Download Photo. His mother's family are ethnic Chinese in Hawaii . [11] Gong was a professor at various times at Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University. Ask Peter. Ask those who believed in the 1978 Official Declaration long before it came. Latter-day Saint apostle Gerrit W. Gong speaks to members of the media in Salt Lake City in June 2018. Cynthia you make a great couple. 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. :). But today, let us rejoice! Until very recently, church instruction manuals for institute and youthsuggested caution against interracial marriages. On Buzzlearn.com, Gerrit is listed as a successful leader who was born in the year of 1953. 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. 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. Perhaps social support could be encouraged rather than interracial marriage being discouraged. 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. [4] He also held the Freeman Chair in China studies and was later the Asia Director of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Come join us on an international journey of connection and belonging at @Rootstech Family Discovery Day any time March 4 after 1:30 p.m. (MST). Elder and Sister Gong's presentation will be broadcast on Saturday . Mental Health Minute: Who is Driving the Bus. Having crushes on boys in elementary school. Oh Lord, hasten the healing of our unbelief. 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. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? Similarly, we were happy and hopeful to learn of President Nelsons ties to this wonderful land. Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Gong. Next I would really love for Adam and Eve in the temple videos to be an interracial couple. 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. That was a message about God that he wanted to share and prompted him to serve a two-year mission for the church, he says in the interview. Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and his wife, Sister Susan Gong, will attend the event Elder Gong was on my list of best case scenarios. [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. 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. Was he Mexican? 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 . Its disingenuous to portray the Churchs historic concern with inter-racial marriages as a simple matter of possible incompatibility. I have five other children that have married Caucasians as well. A few early apostles married Scandinavian immigrants, but thats really stretching the definition of interracial marriage. 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. 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. I will update the post as I get further information. Gong is hardly alone in such a feeling of being misplaced, of course, but his experience is unusual. As a missionary in Taiwan. Lost touch so you can imagine my surprise to see his pic on BCC. He said they have had an opportunity to weep together and pray together. [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. Patterns of Discipleship. 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. 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. That being said, my thoughts are that we may be making more of Elder Gongs lineage than is really there. Then whatever is revealed is always so outside a lot of peoples realm of what, who, or how things should be that murmuring is inevitable. July 10, 2022. It may also be that I have read todays conversations about it incorrectly and that Latino is ok? 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. The apostle choices here should be celebrated and I would say without much qualification for progressive mormons. He served as an LDS Church missionary in Taiwan. The following is a summary of what he said. . I spent part of the weekend looking for synonyms for overwhelming because overwhelming doesnt seem to cover it, said Sister Gong. 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. His memory is foggy, but he says he woke up four hours later, lying on the floor. I forgive you, he says. Fred: and that is the value of diversity, across every possible category. [1] [Updated x2] There were early, polygamous members of church leadership who had Native or indigenous wives. Four of my children have married half mixed spouses, two half Japanese and two half Hispanic in Utah. Gerrit W. Gong and his wife, Susan Gong, leave the stand after the Saturday morning session of the 188th Annual General Conference in Salt Lake City, Friday, March 30, 2018. Sexuality, however, was never discussed. Ill check on her. [25], In May 2018, Gong and his wife spoke at the BYU Women's Conference. Elder Gong, the oldest of three children, inherited his parents love for learning. The current government is becoming more repressive about such matters. 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. (And alsowhat Kevin said. He really desires with all his heart to build the kingdom and bless Heavenly Fathers children. Elder Gong as a baby with his parents. In the April 2022 General Conference, Elder Gerrit W. Gong said, " [W]e each have a story. They are the parents of four sons and have three grandchildren. 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. To read the full article on LDS.org, click here. for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.. 37 Views. Here in China, members of our small LDS ex-pat branch are thrilled at Elder Gongs call to the Quorum of the Twelve. 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). The mural they created, which added light to the once colorless space, wasnt theirs. Johnif all are alike unto God, then you should expect that there are people worthy to be apostles from all racial backgrounds, not just one. In what way have you narrowed that definition that causes you to think you can exclude him from that? All three parts of Gongs identity have shaped him, including heroic tales of service and sacrifice, and are worth celebrating. Although reasonable latter-day saints have long, long since realized there is no place for any disapproval of marriage based on race, this is still a big deal. Anyone who thinks otherwise is giving themselves a little too much credit. Learn more about guidelines and necessary forms. He was born on December 23, 1953 and his birthplace is California, Redwood City California. The greatest Mormon blog in the universe. Mormons across the globe cheered the /">appointment in March of two apostles who seemed to represent the faith's growing diversity</a> Gerrit W. Gong, a Chinese-American, and Ulisses Soares . 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. And Fred, it is interesting to me your physiological response to their call. Gong had just been named an apostle. 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. If the supposed universal differences between men and women are assets in a marriage, why not differences in race? [5][1][2] As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Gong is accepted by the church as a prophet, seer, and revelator. [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 he said, "We each have a story.". Campus Research People Faith Family Past Issues. I hope that we will all gain greater appreciation for the struggles, courage, faith and sacrifice of those who have gone before. [9] The Gongs married in the Salt Lake Temple on January 4, 1980. There are both benefits and penalties to being racially mixed. God Bless You in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Big smiles from this multiethnic family too. Elder Gong loves learning and spending time with family. But perhaps she was thinking of a 70 or something. Gerrit W. Gong Featured. 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. Never a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 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. He witnessed how the Lord touched many different people in Vietnam. (See related story.) Keynote speakers will include Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and his wife, Sister Susan Gong; actor Sean Astin of Lord of the Rings fame; singer Jordan Sparks; photographer Me Rah Koh; and others. But its a relief to know that the oil companies dont have to suck so hard. 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). Thank you, Cynthia, for your poignant thoughts. 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. 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. Elder Gong said he and Sister Gong love being with the members in every place they have the privilege to go. 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. 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. Score: The restored gospel is for every nation, kindred, and tongue. 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