After Vincent was baptized in 1985, he grew steadily in church. We attended a temple preparation class together but I was not ready to be sealed to him for many reasons. So, he waited and waited and at last, 22 years after our marriage, I told him late last year that I will go to the temple with him this year. He was, of course, very happy.

We attended the temple preparation class together in October/November 2005 but sometime even before the class commenced, I had this funny, familiar feeling that overwhelmed me practically everyday for more than a month.. That feeling was kind of bitter sweet – like I was happy and yet sad. I could not fathom nor understand it. Then one day, while attending a Relief Society lesson, it suddenly dawned upon me the words – “Ruby, you are going home”. Yes, home where God is - in the temple I will be able to feel what it is like to be home. Tears welled up my eyes and I believed I have found the reason for that funny, nostalgic feeling.

The days to the trip flew by very quickly. I no longer had that funny feeling. Instead, my deep fear of flying and of air-sickness worried me terribly. I prepared myself by exercising and resorting to Chinese herbal drinks to stay healthy, and obtained some motion sickness pills at the same time. Vincent was always there to encourage me and we prayed together that the Lord will keep me strong.

In the wee hours of 5 Dec, I said a prayer and when the plane took off from the tarmac, I popped half, instead of one, motion sickness pill into my mouth, and braced myself for the usual Merlion spout. To our surprise, somehow, the spout miraculously malfunctioned throughout the 3 & a half hour flight to Hong Kong! We arrived and were greeted by very cold Hong Kong wind.

On Tuesday evening, Vincent and I arrived at the Temple for my endowment and our sealing. We were asked to show our temple recommends. Vincent had told me on the eve of our trip that he had kept them in one of our passport covers. He asked me to take the recommends from the passport covers. Then I was asked if I have a suit of temple garments. Unfortunately, we could not find our temple recommends in the passport covers nor do I have a suit of temple garments. We were told to wait in one of the rooms for a Temple worker to come down and bring us up.

We waited. I was agonizing over the loss of the temple recommends and the fact that I did not have a suit of temple garments for the occasion. I started to bawl. My sister-in-law, Evelyn, said that perhaps I would be able to purchase a suit of temple garments in the Temple itself. Okay, that stopped one tear well from spilling over somewhat. Then, Vincent decided to rummage my wallet and to our surprise, we found the recommends in it! Why on earth did both of us insist that they were in our passports? So, with my tear wells dried up at last, we waited and waited. By then, almost forty minutes had passed and the 5:00 pm appointment was way past and gone.

As miraculously as we found the temple recommends, the Temple President walked in and apologized for the miscommunication. He said he was waiting for us upstairs but we were waiting for him downstairs. All was well at last and the long and anxiously awaited ordinances proceeded immediately!

When I was guided through the endowment process, I broke down numerous times with joy. Throughout the ordinance, I was filled with awe and bewilderment. There were many Singaporean and Hong Kong sisters who attended what was my first endowment experience.

In the Celestial Room, the brothers and sisters from Woodland Ward came forward one after another and hugged and congratulated us. All I saw were smiling faces and eyes welled up in tearful joy. Then, before I could gather my composure, we were whisked into the Sealing Room. Vincent and I were sealed and for me, it was like our wedding all over again. Zhi-Ling, our daughter, came in a short while later, all dressed in white. As we were sealed as a family, my heart was choked with happiness.

The whole experience that Tuesday evening flashed by so fast that I did not even had time to take in the Celestial Room or the Sealing Room, but it was a very exhilarating experience.

We returned to the Temple the next morning for more endowment sessions. By then, I had understood that these were for those who had passed on. I was grateful for the opportunity to be of help to some of the many names waiting for a proxy.

It had been an overwhelmingly wonderful experience. I know that God lives. I know He loves each one of us. I know we can live in that beautiful, peaceful, celestial home if we keep our commandments and hold on to the iron rod.

I bear this testimony in Jesus Christ’s precious name, Amen.