Video: What President and Sister Oaks learned in the Philippines about the strength and influence of women

In this Church News video, titled ‘Very Much Grateful,’ President and Sister Oaks share how teaching women was the way to move the work forward

17 May 2024, 10:37 a.m. MDT

President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, right, and Sister Kristen M. Oaks sit on chairs in their home in this screenshot from the Church News video "Very Much Grateful." — President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, right, and Sister Kristen M. Oaks are featured in the Church News video "Very Much Grateful." Screenshot from YouTube

Sarah Jane is editor of the Deseret News.

From 2002 to 2004, President Dallin H. Oaks, now first counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, served as the Philippines Area president.

Twenty years later, President Oaks returned to the Philippines to dedicate the Urdaneta Philippines Temple on Sunday, April 28.

The Urdaneta temple is the third house of the Lord in the Philippines and stands on the Latter-day Saint foundation President Oaks built as he worked to “establish the Church” in the Philippines.

This Church News video, titled “Very Much Grateful,”features President Oaks and his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks, sharing some of their learnings during that time — including what they observed about the strength and influence of Filipino women. Teaching the women, he said, “was the only way to get the work to go forward.”