Sister Samantha Haacke: It Snowed in Taiwan!

Yep folks, Taiwan made history this past week. IT SNOWED. Yes, SNOW in TAIWAN. This has NEVER happened. It occasionally snows on the highest mountains of Taiwan BUT it snowed in the CITY. It was crazy. It didn't snow much but it was SNOW! It was so funny to see the people. Everyone was freaking out!! We were talking to some people about it on the street and they were like, "I'm 50 years old and I have never seen snow!" We were laughing with them. Of course, the snow also brings cold. The last 2-3 days have been the coldest days Taiwan has seen in the past 10+ years. I have worn so many layers. Including my sweatshirt and all the long sleeve shirts I got underneath my coat. It has been quite the adventure! My hands and toes haven't been warm for a while:). Here there is also no heat so the homes are all freezing. BUT when the coldness comes, the miracles come in even faster!!! Sister Cardon and I have seen so many miracles this week. This week has been one never to forget!

Back to the snow, here in NanKan（南崁）, we saw a few flakes, up in Taoyuan（桃園）, some of our members told us that is snowed up there pretty good--like it was white outside and in ZhongLi (中壢）, LinKou （林口）, and other surrounding cities, there was some snow on the ground for a couple hours.

Sunday was a phenomenal day. We woke up early to get to meetings on time. We biked in 3 degree Celsius weather plus humidity so not going to lie, it was really cold! But, we got to church and had great meetings. Today, Han Zhi DiXiong （韓志) passed his baptismal interview after church so we will have a baptism this coming Saturday!! Luan JieMei also came to church with her husband, and Zhang Jing Ping (張景評）attended Sacrament Meeting. What faith these investigators had to come to church despite the freezing elements outside. When Zhang DX walked in, his hands were super red. He biked from NanKan to the chapel-about 25 minutes or so-without any gloves. He had a great experience though and many members fellow-shipped him and got to know him. Three Less Actives also attended Church today. It was a HUGE miracle!!

Sunday afternoon was when it snowed and we met with a few investigators and did some finding. Sunday evening, we had dinner with 3 families in our ward--the Chen JiaTing, Chi Jiating, and Qiu JiaTing. Chen Jiating had us all at their home and we literally have a Thanksgiving Feast--with really turkey, potatoes, onion rings, stuffing, etc. It was really Americanized! The Chi Jiating have a son who is leaving for the MTC next week going to Canada French, English, and Chinese speaking, and the Qiu Jiating have a daughter leaving for England in March speaking English. It was so fun being able to spend dinner with them and talk about missions and all they will learn!

Last Monday, we went bowling with the missionaries in our district. A less active who Sister Cardon and I are working with took us and brought his friend/coworker who is going to start taking the lessons! Monday night, we had a lesson with Luan DiXiong and Luan JieMei. Today, we started teaching Luan JieMei! She has been prepared over the last few months while her husband has been brought back to activity and she is ready and prepared. We are going to have to take it really slow so we taught just about prayer and encouraged her to start reading the Book of Mormon instead of starting with the Old Testament. We also had a lesson with Cao JieMei, a Less Active who wants to come back but feels like she has to change so much to be able to and doesn't even know where to start. The Spirit was so strong tonight. I love night like these where the Spirit really does all the teaching.

Tuesday: We met with Zhang Jing Ping. We invited him to read 3 Nephi 11 last week and he came this week feeling like he understands more why he needs to be baptized!! We talked about the blessings of the Spirit and how we can have the Spirit with us always after we are baptized. We had district meeting and met with the two moms we met last week at the church. We gave them a tour of the chapel and shared with them about the Book of Mormon. Sadly, we found out they both don't live in our area--they both live in separate wards and the wards both meet in different buildings. Tuesday night, Sister Cardon and I went to dinner with Kristy and her husband! They are SO nice! Dad, please tell her thanks again! It was fun to be able to meet her!!

Wednesday: We had lunch with Lily and her family and then right after lunch taught Han DX the Ten Commandments and Law of Chastity. Having lessons with him are hilarious. I don't even know how to explain it. He loves to joke and with his China accent, it takes Sis. Cardon and I some time to understand his jokes but he is also a super intense 'student' as he calls himself. Every lesson, he comes with some questions about things he has studied between the days we meet with him. To sum up his lesson, about the ten commandments: he told me numerous amounts of times that every night I need to lock up my hair because someone is going to steal it because it is gold and so if I lock it up I will help other people keep the 10 Commandments. haha...

Wednesday we met with a less active for the first time who then ended up coming to church on Sunday. I don't know if you remember but about 2 years ago there was a group of people who got baptized in a river where one of the first missionaries in Taiwan baptized someone (or something like that) and she was one of those who got baptized that day. Her experience is really special! We also met with a member referral, Wu JM. She has a lot of questions and is really curious about becoming Christian. She set a baptismal date with us and we are excited to help her work towards that!

Wednesday night was our usual English Class. We had so many new people today! Our class was SO full! Especially now that people are on Winter Break there will be more people coming.

Thursday: We were supposed to watch the Worldwide Missionary Broadcast that occurred on the 20th but it was moved to tomorrow. So, I am really curious about what is going to be taught/trained on. We spent the day doing WPS and took a small trip to see the doctor. Thursday evening, we began our exchange with the ZhongLi Sisters. I went with Sister Strong who finishes her mission at the end of this week. It was a great experience being able to go with her! We spent the night finding and teaching on the street. We met a neat man who we are hoping to meet with again tonight!

Friday: Sister Strong and I went and visited one of our investigators, Su JieMei. We taught her about the restoration and talked to her about coming to church. Our peike offered to pick her up and her 4 children since she doesn't have any way to get them all to church. But, she had to ask her husband and she couldn't come this week. :( We are hoping she will be able to come next week. She wants to come to church really bad but is really nervous about her relatives not agreeing. After lunch, we had some finding time and set two baptismal dates right in a row! Sister Strong and I were still companions and it was really neat because one of the ladies we talked to, lives in her proselyting area! So, we got a new investigator for them and for us!

We exchanged back and Sister Cardon and I spent the night finding and then visiting Han DX. Friday afternoon was when the rain started and poor Sis. Cardon, she didn't have a rain jacket. Friday started the cold front. So, she got drenched and was freezing and just the bottom of my skirt got pretty wet. lucky for her, she was wearing all dark colors so no one knew she was wet or they would have freaked out. BUT for me, I was wearing a red skirt and when we went to visit Han DX, his wife made me blow dry my skirt before we could even start the lesson. It wasn't even that wet but that is the Chinese culture for you! :) They just really care about our health and well-being :)

Saturday: The rain was coming down today plus the temperature wasn't that great so we bundled up---wore so many layers and hit the streets. We had a slower day today and I would say the largest miracle was that we made it through despite the pouring rain :) We ate dinner with the Chi JiaTing with all the missionaries in our district and mostly talked to their son who leaves soon for his mission. Saturday night, we also met with Lin DiXiong. We taught the plan of Salvation and he had SO many questions. Our member also brought up the Word of Wisdom so we got to share that with him. He was really surprised about tea and coffee but he is somewhat willing to give it a try. :) He is so curious. He told our peike that he was willing to meet with us because he feels like what we teach can help him be an even better person. He said he has walked into our church building and stayed for about 10 minutes but it was so big that if kind of scared him so he left. We invited him back and he said he will probably come to the baptism next Saturday night. He's going to be a great member someday!

Overall, we had a great week. We have been bundled and wearing as much clothing as we can. Staying as warm as we can. But, Heavenly Father is blessing us so much. I absolutely love love my mission. I know this is the Lord's work and I am so grateful I can represent Him, My Savior, Jesus Christ.

Have a great week! Marissa, I hope you feel better soon!! Alexa, your SO cute in your dance outfits, Lachlan, boarding is going to be fun with you! AND the Tabernacle temple is GORGEOUS! Mom, Sister Cardon and I are so jealous you got to go through the open house! Dad, keep us updated on everything!

Love you all! Stay warm!

Love,

Sister Haacke

A car must have gone somewhere where there was more snow and it fell off in NanKan. MotorScooters didn't know how to drive over it, so they would literally stop before slowly driving over this little patch or drive around it. :)