Pics.. Pics.. Pics

"Elder I'm Open.. Can't You See That I'm Open?"

What's up family?!

Thank you all for your letters. I'm lookin forward to hearing from Daniel and Jaco. ;) You have no idea how proud I am of Daniel for graduating. What a freakin stud! Get your papers in now! There have been probably 10 siblings in my zone since I've came, the Lord is sending a lot of family members Mandarin speaking. Especially those with previous Mandarin speaking abilities. I pray that you'll get called to Taichung! Man the MTC is a crazy ride for sure. There have been ups and downs but mostly a crazy amount of personal growth. I was thinking about my progress as a person yesterday throughout the day and I was just so grateful for where I am in life. A year ago I honestly didn't know if I would be here. What I have learned is the Lord's timetable is different then ours. We experience the things we do on this earth for a reason. God has a lot more in store for us then we can even comprehend. There's a reason I didn't go as a 19 year old kid. The past two years were necessary for me to grow up and figure out my testimony, beliefs, weaknesses, etc. I am so grateful everyday for the blessings I have received, the main one being my loving family.

The two topics I studied the most this week were humility and why the Lord gives us trials/weaknesses.

• Humility is a necessity in life. My favorite thing I have learned about humility is that it is impossible to develop while harboring negative feelings towards your situation in life or others around you. I love the sermon on the mount when the Savior talks about how we worry about the mote in our brothers eye while we have the beam in our own. This is so true. We judge others for their shortcomings while having vast amounts of personal change we need to accomplish. This is crucial for missionary work. There are conflicting personalities around you ALL the time. It's just the way it is. I have experienced my fair share and am sure I have caused others some sort of frustrating (actually, I know I have). Our duty as missionaries and as human beings is to realize our Heavenly Father loves all of His children equally. The missionaries that have bothered me are going to bring souls unto Christ so who am I to judge? They were saved for this special time when missionary work is exploding and the Lord is gathering His people. So all ya'll that have negative feelings towards others, STOP IT. ;) I definitely have a lot of work to do and if you knew me that well before the mish I probably wasn't that great of an example when it came to this but I want ya'll to know that I am trying. The Lord blesses me everyday with His strength and support.
• As I've continued my study about Joseph Smith and the prophets in general I've realized they have not had it easy. Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. While in Liberty Jail (or one of the jails) he stated, "O God, where art thou?" All of us have trials of our faith but in D.C. Section 121 verses 7-8 the Lord gives us comfort. Our adversities and afflictions will be but a small moment and if they endure it well God will exalt thee on high...or something like that. This is a fantastic missionary scripture. Many people who are receptive to the gospel have experienced some major trial in their life and are looking for the peace that the gospel can bring to them. There are so many scriptures that I have found this week about trials and weaknesses but I forgot my planner so I don't have the ability to send them to you. I'll make sure to at some point.

All right, now for some humor. My district typically plays soccer during gym time. It gets a little crazy sometimes but it is so fun. There is an Elder in our district named Elder (1) who literally thinks he is the best at every sport......he's not. He will sit by the goal and cherry pick the entire game and has made one goal since we've been here. It's very amusing. Just a severe lack of hand eye coordination. My companion and I get a nice little laugh about it every now and then. Trust me, I think the world of this Elder but he is just really mistakenly cocky when it comes to sports. So, a couple of days ago my companion had a bad game. Missed four goals off the post. Elder (1) comes up to me and is like, "It's okay, I can totally relate with your companion today, we all have bad games every now and again." I started busting up laughing and couldn't help myself saying, "Elder (1), if I was able to count how many goals you have missed I'd have to stay in the MTC a week longer." He kind of got this confused look and his face and preceded to walk over to his spot by the back post of the goal and continuously call whoevers name had the ball at the moment saying, "Elder I'm open, I'm open. Can't you see that I'm open?" It's kind of a joke between everyone in our gym time. My companion doesn't really handle doing poorly in sports very well (he destroys on the basketball court) and after the game Elder (1) comes up to him and says, "It's okay Elder, I totally know how you feel. One of these days you'll get your goal"(implying that he'd scored one goal since our stay here). ;) Needless to say my companion was a little peeved but being a way more patient person then I am he held his tongue. MTC is the bomb.

  

Well family my time is spent but I hope ya'll know I am so grateful for you and your sacrifice for me to be our here on a mission. I can't imagine where I would be in life without serving a mission. I've already grown up so much. It would be so weird to come home right now. There are elders that leave all the time. It's pretty sad. We've also had a couple of sisters leave since we've been here. One of my comp's friends district member came home one night, packed his bags, and jumped the fence. Crazy stuff. There is no reason to come home. This experience will make you so much better!!! I love being a missionary and if ya'll think about it, you should send a letter to my mission because it'll probably get there a week after I get there anyway.

Love,

Elder Meeks

Elder Chen Too-Faat

YOYOYO,

What is up family and friends. It's 6 in the morning, I am sitting in a chair waiting for my laundry to finish, and my body is in so much pain! I started actually working out this week. Mainly do to my ever increasing mid section along with the 1 pound keeping me in between  jumping another weight class into the 200's. Dad called me Elder Chen Too-Faat last week and it has kind of become a joke in the district now. They all got a kick out of it because of my abilities to make horrendous faces typically involving my uncanny ability to make myself look like a 50 year old, balding, obese gentlemen. ;)

It is so funny how the Lord puts us in places we need to be in order to teach us lessons. My lessons are on humility and patience. I was definitely put in my district for a reason.. ya. haha There is a sister that just takes everything I say as a personal attack and therefore tries to make me look bad in front of the other Elders and Sisters. As you can guess I so love just biting my tongue and turning the other cheek. My companion has now come to recognize when I'm about to, how to put it nicely, bite her face off? We go on a nice walk I just cool off and he tells me how silly I'm being. Good stuff for sure. When you spend 24 hours a day with a guy for 7 weeks they come to know you pretty well. :)

Every three to four weeks they rotate district leaders so I'm not district leader anymore, my companion is. Which is so nice. He'll be great at it. People say it really doesn't matter who your district leaders are but in the MTC it especially does. Not gonna go into details but ya it's a good thing.

You know, I had a supreme lack of letters this week. Not to be a complainer but I miss my siblings. Dad did you send one this week? You don't have to write a novel just send something, tell me what you're up to and I will impart my brotherly/sonly counsel unto you. jk I need you to help me! :)

We had 36 new elders and sisters come in on Wednesday. So now we have about 70+ Mandarin speakers in our zone. Next Wednesday we get another 20. Our Branch President tells us all the time how ready the Asian people are to hear the gospel. Japanese zone had 70 come in Wednesday, Korean 69, other assorted asian places 100+. I guess Asia is the most safe place to send sister missionaries so they are sending a lot of them there.

Alright, Mary Ellen Edmunds told us a pretty funny joke last night. There is a momma mouse with her little mice children and they are walking along this path just minding there own business when all of a sudden a huge cat jumps into the path and hisses at them. Just as the cat is about to pounce the momma mouse, with no regard for her own life, jumps into the path and says, "ruff ruff ruff  Ruff RUFF!" and the cat runs away. The momma mouse turns to her kids and says,"see kids, this is why momma keeps telling you to learn another language." ;) How true how true.

Well my laundry is finished and my belly is hungry so I am going to go get some food. Remember family and friends I love you all. You're constantly in my prayers. I hope you all are praying and asking God to help you in your everyday lives because He will! The church is true, this is a really cool opportunity to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.

Love ya'll

Elder Meeks

Hey Mom... Keeping it Real

Glad to see that some things never change.  Andrew is still Andrew.  Just keepin' it real.

Hey mom!

Sorry to hear about your finger! How was mothers day? Gotta love our family's tendency to wait until the last minute to do everything. Don't think it will ever change. hahahaha Remind my little brother that calls for foreign missionaries are about 6-8 months out because of the influx of elders. So the sooner he gets his papers in the better. Tell him to freakin write me. I had a severe lack of letters this week. Semi depressing. I'm praying for my little sis to get a scholarship. If she decides to serve a mission she will most likely go mandarin speaking. Almost every single missionary had over 2 years of mandarin coming into the MTC. 

Grandma wrote me the other day and it's been nice to compare mission experiences. She's so awesome and working hard! 

So excited CJ and Jess are finally hitched. That will be such a blessing in their lives. 

While I am still somewhat opposed to the aspect of marriage I understand that it is a necessary thing and that I'll probably get married when I get home. (Clarification:  Andrew is opposed to getting married in 5 minutes after returning home from a mission.  Not to the idea of marriage in general.)They actually talk about stuff like that in the MTC a lot. Interesting... I freakin hate hearing about all of the elders and sisters with significant others. Probably my biggest pet peeve here on the mission. One elder was telling me how he and his "fiance" prayed in the temple before he left to know if they should get married, of course the answer was yes (she's 17). I looked him straight in the face and said, "that is the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life. I hope you keep that story to yourself from now on seeing as it's so dumb." He kinda looked at me with a shocked expression and proceeded to gush about his love to another sister. BLEH!!!

I would love to get names and addresses of the people in our stake. Especially brax and alex. I'm shocked to hear about anthony robinson and thrilled!! There are a couple elders I know here 24+. It's awesome to see their maturity and desire to serve. A great example to me. What kind of car will Christie's family be driving? Color? I'll be sure to look for them!!

Well I love ya, but I gotta go!!

Andrew

pics

Here are all the captions that go with the pictures.  I am not sure what  goes with who.

Two cousins in a pod

Happy day to see Andrew and Christie together today.  I remember when they were causing all kind of trouble together as toddlers and now they are off to preach the word.   Best.  Day.  Ever.

The joke is on you

All work and no play make Jack a dull boy!  Glad to see they can still have some fun.    

Yoyo wo de jiaren he wo de pengyoumen,

Woohoo! Missionary work is the bomb. :) The oldest generation left last week on tuesday and so that means were the old ones now.. Crazy stuff for sure. There is one generation of elders and sisters under us and we get 36 more on Wednesday!!! Most of them are going to Taibei. So we'll have about 70+ missionaries in our zone in the MTC which is a ton for the Mandarin zone. Our new Zone leaders are Elder Phelps and McKay. We tease Elder McKay about him being the next prophet and stuff because he's the great great grandson of David O. McKay. It's all in good fun.

Non-serious stuff first:

This week was full of pranks. I don't know why but man they started happening one after the other after the other. Elder N--- started it with pretending to be Elder McKay and pranking my comp by writing this big long love letter from one of their previous sister friends at Weber High. He put a bunch of conversation hearts all over his bed and my comp got a good kick out of it when he was about to get into his bed at night. We didn't tell my comp till like 4 days later that it was Elder N---.. ( I didn't explain that well but whatever) the funny thing is is that my comp pranked Elder McKay thinking that it was him that had pranked him. He stole his bed and put it in one of the bathroom stalls. Good stuff. Then I scared about 5 people and got some of them on camera. So much fun, I take so much joy in scaring the crud out of people. :) On laundry day when we get new sheets and make our beds and stuff I got pretty sick so my companion and I came back during the day and took off Elder B------ sheets and folded them all up like before. We got back to the class and told him that he had caused us to fail our room inspection because he hadn't made his bed. He swore to us that he made his bed and he was so confused. We got back to the room and he was like, "WHAT IS GOING ON?! I THINK I'M GOING CRAZY. I THOUGHT FOR SURE I MADE MY BED!" I just could not contain myself my companion and I laughed for 20 minutes straight!! 

Patience is a virtue that I definitely need to improve on. I think that is why I am in the district I am in. The Lord new that I would needed to be humbled and be taught patience. Gotta love it. What I've realized is that we're all just a bunch of 18 to 26 year olds who are trying to bring souls unto Christ. The other silly stuff doesn't matter. :)

I had a truly testimony building experience yesterday. We watched Joseph Smith the Prophet of the Restoration. Since I had been in the MTC I felt like that was the main part of my testimony that has been kind of lacking so I have focused on this week reading the Doctrine and Covenants and Joseph Smith History in an attempt to really try to improve my testimony. During the movie last night I was overcome by the Spirit. I truly felt that the Lord was answering my prayers as I was watching the movie. Joseph Smith is and was a true prophet. He restored the gospel in this last dispensation.

 He died as a martyr for the Church and for his Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. His ministry, like the Savior's, was short but powerful. When Joseph Smith rebuked the men while in liberty jail? I know he had the power to call down the wrath of God upon them. He healed 100's, blessed thousands, and because of him millions are now able to know their purpose in life. He emulated Christ's example. He truly spoke with God the Father and His son, Jesus Christ. They revealed the fullness of the gospel unto him. Because of his faithfulness he has been received unto the Father and continues to serve Him. Sacrifice TRULY does bring for the blessings of heaven. There are souls at stake. This missionary experience isn't just something to make me better! Joseph Smith restored the gospel in order to bring souls unto Christ.

The doubts I have had about the church up to this point are pointless. God takes care of those feelings through faith and following His commandments. Heavenly Father and Jesus loved us so much they saved us for this time to bring souls unto Christ. We really are the army of Helamen. My ability to bring others to Christ hinges on my willingness to work hard and belief in what I am doing. The priesthood power is real. I have the same priesthood Joseph Smith had. If we want to exercise our priesthood we must remain worthy, align our will with the Father's, and exercise faith in his supreme power. I know these things to be true.

I love you all. I think about you all every day and pray for your success. Remember, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. Do you understand what that means? You all are entitled to the blessings of heaven if you are sacrificing what you can. I believe you, especially my family, are sacrificing a lot right now. Call down the blessings of heaven. Beseech our Father in Heaven to help you. I know that He will. I know this is true.

Until next time,

Elder Meeks

Be Nice to Your Mother

5/6/2013

Hey family,

Happy Mothers day!!! Hope it is a great one. :) Kids, you better treat our mother right. Dad, take her to her choice of a movie.

Soooooooooo this week was great. The MTC is a great place. Full of the Spirit and opportunities to learn about yourself as a person. I can see why they send us on missions. They kind of force you to grow up. If you don't choose to leave your old life behind you are going to be miserable here. You have to give yourself over to this work. The goal of this lifetime is to align your will with the Lord's. I watched a talk that Elder Holland gave and he said that he does not have agency anymore. His reasoning behind this is because his will is so lined up with the Lord's that in a way he doesn't have his agency. From the moment he wakes up his only thought is how he can further the church of God and bring souls unto Christ. Wouldn't it be great to be at this point?!?!

I've learned so much this week. Language wise it was really lacking but I did learn a lot about how to invite the Spirit into a lesson and how to learn by the Spirit. You really do need to write down questions you have and then directly after reading try and write down impressions received. I've received so many personal promptings studying the scriptures this way.

When is Christie coming into the MTC?! The older generation of Chinese elders are leaving tomorrow so that means we will now be the senior generation. Crazy. Definitely doesn't feel like we've been here almost 5 weeks. It's exciting though and a ride all the time.

I personally wrote you letters this week so refer to those. I'm out of time.

Love ya'll,

Andrew

Stories of patience

It always makes my day when my children actually try to apply something I taught them.  

Dajia hao,

Nimen zenmeyang? Wo de libai shi feichang hao. My schedule has changed and so my P-Day is now on Monday. As always, the work out here is difficult but rewarding. Time is trippy as always. Definitely doesn't feel like I've been here almost 4 weeks. But everyday I can't comprehend how long the days are. haha Welcome to missionary work right? 

The Branch Pres called me to be the district leader yesterday. There are some things in my district that do need to change so I will attempt to help change some of those things. So last Wednesday started out as this beautifully positive day. My companion and had planned a great lesson to teach, woken up early to prepare even more, and then lunch time hit...  Our lesson completely bombed, and I was just hating on everything. My teacher noticed I was upset, because I hide my emotions so well, and pulled me aside to see what was up. I told him what was up and he gave me a lot of encouragement  Moral of the story is there are silly things that people say sometimes and you just have to get over it. Don't have a heart attack mom. Yes, I've finally realized it is possible. (Now that I'm a DL maybe I'll just exercise some unrighteous dominion and make her sit in the corner or something. :P )

The theme for my personal study this week was charity and patience. Wouldn't it be nice to get to a point in life where negative thoughts about others never enter into our minds? I really do believe this is possible. I'm so far from perfect in this area but since I began to pray for those Christlike attributes I've started to feel my Savior blessing me. Here are some thoughts and things I've studied this week.

Patience-the ability to do God's will and accept his timing

•        There will never be an end to our trials therefore there can never be an end to our prayers. We have to trust in the Lord in the Lord and rely on His Spirit and after the trial of our faith we will receive a witness.
•        Mosiah 28:1-9 What were the desires of the Sons of Mosiah?
• Bring others to a knowledge of God
• Convince them of their iniquities
• Cure them of their hatred (Lamanites)
• Help them learn to rejoice in God
• Be friendly to each other
• No more contention
• Salvation needs to be declared to all
• Did not want any souls to perish
•      What were the results of their patience and diligence?  
• Many were brought to the light
• They were made instruments in the Lord's hands
• Thousands were converted
• They will receive eternal life
• Given the strength of God
• Encircled with the love of God
• They received mercy

There is a ton more that I've studied and wrote about this week but I am not gonna be able to tell you all of it. The Lord is truly hastening his work. Our schedule was changed because of the massive influx of Elders and Sisters coming into the MTC. By the end of the Summer English missionaries will only be staying for 5 days at the most. I've heard we're the projected missionary number is over 90,000 by the end of the summer. Pretty neat stuff. Always be looking for missionary opportunities. Missionary work is best accomplished when the members are behind the missionaries. Get involved!

I love you all very much and think about you all the time. Love each other.

Elder Meeks

Pictures... pictures... pictures

I think this is his companion Elder Mayhew.

The classic map shot!

This is the area Seventy from Taiwan and the District.

The sisters/ jiemeimen (sister hibbert, sister barden, sister wray, and sister crofts), me and dana, my ex zone leaders