I was just reading the Dedicatory Prayer of the Cebu City Temple given in 2010- it is a beautiful prayer!!! but one paragraph in particular caught my attention:
"We thank Thee for the promise found in the Book of Mormon that in the latter days Thou wouldst remember Thy children on the isles of the sea. We are in a nation of many islands, whose people love truth and whose hearts are responsive to the message of the eternal gospel. We thank Thee for their faith. We thank Thee for their spirit of sacrifice. Bless them that neither they nor the generations which follow them will go hungry or be without shelter from the storms that beat about them."
I immediately had to go look up every instance in the Book of Mormon that mentions "those upon the isles of the sea". Here are some of my favorites:
1 Nephi 19:16-17
"then will he remember the isles of the sea; yea, and all the people who are of the house of Israel, will I gather in from the four corners of the earth...and all the earth shall see the salvation of the Lord, saith the prophet; every nation kindred, tongue and people shall be blessed"
1 Nephi 21:8
"In an acceptable time have I heard thee, O isles of the sea, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee; and I will preserve thee"
2 Nephi 10:8
"they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth"
2 Nephi 29:7
"...I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth."
2 Nephi 10:21
"Great are the promises of the Lord unto them that are upon the isles of the sea"
The people living on one small island halfway across the world may seem obscure and unknown to me, but they are NOT obscure or unknown to God! He intimately knows and loves ALL His children! He loves the people there so much that He calls for missionaries to be trained in their language, learn their customs, and be familiar with their needs so that we can relate to them, love them, serve them, and most importantly teach them to come unto Christ! I can already tell how special and well-loved by our Heavenly Father the people of the Philippines are. I can't speak their language and I haven't met them yet, but I already feel immense love for them!
