Warren Brent Hardy served a mission in the Southern Far East Mission in 1956. Then back with his wife as the President of the Southern Far East Mission. He also went back with his wife in 1998 as the President of the Hong Kong Temple.
He has done a lot for the Church in the Asia area.
I recently finished reading this new book by Gale Sears. It is a Historical Novel based in Hong Kong around the time of Mao ZeDong‘s death in 1976. Some of the character in the story are very real people while some are complete fiction.
I rather enjoyed the plot. I found the story be quite wonderful and very believable. The main character Wen-shan’s is one of discovery as she learns more about her past and mother she can’t remember.
I found the details of life in Hong Kong to be written very well. The food, the landscape, the culture all seemed to be portrayed correctly. The parts of the book that seemed a bit difficult are the notes written and the end of each chapter. Some notes precede the mention in the story and some come after. The emotion of the author toward Communism is made well know by the comments she chooses to make in the notes. It is obvious the author has done much research on China and the LDS church, but I believe it to be difficult to describe a time such as the cultural revolution without having lived through it. In talking with friends that lived in China during that time I got a sense of mixed emotion, a sense of pride in their country yet remorse for such difficult times.
I loved reading a work of fiction that included two of my favorite topics,, the LDS Church and China. The parts in the book relating to the church were very well placed and did not overpower the storyline. I was glas to see the author was able to spend time with H. Grant Heaton and his wife before he passed away. Overall I enjoyed reading the book and I am happy to see such a rare occurrence of published material about China and the LDS Church.
H. Grant Heaton
H. Grant Heaton Passed away this last week. He was the one of the first missionaries to Hong Kong in the early 1950′s and the first Mission President in the Chinese Realm for the Southern Far East Mission. He will be missed by many.
http://www.mission.net/taiwan/taipei/news.php?nID=5810
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/deseretnews/obituary.aspx?n=h-grant-heaton&pid=154748314
Here is a link a Deseret News article for when he was called as a Mission President in 1955:
Here is a fun video of a couple of Taiwan Missionaries. One of them happens to be my neighbor. I think they give a good representation of missionary work with the Chinese people.
Chinese Missionaries
I had the great fortune of serving a LDS mission in the Washington D.C. North Mission. At the time there was only our little Montgomery Chinese Branch which met in an old chapel in Potomac Maryland.
Montgomery Chinese Branch
It was frustrating sometimes to meet someone who spoke mandarin chinese but lived in Virginia, which was outside our mission boundaries. The Washington D.C. South Mission at the time did not have Chinese speaking missionaries.
I am happy to finally see a branch formed in that area. KSL article. The Twin Lakes Chinese Branch will meet in Centreville, Virginia. It is very exciting to see the growth of the church in that area in providing chinese speaking members a place to hear the gospel in their native language.
Hosea Stout
In August of 1852 the first missionaries were sent to Asia. They arrived in Hong Kong on April 27, 1853. The best known was Hosea Stout who kept a journal and has been published a few times. Another mention was in the Millennial Star which can be read here: http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/u?/MStar,17044 and here: http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cgi-bin/showfile.exe?CISOROOT=/MStar&CISOPTR=5993&filename=5994.pdf
1.「我們的天父⋯⋯」2.「我們感謝祢⋯⋯」3.「我們祈求祢⋯⋯」4.「奉耶穌基督的名，阿門。」
Prayer Steps – Proper Vocabulary for Praying in Chinese
胡唯一 Article July 1992
人生過了不惑之齡，就逐漸老邁退化，然而，79歲的胡唯一卻活躍於田徑場上，並創下台灣區高齡組100米、200米、400米短跑紀錄。
胡弟兄是西台北支聯會的祝福敎長，他在70歲從敎會的翻譯員退休後，就一直從事跑步的活動。
他是台灣最早的敎友之一，也是翻譯中文摩門經的人。1963年11月5日，當時的十二使徒議會成員興格萊戈登長老按手選派他爲翻譯員，而胡弟兄就在1964年完成摩門經的翻譯，並於1965年出版中文的摩門經。
亞洲區域會長李伯特莫林長老極其稱許他說：「胡弟兄絕對遵守福音每一條敎導，他在忠誠、奉獻、辛勤工作上都立下了極佳的典範。」
1913年，胡弟兄出生於中國上海，36歲時，是蔣中正國民政府軍中的將軍；然而，國民黨戰敗後，他就帶著妻子逃到台灣，開始人生的新旅程，也就在此刻，他接受了福音。
他回憶說：「我是個很麻煩的慕道友，聽了17次課程才決定受洗。」
在戒煙、戒酒、戒賭後，於1958年聖誕夜受洗，而他的妻子則因看到他的改變，也在隔年接受洗禮。他由於先前的煙、酒、賭博等惡習而導致負債，付什一奉獻也就成了難題；但是在當時，第二任南遠東傳道部會長泰勒會長授予他麥基洗德聖職後，這一切都改觀了。
在這項聖職授予中，他蒙得應許在他付什一奉獻後，天上的窗戶一定會爲他而開。他的確聽從了這項勸告，幾個月後，他在工作上獲得升遷，薪水多了，還有額外的收入能償還債務。
胡弟兄受洗時，敎會剛在台灣萌芽發展，也沒有多少中文的敎會書籍刊物，由於他在英文學習上的熱誠使他加入摩門經的翻譯工作。
胡弟兄靈性成熟、待人和善、爲人幽默，堪稱最夠資格的翻譯員。
他被選派爲翻譯員後，就向所屬的航空公司請假一段期間，以便全心投入翻譯的工作。而的確，中文的摩門經出版後，傳敎工作也跟著蓬勃發展。
35年的敎友生涯中，他對敎會的貢獻不僅在翻譯部門的服務工作，也包括擔任分會會長、副會長及南遠東傳道部副會長。
他在田徑場上的成就乃是因爲他個人對短跑的興趣，而且早在他離開翻譯部門前就開始練習。
他說：「我在航空公司及翻譯部門工作時，由於公司離家有很長的一段路，我就騎著脚踏車上下班，藉著騎脚踏車慢慢鍛鍊體力。「起初，並不曉得自己有這方面的潛力，但在敎會所舉辦的運動曰，我發現我並不輸給年輕人，他們還落在我後面。」
從那時起，他就不斷加强訓練，締造紀錄。胡弟兄是台灣區男子75—80歲多項短跑紀錄的保持人，包括100米17秒、200米36秒、400米84秒。
他代表台灣參加1985年在加拿大舉行的世界名人赛中，赢得400米短跑銀牌及100米短跑銅牌。現在他則打算練習長跑，看看是否也會有同樣優異的表現。
Liahona 05-11 – lds.org
Liahona 05-2011 – Taiwan Site
Text is not yet available on the new site, but you can watch video or listen to the talks in Mandarin.
http://lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2011/04?lang=eng&clang=cmn
Should be up soon.
I came across this video series on YouTube. It is a history of Missionaries and the Church in Taiwan. It includes a great interview of Hu Wei-I 胡唯一。
