Last
Sunday I attended church in Hangzhou, where I met old friends and
made new ones. I learned much in listening to that small but diverse
group.
One
young man, a keen intellectual who has learned how to achieve some
very significant things in China, shared an experience from his
childhood. He was at a family outing in the woods and went his own
way, enjoying a little solitude while imagining he was Spiderman and
other superheroes.
Eventually
he realized he was lost with no idea how to get back. I think he was
ten years old.
For
the first time he can remember, he had a serious, urgent need for
personal prayer. He had prayed before, but this time he really needed
help to overcome his problem. He prayed to God saying something like,
"God, if you are there, if you are listening, I really need help
now. I'm lost and don't know where to go, Please help me find my
family."
After
saying this, he had a strong impression to "follow the wind."
This didn't make a lot of sense because the wind wasn't blowing. But
quickly after recognizing that puzzling impression, the wind began to
blow. The leaves around him began moving in a distinct direction, and
he decided he had better follow them.
He
followed the blowing leaves as they took him toward a hill and then
up the hill. As he followed them to the top of the hill, he suddenly
found his family.
So
simple. Follow the wind. Follow the leaves. Family found. This made a
lasting impression on him about the reality of prayer. How glad I am
that he was able to listen and that the Lord saw fit, in this case,
to provide such obvious help.
Of
course, not all sincere prayers are so pleasantly and so clearly
answered, but may we be grateful for each small miracle that occurs
and not
complain when we must suffer greater challenges with miracles that seem
withheld.
That
story came during Sunday School. I also learned much during sacrament
meeting from two new friends, a young couple from Ukraine who were
speakers in the program.
The talk by the young Ukrainian woman
was uplifting and beautiful. My favorite part was her story of an LDS
man in her congregation in Ukraine who was born with some severe
physical problems that made it difficult for him to walk.
In
fact, she told me after the talk, the doctors had said that he would
never walk, but as his faith grew while still a young child be
believed that he could and needed to, and taught himself to walk
around age five.
His
physical limitations were still so severe, though, that it seemed
unlikely that he could serve on a regular mission, but he really
wanted to serve and applied to serve anyway.
If I understood
correctly, it would require special permission from Salt Lake, and he
was elated when it came and his application to serve was accepted. He
served in Russia, as I recall, and inspired everyone by being one of
the hardest-working missionaries.
He
helped bring people into the Church and inspired members and
missionaries in his mission and at home. He continues to inspire
others today. She asked the man why he wanted to sacrifice so much to
go serve a mission. His answer: "I want to be useful to the
Lord."
Those words struck me deeply. Many times I find
myself struggling with the wrong goals, struggling to know which
direction to pursue. I think that Ukrainian perspective could help
bring more clarity by asking, "How can I be more useful to the
Lord?"
I was also inspired by her husband's talk. I had
spoken with him before the sacrament meeting and was impressed with
how kind and friendly he was. But I knew he was uneasy with English.
His English is excellent, but sometimes he struggles. As he began
speaking, it was clear that the pressure of speaking to a group added
to his burden.
After
a couple of minutes, he turned to a woman on the front row and said
something to her. I was surprised to see her jump up and hand a baby
to her husband on the stand, the same man who would share the story
of being lost and following the wind. With no hesitation or
discussion, he took the baby and walked to the back of the room as
his wife stood next to the speaker.
I had met the woman before
and had recently seen her and her husband in a video that a non-LDS
Chinese man is making to help bring lessons from their positive
example of parenting and family love to strengthen other families in
China. From that video, I knew she could speak Chinese pretty well in
addition to her native English.
But
then the Ukrainian man began speaking in Russian, and she translated
into English. Suddenly a good talk became much more interesting.
Subtle points and emotion were more easily conveyed. She even choked
up at part of his talk, and so did I. Yes, she had served a
Russian-speaking mission in Georgia, near Chechnya. Her Russian is
still pretty good, it seems.
When I talked to her afterwards,
I learned that I was not the only one who had a prayer in their heart
for this good man as he spoke. She had been praying in her heart for
him, for she knew of his fears and nervousness. She prayed that his
message might be conveyed, that people might understand and be
touched.
As
with many prayers on behalf of others, those offering the prayer
frequently become part of the miracle.
Many thanks to the
beautiful Latter-day Saints of Ukraine. May we all pray for Ukraine.
May we pray for others around us as well. Imagine what life would be
like if the people next to us on the subway, in the halls at school,
on the streets, in our homes, and in our congregations were more
likely to be praying for us than ignoring, mocking, or criticizing
us.
I
had intended this week to share more about Hannah Ronning, missionary
to China, but I think I will save that for a later post.
If
you have never been to Hangzhou, it's a city worth spending a couple
of days or more to visit. It is near Shanghai, just an hour away by
train, but very different.
Suzhou,
where we also have a branch of the Church, is another beautiful city
worth visiting that few Western tourists ever see. I think they
offer much more than some other spots that are on typical tourist
itineraries.
Come
visit the great cities near Shanghai and also visit the branches of
the Church while you are here. You may be surprised how much you'll
learn and experience. The Church is really beautiful here!
Jeff Lindsay has been defending the Church on the Internet since 1994, when he launched his
LDSFAQ website under JeffLindsay.com. He has also long been blogging about LDS matters on
the blog Mormanity (mormanity.blogspot.com). Jeff is a longtime resident of Appleton,
Wisconsin, who recently moved to Shanghai, China, with his wife, Kendra.
He works for an Asian corporation as head of intellectual property. Jeff and Kendra are the parents of 4 boys, 3 married and the the youngest on a mission.
He is a former innovation and IP consultant, a former professor, and former Corporate Patent
Strategist and Senior Research Fellow for a multinational corporation.
Jeff Lindsay, Cheryl Perkins and Mukund Karanjikar are authors of the book Conquering
Innovation Fatigue (John Wiley & Sons, 2009).
Jeff has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Brigham Young University and is a registered US
patent agent. He has more than 100 granted US patents and is author of numerous publications.
Jeff's hobbies include photography, amateur magic, writing, and Mandarin Chinese.