Week 61...14 Months, Kane's 150th Celebration & A Few Mission Changes

August 4, 2014

Oh boy, you have had quite the week J  Congrats on your new calling, I did not see that one coming.  You are going to be pro at YW by the end of this round.  Bummer about the AC again, hope that all works out.  That is funny that you ran into the sister of my seminary teacher at the temple.  I’ve had an awesome week, so here is the report. 


So I am pleased to announce that I may have the chance to go to the temple at some point on my mission.  President Johnson sent an email this morning regarding it.  Most likely I will not go while I am here because of the 2 hour travel rule.  It explains details in his email.  I am bummed because the Palmyra temple is about 3 hours from St. Marys.  But who knows, I may end up back down towards Lancaster and the DC temple is pretty close from Lancaster.  So we will see what happens.  I know that I still may not get to attend the temple while I'm in the mission field and I'm OK with whatever happens.  I still have a lifetime to attend the temple when I return.  I just thought I would share what I thought was really great news. 

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  Holy cow, we had another awesome week.  We have had a lot of success again and 2 investigators at church.  A high was definitely the 2 investigators we had at church because it was 2 of the new people we’ve been teaching.  A low was we didn’t have a lot people at church yesterday (only about 80 people).  Another high is after district meeting we went with the Dubois elders and helped some people in their ward clean out some stuff in their barn.  Afterwards we went to the S family’s house and chopped some wood and stuff like that.  Unfortunately, it rained for a while but that made it so we had time for dinner and we were able some time with Bro. G.  He has been helping them fix their tractor.  Finally the rain cleared out and so we were able to split some wood.  The splitter was pretty cool, it was gas powered.   That was quite the adventure for the day.  We didn’t get home until about 10:30 pm.  The Dubois elders had to pick up a couch to give to someone and they were our ride back to their apartment where our car was parked.  From Dubois it was 45 min. back home to St. Marys.  Saturday (Kane 150^th  celebration with parade) was a long tiring day that was kind of hard, but it was a fun day.  Of course, the rain always adds its own element to the fun which sometimes makes it not so fun.  
2. How was the Kane 150th Celebration?  What did you do?  Did you have lots of fun?  Well it was AWESOME!!!!!  Things went very well and we had a great participation turn out from the branch.   We had a hand cart that some people pulled and the primary kids sat on a trailer and sang primary songs.  It was pretty cool.  We threw candy and handed out pass along cards.  Hopefully some success or contacts will come from it.  I have some pictures of the trailer with the primary kids.  Elder B & I walked along in front of the trailer and threw candy and handed the cards out.  At the start of the parade as we turned out onto the main route people were applauding and cheering for us.  It was a pretty cool experience.  The work is definitely hastening and going strong up in Kane.  I am going to see if I can find a Kane newspaper from Saturday and send it home. http://www.bradfordera.com/news/article_eefd94f2-1b7b-11e4-b7ab-0019bb2963f4.html.  Another cool thing was a fireside that they had at the branch last night.  A guy named Matthew Grow, from the church history department who is an expert on Thomas Kane came and talked about his life.  He also spoke to the community at the Kane chapel on Saturday.  It was very cool to hear about the role Thomas Kane played in saving the Mormons and what a great and friend he was to Brigham Young.  His temple work was done soon after he died.  It was very insightful.  You should research and read more information about him.  There are a lot of cool things out there about him. 
3. How's the weather?  Well it has been cool and rainy, definitely not an average year for this area.  It rained quite a bit last week and has been in the 70's most of the week. We lucked out on Saturday, it was sunny with no rain.  It was a little overcast but that made it nice.  This week it is supposed to be sunny and nice. 
4. How are things with the investigators?

1.  S, P, G & J?  Well there is a bit of a drama with them right now. S & G and broke up and it is kind of an ugly situation.  Other than that, things are good.  I don’t know all of the details with the situation, but I think I would rather not know them.  They are still making forward progress and hopefully we can get them baptized on August 30th.  The biggest thing with them is the Word of Wisdom.  Hopefully we can continue to help them progress and  P is good about supporting them.
2. The G family?  We have not seen them recently and they were not at church yesterday.   We were supposed to have dinner with them yesterday, but no one was home.  Hopefully they will be at church this week. 
3.  S & N?  They are doing well and slowly progressing.
4.  S & S?  Not much has happened with them.
5.  C & A?  Not sure what is going on with them.  We have not been able to contact them since our first lesson with them. 
6.  E & S (father/daughter)?  They are doing awesome, they were both at church yesterday.  They both enjoyed it.  He still is hesitant about joining but I think his heart is slowly softening.  They both have read a huge chunk of the BOM
7. Any new leads?  No

• What are 5 positive things from this week?  1) The Kane parade  2)   E & S making it to church  3) Finding out about the change in mission rules regarding temple attendance for missionaries  4)  The few lessons we’ve had with  E have been really great.  The members that have been with us have done a great job fellowshipping and  E is really honest and sincere.  5) The fireside last night on Thomas Kane was very cool and the room was filled with a strong pioneer spirit.  6) The lesson we had with  J and the others on the word of wisdom was a really great experience. 
• Any service opportunities this week?  We are helping the EQ president paint some stuff in his house tomorrow. 
• Who sent the text picture of you & Elder B at the parade in Kane?  Sis B, the same person that sent you the picture at stake conference. 

Love you and can’t wait to hear from you J

Elder Muir


Here's is an excerpt from the email that President Johnson sent regarding a few changes in the mission...

     At our “Meet and Greet” meetings the first week of July, I talked about the temple and the central role it should play in everything we do.  Elder Nelson counseled us at the Mission President’s seminar in June:

“Missionary work should begin and end with our minds focused on the blessings of the holy temple”

     I am passionate about temple attendance. One of the spiritual highlights of my life was serving as an ordinance worker in the Seattle Temple. Our weekly visits to the temple are one of the few things I have missed since our arrival in PA. A number of you have asked questions about missionaries and temple attendance and I’m excited to share some good news on this front. 

     Earlier this year Elder Hallstrom, from the Presidency of the Seventy, shared the guidelines below for missionary temple attendance in the North America Northeast Area.

1. Missionary temple attendance may be considered for:

a.      The endowment or sealing of a new or returning member when the missionary had a substantial role in the conversion. Only one companionship may attend, if invited by the member.

b.      Personal worship no more than once every six months.

c.      An end-of-mission visit with the mission president and his wife.

2. Missionaries who qualify above must also meet these standards:

a.      Be able to depart and return on the same day and be back serving in their area by 6:00 p.m. No more than two hours one-way travel time is recommended.

b.      Travel with a member and not use a mission vehicle.

c.      Attend on their preparation day or switch their preparation day to accommodate the temple schedule.

d.      Receive advance approval from the mission president.

     Of course, the final condition is that you must have a temple recommend and be worthy to use it. Please understand I cannot grant exceptions to these guidelines. I have no flexibility to grant exceptions without approval from Elder Hallstrom and I don’t plan to ask him for any. Please don’t call/text for approval to go to the temple if you cannot meet one of the items in section 1 and each item in section 2.  For example, if you are over 2 hours from the temple or will not be back by 6:00 PM you will not get approval to go.

     Relatively few areas of the mission will meet the “two hours one-way travel” requirement.  This will not seem “fair” and some might argue, “If we can’t all go than no one should go”.  I do not subscribe to that philosophy.  Life is not always fair.  If you are lucky enough to be in one of the areas that is within two hours of a temple, be grateful and hope members invite you to go with them. (Please do not beg members to take you to the temple!) If your area is over two hours from a temple, be grateful -- not envious -- that some in the mission get to attend the temple (You can always hope you get transferred to one of those areas).