Sarah Burnham and Professor Spencer Palmer, Family Sciences
When I set out to research pioneer stories of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints in Hong Kong, I was rather naive about the amount of work involved. I assumed that it would be a relatively simple matter to gather a base history from the library and then meet with and invite people to share their stories. It sounded simple in theory but was much more complex in reality.
As I was on mainland China for an internship, I planned to make frequent visits to Hong Kong in order to complete my research. However, visa restrictions prevented this, thus complicating my research. I was limited to contacting people by letter.
I was also hindered by the language barrier: I can not speak or write Chinese. Fortunately, I was able to find someone to translate for me while I was in China. However, now that I have returned to Canada I do not have a Chinese translator nor a computer that will print the Chinese documents I had saved.
Without being able to speak the language, I had to gain people’s trust enough that they would share their personal experiences with me. You cannot just walk up to someone and ask them to share an experience they have had with prayer. You must gain their trust and help them to think of various experiences they have had. Therefore, I developed an introductory paper explaining my purpose and a questionnaire that was meant to help people think of meaningful experiences.
I wrestled to have people clearly understand my research. Many people misunderstood my purpose and thought I was researching the ecclesiastical history rather than gathering personal stories. I was unsuccessful in gaining their cooperation because the Asia Area office was already working on the ecclesiastical history.
I also struggled with a lack of confidence. I had the opportunity to meet some important people involved in the L.D. S. church. However, I felt like a rather insignificant, young BYU student with no right to impose on their time. I was privileged to meet with President Hsu, second councilor in the Temple Presidency. He was very kind and helped me contact other people. He also shared a delightful experience about praying for his pig farm. I also had the privilege of meeting with Grant Heaton, the first mission president in Hong Kong. He not only gave me stories and other names to contact, but helped me address issues that I had been neglecting. For instance how and where to publish my information.
Because the L.D.S. church has only been in Hong Kong for fifty years, I decided not to limit my collection of stories to only the first members to join the church. After expanding my research to all members in Hong Kong, I met with a man who helped me advertise my research on the Internet. Now anyone who visits the Hong Kong L.D. S. Home Page may hear of the research I am doing and submit a story.
I also realized that I was pioneering in mainland China. I was there for the six months prior to Hong Kong’s return to the mainland. While in China, I taught English to elementary school children. My fellow teachers and I were given strict orders that we were not to teach any Christian ideas. Although we abided by this, we did teach the children some of the tunes to religious songs with altered lyrics. Hopefully with the return of Hong Kong, China will be more open to religion. Perhaps someday the children will recognize one of the religious tunes we taught them and thus be drawn to learn more of Christianity.
Although this research was ofttimes trying and frustrating, I have also found it to be very rewarding. I have met with many outstanding members of the L.D.S. church in Hong Kong and have seen how they are currently pioneering for a better future. I heard many wonderful stories and enjoyed the small part I may have played in helping Christianity progress in China. I have enjoyed the research I have done thus far and will continue it as I continue to receive material for publication.