Of course not. Although the family had provided the sketch, paint, and brushes, something had shifted. Again, its complicated and fluid. What I hope for is a group that comes from different cultural backgrounds that can consider and represent a worldwide church. With all the comments here I echo the joy in seeing a diverse Quorum. The choices you make will determine what happens in the "plot" of your life, and education can have a big impact. 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. Gong then studied international relations at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, receiving a master's degree in 1979 and a D.Phil. Were an international church, and the PTB clearly have worked hard to get our leadership profile to more closely mirror that reality. It makes all the difference to know who my family are." My friend muses, "A bent branch does not mean a bad tree. The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity and contributions are tax I dont know how it came to us; it just did, said Sister Susan Gong. in 1980. And I pray that we will live lives of goodness to honor their memories and to show thanks for the gift of life they have given to us, said Susan Gong. This has been a great day in my long life! A variety of banchan Korean appetizers are offered to precede the main courses served with white rice. Ours is a worldwide Church. Cynthia, thanks for sharing. Elder Gongs and President Nelsons love for this land are, I hope, positive signs of things to come. In the April 2022 General Conference, Elder Gerrit W. Gong said, " [W]e each have a story. In the background, another newly called apostle, Ulisses Soares, hugs his wife, Rosana Soares. AmyT thanks for weighing in! Leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, first leader of Asian descent, First Seven Presidents of the Seventy / First Council of the Seventy, Apostolic seniority is generally understood to include all ordained apostles (including the. Its disingenuous to portray the Churchs historic concern with inter-racial marriages as a simple matter of possible incompatibility. FredI strongly suspect that you would not have similar qualms about announcements that aligned with your own political priors. Anyone who thinks otherwise is giving themselves a little too much credit. Its pretty easy to support and sustain what were used to; harder when there is a significant shift. 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. (BTW its Brazilian with one l, not Brazillian with two. Elder Gerrit W. Gong was born on December 23, 1953, in California. 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. Home Realizacje i porady Bez kategorii gerrit gong family picture. He encouraged listeners to connect with ancestors and descendants in uniting God's family. Meet Elder Gerrit W. Gong: "Unfailingly Kind" Family Man. . 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. But the Gongs explained their project was an opportunity for all the children. 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. Daily news, articles, videos and podcasts sent straight to your inbox. He hasnt aged at all. Photo courtesy of the Gong family. The Gongs were married in 1980, not long after the lifting of the race-based priesthood and temple ban in 1978. And thus he came to see his gay self as a weed in the Latter-day Saint garden. #progress. Im thrilled by the picks, but I seriously doubt they had anything g to do with me or others like me. 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. Fred: and that is the value of diversity, across every possible category. Elder Gerrit W. Gong, the first Asian-American Apostle, is a faithful lifelong Church member. Happening March 4, Family Discovery Day is free online and in-person. Three, he loves the Lord. Gong had just been named an apostle. The Q15 are smart men, and they have an intellectual understanding of the churchs diversity, but culturally they are almost all the same: old white men from the Mormon Belt. 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. they wondered. I had won the war in coming out but was left as broken as the battlefield.. Yes, my heart feels especially full today in seeing what I believe is the first interracial couple in the Quorum of the Twelve [1], and in knowing that my son and daughter can see children in the family photo of an apostle that look like them, too! Blessed be the name of the Lord. He also on occasion continued to travel to Asia, such as being present for the official recognition of the LDS Church in Vietnam. My family name.. [31][32][33][34], In early 2020, the church announced that Gong would preside at the November dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, originally set to occur in mid-November. I genuinely feel this way and am not in any way trying to be disruptive or to be a troll. If my voice is silenced (deleted) I will take the hint that Im not welcome here and will quietly go away. Love the Gongs. That our interactions would be nitpicked to brand us as avatars of ideologies, Gong writes on a Facebook post. Joseph W. Sitati. Elder and Sister Gong's presentation will be broadcast on Saturday, March 4 . Beyond the symbolic impact (which is important) no one should expect there will be much short or medium term impacts, but in 20 years when they become senior apostles there might be some hope of more open minds outside of the US conservative/Utah experience. If the supposed universal differences between men and women are assets in a marriage, why not differences in race? Much of this post is good, though the backdrop of white supremacy is a bit much. Because my story is happening publicly at the highest levels of the church, people ascribe extra meaning to it, he says in the interview, but from within the story, it feels like a typical narrative., The apostle and the queer son are just family, Gong repeats. Thank you, Cynthia, for your poignant thoughts. 37 Views. (My father worked in HR for an oil major, I used to live a stones throw from the HQ of another one, and my current employer sells very large amounts of electricity to oil companiesto extract from wells that in many cases have been producing for over a centuryso Ive learned a bit about the business, both upstream and downstream.). Winter 2003 Contact Us Advertising News & Alumni. There are any number of reasons I couldnt be happier about the newly-called Elder Gong and Elder Soares. (Rick Egan | Tribune file photo) John. Campus Research People Faith Family Past Issues. This is a grandly unique perspective on this appointment that I had not known, nor considered until reading your article. ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Matthew Gong, Matthew Gong is a minority three times over in his own words Chinese American, Mormon and queer.. -Gerrit W. Gong. 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. Cautioning against interracial marriage on the grounds of it being challenging seems to contradict every Relief Society lesson Ive sat through about overcoming differences in a marriage. 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. As far as Soares goes, He looks like a fairly typical Euro-Brazilian. Calling these two men to the Quorum of the Twelve is a landmark moment, but in terms of what the church really needs, its just a halting first step. I also know that its possible to find joy and peace in the church even when we find ourselves with a minority opinion. Thanks, Cynthia, and beautifully written. My last post must have sounded like trolling as it has disappeared. 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. Connecting with God and to one another is so important. 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. 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. Next I would really love for Adam and Eve in the temple videos to be an interracial couple. Their circumstances are different, but their faith and testimonies are in many ways the same, he said. (The . In movies, gays were victims, targets for bullies, or the sassy friend.. Elder Soares, a Brazillian, brings long-overdue representation from the southern hemisphere. Huh. Elder Gong isnt part-anything. Here in China, members of our small LDS ex-pat branch are thrilled at Elder Gongs call to the Quorum of the Twelve. Review of "We Each Have a Story" by Apostle Gerrit W. Gong. In order to celebrate Elder Gong's birthday, here are some photos showing his life and ministry to Latter-day Saints around the world. His mother's family are ethnic Chinese in Hawaii . Sexuality, however, was never discussed. [20][21] Among other activities while Gong was president of the Asia Area, he created the second and third stakes in Thailand. Hopefully Im not missing anyone, but I do not see that any of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve married Native American women. Loursat, I only bring this up because it was clearly your main point, but sucking oil out of the ground is a terrible strategy. Their marriage was performed by apostle David B. Haight, who had connections to their families from his time in California. I am pleased for him. That is something the Gongs also learned from the children involved in their mural projects, undertaken during the Christmas season. I hope my expression of joy in todays news does not in any way detract from any mixed feelings others may be having. His mother's family were ethnic Chinese in Hawaii, while his father's family had lived in California and other parts of the United States after his ancestors had emigrated from China in the late 19th century. They visited Samoa, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, and Fiji, including meeting with government leaders of New Zealand and Tonga. (Haight had helped to overcome some of the misgivings some family members had about the interracial marriage. Also, I suspect President Nelsons very special interest in China may have played a role in the case of Elder Gong. Elder Gerrit W. Gong and his wife, Sister Susan Lindsay Gong. He and Ulisses Soares filled the vacancies created from the deaths of Thomas S. Monson and Robert D. [1] [Updated x2] There were early, polygamous members of church leadership who had Native or indigenous wives. Assigned to organize the second stake in Bangkok, Thailand, Elder Gong participated in the calling of priesthood leaders. Big smiles from this multiethnic family too. Biography. Photo courtesy of the Gong family. Although the family had provided the sketch, paint and brushes, something had shifted. Which is empowering to those of us not necessarily agitating for change but asking sincere questions. 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. Elder Gong was with Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Gary E. Stevenson in Vietnam when the Church received official recognition. Da de descubrimiento familiar: lder y hermana Gong. 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. 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. Im sorry for that feeling in the pit of your stomachI know it all too well. It is heartbreaking when we are asked questions about religion, but cannot respond. That was later postponed indefinitely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. [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. Instead, the purpose of . @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. Bright colors and vivid images filled the once-blank cinder block wall of the soup kitchen in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia. 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. He had a close almost familial relationship with de Jong and would refer to him as "Grandpa de Jong." I agree. But if you would indulge me for a moment, I want to focus on one area of very specific, personal appreciation: the marriage of Elder Gerrit Gong, as an Asian-American man, to his wife Susan Gong, a white woman. Too many glories to express. That took 5 years, Gong says, and a whole lot of therapy., Mile by mile, he pulled the razor wire from my mind, he says. Susan and Gerrit Gong (Church News photograph). Elder Gong has a Dutch first name, an American middle name (Walter after his father) and a Chinese last name . 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 . Never a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Oh, the challenge of English adjectives. So, I will clarify to satisfy you both. 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. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? :). Its nice to have this forum where you can say what you are really thinking rather than in a classroom at church where you pretty much have to say the party line. the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, emigrated from China in the late 19th century, Center for Strategic and International Studies, National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, Church Board of Education and Boards of Trustees, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "Mormon church names new seventies, Primary presidency", "Elder Gerrit W. Gong: 'A nice guy' A man of faith and learning", "Leadership Changes in Presidency of the Seventy Announced", "Mormon Church Selects 2 Senior Leaders, and Neither Is a White American", "Inquiry, Scholarship, and Learning and Teaching in Religiously Affiliated Colleges and Universities", "A First for the Rhodes Scholars: 13 Women Are Among the Winners", "Apostle timeline: Elder Gerrit W. Gong - BYU-I Scroll", "Trade, Rights Issues Cloud Meeting of Pacific Alliance", "Gerrit Gong and Susan Gong, my marriage, and why #RepresentationMatters", article on The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Thailand, "Changes announced for Area Presidencies", "2016 Events LDS Church News Reports on the visit of Elders Stevenson and Gong to Thailand, Viet Nam and Macao", "Latter-day Saints Sustain New First Presidency in Solemn Assembly: Two new leaders named to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles", article on meeting with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, article on Gong and others meeting with the King of Tonga, KSL article on the Pacific Ministry Tour with much emphasis on Gong, Idaho State Journal article on announcement of new youth program, KSL article mentioning Gong's role in the announcement, Postponed: Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Open House and Dedication Dates Announced, Groundbreakings Announced for Two Utah Temples, Elder Gong, quarantining due to COVID-19 exposure, prerecorded his general conference message, Elder and Sister Gong diagnosed with COVID-19, "General Authorities and General Officers: Elder Gerrit W. Gong", The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints titles, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gerrit_W._Gong&oldid=1131500756, Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church), American general authorities (LDS Church), Latter Day Saint biography Infobox with missing parameters, Articles containing Chinese-language text, Articles needing additional references from July 2020, All articles needing additional references, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, "Reconceptualising the Divide: Identity, Memory, and Nationalism in Sino-Japanese Relations" (with Victor Teo), "Remembering and Forgetting: The Legacy of War and Peace in East Asia", "Memory and History in East and Southeast Asia: Issues of Identity in International Relations", "Security and Economics in the Asia-Pacific Region" (with Richard L. Grant), "Taiwan Strait Dilemmas: China-Taiwan-U.S. Policies in the New Century", "Change and Challenge on the Korean Peninsula: Past, Present and Future" (with Tae Hwan Ok), "Korean Peninsula Trends and U.S.-Japan-South Korea Relations" (with Seizaburo Sato), "Sino-American Relations at a Time of Change" (with Bih-Jaw Lin), "Areas of Challenge for Soviet Foreign Policy in the 1980s", "The Standard of 'Civilization' in International Society", This page was last edited on 4 January 2023, at 12:10. Are asked questions about religion, but I seriously doubt they had anything g to do with me or like! And women are assets in a marriage, why not differences in race the joy in a... Podcasts sent straight to your inbox something the Gongs also learned from the involved! Of reasons I couldnt be happier about the interracial marriage meeting with government leaders of New,... Not have similar qualms about announcements that aligned with your own political priors the season. 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