Where in Pennsylvania is Elder Muir? Welcome to the Ridgway Branch in St. Mary's, Pennsylvania.
St. Marys lies in the center of Pennsylvania's elk country. It is one of the few places east of the Mississippi River that allows hunting of wild elk. The area is known for its access to outdoor activities, including trout streams and state hunting lands inside the city limits.
1.
Where in
PA are you? Where were you transferred to? I am in the Ridgway Branch. That is the name of the
area and branch. We also cover 3 or 4 little cities. We live in St.
Marys but the branch is called the Ridgway Branch and the church is about 20
minutes from where we live. I am about 40 or 50 miles north from
Punxsutawney, PA where the good ole ground hog, Punxsutawney Phil, comes out
and predicts our fate of spring or winter. That is not in my area but I
border the area.
2.
Tell us
about your area? The area is very mountain like and it is a
beautiful area. It is going to be awesome coming up over the next month as the
blossoms start coming out. It totally looks like going up the canyons in
Utah. It’s like driving in the mountains back home (I use that term
lightly) and when we were driving home the other day there were 5 decent sized
elk crossing the road. Hence, the name
of the county is Elk County. The area is full of redneck people and Brian
and grandpa Lewy and everyone would really enjoy the area. There is fishing
and hunting galore everywhere. I am in the heart of Pennsylvania slang
now and everyone says yinz & yous and all kinds of funky stuff. I have definitely gone from a white collar
area to blue collar. My area is one of the bigger areas in the mission
because everything is so scattered and spread out here. Luckily the city we
live in has everything we need. We’ve got a Walmart to shop at so we are
set. The area is a heavily populated catholic
area. So we will see how things are, I’m really excited to be here.
3.
Who is
your companion? Where is he from, how long has he been out? Give us
details? His name is Elder G. He is from Hyde Park, UT (up by Logan).
He has been out in the mission about 6 months. He loves Star Wars and Batman.
You'll get a kick out of this… he even has a little Yoda stuffed animal (he
would love Rasmussen’s Yoda Claus). FYI... in the last Batman movie
Gotham City is Pittsburgh and it ends blowing up the city. Just a little random
side note of trivia about Pittsburgh. He has 2 little brothers and a
little sister.
4.
How long
has your companion been in the area? He
has been here in St. Marys since the beginning of the year. However, this
is his first time that he has lead out an area so he is still trying to manage
and get used to having to be the one in charge right now. It has been a crazy hectic week with
transfers and getting settled in. We’re hoping to get busy and get things
moving. We have good plans this week so hopefully they will work.
5.
Do you get
along well with your new companion? Yes,
so far he is awesome… granted it is only week 2 together. But right now we are getting along great and
it seems we will for the entire time.
6.
Are you in
a ward or a branch? We’re in a
branch, but it is so close to be a small ward. If we can get all the less
actives that they’ve been working with activated becoming a ward very likely
could happen. We had 10 less actives at church yesterday. That was
pretty cool.
7.
How are
you adjusting to your new area/companion? It is good. It is definitely weird going from a ward
to a branch but it should be good. We have only been fed twice so far since
I have been here. We ate with the branch
president’s family and a less active couple. We don't really have
anything lined up for this week. But the Branch president has basically told
us to start inviting ourselves over for dinner. So we will see how that
goes.
8.
How did
you get to your new area? Who did you travel with? Well that is quite the story. We were supposed to be
in Harrisburg by 8:30 am on Tuesday morning but it was 9:30 by the time we got
there. We rode up with the Ephrata elders and they were supposed to pick
us up at 7:30 am but they called us and said they had not even left yet at that
time. I’m not sure why they were running late. So long story short
we got to Harrisburg an hour late. In Harrisburg I got in a car with a
few other elders and we drove to Pittsburgh for the transfer meeting out there.
That is the first time I have been to Pitt in 10 months. In Pittsburgh I
hooked up with Elder G and then we drove about 2 hours northeast and
got to our area (St. Marys) between about 6 & 6:30 pm after leaving Pitt
around 3:30ish.
9.
How are
the members? They seem nice. I haven’t been
able to get to know them well yet but
they all seem nice so far.
10. Are there any people that you've really clicked with yet?
The branch president and his family
are pretty cool. There is one other family, the B family, that I have sort of met and they seem like a
nice family.
11. Are you happy? Yes,
things seem good so far.
12. What are the highs/lows of the week? Well on Saturday the branch had a little ward activity. We had a cake contest and a pinewood
derby. It was a fun little activity and
Elder G and I made a pretty ghetto
pinewood derby car. I will send you a
picture soon. Also, we were the judges of the cake. Nothing like
eating 5 huge pieces of cake. Now this next story is hilarious to
me. So for dinner on Tuesday
night we stopped at Wendy's for dinner.
We ordered our food and we were eating and then I had to go to the
restroom. I came back and one of the workers was out talking to Elder G. I sat
down and she was pretty much flirting with us. She was a 17 year old high
school girl and she had no idea who or what we were. We tried
explaining things and she was still clueless and did not really care. The
best part is…apparently while I was in the bathroom she offered her job to Elder
G because she says she hates it. It was pretty darn funny. I can’t
even do the story justice by telling it to you. It was quite the
experience. The low is that we have not really been fed much and it
sounds like that is the track record but hopefully I can fix that. Also,
having 10 LA (less actives) at church yesterday was definitely a high.
That is the most I have ever had or that the branch has seen in a while.
13. Do you know any of the elders/sisters in your
district? I know of them and have heard of
them but I have never really been around them so I am excited to get to know
all of them.
14. How's the weather been? It has been awesome, it rained on Friday but the rest of the
week has been in the mid 70's and close to 80. However, tomorrow it is
supposed to crash and go back into the 40s for the day.
15. How's your new apartment? Please take pics of the area,
apartment and companion :) The
new apartment is decent, it is older the other two I’ve been in. We live right across the street from a huge cemetery. It is
80's looking and the stove is an ugly green. I will send pictures of it
all. The coolest thing is it has this old surround sound system that is
hooked up to a CD player and other stereo things. I will take a picture
of that too, it is pretty sweet.
16. How are your clothes holding up? They all seem to be doing well and are not falling apart yet
so hopefully they will keep lasting.
17. How was church yesterday? It was good. It was really weird only having 90 people there but I think it will be a
great experience.
18. I have a couple of weird questions that I have heard about
lately...
1.
Have you
heard or do you burn a tie at your year mark/hump day? I have heard about it but have not done it. I think
tie burning is at 6 months and the year mark might be a white shirt and when
you go home you burn an entire suit.
2.
Can you
drive during your last transfer? If no, what's the reason behind
it? Yes, you can drive your last
transfer; you just can't drive your first transfer.
19. Anything you want to tell me that I didn't ask? There are a few things…the first cool thing is that the
branch president’s wife really likes to sew and so she ties a quilt for all the
missionaries that come into their area.
She asks what your favorite color is and then makes it for you. I
told her I like blue and she said she would do kind of plaid stuff with
it. So I will send a picture in a few weeks when it is done. Both
she and her husband are from Vernal, UT.
He works in the oil industry out here and they are in their mid 30’s. Unfortunately, he won’t be the Branch
President much longer because he got a new job and will be traveling most of
the month.
Also there is a city called Kane in my area
and the guy that founded it was a friend of a lot of the Mormon pioneers and
Brigham Young. Here is an article I found on lds.org about him. https://www.lds.org/ensign/1971/10/general-thomas-l-kane-the-pioneer?lang=eng&query=kane
Well there is my week in the Ridgway
branch. Looks like these next few months will be pretty awesome.
Remember only 3 weeks until Mother’s Day, I can hardly wait. I love you
all and miss you.
Love,
Elder Muir
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