Xiu Jun Lu — famously known to Asian fare-fans as Jen at Jen’s China Town restaurant — is Powell’s newest American citizen. She was honored during a naturalization service in Moose, Wyoming, on Friday, but she’s been living the American dream in Powell for the past two decades.

Hailing from Nanning, China, Jen was introduced to Phil Klebenstein on Facebook and the two eventually fell in love. It’s a story of a small town boy meeting a big city girl. But with about 7,600 miles between the two locations, a long distance relationship would likely have never worked.

Nanning is the capital and largest city of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in southern China. It’s known as the “Green City” due to its abundance of parks and lush, tropical foliage. Located near the Vietnam border, it’s a major transportation hub and a center for trade with Southeast Asia. Yet, to be with Phil, Jen was willing to leave her beautiful home for a life in the Big Horn Basin.

Lu first applied for citizenship in 2023, 18 years after moving to Deaver and marrying Klebenstein. She studied hard and prepared for her first interview about a year later. Having passed her tests, the couple had to pass on the first naturalization ceremony available. They were notified the day of the ceremony in Casper and couldn’t just close down the restaurant without notice, Klebenstein said.

When they were put on the list for the ceremony in Moose, they had decided to close the buffet so they could have the whole day to celebrate. But when Lu’s bestie — the pastor at United Church of Powell, Janita Krayniak — heard they would need to close on a very busy day for the restaurant, she offered to skip the trip to Moose to see her friend honored and instead stay in Powell and run the restaurant.

The pastor, known for her big smile and loving nature, has been waitressing at Jen’s China Town for more than a year. The restaurant was down on servers and Krayniak wanted to take the pressure off her friends by volunteering to help during their busy times.

“She is so good to people,” Jen said. “One day she come ask me, and say, ‘Jen, I want come to help you ... I see you very busy. You don’t have to pay me anything.’”

While saving souls is her main priority, now Krayniak is an incredible server as well.

“She so sweet, so sweet,” Lu said of her friend.

What Lu didn’t know is that Krayniak and the rest of the China Town employees were planning a surprise party for her return. The party was scheduled for 6 p.m., but since Lu didn’t know about the party and her husband had been sworn to secrecy, Lu wanted to enjoy the parks on the way home. They walked through the door into the party at 9:09 p.m. to find many of her friends and family were still there (although half of one of the cakes was gone).

As the crowd yelled “surprise!” Lu’s face went from tired to excited in a spilt second, lighting up the entire room. Her joyous spirit is infectious.

They celebrated in the back dining room well after the restaurant had closed its doors. People brought gifts and extended their hug times for the special occasion. But when Powell American Legion Post 26 Commander Steven Olsen officially presented her with an American Flag, Lu’s eyes filled with tears of joy.

They were the same heartfelt tears she and her husband (celebrating 20 years in December) shared in Moose, especially during a video message from President Donald Trump.

“Today you receive one of the most priceless gifts ever granted by human hands. You become a citizen of the United States — what an honor,” Trump said in the video. “No matter where you come from, you now share a home and a heritage with some of the most exceptional heroes, legends and patriots.”

Lu said she was caught up in the emotional event.

Put on by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) and presided over by Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming Kelly Rankin, about two dozen new citizens were naturalized in the shadows of Grand Teton National Park. The National Park Service has partnered with USCIS on promoting awareness and understanding of citizenship since 2006. Since the launch of the partnership, the NPS has hosted naturalization ceremonies for thousands of new Americans at sites across the country.

The following day Lu and Klebenstein were back at China Town cooking for their small-town clientele.

“Powell for me, is just a nice, smaller town,” Klebenstein said. “And people are nice.”

Lu is happy here despite being a big city girl. She said the folks who work and patronize at the couple’s buffet are like her family now.

“They love me. I love them,” she said, saying that many of the customers are regulars and they are “blessed” that people love their food.

Jen’s Chinatown is open Thursday through Sunday.