YinPhyu Lwin, from Myanmar, was on her way to Oahu to start her first semester at BYU–Hawaii when she was prevented from boarding her connecting flight from Hong Kong to Japan due to visa issues. Although it was a stressful, she said because of students and faculty’s service, she learned more about how God uses others to do his work.
Lwin, a freshman and elementary education major, said she found herself stranded all alone in Hong Kong. She didn’t speak the language, her family was in Myan-mar more than 1,000 miles away and all of her luggage was gone. But she said one miracle after the next guided her journey.
When she finally arrived in Laie with nothing but the clothes on her back and a bag containing personal items, students and faculty of BYUH came together to serve Lwin in her time of need.
“I was freaking out. I didn’t know what to do. I don’t speak Chinese or anything, so I was afraid,” Lwin recalled of her experience at the airport.
Lwin said she called her friend, BYUH alumna Olive Salerno, who is also from Myanmar. “Olive and her husband helped me get another ticket to go to Shanghai.”
From Shanghai, Lwin said she was able to finally make her way to Honolulu after nearly an 18-hour-long layover. However her luggage had to be left behind in Asia.
Ei Ei “Ruth” Phyu, a freshman double majoring in finance and human resources, is another student from Myanmar who Lwin said she turned to for help when her travel plans went awry. “She told me she couldn’t bring her luggage, so she was crying. I told her it would be okay.”
Before she arrived, emails were sent and calls were made to various members of the faculty about her situation. Phyu said she let Financial Aid and Admissions know about Lwin’s predicament so the necessary arrangements could be made for her to be picked up from the airport after she landed.
Three women who helped Lwin are Janey Grover, senior manager of the Residential Life Administration, Sister Michelle Webb, a full-time missionary currently serving with her husband as Lwin’s Hale parents, and Jenny Velasco, a sophomore majoring in social work from the Philippines.
Grover emailed the Webbs and their residential advisors to let them know Lwin would be coming and needed help. Velasco was the RA working in the office when Lwin arrived to check into her Hale.
Velasco said Lwin looked tired but said she felt good because so many people were helping her. “Ruth was with her. I explained everything to them and what they needed to do to sort things out.” She laughed and shook her head. “There really wasn’t much that I did. I just checked her in actually. And gave her some shoes.”
Webb said she was so touched by Lwin’s story she wrote her friends and family back home in Utah about it. She said she was blown away by all the help they wanted to send to Lwin from the mainland.
“Everybody who hears this story has jumped in. People will come to your aid, like they have for her. We’re all together in this. We’re all LDS. We’re all walking home together. She’s one of those people walking home with us…
“It took faith for her to get on that airplane without her stuff. A lot of kids would never have done that. But she believed, ‘If I get on this plane, someone will be on the other end who will help me.’”
Grover said she received an email from the Dean’s office explaining Lwin’s unique circumstances. Due to her position in the Housing Department, she was asked to help Lwin get the things she would need while she waited for her luggage to be sent to her at a later date.
Grover said she immediately contacted the Give & Take, run by S.W.A.T.T., to arrange a time she could bring Lwin by to get a few things. “I think where the real magic happened wasn’t with anything that happened on an administrative level. It’s what happened with the students who helped her get here.”
Grover said she was impressed with Phyu, Salerno and her husband, and Lwin’s roommate Abish Tarrobago and Tarrobago’s friend Charlene Lee. Tarrobago and Lee are both from the Philippines, and like Lwin are freshman brand new to campus.
Grover said, “These were students who hadn’t been here long themselves ... who didn’t really know each other, but they stepped in with this girl who’d just arrived and were there to support her. My role was just making the connections.”
Lee, an elementary education major, said she was visiting Tarrobago, who is majoring in cultural anthropology, in her room when they first heard about Lwin.
“When we found out she [needed] help… what went through my mind was, ‘I don’t think she just needs material things. I think right now she needs a friend.’ I wanted to help her feel welcome and that people actually care.”
Lee said she had a long journey too and knows how hard it is coming to a new place. “Yin had it way worse than me, so I said, ‘Okay, let’s do this together. Let’s do it with her.’ She was tired, went through a lot and needed succor both temporally and emotionally, so Abish and I willingly served her. Yin’s awesome. She’s so pure, she’s quiet and smiles so much.”
Grover, along with Lee and Tarrobago, helped Lwin find clothes at the Give & Take. Grover said, “I think she just wanted to sleep, but we had so much fun because the three of us got in, nobody else was there, except for Joseph, and we started looking for clothes for her… Yin just wanted enough to get herself started until her things came.”
Joseph Pushnam, a senior from Malaysia double majoring in business and accounting, was the S.W.A.T.T. employee working at the Give & Take the day Lwin came in.
Pushnam said he was not supposed to be there because the Give & Take is normally closed at the time they came. “It was unusual. I suggested during that week, for some reason… that we should be open after the normal hours.”
Grover said when she didn’t hear back from anyone about her plans to bring Lwin to the Give & Take, she felt impressed to go anyway to check if the key she had still worked. “When I got over there, the lock that my key fit wasn’t there anymore, but Joseph was and he actually stayed to help us.”
Pushnam said if he had not been there Grover would have had no way to unlock the gate and get inside. “I wouldn’t say there was a lot of revelation and crazy ministering of angels, but Heavenly Father provides people along the way.”
Grover described the whole experience as a ripple effect. She said she thinks the Lord’s hand was definitely in the whole process guiding Lwin and placing the right people in her path, like Phyu and Salerno, who were able to help her before she ever boarded the plane.
Grover said Pushnam did not help them pick out clothes, but he was involved in helping them track down other things Lwin needed. “One of the cool things I remember him saying was, ‘Do you have your scriptures?’ And she didn’t, and that was really important to her, so he was able to find scriptures for her.”
Lwin said she got a set of scriptures from the Give & Take but she wanted a triple combination because it’s easier to have the books altogether. She said another prayer was answered, “One of the missionaries in Academic Advising had been praying [for an opportunity] to give her triple combination to somebody. Ruth told her I wanted one so she gave it to me.” Lwin said another thing she was hoping to find at the Give & Take was a rice cooker, but they couldn’t find one. She then said it wasn’t long before someone gave her one of those too.
Lwin said, “I’ve never had an experience like this in my life. Everyone has been really kind and this has strengthened my testimony so much.” Lwin said because of the example of her new friends, she’s been inspired to help other people too.
Phyu said she’s grateful for the people who were ready and willing to help Lwin in her time of need. “I think [it’s human nature to] have that instinct to help someone. For her it was a terrifying experience, but for us it was a great blessing to help her. She’s here and studying, and she’s enjoying her student life. I just want to thank everyone who’s helped her because she’s like my little sister.”
Webb, along with Phyu, helped Lwin get the job she now has working at the Polynesian Cultural Center in the Food Pantry.
Lwin said she was worried she would not be able to get a job because she was so late arriving for the New Student Orientation so she turned to God for help. “This is like an answer to my prayers. I got into my interview and there were only two vacant jobs left. I could choose either the Food Pantry or dishwasher.” A big smile crossed her face as she added, “So I chose the Food Pantry.”
Webb said because of her job Lwin was able to bring food home so she had something to eat until she could make it to the grocery store.
Now that she has clothes, food and a job, Lwin said she’s settling into her new life at BYUH. “I really love it. BYU–Hawaii is different than other universities. It is such an awesome place to study, and the people here are so kind. This experience has strengthened my testimony of relying on Heavenly Father even through hard times.”
Grover said Lwin’s story is a perfect example of the new motto she wants the Housing Department to adopt, “Stand close together and lift where you stand,” inspired by a talk given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. She said, “We want to start a movement that’s about students coming together to help students… Yin’s story is incredible, and there have to be other stories out there like hers of students helping students.
“It’s sad because students don’t always support… and lift each other. It’s important to us to try to change that, and also change how we do things. We want to be able to lift and serve students better. That’s the heart of who we are.”
Not only is Lwin one of the first students from Myanmar to come to BYUH, but she’s also, according to Phyu, one of the first converts to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that make up their small branch. Lwin served in the Utah Salt Lake City Mission and said she is so excited to share her experience with the students of BYUH.
Writer: Emi Wainwright