Miracles!

When our apartment is freezing, we do what we need to do keep warm...and that means dresses and hoodies together! 

Us making cookies for our district! (The Elders love us) 

We are doing this new thing where we take pictures with dogs, but in a way that makes it look like they are taking the selfie. SO FUN! 

 Teaching English Class! 

SO MANY BAOZI! 

Us at the wedding reception (they got sealed in the temple) of two ward members! They are AWESOME! 

These awesome ward members who made us very yummy food! 

Hi Friends and Family!! 

Hope everything is going well with you all! I miss you all very much! 

Once again, we are going to use the words of my amazing companion to describe the week! 

"This week started out great here in Zhubei !!! We went hot potting and ping ponging for P-day and it was a blast !! It was a nice chill P-day with lots of good food and good company, a great way to get ready for a week of miracles !!! This week Sister Meeks and I had a goal of increasing our baptismal date investigators, so with that in mind we worked hard on inviting people to baptism !!! Out of the 4 solid people we invited, 3 of them accepted to set a date !!! It was amazing and so heart warming to see so many people willing to develop their faith and follow the example of Jesus Christ. Something I love about the mission is the opportunity I have to TEACH. And, I've been blessed with areas where we have a lot of lessons and a lot of people to teach !! So, I'm definitely thankful for this last week we had to go out and teach repentance <3 

As our mind was focused on this baptismal date goal we found ourselves hitting Saturday morning with no new investigators for the area. But, Sister Meeks and I had faith that we would be able to find 4 within the coming 48 hours. ANNNNNNNDDDD, the Lord is too good to us. We are seriously so blessed !! We found 1 that very night and we then found 5 new investigators on Sunday!! This Zhubei area is so prepared and I know that as my companion and I work hard to do the work, Heavenly Father creates pathways that we can see success in every aspect of it. He sees the hard work we put in, and for this He really does bless the areas we serve in <3 Being a missionary is just so special <3"

This week really was full of miracles. The Lord blesses us when we have faith to do his work! 

Love you all and hope you have an amazing week! 

Sister Meeks

I love getting mail!!! 

4/F, #24, Lane 183
Jin Hua Street
Da-an, Taipei 106
Taiwan

Staying in ZHUBEI

"Transfers happened! Staying in Zhubei!! WOOT WOOT! 

Also, did I mention ... that it's FREEZING here !! Like ... the wind is just ridiculously cold and when it rains I pretty much just want to curl into a ball under a blanket ... all the time ;) haha But, no worries ... we have exactly 2 small space heaters that keep us warm at night ;) Other than the weather though, all is well out here in Taiwan ! We had 2 pretty big activities this week and they were both a blast, and a great opportunity to draw our wards closer together while also inviting investigators and non-members. 1. We had a Zhubei 1st Ward activity where we had the Filipino members teach us how to make Chicken and Pork Adobo and it was probably one of the best things I ate this week. Even better is that I know how to make it now ... so if anyone wants some Filipino food here in 8 months or so ... hit me up ;) 2. We had our three ward movie night and we watched 17 Miracles. Even better was we had an investigator there who loved it !! We plan on putting her on baptismal date the next time we meet with her, so I'm sure she'll have an extra dose of the spirit around her after seeing that small piece of history. It was a great night with members as well. They were really able to see the desire us missionaries have to help this community, and build the ward families. The effort was all in, and I'm sure it'll bring even more success to the event as we do it next month.

The best moment of my week though has to do with an investigator; her name is Li Yi Hui. She's incredible and has a baptismal date for this Saturday !! She still has to hear the last lesson, this coming Tuesday, but other than that she has hit all the requirements for baptism. But, she's still not too sure about the whole idea of actually getting baptized. She explained that she knows she's going to have " a moment ". She really believes that within the next week she's just gonna know that she needs to be baptized. When we asked her if she wanted to move her a date to a little later in the month she said no, and that she still wanted to pray about the 20th because she really knows she's gonna have a moment, and receive the answers she needs to be baptized. It's incredible how much faith she has, and I'm sure Heavenly Father is going to give her the answer she needs in the time that she needs it. So excited for her and her progression none the less. It's gonna be a great week ahead ! OH ! And, here's a heads up, I won't be emailing until Wednesday next week because our P-day is moved for TEMPLE DAY !!!"

Thank you to Sister Nielsen for helping explain the week :) 

But some funny stories this week. We met with this awesome lady and gave her a chapel tour. She came to church on Sunday with a ward member and then agreed to meet with us. She is already Christian but likes our church. Anyway, her husband came to pick her up and he was super drunk! But the funny kind of drunk. So we talked to him and he was hilarious! He told me I didn't have eyebrows and I was dying laughing. But they invited us over so we are hoping to teach the entire family! 

Another funny one was this lady was staring at me all through breakfast and so I finally waved and said hi. Then she just straight up asked me if I would take a picture with her. (This happens all the time) so I said yes and she just gets up and leaves! Hahaha people want to take pictures with me so there are just a bunch of random people who I don't know that have my picture. Kinda funny.  I love it though. Whenever I see someone staring, (so every 20 seconds) I wave and it usually makes them smile! Good enough for me! 

Love you all and hope everything is going well! 

Sister Meeks 

The best district EVER! 

Us after finding out we are staying together for another transfer! 

Us with the Filipino Sisters! 

Our awesome Sisters in first ward! 

This Sister made us super cool scripture covers. She is AWESOME! 

Chen Yi Juen got Baptized!

 This picture describes her personality perfectly :)

My companion wrote my name is Soy Sauce...she really loves me! 

Our adorable Chen Yi Juen! 

You can tell when the missionaries go to dinner together!! #allthebikes

Hello Friends and Family! 

This week has been an amazing one. (I mean how could it not be? I'm a missionary and I'm in Taiwan!) I'm loving it here and while my Chinese is slowing coming, I feel like I'm beginning to develop relationships with everyone I'm working with and life is good. While we saw a lot of miracles this week, the biggest one is...

Chen Yi Jun got baptized! I can't express how happy I am for her and her decision to follow the example of Jesus Christ. She is so amazing and I am beyond grateful to be a part of her conversion experience. The baptismal day started off with me and my trainer going to Taipei for a 6 weeks follow-up. Afterwards we rushed home, set up chairs, and after a failed attempt at filling up the font, the Elders came and rescued us. Chen Yi Jun was crying even before the meeting started so let's say the whole thing was a cry fest. After two amazing talks, Chen Yi Jun walked into the font. She was so humble and you could feel the spirit so strong. My companion and I watched from the top of the steps and greeted her as completely perfect person as she walked up the steps. My companion and I then performed "I Know My Redeemer Lives" and gave Chen Yi Jun her favorite flowers. The entire experience was totally perfect and I can't wait to see all of the amazing things she will do now. Love her! 

We also got to meet this awesome lady named Xu Jiemei. We met her at a Waffle House last week and we set up to meet with her, but she didn't come! We were super bummed but we decided to call her anyway. Turns out she totally got the day wrong and felt so bad about missing it! We set up with her for the next day and she showed up this time. We got to know her better and we couldn't be more excited to keep teaching her. It's also really special to me because I was the one to start the contact with her and she actually wanted to meet with us! So pumped ! 

Another interesting experience was we got taken out to dinner and I experienced my first "being forced to eat an unnatural amount of food meal." I can't even tell you how many dumplings she ordered. Lets just say we prepared by not eating lunch and we still left never wanting to eat again ! We are a little relieved because she said she was going to invite the Elders next time so they can just eat whatever we don't :) 

Also has my first real rainstorm here! Literally SOAKED! I came home and had to squeeze the water out of my skirt. Also wearing glasses is a blessing and a curse. You don't get water in your eyes as much but you also can't see very well. Yaaayyyyyy! Actual was pretty fun to just bike around looking a little silly, we for sure get people's attention.

Other than that, just wanted to share some fun things I've learned about Taiwan:
1. Trash trucks blast Fur Elise by Beethoven to let people know they need to bring their trash to the street. 
2. You can't eat or drink of the MRT (kinda like the subway or metro) and it always happens to be that time when I feel the most thirsty. 
3. People think you're crazy if you don't wear a jacket during the winter months...even if it is like 70 degrees. 
4. My life is all about the double look. People look at me once...Then turn back quick again because I'm a blue-eyed, light haired, white person. I wave to a lot of people who just stare at me :) haha 

Just in closing, I want to bear my testmony of living prophets. When I heard about President Thomas S. Monson passing away, I was devastated. I have grown up listening to him and his words have inspired on more than one occasion. But his passing caused me to think about how important prophets are. Our world is full of craziness and temptations of every kind, but through prophets, we can face this challenges with revelation straight from our Heavenly Father. This is such a huge blessing! With all this in mind, I would invite you to take our beloved Prophet's last invitation to us; to read the Book of Mormon. He said, "I implore each of us to prayerfully study and ponder the Book of Mormon each day. As we do so, we will be in a position to hear the voice of the Spirit, to resist temptation, to overcome doubt and fear, and to receive heaven’s help in our lives." I know that as we do this, we will come closer to our Heavenly Father and better understand what we need to do to become successful. 

Well, I love you all and hope you have a good week! I miss you all so send me pictures if you get a chance :) 

我愛你們! 
-Sister Meeks (毛姐妹) 

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. 

Merry Christmas

Heya Everyone! 

Merry Christmas!! Since I don't have a ton of time today, I figured I would just send some pictures this week! Love you all!! 

Sister Meeks

Two weeks in

1. The streets of Taipei! 

 My comp and I getting super yummy street food!

This is in a grocery store! It's so big they have little escalators that are magnetic so the carts don't roll off!

Our cute little Christmas tree we got for 3 dollars :)

Us waiting for the train in the freezing cold and HUGE rain!

Hot Pot! SO good! 

Investigator who treated us to Hot Pot. Literally met with her once and they she took us out!

Hey everyone! 

Week Two in the Beautiful land of Taiwan! What a blessing it is to be serving here. While I don't understand most of what is being said, I really do love the people so much. They are so kind and generous. We have seen so many miracles happen because of other people. It really is amazing and surprises me everyday!

Last Pday we went to Taipei to practice for our huge missionary choir event! On Christmas Eve, we have a huge program put on by the missionaries and we have been inviting everyone we can! We have so many talented missionaries and we really are going to touch the hearts of people through music. It was also really nice to see a bunch of people I knew from the MTC! Always good to connect with them.

But this week moved a little bit slower than last because my companion has been super sick. She is such a trooper though. We have had tons of lessons this week and she really has just pushed through the sickness. One of those lessons was with Chen Jiemei. She has a baptismal date of the 30th and we couldn't be more happy for her. She has been making some really big changes in her life and her faith is so strong. She takes promises with God and repentance very seriously. While she has a few more things to work through, I have faith she will still be baptized on the 30th. 

English class this week was also very exciting! We were talking about the body this week so we taught them "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." I'm not sure how well they know the words but they were pretty cute! (I attached a video of it) It's always super chaotic but really fun. A lot of moms come with their kids so we have been able to find investigators every week! We have a special Christmas class next week and a lot of people said they are going to bring friends. So exciting!

On Thursday a investigator took us to a Hotpot ! Literally so so so so so yummy :) It takes a super long time to eat so it was really nice to get to know her more. She is a young mom who really loves her family! She doesn't have any specific religious beliefs so we are trying to help her develop a relationship with God!

Another cool thing that happened that we were doing studies at a store and this random guy came up to us and just started a conversation. We found out that he is a Less Active member and is going to move into our ward in the next two weeks. He said he saw us and it reminded him how much the gospel has helped his life. So he decided he is going to come back to church! He then got us free drinks and thanked us a lot for our service. Literally is so sweet and it really showed me that we help people even when we don't talk to them! Missionaries have a cool impact on lots of different types of people. 

But this week has been really special because I have been able to feel the Christmas spirit so strongly! When we share about Christ and his birth, people's attitudes change and it's amazing to see. So, I invite you all to come up with a way you can better remember Christ this week, leading up to Christmas. You can start by watching this AWESOME video :) 

TAIWAN AT LAST!!!

Heya Friends and Fam! 

I AM IN TAIWAN! I REPEAT I AM IN TAIWAN!! I never thought it would happen but it finally did. I received a call from President Love last Saturday night and I left Monday morning. I cannot thank my companions, members, friends, investigators and everyone else in Missouri who made my time there fantastic. It was such a good experience and I would not give it up! Can't wait to hear about all the success that will continue in that area. :)

But since then it has been a whirlwind! I flew from Kansas City to San Francisco, had about a 4 hour layover, then flew straight to Taiwan! While the person next to me didn't want to hear about the gospel, we still had some pretty good conversations :) Then I landed and I couldn't get through security because I didn't know the address of where I was staying! So after many failed phone calls, I finally got it and made it through. People see your missionary nametag and just automatically think you can speak Chinese so there was a bit of a struggle there...(They didn't understand why I didn't understand them!) But President Jergensen was waiting for me and is so awesome! He is over 6 feet tall and is a very loud person so he was easy to spot :) 

Then, because I came mid transfer, I went straight to my area and met my trainer. Her name is Sister Nielsen and she is AWESOME! We get along so well and have tons of fun. I am serving in the Zhubei area and it is so awesome. I am already loving the people here. 

In the morning, we got up and had a lesson with an investigator. (Fan Jiemei) She is so cute! She ordered us breakfast and then we started talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She had a lot of really interesting questions and she wants to pray about a baptismal date! YAY!

Then we had district meeting and it was awesome. I was literally blessed with the best district ever. They are so funny and so nice. We have a lot of fun together. One of my MTC friends (Elder Swensen) is in my district so that was really nice to see a familiar face. 

Some members took us out for dinner...literally ate so much food! She saw I liked something so she ordered another plate...after I was full! 

Same member., rockin' her Christmas tree hat. She is literally so cute.

Me and my cute comp at the Grand Hotel! 

Us having dinner at the Stake President's house. Crazy thing is I know his daughter! She came to BYU one summer and we are already Facebook friends! Small world! 

My view from our window. The building with the blue roof is our chapel!

The temple in Taipei! 

We then had our first English class! My companion and I teach the little kid class and they are so cute! I'm not sure how much English they learn but we have a lot of fun. They call me teacher Meeks and it is the cutest thing I have ever heard. We were playing musical chairs and this little girl (probably 3 years old) gets out because of an older boy. She proceeds to stand on the chair and give him a piece of her mind, very aggressively! It was so funny in her little high voice and she has so much sass for a 3 year old and it made my day. 

Then we went to Taibei to meet the other new missionaries who came from the MTC. My trainer hasn't trained before so she had to go figure that out. I also got to see another friend from the MTC (Sister Elliot!) She is awesome and I was so so so so so happy to see her :) Then we went and got our new money and bought our smartphones! Each missionary gets one here and it is very convenient. It really helps the work progress. We can use convenient ways to communicate with people and planning while we are out and about is so much easier. We are really blessed to be able to use this technology to further the work. 

The rest of the week was full of meeting with investigators (We have 3 with a baptism this month!) and different activities. Then Sunday came, which was crazy. My companion and I are over three wards so we went to a solid 7+ hours of church. I had to introduce myself in all the sacrament meetings which was terrifying but really good too. Everyone is so nice and always compliments your Chinese speaking abilities (even if you just say your name). Our wards are really the best and we also have a super nice chapel we get to meet in. 

Basically I'm loving my life here in Taiwan. It's a whole lot of crazy but a whole lot of amazing. I can't wait for my Chinese to get better so I can help the people here even more. 

So, random stuff about Taiwan: 

1. There basically aren't any traffic laws...people just kinda do what they want

2. People love when you try and speak Chinese! Then they just laugh at you when you mess up. 

3. Food is super cheap! Really though...the most I've spent on a meal here is like 3 American dollars. 

4. People don't match their clothes...bright green and orange are totally ok together :) 

5. The water makes you sick so you can't drink it! 

Love you all and hope you are having a fantastic week! 

Sister Meeks

Address: 

4/F, #24, Lane 183

Jin Hua Street

Da-an, Taipei 106

Taiwan