The following article appeared in the Houston Chronicle on Friday, March 22, 2013. This is the second article that has been written about our missionaries since we arrived. This one is about two of our Chinese-speaking missionaries. We are so proud of them.
If you would like to read the article in its original location you can find it here, http://blog.chron.com/
Mormon missionaries: A day in the life
Friday, March 22, 2013
The caricature of the “Mormon missionary” as a straight-laced male riding his bike from door-to-door stalking the streets for the next convert is more parody than reality.
While stereotypes like these are spurred on by Broadway productions such as, “The Book of Mormon,” they are poor reflections of the reality of missionary service with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS).
Just ask Elders Quigley and Cai, two young men working in Houston’s “China Town.” While their service is strictly regimented, it is also filled with the unexpected and is not just the stuff of public satire.
“A lot of people have a picture of what it means to be a missionary,” said Cai, “we wear white shirts and ties, we ride bikes, we read the Book of Mormon – yes; but we do so much more.”
Currently, the LDS has 55,410 missionaries serving in 340 missions worldwide. Officials from the church toldDeseret News that following the October announcement lowering the age of service to 18 for men and 19 for women that there has been, “unprecedented numbers of young men and young women” applying for service and they expect numbers to continue to rise.
According to Brigham Young University, missionary service has been important to the LDS since the beginning of the church in the 1830s. Back then missionaries were to preach “the restored gospel of Jesus Christ,” which the prophet Joseph Smith had revealed and gather new converts and faithful members to establish a covenant community of righteous saints – a Zion in the Americas. From the earliest days these missionaries were sent with a two-fold charge to do spiritual and physical work. Originally only older males were permitted to do this work, but times have changed. And while the requirements for missionary service have transformed, the two-pronged approach has remained.
Elders Quigley and Cai not only ground themselves in, and share from, “the Quad” – an anthology of Mormon scriptures including the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrines and Covenants – but also teach English and provide physical care for “investigators,” those interested in learning more about the LDS.
For example, one woman they care for needs to stop smoking. Not only does the pair share the spiritual dimensions of bodily care as they meet with her, but they provide a practical twelve-step program and resources to help her stop – including juice bottles, cranberries, Febreeze spray and a case of water.
Quigley said, “people won’t really listen unless we deal with issues in each context.” “We can’t just teach religion,” he said, “we have to work with people.”
In their particular context, in the expansive area loosely known as Houston’s “China Town,” they also have to deflect sometimes exotic rumors concerning Mormonism.
“People think we eat our wives, hold women as slaves, practice polygamy,” said Quigley, “they run away from us, because their only contact is through errant teaching.”
While much of their work challenges conventional ideas of LDS missionary service – they drive a car to many of their appointments and do not go door-to-door – their work still reflects the punctilious practices of the LDS.
They are meticulously manicured and dressed, equipped with the ubiquitous black name tag of a Mormon missionary. They have bikes, and always carry the Book of Mormon. Their stereotype-busting vehicles are church-provided and equipped with “black boxes” tracking mileage and driver behavior. There are stringent rules governing not only their use of the vehicle, but their daily and monthly calendars. Their schedule, their conversations, their plans, are dogmatically detailed with back up plans for every step so no resource is wasted.
Each day starts out with three hours of study, the two men working through “the Quad” and missionary manuals. This is followed by English study for Elder Cai, who is from a rural town outside Shangai, and Mandarin for Quigley, who comes from Kaysville, Utah. They then role play, in both languages, the conversations they might have that day.
Even so, they admit that missionary service is often impromptu and thus, difficult.
Kelly Foss, a local LDS leader and media liaison, said that every missionary faces unique struggles, which are an essential element of service. He said, “the work is both demanding and rewarding.” He said, “Struggles are the norm, overcoming them is where the change and growth takes place.”
“Everyone struggles, we have lots of struggles, but sharing the Gospel means sharing in the struggles of others and watching them change,” said Cai.
Elder Quigley who has only served for three months, said with the unbridled optimism of a neophyte that, “the Mormon faith offers happiness amidst the darkness.” He is convinced that sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will change peoples’ lives for the better.
Cai, coming to the end of his two-year term, tempered his younger partner’s enthusiasm and said, “I am not sure how many people I’ve converted, but I am sure how much my heart has changed, and that’s most important.”
