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!!

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.

 

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!!

Invitation

My dear family and friends!!

A transfer has come and gone already! The last 6 weeks have gone by SO fast!! But, this transfer was extended a week so transfer meeting isn't until this Thursday. I am praying Sister Wright and I can stay together for at least another transfer. I have absolutely loved being with her!! And in this cute, tiny town of YuLi! This transfer ended off on one of the best weeks we have had here in YuLi!! Sister Wright and I ended this transfer with giving out 105 copies of the Book of Mormon!! At the very beginning of this transfer we thought, how cool it would be if we got 100 and we handed out our 100th yesterday + some more! How great it is that Heavenly Father sees our diligence and efforts and rewards us!!

Gao JiaTing has set their Temple Sealing for October 17th at the 11am session I believe. It is so neat to be able to have the opportunity to help this recent family prepare to be sealed for time and all eternity. They have the cutest 2 year old who they will also be sealed to.

This week was full of miracles in and of itself. Our investigator, Zhu JieMei, she doesn't even have a desire to drink alcohol or chew binlang any more at all. She has completely broken her 30+ year addictions. What a miracle. She ate the nut part of the binlang this last week on accident more of just out of habit but quickly realized the mistake she made, prayed, asked for forgiveness, and has promised to never for the rest of her life drink or chew!! She even leaves her home every night for hours to go exercise to avoid the temptations of her husband and his friends as they drink, smoke, and chew in and outside their home. The change in this woman is absolutely incredible. What a privilege Sister Wright and I have had to teach her the Restored Gospel and see how this gospel has changed her. I love her!! 

We also began teaching a Mao JiaTing a couple weeks ago--the mom and daughter--and they, especially the mom, is very prepared. This last week, they didn't keep their commitment to read the Book of Mormon and pray so, we read the beginning of the Book of Mormon with them. Mao JieMei understood it all and understood how to relate what we learn into our daily lives. We expressed the importance of her coming to know the truth for her own. She knows she needs to read and pray everyday. It will just be something she is to slowly adjusts to.

Do you remember me sharing about a Ba JieMei last week, well we went and visited her this week because she has decided to move home and work at the hospital here in YuLi and we started reading the Book of Mormon with her again. At the beginning she asked if we could stay for 3 or 4 hours and read with her which we told her we couldn't but after about 30 minutes, she was getting really bored and asked if we could switch books. haha She is changing though--slowly but surely. She grew up in China and still won't say her own prayers unless we tell her exactly what to say. We hope this week that that will change.

This week we also had the opportunity to visit a former investigator and her two daughters who are 7 and 2. Her husband is in the army and stationed in TaiDong so only is able to come home every couple of weeks a couple days at a time. Ma JieMei was raised in the Presbyterian Church and the reason why she had to stop meeting with missionaries last year was that her grandparents and parents found out she was meeting with missionaries and forced her to travel up to HuaLian every weekend to attend church with them. When we visited with her this last week, she explained that her husband knows she is meeting with us again and she just really wants to know more about Jesus Christ and His teachings. So, we will see what happens!! I'm telling you, this area is exploding right now!!

As for myself, I am loving my mission. I can't believe another transfer has already come and gone. The time seems to go by WAY TOO fast! I am grateful for the companion that I have. We work well together and I continue to learn from her everyday. She is an amazing, inspired missionary. I love her. I am also grateful for my personal growth in learning the gospel, listening to the Spirit, and helping those in YuLi receive the Gospel. What a special privilege it is to serve in this great day and age. I am grateful for personal study every morning in which we can base our studies around our investigators but also learn for ourselves. This week, I did an activity from the back of Chapter 4-Recognizing the Spirit in Preach my Gospel. As I continue to learn how the Spirit speaks to me, it has been easier for me to allow my feelings to be expressed in lessons and talking to people on the street. As we learn from the teachings of Alma in Alma 5:45-46

 45 And this is not all. Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

 46 Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me.

The Holy Ghost has a very powerful and important role in each of our individual conversions. There is always more to learn in the church. Remember the simple things, 1. Pray daily: Heavenly Father truly wants to hear from us. He loves us and is concerned for our welfare. 2. Read from the Scriptures DAILY: No matter if you are on vacation, busy with work, busy with the everyday living of life, we need to remember to study the Scriptures. I can promise you, every time you open to read, you will learn something new. 3. Attend Church every week.

As Missionary, I invite individuals to do these three simple things everyday. Yes, if we are not in the habit it can be hard to start. But, I invite you, diligently strive to fulfill these three things and adding a fourth to attend the temple as much as possible--whether it is to do baptisms for the dead or an endowment session. The temple truly is the House of the Lord where we can be filled with his love, care, and comfort.

I love you all so very much. Thank you for your continued prayers, support, and love I feel from each of you!!

Sister Haacke

  

We love Selfies...Bike ride coming down from ZhuoXi.
  

 ZhuoXi

After Church.  A member bought us some new clothes.

Taroko Gorge National Park

FAMILY AND FRIENDS

I know the start of my emails are always the same...but I never know how to begin...It was an amazing week! And I absolutely LOVE being a missionary!!

This week was filled with some amazing experiences.
First, this past Tuesday, we had OUTDOOR ZONE CONFERENCE!!!! And the best part is that we went to TAROKO GORGE NATIONAL PARK!! It was BEAUTIFUL!! 2 Zones went together so my zone--台東 (Taidong) and the 花蓮 (Hualian) zone came together. We met really early at the Hualian Chapel all got on a bus and went up to Taroko Gorge National Park. And can I just tell you, it is so beautiful here in Taiwan. The trainings were absolutely amazing. I loved every part of it. The real focus was on who we are-Disciples of Jesus Christ and what we do. We also discussed the importance of being happy and enjoying the time we have on our mission. We would hike a little, stop, have a training, and hike a little bit more. the Pictures don't even do it justice but it was such an amazing experience. 

  Toroko Gorge
  

We were able to set a new baptismal date with one of our investigators, YuZhen. She is 14 years old and has a really strong desire to get baptized but coming to church is the hard thing for her. We had a really spiritual lesson about our purpose and the steps we need to take to reach our potential and enter the Celestial Kingdom. She was really moved and personally set a new goal for October 17th--the week of her birthday. We had a really neat experience this week visiting with a less-active. She is about 70+ but literally acts like she is in her 30's. She is full of energy and takes care of her two small grandgirls. Her son lives with her and her daughter-in-law works in FengLin which is about 45 minutes away from YuLi. Her daughter-in-law, Ba JieMei, is a former investigator and from what I have heard, when she was taught the first couple of times, she told the missionaries she had absolutely no interest and basically said religion was dumb. BUT when we went to go visit Li JieMei this last week, Ba JieMei was there and sat in and PARTICIPATED in our lesson!!! It was a HUGE change. The thing that was also really cool was that Ba JieMei came to church with Li JieMei last Sunday-September 13. Ba JieMei husband is also a less active and the entire lesson she was telling us we need to help her husband come back to the church!!! What a huge change of heart this woman has had. So neat. The only hard part is that where she lives in FengLi there are no missionaries--it is part of our area--and so we wont be able to teach her very often--only when she comes down to visit her kids which is about once a month. Friday while finding we had a really neat tender mercy. We went knocking for about an hour or so and had no success. As we were heading back to our bikes to leave to go have dinner, we both felt like we needed to go talk to this lady holding a baby and playing with her children on a little park in front of a Primary School. On our walk across the street and then onto the grass, we saw this other mom who was sitting being a scooter (she was blocked from our view when we were standing by our bikes) pulling out a cigarette. We both walked straight to her, sat with her and talked. She used to go to a Christian church several years ago but left it because they were changing some things in the church and she thought it was really weird. We prayed with her and taught her simply some of our church's teachings. The Spirit was so strong and I know she felt it very strongly. She is going through some really hard times right now--infact, in her prayer, she listed all these things she is struggling with--raising her daughter, a health issue, something with her home, not having work, etc. The Spirit literally came pouring onto all of us. This woman is so prepared to hear the gospel. I can't wait to continue to be able to help her. We never had the opportunity to talk to the lady we were originally planning on talking to but I know Heavenly Father told us we needed to walk in that direction to meet this sweet lady.  This weekend, we had Stake Conference in Hualian.  It was the FIRST EVER Stake Conference here on the East Coast. Right before President Day went home a few months ago, he came and organized the Hualian Stake. It was neat to be able to be a part of it. I had to translate the last talk on Saturday night to Rebecca--from Ohio teaching English in Hualian. It was so nerve racking but it was neat. Even though I didn't understand everything I really could feel the Spirit helping me help Rebecca understand what was being taught at Stake Conference. 

This is an investigator from Taidong and we met each other at stake conference and she changed my life. I will probably never be able to see her again but she is amazing!

 
 Most of our Branch that was able to go to Stake Conference.

 

Sunday afternoon we had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders--both of us staying in Hualian. I exchanged with Sister Belnap!!!! (I played tennis with her step-mom the summer after high school) and I LOVED every second of it. We saw so many miracles and had a BLAST together!!
  

Us and the sister training leaders.
   

 Last preparation day.

 

  

Challenge

MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!!

This week was absolutely AMAZING?!?! When it is not, when you are serving in the most beautiful area with the best companion!?!?!

But first, Casey is home?! Where did the last two years go? That is crazy. It sounds like he had a great homecoming talk. Also, MARISSAAA!!!!!!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!! You are going to be so FAMOUS. I am proud of you! and I loved reading all about the crazieness of your life this last week. Lachlan, another big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! One day, you'll get a tall trophy too :) Just keep working hard!! Alexa, youre getting SO tall! I am so glad you had so much fun at the fair. Mom and Dad, thanks so much for the detailed email.  Yes, I did read the entire email and I loved it so much.

Bryan, I LOVE also reading your letter from last week. You and your companion are working so hard and doing your best to build up God's Kingdom there in Amulung! Sure LOVE you ALL!!

Where do I even begin, this week was absolutely amazing...I'm going to change things up a bit and use mostly pictures to share my week..so bear with me...with all the emails for today!

But first, as I continue to grow closer to my Father in Heaven, I have really come to realize how grateful I am of all the many blessings I have in my life. Someone shared Mosiah 7:33 with me this week;
"But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage." Mosiah 7:33

I know when we serve our Heavenly Father with ALL purpose of heart no matter if we are serving a full time mission or not--this can include attending the temple, doing family history work, monthly fulfilling our visting teaching, hometeaching, and church calling responsibilities, reading the scriptures and praying daily, having FHE every week, etc., we are promised we will be DELIVERED and FREED from bondage.

This week, my invite to you all, serve the Lord with ALL purpose of heart, might, mind, and strength. We are given only one opportunity here on earth, to show our worthiness to our Heavenly Father that we want to return to His presence. When we serve our Heavenly Father first, everything else falls exactly into place. I know this to be so true. 

Everyday when I get out of bed, I feel like I am in a dream. Doing this work makes me so happy. I love it. I know this church is true. I LOVE you ALL!!!

Last monday, we went to another beautiful beach here on the east coast of Taiwan--San Xian Tai (三仙台). 林弟兄 was so willing to take us again. We had a great time. The beach is so calming, peaceful, and can I just say, TAIWAN IS BEATIFUL!!! 我愛台灣！！！！！

 

 

Tuesday, we took our last trip, to the hosptital to check on Sister Wrights reports and everything came back good.  Can I just say, the hosptials here are so convienent!?!?! All the doctors are in one place and you just use your medical card to wait in line for a doctor.

 

 The weather this week has been so beautiful. We spent some of our lunch time sitting out on our balcony enjoying the view and of course, eating ice cream.  (Above and below.)

 

 

 AND this week we spent some time up in the mountains spreading the gospel to the people in ZhuoXi. What a beatiful place this is.

We had to climb a pretty big hill up, but the miracles we totally worth it. We originally went up there to visit a potential investigator 高姐妹 who is 10. On our way to her home, we stopped and talked to a family who were sitting out enjoying the evening and we set up for Sunday afternoon to go visit them, had an amazing lesson with 高姐妹, and on the way back, knocked a couple doors and met another 高姐妹 who is in her 60s and so hungry for the gospel.

The 10 year old 高姐妹 (gaojiemei)'s dad was extremely drunk the whole time we were there. It was so hard for me to watch as this 10 year old girl had to literally push her dad inside their home and help him lay down on the floor. Even though he was extremely drunk, he was really nice to us and told us he wanted his daughter to be baptized into our church. it makes me so grateful we have the Word of Wisdom.

Anyways, Sunday, we went back to ZhuoXi. First, visited the 林家庭. We met with two sisters and their cousin. Most of the people where we went finding in ZhuoXi are surprisingly Catholic because there is a Catholic church right there but they are so open to hearing about our gospel. We simply taught the message of the Restoration and they paid attention so well. The oldest, 15 year old, asked so many good questions and we could really tell she was really wanting to understand and know for herself.

We went to go visit the 10 year old 高姐妹 but she was shopping with her mom so we had some finding time..We met a cute girl who we are going back to meet with later this week, and ran into the Jehovah Witnesses. It was my first time today where I got to experience us knocking on doors and the Jehovah Witnesses basically right after us. :) but, we of course stayed our distance and said hi to them.

Lastly, we went and visited the other 高姐妹. What a neat lady. about a year ago, she suffered from a stroke and ever since then, her husband, 黃弟兄, has had to take care of her. She talked so highly of her husband and we told her we really wanted to meet him. Literally 5 minutes latter, he gets home and we were able to sit and talk to them, hear some of their life stories and share the first half of the Plan of Salvation. 高姐妹 already says the most powerful prayers. What a privileged Heavenly Father as given me to serve in this beautiful area. I love this. SO much.  (Above and below.)

  

And last, a random picture while finding this week.

Working in the Rice Fields

My dear family and friends!!

First things first....a BIG HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LACHLAN!!! I hope you have a great day on Tuesday?!?! YOU'RE TURNING the big 11!!! WOW that is crazy!!!

What a great week this has been. The miracles are amazing. Times like this have made me really realize how much love Heavenly Father has for each and every one of us-In every point of our lives, we can feel His love towards us as individuals!

This week started off by us heading to Hualian for Sister Wright to go to the Hospital. We spent most of our day there getting checked out and we will head back tomorrow to check on the results. She has been sick the last couple of weeks but we have been able to see so many miracles through the hours we have been able to work outside!!

Every week, we continue to have great lessons with 朱惠鈴(Zhu Hui Ling). She is still working really hard to give up her Word of Wisdom addictions and set a new baptismal date for September 30th. She has a really hard personal family life, but she has seen the power from relying on God to help her through her challenges. She has so much faith and knows through the power of prayer, Heavenly Father can help her overcome her 30+ year addictions. She continues to attend sacrament meeting every Sunday! Her daughter is also one of our investigators and can't get baptized due to her dad. Her dad says that as soon as he sees a bigger change in her, he will allow her to be baptized. So, we are working on that with her. This week, her younger brother has started noticing she is being more patient with him! And, this week we helped her write a note that she put in her moms scriptures encouraging her and telling her that Yu Zhen wants to work with her together to prepare for baptism. A couple days later, we were meeting with the mom, (we meet with them all separately--they all have different challenges) and her mom brought up how she found a note from Yu Zhen in her scriptures. Her mom teared up and talked about how moved she was by her daughter :)

On Friday, we went to go visit a potential investigator in the afternoon and it was really weird because I knew she didn't get off work until 5:30 but I had the strongest feeling we needed to just at least go knock on her door. So we did and her 17 year old daughter was home, let us in, and we shared the first lesson and the video Because He Lives with her and she became a new investigator! She leaves for school down south next week so we wont be able to teach her for very long before we transfer her records to her new area but, this experience was another testimony to me of the importance of listening to the Spirit. This has been one thing I have really had to learn on my mission. It definitely isn't easy, but when we get in the habit of listening and following, God provides us with miracles.

Saturday, we got permission to go and do some service for a member of our branch in a RICE FIELD! Let me tell you! It was the funnest, greatest experience of my life. It was really funny because when Sister Wright and I were coming home from the hospital on Tuesday, we were talking about how great of any experience it would be if we could go work in the rice fields for a couple of hours--just for the experience. And, we had the opportunity!. We walked up and down the rows and picked all the weeds in between the rows of rice. We did it in bare feet with gloves and we had a great experience. Elder Aiono couldn't help because he has a pretty bad grown in toenail right now, so he became our photographer..See the pictures attached.
 

 

 
Sunday night, we also saw a really big miracle. We were finding on 大同路 and visiting some former investigators we found in our area book on the way. One of the last houses we knock, it was supposed to be a former investigator, but, as soon as we knocked on the door, the sweetest young lady answered and invited us right in. 李姊妹 is a single mom (I believe) of a 1 year 9month old--who is adorable. And her 19 year old sister also lives with her. She just moved into the house we knocked on a couple months ago. She is Catholic but was really willing to learn about the church. We shared the first lesson with her and she thought it made a lot of sense. She said it might take some time because she has never really investigated another church but that she is willing to meet with us and continue learning more!!

There are miracles and experiences that occur everyday. I wish I would have more time to write about all of them. But, these are a few. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve. I love serving my Heavenly Father and helping others come unto Him!!

I love you all so very much!!!

We ate dinner with Zhu JM and her kids Tuesday night. We had snail...it was actually pretty good! 

 Where I serve is beautiful!!