The Zhao Family

Goodbye, District 5-E: WEEK 3

LEI HO!!!

It's Elder Zhao and I have just finished my last full week at the Missionary Training Center in Provo! 

The saying goes "the days are long, but the weeks are fast," but both the days and the weeks have felt so, so, so fast. It feels like I just moved into the MTC, and every day has blended together so much that I usually don't even know what day of the week it is. 

I am especially sad to leave Elder Balakrishnan and my district, District 5-E, who have become such close friends and have been such amazing examples of perseverance.

I will be departing to Hong Kong in 2.5 days starting tomorrow, and it has been so bittersweet to start saying my goodbyes around campus, especially since you can never tell if that farewell will be the last. (btw I just made a facebook, so add me 🙏)

Either way, I will be departing from the MTC this Tuesday afternoon, where I will be flying out on my own to the field! Normally missionaries travel in groups, but I am the only Hong Kong Elder on this transfer. 

I have not flown on my own internationally before, let alone a near 22 hour trip (including layovers), but I guess there has to be a first for everything. I will definitely have a lot of time to get started on a weekly email so get prepared for a detailed report next week..

Photos! https://photos.app.goo.gl/qkaoEe965etiYQuj7 

Highlightsss

Sunday: I was able to perform "I Feel My Savior's Love" during the departure devotional in a violin, viola, piano trio with Sister Ludlam and Elder Neyman! 

This devotional was for all of the 500+ missionaries leaving that week!

Monday: 3/5 Elders in my district went to a Temple Square tour to see the SLC Temple so Elder Wong and I got to be comps 😎🤞

Since he is from HK I tried talking to him in Canto almost all day, and being able to practice every-day vocab was awesome 

Tuesday: nearly our whole district joined the choir in singing "Praise to the Man" in the Tuesday devotional, where Brother Nelson of the Young Men's presidency gave a lesson about the value of the Holy Ghost! It is truly a blessing to have an eternal companion to guide us. click here to learn more about the Holy Ghost: https://tinyurl.com/462s8dfz ;)

Wednesday: started with a lowlight since Elder Balakrishnan's eye was bothering him. However he was quick with getting his meds and we were back in no time!

As always, a new wave of missionaries also entered the MTC, and I was able to see so many familiar faces.

Thursday: was our second temple trip to Payson! We went with an even bigger group this time, and I had the chance to attend a session with a Japanese district :)

Friday: we had another temple session, but this time at 7 AM! Normally missionaries don't have back to back visits but since we are here for only 3 weeks our schedule compressed them. 

Some Friday items you see in photos:

- Expo marker collab between Elder Wong, Elder Olson and I, depicting my departure :/

- Mini fridge passed down through Elders in B8, with signatures and their dates

- Chopstick katana from the Korea elders?! 

And today! was a breath of fresh air from the usual busy schedule. Our district was able to take time to exercise together, and overall relax and catch up to anything we had been putting off throughout the week.

A spiritual thought I wanted to share this week comes from Mosiah 24:13-4, which reads, 

"Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.

And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

Reading this is so powerful as we come to know that our Heavenly Father is watching and supporting us in our challenges :)

As I go into this mission, I know I will face probably some of the hardest times I have ever faced in my life. However I know that as I work with all my heart, might, mind and strength, he will provide a way.

🌟  From this, I want to extend the invitation to pray about something you want an answer to! If you do so in faith and understanding of God's love, I promise that He will provide a way to find the things you seek :)

Overall, it has been an amazing time at the MTC. I have been so blessed to have been taught by my instructors Sister Brown and Sister Bosco, who have spent so much time helping us come to understand what we will need to prepare to fulfill our missionary purpose. I am also so grateful for Sister Gamboa, who has helped me learn gospel vocabulary in Cantonese!

I am also so blessed to have had Elder Balakrishnan as a companion. I figure this is the last time I get to talk about him, so I wanted to share a little about his story for anyone who has the time to read. I have attached the story below. 

And finally, I am so grateful for my district, District 5-E, which I have only known for three weeks. As an international district, we are one of the most, if not the most, diverse districts here at the MTC. Having the opportunity to learn with a district from 7 different countries and 4 different US states has been something I will never forget. I have loved serving them as a District Leader and hope to have similar strengthening experiences with my districts in Hong Kong!

The MTC is really an amazing place. I can even say that the food is past average... sometimes borderline good. Sometimes. But past that, appreciating the effort of the teachers, cooks, and even the groundskeepers, I can see how blessed I am to participate and learn on this dedicated campus.

As I write this email, I am so excited to leave on my mission and hope to share much more next week when I enter the field. 

I love you all and appreciate all of your support. Keep on sending me emails, and I will reply as soon as I am able! 

See you in HK, 

Elder Zhao

-

-

-

A little about my comp

Although Elder Balakrishnan took hours to explain his story, I will try my best to recount the details he shared with me.

Elder Balakrishnan was born against all odds. During his mother's pregnancy, he faced complications with the way he was oriented in the womb and was not able to be accommodated that day in the hospital.

On the way to the hospital, his mother, who had no association or knowledge of our church, was talked to and prayed for by LDS missionaries in the India mission.

He was delivered in that very same tuk-tuk she took on the way to the hospital.

As previously mentioned in my first email, Elder Balakrishnan is a chef. In his earlier years, he attended culinary school and received his certification as a chef at a young age.

After he saved up many years of funds, he tried to start a restaurant, which took almost all of his money and ultimately ended up failing. But he was persistent, and tried again with the little money he had left. Unexpectedly, Covid-19 hit, and his restaurant once again failed and he was left with nothing.

After almost a year of searching, Elder Balakrishnan recieved one of his greatest blessings. He was able to land a chef job on Carnival Cruises on the East Coast in the United States. This was not a blessing just because of the pay but also because of the passage into the US, which normally took years of preparation, paperwork, and funding from India. 

However when he made it into the US, some mistakes were made with accommodations and he was without food or stay in the airport for almost six hours. Without knowing what to do, Elder Balakrishnan asked for help in prayer. It was after this prayer when a woman came up to him offering food. She told him "God loves you." She had no idea that he had prayed. 

Eventually, because of the lack of service and communication from the cruise, Elder Balakrishnan, with limited knowledge of the language and country, abandoned the job and found shelter in a nearby hotel.

Problems arose when the only money he had was accessible through a debit card connected to his funds in India, since he had not anticipated on needing money. The only way he could access this money was at a store 20 miles away. He had no transportation nor proficient English to ask for help. Through an excruciating three days, he walked FORTY miles per day, there and back, to buy food and sustain himself. 

Through one hundred and twenty miles of walking over the period of three days, Elder Balakrishnan's legs underwent serious trauma. 

He was able to be taken care of by a nearby friend of a friend, who for several weeks helped him recover. 

Mercifully, Elder Balakrishnan was referred to other friends who would give him work in California. He worked as a chef for a while, able to support himself and help financial troubles at home. 

At last, he came to church, not with friends or missionaries, but on his own, on the knowledge that God had blessed him with this chance. 

Elder Balakrishnan has now been a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for two years, and decided to serve God through serving a mission. He is 26 years old now, and barely made the 25 year old missionary age limit when he had put in his papers. 

With things to work on with English, he joined the Advanced Dual Language District at the MTC on June 10. Through these circumstances, he became my companion for these three weeks.

I will miss Elder Balakrishnan. He is one of the happiest and most inspirational people I have ever met. I wish you could all meet him! 

Elder Balakrishnan will be serving in the Wichita, Kansas mission. I will be so jealous of his companion who gets to taste his food.

I know he will bless the lives of many, and I wish him the best of luck during his mission :)