Taiwan Taipei Mission

Taiwan Taipei Mission

Monday, October 26, 2015

Love

My dear family and friends!!
I can't believe another week has already gone by! Time seems to go faster and faster every week!! Overall this week was pretty good. It was a bit harder of a week work wise. 4 of our investigators became former investigators this week and this next week more are probably going to become former. It is really hard to former them but as we have been praying and pondering about them, we have figured a lot of our investigators haven't been progressing and especially are not willing to come to church--whether church be too early and they think sleeping is more important or earning money is more important etc. But, Sister Coleman and I know there are prepared people out there, we just need to find them!!

Sister Coleman and I saw some pretty neat miracles this week.

We began teaching a lady from the Philippines who has totally accepted the gospel. (Side note: When ever we go visit her, Bryan, I think of you! Tagalog sounds so cool but super hard to learn!! She prays in Tagalog and it is so so neat!!) She is in a really hard situation here in Taiwan--she misses her family so much but is here so that her children have money to go to school. She has 8 children back in the Philippines and the youngest is 6. Her older sister is a member of our church, she is a Catholic, and her husband is a Jehovah Witness. Our first time meeting with her, we taught her the first lesson and in tears she explained her family situation to us. Marieta is such a humble woman. She is sacrificing her entire life right now for the welfare of her children. Her boss is rude and she can't leave the house in which she is taking care of an ama.  But she knows this is what she needs to do for her family. As we met with her yesterday for the second time, she said she told her husband she started meeting with us and he was totally fine with it and she said the LDS chapel is about 5 minutes away from her home in the Philippines! She is hoping she will be able to take her 2 week vacation time this next month and go visit home for that time. Getting her to church in Taiwan will be a bit harder because she will have to ask permission from her boss to leave the house for an hour but she is willing to do so. She told us yesterday, she already knows the church is true. She has been wondering her whole life which church is true because even in her family everyone has different beliefs but that now she finally has found the truth.  I love Marieta!!
She also has been telling us about the Typhoon that hit the Philippines. Where her family lives, they were hit really bad. Their home was completely filled with water. They didn't have food, electricity, or anything for days and had to drink the dirty water. But all of her family was safe.

We are continuing to help a family come back to activity and her daughter-in-law is an investigator--she is one who is on the edge of becoming a former--but it was neat this week when we went to go visit them. Ba Yong loves the Book of Mormon but she won't read it on her own. She only likes to read it when with us. This week as we went to go over, she asked us to wait for her to bathe her kids and then if we could read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. We read Moroni 7 with her and it really invited the Spirit into the room. She asked us to explain it verse by verse so it took all the time we could spend there but it was totally worth it. We talked about having faith and hope because she believes she needs to know everything perfectly before she will accept it to be true. And then about having charity. It is hard to visit her because she doesn't care about her two children. Her mother-in-law is having to take care of them. They are not shown love or anything. Sometimes I feel like I am teaching her how to be a mom instead of the gospel. But it is helping her and her mother-in-law is so grateful for us.

This week we also went on exchanges.  I went with Sister Belnap and stayed here in my area. We had an amazing lesson with Shao Yi Ting. We read 1 Nephi 1 with her. Shao JieMei is amazing. I love her so much. At first, she said she just wanted to meet with us because she is really curious about our church. She comes from a really traditional Buddhist family. At the end of our lesson, we invited Shao JieMei to baptism. We asked her when she knew our message is true if she would be willing to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized. She said no. We asked her why. She said, "My mom passed away last year. On her death bed, she told me in my entire life I could never change religions." We bore powerful testimony that I knew her mom is currently in the Spirit World learning the exact same things she is learning here on earth. Shao JieMei set a date for the 12 of December. She told us she believes what we are teaching her is true but that she can't because she honors, misses, and loves her mom. (Which I totally understand!!) We promised her that as she says her own prayers and does her own study, she will receive an answer from Heavenly Father and her mom that baptism is something she needs to do here on this earth. What a powerful, humbling experience this was for me.
This week with 王志文 family, we had a big family scripture study!! With his son, a niece, and two nephews we read the Book of Mormon. I LOVE family scripture study!!

Yesterday at church, I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting. It was a neat experience. I was asked to talk on Heavenly Father's Unchanging Standards. I know that Heavenly Father gave us commandments on the earth not to restrict or force us but to protect us. He is our creator. He knows us perfectly. He knows what is good for us and wants us to be happy. He has given us commandments so that one day, we can RETURN to His presence! This morning in personal study, I studied the first half of Helaman 5. Nephi and Lehi REMEMBERED the words of their father, Helaman. The first thing written that they remembered was to keep the commandments of God. Keeping the commandments is so vital to our exaltation! Heavenly Father LOVES us SO much and is so eager to give us the blessings of eternal life, we just must do our part :)
WOW, I LOVE my mission! Everyday is so so amazing. This is definitely the best experience of my life. So grateful everyday I have this opportunity to serve.
I LOVE YOU ALL!!! Have a great week!!!
Love,
Sister Haacke

 So here, in the Taiwan Taipei Mission, you cant do your hair..and then when you put it in a pony tail, wear a bike helmet, sweat, and a full days of work just makes us look fantastic...ignore the hair.
 
 We take our recycling to a members mom. :)
 
 Our Filipino investigator, Marieta, and Sister Coleman and I.

 Sister Belnap and I.  Yes it rained a lot this week but nothing else. :)
  
 Dingo Drinks!!
   
 卓溪!! One of the mountainous tribes areas.
  
Some really unfortunate things occurred in a family in our Branch this last week so we made NO BAKE COOKIES during our lunch break for them...it has been so long since Sister Coleman or I have had No Bake Cookies...can I say, they were AMAZING!!!

Monday, October 19, 2015

Lessons Learned

FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!

What a week this has been. I have learned so much. To be honest, this wasn't the easiest week--its was actually pretty challenging work wise. Sister Coleman and I got canceled on/stood up 11 times the first three days of this week. We didn't understand why. But, we both kept a really positive attitude and just kept thinking, "What does Heavenly Father want us to learn from this?" The last few days of the week was when all the miracles came--we ended the week on a great note!! I am so grateful for these weeks and days that are sometimes a bit more challenging. I mean, if we didn't have challenges and hard days, we wouldn't know what happiness, joy, and the good times are. :)

We did have some really neat experiences this week. A couple who was baptized just over a year ago attended the temple for their first time on Saturday--they were able to do baptisms, took our their own Endowments, Sealed for time and all eternity, and their 2 year old son was also sealed to them. Us missionaries, unfortunately didn't receive permission to attend their sealing but Sister Coleman and I went over Friday night to share one more message with them before they went up to Taipei. We shared with them this video that has pictures of multiple temples inside and out and then as the Temple Celebration for the Ukraine Temple. What a neat spirit that was brought into the room. This last year has not been easy for the Gao Family. They have had many challenges and trials but they overcame them all and they were able to partake and participate in a very important ordinance on  Saturday. Neat, was that Bro. Gao said Friday night how smoothly Friday had gone and they were surprised but they knew it was a blessing from Heavenly Father and just another confirmation they were to go to the temple. 


A bitter sweet moment occurred yesterday at church. After the rest hymn, I came back to sit by Sister Coleman ( I was asked to play the piano) and she turned to me and said, "GAO DIXIONG IS HERE!!" We didn't even see him come in. Gao DiXiong is a new investigator we find who lives up on top of the mountains in one of the Mountain Tribes. He has no understanding/very strange understanding of Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ. When we invited him to church on Saturday, he agreed to come for 30 minutes because he said that was all the time that he had. When we called him Sunday morning, about 10 minutes before church was started, he told us he had yet to shower and wouldn't be able to come. BUT, he surprised us and he was there!! After asking the Elders after Sacrament Meeting, they said he came in through the back door right after the meeting started! He was able to partake of the Sacrament and hear the testimonies of those who went to the Temple for the First time on Saturday. Even though he might not have fully understood, this man, Gao DiXiong, truly has a desire to learn, grow, and he came to church despite the fact he knows nothing. What faith he has!!! Yes, he only stayed for about 45 minutes but Sister Coleman and I basically ran after him as he left and told him thanks for coming. He said he enjoyed it. Sadly, he will be traveling all this week and won't be home till next week sometime but, we will visit him once he returns home!
Friday, Sister Coleman and I went and found in an area a bit farther away. Our area here in YuLi is the largest land mass wise in the mission but the smallest amount of people :). We went to a place called DaYu and found in a mountain tribe all day. We had the opportunity to talk to many people. They were all much older and told us they couldn't ever change their religion due to traditions but it was bitter sweet being able to pray with these people and talk to them about their lives and the blessings they have seen. The very last person we talked to their was a younger man, who was really willing to listen and set up an appointment with us this next week.
This week, I really came to cherish the words in Helaman 3:35
 35 Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.
Often times in our life, we don't know why we are experiencing the things we do. But, when we learn to align our will with God's our minds will be opened. When we are faced with challenges and trials, we can ask ourselves, "What does God want/need me to learn from this?" I know if we face our trials knowing we can learn something from them and relying on Heavenly Father's will we will become stronger and become more like our Savior, Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father will never challenge us more than we can bare.  As we continue to live our lives, we must learn how to align our will with His. He gives us trials to shape and mold us into who He knows we have the potential to become. Our Heavenly Father loves us. He loves us each individually and He knows us each on an individual basis. Don't ever forget the LOVE He has for YOU!!
I love you all so much!!
HAVE A GREAT WEEK!
Sister Haacke

 The Elders found this picture frame! Our Mission theme is "Captained By Christ".
 
 Sister Coleman and I in DaYu.
 
 People working in the Rice Fields.

 Our Last Taiwan mango of the season...yes we spent almost $200 for this :( MANGO IS THE BEST!!
  
 A future temple will be built here...it is SO beautiful!!

Monday, October 12, 2015

General Conference Challenges

Family and Friends!
What a great week this has been! I LOVED General Conference--so uplifting and I learned so much from each speaker! What a blessing it is that we have a living prophet and apostles to lead and guide our church. How neat it is we now have three new ordained apostles to also teach, lead, and guide us.
As for this week, our investigators we are really focusing on are continuing to progress. We visit a less active who is almost fully back to activity and her nonmember daughter-in-law quite frequently and they are both really progressing. 巴永, the daughter in law, is slowly progressing and has a baptismal date for the end of this month. She has the desire but for her to read and pray on her own is really hard. She feels like it is something she can only do when the missionaries are in a lesson with her. :( As we continue to teach her and help her come to know Christ, I hope and pray she can learn the importance of personal communication with our Heavenly Father.
We also had a great lesson with 王志文 this week. We are now teaching him the commandments and taught Word of Wisdom this week. In Taiwan, it is pretty common for everyone to drink tea and coffee--especially tea--there is so many different varieties here--and so that is his only concern. At first, he was really nervous about having to give up tea but towards the end of the lesson he said something really neat. He said, "Since this is a commandment from Heavenly Father, I know I need to obey it." What a wonderful man of faith. He has still yet to come to church--mostly concerning his work. He drives a car for a man who lives up in one of the mountainous tribes--ZhuoXi--were we go pretty frequently--and his schedule is never set in stone. :(
冒姐妹 is someone we are also working really close towards. This last week she brought up a big concern here--regarding worshiping. She asked what the conflict was between being baptized and continuing to worship other Gods. During this lesson with her, I could feel the Spirit really strong. I know that through the Spirit, Sister Coleman and I were able to bear powerful testimony and promise her that as she would continue to pray daily, read daily, and attend church every Sunday that this concern of hers would diminish and she would not have the desire to worship other Gods anymore.  I know the Spirit bore powerful testimony to her.
冒姐妹 is like my Taiwanese mom. We get along so great and I can laugh so hard with her! I love her to death and I am so grateful for this opportunity Heavenly Father has given me to help her come unto Christ.
On Friday, we were up in the mountains doing some finding and visiting some investigators in ZhuoXi--the ZhongZheng Tribe. (Dad, this is one of the mountainous tribes--and you were right, these people up here are absolutely amazing--so humble, so loving). We were walking up this pretty steep hill to see if there were any homes up there. We were up it a few minutes and we could see NO homes. We were about to go back but decided to continue walking, just a few moments later we saw a few homes and went and and talked to them. We saw two miracles right in a row! The first man, was visiting home from doing his military service up in Taipei and was only going to be home for a few days. We had a wonderful short lesson with him, gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon, and recorded his information to give to the respective missionaries. As we were walking to the next home, some trees separated and we were able to see the beautiful view of all the town of YuLi.  We stopped to take a picture and next thing we knew, this man came driving up on his motor-scooter and tried to speak to us in some broken English.
  
 Us and the view.
  
We walked to his home together and we were able to teach him about Heavenly Father and he became a new investigator!! First of all, we were pretty excited to meet this new investigator, Secondly, the VIEW was beautiful!! This man's home was on the top of the mountain and it overlooked the WHOLE valley. The pictures we got definitely do not capture the magnificence of it but it was beautiful. How grateful I am for the beauties of the earth!
  
Our new investigator we met on the top of the mountain.
  
We ended this week with the wonderful opportunity to listen to General Conference! We watched it with our branch and we used our Branch President's phone to listen to it in English. So, in one ear we had English and the other ear we were listening to it in Chinese. It was so great. Sadly, I forgot all my notes I was going to send home sitting on my desk in our apartment, but I learned SO SO much.
I loved how so many talks were on the Sabbath Day. This Holy Day is truly so important. We are given this day to REST, to spend TIME with family, to STUDY the gospel, and most importantly to ATTEND church. The three hours we spend at church each week are the most three important hours of our week. I invite you all to ponder how you can make this time a more sacred time. Whether it be putting your phone on silent and not using it or even leaving it at home or in the car, starting to take notes as to what the Spirit teaches you, or not falling asleep. I know as we focus more intently and learn more at church our weeks will be filled with more happiness, our work, homework, and other activities will go more smoothly, and blessings will fall like rain from Heaven.
I also loved D. Todd Christofferson's Talk. We go to church to anchor ourselves in Christ. Our calling on earth is to learn and grow. This life is NOT easy. We are faced with challenges, trials and temptations of ALL sorts. But, we are promised from the scriptures we will NEVER be tempted more than we can bear. Keep working your best, focus on the important things, and work towards receiving the gift of exaltation and Salvation!!
Also, mom, you are AMAZING! I LOVE you. This conference made me so grateful for my mom. Mom, your incredible. LOVE YOU
Lastly, what is your scripture you are going to 'ponderize' this week? (Devin G. Durrant's Talk from Sunday Afternoon's Session) I want to hear back from y'all!!
I LOVE you all!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!!!
Love,
Sister Haacke

Last P-day, we went to SanXianTai again! IT was BEAUTIFUL!




 
 We had a Taiwanese BBQ with our branch this past week.

 Me and a friend that our branch president brought.

 Saturday was "Taiwan's Birthday" so they had a cute parade all around town for a few hours!


ZONE Training this week!! Sister Lindsay and I are serving in the same ZONE again!!!

 Some members we rode our bikes together to Church Yesterday.
 

Monday, October 5, 2015

One Year Down

My dear family and friends.
Can I say, this week has been absolutely INSANE!!!
Dad, I am so glad you got to meet my previous companion, Sister Wright!! That is so cool! I about died when I saw that picture!!! Family, I am glad you are also doing great! You're all so busy! Crazy!!
So this week was absolutely crazy. Monday night, the Typhoon hit us just a little bit but the lightening was huge. It was insane. We were told we needed to go in and so Sister Wright and I sang and played the piano to practice the song for Zhu Hui Ling's baptism.. We got a call Monday night from our Zone Leaders telling us that Sister Wright was moving. From this news, I cried a lot and was really sad. It was insane because we both thought we were going to have another transfer together but, the Lord had a different plan for the both of us!  Tuesday was filled with us visiting some branch members and investigators for Sister Wright to say goodbye to them.. 朱姐妹 had her interview with President Jergensen Tuesday night over Skype and SHE PASSED!!! So, I had a companion leaving to go up to Taipei on Wednesday afternoon and  a baptism on Wednesday night.
Wednesday: We spent the morning up in ZhuoXi--a little tribe area in the mountains--doing some finding and visiting some investigators. Wednesday afternoon, I sent Sister Wright off on the train up to Taibei and Sister Komatsu came up from TaiDong to be my temporary companion for a day until my new companion came down.
Wednesday was a day I will never forget on my mission. So much happened!!! So, Sister Komatsu and I got back to the church at around 4 and we started setting up for the baptism. The Elders came to set up our portable baptismal font and asked us to watch it as it filled with water. We thought we would have some time to go upstairs to our apartment really fast, grab some food and send in a couple referrals..as we were heading back downstairs, we got off the elevator, and the door to the chapel was open. I thought wow, why is the door open? Next thing, there is all this water EVERYWHERE and I round the corner, now basically running and our landlord is there standing looking at the portable baptismal font collapsed. Yes, it collapsed and the water was everywhere. It went through the cracks of the floor too and into a side room in his home . So, we spend the next two hours, pushing water out of our chapel. It reminded me of when we went back east and helped with Hurricane Katrina a couple years ago during Thanksgiving time. But it definitely wasn't that bad!! I kept telling our landlord how sorry I was and that he could totally blame me. He was really chill about it...the only hard thing was that this is the third time that it has happened!! We got the water all cleaned up just in time to start our English class. At 8, Zhu JieMei came to the church and we got her ready for baptism AND we had her BAPTISMAL SERVICE from 8:15-9!!! It was honestly the greatest experience. The Spirit was SO STRONG. It was so neat to see her be baptized. As she came up out of the water, I know without a doubt she was made clean. All of her previous sins and mistakes were washed clean. She became a new person, having a new, clean, fresh start. Her baptismal service was so neat. As she bore her testimony, she thanked us as missionaries. She knew without this gospel--the trials she has had--especially over the last 1 1/2 months of her life--she wouldn't have made it and she wouldn't be here. She bore testimony that she knows that Heavenly Father is by her side every day and that she knows this gospel with continue to change her life and the lives of her kids. Zhu JieMei loves to cry but in her testimony, she said, "I don't want to say very much because I love to cry, but this is my share." She is AMAZING!
Thursday, Sister Komatsu and I met with a new investigator who is going to be living here for 1 year working as a special education teacher and then will go back to her home town in Gaoxiong. Shao JieMei is so happy and so bubbly. And she has a really strong desire to learn about Heavenly Father. I love having this special opportunity to teach these people in Taiwan. It is truly the greatest experience in my life--whether we are planting seeds, growing seeds, or harvesting seeds, it is all God's work!!!
Thursday evening, we went back to the train station to exchange back with our new companions. Sister Lindsay, my MTC companion, was on the train heading to TaiDong-she became Sister Komatsu's new companion and Sister Coleman is my new companion! Can I say, she is amazing and such a cutie!! She entered the MTC this February and has been on island about 1 1/2 less than me--because she didn't have to visa wait like I did :). She is from Orem, UT and KNOWS the LINDLEYS!!!! Her and Haley Lindley went to High School together! She plays soccer and went to UVU before the mission.
Thursday night, we had a lesson with 冒姐妹. She is continuing to progress--the only hard thing is for her coming to church every Sunday. Thursday night, we talked with her about Faith and Repentance. As we were discussing the steps of repentance, she said, "I basically do this every night and I lay down to go to bed!!" Every night, she reflects on her day and sees the areas in which she could change and grow--what she might have done wrong that day. She had been doing all of the steps except for praying for forgiveness! It was neat for her to click these two things together! Every since we began teaching her, everything has been so familiar. It literally is like we are reminding her of the things she previously learned in the PreMortal life.
THURSDAY WAS ALSO MY 1 YEAR MARK ON MY MISSION!! It definitely does not feel like I have been serving for one year. I have loved every every minute of it. I have learned SO much and grown in so many different areas of my life. Words cannot describe how much I have treasured the last year of my life. It has been great.
Friday was a day full of usual work-we had WPS and then the afternoon was filled with some appointments and finding time. We met with 朱姐妹 daughter that night and pretty much the whole time, 朱姐妹 was telling us how good she felt after being baptized. She was so happy! She says that ever since she was baptized, there has been a different feeling inside her body. I am so grateful I have been able to see the change and experience the change with this woman. She is truly incredible.
Sunday, we had three investigators and our recent convert at church! It was a great meeting. Sunday afternoon, we had a long coordination meeting with our branch mission leader and discussed a lot how we can help our cute little branch here. We ate dinner with the Singletary's and did some small service for them afterwards and had an FHE with a part member family.
The work is literally on fire here in 玉里!!! I LOVE what I am doing. I have never been SO HAPPY!!! I know this work is true!
I hope you all have a great week!!
LOVE,
Sister Haacke
 

 I LOVE HER!!!!!!!

Some Investigators up in ZhuoXi.  

Sister Coleman and I.

Kids are ADORABLE!!