Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
MANILA, Philippines — A small community outside of Manila came out in a big way to celebrate the arrival of Elder Neil L. Andersen from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who is visiting the country on a nine-day tour.
The church is part of a project that brought water to hundreds of families.
Residents of what's called a "Cardinal Sin Village" had a band waiting, made signs and gave Elder Andersen and others in his van a parade around the apartment complex. Hundreds of children also ran alongside the caravan.
At one point, Elder Andersen exited the van and embraced many of the children.
The residents were celebrating something we take for granted — water. They finally have it again.
"Oh, it's good. We now have water every day. In the morning, at night," Emma Cabahug told KSL-TV, which also accompanied the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square on the first leg of its international tour. "It's very hard without water. Water is life."
For months now, the church has been working alongside the Catholic community to build three new water tanks on top of the apartments. The previous tanks were rusted, old and couldn't hold water.
"We are on the eighth floor of the building. This is the water tank that they asked to be replaced," said Bernabe Magsino, a local man whose company built the tanks.
"Oh, it is fantastic," Magsino said about fixing the water tanks. "You could only fill the tank about (a third of the way) up. And the rest of the tank, there were so many holes up to the top."
Elder Andersen, along with Catholic leaders, cut a ribbon and joined hands to ceremonially turn on a faucet to let the water flow again. The seven-building complex houses 1,200 families in 980 units.
"Instead of having to load up water and carry it up to the third or fourth level, water will come out of their faucets. No wonder they are so happy," Elder Andersen said. "You can't be with children and not feel the love of God. The innocence, the goodness, the desire to embrace us."
"I'm very overwhelmed and grateful. I have been here for ten years, and I know how difficult it is for them," said Father Richard James Baboa of the Catholic Church. "Being able to work together makes us realize we are really brothers and sisters, and the encounter is really helping us to be open and not judge people."
Virgina Catipon couldn't have been more excited. She will now no longer have to carry water up all those flights of stairs to her seventh-floor apartment.
"It's very good we have plenty of water," Catipon said. "This is my faucet — my water — look!"
But this wasn't Elder Andersen's only humanitarian celebration event in the Philippines on Thursday.
He also visited with Filipino youth and other beneficiaries of the church's Giving Machines that people donated during the Christmas season in the Philippines. The total contribution from the machines and church for six different charity partners is about $67,000.
