Spreading the Word; Young Mormon Missionaries take their Faith to Chinatown
New York Post Children's Express 7Dec99 D1
By Sean Colenso-Semple, 14 and Ya-Ying Zeng, 12

NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- The New York Post's Children's Express, an edition of the New York paper written by and for kids, interviewed Elders Chang-Ching Yeh and Wen-Chia Chang, Chinese-speaking missionaries assigned to Chinatown by the New York New York North Mission. Elders Yeh and Chang are part of an attempt by the mission to reach the "one of the biggest populations of Chinese people in the Western world."

Aside from a giving an incorrect impression about a few facts, the article gives a good impression of missionary work and these Elders. Both Elders speak Mandarin while two other missionaries assigned to Chinatown speak Cantonese.

The LDS Church has had a difficult time reaching the Chinese people, according to the Elders, because of politics, "The government in Mainland China hasn't allowed us to send missionaries from our church," said Elder Chang. "I think our mission president felt it was time to start preparing these Chinese people [in Chinatown] to hear the things we had to say. Maybe through them, something might happen,"

So far missionary work in Chinatown hasn't yielded any baptisms, but its just starting. Elders Chang and Yeh have only been working in Chinatown for two months. "Right now we're in the period of teaching. After a short amount of time things should pick up and we'll get a lot of people to join," said Chang. Yeh says that reactions to the Elders vary, "Sometimes they might be scared and sometimes they just wonder what we want. Then sometimes they stop to talk."

The article also gives some information about the missionaries and basic information about the LDS Church.