8-25-2014 Happy Birthday, Korean style, video and pics

8/25/2014 - Meridian Miracle

Hello family and friends, 

I'm sorry I don't get this out ever week, i'm losing my ability to type fast and there isn't much time. 

So this week has been filled with some of the most amazing things of my entire mission. 

First we went to a meat buffet. A meat buffet is where you have a bunch of raw meat to choose from and you just cook it in front of you and you get to eat as much as you want. So that was a really good way to start the week out. 

So Elder Watts and I were just out walking around and talking to people and we here this voice from behind us. This older guy asked us if he wanted to go to his house. We were a little bit skeptical about it because Elder Watts had a bad experience with that in his last area. Well we felt like it would be a good thing to do. So we followed this guy to his house and he was a really nice man. He gave us water and bread and we just talked for a really long time. We kinda gave him a little bit of an introduction to our church and we are going to meet him again really soon. First miracle. 

After we left this guy's house we went down a street that we normally don't go down and we saw a group of about 10 grandmas and 1 grandpa. It's always fun to say hi to old people because the just laugh and call us handsome. If people my age thought I was as good looking as much as Korean grandmas do then I would be the most popular guy out there haha. Anyway, this one Grandpa said hi to us in English and so we stopped and talked to him. We told him we were missionaries and we found out that he had lived in California for 30 years. Anyway we talked about our church for about 15 minutes and then we brought out the Book of Mormon and he realized that we were Mormon. He told us that we new of our church and he had seen the temples in California a bunch. We ended up talking to this guy for about an hour and we told us to come back and talk to him again so we will do that for sure. Second miracle. 

The next day we met with somebody that I had met on a member split. He is a member of a different church but he has a ton of interest in our church and when we talked about the Book of Mormon he really liked it and was really happy when we gave him a copy. We are going to meet him tomorrow with a member, New investigators are the best! 

I found out something really interesting this week as well. So when Elder Watts was in his last area a young man walked in with his mom and the host mom that he had while he stayed in Utah. When we was in Utah he talked to the missionaries and when he came back Elder Watts and his companion taught and baptized him. The other day Elder Watts called and talked to him on the phone for a while and then he said he stayed in Utah county.

 I asked him what school he was from and he said the went to Meridian. For those of you who don't know, Meridian is the school my mom taught at and the school where my little brother went. I asked him if he happened to know a Mrs. Meeks and the light came on and he shouted, "YOUR JACOBS BROTHER!!". His name his Kim Gil Tea.  He was a really good friend of my little brother while he was in Utah and he had been to my house a bunch of times.. I saw him before but I didn't recognize him because he had grown like a whole foot. It's amazing how it all connects together. Especially in the church. 

We also had the opportunity to go to the Seoul temple this week which was really awesome. I got to see a bunch of members of my MTC group which was really amazing. 

This week has been truly amazing. Elder Watts and I have been working really hard and we are  seeing the fruits of our labors and it's really amazing. We just found out yesterday that Elder Watts and I will be companions for this next transfer so we have 6 more weeks to be totally awesome. 

Thank you all for you Prayers. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the Lord is this way. We are as the army of Helamen.

Love you all, 

Elder Meeks 

8/23/2014 - Singing Video

8-17-2104 - Package and picts of weird food

Yea I got the package for sure. And yes everything is gone for sure. But just a word of advice. After not eating beef jerky for a while it's not a good idea to eat half the bag at once. It's hard on the tummy for sure. But I really loved to letters that I got when I was 8. I didn't remember those at all so it made me really happy to read those. 

You are all going to Mexico? That sounds like so much fun. I hope you all don't mind if I send you some presents from Korea. I've been stockpiling some and I think you'll all like them. 

You have to put pictutres and vidoes of you all up on dropbox. I want to see fun stuff that's going on. 

Things with Elder Watts are great. We are working so hard. I'm not ever going to take naps anymore. I have so much energy right now and it's super awesome. 

We don't have any investigators right now but I still feel good because I'm working harder than I ever have to find them. 

Members in our area are really good. They like us and give us a lot of food, But they don't like doing missionary work :/ no fun but it's ok. 

I'm going to get the new scriptures this week when I go to the temple. Thanks for that. 

I hope you like the pictures. I'm going to take a lot all the time because it's easy to get them to you now. 

I'm going to try and write big emails but it's really hard. 

Thanks for all the updates on everything. 

Also could you send me a copy of my patriarchal blessing? 

Love ya a bunch, Thanks for everything, 

Elder Dano Meeks 

8-10-2014

So this week has been really good. I think if you sent the package then i'll get it tomorrow so that will be good. Elder Watts and I are having a really good time. We are working hard and trying to find people to teach. It's not really that easy but we really really good about the things we are doing. 

Korean is still hard but it's fun and we are learning a lot. 

Hey can you ask Jacob what his favorite soccer team is and what his number is? We can order really cool soccer uniforms and I want to order one for him and send it some time. 

I hope you like the pictures. I'll try to take a bunch and keep sending them to you guys. Also you can put pictures are there too. So if you have pictures of you all and cool things that are going on there you can easily put them on there for me to see. I haven't seen a picture of you all if a really long time. 

Also I really want to buy a brand new set of scriptures. I have the one I got at 8 and it's really good but I kinda want to start new and fresh. 

How's work for you and Dad? I bet you are both super busy all the time. 

Thanks for everything. Things are going really well so don't worry at all :) 

Love, 

Elder Meeks 

You scared me really bad with the title of your email. It made it sound like you were fired from your job. 

That's a long time to be with one companion. I'm sure you two got to know each other pretty well. Thanks kinda how I feel about being with Elder Watts. Literally people call us the dream companionship so I really need to push myself and keep going strong all the time. 

It looks like you are doing what you've always wanted to do. I'm so happy that you have this job. I know you are going to be the best thing that this school has ever known.

I have really been trying to be lead by the spirit in everything I do. It's kinda hard. I want to be like Nephi and Ammon and just know what needs to be done. I would someday love to get to the point where I just go about doing the will of the lord at every moment. Lets just say I have a really long way to go. 

I've been studying a lot about the Atonement lately and it's been really good. On just about every page of all of PMG has something about the Atonement of Christ. I'd say that it is a kinda really important. So many stories in the Book of Mormon that talk about people being cleansed through the Atonement of Christ 

Elder Watts is a great companion. Don't worry about us at all. Everything is going awesome. I'm trying all the time to become better in all that I do. Elder Watts and I have now started saying "don't worry, be happy." If we get frustrated we just think of this and try to always be happy. It's been really good so far. 

Love ya so much and miss ya a ton. Sounds like you're rocking it right now with your new job. 

Elder Daniel Meeks 

8-3-2014 - English not so good

A lot of people like us because they want to learn English. For the most part, Koreans can communicate pretty well in English. But sometimes he get people who text us things like this. 

"i am sorry. i was very busyed,because us had been in company at a working that everyone and i was not my hand a holding on the phone another in the place." 

If anybody can decode this I would be very happy. 

My time with Elder Watts is so amazing so far. We are working really hard and just pushing each other to become better all the time. When we not speaking Korean we are speaking in some accect that just makes both of us bust up laughing at every moment. 

We have been doing a bit of everything when it come to missionary work. We have been seeing members and teaching lessons and talking to the people on the street. It's been really good and there is never a dull moment. 

There are a lot of missionaries in Korean who just walk the streets all day and talk to people. All the time. Elder Watts and I decided that we would not do this. Our purpose is to teach the gospel and invite others to come unto Christ. We have already seen some success in that we have a couple of new investigators now. They still have a long way to go, but at least we have somebody to work with now. 

Everything is awesome! I love my life right now. And serving here in Korea is super awesome all the time. It's hard for sure, Korea isn't a high conversion mission, but it's rewarding all the same. 

Elder Daniel Meeks 

7-27-2014 - NEW companion and pics

Well Elder Watts come to my area this week to be my new companion and it's totally awesome. Elder Watts is a 6 foot 4 inch tall guy with a huge desire to work and a super strong testimony. The best part about it is that we were in the MTC together and we spent 9 weeks in the same classroom so we kinda already have a super awesome relationship. The only problem is that we kinda still both aren't the best at speaking Korean. But it makes for some really funny experiences and a few mix ups. You know you're still have a way to go when you ask an old man on the bench if he is peeing rather than if he is just resting. Haha good times. 

Elder Watts and I have already developed a great relationship with the ward. They really like it that we came over together and they love talking to us about it. 

We've only been together for about 4 days but I know that there are going to be tons of amazing miracles. 

Thank you all for you your prayers. 

Elder Meeks

7-20-2104 - Almost new companion

Hey mom, 

Thanks for the update on everything. I'll definitely send Lyndsey an email for sure too. Yea I can figure out the shampoo thing too so don't worry about that. If you could do that ACT thing that would be so awesome for sure. 

Hey so i'm still with my current companion right now but the good news is is that we got our transfer calls two days ago and I'm going to be serving with an Elder named Elder Watts. Lets just say that Elder Watts is one of my best friends of the whole Mission. We are in the same MTC group and we were in the same MTC district. He is the most amazing guy I've ever met and I know we are going to have the best time ever. He's 6 foot 4 and has the most amazing fun personality in the whole world. Lets just say things are going to be a whole lot better and I know the miracles are going to start rolling in. And he's from Alpine Utah so you are probably pretty close to his family. 

Anyway things have been ok. Just a little slow and not much has been done but it's ok. 

I've been reading a lot from PMG and really trying to understand the contents of it. Wow it's really amazing the incites you have when you read it. 

Oh and yes it is very Very VERY hot. Haha I feel like i'm swimming through the air when I walk outside. And all we have at our house are fans. Haha such the life of the missionary. 

Korean is coming along but it's still really hard. There are just so many things that go along with learning it. But because Elder Watts and I are still pretty new I think we're going to have to learn really fast and it's going to be so fun!!! 

Thanks for the letter and the package. 

I don't really have a big email but i'm sure some great things are going to start happening within this next week. 

Elder Meeks 

7-13-2104 Letter to Mom

You sound way more busy than I am right now. With the soon leaving of my companion things have been a tiny bit slow. My companion is a ok guy, he just doesn't care about spreading the gospel right now. Kinda stinks. I was reading in PMG this mourning and it said that the more we understand the Atonement of Christ the more we will want to spread the gospel and help people come unto Christ. So if we don't really care about spreading the gospel then we need to take a step back and study the Atonement of Christ. 

Hey so our ward does something called "Band" our members take pictures of everything and put them up on the "band" I think that it is a app that you can download on you phone and in you just copy and paste 만수 와드 (Mansu ward) you may be able to find the page and see more pictures of me and stuff. 

Here's something interesting that I found out this week. The Korean elder in my house has been out for a year now and I just found out that he will be ending his mission in 1 week. His father is a non member and is forcing him to discontinue his mission. It's pretty sad. He has really great faith to come out in the first place. The funny thing is is that his sister is in the ward that he is serving in now and so when he ends next week he will just live with his sister in the same ward that he was just barely serving in. Crazy right. 

Also I think that I have misplaced my Patriarchal blessing somewhere and I can't find in. Do you think you could send me a copy of it next time you send something? 

I'll get a knew companion in about a week and a half so I'll start having some real things I can write to everybody about. 

Korean is a pain but i'm progressing slowly but surely. But your right about the hard language thing. If not for our smart parents I would be able to do it. 

Thanks for the update on the crazy stuff back home 

Love ya a bunch 

Elder Daniel Meeks