2 January 2017 - Yo! Happy 2017!

Monday, 26 Dec 2016
My companion kindly arose early enough for me to get to the church and Skype my family. It was so amazing to talk to them. It was also a tender mercy that I got to. I remembered my dad telling me last time that his Skype name was something, so I tried calling that a couple of times, and then I felt like I should check my email, and I saw a message from last week telling me the Skype name was something else. So I would've sat there forever and not known that it was the wrong name and never gotten an answer! After that, we went to a park with about eight other Elders and played Frisbee and soccer. It was hilariously fun. I haven't gotten to do something like that in about four months! We all had a great time together, then went and got Japanese noodles, and right after got a call that one of our members was asking us to a Hot Pot... so... dinner part 2. The heartiest hobbits would have been proud of us. We put that down real good! After that, it was about time to go home. 

Tuesday, 27 Dec 2016

I finally ate with one of our recent converts that Elder Burge has been telling me about. He was baptized in June, and is super strong in the church. He was originally in the Taiwanese Air Force, and once had to eject from the Mirage fighter jet he was flying, so that was a cool story to hear. Today was also interviews with President Teh. I love these opportunities to get to interact with him one on one. It's amazing to see how much he cares about all the missionaries out here even though it's only been about six months. And it helps that Sister Teh always has good snacks. After the interviews we had to walk around a bit since Elder Burge's bike was having major issues. But it's just another way Heavenly Father makes miracles happen, because we ran into a guy that had interest and set up to meet with us tomorrow! So we'll see how that goes. I love the every-day miracles that I see, well, every day! I feel like there were so many things I missed thanking Heavenly Father for before I came on my mission. 

Wednesday, 28 Dec 2016
This day started out with some great studies in Ether. I really love the example of the Brother of Jared. The word of the Lord came to him and said, "Gather your family and friends and cows and carts and pretty much everything, and come down to this valley, and THERE I will meet you." I personally would have said something to the effect of, "Um, how about you lead me for sure from the start, so I know I'm not doing all this stuff for no reason." It really reminded me that sometimes God is waiting to guide us just up ahead, but He asks us to walk toward Him first. I also love how everything the Brother of Jared went through was preparing him for that glorious moment on the mountain when his faith had been tested enough that he could finally have that experience. If he hadn't had to do all those difficult things before, he wouldn't have learned how much he needed to rely on God. It also rained a lot today, and was genuinely cold! We rode around for a bit, then we had a lesson with our friend Den. It was... interesting. We started and he went to buy us coffee, but we managed to stop him. And then we came to sat down, and he bought a big bottle of... something. As soon as we sat down he started swigging it until it was half gone. About four minutes into our lesson we could tell he was much too drunk to continue, so we set up another time. A little bit later we rode past and he was just about passed out at the same table over a bottle of whiskey. xD Word of Wisdom fun, folks! Then we have this investigator named Johnny. He is really quiet and doesn't talk much, but we had a really good lesson with him today and challenged him to pray, really pray to know if God exists, because currently he believes in science. I know that if he, or any of us asks sincerely, with an intent to obey His words, He will answer us. I really love Mormon 9:25, how God will prove His word to those who believe. 

Thursday, 29 Dec 2016
We had a meeting with the Bishop today. He gave us some less active members to go and visit to help strengthen. Then we had a great DTM from Elder Burge. But... Elder Burge's replacement bike fell apart halfway to church, so we walked there, and walked back from District Training. It took about 45 minutes. xD Then it was a bit of walking around since Elder Burge doesn't exactly have a good bike right now. But we were able to set up three people to come to the baptism tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes!

Somethings not right...

Friday, 30 Dec 2016
Weekly planning led to going to the Church to do a pass off for one of the trainees in my zone. How I love that it's not my place anymore. :-D We also had a really good lesson with our Recent Convert, Matthew. He has been struggling a little bit, but we shared some stories from the scriptures about Christ, and it was really cool to see how he knew he could apply the things that Christ taught. I love teaching people about the Savior who have never heard of such a thing before. It brings such light and hope to their lives. And then that night the sisters had a baptism. Chen Dixiong is the last of three people in his family to be baptized, and an old Elder came down to baptize him. He was the one who found that family about a year ago. And funny story, his dad is the guy from the "Leave the Party" Mormon message, so I watched the epilogue last night! And thankfully, Johnny, Jeff, a girl named Jenny, a friend of ours named Jianhong, and a new guy we contacted named John were all able to attend. It was so amazing to feel the Spirit there, and see the change that this Gospel has brought in the lives of so many people. 

Saturday, 31 Dec 2016
When you have no lessons planned the night before, and you're filling out your planner with your companion and you just look at each other. "Contacting?" I ask. "Contacting," he replies. Today we just walked and rode the streets of Beitun. Elder Burge's bike is having major problems, so we were on foot a lot. It's tough going all day, but I know that I'm here in his city, right now, for a reason. And every day, I just look forward to finding those reasons. 

Sunday, 1 Jan 2017
First day of 2017! I'm really excited to start the only full calendar year of my life that I'll be serving the Lord as a missionary in Taiwan. Never has a new start seemed so important to me. I want to take all the things I've learned in the last 6 months as a missionary, and go back just to start over! I know you're meant to learn as you go, but for a long time I just felt like I was hanging on to the back of my companion's bike for dear life, pretending to understand what's going on. But that just makes me more excited for the coming days of my mission. Today was fun, the Teh's invited us over this evening with a few other missionaries in Taichung for a New Years dinner. We had fried turkey, corn, potato salad, and a bunch of really American food. It tasted so good! After that it was just contacting all night, but it was still a really good day. I also look forward to continuing learning how to love all the people in every new area I serve in. I finished the Book of Mormon today studying about missionaries, and Moroni was chock-full of doctrinal gold about being great missionaries.

And that was my week! Mid-transfer, things are going well, Chinese is still coming, and I'm happy here in Beitun. I hope you all have an amazing week. I know that we're all disciples of Christ, and I'm proud to wear this badge.

-Elder Meanea

26 December 2016 - Christmas of the Aliens!!!

Hello everyone! So sorry that I have kind of been slacking on putting Elder Meanea's letters on the blog the last few weeks, it has been a crazy time of life! But here is his letter from this past week and in the next couple of days I will have the previous ones up. He is doing great and had a wonderful Christmas. We were so grateful to be able to Skype with him yesterday. He looks so good and has grown so much spiritually but is definitely still our wonderful Tayson :-) Now, on to Elder Meanea's letter for the week...

Hello my dear friends and family! What a week it has been here in Beitun. I really enjoy having Elder Burge as a companion. He's a great example of a motivated missionary, and we've been having a lot of craziness and fun together.

Monday, 19 December 2016
A P-day of survival and skillful fish eating. We finished up emailing, then had to run to a nearby restaurant where our Bishop was feeding us and an investigator. Restaurant type: Sushi Bar. Oh Good. Elder Burge prepared me for it by saying last time him and his companion barely survived. So I knew it was going to be delicious. I snuck off into the bathroom first, and I kid you not in saying I prayed not to throw up at the Bishop's meal. I've gotten a bit used to fish, but not THAT used to it. It was a tender mercy that I was able to choke down the required 10 plates of sushi. It was actually really cool, because the tables all had a conveyor belt that ran by them and they just unceasingly carried sushi plates past that you could grab.

Then we took a bike ride down to the Taichung National Theatre. It was really cool! There are some pictures this week that will help explain it better than I could, just suffice it to say I saw a $1000 copy of "Les Miserables" that I was exceedingly tempted to buy. ;-)

That night we actually had two first lessons with people we called the day before and set up. The first was...interesting. His name was Chen. I lead a first lesson about the Restoration, and it seemed to be going alright, but then I noticed about halfway through talking about the First Vision, there were tears starting to well in his eyes. I kind of glanced at Elder Burge, asking what I should do, and he just shrugged, so we kept teaching. And soon the tears started falling. Finally we got to the end of the lesson and were talking to him about praying, and he just stood up and said, "I have something I need to go to," and we barely had time to say a prayer before he ran out. We barely had time to look at each other and shrug before our next lesson showed up. He was actually cool. He was named Jeff, and he was really interested in our extra scriptures, so we'll see how he hangs on.

Tuesday, 20 December 2016
Zone Conference! We took a bus to Daya, a place near Taichung to a really nice chapel where the conference was being held. It was great to see President Teh and Sister Teh again. I also got to see Elder Jones and Elder Vanslooten for the first time since we left the MTC. I've seen everybody from my district on the island now. We had a great devotional about the Savior, and how, without an Easter, there wouldn't be a Christmas. It took me a minute to think about that one. Then there was a really fun musical program. We have a LOT of talented people in this mission. One really fun thing I realized today was that the English program we do here is more than just a clever way to get people into the Chapel. This is actually something that can help these people in life, and we are simply serving them, and helping them, without the promise of baptisms or investigators. It gave me a really cool new outlook on the work we do here, and how much loving the people, truly loving them, is central to all we do. 

Wednesday, 21 December 2016
We met with our new, helpful friend Eddy from the ward, and talked to him about helping less actives get back to church. It's really nice that he's so excited to have the missionaries help out with the ward. Then we met with our friend Johnny again. He's really, really quiet, and doesn't like to talk very much. He's nice though, and listens. We'll just have to figure out if he actually wanted to hear our message, or is just in awe of the super shuai (handsome) missionaries. We also met with Jeff again, who really enjoyed the plan of Salvation. It was such a blessing to teach him, and it really helped me to realize how much this plan means to me, because I told him without it, I wouldn't be able to have my amazing family after this life. It was amazing to feel how true this plan was for me, and to realize how many people don't have the hope that I have. 

Thursday, 22 December 2016
We had an early start today. We had to get to the chapel so Elder Burge could do an interview for Chen Baba. He is the last of three in his family to get baptized, and has worked as an undercover cop for many years. The interview sounds like it went amazingly well. He really sees what the Gospel has done for him, and the kind of peace that really coming to know Christ brings into your life. It was really cool that night. We had a plan to go tracting, but Elder Burge said he felt like we should go talk to people on the street. So we went, and we found two really cool guys! And they were really interested in the Book of Mormon and our message. It was a really cool experience of being guided on what to do. That night I was also riding my bike, and I said "hi" to a guy who pulled up behind me. He said "How's it going?" in English. I was a bit stunned, so after I picked my jaw up off the ground, I asked if he had a minute to talk. HE SAID YES. NO ONE SAYS YES. He actually lived in Utah as an exchange student for a while, and wanted to hear more! It was a little Christmas miracle.

Friday, 23 December 2016
Weekly planning! Not much there. We just contacted the rest of the night, but we did eat lunch with a member who is Elder Burge's friend, and he helped me find a kid called Liam on his Facebook. I met Liam in Yellowstone in July, and told him I'd find him somehow. SO that was really a cool blessing!

Saturday, 24 December 2016
The Zone Leaders treated us to a local hot pot. Well, we paid too, but it was sanctioned by them. We had a good time eating three cows worth of meat (per person) and just laughing and relaxing for a little bit. Then we went to the park and found a "nice" guy. He wanted to go to a 7-11 to hear our message. I only learned afterwards, but he was totally nuts. We got in and he said, "You know what the world's problem is? Pollution! And Weapons!" And then he told us we didn't need a Savior because aliens were going to come to save us from the pollution... xD So...Christmas Miracle that we got away with out getting taken by a UFO? Then our ward had a cool little Christmas party that Johnny showed up to! 

Sunday, 25 December 2016
We had a combined sacrament today. It was pretty good, but Elder Burge Skyped this morning with his family, so it was a little hard to pay attention. Then we met with our RC Matthew. He hadn't been coming to church, and it turns out his parents are a bit against him meeting with missionaries still, but Elder Burge really did well in helping him out. It was cool to see how much he really cared for him. Then we went out contacting and met a retired Colonel who was playing a Gourd flute. That's probably my next purchase here. He was cool and might come to English class. And then we went home and played a bit of ping pong at a table in our building's basement to finish celebrating Christmas. (After daily planning, of course.)

It really has been an incredible and fun week. I'm so grateful to be serving the Savior during HIS time here. I miss my family. I do. But I'm glad I'm here. And I hope we'll all remember the wise men this year as Christmas passes behind us. They saw the star, and Christmas was long over, but they kept coming to Christ, it didn't matter the season. Don't let Christmas end on the 26th, when the party is over and everyone else leaves it behind. Remember Christ always, because He'll never forget you.

Elder Meanea

19 December 2016 - New Area!

Hello my amazing friends and family! It has been a new week here in the Taichung part of our mission, with a lot of miracles and a lot of change! I'll let the rest of my letter tell the story.

Monday, 12 Dec 2016
I moved! Ended up in Beitun Ward with Elder Burge! He is a really awesome guy, and a really dedicated missionary. We spent the night hitting the streets and seeing if anyone wanted to hear about the amazing Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm really excited for this new area!

Elder Meanea and his new companion Elder Burge

Transfers!

Tuesday, 13 Dec 2016
We met with a contact named Wu. He was really cool and interested in the church, but he ended up living in a different area, so we had to give him away. Right off the Spirit was helping Elder Burge and I teach with each other in harmony, and really let this investigator feel our testimonies. I really know it's only through the Holy Ghost that this work goes forth. Any other way would fail miserably. It's a real comfort to see Heavenly Father watching out for me all the time, and truly providing ways for me to serve. Later that night we met with a really prepared man named Douglas, who was blown away by the concept of missionaries like us, and was truly open to receiving an answer from Heavenly Father if this is His true church or not. BUT HE LIVES IN A DIFFERENT AREA! Even though we won't be the ones to teach these people, it is truly an honor to be able to bring them closer to Heavenly Father in any way.

Wednesday, 14 Dec 2016
We were out contacting today when the assistants called us saying that a guy at the church was looking for the Beitun Elders. We thought it was an old investigator who just got out of jail maybe (long story) but it ended up being some random guy. He just wanted to learn about the church. So we taught him about prayer and invited him to come on Sunday. I love seeing the ways that when we are doing what we're supposed to, where we're supposed to be, God will always give us something good to do.

Thursday, 15 Dec 2016
Elder Burge led his first District Training Meeting! It went really well, and it was fun to meet all the missionaries in our district. The best part of the day was praying right before we went out on the streets to go contacting. I just had the greatest feeling that Heavenly Father was preparing people for us, and we went out and really tried to talk to everyone. Low and behold, we ran into three people who had members of their family who were members, and exchanged numbers with us so that we could get in contact with them later. There are just small things like that all the time that show me that there is never a time when any of us are on our own. Prayer is such a powerful and real thing. I know it truly is communication with God. And we all can speak with Him. And He wants to speak with us.

Friday, 16 Dec 2016
I attended a missionary correlation meeting! We just had a mission leader in my last area, so this was new! It was cool to talk about how the ward missionaries could really help us do the work here and help our ward grow. It was also pretty funny, we were making calls earlier that day, and a kid we contacted at a park earlier, named Johhny, answered the phone. He was talking really fast, and when I said I was that missionary, he said, "Oh sorry, I speak Taiyu." Which is Taiwanese. I shook my head, what a lame cop-out. So I said the only sentence I know in Taiyu, which is "Could you say that again?" He paused for a couple seconds, then switched back to Chinese, and said he could meet the next day. Got 'im! Thank you Elder Gasser!

Saturday, 17 Dec 2016
Again, just walking around hoping to share with people, we found a girl who had great English who studied in London for 6 years. She said she really wanted to come to church next week, and she had a friend who just got an English boyfriend, but the guy doesn't speak any Chinese, so he needs friends, therefore she is going to bring them all to our English class! Cool miracles all around! Another miracle, we were so sure Johnny wasn't going to show up, but he did! We had a good lesson and he said he'd come to church the next day. Another lesson that night didn't show up, so we ate some leftover pizza at the chapel.

Sunday, 18 Dec 2016
I was worried because I heard this ward wasn't too keen on missionaries, having had some bad experiences. They were pretty good though! Like, nobody tried to stone me, which is obviously nice. I bore my testimony about how we're all disciples of Christ, and then a guy came up after and said he wanted to work with us to help the ward. Just some random member, and apparently Elder Burge said they've been praying for some help with the ward, and suddenly this guy pops up!

So yes, it has been an absolutely awesome week full of true miracles in the life of a missionary. I hope we're all staying close to God, and that I never fail to recognize Him for all the blessings, seen and unseen, He gives me. I love you all so much!

-Elder Meanea

12 Dec, 2016 - Hot Pot, Yoda's Baptism and Transfers

My dearest family and friends! It has been a freaking amazing week here in Taiwan, and a sad one as well! I ended up getting transferred, leaving my dear Fengshan behind. I'm excited to start a new adventure here though.

Monday, 5 Dec 2016
We went to a giant Buddhist theme park/ temple. I'll let the pictures tell that story. It was crazy! We saw what they claim to be as Buddha's tooth in a glass case, and we saw a lot of statues and really cool stuff! Yeah, I'll really just let the pictures do the talking. And then we got to Pingdeng just in time to do an interview for a guy that the Zone Leaders are baptizing. It was really cool because he actually decided he wanted to wait until next year, but he sincerely wanted to be able to come to church regularly. He wanted to be ready to enter into this sacred covenant, and Elder Gasser really felt his sincerity. It was really cool to see how committed this kid was to following Heavenly Father.

Tuesday, 6 Dec 2016
We had my second person ever pull off to talk to us! She seemed really interested in why two white kids would be riding the streets sharing about Jesus, and we actually invited her to the Ward Christmas party this weekend. So that was cool. Just goes to show you should always be doing what you need to be doing so Heavenly Father can put those people in your path that you need to find. We had our last visit with the Cai family, except we thought it was Elder Gasser's last, not mine. It was so cute, because their little daughter Peichen, when she heard Elder Gasser might be leaving said, "That's okay, we still have Elder Meanea!" It made me just a bit happy. ;-) I really love that family and am going to miss them so much. Also, it was such a tender miracle that night. We had set up Ivy, our nurse friend who actually is getting baptized next Monday (the 19th) for her last lesson the next day. Elder Gasser left for a second, and we still hadn't found a person to go with us, since we needed another adult male. After a few minutes I called to the other room to ask what we were going to do. No response. I peeked in, and Elder Gasser was face down on his bed, dead asleep. I kind of panicked really bad for a moment, but then I knelt down and said a prayer. I didn't have the Chinese skills to call people to set up for a lesson, and also call Ivy to reschedule her lesson. But I prayed, and five minutes later, it was all done. That was not me. I was so grateful for the care of a loving Father in Heaven. He gave me what I needed, right when I needed, I was so overwhelmed.

Wednesday, 7 Dec 2016
It was fun watching Ivy light up with excitement as we taught about Temples and the work we can do for ourselves and others inside. It really reminds me how amazing this message of the Gospel is, and how many people need to hear the hope we have to bring. We also got asked to another Buffet type place, and my new favorite thing is Fish balls with peanut butter inside. ;-) Then we taught a little kids class that night with a lesson I planned. We actually made it out alive, so that's a plus.

Thursday, 8 Dec 2016
We had an amazing District Training Meeting (My last, apparently). It was really cool, because a sister in our district is going home, so she gave her "Reflection," which basically means they just sum up what their mission really taught them in about 5 minutes. She told us a quote she heard once, that the entire reason any of us are on missions is because of the Atonement. It really hit me that that's true. The Atonement is the greatest gift any of us could never pay for. What does it mean to you?

I also pulled up to a stoplight and said "Merry Christmas" to someone, and all the people in front turned around because I said it too loud, and one actually pulled away, scared of the white guy. xD

Friday, 9 Dec 2016
We did weekly planning and then went to do exchanges with the zone leaders. It was so cool! At first I was feeling a bit useless, since Elder Parker's Chinese is really good, and mine's super eh.... but then I decided I just needed to trust heavenly father, and be whatever tool he needed me to be, and to just keep trying. And then at a stop light, I felt like I should go talk to a guy. He said he was really sad at the moment, so he didn't want to say no to us because he was sad, but said he wanted to talk to us later. And then I was waiting for Elder Parker while he was in the bathroom and this guy walked up to me in a convenience store and asked what nights our church had activities.... totally random, and I was able to answer him. It was another huge testament to Heavenly Father's care for me.

Saturday, 10 Dec 2016
We finished our transfer by eating at ANOTHER HOT POT (basically buffet thing) and some amazing Taiwanese ice cream. Then Elder Gasser and I got back just in time to buy presents for the ward Christmas party, go to Yoda's BAPTISM, which was great. Their family actually invited some people who came to that and the Christmas party afterwards. The party was hilarious. See attached Videos for us laughing to death a dance routine the Relief Society and High Priests did. Then Elder Gasser and I did a semi-okay guitar/piano Silent Night. We didn't get to practice before, so don't judge! Then we went home that night, waited for the call, and did it come! I was told I was moving up to Taichung, a place called Beitun. With an Elder Burge! I'm so sad to be leaving Fengshan, but I know there are great things in store waiting for me up there.

Sunday, 11 Dec 2016
Bishop asked me to give my testimony in Sacrament meeting, No, I didn't cry. Barely. After studies we went and visited Li in the hospital. He broke a rib earlier this week and couldn't move very well. We took him the sacrament, which he really appreciated. He is such an amazing man. I really can't describe what his example has done for me in my life. I hope the ward takes good care of him. It was probably hardest to say goodbye to him. Sam wasn't home, but I got his address so I can write him. And then, I packed!

So it's been a great week. And I'm looking forward to many more amazing, tough, spiritual, grinding, uplifting, glorious weeks serving the Lord, and teaching the people of Taiwan about my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love you all.

-Elder Meanea