Week 80...Transfer #14

December 15, 2014

Wow, I can't believe it is the end of the transfer and I’m leaving the trio and getting a new companion.　 Transfer times are starting to decrease and it’s hard to think that I only have 3 transfers left after this transfer.　 The sisters I came out with go home in 2 days. Also the elder from Steve and Merri’s ward comes out this transfer.　 It’s crazy to think that Boris is getting ready for all of this and the bishop is opening his mission papers this week. I can’t believe he is 18 today. 　Where does time go??? 　

1. How was your week, what were your highs/lows?　 This week has been a pretty good week.　 The low would be losing all the elders and sisters that are going home.　 Mostly because all of the sisters that I came out with are going home and that is weird to think. I　came out with some pretty awesome sisters and also it is going to be weird not having any sisters that have been out longer than I have.　 The highs are that we had a lot of good lessons with people. 　Unfortunately, most were in the Bellefonte area so it did not benefit my area at all, but whatever.　 We even picked up a new investigator in Bellefonte.　 However, we are not sure how accountable she is. 　Sometimes she’s kind of crazy.　 Well another high was our ward Christmas party. We had tons of people there and they even ran out of food before everyone got through the line. That’s a good thing because we got lots of people there. 　There was only ham and dessert left by the time I got to the food, but it’s fine. The whole night was fantastic. 　Another fun little thing was last night they had Christmas music show at the church. Also, another high was on Friday when we covered the campus of Penn State handing out He is the Gift cards. We teamed up with the university sisters and went to Forums. Basically, the university sisters can only proselyte on campus on Fridays and they call it forums. We haven’t had any response back yet, but at least we got tons of cards　handed out.　 Hopefully people will take some time over the holidays to watch the video and share it with their families.




2. What do you know about transfers?　 So I am going back to my apartment in State College and I’m getting a new companion.　 But I am not going to Pitt to pick him up. I will just hook up with him when he makes it up to State College. 　That’s about all that I know at the moment.




3. Where did you watch the Christmas devotional last week?　 At a member’s house from the Bellefonte ward.




4. How’s the trio going?　　Is either Elder J or Elder R being transferred?　 No, I am the only one leaving and I am going back to my own ward. 　




5. Did you get my letter/envelope?　　What about a pckg. from gma Karen? 　Yes








How are things with your investigators going?




1. YL and family ? 　Well we had a lesson with her husband on Wednesday. 　It went well and we took a guy from the ward that can speak Chinese. He talked and translated for YL’s husband which was very helpful. 　They are not interested in getting baptized right now, 　but they still want to learn how they can improve their lives.　 So basically we are just seed planting right now. 　




2. L & M ? 　They have been super busy. 　We are going to try and see them this week. 　However, they both came to the ward party on Friday. 　




3. How are things going with #sharethegift? 　Things are going well.　 We haven’t really seen any results yet but hopefully down the road people will watch the video and discover the website and then we should get referrals.




4. Any new leads? 　No　




Do you know what your plans for Christmas are yet?　 Yes, but I have not confirmed with the people yet so I’m not sure on the details yet. 　I will　talk to them ASAP and let you know what is going on. 　

1. What’s your favorite thing about the Christmas season in the mission field? 　It’s great to be able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and the gift that the Savior is to each one of us. I like not having to deal with all of the commercialization　




　

1. What are 5 positive things from this week?  1) I am going back to State College.　2) We picked up a new investigator for Bellefonte.  3) All of our lessons were member present lessons. 　




2. How are you doing? I am doing great! I am glad I am able to go back to State College. 　




3. Anything you need? Do you have the other SD card because I only have one right now. I am going to send the one home that I have right now. 　

Well there is the week and the countdown is on…10 more days until our Christmas Skype. 　As soon as I find out the info about the time I will let you know ASAP. Hope you all have a great week.

Love you, Elder Muir

Week 79...#Share the Gift & Zone Conference

Week 79…December 8, 2014

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  This week has been an awesome week.  Zone conference was the highlight.  You can read all about that in the next question.  Another high was the First Presidency Christmas devotional last night.  If you missed it, you can watch it here…https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/archive/christmas-devotional/2014/12?cid=HPSU120714557&lang=eng.   It was once again pretty awesome.  I loved the talks and the stories that were shared.  Also, I loved the music.  I really liked Sis. Oscarson’s story she shared about the little boys getting the generous amount of candy from her great grandfather.   I also liked Elder Christofferson’s story about the little boy, Ethan, in West Jordan, UT.  I loved how his family, ward & neighborhood rallied around him to provide him with a week of holidays before he died http://www.ksl.com/?sid=32083427.  Ultimately, the message of the devotional was centered around Christ which is the most important thing of Christmas.  I liked the 2 stories because giving is far more than receiving at this time of year and President Johnson spent a good chunk of zone conference talking about that idea and how those times are some of the most memorable for him and his family.  He said, “As we contemplate the miraculous birth of Christ over the next month, remember that He came for all of us collectively but His message and ministering is very personal.  For the troubled, He brings peace.  To the lonely, He brings comfort.  To those that have sinned and repented, He brings forgiveness.  To those who suffer physically, He brings healing & help.  No matter what your individual problem is, He has the solution.”   A low has probably been just the Christmas season in general.  Being around everyone with their family and all that jazz is sometimes hard, but normally I just forget myself and go to work.  I just had this realization the other day, when I get home next year we still won’t all be together for Christmas again since Derek will be gone.  I can't believe that he turns 18 next week. 
2. How was your Zone Conference (details)?  It was awesome!!!!  We definitely felt the spirit of Christmas.  We had an awesome training on remembering the true meaning of Christmas and President J implemented something from his mission about being givers this Christmas and looking for opportunities to serve others.  We had a fantastic training on the He is the Gift initiative http://www.mormon.org/christmas.  It was amazing to see the money, time and energy the church is spending to hasten the work.  I can't imagine the costs of printing thousands of pass along cards, YouTube and even the Times Square billboards in NYC.  Random fact about the YouTube part…they expected 220 million people would view the ad they had on YouTube.  I have determined that the video gets better and better the more you watch it.  I watch it thinking how much power music can have on something.  So I hope that this Christmas season I can touch someone’s life by sharing the gift.  I encourage all that have not watched the video to watch and for those that got the pass along cards in the church magazine…use them and pass them out.  Another awesome thing was we got another mission video.  This year’s video is awesome.  It is way better than last year.  I can't wait to be home and show it to you all.  The weirdest part of zone conference was the departing testimonies of the missionaries that are leaving.  The sisters that came out with me shared their testimonies and now go home in 9 days.  I can't believe that I’ve come to that point of my mission.  No worries though, I am staying focused and I’m going to make these last 6 months the best they could ever be. 
3. When are your next interviews with Pres. Johnson?  Not sure yet.  I would imagine sometime in January.  
4. What are 5 positive things from the week?  Zone conference and I finished the BoM on Tuesday. 
5. How’s the weather been?  Definitely not like yours.  We have been cold and wintry.  A lot of freezing rain, which leads me to a story.  We drove to an exchange on Tuesday in an ice storm.  We made it alive and in one piece but the roads were quite slick in some spots and we just had to take it slow. 
6. Any service opportunities?  No, not really.  We have helped a few less actives stack some wood. 
7. Any Christmas activities that you’ve been involved with?  The Bellefonte ward Christmas party was on Friday and the 2nd ward's party (my ward) is this coming Friday. 
8. What’s the area you’re in like at Christmas?  They have Christmas lights up all over downtown State College.  This weekend Bellefonte is going to have a big Victorian Christmas celebration.  However, when I get back to my area next week it will be a ghost town, which is kind of bummer…but whatever.  Finals are this week so everyone goes home for the holidays.  So meeting with anyone is going to be rough and trying to get around on the bus is going to be a pain because they are on a modified schedule for the holidays L
9. Have you been back to State College much?  Yeah, we usually spend at least 2 or so days down there each week. 
10. How are things with you and the comps?  Are things working out better with Elder J?  Yeah, it goes up and down for him.  But I am only here for another week so it will all be back to normal after that. 
11. How are things with the investigators?  We really have not been able to see anyone.
1. YL and family?  Don't know, she is not responding back to texts so I think I am going to stop by sometime this week. 
2. L & M?  They keep canceling on us.  We had  3 lessons set last week but then they canceled.  It is deer season right now so he is never home and then work has been busy for both of them. 
3. Are you having success with the #sharethegift initiative?  Too hard to tell since we just figured out what it really was at zone conf.  But we are handing lots of cards out so we will see where that takes us.  We do have a cool idea though for all of the missionaries in the State College area.  On Friday (the day we can proselyte on campus) we will hand out a whole bunch of cards and talk to people about the true meaning of Christmas.  It will be right after finals are over and right before everyone goes home for the holidays so it should be a good thing.  Hopefully it will be something they can share with their families over the holidays.      
   
12. How are things with your ward?  They are going well. Things are starting to get rolling and people are starting to catch the vision of hastening the work. 
13. Any gut feelings on transfers?  I think I will end up back in State College again like I was before.  I feel like I might end up training again but I don't really know.  I will know what is going on by next Monday.
    
14. Can we pray for anything specifically?  Pray that all may go well with transfers.  

     Well I thought I would share this little thought with all of you.  So things right now have been kind of slow and lots of things have been falling through.   I keep asking myself what is going on why is all of this happening and I have some slightly normal winter blues.  So this morning for studies I was reading all about faith and other topics because I feel like I have been lacking in faith a bit here and there.  Something I read this morning really stood out to me.  It’s the story of Peter walking on water.  I found it kind of helpful and it brought peace to my mind because the Savior is always there to catch us but it is usually ourselves that cause the initial sinking.  God always has his arms stretched out with mercy and wants us to walk on water.  However, sometimes we begin to see the storm around us and we doubt ourselves and our capacity.  Faith requires us to trust in the Lord…doubt your doubts, not your faith.   

     Well I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.  I invite you all to discover, embrace and share the gift of Christ this Christmas season.

Love,

Elder Muir   #sharethegift

Week 78...18 Months in the Mission All GOBBLED Up!!!

December 1, 2014

Hello to all…I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I know I sure did, I stuffed my face.  The fantastic thing is that I gained no weight.  I’ve lost about 10 pounds in 18 months.  I guess that is the benefit I get for being in the walk area.  Well onto the questions. 

 

1.  How was your week?  What were you highs/lows?  This week has been an AWESOME week.  Thanksgiving was a pretty great.  It was a nice day to spend with the members and get to know them a little bit better.  My first high is that I am going to finish the BOM tomorrow.  I am on Moroni 9 as we speak.   I’m going to start the New Testament next.  Another high was dinner at the Bellefonte Bishop’s house last week.  We had an awesome lesson discussing why it is important to share the gospel.  The spirit was very strong and hopefully we can get some referrals out of it.  A rather cool/weird thing happened last week after emailing you.  We went to lunch and the kid that was serving our food recognized me and asked me where I was from.  Of course, I told him Utah.  He said he knew me from somewhere but we couldn’t quite figure it out.   I did not recognize him but after talking a bit we figured out that we both were on SLCC student council together.  Once we figured that out I kind of recognized him.  He was on a different board than me (there were over 100 of us).  It was weird that out of all the places to run into him, I meet him at the Penn State food court.  He is going to Penn State now and his parents live in Philly.  He is not a member but I guess the sisters got a media referral for him.  He is interested from what the sisters say.  The low has probably been the weather, I’m not really ready for winter. 
2. How was your Thanksgiving Day?   It was awesome!  We started the day with a Turkey Bowl with the Bellefonte ward.  We played for a few hours and then headed back and got ready.  Our first meal was at 1:00 pm.  We were invited to the Bellefonte ward mission leader’s house.  They had a big group of about 30 people there with a bunch of their extended family.  It was pretty fun.  We had the typical Thanksgiving food.  PS…a lady that was there is a sister in law with Vic and Jan Johansen’s daughter, Erica (the one that lives in Vegas).  Small world, huh?  After we went to Sis. V’s  for our 2^nd dinner.  We had a lot of fun there too.  Yes, it was just the 3 of us at Sis. V’s.  We were at each place for a couple of hours. 

3.     How much snow did you get on Wednesday?  Did it snarl any of your plans?  We probably got about 6 inches but it did not ruin any of our plans. 

4.     How did things go with your ward…as far as you making it back to your ward?  Can you go on your own?   What time is your church?   Church is at 9 AM.  Yes, I can go on my own.  I just have to get another priesthood holder the last 2 hours to be my companion.  The 3 of us went to my sacrament meeting this week and then we split from there. 

6.  How are things going with the investigators?

 

a. What about the boyfriend/girlfriend in Bellefonte?  I have not seen them since our last meeting.  They seem to be doing good and hopefully we are having another lesson this week.  They both came to church. 

b. YL?  We were finally able to contact them the other day.  We only had a lesson with her husband.  That was kind of difficult because he does not speak English very well and with Elder R Rosen gone it was kind of difficult.  When YL is there she speaks a little better English so it is easier to communicate. 

c. B?  He is pretty much dropped.  But he did come to church yesterday, however, I did not get a chance to talk to him. 

d. Other people you’re teaching in either area?  We’re still trying to teach  L & M.  We have a lesson set with them for Wednesday. 

e.  Any new leads?  No

 

9.  How are things going with Elder J & Elder R?  Things are going good.  It is about the same as the first trio I was in.  We all get along great.  The biggest thing is I feel like Elder J sometimes lack motivation and does not really care.  He ignores little rules here and there.  We talked about it on Friday at the end of our weekly planning.  We discussed how we can be better unified and more obedient.  So far it seems to be working with the goals that we have set. 

10. Any mission news/details this week?  No, not that I can think of. 

11. Is your zone conference this week?  Yes, Thursday in State College. 

FYI…Elder R arrived in Taiwan with his group from the MTC and all is well for him there.  He’s been emailing me updates and says things are going well with his new comp.  He said he misses Pennsylvania and being comps with me.  He said he learned a lot of good things that he’s trying to implement in Taiwan.  He said he doesn’t have anymore “bad VISA days” J  It’s fun to hear from him and hear about his success.

PS…exactly 6 months from today I will be making final preparations packing to come home.  I know it’s a CRAZY thing to think. 

Love you,

Elder Muir

Week 77...Grateful Heart = Happy Thanksgiving

November 24, 2014

1. How was your week?  What were the highs and lows?  The cold and the wind have definitely made the week rather miserable.  It was in the teens for several days and only rose above freezing after the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference.  The warm up only came after an ice storm left many members unable to attend the priesthood leadership and general adult session.  Unfortunately, we spent Tuesday (the coldest day of the week) walking around in my area in State College.  I’ve learned to be very grateful for a bus.  You have no idea how nice it is to have a warm bus to get on and spend a few minutes warming up.  The bus will definitely be nice when that is my only way to get around again when I’m back in State College.  Another positive and thing to be grateful for is that we didn’t get the snow that other parts got (Erie & Buffalo).  I’m glad I’m not in the Erie walk area because I heard they got 3ft of snow and that would not be any fun.  Another high is we got some ward missionaries and that is pretty cool.  They both seem like awesome people that will be a big asset for the ward.  We had a cool lesson with one of the Bellefonte investigators that is a part member family.  The boyfriend is less active and his girlfriend is a non member.  We had a way good lesson with both of them.  The less active BF was great at testifying and adding his input to what we taught.  Overall, it was a pretty good week.  
2. How was stake conference?  Saturday session & Sunday session?  Conference was awesome.  It was all about missionary work.  President and Sister Johnson both gave awesome talks.  Another person talked about service missions.  It was amazing to hear how many different kinds of service missions there are and the opportunities there are to serve.  My favorite talk was about obedience.  She talked about how we need to be obedient no matter what, even if the result takes a while.  She reminded us that we need to be patient with the Lord’s timing.  It was good to hear that it all happens in the Lord’s timing and He is very aware of our individual circumstances.  Even though things get difficult we need to trust in His plan for us and seek His guidance. 
3. Where did you go to Stk Conf...Altoona?  Is it a long drive?  We went to Altoona for the Saturday session and it was broadcast to all of the buildings for the Sunday session.  Altoona is about 45 min. to an hour from State College. 
4. Were you able to see people from the Ridgway branch?  Yes, it was great.  I was able to see President W (Ridgway branch president) and  a few other people from the branch. 
5. How's the weather?  Any snow?  Well at least we are not like the Buffalo area with 7ft of snow and flash flooding now.  However, we did get our fair share of cold last week.  Like I said above, Tuesday was only in the low 20s/high teens for the high, but with the wind it was like single digits.  It was pretty darn cold.  Then today it is like 65…go figure.  What a difference a week makes.  The biggest weather adventure was on Saturday.  Saturday afternoon they closed the freeway from State College to Altoona because of freezing rain.  It was pretty dangerous with lots of accidents.  We were not affected by it because we arrived before they shut down the freeway.  Our ride had to be there early for some other meetings.  So we missed  all the excitement.  However, most of the people traveling for the general session on Saturday didn’t make it.  Some people in my ward crashed and totaled their car but luckily they were OK.  Just what you wanted to hear from me after the safety warning that you just gave me.  Sorry to hear about all of the accidents that missionaries have been involved with.  Lucky for you I’ll be riding a bus for most of the winter and I can walk if it is really bad. 
6. How are things with the companions and the trio?  Things are going well.  Tell me about them?  Where are they from? Elder J is from Tri Cities Washington area.  Elder R  is from Alberta, Canada but now lives in West Valley.  How long have they been out? Elder R has been 6 months and Elder J was at the MTC with me.  I knew Elder R a little bit before, but not much.  Are they DL or ZL's?  Elder R is the DL. 
7. Will you still attend your State College ward or go to Bellefonte or both?  I know that I’ll for sure go to my ward and maybe make it to the last hour of Bellefonte. 
8. Any service opportunities this week?  Yes, we were able to help some people that are remodeling their house.  We painted some stuff and we helped them put up a cabinet. 
9. Were you able to do any Melchezidek priesthood splits/exchanges to your area? Yes, I went on Wednesday night.  It was good because we got in with a couple of single women.  We are trying to set it up where I can do it at least one a week while I am in the trio…that is my goal. 
10. How are things with your investigators?  Well, I have only been texting with them.  I am hoping to see them tomorrow when I go on another priesthood exchange.  I hope they are not slipping through the cracks.  I think things have just been really busy with them.   
11. Who have you been teaching this week?  I met a bunch of people from the Bellefonte ward.  They have some cool people with a lot of potential.  I’ve done a little bit of teaching with the people in my area too. 
12. What are 5 positive things from this week?  1) It is warm now J   2) We survived the cold and the wind.  3) Stake conference was pretty awesome.  4) It is almost Thanksgiving.  4) I am 10 days away from my final quarter.  5) Oh yeah, another is it is the end of the month and my money is running low after getting a few winter things.  I was praying that some cash might show up soon.  Of course, Sis. Buehner saved the day and it was quite a nice surprise.    Be sure to tell her thank you for me and I will send her a thank you today. 
13. How have your dinner appts. been this week?  They have been OK, things have slowed down a little bit.  With the holidays I think a lot of people will be going home so we’ll see how it plays out.

I hope you get this with all your computer problems and it works.  Glad you were able to send your email to me.  I sent it to dad’s email too so hopefully you’ll be able to get into one of the 3 emails to get it. 

Love you,

Elder Muir

Week 76...No More VISA Waiting=Taiwan Bound Elder R

November 17, 2014

Of course, just when I start to settle in and get a handle on things I get a curve ball thrown at me.  I have to remember that you always told me the only thing you can count on is change. This week has been an adventure.  You’ll see below what I mean.  Elder R left for Pitt yesterday and will fly to Taiwan early tomorrow morning (Tuesday).  Now I am in a trio with Bellefonte elders until transfers (4 more weeks).  I’ve moved to Pleasant Gap and we left our apartment empty yesterday.   Here’s your answers J

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  Well this week was kind of bitter sweet.  I was hoping Elder R would not leave so suddenly,  but I’m glad he finally is able to go to Taiwan.  I feel like he was snatched up in the night.  I learned a lot from him and I loved being with him.  We only had 2 lessons this week, but the midweek news kind of changed up our plans.  One of the highs this week was the priesthood lesson we had yesterday about prayer from the Joseph Fielding Smith manual.  It made me think of the real power and importance of prayer.  President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that we should make the spirit of prayer “part of our very being.”  https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-of-presidents-of-the-church-joseph-fielding-smith/chapter-22-prayer-a-commandment-and-a-blessing?lang=eng    At the moment I feel that my prayers need to be more sincere and heartfelt.  That is something that I have been working on.  An interesting point was brought up in the lesson by a couple of the people.  They commented about how they have young kids and saying nightly personal prayer is sometimes difficult for them; however, their random prayers throughout the day sometimes have more of an impact.  Sometimes the need is more desperate (not sure if that makes sense).  Pres. Smith teaches that the season for prayer is always (see Alma 34:18-28).  Another high was that we were able to have another lesson with  L&M (the people our WML came with us to visit).  It was awesome and the spirit was super strong. They are both making a lot of progress which makes us happy.  The low was trying to get everything packed for both of us to leave.  It was kind of a low week for lessons but we did our best with the circumstances we had.  A lot of weekend was spent packing for the sudden change. 
2. Is Elder R still with you?  How's the training going?  Nope, he got a call from President Thursday night saying his VISA came.  President & Sis. Johnson came this way for a stake conference yesterday and they picked him up on their way back to Pitt.   He flies out early tomorrow.  I am in a trio (with Elder J & Elder R) up in the Bellefonte ward but living in Pleasant Gap.  We live in an old Victorian house that has been turned into an apartment.  I sleep on an old mattress that they had.  Bellefonte proudly claims to be Central Pennsylvania’s Victorian Secret and is home to some of the best fly fishing in PA.  It’s about 15 miles northeast of State College and is a borough of State College.  Pleasant Gap is on the outskirts and kind of in between Bellefonte and State College.   Together the 3 of us have to keep track of people in the Bellefonte ward and also help keep up on things for my ward.  I am back in a car now but the problem is Bellefonte is still quite a distance from State College.  I’m probably going to be doing a lot of Melchizedek priesthood holder exchanges/splits on some nights for the next month.  Yep, I will be in the trio for the next 4 weeks. Transfers are the week before Christmas and that’s when I’ll get a new companion.  So it is going to be kind of crazy. 
3. How is your cold?   Hope you are feeling better?  Yes, the only thing is I can’t get rid of my stupid cough. 
4. Have you had stake conference again?  It’s this coming weekend.  Luckily, we’re in the same stake as my last area (Ridgway branch) so I’ll be able to see some of the members from the branch.
5. When is your zone conference?  December 4th
6. How's the weather?  It seems that old man winter has rudely arrived and sent the temperatures plunging into the basement.  The high tomorrow is only supposed to be 23.  It snowed a bit this week, but it didn’t stick.  It’s been cloudy most of the week. 
7. What's your mode of transportation mostly...bikes, walk or bus?  Usually bus and walk because the bikes are too much of a hassle.   
8. Any service this week?  No, but I think our service opportunities will pick up in Bellefonte.  It sounds like they do a lot of service for people. 
9. How are the investigators?
1. YL?  They are at Disneyworld right now and get back this week.  However, until I am back to my normal area we are going to let the branch sisters teach them.  The sisters live in the same complex and one of the sisters speaks mandarin so it just makes sense. 
2.  B?  Not sure what is up with him, I think we might have to drop him soon. 
3.  C?  She has been busy with school so we have not been able to meet with her.  However, she did come to church yesterday. 
4. Media referrals, did you contact them?  One of them is not interested and the other says he is busy until January.  
5. Less active guy with NM wife (you went with WML)?   Their names are L & M and they are doing awesome.  We had another lesson with them Tuesday night with the WMLand they are both doing great.  An interesting thing happened.  Our phone has been having problems and sometimes we don’t receive our text messages right away.  Anyway L & M texted us saying they couldn’t make the appointment Tuesday night; however, we didn’t get the message until Wednesday morning.  When we showed up for the appointment they let us in and we had a very spiritual lesson and they didn’t mention anything about the text they had sent.   I know Heavenly Father has a hand in all things and we were where we needed to be Tuesday night.   M understands the BOM very well.  She was reading in 1 Nephi where it talks about Joseph of Egypt and Joseph Smith and she understood all of that by reading it on her own and not having us explain it to her.  I am hoping she is one that I can baptize while I am here in State College.  They were sick yesterday so they were not able to make it to church and they had to cancel their appointment last night. 
10. Are you happy & healthy?  Yes, right now is kind of crazy since Elder R is gone and now we’re basically running 2 wards.  It is just a bit stressful. 
11. Can we pray for anything specific? Please pray that the next month will go smooth while I am in the trio.  

Well I think that is everything for the week.  What a difference a week in the mission can make, things can change up pretty fast.   It is kind of crazy.  I  love you all, thanks for everything.  

Love you,

Elder Muir

Week 75...A Bit of Chill in the Air

November 10, 2014

1. How was your week?  What were your highs/lows?  It’s been a pretty good week.  We’ve made some progress in our lessons with some of the people that we are teaching so that is success.  Our biggest struggle has been finding new investigators.  That is something that I am working on for this transfer.  Also, we had another investigator at church yesterday.  The primary program was yesterday so it was fun to see all of the little kids.  We were able to have a lesson with B again so we will see where that goes.  I am not sure how much longer he is going to be an investigator though.  The lows have been that a majority of our dinner appointments tanked this week which we were both kind of bummed about.  The worst part is that we did not buy that much food last Monday because we were expecting 4 dinner appointments this week so that was kind of a bummer.  To top it off, I have had a cold all week.  I swear I have had more colds on my mission than ever.  It seems like every time the season changes I end up sick.  On a high note, I think I’m on the tail end of it. 
2. How is the weather holding up for you?  Have you had snow yet?  No snow but it is getting cold enough that it could snow. I think we are getting close.  It has definitely been colder.  The nights are especially cold because it gets dark at 5:30 and we still have 3 hours left of our night.  Definitely starting to get cold but at least there is no snow yet.   
3. Have you made plans for Thanksgiving yet?  We are going to the lady’s house that had us over for the greenie dinner.  It should be good, we’re excited. 
4. How are things with your investigators?

1.      YL?  We had another lesson with them on Thursday.  They are still making progress but it is still kind of hard with the language barrier.  She seems more into it than her husband but I think it is really hard for him to understand us.  We committed them to pray about baptism and they said they would.  We were hoping that they would be at church yesterday but they didn’t end up coming.  Not sure why they didn't come.  We just hope that we can see them before they leave for DisneyWorld on Wednesday. 
2.       B?  We had a lesson with him on Friday.  We took our WML with us and had a decent lesson with him.  He still tends to get off topic and things but we did pretty good this lesson to keep him on topic.  He is out of town this week so we will see what happens. 
3.    C?  She has been really busy with school so she has not had time to meet with us.  We have been texting her a little bit. 
4.     W?  We dropped her. Basically she told us she did not want to read or pray or even care if there is a God.  We had decided previously that if there were no improvements in her progression we would have to drop her. 
5.      New opportunities/leads/people?  We have a few media referrals that we received.  We have not contacted them but hopefully it will lead somewhere.  Also there is a less active guy and his NM wife that we have been teaching on and off.  They are just super busy.  They were both at church yesterday but only stayed for sacrament meeting.  We went over last night with our WML and his wife and we were able to have a little lesson with them. We are planning on going again tomorrow night with WML and his wife (hopefully, she literally could have a baby any second because her due date was yesterday and she has not had it yet).  Not sure if they’ll be able to go with us or not.

1. Any service opportunities lately?  No not really.  I wish the ward had more service opportunities, but no such luck. 
2. Are you still getting fed quite regularly there?  The past couple of weeks have been kind of rough.  This past week was supposed to be a pretty good line up but several people had to cancel on us so that was kind of disappointing.   
3. I'm assuming Elder R is still there?  How's he holding up?  Yes he is still here.  He just got an email from his mom and she called the travel department and I guess his VISA has cleared the US and now Taiwan needs to clear it.  She said that should be done by the end of the week.  But it sounds like church policy is that they send them out at the end of a transfer.  However, you never know so we will see what happens.  He’s doing good but he still has moments that he wants out of here, but I think having the latest info gives him some sort of time frame. 

Another week of adventures.  PS…I saw the tree up in State College, but I had no idea that the lighting celebration was last Friday.  I’m glad we were not downtown.  That is just weird having your Christmas festivities like 6 weeks before Christmas, but whatever.  Glad I was not downtown for it.  

Love yinz all!!

Elder Muir