25 June 2018 - Final Zone Conference

"Ring out wild car horns, to the hot blazing sky's,
As those weird white guy just bike right by!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 18 June 2018
We had a good time eating at a buffet for the Dragon Boat festival! There werent any activities nearby, so we didn't see any dragon boat races, but it was still fun to go out with our convert friend Cheng and eat ourselves to death. After that we also had a hot pot dinner with Sister Yang, a member from our ward. It was a super spicy Mala hot pot, which left scars on my stomach but was really really good.

Tuesday, 19 June 2018
A rather uneventful Tuesday as far as Tuesdays go. We did some service sorting books in the morning, but it rained almost every day this week, which drives Taiwanese people off the streets entirely. So we spent some time scanning the streets for any signs of life while going around visiting some members.

Wednesday, 20 June 2018
Rain again spoiled some of our plans today. We were mostly contacting since our Investigators are busy with end of year tests at the college in our town. We did get to teach English class tonight though! We had three new people come, which was really cool. Afterwards for our spiritual share we watched a Mormon message and shared some Scriptures. Because of Him is probably the best one ever made.

Thursday, 21 June 2018
All of today was Zone conference. My last. We had some good training about how we can improve how we find people by really making it personal to us. They are our brothers and sisters after all. And then they invited the departing missionaries to give their final reflections. Which included me. And five other elders in my zone, so that was fun. Half my MTC group was there. And then we said our final goodbyes to President and Sister Teh. They will fly out this coming Friday or Saturday, and it'll be a while before I see them again.

Friday, 22 June 2018
We had a great weekly planning that I feel was really filled with Revelation. After that we met with a less active brother named Lin. He is pretty cool, and agreed to start a challenge we are doing with the members about reading the Book of Mormon every day for a week to see what happens and let them share their testimonies with Investigators. Tonight we also had to bike really far to find a member's house, and they weren't there, so that was funny. xD

Saturday, 23 June 2018
A pretty good day! We met with Brother Liu and Sister Xie, two really active members in our ward, and we invited them to start our Book of Mormon challenge as well. Then this afternoon we spent looking for a member, and we didn't actually find him in the end, because the addresses here and totally screwed up. Like 6 was right next to 19, and there was four of each. Then 45 was down the road some....

Sunday, 24 June 2018
We had a great Sabbath with three Investigators at church! One of our members even brought her boyfriend! It was so cool. After the meetings we Had a lesson with Brother Chu, and older man who is really sick but really wants to learn about the Gospel. It seems to give him a lot of hope. We set a goal for the 14th of July, right before I go home. So let's see if we can't see some miracles happen here.

And let's be honest, how could I not see miracles in this work? Even if the miracle is just me being a better person, being more repentant and more grateful for the work Jesus Christ has given me. Have a great week everyone! It's a gift!

-Elder Meanea

18 June 2018 - Rebuilding the Pool

"Hope of Douliu, we're alright!
Though we're wet, for the gospel we'll fight!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 11 June 2018
This was a rather slower week. Our investigators from before have been a little silent, so it's been a work of building back up our pool. Today was went to a Chidaobao (all-you-can-eat) with an RC named Brother Cheng. It was really good, and then we went and got Elder Francesconi a haircut. After that it was all contacting and stuff. At the last second we decided we wanted to go visit a less-active member and drop off a birthday card, so we biked about an hour out. It was pretty good! We only got a little lost coming back. 

Tuesday, 12 June 2018
We spent this morning doing service at a picture book library. We sorted and shelved the books, which was pretty good. My time in Taiwan has made me appreciate service a lot more now. Then tonight we had an activity with the youth about setting goals, and they had a Monopoly type game after, and we better hope it wasn't a precursor to my life because I was bankrupt much too quickly.

Wednesday, 13 June 2018
We were preparing a lot of stuff for creative contacting today. We have a Book of Mormon fortune teller that you can play with people to read a verse from the Book of Mormon with them. And then we made some cards for member's birthdays that would could drop off while contacting in an area. After that was our English class. It's still a little small, but we got three new referalls from the English website! It's something Taipei mission cooked up and it works really well for getting people to English class and also knowing if they are interested in the Gospel. 

Thursday, 14 June 2018
We had district meeting today with a new district leader, because our old one got called to train and emergency transferred out. It was a pretty Good DTM talking about goal setting, which is something I really appreciate since I want to be as effective as possible this month. And then a kid Elder Francesconi contacted in a park showed up for a church tour today! His name is Zeng, and when we invited him to read the Book of Mormon, he said "Five minutes a day? Like, I'll probably read more than that." And it made us really happy.

Friday, 15 June 2018
Weekly planning ended with a trip to a burger shop here in Douliu. It was pretty good, and we ate with our RC friend Cheng. After that we had to bike out of town to visit an investigator named Zhang. He was super cool and we invited him to be baptized after teaching about How the gospel has been restored through Joseph Smith. He said he would ponder about it! After visiting with him, we biked down to Douliu and headed home. 

Saturday, 16 June 2018
This morning we visited a less-active family who have a kid that is about to turn 8, and the parents want him to be baptized. So they invited us to come over and start teaching him the lessons. He and his little brother are super funny, and it's an amazing chance to see all four of them get active again eventually. This night was an absolute downpour and we were out in it for about 2 hours dropping off cards because there was no one on the streets. It was a pretty fun time and it took 'till Monday for my shoes to be fully dry.

Sunday, 17 June 2018
A good Sabbath. We headed down to Jiayi for stake conference. We all went down with the ward in a tour bus, but we refrained from using the Karoeke machine, though I was highly tempted to re-create the scene from the movie "College Road-Trip." After coming home we did some more contacting and had correlation with Pinocchio, our ward mission leader. And that's a week folks!

I am very grateful for many things. It is incredible to look back even through the past two years of my service and realize despite how well or poor I think I've done, there have been so many blessings that I have seen. It helps me know that God really loves each of us. I hope you all feel that too.

-Elder Meanea

11 June 2018 - Last Area, Last Ward, Last District...

"Mine eyes have seen Taiwan bow down before our Savior, Lord, they are seeking out the gospel which has been, for us, restored!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 4 June 2018
Crazy move day Monday. I had to get out pretty early to catch my train to Yunlin County. It was only an hour and half ride. I said goodbye to Elder Bode and grabbed my two bags and hopped on the train! After a short ride, I arrived in Douliu, my "grave" as some might say since this is my last transfer. Haha, hopefully the members here don't just ignore me for six weeks because it's hard to get to know a new missionary. Elder Francesconi is my new companion. He is the same generation as Elder Bode, so I am "breaking" him as they say. After helping two other Elders get moved from here, we just got some grocery shopping done, then ate dinner with a member named Stone. He is pretty cool. Douliu is a lot like Puli, in that it is smaller and can get pretty slow during the day, but I am really excited to work out my last transfer here. 

Tuesday/Wednesday, 5-6 June 2018
This week has honestly been a bit of a blur. We spent these two days running around trying to get in contact with investigators and introducing me to members. It has been pretty busy, but good. We had English class Wednesday night, and there were 5 people there. Probably the least my whole mission, but that is okay, we will get more people to come and get in touch with the gospel! It has been overcast but not raining too much here. It's a lot quieter than I'm used to.

Thursday, 7 June 2018
We went and had lunch with our new district before District meetings started. I haven't met the other two Elders here before, so it's all fresh to me. It's very hard to not keep thinking of things as my "last." Like my last district, last Area, last chapel, it's very surreal to me, but I will probably not mention it again for 5 weeks. Contacting was good tonight! We ran into three cool people who were all willing to exchange contact info with us. The finding seems to be pretty good out here. We have a college in our area for the first time for me. Puli had one but it was closed most the time I was there. 

Friday, 8 June 2018
Weekly planning and then a really good lesson with a member's friend, Sister Huang. She is Christian and likes to talk, but was willing to come for a lesson! We taught her about the Restoration of the gospel, and the beginning was hard because she wanted to talk the entire time, but when we got to the first vision, she started to be really quiet and listen intently. It was a very intense moment, and you could really feel the Spirit testifying of the truth of the Restoration. I love teaching it so much. She agreed to begin reading the Book of Mormon to find out for herself, so we are really excited for her!

Saturday, 9 June 2018
A busy, busy day. We went in the morning to do service for a member and helped him pull weeds at this ranch he has up in the mountains, so that was fun. Then he fed us lunch and ice cream. Great morning. After that we went and met with the Bishop and one of his counselors at their respective houses. The ward seems really great here, and our Bishop is really funny, Bishop Liu. We talked a little bit about some activities that we want to do to help the ward to more missionary work. 

Sunday, 10 June 2018
My first Sunday in Douliu! It was a good Sacrament meeting, and two Filipino sisters showed up, so the bishopric had us translate the meeting for them. It was tiring, but I was happy to provide a service for them. Some lessons, contacting, and member visits filled the rest of the night.

The Gospel is the most important thing we can know and live! I knew what the Gospel was before my mission, but now I feel like I'm really "Coming unto [God]" and He is showing me my weakness. It can be frustrating at times to know how imperfect of a missionary I am, but I know that if I "humble myself before [Him] and have faith in [Him]" He will really make me strong. I love you family and friends. Have a great week!

- Elder Meanea

4 June 2018 - It's the Final Transfer!

"I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord,
From Tainan to Douliu!"

Monday, 28 May 2018
We had a pretty good last Pday as a district. We got some shopping done, shared a Costco pizza and then decided to bike out into the boonies to look at some wildlife. We may have been accosted by dogs, but it wasn't anything a few rocks couldn't take care of. After that was took a final stop at the beach to say goodbye to the ocean, then went and got some Taiwanese ice to finish off the day. We went up to the mall to contact, and talked to some cool people. No one set up tonight, but we got to raise a warning voice, for which I am grateful.

Tuesday, 29 May 2018
We met Flora for the last time today before she leaves for America for a month. We taught about prayer and how God really listens to us. It was a great lesson, and afterward she gave me a tie! It was so nice of her. I really hope Elder Bode keeps getting to work with her. We also taught Jeff the last half of the Plan of Salvation today and he said he believed it. I'm so excited for him! He has a date for the 23rd of June to be baptized.

Wednesday, 30 May 2018
Not much to mention from today. We went out, worked hard and sweated a lot. Bikes are our main mode of transportation, so that's always fun to try and handle. But we drink lots of water and try to stay hydrated. I taught English class for the last time in Tainan, and I said goodbye to all my English friends.

Thursday, 31 May 2018
I also taught my last DTM today. We talked about testifying often, and I thought it was really cool to think more about how God needs our specific testimonies where we are, He can handpick who is where, when, and wherever you are in a mission, it's because God wanted you there. We also taught an English class at the city hall building today. They invite us over every couple weeks for it. So that's cool. Last was correlation with Peter our ward mission leader. He's so great! Probably the best leader I've had on island.

Friday, 1 June 2018
Weekly planning brought a lot of good thoughts about things we can do now to help our Investigators progress, it was weird because at the time we didn't know who was going to be moving where, so we were both really sad about leaving our Investigators! After that brought a bit of contacting and a surprise lesson with Jeff. He set up with us and we taught him about the temple. He said he wanted to go there some day and I wanted to start singing.

Saturday, 2 June 2018
A good day of working on the streets. We contacted people by the train station in our area. There is always a good group of people waiting for the train to bring their friends, and we got to talk to a lot of people up there, including a very drunk man who said his job was drinking and a another who believes in the lion king "circle of life" more than religion. Interesting. Tonight we taught Jeff about tithing, and he said he would pray about it! And it was a week full of lasts, not because training is over, but because my destiny takes me to Douliu to live out my last 6 weeks. Let's get ready for some miracles, folks.

Sunday, 3 June 2018
Said goodbye to all my ward friends today. It's incredible how fast time has gone by. I have 6 weeks to make this next area the best area I've ever served in, so I'll be doing my best to turn their whole world on its head in Douliu. I'm excited, sad to leave Elder Bode my grown up boy, and all my ward friends and awesome Investigators, but I know God's hand is in this! He is guiding me to miracles and joy in the work. And here we go.

Geronimo!

-Elder Meanea