Finding my Genealogy - Elder Goo
Here is a summary of how the Lord has blessed me in finding some of my Genealogy.
As to finding some of family history records, it all started when I received my Patriarchal Blessing in which it stated that it was my responsibility to farrot out the records of my ancestors so that they can enjoy the blessings of the Gospel vicariously." It also stated that you will be successful in finding their records while on a mission and while at home. The blessing was very specific and also said that this duty is resting upon me.
A couple of years later in 1965 I received my mission call to the Southern
Far East Mission with headquarters in Hong Kong. I made some effort to
find some relatives by asking people with the last name of "Goo" what
village they were from in China since I knew my where my grandfather was
from. I also looked in the phone book and made a few calls. After
almost 2 years had passed and not having any success, I began having
doubts about the blessing which I received. I then decided to fast and
pray about it and began to ask almost everyone that I met if they knew
anyone with the family name of "Goo".
One morning after teaching English at an elementary school in Kam Tin, near
Yuen Long, I asked the Principal if he knew anyone by the name of Goo
and he told me that there was a farmer right behind the school and his
name was Goo. We went over right away and sure enough he was from the
same village that my grandfather was from in Chung Saan. He had 2
brothers still living in China and agreed to write to them to ask for
any family records. About 2 weeks later, he called me and said that he
had received 2 letters from his brother. These letters contained some
of our family history which was our line going back about 18 generations
to the year 1395 A.D. We knew that this was our family because even my
name was in the family record. My grandmother who was living in Hawaii
at the time of my birth in 1945 sent the information back to the
village to be recorded. Another interesting thing which this relative
stated in his letter was that their father told them to bury the records
because the Communist were destroying many of the family records. They
were told that these records were valuable and would be of great use in
the future.
In 1981 my parents went back to the village and were able to obtain the complete family record and we were able to do all of their ordinance work for them. In December of 2009 my sister, her husband, my wife and I were also blessed to go to the family village and to meet some relatives who were still there. We were also able to obtain more records from my mother's village. (The Lee family and Chun family)
I certainly have a strong testimony of this great work done in the temples in these latter-days. We can not be saved without our ancestors and we all need to continue to find the records of our ancestors and to do their work for them.
I testify that these things are true. In the holy name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Elder Goo
寻找家谱 - 古长老
以下是神的祝福而让我获得我的家谱的故事。
要说起寻找我的家谱纪录，一切都从我获得教长祝福而起- 它明确指出查找祖先的记录是我的责任,
并由此让我的祖先获得福音的祝福。我的教长祝福还说到：「你会于传教期间和返乡后在寻找祖先的记录中获得成功」。这一项祝福不但非常明确，还让我明白到这个责任该由我来担当。
大概几年后，在1965年我被召唤到以香港为基地的南远东传道部服
务。我尝试努力透过不断询问姓「古」的人他们是从中国的那条村而来，因我知道我的祖父的家乡在哪。我也尝试查找电话薄并为此打过好几次电话问问看。经过毫 无收获的两年，我开始怀疑我曾获得的教长祝福。我决定为此禁食和祈祷，与此同时询问我所遇到的每一个人：他们有否认识的任何姓「古」的人士。
某天早晨，当我在元朗附近的锦田区里的一所小学教完英文后，我询问该学校的校长关于他有否认识任何姓「古」的人。他告诉
我们在该校的后面住着一位姓「古」的农夫。我们快马加鞭地赶过去并确定他是从我祖父的家乡-中山而来。该先生有两位仍然住在中国的弟兄，他也答应帮助我取
得家谱。大概两星期后，他打电话告诉我他的弟兄有两封来信。信上所包含的古氏家谱能追溯到我家18代先祖直到公元1395年。我们认出这份记载的确是属于 我们的家庭-
因为连我的名字亦于纪录当中并被发现出来。原来，我曾住在夏威夷的祖母于1945年当我出生时，曾把我的资料寄给村人并在族谱里被记录下来。另外，还一件 有趣的事：这位亲戚在信中告诉我们他的父亲曾命令他要把家庭纪录埋在土里，以避免被当时的共产党员破坏。他的父亲还告诉他这些宝贵的家庭纪录会于以后有极
大益处。
1981年，我的双亲回到该村庄获得完整的家谱并使我们可以为祖先完成所有圣殿教仪。在2009年12份，我的姐姐，她的丈夫，我的妻子和我蒙祝福回到家乡村子里并和还健在的亲戚见面。我们并且因而蒙福获得更多从我母亲的村庄的纪录（李氏和陈氏）
我毫无疑问地对于这后期时代在圣殿里完成这伟大事工有坚强的见证。我们不能不与我们的祖先一起得救，并且，我们需要继续寻找祖先的纪录和为他们完成救恩的事工。
我见证这些事情都是真实的。奉耶稣基督的圣名，阿门。
古长老
