QUEZON CITY, Philippines — The expanded Missionary Training Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Philippines will become “a launching pad” for sharing the gospel across Asia, said Elder Neil L. Andersen Saturday evening.
“We will see great and marvelous things here,” said Elder Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “The Philippines and this MTC will be the center of much of our work in Asia, having to do with the spreading of the gospel. Languages will be taught here. People will be coming here in larger numbers.”
During a meeting attended by local members and the missionaries receiving instruction at the MTC, Elder Andersen dedicated the training center as a place that will assist in the spreading of the gospel in “this important place of the world.”
The expanded facility includes two new buildings on a five-building campus, located adjacent to the LDS Church’s Philippines area offices and across the street from the Manila Philippines Temple. The buildings house missionary apartments and instruction rooms, a cafeteria and an activities center. The expansion doubles the capacity of the MTC from 140 to 280 missionaries.
Each building is constructed on a sure physical foundation, said Sister Kathy Andersen during the program. She asked missionaries to build their lives on a strong spiritual foundation. As “we build upon that foundation we will be blessed and protected and kept from all the difficulties life might bring to us,” she said.
Elder Ulisses Soares of the Presidency of the Seventy said the “MTC and the missionary work of the church make possible the fulfillment of God’s plan for his children.”
The Philippines Missionary Training Center opened in 1983 in a rented house in the San Juan area of Metro Manila. In 1985, the church expanded the center to include a second rented house nearby. In 1992, the center moved to its current location where mostly Filipino missionaries serving in their own country received instruction. A new residence hall and training center were added in May 2012 and dedicated by President Russell M. Nelson, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“In all, this MTC has served missionaries from or going to 60 countries,” said Sister Brenda Carlos, who serves with her husband, MTC President Rodolfo Carlos.
Approximately two-thirds of the missionaries receiving instruction at the MTC are Filipinos and about 10 percent are from the United States, she said.
Every U.S. missionary serving in the Philippines spends at least five days at the MTC when they first enter the country; many are assigned to the center for their entire language training — Tagalog — and spend six weeks at the center.
Sister Tanya Riabova is the first missionary to receive training at the MTC from the Ukraine, although another Ukrainian missionary is expected to arrive next month.
Being at the MTC “is a good opportunity to see new cultures, to see Heavenly Father’s children in this part of the world,” said Sister Riabova.
Sister Wisuchalak Khanakham of Bangkok, Thailand, accompanied four missionaries from Thailand to the MTC as their interpreter. They will receive training, with the help of Sister Khanakham, and then return to Thailand where they will serve.
Sister Khanakham has been making the trip with different groups of missionaries several times a year since 2009. When she started coming, the MTC campus consisted of just two buildings and served mostly Filipino missionaries.
“This is such a blessing to see Heavenly Father’s love and mercy, to see the work expand and see how others have the opportunity to teach the gospel,” she said.
Sister Leslie Duabe, a missionary instructor who lives in Manila, said the facility is a “very international MTC now.”
Elder Jim Lee, the executive secretary of the MTC, served in the Southern Far East Mission from 1962 to 1965. His experience in the area has come full circle, as the MTC now serves the same countries that were originally part of his mission.
President Carlos said the growth of the MTC is phenomenal. “This MTC is a testament to the faith of the members in the Philippines, as well as in other parts of the world,” he said. “This is just the beginning.”
The church currently operates 15 MTCs around the world. Missionary Training Centers in Provo and Ghana have also recently been renovated. More than 6,000 people toured the new Philippines MTC from June 2 though June 10 during a public open house.