30 October 2017 - Washed in White

"I know when I am baptized, the missionaries are happy,
because I'm going back to my God so readily!"

Monday, 23 October 2017
After a fun P-Day, we got back to the chapel in time for our district leader Elder Shakespear to do the baptismal interview for Sister Xu! It went really well, and she is so close to getting baptized. We prayed for her so hard this week because I know Satan does not want her to take these steps in her life that will lead to her and her family's eternal happiness. I can't wait for her to make it! She has even talked about wanting her 7-year-old son to get baptized next year when he is 8!

Tuesday, 24 October 2017
We had our last exchanges for the transfer today with the Elders from Cuihua. I went with Elder Tang, who was actually my Trainee's companion in the MTC. It was fun to work with him. We taught a lesson to one of our Baptismal goals, Sister Chen. She has a lot of hard things going on in her life, but we read the Book of Mormon with her, and at the end of the lesson she took it and told us she promised to read it, because she felt like it really could help her feel happiness. I testify that it does, because when you read it with a humble heart, Heavenly Father will send the Spirit to guide and help you.

Wednesday, 25 October 2017
Today was honestly just a contacting day. Not much happened, but every day working for the Lord and inviting people to truly come to Christ (Where everyone wants to be) is a gift. 

Thursday, 26 October 2017
We traveled over to Cuihua today to do a language pass off for the same Elder Tang that I exchanged with. It is so amazing to see so many missionaries come to serve the Lord. We are all different, with different ideas and thoughts and experiences, but the Lord individually called us all for our love for Him and what we can do in His service. Then tonight we met with a new investigator, Sister Zhan! She has the cutest 3 year old daughter that she brings to church. She has come twice now, and we shared the Restoration with her. She said that she believed it! And is willing to learn more! There are so many prepared people out there, and I'm so grateful to be a part of this. 

Friday, 27 October 2017
Brother Wei is so incredible. He had his baptismal interview tonight. He has been a member of another denomination for 20 years, and has come to find the fullness of the gospel. When the interview began, he said he "Didn't have a reason not to believe in Joseph Smith," which is usually less than what we like to hear. But then as he said the closing prayer, he also bore his testimony and said, "Heavenly Father, I know that Joseph Smith was Your prophet." The Spirit and the restored Gospel changes lives and gives so much hope!

Saturday, 28 October 2017
We had a lot of.... children of God today. The first was a man we set up with named "Ha." A man walked in and we sat him down and shared the Restoration, and in the end he told us, my name isn't "Ha, I don't know who you guys are looking for. I just wanted to check out English and activities." So we accidentally taught a random guy, but it was the luckiest accident ever for him. Then tonight we met a man who gave us fruit, which I always like, and told us that all Gods of all religions are aliens. I love this place. 

Sunday, 29 October 2017
A Sabbath of joy. Today Sister Xu Li Ming and Brother Wei Shun Fu were baptized. Elder Yang baptized Brother Wei and one of our Recent Converts Wen baptized Sister Xu. I just watched their new lives begin. An experience like this cannot be described with words. I am so grateful to be here serving. Because the Lord will look after all His children, and they all have a chance to come unto Christ. 

-Elder Meanea

23 October 2017 - Buddha and Progressing Investigators

"God save the noble zone, though a bit accident prone,
Gaoxiong West Zone!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Monday, 16 October 2017
All the LDS missionaries in my zone went on an excursion to a place in English known as "The Mountain of Buddha's light" and obviously had a great time touristing around and seeing a little more of the culture of our land! (Yes, it is actually from India, but they sort of adopted it so it still counts, and we didn't accidentally end up in a worship ceremony this time!) Then that night we went out contacting! Not much exciting about the day, but it was fun to get to be with the zone a little more!

Tuesday, 17 October 2017
We had one of our final lessons with Sister Xu tonight, in which we went over the Baptismal interview questions, and the real miracle of it all is that she is ready and will be baptized next week! She quit smoking because of the examples of the members we met with who said they joined the church to help their children and now follow the word of wisdom so they will have a good example. She is so amazing and such an awesome mom. Then we left just in time to go on exchanges with the Assistants in Taichung. That was fun! I got to go out working with Elder Neahaus who was my zone leader back in Puli. It was a good night of teaching and finding.

Wednesday, 18 October 2017
Our exchange ended today and we headed back to Gaoxiong. It was a 3 hour train ride both ways, so that was... fun. Anyways. We met with our friend Sister Chen who is progressing well. We actually were able to extend a baptismal goal today, which was super cool! She accepted, and though she has a lot of progress to make, she is on the path! 

Thursday, 19 October 2017
We had another exchange with some elders in our zone today. I was really worried because they were struggling a little bit recently, and so we really wanted to raise their faith and their vision. I went out to their area to work, and tried to exercise as much faith as possible. I prayed with the Elder I was exchanging with, and then we went to work. In the period of about 2 hours we had to contact that night we walked away with 4 adds and a new investigator. I know it's not because I'm super great, but because the Lord really blessed us that night and wants to help that companionship know what miracles are possible. It was super great. 

Friday, 20 October 2017
We finished our exchange and met with Brother Wei. We were getting him ready for baptism, and he is so willing and ready, it's so amazing. He just doesn't quite have the testimony yet. So we're working with him, and he'll come in soon. He'll make it, but the Spirit is willing! So I'm super excited for him. He's been a member of another church for years, and it's hard for him to change, but he is so willing to follow Christ wherever He leads. 

Saturday, 21 October 2017
We went to the Wen Family's house tonight to help them dedicate their house. I've never actually been to a house dedication before, so that was pretty cool. It was a good chance to get to know the members since half of the ward was there. And that was about it today!

Sunday, 22 October 2017
We had a cool new investigator come to church this week! She is a mom of two daughters and her name is Zhen. She just met Elder Yang on the street the other day and agreed to come to church, so she came! Another cool miracle in the string of miracles that is my mission. So that was fun, and it's been a great week here. I'm so blessed to serve where I am right now with who I'm serving with. I can't wait for another week of miracles!

I love you all!
-Elder Meanea

16 October 2017 - Zone Conference and Exchanges

"I looked out the window and what did I see?
Typhoon."
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Monday, 9 October 2017

A good P-Day in which most of the time was spent playing basketball with Elder Yang and the Elders from Xiaogang. That was pretty fun. It's interesting how God will put people in your path that you're supposed to meet. While we were at the court, a lawyer by the name of Mr. Cai came up and talked to me and we started discussing religion. It didn't really turn out to anything that I knew of, but at least he hopefully got to feel some of God's love that day. The rest of the night was on the street contacting!

Tuesday, 10 October 2017
I went on my first exchange today with Elder Miller from Cuihua! It was really fun. I traveled to his area, and we mostly had a day of contacting. We found a guy on the side of the road that we were just going to pass by, but had a feeling to stop and talk, and he ended up having a lot of interest. I hope they get to meet with him! It's amazing to realize that God's children are everywhere you look, especially as a missionary. 

Wednesday, 11 October 2017
We finished the exchange and I met back up with Elder Yang, and then that night we had a lesson with Brother Zhong, who is still working on some commandment problems. But the amazing thing to me is that we asked him how it was going, and he said he had been praying to try and figure out a way to keep the specific commandment he was having a problem with. It was so incredible to me. He wasn't whining saying the commandment was dumb, or trying to find an excuse why he shouldn't have to obey it, he was truly trying to figure out a way to do the Lord's will. That was an eye-opening moment for me, and I wondered how often I asked the Lord how I could keep His commandments better.

Thursday, 12 October 2017
Elder Yang and I held our first Zone conference today! It was a little bit stressful, but we had a good time, and we received a lot of great instruction and President seemed to like our training! Most importantly, it felt like the Spirit was there, which is the most important part of any meeting or teaching appointment. If there is no Spirit, the Lord is not there in our work, and I know that we need Him so badly. We gave a training on improving our teaching skills, which I thought was pretty important, because every opportunity we have to teach our brothers and sister the Gospel is very sacred, and basically pre-arranged in Heaven. 

Friday, 13 October 2017
We had a meeting with Elder Steven R. Snow of the Seventy, which was really cool! They talked a lot about history and other things, and it was really interesting to see that records are just as important today as they were in Book of Mormon times. Just as those records were preserved to strengthen our testimonies, so our records should serve to uplift the generations that come after us. We also had another exchange tonight. I worked with Elder Barney from Shizhong. It was cool because I took him contacting his first night on Island when he came, and now we're doing exchanges together! He is a great Elder and we had a lot of fun together. And worked, obviously.

Saturday, 14 October 2017
Today was mostly taken up by planning and the exchange, but the cool miracle I saw today was Elder Barney's companion, Elder George. It was amazing to see him so concerned about doing better as a missionary and trying to help his district do the same, since he is the district leader. It's just a miracle to see the Lord take us regular teenagers, and in the process of a few months, if we're willing, He'll make us a lot more like His Son than we thought we could.

Sunday, 15 October 2017
A miracle! Our baptismal candidate Sister Xu came to church today, but after sacrament her 7-year-old son wanted to leave and started crying and causing a problem. But she needed to stay at church! Elder Yang and I tried frantically to think of some way to calm him down, but then a sister that is pretty good with kids swooped in and convinced him to go play with all the other primary children in Primary. Afterwards he told us he really liked it, and Sister Xu stayed for the whole 3 hours! After meetings we met with Steven, a new investigator, who is super smart and had a really cool lesson about our Father in Heaven. He really got what the message was about, and I'm excited to see him progress in Knowledge of the Gospel. 

And that's another week. I can't believe it, but it has passed, and I'm excited to find the miracles every day that the Lord is preparing for us. My love and prayers are with you family and friends, have a good one!

-Elder Meanea

9 October 2017 - Many Conferences

"Gaoxiong has need of willing men, who sweat until we melt!
Come help the mission move along, and just hope you won't be smelled!"

Monday, 2 October 2017
A good P-Day with our zone in which we went bowling at an alley in our area. It was super fun! It was also good to see a lot of old friends from the mission. That night we met with Jimmy. I was cleaning all the old former investigators out of the phone and called him, and he was willing to set up and meet with us. He still remembered missionaries, which was super cool, and is still willing to learn about the gospel! So that was a fun little miracle!

Tuesday, 3 October 2017
All day was spent in Mission Leadership Conference, which was full of secret information I cannot disclose on a public email server, so updates will come on that. But we did get to take the High Speed rail back to Gaoxiong in time for a lesson with Brother Wei, who set a baptismal date! He has been a Christian of another church for 20 years, but doesn't feel like it means anything to him, and now he's willing to work towards baptism at the end of the month! It's so exciting!

Wednesday, 4 October 2017
Brother Zhong. He is our investigator and is super cool!We had a really good lesson with him tonight. He has some changes to make in his life, but it's amazing to see what big changes he is willing to make now that he has tasted of the goodness of the Gospel! It's really a sight to see, watching the Gospel change someone. And I could feel how proud God was to see him making those changes. Repentance is never bad, it's a miracle.

Thursday, 5 October 2017
Today was all meetings. We went to another district in our zone for District meeting to fellowship with the missionaries there. It was pretty fun to see how well their district fits together. And I also ran into Sister Sprouse, who is in training right now, and is the sister of Julia Sprouse who was in my drama class at Cedar High. The miracle of a small Mormon world! That night we went back to the same area to have a meeting with the Stake president to coordinate some missionary work for the stake. That was pretty fun. He's actually a white guy, from where, I don't know. But he speaks perfect Chinese, so that was fun.

Friday, 6 October 2017
Weekly planning was followed by a lesson with our investigator Sister Zheng. She also really wants to turn her life around, and it was amazing to discuss the changes the Gospel has already made in her life, and help her to accept a baptismal date! It's in January, but it's still a date! So that was also pretty exciting. Whenever we aren't teaching or in meetings, we are out on the street contacting people and setting them up to meet with us. The people are like candy here, there are so many! I actually get to choose whereas in Puli it was just you talk to whoever you see. So I'm having a great time.

Saturday, 7 October 2017
All day was conference! We had the morning and afternoon sessions, followed by the priesthood sessions, which took all day. But it was so, so needed. I love the Spirit that the conference brings. Just as I wrote down questions I wanted answers to in my notebook, the talks started immediately addressing my questions. So that was amazing. Then that night we met with a man who says that he's been to the Budhhist Hell before and met their king. But he was interested in learning about Jesus, and was willing to pray, so I'm excited to meet with him again next week!

Sunday, 8 October 2017
Another conference day. It was so amazing. I love the fact that they emphasized so much about the kind of people we need to be, and not just the things we need to do. So often I try to fix my own weaknesses just by changing what I do, but we all need a mighty change of heart. And the most worthwhile changes can only come from the Atonement of Christ. I'm so happy to be here serving, and I love you all so much. Let Christ Change your life, I know He's changing mine.

-Elder Meanea

2 October 2017 - Southern Living

Monday, 25 September 2017
A good P-Day! I took the whole day getting to Gaoxiong and moving in, and then that night we had a really cool lesson with an investigator here named Brother Zhong. He is a little introverted guy, but it was super cool to share the Plan of Salvation with him, and it made him think of how loving God is. I love sharing this with people who don't understand the hope our lives can have.

Tuesday, 26 September 2017
My first full day here in Qianzhen! We did a little bit of contacting until tonight when we sat down with our Ward Mission Leader and our investigator Brother Wei. He is also really cool. He was Christian, but wants to learn more about our Church. He left the lesson asking us why we were all so "enthusiastic about the Gospel" which was an easy question to answer. The Gospel pretty much helps me find all the happiness that matters in life. He really wants to feel like God loves him, and I can't wait for him to find what he's looking for.

Wednesday, 27 September 2017
We traveled to Shizhong for our first baptismal interview! It was for the Elders, and it's a really faithful guy who has been investigating forever. He is still working on overcoming the word of Wisdom, but he had a super spiritual experience in the interview when Elder Yang promised him some specific blessings about joining the church. I love how amazing it is to work with the Spirit and know what people need to hear!

Thursday, 28 September 2017
Tonight at dinner we met with another awesome investigator named Zhou. He is a high school student trying to work up the courage to let his family know he's been meeting with us missionaries. So we decided that this Sunday we would fast with him so he has a chance to tell his parents about the Gospel that is CHANGING HIS LIFE. I love this area. It has a great mix of city that I love and other types of places like parks and big streets to contact on, and all the investigators we have really just want to make a change in their lives. It is so fun to see the Spirit work within them. I love sharing this gospel so much!

Friday, 29 September 2017
We had weekly planning and then went to an American diner to celebrate me turning 20 years old! It had super huge burgers, and if it's your birthday you can pick a prize, and I picked the prize that made the meal free. Haha! Great birthday! ;-) And then we went to a lesson that night at our Bishop's house with Mrs. Xu. She is a great mom who really wants the Gospel to help her family become happier. Lucky enough, we can help with that. It's so crazy to see how many prepared people there are everywhere you go!

Saturday, 30 September 2017
One of our Recent Converts invited us over for free soup today! Things just get better and better every day. Other than that today was all contacting. A pretty long one, but we were able to run into some cool new people.

Sunday. 1 October 2017
My new ward is great! There are a lot of great members I'm super excited to meet. Moving to a new area is super hard. You miss the companions and the people, but it's amazing how much God has in store for the next step of my journey. I trust God, that He has a great plan here for His Children, including me. I'm excited to see how it turns out. It was also super cool today because at the end of the night we hadn't found anything, but then we prayed, and the last 10 minutes found 2 super cool people. I love you all so much my family! My Friends! My fellows and compatriots! Have an amazing week!

-Elder Meanea