I drafted the following mail at Church on Fast Sunday of Nov 3 in Clementi Ward :
Dear Mom,
How fast time flies since you returned to our Heaveny Home on Nov 6. Just wanted to give you a brief report of things at home here and the family. Ray just celebrated his birthday on Nov 2 turning 16 while Shuan will be 21 next Saturday. Yes our year end birthday months kicked off in October with Su, I and Han celebrating our birthdays in that order.
It was a landmark year as I turned 55 and had a good time celebrating the event for all of us with the old boys in my class/school whom you know well. Not forgetting Fei and Ern who celebrated their birthdays in June, I was glad to be with Fei in a short business trip to LA during the Chinese New Year and also made a trip with Ern, who has turned 18, to the Gold Coast to enjoy time with your brother Clayton.
Here are my journal links of my connection and activities with the family members during the year:
Feb - Chinese New Year, with Fei
May – Remembering you on Mother’s day
June – Birthdays in June with Gold Coast trip with Ern
July - Han 1st year mission report
Aug - Shuan recruited to NS
Oct – Su’s Birthday and Halloween costume with Jay
- Dad's reunion event
Nov - Ray,16 teenager life
I shared the early part of this letter on fast Sunday testimony at Church to thank the members for their fellowship and support to our family in Singapore. At the priesthood meeting, Elder Taylor who is serving as a senior missionary couple asked me which address will I send this letter to? I confidently replied, to your facebook account of course, and explained that I believe you have access to facebook in the Spirit World haha. Seriously, even the quorum of Twelve Apostles have recently officially announced their presence in face book too!
We love you and miss you!
Dad
This week we celebrate Shuan's birthday (Happy Birthday Shuan!), and we also remember the passing of Mom on the 6th of November. An interesting coincidence occurred this past week: my Adidas watch, which was Mom's last gift to me before I embarked on my full-time mission, died. I tried getting the battery replaced but it seems that there is a problem in the circuitry, which is pointless to spend money repairing. It's much cheaper to simply buy a new watch. A friend from the church gave me his watch, so I'm wearing both at the moment. One to tell the time and the other to remember Mom. Only a few people have noticed hehe. When they do ask, it's a great way to start a conversation about Mom's passing, which then allows me to bring up the hope of life after death through Christ and the perpetuation of family relationships beyond the grave. Yeah! V( ^__^ )V
I have said this before, but all that I have in this life, I owe to God, who in turn has given to me through Mom. I would not have the opportunity to touch lives through God's Word if not for the upbringing that Mom provided for me. I realised this even more greatly than before as I've spent time serving God in the UK, away from family and friends. God has been kind to me, as I've found new family and friends here, but I will always have Mom in my heart, spurring me on to be the best that I can be, which was all that she ever desired of me.
I know that just as both the Bible and the Book of Mormon decree, Christ has conquered death for us, and through Him we can conquer ourselves and become like Him. Mom set the example of a true disciple of Christ, in spite of all of her fears and challenges. I am confident that Mom's last wish was for us, her children, her most cherished gems, to continue her legacy of discipleship. She endured her own Gethsemane as Christ did His during His infinite sacrifice, and we will find moments where we will walk a similar path. May we always follow Mom's example of turning to Christ and relying on Him, our sure foundation, which will never fail us.
Till we meet again.
Much Love,
Elder Chong
Post-dated Event :Dear Mom,
How fast time flies since you returned to our Heaveny Home on Nov 6. Just wanted to give you a brief report of things at home here and the family. Ray just celebrated his birthday on Nov 2 turning 16 while Shuan will be 21 next Saturday. Yes our year end birthday months kicked off in October with Su, I and Han celebrating our birthdays in that order.
It was a landmark year as I turned 55 and had a good time celebrating the event for all of us with the old boys in my class/school whom you know well. Not forgetting Fei and Ern who celebrated their birthdays in June, I was glad to be with Fei in a short business trip to LA during the Chinese New Year and also made a trip with Ern, who has turned 18, to the Gold Coast to enjoy time with your brother Clayton.
Here are my journal links of my connection and activities with the family members during the year:
Feb - Chinese New Year, with Fei
May – Remembering you on Mother’s day
June – Birthdays in June with Gold Coast trip with Ern
July - Han 1st year mission report
Aug - Shuan recruited to NS
Oct – Su’s Birthday and Halloween costume with Jay
- Dad's reunion event
Nov - Ray,16 teenager life
I shared the early part of this letter on fast Sunday testimony at Church to thank the members for their fellowship and support to our family in Singapore. At the priesthood meeting, Elder Taylor who is serving as a senior missionary couple asked me which address will I send this letter to? I confidently replied, to your facebook account of course, and explained that I believe you have access to facebook in the Spirit World haha. Seriously, even the quorum of Twelve Apostles have recently officially announced their presence in face book too!
We love you and miss you!
Dad
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Han's email from his mission came in the following day on Monday night with the following excerpt :This week we celebrate Shuan's birthday (Happy Birthday Shuan!), and we also remember the passing of Mom on the 6th of November. An interesting coincidence occurred this past week: my Adidas watch, which was Mom's last gift to me before I embarked on my full-time mission, died. I tried getting the battery replaced but it seems that there is a problem in the circuitry, which is pointless to spend money repairing. It's much cheaper to simply buy a new watch. A friend from the church gave me his watch, so I'm wearing both at the moment. One to tell the time and the other to remember Mom. Only a few people have noticed hehe. When they do ask, it's a great way to start a conversation about Mom's passing, which then allows me to bring up the hope of life after death through Christ and the perpetuation of family relationships beyond the grave. Yeah! V( ^__^ )V
I have said this before, but all that I have in this life, I owe to God, who in turn has given to me through Mom. I would not have the opportunity to touch lives through God's Word if not for the upbringing that Mom provided for me. I realised this even more greatly than before as I've spent time serving God in the UK, away from family and friends. God has been kind to me, as I've found new family and friends here, but I will always have Mom in my heart, spurring me on to be the best that I can be, which was all that she ever desired of me.
I know that just as both the Bible and the Book of Mormon decree, Christ has conquered death for us, and through Him we can conquer ourselves and become like Him. Mom set the example of a true disciple of Christ, in spite of all of her fears and challenges. I am confident that Mom's last wish was for us, her children, her most cherished gems, to continue her legacy of discipleship. She endured her own Gethsemane as Christ did His during His infinite sacrifice, and we will find moments where we will walk a similar path. May we always follow Mom's example of turning to Christ and relying on Him, our sure foundation, which will never fail us.
Till we meet again.
Much Love,
Elder Chong
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Fei posted this at facebook on Nov 6 :
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The following was posted on facebook by Chelsea who tagged all of us in the family as well :
Missing this sweet angel. My thoughts and prayers are with you Han Chong, Sun Fu Chong, Shuan Chong, Fei Wyatt, Chong Woon Ray, Ern & Sue. Not a week has gone by this past year without me thinking about and appreciating this wonder woman.
This is our last farewell family photo with Brian and Amy Monson taken at Church on Nov 24. They are leaving us to go back home to the US with their new baby Issac born while they lived and served us in Singapore. We know you appreciate them as much as we do. Our family tribute to them is found in our blog post here.
(For those who came to this post following Mom's never ending story, please follow the instruction of the last line below to continue the story. Note that the story first started from the blog post here. The last post before this one for the story is found here.
Click here to continue to the next post of Mom's never ending story.)
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