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Mormon Stories Podcast

210: Dr. William Bradshaw Part 2 - Opening Vietnam to LDS Missionary Work

Mormon Stories Podcast

Dr. John Dehlin

Religion & Spirituality

4.55.7K Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2010

⏱️ 34 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In this episode, John Dehlin interviews one of his former professors and mentors, Dr. William Bradshaw, on a wide variety of topics. Dr. Bradshaw has just recently retired from a rich and fulfilling career as a microbiology professor at BYU in which he influenced thousands of students to continually be open to the best thinking of the sciences while still nurturing a robust, mature faith and spiritual life. Many report Dr. Bradshaw’s classes and their various interactions with him as pivotal to their finding a way to value the wisdom generated in both their heads and their hearts. In this far-ranging discussion, Dr. Bradshaw takes us through the arc of his life, including his mission, experiences at Harvard, the circumstances of his career choice, and the surprise call he and his wife Marge received to serve as very young mission presidents in Hong Kong, during which service they had to wrestle with opening and closing missionary work in Vietnam. Dr. Bradshaw relates stories from his career at BYU, talks about science and religion issues, and reveals the way he faces challenges to his faith from Mormon history and scriptural studies. Many Mormon Stories podcast listeners will already be familiar with one aspect of Dr. Bradshaw’s life from Episode 191, which featured a recording of the most recent lecture he gave at BYU on the biological origins of homosexuality--a lecture he has arranged and given every year for the past several years. Dr. Bradshaw first became prompted to study the research on this subject when his son Brett came out about his homosexuality. Since that time, the Bradshaws have been active members in various LDS groups for families working to support their GLBT children. They are currently serving as the presidents of LDS Family Fellowship. Brett and his partner are married and living in California, where they are raising an adopted daughter.

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:06.0

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0:14.0

So you served, which was the Mission Year Mission President over again, the Hong Kong?

0:21.0

It was the Southern Forest Mission of the Church and became the Hong Kong Mission

0:27.0

at the time Margin, I recall, and we had responsibility for Hong Kong and for the Church in South Vietnam.

0:34.0

1971 to 74.

0:38.0

So this is when the Vietnam War is under Nixon raging post-Lindon Johnson?

0:45.0

It's still raging, but at the time we arrived there had been a decision to reduce to draw down.

1:01.0

We were drawing down. We were sending people home.

1:05.0

It was incredibly difficult to keep LDS servicemen groups going because out of the blue,

1:14.0

but one of the members of the District Presidency would get orders packed. You're going home tomorrow.

1:21.0

Be it Toncinute Air Base in Saigon at three in the afternoon.

1:29.0

So yes, the fighting is still going on. People are dying, but we are drawing down.

1:40.0

In January of 1973, Elder Hinckley sends me a letter because our government announces that in March,

1:54.0

all US military ground troops would be pulled out of the country.

2:00.0

And the letter says, President Bradshaw, what are you going to do with the Church in Hong Kong?

2:06.0

When the servicemen are gone, we had a branch in Saigon. There were a few dozen local members.

2:15.0

I went to Saigon shortly thereafter and was trying to decide how to reply to Elder Hinckley.

2:29.0

There was an old French hotel in Saigon. I don't know if it's there anymore. The hotel Caravelle.

2:37.0

There were two or three remnants of the French occupation of French Indochina.

2:44.0

There was French bread and French onion soup and the hotel Caravelle.

2:49.0

And President Hinckley had dedicated Vietnam for missionary work for the Church from the top floor.

...

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