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

Week 74...17 Months & Transfer #13

November 3, 2014

 Elder Muir and the Penn Sate Nittany Lion

 Elder Muir in front of the Penn State Admin bldg.

Sounds like you’ve had another busy week.  I’m sorry to hear the news about Ethan, tell Lori I’m thinking of her.  Well another week has gone by and it’s crazy to believe it is transfer time again.  This is a weird transfer for me because this is the last transfer for all of the sisters that came out with me.  It’s hard for me to comprehend they’re going home.  To top it off, Elder J (my trainer) is dying this transfer.  He goes home on Wednesday :(   Well onto the questions. 

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  So this week has been a pretty good week.  We did not have a lot of lessons, but yesterday at church made up for our lackluster week of lessons.  We had 4 investigators at church :)  Only one stayed the entire time because she rode with members.  I think 4 investigators at church is a high for me.  Hopefully this transfer I can get things moving now that I’ve got things figured out and I know the area much better than I did 6 weeks ago.  Another high was we had a lesson with YL again.  The progress is slow but there is progress and they are trying to learn as much as they can.  The ward Halloween party was pretty awesome.  The best part of it was all of the non members came that members had invited to come.  Another fun random thing was on Wednesday we hit the town and had dinner at Subway and got ice cream at the creamery afterward.  It was nothing fancy but we had a lot of fun.  Adding to my highs was a baptism we attended on Saturday for a kid in the ward.  I was touched by the talk that was given on baptism and the covenants that we make.  It made me think of what the sealer said the time we were in the temple doing sealings right before I left.   There is a connection between the baptismal covenant and the sealing covenant.   It made me really think about how all of the covenants really tie together but they are separate ordinances.  We need each ordinance in order to obtain exaltation.  All roads in the church lead to the temple.  A low has been sometimes Elder R gets a little sad and cranky because his Visa hasn't come yet.  I keep telling him that it will come when it is supposed to come and you just need to focus on serving and being here in State College.  I reminded him of Pres. Uchtdorf’s talk Grateful in any Circumstances https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/grateful-in-any-circumstances?lang=eng .  Really, it was a pretty good week.  Oh the biggest low is Elder J is dying tomorrow (going home).  Sad day in the mission for me, but whatever life moves on.  I will see him again in 7 short months.   
2. What's up with transfers?  Are you staying?  We are both staying.  That could change at any given moment though so we will see what happens.   
3. What about Elder R?  What's the status with his VISA?  We are not sure, still have not heard any news.  I may get an emergency transfer if his Visa comes mid transfer.  We are just moving forward as if he is here another 6 weeks.  We hope that is not the case but we will wait and see what happens. 
4. How was your Halloween night at the ward party?  It was awesome, YL and her husband and son were there.  Their son invited another friend and his parents came too.  A bunch of people from the ward invited non member friends that actually came and all of them loved it.  Were you able to go or did you have to be in by 6 pm?  Yes, we went to the party and were able to stay.  It was Thursday night that we had to be in at 6 pm because that is the day State College officially celebrated their Halloween. 
5. How was the game this week?  Was it busy and did it affect your day having it at noon?  It was fine, we had stuff to do most of the time the game was going on.  We weren’t near downtown so it did not matter.  Random FYI…State College becomes the 3 largest city in PA on game day.  It even beats out Harrisburg.  Yep, you heard me right, it becomes the 3rd largest city.  It is kind of crazy.  Another random fact is I finally figured out what Nittany means. It refers to the mountain lions that once were fabled to roam near the school, and to Mount Nittany, a local landmark.  It is an Indian name for mountain.  So Nittany Lion is literally mountain lion.  
6. Wow...on the greenie meatball picture :)  Everyone wants to know if you ate it and if you liked it.  It looks like it was sitting in some sort of soup/liquid.  What was the liquid?  Good times :)  Not sure the green meatballs would be my meal of choice but the "greenie" meal idea sounds fun.  The meatball was not green it was bacon that was dyed green.  Not sure what the soupy stuff was…something with peas and veggies so I would imagine it was a vegetable soup of some sort.   Yes, I ate it.  It was normal food,  it just looked weird. 
7. How's Elder R's Chinese coming?  Have you learned any Chinese and do you understand anything?  It is coming along quite well being that all of our current investigators are Chinese.  Yes, I understand some stuff but I can't really speak it because I don't know how to do any of the tones. 
8. How are things with your investigators?
1. W?  Nothing new with her, she had to cancel on us this week. 
2. YL?  They are doing well.  We had another good lesson with them on Friday and we read 2 Nephi 31 with them.  They were all at church yesterday. 
3. B?  Not really much has happened with him; however, he randomly showed up at church yesterday. 
4. R?  She is on vacation in India for a few weeks so I don't know when we will start teaching her.  She is on hold at the moment. 
5. C?  We did not have a lesson with her but she did come to church yesterday.   
6. Any new leads/people?  We may start teaching the friends that YL brought to the Halloween party.  In addition, hopefully we can start teaching some of the other people that came to the ward party. 
9. What are 5 positive things from the week?  1) We had 4 investigators at church yesterday :).   2) We had lots of non members at the Halloween party.   3) It’s the start of a new transfer.
10. Do you need anything?  No, I don't think so
11. Can we pray for anything?  Pray for the success of our investigators and that they will keep coming to church and keep their appointments. 
12. Any Christmas ideas/requests for me?  I don’t have any ideas.  I don't really care., but I will be thinking.  I was thinking the other day that I would love some of  the mint chocolate cookies from "The Store". 

Well there is the report for the week, over and out. 

Love you tons, 

Elder Muir