#69834 - Mission call to China

[Katya]

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/69834/

Today I heard this rumor repeated as fact over the pulpit, during F&T meeting, by the person who was presiding over the meeting.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

A quote from my mission president, via Facebook:


"Recently there have been rumors cirucuation about missionaries called to Taiwan until China opens, or some varient of that. These rumors are NOT true. Here is a response I wrote after I spoke with the Asia Area President, Elder Watson:

There have been many rumors over the years about missionary work in China. To my knowledge, there are no mission calls that are worded “Taiwan until China opens.” When you hear a story supposedly happened to "a friend of a friend" the story is often folklore. When you try to find the friend of the friend, the supposed person is always 2 steps removed, and you can't every actually find a real person who got the call or had the amazing experience. That is how folklore works. We do not currently have proselyting missionaries in China because we honor and sustain the law. In the mean time, the church in China is doing fine. These kind of stories are sometimes called "faith promoting rumors." They validate our belief that the work is going forward. However, rumors like this are not helpful and may damage our efforts to work constructively with the Chinese government. Please Do not spread them, especially while you are living in China where they can do harm to the real work being done to strengthen the church and bless the lives of our members.

" However, here is a real story about real missionary work. It was related to me by Elder X, Elder A's companion. Elder A is from America, but his aunt lives in Taipei:

"' Sister P, Elder A's aunt, met missionaries at the same time as her older sister, Elder A's mom, when they were children. Elder A's mom was baptized shortly thereafter but Sister P never did get baptized. 30 years later, last year, Elder A sent a referral through the phone referral system to the sister missionaries in Taipei. The first 3 times they visited her, she rejected them at the door but the 4th time, she prepared fruit for them. She later said that the main reason she let them in was because she pictured other people rejecting her nephew, Elder A, and she felt guilty. Haha maybe we can help some of our relatives be baptized in Hong Kong through the same method! But, anyway, for almost a year, Sister P met with the missionaries but did not really progress as she was mainly meeting with them out of courtesy but did not really listen to the message with her heart. However, a couple of months ago, a sister missionary moved in with whom she really connected. They started reading the Book of Mormon together and praying together fervently. Soon, Sister P received a confirmation of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration. It was such an amazing story and testimony that she shared on the day of her baptism. There were family members from as far as Pittsburgh as well as the (returned) missionary sister who first visited her a year ago. It was very special and very spiritual! '

" The picture is on the day of the baptism of Sister P, performed by Elder A with special permission of Elder Watson, the Asia Area President."

[Katya]

Just so we're clear, I didn't (and don't) believe the rumor, I was just dying a little that it was being propagated in such a fashion.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Don't worry, lass. I understood ye.

[Katya]

Whew!

[chillygator]

You should have made him retract it in the meeting! That would have been awesome....

[Giovanni Schwartz]

*like*

[NerdGirl]

Whatever. I just got my mission call to China. It's a secret, though, so don't tell anyone.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

Crap... But first you get to go to Taiwan, right? Say hi to Brother Chen for me.

[Imogen]

I got a mission call to china, and i'm not even mormon!

[Katya]

You should have made him retract it in the meeting! That would have been awesome....

Aaand how would you propose I go about doing that?

[Talons]

Crap... But first you get to go to Taiwan, right? Say hi to Brother Chen for me.

And the Lin family too!

[chillygator]

You should have made him retract it in the meeting! That would have been awesome....

Aaand how would you propose I go about doing that?

I am of the philosophy that if you tell people what needs to be done, they will find a way to do it (o:

[Giovanni Schwartz]

And the Huang family, and the Wang family, and the Liu family, and the Hsu family!

[Katya]

You should have made him retract it in the meeting! That would have been awesome....

Aaand how would you propose I go about doing that?

I am of the philosophy that if you tell people what needs to be done, they will find a way to do it (o:

I am of the philosophy that if there is a graceful and socially acceptable way for a random female congregant to factually correct a conducting 2nd counselor mid-testimony, I have not seen it.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

I think you've got some strawman going on here, Katya. She never said ANYTHING about doing it gracefully or socially acceptable. You're starting to sound like Vorpal Blade in your old age. #Sarcasm. Heavy, heavy sarcasm.