28 May 2018 - The Two Wu's

"In our lovely 台南市 where you'll never say "brrr",
Because we're all burning in the sun!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 21 May 2018
It was a good P-Day last week getting some groceries and stuff done. After that we had a member in the fourth ward invite us over for dinner, which was really delicious. I love seeing the strength of all these members in Taiwan and knowing that God truly cares for His children all around the world.

Tuesday, 22 May 2018
Today was Elder Bode's final Phase 1 pass-off! It's a program that helps us learn the language for teaching the missionary lessons, and we had a goal to get it done before training, and it happened! He was so happy. And we also had our final interviews with President Teh. It's so crazy that he'll be gone so soon. It was good, we talked about how to make the time we have left really count here in the mission field. Then I took Elder Cushing out on exchanges. He is the trainee of Elder Densely my old Comp from Puli, so it was fun to talk about shared memories.

Wednesday, 23 May 2018
We got up this morning and did some contacting. I stayed over in the other area, and then we met up for some service at the library that afternoon. That was super fun, but did cure me of my childhood dream of being a librarian. You almost have to hate books to work there, because you can't get distracted by them. Tonight was pretty cool. We went to the house of the drunk man we met last week, and he said he didn't have time right then, but that he wanted to come and see the church on Sunday. Small miracles! Then we taught some english class, which was really good.

Thursday, 24 May 2018
We taught an investigator named John this morning, he is an interesting guy. He is 19 and has already opened his own restaurant. He wants to learn more about God but also has very strong opinions on a lot of things. It's interesting teaching him, because I realize that the doctrines God has given us are not up for debate. These are restored truths He has given to guide our lives, they don't change, and we just decide if we are going to follow them or not. Tonight we went to Ward Council. It was nice to get our investigators and their situations in front of everybody. I think a lot of people want to help, they just don't usually know where to start. I'm grateful God has given us a way to work these things out for ourselves and have opportunities to serve each other.

Friday, 25 May 2018
This morning and afternoon were mostly studies and weekly planning. It's always a small miracle to notice those little ideas that come into your mind as you pray and ponder about what you can do to help your investigators. It really is a testimony to me that God plans for His children a lot more than we ourselves do.

Saturday, 26 May 2018
Cool surprise today. We just got home to do studies, and the sisters called us saying they had a "Mr. Wu" at the chapel who wanted to meet with missionaries, so we were out the door like a flash. We got to just across from the chapel, and a man rode by on a Moped staring at us. We waved and he turned around and came back. We said hi, thinking this must be the sister's guy. Sure enough we asked what his name was and he said "Mr. Wu" so we took him into the church, only to find the sisters and another man in there. We asked that guy who his name was and he said "Mr. Wu." So we all just kind of looked at eachother and we said "Alright, Wu Brothers, let's go sit in this classroom and talk about Jesus." So we had a lesson about the Restoration with both of them, and they didn't who each other was.

Sunday, 27 May 2018
It was a good sabbath! At first we were planning on about 7 people coming, and 5 of them fell through, but a member brought a friend and two of our investigators showed up, so that was super good! It was a very blessed Sabbath. That night we met with our investigator, Glenn. He said he really liked learning about Joseph Smith and how it could bless his life, it was super cool to get to teach him!

And like that, another week has gone by. This could be mine or Elder Bode's last week here in Tainan. Either way, I'll be very grateful for the time that I've been given here. It is a wonderful place full of wonderful people. I love you all.

-Elder Meanea

21 May 2018 - Cool Miracles

"Welcome welcome, P-Day morning, blessed with emails from my fam! (and friends)"

Monday, 14 May 2018
We had a good P-Day going out to the beach and playing ultimate frisbee with the district. It was hot, but it was so fun! After showing off the sand, we went out to work, which was good. Then Elder Bode and I had a super cool miracle happen. We went to the park that night to look one of our Filipino Investigators named Kristine. We got to the park where she is sometimes, but her phone has been broken so we couldn't get in touch with her. Elder Bode suggested we say a prayer and he prayed to find her there. And guess what? We found her!

Tuesday, 15 May 2018
Our cool miracle today also had to do with Kristine. We set up to meet with her again in the park. She has quite a lot of knowledge about Jesus Christ, but this was our first time officially meeting with her. Right before she came our friend Charly showed up. He really likes us missionaries but is also very Budhhist. When Kristine came she started telling him how it pains her to see all the Taiwanese people worship "Pagan Gods," and I thought we were about to get into a religious fire-fight, but Charly was cool and just said that everybody has different viewpoints and that we believe a lot of the same stuff. Then we took over really fast and taught about how God restored His gospel in the last days and gave us proof of it through the Book of Mormon. Charly even bore his testimony that the Book of Mormon was good to Kristine because of previous experiences he's had with other Elders. That was super cool!

Wednesday, 16 May 2018
We did a hand-off lesson with the sisters today. They have a real cool investigator, Sister Huan who they had to hand off to us because she lives in our area, and she is already starting to ask about Baptism! She is so prepared. Then tonight we taught english on exchanges, I went with Elder Perkins from the other area and we stayed in 3rd ward. We taught the kids how to be interviewd for a job, so that was cool. English is always super fun. Then we watched "Finding Faith in Christ" for the spiritual share, which I always love doing, because they don't actually know much about who Jesus Christ is! Most people in America grow up hearing about him at least, but here it's very much less so. 

Thursday, 17 May 2018
Today was the rest of the day on exchanges. We ended up contacting on the roads the whole morning because our lesson cancled on us, but it was still good! I taught District Training Meeting today about listening. It was a super good DTM. Originally I had a different topic, but I felt like we needed to switch part-way through, and it turned out being more of what everyone wanted help with. So that was a cool miracle. 

Friday, 18 May 2018
We went to tour a place we are going to give service at later. It's a combination reclycle center/oldfolks home/ and Budhhist temple? It was very interesting, but it was cool to see how much good people are capable of doing. A lot of people really want to make the world better! Then tonight was a cool miracle, we ran into Kristine again, and she said she is loving the Book of Mormon!

Saturday, 19 May 2018
Cool tracting miracle tonight. So knocking doors can get a little brutal it feels like sometimes, just because a lot of doors in a row can say they don't have interest. But Elder Bode prayed when we started that we would find one new investigator. After about 10 doors we rang a doorbell of a fairly nice looking house, and we told the person we were missionaries who had a message we wanted to share, and could we have ten minutes of his time? He said "sure." Elder Bode and I were a little surprised, but we went in and met Ryan. He is a surgeon who has kids studying medical school in three different countries, and his wife passed away 2 years ago. He was very open to talking about religion because his cousin is also "Mormon" or a member of our church. He was welcoming and set up to let us meet him again. Miracles. 

Sunday, 20 May 2018
A good Sabbath. We had three of our investigators attend! Jeff, Flora, and Brother Zhu, the cousin of a member. That was miracle enough for me. And then wouldn't you know? A guy we met two weeks ago set up to see us tonight, and he was super cool! His name was Glenn, and he talked about how he was willing to learn more about God because he wants to find REAL happiness in life. He was so cool!

And a great week! Elder Bode and I have at least 2 more weeks here in Tainan 3rd ward, then his training will be over and our lives will be very much up in the air. I love it here, and I love being a missionary, and I love you all as well!

-Elder Meanea

14 May 2018 - It's a Book of Power

"Scatter 真理 all along the way!
Riding bikes 'round every single day!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018 Yes I'm running out of ideas)

Monday, 7 May 2018
We had a good P-Day! We went to the Chimei museum and had a look around at the cool old instruments and weapons, and stayed away from the questionable art. But it was super cool! Then we came home and Elder Bode cut another Elder's hair that is in our district. After that it was contacting for the night. It was super good!

Tuesday, 8 May 2018
We spent most of today getting Elder Bode's Phase one passed off. He is getting it done super fast. We also biked over to East District this morning and went on exchanges with the zone leaders. I was with Elder Smith, and we put in a super good night of working with some of their Investigators, but as we were biking to the chapel, Elder Smith got into a mild bike wreck which included him hitting a moped driver and both of them ending up on the ground. He was fine, just a little winded, but God really takes care of us.

Wednesday, 9 May 2018
Last half of our exchanges today, we did some contacting at a college and met some cool kids that were open to the Gospel. It's amazing to see that God has a plan for all His children and there isn't one of them who He doesn't have a plan to give them the Gospel. And I get to be a part of that! And then we went and taught a less active member about God and tried to help him understand God's relationship with us.

Thursday, 10 May 2018
Today was a good district training meeting. We talked about commitments a lot. And we talked about how God has given us a plan to succeed in our mission vision goals and plans. It was a pretty spiritual DTM. It made me realize that God is always reaching out to us, but we have to put in our effort to take His hand. We have to reach out, call out, and He will always be there for us. We also have run into a few Filipino Investigators at the park, they are super cool and spiritual, and few have expressed great interest in learning about the Book of Mormon. IT IS A BOOK OF POWER SERIOUSLY. I do know it is true. It taught me about Jesus Christ.

Friday, 11 May 2018
We gave a tour to a Mr. Lin today. He is a really humble, open man. He talked about how he felt so at peace in the chapel and we taught him a little bit about how he can pray. It was super fun! Then we ate at an Investigator's restaurant, which was some pretty nice food.

Saturday, 12 May 2018
We taught Jeff today about the word of wisdom today! He was a little hesitant but agreed to try. It just impresses me how much we need to realize God's love for us and the purpose of His Commandments. He loves us and wants us to be blessed and happy!

Sunday, 13 May 2018
A good fast Sunday. We visited a woman from the ward in the hospital, but she was asleep. So we left a little message with her and then went to a meal that a fourth ward member invited us to. It was incredibly delicious. And it's been a really great week. It's so good to be here, and we are all so blessed. No matter what are lives are like, we can find something that nobody but God could have given us. It's incredible.

I love you all

- Elder Meanea

7 May 2018 - Forest Full of Poisonous Centipedes

Each chair represents a transfer in Taiwan

"Email while the sun shines, don't waste the day,
For P-Day is ending the night work awaits!"

Monday, 30 April 2018
Today was a good Pday, sorry if the email is a tad bit shorter today, we've been running around trying to get into a giant museum and that was pretty fun. But that was today, and last week we went hiking with one of our Investigators and it was in a forest full of poisonous centipedes. Not boring, that's for sure. Then we met some cool people in the park that night who let us get in touch with them later!

Tuesday, 1 May 2018
Zone conference was enjoyable as usual. I learned and relearned a lot. We talked about our goals for the mission. It is always quite a needed experience , because it is like Jacob, we are all imperfect and need to learn, so we look to our mission leaders as "teachers" and we need to be willing to learn. If a meeting for me is just a comfortable and soothing experience with nothing I need to change coming away from, then it didn't help me improve as much. Obviously there are meeting meant to lift you and comfort you spiritually, but we all ALWAYS have something to improve. So sometimes I wish Zone conference was just a nice chat, but God wants more for us than that!

Wednesday, 2 May 2018
It's always a good day when you teach English. That was really the most interesting thing that happened today. But every day is a miracle!

Thursday, 3 May 2018
Elder Bode was sick today. He had a bit of a stomach bug, so I had a lot of study time. But he got better so we are happy!

Friday, 4 May 2018
Some good lessons today, we taught Flora about the importance of the Book of Mormon and how it Blesses our lives. Then we taught a cool guy named Lin about how the Gospel Blesses Families! He was very open and agreed to come on a church tour next week.

Saturday, 5 May 2018
A good day full of proselyting. We visited some less active members to invite them to stake conference and even designed and printed off some cool cards!

Sunday, 6 May 2018
A cool stake Broadcast today. It was from Salt Lake for Taiwan and Hong Kong only. Elder Andersen spoke and taught a bit about ministering, then that night we taught Brother Zhu. He is the cousin of a member and needs happiness in his life. So we happily shared with him!

It's been a cool and crazy week, and I hope that next week has just as many miracles!

30 April 2018 - Jeff Said Yes!

"I have a bike here on the earth, it's been so good to me,

I hope it last 2 more months riding, not eternity!"

Monday, 23 April 2018
After some fun buying a new broom for our apartment, Elder Bode and I rode over to an apartment building in our area to meet with Mrs. Wu and Mr. Wang. They just moved from Taipei a few months ago, and had a Mormon friend up there who always invited them to church. They have gone a few times and know it's good, but they didn't really have a chance to meet with missionaries there until our zone leaders ran into them in a 7-11 and invited them to meet. It was a cool meeting and a a cool miracle to see how God gives people lots of chances to accept the gospel. 

Tuesday, 24 April 2018
We met with Flora again, and she is doing great! We brought up baptism and she said that she would think about it. We had a really good lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the power that it can bring into our lives. It was incredible to see her start to realize just how much the Savior can help us, and how more than being just a great teacher, He is our Savior. He is my Savior. We also got invited to the Town hall to teach English for an hour to the accounting department, that was pretty fun! Their English wasn't great, but everbody enjoyed it. We went with the 4th ward sisters and taught them how to "Ask for Directions." We're basically saviors on mount zion for when these people go to America. 

Wednesday, 25 April 2018
Today was cool because we went to the park this morning to contact people, and after an hour of not finding anyone, we were getting ready to head back to our bikes when we decided we would contact the last man we saw sitting on a bench. His name was Mr. Tsai. He is currently homeless and jobless, but before missionaries had met with him, he is very Christian and believes in God, and he had a Book of Mormon before. So we sat down to teach him a little bit and give him his own Book of Mormon that he can start reading again. He was really thankful and kept saying "Thank the Lord." It was cool to see a little last minute miracle in God's hand. 

Thursday, 26 April 2018
I taught the district meeting today, and it was all about Accountibility. I learned a lot from preparing about how Accountibility isn't a scary thing. I shared with them about how my dad always taught me to "Return and report" when I was growing up when anyone assigned me to do anything. It was cool to see how this teaching has helped me be a better missionary. Like we've starting sending a small written report to the Bishop each week about how missionary work in the area is going, and I have seen his attitude towards missionaries become more trusting and he wants to help us work more with our investigators and members. 

Friday, 27 April 2018
Another meet with Flora this morning in which we talked about a lot of stuff. Afterwards we had our weekly planning and met with a super cool referall named Arvin. He was found by the sisters, and was really willing to come meet and learn more. He has some Christian friends and he was curious about what we believe. I think he has real potential to become a super great investigator. 

Saturday, 28 April 2018
We ran into the other Elders investigator on the street while we were contacting, which was super cool because that is the third time he'd met missionaries. We went to lunch together and he showed us this great Panini place near the mall where we were proselyting. Then a big miracle happened tonight. We met with our friend from English class, Jeff, and we taught him about the Gospel of Christ. After helping him understand it, Elder Bode invited him to be baptized. He thought about it and said YES! His date is for the 26th of May and we are so excited for him. 

Sunday, 29 April 2018
None of our investigators were able to make it to church, the curse of my mission, but we still had good meetings and got to know some of the members more. I love how you can grow to know and love these people in such a short amount of time. It's really another miracle of the mission. And that was our week here in the ancient city of Tainan. Elder Bode and I at least have 5 more together, we'll see what happens for my last transfer, but I'm really excited about the work here, and know it's all in God's hands, as are we!

-Elder Meanea

23 April 2018 - 2 Transfers to Go!

"Called to serve him, three more months of mission
miracles abound when we work hard!"
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 16 April 2018
We spent the day biking out to a big mall that has a place called "The Harbor" which is a really expensive buffet that is reaaaaaly good. So we ate until we felt ready to die, and then biked back a half-hour to our area and got back in time to get ready to go out for the night! After a good night of proselyting, including talking to a lot of people exercising in a park, we went on home. 

Tuesday, 17 April 2018
Today a member named Mama Lin took us to a hotpot in our area for lunch. It was cool because all the workers and the boss knew her and the missionaries since she brings them here so often. I actually ordered the seafood platter for my hotpot, and you know what? I liked it! Yeah, the mission is a place of miracles folks. Anyways, sorry if the email is a little more sparse this week. It was sort of hectic and we didn't get to meet with a lot of investigators, but we still saw a lot of miracles!

Wednesday, 18 April 2018
We taught our friend Mushroom about the 10 commandments today! She liked the lesson and told us afterwards that she learned that we can express love for our Father in Heaven by keeping His commandments, so I hope that that carries over into the other commandments that we need to teach her. We also have a great member, Sister Chen who really fellowships her after lessons and they talk for a long time. We had to meet in McDonalds since we didn't have a brother there, but that also meant Sister Chen bought us smoothies. 

Thursday, 19 April 2018
We also went on our last exchange from last night. I was with Elder Thorup, who I served with in Gaoxiong before. He is a funny, funny Elder. We had a lesson planned this morning but it fell through, so we contacted some people in the park we were at. We met this nice old Grandma who had been to Salt Lake and seen the tabernacle before, so that was really cool! Then I gave the last District Training meeting of the transfer and we finished our exchange. Tonight we also met with a member who got baptized two years ago and heard about his conversion story. So that was super cool!

Friday, 20 April 2018
A happy and sad miracle today. Happy was that we met with Flora, who is really getting into all the doctrines of the Church. She loves the Bible but is appreciating the insight in the Book of Mormon. We had a great lesson about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and what it helps us with in life. Then this afternoon we met again with Mushroom and had to hand her off to the Anding Elders, because after six months of investigating we found out she lives in their area. xD But it was good, she took it well and we will video message into the next lesson to help the transition go smoothly. 

Saturday, 21 April 2018
I had some coupons for Coldstone, so we went there for lunch with our district. It was still pretty expensive, but pretty tasty. A cool miracle is that we have been messaging a kid we just ran into in 30 seconds on the river. He didn't seem that interested but we got his Line (Taiwan/Japan/Asia messaging APP) and he started chatting with us about how God could help him in his life, and he has a lot of interest in learning about what God's relationship is with him. 

Sunday, 22 April 2018

Lots of Goodbyes today, and a few miracles! We said bye to our district members at church, and then we went to the Su Family's house for a lesson with their cousin that came to church last week! He also brought his mom, and we got to share the gospel with two new investigators that just stepped out of the blue for us! It was so cool, and they really want to learn. The Su family seemed so happy. Then we went to the Sang Family's house for FHE. We took a puzzle we made but kept a few of the pieces and told them to put it together to illustrate the need for a restoration, it went pretty well. And now the transfer is over!

Lots of people are gone, but I'm still here. And I count it a blessing. I'm so happy to have TWO MORE TRANSFERS TO SERVE. Let's make them the best yet.

-Elder Meanea

16 April 2018 - Member Missionary Miracles

"I looked out the window and what did I see?
The world melting at 30 degrees C!" 
(Copyright Elder Meanea 2018)

Monday, 9 April 2018
We had a fun P-Day on the beach and visiting some cool older streets here in Tainan is actually the oldest city in Taiwan, so there is a lot to look at here! Hopefully I've still got at least two transfers left here. After P-Day it was a normal day of contacting and finding new investigators to teach the Gospel to! 

Tuesday, 10 April 2018
We had three lessons today, which made us very happy. The first was with Flora, a lady who really wants to understand the Bible and we are slowly helping her understand the importance of the Restoration of the Gospel. The second was with another investigators named Mushroom, who is really closer to having a baptismal date and has a lot of faith and wants to start keeping all the commandments. The third was with Jeff, our English class friend who Elder Bode invited to church and he came. So that was a full day of teaching, which makes for happy missionaries!

Wednesday, 11 April 2018
We had a full of day of assorted activities. I also ate a blueberry burger tonight, and that was a singular experience, let me tell you. Other than that we taught English class tonight and then got to share about the Restoration to everyone by showing the Restoration video after class for our spiritual share. 

Thursday, 12 April 2018
A bit less eventful of a week, but I got to go on exchanges with Elder Perkins this week in the fourth ward. He is a really dedicated missionary, and we were able to put some good work in while Elder Bode lead the area for the first time! He didn't even get lost once, I'm so proud of him. We both got new investigators while we were on exchanges, so it's always fun to see the miracles that pop up when we are together that give you that little extra boost to keep working hard.

Friday, 13 April 2018
We met with a village elder earlier this week who gave us some opportunities to help him in a park cleaning up as a district, so we went and had a good time between weekly planning and other studies we had to do. Then tonight we had a cool miracle lesson with a Member family, the Su's. We went to their house and had a sumptuous dinner, after which we shared about President Nelson's talk on Prayer, and the wife told us she has a goal this year of inviting 4 friends to church with her, and she wants help to know how to do it, that was so cool! So we will be going back next week to help with some missionary member training. 

Saturday, 14 April 2018
We had an Easter activity for the primary that we helped put on that turned out pretty well! And then afterwards our district all shared two 4-person sized bowls of Taiwanese icecream. We were so close to finishing it off, but in the end there was just some ice we couldn't slurp up. It's starting to get really hot here! 

Sunday, 15 April 2018
We had a great meeting, and part way through the cousin of a member showed up by himself, and he had never come before. The sisters had taught him a little bit before, but he just showed up by himself to the meeting. That was super cool, and Mushroom also came to Sacrament! So there were miracles all around! And we will be meeting with the cousin next week after church, so that's super exciting. 

Miracles come every day, and I'm glad I've learned how to see them a little better. I want to live in the moment every day, because wherever we are, it won't last forever! And I know there isn't a day that Heavenly Father hasn't prepared to bring us joy. So go and find the joy this week!

-Elder Meanea