Behold the Field
In our part of the Lord's vineyard, we are surrounded by the continuous cycle of planting and harvesting. We watch as fields are prepared and planted, watched over and harvested.
It is both a steadfast and ever changing, beautiful pattern of life.
Preparing and Planting
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| Maddela |
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| Dupax |
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| Cattaban |
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| Burgos |
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| Batad |
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| Alcala |
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| Bambang |
Nurturing and Growing
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| Ilagan |
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| Tumauini |
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| Cabarroguis |
The Harvest
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| Alinguigan |
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| Alinguigan |
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| Amalung |
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| Alicia |
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| Mabini |
Fifty-three years ago, on June 5, 1961, the first missionaries assigned to preach the gospel in the Philippines arrived. Elders Kent Lowe, Harry Murray, Raymond Goodson and Nestor Ledesma came from Hong Kong, where the mission home was located. Before beginning their work, they held a sunrise service at the American War Memorial Cemetery in Fort Bonifacio, Manila. For many years after, Filipino members commemorated June 5th with a sunrise service to honor the day that missionaries first arrived in their land.
The Philippines had been dedicated for missionary work in 1955 by President Joseph Fielding Smith, however, visa problems prevented missionaries from coming. Consequently, in the early morning of April 28, 1961, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley rededicated the land in the presence of around 100 Latter-Day Saints. They had come from Clark Air Force Base and gathered on the grounds of the American War Memorial Cemetery. "Amidst the rising sun and rows of grave markers, Elder Hinckley invoked the blessings upon 'the people of this land, that they shall be friendly and hospitable, and kind, and gracious to those who shall come here, and that many, yea Lord, we pray that there shall be many thousands who shall receive this message and be blessed thereby…'"
Like the fields of the countryside, the land of the Philippines had been prepared, and as seeds are planted and nurtured in the good soil, the hearts of the Filipino people were ready to receive the good news of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
As missionaries, we live and breathe the law of the harvest in this beautiful land as we "behold the field" and joyfully labor among these "faithful, good, virtuous, and true" people of the Philippines. How blessed we are to be here!
