When Allison Hong Merrill was growing up in the slums of Taiwan her family was riddled with cycles of alcoholism and domestic violence. She couldn’t imagine a different life until she met Mormon missionaries, began attending church and witnessed, for the first time, families who cared for one another. She became more and more active in the church and eventually fell in love, moving to the US to be with her American husband. But soon after, he abandoned Allison, took her money, and left her alone in her new country with no resources. In this episode, Allison, whose new memoir Ninety-Nine Fire Hoops is out this month, shares how she found strength, created a new life for herself, and what her past has helped her understand.