Week 80...Transfer #14

December 15, 2014

Wow, I can't believe it is the end of the transfer and I’m leaving the trio and getting a new companion.　 Transfer times are starting to decrease and it’s hard to think that I only have 3 transfers left after this transfer.　 The sisters I came out with go home in 2 days. Also the elder from Steve and Merri’s ward comes out this transfer.　 It’s crazy to think that Boris is getting ready for all of this and the bishop is opening his mission papers this week. I can’t believe he is 18 today. 　Where does time go??? 　

1. How was your week, what were your highs/lows?　 This week has been a pretty good week.　 The low would be losing all the elders and sisters that are going home.　 Mostly because all of the sisters that I came out with are going home and that is weird to think. I　came out with some pretty awesome sisters and also it is going to be weird not having any sisters that have been out longer than I have.　 The highs are that we had a lot of good lessons with people. 　Unfortunately, most were in the Bellefonte area so it did not benefit my area at all, but whatever.　 We even picked up a new investigator in Bellefonte.　 However, we are not sure how accountable she is. 　Sometimes she’s kind of crazy.　 Well another high was our ward Christmas party. We had tons of people there and they even ran out of food before everyone got through the line. That’s a good thing because we got lots of people there. 　There was only ham and dessert left by the time I got to the food, but it’s fine. The whole night was fantastic. 　Another fun little thing was last night they had Christmas music show at the church. Also, another high was on Friday when we covered the campus of Penn State handing out He is the Gift cards. We teamed up with the university sisters and went to Forums. Basically, the university sisters can only proselyte on campus on Fridays and they call it forums. We haven’t had any response back yet, but at least we got tons of cards　handed out.　 Hopefully people will take some time over the holidays to watch the video and share it with their families.




2. What do you know about transfers?　 So I am going back to my apartment in State College and I’m getting a new companion.　 But I am not going to Pitt to pick him up. I will just hook up with him when he makes it up to State College. 　That’s about all that I know at the moment.




3. Where did you watch the Christmas devotional last week?　 At a member’s house from the Bellefonte ward.




4. How’s the trio going?　　Is either Elder J or Elder R being transferred?　 No, I am the only one leaving and I am going back to my own ward. 　




5. Did you get my letter/envelope?　　What about a pckg. from gma Karen? 　Yes








How are things with your investigators going?




1. YL and family ? 　Well we had a lesson with her husband on Wednesday. 　It went well and we took a guy from the ward that can speak Chinese. He talked and translated for YL’s husband which was very helpful. 　They are not interested in getting baptized right now, 　but they still want to learn how they can improve their lives.　 So basically we are just seed planting right now. 　




2. L & M ? 　They have been super busy. 　We are going to try and see them this week. 　However, they both came to the ward party on Friday. 　




3. How are things going with #sharethegift? 　Things are going well.　 We haven’t really seen any results yet but hopefully down the road people will watch the video and discover the website and then we should get referrals.




4. Any new leads? 　No　




Do you know what your plans for Christmas are yet?　 Yes, but I have not confirmed with the people yet so I’m not sure on the details yet. 　I will　talk to them ASAP and let you know what is going on. 　

1. What’s your favorite thing about the Christmas season in the mission field? 　It’s great to be able to focus on the true meaning of Christmas and the gift that the Savior is to each one of us. I like not having to deal with all of the commercialization　




　

1. What are 5 positive things from this week?  1) I am going back to State College.　2) We picked up a new investigator for Bellefonte.  3) All of our lessons were member present lessons. 　




2. How are you doing? I am doing great! I am glad I am able to go back to State College. 　




3. Anything you need? Do you have the other SD card because I only have one right now. I am going to send the one home that I have right now. 　

Well there is the week and the countdown is on…10 more days until our Christmas Skype. 　As soon as I find out the info about the time I will let you know ASAP. Hope you all have a great week.

Love you, Elder Muir

Week 79...#Share the Gift & Zone Conference

Week 79…December 8, 2014

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  This week has been an awesome week.  Zone conference was the highlight.  You can read all about that in the next question.  Another high was the First Presidency Christmas devotional last night.  If you missed it, you can watch it here…https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/archive/christmas-devotional/2014/12?cid=HPSU120714557&lang=eng.   It was once again pretty awesome.  I loved the talks and the stories that were shared.  Also, I loved the music.  I really liked Sis. Oscarson’s story she shared about the little boys getting the generous amount of candy from her great grandfather.   I also liked Elder Christofferson’s story about the little boy, Ethan, in West Jordan, UT.  I loved how his family, ward & neighborhood rallied around him to provide him with a week of holidays before he died http://www.ksl.com/?sid=32083427.  Ultimately, the message of the devotional was centered around Christ which is the most important thing of Christmas.  I liked the 2 stories because giving is far more than receiving at this time of year and President Johnson spent a good chunk of zone conference talking about that idea and how those times are some of the most memorable for him and his family.  He said, “As we contemplate the miraculous birth of Christ over the next month, remember that He came for all of us collectively but His message and ministering is very personal.  For the troubled, He brings peace.  To the lonely, He brings comfort.  To those that have sinned and repented, He brings forgiveness.  To those who suffer physically, He brings healing & help.  No matter what your individual problem is, He has the solution.”   A low has probably been just the Christmas season in general.  Being around everyone with their family and all that jazz is sometimes hard, but normally I just forget myself and go to work.  I just had this realization the other day, when I get home next year we still won’t all be together for Christmas again since Derek will be gone.  I can't believe that he turns 18 next week. 
2. How was your Zone Conference (details)?  It was awesome!!!!  We definitely felt the spirit of Christmas.  We had an awesome training on remembering the true meaning of Christmas and President J implemented something from his mission about being givers this Christmas and looking for opportunities to serve others.  We had a fantastic training on the He is the Gift initiative http://www.mormon.org/christmas.  It was amazing to see the money, time and energy the church is spending to hasten the work.  I can't imagine the costs of printing thousands of pass along cards, YouTube and even the Times Square billboards in NYC.  Random fact about the YouTube part…they expected 220 million people would view the ad they had on YouTube.  I have determined that the video gets better and better the more you watch it.  I watch it thinking how much power music can have on something.  So I hope that this Christmas season I can touch someone’s life by sharing the gift.  I encourage all that have not watched the video to watch and for those that got the pass along cards in the church magazine…use them and pass them out.  Another awesome thing was we got another mission video.  This year’s video is awesome.  It is way better than last year.  I can't wait to be home and show it to you all.  The weirdest part of zone conference was the departing testimonies of the missionaries that are leaving.  The sisters that came out with me shared their testimonies and now go home in 9 days.  I can't believe that I’ve come to that point of my mission.  No worries though, I am staying focused and I’m going to make these last 6 months the best they could ever be. 
3. When are your next interviews with Pres. Johnson?  Not sure yet.  I would imagine sometime in January.  
4. What are 5 positive things from the week?  Zone conference and I finished the BoM on Tuesday. 
5. How’s the weather been?  Definitely not like yours.  We have been cold and wintry.  A lot of freezing rain, which leads me to a story.  We drove to an exchange on Tuesday in an ice storm.  We made it alive and in one piece but the roads were quite slick in some spots and we just had to take it slow. 
6. Any service opportunities?  No, not really.  We have helped a few less actives stack some wood. 
7. Any Christmas activities that you’ve been involved with?  The Bellefonte ward Christmas party was on Friday and the 2nd ward's party (my ward) is this coming Friday. 
8. What’s the area you’re in like at Christmas?  They have Christmas lights up all over downtown State College.  This weekend Bellefonte is going to have a big Victorian Christmas celebration.  However, when I get back to my area next week it will be a ghost town, which is kind of bummer…but whatever.  Finals are this week so everyone goes home for the holidays.  So meeting with anyone is going to be rough and trying to get around on the bus is going to be a pain because they are on a modified schedule for the holidays L
9. Have you been back to State College much?  Yeah, we usually spend at least 2 or so days down there each week. 
10. How are things with you and the comps?  Are things working out better with Elder J?  Yeah, it goes up and down for him.  But I am only here for another week so it will all be back to normal after that. 
11. How are things with the investigators?  We really have not been able to see anyone.
1. YL and family?  Don't know, she is not responding back to texts so I think I am going to stop by sometime this week. 
2. L & M?  They keep canceling on us.  We had  3 lessons set last week but then they canceled.  It is deer season right now so he is never home and then work has been busy for both of them. 
3. Are you having success with the #sharethegift initiative?  Too hard to tell since we just figured out what it really was at zone conf.  But we are handing lots of cards out so we will see where that takes us.  We do have a cool idea though for all of the missionaries in the State College area.  On Friday (the day we can proselyte on campus) we will hand out a whole bunch of cards and talk to people about the true meaning of Christmas.  It will be right after finals are over and right before everyone goes home for the holidays so it should be a good thing.  Hopefully it will be something they can share with their families over the holidays.      
   
12. How are things with your ward?  They are going well. Things are starting to get rolling and people are starting to catch the vision of hastening the work. 
13. Any gut feelings on transfers?  I think I will end up back in State College again like I was before.  I feel like I might end up training again but I don't really know.  I will know what is going on by next Monday.
    
14. Can we pray for anything specifically?  Pray that all may go well with transfers.  

     Well I thought I would share this little thought with all of you.  So things right now have been kind of slow and lots of things have been falling through.   I keep asking myself what is going on why is all of this happening and I have some slightly normal winter blues.  So this morning for studies I was reading all about faith and other topics because I feel like I have been lacking in faith a bit here and there.  Something I read this morning really stood out to me.  It’s the story of Peter walking on water.  I found it kind of helpful and it brought peace to my mind because the Savior is always there to catch us but it is usually ourselves that cause the initial sinking.  God always has his arms stretched out with mercy and wants us to walk on water.  However, sometimes we begin to see the storm around us and we doubt ourselves and our capacity.  Faith requires us to trust in the Lord…doubt your doubts, not your faith.   

     Well I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.  I invite you all to discover, embrace and share the gift of Christ this Christmas season.

Love,

Elder Muir   #sharethegift

Week 78...18 Months in the Mission All GOBBLED Up!!!

December 1, 2014

Hello to all…I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I know I sure did, I stuffed my face.  The fantastic thing is that I gained no weight.  I’ve lost about 10 pounds in 18 months.  I guess that is the benefit I get for being in the walk area.  Well onto the questions. 

 

1.  How was your week?  What were you highs/lows?  This week has been an AWESOME week.  Thanksgiving was a pretty great.  It was a nice day to spend with the members and get to know them a little bit better.  My first high is that I am going to finish the BOM tomorrow.  I am on Moroni 9 as we speak.   I’m going to start the New Testament next.  Another high was dinner at the Bellefonte Bishop’s house last week.  We had an awesome lesson discussing why it is important to share the gospel.  The spirit was very strong and hopefully we can get some referrals out of it.  A rather cool/weird thing happened last week after emailing you.  We went to lunch and the kid that was serving our food recognized me and asked me where I was from.  Of course, I told him Utah.  He said he knew me from somewhere but we couldn’t quite figure it out.   I did not recognize him but after talking a bit we figured out that we both were on SLCC student council together.  Once we figured that out I kind of recognized him.  He was on a different board than me (there were over 100 of us).  It was weird that out of all the places to run into him, I meet him at the Penn State food court.  He is going to Penn State now and his parents live in Philly.  He is not a member but I guess the sisters got a media referral for him.  He is interested from what the sisters say.  The low has probably been the weather, I’m not really ready for winter. 
2. How was your Thanksgiving Day?   It was awesome!  We started the day with a Turkey Bowl with the Bellefonte ward.  We played for a few hours and then headed back and got ready.  Our first meal was at 1:00 pm.  We were invited to the Bellefonte ward mission leader’s house.  They had a big group of about 30 people there with a bunch of their extended family.  It was pretty fun.  We had the typical Thanksgiving food.  PS…a lady that was there is a sister in law with Vic and Jan Johansen’s daughter, Erica (the one that lives in Vegas).  Small world, huh?  After we went to Sis. V’s  for our 2^nd dinner.  We had a lot of fun there too.  Yes, it was just the 3 of us at Sis. V’s.  We were at each place for a couple of hours. 

3.     How much snow did you get on Wednesday?  Did it snarl any of your plans?  We probably got about 6 inches but it did not ruin any of our plans. 

4.     How did things go with your ward…as far as you making it back to your ward?  Can you go on your own?   What time is your church?   Church is at 9 AM.  Yes, I can go on my own.  I just have to get another priesthood holder the last 2 hours to be my companion.  The 3 of us went to my sacrament meeting this week and then we split from there. 

6.  How are things going with the investigators?

 

a. What about the boyfriend/girlfriend in Bellefonte?  I have not seen them since our last meeting.  They seem to be doing good and hopefully we are having another lesson this week.  They both came to church. 

b. YL?  We were finally able to contact them the other day.  We only had a lesson with her husband.  That was kind of difficult because he does not speak English very well and with Elder R Rosen gone it was kind of difficult.  When YL is there she speaks a little better English so it is easier to communicate. 

c. B?  He is pretty much dropped.  But he did come to church yesterday, however, I did not get a chance to talk to him. 

d. Other people you’re teaching in either area?  We’re still trying to teach  L & M.  We have a lesson set with them for Wednesday. 

e.  Any new leads?  No

 

9.  How are things going with Elder J & Elder R?  Things are going good.  It is about the same as the first trio I was in.  We all get along great.  The biggest thing is I feel like Elder J sometimes lack motivation and does not really care.  He ignores little rules here and there.  We talked about it on Friday at the end of our weekly planning.  We discussed how we can be better unified and more obedient.  So far it seems to be working with the goals that we have set. 

10. Any mission news/details this week?  No, not that I can think of. 

11. Is your zone conference this week?  Yes, Thursday in State College. 

FYI…Elder R arrived in Taiwan with his group from the MTC and all is well for him there.  He’s been emailing me updates and says things are going well with his new comp.  He said he misses Pennsylvania and being comps with me.  He said he learned a lot of good things that he’s trying to implement in Taiwan.  He said he doesn’t have anymore “bad VISA days” J  It’s fun to hear from him and hear about his success.

PS…exactly 6 months from today I will be making final preparations packing to come home.  I know it’s a CRAZY thing to think. 

Love you,

Elder Muir