Faith from China

BECKY ROHNER | Courtesy Photo — Becky Rohner with her companion at Temple Square. Rohner’s companion, Lei Chen, is from mainland China, and Rohner is from California.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may not have missionaries in China but some have found other ways to share the gospel with them.

“I served on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah. My companion and I met a lot of people from all over the world,” said Becky Rohner, a senior studying sociology. “Even my companion at the time, Sister Chen, was from China.”

Rohner said one day, she and her companion met a man from China who spoke very little English.

Rohner said it was a neat experience to take the man around Temple Square because he had never even stepped foot into a church before,.

“While we were standing in front of a display of over 80 different languages of The Book of Mormon, he asked, ‘How do you know that all of this is true?’,” Rohner said. “At first I thought, ‘Wow. Did I just understand Mandarin, or is he speaking English?’”

Rohner said the scripture Helaman 5:30 came to her mind and she knew she needed to share that scripture with him.

“The Spirit was telling me to pick the Mandarin Book of Mormon and open it,” Rohner said. “If anyone has ever tried to read Chinese, let me tell you, it is nothing like English.”

Rohner said she picked the book and flipped through the pages.

“I pointed at a scripture and gave it to my companion. She looked at me startled, but excited and gave it to the man,” Rohner said. “As the man read that verse of scripture, the Spirit was incredible.”

Rohner said that after the man filled out a card to learn more she and her companion gave him a Book of Mormon in Mandarin to take with him back to China.

Rohner said they hope that he will continue to recognize the Spirit and someday find the gospel in China.