Being Mormon in China

There were many things we had heard about practicing religion in the People's Republic of China. 

Some of them were truth and some of them were myths. 

Nevertheless, being a faithful Saint here has provided spiritual growth for us as a family so far!

Regulations~  Before we arrived we were sent a well-worded PDF file from the clerk of our new district. It gave specific guidelines about what we can and cannot do here in China. Printed in each bulletin, and read at the beginning of every sacrament meeting, is the following statement:

It is important for foreign members of the Church of Jesus 

Christ of Latter-day Saints living in or visiting China to be 

aware of the unique restrictions on religious activities here. 

While China permits freedom of religious belief, it requires all 

religious activities in China comply with relevant laws and 

regulations. 

We would like to remind you of the following: 

a) no active or passive proselyting is permitted among local 

nationals in China, 

b) only individuals who hold foreign passports, and their 

spouses, may attend meetings or other activities of this 

branch, 

c) no foreign nationals are permitted to participate in 

activities of any kind with Chinese nationals who are 

members of our church, and 

d) religious materials may not be disseminated to Chinese 

nationals in China. 

Your strict observance of these rules enables us to build a 

foundation of trust with government authorities and enables us to 

continue to meet together as the government permits us to do so.

What does this mean? It means that we cannot speak, answer questions, or share anything about Jesus Christ, our church, His gospel, or God with anyone who does not hold a foreign passport. I do not come in contact with many  Chinese Nationals yet, just taxi drivers and those that work at our apartment complex.  Others have friends, ayis, drivers, business associates, etc. that they cannot talk to about our beliefs or where they go on Sundays. What this also means is that we can talk about it with anyone holding a foreign passport...that means possible neighbors, teachers and employees at the kids' school, classmates (since the International School only accepts foreign passport holders), etc. So far, this is not a problem for me since I do not talk to anyone:)

We were told not to bring anything religious with us, except for our scriptures. This was told to me by our shipping company. I think they were worried that other items would hold up customs.(Myth) I did not ship any religious books or artwork, which I regret. As long as it is only used for our own purposes we could have brought them. I will miss having a painting of the Savior on our wall, especially knowing that we could. I am grateful that I did send our painting of the Oakland Temple and I look forward to seeing it when our shipment arrives.

Organizations~ You always hear stories of churches and members being in remote areas of the world, meeting in homes or basements. I have to admit in my ignorance I thought we would be in a similar situation. Duh! Beijing has 18 million people, with thousands of foreign visitors weekly. Needless to say, we do not meet in a home. As a matter of fact we have heard that acquiring the office space, on the entire fourth floor of a building, was miraculous and inspiring. We have heard that in earlier days government officials would stand at the entrance of the meeting space and tell the handful of Saints that they could not meet. Sometimes these valiant Saints would go to two or three places before sacrament meeting could start. 

The church is established for foreigners very well here! We are members of the Beijing China International District. Our district spans the entire face of China, all the way to Shanghai. Shanghai has a much smaller district. Our district has five branches, many of them do meet in less modern facilities such as homes or one room establishments. One of our branches is a "virtual" branch. This past weekend was our district conference. The Beijing first branch and third branch met together, while the other branches dialed in from teleconference devises. They listened to us and we listened to them (their talks and prayers) over speakers. It was said that over 770 people, most via teleconference, were able to participate in our district conference. What a testimony that the Lord knows us here in China and makes it possible for us to grow!

We have over 300 active members in our branch, much bigger than most of the wards we have been in. Our branch is English speaking, but encompasses foreign Saints from all over the world. That is because we live in downtown Beijing, so any LDS person in the city or visiting the city comes to our branch meetings. It makes for wonderful diversity and visitors each and every week. Some foreigners stay for three months, while studying a semester at the University, others stay for two years or longer. There is great pride (the good pride) in this branch. Many of the past branch presidents are now general authorities. Elder Anthony D. Perkins, of the first quorum of the seventy, is our Asia Area Authority and just came to our district conference. Hubby was able to spend lots of quality time with him and we all felt greatly of his love and Spirit. He was one of the past Branch Presidents.

The other auxiliaries are flourishing, as well. I am a primary teacher for twelve 4-7 year olds. Each primary class has two teachers, although classes cannot be split due to there not being enough rooms. E was just called as the class president for her girls youth group (Beehives). She currently has ten active girls in her class. Seminary is done via teleconference because the youth go to so many different international schools.

In Beijing there are two other branches. The other foreign branch is the Beijing third branch that encompasses the people that live on the outskirts of the city, Shunyi. This is where my kids school is and where there are housing compounds much like America. Our two branches meet overlapping on Sunday mornings. This is due to the fact that there is a Bejing second branch that has Chinese Nationals in it. We are not able to associate with these Saints at all. Hubby was actually in a meeting that had to end early because all foreigners have to be out of the facility before their church starts. You may ask how there are Chinese National Saints under the strict regulations of the government? These are Chinese people who have converted in other countries and have returned to China. Honestly, we do not know much about them at all and when a question was asked to Elder Perkins about these Saints he politely declined. Nevertheless, it strengthens my testimony that ALL people are Heavenly Father's children and He loves us all.

Opportunities~ Before moving to China we dwelt on the things that we were not going to be able to do as Latter-Day Saints. Now that we are here it is confirmed that there is plenty for us to do. Although we cannot speak about it as freely as we would like (come on, how many of you are afraid of sharing the gospel?) we still have much opportunity to spread the gospel in this land. At our recent conference a story was told about an LDS family taking a boat ride down the Yangtze River. The young woman working on the boat noticed something different about this family (besides them being non-Asian). She asked the man what was the secret behind their happiness. He knew he could not tell her. He gave her his business card and told her that if she is ever out of China to email him. She did. She immediately sought out the missionaries and joined the church in a different country.

When the question was asked to our district president, "How do we share the gospel to the wonderful people of China?" He responded, "Just live the gospel". That is what we plan on doing. We know that hubby's work was only part of the reason we were brought to China. Since we have been here we have heard time and time again, "Everyone who comes to live in Beijing, comes for a reason. Heavenly Father has a plan here for each of us." We are so grateful that the government allows us to worship and we look forward to finding out what the Lord's plan for us is here!