Being engaged for three years may seem like a challenge, but for Lee Phillips, a senior in Pacific Island studies from New Zealand, the wait has been worth it because it has allowed her to complete her education. She will graduate in June and on Aug. 8 she will marry her sweetheart and fiancé of three years in the New Zealand Temple. Speaking of their time apart, Phillips said, “I just needed to do this to be able to live a good life. I was thinking of all of us. It was for my fiancé, me, and my family.” For Phillips and her family, education is atop priority. “It was always just my mom, my older sister and I, and neither of them had the opportunity to go to college. They always knew that I would be the one who could get an education at the university,” said Phillips.Phillips met her fiancé, Donny Ngwun, in New Zealand after she finished high school. They dated for some time while she was attending a university in New Zealand. She said things were going well, but she always felt BYU-Hawaii was where she belonged. She said her sister constantly reminded her of that. After Phillips’ older sister had visited the BYUH campus, she knew that was where Lee needed to go. Phillips said, “She came home and just had a feeling that I needed to go to BYUH. So after we got engaged it was difficult for her. She thought I was hurting myself and the opportunities I could have at BYUH.” Phillips, her fiancé, and her sister made a compromise. She would go to BYUH, but only after she was engaged. So, Phillips was engaged in August and left for Hawaii that same month. Phillips said coming to a new country and school was very difficult, especially atthe beginning. She said she and her fiancé called each other on Skype and the phone, and she said having a common purpose and goal made it work. They have seen each other in person only three times since she has come to Hawaii. She said, “The love that we have for each other has bloomed into something so strong nothing could break it, and nothing ever has. The love that we have is a diamond in the rough – rare, unheard of in days like these – but it’s there. You just have to look for it.”Lily Tarawa, one of Phillips’ best friends who helped her along her journey, said, “I feel that her experience has helped her realize the great amount of potential that she has as a future advocate, teacher and leader. Lee is headstrong, determined, vivacious and empowering and I am grateful for our friendship. I feel she made the right decision because she followed the basic steps of prayer, fasting and seeking guidance from the Lord. Because the Lord was involved in this decision for her to come to school and be away from her family and fiancé for three years, she excelled in both areas of education and eternal perspective.”Phillips said, “I wouldn’t change it. Being by yourself here you learn a lot about who you are and I was able to grow so much independently. I have had both temporal and spiritual blessing from being here and it has helped me to mature. These experiences will prepare me to better help my family.”Uploaded April 2, 2015.
Writer: Trenton McCullough
