Star Wars, Nashville Tribute Band, and 400 Words Down

Here is Elder Meanea's letter for this week. He constantly tells us in his emails how grateful he is for all of the support of his family and friends. This week in his email he shares a challenge for your personal study of the Gospel. We would invite you to take Elder Meanea's challenge that he talks about Monday, July 25 and then to write Elder Meanea and share your experiences with him, we can't think of anything he would like to hear more. Thank you!

My Wonderful Family and Friends!

I have had a brilliant and humbling second week at the MTC. I know these are the things God needs me to experience to be ready for my people in Taiwan, and for that I am grateful.

Thursday, July 21, 2016
We tried to do an English fast today (only speak Chinese) but about 8 o'clock, we realized we definitely didn't know enough to have any sort of conversation. We had our last lesson with Yang, because we only get five. It was good, and I'm learning more about teaching with the spirit every day. It was Star Wars night in the residence, some guys made some robes and spent a while re-enacting various scenes from Star Wars.

Even Missionaries need some chill nerdy time in the MTC :-)

Friday, July 22, 2016
We had service this morning, where we go and clean other buildings. We spent the whole time telling riddles to each other, which was really entertaining. Our district is really close, and I am so blessed to have them. We also had Zone kickball, which is nice to get outside and look forward to.

Elder Meanea's District

Saturday, July 23, 2016
We had a lesson about managing stress, and it just makes me realize that I am constantly blessed with more strength than I could ever have on my own.

Sunday, July 24, 2016
A beautiful day with beautiful lessons. My favorite was that in one of the lessons they talked about miracles, and a quote from Joseph Smith that says something like, "Fear and Faith cannot exist in the same body at the same time." I've really been trying to work on casting out my fear. I just have to trust God more than I ever have. And singing with the Nashville Tribute band was amazing! And their songs are amazing. We sang about John the Baptist, the Savior's Second Coming, and how we were born to pay our blessings forward. It was a beautiful night.

Monday, July 25, 2016
Every time we sit down to study, I pray that God will guide my mind to a question that I need answered from the scriptures. And when I pick one out and write it down, suddenly every scripture in the Book of Mormon was written to answer that question. I would encourage you guys to begin your studies and write down a question. It really helps me focus and feel the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Chinese is coming along. I figure I've probably got a vocabulary of about 400 words? I want at least 2000 more before I leave, and I know I can do it if I let the Spirit teach me. Things are getting better and better every day.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016
I got a package from home with things from friends, and that was a great boost to the day. I'm going to make my area look nice and homey and send you guys a picture next week. Tonight we had a devotional with the Condies, he's an emeritus 70. It was a great talk about Lehi's dream, and how we need to show people the Iron Rod. I am so excited and so terrified to get to Taiwan. I know that's where I can show people Christ, but I can't speak! Sigh. As I'll say the rest of my mission, I just have to trust the Lord.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016
We went to the temple and did a session. It's a beautiful place. I love the peace we feel there. Then we did laundry and yelled "Welcome to the MTC!!!" to everyone, which is enjoyable because it isn't us. ;-)

Elder Meanea and Elder Potts at the Provo Temple

I've seen Mitchell Zufelt, Luke Orison, Sandon Stokes, and Kayla Robertson. I'll go looking for Austin Williams this week and hopefully find him.

You all give me so much strength, and I love knowing that wherever I am, my family is praying for me. Thank you for still keeping me "in the know" of all your lives. I love you all so much, and know the Lord will pour out blessings beyond our comprehension to us.


Elder Meanea

#MissionarySelfie

First Letter from the MTC!

We are so excited to share Elder Meanea's first letter from the MTC! It sounds like he is doing great and working hard. We are so proud of him!

Hello my amazing family!

Thank you so much for all the support and love you've been sending to me. I feel it all, and I am so blessed. My week has been short/long/hard/great as I'm sure Allyse can explain to you all.

This is a very true story! There is a saying in the MTC and throughout the mission: "The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days." -Allyse

Wednesday, July 13
You dropped me on my head once again, I got all my books and such picked up, and then we had "People and your Purpose," where we actually answered investigators questions. It was quite the first night experience! The same day we were also dropped head-first into some Chinese lessons! It's going to come. And I definitely think it is supposed to humble me. A big focus of this week has been to trust in our Diligence, and not our intelligence. I think I'm pretty smart, but I know the Lord knows better!

Thursday, July 14
We continued Chinese lessons, met with our branch presidency, and had another "People and your purpose" activity. I was feeling a little down, but as soon as I started to try and think about the needs of those in the lessons, the spirit buoyed me up.

Friday, July 15
We got our first investigator today! Her name is Yang, and Elder Potts (My companion) and I taught the first lesson to her. She was really excited to learn about it, and we were able to use some phrases from our lesson book to get the point across we needed. We also had Zone kickball today for exercise time, which was really fun!

Saturday, July 16
Elder Potts was made a District Leader during our Branch meeting on Thursday! That means we're in charge of picking up the mail and Lunch and Dinner everyday. We played frisbee for exercise this morning, which I'm not the best at, but it was still fun.

Sunday, July 17
Everyone kept telling me to just "make it to Sunday," and they were definitely right. Our sabbath day was amazing! We had sacrament as a Branch, for which we have to prepare talks every week and translate them to Mandarin. So you can bet they're short and simple. We then had priesthood and District meeting. I went to choir practice, and we're going to sing for Nashville Tribute which is coming to the MTC this next Sunday! After that, instead of having a devotional, we were surprisingly told we were going to watch "The Character of Christ," a great MTC movie about an Elder Bednar talk given at the MTC a while back. Usually movies come after the devotionals, but when the movie finished, suddenly everyone was standing, and Elder Bednar walked on stage! He told us he wanted to visit us that day when he knew they were playing "Character of Christ," and we had a Q and A session with the whole MTC with Elder Bednar there! It was a great experience. It really made me think about being a representative of Christ.

Monday, July 18
Yeah, Chinese is hard, but I'm definitely learning a lot. We commited Yang to baptism today, and told her how she can share the gospel with her family back in China. Well... that's probably what we said. xD We have what's called a "Basic Core" words and phrases that our teacher has challenged us to have memorized by this upcoming Saturday. Words are coming along well, but phrases I'm struggling on. This evening my companion Elder Potts asked me to give him a blessing, and everyone in our room gathered and I gave him a blessing of comfort. He is such an example and has taught me so much about being like Christ. We are different, that's sure, but I have already learned so much from him.

Tuesday, July 19
We had another devotional tonight from Elder Clarke of the emeritus 70. It was a great talk about how important our time that we have consecrated to the Lord is. I enjoyed it a lot. He talked a lot about how it's not exactly what we do, but the kind of people we are that touches people. If we are Christlike, they can feel his love through us.

Wednesday, July 20
P-Day! I got some amazing emails from friends and family, and it made me so happy! We went to the temple and did a session at 7:50 this morning. Then we did laundry and emailed. We have class later tonight, but it's been a great day and an amazing week. I saw Dallin Henry, Luke Orison, and haven't spotted Sandon yet.

My amazing family, I love you all so much. I have learned much, and have so much more to learn and do. Thank you for standing by me in all this. Thank you all so much for taking such good care of me. Have a wonderful week, and it won't be long until I talk to you again! 

Elder Meanea

We also had a list of questions that we asked Elder Meanea and he answered:

Who is your companion?
Elder Potts

Where is he from?
From Northern Utah

Is he going to your mission?
My mission

Are all of the missionaries in your district going to your mission?
Yes

How many missionaries are in your district?
8

Is your district leader a cool guy?
He is my comp and yes, very cool

What is the funnest thing that has happened to you this week?
All our guys are hilarious and had a spirited discussion about Lord of the Rings last night.

What is the hardest thing that you have had to do this week?
Teach lessons in Chinese

After one week have you already passed what you had learned in a semester at CHS?
Yes

After a week of MTC food, do you have bad gas yet?
No

Do you get to have any exercise time?
Yes

Did you find any Narnia holes?
Yes, just a rock up there though

Have you been Baby Powder bombed yet? (when I was there 30 years ago there was a fairly good gap below the room door and the hall.  At night other missionaries would take two towels and fill that gap, leaving a space between the towels to place the open end of a small bottle of baby powder.  They would then jump down on the bottle of baby powder, blowing the baby powder under the door and into the dark bedroom full of sleeping missionaries.  We would wake up gagging on the baby powder that was floating airborne throughout the room, trying to find our way to the door to pour out into the hall for fresh air to breath.  The perpetrating missionaries would be out in the hall laughing their heads off  -John).
No. That's awful!

Have you seen any missionaries in the MTC that you know from Cedar or from anywhere else?
Saw Dallin Henry and Luke Orison.

How was church on Sunday in the MTC
Amazing.

What is something that really impressed you that you learned about the Gospel this week?
Diligence, not intelligence determines your success.

Elder Meanea wasn't able to send any pictures this week so here is one from when we dropped him off at the MTC a week ago.

Hello Elder Meanea

Well, it is official. Tayson is now known as Elder Meanea. He was set apart by the Stake President this morning. He will soon be in Provo at the MTC. Tayson will spend the next 9 weeks in the MTC learning how to speak Mandarin, how to teach the Gospel effectively for lasting conversion, and how to care for his spiritual wellbeing so that he can serve the Lord and the people of Taiwan to the best of his ability.

We, Tayson's family, will be updating this blog so that you can follow along on the adventures of Elder Meanea in Taiwan. Also, at the request of his mission, we want you to be aware that any posts or updates you may see on this blog, on Facebook or Instagram, or any other site is coming from us, and not from Tayson.

We are so grateful for each of you and for the role you have played in Tayson's life and in preparing him for this next step. We thank you for your love and support of us and especially of Tayson. We know that Tayson is going to be a loving and powerful servant of the Lord and we are so excited for this next big adventure.

Now...GERONIMO!!!