4/20/2014 - The future is bright

Family and friends!

This week could have gone better but we are geared up and ready to plunge in this next week. It's been a little slower lately here in Miaoli finding wise. I think that we have thought of some good ideas though to help us figure out how to do better in that area. After my exchange with Elder Gibson I was inspired to by his example of hard work to make some really high goals for myself personally that will push me to be a better missionary and person in general. He is really a great and intelligent guy. 

C-- D---has his baptismal interview this Thursday and if all goes well he will be getting baptized this Saturday. We are really going to focus on preparing him this week. Especially in the aspect of personal repentance and receiving forgiveness for his sins. We've planned to visit him everyday and have already set up a scripture reading mentor with him. D-- J-- has agreed to meet with him 3 times a week for 30 minutes or so to discuss the Book of Mormon. Our goal is to help him develop a love for teh Book of Mormon and by doind so create a lasting conversion in himself. He really needs a strong foundation if he is going to last in the church. He can definitely do it though. 

Z---D--'s father told him that he can't come back to church or be baptized until after his test in a couple of weeks. We know his dad just wants him to be successful but we are a little worried. His member friend has promised that he will keep reminding him to read his scriptures and prayu though. We will definitely be praying for him a lot. 

We met with quite a few LA's this week and two came to church so we were pretty pleased with our results and efforts. We will definitely continue to try to do more on this front because Miaoli has a bunch of LA's. 

It was a privelage and an honor to be interviewed by Elder Wilson of the 70. He was such a genuine and nice man and provided an answer to a question that I have considered throughout my whole mission. I hope I can take the things he challenged me to do and just run with it. I know he is called of God though and that his counsel is what God wants me to do. 

I'm happy and healthy and can't wait for what the future has in store for me. 

Elder Meeks

4/13/2014 - Making Memories in Miaoli

大家好 

This week was pretty great! I love being a missionary especially here in Miaoli. There are some people here in Miaoli who I feel I have really been able to touch and help through the Spirit. The people here in Miaoli are a little different than those in my last areas.l Typically they are a lot more open to speaking with the missionaries and coming to church. We had 5 investigators at church on Sunday 4 of them have attended church for nearly two months now. We are so excited to see the progress of these awesome investigators! 

Z--- and E--- are two cousins who we met through English class contacting. They love coming to church and have made friends with the people in the ward. They love being with the missionaries as well. their situation is a little sensitive because both of their families are really opposed to them getting baptized because they are very traditional Buddhists. They graduate in a couple of months though and at that time will be able to be baptized. I really feel like the Lord sent me to Miaoli to find these two. There are not only investigators but lifelong friends. 

Z-- D-- spoke with his dad about getting baptized and his dad would prefer him to wait until after his test next month. He just wants him to focus on his studies because it is really important but Z-- D-- said he would discuss it with his dad again about being baptized on the 26th. He is still way on board for baptisma nd his testimony is being strengthened everyday. He loved general conference and says he felt the prophets were true and good men. 

C-- D-- s doing so well. The ward has really rallied behind him and are supporting him in his decision to be baptized. He has come a long way in 6 months. He hasn't smoke for nearly 2 weeks now and is praying for forgiveness of his sins. He has been tested many times this past week. He found 4 packs of cigarettes while he was on the street. He resisted the temptation each time it came. Great guy, I'm so excited for him. 

No crazy stories this week. I really enjoyed watching conference. Man so many great speakers. My favorite talk was Elder Uchtdorf's talk on Sunday morning about gratitude. So good. We are just supposed to be grateful no matter what stuff we have. Super simple principal. Hard to follow 

through on sometimes. 

Sorry this was a little short. Or maybe that's better haha

Love ya'll have a great week. 

Elder Meeks

4/6/2014 - I've been out a year

Hey everyone! 

Well this was a great week with a crazy big miracle! 

First of all I just have to say how much I love my area and companion. I feel like we really work well together and have a lot of similar feelings about what we need to do to make the work go faster here in 苗栗. I'm so grateful that we have started our companionship off on the right foot and we have already started to see how the Lord is blessing us for it. I definitely have so much to improve on but we are seeing the blessings coming and so we will continue to try to make things happen.

I was able to accomplish my goal of finishing the old testament in three months. I barely made it but I did it and felt really good about it. I am so excited to continue to learn from it in the future and use it in spreading the gospel. My next goal is to finish the new testament by the end of this transfer and start reading the Book of Mormon again. The scriptures are such a blessing. I don't know where I would be in my life without the counsel the scriptures give me. I most certainly wouldn't be here on a mission if it weren't for God answering my prayers through the Book of Mormon. 

Zhou DX. Is doing so amazingly great!! He hasn't missed church in 6 weeks and reads and prays everyday. He doesn't understand the scriptures fully but he has prayed and feels God has answered his prayers. He is excited for General Conference next week and start to understand what prophets really do for us. If his father gives him permission to be baptized he is totally on target for the 26th of this month. He has such a solid ward support and a desire to do what the Lord wants him to do. I am inspired by his small but awesome testimony! He has followed every commandment and invitiation we have taught him from day one. 

Cao DX was our big miracle this week. We had a lesson with him and the member basically scolded him for a little while that he wasn't taking us serious and that he needed to make a big change. He said right then and there that he was done smoking forever and I really believe him. I'm so excited to see the changes he has made over the past few weeks. He is definitely going to make his baptismal date on the 26th. The ward is seeing his changes and are starting to look past the outer Cao DX and starting to look at the good heart that he has. I love him and know he is going to learn so much in the church. 

I had a lot more I wanted to write but I'm rushed for time. Have a great week everyone!

Elder Meeks

3/30/2014- A New Companion

Hello all you crazy awesome people! 

Wow... What a week of miracles. Between the two companionships here in Miaoli we had 14 people at church. A couple showed up late but it is such a huge miracle. The young men and young women had 20 people who attended and 10 of them were investigators, all of which have a crazy amount of potential to be baptized. The Lord is hastening the work down here in Miaoli and it is due to multiple reasons. 

The first reason is love. Over the past few months I have really started to see a change in my heart towards my investigators. Every time I see or talk to them I am excited because I know that being with them and teaching them is helping them find the happiness that I personally enjoy in my own life. I feel honored to have so many people to teach that love to be with me and learn from me. I definitely don't deserve the blessings but am grateful for them. 

The second reason is hard work. I really have just resolved in my mind to through it all out there for the next year. I have one year left of my mission and I want to leave it on the field. It is really hard for me sometimes to put all my heart and mind into the work but as I've become more loving and had a stronger desire to help others the Lord has starting to bless us more with amazing people to teach. Hard work and gratitude bring the blessings. I love Daniel's example in the Old Testament of hard work and gratitude. Especially his example of gratitude. Whenever he received help from the Lord he immediately thanked him. EVERY TIME! 

The third reason is the companionship unity. My last companion and I loved serving together. We had some really different beliefs about missionary work but as we met in the middle and made some sacrifices we saw the blessings flow. My new companion, Elder Chen, is super great and I'm excited to make this companionship into the companionship it needs to become. 

Z-- D-- is doing so good. I know that pending his dad's approval he will be able to get baptized. He has the most solid base of friends that I have ever seen in the church. The members just welcomed him with opened arms and he has attended church for 5 weeks straight now. He still doesn't understand everything but has the faith he needs to continue to learn and rely on the Lord.

C-- D-- is doing much better too. We believe he will make his date of the 26th. We went over to his house this week and cleaned it like crazy. We really wanted to help him change his environment so he is able to think better about himself. I think it will really help him a lot. I'm excited to see the improvements he will make in the next little while. 

Overall I feel like I am just becoming a better person and a more dedicated missionary. The Lord wants me to become a different person than who I am right now. He doesn't want me to change my personality but he wants me to leave some things behind, grow up, and realize the potential I have. I really have been feeling this lately and I feel like I am up to the challenge.

Why wait? It's a phrase that has popped into my head lately quite a few times. Look at those two words and the first thing that pops into your head decide to change right now and stop waiting. It's a relieving feeling and really cool. 

Keep it real my awesome friends and family,

Elder Meeks 

3/23/2104 -Maioli is da Bomb

Yoyo Family and friends,

This week went by so fast! Elder Weng and I really wanted to do a good job so we made sure to really spend the time we needed to with our investigators and did better than we have the whole time we've been together. I can't believe that he is leaving this week! He's super excited and fighting the trunkiness. :) I'm super happy for him he has definitely been a hard working, fun, loving, and amazing missionary. I'm positive the Lord is super leased with what he has done. 

I love the apartment "I'm in. I love the elders that live with us. Elder Mattson is probably the best missionary that is in our mission. He has this pure, sincere desire to spread the gospel to everyone! Works crazy hard too! Elder Nassman is one of the first Elders I feel like I can really relate to. He's seen a lot, done a lot and learned a lot. We've learned a ton as we have gotten to know each other better. 

We truly have some miracles happening here in Miaoli. Honestly, IU don't want to leave this place for a long time. This is by far my favorite area that I have served in so far and no I have so much more work I need to do here! s

Our biggest miracle are two cousins named E--- and Z--. I don't know why but we have just really been able to connect with these two and they love coming to church and spending time with us. We are hoping we can help them prepare for baptism by the end of April. They both need the gospel so much. 

Our second big miracle is a Z-- D--. He is a friend of a member in the ward. One of the nicest people ever! He also really loves church. We just need to teach him the commandments and he will be finished with the lessons. He really loves what he has learned so far and the youth are doing a great job of fellowshipping him. We think he will also be getting baptized in April. 

Our third miracle is C-- D--. When he came to church he was dressed in his white shirt, looked happy, and hadn't smoked for a few days. He's really starting to make the effort. We had a lesson in Sunday school about temples and he expressed his desire to prepare for the temple. We also believe he will be able to be baptized in April. 

We have 4 very promising investigators and we know that through faith, love and obedience we will help them to be able to take that first step towards a better, happier life. 

One more miracle. Out of the 85 people that came to church on Sunday nearly 20 of those were because of the missionaries efforts. God is really blessing this miaoli Ward and the members are starting to see our efforts. we really hope they will begin to catch more of the fire of missionary work and that we can do more missionary work/finding through them. 

I'm nearly finished reading the old testament. It has been so great coming to a better understanding of ancient prophets and God's interaction with them. I really am so grateful for the scriptures. Even though the old testament can be hard to understand I have learned things from it that I wouldn't have learned from another way. My goal this next transfer is to finisht he New testament and the Book of Mormon again. 

My language skills are improving fastyer than they ever have. I can now basically read the Book of Mormon and have moved on to studying the Ensign in Chinese which is way more challenging. It is really helping me learn new words and better grammar though. I feel the Lord's influence in my studies and know that He wants me to succeed. 

I have so much to be grateful for. Even though we weren't perfect this transfer because we continued to work hard and love we were blessed with the ability to bless the people that we needed to. I can't wait to see them get baptized in a month or so!!!

Elder Meeks

3/16/2014 - Love one another

Hey ya'll!

Although we didn't see a ton of success this week we are working hard and feel the Lord is pleased with what we are doing. As I'm approaching the year mark of my mission I've been thinking about the changes I have seen in myself. It discourages me sometimes because I don't know if I have changed as much as I could or should have. But I do know I have made some changes and that right now I am trying the hardest I have tried in my life to change. I hope that as I enter the next half of my mission I will have the determination and drive to work harder than I have in the past to change those things about myself that I really desire to change. 

C-- D-- is progressing. We started to see a side of him this week that made us sad but also happy. In the couple visits we had with him this week he just completely broke down. He is fully aware that the members look down on him because he is so poor, doesn't act like them, and doesn't smell the best. He didn't come to church because he felt so out of place. The four of us elders brainstormed ideas to help him all week and we decided that in order for people to have an opportunity to see the good inside of him they have to get the first impression of his outer appearance (which shouldn't be necessary but we couldn't think of anything else). We went to his house and gave him a haircut and a shave. Gave him some church clothes so he could fit in more at church. Taught him some basic hygiene principles and how to use deodorant and decided on a day we would come and help him clean and organize his house. He looks like a changed man. We really believe these small changes (though not much) are a good start to helping him feel better about himself and being more easily accepted by the ward. 

Our R- D- J- is doing great! Already getting involved in the work and receiving a lot of help from the ward. We have great hopes and expectations for her and she is in the process of preparing to attend the temple. We love her and she takes care of us missionaries very well. 

We didn't have a chance to meet with out other investigators this week but that is okay because we will work hard to get with them this week and continue to help them to progress. We are going to work really hard to find some new prepared investigators. 

I'm sad I only have a week and a half left with my companion. He has been so good for me and really helped me grow to understand missionary work and we have helped each other become better, happier people. He's going places in life. 

Love ya'll and hope you all have great weeks! Love the Lord and your lives! Fake it till you make it!  

Elder Meeks