Week 73...Rivalry Week = Complete Craziness!!!

October 27, 2014

 State College district with Pres. & Sis. Johnson (left) 

Elder Muir & Elder R (glasses) are on the right next to senior couple

 The GREENIE initiation meal...green turtle meatballs

 Parking fields at Beaver Stadium

 Beaver Stadium

Parking lot for game day...just stripe the lawn

     Hey, Happy Birthday!!! Hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow.  Thanks for all that you do for me.  You are one awesome mama!!! You have a card coming but I keep forgetting to put it in the mail.  So it will be a few days late, but whatever.  At least it will get there this week.  Also, just wondering if you’ve watched either of the new Mormon messages?  Both are pretty awesome and I recommend you watch them. 

     I think I told you last week that the Ohio State Buckeyes are coming to town and it’s a big rivalry week for Penn State.  Even though Penn State isn’t very good this year the fans still gear up for each and every game.  Boy, do they ever party.  We were up at the hospital yesterday taking the sacrament to someone and I got some pics of the stadium and campus near the stadium.  We live about 3 ½ miles from the stadium. 

     ***Sidenote…After coming back from a 17-0 deficit Penn State tied it up and forced an overtime, not just one but double overtime.  Unfortunately, they lost in double OT.

1. How was your week?  What are the highs/lows?  It was a pretty awesome week.  Unfortunately, a lot of the appointments we had this week again fell through and we didn’t have any investigators at church.  But, even with that it was still a good week. It has been kind of rainy and cold, but I know it’s going to get worse so I should not even be complaining.  The highs were watching Elder R give a few lessons interspersing bits and pieces in Chinese.  It was pretty cool to see him progress and be able to communicate with our investigators.  Another high was dinner and a lesson with a new investigator at a member’s home on Wednesday.  Her name is C, she is from China and she has been to church a few times.  She has classes with a bunch of people from the ward that are in her same program.  The lesson that we had with her was awesome and we have another lesson set up on Wednesday.  Those are a few of the highs and lows, but I will write a letter with some more because I don't have a lot of time left today. 
2. Is Elder R still with you?  Is there any news about his VISA?  Yes, he’s still here and no news yet.  We are hoping and praying any day now that we will find out what his status is. 
3. Can't believe it's transfers this next week.  Any gut feelings on what will happen?  I don't know, we are hoping to find out on the VISA situation ASAP.  I am thinking if he does end up leaving that I may still train, but I have no idea we just need to figure if the VISA is coming. 
4. Do you have plans for Halloween?  We are going to the ward Halloween party on Friday night.  We’re having a pot luck dinner, games and trunk or treating.   Thursday night is the “official” day that State College has designated for trick or treating.  We have to be in by 6 pm that night.  It’s weird, in PA each area/borough is allowed to designate a specific night for trick or treating.  It’s based on what’s best for the community and what other events might be conflicting with Halloween.  Penn State has a home football game at noon on Saturday (11/1) so in an effort to promote safety they decided on Thursday night.  Friday night all of the drunks will be arriving in town to party it up for the game the next day.
5. How were exchanges last week?  Who did you go with and where did you go?  I stayed here both times.  I was with Elder J last week and this past week I had an exchange with Elder L.  Exchanges were OK, unfortunately that is when a lot of our appointments fell through. 
6. What are 5 positive things for the week?  1)  We have a new investigator.  2) The game was a night game so we were in bed for most of it and didn’t have to deal with all of the crowds.  3) We used the ColdStone cards you sent...yum, Thanks!!!
7. Have you seen or done anything exciting in State College?  Well this past weekend we experienced rivalry week in State College.  Boy… it is quite sad and different than rivalry week in Provo.  We pretty much saw young adults my age running around with cases of beer and girls sporting clothing that wouldn’t meet any of the For Strength of Youth guidelines.  It’s amazing how a game can change the population of a city within hours.  State College doubles in size on game day.  I’m getting my on campus housing experience living in State College J  I have a few pictures of fields and areas where they park all of the cars.  It was crazy on Friday night and Saturday.  There were people everywhere and parking all of those cars is no small task.  The pictures were taken Sunday (so after game day) because we were at the hospital, but it will just show what they have for parking all around the stadium.  They use every available space and markup the lawns with temporary parking lines.  Kickoff wasn’t until 8 pm Saturday, but we were downtown at noon for a bit and the mess had already begun.  We have a bunch of the frat houses in our area and we were walking by some of the houses in the early afternoon and they had music blasting and it was still 5 hours before kickoff.  I wished I could have been up by the stadium Saturday just to see the mess but it was probably for the best that we weren’t anywhere near there.  I’m sure the game was a crazy madhouse to be at.  It was sold out with 107,000 people and it went into double over time…my kind of game J   Not sure if you watched any of it but I think it was on ABC. 
8. How are your investigators?
1. W?  Boy, she’s a treat.  We’ve about dropped her.  She is very academic and likes to bash with us.  She gets off on random things that are weird very easily.  I don't even know how we got on this, but somehow she was talking about Christians and that their in the military and they kill people.  She accused us of being murders because we were Christians.  She made no sense, but whatever.   She also is getting one last attempt before we drop her. 
2. YL?  We had a lesson with her husband while she was helping her son with homework.  It is still hard with them because their English isn’t great.  We’re still hoping to get someone from the student branch that knows Chinese better than Elder R to come with us. 
3. B?  We have not seen him in a month.  He is kind of busy so we are giving him one last attempt this week. 
4. People that came to church last week (neighbors of member)?  Did they come again?  Names?  Her name is R from India.  No, she did not come to church again because she started dying her hair and did not finish it in time.  But she likes everything that she has read and so hopefully in the future we will meet with her. 
5. Any new leads/investigators?  No, not really just C who I mentioned earlier.
9. Any good member/dinner stories?  Yes, so a lady in the ward does something called a GREENIE dinner for new missionaries.  It is pretty funny, she picks odd things to do that are kind of green.  So she made turtles out meatballs and hotdogs and used green bacon for the shell.  I have pictures of it that I will send before I leave.  You might have to pick up on this idea once you see the picture and we have greenies over for dinner when they come into our home ward. 
10. Tell me something that will make me laugh?  So I got you a birthday card but I hope you don't mind a belated bday card.  I keep for getting to put it in the mail L but I promise you it is coming.  I know this does not make you laugh, but I hope the card will. 
11. Are your blisters better?  Kind of, the problem is they close up but then it rubs in the same spot so it splits again.  So I am hoping they get better soon. 
12. Any opportunities for service so far in State College?  We work at a place like DI called St. Vincent de Paul.  It is the Catholic version of DI.  

Well I hope that brightened your day.  I have pictures on the way, so keep an eye out for the next email in a minute. 

Also random 2 random things… 1) the senior couple in our district are the inlaws to Melissa Ringwood, small world, huh.  2) another cool thing about the ward here is the head wrestling coach for Penn State is in our ward and his brother is an assistant.  Their names are Cael and Cody Sanderson (http://www.gopsusports.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/cael_sanderson_410597.html).  Cael is the head coach and won the 2004 Olympic Gold medal in Athens, Greece.  

Love you all,

Elder Muir

Week 72...Fall is in the Air

October 20, 2014

I can't believe another week has gone by and it is Monday again.  Things have been pretty much the same here.  That is crazy that you ran into Elder M at the Bountiful temple.  Yep, he was the AP and he did pick me up from the airport when I arrived in Pittsburgh.  I am glad you liked Meet the Mormons, what’s there not to like…we’re likeable people J  I envision you as the coach’s wife as she is sitting on the sideline at the game having a nervous breakdown for her husband.  In reality, that is you as you freak out watching the game when our Cougs are not doing so hot.  Also, you made mention that Penn State’s next 2 games are home games. This weekend is going to be a nightmare because they are playing Ohio State.  Ohio State is their big rival.  Unfortunately, Penn State is not very good this year so it is going to be a rough game for them.  Luckily, the game starts at 8 pm so we will be at our apartment for the bulk of the game.  The downside is everyone starts getting drunk in the early afternoon for the night games so it will be interesting to see how it goes. 

 

You had quite the find in my snowboard boot J  I bet Boris got a good laugh out of watching you open the box and finding a mouse.  Sounds like you’ve had quite a busy week again…fall cleaning, the garage and UEA.  Wow, I am in for lots of changes.   The house is going to be a new sight when I get home.  I swear people do odd things when their children are on missions.  You are not the first that I have heard doing lots of random things while their kids are on missions.  Impressive that Gladys almost has a parking spot in the garage.  Well I guess I better answer your questions. 

1. How are things with you and Elder R?  Is he still with you?  Things are going well.  We are still together but we are both thinking it will only a few more weeks before he leaves.  No official word yet though.   He is hoping to hear something this week.  We will see what happens.  Other than that we are doing good.  We are still getting along great and he is progressing nicely with his Chinese and doing great in teaching lessons. 
2. Any mission business going on this week?  Nope, pretty boring until December when we have zone conference again. 
3. How's the weather?  I bet the fall colors are beautiful, get some pics if you can.  Well, it has been kind of rainy and cold the past few days.  On top of that the wind has been blowing and so it makes it that much colder.  I will get some pictures of stuff and email some to you next week. 
4. Did you get the package?  Yes and of course I loved the package.  We are going to use the Five Guys & Coldstone gift cards for lunch after we’re finished emailing.  Elder R really appreciated you including a Halloween treat box for him J Thanks again. 
5. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  Well this week was kind of slow week.  However, we are at least staying steady and keeping busy as much as we can.  We had exchanges this past week on Tuesday.  Exchanges were good and I stayed here in our area.  Unfortunately, we didn’t really have any lessons to teach but we kept ourselves busy so that was good.  We have another exchange tomorrow so that will be good.  Another high was that we had some members bring their neighbor across the hall from them to church yesterday.  She really liked it and I think she is planning on coming back again.  The low has probably been the weather.  Like I said, it has been kind of rainy and cold, but that is PA for you.  At least there is no snow yet. 
6. Were the pictures & info I sent on family history helpful?  Yes, I loved the family history stuff you sent.  I loved reading the 2 stories you included on your gma Ivie and dad’s gpa Lindsay.  Boy, those two stories certainly emphasize the fact that our families come from two completely different walks of life.  I knew that your gma Ivie lived a simple life, but I had no idea the extent of the humble circumstances that she grew up with and the life that gpa Lewy grew up with.  It’s easier for me to now understand why she was so frugal and re-used everything she had.  I think it would be kind of cool to be the fly on the wall and go back and see how she lived on the farm in Alton, UT.  Her story reminds me of Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk Grateful in Any Circumstances https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng  It reminded me that I have much to be grateful for and how blessed we are.  Even though she endured much and her afflictions were great she chose to focus on the positive.  Not once did I ever read complaints about her life nor did she focus on the hardships.  She focused on the positive, her family and served other like no one I’ve ever known and that’s how she was remembered.  I really liked what she would always tell her boys about her work at the state mental hospital.  She said, "work a month at the state hospital and you will be grateful for the life that you live and have."  That is a good philosophy to live by.  She was an amazing woman and I wish I could have had the chance to get to know her more and hear more of her stories.  I was almost 7 when she died yet I still remember her garden and collecting cornstalks, gourds and mini pumpkins and selling them for spending money.  Family history is the link to our roots.  Keep the info coming, please!
7. Did you get new shoes?  How are they?  Yes, I got them last week.  Hopefully this will be the last pair that I have to buy.  They are good, it’s just   a bummer trying to break them in and having to walk everywhere while breaking them in. I have some blisters again on the back of my foot. 
8. How are things with the members?  Any fun stories?  On Saturday we had dinner at a member’s house with a lot of missionaries.  It was us and 3 other companionships.  It was a good time.  I can now say that I have had gumbo, which is actually pretty good.  Also, on Thursday night at our dinner appointment some members invited people over from a class at school that are from Taiwan.  Elder r was able to get some good practice with his Chinese. 
9. How are things with your investigators?

• W?  She is doing well.  She is kind of a hard person to teach.  She is learning a lot from an academic stand point but it is kind of hard to get her to do anything and help her have a belief in God. We may have to drop her here soon
• YL?  We had a lesson with her and husband.  They are awesome and they seem to have great potential.  We’ll continue to work with them.  The hardest thing is their English. It isn’t great so we need someone that speaks Chinese to come with us because Elder R can’t communicate completely with them.  We are hoping to see them again this week as well.
• B? Not really sure what’s up with him.   We have not seen or heard from him in a few weeks.  So hopefully this week we can see him.

10. Any new leads?  No not really.  A bunch of people in the ward are trying to get friends to meet with us but it is all still in the process of being worked out.  Hopefully some things will come from it. 
11. Whatever happened with the guy that you met on the bus that lives in your complex?  Nothing really.  We just stop by occasionally to see how his BOM reading is going.  We haven’t really pursued much with him and he is with the University sisters if he takes the lessons. 
12. What are 5 positive things from your week?  1)  I was working online with family search and I was able to accomplish something.  I added a husband to someone down the Ivie line I think.  It was kind of fun.  Hopefully everything was done right.  You’re not kidding when you say it is a full time job.  Now that I have kind of figured things out maybe I can find another person to add in.  2) Some members invited their neighbor across the hall to come to church and she actually came.  Hopefully we will start teaching her soon.  
13. Any other news or stories you'd like to share?  In Pres. Johnson’s  email today official word came that we are supposedly getting iPads in January or February!!!  The wait is finally over and the unknown is finally over.  Also I was emailing Pres. W (Ridgway branch Pres.) and he said that a bunch of less actives just went to the temple to receive their endowments a few weeks ago.  I was so impressed and very happy.  The biggest news in his email was about Sis B (a less active) that lives with S & N.  I love her dearly and we were able to help her become reactivated.  The great news is she’s going to the temple to receive her endowment in November on their stake temple day.  You have no idea how excited that news makes me.    Unfortunately, her husband has got some work to do, but I know at some point he can make it and eventually they can be sealed!!!!!!  :)  That news makes one happy missionary.
14. Tell me about the ward?  Who's the bishop...young or old?  His name is Bro. F.  He is probably about your age or a little older.  I think his oldest child is at BYU.  Hmm…about the ward.  Well, like I said most of them are super young families that are at Penn State for grad programs.  I can tell you that if you were in this ward you would be a busy woman making blankets.  The compassionate service lady has a full time job, especially in the next few weeks. There are 2 babies due in about 3 weeks.  So there are lots of babies and lots of kids.  There are 30 kids in the nursery and they have 3 nurseries.  Yeah, lots of little kids, what more can I say. 
15. What are you studying right now?   Christ just came to the Americas.  I am at the point where he is giving the new and improved Sermon on the Mount.      

Well, another week in the books.  Thanks for all of your love and support and everything that you do for me.  Love you tons!!!

Elder Muir

Week 71...Meet the Mormons & Zone Training

October 13, 2014

This week was a pretty awesome week.  Meet the Mormons was amazing!!!  I recommend anyone—member/non member-- to go see it.  Seriously, I mean everyone—go see it J  I am bummed that you guys were not able to see it yet because I was anxiously awaiting to hear your thoughts about it in your email today, but whatever such is life.  Like I said, we had a good week, but unfortunately we had quite a few lessons set up and a lot of them fell through.  So we kind of had a crappy week with numbers L  Well, onto the questions…

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  It was a good week.  It had its shares of ups and downs.  I’ll start with the some of the highs.  The first one was yesterday we had a few nonmembers at church.  The cool thing is one of them was a media referral that the University sisters gave us. We have been trying to contact her and we finally did.  We had a lesson set with her on Friday but she was late because her son got in trouble at school so she had to cancel.  She is also from China.  Her name is YL.  She doesn’t speak very good English so through a text we decided to invite her to church and see how that worked.  She responded and said OK.  We were both curious to see if she would really show up.  Church time came yesterday and she was not there when church started, but when the sacrament was over she and her husband walked in. Unfortunately, they left after the speakers and we hurried out to talk with them.  They were clueless about what went on at church so now we have another appointment for Wednesday to talk about sacrament meeting and church etc.  Our low for the week was having a bunch of things fall through last minute.  However, I feel like we worked hard and are starting to get to know the area better. 
2. What's the status with Elder R's VISA?  Apparently his mom sent him an email saying that she called the VISA department.  I guess it has gone through and she said it will probably be the end of the transfer when he leaves, so about 3 more weeks.  Really, it could be any day now.  So we will see what happens.  So I think it is in the process of being issued. 
3. How's the training going?  It is going well.  Unfortunately, it looks like I don't have much longer doing it unless I train again next transfer. We will see what happens, only a few weeks left and time will tell.  So training is going good.  The hardest thing for me is dealing with the greenie fire that Elder R has and wanting everything to go as planned.  I know it’s totally typical of a new missionary.  But it is hard for me because the constant change/plans falling through etc. is not really anything new to me now and I have learned that sometimes that is the way things go.  So I think that may be why I was given the training opportunity. I need to get back to the basics again and have high expectations and set really high goals instead of being satisfied with whatever happens.  
4. How are things with you and Elder R?  Can Elder R speak Chinese with W (investigator)?  Things are going good.  Yes, he has spoken a little bit with her.  Hopefully, for his language study we are going to get some Chinese people from the student branch to come and practice his Chinese with him. 
5. How was your zone training & Meet the Mormons?  Zone training was good.  The majority of it focused on family history and how we can use that as a better finding tool for people.  I am just waiting for the family history stuff from you.  We talked about different ways to use family history.  On the other hand, Meet the Mormons was AWESOME!!!!!!  I think it is something everybody should see.  All of the stories were awesome and well done.  My favorites were the Navy football coach, the Candy Bomber, and the missionary mom.  Funny story about that...the kid that is the son of the missionary mom went to Alta.  He was a year older than me but I recognized him and knew his name.  I thought it was great how they portrayed Mormons. Each of the people/families they focused is given the opportunity to share their life in a very personal way.  The movie portrays Mormons as “normal” people from all different walks of life trying to follow the path that the Savior walked.  Each of them has their own set of challenges and struggles and they use their faith and testimony of the Savior to help them overcome the trials that come their way.  There are themes of love, compassion, service and respect for all of God’s children no matter what your religious beliefs are.  I don't know what else to say besides AWESOME.  I hope you enjoy it when you finally go see it.  The best part was for me no tickets required and not having to deal with sell outs. 
6. How are the meal appointments coming along?  Meals are going awesome.  The RS is doing great getting things taken care of for us.  So I am not concerned about it at all.  I should be taken care of. 
7. Any new members that you've met that you'd like to tell us about?  We had dinner with the T family, a young family from Idaho.  We had dinner with them and then we played a game that is sort of like Farkle (if you know what that is).  We played and the loser (which was me) always has to eat a nasty mixture of stuff.  The mixture is different every time, but the stuff I had to eat was a mixture of mustard, soy, jam, and garlic, I think.  I had to eat a spoonful of that for losing.  It was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. All I could really taste was mustard.   
8. How are the investigators?
1. W ?  She is doing well, but we could not meet with her this week because we didn’t have another guy with us.  We talked to her on the doorstep for a minute.  She did read the chapter in the BOM that we gave her.  We are going to see her again tomorrow. 
2. B ?  He is doing well.  We are not sure what to do with him because he is not really progressing.  He just talks about nonsense at every lesson.  We kind of starting bashing with him a bit why he should read the BOM told him that the questions he has will be answered in the BOM.  We are giving him one last attempt.
3. Any new leads or investigators?  Just the one media referral that the University sisters gave us. 
9. How do you like Pres. Johnson?  He is awesome.  I really like him.  That just may be the fact that I have seen him quite a bit since he has been out and I’ve been able to get to know him more.  I didn’t have the opportunity to get to  know Pres. Topham that well.  
10. What member/investigator has had the most influence on you during your mission?  I will always have a special place in my heart for President  W  from the Ridgway branch.  He has such a firm belief in never giving up on people/things.  He reminded me that change is good and that the Lord has a hand in all things…totally awesome guy J. 
11. Any fun things that you've seen or done in State College?  We enjoy wandering around downtown and being on campus is lots of fun.  It is always  fun to pass the football stadium.  The thing looks small on the outside but when you get inside, it is huge.  I think it holds like 106,000 people.  It makes Cougar stadium look tiny.  I wish I could go to a game just to say I have been to one, but that won't happen.  The University sisters went to one a few weeks ago, but Pres. Johnson said that would be the first and last time anyone would go to a game.   
12. How's the weather?  It is starting to get colder.  I think our days in the 70's are gone and we are on the final stretch of fall and then winter will be in full force within the next month or so.
13. Are you feeling pretty comfortable with the area?  Bus system?  Bikes (did you find the helmets)?  Yes, to all.  The bikes are nice, but they are kind of small for us so we are using them when we need to get somewhere fast.  They are nice to have, but we’ve both determined that sometimes it’s just easier to walk. 
14. Any other news/info you'd like to share?  This morning I was reading 3rd Nephi right before Christ comes and the Nephites are becoming very prideful.  I read a quote by Hugh Nibley from the seminary book that you sent me that I found quite interesting.  In only 6 years the Nephites turned from righteousness to wickedness.  Hugh Nibley describes it as the “Nephite disease” and he says that we have it today, but God has prescribed a cure.  It’s a disease that will result in physical & spiritual death if it’s not cured.  He refers to the D&C talking about how we can’t become like the Nephites of old.  My point is that the pride of the Nephites was their stumbling block and it ultimately destroyed them and that is what is going on with the world today.  If we let pride & Satan get hold of us we are doomed for trouble, unhappiness and pain. It’s a warning from the Lord to keep us from becoming as the Nephites of old.  I remember you always talking about the “pride cycle” when we studied the BOM. 
        
    
         There’s another wrap on my week.  I hope you see and like Meet the Mormons.  I can't wait to hear from you again.
     
    Love you,
    Elder Muir
     
         PS…Oh yeah, one thing that I forgot to tell you.  I am going to get some new shoes today, hopefully at Macys or JcPenney.  Just letting you know so that you can watch my card.  Thanks!!!