Of his new assignment, Elder Gong said it was overwhelming to have President Nelson tenderly take my hands in his and extend a call to the apostleship. Members of Elder Gerrit W. Gongs family stand in front of a mural project with the children who assisted them in Vietnam. Again, its complicated and fluid. 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. He was called to London on a Mandarin-speaking mission in 2011. 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). I believe the Lord uses those who have specific skills to move His church forward.and Sister Gong is fluent in Mandarin. Recommended dish: Korean BBQ platter. Ours is a worldwide Church. Theres also a correlation between small wedding ceremonies and divorce suggesting that couples thrive on social support. Below are three statements Elder Gong made about stories and some ideas about how you can rediscover your own. Members of Elder Gerrit W. Gong's family and the army of street children they enlisted to help them paint the scene stood back and examined the work. Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Gong, will also be featured at the conference as keynote speakers on Family Discovery Day the last day of the conference focused on making connections and celebrating family heritage. Forgive me, Im not sure. His father joined the Church after attending Stanford University, where his parents met and dated. Elder Gerrit W. Gong currently serves as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Three, he loves the Lord. When I realized that they were the new Apostles, I had chills all through my body, the hair on my arms stood up, and I felt so joyous. He will be a good fit with the brethren. [26], In May 2019, Gong and his wife accompanied Russell M. Nelson and his wife on a ministry tour to the Pacific region. I love the more visible presence of minorities. I can also attest that there are benefits inherent in my interracial + intercultural marriage. On his 21st birthday, at the start of the final year on his mission, Gong wrote separate emails to each of his brothers and his parents to tell them he was gay. [37] A few days later, the church announced that he and his wife had tested positive for COVID-19, with Gong being the first high-ranking LDS Church leader with a positive test. As someone interested in the photographic impact of light, color, composition, and moment, Elder Gong imagines the childrenand others like them in Nepal, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Utahenjoying the space. Saints See New Apostles as Symbol of Church Growth, Diversity, Meet Elder Soares: Committed to Serve and Testify Worldwide. Photo courtesy of the Gong family. It takes strength to keep sustaining when one is ready for shifts and even sees wisdom in them, but they dont come. Good going church! Family Discovery Day is a free event and will begin Saturday, March 4 at 1:30 PM, MDT. Im very comfortable standing by that statement. Gerrit was named after Gerrit de Jong because his mother had lived with de Jong and his family while she was a student at BYU. However, much discussion among leading historians of Mormonism has so far failed to turn up any examples of an interracial marriage in the Twelve. To read the full article on LDS.org, click here. And I suspect their international cred was perceived as a big plus, not a minus. I have five other children that have married Caucasians as well. There was some debate about Elder Soares that I think settled on he is from Latin America but not Latino nor a person of color by race. Having a few interracial marriages in my extended family, Ive seen positive and negative consequences. [12][13] He joined this latter institution in 1989. I experienced confusion, sexual assault and rejection as I stumbled through my new life, Gong says. Assigned to organize the second stake in Bangkok, Thailand, Elder Gong participated in the calling of priesthood leaders. I think generational biases are difficult to overcome when seeking the Lords will on things great and small. Every member of the Gong family had a special role in the project, from creating the sketch to mixing the paint to organizing the children. Having people who know about petroleum extraction is always useful! Reserve a spot at the After-Party by FamilySearch using eventbrite.com. In your own life story, you are the main character! Maybe well get rid of those now. I buried land mines and razor wire in my brain so that my heart couldnt get out., If Gong hadnt come out, he says, I would have fought in the war till I died by suicide.. Susan and Gerrit Gong (Church News photograph). If that makes me bad/wrong, then so be it. 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. I dont think there are many people who are openly queer and whose dad is now in one of the highest positions of authority in the LDS Church, he quips in an online post that went viral. Ours is a worldwide Church, said Elder Gong. Ill investigate Rosana. Latter-day Saints across the globe sustained Elder Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares as Apostles during the Saturday morning session of general conference on March 31. I dont know how it came to us; it just did, said Sister Susan Gong. 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. Four of my children have married half mixed spouses, two half Japanese and two half Hispanic in Utah. Quote #1 (the true litmus test) . 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. Shout out to Jusok. 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By that, I mean, sure hes of Asian decent, but he is still the same mold as all the other GAs/Apostles. They are the parents of four sons and have three grandchildren. We were grateful others were excited for children to have creative opportunities. Reflecting the increasing diversity of the Church, Elder Gong became the first Asian-American Apostle, Elder Soares the first Apostle from South America. The Gongs were married in 1980, not long after the lifting of the race-based priesthood and temple ban in 1978. This is the very purpose for which God created the heavens and the earth and saw that they were good. From one who knows nothing, I couldnt help but see Elder Gong being placed in position to help open up China. Now as a newly sustained member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles he will share a different kind of light with Gods children throughout the world. Patterns of Discipleship. It was my biggest hope for the conference. They understand that diversity is out there, but they havent lived it, and there is no substitute for living it. 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. 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. The authors presentation assumes an intellectual supremacy that we all should come to the same interpretations.though I guess thats what opinions are. He has deep credentials (both in church service and big worldly accomplishments), and he is born and bred American. Never a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. What Does the Parable of the Wheat and Tares Teach about the Apostasy? He seemed to remember a conversation with someone or something outside of himself that affirmed he was loved. Both men and women of Asian descent in the US face a media and social stereotype of being more submissive, passive, and infantilized. 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. As I said at the last time new apostles were chosenI would have preferred to have seen three Caucasian apostles from outside North America than three apostles of color who were born and raised in Utah. July 10, 2022. Acompaa al lder Gerrit W. Gong, del Curum de los Doce Apstoles, y a su esposa, la hermana Susan Lindsay Gong, en un viaje internacional de descubrimiento familiar. Submitted on July 23, 2013. Elder Gong, whose ancestors left southern China in the late 19th century for work in the United States, was born into the Church. Even if you werent aware of all these nuances, youve probably absorbed from US culture the idea that its more normal or expected for a woman of Asian descent to be married to a white man, than for a white woman to be married to a man of Asian descent. Here are 6 fun facts about Elder Gong. Even though there are many things we dont understand, we know in Gods plan theres a place for every person in [the church].. What I hope for is a group that comes from different cultural backgrounds that can consider and represent a worldwide church. Today we both celebrate andlook forward. Too many glories to express. [36], During the church's general conference in October 2020, it was announced that Gong and his wife had been exposed to COVID-19, and that his address had been pre-recorded as he quarantined at home. 2003 Apr 1;101(7):2850-7. Brazilian members of the Church make up over 8% of the total church membership (as of just over a year ago). There are any number of reasons I couldnt be happier about the newly-called Elder Gong and Elder Soares. He has been a general authority since 2010 and served as a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy from October 2015 until his calling to . [22] While in the presidency of the Asia Area, Gong resided in Hong Kong but supervised the work of the LDS Church in all of continental East Asia except Korea, Taiwan, and all of Southeast Asia, except the Philippines and south Asia. I am pleased for him. Just start with the Chinese Exclusion Act and Japanese Internment. Thanks for the correction, Jones. 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. Elder Gerrit W. Gong and his wife, Sister Susan Lindsay Gong. That delighted Elder Gong, his wife, Susan, and their four sons so much that they repeated the service project in four other countries during the next four years, while Elder and Sister Gong were assigned in that Church area. Sane liberals in the church dont have any illusions about their influence.). [17] Prior to joining the BYU administration, the Gongs had spent most of their married life in Maryland and Virginia. 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. He was born in Redwood City, California. 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. Lasting Discipleship. Cheers. The couple hosts grandkids camp every summer, which includes crafts and adventures, and loves to travel with their sons. As far as Soares goes, He looks like a fairly typical Euro-Brazilian. His family relationships clarified, my friend said, "I feel free, at peace. 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. I was worried that it would be deletedinstead I have been encouraged to look at it in new ways that I hadnt considered. I know several members of Elder Gongs extended family, and they couldnt be a more dynamic, talented, kind family. Put On Thy Strength, O Zion. 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. Although the family had provided the sketch, paint and brushes, something had shifted. The mural they created, which added light to the once colorless space, wasnt theirs. Five Frameworks on Iraq. 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.. 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. Its disingenuous to portray the Churchs historic concern with inter-racial marriages as a simple matter of possible incompatibility. In what way have you narrowed that definition that causes you to think you can exclude him from that? 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. Sexuality, however, was never discussed. After the meeting we entered a large room, where on chairs on three sides of the room priesthood leaders were ordained one by one, recalled Sister Gong. The annual genealogical convention being held this year from March 2-4 at the Salt Palace Convention Center, 100 S. West Temple in Salt Lake City, and open to virtual and in-person visitors features special keynote speakers, classes and an expo of family research merchandise. That isnt to say father and son agree on all things. A few early apostles married Scandinavian immigrants, but thats really stretching the definition of interracial marriage. My family name.. . His first name is "Gerrit" and his last name is . All quotes by Gerrit W. Gong and in blue (unless otherwise noted). Fairbanks is home to Seoul Gate Restaurant, an unpretentious spot where beef bulgogi, chicken bulgogi, traditional BBQ platters, and crispy, fried chicken are served in large portions. Ties with ancestors increase family closeness, gratitude, miracles. Elder and Sister Gong's presentation will be broadcast on Saturday . Its pretty easy to support and sustain what were used to; harder when there is a significant shift. Youve given me something to ponder this afternoon. (Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) It will be another important step when we have the first woman of color wife of an apostle, the first black man, more examples of lives lived on more continents and in bodies with different abilities, anddare we hopethe first woman. He has been a general authority since 2010 and served as a member of the church's Presidency of the Seventy from October 2015 until his calling to the Quorum of the Twelve in March 2018. Feel free to delete this comment after the edit.). Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Susan Gong will be the keynote speakers for Family Discovery Day on the final day of RootsTech, the global family history gathering taking place virtually and in person March 2-4, 2023. 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. Fairbanks. People dont know their own blind spots until theyre pointed out to them. Felix and Carolyn, First hand knowledge here. Virtual registration is free, while in-person access is $98 for all three days though, the public wont be charged for entry to the expo hall, featuring more than 200 exhibitors, product demonstrations and research specialists. 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. I personally am not concerned about quota filling in the Quorum. He served as an LDS Church missionary in Taiwan. BTW, given that oil often is found in strange places, experience and comfort with a wide range of cultures is a pretty big advantage. Mental Health Minute: Who is Driving the Bus. Learn more about guidelines and necessary forms. Representation matters. It belonged to the children. Instead, the purpose of . 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 am just grateful to know that this comes one day at a time and that when you are on the Lords errand, you receive the Lords help. By Mike Rabus Posted 7/5/2022. Currently, he is the fourteenth most senior apostle in the church.[6]. Yet in this case and always the Lord calls his Apostles. [4] Prior to becoming a general authority, he served as Assistant to the President of Brigham Young University (BYU) for Planning and Assessment. Well, my point was that the churchs mission requires deep, sensitive and reciprocal engagement with all of the worlds cultures in a way that most commercial organizations do not. 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