The Gospel Path to Happiness

Christmas at the beach.

English Class

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas and HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Love you all and miss you like crazy. It's so weird to be away from home during the holiday season but it's amazing to be sharing the love of Christ with the people of Taiwan instead. It's been amazing to see people change and grow in the short time I have been here. 

But the start of this week was awesome! I got to Skype with my family and it was SO good to see their faces ! There were many tears shed *cough cough mom* but so good. While it is so hard to be away, I know this is where I am supposed to be! Being on a mission really has helped me realize how important family is. It's such a blessing to have someone you can be with for eternity! 

So Christmas was on our preparation day so we decided to spend it at the beach! It was cold and windy but still so fun. (all of the people we told thought we were crazy because Taiwanese people think it's freezing right now but in reality this week has been in the 60s and 70s!) After that, I got the chance to play piano at a baptism. The spirit was so strong and the amazing convert that was baptized bore such a powerful testimony! We brought an investigator (Ni Jiemei who I talk about later in this email) with us and it was exactly what she needed to hear. It's amazing how powerful the spirit can be in a room...So cool! Then we finished off the night by having a special Christmas FHE / Dinner with some of our Filipino members. They are always so welcoming and made us feel right at home! Overall, it was an amazing Christmas :)

Oh! Christmas Eve also was awesome! One of our ward members threw this huge party and invited tons of people ! After a awesome dinner and a short Christmas lesson, we went caroling around the neighborhood! Never thought I would be singing Jingle Bells in Chinese on Christmas Eve in Taiwan. But it was really a cool way to bring the light of Christmas to a bunch of people. As everyone walked away after the song, a set of missionaries would stay and talk to them and we saw a bunch of success. I love members and their willingness to help the gospel progress in any way they can find. 

With the spirit of Christmas behind us, we had an AWESOME week! We had so many cool experiences and saw lots of miracles. One of these is a lady named He Jiemei. She was referred by a member and she is amazing. We met her at our ward party last week and when we were trying to get her contact information on Line (an app kinda like Facebook Messenger) her contact automatically pulled up without us doing anything! That's never happened before so she took it as a sign from God it was her time to come closer to Christ. As we met with her for the first time, she shared how she already can feel God's love when she prays. I just can't express how much I already love her and how ready she is for the gospel. She told us that we were her angels and it made me feel so special. God really does know us perfectly and knows exactly what each of his children need to succeed.

Another miracles was with Ni Jiemei. We met her about two weeks ago and she just committed to baptism ! She came the baptism on Christmas day and thought it was super special. She said she had a "sacred" feeling throughout the entire thing. The next lesson we talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, Endure to the End) and she accepted our invitation to be baptized! She even self set her own date. I can really feel the Light of Christ in her and I know good things are coming for her :) 

This week in my personal study, I focused a lot on a talk from the 2017 Ensign "The Gospel Path to Happiness" by Elder Holland. Such a good talk! In short it says "Your best chance for being happy is to do the things that happy people do, live the way happy people live, and walk the path that happy people walk. As you do so, your chances to find joy in unexpected moments, to find peace in unexpected places, and to find the help of angels when you didn’t even know they knew you existed improve exponentially." Then it gives us five ways we can "Live after a manner of happiness." As the new year approaches, I invite all of to read this talk and find ways you can be more happy this year. I would LOVE to hear your thoughts and experiences. 

You are all the best and I miss you so much. Hope everything is going well! 

Best wishes from your favorite missionary in Taiwan, 
Sister Meeks 
毛姊妹

Just little updates on all my baptismal date investigators :) 

李怡慧 Li Yi Hui

She had an amazing experience over the Christmas holiday !! She said she was at a party with some friends, exchanging gifts and such, and that they were all drinking beer and black tea. When she told them she was fine with just drinking water one of the people there blurted out "It's because she's become a Mormon!" (This is the best part) Her response to their comment, "Yes I am." She then expressed to us the blessings she's seen from keeping the Word of Wisdom. She really is so amazing and knows that the commandments our Father in Heaven has given us will bless her far more than any popularity status. She currently only has to learn about 1 more major commandment and has a baptismal date set for January 20th. 

倪靖婷 Ni Jing Ting

She attended one of the Elders' baptisms last week, and this week when we met with her we more fully explained the ordinance of baptism. She is one of the most focused listeners I've ever met. As we teach the lessons, she looks at us expecting more and always stops us so she can review by reading the pamphlet for herself. She's just so solid. That day, as prompted by the Spirit, we set a baptismal date with her as well ! And, she set it herself ! She picked a day late in February that she felt comfortable with. It was a cool experience seeing how her attending a baptism really peaked her interest in being baptized herself. 

陳姵如 Chen Pei Ru

She has been in Japan recently, but we met with her again this last week. We over viewed the Restoration before giving her the invite to preview the Plan of Salvation pamphlet. We explained to her that the Plan of Salvation will answer 3 main questions (Where did we come from? What is our purpose here on Earth? and Where do we go after death?) and she immediately exclaimed "I've always wondered!" She then had to control herself long enough to give us a closing prayer, and soon after started fanning through the pamphlet, looking for answers. I love seeing people get excited about the gospel. When it's investigators especially, I just get on a whole new level of happy. It was awesome.

何雅婷 He Ya Ting

He Jie Mei is a woman we met at the Christmas performance activity and we recently met with her for the first time. And, friends, she believes in MIRACLES. As we talked with her she expressed many of her trials with us; and it was so neat to hear that instead of turning away from God in her hard times that she decided it's time to hear more. She's a member referral, so she's been to a lot of church activities. But, she said that it was different with Sister Meeks and I. She said it's like we're here as angels, sent to her. She specifically said "Wode shijian yinggai daole." ... "It's time." I'm so excited to see her progress. As we explained the importance of prayer, she even cried ! The spirit was just so strong, and it's true ... she's so ready for this gospel to rock her world <3 

親愛的陳怡君 Chen Yi Jun

OHHHHHH BABY !!! Chen Jie Mei got married this last Friday, and her baptismal date is set for this coming Friday (the 5th). Her baptismal interview is this coming Wednesday and she is so READY !! She has not smoked for more than 2 weeks now (almost 3) and her testimony is one of the strongest I've seen on the mission. Her life has taken a 360 flip ever since I've met her. And, I couldn't be more thankful for the opportunity God has given me to know this beautiful daughter of His. I am seriously so so excited.