A Day to Serve

After many months of detailed planning, the Washington DC carried out A Day to Serve on the morning of Saturday, September 29, 2012, at the 16th Street Chapel.  We were privileged to participate in the service project to pack dried foods in boxes.  In the brand new cultural hall, teams of busy helpers scurried around the three long lines of boxes of food, stuffing dried food into boxes, checking them, packing them, and carrying them to pallets outside.  The excess of workers, over 200, finished the job in less than one hour.  DC mayor, Vincent Gray, came to inspect, speak, and help out a little at the end.  Simultaneously, the open house was carried out elsewhere in the chapel.  At 12:00 noon, our branch had the opportunity of singing for 30 minutes.  We sang a variety of Chinese hymns and also "In the Hollow of Thy Hand."  It was an amazing feeling singing in the new chapel.  A sister missionary helped us with the piano playing.

Below is an English translation of the Chinese article written by Maryland Reporter Fen-Yu Mao.  The reporter interviewed our very own Stake President Harrison and his wife, Debbie, about "A Day to Serve" and its significance.  President Harrison has also served in our branch twice, first as our first Gospel Doctrine teacher, and second, as the executive secretary to President George Chiang.

Ron Harrison Calls on Chinese People to Participate in "A Day to Serve"

Written by Maryland Reporter Fen-Yu Mao
September 27, 2012

[Photo of Debbie and Ron Harrison]

Couple, Debbie, granddaughter of Marriott International founder, and her husband, Ron Harrison, called on Chinese people to take part in "A Day to Serve." (Reporter Fen-Yu Mao/ photographer)

Leaders of the Greater Washington area, including Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia, have jointly set apart the 29th of this month, Saturday, as "A Day to Serve," and asked everyone to join together in this day of community service in helping the hungry.

As part of the response by The Interfaith Network of the Greater Washington area religious organizations, Ron Harrison, a young missionary in the 1970s and a grandson-in-law of Marriott International hotel giant founder, made a special appeal to the Chinese community to participate in this service opportunity.

As the head of Marriott International global building and construction, Ron Harrison is in charge of 18 Marriott hotels and resorts.  In his office, he hangs a photo of the world's highest luxury hotel in Hong Kong which he created, as well as a map of China, both which show the company's ambition to enter the hotel industry in China.

Besides his close professional relationship with China, he also has Chinese cultural ties that can be traced back nearly 40 years ago.

At the age of 19, Ron Harrison was sent by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to serve as a missionary in Taiwan for two years.  He learned fluent Mandarin and fell in love with Chinese culture. He says he "likes anything related to Chinese culture."  Although not a sinologist, he is deeply interested in the philosophies of Confucius, Mencius, and Tao.

Ron Harrison appreciates the Chinese concepts of self-cultivation, constant motivation to become a better person, and the importance of the family, filial traditional qualities, and reverence with the aforementioned great thinkers of philosophy.

The doctrine of the Confucius Analects, "refine self, establish family, govern nation, and bring peace to the whole world," are in fact quite consistent with the teaching of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that "no success can compensate for failure in the home."  Both teachings speak to the need of perfecting ourselves first and then our own families.  If everyone can do the same to care for themselves and their families, they can in turn benefit society and then even contribute to the harmony and integration of the community, the country and the world.

Calling himself a "citizen of the world," Ron Harrison uses the Chinese idiom, "a frog in the bottom of the well," to describe himself.  It is evident that Chinese culture and the depth of its philosophy is available for the world to learn from.  Besides his business profession, he lead the Washington DC Stake in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which includes the Montgomery Chinese Branch.

The response of the Church to "A Day to Serve" was to launch fund-raising activities in Salt Lake City and to drive six trucks loaded with 1000 boxes containing a dozen kinds of food to the Washington area to be donated to the greater Washington area food banks.

Along with the "A Day to Serve" activities, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will hold an open house on September 29th from 10:00am to 1:00pm at a new chapel, which has not been dedicated yet and has not been used yet for church meetings.  The new chapel located at 4901 16th Street NW, Washington, DC, will be the scene of dispensing food and distributing the food for "A Day to Serve."