- First off, how was zone conference? When was it
and how many missionaries were there? What did you do? Zone conference was AWESOME! There were
about 85 missionaries from Harrisburg, Chambersburg, and Lancaster
zone. It was very inspired conference and very good to hear what was
said. We talked about the Come
Follow Me teachings and how we can tie that into the way
the Savior taught and wants us to teach. Also, we discussed the
talk His Grace is Sufficient http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/09/his-grace-is-sufficient?lang=eng
and also a talk by Elder Bednar http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2004/10/in-the-strength-of-the-lord?lang=eng
(the very first conference talk he gave). I really enjoyed those
talks a lot. I'm sure you have read His Grace is Sufficient since it is in this month’s
Ensign. I really like the story he shares about the piano lessons
and the boy and the analogy he gives.
I think Pres. Beard talked about it in stake conference once.
I especially like where it talks about how it doesn't matter how good or
bad we are that we just need to keep trying and not give in even though we
hit a lot of wrong notes. We are always going to fall short, but we
shouldn’t give up because we fall short. If you keep practicing you will get
better and your testimony will grow and it will be easier to turn
away from sin and not have the desire to do evil. Growth and development take time. So does learning, it’s important to
learn from our mistakes and keep striving to become a better disciple of
Christ. Luckily, the atonement has
been given to us and we don't need to be perfect. What counts is that we keep trying
to become like Him. The talk
by Elder Bednar is given literally hours after he is called to be an
apostle. He talks about Enoch and how he asks God what’s so
special about me, why have you chosen me?
He feels very inadequate. You will have to read the talk and it
explains it much better. It also
talks about his experiences when they are getting ready to change Ricks to
BYU-I. Someone asks him are you
nervous to do this and he said he would be terrified if he did not have
the "strength of the Lord". So it was a very good zone
conference. No such luck on technology yet. There is a mission
president seminar next month and president thinks he may get more info
there. So hopefully it is getting closer.
- Did you have interviews with the mission
president? No, that is in November I
think
- Are the leaves changing in Camp Hill yet? Little by little they are. Things are
starting to cool down so it should be soon.
- Is the weather cooling off? Yes Will
you need winter stuff yet or is it finally starting to feel
bearable? Let’s give it a little bit longer. Hopefully I
can make it through this transfer, but I will keep you posted.
- Looks like you might have had a lot of rain on
Saturday, did you survive? Yes, we
did have rain and luckily that was our day that we walked up to the M
family’s home and a couple of other places that are far away. It was
sprinkling on us during the afternoon and that night around 6:30
or 7 pm it started pouring. At
that point we were in for the night because we had to finish weekly
planning. I was glad to not be stuck in it.
- What are the highs/lows for the week? Well this week was a good week but also kind of a long week. So the first thing is a new guy moved into the ward and he lives our area. His name is J. M. and he played Little Ricky on I Love Lucy http://everythinglucy.youns.com/joseph-michael_mayer.asp?vm=r&s=1 He recently moved from Portland. He lived down the street from the temple. He and his twin brother played Little Ricky in the 3rd through the 5th season. I got a signed card from him that I will either send home or take a picture and send it. He had an open house to meet his neighbors and get to know people on Monday at his apartment. So we went with the sisters and the bishop. He has a neighbor that we are hopefully going to start teaching soon and she seems pretty interested. He served his mission in Japan. He is strong in the gospel and will be a good addition to our ward.
Another high
is we picked up some new investigators. It is a husband and wife.
He is not all there mentally. I've seen him out walking a bunch of times (when
Elder J was here) but we could never find him to teach him. His wife is
in a rehab center. She is recovering from pneumonia and muscle atrophy from the
pneumonia. They are a younger couple so we will see where it goes.
Obviously another high was zone conference. My low for the week is I have
a huge blister on my Achilles heel. It was because I wore the tie up shoes
on a day that we walked to the top of our area and they are kind of
tight. I think they might be too small (even though the guy said that 8 ½’s
were best). So I wore them to try to give my other shoes a break since they
really are on their last steps…literally. The problem is now the blister is
in a spot that just gets rubbed up against my shoe since it is on the back
of my foot. It would be fine if I could wear flip flops, but that’s
probably not going to happen. So hopefully it will get better
quick. I have a picture to send but Elder F says I can't use church
computers anymore to email. The library computers won't let me send pics.
So you will have to see it when I send the SD card home. I have asked
president and we will see what he says. Also a high was the other night
the moon was coming up and it was huge and orange. A picture will be
coming eventually. Finally, I read those 2 Ensign talks you were talking
about I really really loved those. I think Elder Holland is
amazing.
- What are 5 positive things for this week? 1) Zone
conference. 2) It’s cool to
think that Little Ricky is in our ward. 3) The moon was beautiful and amazing.
4) We have some new investigators.
- How are the investigators coming? Is the work
progressing/picking up? Yes,
things are picking up little by little, but we’ve also had a little bit of
falling back down.
- Were you able to make contact with the new guy
that Elder J originally tried to contact? Yes, we are going back in couple of weeks.
That is when he told us to come back.
- What about Franky & Sally? Do the kids still
have lice? Have you been able to go back?
I'm not really sure what’s up. They
say they do, but I'm beginning to not buy it anymore. Unfortunately,
they are sliding backwards a little. We tried teaching them Saturday
and we were able to get in but it was not really anything great.
However, all we can do is keep trying and hope and pray they will start
moving a forward again.
- Any news about the guy in jail? Not much, his girlfriend called the other day and
said he still wants us to come. We told her of our problems/roadblocks.
She said she would try to get us on the visitor list.
- How are the meals? Good, just like home cooking. I
am starting to eat my peas, corn and beans. Are you being fed a
lot? Yes, we probably average 3 times a week
- Did you get a letter from gma Bonnie & gpa
Lewy? Not yet. What
about a Deseret Book pckg from gma Karen? Not yet. I guess
I should be expecting a lot of mail the next few days.
- What's the name of the CD/group that you wanted
some music from? Lower Lights Dad said
it sounds kind of bluegrassy? Yes, that is them. They have some
cool songs I have heard. Can't remember where to find it in the
letters/emails. I should have written it down.
- How did you get to WalMart last week (when lady
paid) if the sisters weren't there yet? Is WalMart close enough to walk
to? The sisters just weren’t with
us at that point (meaning we were shopping separately in the store and we
were not together) and the lady just ran into us first. She was so
nice and paid for our groceries and we did not know where the sisters were.
The sisters showed up and then she bought us lunch. So the sisters still
drove us to WalMart, they just weren’t around us when we ran into the
lady.
- What having you been buying for groceries
lately? I haven't had to buy a
lot lately because I still had bulk stuff like bagel bites etc. I’ve been making stuff with chicken like
the bbq chicken pizza and teriyaki rice and chicken. I found these
little chicken cordon bleu balls that Tyson makes and like those. I
wish I could make some of the recipes you sent and some of the recipes out
of the book Alyssa gave me, but they all take too long to make. We don’t have a lot of time. Luckily
we are being fed pretty good. Today I need to stock up on things again
because I am starting to run out of my stock pile.
- How are things with Elder F? Anymore weird stuff,
any good stuff? Are things going better this week? Do you enjoy him as a
companion? It is interesting. I would take Elder J back in a hearbeat,
but I am making do with what I have and learning a lot in the process.
I know some people in the ward are not thrilled with him. I will write more in my
snail mail. So hopefully I will make it 3 more weeks. It will
be fine, but if I get anymore with him it may be interesting. I just
wish I could know what the few people in the ward don't like about
him. Overall, he is good but he just has little things here and
there that I don't love about him. I will talk a little more about
it in snail mail because I'm out of time on the computer.
- Do you need anything? (besides the shoes, belt,
shorts) What is Alyssa's apartment
address now that she is in panama? I
would like to send mail directly to her so it doesn't have to go through
the mission home.
- Can we specifically pray for
anyone/anything? That Elder F and I can
continue working together and be unified.
- When is the mission/zone tour that Elder Arnold
is doing? October 9
- Are you happy? Yes
- Did you hear about the game? Yes, lots of people
were very tired yesterday. Since it was 2 hrs ahead here it did not
end until 2 am. I am kind of glad we have a few years for a
break too. I'm excited to get your Cougar Tracks game report.
Love
Elder Muir
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