Week 42...Stomach Flu = Not Much Missionary Work

Week 42…March 24, 2014

     Hey you were fine this week with your email; you got it to me before I got here.  We had to run some errands before we got here so it was sitting nicely in my inbox.  One of those errands was sending you a package J  I put the shipping on my card so check it please.  Sorry it is so much, I thought it was a flat rate box but apparently it wasn't. I used a box that was just lying around the apartment so I used that.  So hopefully it will be there Wednesday.  I also got the New Era and the letter from Boris that you sent.  Well onto the questions. 

1. What are the highs/lows for the week?  The beginning of the week was OK, but it went downhill from there.  Thursday Elder B woke up feeling sick to his stomach so he went back to bed and he slept all day.  Later in the day he started puking.  So he had the stomach flu for a few days.  Our hope was that if he stayed in bed all day he would feel better for zone conference on Friday.  On Friday he woke up and felt decent so we were able to go to zone conference and it was awesome!!!  At lunch time he thought it would be a great idea to eat a baked potato and chili, turned out not to be such a great idea and he puked that up too.  Luckily we were able to finish zone conference and then we went to dinner at the W  family’s house that night. Elder B just slept on the couch while we ate.  After dinner it was off to the ward talent show.  It was a pretty fun night.  Lots of good performances from the ward and Elder B even showed off his yo-yoing skills.  He is super good at the yo yo.  We were able to get quite a few less actives and non members to the talent show.  So this week has been good but it’s been kind of a rough week.  I will say that being holed up in the apartment all day watching random movies and studying while Elder B was sleeping is not the most entertaining thing, especially when there is a whole lot that needs to be done.  But zone conference was awesome and lots of good training was given.  Yesterday and Saturday night was stake conference and it was definitely awesome.  So basically the latter half of the week was spent either at zone conference/stake conference or in the apartment.  Elder B did not eat anything for like 3 days and he thinks he lost almost 10 pounds from the dreaded stomach flu (hope I don’t get it J) 
2. How's your weather been?  Pretty good, it rained Wednesday but the rest of the week was pretty warm.  I think Thursday it was about 65.  So it has been anywhere from the 40's to the 60's
3. Is there still snow on the ground?  No, but it is supposed to snow tomorrow so we will see what happens. 
4. How was zone conference?  It was awesome!!!  A lot of the training was focused on using members effectively and how important they are to the success of missionary work.  We focused on how we can help the members do their missionary work and continue to Hasten the Work of Salvation.  President instructed us that tracting should pretty much be a last resort to use for finding contacts.  He wants us to do everything we can to build relationships with members and to help them invite their friends and neighbors into the gospel.  Things are really beginning to change with the way missionary work is being fulfilled.   Missionary work is not much like it was 30 years ago other than we are still sharing and inviting people to Come unto Christ.  We also talked about how you need to have faith in the Lord’s timing about finding contacts and that things will work out.  Sometimes all we can do is just plant the seed for someone else to nourish.  It was a pretty awesome zone conference.  It is sad to think President Topham only has interviews in April and then one last zone conference in June before he returns home.  He’s a great man and mission president.  
5. Did you have your stake conference yet?  If so, how was it?  Yes, it was awesome.  We were able to go to both the Saturday and Sunday sessions.  The theme was Hastening the Work of Salvation.  A cool thing about Saturday is that they invited all of the youth (12-18) to come as well.  Elder Dunnigan, the area seventy was at the conference.  He gave very good talks both days.  On Saturday he talked a lot about member missionary work and how it can be simple and easy.  He showed a video from the Hastening the Work website.  I've seen it many times before because we use it for an activity with members.  He used it in his talk and talked about how a lot of missionary work can just start out as simple acts of kindness.  Here is the link to the video.  https://www.lds.org/training/wwlt/2013/hastening/members-and-missionaries?lang=eng  It is the video entitled I'll Go Where You Want Me To Go. On  Sunday that same message was echoed throughout the meeting.  Elder Dunnigan mentioned an interesting thing that Elder Perry said.  He said that Elder Perry said this recent hastening of the work (change in missionary age) is as big as the restoration of the gospel and coming forth of the BOM.  It’s so awesome that I/we are a part of this huge, wonderful, important work that is rolling forth throughout the world. 
6. What are 5 positive things from your week?  1) Well, I’m not sick yet…let’s hope it stays that way.  2) Zone conference, stake conference and the talent show were awesome.  3) I got to see Elder J (AP and Zach’s trainer) at zone conference.
7. Do you have both SD cards?  Yes, I forgot to throw the one into the package today.  I will send it next time.   

1. How are things with your investigators?  Things are decent especially since we were not able to see much of them this week because Elder B was sick. 
2. J (French guy)?  He’s good, we had a lesson scheduled for yesterday but he had to cancel because of work. 
3. G?  He keeps cancelling on us. 
4. TP, Mandy, Lee & the gang?  Good, but we have not been able to contact them for a while.  We were finally able to talk to Lee on the phone last night and we have a lesson with them for Tuesday. 
5. 11 year old boy?  He is doing OK.  We may end up dropping him and waiting until summer to teach again because he is really busy with school. 
6. Claude and the senior center?  They are all doing well.  We are still just helping them with an activity where they learn about different random things and people. 
7. Any new contacts/investigators?  We got another media referral last week and it seems to be a pretty good lead.  We just have not been able to make contact yet. 
8. How's the street contacting going?  Good, we haven't done tons of it lately.  The weather has been up and down, so we try and do it when the weather is decent. 
9. How are the members?  They are doing awesome.  There is a new family that just moved into the ward a couple of weeks ago.  We went to visit them yesterday and we are going over for dinner on Friday. 
10. How are the dinner appointments?  They are good, we still average about 3 a week.  Nothing exciting for me to report on food J 
11. Have you received letters/pckgs from anyone else recently?  No, that department is sort of slow.  So people…I would love to hear from you all and have may mailbox filled with letters. 
12. Are things good with you and Elder B?  Yes, they are good…but as you know all good things must come to an end and transfers are in 2 weeks.  I’m sure one of us will leave and it will probably be me, but who knows. 
13. How are the sisters?  Do you guys like the new sister?  They are good.  We both have been really trying to build relationships with the ward.  The new sister is great, she really enjoys doing missionary work and is a great asset to the area.   

Well there you have it, my sort of boring but decent week.  Hope you all enjoyed it.  Hope you enjoy the package as well; there is a surprise in it for you too.  I’m sure you know what it is J 

PS…Gma and Gpa have a senior couple mission reunion in Utah in a couple of weeks.  The Von Stettons are excited to see them and they think you should figure out a way through gma and gpa to meet them.   

 Well love you and miss you all!!!

 Elder Muir