Talents Revealed

I keep forgetting to mention, HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA H.!! I know it was a couple weeks ago but I hope you had a great day! Hugs and Kisses from the MTC :)

It's so good to be able to write home again and tell you all about how I am doing!! First off, I'd like to thank Marilyn for the goodies she sent me and grandma and grandpa for the fruit! It was definitely a treat! Also thanks family for sending me some sock buns (I LOVE them!), some treats, and school pictures!! Marissa, Lachlan, and Alexa--you are all growing up so fast! You all look so grown up in your pictures! I love them! They are hanging by my bed. Thanks so much for the cute little pumpkin also. I LOVE it! It's our Halloween decoration. :)

Elder Haacke: I loved reading your email this week. You seem to be doing great! I am so proud of you and you are a huge example to me! Keep teaching the people of the Philippines. They sure need you there right now! :) Your spider story and getting locked out was pretty funny! but you ruined your clothes just trying to get into your apartment?! haha Do you see those huge spiders everywhere? I look forward to reading your email next week! Keep pressing the work forward!

Here are the highlights of my week:

Mom you're going to be proud!! This last week, I went and checked out some music, called No Ordinary Man. On Saturday night, my whole district and I went to a room and I played a whole bunch of random hymns and my district sang to them. It was so cool and then I sight read No Ordinary Man. It's going to be a really pretty song. Sis Moe sings to it and it is so pretty! Sis Moe and Sis. Allen threw me under the bus on Sunday (Yesterday) and they told the sister in charge of music that I play the piano. So I am playing next week in Sacrament meeting. I don't know how to play any of the songs we are singing so all my free time this week (which is like little to none) will go to practicing for Sacrament meeting. And in Sacrament meeting, we sing in Chinese so it will be a little different, but I'm excited! I loved playing the piano! I hope that I will be able to play in Taiwan as well. 

On Monday the oldest Sisters and Elders in our zone left for their reassignments in the U.S while they wait for their visas to Taiwan. Saying goodbye was hard. We get so close. Luckily, I will be able to see a lot of them in Taiwan. Next week another group of Elders and Sisters will be leaving our Zone. Most of them are going to England or Taichung. The Taichung missionaries also received reassignments in the States while they wait for their visas. After they leave, we are next in line to leave. Time here flies by!! I've already almost been here for a month! 

On Wednesday we were able to host the new missionaries! It is so fun. There was a lack in Sister Host's so we had to take two Sisters at a time as they were dropped off. It was crazy! We get to host again this week which will be really fun!

Here at the MTC, I am learning and growing so much everyday! The Spirit is so strong! It is my companion and I love it! I am so happy here. On Friday, we had teacher interviews with Brother Chia. (Xie Lao Shi) He asked me what I like most about the MTC and I said being able to feel the Spirit always. And how happy it makes me feel. He smiled and said how he misses that so much. He just returned 4 months ago from Taichung, Taiwan Mission and he said how jealous he is of all of us having that extra comfort with us all the time. You can still have the Spirit with you all the time not being set apart as a missionary but he says that it is so different. 

Kind of a funny story: Tuesday morning, we had three hair dryers going in our room. I thought it was a good idea to use two blow dryers to dry my hair and Sis Lindsay was using the other one and we blew the circuit. Yeah the power went out. And what was even better is that it was only out in our room. Sis Lindsay used the hand dryer in the bathroom to finish drying her hair..It was pretty funny. We also blew it again on Sunday morning--on complete accident. I guess for some reason it doesn't like three hair dryers going all at the same time. :)

Our lessons this week also went really well. When we taught Su Di Xiong on Tuesday, it was so powerful. Even though they are "fake" investigators, the Spirit is still so strong. We bore simple but powerful testimonies of the Book of Mormon. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon. I learn so much daily from personal study. 

I love my district so much. They are my second family. We get along so well. We do everything together. I truly have been blessed with an amazing companion and district here at the MTC. I definitely couldn't do it without them!

Yes, mom and dad Bryan did get pulled over. I was always waiting for Tyler to post that picture on Instagram but he never did! and then I totally forgot to tell you guys before I left! :) No, he didn't get a ticket! :) Just a lecture :). Funny story also about devotional last night. At the very beginning he was having us raise our hands for certain questions and then he said, "Who is disappointed in the way BYU is playing?" I (having heard about the Boise State game) raised my hand with a few others. He then asked, "Who's not disappointed?" Several people raised their hands and he said, "You must all be Utes fans!" Everyone laughed :) 

I love it here. It truly is a blessing to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!! 

I Love and miss you all so much!! 

Love, 

Sister Samantha Haacke 

 Sis Lindsay and I before we hosted on Wednesday.

 Playing  and singing Saturday night.

Our district yesterday on our Temple Walk.

Sister Haacke's Testimony

Samantha's testimony sent to a family member:

This mission is definitely the best thing I have done in my life!   I love this gospel!  I know without a doubt in my mind that this church is true!  I know that through the Spirit, you can receive personal revelation.  I know that also through reading the Book of Mormon you can learn and grow personally.  You can come to know answers to the many questions we have daily.  I know God loves each and everyone of us.  He knows our concerns, weaknesses, and short comings.  He is here to comfort us.  We just need to ask.  Even though learning Chinese is so hard, I know if I have patience and faith in Jesus Christ He will help me.  I already have felt His love and help so much!

Uplifting But Challenging Week

Well, This week has flown by!! It seems like I just got here yesterday! This week was full of fun and enjoyable uplifting times but then there was also some experiences that were really challenging.

HIGHLIGHTS: 

There are a couple highlights from this last week. First of all TODAY! This morning Sis. Lindsay, Sis. Moe, Sis. Allen, and I went and did Initiatory at the temple. We were waiting in this line and it was my turn (I was the last to go out of us Sisters) and next thing you know, someone is stands up from the line and it was MARILYN JENKINS! We embraced, of course I started crying! I was so excited to see her! We didn't say anything but after we were both done we saw each other again in the dressing room so we walked out together and got a picture! I'm so glad I was able to see her! I couldn't say bye to her before so it was good to say hello and good bye! I love her to death! She is such a great example to me! 

Another highlight was that last night's devotional was given by Chad Lewis!! I was like, "OH MY GOODNESS!" I know him! So I told my district how he lived in the same neighborhood as you dad and how you still see him. He gave a great devotional! It was his son's 14th birthday so we all sang happy birthday to him at the beginning of devotional. He's a little cutie!! He talked mostly about letting our light shine--especially while we are serving missions. I didn't know he served in the Taichong mission so that was really cool to hear him tell stories about that. After devotional, my district and I all ran up to talk to him. I was able to talk to him and he looked at my name tag and I said, "I think you know my dad, Paul Haacke!" And he said, "Oh my goodness! I love Paul!" So we talked a little bit about you, mom and dad. He said he would say hi from me to you next time he got the opportunity to talk to you! We took a district picture with him and then  a lot of the missionaries learning Chinese also took a picture with him. During the devotional his wife, Michelle, also bore her testimony about how she knows Christ is our Savior. It was so powerful. 

Here is the rest of the week:

Monday: We had our first lesson with one of our new in investigators, Lu Jie Mei. She is very shy and is very confused about everything we tried to teach her--not to mention our language ability is a huge barrier.  Monday night I also got to sit and talk with one of the Elders in our district, Elder Smith. He is from Arizona and has a lot of the same interests as me! We talked a lot about college football and then schooling--he wants to take over his dad's business. It is a Financial Advising business so I told him about school and everything. 

Tuesday: Sis. Lindsay and I found one of our favorite places at the MTC. There are these little classrooms like way small--they are light interviewing rooms. We go in there for companion study now and we love it! One of our teachers, Xie Lao Shi (Brother Chia), taught on of our classroom blocks today and we are so close to him. We are his first district he is going to teach all the way up until our departure date. He just returned four months ago from his mission in Taichong, Taiwan. He laughs at me a lot when I say a word wrong or mess of because I guess I make a weird face..haha. After devotional I saw Sister Stevenson again so she gave me a hug from you all! 

Wednesday: On Wednesday during gym I learned how to play Spike Ball. (Bryan did you ever play it?) Its way fun! Sis. Moe and I lost every time when we played against Elder Smith and Elder Butler but it was so fun! Wednesday was also a rough day for our entire zone. The Elders and Sisters that our suppose to be leaving for Taiwan tomorrow morning got reassignments because their visas are not yet here. They were all really excited to get reassignments but it is so hard to learn a language for 9 weeks and then go English speaking for 1-3 months. Sis. Bowman (a sister in our zone, who was also suppose to leave tomorrow morning) found out on Wednesday that she tore her Meniscus in her knee. It was a very emotional day for her. She tore it playing volleyball in gym on Tuesday morning. Thursday she found how she would have to return home to Iowa (I believe) to receive surgery. It was a very challenging time for her but she knows that she needs to go home for a month for a reason. the MTC told her that when she is fully recovered she will be able to go straight to the field.

Thursday: Thursday was defiantly the hardest day I have had here at the MTC. We taught Lu Jie Mei today and she wouldn't listen to our message. We explained prayer for the second time and she was still really confused and didn't know how to pray. Sis. Lindsay and I just wanted to cry. We then had language and coaching with Sis Ochoa (Our other teacher) and then had some additional study time. Elder Diepeveen really opened up to us sisters. He has had quite the life before the mission. 

He is very dedicated to this work. Already speaks amazing Chinese and is so knowledgeable.I just cried for him while he cried with us. This is when the tears just flowed. I swear I was never so emotional..I love this work because I love being able to help each other. I abosolutly love my district. They are just the perfect people to be with right now! I have learned so much from them. We have some amazing times together. They are like my second family! Thursday night, we as sisters bought ice cream from the vending machine and just sat on our floor and talked. It was fun and it also gave us all an opportunity to  get out all of our stress and concerns! 

Friday: Just a normal day..it was a great day! Made up for not having the best day on Thursday.

Saturday: Saturday was our first day doing TRC (Teach Resource Center). We had to teach two 30 minute lessons in Chinese to members. Our first one was a returned missionary from Taichong. He served with our teacher, Brother Chia (Xie Lao Shi) so that was pretty cool. Our second one was a young girl who just started her freshman year at BYU. On Saturday we also had a great lesson with Lu Jie Mei. She finally understands prayer! We taught her about the BOM and she agreed to read Enos! Sis. Lindsay and I did the language computer program for almost 2 hours on Saturday as well! I love this language. It is so challenging but through study we are being able to speak more everyday! I love it!

Sunday: Great day at church. In Relief Society, Sister Linda S. Reeves (2nd counselor general Relief Society) came to speak to us. She talked mostly about serving faithful missions. Sacrament meeting was also really good. We talked about Faith in Jesus Christ. Luckily, I didn't get chosen to speak! (So Grateful!) Choir was absolutely amazing as well!! 

I Love you all and miss you so much! You are in my thoughts everyday!! 

Love, 

Sister Haacke 

P.S. This Tuesday's devotional is a broadcast. (I'm not sure if you can access them) but I'm singing in the choir if you can. 

 Our favorite room.

 Most of my district sitting in the shade during our temple walk on Sunday.

 Most of my zone during our temple walk on Sunday.

 Chinese speaking missionaries with Chad Lewis.

Our district with Chad Lewis.

Surprise at the Temple

A dear friend ran into Samantha at the temple this morning:

 

What a nice surprise!  (Thanks Marilyn for sharing and passing along the great pictures!)

Week of Amazing Experiences

I would like to start by thanking everyone for the packages and letters this week! Thanks grandma for sending me some pictures and some temple names. Thank you so much Marilyn for sending me a bag of Sour Patches! They are definitely a sweet treat at night! Thanks family for sending me some treats and an SD card reader--I'll be sharing that with my district! :)

This week was full of some amazing experiences. 

Tuesday: Tuesday morning the elders and sisters going to Taiwan from our district  (6/8 of us) had to go get our blood drawn at 9 AM. They had to get 3 viles of blood!! The 3rd one hurt so bad I honestly thought I was going to pass out! Haha one of the sweet ladies drawing blood is named Ellen Page she asked me if I was related to a Lani Haacke and I said Oh my goodness! That's my grandpa! Ellen was taught by grandpa in high school at Orem and she later gave him allergy shots! Do you remember her grandpa? On Tuesday my district and I also joined the MTC choir. It is so neat. I love it. We have choir practice every Tuesday and Sunday at 5:15. We sing in the devotionals on Tuesday and sometimes on Sunday. On Tuesday night, Elder Nielson from the Seventy spoke and he talked about 10 things he wished he would have known before he went on his mission. I learned a lot from it. After devotional, we were walking back to our classroom and when we were walking in the door, there were two people and they kept repeating, "Is there a red-headed Sister here who just got here last week?" And I was like "OH that that's me!" They were looking for me and it was President and Sister Stenerson. Sister Sternerson was like let me give you a hug! I had no idea who they were. I guess they are friends with grandma & pa H and they know you, mom and dad. I talked to them for a little bit. They are in a branch presidency for Japanese speaking missionaries so their classrooms are a floor above ours. I will be able to see them more--probably every Tuesday. We then set some district goals. 

Wednesday: Today was the day that I said a PRAYER in CHINESE with no book!! I was so excited! It really boosted my confidence in being able to learn this language. Sometimes it gets really frustrating but since Wednesday, I haven't been frustrated at all about learning the language I am going to preach the gospel in. 

Thursday: Thursday morning Sister Lindsay and I had the wonderful opportunity to clean all the showers on the 2nd floor of our Residence Hall (We live on the 4th floor). Every Thursday morning we have 75 minutes of Service. It actually wasn't as bad as you think..haha..we got to use a foam gun and this big hose thing. AND we got to wear safety goggles...so that made it so much more fun! Haha The only gross thing is having to clean out all the hair from the drains..there is a lot of hair here!!

HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK: So today we taught Huang Di Xiong for our 4th time I think. Guess what! He accepted baptism!! BUT there is a twist: SO we have a preach my gospel in PingYin and a preach my gospel in characters and we were using the one in PingYin to ask Brother Huang to be baptized because our lesson went so well we thought it would be good to ask him. So I was reading out of Preach My Gospel and before it has the invitation to be baptized it says, "The invitation to be baptized and confirmed should be specific and direct" and then it has a colon ( : ) and then "Will you follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God? We will be holding a baptismal service on (date of service). Will you prepare yourself to be baptized on that date?" Haha so In Chinese I said, "The invitation to be baptized and confirmed should be specific and direct." and then I noticed that I started at the wrong spot and I was like , "duibuqi" (SORRY) like 5 times in a row and I look up and Huang Di Xiong is laughing so hard, Sister Lindsay is laughing so hard and so we all laugh for like a minute and then I said the part that I was supposed to and he said YES and that he would be willing on Oct. 18! He just had to ask his parents for permission...We were SO excited! It made our whole day! It was so funny though. I probably got like so red..

Friday: This whole week has been such a nice week..It started getting cold on Saturday. Friday, Sister Lindsay and I went outside and studied on a table. It was nice to sit in the sun because I swear we haven't seen it since Oct. 1 :) We have gym every morning and this morning we played volleyball and this Elder was playing with us and he was really shy at first but then he started making all these Avatar noises whenever he would hit the ball. It was so funny! We all laughed together so much! 

So class comes around and we have a new teacher--Brother Chia (Xie Lao Shi) and he walks in and he was our investigator we just got done teaching on Thursday. Sister Lindsay and I just start laughing because we had some embarrassing moments (Like the one yesterday). So we talked a little about our investigator experience-and he looks at me and asks me in Chinese if I told the rest of my district if I told them what happened. And everyone just started laughing. So we all had a good laugh about what happened on Thursday. :) He then looked at Sister Lindsay and said in English, "Compulsive dropping disorder?" and everyone started laughing. During our second lesson with Huang Di Xiong, Sister Lindsay's books fell and went all over and she looked at me and whispered, "Sister, I have a compulsive dropping disorder!" and he laughed a little at her...so we had some good laughs about stuff that happened during our lessons and then we learning some more Chinese. I love both my Lao Shi Men (Teachers) so much, Sister Ochoa and Brother Chia are absolutely amazing. We really have been blessed. They are so helpful and teach Chinese and the Doctrines of Christ so well! 

Saturday: On Saturday at gym Sister Moe and I (a sister in my district) did a strength workout and I was (and still am) so sore! I love Sister Moe (The one with the shortest hair in our pictures). She is the sister going to New York Chinese speaking. She is 23 and has had so many health issues to overcome before she has been able to serve. It is such a blessing to know her and have her in our district. During class today, Sister Ochoa gave an example lesson of the Restoration of the Gospel in Chinese. She asked who wanted to be the fake investigator in class and so I volunteered. It took some serious concentration to understand what she was saying and I had to have her repeat some sentences she said but I was such a good learning experience. I felt bad though because when I looked around the room, the rest of my district was like half asleep...It was a good learning experience for me though and I'm so glad I volunteered. Saturday afternoon we had more classroom lectures and Brother Chia was our teacher. The first hour we talked about stress management and he made us go run stairs in our classroom building. Imagine, running stairs, in a skirt--, with 8 people going up and down stairs, and then having to go up at down 5 times. It was fun--we had a good laugh. He talked about how important gym time is in the morning because exercise really is a an important factor in helping control the stress we may feel in the MTC and in the field. 

Sunday: Sunday was a great day. It is a great break from classroom time and everything else that goes on the in the week. In the morning we had some personal study time and then the Sisters went to The Spoken Word (broadcast from Salt Lake) and Relief Society while the Elders went to Priesthood. The speaker in Relief Society was Sharon L. Eubank. She is the director of humanitarian services for the church. She talked about coming to know our true identity and a lot on how faith requires action. We had a district meeting with our branch president, Pres. Woodfield. set a goal to strive to be perfectly obedient, went to sacrament meeting. In sacrament meeting, the branch presidency randomly calls on two missionaries to give a talk on a specific topic after the sacrament meeting. Yesterday it was the topic of the Book of Mormon so all the Elders and Sister's prepare a talk and hope and pray they don't have to give it. Luckily yesterday, since my district and I are still 'new' none of us got called on. Most of sacrament meeting is in Chinese. I was able to understand the main concept that the speakers where trying to get across. Sunday we had choir practice and then there was a devotional. It was given by D. Greg Droubay--director of Media specifically in the missionary department. We got the wonderful opportunity to watch the video the church is getting ready for Christmas. It is phenomenal. I can't wait for you to all see it! (It will come out right after Thanksgiving). 

Other than that, nothing else has really occurred. All my friends that I saw the week before has all left for the field. Sister Griffeth came this Wednesday so I have seen her a couple times. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!! I loved reading all the emails! It is definitely a blessing to have such a great family! I appreciate you all so much and am so grateful for you all!!  I miss you all so much!!

Love, 

Sister Haacke

Busy First Week

(Before I post Samantha's first letter and photos, can I just say she is WAY more detailed than Bryan??)

MY FAMILY!!!!!

AWWW I love you all SO much and MISS you all like crazy!!! I love it here though!! The spirit is so strong and the people here are amazing! 

Bryan, thanks so much for the MTC tips and suggestions! I will definitely put those to good use! Thanks so much for talking about personal study time and language study. They say the language will come if you know the doctrine!! It seems like you are doing amazing and I love reading your emails! Keep up on studying the language and getting to know the people there. I know they already love you!! (You don't have to read all this if you don't have time)

Marissa, thanks so much for you letter! I miss you too! Keep doing so well in school and with your social life :). You are a huge example to me and I am so glad that I am your older sis!! Keep choosing the right. Study your scriptures daily! It will help in your everyday life!

Lachlan, I am so happy you won your football game!! Way to go on scoring those two touchdowns for your team!! I loved reading about it!! Love you!!

Alexa, I love and miss you too and just think about it..I'll be home soon :) And yes, you can have my purple container. Keep being who you are! 

This week:

Wednesday was a hard day. Saying good bye to you all was one of the hardest things in my life! You are all my rocks and my best friends! After we got my pass, name tag, books, and papers, we dropped my luggage off at my room and I headed off to my first language class. I was the last one there so they had already started a little bit. I met my companion, Sister Lindsay, and I Love her to death! We are so alike and clicked right off the bat! We laugh all the time together and also feel the spirit so strong all the time!! She is from North Ogden, Utah and is 19 as well. She went to her first year of school at Weber. We know each other so well already and it has been great! After we went to a couple of orientation meetings and had some lessons. My district consists of four sister and four elders. All of us are going to the Taiwan, Taipei mission except the two other sisters. One is going to New York and the other one is going to Canada. We are all Chinese speaking. I also love my district. We laugh together all the time and also have some cool spiritual experiences. This past week was a little hard about being reverent during personal and companion study. The older districts told us that this next week, it will become easier because we will get out all of our stories and be able to know when to talk with one another. We have bonded so quickly. Our Elders are like my little brothers! They all just graduated from high school this year. Elder Bates is from Singapore (he was living over there as an expat with his family). Elder Diepeveen is from somewhere in Utah. Elder Smith is from Arizona, and Elder Butler is from Syracuse, Utah. (Dad, he said his neighbors are Haacke's...what family do we have from Syracuse? He said their names and they kind of sounded familiar but I couldn't remember). 

Wednesday night, Sister Lindsay and I could remember how to get to our classroom going back from one of the orientation lessons and we spotted Elder Diepeveen and Elder Bates in front of us so we started walking really fast and Elder Diepeveen is like 6'6 so his stride is huge so when we got back we were like out of breath and the Elders were like "Why are you out of breath?" So we had a good laugh about that.

Thursday, We had to do this orientation thing on the computer in our classroom and the volume wouldn't work so Sister Lindsay and I told our district we would run back to our Residence Hall and grab our speakers. So we literally ran because it took so long to figure out how to use the sound that we were running a little late. On our way to the Residence Hall, a group of Elders yelled out, "Don't be late Sisters!" And in the end the sound wouldn't even work. Later that night, we figured out we had to turn on the T.V to get the sound...District blonde moment!! Everyone is SO nice here and welcoming! You feel so home here! Hopefully the next 8 weeks will fly by!!

Friday we had our first investigator and we were SO prepared..but it went AWFUL! We were planning on talking about God and who He is and then we were going to teach Huang Zong Xian (our investigator) how to pray. The other sisters went first and they were in there for like 30 minutes. They got out and said they had an amazing lesson and it went so well. (Oh by the way, they are all in Chinese, our investigator doesn't speak English). So we say a quick prayer and go in. We started asking Huang Zong Xian if he knows who God is and he said (In Chinese) oh the previous sisters already told me and we were like oh...okay and so then we asked him if he knew how to pray and he said, oh the previous sisters already taught me and we were like OH goodness..so we just tried to say a couple of things and then ended it by bearing our testimonies and saying a closing prayer. So we go out hurry and told the elders and so they go in..didn't really have a lesson..haha...So later that evening we were talking to the other districts in our Zone and we told them about it and they were like the investigator is not supposed to do that! He is supposed to "forget" what the previous sisters or Elder taught. So we were kind of sad we didn't really get to practice our lesson but we will get another chance..The only hard part is sometime this week (probably tomorrow) we are going to have to teach Huang Zong Xian again! So we will all prepare a different lesson I guess?! haha we will probably tell our teacher tonight in class and see what we should do...

Saturday and Sunday was absolutely amazing! I LOVE General Conference! We had no classes, no language study, no nothing so it was a nice two days of being able to listen to the Apostles and Prophets of God! On Saturday I got my first Dear Elders from you all and I was so excited! Our district leader has to get our mail for us. For the next couple weeks, it will be Elder Diepeveen. He gave it too me when we sat down for the second session of General Conference and I was like "ELDER AND SISTERS!! I GOT MAIL!!" I was probably a little too excited!! Thanks so much for all sending me something!! It really lifted my spirits!! On Saturday, I loved the closing prayer of the second session. When he said something along the lines of, 'please bless the missionaries' parents, grandparents, and families'. It made me all think of you all! Sunday night we also have Sunday Night Devotional and Vai Sikahema came and spoke to us!!! He is amazing!! He played football for BYU on the National Championship Team, played NFL football, served a mission in South Dakota, and now covers the Olympics and Sports on NBC. The first thing he told us was to take our pens and our paper and put it under our chairs because he didn't want us taking notes. He said you have been taking notes all day from Prophets and Apostles. There is no need to take notes tonight. He shared so many different stories about missionary work and all that he has done in his life after his mission as a 'missionary'. Sister Lindsay and I got to meet him and take a picture with him!! We were able to go to the temple this morning and the Spirit was so strong! I love the temple. It brought me so much peace and reassured me of what I am doing for the next 18 months of my life is what I am supposed to be doing! I already am loving my mission experience!! It is amazing! 

I know this church is true with out a doubt in my mind. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to serve a mission--especially to the people of Taiwan. Continue pressing forward and being righteous! The Lord will truly bless you when you are obedient to this commandments! 

I LOVE YOU ALL so much!! I miss you like crazy! 

Love from, 

Sister Haacke (Huang Jie Mei) 

P.S. Dad, thanks so much for sharing your experience with being over in Taiwan. I didn't know I will be getting a new mission president in June. That will be an amazing experience. I am so excited to meet the people. I so wish I could have met the lady that you talked about in the letter. It is so sad she died of lung cancer but knowing where she is, I know I will be able to meet her with you in this after life. 

Mom, thanks so much for sharing D&C 59:23. Pumpkin waffles sound amazing! The food here is okay..it makes me sick to my stomach sometimes but its alright. :) I LOVE YOU and miss you so much. You truly are my best friend! 

I will try to send pictures but I can't get it to work for some reason..The Elder's have SDcard adapters so I'm going to use one of theirs as soon and they are done because for some reason plugging in my camera won't work...

Needs: Cheap shower cap, GRANDMA, could you send me a couple of family temple names to do? We go every Monday morning, popcorn, a SDcard reader--like at Best Buy or something..just cheap (Try and get it to me before next Monday) :), and I think that is all :) 

Thanks so much! You are all in my prayers and thought daily! 

 My name.

 

The first selfie? with all our books is our first companionship study.

 

 I saw some friends from high school. Sister Klingler, Elder Taylor, and Elder Haddon all leave today or tomorrow.

 My district.

 

My companion Sister Lindsay and I.

On a Temple walk yesterday...

Fireside with Vai Sikahema.

MTC Drop-Off

Before dropping Samantha off at the MTC, they took some pictures across the street at the Provo Temple:

Finally the day that Samantha has been waiting for--MTC arrival!

Saying good-bye:

She looks happy and ready!

And she's off!

Those people in Taiwan sure are lucky and blessed to have Sister Samantha Haacke serving them for the next 18 months!