Fam: I loved reading the family
email this week! Marissa, it looks like you had so much fun in Los
Angles with mom and the Voice! I am glad you had a ton of fun and got to
visit all over LA...lucky duck! Lachlan, congratulations on winning
your basketball game! I'm proud of you! Alexa, I'm glad you had fun at
your friends baptism!!
As for the Superbowl,
we couldn't watch it but when we walked in to the Nickol's home, they
were watching it and there was 6:32 left in the 4th quarter and the
Patriots were down 21-24. We live in their basement and about 20 or 30
minutes later, There was pounding on the floor and we figured the
Seahawks lost (the Nickol's are Seahawk fans). I was really excited!
haha. This morning, Bro. Nickol's told us how the game ended and he
wasn't very happy..haha. It looks like Lachlan, Alexa, and dad had a fun
time watching it...well except for the fact that Alexa fell
asleep..haha.
As for a visa update, I got no
new information except for an email from Salt Lake basically saying
thanks for being patient and faithfully serving in Colorado Springs.
Speaking of Taiwan...Chinese New Year is coming up...I hope I don't miss it...but if I do, there is always next year...right? :)
Bryan,
I'm glad you are already loving your new area! It sounds like you have a
lot of work to do--especially with less-actives! Keep us updated on
everything! Sure love you!
As for my week, this week went by extremely fast!!
We
had a less active come to church yesterday! Her name is Sis. Ruble and
we have been visiting her weekly for about 3 weeks. I was so excited
when Sis. Cook leaned over to me and said Sis. Ruble is sitting over in
the corner! I was so happy the rest of Sacrament Meeting. After, I ran
over to talk to her and she seemed really happy but said she was going
to go get a Priesthood Blessing from Bishop and then was going home
because she was in a lot of pain. She is still recovering from some
surgeries she has months ago. I have really bonded with Sis. Ruble and I
have loved our visits with her. She is a strong woman who I have
learned so much from and truly treasure our friendship.
Another
family, the Fitt's, are less active and have started attending church
again. Most of them were there yesterday. We were also able to go over
to their home Sunday afternoon to teach a lesson. Bro. Fitt served a
mission in Finland and told us many experiences he had there. It was
neat.
It was kind of a slower week lesson wise but we were able to see so many miracles.
Tuesday
was New Beginnings in Young Women's. In the morning, we helped the
leaders set up and get ready. During the day, we went to Danielle's home
and invited her. Danielle is 13. Her family is all active but she is
less-active. Danielle came and had a great time. She loved it there and
the girls really included her and welcomed her. It was so neat.
Tuesday,
we were also able to come in contact with one of the Melville neighbors
we met at their home back in December. Her name is Karen. She is
Catholic and her husband past away February of 2014 from cancer. She
welcomed us into her home and we were able to talk to her for about an
hour! She was so happy and we had a great uplifting conversation. She is
very religious and we talked a lot about the Spirit. She told us to
come back whenever to talk to her! I think she was also really happy to
talk to someone because she lives alone.
Something really
neat about coming in contact with Karen. She just moved here in
September-ish and Sis. Cook tracted her door in October and she wasn't
interested..After meeting her at the Melville home and being able to
talk to her a little there, when she saw us this week, she was so happy
we came to stop-by and talk with her. It really strengthened my
testimony of Member Missionary Work. It really does work and Karen is
now a potential investigator.
Thursday we had
a lesson with Cami. She is doing well but is still not coming to
church. She is still reading the Book of Mormon--currently in Mosiah--we
have taught her basically everything. We were considering having to
drop her as a investigator because she isn't progressing but she told us
on Thursday she loved our visits because it holds her accountable to
reading the Book of Mormon. She is learning so much and has so many
questions. She strongly believes in the Trinity and she has been
pointing out scriptures in the Book of Mormon that she believes goes
back to the Trinity--such as Mosiah 7:27. We explain that the Godhead is
one in purpose...I hope that as she continues to read, she can gain a
personal testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.
Friday
was basically a day full of service. Other than service, we were able
to come in contact with Bro. Clark--the only High Priest less-active in
our ward. This was my first time meeting him and he seems really nice.
He was busy so we could talk to him for very long. We also were able to
come in contact and set up an appointment with the Beagley's! Michelle
Beagley was home but he husband, Mike, was not. Mike is a less-active,
and Michelle is a non-member. They have taken the lessons before and are
interested in taking them again! We have an appointment with them on
Saturday.
Saturday was also a day full of
service but it was also a miracle! We had dinner with the Jenson family
earlier this week and their daughter, Annie (10), invited us to her
basketball game at the YMCA. Normally, we wouldn't be allowed to go, but
her friend who goes to activity days with her plays on her same
basketball game and her parents were going to be there. We were able to
go and it was the best finding activity we have done! Honestly, we got a
lot of weird looks but, we were able to talk to a lot of people and get
to know Annie's friend, River, and River's parents. The miracle is that
the Germano's were there as well!!!! One of the Germano girls was on
the other team playing against Annie and her team! Only Bro. Germano was
there when we got there and he was sitting right by the door. He is
100% deaf so we weren't able to talk to him very well but he recognized
us and was really happy to see us. We texted Sis. Germano telling her we
were watching her daughter. She walked in late and left early so we
weren't able to talk to her because we were sitting at the far end. She
texted us back and we were able to go over in the afternoon and help
them with their basement. They are re-sorting and moving things around
in their basement. The Germano's are nonmembers. They have taken the
lessons many times. Sis. Germano believes the gospel to be true but she
is waiting for her husband to believe the same before she gets
baptized. We were also able to have dinner with them Saturday night
which was really fun.
Tuesday, I was able to go to lunch with Wendy Conner! Her daughter, Courtney, who is a senior in high school also came!
Little
fun fact, I was able to go to a dentist in the ward here on Wednesday.
The end of my permanent retainer on the top was sharp (I thought the
glue fell off of it) and it was cutting up my tongue. What it ended up
being was the end just came loose for some reason but the glue was still
there and the wire was still bonded to my tooth...Bro. Bull just
smoothed it out and it made a world of difference. He said he was really
impressed by how neat and clean my orthodontist glued on my top and
bottom retainers. Tell Dr. Baker thanks! haha
Another
little fun fact, there is a lady in our ward, Sis. Clay. We were at her
house last night to have a lesson with her and her four boys. Her
husband is currently deployed. Well, Sis. Clay is very vocally
expressed, for lack of a better description..haha. I love her to death.
She cracks me up...but, she hates the question, "Is there anything we
can do for you?" She doesn't like it because she says that you should
only ask it if you really mean anything. We say at the end
of every lesson. What's funny is that my first ever dinner here in
Colorado was with her family and I remember her telling me this and so
to never ask her. Well, last night, Sis. Grant forgot about how much she
dislikes this question, asked her, and this coming Saturday, we get to
go back to her house and deep clean her garage. She told us to block out
three hours of our day. Yes, three hours! In her garage, it is set up
as a gym. It has those extremely heavy mats laid down and all this
equipment. So, we get to take all of that out, clean, and then put it
all back in.
However, Sis. Clay's story to becoming a member
of the Church is very neat. She is from France and she was going to
English Class in France. It is English class where the missionaries
teach it. At the time, she was 19. She said it was really weird that all
4 teachers first names were Elder and that kind of sparked her
interest. In the English classes, the missionaries can't talk about the
church unless someone asks a question. One day, she was out walking the
streets and she saw some of her 'teachers.' She was interested in the
gospel and 2 months later was baptized.
Overall,
we had a good week! I have learned and grown so much. It has been a
warmer week. Yes, dad, we got some snow but not very much. Not as much
as last week. It is pretty much all melted now. The crazy thing about
Colorado is that it snows a couple inches but all of it is gone like
three days later. The snow never stays. I love what I am doing. Some
days are hard, but they are all worth it!
I love you all so much! Thank you for all you do for me!!
Love,
Sister Haacke
黃姐妹
Us at Costa with Courtney (Wendy's daughter)
This house is in our area and I was amazed by the color when we were seeking out a referral on that street.
Oh, we also took a trip to Home Depot. A
member in our ward kinda referred us to a lady who works there and we
didn't have an appointment one night after dinner and we can't tract or
do stopbys in the dark, so we went to seek her out.
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