WASAI!!!!!!!!!!

WASAI!!!!!!!!!!

Translated probably means something akin to "wow!"
Anyways, hello my dearest family, and my amazing friends!

What a week in Taiwan. I've got a lot of stuff to cover, so here we go!

Monday, 10 October 2016
I always do the cool stuff and get the cool pictures on P-Day AFTER I finish emailing you people. What's up with that? I got done emailing, and then we took the Subway over to (Pardon English Translation, I can write in in characters better) Kaosiung? 89. It was so big! We met up with a bunch of other missionaries and had a party at the top. I saw the ocean for the first time! And I also saw one of my favorite district members, Elder Hansen with Elder Graves there! I got a picture with him, and then we went home, did some grocery shopping, and then the day was pretty much done.

Tuesday, 11 October 2016
We went to Zone training meeting today in Pingdong, about the Atonement. I love learning about the Atonement so much. One thing that really hit me during study is how miserable life and everything would be if we didn't have it. I once read this book (as I was like to do in the past) called Elantris, by Brandon Sanderson. The premise was that there was this city full of cursed people, and the curse was that their bodies weren't able to heal anymore. If you stubbed your toe, you would eternally have that pain from your toe, the rest of your life, no healing. So imagine a broken bone! But the point is that if we didn't have the Atonement, we could never overcome the effects of our sins by ourselves, we would forever be under the weight of those transgressions, never clean, never worthy to enter the temple and make those covenants that allow our families to be together. "I stand all amazed at the Love Jesus Offers me!" Imagine life without it! We would have no hope, and no lasting happiness. It seems as though we should truly prostrate ourselves before the Lord each day, and weep with Joy at the mercy and grace He has given us! We truly can do nothing without Him.

Wednesday, 12 October 2016
We went to Pingdeng again today for a language pass-off for one of the sisters in our district. On the way there, Elder Gasser was on the other side of the train, and I started talking with an older gentleman next to me. I didn't understand a couple of things, but we spoke for a few minutes, and I ended up giving him a card with our chapel's address and number on it, and most of all didn't sound like a complete fool! Woot woot! We also had a lesson with Wang DX later that night about the restoration, and he said he feels like the Lord answers his prayers! What could make a missionary more happy???

Elder Meanea's Bike

Thursday, 13 October 2016
We visited my favorite recent convert, Li DX again today. Wow, what a life he's had. He broke two ribs sneezing the other day, and broke a finger when he slapped a table to kill a mosquito. He talked to us about his concerns, and though he wasn't sure on a lot of things, I never saw his faith falter in our discussions about the Gospel and the truth of it. It's always humbling to walk out of there, knowing what he's been through and is still willing to go through. We found a fried rice place, and I ordered their Italian style, which was basically fried rice with Pesto, but it reminded me of Leeks Marina! And all the times I told mom, "Oh, I won't be eating this for two years..." ;-) We had a last visit with our investigator Sanya that night, and my job was to keep the toddler quiet. He was literally climbing all over me and asking me to answer his toy phone. My salvation came when he pulled out a puzzle to do with me. At least he was quiet. I'm thinking Chloroform Cookies next time.

Friday, 14 October 2016
Weekly planning party! Have I said recently how I love it? It's a time when God has promised to guide us to know what we need to do to help our investigators, and it's great! I also passed off lesson three, and I'll have a 1-3 pass off on Wednesday next week with the Zone Leaders. I really felt the Spirit in there. It was an amazing thing. God truly attends us if we try to have Him with us. We visited our recent convert Cai that night as well.

Saturday, 15 October 2016
I just love a good prayer. When you kneel down, truly speak your mind, and then ask to know the Father's will as humbly as you can, I know answers will come as we wait and ponder. We had a correlation meeting, and I came out with a heavy knowledge of how bad my Chinese is. I just don't have all the skills my trainer does! I don't know how to talk to people! And then we went to a lesson that night with a new investigator, Wang JM (DX and JM are "Deesiung" and "Jiemay", brother and sister) She was really open, and Elder Gasser did most of the talking. But in the end, he acted on a spiritual prompting and invited her to be baptized.


SHE JUST SAID YES!!!!!


I really didn't know what to say, and couldn't have said it if I wanted to, but it just blew me away, and I got a really powerful feeling of the Spirit. It was great. And I walked out of that lesson with a very important realization, one I seem to keep having, and will until I really take it to heart. The most important thing I can do is invite the Spirit. Not have all the people skills, not have the best Chinese or memorized approaches. It wasn't because of Elder Gasser's superb Chinese and teaching skills that she accepted, it was because the Holy Spirit testified to her heart that our words, this message is true. After that I almost ignored an impression to talk to a man sitting on the couch outside a lesson, but Elder Gasser and I went over, and I found out he was a non-member in a part-member family, and we had a great discussion about the outdoors, and eventually about testimony. And then during planning, our Nurse Friend Lu JM called and said she can come to church!!! The first time ever!!

Sunday, 16 October 2016
The blessings go on and on. We had two Less-Actives, two recent converts, and three investigators at Sacrament. It was the most amazing things to look around and see what the Spirit had wrought through us. All but two people in Gospel Principles (In which my Chinese got complimented) were there because of ours and the Spirit's efforts! It was just amazing.

Family, this week has been such a blessing, and I hope these accounts can strengthen you all as well. I want to leave you with my testimony that this Gospel is the one and true gospel of God, and that through His Son, Jesus Christ, we can be clean, we can become pure, and we can live together again.

I love you all!

-Elder Meanea

PS - Here is a video that Elder Meanea sent to us of him biking home at night in Taiwan. Enjoy!

A Lovely Conference Time

My Amazing Family and Friends!

What a beautiful and uplifting week it has been. Every day I realize how blessed I am to be serving the Lord in this amazing country, on this tiny little island of Taiwan. There are 24 million people here, and only about 55,000 members. That's a lot of blessings in store for a lot of people, and I feel so blessed that the Lord has allowed me to be here at this time, serving in the way He wants me to.

Anyways, on to stuff! Or rather Dongxi in Chinese.

Monday, 3 October 2016
We had a great time at this place called the Lotus ponds for P-day. We actually met a sister who got off her Taichung mission last year and was back with her husband and her and Elder Gasser got to talk a little bit about an area they both loved, so that was really cool! The pond was just surrounded by random statues and towers, but it was a beautiful day and really fun to walk around. I actually got to talking to people on the street today! They had little interest in the message, but they understood what I was saying!

Tuesday, 4 October 2016
We visited with Lin DX this morning. He's a progressing investigator, and he's struggling to accept the Word of Wisdom. We had a great lesson, really Spirit-filled about Christ and the Atonement. It was a really powerful experience. I ate at my first Chinese buffet as well! It was called "Kid's Are Us." You just put your clips on the pictures of stuff you want to try and they keep bringing food and food. I love shrimp now, by the way, had some dumplings, some Taiwanese BBQ, the dreaded 1000-year old egg, fish ball, raw salmon and rice, And then I had a great pass-off lesson for lesson 2! At the end of the night, we went and visited a less active, Zhong DX, and hopefully he came to conference on Sunday! It was cool to see that he just needs a little push to come back into the joy of the Gospel.

Note: This is how Elder Meanea described the 1000-year old egg to us: "Legend has it that it's an egg that you have a horse....defecate on and then bury it for a few weeks in the ground....but that's probably not what it is? It almost took down Elder Gasser though." Thankfully we found out that isn't quite what it is, but look here to see what Elder Meanea actually did eat, it isn't much better! Wow, he truly is being blessed by the Lord in so many ways!

Wednesday, 5 October 2016
Zone conference! What an amazing day! We got there early so that we could practice some music for it. President Teh asked me to give my testimony right at the very beginning, but in English. We discussed a lot about the Atonement, and the whole time I just kept having the feeling of "This is the truth. God loves us so He sent His Son." There is no doubt in my mind the the Atonement is real, God is our Father, and this is His way for us to be like Him. He wants us to use the Atonement, and to fix all our mistakes before Him. And then they had a cake and sang happy birthday to all the September and October birthdays, it was a good cake! Really fruity and stuff, but that was alright with me.

Thursday, 6 October 2016
A slower day. We had studies, then Elder Gasser got called out to do another baptismal interview. I love seeing these people coming in, ready to make the commitments necessary to follow their Savior in all things. We biked around dropping off some thank you cards to all the people that had fed us, so that was fun.

Friday, 7 October 2016
We had studies and weekly planning today. It's so refreshing to step back and take a look at what you can do in the upcoming week to accomplish more of the things that the Savior wants you to. We visited our recent convert Cai again. His family is doing well, and his wife is really close to accepting being taught by the missionaries. I hope this happens. One thing that I realized this week is that the first place I felt I could bear my testimony, the first place I felt the Spirit was with my family. They fostered every spiritual aspect of my life, and always invited the Spirit into our home. I was reading in the bible dictionary, and a passage really caught my mind in the temple entry. It says that the only place that compares to the temple in sacredness is the home. I hope that we can help Cai's wife accept this gospel, and that they can start to feel that holiness and blessing of having the home be a sacred place. I know mine has been for me.

Saturday, 8 October 2016
Wow. Just wow. This General Conference totally blew me away. I literally ran my pen out of ink, but that's alright. There were so many precious truths taught, and so many things that helped me see more clearly my role in bringing Christ's Gospel to the people here. So many things about the Atonement. We actually got a challenge from our Mission president this week to take a Book of Mormon and go through, marking every verse that has reference to the Atonement. I'd invite you all to do that as well. There has never been a greater expression of pure love on this Earth than the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And I get to see that first hand in the lives of people I'm teaching. 

Note: Because of the time difference all of the members and missionaries in Taiwan spent this last weekend watching General Conference that had happened the week before.

Sunday, 9 October 2016
I want to relate a story that I read this week. I was reading in Isaiah and a few verses discussed in depth that all the lofty and high things of man would be brought down before the Lord (Isaiah 26:5). It reminded me of the story of Babel. The people who wanted to rely on their own strength, their own genius to bring them back to heaven. They had no trust in God, and finally, their tower, wisdom, language, and efforts of generations were brought low to the Earth. Contrast that with the story of Enoch and his city. He was a man of slow speech, and a slow tongue. Yet he trusted the Lord, taught His doctrine, and simply tried his best to keep the commandments, and the rest of the people in his city did so as well. You know the end of their story. Through trusting God, through never doubting that He loved them, and through following His commandments, they were taken up into heaven (Moses 7). That's all God asks us to do. Trust that we love Him. Trust that He has a plan for us. I pray that we can always remember this, especially as we reflect on the messages we've received this conference.

I love you so much my family! I hope that these messages inspire and uplift you, and if there's anything I'm missing that you want to know about, just let me know. I'm so grateful the Lord gives me this time to share my testimony with you!

- Elder Tayson Meanea

Here are some questions we asked Elder Meanea during his email time and his responses.

How far is it from your apartment to where you email?
It is about a 3 minute bike ride.

Did President Teh ask you to share your testimony in English because he is still trying to learn Mandrian?
Hahaha! No, the whole meeting is in Mandarin.

Give us an idea of how many miles you bike in a day on average?
I have no idea.

Do you and Elder Gasser do your food together, or individually?
Usually get food together.

Did you try to listen to any of conference in Mandrian, or just all English?
All English for us.

Did the ward watch all sessions of conference yesterday (Sunday) together? or just a couple of sessions?
All the Saturday ones on Saturday and all the Sunday ones on Sunday.

What about President Teh has impressed you or touched you?
He is a very Christlike man, and he seeks to strengthen us all in his example. This Gospel is all about Christ, and he knows it.

What would you say is Elder Gassers best quality?
Elder Gasser is very spiritual, very intelligent, and he can listen well to people.

What was your favorite General Conference talk? 

Sister McConkie - The Soul's Sincere Desire and Elder Bednar - "If Ye Had Known Me". I loved the focus everyone put on the Atonement. The Priesthood Session was also so great.

The Lord's Answer to a Prayer

#MissionarySelfie

My beloved friends and Family!
or rather, Wo ciai de jiating he pengyou.

This week has been another in which God has directed and shaped his little Elder Meanea to what he wants him to be.

Monday, September 26, 2016
We had P-Day, mostly just got stuff done around the apartment, and then we called some former investigators. Not much there except getting to contact my family!

Some great bread a member dropped off for us
(making Elder Meanea very happy)

Tuesday, September 27, 2016
So we got up, studied, and went out about noon to go do a language pass-off for me, where I teach a first lesson in Chinese all by myself. It was blowing pretty good when we started, but we made it. I passed! And then we got a call from a member who said the Taifeng (Typhoon) was only going to get worse, so we'd better get home. We made it, and only got almost blown over twice! So we were stuck in the apartment the rest of the day. That night we pulled out some salads that a family had brought to us from Costco. Apparently there's one right here in Kaioshung! I didn't know. But we couldn't go out to eat so we pulled them out, and they had 1800 kuai price tags! Which translates to about $60 dollars a salad! Wasai! We're going to make a very nice thank you note for them.

$60 Salad

Elder Meanea is pretty excited about the typhoon :-)

Elder Meanea showing us the rain, what til the end
and you even get a glimpse of Elder Meanea!

Wednesday, September 28, 2016
Half a Typhoon day. We had until 1:00 that we had to be inside because of the Taifeng. I got bored and read through about half of the Bible Dictionary. It's pretty good stuff! I love the definitions it gives to things like faith and repentance. Then we had English class, and a friend named Paul came! He is interested, and gave us a ride home afterward. 

actual fried rice

Thursday, September 29, 2016
Turned 19 today! We had a lesson where we got fenged (They didn't show), and then we went contacting in the park, and did some weekly planning! The Lord truly inspires us when we sit down with the best interests of our beloved brothers and sisters in mind, and tells us what will best help them. A lot of times Elder Gasser, my fantastic trainer, will ask my thoughts, I'll give them, and he had the same ones. 

Mango Bing (Ice) - a Birthday treat

Friday, September 30, 2016

Today was honestly a hard day. We went and weeded for a brother in the ward, which wasn't bad, and then we spent a few straight hours trying to contact people, with no success. We didn't have any investigators set up, and we needed some more. At the end of the day, I was just tired. We planned, and I went to bed.

Saturday, October 1, 2016
I woke up and immediately felt bad for having such a negative attitude at the end of the day. I asked the Lord to forgive me, which he did, but I was lost on how to progress. I was fed up with some of the mistakes I made in Chinese the other day, and I felt like I couldn't help these people at all. Of course Chinese was going to come, but it wasn't now! And I needed to teach and preach, and I didn't feel like I could. We started our fast at lunch, and said, "Heavenly Father. I am fasting for the gift of tongues. I can't help your children like this. I'm hindering them! In whatever way you choose, please let me receive this gift." We went to a lesson with some referrals that went alright, they weren't too thrilled about what we were teaching, but it was okay. Then we contacted for a bit, no luck, and then we went and visited Cai, our recent convert. We talked about Christ and how He's helped him. And then in the middle of the lesson, Cai looked at me, and said that watching me struggle with my Chinese, knowing that I had a testimony of Christ to come learn Chinese helps him better believe in Christ. That was the gift of tongues. It's not my magical understanding of Chinese, it's testifying of Christ, just doing my best to be like him. That was amazing. I realized I have an extremely short time to show my testimony by my struggles, it's a way in which God works miracles. Faith doesn't come from miracles, miracles come from faith. I'll never forget the day the Lord answered my prayer for the gift of tongues. 

Elder Meanea's study area

Sunday, October 2, 2016
I actually understood a lot in Church today! It was great. Thanks to the Spirit it's getting better and better. We ended the fast with our lunch there, I have no idea what I ate, but it was delicious. Then we did studies and contacted for a while. 

Side notes: In Sherlock where they have the episode about the Chinese smugglers, he says the guy is called "Jee Jew" the spider. It is actually pronounced "Jerjew" thank you very much. And also, Cai says my nose looks like Tom Cruise's nose. So that's good!

I hope you all have an amazing week!

First Full Week in Taiwan!

Elder Meanea is doing great in Taiwan! He is working hard on the language and is trying many new things. I just wanted to remind you that now that Elder Meanea is in the field you can contact him through email (tayson.meanea@myldsmail.net), Dear Elder (be sure to use his mission home address now instead of the MTC), or regular mail (again, use the mission home address and not the MTC address). There are more details about writing Elder Meanea on the tab at the top of this page, "Write to Elder Meanea". As always, Thank you so much for your love, support, and prayers in Elder Meanea's behalf!

- Allyse

WOW! TAIWAN. I absolutely love everything here. And it's all city, so ha! I can deal with cities! It's just when I have to look out for you country folk I get nervous. ;-)

Monday, September 19, 2016
Visited some Buddhist temples, which were cool. Some are freaking huge! My spiritual introspection for today is that when we are at our lowest, that is when we take the step to becoming the most humble. God can work the most miracles with those who are the most humble. It's all about what we decide to give up to Him. Our time? Our thoughts? Our efforts? Or even our all?

Tuesday, September 20, 2016
I made myself some french toast this morning, so all those worried that I would starve by myself need not fret. We went to Pingdung for a district meeting where we talked about getting active member work going, which is super important. I did some language study later, and was really freaking out about how much I don't know, then I decided to take some time out, pray to God, and ask His help in doing this, and I immediately began to progress better in my studies. There is no doubt in my mind that God hears any prayer. From anyone.

Elder Meanea called this Taiwanese Strange. We aren't entirely sure what is going on, but there you go :-)

Wednesday, September 21, 2016
Finally got to have my first two lessons today! The first was with Li JM, and we talked about commandments, and the blessings that come from obedience, and we got her to start praying every day. Then we hit the streets, and had English class that night. The people there are so fun and funny! Their English is pretty good, and they had a great time playing musical chairs while we talked about economic booms and recessions. I have no idea why. Then we had another lesson with an investigator we didn't know was happening, so I just waited for Elder Gasser to tell me to testify.

A dinner I got on the side of the road, it was delicious!

Thursday, September 22, 2016
We went to Pingdung again for another baptismal interview, and I got to study language a lot! Yeah! Then we had the most delicious fried rice with some other Elders and Nick, a convert that hangs out with the missionaries a lot. We had dinner at Brother Chen's house, he has a great family, and they attempted some spaghetti type stuff, which was delicious. Also hilarious, they poured us both cokes, and I told Elder Gasser, "You're my witness. This day ends probably 11 years of not having coke." He got wide eyed and said, "No way Elder! Give that to me, I'll down it for you!" The Chens overheard, and the dad went and grabbed some grape juice after giving me a stupefied look and poured some for me, which was hilarious. xD Other funny thing, we went to have a lesson with Cai and two relief society sisters came because we're trying to baptize his wife now. Halfway through the lesson Elder Gasser looked over at me and said "This is half in Taiwanese, and I don't understand either," so I felt a bit better.

Friday, September 23, 2016
We had some great active member lessons, and got a lot of people committed to inviting friends to meet with us, so hopefully that goes well!

Saturday, September 24, 2016
I met my first Child of Christ. My motto has been to find them or help them become so (as in Mosiah 5:7) and We met with Liu DX today. He's a recent convert, and we met in his small house. He's very old, his family died but that was after they took all his money, and the house he lives in is owned by his Grandson, who comes by and makes him do Bai Bai, which is ancestor worship, or he won't let him live there. He has nothing. But when we came, he seemed so happy, and he proudly produced a tie he had just bought with the little money he had, and we had to teach him how to tie it so he could wear it to Church the next day. If this man doesn't have Faith, then nobody on the face of this Earth does. He's been beaten by some of his neighbors before, and doesn't understand why people are so hard on the outside, but he still has complete faith in God and His plan. This is a man I would not hesitate to say changed my life. He is truly a child of Christ. I also ate Sushi, and I LIKED IT!

Damage from the typhoons

Sunday, September 25, 2016
I immediately felt the difference when I stepped in the chapel. They are dedicated buildings, God's houses, and I encourage you to think that when you step over the threshold, see if you can't stop for a second, and appreciate how holy of a place the Lord has provided. It was really powerful for me to feel. We did a lot of attempted contacting and phone calls, but not much success. I have my first chapter pass off on Tuesday though! I teach a first lesson in Chinese all by myself, and I get passed off if I do well, so hopefully that will be good!

Thank you all for your faith and prayers. I know faith works. Missions never get easier, missionaries just get more faithful. Have a safe and amazing week family. I love you all!

Taiwan!

WOW. Really, just WOW.

What a week.

Monday, September 12, 2016
Finished packing today. Said goodbye to our teachers. Really just a blur. Everyone just kind of sent us on our way. We said goodbye to everyone in our building and went to bed.

Tuesday, September 13, 2016
Up at 3:30 to finalize packing and get out to the buses! Most the people from our zone walked with us and said goodbye, and I'll probably see some of them again in six weeks! We got on the bus, got to a tracks station that took us to Salt Lake, then got on another line that took us to the Airport. Waited there, called my family which was the highlight, and then boarded the flight to San Francisco. Got bored and went around talking to people trying to place some Book of Mormons. Then we got on the flight after a few hours delay and went. I sat next to a woman and her daughter who were native Taiwanese. We talked a little. I showed them my Family Search chart and she told me she did family history, and we talked about Taiwanese culture for a little bit. They slept and watched movies, and I strove to overcome Satan by not peaking at other people's "Captain America: Civil War" movies, which I haven't seen yet. Before we landed, I gave the lady a Restoration pamphlet and told her about how it talks about what happens to our ancestors. She took it and seemed pretty happy. Then we got to the airport, waited for another two hours to pick up more missionaries with our Mission President, President Teh, which was great. We did some contacting, and I talked to an old guy about our church and gave him a Mandarin BOM. That was fun. Finally got on the bus to the mission home about midnight Taiwan time. Got to an apartment about 2, and then met back at 8:00 am with the mission president at his house.

Thursday, September 15, 2016 (Because Time Travel)
Had some training, Got to know the mission president, and really was just in awe of my new home the whole time. We went contacting that night, and I was companioned with a native speaker, so that went... interesting. I tried, and hopefully the Lord made up the rest. It was a little bit nerve-wracking, but it'll get better. Then we had a fancy dinner with a lot of great food. Steamed buns, giant fish, REAL CHINESE FRIED RICE. Yeah, we are not eating fake chinese food when I get back family. Nuh uh. I'll find a way to make this stuff.

Friday, September 16, 2016
Got up and went to a nearby stadium and played Frisbee with the people in our travel group. Then we went back, had breakfast and a little last training, got fitted for our bikes, and went to the trainer meeting. My trainer is named Elder Gasser, from Payson, and he speaks English and Chinese well. ;-) My area in Fengshan, a great little place right at the southern tip. We went to McDonalds, got to know each other pretty well, then took a 2.5 hour train ride down to our area. We got there and a member named Jimmy picked us up. He took us to our apartment, and then we went out and got dinner. Got me some yummy curry rice for about .90 American dollars. Then we made some calls to set up some appointments and came home. 

Saturday, September 17, 2016
We went and ran at a track, and I saw how many giant trees had been blown down. It was crazy. We went on another train ride to Pinddang and my companion did a baptismal interview, came back, did studies, and then went out to get dinner. We had Rou Bao, buns with meat in them from a street vendor. So good! Then we got a call from our Bishopric counselor who invited us over for a BBQ. A recent convert was there, and we ate some duck heart, had some wheat tea, and talked for a good long while. It was really fun! Apparently I look like a previous elder in this area and they all tell me that. 

Sunday, September 18, 2016
Got up and got ourselves to Sacrament. I was asked to bear my testimony, and I'm pretty sure I did. I don't know for sure. xD Had classes, then they all eat lunch together at the church. Then we got home, studied, went out and biked around trying to talk to people at stoplights, and did some weekly planning. So it's been a really great week!

I love you all so much family! Have an amazing time, and always let people see and hear your testimony.


-Zhang Lao Meanea