Sad Day

Yesterday was Chinese New Year.  It's the most important Chinese celebration of the whole year.  All the family members gather together for a feast of special foods.  There's always a whole fish and that must all be eaten so the family will be prosperous in the new year.  The Chinese children love the celebration because they receive new clothes and red envelopes containing money from each of their relatives.  They show their respect and love for the more senior members of the family by kneeing down in front of them and touching their foreheads to the floor three times before they request the red envelope. Chinese New Year celebration extends for fifteen days...a full two weeks of feasting and visiting the homes of all your relatives. It's a time of warmth, kindess and bonding together.

However, we arose early on the 23rd to drive Elder Fini to the airport so he could return home. It was not a day of celebration for us.  Elder Fini is one of our very favorite young missionaries.  He has been struggling with clinical depression and we so desperately hoped he would be able to conquer it rather than need to return home to recover. Elder Fini is an exceptional young man.  He has been on full scholarship for the past two years at Northwestern in Chicago in Organic Chemistry, he plays the piano with such feeling and skill and he has mastered Mandarin more quickly than any other American young missionary we know.  He's just a delight, quick and witty. However, he's been so engaged and focused on school and music that his underlying depression has been submerged. He knew he wasn't happy, but felt like when he was through school, or on a mission, then he would be happy and all he needed to do was prepare and accomplish so he could reach those goals.  Well, here in the mission field there are so many things out of our control.  You can work hard and teach well, but the results are in other individuals' hands.  We also have slow times, very slow times that give you lots of time to think and to realize how you feel. Elder Fini has a strong, genuine belief in the Church and the teachings and divinity of Jesus Christ,but he at this point cannot handle not being more in control of the outcome. So his counsellor has recommended he return home to a schedule he can control, to a familiar environment and then with counselling and careful medication adjustment prepare to return to finish his assignment.  He deeply desires to do that too. We will dearly miss him and his classical prelude to English classes.  It was heavenly!!

Now a word about Elder Jin, his companion.  Elder Jin is from mainland China.  He and his family, father, mother, grandpa, grandma and aunt, make up the only members of the church in their large city. He has been an exceptionally kind, wise companion to Elder Fini.  I have great respect for his maturity at such a young age.