Mark and Rebekah's visit

We had a great week spending time with old friends.

This week Mark Ainscough and his wife, Rebekah visited Hong Kong as part of their Asia trip. Prior to arriving in Hong Kong, they had toured Beijing, Xian, and Guilin.

They came in Tuesday night and we met them in the lobby of their hotel. The Chatterton’s were with us and it was the first time in forty four years that the three of us, Mark, John, and I were here together. The six of us visited for a little over an hour in the lobby before we let them retire for some much-needed sleep after a long day of travel.

The Chatterton’s were tied up the rest of the week because their daughter Natalie, her husband, Doug and their four children arrived for a much-anticipated visit. They spent the rest of the week touring and playing with kids and grandkids.

Karen and I met Mark and Rebekah Wednesday morning and the four of us walked from their hotel on Nathan Road to our apartment in Hung Hom. We then took the MTR to Fanling, an area in the New Territories that both Mark and I served in as young Missionaries. It was the second area that I served in and the third area that Mark served. We were never in Fanling together but it was fun to visit because we thought that we might be able to find the old apartment. It didn’t take us long once we got off the train to see that the old village and farmland that we experienced was nothing like we remembered. The old rice paddies of our day were now sixty-story apartment buildings that were a small part of a metropolis. The only landmark we recognized was the name of a major highway, Jockey Road and it was no more than a two-lane country road when we last saw it. Needless to say, the apartment is long gone.

We then visited the Kowloon Tong Chapel, Mission Offices, and the Temple. The Temple is closed for refurbishing and will open next week which is unfortunate because the Ainscough’s had brought with them two names of ancestors that Mark wanted to do the work for in the Hong Kong Temple. It was fun to reflect with Mark that not one of these structures were here when we served as Elders. I shared with my friend the following history shared with me by Sheldon Poon concerning the dedication of the area, the mission and the acquisition of the ground that the Temple is built on;

ELDER MATTHEW COWLEY

In 1949, President Hilton Robertson and Elder Henry Aki with their wives were assigned to open the China Mission of the Church. Accompanying them to Hong Kong were Elder and Sister Matthew Cowley of the Council of the Twelve. President Robertson was the man who knew more about the Oriental people than any other man in the Church. He had earlier presided over the Japanese Mission in Hawaii for 4 years, and was currently a counselor in the East Provo Stake Presidency. On July 14, 1949, at the Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island, Elder Cowley offered the prayer that officially opened the mission to the Chinese people. Mindful of President McKay's dedicatory prayer of 1921 in Beijing, Elder Cowley once again asked God to open up the way for the Gospel to be brought to that great nation. The missionaries were not able to enter China, because the communists had just taken over the whole nation and established the People's Republic of China.

For many years, we had no idea about the exact location at the Victoria Peak where Elder Cowley offered the dedicatory prayer to open the China Mission. It was not until after Elder Cowley passed away and Sister Cowley decided to clean up his personal history file at home and found a photo of them standing next to a piece of rock engraved with 7/14/49. She remembered that was the site at the Victoria Peak where Elder Cowley offered the dedicatory prayer. They were good friends with Truman Madsen of BYU. When she heard that Truman was going to tour the missions in Asia with other general board members of the Church, she gave that photo to Truman asking him to hand deliver it to the Mission President in Hong Kong. Truman Madsen was then a General Board Member of the Church Melchizedek Priesthood Committee. Later, it was Mission President Hinton who decided to give up one P Day on Monday, and have all of his missionaries up to the Victoria Peak to search for that piece of rock with 7/14/49 engraved. They found it.


Brief Church History in China and Hong Kong - Prepared by Sheldon Poon:

1853: Elders Hosea Stout, James Lewis & Chapman Duncan, the first missionaries called to serve in China.

1921: President David O. McKay dedicated China in Peking – January 9th.

1949: Elder Matthew Cowley opened the China Mission. Dedication took place in Hong Kong – July 14th.

1950: Two young men were called to serve in the China Mission – H. Grant Heaton & William Paalani.

1955: H. Grant Heaton at age 26 became the first President of Southern Far East Mission in Hong Kong.

1955: Kowloon-Tong Mission Home was purchased.

1956: Two of the earliest members (Li, Nai Ken and Nora Koot) served as full time missionaries.

1957: Total members was about 400.  My brother Tony and I were taught by missionaries – Malan Jackson and Lowry Bishop and were baptized in 1958 after going through 17 discussions in 4 months.

1960: Elder Gordon B. Hinckley was appointed to supervise the Asian area. Purchase of Kom Tong Hall.

1965: Tiu Keng Leng was the first chapel built in Hong Kong.

1965: Book of Mormon in Chinese was published.  D & C was in 1974.

1967: Yuen Long Chapel was dedicated by President Hugh B. Brown of the First Presidency.

1967: Cultural Revolution broke out in China with political instability, in forms of riots and bomb threat. Many missionaries were re-assigned to other missions. Some branches were needed to be consolidated.

1967: At age 22, I was called to serve as the President of Tsim Sha Tsui, the largest branch in membership.

1970: At age 25, I was called to serve as the President of Hong Kong District with 13 branches.

1971: Eliza and I were the first couple from Hong Kong to receive our endowment and temple marriage in the Salt Lake Temple. Right after our wedding, I was called by the First Presidency to stay behind and assist Professor Gary Williams of BYU to finish the translation of the endowment ordinances and prepare the Chinese scripts for use by Chinese members who didn't know any English.

1972: I led a group of 11 members from Hong Kong to the Hawaii Temple to prepare the Cantonese recording of the endowment ceremony.

1974: The Church bought the land in Homantin for the construction of the Hong Kong Stake Center.

1974: I led a group of 18 members, the first temple excursion group to Salt Lake City.

1974: The number of summer missionaries reached 93.

1975: President Spencer W. Kimball came to Hong Kong to preside over the first Area Conference. I was privileged to conduct the Press Conference with journalists from 15 local newspapers and magazines and a TV Station in attendance.

1976: I was called to serve as the President of the first Hong Kong Stake.

1980: Hong Kong Stake was divided into two Stakes, namely Hong Kong Island Stake & Kowloon Stake.

1984: Four Stakes were formed, adding the North Kowloon Stake and New Territories Stake.

1988: 85 local brothers and sisters joined the army of full-time missionaries, making up 50% of all missionaries in Hong Kong, served under President Charles Goo.

1991: The First Presidency requested the Asia Area Presidency to search for a temple site. In July, President Hinckley and Ted Simmons came to Hong Kong to choose the site for the Temple.

1992: TAI, Kwok Yuen was the first Chinese to be called as a General Authority of the Church.

1996: Hong Kong Temple dedication – May 25th & 26th:  President Hinckley, President Monson & Elder Wirthlin.


HOW THE HONG KONG CHINA TEMPLE SITE WAS PURCHASED:

H. Grant Heaton of Salt Lake City with his companion William Paalani were called in 1950 as the first young missionaries to labor in the China Mission with headquarters in Hong Kong, which was the only safe place because of the British control. They just stayed for a short time and had to leave and finish their mission in San Francisco when the Korean War broke out in July, 1950. While in Hong Kong, Elder Heaton made friends with George Liu, who was a Catholic.

In May 1955 at age 26, H. Grant Heaton was called to preside and reopen the mission in Hong Kong, named the Southern Far East Mission. One of his challenges by President David O. McKay was to find and purchase a suitable site for the Mission Home property. He said, "I immediately started a search to look for an ideal place for our Mission Headquarters and had also asked George Liu to keep a look out for us".

Recorded from President Heaton's Journal:

George and I looked at several properties but none were satisfactory. Finally we found a construction site where a large condominium type apartment was being built. I decided to try to purchase one of the floors of this building. I wrote to the Church Building Committee, but receive no response. We found another home that we thought might be adequate for us. I wrote to the Building Committee again, but without any response . . . until after the building had been sold. I despaired of not being able to comply with both the British requirements and the Church requirements. Because we were not recognized as a Church in Hong Kong, we could not own property in the name of the Church. Because we were not registered there, we could not comply with the Church building requirements for title documentation.

In desperation I wrote directly to President McKay. My letter was a lengthy one. I explained the difficulty of communicating with the Building Committee. I explained the problem of land ownership in Hong Kong. I discussed the unstable political situation and the risky nature of real estate. I even discussed a recent article in a local newspaper about the fact that Hong Kong was a dying colony and that the British would abandon it because it was costing too much to support.

In a very short time I received a letter from President McKay in which he suggested that I enter into a conspiracy with him against the Church bureaucracy. He outlined a method for transfer of funds between him and me. If I found property that we desired to purchase, I was to send a cable to him at a special cable number (not Quickmere Salt Lake City) letting him know how much money I needed. He assured me he would have it wired to me at the First National City Bank of New York, Hong Kong Branch. I was instructed to purchase the property in my name, have trust deeds prepared to deed these over to the Church, but to hold these trust deeds private and not register them with any agency in Hong Kong. I was to keep them with me at Mission Headquarters.

President McKay also noted my concern with the political situation, and the risky real estate market. He said, "Brother Heaton, we are not in the real estate business, we are in the missionary business".

Shortly after this letter, I located a property that was acceptable, only because it was available. It was in Kowloon-Tong on Waterloo Road. I negotiated with the owner, an elderly gentleman. He spoke very little English, but we managed to discuss the price, and the method of payment. I asked him if he would accept an earnest money deposit. I explained that this was a normal procedure in the United States. He agreed and I gave him a check for HK$5,000.-

In the meantime, George Liu had also been looking for property. A Catholic Priest, Father Lee had told him of a piece of property, also in Kowloon-Tong area that was for sale. In fact the property owners, friends of Father Lee, were in some difficulty and needed immediate cash for the property. George called and asked me to come to see the property. I told him that I had already purchased a Mission Home site. George insisted. I still declined to go with him. Finally he plead that Father Lee had made the trip from Lantau Island to show me the property. I agreed to go see it.

Whereas the property I had committed to buy was desirable only because it was available, this property Father Lee showed me was more than perfect. On a scale of 1 to 10, this property was at least a 15. It was an old British colonial building, quite run down, but it had a swimming pool and two private wells, connected with a pump. This was very unusual. It was built for one of the Governors or his staff about 1936. It had survived the Japanese occupation. It was large, in comparison to other lots, and the price they were asking was somewhat less than I had agreed to pay for the other lot I had committed to purchase. I was in the depths of despair. I knew this new site was the one we needed. But I did not see how I could get myself out of the purchase contract of the other property.

I spent two very uncomfortable days trying to devise a way to get out of the mess I had created. Finally I decided to visit the man I had made a deal with. When I arrived at his home, there were two other young men with him. I supposed they were his attorneys or other advisors. He introduced them to me as his two sons. I was going to explain my situation and to ask if they would release me from our contract agreement and I would allow them to keep the deposit. But before I could make this offer, one of his sons interrupted me. He said he and his brother wished to apologize for the problem they had created. Their father had not consulted them about selling the home and they did not want to sell it. Would I be willing to take back the deposit and cancel the transaction?  I felt like shouting, weeping, and jumping up and down, but I kept my cool. I graciously accepted their apology and took back the deposit money.

Without any delay, President Heaton then immediately made the deposit payment to secure the purchase of this new property at No. 2 Cornwall Street, Kowloon-Tong arranged for sale by Father Lee. When it came to the question on final payment of this property, Father Lee was willing to act as the guarantor for this transaction. He said he's very familiar with the Mormon Church and knew that the Church could come up with the cash for this property. He further said that he used to live in Utah and had been trained at the Trappist Monastery in Huntsville, Utah.

The Hong Hong China Temple today is located at No. 2 Cornwall Street, Kowloon-Tong.

Continued from President Heaton's Journal:

It took a short time to complete the legal documents, and finalize the sale. There was still some problem with the Building Committee in the renovation of the home, but it was finally done.

Another exchange of letters took place during this time that became quite significant. In making application for certain renovation of the Mission Home, we had difficulty in getting permits for the work to be done. I visited the government department that issued permits and got nowhere at all. I was quite frustrated. I mentioned this to Father Lee and George Liu. They asked me if I had paid any "key money". I had not, and didn't know how to go about it. They told me to talk to the contractor who was doing the renovation. He informed me that the normal "key money" fee for this permit was HK$15,000.- (about US$2,200.-). I did not know what to do, so I again wrote a long letter to the First Presidency. I outlined the dilemma and asked for their advice. I received a very short letter back from President J. Reuben Clark. He thanked me for my letter, and informed me that the Church had been faced with this situation in other places, especially in South America. He informed me to, "pay the money, record it on your books as forced commission, and get on with the Lord's work". The money was paid and the work completed.

We knew that the Lord had blessed us in getting a Mission Home. He did not confide in me that He had a higher purpose for this property. When I learned of President Hinckley's report of his unsatisfactory search for a Temple site, and that in the middle of the night he was given the assurance that the Church already owned the property for the Temple, it brought back a flood of wonderful memories and thankfulness to God that He had been able to use us more than just to buy a Mission Home.

Following the purchase of the Mission Home, we were able to purchase several properties for the Church. Many of them were top floors of large apartment buildings. This would be built with a chapel, classrooms, living quarters for missionaries and a reception area. We also optioned the roof of the buildings. These were flat. We put a wire fence around the sides and used this area for our MIA activities.

President McKay never once failed to send funds when I cabled for them. He never asked questions, nor did he ask me to account for the funds. On two occasions, the Church Auditor, Brother Schmidt visited us. In auditing our books he never asked for any accounting about the properties we had purchased. I supposed that President McKay had not included him in on the conspiracy. From 1955-1959, we had no visitors from the Church General Authorities We sometimes felt that they had forgotten us, except for the fact that the First Presidency were always prompt to answer our letters.

When I was notified of my release, and was turning the mission affairs over to President Robert Taylor, I brought up the fact that I still had funds in my account for the purchase of two more apartment units. He seemed puzzled about this, so I did not tell him any more. I had the funds returned to President McKay.

After I returned home, I took a box that contained all the documents relating to the real estate transactions to the Church Legal Department. I was told to give them to Brother Snyder. He took the box, examined the contents for awhile, and then took it into another office. After a short while he came back where he had left me and asked if I had legal counsel. I informed him that I did not, and furthermore did not think that I needed any. I asked him if there was a problem with the documents I had brought him. He explained that they were not at all in order according to procedures of the Church. There was no proper accounting of funds nor any papers of approval for the purchase of the property. (After I had purchased property, I always sent the proper request in to the Building Committee. They disapproved every purchase I had already made). He informed me that misappropriation of funds was a serious matter and that I should obtain legal advice. He was very serious and I was a little concerned. I suggested that he give President McKay a call. (Thank goodness he was still alive). After a few moments, Brother Snyder came back into the room with a smile on his face. He said: "If President McKay says it is OK, then I guess it is OK!  I am sorry if I worried you". A week or so later, after a meeting I had with the First Presidency, President McKay came to me and gave me a hug and said: "We surely created a hornet's nest over at the Legal Department, didn't we?"

Without President McKay's support of our efforts in Hong Kong, and Taiwan, we would never have been able to get the work started and we would not have property for mission home or chapels. He was truly an agent in the Lord's work.

H. Grant Heaton
January 6, 1997


President Gordon B. Hinckley's account on the selection of Hong Kong Temple site:

President Hinckley said, the most significant experience he ever had in Hong Kong was the inspiration for the design of the Hong Kong China Temple.

President Hinckley was particularly anxious to finalize selection of a site in Hong Kong; and though he had scouted locations on several previous trips, in July 1992 President Hinckley made another quick trip there for the sole purpose of looking at property. The decision's weight pressed upon him, and he felt unsettled about what he saw and worried about what to do. But early in the morning the day after his arrival, he had an unusual experience: "Something very interesting came into my mind. I did not hear a voice with my natural ears. But into my mind there came the voice of the Spirit. It said, "Why are you worried about this? You have a wonderful piece of property where the mission home and the small chapel stand. They are in the very heart of Kowloon, in the location with the best of transportation......Build a building of (several) stories. It can include a chapel and classrooms on the first two floors and a temple on the top two or three floors....... I relaxed and went back to sleep." (see GBHJ, 26 July 1992). For two days as he inspected site after site, he said nothing about his impressions. Finally, after leading an intense search, he showed the others involved in the decision a sketch he had made of the idea that had come to him, and all agreed this was the way to proceed.

President Hinckley's original plan was to construct a building with sufficient levels, just large enough to accommodate the above features that he mentioned: The temple, chapel and classrooms, mission home and office, temple president's apartment and the baptismal font. But the Temple Department suggested to construct a taller building with more floors to fully make use of that 21,744 square feet floor area. So, the plans were submitted to the local government department concerned, but was disapproved, because of the zoning restrictions and civil regulations. (The Hong Kong International Airport was still located in Kowloon City District, right next to Kowloon-Tong). The Church Building Department then submitted President Hinckley's original plan for a lower building and that's approved.

Speaking at the Temple Dedication, President Hinckley said, "If ever in my life I felt the inspiration of the Lord, it's with this Building".



In addition to visiting these sights we were able to visit our offices in Wan Chai, have lunch with some of the Missionaries, have dinner at our favorite restaurant Al Dante’s, and end the week by visiting the Peak the night before the Ainscough’s flight home.

It was a great week and a great memory to be cherished as part of our Mission experience.

Elder Chatterton,  Mark Ainscough,  and Lynn.  The three of them entered the Mission Home together 44 years ago.   Mark and his wife Rebekah came for a visit this past week.  It was wonderful having them here,  and a great experience for these 3 to be together in Hong Kong again!

We took the MTR out to Fanleng (a 45 minute train ride),  so Lynn and Mark could find one of the apartments they lived in during their mission,  sadly,  it was gone.

Another great week serving in our Saturday Branch.  The sisters love performing skits!  They look for every opportunity to throw skits together for a FHE  activity.