Hi, I'm John, I was born and raised in China and I'm a Mormon

http://mormon.org/me/13K6-eng
I am a Chinese American. I was born and grew up in China and came to the US for the graduate school 22 years ago. I have two children. I like travel and my work is always about travel to get things done. I cannot stay in one place for more than three months without travel. If you ask me who I am, I would say: I am firstly a Mormon, secondly a father and husband and thirdly a professional of an organization. I like education and enjoy having college students around me. I was transformed by this country, by this church and in return what I have been doing in life and work has an impact on other people's life.

I was transformed by our church. It is at this place that I came to realize that I have received many blessings from Heavenly Father. It is also at this place that I learnt serving others.

I had a couple of turning point in life and joining THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS is the most significant one. IT IS A TURNING POINT FOR MY FAMILY. I learnt WHOM I AM. Prior meeting with the church members, I thought all what I had achieved was because of the hard work and luck. It is at this church that I learnt to understand that Heavenly Father has been blessing me through his children. It is at this church that I learnt "I Am a Child of God".

My decision to be baptized came from the feelings of what I read from Book of Mormon and what I saw from the individual members of the church. The examples of members match with the principles of the gospel. I cannot see Heavenly Father with my own eyes, but their examples helped me see the God. Their examples as a Mormon helped me understand the God, Jesus Christ and Holy Ghost.

I had three stories to tell.

The first time I got to know a church member was June 2004 at the HBS Global Conference in Shanghai.

February 21st 2005, a church member (a colleague) and I traveled together for the first time to Asia. We went to Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore. February the 26th, Saturday, we took a break after the four busy days. I decided to take him to climb the Great Wall, eat the Peking Duck at the most traditional Qiamen Peking Duck Restaurant and walk through the Forbidden City. We left the hotel at around 8:30am for the Great Wall. In the car, we started our conversation on different cars, and then on families. We talked about Jesus Christ and Mormon. We continued our conversation when were walking and climbing on the Great Wall, on the way back to the city, at the Peking Duck Restaurant and at the Forbidden City. While he was talking, I was pondering. He talked about many things. I did not understand all of what he said, but I feel a spirit which comes and goes.

When we returned to the hotel, he gave me a copy of Book of Mormon. I started to glance over the book every night at the hotel when we finished our business meetings for the day.

We ended our trip in Singapore. On the way to the airport, it was still dark in the morning, in the car, I remembered I asked the last question on spiritual wealth and material wealth. After he left, I went back to the hotel and called my wife. I told her about this little red cover book and read it to her Book of Moroni Chapter 10, vs 20-23. I told her about this LDS church member. "He is not just a professor. He is a Mormon! I need to look into this for our son."

After the trip, one Friday, I received a call from him. He came and we met. After the business conversation, I hesitantly and nervously asked a few questions about Mormon. He smiled and said -- "I know you would ask me these. That's why I had the feeling that I should come and see you."

He invited me to his chapel that Sunday. That was the first time that I have ever been to a church. The following week was the General Conference, to which my wife, my son and I all went.

Going to Church each Sunday is one of the happiest moments in the week. It helps me strengthen my identity and our community. It helped me to review what I had done wrong in the past week and what to prepare to do the next week. We are human beings, not machines. We cannot say our faith will stay there as long as we were baptized. We need to renew our commitment weekly and remind ourselves who we are. In the meantime, going to the church relieves lots of burden mentally. I feel fresh each Sunday after coming back from the church.

Category:

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[andrewrobertwells]

We can find peace in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and like this man, we can find a "vision for our families" 1:00 too.

You can teach at Harvard and be a mormon!

[Fhirinne]

@andrewrobertwells yes we can :)

[Vickihoosier]

John, thankyou for your video. A young woman from the mainland came to live with us as an exchange student in high school in 1996. She remained in the US and joined the church, went to BYU and became a citizen in 2007. It has been quite an experience.

[Fhirinne]

@Vickihoosier thank you so very much for sharing your experience! :)

[ngkeno03]

Thanks for the video, John. Reminded me of the wonderful people I taught on my mission. I'm really glad I was able to share the gospel with people from mainland. Hope you have great day.

[svdolphin]

Everyone says they love Jesus...but the one thing He really wants is der heart....He wants d heart to feel what an individual says...to open der heart,to say what dey really feel...Just blindly saying it wil serve no purpose...and God turns away from such people with d exception of d most weaker spirited people...he looks after those who admit to Him dat dey r weak in mind n body n ask His help.....Until d person opens upto Him...He may remain silent....And yes...most important of al....believe

[TropicalCoke1337]

I HAVE AUTISM AND I AM MORMON

[bingbingbaobei]

这个让我特别感动. I live in Nanjing, but I lived in Xi'An for 3+ years. Living here, you can't help but feel how much the people want and need the truth... yet it's illegal to talk about it. They need to know that there's more to life than earning money (Deng Xiaoping's lie). All we can do is to keep praying that God will continue to prepare the Chinese people for His work, and soften the hearts of the government officials. 我希望有一天中国人也会知道耶稣基督的福音。福音会让他们知道‘­爱’有什么意思。

[bingbingbaobei]

Can't write in Chinese on here.this almost made me cry. I live in Nanjing, but I lived in Xi'An for 3+ years. My heart will always be in Xi'An. Living here, you can't help but feel how much the people want and need the truth... yet it's illegal to talk about it. They need to know that there's more to life than earning money (Deng Xiaoping's lie). All we can do is to keep praying that God will continue to prepare the Chinese people for His work, and soften the hearts of the government officials.

[fernandospero]

This is really cool! I can't believe that this hasn't received more views!

[theresa8451]

very touching story john, wo shi hua qiao, wo zhu zai feilubin.i'm also very proud to be aMormon,

i cried watching your video... keep the faith..God is Great:)

[tilini]

this made me almost cry. such a beautiful personal story.