26 March 2018 - Taiwanese Zoo and a Stake 5K Run

"Today while the sun shines, biking all the way
we'll tell all the people to smile today!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 19 March 2018
We had a very... very interesting P-Day. Some Elders told us of a zoo that they knew and wanted to take us to. We biked about a half hour out there and found out it was a place called the "World Snake King" (Hopefully everybody thought back to the movie Courageous) And when we got there we saw alligators, horribly poisonous snakes, monkeys and tigers. And a really cute little pig. Then after the festivities we went to the Bishops house and had a really good meeting about what we could do to continue lifting the ward. I've never worked with a bishop that wanted so much to lift his ward members and wanted our help. I think this is the beginning of an amazing stay in Tainan. 

When asked why cute little fluffy chicks were in a snakes cage, Elder Meanea said, "snakes get cold, obviously. They need cuddle buddies." ...We'll just go with that...

Tuesday, 20 March 2018
Most of today was Elder Bode's first zone conference on Island! It was really good, we talked about really going out and applying our faith and how we are not responsible for the outcome, but we are responsible for how much we put into it. I just can't comprehend the massive role that faith has to play in our whole lives. It is literally the power by which Heaven comes to our aid, so that seems like a kind of important thing to understand. It seems the more I learn about Faith, the more I learn I truly need to focus on strengthening what faith I have. 

Wednesday, 21 March 2018
We had a good day of proselyting which ended up in us teaching English class tonight. It is the first time I've actually been assigned to teach an English class since Training. How times have changed. It went pretty well, and we met Jeff, who is a cool guy who comes into play later in this weeks story. I realize more and more everyday just how good of a place Tainan is. I'm so excited I hopefully get to spend the rest of my mission here. It's just so awesome!

Thursday, 22 March 2018
We ended up not having three lessons that we had scheduled today, so that was pretty dissapointing, but we still had faith by the end of the day, and while we were sitting in a Family mart after getting stood up, we started talking to a man sitting next to us who had a samurai sword. Obviously we had to talk to him, and come to find out that he was a devout Christian but never went to a set church because they all do things differently than in the Bible. Well did we have a message for him. He agreed to meet Sunday night to learn more, but didn't want to leave a phone number, so I had little confidence in him coming. 

Friday, 23 March 2018
One of the people who stood us up yesterday was Sister Yang. We call her Golden because she is golden. She likes God and the Talmud and wants to learn more about our message on Families. So she called us up and apologized that she had to work the day before and couldn't come, and asked if we could meet right then! We ran on over to a park and sat down with her for about 40 minutes and explained the restoration. When we prayed, she said she felt like God heard her prayer. It was a great lesson and Elder Bode did great explaining the first vision. 

Saturday, 24 March 2018
Our morning was taken up by a stake activity, a 5K! I felt just at home. It was a good little run. And Jeff our friend from English class came to the run. I was talking to some members while Jeff was practicing his English with Elder Bode, and Elder Bode just invited him to go to church the next day on the spot. He said yes! So that was a cool little miracle from my awesome Trainee.

Sunday, 25 March 2018
And he came! Jeff came today and seemed to have a pretty good time at church. The meeting was good and presented a lot more opportunities to get to know members. And then tonight we went to the lesson with the Samarai sword guy. I didn't think he was coming, but who showed up? Him! We had a great lesson and he agreed to meet again Monday night.

So it's been a really good week, always full of miracles and awesome things. I look forward to another one learning better how to have faith and repent, because these are the things that everyday bring me closer to Christ.

Have an amazing week my friends and family. Find the miracles and the joy!

-Elder Meanea

19 March 2018 - New Area, New Companion

"Hello, hello, hello, hello, we welcome you this week hello!
Hello, hello, hello, hello, Taiwan has come your way!
To be a missionary in a very special place and work right now in a very special waaaaayyyyy!"
(Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 12 March 2018
I spent most of this week just hanging out with Elder Fanning and Elder Jones before I went to go pick up my trainee. Elder Jones came down from Taichung to replace me, so it was fun to work with him for a couple of days. We got some stuff done we needed to during the day and then went out at night to a lesson with Sister Xie at a members house. She ended up not showing up because of work, but we went and ate with the member anyways, it was pretty good. We shared about why the church isn't perfect, which is a pretty interesting topic. When I say that, I mean that sometimes things don't run as smoothly as some people would like, but I say the church is still perfect because it is established by God and it really does what He wants it to, it helps us grow and be more Christlike. It was a pretty interesting conversation to have. 

Tuesday, 13 March 2018
Today was a day of me not knowing exactly what was going on, I am whitewashing an area, so I don't exactly know where the keys or the sim card is for the phone in that area, so I just hung out another day with the Zone leaders and sat there waiting for my trainee, but I was so happy to get to stay in my area a little while longer because I'm going to miss it so much, so it is pretty much a small miracle for me. 

Wednesday, 14 March 2018
Another curveball this week is that we found out today that some of the trainees weren't going to make it on island for another week and we weren't going to find out until tonight who actually needed to buy train tickets to get up to Taichung for the meeting tomorrow. We had a great last little lesson with Brother Ke the less active and he agreed to start reading the Book of Mormon stories with his 7-year-old son and to invite his wife to the self reliance class! After that, I got a text from president telling me that my trainee was actually there, and that I got to go get him tomorrow!

Thursday, 15 March 2018
An early train to Taichung. I got to sit next to my first trainee Elder Hansen, who is also training this transfer! He will be up in Shalu, north of Taichung a little bit. It was so fun to see him, and he's training really early! We got to the mission home and had a training with president about what he kind of expects from us as we help these new missionaries learn the ropes, and it really stuck out to me that all we need to do is to follow the Savior and they will follow us! And then I met Elder Bode, my new trainee! (Boe-D) He is super awesome and is from Chicago, where my older sister served her mission! We got some food and headed south on the train for Tainan. The first day was really interesting and unforgettable. We got to the apartment and got the number of the member who drove us, dropped our luggage in the room and went to go get our bikes, but we realized we didn't have any... and so we started walking for Costco, because we agreed to meet the sisters there who had our sim card (So we therefore had no way to get in touch with them) so after a 40 minute walk in which is started raining pretty heavily, we made it to Costco late, and they were already gone! So we said a prayer and walked around looking for some wifi to use, but settled on using a convenience store Payphone. We called the member which was the only number we had, and he gave us the sisters number, which was off because it was ours then, and the ward mission leaders number (which was old and didn't work anymore). So, we finally walked another 40 minutes in the pouring rain to our chapel, where we found both the ward mission leader and the sisters. Happy day one Elder Bode.

Friday, 16 March 2018
We had some weekly planning and then got on our way to our first district meeting here. I didn't know anyone besides Elder Thorup who used to serve in my last zone. It was pretty good, we talked about the power of Family history. Then we spent the night going around talking to people and finding prepared souls. It was a pretty good day. 

Saturday, 17 March 2018
We had some service today! We went to a park and helped rake up leaves, and the ladies in charge just loved it. It was pretty fun. Then we also found some people on the roads that Agreed to meet with us. There are also a lot of good investigators already in our area, so that's pretty encouraging. It's a little stressful to try and lead out in everything, but it is teaching me to be more reliant on the Spirit. So that's really cool. 

Sunday, 18 March 2018
Our first sabbath in the ward. Elder Bode gave an awesome testimony on the stand when we had a chance to introduce ourselves. Then we spend the afternoon going around to some more parks to find prepared people to come to church. A member from a different ward invited us over to dinner, which was Elder Bode's first experience eating pig ear! Those are some good pictures. We finished the night with some tracting, and a lady we ran into said we could come back Monday night to teach her more about what we have to share!

It's been a long week, with a lot of changes and a little stress, but I have felt cared for every step of the way. I hope you all feel the same my amazing friends and family. I love you all, and hope you have a great week!

-Elder Meanea

12 March 2018 - Special Meetings and Transfers

"We thank You Oh God for a Prophet! (and a presiding bishop, and a president of the 70, and 70 who is also our mission president, and other various general authorities etc. Etc.....)

Monday, 5 March 2018
The last P-Day for our zone all together. We set up a zone kickball activity at a nearby field that was super fun. Everyone had a good time and we went for ice cream afterwards. Then the entire night was taken up by meeting with a member referral who is actually American from Alabama. He is very Christian and has a lot of really good and really hard questions, and it has been an interesting experience teaching him. It's incredible to feel the Spirit fill the room when we bear testimony of the restored Truths of the gospel though. It literally feels different. It feels good. The fruits of the Spirit are there. I think this has been a real big testimony builder for me. 

Tuesday, 6 March 2018
Today was an all-day trip to Taichung and back for MLC. We had some really good talks about where the mission is going and some goals that we have. Counseling together is a really interesting experience. I always appreciate the insights and revelation I come away with after these meetings. 

Wednesday, 7 March 2018
We had a really good lesson with our new friend Peiru. We met her last week at the mall, I think I mentioned her, but she really wants to have more happiness in her life. We had a lesson at the chapel and taught her about how the Gospel has been restored and how we can all read the Book of Mormon to find out the truth of our message. We get to do so much to invite people to Christ, it's amazing! 

Thursday, 8 March 2018
A lot of stuff happens in a day, but I usually just like talking about the miracles or lessons, like today we had Sister Chen (Amanda) at Sister Yang's house again. She is really learning and growing a lot lately. We've been trying to help her start reading the Book of Mormon and because she finally agreed to start she is feeling a lot more and thinking a lot more clearly about God's plan for her, she's really starting to understand which is a miracle! We have been meeting with her for about 5 months now, but she can still surely make it. 

Friday, 9 March 2018
Tonight was really good! We planned a couple days ago to have a pizza dinner with a few of our wards singles and our investigator Peiru. Johnny, Brother Zhong (the RC) and another sister came to Peiru's house and we all had a good time eating pizza and sharing a little bit about the Spirit and how it works with us. It turned out super well after all the planning we did, and I also biked 3 Costco pizzas halfway across the city for it, which was fun. 

Saturday, 10 March 2018
This was a very special day. The entire mission met together and heard from our mission president, a member of the Presidency of the 70 (Elder Christiansen), the Presiding Bishop (Bishop Cause) and a member of the Quorum of the 12 (Elder Stevenson). The Spirit in the meeting was incredible. The things they taught and shared with us were things I think most of us didn't know we needed to learn. And it's always all about helping us and others come closer to Christ. That is the point of this whole work. Always it is about Christ and coming closer to Him. 

Sunday, 11 March 2018
We were blessed again today by Bishop Cause coming to our stake and holding a special meeting with us. It was such a good one. This weekend has been very full of revelation and the Spirit. We also received Transfer calls this morning. I will be leaving Qianzhen for the beautiful land of Tainan. And I will be training. So we'll both be new to the area. It's going to be pretty exciting. I'm a little nervous, and sad to leave Qianzhen, they even had a little dinner with the whole ward at which they asked us (me and a sister who is going home from here) to bear our testimonies. I am going to miss these people so much. But I know God is already preparing a new family for me in Tainan. So here is to the start of another adventure. One which only Faith in Jesus Christ can carry me through. And it's the same with all of us on our adventures. All we need is faith in Jesus Christ and we can carry through. I love you all, my family and friends. 

Have an amazing week coming closer to Christ.

-Elder Meanea

PS - For anyone who has been following Elder Meanea his entire mission, the transfer call above might sound kind of familiar. One year ago Elder Meanea emailed us the following: 

So, oddly enough, president called me tonight. The new missionaries are inbound in just a week, and one of them needs to become a mini Elder Meanea. In Tainan. So... whitewash training anyone? xD I'm so super nervous, but also super excited to start this new part of my mission journey. I also hope that everyone will be really forgiving of me, because I'm not always the best person. Like the fact that I totally am joking right now and since it just said Saturday at the top you wouldn't know today was April Fool's day. Love you. ;-) 

Funnily enough, this time is not a joke! Kind of crazy he exactly predicted this a year ago and even funnier is that fact that the Lord obviously has a sense of humor :-) 

5 March 2018 - Miracle at the Mall

"Reverence is more than just quietly sitting
It's biking at top speed all day.
Sharing this gospel message with all men,
Testifying at the top of your lungs!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 26 February 2018
Quite an interesting P-Day, we mostly just got some groceries done and did the stuff that we needed to get ready for the rest of the week. Besides that, we had a fun family home evening with a family of converts in our ward. Most of them have been baptized in the last 3 years. A family of a mom, a son, and four daughters are all converts, and it was fun to have Family Home Evening with them. We also went and ate some Sweet Potato ice cream from a convenience store, which was another plus for the day.

Tuesday, 27 February 2018
We got to go meet with Sister Xu, our convert, for the first time in a while. The Bishop's wife also went with us to visit her and her husband. She is doing good, but right now she has a work that keeps her from coming to church on Sundays, dangit. But she is very welcoming to us coming over and sharing the scriptures with us. I was so happy to finally see her! She has been quite busy lately, and each time we tried to set up with her it always seemed to fall through. We also got to meet briefly with a woman we talked to on the road last Sunday. She was looking for a church that was closer to her house, and she happens to live not very far from our chapel. She is really interested in getting her daughter to church. Sometimes people just pop out of nowhere!

Wednesday, 28 February 2018
We met with a skeptical man today named Chen. We taught him all about his Heavenly Father, and we could all feel the Spirit in the room. He had some questions and doubts, but we tried to testify really sincerely that through learning the Gospel of Jesus Christ, he can come to know for himself that Heavenly Father exists. In the end, he admitted that he felt something, and said he'd be willing to try. To at least try. Which honestly is all that Heavenly Father asks of us. He just asks us to try as hard as we can to come closer to Him.

Thursday, 1 March 2018
Today was a very spiritual District Training meeting. We started talking about how to work with Members, but the conversation drifted more towards the question of "How do we feel successful as missionaries?" A few members of our district admitted that they found it hard to feel good about their missionary work since we are all literally falling incredibly short of the Glory of God each day. As a missionary, this seems more obvious as we try to be as Christ-like as possible, and realize how much we really aren't. That can lead to feelings of discouragement, which is a very powerful de-motivator, and something I have had to learn how to deal with. It all really comes to believing that Jesus is the Christ, our Savior and Redeemer. We will all make mistakes, sometimes large ones, but the entire purpose of life is to repent. To learn to love repentance and He who makes it possible. 3 Nephi 27:13-22 are the Savior's own words about His Gospel and how we should approach our daily repentance. Please go read it and really think about what this means to you, every day. I know that as I come to more fully know the Savior, the more I reach out for the repentance every day to draw me closer to Him.

Friday, 2 March 2018
We had a bit of weekly planning this morning and then went to the mall to meet with Sister Wang, a former investigator that I personally have run into at least 4 times just at different places on the street. We got to sit down and talk about her life for a little bit, and she told us how she is not really satisfied with her place in life right now, and we got to testify about how the Gospel might not change our circumstances, but it will always change who we are and make us happier. It was a really good meeting. We also contacted a man going into the mall who had a nice beard. He said that he could meet us the next day to learn a bit about our message, which lead to another cool miracle!

Saturday, 3 March 2018
Because today we went to the mall and he wasn't there. He didn't show, so we started walking back towards our bikes. We passed a woman sitting on a bench and complimented her bag, which was pretty cool. As we started talking, we found out that she met missionaries before, a year ago, when Elder Fanning's trainer served in this area, and she knew him pretty well. She took us into the mall and bought us some drinks while we talked, and agreed to learn more about the Gospel. And we wouldn't have even been at the mall if that man hadn't agreed to meet us and stood us up! You never know the "small and simple things" that God does to bless His children.

Sunday, 4 March 2018
We had stake conference today at which President Teh spoke about missionary work. We were pretty happy about that. We then contacted a bunch of people just on the way home that were willing to meet with us. It's incredible to see the people that are all around us that God is preparing. We also got a call this week from a member out of the blue who has a friend who wants to meet with the missionaries! That is honestly one of the best kind of phone calls to get! We are going to meet with her friend tonight, so you can all know how that goes next week!

I know that Faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior is really the only thing that can carry us through every trial in life. It is the only thing that will help us overcome our own sins, mistakes, weaknesses, insecurities, wounds, sorrows, and every other ill. I believe that Jesus Christ died for us, and that if we are willing to reach out, we will find Him there.

-Elder Meanea