Christmas celebrations!

     There are Christmas decorations everywhere; at the malls, on the streets, in the apartment complexes, restaurants, ... yet the Christmas spirit is not quite there.  Contrast to that, my sister Alice and I were at Washington D.C., one week before Christmas a few years ago.  There were no Christmas decorations anywhere.  Well, except for the Korean restaurant where we had lunch, there were Christmas decorations, with Christmas music playing softly in the background.  I remember the feeling of Christmas spirit there.  What is the Spirit of Christmas?  It is the Spirit of God working on us.  It is the Spirit that whispers to us when we are still and listening.  It's the good feeling that we feel many times when we are on our mission.  We are grateful for the wonderful people of Taiwan who made our stay here so memorable.

     Christmas Eve:  We were invited by the Lin family to have dinner with them.  The missionaries shared Christmas stories.  Then we went out caroling to the Lin's neighbors.  We were able to explain to the neighbors about family history and family search.  It was fun evening.

Needless to say, we had a good time.

December 13 - 15:  Temple weekend

     This is our favorite time of the year.  East and Gaoxiong Stakes had the temple day on Dec. 14.  We usually go a day earlier to work at the temple serving the English speaking members.  This was especially special because my sister Ling is with us and also we invited the senior missionaries from TaiZhong Mission to come to enjoy the festive activities at Church in Taipei.  The most amazing thing was that the Family History Department Head, Elder Allen Packer came for a visit.  Elwin and I were able to suggest that a fireside for the Gaoxiong members be held in Taipei after the temple sessions since the members were already there.  We were so happy that it worked out.  Elder and Sister Packer, and Elder Rockwood were the speakers.  They brought messages of love and concern and also the roll out of the focus of Family History.  

    We stayed for the evening Nativity Pageants on Saturday night.  It is usually held outdoors, but because of the rain, it was moved to the cultural hall for the 7 PM showing.  The English Speaking Ward did a fantastic job.  We then stayed for the missionaries choir afterwards.  We stayed at the Citizen's Hotel (星辰大飯店) on JinShan South Road.  It was a fine hotel.  

Dec. 19:  TaiZhong Mission Christmas Activity

    We took a tour bus at 6 AM with all the Gaoxiong District missionaries and headed for SunMoon Lake.  The main activity was a group picture and the big feast at the TaiZhong Buffet Steak House.  I loaded up on seafood while others went for the steaks.  Elwin had Mongolian BBQ.  It was fun to be with the other senior missionaries too.  We got back at 9:30 PM (me with an aching body).  

     Thanks to all the people who made the activity possible.  We had a good day!

Dec. 22:  East Gaoxiong Stake Christmas Party

     Not only did we have tons of food, we also had a talent show by the children and youth.  Also invited was the local elementary school orchestra with 3rd, 4th and 5th graders.  It was very special.

The missionaries had a service project at the local Red Cross on Dec. 22.  It was a wonderful opportunity for us to do some outreach.

 

  

  

聖誕節快閃報佳音-韓德爾《哈利路亞頌》(中文字幕chinese lyrics)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas 2013 and a Happy New Year 2014
from Kaohsiung (Gaoxiong), Taiwan!

Dear Friends and Family,

 

We hope that this Christmas letter finds all well with you and yours.

We are looking forward to going home at the end of February (Feb. 25 to be exact) because one of our grandchildren only remembers seeing us on Skype, and another two were born within the last few months.  We want to go hold and hug them; and of course we want to hold and hug the older ones too.

Nearly sixteen months ago we left Saint George and headed back to Asia again, this time to work as family history missionaries in the southern third of Taiwan.  We feel very blessed to have been called to the Taiwan Taizhong mission to do this work.  Incidentally, doing genealogy in Asia and the West is an “apples and oranges” situation; the sources and the processes are very different, and both have their own set of advantages and difficulties.

There are twenty-nine branches and wards (three stakes and one district) in our assigned area.  We have spoken in every one at least once, speaking more than fifty times so far.  Of course, Shirley does much better than Elwin does when speaking in Chinese.  We have made a positive impact on the amount of family history being done in our assigned area, but it is difficult to measure. 

Together with the Director of the Family History Center and one sister from each of the Gaoxiong stakes, we have changed the FHC into a place for learning, not just for occasional research.  When we came to Gaoxiong a little over a year ago, members only came by occasionally.  After beating the bushes (giving talks and providing training), the five of us have been able to increase the attendance to about a dozen people each Wednesday night.  People are excited now that they have a felt the Spirit of Elijah as they are finding success in their efforts.  We feel that our work has been very rewarding.

Shirley has also found much success in her genealogical research.  She has completed her mother’s patriarchal line back 4500 years; it goes back to the original Chinese emperor, Huang Di.  She has also completed about 3500 years of her father’s line.  What makes the Chinese genealogies difficult is the dearth of female names.

Our work was happily interrupted by a visit by our daughter I-Shuan last spring; Shirley’s sisters Alice and Ling came at that same time with Ling’s husband Stan and nephew Dennis.  In late summer, our son Nelson and granddaughter Madisen came for a visit, too.  This was the first time that I-Shuan and Nelson had been in Taiwan since we left in 1981 when they were still children.  This was Madisen’s first trip.  Visits are something that the senior missionaries are privy to that the younger missionaries aren’t.

We have moved since our last Christmas letter.  We needed an apartment that was more centrally located to the various modes of transportation we use.  Previously we had to walk quite a distance to catch the bus to go anywhere.  Taxis were also not readily available.  In our present location we just step outside of our door and buses are available to take us to three chapels; one requires a bus transfer.  We also have the subway nearby so that we can go to several other chapels, the train station for going to other cities, the airport and the high speed rail for when we go to Taipei. 

An addition to our modes of transportation came in the form of a key to a brand new Toyota Corolla when we went up to the Mission Home for Thanksgiving.  We had commented that the senior missionaries’ work was hindered by the lack of transportation to remote areas, so the Asia Area Presidency approved for us to have a car for Gaoxiong and one for the couple in JiaYi because we cover very large areas.  Because of the lack of available parking and the convenience of buses while we’re in town, we really don’t use the car very much.  We did have a small miracle here in our apartment complex when we got a parking space the 3^rd day after we got the car; parking spaces are not readily available.  The Lord takes care of his missionaries.

We’ll have a difficult time leaving this Gaoxiong as we have made so many good friends.  The saints here are so loving and giving.  They’ve kept on giving us the excuse of  “Where would we be if we didn’t have the missionaries?”  They take care of us, some as if we were their parents.  It’s been gratifying.  Of course, the fresh fruits and vegetables each day is enough to spoil anyone, too.  We are spoiled. 

Another great year!  We’re blessed to have met many kind and wonderful people.  We are especially grateful for this time of year when we celebrate the birth of our Savior.  There are no words that can express our love and gratefulness we have for Him.  May this be your best Christmas and new year ever.

With much love,

Elder Elwin and Sister Shirley Davis

Celebrating My 70th Birthday!

I was trying to think what my mom looked like when she was 70, but remembered that she passed away 2 months before she turned 69.  So I really wouldn't know what she looked like when she was 70, would I?  She was a beautiful woman, but life had dealt her some pretty hard curves.  She started having health problems before she turned 40.  I remember her thyroid problems, her eye problems, and I also remember her legs were so swollen that they looked like elephant's legs.  In fact, that was what they called them then, the elephant's legs.  I remember she used to go to Taiwan University Hospital to see her cousin, who was the head of eye department at Tai Da.  She ended up with serious diabetes problems.  The disease finally took her life as her kidneys, then her heart failed her.  But this is her beautiful wedding picture.  Notice the beautiful bouquet?  We made similar bouquets for our two daughters' weddings.

Mom and Dad's wedding picture

 Now I'm older than when Mom passed away and I'm also in much better physical shape too.  Mom worked hard for us because she loved us so much.  That's probably one thing I learned the most from her.  I love our children so much even though we've been apart because we've been serving missions.  I sure miss them even though we talk at least once a week.  I remember staying at home to care for them when they were young, and didn't go back to school to get my Master's degree until when I-Kang was in 3rd grade.  I didn't even start my PhD. Program until all the kids have served their missions, 3 of them have completed their degree and Kang was almost done with his BYU undergraduate degree.

Some celebrating below:

Flowers from my Honey                                Roses from Elaine and David

Had dinner with "Work Hard Have Fun" at the Thai Restaurant

A beautiful birthday cake w/taro filling from Sister Au - DELICIOUS!

Celebrating with Rita, Tina and ZiXuan

Oh, the many friends I have!

Our dear friends, Susan and BaiSheng

Celebrating with the Sister Missionaries 

Celebrating with Brother and Sister Dong

It was a very fun birthday indeed!  Thanks to my Sweetheart, children and dear friends for helping me celebrate!

Love y'all!

Honoring Professor Lai Zai-de, My Uncle

【台南訊】成功大學博物館將於2013年11月8日(五)上午10:00於國立成功大學博物館(成功校區)舉行「賴再得教授百歲冥誕紀念展 暨 成大教職員教學研究蒐藏品特展II」聯合開幕典禮。典禮邀請黃煌煇校長和褚晴暉館長、賴再得教授之家人與三位成大教職員借展人共同開幕。本次活動由國立成功大學博物館主辦，共同慶祝成大82周年校慶。

賴再得教授是一顆奉獻於臺灣高等工業教育的大粒種子。他誕生於1913年10月19日的台南府城，是成功大學前身-台南高等工業學校第一屆學生，也是第一代返校任教的畢業生。他終身奉獻於工程教育，從日治時期的台南高等工業學校到戰後的成功大學，即使在戰亂流離艱困的日子裡，他仍然堅守教育崗位，建立研究風氣，受到學術界尊崇，敬稱為臺灣工程教育的一顆大種子。今年正逢賴再得教授百年冥誕，成功大學師生飲水思源，緬懷賴教授的人格與學術風範，以感恩的心情，在成大八十二年校慶的時刻，特別規劃此展向賴再得教授致敬。
Dr. Lai, Tsai-Teh, my uncle, was honored at a ceremony celebrating his 100th birthday during a special exhibition at the National Cheng Kong University Museum where he was a professor.  Dr. Lai was born on October 19, 1913.  He was one of the first graduates of the then Tainan Technical School during the Japanese Occupation Period.  After World War II, the school became the National Cheng Kong University.  Dr. Lai was the first graduate who came back to become a professor there.  He established the Chemical Engineering Department, later he also created the graduate school for that department.  To show appreciation for his contribution to the chemical engineering at the university, an exhibition was created at the Museum in his honor.

           Lai, Ya-Zhi 賴雅枝 (daughter)                               Dr. Lai, Zai-de 賴再得

Shirley and Elwin Davis at the Cheng Kong University President's desk

At the NCKU Museum for my uncle's memorial exhibition, a volunteer worker came up to me and asked what my name was. She turned out to be my dear cousin's daughter. What a happy reunion. 在成大博物館參加一個展覽會時，有位志工小姐問我的名字。原來她是我表姐的女兒。太高興了！

宋文惠，陳惠美，戴亞文

A very special day at the Family History Center

We started doing a monthly training meeting for the Family History consultants and anyone who would like to do family history in the Gaoxiong East and West Stakes a few months ago.  The results have been amazing.  We've had many people attending.  September 25th  agenda is:

1. Sister Chen MeiLi:  finding family history and writing family stories
2. Elder Davis:  show how westerners do genealogy and what we can learn from it
3. Sister Davis and Sister Chen LiXue:  updates on family tree
4. Q/A and other

Prior to the meeting, I received a phone call from a non-LDS gentleman who would like to come by the Family History Center to share something with us.  He was invited to come to join us in the training meeting since he indicated that he was looking for more information about his family, and we could show him what we do.

1.  Sister Chen MeiLi's presentation was very emotional.  In her research for this presentation, she focused on her maternal grandfather, Lin 林禮涵.  She knew he was a musician, but what she found was truly amazing.  Her sister and brother told her that Grandfather Lin was a famous pianist, songwriter and composer.  She googled her grandfather and found out he was the first folk song writer of Taiwan.  He married a famous singer and she made his songs so popular that when MeiLi played a couple of the songs for us, everyone started singing along.  It was so beautiful.  MeiLi remembered her grandfather teaching her piano, but when she started singing, he stopped teaching her because MeiLi's mother didn't want her daughter to become a singer.  Society had stigma about women singers and she didn't want her daughter to go through that.  MeiLi is an accomplished pianist, but she often wondered what would have become of her if she had become a singer.
Here is what I found on the wiki about her grandfather: http://taiwanpedia.culture.tw/web/content?ID=28805
Some of songs are:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIv2CzSYH-o
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnfsxAUc34c

2.  Elder Davis took us to some websites where westerners can go for resources.  Wiki is one of them.  He also showed everyone a list of urls. (As provided by St. George Family History Center, Elder Midgely in May 2012)

Vital Records:  Usually birth, marriage and death (BMD) records created by governments.  It can also include many other types of records, such as divorce, adoption, wills, probates, etc.  In many areas church records are used as a substitute for government vital records because government records are a fairly recent option.  They began to be kept over a wide time span in various parts of the world so you will need to check on the situation for each locality.

US Vital Records:  Some go back to colonial times but many did not begin until after 1920. Most are not complete, so if you search and do not find one, it simply may mean that they may not have been recorded.  It is estimated that until recently 10% or more were not recorded. 

Four "W's":

1.     Who- be specific!

2.     What - birth, marriage, death, etc. (What are you looking for?)

3.     Where - geographic location (You need to find out what was available in that location.)

4.     When - approximate date - (You need a date to determine what records they had in that time frame.)

Sources for answering the three of the four "W's":

·      Family Search Research Wiki -  https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page       Search for "vital records"

·      FamilySearch Help Index -  https://help.familysearch.org/help/self-help     Then select "Vital Records Index"

·      Ancestry's Red Book - Spend some time looking through this. Available in our FHC.

·      Ancestry.com Family History Wiki - http://www.ancestry.com/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page     This new Wiki contains all the information from the Red Book above.  Search for (state) vital records.

·      The Handy Book for Genealogists: United States of America - Available in our FHC. Look through it.

·      Cyndi's List - http://www.cyndislist.com/     Always a good source of everything in genealogy

·      USGenWeb Project -  http://usgenweb.org/    Great information for each state.

·      WorldGenWeb Project -  http://www.worldgenweb.org/   Great starting point for many nations

·      FamilySearch Library Catalog - https://www.familysearch.org/#form=catalog     A goldmine of resources!  You need to spend time exploring this treasure!

·      Google, Yahoo, Bing  and many other search engines

·      There are many other excellent sites, but this will get you started and the above links with lead you to others.

     3.  Mr. Lin, our visitor came about an hour late because he had a hard time finding the church.  We introduced him, and he was very happy to share with us the story of his family history connection with the Church.  Back in the 1970's, some Church representatives came to his family to film their family history clan book.  He was away at the time, but his father told him about it, and he was hooked on genealogy ever since.  Since his retirement from the Bank of Taiwan as a branch

manager, he has devoted a lot of his time on family history.  His curiosity took him to the Church family history website and he was able to find us.  But he was puzzled that the microfilm number that was left at his father's house didn't produce much information.  Sister Chen and I started searching for the microfilm online.  It took a while, but we found the file.  But we could not go into the file even though it said that it was online.  Sister Chen said she would go to the Center cabinet to take a look.  Another miraculous event happened.  Sister Chen came back to the classroom holding a microfilm in her hand.  Our eyes met, and I knew a miracle just took place.  We had but a few microfilms in the cabinet.  Mr. Lin's clan book was on that roll.

     The Spirit of Elijah was there with us that night.  I have told many people in my presentation that our church started filming, photographing records in Asia some forty or fifty years ago.  I have seen many of those records online on familysearch.org now, including my mom's Shi Family Clan Book.  But this is the first time I actually met someone whose clan book was filmed 40 years ago in Taiwan.  

a    At the end of the training, Sister Cai, a dear consultant from ZuoYing Ward came to give me a big hug and to say good-bye.  She has met her eternal companion through Singles Conference a few months ago and decided to tie knots and get married.  If anyone understands how many faithful, beautiful, smart single sisters (many of them have served missions) we have here in Taiwan, you'd understand why we get so excited when one of them finds an eternal companion. It was a great ending for a very special night.  But it didn't end yet...

     My brother--in-law, Stan Winters and his son, Dennis, from the US, showed up at church at the end of the meeting.  How happy we are to see them.  It was after 9 PM, but we were able to find a nice noodle shop for them to have a bite to eat.  On our way home to our apartment and to their hotel, I mentioned to the taxi driver that my nephew was having sciatic nerve problems (from driving from Provo to Spokane and then riding in an airplane for 16 hours to Taiwan) and asked if he would stop at a pharmacy for us to get some help.  The rest is classic.  I'm posting what Stan said about this experience:

     Dennis and I went to the chapel to meet Shirley and Elwin. They had a meeting and we met them there at about 9PM. Then we went out to a little noodle place and had dinner. Had a good time.  Dennis was having trouble with his back, butt, and legs as they were hurting him. Interesting story: after dinner, we got a taxi and first took Elwin and Shirley to their apartment, and then we took it the rest of the way to our hotel. On the way to Elwin and Shirley's house Dennis was really in pain.  Shirley asked the driver where there was a pharmacy so we could buy Salonpas. After Shirley and the driver discussed Dennis' situation, the driver offered to give Dennis a massage. I thought, "no way, you got to be kidding." Dennis felt the same. But Shirley said, "O that would be great!"  Dennis and I were both stunned. We told Shirley we were really skeptical and really didn't feel right about it. But she insisted saying, "No, these people really know what they are doing".  Hmm. So on our way back to the hotel we talked to the driver and Dennis said he was curious enough to give it a try. So when we arrived at the 5-star hotel, the driver parked his taxi and went up to the room with Dennis and proceeded to massage his legs. Dennis said he felt it had some very good results. We tried to pay the guy but he didn't want anything and offered to teach Dennis later, if he wanted.  I would not do that in a million years in New York !!!   Cab driver says, " say there, let me come up and massage your legs to make them feel better". Uh Huh - right!    

Brother Liu LanSheng said in his FB: 會場中我們見到 戴姐妹和好幾個姐妹相擁相泣！大慨有的姐妹要離開高雄？有的是感傷戴姐妹她們快要離開台灣了！更有兩個姐妹相擁相泣是為了友誼，為了愛！

(I saw Sister Davis and several sisters hugging each other in tears at the end of the meeting. They have developed such friendships between them. It would be hard to see them go.)

今夜！今夜！一個靈性的夜晚！ (Tonight, tonight, what a spirtual night!)

That was our special night!  We thank our Lord Jesus Christ for His love for all His children!

A trip down the memory lane in Tainan

My family moved up north to Taipei during my high school senior year in 1960.  After graduating from Tainan 1st Girls' High School, I went to ChengChi University to study.  We came back to Tainan to visit occasionally, but never had the chance to visit any famous places.  After living in the US for 45 years, we came back as LDS Family History missionaries.  Things have changed so much.  Tainan is no longer a small city that I grew up in.  .....

Brother Chen Xian Jin 陳賢進, our Southern Taiwan Family History District leader, a former stake president, took us on a special trip to visit Tainan, his hometown, and my hometown.  How grateful we are for his kindness!  We haven't seen or heard of any of these places that he took us.  It is truly amazing.

First Stop

Lu-Erh-Men Holy Mother Temple鹿耳門聖母廟:  Fashioned after the Beijing’s Forbidden City （北京紫禁城宮殿）, the place is humongous.  It started out to be a place where Koxinga (Cheng Chen Kung) landed when he came to Taiwan.  As immigrants came to Taiwan, this was the place when they entered the island, AnPing Port.  Rich historical writings are available on the web.    The Davis' and Brother Chen

Second Stop:  The tree house in AnPing

安平樹屋
An abandoned house with Banyan trees growing over it. The roots overgrowing the house makes for nice pictures and it just looks amazing. You can also catch a great view of the river.

Third Stop: Eternal Golden Fort 億載金城－ Erkunshen Artillery Fort, it is also called Anping Big Artillery Fort. The Fortress was built in 1874 to shore up Taiwan defense against the Japanese threat.  The Imperial (Qing Dynasty) General Inspector Shen Boazhen surveyed Anping's topography, and petitioned to build an artillery fort at Erkunshen.  Designed bya  French engineer and armed with British weapons, it was finished in 1876.  Above the outer and inner arches of the brick gateway is inscribed "Eternal Golden Fort 億載金城".

Fourth Stop:  The Mangrove Greenway Chanel (四草大衆廟竹筏港綠色隧道) - this video was recorded by Brother Liu

It was a very fun trip on our p-day, Friday, September 13th.

Here is a collage of the trip.

Family History Recorded Testimonies

It has been an amazing journey. Since we came to Taiwan to serve a family history mission, the sky opened to us. The Spirit of Elijah has been with us as we continued to find connections to the past. We continued to find more and more information about the Song Family. It finally reached Huang Di, the first recorded Emperor of China. I cannot even fathom the idea of going beyond 4 or 5 generations, but we traced the Song lineage all the way back to the beginning of Chinese civilization. Yes, we do have a gap between Song Yong (0585 - 668 AD), to Song Zhang (1791 - 18??). Someday we'll find that too, I'm sure. Below is my testimony as recorded by Brother Liu LanSheng.

We were also able to find my Shi line, Mom, Shi MeiLian's line, all the way to Huang Di too.  Truly, it has been a testimony building time.
 

During the past 2 months, we have also helped several members trace their ancestors to Huang Di.  With their permission their testimonies are posted as follows:

衛范秋蓉 的祖先己追到 黃帝 了- in Chinese

楠梓支會 杜冬梅姐妹，赴大陸尋家譜的心路歷程！




鳳山支會的 戴華欣姐妹：我先生 薛氐家諳 追到黃帝了！





潮卅支會的劉姐妹：家譜己追到黃帝了！


江振嘉 主教 家譜追到黃帝了！

Visited by Nelson and Madisen

    It was so fun to have our son Nelson and granddaughter Madisen visit us.  They arrived on July 31, and left on August 6.  It wasn't long enough, but we were so happy to have them.

     It was definitely a cultural extravaganza for Madisen since this was her first trip to Asia.  In Taipei, we visited Aunt Mei Juan.  We also went to visit Fang Mama who was our house helper when we lived in Taiwan from 1977-1981.  It was very fun for Fang Mama to see Nelson all grown up and his beautiful daughter Madisen.  

     The trip to Hua Lian was fun as we were able to find Brother Chen, the tour guide, to take us in his taxi and toured all over Taroko Gorge.  We'd be happy to share his contact information if you want to tour there.

     Once back in Gaoxiong, we did a couple of night markets, traditional market in the morning and some shopping at the big beautiful shopping mall.  We also took a boat ride on the Ai River.  The place has become a tourist place since Elwin was a missionary here 50 years ago.

     We also took Nelson and Madisen to Tainan and visited the Song village.  Some cousins came to show them around while the others stayed to talk about family history.  It was so nice to know that there are some Song relatives who are interested in finding roots.  One of them was sure that some of our ancestors migrated to Xiamen 廈門 because one of the tombstones had a place inscribed and he was able to find the place in Xiamen.  Xiamen is only a few kilometers from the original place of settlement for the Song family back in the 6th and 7th centuries AD.  It's been nice to find more and more leads to our family history.  Best of all, we are finding stories of the ancestors too, some good, some bad, but that's the way it was.

     Nelson and Madisen enjoyed visiting the Confucius Temple and Koxinga Shrine too.  They were able to get a few souvenirs there.  Taiwan is not a bargain place like it used to be anymore.  We could actually get a lot of things cheaper in the US.  But, still, Madisen was able to find some cute shoes and clothes too.  With the red envelops she received, she was all set for shopping.

     Because they were leaving on a early morning flight, we took the bullet train and headed for Taoyuan the night before.  The bullet train travels around 200 miles an hour making it only a 90-minute trip.   Hilary reserved a couple of rooms at the airport hotel for us so we stayed instead of coming home that night.  We had fun visiting TaoYuan night market.  It was a very good trip indeed.   

Taking MRT subway, visiting Taipei 101, shopping at the traditional market

Visiting Taipei, taking a train ride to HuaLian, Brother Chen, the travel guide took us to Taroko Gorge

At Taroko Gorge, Gaoxiong Love River, and up to TaoYuan to go home

My Cousin's 90th Birthday Party

Cousin 施慧娥's 90th Birthday Celebration

With Cousin 施瓊娥，慧娥‘s younger sister and Mom's best friend when they grew up together.

With Cousin 施性傑，慧娥‘s young brother.  He and my dad, 宋漢秋，studied in Japan together.

Grandsons and granddaughter singing

Elwin Davis, Cousins 施鐘武／慧珍

Great-granddaughters with birthday balloons

Meri, 施瓊娥's daughter, the hostess, read the poem she wrote for her aunt

Daughters and daughter-in-laws singing

     I compiled a Shi 施 Clan book II, an 80-page publication, and presented to Cousin 施慧娥 for her birthday。 I printed 40 copies and they were all gone before the party was over.  The Shi Clan book included the Shi lineage from our grandchildren's generation all the way up to Huang Di, the first emperor of China as recorded in the Chinese history.  Sources of information are:

1. The Shi Clan Book published in 1923:  It is now in the LDS Church Family History collections.  https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1-18066-22146-1?cc=1787988&wc=M97X-1CV:1177663757
2. The Shi notebook from Aunt Shi Mei Juan with pedigree charts
3. google.com, baidu.com, youku.com, etc.
4. Clan book collection at the Gaoxiong Family History Center in Gaoxiong

   A website is set up on https://www.facebook.com/groups/shiahgong/
   Email us on shiahgong@groups.facebook.com

   The Shi Clan Book included pictures and stories of ten famous ancestors, starting with Huang Di (黃帝）on page 16 and 施世綸 on page 22 of the 1923 Shi Clan Book (url listed above).

 

     The picture above on the right is 施世綸, with the notation that he was a very righteous judge and the first Han Official working as a chief judge for the Qing Dynasty Emperor Kang Xi.  That left an impression on me about this special person.

     Last night, as I was flipping through TV channels, I noticed a Chinese TV series called "Judge Shi Gong" (Gong is a title).  I thought the name sounded very familiar.  So I started watching.  It was very interesting.  He was a little like a King Solomon who judged wisely and people loved and respected him.  It wasn't until today that I remember seeing his name in our Shi Clan Book.  I found him in the book.  There is a TV series about Judge Shi Gong, my direct ancestor.  That was so amazing and incredible.

     We are loving our blessings of finding my ancestors.  The joy is beyond words.  We hope to be able to help people here to enjoy doing their family history.  It's not just a hobby, it's a responsibility as we connect with our ancestors.  May the Spirit of Elijah be with you as you search for your ancestors.