24 April 2017 - We'll call it "Growth"

Who's on the island, who?
Now is the time to go!
We bike 'round fearlessly!
Who's one my island who?
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017 PS I can't remember which ones I have and haven't done... so repeats are fair as long as they are different lyrics)

Monday, 17 April 2017
This was a day of revels and board games with the zone leaders and a haircut for me! For some odd reason, the Taiwanese style (or at least the one they try to give to the white guys) Is shaved everywhere except right on top, which looks ridiculous, so I learned just enough Chinese really fast to prevent this stylistic catastrophe. Then we went knocking some doors that night, and then it was home. 

Tuesday, 18 April 2017
Okay, so this is abstract, but I'm a firm believer in the liberality of the statement of Mormon when he says "I cannot induce a hundredth-part." So I like going through seemingly random verses in the Book of Mormon and wondering, "what were you thinking here, Mormon? What did you see that meant you needed to include this verse right here instead of the other 99 you could have put in?" Don't get me wrong, I'm not a conspiracy theorist that every verse has a secret meaning, I just know from Mormon speaking that absolutely every verse he put in has a purpose. And I like trying to figure out what that may mean, so that means I sometimes make crazy parables and comparisons to make sense of things. Thus it was with Alma 46:40. It just seemed a little out of place, so I wondered why we were talking about diseases and stuff. But it occurred to me that we all have "spiritual diseases" by the "nature" of our climate, IE fallen nature. And it talks about the excellent quality of plants that were prepared to remove the cause of the disease. It seemed to echo a lot of teaching about Christ about how, if we let Him, He can heal and change our hearts, thus removing the "cause" of our spiritual diseases. I don't know, I just thought it was cool. Hopefully somebody will read this and quote it in General Conference some day. And I write this mostly because not much happened today, but tomorrow is Zone Conference! Which we have no idea how to get to! So we'll check in with you tomorrow! Oh, I almost forgot, we met with Brother Lu again, and he is so great! We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and Baptism today, and he said he wasn't ready yet, because Baptism is a pretty big commitment, but I think he understands the Plan of Salvation, and we really felt the Spirit as we explained how important prayer is to him at the end of the lesson.

Wednesday, 19 April 2017
Today was mostly taken up by a great zone conference! It was amazing how the entire content seemed to be aimed at questions and concerns I had brought to the meeting. I received a lot of needed guidance once I was personally done asking for blessings I thought I might have deserved and seemed right to me, and finally asked what it was God wanted to me do. Sometimes I feel like I know how missionary work "works" so I just ask Him for support in doing what I want to do, and don't actually seek His will in the way He wants HIS work done. There is a very, very big difference there. And it really changes my view on missionary work. 

Thursday, 20 April 2017
We actually had a few lessons today! One with Allan, who keeps us informed on all the movies we need to go see when we get home, which is very kind of him. It also rained super hard for a total of about 5 minutes today. But at ten different times. Because Taiwanese weather does what it wants. Then we met with Matthew, the recent convert, who is doing remarkably well right now. And then tonight we went to visit a former named Brother Yang. He was a super nice guy, who actually has a son who was baptized a few years ago, but he's still not sure about it himself. But I really felt the Spirit in both his and Allan's lessons, and I feel like they can only push back against the things they feel so long. Both have been investigating for years, and I know every missionary that meets an Eternigator thinks "The time is now!" But I feel like somehow, even if it's not baptism, there are steps towards Christ that will be taken very soon. The missionary purpose that we memorized in the MTC is very focused on helping people progress towards baptism. but it starts out simply with "Invite others to come unto Christ." I'm sure I've already interacted with dozens of people who will one day enter the waters of Baptism. And sometimes that's your job as a missionary, to join the long line of people who help one person in their journey towards Christ. One part is not bigger than another. Like Ivy, who got baptized in my training area a week after I left. The Elders there at the time were just as much a part of it as I was, and the four sets of missionaries that taught her before I came along. The only way you can fail as a missionary is if you don't try at all. 

Friday, 21 April 2017
Our day was mostly taken up with weekly planning. But we got to visit with two RC's, Matthew and Chris. And yes, Matthew is the one that we met with yesterday. But he wanted to meet again today, and he's still building a solid testimony, so we met. But I put my foot down when he wanted to meet again tomorrow. We'll see him at Stake Conference on Sunday, though. And then we ate dinner with Chris, who told us blonde jokes in Chinese, which was pretty funny. He is so cool, and helps with most of the lessons that we teach. Then the rest of the night was contacting. As for studies this morning, I loved reading again about the stripling warriors and their example of absolute trust in the Lord's promises. Even when 60 of them had fainted from loss of blood, they didn't doubt the Lord's promise that He would deliver them, and fought for their families and the families of their countrymen to the last drop of blood. There are no swords or guns in the war we wage today, but it is far more consequential than any war we've raged before. And it grows more and more real to me every time I step out the door and see the people, my brother and sisters, that Satan is trying to trick, trying to keep them from this, the message of their Father. It makes me all the more urgent to go and share it to them. Also, this Taiwanese rain is nuts. I was on a road at a stoplight. There was no rain and I biked over to talk to some people on the side of the road. Before I even got there, I heard a sound like unto an approaching army of bouncing ping-pong balls. Thousands of them. I looked forward in time to see a wall of droplets coming up the road, and three seconds later,I was absolutely and completely drenched. I'm sure if you took a picture of me at the time you could have turned it into a meme.

Saturday, 22 April 2017
In short, it rained all day and Brother Lu is moving to Tanzi next week. (IE not in our area.) #R3KD

Sunday, 23 April 2017
Okay, So my fists are a little bloody from punching the wall (because the wall started bleeding, not my hand) but I'm good now. You can probably understand it's a little frustrating. He is the only promising investigator we have, and while it obviously does not matter at all who teaches and baptizes people, but I just want to continue being part of his journey. He seemed like he was going to miss us, and we exchanged information. I promised to take him to Zion if he ever came to America. I hope he'll make it to the waters of baptism in this life, I really feel like he just might. Today was a really uplifting stake conference, where one of the 70, Elder Wong was present, and he gave a super fiery talk about listening to the prophet's words. I definitely feel like I want to go back and read all about it. It was a super great conference. Then we were invited to Brother O's house to eat chicken sandwiches and have root-beer floats. And then that night we found some nice people that will hopefully remember our boisterous attitude and our happy message of the gospel. 

And well, dear family and friends, it's another week in the service of Christ. There isn't a better place to be. I can testify that there is a real and not just a sentimental power about the Atonement. It is a power paid with a incredibly high price. It becomes more and more apparent to me that we best not ignore what was so dearly bought for us.

I love you all, and wish you a peaceful week in service of the Savior.

-Elder Meanea

17 April 2017 - Sharing the Gospel with the Dinosaurs

There is curry in my stomach today!
More delicious and sweet,
than cooked in any other place,
for Taiwan is a delight!
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2017)

Tuesday, 11 April 2017
Because, well, transfer day. Neither Elder Jones or I moved, so we had a nice relaxing day. After emailing our families and such, we went to a science museum in Taichung City, and it was super cool! There were dinosaurs and mummies and all sorts of cool things. We got back in time to go eat lunch with Elder Wilkinson and our new zone leader, Elder Heath! He seems really cool. And then it was out contacting and tracting again tonight. We got two people to set up for later in the week, so we'll see how that goes! It was really cool tonight, I found that as I wasn't focused on myself really at all, everything seemed to be a lot more peaceful and confident. Just letting the Spirit guide the way, and not worrying about not being able to do that well contacting or speaking Chinese. It was a great feeling. 

Wednesday, 12 April 2017
The Dark Knight has fallen. In that we dropped Johnny. Again. I'm sure investigator's have been dropped multiple times by missionaries, but I'm not sure they've ever been dropped by the same missionaries... He just wasn't changing, had no desire to come find Christ, and well, if people aren't willing to come unto Christ, our continued invitations for the time being would better be used elsewhere. But he can never forget what he felt. I hope one day that will come back for him. Then later that afternoon we had a lesson with Lin, the guy who brought his girlfriend last week. She didn't come, but he was pretty happy to meet with us again. We did the full Restoration with him, and invited him to start reading and praying, and to come to church! He said he might. Then we ate with the Zone leaders and Elder Fear, a missionary a transfer ahead of me. He is training, so he's staying with the Zone leaders till his trainee gets here. We contacted around until we met a member, Brother Zeng. It was cool to talk to him for a while. He has a daughter on a mission in Taipei, so he's very excited about missionary work. We watched "Earthly Father, Heavenly Father" with him, and it was cool to see how much he can connect the love he has for his family with the love God has shown for him in his life. It also made me think of all the things my own father has done for me and taught me throughout the years, ever so patiently and humbly helping me along.

Thursday, 13 April 2017
Not much happened today. Just a district training meeting about working with members. For all you members reading, I know missionaries tell you this all the time, but you are the key to this work moving forward. Yes, we missionaries do the teaching, but it is the same work. I can't remember the exact statistic. but President Teh shared with us a statistic that I believe was that every 1 out of 8 investigators we found would eventually be baptized. But those whom a member referred and helped to teach dropped that to 1 out of 3 investigators baptized. I love seeing the power and conviction members bring to a lesson. And I'm tired, so pretend I wrote some really inspiring stuff about something here and head on over to Friday. 'Night. 

Friday, 14 April 2017
Lu is my new favorite person. We met with him again today, and we really felt the Spirit during our lesson on the Restoration. He was super willing to listen, and he actually listened to what we said. When we talked about the blessings of the Book of Mormon, he said, "Well, I'd better read the whole thing then!" Then when we explained about prayer, he thought it was pretty special and there was a great spirit there. Ah man, it was so great. And then we just pounded the pavement the rest of the night and met some great people, including a Taiwanese guy who grew up in Vietnam and didn't really understand what we were saying because his Chinese wasn't the best, but he was super interested in the Book of Mormon.It was all around just a great night. 

 
Saturday, 15 April 2017
We met with Matthew, our RC today, who was substantially happier, and seemed very sure of himself and confident in the Gospel. Which is a big turn around from a while ago. The rest of the day was contacting, and though it's tough work, it yields great results later. I'm super excited for next week, we already have a ton of lessons planned out. And then tonight we ran into a sister from our ward on the street, and she invited us to come to the restaurant her family was eating at, and bought us drinks while we sat and talked with them all. They were super cool! She has been a member for about 30 years, and her mom and brothers still aren't but they were willing to eat and joke with us, which was fun. Then we came on home! 

Sunday, 16 April 2017
Happy Easter Sabbath! Just like Christmas, it's pretty special to bear the Lord's name on a day that especially commemorates Him and His Resurrection. It was a great day. Not much happened today besides some contacting. Tonight we went to a park and met the Chen couple, and at first, the discussion was a bit fiery because the husband was being bull-headed and wasn't listening, and we weren't using the most patience with his attitude, but I realized where this was going (which was nowhere good) and I'm sure Elder Jones did too, so I started praying in my heart for the Spirit to come back, which it thankfully did, and the atmosphere was filled with peace. And we got the chance we were looking for to share some bits of restored truth through the Book of Mormon. We left them with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and the memory of two testimonies they can't forget. For right now, that's all they were ready for, but I could feel God's love for them in those moments we were able to share together. It turned out to be a pretty moving experience for me. 

And thus concludes another week in the life of Elder Meanea. It's a crazy one, but there is no other life or calling I would rather have. I know that my Savior, Jesus Christ, truly rose from the grave, and gave us all the hope we could ever have, and that it truly is through Him that we will be able to return to our Father in Heaven. It's so simple, but more important and precious than any other knowledge on the face of the Earth.

-Elder Meanea

10 April 2017 - Rallying Cry of Conference!

The day down is breaking, the fireworks awaking,
telling missionaries to get up and go work!
The island wide commotion from channel to ocean
will come to Taiwan in the beautiful day!

Monday, 3 April 2017
P-day. Yum. We emailed, then went and had lunch at the mall before we went to our "escape the room" activity. It was about $8 per person, and we had 45 minutes to figure out these rooms they put us in that were puzzles. We had buttons to push, codes to enter, and all such things. It was super fun. I don't have any pictures because they don't allow cameras, but it was a lot of fun! Then the rest of the night was contacting.

Tuesday, 4 April 2017
We had another lesson with Johnny today! We taught him about the Word of Wisdom, and talked about the baptism he attended. He said he had a really "Holy" feeling at the time, which is super good news. He also agreed to live by the Word of Wisdom. So cool stuff! Then we started exchanges late that night. I went with a Taiwanese Elder, Elder Xu. He is a really fun guy and really skilled as a missionary. I learned a lot just in one night with him.

Wednesday, 5 April 2017
All day on exchanges today. I got to teach a couple lessons with Elder Xu, then we had our exchange evaluation, where we talk about what we learned. He shared some great insights about being who the Lord expects us to be. We read about Captain Moroni, and how amazing he was, and he used that to compare to what kind of qualities we should have as missionaries. After exchanges we went to a restaurant that served it's food in toilet bowls. I don't know why, but I'll just let the pictures explain it. And yeah, it was pretty good. And no, Dad, you're not allowed to ask any questions about it. I already regret it enough as it is. In the 2 hours we had left that night to contact, we hit the streets, and led by Elder Jones, we managed to get 3 people to set up to meet with us, all within the space of a half hour. That is the best contacting I've ever done in my life. It was incredible.

Sometimes we just don't ask :-)

Thursday, 6 April 2017
Today was nuts. So busy. We went and had a lesson with Matthew, the RC, then ran right to district training meeting. It was about planning and working with members, and we got treats. Sure-fire guarantee to have a good meeting. Then we did a language pass-off for a sister in our district, after which Elder Jones also had to do a baptismal interview for the zone leader's investigator. They're doing really great! I think he's getting baptized this Sunday. He's crippled on one side of his body and is super humble and eager about the Gospel. Then we had to bike super fast to visit the Wang family. They are super cool! The mom was raised a member, but the dad was a convert about 6 years ago. Then before he had been a member a year, he went on a mission to Taipei. That's what I call converted. I was a member of the church for 18 years and I still didn't feel ready to go on a mission! And we also had one last lesson at the chapel that night, but he ended up not showing up, and on the way home we found that I had a flat tire, so we had to walk home from the chapel because all the bike stores were closed. And yes, Dad, you did teach me to fix a tire, I just don't have the tools! So, we were pretty exhausted when we stumbled in the door tonight. And then I opened an Easter package from my family, including a little daily reminder leading up to Easter, each with candy inside, so that was awesome as well!

Friday, 7 April 2017
And another exhausting yet highly productive day. After weekly planning. we went to the chapel for a lesson with Lin. He's an investigator who's just going around looking at churches, but he also brought his girlfriend this time. Our friend Eddy helped us with the lesson. It's always great to have his insight, and I think they were really helped by his explanations. Then we had interviews with President! They were actually pretty short. Just checking to make sure we haven't done anything illegal lately. It's always nice to get to visit with him, though. Contacting that night was super good! We stopped to talk to a guy who was carrying a kid around and waiting near his scooter. He was really willing and nice, and set up to meet with us next week and let us share this message! And while we were talking to him, two people we contacted earlier on the street that night brought us back food! So, obviously I thought it was great. Then we came home and opened a package Elder Jones got, which included two nerf guns... so I'll just let you guess how the rest of the evening went.

Saturday, 8 April 2017
ALL DAY CONFERENCE BABY! WOOT WOOT! Well, not much to write today since I spent the whole time sitting down, but I absolutely loved conference. Every last talk felt inspired and I got just the messages I needed. Then that night we went and had dinner with the Chen family. The father got baptized just right when I got here, and the rest of his family got baptized earlier last year, so they're all recent converts. We visited for a while, and they're just a super great family. It was super fun to get to know them a bit more. Also, Elder Jones and I aren't moving, so here's to the start of round 4 in Beitun! *Clinks glass full of wintermelon tea*

Sunday, 9 April 2017
Johnny and Alan both came to conference today! So they were there just in time to the "friends of the church" talk on Sunday Afternoon. ;-) I'll let you know how that went next week. Then that night the zone leaders had another baptism which we went to with Alan. That night we also had a lesson with the old couple we met a few weeks ago tracting, but the wife wasn't there. Chen, the husband was, and we shared the Restoration with him, but he wasn't interested in finding out if it was true or not. It was sad, but he can't forget the things we said, and the things he felt. Elder Jones and I did our part, and who knows? Maybe someday it'll come back to him.

Monday, 10 April 2017
Yeah, this is going to happen every transfer. Really messes up my groove. We had... an interesting day. After contacting in the morning, we went to the Chapel to meet with the rest of our zone and eat lunch since Elder Xu, our zone leader is going home. It was SO GOOD. For about 500 kuai each (roughly $16) had a full 5-course meal of the most delicious food. I included pictures, and yes, it all is as delicious as it looks. That afternoon we got the amazing opportunity to visit Mr. Lu. He is a very, very humble man, with a heart I feel has been prepared to hear this Gospel. At first we thought he was a Jehovah's Witness, but it turns out that he is just sort of investigating them. He was really interested in all we had to share about our church, and about God. He invited us to come back whenever we wanted to! It was great to visit with him. Then we had dinner with Daniel, who is going to BYU tomorrow! It was just a day full of goodbyes.

And that's my extra special long week here in Beitun. Whenever I get the chance to share the Gospel, it makes me so happy to see these people learn the truths that they've never had the chance to before. This is truly God's work, and I'm a part of it. I love you all, my dear friends and family.

-Elder Meanea

3 April 2017 - Big Shock

Low at sea altitude, with monkeys in the trees, we bike on Taiwan's streets, to preach as missionaries!
(Copyright Elder Tayson Meanea, 2017)

Monday, 27 March 2017
Well, actually no monkeys. And the song was to "High on the Mountain Top." I guess I never really checked to see if anyone understood what songs I was parodying. Last week ended quite well for us, resulting in two new investigators, and lot of cool people coming up the pipeline to Christ. We went to a Monkey Mountain near Taizhong, but we didn't see any monkeys. Just a giant Buddhist temple and found some cool old Chinese stuff. After we got back, we went contacting and made some calls. We set up 4 different lessons for this week, so that's super exciting! The first five calls we made all but one set up to meet with us! #happymissionaries. Then we also met a few other cool people just on the way back home from there. Cool stuff every day! 

Tuesday, 28 March 2017
I used to always dream of being called as a missionary to Yellowstone National park. My dream came true today, because we met a Black Bear at the park! Or at least, that was his name. We were walking through a park and sat down with a man who was birdwatching. He was wearing a shirt with trout on it, like you might find in a dresser drawer in a log cabin, and his arms were covered in thick black hair. We talked to him for about 20 minutes and he told us how he went to New Guinea to birdwatch and how his nickname was Hei Xiong (Black Bear in Chinese) because of his arms. He was super cool! So yeah, fun story for the day. ;-) We also met with Johnny again today and tried to ascertain what concerns, or desires, or thoughts of any kind he has. We committed him to start reading the Book of Mormon every day, and believing that God will give him an answer, for in Mormon 9:25 it says that to him who believes, God will confirm his words. It's a lesson I myself still learn quite often. 

Wednesday, 29 March 2017
We ate lunch With Alan today, our eternal investigator friend. He's, well, still here. So that's good. Not much else to say, except he shows us some pretty good places to eat. But the coolest thing happened tonight. We decided to go tracting again tonight in the same area where we met Chen and his wife Uu. They are the night Christian couple we met last week. Well, after a few doors of "No time!" we found a lady who actually stood and taught us for a bit, and then let is in to share about the Book of Mormon. We got let in AGAIN! It was super fun. She had a lot of Christian views, but also something we keep running into a lot is just people who say, "It's all good! It's all true!" And while they are right in that most religions are founded on truths and good values, this is God's church, not man's church. That is where all the difference lies. I also find that I get less and less disappointed at rejection as I come to better understand God's love for His children. It's like this: imagine a dad is on a boat, and his kid is swimming in the ocean and starts to sink. He tosses a lifeline, right? And if the kid doesn't grab it, the dad doesn't just walk away and say, "Well, darn, I tried to help. He had a fair chance." We know that everyone will have their fair chance to accept the Gospel, and it's my personal feeling that this will be more than one chance. These are His children, and He is throwing lifeline after lifeline to them. They may miss many before they grab hold, but each line (Me as a missionary) has to be strong enough to pull the child in if they grab it. So when I get rejected, I know it's just building a foundation for a future lifeline coming their way. 

Thursday, 30 March 2017
I love District Training Meeting's as well. It's a great place to meet with all those that are going through the same types of experiences and dealing with the same challenges you are. As refreshing as that is, it also reminds me that we need to "meet" even more often with a the person who understands our trials even better than them. Christ is truly becoming the rock of my missionary work. I feel as though I really can't do His work without Him. We also had a lesson today with a guy named Wilson. He turned out to be... quite uninterested in church, but we hopefully made the impression God wanted us to, even if he thought we were a gay couple. He asked us how we met and everything. That was weird. Other than that, the Zone Leaders called us and said there was a guy at church who wanted to meet with us, and we got there in less than 10 minutes, but he had wandered off... I don't know. 

Friday, 31 March 2017
Well, I could say a lot of things about today. About the many (3) people that looked very promising but ended up not being prepared...yet. Instead, I will focus on the great things God blessed us with today. We had some rain which was nice, we got some good inspiration during our weekly planning on how to help those who are prepared right now to progress in the Gospel. And then this evening after running around the city all day, trying our best, we attended a baptismal service for the Zone Leader's Investigators. A couple who got baptized, so the whole program was basically about eternal marriage after that. xD But Johnny, Mr. Johnny Tsunami showed up! Even though it was raining and the buses are slow, he showed up. I wasn't sure what to think, then I was talking to him afterwards and asked how he thought it went. He seemed oddly happy, and he told me, "It's hard to describe." I'm not quite sure what to make of that, except that I was praying the whole meeting that the Spirit would touch his heart, and I believe in prayers being answered. 

Saturday
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. ;-) But today was actually really good! This isn't joking, but Rollins accepted a baptismal goal for May 20th! If I stay one more transfer, I'll be here. I'll BE HERE! Everything is going well for him, and he is super excited to have a goal to work towards. We also did a few other things today, like dropping an investigator who isn't quite ready to go along with the Gospel flow, but Rollins is the coolest thing that happened. And we had a young man from our ward help with a lesson, and they actually go to the same school! And they seemed to hit it off really well. Ah, it's all so exciting!

Sunday, 2 April 2017
Church. I say it every week, and I also say that I say it every week, but it is a wondrous thing. I always feel so great and uplifted here. And I can't wait for General Conference next week (the missionaries receive recordings of the talks in English this next week). It was also really weird that we had 5 white people at church this week, and all of them spoke Chinese. And only two of us were missionaries. Odd. Tonight we went out contacting and found Josephine. She was a Filipino lady that was having trouble getting home, since she doesn't speak Chinese and lived outside of the city. We were able to help her find a taxi with our super awesome Chinese Skills. That was fun, then we knocked some doors and broke our streak of getting let in, but that's okay.

And that's that! I am blown away every week by how much growth Heavenly Father has in store for me. I love more and more sharing this Gospel with Heavenly Father's children here. Especially as Easter approaches, and we all prepare to commemorate the Savior's Sacrifice for us. As I rely on Him more and more each day, His sacrifice becomes more and more real to me. I can say I know He really Atoned for us, and for everyone who doesn't know about it yet, and I'm so happy to be here. I love you all,

-Elder Meanea