Many Miracles

FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!

Can I just start by saying this week was absolutely incredible!!

Requests from the family email: My companion, Sister Wright is from Las Vegas, Nevada. But also grew up in Florida. Her dad was a costume designer for Disney there in Florida. She did a year of school at BYU before serving and has been in Taiwan for about 11 months. She is incredible. We are so similar and have had so many similar experiences in our lives. We laugh so much..and I can say, I have never become best friends with someone so fast. We work so well together too.

So, for the week. It was insane. Sister Wright (任姐妹） was sick so all of Wednesday afternoon, we spent at the hospital waiting to see the doctor, and then Thursday from 4 PM to the rest of the evening, we were inside and she was sleeping. BUT, we had miracles after miracles occur when we were able to go out and proselyte.

Some highlights of the week:
1. We were finding on Friday and we were walking back to our bikes to go to a new area when Sister Wright and I saw these two girls. There was a fork in the road and they started walking on the opposite one we were on.  At the same time, Sister Wright and I both picked up our pace and caught up to them and started talking to them. In the end, right there on the street, we went away with two new investigators with baptismal dates! They are sisters and the younger of them has a friend who is in our branch! So, we already have fellowship! The younger of the sisters who is the friend to the girl in our ward was taught by the member how to pray and she has such amazing prayers! I can't wait to begin sharing with them.
2. Another huge miracle we saw this week was on Sunday. Sunday we got 5 NEW baptismal dates!! We were finding and we started sharing the gospel with 4 siblings. They were all sitting in the front room watching TV when we asked them if we could share with them. The 13 year old boy invited us in and we sat and prayed, watched the video Because He Lives and shared the Book of Mormon with them. They we all really attentive and I honestly think it was because of the Spirit that was invited in with us sharing Because of Him. We also set baptismal dates with them for September 26th. It is only in three weeks but when the 13 year old boy said the closing prayer, in his prayer, he prayed that he could have time to prepare and make his baptismal date for September 26th! He and his older sister both go to school in Hualian but they said taking the lessons in YuLi would be more convenient. It will be a little challenging because they only will be home some weekends but I know Heavenly Father will provide a way for these children to be prepared for baptism. The 13 year old seemed really interested and as we were leaving he was going through the Because He Lives website.
3. Sunday night, we went and visited a newer investigator, 王低胸。 (the tennis player). We reviewed and explained in more detail the Restoration and despite all the noise going on around us, the Spirit was so strong. He understood and was so willing to be baptized. We set a goal of October 3rd with him. I think our main concerns with him is going to be work on Sunday and coming to church but, anything is possible to overcome!! In his closing prayer and last remarks were so priceless. He explained to us how he didn't only just believe the things we were teaching him but he FELT that they were true. In his closing prayer, he thanked Heavenly Father for giving him the opportunity to meet us and be able to come to know His will for him. What a neat man!

4. On Saturday when we were finding, I was leading us to an area and felt we need to stop at this xiang (like small road). And it was literally miracle xiang. We saw so many miracles down that road but they neatest one was the last door we knocked on. We weren't going to knock on it because we had a lesson with a member who lives in on of the mental the hospitals to get to but we both felt super strongly to knock on this door. A lady asked if we were Jehovah Witnesses and after we told her no, she asked us to come into her home. She, 張姐妹, can't walk so, we sat around her, prayed, sang for her, and shared the Book of Mormon. She invited us to come back next Saturday and share more with her! Her husband passed away last year and her kids are all grown. She is Christian and started going to church about 6 months ago after her husband died.

The miracles were just flowing in from everywhere. These are just a few stories from the many prepared we found this week. It was an insane week. I know Heavenly Father is really blessing us. Through all of our hard work, we are seeing miracles so so much.

This week, 朱姐妹 also had her interview. Sadly, she did not pass but she is not giving up hope. The main issue she is still working through is the Word of Wisdom. She had her interview on Saturday and still came to church on Sunday and enjoyed it a lot. We are not giving up hope. We know she still has the desire to work through these addictions and hopefully sooner than later give up beer and bettle nut and be baptized!! Please pray for her, Zhu JieMei!

Overall, this week was amazing. I am learning so much everyday. My testimony grows stronger and stronger each day. One neat thing I learned in personal study this week was in Alma 27:8. This is when Ammon tells the king that they need to leave their land or else the Nephites will destroy them, the Anti-Nephi-Lehi'. The king didn't want to leave, but in verse 8 his response is:
"And the king said unto him [Ammon]: Yea, if the Lord saith unto us go, we will go down unto our brethren, and we will be their slaves until we repair unto them the many murders and sins which we have committed against them."

Ammon prayed and got the answer they needed to leave. The king obeyed..

When the Lord commands/invites us to do something, it is so important to listen. Listen to the prompts of the Holy Ghost. I know it will lead you in all that you do.

I LOVE you all!! Have a great week!!!

Sister Haacke

 
And, August was Ghost Month here in Taiwan so this last Friday EVERYONE was worshiping their ancestors. There was so much smoke in the air. And there were tables of food being sacrificed outside pretty much everyone's house...pretty crazy.

OH...P.S. Grandma and Grandpa H. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!! I love you! Thanks so much for supporting me, praying for me, and being great examples! 

So, this girl is one of our investigators daughters. She's obsessed with my hair and asked if she could play with it. So, I let her do my hair for a little bit..Yes, I did get watermelon juice all in it but that okay! :) She is such a cutie. 

 

 

Birthday on the Mission

FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!

Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes! I can't believe I am 20 years old today! It is crazy! Time literally flies!

Also, Mom and dad, HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! I hope you did something fun to celebrate! Sure love you both and am so grateful for your examples in my life! It looks like the family had fun together this week! When is the Eastern Idaho State Fair? Who is Marissa opening for? That is so cool she is going to have a full 50 minutes! She's growing up waaayyyy to fast! Lachlan is so tall and those pads are huge!! Alexa, it's so fun you learned how to play the ukulele! Y'all are growing up way too fast!!

Bryan, loved the email about your week last week! Like dad said, I also loved the detail. It was fun reading through it.

I don't even know where to begin! This week was INCREDIBLE! MY first full week in YuLi.

Last Monday, we went to a beach! And It was gorgeous! Shi-Ti-Ping is it's name in pinyin. I'll send lots of pics.
 

 

So many miracles happened this week! I don't even know where to begin!

Our most progressing investigator, Zhu JieMei is still working on giving up her drinking and chewing bettle nut. She tried cutting cold turkey and last Monday she was throwing up and was so sick all day long. She has gone down a lot but is still working on completely getting rid of it. Her scheduled interview is this Saturday because her baptism is hopefully going to be next Saturday. We have faith she will be able to make it but it all depends on if she starts completely following the Word of Wisdom.

Her daughter is also one of our investigators and has had several baptismal dates before. We set another one with her but her dad keeps telling her he hasn't seen a big enough change in her yet for him to allow her to get baptized. It has kind of put a damper on her faith but hopefully she can continue reading and praying and it will show her dad her desire.

We were able to meet so many prepared people on the street this week. Since YuLi is really small, we don't go street contacting but when we are going from place to place when we feel like we need to, we stop by someone on our bikes who is walking on the side of the road. We were able to have so many lessons right on the side of the road-this week was the most lessons I have ever had in my entire mission! We were able to give out 21 Books of Mormon. Sadly, most of the prepared people we talked to were visiting YuLi (YuLi is a very touristy area) and so we got their phone numbers and sent them to the missionaries Hualian, TaiDong, and other areas where they were from. But, it is all the same work-all helping people come unto Christ. One of the neatest miracles occurred just last night as we were on our way to check on an investigator. There was a lady walking for exercise. We stopped and started talking to her. She told us she was Catholic but she believed everything we were teaching her. She didn't know how to pray and was extremely excited when we shared the Book of Mormon with her after explained was it was. We set up an appointment for tonight to start reading the Book of Mormon with her and introduce our Church more! I am so excited!!

Last night, I also met a new investigator Sister Wright met a couple weeks ago for the first time. AND he plays tennis!! He has played almost every day since he was in Junior High School! 王弟兄 is also Catholic but stopped going to church when he graduated from High School. He is married, but his wife isn't very nice to us, and has two kids. We taught him the Message of the Restoration last night and he had so many questions about Joseph Smith. He really has a desire to learn and seems really interested!

FUNNIEST STORY OF THE WEEK: So, one of our investigators is the wife of a man who owns a fruit stand so all day every day she has to be at this fruit stand working. When we have lessons with 馬姐妹 we go to her shop and when customers are ready to pay we stop and wait and then keep going. Well, this last week, we were teaching her about God. This man comes in and is waiting by the counter while 馬姐妹 is getting his order. We start talking to him and asking him how he is doing and everything. All of a sudden, he says, "Kiss Me." in perfect English and then starts talking to 馬姐妹 like nothing just happened. I turned to Sister Wright and asked, "Did he just say kiss me?" We kept in our laughs but she heard exactly what I heard. As we were laughing about it later, we figured someone thought it would be funny to teach him the phrase, "Kiss Me" and he probably thinks the meaning is something completely different than the actual meaning.

I love what I am doing. It is honestly the best. I learn everyday. I love preaching the gospel. I love helping others come unto Christ. This work is honestly the best! I know I say this about every week but it is so true! I love this Gospel. I know The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth today. It is the same church Jesus Christ established when he was on the earth over 2000 years ago!

I love you all!! You are all amazing!

I hope you have a great week!!

LOVE,

Sister Haacke

 The Tropic of Cancer passes right through Taiwan!  All the pictures of Sister Wright and I together are on her camera. I will get them from her and send some more next week.

 These two adorable little boys followed Sister Wright and I around for and hour and a half while we contacted this last week. When we would be invited into peoples homes, they would wait outside for us to come back. The children here are absolutely adorable.

 Oh, and we were bosses of a fruit stand for about 5 minutes! haha I love serving!

New Area

My dear family and friends!!

HHHHHEEELLLLOOOOOO from the beautiful EAST COAST of TAIWAN!!!!! Yes, I got transferred this week!!! I am now serving in YuLi. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL here!! It is a tiny small town--literally like no people but it is amazing!!! So, I won't be up to Taipei again for a really long time.Thanks in advance for the birthday package family! I believe we have zone conferences next month so when President and the Assistants come down, they will bring our packages and mail!

I have no idea where to begin. This week has been crazy! Last Tuesday was my last full day in TouFen. We had many lessons with investigators and I said goodbye to Akin. It was really hard but I have gained such a strong testimony on my mission that this isn't the last time I will see these wonderful people. Goodbye's are still really hard for me but definitely not as hard as they were before! All day Wednesday we were in Taipei for our Temple Tour Training. This is a meeting all the Sisters go to except for the East Coast Sisters. We had great trainings. At the end, President Jergensen had a great training/talk on Identity. The worldly things DON'T matter! We need to build our foundation on the knowledge we have that we are all daughters and sons of a Loving Heavenly Father. Nothing else matters! Wednesday night we headed back to TouFen for our English Party. I had to say goodbye to Wen TongXue (Erica) Wednesday night. It was really hard. I only knew her for a week but I felt like I have been best friends with her my entire life. I hope and pray she can come to the knowledge of this gospel and Sister Cardon and her new companion can help her make her first covenant with our Heavenly Father. I promised her as soon as I could, I would line/Skype her :) She's adorable.

Thursday morning we left early again for Taipei with all my luggage. During the day, I was asked to be in the hospital and be Sister Juarez's companion for the day. She had just gotten her gallbladder out and her companion was transferring and needed to head back to ZhuBei to pack. It was crazy but it was a great day of extra studies and catching up in my journal. Her companion came back around 5:30 and I was on exchanges with Sister Hadley. We spent the rest of the night out on the streets of Taipei sharing the gospel with others. It was weird for me street finding in Taipei. I wasn't used to that many people but it was a great experience!

Friday was transfer meeting!! We welcomed about 23 new missionaries to our mission and sadly said goodbye to 4 Elders who honorably completed their missions. This was the first transfer meeting I was going to that I was getting transferred to a new area. To be honest, it is probably one of the most nerve racking things! I honestly haven't been so nervous in such a long time! I was so excited when my picture came up to serve in YuLi with Sister Wright. After transfer meeting, the 5 missionaries getting transferred to the east coast got our train tickets from the Assistants and headed with all of our luggage to the train station--that was an adventure in and of itself!! Thanks to two loving Member young adults who were so willing to help us all the way to our platform. Since it is very expensive to travel from the east coast to Taipei, only the transferring missionaries come up for transfer meeting and the rest of them stay down--so I met my new companion, Sister Wright, on the platform in YuLi!!

Sister Wright is such an amazing missionary. I have already learned so much from her in the 3 days we have been together! She is very dedicated, hard-working, and really knows how to relate to the people here. I can't wait for this transfer with her!!

Friday night we went to the Night Market to hand out English tracts. On our way there, Sister Wright told me we would probably see all of our investigators, members, and LA's there--which was just about true :). Great daily contact! :). Friday night, we met with one of our most progressing investigators--Jiang DX. He has a baptismal date for the beginning of next month. He is a farmer and about 24 years old. We taught him the plan of salvation tonight. When we asked him what he thought his earthly purpose was, he said, "to get baptized!" haha it was really funny! He is super sweet and so prepared! We also asked him how much he understood about Adam and Eve. He went on to basically explain the whole story. We asked him how he knew and he said, "I read the pamphlet you gave me last week, duh!!" haha he is so awesome!!

Saturday, we had WPS since I didn't get to YuLi till about dinner time on Friday. We also had some finding time where we were able to teach this cute 9 year-old girl how to pray. We had a lesson with a family-a mom, and her 4 boys. The 12 year old and one of the 8 year old twins has been baptized. The mom is not a member--she is really manmanlai. But their family is amazing. We shared with them the Family Proclamation and invited them to write down two things they could do to strengthen their family. The 12 year-old is such an amazing member. He is so strong and knows his responsibilities very well. Other members are taking him up to Taipei this Thursday to attend the temple for his first time! Sadly, they are moving to TaiZhong area next week :(. So I don't get to have much time to get to know them. :( We also went and visited a couple Less Actives at night and reminded them to come to church.

Sunday was a day full of miracles! The branch here is so cute! Our chapel is above an Internet Cafe but it is really nice. The members are really sweet. Each Sunday after church, we eat lunch as a branch and today we celebrated August birthdays so everyone sang to me! haha it was so cute! In the afternoon time, we met with Zhu Hui Ling and her daughter, Zhu Yu Zhen. We taught the Word of Wisdom and we made a plan for Zhu Hui Ling to give up bettlenut. They are a cute family with a lot of hardships and challenges but Zhu JM has really seen a change since she has started coming to church. She also has a baptismal date in September. I hope and pray she can start to follow the Word of Wisdom so that she can get baptized on her goal. We also had a lot of finding time--we saw so many miracles. We were able to share the Book of Mormon with many people. We met Chen JM. She is a mom of 2 boys and seems really depressed. We taught her how to pray and when we asked her what prayer means to her, she explained how she likes it because she feels like someone is actually listening to her talk. We set up for next week to come back and share more about Jesus Christ. Her schedule is crazy though.

YuLi is such a special place. The people here are amazing! YuLi has three large mental hospitals so many individuals send their family members to YuLi to live in these mental hospitals. We do service once in a while there and visit a couple people in these hospitals. I look forward to having the opportunity to meeting these wonderful children of our Heavenly Father. I am so grateful Heavenly Father has given me this opportunity to serve here in YuLi. I know I will learn so much here!

I hope you all have a great week! I loved reading all the family emails!!

LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Haacke
  

Sister Wright, the boys from the family we visited on Saturday, and I at church yesterday!

 

Sister Wright and I!

Typhoon!

My dear friends and family!

Good morning from the Internet Cafe in TouFen, Taiwan where the man next to me just tried to express his love to me in English. 

Besides the fact, This week was a great week!

CONGRATULATION HANNAH MURDOCH for getting your mission call!!!!! Mom and dad, please tell Hannah congrats for me and am so excited she has chosen to serve the Lord for 18 months! Independence, Missouri Mission--Is that where Aunt Michelle's parents are serving as mission presidents?

First, and probably what you are wondering about the most: TYPHOON! So yes, this week Taiwan experienced one of the largest typhoons in 20 years. I'm not sure all the damage or anything that really happened. It started on Friday--TouFen is on the western part of the Island so we didn't get hit very bad on Friday. We were told we were able to go out and work but we needed to stay close to our apartment or church building which was hard for us because our apartment and church are both in the Elders area but we filled our time with doing Secret Service for some members! Friday evening, the winds starting to pick up a little bit and we were informed to make sure we had a 72-hour kit at our home. Friday night at 8:51 was when it started to rain as our branch mission leader would say, Elephants. We were just about to pull into the road where our apartment is so it was perfect timing. We spent a few minutes outside dancing in the rain--taking a few minutes to enjoy God's beautiful creations. Many were looking out their windows--probably thinking we were crazy. 

The typhoon hit TouFen during the middle of the night. So we were sleeping through the entire thing--but we really weren't sleeping. Our entire house was shaking. The first time I remember waking up was about 2:20 AM and I felt like we were experiencing an earthquake. I got out of bed and watched from the window for a few minutes. The wind was absolutely insane! The trees were being forced from left to right and the rain was coming down even harder than at 8:51 and horizontally. It was insane! 

After waking up from a sleepless night, we looked outside and there were thick tree branches all over the road and signs blown off the side of buildings. Large trees were uprooted! It was still raining a little bit but it wasn't as bad as during the night. 

We couldn't go out and proselyte at all on Saturday. Although Saturday was pretty calm here on the West Coast, Taipei and the East Coast were still getting hit pretty hard. MiaoLi County is a mountainous county so the mountains protect this area a lot! So, we stayed busy inside by cleaning up our apartment, going through and organizing our Area Book, and having some extra study time.

We got permission to walk to a members house Saturday night to eat dinner with them. Since we couldn't really do any missionary work, we spent some extra time with Yang JiaTing. It was a lot of fun! 

So sadly, the typhoon hit here during the middle of the night but it was still pretty neat to experience one. 

Also, my camera I believe got some water damage and has been sitting in Rice since Friday night...It started working a little bit this morning but the buttons are all not working. It turns on by rotating the settings...so I might be purchasing a camera today :( but, we used Sister Cardon's so I'll get all the pictures from her memory card! 

Today, I want to share a really neat experience that happened to us Monday night. Last Monday after preparation day, we had a night full of finding. We went to the area where our investigator, Zhang JiaTing lives and knocked in there for the entire night. Our original plans were to be there half the night and then move areas. We were there for about an hour and a half and met a few neat people-none that really had much interest or agreed to having us come back again but we felt it was pretty successful in being able to teach a couple of people to pray and teach them a little bit about Christ. At about 7:30, we went back to our bikes to bike to the next area. We were biking down MinZuLu and I had this impression we needed to go back to that area. I ignored it and kept biking I got it again and then the 3rd time, I'm pretty sure the Spirit was very frustrated with me and kinda yelled saying, "you need to go back". So, about half way down MinZuLu, I turned back to Sister Cardon, and asked, "What are your thoughts right now?" She said, "I don't know I was just thinking about Chinese." I said, "Well, I feel like we need to go back." She agreed and we went back. As soon as I turned by bike to go back to where we were before, the nasty feeling left my body and I literally was filled with peace. We went back, parked our bikes, set goals and prayed. We went knocked a few doors and then we knocked on the last door of a certain road. A woman answered and told us to wait just a second and went and grabbed her husband. Normally when this happened, the husbands comes to the door and tells us they are not interested and to leave but this man saw us and seemed somewhat excited. He got his shoes and came outside and talked to us for a good 10-15 minutes. We prayed with him, explained the Book of Mormon, and talked about Christ. As we went to set up a return appointment, he said, "I am leaving on Wednesday morning for a business trip to China but I'll be back in two weeks and want to meet. Will you call me then?" We agreed and told him we will see him in two weeks. This man, Liao XS, is so amazing. And, the crazy is when we were going to come back on Thursday to knock more doors in this area, he wouldn't have been home. Now, who knows what is going happen in a week when we call him but I know this is the reason why we were supposed to go back to this area. The rest of the night was just the same, and no one was very interested but It is ALL worth it for one-for the ONE that is prepared. 

I am so grateful for the Spirit--especially in missionary work! This work wouldn't be His work if we didn't do it with the Spirit. 

Saturday night, we also got a call from the Assistants to the President and they told us Sister Cardon will be training in Toufen! So, I am going to be what is called a dad! My current companion is going to be training!! haha. So, this means I will probably be getting the call on Wednesday night that I am transferring out. 

I said goodbye to lots of members yesterday at church and to a few investigators we wont be seeing in the next few days. It is really sad!! I love these people to death! But, I know I will see them again!! 

This morning, I spent some time in Personal Study reviewing my Patriarchal Blessing. What a great tool and blessing we have been given from our Heavenly Father. I invite y'all to review your Patriarchal Blessing this week and take a moment or two to reflect on your life. Ask yourself if you are keeping your life in harmony with the Lord's. Are we living up to the covenants we have made? Are we worthy and able to receive the blessings the Lord has in store for us?   

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!!! Happy Fathers Day Dad!! Saturday was Father's day here in Taiwan--all the dads--well most of them enjoyed their day being home from work due to the typhoon! 

Love, 

Sister Haacke

P.S Family, I loved reading the family letter!! Mom and dad, the pictures are AMAZING!! I am so glad you had a great time in Europe!!! Marissa, Lachlan, and Alexa and I glad you were able to enjoy the various places you were-Marissa at home, Lachlan&Alexa at grandma&pa's homes. 

P.P.S: Please tell the ward primary thanks so much for the adorable letters I got from primary children! They are so cute! I'm pretty sure, if my memory is correct, Melissa Reed sent them :)

Post typhoon damage.

 Xu JieMei (Branch President's Wife) and I.

Zhou JieMei (Mia) and I. Elders investigator I have gotten pretty close to.

 English boarding.

Walking to Yang JiaTing.

Some more damage from the typhoon.

How they clean up all the trees.

Baptism

My dear family and friends!

Family, I loved reading through all the emails sent since you are all all over the world right now..mom and dad--Europe  is BEAUTIFUL! I am so grateful you are enjoying your time there and being able to travel and visit all sorts of countries--you lucky ducks! Continue taking lots of pictures and send them our way! Lachlan and Alexa--thanks for the emails you sent and for telling me all about your week with grandma and grandpa! It sounds like you  have been really busy and had tons of fun! I am glad you were able to go up to the Conference Center in Salt Lake and take a tour and also swimming, bowling, and everything else! Marissa--I can't believe you are old enough to be home! haha I know you are responsible though! Glad you made it to church :) and your keeping down the house for the family. 

BRYAN: HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY!!!! Here goes the 20 days we are the same age :) haha :). But I love you! I hope you have a great day tomorrow and miracles come your way! 

Since I emailed just on Wednesday (due to temple day), there aren't too many days to write about...but I continue to love what I do and love what I am learning everyday of my mission!! 

Wednesday after the temple, eating brownies with President Jergensen and his family, and emailing home, we went to an underground mall in Taipei with Sister Fisher, Sister Jenkins, Sister Beeston, and Sister Fan. It was so fun to have a little time to be with them buy some new clothes :)

Thursday--Thursday was an extremely fast day! After studies, we had a quick lunch and started our WPS. We had to stop half way through to go to interviews with President Jergensen. We had a small group discussion--Sister Cardon and I, The Zone leaders, and another set of Elders with Pres. Jergensen. We discussed how each part of missionary work needs to be equal--strengthening members, working with less actives, and teaching new investigators--they all are essential to missionary work and fulfill our purpose. In each section, we are invited others to made sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father-Active members attending the temple and taking out their Endowments, Less actives returning to church to partake of the Sacrament, and Investigators preparing to be baptized. My personal interview with President was also super neat. I know he and his family is supposed to be in Taiwan right now. He is so inspired! 

Thursday night, our investigator,  LIAO PEI RU GOT BAPTIZED!!!! It was such a Spiritual Experience. She brought her dad and her son with her and it was honestly the best service ever. Elder Merrell was asked to baptize her. When she bore her testimony, she shared how she has been preparing for the last year for this day and how Heavenly Father has been very patient with her. She also got super teary eyed (very rare here in Taiwan) and expressed how she hopes and prays in a couple years, her 5 year old son will also make the decision to be baptized and that hopefully her dad will also make the decision to believe in Christ. Is was very moving and really invited the Spirit. Liao JieMei has taught me so much. It honestly has been her teaching me instead of me teaching her. Her relationship with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is so strong. It is so so neat. 

Friday we had a normal day of missionary work. We did service in the early afternoon for Zhang JieMei and after the Elders asked if we could help them with another new investigator, Mia. She is also one of Cai JieMei friends but she lives in the Elders area. She previously attended the Presbyterian Church until her older brother forced her to stop going. She now lives far away from her brother and wants to start attending church again! We also invited her to baptism and she has a goal for September 5th!  I am excited the Elders will have the opportunity to help her prepare for that date! Friday night we did some stop-bys and had dinner with the Scheese family. 

Saturday, we did some Less-active finding, met with Gan JieMei, Akin, and had lots of finding time! 

I love our lessons with Gan JieMei. Her lessons are definitely the hardest for me to understand because she uses really advanced Chinese but the Spirit is always invited so quickly when we are with her. Hong JieMei helped us peike. We spent pretty much our entire time with her today following up on her prayer whether the Book of Mormon is true or not. She said every time she prays about it, she either falls asleep during her prayer or all the criticism she has heard about our church comes rushing into her head. As we explained how those thoughts are from Satan she completely agreed and Hong JieMei also told her she believes Gan JM is afraid of the answer she is going to get and that when she does get the answer, she is going to have to change churches which will be really hard. Gan JM agreed. She believes she isn't ready to receive the answer yet but that Heavenly Father is slowly preparing her. She is so so ready--she just doesn't realize it yet! 

Our night time was filled with finding. We were able to share a little bit with 2 people and one person asked us to come back on another day. We didn't get any new investigators Saturday night but planting seeds are also really important right?! 

Sunday afternoon, we went back and visited Huang JM, the lady that asked us to come back another day and as soon as she saw that it was us, she was so excited and invited us in quickly. We explained why there were so many Christian churches and why ours is different than everyone else. She was super interested and we are going back on Wednesday afternoon!! Sunday, we also found a new less active we are going to start working with! When she saw us, she was like, "My name is still on the Church records?" We were like yes..haha How long ago did you get baptized?" She told us about three years ago and she attended church for about a year and then stopped going. She works everyday except for on Sunday (which is super great) and we believe she just got lazy and out of the habit of going. She still prays but doesn't read very often. After all our Less-active search, we found some success! 

We also invited Li JieMei to baptism tonight, she was really excited and said yes until we invited her to September 12th and she declined and doesn't feel like she can join a church right now. 

That was pretty much the rest of our week. I continue to LOVE what I do. The time goes by so so fast. Today, we are starting our 5th week of this transfer. It is crazy! We are going with our Zone today to the ZhuNan beach and playing some games on the sand. 

I am grateful you are all having a great time at home! I love hearing from you every week! Thanks so much for the emails every week! I LOVE YOU ALL!! 

Sister Haacke 

 Liao JM's baptism!  (Above and below.)

 

OH...our bathroom finally got fixed and re-done! Yes, it is literally a 5-star hotel bathroom in a 1/2-star apartment. :) I love Taiwan :):)