Monday, 14 November 2016
Wednesday, 16 Novebmer 2016
We got triple stood-up, but they all called us beforehand to let us know, which was considerate. So we had a long afternoon on the streets. And Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time in Taiwan, somebody pulled over to talk to me! It was really a miracle. I finally took in our leader's injuctions to use the Book of Mormon in all aspects of our work. I usually pull up and say, "We're the missionaries, we share about Jesus. Do you have any interest?" But this time I finally said, "Hello, we're the missionaries, we share about the Book of Mormon!" And this lady looked at me and said, "Oh! I have one of those!" I stared at her dumbly for a second, and Elder Gasser finally asked her if she'd be willing to pull over and talk since we were about to get run over, and we had a great contact with her! It was truly a tender mercy. We also got totally tricked today. We taught the little kid class, that went great, but we forgot our phone in there. The elders after us that gave the spiritual share brought it out, and we thanked them and left. Then halfway home we got a text from President Teh, asking if our apartment could accommodate him and sister Teh for the weekend. We were totally confused as to why they would come to Fengshan of all places (My bet was on them picking a temple site) but we said we could do that. We got home and started panicking a bit. "We gotta clean the bathroom, sweep, pick up our laundry, wipe the tables, oh man, there's going to be a girl in here, we gotta clean!" Luckily we didn't start right then, because at 10:00, President Teh called, and revealed it was actually Elder Musgrave and his companion who had changed the names in our phone. Slayed.
Thursday, 17 November 2016
We had a great DTM. Then headed home in time to go to the Yang family's house. They fed us, and then asked Elder Gasser to help their older son with the piano. While he was doing that, we still needed to teach the younger kid a lesson (missionary lesson, we weren't threatening him) and so I sat down with his Dad, and basically taught the Plan of Salvation to him. It was another Tender mercy that I was actually able to do all right on my own! I was definitely really grateful for that.
Friday, 18 November 2016
We went to Pingdeng again for a baptismal interview, then had to get home and do some weekly planning before we went to eat at the Liu family's house at 6:00. We barely got done in time and got there, and had a great meal. Sister Liu cooked what was basically lasagna, and it tasted like straight from America, so that was cool. And then we got to the spiritual share. The dad isn't a member, and we were talking about his greenhouse that he has earlier, so either me being simplistic or the Spirit prompting told me to change the thought from the Holy Ghost in 2 Nephi to Faith like a seed in Alma. I started trying to explain, but I honestly could not get the words out of my mouth. I couldn't think what to say or how to say it. I asked Elder Gasser if he could step in, which he graciously did. I was feeling a bit useless after that, which Sister Liu might have sensed, because after Elder Gasser finished, she asked me to share my experience. I hadn't planned on it, but I began to share the experience of when I knew there was a Father in Heaven, and how I came to know He truly was my Father in Heaven. I started to feel the Spirit so strong, and the feelings I had at that time resurfaced as I bore testimony to the fact that we have a Father in Heaven, and that He's waiting for each one of us to leave off our worldly things that hold us back, and come unto Him. I had never yet felt such power of the Spirit as I testified as a missionary in Taiwan. It truly was a small miracle for me.
Saturday, 19 November 2016
We went to Pingdeng AGAIN. Another baptismal interview. In my journal, I will need to specifically state that I served in Fengshan, becasue there are way too many references to Pingdeng in there. Then we went out contacting when we got back, and I was blessed with a little bit of the gift of tongues as we made phone calls that night. I made four all by myself, and actually talked to them!
Sunday, 20 November 2016
We called Sam to make sure he got there in time to be confirmed this week. No luck. We stopped by his house, and he was still asleep. He got there right after Ward Conference ended (at which there were many unfamiliar people) and told us his Grandpa got cancer the day before, and so he was out late. Next week! I'm assuming all the unfamiliar faces were a lot of less actives. I heard it said we have about 200 people on record for our ward. About 50 usually show up. I wish they understood how truly uplifting the Sabbath can be for us, and not an inconvenience. I've never looked forward as much to the Sabbath in my life! I was also thinking a lot about Fatalism vs. Faith, Fatalism being the belief that whatever happens will happen, because that's the way it's meant to be. I was wondering how that was different than having faith on God's plan, and how everything will end up how it's supposed to be. But this morning gave a good example to me of the difference. Fatalism is saying that if it's God's will, Sam will be there. And if he's not, it wasn't part of the plan. Faith is knowing it's good for him to be there, and biking out of our way to see if we can help him get to church, and praying for God to help us know what to do. "Faith is a principle of action" someone smarter than me once said. I... can't recall who at the moment. But it was really eye-opening for me to realize this. I sometimes fall into the trap of calling my Fatalism Faith. I'll sit back and say, if this person is supposed to have the Gospel, God will provide a way, little recognizing that the way He provides might be me.
Just my thought. ;-)
I hope you are all staying close to the simple things. The daily prayer, the scriptures, going to church. That will keep us closer to feeling the Love of God, and closer to His protection. I know that what I'm doing here is God's work, and I feel blessed and honored to be a part of it.
- Elder Meanea
We didn't end up doing anything particularly spectacular this week. But it turned out to be God's will, since our mission leader ended up in the hospital with a really bad swollen leg. We were able to go visit him and cheer him up a bit. And then we got TO our house. I say "to" because to get in requires a key, which was inside the apartment at the time. So after convincing me not to climb an adjacent balcony to break into ours (which I totally could of done) Elder Gasser called our landlord to help us out. She just told us to go and yank on the door really hard, because a previous Elder had gotten mad once and bent it out of shape. So we just went up and yanked it open. That was our night!
Tuesday, 15 November 2016
We met with Adam. He is doing so well! We talked about the Restoration, and in the end challenged him to live the word of wisdom. He sat there for a minute, thinking. Then he said, "So... tea? And coffee?" We nodded in the affirmative. He rested his head on the desk for a minute, agonizing (He is 19, so put that in perspective) and finally said. "Okay, I will try!" That's a great thing for a missionary to hear. Then we went to our Recent Convert Cai's house and walked in on a party! It was his 3-month anniversary of quitting smoking! We had cake and pudding, and the comment was made that I look skinnier! Which is a miracle considering the mass of food we get every time we enter a member's house. And Peichen is the cutest thing, that's his daughter. She says the same prayer every time (she's 3) and asks that the missionaries find a lot of new investigators. I love that family.
Tuesday, 15 November 2016
We met with Adam. He is doing so well! We talked about the Restoration, and in the end challenged him to live the word of wisdom. He sat there for a minute, thinking. Then he said, "So... tea? And coffee?" We nodded in the affirmative. He rested his head on the desk for a minute, agonizing (He is 19, so put that in perspective) and finally said. "Okay, I will try!" That's a great thing for a missionary to hear. Then we went to our Recent Convert Cai's house and walked in on a party! It was his 3-month anniversary of quitting smoking! We had cake and pudding, and the comment was made that I look skinnier! Which is a miracle considering the mass of food we get every time we enter a member's house. And Peichen is the cutest thing, that's his daughter. She says the same prayer every time (she's 3) and asks that the missionaries find a lot of new investigators. I love that family.
 |
| Don't worry, Elder Meanea isn't sick. The smog had just been really bad recently so one of the members gave them masks to wear. |
Wednesday, 16 Novebmer 2016
We got triple stood-up, but they all called us beforehand to let us know, which was considerate. So we had a long afternoon on the streets. And Ladies and Gentlemen, for the first time in Taiwan, somebody pulled over to talk to me! It was really a miracle. I finally took in our leader's injuctions to use the Book of Mormon in all aspects of our work. I usually pull up and say, "We're the missionaries, we share about Jesus. Do you have any interest?" But this time I finally said, "Hello, we're the missionaries, we share about the Book of Mormon!" And this lady looked at me and said, "Oh! I have one of those!" I stared at her dumbly for a second, and Elder Gasser finally asked her if she'd be willing to pull over and talk since we were about to get run over, and we had a great contact with her! It was truly a tender mercy. We also got totally tricked today. We taught the little kid class, that went great, but we forgot our phone in there. The elders after us that gave the spiritual share brought it out, and we thanked them and left. Then halfway home we got a text from President Teh, asking if our apartment could accommodate him and sister Teh for the weekend. We were totally confused as to why they would come to Fengshan of all places (My bet was on them picking a temple site) but we said we could do that. We got home and started panicking a bit. "We gotta clean the bathroom, sweep, pick up our laundry, wipe the tables, oh man, there's going to be a girl in here, we gotta clean!" Luckily we didn't start right then, because at 10:00, President Teh called, and revealed it was actually Elder Musgrave and his companion who had changed the names in our phone. Slayed.
We are so grateful to one of the moms from English Class who took these pictures and videos and sent them to us. It is so fun to see Elder Meanea in action!
Thursday, 17 November 2016
We had a great DTM. Then headed home in time to go to the Yang family's house. They fed us, and then asked Elder Gasser to help their older son with the piano. While he was doing that, we still needed to teach the younger kid a lesson (missionary lesson, we weren't threatening him) and so I sat down with his Dad, and basically taught the Plan of Salvation to him. It was another Tender mercy that I was actually able to do all right on my own! I was definitely really grateful for that.
Friday, 18 November 2016
We went to Pingdeng again for a baptismal interview, then had to get home and do some weekly planning before we went to eat at the Liu family's house at 6:00. We barely got done in time and got there, and had a great meal. Sister Liu cooked what was basically lasagna, and it tasted like straight from America, so that was cool. And then we got to the spiritual share. The dad isn't a member, and we were talking about his greenhouse that he has earlier, so either me being simplistic or the Spirit prompting told me to change the thought from the Holy Ghost in 2 Nephi to Faith like a seed in Alma. I started trying to explain, but I honestly could not get the words out of my mouth. I couldn't think what to say or how to say it. I asked Elder Gasser if he could step in, which he graciously did. I was feeling a bit useless after that, which Sister Liu might have sensed, because after Elder Gasser finished, she asked me to share my experience. I hadn't planned on it, but I began to share the experience of when I knew there was a Father in Heaven, and how I came to know He truly was my Father in Heaven. I started to feel the Spirit so strong, and the feelings I had at that time resurfaced as I bore testimony to the fact that we have a Father in Heaven, and that He's waiting for each one of us to leave off our worldly things that hold us back, and come unto Him. I had never yet felt such power of the Spirit as I testified as a missionary in Taiwan. It truly was a small miracle for me.
 |
| Appearantly the Pokemon riot was perfect for contacting... |
Saturday, 19 November 2016
We went to Pingdeng AGAIN. Another baptismal interview. In my journal, I will need to specifically state that I served in Fengshan, becasue there are way too many references to Pingdeng in there. Then we went out contacting when we got back, and I was blessed with a little bit of the gift of tongues as we made phone calls that night. I made four all by myself, and actually talked to them!
Sunday, 20 November 2016
We called Sam to make sure he got there in time to be confirmed this week. No luck. We stopped by his house, and he was still asleep. He got there right after Ward Conference ended (at which there were many unfamiliar people) and told us his Grandpa got cancer the day before, and so he was out late. Next week! I'm assuming all the unfamiliar faces were a lot of less actives. I heard it said we have about 200 people on record for our ward. About 50 usually show up. I wish they understood how truly uplifting the Sabbath can be for us, and not an inconvenience. I've never looked forward as much to the Sabbath in my life! I was also thinking a lot about Fatalism vs. Faith, Fatalism being the belief that whatever happens will happen, because that's the way it's meant to be. I was wondering how that was different than having faith on God's plan, and how everything will end up how it's supposed to be. But this morning gave a good example to me of the difference. Fatalism is saying that if it's God's will, Sam will be there. And if he's not, it wasn't part of the plan. Faith is knowing it's good for him to be there, and biking out of our way to see if we can help him get to church, and praying for God to help us know what to do. "Faith is a principle of action" someone smarter than me once said. I... can't recall who at the moment. But it was really eye-opening for me to realize this. I sometimes fall into the trap of calling my Fatalism Faith. I'll sit back and say, if this person is supposed to have the Gospel, God will provide a way, little recognizing that the way He provides might be me.
Just my thought. ;-)
 |
| Not sure if there is a story behind this picture, but I am sure he's fine... :-) |
I hope you are all staying close to the simple things. The daily prayer, the scriptures, going to church. That will keep us closer to feeling the Love of God, and closer to His protection. I know that what I'm doing here is God's work, and I feel blessed and honored to be a part of it.
- Elder Meanea
Love the videos and pictures. Thank you for sharing them with us. These two make quite the pair!! He is adorable and I love his testimony. He is wise beyond his years at times (except for when he wants to go balcony jumping...Thank you Elder Gasser!)
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