Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong: Rely on the Power of Heaven
Contributed By By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News staff writer
Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong and Sister Carol Wong pose for a photo in Salt Lake City, Monday, April 7, 2014.
Article Highlights
- Elder Wong was sustained as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy on April 5, 2014.
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As a new convert and student at Brigham Young University–Hawaii, Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong gained much more than an education—he gained a sure knowledge that there is a God who knows the “details of the details of our lives.”
Born May 25, 1962, in Hong Kong, China, to Ngan Kan and Fat Wong, Elder Wong was one of seven children growing up in a small apartment. After completing secondary school, he met Carol Lu at work. She introduced him to the gospel, and he began the missionary discussions.
“I was a bit scared,” recalled Elder Wong. “Once I started to know more about the members and the missionaries, it was good.”
The young investigator was baptized February 14, 1982.
A little over a year later, on July 9, 1983, he married Carol.
Sister Wong, a graduate of BYU–Hawaii, knew that education would also benefit her husband, so the young couple moved to Laie, Hawaii.
Because he was in Hawaii on a student visa, Elder Wong could work only 20 hours a week. “We had to really exercise our faith and prayers,” he said of what it took to sustain his family.
He worked hard to earn a scholarship and then, to maximize the financial benefit, took as many credit hours as the university would allow. “It wasn’t easy,” he recalled. “Once we had that experience we knew we could always rely on the power of heaven.”
The Wongs were sealed in the Laie Hawaii Temple on August 9, 1984. They are parents of four children. “Those years were very special, very sacred,” he said.
After studying three years and four months, Elder Wong received a bachelor of science degree in accounting and an associate of science degree in computer science. He felt he needed “to go back to Hong Kong to serve.”
He would later receive an MBA from the Hong Kong Open University. During his career, Elder Wong was the founder and partner of a business and quality consulting company and also worked at a materials testing and inspection group where he began as the senior accountant and left the company as the deputy managing director.
He served as a bishop, stake president, and Area Seventy. He participated in the dedication of the Hong Kong China Temple and has seen the Church grow and prosper in his homeland. He was sustained April 5 as a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy.
