25 December 2017 - A Very Missionary Christmas

"Hark the missionaries preach,
Glory to the risen king!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Monday, 18 December 2017
Today was pretty jam-packed. We were hanging around with a missionary until his companion got there, so we found a place to buy a can of peanut butter that was cannery sized. I was pretty excited. We also did some Christmas shopping and also found a giant can of coconut spread, which was also pretty exciting. 

Tuesday, 19 December 2017
We were looking for a Brother Ke tonight and forgot his address but knew what street he lived on. So we rode down the street looking for him, and right as we rode past a garage door opened and he stepped out. It was a cool little miracle. We were able to set up a time to come and meet with him. 

Wednesday, 20 December 2017
Tonight we had a phone lesson with our investigator who lives on Jinmen, the little island right next to China. It was pretty cool! And then we went and ate Douhua with brother Zhong and read the Book of Mormon with him. He's getting baptized so soon! 

Thursday, 21 December 2017
We had a practice for the show on Saturday and our first district meeting with our new district members today! Then tonight we went and visited brother Ke and his crazy son Danny. He's pretty... Off the wall, but it's fun to watch.

Friday, 22 December 2017
We had weekly planning and a surprise lesson this morning. A man walked up to the sisters yesterday and asked for a tour, then they handed him off to us, and we taught him the Restoration this morning. It was a good lesson! Then we went to practice for the show on Saturday, and had our first correlation meeting with our new ward mission leader, Brother Liang. It was fun! We also made Gingerbread houses with a few Recent Concerts. 

Saturday, 23 December 2017
Tonight was the Stake Christmas party, and the fiftieth anniversary of the chapel being built. So that was pretty good! We did our puppet show and watched a couple other really cool performances. I'm sure we can find recordings all over Facebook. Sister Xu was also able to come, so it was a happy day!

Sunday, 24 December 2017
Today we had a short church, just Sacrament and then we had a good ward dinner which a few investigators came to. It was super fun to spend Christmas Eve with them. It's always interesting to eat pineapple cake and a chicken with its head still attached. I felt like we were in "A Christmas Story." Afterwards we drove to a couple of members houses to carol for them with the ward. It was so fun to spread the Christmas spirit.

And I'm here in Taiwan. And it's Christmas. There is nothing else I would want to do. There is nowhere else I would rather be. I just Skyped my family and that is the best Christmas gift I could have ever gotten. We are an eternal family. I could never ask nor expect such a precious gift from Heavenly Father. I love them and Him, and am so glad that I still have 7 months to serve Him. I love you all my friends and family.

Merry Christmas.

-Elder Meanea

18 December 2017 - Christmas Incoming!

"Mission time is here, time for bikes and cheer..."
(copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Monday, 11 December 2017
We had a good day discovering a treasure of Taiwan, the second hand store! It's basically DI for Taiwan or something like that. Needless to say I found some cool stuff for pretty cheap. And the miracle for the day is that I ran into Brother Cai from Fengshan! He was a recent convert right as I started being trained last year, and his house was one of my favorite stops. We ran into him magically in our area after 3 months of being here. Seeing him made me so happy!

Tuesday, 12 December 2017
We had a pretty busy day with appointments. But a miracle we saw today was that one of our members called us to give her daughter a blessing. She hadn't been feeling good, and it is amazing every time we get to use God's priesthood power to bless His children. That's really what being a missionary is all about!

Wednesday, 13 December 2017
Today's miracle is the friendship of one of our members named Johnny. He usually helps us with lessons in the afternoon because he goes to cooking class in the morning. Well today we had a lesson on a small island thing that is in our area, so he agreed to bus out there with us. We got off the bus too early twice. Had to walk about a half hour, and never found our lesson. But Johnny was so nice and didn't get mad at us. He says it's not the craziest thing that has happened with a lesson. We ended up having to take a ferry back to our area because we couldn't find the buses. 

Thursday, 14 December 2017
Today was all zone conference! There were three zones together for this one, and it was combined with a Christmas musical program, so that was pretty fun. I also got to see my trainee Elder Hansen, which is always fun. He lives at the bottom tip of the island right now, a place called Hungchuen. We also had a miracle tonight! We have been visiting a list of people that our bishop gave us, and tonight we went and knocked on the door of a member named. Huang. When we knocked a man answered who was also named Huang, but not ours. It was the only door we knocked but he invited us back later to teach him. It was crazy!

Friday, 15 December 2017
Today was mostly weekly planning and visiting people, but we met with Brother Zhong today, who really liked the lesson we taught about baptism and how ready he was. We asked him to pray about his date, and he said he would. He is such an incredible investigator! He will be baptized soon, he has so much faith. It has been so amazing to teach him.

Saturday, 16 December 2017
We spent most of the morning out in the nether most parts of our area. We were working on Bishop's list and ran right into the biggest Taoist parade I have ever seen. We had to ride with it for a while to get through, and a lot of people were taking pictures. So that was good. And pretty entertaining.

Sunday, 17 December 2017
Well, 6 members of my zone are moving out, but me and Elder Fuller are staying together! I'm looking forward to another transfer here in Gaoxiong! There are a lot of God's children to help and a lot of work to do. I love you all so much, and can't wait to talk to you at Christmas!

-Elder Meanea

11 December 2017 - Hearken to God in All Things

"Onward Taiwan Elders, biking as to war!
With the Book of Mormon going on before!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Monday, 4 December 2017
Today was an adventure, we went up to Taichung for some things we needed to get at the Mission home and didn't get back till really late, so that was honestly today, but I do love how much we can use our new technology to keep us in touch with all of our investigators. I don't think I've ever appreciated how much investigators need our sustaining influence, or rather that of the Spirit. It is so important to helping them gain their own testimony.

Tuesday, 5 December 2017
We had our exchanges with the Assistants today, they came down from Taichung to work with us for a day. That was pretty cool. We met with one of their recent investigators that lived down here who went inactive two weeks ago, come to find out that it's just a verse of scripture that she read incorrectly, but she was willing to leave the church over it. It was crazy, because she has a really strong testimony, and we asked her if she prayed about it, and she said she hadn't. It reminded me of 2 Nephi 9:29. We have to hearken to God in all things. 

Wednesday, 6 December 2017
We sent the Assistants on their way and immediately started another exchange with a group of Elders in our zone. They are really hard workers and it was fun to be with them. We saw a cool miracle. We were dropping off a birthday card to a member and decided to tract around a bit. The first part wasn't great. But then we knocked our last door of the night and ran into a kid called Shuiping. He was just sitting there gaming, and come to find out he does it after work to make extra money for his family. We showed him the Book of Mormon and he was super interested and wanted to take it and read it. We'll meet with him next week.

Thursday, 7 December 2017
We had our first call in meeting with the Stake Presidency, usually we go over there to Shizhong to meet at the first Thursday of every month, but we were able to call in and keep working in our area afterwards, which is super nice. I'd call it a miracle.

Friday, 8 December 2017
All day today was Mission Leadership Conference. We just discussed phones and protocol and how to get the new phones to the missionaries. They basically just handed us a box of smartphones and told us to get them back to Gaoxiong. And we made it! The best part is Brother Zhong passed his Baptismal interview! He still isn't sure about a date though. 

Saturday, 9 December 2017
All this morning was helping the District leaders get their phones figured out. It took a long time because Technology. And then we had weekly planning and a lesson and ate and had time to drop off a birthday card for a less active member who rejected it. I was feeling pretty bitter until we were leaving and we ran into some guy in the lobby who came up and started talking to us out of nowhere. We talked a little bit about God and set him up. It was a cool miracle!

Sunday, 10 December 2017
We had a good Sacrament, a few of our investigators showed up and we had a good talk on temples which was really good. I miss going to the temple. And then we visited Brother Cai, a less active member who we're trying to help come to Church. Then tonight we ate with Brother Wei our RC and his family and a member family, it was super fun!

I love you all friends and family. I hope you have a great week staying close to the savior.

-Elder Meanea

4 December 2017 - Just because I'm live on Facebook doesn't mean I went home. We just have smartphones now

"Hark all ye nations, hear Facebook's voice!
Missionaries text that all may rejoice!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Monday, 27 November 2017
We went and took a visit of the Gaoxiong 85 today! After eating some Costco pizza of course. The air was a little big smoggy, but it was still really cool. I was up there about a year ago with my trainer when I lived in Fengshan, so that brought back some neat memories. Then that night we went and visited some people who had birthdays in the ward and dropped off some really ugly birthday cards!

Tuesday, 28 November 2017
We had a meeting with Sam today, who is doing great. We taught some commandments, which he had a hard time accepting, but he is still faithfully reading and praying, which will bring him through. Then I did a language pass-off for a sister in our district. Lately we've just been hitting the streets and visiting members, trying to do everything we can to find some new investigators. The ones we have are doing great, but we need to keep finding the people the Lord has prepared!

Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Today we had a mission tour visit from President Muers of the area presidency. We talked about different things we can be doing to merit the miracles of the Lord in our mission, and it was really cool! The focus lately has really been helping us to not just do missionary things, but actually be a disciple of Christ, which is a huge difference. We then had a lesson with Brother Zhang, the son of a recent convert who is trying to get ready for Baptism. He is the last one in his family, so he's really trying to find his own testimony of the gospel right now. It's amazing we get to participate in this work of bringing people unto Heavenly Father.

Thursday, 30 November 2017
Today was absolutely insane! We had a lesson this morning which cancelled, but we were already at Bishop's house where the lesson was, so we just talked to him and his wife about the ward for an hour. After that we went and met with Sister Chen, who is still investigating! It was good to see her after a few weeks, and now that we are getting smart phones, it will be a lot easier to keep in touch. Then we had to run up to a different chapel to do another language pass-off, take the MRT back to our house to grab our overnight stuff, then take it up to the train station just in the nick of time to catch our Train to Taizhong for the meeting tomorrow. I also got to stay with Elder Councill from my MTC district and we made Cheesecake, so that was fun!

Friday, 1 December 2017
All day was the mission council. We just decided on some changes that we can implement to help our mission focus and head in the right direction, and then we recieved our smartphones! They basically helped us set it up with church protections and then sent us on our way saying "Good luck!" We're still trying to figure it out. But it was good! We also got to take the high speed rail home because it was so late by the time we got done. 

Saturday, 2 December 2017
We did our weekly planning today trying to figure out how to use the smartphones, so that was entertaining. It's going to be an adjustment, but it's cool that God let these be invented for his purposes. Then we spent tonight with our Filipino investigators JR and Marvin who we met at the park a few weeks ago. They are here for work and are super cool! We shared the"Light the World" video on our smartphones and then they took us to eat Adobo. A traditional Filipino food. Good day!

Sunday, 3 December 2017
Sorry, this week has just been super rushed and busy, not a lot of cool things to talk about, but every week is full of learning and miracles. And the sacrament. It is an incredibly sacred time and I love it. We spent the day visiting a less active member with the bishop who helped him to find a place where he can get physical therapy for his knee that was messed up in a car accident. He also helped us to administer the sacrament, which this man hadn't taken in over five years. It was amazing to think of the new light the priesthood most likely brought into his life today. I am so grateful for it.

Have a great week friends and family. Stay close to the Savior!

-Elder Meanea

27 November 2017 - Thanksgiving in Taiwan

"I'm trying to contact like Jesus, with all of this sweat on my face,
I'm trying to talk in Chinese, and Taiwanese just in case!"

Monday, 20 November 2017
A fun day of not knowing exactly what to do for P-Day! We wandered around our area for a little bit and found a cultural center, but it was closed because it was Monday, that happens here quite a lot. Oh well. But we found some other Elders and a board game shop, so that was all we needed. We had a pretty good time! Then the night was spent on the town! (Proselyting)

Tuesday, 21 November 2017
We met with our baptismal goal investigator Sam. He is set for the middle of December, the 15th! And so is Brother Zhong. We are trying to set up his Baptismal interview this week so he'll be ready. It's so exciting! We taught tithing today, which he said will be a challenge, but he was willing to pray about it. Then tonight we had a member named Johnny help us make a pumpkin pie from scratch, which was really hard, but also fun! We are going to use it for a Thanksgiving activity. 

Wednesday, 22 November 2017
We went and found a less active member today named Shan. She was coming to church a little while ago, so the bishop sent us to find her. She was willing to meet and is really cool! We text her scriptures every day that she can go read and she committed to coming to church next week! We also met with Brother Zhong today and taught about the importance of the Sacrament. It was so cool to see him understand the sacredness of that time. It also helped me to remember why it was so important as well. 

Thursday, 23 November 2017
We went to the district meeting in a neighboring area and celebrated Thanksgiving with them! They brought pie to the meeting, and then we all headed out with full stomachs to proselytize. We also got to eat with Michael, one of Elder Fuller's converts from a previous area. He came down to visit us and it was just cool to see how much impact all our missionary service is having wherever we go. He is a Filipino and spoke really good English too!

Friday, 24 November 2017
We went on exchanges today, but the best part of the night was going to the Lin family's house with Brother Wei, our recent convert and starting to review the missionary lessons. It was cool to hear the family's conversion experience, and it is amazing to see how well they are taking care of Brother Wei and Sister Xu. I was worried because Sister Xu has been working lately and I haven't been able to get in touch with her, and on Sunday we come to find out she already has visiting teachers and they have been visiting every week with her and re-sharing the lessons. This is the best ward in the world. 

Saturday, 25 November 2017
Sister Luo met with us again! She has been coming to Sacrament regularly, and we met and discussed the importance of scriptures today, which she seemed to like. She is such a great and humble woman. She wants to learn so much about the Gospel and is looking forward to how it can change her life. 

Sunday, 26 November 2017
A good Sabbath. We went to church with our investigators and got to mingle with them and the members a lot. We have also had a lot of chances to work with the Less Active members in our ward which is great. Then tonight we Visited the Pan family. The dad is from Canada and the wife is from Taiwan. They are a pretty funny family and it was a pretty great week. 

I love the gospel so much! I love how my mission has helped me make the Savior a bigger part of my life, because I need His help so much. I'm so grateful for His Sacrifices for me, and the way He will always help me up.

Have a great week my friends and family.
-Elder Meanea

20 November 2017 - Zone Conference Training + Technology

"Tell me the stories of Gaoxiong, I love to hear,
Things that the Elders do all day, spreading gospel near!"

Monday, 13 November 2017
Tonight after P-Day we went to visit a less-active member who has to work selling pork most Sundays, but he was super happy to see us! He said the missionaries used to come over occasionally to share with him and it made him and his son really happy to see us. His son is one of the craziest kids I ever met. His name is Danny, he's 6, and super into dinosaurs. And he's also incredibly smart. So that was cool to get to meet him. I'm glad we can still bring some gospel Spirit into his home even if it's hard for him to get to church.

Tuesday, 14 November 2017
We had an exchange today and also met with a new investigator named Jeff! We ran into him on the street the other day, and he told us to give him our number so he could call us later (which never happens) so we forgot about him. Then he actually called us and set up! He also bought us drinks when we met at McDonald's, which was cool. Seems like a cool guy!

Wednesday, 15 November 2017
Our member friend Johnny gave us a cake today after we ate lunch with him! He is learning to be a professional cake chef, which is one of the cooler things I've run into on my mission. So that was a miracle. And then we met with Brother Zhong who is 2-steps away from being baptized! He has had all the lessons, and we reviewed the baptismal questions with him, and he has absolutely no problem and a really strong testimony. He just has to come to more church!

Thursday, 16 November 2017
We had to spend a lot of time in comp study getting ready for zone conference on Friday. There will be three zones there and we get to give a training on some new planning material that replaces chapter 8 in Preach my Gospel, so that was exciting!

Friday, 17 November 2017
Most of today was all zone conference. Our training went pretty well! We at least didn't crash and burn, so that was an unqualified success. The whole conference was mostly about our upcoming access to technology. I'm a little bit scared for how phones are going to change missionary work, but I really think that the Lord is trying to bless us. All intelligence comes from God, and everything else people do with technology is just a side effect. It's incredible that THIS IS THE REASON smart phones exist. It's to push forward the work of the kingdom. So incredible.

Saturday, 18 November 2017
We finished our exchange today and then went to have a lesson with Sister Zheng, but she didn't make it. So we talked for a while with our member, Brother Zhuang. He is super cool! He actually served his mission in Texas and helped us fix some member information and get a ward list so we can start working more closely with the members. Because that's the way to do missionary work! I love being a part of the new ward every time, they are just like a new family to me.

Sunday, 19 November 2017
A good sabbath! Brother Zhong, Sister Luo, and Sam all came to sacrament! So that was pretty happy. Then afterwards we talked to some ward members, went and friendshipped some LA's, and then spent the night on the town! (Contacting)

It's been a good week. I really love being on a mission and how much it has taught me about how to love God. I want Him to see my service and how that it's because I love Him and His Son and will always be grateful to Them. No other motivation would ever carry me through. It is such a blessing. I love you all!

Have a great week!

-Elder Meanea

13 November 2017 - International Revolution

"Oh come all you faithful, come and meet for lessons,
or we will come and find you and teach you anyways!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Monday, 6 November 2017
I got my new companion Elder Fuller today! He is a total beast! I am really happy to be working with him. I hope that we can keep taking care of the awesome people we have and finding more. We didn't know what to do for P-Day so we stood on the roof for a while and then biked to Ikea and browsed around for no apparent reason, then went contacting!

Tuesday, 7 November 2017
The amazing Sister Luo met with us for a lesson today! The bishop and his wife helped with the lesson, and we taught her about the Restoration. The Spirit there is so strong, and we told her about the amazing message of God still talking to His children today. Whenever I share the Restoration the Spirit immediately comes in. It's truly incredible. She is so amazing too, because in her prayer she thanked Heavenly Father for letting her come in contact with us missionaries and said she'd been looking for a church for a long time. I was so happy!

Wednesday, 8 November 2017
And then there is the amazing Sister Zhan! She is a younger mother with two daughters, one of which she always brings to lessons with her and is super cute. We had a reading lesson with her today because she didn't read the Book of Mormon, and in her prayers she thanked Heavenly Father for the Book of Mormon and the chance it gave her to get to know Him. I'm just so happy teaching these people. It is truly incredible. The gospel is great. And Elder Fuller and I already have really good unity while teaching even though it was only our second or third lesson together. He has a really funny sense of humor and we laugh and work a lot. 

Thursday, 9 November 2017
We did weekly planning today since Friday we had to go to a meeting. It was pretty good. Then we met with an RC named Villa! She is such a good missionary. She loves reading the scriptures and learning new things. She also offered to invite her friend to a Thanksgiving party we were having with the ward this Saturday!

Friday, 10 November 2017
Secret MLC stuff. Can't talk about it.

Saturday, 11 November 2017
Today we ran all over the city, but it's because we met a new investigator named Sam! He was a missionary referral, and he already has a baptismal date! So that was super exciting. He is a really cool guy and he has already read to Jacob, and he really likes chapter 5 for some reason. So he's pretty great. I love seeing people who want to learn! Because I love the gospel. Then the ward had a baptism of a member kid, and Brother Zhong came and saw it! He thought it was really cool. He is still working for a December 2nd goal. Then we ate a giant ward thanksgiving! It was amazing!

Sunday, 12 November 2017
A day of freaking miracles. Sister Chen and Sam both came to church and stayed until 3rd hour. Then tonight we had two lessons set up, one with two people from the Philippines, and one with two people from Vietnam. The guys from the Philippines didn't show up, but later in the afternoon we went back to the park and found them sitting there, and we taught the Restoration and they agreed to meet next week! Then the Vietnamese guys didn't come, but we were riding through a different park and ran into one of us and he gave us his number and also agreed to meet next week, which was great! A day full of miracles to end the week!

I love you family and friends, and I know the Savior does too! Never forget to reach up for Him. I know He will always be there.

-Elder Meanea