Church leaders in Malaysia, along with Vincent and Sandra Gordacan of Las Vegas, Nev., were invited to dine with the Tenth King and Queen of Malaysia, Tuanku Ja'afar and Tuanku Najihah in the royal couple's coronation recently.
The meeting in the dining hall of the Royal Palace in Kuala Lumpur was arranged by Brother and Sister Gordacan, who are close personal friends of the king and queen. They met in Lagos, Nigeria, when Brother Gordacan was working for the U.S. State Department and the future king was Malaysia's High Commissioner in Nigeria.Other members of the Church who attended the event were Gary Orgill, counselor in the Singapore Mission presidency, and his wife, Marcia; Chong Sun Fu, Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia District president, and his wife, Geok Lee; Anthony T.K. Lim, national director for public affairs in Malaysia; Ivan Bee Ho, Kiang Branch president, and his wife, Sophia. Another member of the Church, Joseph Skipps, attended with his wife, Anita. Brother Skipps, manager of the Legend Hotel, arranged for the catering of the dinner.
After the meal, Brother Gordacan expressed the gratitude of the group to the king and queen for meeting with them. He said he admired the royal couple for their humility, generosity and understanding toward their subjects.
"To be good Mormons," Brother Gordacan stressed, "members of the Church have to be good Malaysians." He explained that Church members uphold the law of the land, support the king and queen, and respect other faiths. "We respect the rights of all religions to worship God," he concluded.
The king was interested to hear that in 1972 Brother Lim was the first person baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Malaysia.