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 3rd
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
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