Dear Friends and Family,
My sweetheart Jennifer has been bugging me to write this letter for many days and being a hard-headed guy I did not do it until now. Merry Christmas to one and all. We love you very much and we wish we can be with you personally, since it is not possible physically. I believe we can do it spiritually, please sit down, close your eyes and think of the good times we have shared together throughout the year. We have had many great times and these memories will be with us throughout eternity. Again, Merry Christmas. See us smiling as we send you our greetings and best wihes.
Ah, life! It is full of spices of bitter and sweet, joy and sorrow. I know you understand. My son Aaron used to say it stinks. I am about to agree with him. Before I get carried away too far and share with you too much of my inner thoughts, I’d better stop and stay on course with the Christmas letter.
The year began with us still serving on our mission in Taipei, Taiwan. In addition to our temple assignments, we also served as the temple patron housing manager, Jennifer the manager and I the assistant. I did as little as possible and was almost always looking for the elders to help, which Jennifer disliked. Then we felt guilty and invited the Elders for a snack. They always appreciated when we extended some TLC, the adults as well. We loved to give out much TLC, and when we did that, we got much more in return. We did this exchange with the local saints as well, some of them were not acquainted with our crazy TLC ideas at first, but by and by they accepted them as well. What is TLC? Our definition of TLC is beyond Tender Loving Care, it is Thoughts, Laughs and Cries. We would have meals together, share our life stories and play games. We loved Phase Ten, the game that Tim, one of our best new son-in-laws showed us, he belongs to Julia.
We completed our mission and returned home on April 6, 2007. We appreciate all the people that came out at midnight to welcome us home.
Our lives are quite different because we had a hard time getting back to civilian life. We missed our family when we were in Taiwan and now we were missing our Taiwan friends when we are home. Jennifer went shopping one day and she was asking help in Chinese.
We returned to working a shift at the Washington Columbia River Temple in May 2007 and that helped stabilize our emotions. We love serving in the temple. We also returned to work at the Clinic. Jennifer as accountant and I take care of those who need me. It is nice to be needed.
In between temple and office works, we manage to reacquaint with our children and grandchildren. They are Dorothy and Mike Gale with kids Kaylee, Kiera, Kassidy and Mikenna. Ted and Stacy with kids James, Emma, Adam and Kyle. Aaron and Allison with kids Dallin, Ashton and Tanner. Tanya and Andy with kids, not yet. Julia and Tim with kids some day. Did I miss any one? I hear a lot of “me, me, me grandpa.” We love you all.
In September, my father Wayne, age 91 got sick. His current health condition is fair. We are thankful to my sisters Florence, Audrey and her husband Ted for taking care of him. We are thankful that my mother Faye age 91, continues to enjoy good health. We are thankful to Audrey and Ted for allowing our parent to stay in their home and providing them with their daily needs.
In November we received a special visit from our bishop. He wants to know if we are ready to go on a new church mission. We inquired of the specifics and agreed to meet with our stake president. After due consideration, we sent email to our family to ask for their input on the subject and received their full support. We submitted our mission papers and on December 21, 2007, our bishop advised us that our mission papers had been approved. We are being called to serve on a two year part-time church welfare service mission assigned to the Mid Columbia region. We will live in our home during the assignment, which begins on January 1, 2008 and ends on December 31, 2009.
We love and appreciate every one of you, dear friends and family. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
David and Jennifer Chan
1 comment:
That's a wonderful letter, Dad! We are proud of the things you have accomplished this year and are happy to have you back home with us and the kids! We all know how much Tanner LOVED meeting you for the first time this year and has not stopped loving you since that first day! :)
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