When I think of temple marriage, I am reminded of the covenant my parents made which led us to receiving the wonderful blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. My parents were married in the Philippines Manila Temple on December 18, 1993. My father is from Cebu and my mom was living in Calamba, Laguna. Sacrifices had to be made; my father’s money was only enough for the fare.
My grandmother, my mom’s mother, isn’t a member of the Church and did not fully agree to the marriage but, my parents’ faith was strong enough to soften my grandmother’s heart – she even bought a new shirt for my father to wear at the wedding. No plans were made, not even a reception– their only plan was to go to the temple and get married there. To them, the most important thing was to be sealed for time and all eternity, to build their own eternal family and obey God’s commandments.
My parents decided to move to Cebu after the wedding. They did not have an easy start; there were hardships, tears and sacrifices in raising a family. I was born in 1994 and they did not have a stable job.
My father worked various jobs even as a pedal cab driver and my mom would help him by selling newspapers in the morning. I remember eating rice porridge most of the time since that was what we could afford back then. Then the family grew to six children and as the family grew, God’s provision also increased. My father has got a stable job as well as my mom. Apart from that, they worked hard and saved money and started a business that helped sustain our educational needs as well as our daily necessities. Two children have served fulltime missions and my younger siblings are looking forward to serving a mission too. Our parents taught us that if we marry in the temple we will be reminded of God’s promises for His children and that He will provide. Because of their faithfulness and obedience to God’s will – we also have the temple in our sights. When we marry in the temple, our desire is for the blessings of the eternities to come and nothing is more joyous than knowing “Families can be
together forever.” ◼︎