It is our fervent hope and prayer that someday soon the Lord will open the way for the spread of the gospel here in China. Susan is other-oriented and down-to-earth wherever she is, said Elder Gong. Their address will be delivered at 1:30 p.m. MST. I have five other children that have married Caucasians as well. This is the very purpose for which God created the heavens and the earth and saw that they were good. On my mission, I learned that the first things to grow on the battlefields of France after World War I, were poppies, blood-red poppies, Gong tells the Affirmation virtual audience. Discover Gerrit W. Gong's Wiki Biography, Age, Height, Physical Stats, Dating/Affairs, Family and career updates. What I hope for is a group that comes from different cultural backgrounds that can consider and represent a worldwide church. Connecting with God and to one another is so important. I agree. Lasting Discipleship. Elder Soares, a Brazillian, brings long-overdue representation from the southern hemisphere. He seemed to remember a conversation with someone or something outside of himself that affirmed he was loved. That is something the Gongs also learned from the children involved in their mural projects, undertaken during the Christmas season. . That means not only that he has experience with multiple cultures, it also means that his grandchildren will likely be raised in the same country where he lives, which means that it will be a little easier for him and his wife to spend time with them as present and well known grandparents. [25], In May 2018, Gong and his wife spoke at the BYU Women's Conference. Those interested in participating in the conference can register online at https://rootstech.org. There are over a billion Chinese citizens, and we non-Chinese are forbididen by law from discussing religion with them. Cynthia, thanks for sharing. . :) Hope all is well. But perhaps she was thinking of a 70 or something. Their circumstances are different, but their faith and testimonies are in many ways the same, he said. It may also be that I have read todays conversations about it incorrectly and that Latino is ok? and one of those categories is occupation. (I should be really friendly to this guy, or I just want to spend a lot of time with that boy.), He didnt want to accept himself as gay, because the only queerness I had ever seen was bad the AIDS crisis, promiscuity, death. I was worried that it would be deletedinstead I have been encouraged to look at it in new ways that I hadnt considered. Why does ethnicity have to be politicized in Zion the way it is in Babylon? I love the more visible presence of minorities. My last post must have sounded like trolling as it has disappeared. Youve given me something to ponder this afternoon. It makes all the difference to know who my family are." My friend muses, "A bent branch does not mean a bad tree. Bright colors and vivid images filled the once-blank cinder block wall of the soup kitchen in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. Fred: and that is the value of diversity, across every possible category. All three parts of Gongs identity have shaped him, including heroic tales of service and sacrifice, and are worth celebrating. The free event will feature live music, food and family discovery activities, with prizes ranging from DNA kits to a new laptop. Brazilian members of the Church make up over 8% of the total church membership (as of just over a year ago). Until very recently, church instruction manuals for institute and youthsuggested caution against interracial marriages. I seriously doubt President Nelson was pandering to progressive Mormons. (Courtesy photo by Ryan Di Spaltro) There was almost no better realistic possibility than these two picks. I confronted and broke down the lies I had been told about what it means to be queer. Its impossible to have any credibility as a global church if we have almost no cultural and ethnic diversity among the most senior leaders. Thank you Jason K. You make an excellent point. Put On Thy Strength, O Zion. Bright colors and vivid images filled the once-blank cinder block wall of the soup kitchen in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. FredI strongly suspect that you would not have similar qualms about announcements that aligned with your own political priors. I felt like the church that I have always thought was lead by God had caved in to the relentless pressure from those in the Mormon blogoshphere who are obsessed with promoting political correctness and diversity. A former bishop and stake president, Elder Gong has served as a General Authority since 2010 and in that capacity has seen the Church grow and develop across the world. As a missionary in Taiwan. church instruction manuals for institute and youth. The strongest marriages are based on mutual core values, and church leaders seem to believe that marrying in the faith takes care of that. [11] Gong was a professor at various times at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University. Some places wanted to send only the best and most artistic children to participate. My white cousin married a Korean woman and lived in Korea for several years. People dont know their own blind spots until theyre pointed out to them. Felix was referring to genetics. They are the parents of four sons and have three grandchildren. Even at school, Gong, who easily passed as straight, grew increasingly silent, afraid of hugs and falling in love. Photo courtesy of the Gong family. Either way it helps us abide and grow. If the supposed universal differences between men and women are assets in a marriage, why not differences in race? Race dynamics and categories in the US and Brazil are each independently complicated and fraught, and also very different from each other in subtle ways. Elder Gong was with Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Gary E. Stevenson in Vietnam when the Church received official recognition. Its very, very hard to do that with a small, centralized leadership group. Thank you for sharing! There are both benefits and penalties to being racially mixed. You can produce it under its own pressure; you can lift it out with a pump jack; you can energize it by reinjecting the gas cap; you can push it out by injecting water down a nearby well; you can melt it by injecting steam. gerrit gong family picture . The current government is becoming more repressive about such matters. Here are 6 fun facts about Elder Gong. -Gerrit W. Gong. He also on occasion continued to travel to Asia, such as being present for the official recognition of the LDS Church in Vietnam. By Mike Rabus Posted 7/5/2022. They will share some of their stories at Family Discovery Day during RootsTech 2023. The church desperately needed someone who represented Latin and South American saints symbolically and with experience in the 12. Also, doesnt Sister Rosana Fernandes Soares identify as a woman of color? He was born on December 23, 1953 and his birthplace is California, Redwood City California. After his call to the First Quorum of the Seventy, he served as a counselor in the church's Asia Area from 2011 to 2013,[18][19] then as the area's president from August 2013 until the end of 2015. Im sorry to hear this, but grateful that I was raised in the 50s to 70s by open minded, faithful Mormon parents, for which I am grateful for every day. INVITATION TO ACT: "We each have a story. Mica Nicole is sure she had encountered one but was out and about and couldnt recall the specifics for me. [9] The Gongs married in the Salt Lake Temple on January 4, 1980. Here in China, members of our small LDS ex-pat branch are thrilled at Elder Gongs call to the Quorum of the Twelve. The Church, the Investment Advisor, and theSEC, Worthiness Interviews and MoralAuthority, Inside the UK's Mormon missionary bootcamp - BBC, Linda King Newell, Feminist Scholar of Mormon History, Dies at 82 - The New York Times, 'Mormon Land': Black priesthood ban didn't come from God or - Salt Lake Tribune, Jana Riess: LDS Church's slow shift away from demonizing working - Salt Lake Tribune, Mormon Church fined over claim it hid $32bn of investments - BBC. The LDS Brazilians I know are adamant that they are of European descent and that they are not Latino. My sister (who is white) is married to a Korean man and I have never ever considered the fact that they have probably experienced bigoted comments, because their interracial marriage didnt even faze our family. [9][10], In 1985, Gong became a special assistant to the U.S. Secretary of State. And it takes strength to keep sustaining when a shift comes before one is ready. As of June 2018, he was serving as chair of the church's Scriptures Committee (which, among other things, oversees the translation of the scriptures) and as a member of the Leadership and Training Committee, the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, and the Outreach Committee. I hope that we will each make an effort to discover our own family stories, to record them and to share them with our children and grandchildren. Elder and Sister Gong's presentation will be broadcast on Saturday . Elder Gerrit W. Gong, the first Asian-American Apostle, is a faithful lifelong Church member. He served as an LDS Church missionary in Taiwan. Also on the whole model minority thing we dont exactly need to go very far back in history, especially California history, to find plenty of horrific discrimination against Asians. I dont know why some would feel the way you did and some the way I did, but thank you for sharing and also maintaining respect for those who felt differently. I commented on another thread here how much I admire Sister Susan Gong. 1. Elder Gong loves learning and spending time with family. With all the comments here I echo the joy in seeing a diverse Quorum. [35] The church later announced that Gong, whose wife has ties to Taylorsville, Utah, would preside at the October 2020 groundbreaking for the temple in that city. The in-person Family Discovery Day event will also feature free classes, activities and access to the expo hall. The three-day gathering (March 2 to 4, 2023) will feature several . One Latter-day Saint seminary teacher kept trying to tell him he was Korean, because the instructor knew a Korean kid with a similar last name. I confess Im a bit surprised that the OP is so vehemently opposed to suggestions of caution when approaching an interracial marriage. He really desires with all his heart to build the kingdom and bless Heavenly Fathers children. Loursat wrote: I dont expect that these men will be cultural or political reformers.. Their children had a hard time in Korean schools because of the round eyes. Does that mean they never should have gotten married? http://www.pbs.org/wnet/black-in-latin-america/featured/black-in-latin-america-full-episode-brazil-a-racial-paradise/224/. A powerful couple to help open up China. His memory is foggy, but he says he woke up four hours later, lying on the floor. Though Gongs relationship with his parents got off to a rocky start after he came out not for lack of love or rejection but for miscommunication they are now as close as ever and talk almost every week. Forgive me, Im not sure. (For more reading on this, seehere,here, and here.). People. Love you. Reading the D&C, it seems that revelation is often (indeed, almost always) responsive to external realities. Come find your voice, your song, your harmony in Him. After Joseph's baptism, the Young brothers taught their family and friends in Canada and baptized over 150 individuals and established four branches of the church, including ones in Kingston and Sydenham. Submitted on July 23, 2013. Looking back, Gong sees plenty of clues to his sexuality that he failed to recognize at the time: Staring at a male underwear mannequin when he was a child. Huh. A Rhodes Scholar who worked for the U.S. State Department and for the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., Elder Gongs travels have taken him to all seven continents, including living in Asia for more than a decade. Prior to becoming a general authority, Gong served in the church as a stake Sunday School president, high councilor, seminary teacher, bishop, stake president, and area seventy. From at least 2002, Gong served as special assistant to the president of BYU for planning and assessment. Having crushes on boys in elementary school. Elder Gong said, "On my mother's side . In order to celebrate Elder Gong's birthday, here are some photos showing his life and ministry to Latter-day Saints around the world. All rights reserved. Once ordained they joined the growing circle of priesthood power.. Hi MB, Im really not the expert to speak on that. His family relationships clarified, my friend said, "I feel free, at peace. Ours is a worldwide Church, said Elder Gong. I also suspect that some of these people are forgetting that the world is not lacking in socially conservative Hispanics or Asian Americans. With his wife, Susan, Elder Gong helps build God's kingdom by serving all of His children. And he still didnt know how to love himself. The restored gospel is for every nation, kindred, and tongue. In the Saturday afternoon session of the April 2022 general conference, Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a talk titled "We Each Have a Story" in which he encouraged his listeners to work on their family history. His mother met the missionaries as a teenager in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is also ranked in the richest person list from United States. Matthew Gong, Matthew Gong is a minority three times over in his own words Chinese American, Mormon and queer.. The authors presentation assumes an intellectual supremacy that we all should come to the same interpretations.though I guess thats what opinions are. Ill investigate Rosana. For women of Asian descent, this results in a hypersexualized stereotype, an extreme but superficial sexual desirability captured in the ugly term yellow fever. For men of Asian descent, this same underlying stereotype results in media representations and prejudice against them as emasculated and lacking in sexual desirability or prowess. 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