Elder Gong

   This past weekend was the annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The conference originates in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. Chruch leaders gather to give talks on various subjects. Church members can attend the conference or watch on television, satellite or the internet as well as radio.
   Members awaited this conference with great expectation. Since the last conference in October of 2017 two major church leaders passed away. Elder Robert D. Hales died in October. Thomas S. Monson who had served in church leadership for over 50 years and was president of the church died in January.
   The two highest governing bodies in the LDS church are the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. According to the procedure governing succession in the church presidency, Russell M. Nelson became the president of the church. This meant that he would leave the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. That left two vacancies in the Quorum. The announcement of who would be called to fill those vacancies would come in the April General Conference. The question on the minds of many members was, who would be called?
   That question was answered on Saturday morning. Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares were announced as the two new members of the Quorum. C called me at work to give me the news. I was excited to hear that Elder Gong had been called. C and I met him several years ago.
   It was at a Stake Conference. (a stake is a group of several wards (congregations) similar to a diocese) Elder Gong was the church leader who had come to preside at the conference. C was asked to give the opening prayer at the Saturday evening session of the conference. Elder Gong spoke at that conference. This was the first time I'd seen a general authority (as opposed to a local authority) in person. I was expecting someone who would drone on and be a little self-important.
   Elder Gong was none of those things. His talk was interesting, lively and included a couple of jokes. He smiled. That was not what I'd been expecting. He was human. It was possible to relate to him.  Not what I expected at all.
   After the conference, he walked by C and me. He paused to thank C for his prayer and shake our hands. I was impressed. I didn't expect that kind of behaviour. I was touched that he thought to thank C when he must have many things to do and people to talk to.
  There was another session on Sunday morning. C and I were in our seats far in the back waiting for the conference to start. Elder Gong was walking down the aisle to take his place on the podium in front. He stopped by our row to greet us and shake our hands again. I can't remember what he said, but clearly, he remembered us from the night before. I was impressed again.
    Although my only contact with him was two handshakes, he seemed and still seems to me to be a very likeable guy. He's average height and somewhat slender. He holds advanced degrees from Oxford and is a Rhodes Scholar, but does not flaunt it.
   You can't help but like a guy who tells the following joke in a talk. "Blackberries, when read in church, make green bishops blue." Blackberry referring to the handheld device that preceded our current smartphones.  He started out a General Conference talk in October of 2010 with the following humorous story. "Dear brothers and sisters, when our son was in the Provo Missionary Training Center, Sister Gong mailed fresh-baked bread to him and his missionary companions. Here are some of the missionary thank-you notes Sister Gong received: “Sister Gong, that bread was a taste of home.” “Sister Gong, all I can say is wow. That bread is the best thing to enter my mouth since my mother’s enchiladas.” But this is my favorite: “Sister Gong, the bread was wonderful.” He then jokingly continued, “Keep me in mind if things don’t work out between you and Mr. Gong.”"
   Newly called members of the Quorum of the Twelve are customarily asked to bear their testimonies during the conference. Although he had spoken at conference before, this must have been different. Now he is an apostle, a calling that means he will devote himself to church work excluding all other employment for the rest of his life. While most of those called into the Quorum talk about feeling overwhelmed and inadequate, Elder Gong did not. In fact, he started out with a light bit of humour before sharing his feelings and testimony.
   I'm excited to see what Elders Gong and Soares will bring to the leadership of the church. Although Elder Gong was born in the United States, he has studied and spent a great deal of time in Asia. Elder Soares was born and lived in Brazil. I look forward to the future of the church.