Prophets and Apostles

Hello Everyone! It's been a while!!!!! I am still alive! Lets GO!

I just want to let you know that I am so happy in Korea right now. Things there are only things to be happy about here and only things to put a smile on my face. People don"t except the gospel, come to church, or want to change their lives, but the joy of the Lord and His eternal plan for us is so great and so amazing that the only thing to do is be happy and at peace! This is what I have been feeling lately.

My companion elder Hanks is such a big example to be and I love him a lot. He is very precise and uses his time very wisely which helps me do the same. He gets things done and does not wait for other people to do things. I am loving the time with him because he has shown that a big part of missionary work is self mastery. Even though he scared the living kimchi out of me last night, he still is awesome and I love him.

One of the highlights this week was we got to go on exchanges this week. I went with an elder from the Philippines who joined the church only 4 years ago and who is 5 years older than me. I didn't let that age barrier stop me from having fun with him tho. We had a blast! I got to share some of my thoughts about how to learn Korean with him because he is a pretty young missionary who needs some confidence with the language. We did a lot of teaching practice throughout the day and I got to help him gain a little skill in explaining the book of Mormon in Korean. I am so grateful for the missionaries who helped me first learn how to teach about the book of Mormon and their patience for me! 

The biggest highlight of this week was definitely meeting, shaking hands, and listening to Elder Suarez, a special witness of Jesus Christ. I truly came to recognize him has someone who has a sound understanding of the gospel and has a testimony of the fullness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every aspect! I want to be able to have a testimony of every aspect of the Gospel just like him. He mainly taught and testified about God Calling prophets and how President Nelson is our prophet on the earth today. I really felt his words for what they were worth and they were worth a lot! I will never forget his smiling face and his words of wisdom to me and to other missionaries. I know God Calls prophets and Apostles to lead, guide, and defend! They testify of truth and by their fruits we can know that they are men truly called God.

After the meeting, an old legend 75 year old man stopped us on the street and we ended up talking to him for 2 hours. We talk the Restoration, and bore our testimonies about the true church of God being led by prophets and apostles. It was so special because we had just met one of them like 15 minutes ago! They man had so many sincere questions about God and about truth. What a great opportunity that we were able to sit and teach him. 

Last funny story of the week. I found out the way to get a lot of appointments with members in a very VERY short time. Sunday morning we sent a message to a brother(so we thought) asking him if we could stop by at around 5 to share a brief message with him. Turns out we did not only send it to him, but to about 60 other members in our ward as well. So soon our phone started blowing up the people saying "yes! come over!" others saying "we dont have time tonight, but what about later" and so on. We were sooooooo confused at first, but after a lot of contacting and apologizing, we got a lunch and dinner appointment that day will will have a few this week. I guess it was a miracle in disguise, but ya. Super funny. 

Love you all so much and I hope you are all doing swell!

Elder Meeks

Pics

I am always eating

Pics

Transfer Pics

God's love

Hello Friends and Family! Sorry it has been SOOOOO long since I have sent a main email. I still love all you guys a ton and know that God still loves you too! I actually want to talk about love for a quick second. Something one of my friends said in her email like 3ish months ago came to my mind last week. She told me that she was really striving to love and see the people in her area like God loves and sees them. I thought about that and then I thought about how I have loved the people in my area. There is a older brother in our branch who is about 75 and has Parkinsons disease. He lives in a small village in a small house and its in the middle of nowhere. He was converted only 5 years ago when two Korean elders talked to him in his front yard in California. His faith is strong and he believes that he truly is a son of God. He can't walk well tho. He doesn't have a car. So he stays home, reads the scriptures and other books, prays, and sometimes goes out to the beach near his house and sings hymns. I have visited this man at least once a week since February. I have come to love this brother with all my heart. I have read scriptures with him while looking out on the ocean. I have sung hymns and prayed with him. He has shared with me his life story and how much he can see God's hand in his life. We have laughed and made jokes together. I even made tacos for him one time! I have cleaned up his yard and his house because no one else is there to help him. The nearest member lives 45 minutes away and rarely can find the time to visit him. I am getting teary-eyed just writing this. I love this brother so much. I have caught just a glimpse of the love Heavenly Father has for him. I am so grateful that I have been granted the opportunity by the Almighty God Himself to love and serve the Korean people, and especially this brother. I'm transferring out of this area now. Yesterday, I had a wave of emotions. Sad to go, but ready for a new adventure. Scared to leave my 3 recent converts to another missionary to take care of, but knowing our savior individually accounts and cares for his sheep. Disappointed I couldn't do more, but understanding i tried my best. Knowing I'm not sufficientlu humble, but still trying to strip myself of all pride. I can honestly say that there has not been a more memorable 6 months in my entire life. I feel so blessed and my desire to serve the people this new area is so great! This is truly the work of the Lord and he knows and cares for each one of us. The book of Mormon is true. I would never think to have been so passionate and so enthusiastic about one book. But I am about the Book of Mormon. I feel fulfilled and energized when I read it. It feels my soul with joy to know that God, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, will grant us the matchless gift of returning to live with him. I hope to someday fully partake of the fruit of the tree of life. I hope and pray that each one of you will also. Have a good week! Elder Meeks

Pics and Pinochle

Hey mom! Today we had to take a 2 1/2 hour bus to Busan to practice for a choir performance we are doing next month. Then we had to do interviews and all that, then elder Skousen and I wrecked all the missionaries and our mission president in ping pong, then the mission mom felt bad for keeping us so long so they took us out to get some food, and now we are on our way home at 3:15. Haha lol. Not a lot of time to talk at all! Thanks for all the updates about the fam! Love hearing about them. 

This week I just got to see more out our recent concerts are progressing. Song yoon(the kid my age) is doing great. He blessed the sacrament this week and has been reading the BoM everyday! Making a big change in his life right now. So glad that I can be apart of it. Also, we went over to the Andersons house to make cookies for church and they gave us tacos! So so yummy! And guess what we played while the cookies were baking??!! Pinochle!!! Woot Woot. They beat elder Skousen and I by 20 points! So close. Haha it was super fun time. It's looking like I am going to transfer next week which will be fun. President is pretty open to the "good missionaries". 

Iove you and hope you have a good week! 

Elder Meeks

The Lord's Love and lots of Pics

Hey Everyone!

I"m gonna make this short! I just want to say that the Lord really does love each of us. I felt it many times this week as we got rained on, rejected, and loved by members and nonmembers. He really knows us personally and knows that we are imperfect and can't keep his commandments all the time so he sent us His Son Jesus Christ so we can be made perfect in Him. Let's all repent and become perfect!

Elder Meeks