Last Transfers of the Mission

FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

How great it is to be a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's such a blessing. 

We had some pretty big changes this week in the mission. We said goodbye to 18 missionaries--most of them I have either served with or have become some of my very good friends. Included in that group was Sister Cardon and Elder Payne who was serving here in SanChong. It was weird to say goodbye. I don't know if you remember but about 2 years ago I was at Lachlan's football game with dad and we were driving to go get some food and we read on the news that 2 missionaries in this mission has passed away to Carbon Monoxide. Well, the one who was from Springville, Utah, Elder Thredgold would have finished his mission this transfer. He was Elder Payne's companion in the MTC. SanChong was also the area in which the Carbon Monoxide accident occurred so he was talked about a little at church and remembered. I am so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. 

The Elders area in SanChong also got whitewashed and so Elder Luther is training a new missionary, Elder Smith (who is from Highland, UT). It is fun to have two training companionship's in the same ward! 

And with the new transfer, this starts my 12th and final transfer of my mission. It is so strange but I am looking forward to the next 6 weeks and the miracles that will come. 

Some neat miracles from this last week:

Last Monday, Sister Wong and I were at the dongxi store (a store full like STUFFED of random stuff) we were there buying a goodbye gift for Elder Payne and as we were checking out, Sister Wong was in front, then a couple, and then me. This couple was speaking perfect English to each other and it sounded like the man was from America. Well, he turned back to me and asked if we were the LDS Missionaries. He went on to say that he is a member of the church but hasn't been to church in an extremely long time. He is from Hawaii and is currently working here in Taiwan. He doesn't speak any Chinese but his girlfriend is Taiwanese so translates everything for him. :) As we got talking, he said he knows a girl from our ward who is about to get married and it has brought him to think about possibly coming back to church! We invited him and his girlfriend to come. Later that night, we sent him a text telling him we were so grateful we were able to meet him. And he responded by saying that it was such a coincidence that we met and that he and his girlfriend might come to church in 2 or 3 weeks! We found, well really he found us, a long lost LA!

It sounds like the weather was about the same here as it was in Idaho. This week was pretty rainy. So not many people were out on the street. BUT, Sunday afternoon, there were a few hours where it was really nice. So, we hit up our favorite finding spot by the CaiLiao MRT station and we ended up having a pretty long lesson with the cutest Liu JieMei I have ever met. Liu JM has been handicapped her whole life. She has a bone disease and is in a wheelchair. She has no legs, lives on her own, does everything on her own too--showers, cooks, etc. She has no family to care for her. She has the cutest personality. From the second we said hi to her, her face lighted up! We shared with her the Plan of Salvation. At first, she told us that God doesn't love her because she is constantly in pain, and hasn't had a very happy life--it has just been really boring. She thinks that God hasn't been very fair to her. We shared the Plan of Salvation and really emphasized the point that she will be able to be resurrected and receive a perfect body. This brought her to tears. I love this woman more that anything. We are scheduled to go to her home this next week. Such a wonderful opportunity and miracle Heavenly Father gave us! 

This week we also had our big English Party. We went all out this transfer--making a big story line, dressing up, having props and decorations, etc. It took a lot of time to put together but the results were incredible. So many people posted about it on FB and other internet sites which really advertised our English Class and the church! We had students telling us they will be bringing their friends and family next week! We had a cowboy themed party. 

Funny Story: Sister Bowman (dad you ate with her that one time with Sister Wright) is currently serving in SongShan and Sister Wong and I helped out with a big Temple Tour on Saturday for their ward. On Friday when we were training for this tour she told me that just a few days ago as they were contacting on the street, she started talking to a woman and she said that she knew about her church, and that she said that she knows a man, (Dad, she called you the Melaleuca Man) who has a daughter serving in Taiwan and that he told her that whenever she saw missionaries that she needs to take care of them and protect them! Thanks dad! haha      

AND on Saturday as we were in Taipei doing the temple tour, GUESS WHO I SAW?!?!? FAN ZHU SONG! He is my first convert. The man who I taught with Sister Fisher in TouFen and then got baptized! I haven't seen him in so long! He has changed so much. He had just gotten doing baptisms with some members in his ward. He is currently living in Taoyuan.  

I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve. It has strengthened my testimony so much. I have learned and grown in ways I never knew I could. I love studying the scriptures. They are such a strength to me and teach us what we must to in order to have the most joy and happiness on earth and what we must do in order to receive eternal happiness. I love this work. I love Taiwan! 

Have a great week!

Sister Haacke

 Dinner on Tuesday.

 

 Dinner on Thursday with the new Elders.

 

 English party (above and below).

 

 

 

P-day last week!

After church yesterday.

  

FAN ZHU SONG!

Thanks For Your Prayers

What a week full of tender mercies. I Don't even know where to begin. If you haven't noticed, the last few weeks have been some of the hardest weeks of my mission for me. I have been hit with some hard challenges. I have been praying so hard and Heavenly Father really answered my prayers this week. I am so  blessed. Heavenly Father loves me! I am also so grateful for my challenges. I'm telling you, challenges are SO hard but when we continue to endure, and continue to show our effort, Heavenly Father will deliver us. I am so grateful. 

There are so many tender mercies and miracles I can share about this week. So, I will try and use my time as best as I can and share as much as I can.  

Saturday: It was Sister Wong and my turn to head up to Taipei and do temple tours for the day. Temple Tours always bring so many miracles. We started the day off nice and early with a group of 10 little kids. Yep, there was a ward up from TaiZhong who brought several of their friends who are non members and we split, the adults and the kids up and had two separate tours, so while one companionship of sisters was giving a tour to the adults, Sister Wong and I were able to give a 'tour' to the kids. We played picture bingo with all the pictures in the chapel and did a fun little biyu with them with orange juice and dirt...that baptism can clear us of all the dirt :) 

The Taoyuan stake was also in Taipei for their temple day. As I was helping a group take a picture, I looked outside and GUESS WHO I SAW?!?! Sister Cardon and the Han Family! I starting freaking out! Hurry and helped the group take the picture and ran outside to meet them! The Han family is the family that I worked with in NanKan. Han DiXiong got baptized the day after I got transferred from that area. It was so good to see him. They came up and did baptisms as a family, Lily (daughter) and Han JieMei and Han DiXiong and Lily brought her cute little son. It was seriously the best thing ever. They ended up doing a tour with us and it was the best thing ever. Lily has all the pictures so when she sends them to me, I will be sure to send them on. And, I love sister Cardon. she finishes her mission this week. Absolutely insane. Time literally flies. 

Then, the elders from our area brought up the front desk lady from our apartment. Over the last few weeks, we have become really good friends with her. Aundria is 20 years old but is literally the most mature person I have ever met. And she speaks perfect English. She is currently working full time, going to college, and trying to live a fun life. We had a great tour with her and talked mostly about the temple. She is also willing to allow the missionaries to contact her in the area where she lives! I am so excited to see what happens! 

We had a few other tours in between and then our investigator, Joy (Chen Qiao Pei) came and did a tour and she brought a friend--Nancy!! We talked about the life of Christ and about the Temple! I am so grateful we are able to work with Joy! She is so adorable. She did find a job and starts it today so she can only meet with us on the weekends now but she is still progressing great! And her friend, became a potential investigator! 

During their tour, another of our new investigators, Bruce, called us and said that he was at the church and wanting to do a tour. We had our first lesson with him on Friday (I'll explain more in a minute) and just invited him if he wanted to come up and do a tour. Well, he did. So we asked him to wait for a few minutes and when we were finished with Joy and Nancy, we gave Bruce a tour. We met him through English class. On Wednesday when new people come to English class, they fill out a simple paper about themselves and then at the very bottom it asks if they have interest in learning more about the church. Well, English class was crazy on Wednesday--we had so many new students and at the end, we didn't have a chance to talk to all of them-including him. Thursday, as we were going through and organizing the English papers, we noticed that he marked that he had interest, so we gave him a call on Thursday and set up for Friday. Our lesson on Friday was so good. He has SO many questions and  has so much interest. He set a baptismal date goal and committed to church (which in the end, he accidentally slept in and texted us during second hour saying he was so sorry and would come next week). Well, we gave him a tour mostly about the temple and why we have them. Bruce has so many good questions. They really make me think. They are so good though. I can't wait to continue meeting with him! 

Then, Saturday night 10:15 PM, I am getting ready for bed and we got a call from an unknown number. Someone named Gao JieMei. I couldn't figure out who it was although she said that I had called her before. I looked through all the former records, potential records and couldn't figure out who she was. Well, on the phone, she said that she has a friend named Zhou JieMei who wants to go to church tomorrow and bring her two sons. I was really confused but super excited at the same time. Well, this Zhou JM ended up coming the last hour. We were just about to sit down in Relief Society and a member comes in saying there is a lady looking for me. I run out and say, "Are you Zhou JM ma?" Yes, it was. Well, she came the last hour and we met with her after church. She told us the full name of the lady who referred her and I still couldn't put a name to a face. We gave her a Book of Mormon and set up a time next Sunday to share more. She has two really active, crazy sons who are 9 and 10 years old! I love them already so much. After looking through the ward list and asking our ward mission leader and a few other people about this Gao JM, I figured out that she is a Less Active! Yep, this less active who has been less active for about 10 years or so referred her friend to the church. This Zhou JieMei is really worried about her boys. She fills like they are not growing up in a good lifestyle so she fills like she needs a change and church is the answer! I am so excited to meet with her!!

And then to add on top of that, Sister Lindsay (my MTC companion) called us Sunday night and gave us a member referral of a girl who attended church in their ward on Sunday with her friend. Sister Lindsay and Xiao JieMei met with her after church, set a baptismal date with her and then learned that she lives in SanChong. So, they called us last night and gave us this golden referral. What a tender mercy and miracle. 

It was so crazy because Sunday afternoon, we met with a man who we met last week on the street and set a baptismal goal with him and then found out he lives in LuZhou. So, we are going to have to give him over and then the Lord blesses us with someone just like the referral we sent. So crazy!

We also had exchanges with our Sister Training Leaders on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was fun being in their area and serving with Sister Juarez. I absolutely love her! We had Zone Meeting on Tuesday and talked about working better with ward members and receiving referrals from them. 

While finding this week, we met this super cute grandma, Zhao JM. She is 61 years old and introduced herself by saying she only has 3 1/2 teeth. She is so sarcastic and made me laugh SO hard! She said she was going to come to church with us and when we called her Saturday night she remembered but she never showed up. So we will see about this next week. I love Zhao JM.

Quick fun fact: Last Monday was Leap Day right? Well, everyone in Taiwan has the day off from work on Leap Day...so it was so busy. We met up with some other sister missionaries and had some plans to go see this cute Frozen Exhibit but the line was a few hours wait and we didn't have time for that...so we just took a picture with Elsa. 

Here a just a few of the tender mercies from this last week. I am so grateful for a loving Heavenly Father. Honestly, thank you so much for all the prayers in my behalf. I could really fill them this week. I know all those prayers are being answered!  

Thank you all so much!! 

Have a great week!! 

Love,

Sister Haacke 

PS..Sorry for picture overload...are you ready!?!

 There was a new member fireside last night in taipei..saw elder Aiono!

 

 We took Lin Ru Yan and Anee Wang with us to the fireside.

 May, Sister Wong and I. May is the Elders investigator. 

Isn't he the CUTEST!?!?

 Meet BRUCE!

HuiLong members on the MRT.

 Cute girls rollerskating outside the church in Taipei--JinHua Jie.
 

Aundria--our apartment front desk lady.

 Meet Joy and Nancy!
 

Tian Xin is a member in a ward from Taipei who wanted a tour from us. She is the cutest thing in the world. Is 16 and is my example!

 Han DX and Didi sleeping!
 

 I saw Xie JieMei from Nankan!!

 Meet Zhao JieMei--the grandma who has 3 1/2 teeth :)
 

 Jiu from NanKan!

 Exchanges with Sister Training Leaders!
  

 ZhuaBing!
  

 Xiao JieMei. Sister Lindsay trained her. She is a visa waiter and just got her visa to go to Washington! She leaves Taiwan tomorrow.

 Preparation Day

 

 FHE at bishop's.

 Preparation Day!

 

Jesus the Christ

My dear family and friends! 

FIRST OF ALL, and most importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXA!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe you are 10 years old!!!! Where has the time gone by??!?! You are growing up WAYYYY to fast! I sure love you though!! 

This week I finished the book Jesus the Christ! I absolutely LOVED reading it over the past several months slowing learning and reading more about our Savior, Jesus Christ, His teachings on the earth, how to apply the parables He taught, His death, His birth, the prophesies before his birth, the Resurrection, Apostasy, Restoration, The Second Coming, etc. I love the very last sentence in the entire book where it is talking about the Second Coming and after the Millennium, it says, "Then shall he (Jesus Christ) be crowned with he crown of his glory to sit on the throne of his power to reign for ever and ever. The earth shall pass to its glorified and celestialized condition, an eternal abode for the exalted sons and daughters of god. Forever shall they reign, kings and priests to the Most High, redeemed, sanctified, and exalted through their Lord and God, Jesus the Christ."

 I know we all have the potential to be these exalted sons and daughters of God. He loves us. He wants us to be there and live with Him forever and ever. I know only in and through the Savior, Jesus Christ is this possible. By us, applying His Atonement to our lives, repenting daily for our sins and mistakes, and trying our best everyday to become better. I am so grateful for this gospel and the opportunity I have to share it with all the world--well, right now all the people of Taiwan! 

As I was studying for someone we were planning on meeting with this week, I came across these scriptures when Aaron was teaching Lamoni's father the gospel:

 15 And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea,what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.

 16 But Aaron said unto him: If thou desirest this thing, if thou wilt bow down before God, yea, if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which thou desirest.

After Aaron had taught Lamoni's father some of the gospel about the plan of Salvation and how through this Plan, we can receive our Salvation-Eternal Life, exaltation, he wanted to take part of this JOY and HAPPINESS. Lamoni's father went and asked Heavenly Father for himself if the things he were taught were true and he got his answer. Like him, we through this gospel, can find TRUE joy and happiness. Follow the gospels teachings. Live the commandments and we will be blessed, we will prosper, and we will be saved at the last day!!

As for missionary work, we met with someone we met on the street last week. Her English name is Joy. 陳巧珮 is so cute.. We met with her, taught her the Plan of Salvation. She told us that ever since she was little, she has loved crosses and she hasn't ever really known why. Joy comes from a Buddhism background but she is really open to learning and expanding her knowledge of Christ. She has thought a lot about the questions that the Plan of Salvation has answered and she said that she has actually thought it was really similar to what we taught but without the resurrection part. She is really neat. She is in her 20's and currently looking for a new job so has quite a lot of time to meet. During the lesson, our member, Lu JieMei, invited her to be baptized and we set a goal for April 2nd! We are hoping to meet with her again for the second time tomorrow! 

The Temple was absolutely phenomenal last week. President and Sister Jergensen attended with us.  I was able to sit next to Sister Jergensen during the session. I look up to her so much. She is such an amazing woman. Just like my mom :) And then they made some waffles for us after in which we enjoyed eating and chatting with other missionaries. 

I hope you all have a great week! I can't believe how fast time is going! The snow is melting away and spring is going to be here and gone before we know it!! 

I love you all!! 

Love, 

Sister Haacke

 Before the temple last week, we went to the great Chang Kai Shek Memorial Hall and watch the changing of the guards. It never gets old! I love it!
  

 

 

 This is 蘇姐妹 (Su JieMei). She is in our ward and was companions with Erica Lindley when she served in TaiZhong! There are actually two members from my ward that served as companions with her!

 Going home last night after meeting with a member and her two daughters. :)  Elder Payne, Sister Wong and I.

Temple Tours

My Dear Family and Friends, 

It's really early in the morning right now but I am extremely EXCITED because TODAY we get to go to the TEMPLE! I feel like I haven't been forever and I am so looking forward to being able to go. This week was a bit of a challenging one. But, I don't want to dwell on that too long, so I'll share some tender mercies and miracles we saw! 

On Thursday, Sister Wong and I got to go spend the day doing temple tours in the chapel next to the temple. When we got there, there was a man sitting inside the chapel. We started talking to him and he is from China. He came to Taiwan to have a more 'peaceful' Chinese New Year and to just take a break. Well, he came in contact with the church in Hualian and wants to be baptized so bad. He had been studying with the Jehovah Witnesses for a while but he didn't really like their concepts on family. Well, he met our church and LOVES every aspect of it and wants to be apart of it. He has talked to one of the Elders in the mission office about it and they are trying to figure out plans for him to schedule a time to go to Hong Kong and be baptized there. He was telling us about how all his family thinks he is crazy for wanting to join a Christian church and they oppose, but he doesn't care. He knows this is what he needs to do!!

We also gave a tour to an investigator some other Elders brought in who is getting baptized in a week. When we were in front of the picture of Christ being baptized, we asked her why she has the desire to be baptized. She said, "Because that is what Heavenly Father wants me to do and I want to follow His council." What a pure, simple, and true statement. 

We also had a neat experience where some other Elders brought in one of their new investigators. Her husband is about to pass away from Parkinson's Disease. She is so calm about it though and knows this is what is best for him. She herself has had some near death experiences. When we shared Joseph Smith's first Vision with her, the Spirit was so special. After I recited it, she breathed in really deep and said she really knows what it means when Joseph was explaining the brightness of the light. God has been preparing her and now is her time to come and learn and accept the gospel. 

The temple grounds are so so sacred! I am so grateful for the temple we have in Taiwan!

Last Monday we met with our investigator, Zhu DX. We had a great lesson explaining more about the Book of Mormon and answering his questions. He is a man who is very afraid of people and it really stresses him out. It stresses him out meeting with us because he is really afraid to go to church and be around so many people. We talked more about his concerns and then after his lesson, we went all together to our Bishop's house for FHE and Elder Payne made us all hamburgers. There wasn't a ton of people there, but after we sat for a while outside talking to him and going through his stress. Heavenly Father has blessed me with some experiences like what he is going through when I was younger. It took me this long though to figure out why I would get so nervous in junior high and part of high school. But, I was able to connect to him and share what I have done to overcome these fears. We continue to encourage him and we will see what happens over the next few weeks. 

We had a few neat lessons with some new investigators which we will see what happens with them this week. Sadly, no one came to church but we are hoping we will be able to get some investigators to come with us this next week. We are continuing to find and be more inspired while finding. We met a really neat lady in a park on Sunday afternoon who has no understanding of Christ but wants to learn! 

Another neat miracle is we were finding on Saturday afternoon and I went and talked to a man waiting for his bus. We first invited him to English class and then gave him a restoration tract. His bus came and as he was going to get on his bus, I asked for his number, as he was walking and getting on the bus he said his number really fast and I hoped that I wrote it down correctly. Well, we were at the chapel Saturday night about to watch a short movie with some RC's and LA's and guess who walked in?! This man we met. He said on the bus he looked through our tract. He wants to learn more. We taught him how to pray, gave him a book of Mormon, and set him up for tonight. He has yet to confirm his appointment as of right now but we are hoping we can get a hold of him!

I continue to learn more and more everyday. I am grateful for this challenge Heavenly Father has given me. I often think why I am experiencing the things I am everyday but I know it is because only through these experiences am I going to learn the things that Heavenly Father wants me to learn.  An RC shared this scripture in Sacrament meeting on Sunday:

"And now, O my son Helaman, behold, thou art in thy youth, and therefore, I beseech of thee that thou wilt hear my words and learn of me; for I do know that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day." Alma 36:3

It is really similar to one of my favorite versus in Alma 38:5...Alma is just talking to one of his other sons. :) I know when we trust in Heavenly Father's plan and try our very hardest to continue moving forward and learning from every experience, we will become who Heavenly Father wants us to come. 

Family, It is hard to hear of the passing away of Buddy. I am so sad to hear that he left this earth before I had the opportunity to meet this adorable dog. I know we will be able to see him again though! Know I am praying for you all!! 

LOVE YOU ALL!! 

Thank you so much for your support and all your prayers. I can feel them. You all give me so much strength. I love you all so much! 

Love,

Sister Haacke

Hamburger making.

 

 I saw Jenson from Tao4 at JinHuaJie on Thursday!!
   

 This little boy is absolutely adorable.

 

 AMY! She leaves on her mission soon!! I miss her so much!!
  

 The man from China who wants to get baptized.
  

 Sister Wong makes us lunch and it is SO good! I am so grateful for her!!!!!!!

 This family we ate with has a Noah's Ark just like home! I told them I felt like home when I saw it and they all laughed and convinced me to take a picture by it and send it home :)

 

 Also, I remember Dad sending me a picture like this when he ate with some missionaries when he was in Taiwan! We went to 101 (but not to the top last week because of the weather).

 FHE last night at Bishop's house. It was the Lantern Festival yesterday and so we made TangYuan's.
 

 

 

 

 

 We ate lunch yesterday with Bishop's wife.