"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