Andy (Gao Yang) is Baptized!

Last night Sister Peterson and I drove to Suwanne for Andy's baptism. This all started when he came into the Employment Center for assistance. The first step in this most important choice. He was so excited....he came through the door from the font and said, "Yes"! He called his parents last night by radio and told them the news and they were supportive. We drove back up today for his confirmation and ordination to the priesthood as a priest. On March 10 he will be going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead. He is in good hands. Have I bragged on Andy before? He is simply stellar and will be returning to Beijing after a year or two to settle there and raise his family where he will be a great contributor to building up the church in China...of that I am sure. He said he would come to Washington for a visit...wouldn't that be nice. My family would love him!

This is the much better entry I wrote in my journal shortly after meeting Andy: Andy is from Beijing China and at 23 has an International MBA. He has received many honors academically, was on a team that built an intelligent car that won an Engineering competition, was the captain of his college basketball team, and was the Outstanding Stadium Volunteer for the Beijing Olympic Games. Besides all of that, he is just a very nice young man. While we were working on his resume and researching career opportunities he asked me twice how he could go about joining our church. I learned he has had missionary discussions before, so I was not sure why he had not been baptized. Andy also asked me if members paid money to the church, so the topic of tithing was discussed. Andy is very concerned about having money to care for his parents but was reassured that sacrificing in faith would secure him the blessings he needed. Saturday night after speaking with the Bishop of the ward he was assigned to geographically, about 30 miles away, I learned he had been taught by the missionaries before he returned to China for a visit; however, the Bishop suggested he attend the YSA Branch. I called the Branch President who said the members of his branch would rally around Andy. We invited Andy to meet us at the YSA Branch Sunday morning and he agreed. By the way, the Branch President frequently travels to China on business. Also in the Branch are the two daughters of Bishop Tam who speaks Cantonese. Long story short, Andy had his first missionary discussion last Thursday evening and will have a second this week with a fellow branch member present who is a returned missionary from Taiwan. Andy says he feels like joining the church is what he should do and is the message he should be sharing with his parents and friends. I like to think that this process will be one that finds him one day playing a pivotal role in the growth of the church in China.