility, education, optimism and belief in Jesus Christ.
“This is a special place,” Elder Andersen said. “Do not underestimate who you are. … The most important part of the Philippines is the people.”
Elder Ulisses Soares, of the Presidency of the Seventy, told early church pioneers in the Philippines that they are the reason the gospel of Jesus Christ took root in their country. "We are celebrating this wonderful moment because of the faith of people like you."
The new stake — the Mandaluyong Philippines Stake — is located in the area where the LDS Church built its first chapel in 1966.
The milestone is significant. The LDS Church has only reached this milestone in four other countries of the world — Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Peru.
Although the first official Mormon conference was held in the Philippines on May 13, 1945, it was only attended by Latter-day Saints in the U.S. military.
The Philippines wasn’t dedicated for the preaching of the gospel for another decade. On Aug. 21, 1955, then-Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, who later became the 10th president of the church, offered a prayer of dedication on the Philippines.
On April 28, 1961, under the direction of then-Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, who would also later serve as prophet, the church was legally registered in the Philippines and received permission to send missionaries to the nation.
“This is an occasion you will never forget,” Elder Hinckley told a group gathered at the American Cemetery and Memorial in Manila in 1961. “What we will begin here will affect the lives of thousands and thousands of people in this island republic, and its effect will go on from generation to generation for great and everlasting good.”
Since that time, church growth in the Philippines has been rapid, said Keith Erekson, director of the Church History Library.
“If we measure from the date of the first stake to the 100th, the Philippines reached the milestone in 44 years. (The first stake in the Philippines, the Manila Philippines Stake, was created in 1973.) That same milestone was reached by Mexico in 94 years and Peru in 43 years. By this measure, only Brazil was faster, 27 years. In the United States, the only states outside Utah to reach the milestone — California, Idaho, and Arizona — all took more than 100 years.”
Ruel E. Lacanienta, Philippines Olongapo Mission president, was 10 years old when he and his family met Mormon missionaries in 1963 — just two years after Elder Hinckley prayed for the country and the people.
He became the 60th Filipino member to be baptized in his country. In his lifetime, the church has grown from one branch meeting in a rented building to 100 stakes meeting in more than 730 church-owned chapels.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, lived and served in the Philippines from 2002 to 2004 as he presided over the Philippines Area of the church.
“When Sister Oaks and I arrived in the Philippines 15 years ago, there were only about 80 stakes, but the Philippines Area was rich in faith and determination to serve the Lord," said Elder Oaks, who was not in the Philippines for the stake creation.
“I am thrilled that the faithfulness and commitment of the Philippines saints has brought the church to this great milestone in their growth in that favored part of the vineyard.”
Saturday evening, some 600 primary children and youth marked the historic milestone with music and dance in a cultural celebration titled, “Upon the Isles of the Sea.”
What began in a quiet cemetery with only a small group “now has 21 missions, two operating temples (with two more temples to be built) and a total membership of 750,000 in 100 stakes and 75 districts,” said Elder Shayne M. Bowen, a General Authority Seventy and president of the church’s Philippines Area “This is truly worthy of a celebration.”
The youth celebrated the geographic and cultural diversity of their country by performing dances indigenous to different regions of the Philippines. “'Upon the Isles of the Sea' we have 7,100 islands,” said Dino Antenorcruz, cultural celebration director. “The thing that really binds them is the gospel.”
Roni Balde, 15, of the Malolos Philippines Stake, performed the Bumaya-Uyauy, a festival dance that celebrates a bountiful harvest. She said she is happy to use the dance to mark the church taking root and growing strong in her country.
“As long as there are still people who have not heard the word of God in the Philippines, then the church will keep growing,” she said. “Who knows? Maybe in the future we will reach 200 stakes.”
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http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865688496/Philippines-reaches-major-Mormon-milestone-100-stakes.html
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