Cebu City, Philippines Temple

We had the most amazing Sunday! We were fortunate enough to get tickets inside the temple for the dedication of the 133rd temple, the Cebu City, Philippines Temple. It was my first temple dedication and Ryan's second so we knew we were blessed to be able to attend one of the three dedicatory sessions.
We had the best view of the temple from our hotel room and we were watching the growing crowds during the first session in the morning as we were getting ready for our session. At one point we noticed a lot of camera flashes going on so we took out the big lens for the camera and spied to find that they were laying the cornerstone of the temple.

We made our way to the temple for the 12:00 dedication and battled the crowds until we were inside the temple. We were making our way upstairs which was pretty much full by the time we reached the top. Ryan and I came to the realization that there was no one yet sitting downstairs and that we would be able to pick any seat we wanted down there. We knew that the Prophet would have to make his way upstairs but didn't know if he would be using the elevator or not so we sat ourselves down on the corner of the front row right beside the temple office. We figured no matter what he would have to walk by us. WELL, we were not disappointed at all. Soon after we took our seats we saw President Eyring and Elder Oaks through the glass door to the temple office with their wives. They were so close, maybe 10 feet. Then President Monson joined the group which then included the Presiding Bishop, Bishop Burton, the area Presidency and Elder Walker, the executive director of the Temple Department. They were inches from us and it was so amazing to see them walk by, smiling. President Monson even said to the crowd raising his hands as he passed by Ryan "don't get excited" because we were all standing and just awe struck! He then stopped right beside Ryan and gave the little girl and boy directly behind us a high five before continuing on upstairs for the dedication.
The dedication was so nice, the talks were all really spiritual and we learned quite a bit about some of the pioneer members in the Philippines, the temple construction taking place around the world and how important the missionary work is. Gratitude was spoken for all the missionaries who have served in the Cebu and surrounding area, because of them and their work there is a temple now dedicated in Cebu City.
After the dedication we were asked to remain in our seat while the Prophet and other church leaders passed by on their way back into the temple office. Again the church leaders all filed passed while President Monson again stopped to speak to the children behind us telling the little girl while cradling her face that she looked just like an angel. He then continued on his way brushing past Ryan who also got a man hug from Bishop Burton as he rounded the corner seat where Ryan was standing. I'm pretty confident that I will never be inches away from the Prophet, President Eyring and Elder Oaks again! So amazing.
Afterwards as people were slowly filing out of the temple we were able to speak with Elder Walker. He is also from Southern Alberta and one of his 'dearest friends' was Ryan's old Stake President and so he spent some time figuring out who we were and why we had been in the Philippines for so long before passing his card to Ryan so Ryan wouldn't forget who he was (as if that would happen). One thing Elder Walker shared in his talk during the dedication session was that when he was in primary in 1954 his class was given the challenge to memorize the locations of all the LDS temples.... at that time there was only 9 (including the 6th operational temple, Cardston Alberta Temple), but now only 56 years later we have just celebrated the dedication of the 133rd LDS temple! Isn't that amazing.
Well, this temple is so beautiful. Inside it's peaceful and classic looking, it's hard to describe but I would defiantly say it's a timeless beauty. Outside it's perfectly placed, easy to spot with the beautiful lush tropics as it's background.