Sister Samantha Haacke: New Adventures

Family and Friends,

What a fantastic week Sister Coleman and I have had this past week! We literally saw so many miracles! It was incredible!
Some miracles we saw this week:
1. 王志文(Wang Zhi Wen), an investigator that has been investigating for some time came to church for the first time yesterday and brought his son, 2 nephews, and 1 niece!! (His nephews and niece are also our investigators!) Just when we thought 王弟兄 was starting to lose interest, he came to church. This last week we never got an opportunity to meet with him due to the fact that he was extremely busy with work and even when we called him Saturday night to remind him about church, he didn't answer. We decided to send him a text reminding him we had church at 9. And I guess that was the trick because he ATTENDED CHURCH!! What a miracle!!
The last couple of times we have visited him, we have been trying to figure our his true interest because we weren't quite sure. He always tells us he really wants to get baptized but every Sunday when church comes around, he gets called from his boss to go into work. We weren't quite sure if it was an excuse or what BUT, our faithless thoughts were shattered!
2. Our investigator from the Philippines, Marieta, is giving up coffee and got permission to go home for two weeks to take her vacation time from work and attend her daughters wedding! To be honest, Sister Coleman and I had no faith Marieta was going to try to give up coffee. When we taught her the Word of Wisdom, she was totally fine with it until we told her it also included coffee and she said, "oooohhhh nnnoooo, there was no way!" (in the cutest Filipino accent) BUT, she is down to one cup of coffee every morning and that's it! Also, when she goes back to the Philippines next week, she is going to try to attend our church with her sister who became a member of the church a few years ago when her husband passed away!! The cutest thing is that she is completely surprising her entire family. The only person that knows she is going home for two weeks is her husband and she is going to surprise all of her kids, parents, etc. She is so excited because her daughter told her that she doesn't want to get married without her mom there and now she gets to go home and surprise her daughter!!

3. On Thursday, Sister Coleman had to go up to Taipei for a meeting for the English Leaders so I stayed in YuLi and a missionary from TaiDong (whose companion also had to go to the meeting) came and served with me for the day! We saw SO many miracles--the neatest is that we went and visited 李姐妹 and her 11 year old son, Michael. Michael knows quite a bit about Christianity because he has been on and off attending church but his mom knows very little. We shared The Message of the Restoration and the Spirit was so strong. It like clicked in Li JieMei's head. I truly know the Spirit testified to her about the truthfulness of this wonderful message. I am so grateful for the Spirit. We can't teach without it!

4. Friday was another day spent up in RuiSui! Sister Coleman and I got stood-up by all of our new investigators BUT, we saw SO many miracles! (How many times have I said that). So many people that we stopped and talked to on the street were so open to listening. It was such a cool change. The neatest experience is when we met 黃弟兄。He is one prepared person!! When we knocked on his door, he seemed really excited to see us. To be honest, it made Sister Coleman and I a little nervous--how excited he was. BUT, after we knew why. He is Buddhist and doesn't really know if Heavenly Father is real. We explained the Book of Mormon to him and promised him that all the questions he has, this book could answer them. He had never prayed before and he said the most sweetest, humble, fervent, incredible prayer ever. It was so sincere. In his prayer, he asked that he could come to the knowledge that Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father are real beings and that he could come to know truth. etc. After closing, we asked him again if that was his first time ever praying and he answered us again saying yes. We were in complete awe. I know we have the message this man needs in his life. What a privilege that Sister Coleman and I have the opportunity to begin teaching him.

5. 仁和 is getting baptized this SATURDAY!!!!!!!

I could go on and on about the miracles we saw but those are just a few :)

Some gross things for the week: Yes, I serve on the East where the binlang is everywhere. Many chew and in fact there is some right in front of the keyboard I am using to type this :) They must be stocking up for the winter or something because everyone is bringing the nut down from the mountain and harvesting it right now.

Saturday Sister Coleman and I saw a truck full of dead pigs--skinned and gutted. Yes it was disgusting and I was about to puke over my handlebars. I wish I could have taken a picture to let ya'll experience that with me :)

We tried to branch out this week in trying some new food...Sister Coleman describes it as alien membrane. :) Nuf said. :)

I love my companion, Sister Coleman!! She is so amazing! We get along so great and I LOVE serving with her! We have become such great lifelong friends! She is a huge example to me!

3 Nephi 7:21 "And it came to pass that the thirty and first year did pass away, and there were but few who were converted unto the Lord; but as many as were converted did truly signify unto the people that they had been visited by the power and Spirit of God, which was in Jesus Christ, in whom they believed."

As I have been studying in 3 Nephi right before Christ comes and visits the Americas, I have learned something very important. Are we truly converted? We may be numbered among the few but it doesn't matter. When we got baptized, we took upon ourselves the name of Jesus Christ. We promised to represent him at all times. Every week, we partake of the Sacrament at church and renew that covenant..We promise we will always remember Him. Keep him in your thoughts, and frequently ask yourself, "If the Savior is standing beside me, would I do what I am currently doing?" Stand Tall, be proud, and have a great week!!

I love you all so much!!

And for my Tagalog word for the week: Mahal Kida :)