Cultural Differences we've found

Cultural Differences: I need to tell you a little more about the stake conference we attended. The ward choir that performed was so much fun to watch. Ten of the 28 people were African. I don’t mean African/American. The missionaries that are assigned to that ward say that there are members from 10 different African countries in their (very impoverished) ward. Some of the women were dressed with the long dresses and matching wraps around their heads. It was fascinating. In the temple we have lots of Spanish speaking people. We love that. I was able to be in a Spanish session on Friday night and I loved that. The second most common language we have encountered is Mandarin. I’ll include an excerpt of an email I sent Caleb (who is serving his mission in Taiwan). “I was assigned to work in the baptistery this afternoon. When I arrived at the side of the font, I immediately realized that all of the participants were Chinese and the ordinance was being performed in Mandarin. Not only that, but the "cue" cards were written in Chinese script. It was so-o-o-o cool. About half of the cards were family cards. The older woman and the young woman identified them as their fathers, uncles, and grandfathers (and the female relatives of course). It was so amazing. One of the baptizers (who looked Chinese) said he would prefer baptizing in English. But he wasn't doing the family names, so no one minded. When they came to the confirmation room, I saw that he was a missionary, so he probably just doesn't know how to read the Chinese characters. He spoke Chinese without hesitation. But his companion read the Mandarin without any difficulty--so he obviously had a different background. One of the young women apparently doesn't speak English because she couldn't follow my instructions on where to go next until someone translated for her. On the name cards, on the top line it was written in Chinese characters and on the line right under it, it was written in the English alphabet. Names that included Lin, Tang, Lun, Nang, Chen, Woo and a lot of other names that I can't remember. It sounded like during the baptism the name of the person whose work was being done came at the end, but I couldn't be sure -- because it was all Chinese to me!” Then today we had a Korean lady in the session. When we have patrons who speak different languages they use language cards. It was great—she was presented at the veil where Spencer was receiving. I was at the next one and could hear the exchange. Spencer spoke English and she responded in Korean. Fascinating conversation. Spencer says it was hard to do when there wasn’t really any communication (from his perspective). But it is good that the Lord understands all of the languages  without any difficulty. As you walk down the street you see all kinds and colors of people and hear a multitude of languages being spoken. It is a fun adventure! In two weeks we should have a couple arriving from Singapore, Elder Tan and Sister Tang. He used to be an Area Authority. That will make the missionaries multicultural as well. What fun.