Ambassador Huntsman Probably Won’t be a Super Missionary

19 May 2009 @ 4:42 pm | 4 comments

A Utah legislator’s personal blog got national attention when he suggested that an Ambassador Hunstman may do wonders to advance LDS missionary work in China.

Thoughts that Ambassador Huntsman will be a missionary or advocate for the LDS Church seem misguided. That won’t be his job and it would be a disservice to his duties. But, his appointment will likely result in greater Church exposure in China and hopefully Huntsman will add a favorable impression.

The SL Trib has an interesting summary of the state of the Church in China.

Despite China’s prohibition on missionaries, the LDS Church has 11 international branches in nine cities for its expatriate members.

Expatriate Mormons first started arriving in mainland China in the late 1970s “as diplomats with the embassy or consulate staffs of foreign countries, followed by those assigned to Chinese offices or branches of major international corporations expanding into the new People’s Republic of China market,” according to a Jan. 10 article in the LDS Church News . “Increased educational opportunities and exchanges followed, bringing additional foreign members as English teachers, students and guest instructors and professors to the international branches. More recently, the latest wave of expatriate members coming to China includes entrepreneurs and owners and operators of small businesses.”

BYU has been sending singing groups to China since the early 1980s, and students to the school’s study abroad program almost that long. It also sponsors the China Teachers Program, sending mostly retired LDS couples to various universities to teach English for one year.

Before the school sends any of them, however, they have to agree to some strong inhibitions on promoting their faith. They can answer questions about Mormonism, but not initiate any conversations about their faith. They may not teach missionary lessons or distribute pamphlets or copies of the church’s unique scripture, the Book of Mormon.

(Possibly) Related posts:

  1. Pres. Obama Appoints Gov. Huntsman as Ambassador to China?
  2. 50 years of “Every Member a Missionary”
  3. A great suggestion to help missionary work AND improve sacrament meetings

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  1. Chris H.’s avatar

    Chris H. on 21 May 2009 at 8:53 am

    Yikes.

    This reminds me of the lady in my ward whoi argued in a talk that the wars in Iraq an Afganistan were paving the way for future missionary. Maybe it has just been a long time since I saw every world event as having a connection with missionary work.

    Why is it that a state that produced that Bennetts, the Huntsmans, and the Sundwalds, has so many boneheads in the legislature.

  2. Chris H.’s avatar

    Chris H. on 21 May 2009 at 9:15 am

    Sundwalls that is. The danger of blogging on my phone.

  3. David H. Sundwall’s avatar

    David H. Sundwall on 21 May 2009 at 10:10 am

    No problem. I’ll take the compliment (or at least my Dad will) misspelled or not.

    Thanks.

  4. David B’s avatar

    David B on 21 May 2009 at 7:54 pm

    The real problem is that people who do stuff like that are so completely blind to the damage they do to the church.

    (Cf. the thread a few days ago on people submitting celebrity names for temple work.)