The greatest Mormon blog in the universe. The following is from FamilySearch: SALT LAKE CITY, UTAHElder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Susan Gong, will be the featured keynote speakers for Family Discovery Day at RootsTech 2023. Feel free to delete this comment after the edit.). His memory is foggy, but he says he woke up four hours later, lying on the floor. Both men and women of Asian descent in the US face a media and social stereotype of being more submissive, passive, and infantilized. David A. Bednar. (Haight had helped to overcome some of the misgivings some family members had about the interracial marriage. Gong had the same dreams as other young Latter-day Saints, serving in callings with a wife and children, and spending eternity in heaven with his family. Their marriage was performed by apostle David B. Haight, who had connections to their families from his time in California. And thus he came to see his gay self as a weed in the Latter-day Saint garden. They will . July 10, 2022. Their children had a hard time in Korean schools because of the round eyes. Does that mean they never should have gotten married? Maybe well get rid of those now. [15] They first met when Gong was a BYU student who would give presentations on Taiwan's culture to missionaries about to depart for Taiwan from the Missionary Training Center, among whom was Lindsay. Until he was 10, Matt Gong, the family's fourth of four sons, lived in the Washington, D.C., area, where his dad worked at a policy think tank. 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. I forgive you, he says. Yipp BG, Robbins SM, Resek ME, Baruch DI, Looareesuwan S, Ho M. Src-family Kinase Signaling Modulates the Adhesion of Plasmodium falciparum on Human Microvascular Endothelium Under Flow. Assigned to organize the second stake in Bangkok, Thailand, Elder Gong participated in the calling of priesthood leaders. And I suspect their international cred was perceived as a big plus, not a minus. All rights reserved. Brazilians, in the USA, dont like getting lumped in with latinos. His mother's family are ethnic Chinese in Hawaii . Thank you, Cynthia, for your poignant thoughts. Elder Gerrit W. Gong, the first Asian-American Apostle, is a faithful lifelong Church member. This is the very purpose for which God created the heavens and the earth and saw that they were good. Cynthia, Hales. I argued my doubts to a standstill and reclaimed my beliefs from where they lay.. @Felix, my understanding at least according to Wikipedia is that Elder Gong is the son of a Chinese-Immigrant-family-in-California father and a Chinese-immigrant-family-in-Hawaii mother. Gerrit W. Gong was born on 23 December, 1953 in Redwood City, California, United States, is a Leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, first leader of Asian descent. Some of the activities include a throw-back photo challenge, family history Twister, family selfie station and a giant family tree. . I spent part of the weekend looking for synonyms for overwhelming because overwhelming doesnt seem to cover it, said Sister Gong. Matthew Gong, Matthew Gong is a minority three times over in his own words Chinese American, Mormon and queer.. Coming out, though, wasnt the happily-ever-after he had hoped it would be. Please come find your family, all your generations, and bring them home.". [24], On March 31, 2018, Gong was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Members of Elder Gerrit W. Gongs family and the army of street children they enlisted to help them paint the scene stood back and examined the work. He had a close almost familial relationship with de Jong and would refer to him as "Grandpa de Jong." 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. [26], In May 2019, Gong and his wife accompanied Russell M. Nelson and his wife on a ministry tour to the Pacific region. Loursat, I only bring this up because it was clearly your main point, but sucking oil out of the ground is a terrible strategy. Good going church! Weeds, she told him, were plants growing where they werent wanted., His queerness, the opposite of his religious ethnicity, was something I was born with but not into, Gong says in an LGBTQ Affirmation conference speech, I had to discover it, like a secret birthright.. (Trent Nelson | Tribune file photo) And love that something so small an interracial marriage can yet be so huge for your family and for others. Winter 2003 Contact Us Advertising News & Alumni. His mother met the missionaries as a teenager in Honolulu, Hawaii. During a press conference related to the open house for the rededication of the Washington D.C. Temple, Gong shared that one of his first memories was of being sealed to his parents in a temple of the LDS Church. 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. :). All quotes by Gerrit W. Gong and in blue (unless otherwise noted). In fact, the model minority label is itself an example of racism, both because it exists really only for the purpose of supporting white supremacy by attacking other people of color for purportedly being less deserving of respect and success, and because it treats Asian people as a monolith. Family Discovery Day is a free event and will begin Saturday, March 4 at 1:30 PM, MDT. (Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) But beyond the particulars of Gongs experience, his story has a universal message of normalcy. He is also ranked in the richest person list from United States. Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Gong, will attend the event 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. Until he was 10, Matt Gong, the familys fourth of four sons, lived in the Washington, D.C., area, where his dad worked at a policy think tank. Today, I love myself, scars and all, and I am awestruck by the simplicity at being happy, something I would never have believed possible in my younger years, says Gong, who shares an apartment with his longtime partner. Bright colors and vivid images filled the once-blank cinder block wall of the soup kitchen in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. Still, they often have warred within the psyche of this 29-year-old, leaving wounds that have taken years to heal. They hadnt earned my forgiveness, but I had.. This is because, in the white supremacist schema that subconsciously permeates our thinking, the latter is seen as marrying down in a way that the former is not, even though both are examples of interracial marriages. There is joy and warmth as my boyfriend pulls me close for a hug, and I marvel at the easy laughs and unqualified smiles that we share as we sit on the couch watching TV., There is celebration, he says, in my families of both queer and of birth., Though Gong still claims aspects of Mormonism in his spirituality, he has added theistic Taoism, Zen Buddhism and any parts of a religion that seem resonant civility, care, forgiveness, treating humans with dignity and compassion., He learned those principles from growing up Mormon, he says, but they are not unique to the church., The churchs patterns and behaviors of abuse, he says, dont have to be there; they are not inherent in the doctrine.. They began dating a few years later, in the summer when Gong had returned from Oxford to spend a few weeks with his parents, during a time his father was a BYU professor. Its very, very hard to do that with a small, centralized leadership group. Thank you Jason K. You make an excellent point. Three, he loves the Lord. He encouraged listeners to connect with ancestors and descendants in uniting God's family. "Ours is a worldwide Church. To read the full article on LDS.org, click here. I also rejoice in the callings of Elder Gong and Elder Soares. Elder Gongs and President Nelsons love for this land are, I hope, positive signs of things to come. The thoughts expressed below are my authentic feelings. The church desperately needed someone who represented Latin and South American saints symbolically and with experience in the 12. I confess Im a bit surprised that the OP is so vehemently opposed to suggestions of caution when approaching an interracial marriage. Brazilian members of the Church make up over 8% of the total church membership (as of just over a year ago). His fear was that people would politicize me and my dad. RootsTech 2023, a global gathering of family history enthusiasts, will be in-person at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City and virtually at rootstech.org. People. With all the comments here I echo the joy in seeing a diverse Quorum. (The . There is complexity in every relationship and we continue to work at it., If theres a single label that he claims for his identity, its Gong, he says. What Does the Parable of the Wheat and Tares Teach about the Apostasy? The choices you make will determine what happens in the "plot" of your life, and education can have a big impact. Gong was born in 1953 in Redwood City, California, to Walter Gong and his wife, the former Jean Char, and raised in Palo Alto, California. Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Gong, will attend. A photo of my husband and me should immediately clarify why this is a point of particular personal significance to me: Jusok and Cynthia Lee engagement photo (La Jolla, CA, 2000). Their address will be delivered at 1:30 p.m. MST. -Gerrit W. Gong. Its impossible to have any credibility as a global church if we have almost no cultural and ethnic diversity among the most senior leaders. Next I would really love for Adam and Eve in the temple videos to be an interracial couple. Gerrit Walter Gong (born December 23, 1953) is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Gerrit Walter Gong (born December 23, 1953) is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). There are any number of reasons I couldnt be happier about the newly-called Elder Gong and Elder Soares. I know several members of Elder Gongs extended family, and they couldnt be a more dynamic, talented, kind family. The restored gospel is for every nation, kindred, and tongue. Oh, the challenge of English adjectives. How can we have a people prepared for the millennium when we have countless exceptions to all are alike unto God? Photo courtesy of the Gong family. . Editors note If you or people you know are at risk of self-harm, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline provides 24-hour support at 1-800-273-8255. He was called to London on a Mandarin-speaking mission in 2011. FredI strongly suspect that you would not have similar qualms about announcements that aligned with your own political priors. [23] Among his assignments while in the Presidency of the Seventy, Gong served on the Church Board of Education and Boards of Trustees, where he also served as a member of its executive committee. Campus Research People Faith Family Past Issues. Since there is a sub thread discussion about race here, Ill just highlight this very good and enlightening piece by PBS from a few years ago about race in Brazil. He is the son of Gerrit W. Gong, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles spoke during the Saturday afternoon session of April 2022 general conference. Not sure that the fact his Asian roots would mean that much to the Chinese government in order to open it for missionary work, but I believe that he fits the mold for Apostleship with age, church experience/loyalty, and worldly accolades. But today, let us rejoice! I also suspect that some of these people are forgetting that the world is not lacking in socially conservative Hispanics or Asian Americans. Its pretty easy to support and sustain what were used to; harder when there is a significant shift. Mental Health Minute: Who is Driving the Bus. This expressed so much of the happiness I feel today. Here are 6 fun facts about Elder Gong. Happening March 4, Family Discovery Day is free online and in-person. [38] On October 16, the church announced that he and his wife had successfully completed their quarantines, and that Gong had been cleared by his doctors to resume his regular assignments the following week.[38]. 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. . Elder Gong isnt part-anything. Members of Elder Gerrit W. Gongs family and the army of street children they enlisted to help them paint the scene stood back and examined the work. I dont expect that these men will be cultural or political reformers. These people are forgetting that the world is not lacking in socially conservative Hispanics or Asian Americans know several of... 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