Elder Gong fan club

[Red Ryder]

Wouldn't to be funny if the exmo crowd got behind a grass roots effort on social media to elevate Elder Gong to "favorite apostle" status. Like 10 times more favorite than Elder Uchtdorf?

Think how mad Elder Bednar would get.

That would be pretty funny.

[MoPag]

Let's do it!!

TeamGong!!.png (142.33 KiB) Viewed 8260 times

[AllieOop]

I recognized his name from something recent and then remembered he was the one who did several of the briefings for the fifteen in the leaked video (he gave 7 of the presentations):

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865 ... aders.html

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

I recognized his name from something recent and then remembered he was the one who did several of the briefings for the fifteen in the leaked video (he gave 7 of the presentations):

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/865 ... aders.html

Yep I call that "the Gong show".

[didyoumythme]

Can someone explain the fascination with Gong?

[Red Ryder]

Can someone explain the fascination with Gong?

A few years or so ago Mormonleaks released a series of videos showing training sessions with Q12 members on "world issues" taught by Garret Gong. The most quoted one was where they were talking about cyber security and Chelsea Manning came up as the topic. Gong gets asked questions and Oaks asked if Manning was a "confirmed homosexual".

Gong was the presenter and gained a fan club among reddit exmos. I think his name also ads to his mojo.

[wtfluff]

Can someone explain the fascination with Gong?

Because he has a slightly different skin-tone than the other Q15?

Because he has an Asian sounding last name, and appears to be of Asian decent? (He was born in California...)

Because he appeared to be a pretty darn rational human being in all those leaked videos that made him famous?

Because he might be less bigoted than the rest of the Q15?

[Kishkumen]

Because his name is Garrett Gong!!!

[Dravin]

It was funny, my wife was looking up on her phone the new apostles so out of mild curiosity I asked who they were and she piped up with the names. My face lit up in recognition of Garret Gong and it led to a curious look from her and the awkward question of, "How do you know Garret Gong?" Cue brief explanation about informational PowerPoints and leaked video.

[didyoumythme]

Ah yes, I did see the leaked videos, but I didn’t know there was a fan club. He does seem like he has his head on pretty straight...

[SincereInquirer]

I said it before, but worth saying again...

Get it on. Bang a gong. Get it on.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vHbXI2p4k

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

The KSL bio article mentioned Elder Gong could trace his genealogy back to a guy in China named "First Dragon Gong" in 837. That's impressive for several reasons.

https://www.ksl.com/?sid=46291486&nid=1 ... ds-apostle

[MoPag]

I said it before, but worth saying again...

Get it on. Bang a gong. Get it on.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=O2vHbXI2p4k

We had a slogan and theme song!!!!

Now a group of us needs to go to GC with the letters: T E A M G O N G ! ! ! written on shirts under our sweaters/suit coats.

[Corsair]

The briefings that Gong facilitated for the apostles did have a few comedic elements. At one point the briefing was clearly about world events and the Somali pirates were mentioned. Elder Gong put up a picture of Johnny Depp as "Captain Jack Sparrow" to introduce the segment and I think it confused some of the apostles who were unlikely to have seen any of the "Pirates of Carribean" movies.

Admittedly, the virutal rock star status of apostles is a serious phenomena in LDS culture. I suspect that apostles are quietly told to not publicly attend any movies after they are added to the quorum. If any members see them going to a movie like "Star Wars: The Last Jedi", then far too many silly Mormons will suddenly think that Star Wars is a righteous and holy endeavor. It's also PG-13 which is another restriction on many orthodox Mormon households. Heaven forbid they watch something emotionally mature and R-rated like "Silence" or "Hacksaw Ridge". Despite the overt Christian themes, I imagine the outrage mail they would get from "No-Even-Once" style households would be painful. Most apostles probably just get Netflix and keep their movie viewing private.

[FiveFingerMnemonic]

The briefings that Gong facilitated for the apostles did have a few comedic elements. At one point the briefing was clearly about world events and the Somali pirates were mentioned. Elder Gong put up a picture of Johnny Depp as "Captain Jack Sparrow" to introduce the segment and I think it confused some of the apostles who were unlikely to have seen any of the "Pirates of Carribean" movies.

Admittedly, the virutal rock star status of apostles is a serious phenomena in LDS culture. I suspect that apostles are quietly told to not publicly attend any movies after they are added to the quorum. If any members see them going to a movie like "Star Wars: The Last Jedi", then far too many silly Mormons will suddenly think that Star Wars is a righteous and holy endeavor. It's also PG-13 which is another restriction on many orthodox Mormon households. Heaven forbid they watch something emotionally mature and R-rated like "Silence" or "Hacksaw Ridge". Despite the overt Christian themes, I imagine the outrage mail they would get from "No-Even-Once" style households would be painful. Most apostles probably just get Netflix and keep their movie viewing private.

I have one anecdotal report of an apostle's wife partaking of caffeinated beverage of the cola variety on a recent flight. The proclamation on the soda having relaxed that rule has probably brought some semblance of normality in that area of pharisee behavioral monitoring.

[Corsair]

I have one anecdotal report of an apostle's wife partaking of caffeinated beverage of the cola variety on a recent flight. The proclamation on the soda having relaxed that rule has probably brought some semblance of normality in that area of pharisee behavioral monitoring.

It's so silly that the caffeine "rule" was in place for decades without any defined apostolic direction outside of the most vehement opinions of Joseph Fielding Smith and Bruce McConkie. The LDS church let this go on with so much social pressure and shaming util Mitt Romney got caught in a the scandal of his presidential campaign: Mitt was caught drinking a Diet Coke. I'm sure that American voters quietly long for the day when the biggest moral infraction of a presidential candidate was grabbing a dubious drink instead of grabbing something of much more salacious.

The LDS Public Relations department leapt into action and finally produced the inspired doctrine that caffeine is no longer a moral sin. It still took five years for BYU to normalize Coke and Pepsi. I brought up this incident to some deeply religious LDS friends of mine. "Lips That Touch Caffeine Shall Not Touch Ours" was their commandment and they responded that they followed the Prophet, not the LDS Public Relations Department.

The whole silly history of Mormons and their Coke and Pepsi Prohibition should stand as a cautionary tale. But no, the Pharisees remain in charge, especially at the local level where the average member has no recourse or voice.