“Yearn Not, Worry Not”

The first full-time Latter-day Saint missionaries began working in Macau in July 1964. Christian missionaries had been preaching in Macau since the 16th century, when the peninsula came under Portuguese control. (In 1999, control of Macau reverted back to China.) However, in the 1960s the Church encountered difficulties securing an official government license to conduct religious activities, and congregations could not be permanently established until after 1976. In September 1976 the government of Macau passed a constitutional amendment that clarified the restrictions on religion, which allowed missionaries to preach the gospel. After this amendment was passed, Chan Chi-Choi, Tam Wai-Sun, Kerry M. Dexter, and Kenneth D. Perkins, missionaries from the Hong Kong Mission, were able to transfer to Macau and begin to preach the gospel.

A new era of slow but steady growth began in Macau. On March 18, 1977, Jongue Qui Pangue was baptized, the first baptism since the reopening of the mission. On October 15, 11 more people joined the Church. Within a couple of years the Macau Branch was reorganized under the leadership of local members.

Local members continued to serve in Macau. Hung Wo Loi and So Kam Wah, who had moved to Macau and begun a weaving business in their small apartment, met the missionaries in the spring of 1982. They were determined to be dedicated members of their faith but were worried whether their new Church commitments would compound their financial difficulties. When they were wondering what to do about tuition fees for their two daughters in the coming school year, Hung had a dream in which he saw the Savior. Jesus reached out His arms to Hung and told him, “Yearn not, worry not. If you keep my commandments I will bless you.” A few days later, an acquaintance in Hong Kong offered to pay his daughters’ school fees. The three Hung children grew up, served full-time missions, and continued to serve within the Church in Macau.