Embrace diversity, women urged

PROVO — Susan Gong said she had the perfect Latter-day Saint childhood, growing up in Taylorsville, but wonders how she ever internalized the belief that she was somehow better than others.

She remembers playing "kick the can" one night dark night with kids in the neighborhood, when a very bright light suddenly appeared in the sky. One child ran home calling out, "Mama, Jesus is coming!"

"We didn't laugh at him," she recalls, because they all believed it very well could be true. Another childhood experience illustrates her religious insularity. She came home from school one day with a startling discovery: "Mom, Christine is a Catholic and she is nice."

Gong, who has since married and lived extensively abroad, shared her experiences of coming to realize "we're all God's children" during a session of Brigham Young University's annual Women's Conference, which opened Thursday with thousands of participants attending dozens of classes on the Provo campus.

Her topic, "Appreciating Those Not of Our Faith," included personal accounts of encounters over the years with those who reinforced Gong's appreciation for diversity, both religious and otherwise.

"The fullness of the gospel of Christ has been restored, but this is no reason for anyone to feel superior. It invokes in us a greater obligation to serve, love and bless others."

She recalled an experience living in Beijing during the Tiananmen Square uprising, and the concern expressed by "a man I barely knew who called to ask if we were OK." He was concerned the couple might not have enough food, and "offered to share what little he had with the children of strangers," though contact with foreigners was considered dangerous.

With emotion, she told of a 5-year-old Cambodian girl whose family had endured the killing field regime of Pol Pot. As the family began to slowly starve in a refugee camp with meager rations, the girl shared her food — three tablespoons of rice three times a day — with her younger sister, day in and day out. "Where did this love and courage come from?

"There are so many wonderful people around us and we have so much to learn from them," she said, urging listeners to reduce their ignorance through study of other cultures and languages. Respecting things that are sacred to others, being inclusive in neighborhoods and social events, and trying to look at others as God sees them will help will help.

Erlend Peterson, associate international vice president at BYU, said friendship and goodwill for people of all faiths is vital for Latter-day Saints, who can learn the lessons of outreach from many outside their religious sphere.