A farewell meeting to remember!
Hello everyone! I hope you’re doing fantastic! It’s been a second since I wrote an email, but life has just been amazing lately! Our friend Suzie got to go through the temple and receive the gift of her endowment! It was an amazing experience! We also have another friend who accepted the invitation to be baptized named Lili. The work of the Lord is moving forward over here in good ol' Northern VA!
So there ya go, there’s my embarrassing story! My last talk that I gave in the Chinese branch was a failure!!! Or so I thought, but the truth is, there were some important things I learned from this and it all ties into the gospel (just like everything in this life).
Let's start at the beginning. Before going out, I didn’t really have food or water! Already I was lacking two essential things my body needs! They aren’t really optional, especially when you have something relatively nerve racking going on. Each day it’s important for us humans to get the proper nutrients we need, including water! For our spiritual survival, it is essential that we are feasting on the words of Christ (2 Nephi 32:3) and drinking from the well that never runs dry (John 4:13-14). If we are to survive spiritually, we need to be reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, every day! We also need to be learning about the Lord and drinking from his water well that never runs dry! There will be lots of things in our lives that we need to prepare for and “set up” for, but it is essential that in the midst of all our business, we never set aside feeding our spirits! Every single day, we have challenging things ahead of us. If we are ill prepared, we will pass out when the heat of the moment comes.
Next, we need to make sure we are always in a good environment! I was in a hot room after not having water! That’s not a good combination. No air conditioning, lots of people, and a small room don’t exactly add up. If we are going to survive the heat and not pass out, we need to make sure we are in a good environment! What does that mean? It means we’re surrounding ourselves with good people and not putting ourselves into hot situations! I was lucky enough to be in a room full of amazing people. This is so important! If you’re with people that aren’t going to catch you when you fall, they’re not the people you want to be around. Also, don’t put yourself in hot situations. That’s where the adversary wants you! Make sure you are surrounded by good people and making good decisions. If you do that, you will not pass out!
Third, don’t wait until the very last moment... don’t go to the very end! In Mosiah 4:27 we read, “It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.” While I was speaking, I knew that I was dizzy. I knew that I was going downhill! I started sweating, my hands started shaking, my ears started ringing, and even after all of that, I tried to keep going because I didn’t want to look “weak” or “stupid.” Can you imagine if I had just said, “Oh, I’m a little dizzy. I’m going to sit down. Elder Zhu, could you go get me a glass of water?" I could have said that and everything would have been just fine! There will be moments where the Spirit will tell us we need to go; the Spirit may even give us big signs! But if we don’t listen to them and we don’t follow them, we’re going to pass out. If you know you’re in a dangerous spot, get out. If you think you’re gonna look foolish, I promise that’s not Heavenly Father telling you that! Do what you need to do to be safe! Listen to the promptings of the Spirit, and live worthy to receive those promptings!
Lastly, be the type of person who catches others when they fall! When I said I was dizzy, there was only one sister in the congregation who didn’t laugh, thinking I was being my regular funny self. When I said it, she looked closely and could see I looked quite pale. She then voiced this to her husband, who promptly sped walked up to the front right in time to catch me! This sister recognized that I was in a dangerous spot, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to catch me, so she got someone who she knew would help. I’m grateful for Brother Belnap, who didn’t question his wife and didn’t care how he looked by running up to the front of the room while people thought I was just joking. In the end, if it weren’t for him, I would have fallen back and probably hit my head on the edge of the chalk board that was behind me. After he caught me, he didn’t tell me how stupid I looked or put me down and then leave. He sat me down, told me what I needed to do to get blood back to my head and didn’t leave my side. He whispered in my ear how he had had similar things happen to him in his life. He said that it was no big deal and that everything was going to be okay. He didn’t leave my side until he knew I was in a good enough spot and on the road to recovery. Following the meeting, he was one of the first people who came back up to me to make sure I was feeling better. Be like Brother Belnap! Also, I need to put in a side note and give a big thanks to Elder Lei, as well, who knew that it would help draw attention away from me to keep reading the talk. He kept reading happily and made sure that the meeting kept going smoothly. And when I shared my testimony, he didn’t say, “How could you? I was doing so good!” Rather, he cheered me on, put his arm under me, and helped me finish!
How easy is it for us to see others who are making poor decisions, are less fortunate than us, or look differently than us, and choose to ignore it. I’m not blaming any of the branch members, because I would have probably just chuckled too. But it made me think of how often I have been quick to judge someone, I saw someone when they were pale and I maybe laughed or didn’t bother to do anything! If you think you’re better than someone, I can promise you, you’re not! You are no better than anyone else around you! If someone looks like they’re going to fall, make sure to do what you have the strength necessary to do and go help them! And then, stay with them, help them get better! This could be a sibling, a child, or a friend who has maybe stepped away from the church, or who is just making poor decisions with their life. It could be a homeless person on the street. Whatever the situation is, lend a hand, because those are the people who are qualified for the kingdom of heaven! Show them the light; don’t make them feel stupid for whatever they’ve done. I bet they already feel like a loser. So help them get settled down, get on the right track, and then go with them! Lastly, don’t seek credit for their success. Brother Belnap didn’t say, “Man, you really owe me for catching you!” He just said, “I’m glad my wife told me to go up and I got there in time!” Be an instrument in the hands of the Lord, and then don’t seek praise. Be like the Savior, go about doing good.
My dear friends and anyone who is reading this, I am sorry that this is so long haha! But to end, I want you to know that this church is true! This is the Church of Jesus Christ! We have the opportunity to be saviors on Mount Zion; we can be there to catch people! Make sure you are doing what is necessary to stay spiritually healthy, surround yourself with good people, be in a good environment, don’t seek praise, and be ready to respond to the promptings of the Spirit! I know that Heavenly Father will give us opportunities to catch others if we seek them! He loves His children and will always catch us! This is my testimony, in the name of our Savior, even Jesus Christ, amen.
There are moments in your life that are just terribly embarrassing! I’ve tripped going up stairs before; I’ve texted the wrong number so many times; I ate a part of the food that I wasn’t supposed to and was trying to be nice, etc! Well, this past Sunday was one of the more embarrassing moments of my mission, but like with all things in life, God has helped me reflect and think about what I can learn from it. So let me set the stage:
I was asked to give my farewell talk to the Chinese branch last Sunday. They asked me to speak a little bit back and I thought a lot about what I wanted to talk about, but I didn’t actually put it on paper in Chinese until the day before (Saturday morning). Luckily, it was quick and easy because I already had all the ideas; I just had to slap a couple quotes and scriptures in there! Overall, I thought my talk was pretty darn good! Maybe another time I’ll share it with you haha! Anywho, I woke up Sunday morning and was feeling pretty light headed but I didn’t really think anything of it. So I read through my talk and made sure I understood all the Chinese characters so that I’d be able to say it. Then I reread the entire thing once more! In the hustle and bustle, I didn’t have time to eat lunch, so I just had a granola bar on my way out the door. Church starts at 1:00 and we needed to be there a little early to set up for sacrament meeting, so off we went.
I was asked to give my farewell talk to the Chinese branch last Sunday. They asked me to speak a little bit back and I thought a lot about what I wanted to talk about, but I didn’t actually put it on paper in Chinese until the day before (Saturday morning). Luckily, it was quick and easy because I already had all the ideas; I just had to slap a couple quotes and scriptures in there! Overall, I thought my talk was pretty darn good! Maybe another time I’ll share it with you haha! Anywho, I woke up Sunday morning and was feeling pretty light headed but I didn’t really think anything of it. So I read through my talk and made sure I understood all the Chinese characters so that I’d be able to say it. Then I reread the entire thing once more! In the hustle and bustle, I didn’t have time to eat lunch, so I just had a granola bar on my way out the door. Church starts at 1:00 and we needed to be there a little early to set up for sacrament meeting, so off we went.
Everything was going good. Of course I was feeling a little nervous, but nothing crazy. The Sister that spoke before me did a fantastic job! The Spirit was so strong and her message was great! The pressure was on haha! I got up and started reading my talk and focusing really hard to make sure I said each of the characters correctly. As I read the first couple of paragraphs, I started getting pretty darn hot and started sweating. I noticed that as I was reading my talk, my hand started shaking pretty darn bad and I was struggling to focus on what character I was reading from. So I said out loud, 我有点儿晕, which means “I’m a little dizzy”. The branch members all chuckled, and so I did, and I decided I’d try to keep pushing through. I started really stumbling on my words and my mouth dried up super bad. A couple words later, my ears started ringing and I couldn’t hear anything! Next thing I know, everything around me just turns white and my toes come off the floor as I stumble backwards. Just then, a set of arms catches my back and helps direct me to the chair behind me next to our Branch President. I still couldn’t see and was confused with what was going on for a second. Almost at the same time, another missionary was there helping me sit down and then grabbed my phone from me that had my talk on it. He asked me where I had left off and so I pointed somewhere on my phone, and he picked up right where I left off. One of our friends who was visiting church that day had brought some chocolates and ran to give me one. Then my amazing companion came over with a glass of water and some gummy bears. Meanwhile, the nice brother (Brother Belnap) who had caught me, had his hand on my back and was comforting me and telling me that this had happened to him and it was no big deal. As I sat there with my head in between my knees trying to get blood back to my head (my entire face including my lips had gone pale), I just thought about how foolish I looked. Here I was, in front of so many people, and I had just passed out in the middle of my talk. As I hung my head, still feeling dizzy, I thought about how embarrassing and humiliating this all was. As the kind missionary (Elder Lei) got to the end of reading my talk, I knew that he was about to read the part that had my testimony. Still feeling dizzy, I stood up and told him that I wanted to read the last part. He smiled, put his arm under mine, and I shared my testimony with the branch with the little energy I had, and then ended the talk.
So there ya go, there’s my embarrassing story! My last talk that I gave in the Chinese branch was a failure!!! Or so I thought, but the truth is, there were some important things I learned from this and it all ties into the gospel (just like everything in this life).
Let's start at the beginning. Before going out, I didn’t really have food or water! Already I was lacking two essential things my body needs! They aren’t really optional, especially when you have something relatively nerve racking going on. Each day it’s important for us humans to get the proper nutrients we need, including water! For our spiritual survival, it is essential that we are feasting on the words of Christ (2 Nephi 32:3) and drinking from the well that never runs dry (John 4:13-14). If we are to survive spiritually, we need to be reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, every day! We also need to be learning about the Lord and drinking from his water well that never runs dry! There will be lots of things in our lives that we need to prepare for and “set up” for, but it is essential that in the midst of all our business, we never set aside feeding our spirits! Every single day, we have challenging things ahead of us. If we are ill prepared, we will pass out when the heat of the moment comes.
Next, we need to make sure we are always in a good environment! I was in a hot room after not having water! That’s not a good combination. No air conditioning, lots of people, and a small room don’t exactly add up. If we are going to survive the heat and not pass out, we need to make sure we are in a good environment! What does that mean? It means we’re surrounding ourselves with good people and not putting ourselves into hot situations! I was lucky enough to be in a room full of amazing people. This is so important! If you’re with people that aren’t going to catch you when you fall, they’re not the people you want to be around. Also, don’t put yourself in hot situations. That’s where the adversary wants you! Make sure you are surrounded by good people and making good decisions. If you do that, you will not pass out!
Third, don’t wait until the very last moment... don’t go to the very end! In Mosiah 4:27 we read, “It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.” While I was speaking, I knew that I was dizzy. I knew that I was going downhill! I started sweating, my hands started shaking, my ears started ringing, and even after all of that, I tried to keep going because I didn’t want to look “weak” or “stupid.” Can you imagine if I had just said, “Oh, I’m a little dizzy. I’m going to sit down. Elder Zhu, could you go get me a glass of water?" I could have said that and everything would have been just fine! There will be moments where the Spirit will tell us we need to go; the Spirit may even give us big signs! But if we don’t listen to them and we don’t follow them, we’re going to pass out. If you know you’re in a dangerous spot, get out. If you think you’re gonna look foolish, I promise that’s not Heavenly Father telling you that! Do what you need to do to be safe! Listen to the promptings of the Spirit, and live worthy to receive those promptings!
Lastly, be the type of person who catches others when they fall! When I said I was dizzy, there was only one sister in the congregation who didn’t laugh, thinking I was being my regular funny self. When I said it, she looked closely and could see I looked quite pale. She then voiced this to her husband, who promptly sped walked up to the front right in time to catch me! This sister recognized that I was in a dangerous spot, and she knew she wouldn’t be able to catch me, so she got someone who she knew would help. I’m grateful for Brother Belnap, who didn’t question his wife and didn’t care how he looked by running up to the front of the room while people thought I was just joking. In the end, if it weren’t for him, I would have fallen back and probably hit my head on the edge of the chalk board that was behind me. After he caught me, he didn’t tell me how stupid I looked or put me down and then leave. He sat me down, told me what I needed to do to get blood back to my head and didn’t leave my side. He whispered in my ear how he had had similar things happen to him in his life. He said that it was no big deal and that everything was going to be okay. He didn’t leave my side until he knew I was in a good enough spot and on the road to recovery. Following the meeting, he was one of the first people who came back up to me to make sure I was feeling better. Be like Brother Belnap! Also, I need to put in a side note and give a big thanks to Elder Lei, as well, who knew that it would help draw attention away from me to keep reading the talk. He kept reading happily and made sure that the meeting kept going smoothly. And when I shared my testimony, he didn’t say, “How could you? I was doing so good!” Rather, he cheered me on, put his arm under me, and helped me finish!
How easy is it for us to see others who are making poor decisions, are less fortunate than us, or look differently than us, and choose to ignore it. I’m not blaming any of the branch members, because I would have probably just chuckled too. But it made me think of how often I have been quick to judge someone, I saw someone when they were pale and I maybe laughed or didn’t bother to do anything! If you think you’re better than someone, I can promise you, you’re not! You are no better than anyone else around you! If someone looks like they’re going to fall, make sure to do what you have the strength necessary to do and go help them! And then, stay with them, help them get better! This could be a sibling, a child, or a friend who has maybe stepped away from the church, or who is just making poor decisions with their life. It could be a homeless person on the street. Whatever the situation is, lend a hand, because those are the people who are qualified for the kingdom of heaven! Show them the light; don’t make them feel stupid for whatever they’ve done. I bet they already feel like a loser. So help them get settled down, get on the right track, and then go with them! Lastly, don’t seek credit for their success. Brother Belnap didn’t say, “Man, you really owe me for catching you!” He just said, “I’m glad my wife told me to go up and I got there in time!” Be an instrument in the hands of the Lord, and then don’t seek praise. Be like the Savior, go about doing good.
My dear friends and anyone who is reading this, I am sorry that this is so long haha! But to end, I want you to know that this church is true! This is the Church of Jesus Christ! We have the opportunity to be saviors on Mount Zion; we can be there to catch people! Make sure you are doing what is necessary to stay spiritually healthy, surround yourself with good people, be in a good environment, don’t seek praise, and be ready to respond to the promptings of the Spirit! I know that Heavenly Father will give us opportunities to catch others if we seek them! He loves His children and will always catch us! This is my testimony, in the name of our Savior, even Jesus Christ, amen.
Love,
Elder Steadman 司长老
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| "Be like Brother Belnap!" |
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| And Elder Lei! |
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| How special to be in the temple with Suzie! |
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| Dinner with Helen and Clark :) |
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| Practicing my uncle skills! |
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| Love this guy! |
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