A modern-day pioneer in the Philippines, Elder Augusto A. Lim of the Seventy was a stake builder. Of the first four stakes in that country, Elder Lim served as the first president of three.

Even before that, he helped pioneer the growth of the Church as a member of the presidency of the first mission in the Philippines.In a Church News interview, he talked about the challenges and blessings of membership in the Church when it was young in the Philippines. But he quickly noted that his challenges were minimal compared to those faced by the early pioneers who made the trek across the plains to Utah more than a century earlier.

"I did not have any challenges at all," he said. But events in his life have shown a willingness to make whatever sacrifice necessary to serve in the Lord's kingdom.

The first Filipino to serve as a General Authority, he was called to the Second Quorum of the Seventy in 1992. He has been serving in the presidency of the Philippines/Micronesia Area and was recently called to be the president of the Manila Philippines Temple.

He and his wife, Myrna, joined the Church in 1964 when most of the members in the Philippines were expatriates - military and business people from the United States.

The Church was blessed by those members "from Utah, from Idaho," and from other areas where the Church was mature and strong, Elder Lim reflected. The Filipinos who joined the Church in those early days were "faithful members," he added. "We were very close and we were very well organized. We were greatly helped by the expatriates."

When the first mission was organized - the Philippine Mission in 1967 - a trend of rapid growth began in the Church, Elder Lim said. He was called as the first counselor in the mission presidency at that time and served in that position under the first two mission presidents.

President Ezra Taft Benson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, traveled to the Philippines in 1973 to organize the first stake there, the Manila Stake. He called Elder Lim as the first stake president in the country.

In 1977, President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was at that time a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, organized three stakes from the Manila Philippines Stake and the Quezon City District and Elder Lim was called as president of the new Quezon City Philippines Stake.

Finally, in 1980, Elder Marion D. Hanks of the Seventy divided the Marikina Philippines Stake from the Quezon City Philippines Stake and once again Elder Lim was called to organize the new stake as president.

Of his service as a stake president, Elder Lim said, "It was very fulfilling, although there were sacrifices to make." Actually, his conscience led him to make a major sacrifice early in his service in the mission presidency. He was a tax attorney for the largest corporation in the Philippines, making a comfortable living.

"But because its main product was beer, I had to leave the company," he said matter of factly. "I just didn't feel good about talking about the Word of Wisdom when I was a junior executive for a company whose main product was beer."

At the time he was first called to be a stake president, Elder Lim was a tax attorney in a law firm. He also taught taxation classes at a university, a sideline he enjoyed. But when he received his new calling in the Church he knew he would need the extra time to serve the stake and gave up his teaching position.

Shortly after his conversion, Elder Lim became familiar with the joys and challenges of membership. He spent nine months investigating the Church before finally deciding to read the Book of Mormon seriously. He quickly gained a testimony of the gospel. After he was baptized, he had an intense desire to share the gospel with his family, friends and co-workers. He enjoyed success as a member-missionary, contributing to the steady growth of the Church in the Philippines.

His zeal for Church service was not looked upon as a positive thing by some of his acquaintances, he said. "When they see that you are so much involved and spend so much time doing Church work instead of having what they see as a `good time,' they don't understand why."

For example, he said that when he was a young member of the Church, he worked for the country's Internal Revenue Service. It was a coveted position and his acquaintances were shocked when he gave it up because of conflicts with his Church service.

Elder Lim said he and other early pioneers who have remained steadfast in their testimonies have found great happiness in being a part of the Church's growth in the Philippines. They have seen two branches in one district blossom into more than 45 stakes and 13 missions in just over 30 years. And, he said, the work is still going forward at a good pace.