February 26, 2014
Today we attended Jared Garcia and Guilia Nobleza's temple
sealing in Cebu temple and then their reception at the Stake Center on the
temple complex. We were so excited to be
included in their special day. Jared
served his mission in the Bacolod Mission and was the Mission Assistant when we
arrived here. We loved him instantly because he was such a fine young man and
he helped us get acclimated. Guilia is the daughter of Elder Nobleza who is an
area Seventy who lives in Bacolod. Elder
Nobleza is also the general manager of BDO Bank. Out of the thirty people
invited to the wedding we knew all but 5 of them (who were the young friends of
Guilia. The temple president, President Pacaduan conducted the ceremony. We were so happy to meet Jared's parents and
be able to tell them what a wonderful son they raised.
When Jared returned home from his mission he was checking
out Facebook and he saw Guilia's post of one of his friends pages and sent her
a friend request. And... they hit is off
instantly.
After the wedding we were escorted to the reception and
asked to sit at the presidential table.
We tried to politely decline and were asked to sit with the family at
the presidential table along with Bishop DI and President Escobar. We felt like we were imposing by sitting at
the special table but the leaders told us we needed to sit these so we do not
offend. I will never get over the humble
feeling of being cherished and treated like angels by the Philippine people. The receptions was so different as they began
with a hymn and an opening prayer. The
parents of the groom thanked everyone for coming and gave some advice to the
young couple. The brides parents had
asked several people to also give advice including Dan. The reception also included special soloists,
dance productions, and dinner. During
dinner they showed videos of the couples lives prior to courtship, during
courtship and during their engagement. They also included the flowers being
thrown and the cake cutting ceremony as we do in the U.S. Another common tradition is when people hit
their glasses with a knife so there is a tinging sound the bride and groom kiss
(on the mouth, is how they said it). The
couple were embarrassed as the two fathers kept the tinging going constantly. Guilia
asked everyone to add that the parents
of the couple be required to kiss when the audience clapped as they clap often.
Then after a little while they decided since Elder Sinema and I were at the
parent's table that we should kiss also.
Oh my do they know how to have fun.
Some of the advise given was interesting. Bishop Di said that when coupled disagreed
that they had to trade off being the one who explodes and the one who listens
with each disagreement. Not sure how
that would work. President Escobar said that the couple had to kiss seven times
each day and never go to bed without saying "I love you" to each
other. Dan said that life was full of opposites: happiness and sadness, light
and darkness, good and evil and that if
we always endure to the end and help each other through the oppositions, life
will be a wonderful experience. A lovely sister who was Guilia's teacher said
that if the couple always remember that each of them are a son and daughter of
God and that as such they are expected to be worthy of that title by
remembering the covenants they had made with each other and their Heavenly
Father as they were sealed that would be able to keep in mind the
responsibility to keep the promises they had made. After the closing song and prayer, the
dancing began: the father and daughter dance, the son and mother dance, the
bride and groom dance and then all couples were asked to join in to the
dancing. Dan made a valiant effort
before saying that I should go and ask Guilia's Grandfather (widowed) to dance.
He is probably in his mid-eighties and uses a cane so we carefully made our way
to the dance floor and finished the dance.
He was so thankful that I would offer to dance with him. His granddaughter kept thanking me over and
over for being so kind to her grandfather.
The best part of the evening for Dan was the whole reception was over
before 7:30 pm. What a lovely experience
we had and will always remember
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