Week 86...Winter WonderLand & Transfer #15

January 26, 2015

 District meeting in December when Elder Muir was in the trio with Elder J & Elder R

 Fall on campus in State College

 The Allen Street Grill after Monday's storm

 Snowman on Atherton street

 

Elder Muir & Elder C on the traffic camera onAllen Street.  Missionary moms do weird things (at least this one does).  Not many moms can say they can track their missionary on the traffic cam.  They're standing in front of the library where they email on pdays.  Good times!!!

 Elder Muir with Sis. B & S from the Ridgway branch

It’s definitely is a winter wonderland out there.  It looks like we are in for the long haul for this upcoming week.  We’re supposed to have snow all day and more mid week.  The worst is we’re in for more bottom of the barrel temps.  The lows are supposed to be near zero…no Bueno.  Luckily, I ride the bus so I can get pretty much anywhere.  The problem today was the library we normally email at was on a delayed opening and closed until noon.  We ended up going to the campus library and using the computers there so that is why I am a little late today.  Of course, the schools are all closed today and on a 2 hour late start delay tomorrow.  That is hilarious about Karin and the fufu (sister missionary serving in Rome that ate some nasty African soup from a Nigerian).  The reason I say that about Karin is because we have some people from Sierra Leone in our ward and they make native African food for us when we go for dinner.  On Monday they had all of the missionaries over and we had fufu.  I would agree with Karin, it is not my favorite.  This lady made it with goat meat stuff instead of the chicken, fish, liver, heart & cartilage.   Luckily for us, there was rice and these really good scone things that we had also.  And yes, they eat it all with their fingers, but whatever…I did not.   I just used my fork instead. 

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  This week was pretty awesome.  Our teaching numbers have still been pretty low, but we are at least making progress.  We have good goals that we are working towards and the ward continues make progress.  My first high was having interviews and talking to president J.  I was able to tell him how I am doing and listen to the advice and training that he is giving.  Also, interviews on Saturday were fun because we were able to see a whole bunch of missionaries from around the zone.  Also, we were not a part of it, but there was a big snowball fight with a bunch of the missionaries in the church parking lot after interviews.  Our group picture of the zone for the mission blog was out in the snow piles.  Sis. Johnson even got some pictures of the snowball fight I think.  So keep your eyes open on the mission blog (ppmmemories.blogspot) for new pictures.  Another fun/good thing was on Saturday night, we had a University branch baptism.  We were able to go to that and it was good.  I love going to baptisms.  They always bring a special spirit.  Another thing I really liked was the talks in sacrament meeting yesterday.  The talks focused on Elder Cook’s talk Choose Wisely https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/choose-wisely?lang=eng .  I really liked the sister’s talk because she tied a lot of it into Peter’s life in the New Testament.  Again, the thing that stuck out to me was the story of Peter walking on the water.  She related it to us choosing to follow Christ and how we can't doubt him or else we will sink.  Madeleine L’Engle said, “Peter was able to walk on water until he remembered that he didn’t know how.”  Peter’s success was in remembering that he needed to rely on  his spiritual power not his temporal power.  The biggest low of the week has been the weather.  But it’s not too bad right now, even though it’s a blizzard today.  I like it for the time being.  However, it doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere soon and the cold is moving back in for a while so I might be done with it soon.  
2. What’s the scoop with transfers?  Are you staying or going?  So we are both staying in State College.  I am quite happy about that because things are just starting to get rolling here in this area and there is lots of potential. 
3. What about Elder C and the other missionaries in your area?  Two of the branch sisters are leaving and Elder J, is leaving from Bellefonte.  Elder J is one of the elders that I was in the trio with before Christmas.  So not really a whole lot of change. 
4. How did things go with your interview with Pres. Johnson?  The interview went very well.  He said that I am a great missionary and he knows that I can be trusted and get the things done that he needs.  So I was glad to hear that.  He also gave some advice to everyone in their interviews about serving with all of your heart, might, mind and strength.  It was very good for me to hear in regards to finishing strong over the next few months as I finish my mission.  I think I will at least have one more interview, if not for sure the night before I go home as a final exit interview.  I also got a new temple recommend from him that lasts until May.  Right before I leave to come home I will need to get a new one. 
5. How are things going with teaching and the investigators?
1. Are you teaching anyone right now?  We have a few we are working with.
2. Investigators?  Well the branch sisters just took C and they are now teaching her.  So we are flat out of investigators.  We are in desperate need of finding some.  L&M are both super busy right at the moment so we are no longer teaching them anymore. 
3. Less Actives?  We have seen a few less actives, but nothing really consistent with them.  Right now we are just trying to keep things consistent with them. 
4. Meals?  They are going awesome, we were fed everyday this past week and it is the same for this week. 
5. Members?  This is probably the best thing right now.  Members are a great support to us at the moment.  That is one of the reasons that I’m happy that I’m staying in State College.  I wish I could stay until June when I leave.  I’d be happy finishing out here.
6. How much snow have you had this week?  Has it affected your plans?  We have probably had at least 6 inches over the past few days and it’s still snowing.  Now they are calling for a foot in parts of the northeast so we could be in for a wintery mess.  I think there is supposed to be snow flurries all week.
7. Did you see the giant snowman that someone built on Atherton street?  You said you take Atherton to get to the library…true???  I haven’t seen a snowman but I have not really been paying attention and Atherton is a pretty long road.  I will keep my eyes open. 
8. See questions in email regarding below…
1. Who’s the Asian girl?  She is one of the temple square missionaries that is serving in the University branch.  Not sure if you know, but all of the sisters serving on Temple Square do something called an outbound mission. It’s where they leave Temple Square for 2 transfers and go to a normal proselyting mission.  So that is why she is here. 
2. Who are the 2 girls in the picture that was on the SD card?  So that is Sister B.   S is the one in the brown and Sis. B is in the red.  We were teaching them for a while in Ridgway. 
3. What’s the guy’s name that had you for dinner with the police? Have you mentioned him before? Bis his name.  He is probably in his 60's or early 70's. 
4. Do you walk or take the bus to church?  Walk, there are no buses that go past the church. 
5. Is that the church you meet at for Pdays?  Yes
9. How’s the new mission plan with the ward coming along?  It is going well. Things seem to be rolling forward.  All we need now is time for it to be distributed and get people to start thinking about it. 
10. Can you look and tell me what size your shirts are and the size of your suit…jacket & pants?  Maybe put that on a piece of paper and send it with the SD card.  I’m starting to gather things for Derek and I thought I would grab a couple of new shirts for you to have when you come home.  Also I’d like to get a new suit for you to have when you get home and hopefully we can get it altered pretty quick.  Yes, I will send it with the SD card. 
11. Any other news or fun stories that you’d like to share?  Have you got something that can top “State College Police” J?  No, not really.  One thing I thought I would mention is my fruit healthiness.  No…don’t get excited, I am not eating straight fruit.  But I have decided to by frozen fruit and I’ve been making smoothies with it.  So that has been fun.   

Well there is the report for the week, I hope you all have a great week this week.  I love you all.

Love,

Elder Muir

PS...Mom, I love the book (The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton Christensen) you sent me in the package.  It has lots of good things and stuff to think about.  Hopefully you have started reading yours.  I am 50 pgs into mine. 

Week 85...One for the Memory Book

January 19, 2015

I can’t believe that you saw us on the camera crossing the street and going into the library.  Obviously you answered your own question and know that the library is open and I’ll be emailing you today.  However, even if the library was closed we would have gone up to the campus library and emailed there because we are able to use the computers there and school is in session today.  Also, in regards to the card--that’s crazy that none of the money was used.  I usually put my cards in my wallet in the card spots, but this time I did not put the card in the wallet I just stuffed it in my pocket (bad call on my part).  Yes, I have seen all of the new videos except the Bro. Ridd’s devotional https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/article/worldwide-devotionals/2015/01/living-with-purpose-the-importance-of-real-intent?cid=HPSU011115617&lang=eng.  I love the two that I did see, the YM/YW Embark & Serve video (https://www.lds.org/youth/theme/2015?lang=eng) and the one about faith & grace (http://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/his-grace/finding-your-purpose-in-life-does-faith-matter).  I love the Embark song and have listened to some of the other songs that go with the theme for the year.  Random fact, I think Matt Townsend’s son sings one of the songs.  Also, yes I can take pictures of that book for you.  The bummer is I just sent a box off this morning with one of the SD cards in it so I will have to wait a few weeks before sending another one. 

1.      How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  This week has been a pretty good week and one that I won’t soon forget.  I’ll fill you in later J.  We have a lot of good things going on and the ward is starting to get vision of missionary work and we are hoping to take advantage of that to get things moving.  Another high was we had one more lesson than we did last week and hopefully that number can continue to go up.  We had a great zone training and learned about the faith it takes to find people and increase our teaching pool.  Something I really liked a lot was the part about how in order to find you need to be talking with everyone you come in contact with.  That is something that I have not been doing very good at lately.  So my goal is to get better at contacting everyone and hoping to see more success from that. 

2.      How are things in your area?  Things are going well.  Boy, the town is alive more than ever.  If you look at cameras I am sure you can see that the town is a happening place.  Just look on the weekends before you go to bed and you will see people out in full force lining up at the bars to go get drunk.  It is pretty funny/kind of sad riding around on the bus listening to the side conversations of how awful people feel and that they don't remember much because they were so drunk and wasted.  Oh, the life of some college students. 

3.      Have you had any service opportunities?  Not really.  We are possibly going to help some people stack some wood this week but we will see if we have time at all.  This week we have a lot going on.  We have lots of assignments from the bishop and WML so that is good for us.  We did help a member build some storage shelves to put in his basement. 

4.      What are 5 positive things from the week?  1) The weather was decent.  2) We are starting to finally get lessons lined up again.  3) We had dinner with our WML and were able to continue to build our relationship with him.  The downside to that story is they have a cute little baby that is 2 months old. I was going through withdrawals not being able to hold her.  For some reason little children are starting to get to me again and I miss being able to hold them and play with them.  It does not help that the ward is full of cute little babies. 

5.      How’s your weather?  The weather has been up and down.  It definitely has been much warmer than the week before, but the wind has been blowing.  There were a couple of days that were decent.  Last night was kind of icy on the roads and the salt trucks were out in force.  The bus drivers were busy cautioning each other over the radio telling other bus drivers to be careful in some spots where they were sliding.  Overall it has been decent. 

6.      Any info/feelings about transfers?  Not sure, I hope it does not happen because we are just getting things rolling again and we just put out the ward mission plan and we have a full staff of ward missionaries and things are looking good for the future.  But you know what that means, when things are going good usually that means sayonara.  So I my gut feeling is I might leave, but I have no idea.  I'll know by Saturday. 

7.      Any mission info/meetings coming up?  I have interviews with President this Saturday, but other than that things are pretty sparse for a bit. 

 

9.      How are things with your investigators/teaching?

a.  L & M?  Unfortunately, I think they are starting to dodge us, but we are still trying.  

b.  Any new leads/referrals?  Our WML has a neighbor that we may start teaching. They are still trying to contact her and invite her to some things.  So we will see how it pans out. 

 

10.  How are things with the ward?  Mission leader?  Members?  Like I keep saying things are going pretty awesome.  Things are slowly starting to roll forward and we are able to get in with members.  So we will see how it goes.  Another cool thing was on Saturday we were finally able to have a meeting with everyone on the ward mission team.  There were a lot of good things that came from that and we have a lot of good goals and ideas that we have made.  A lot of things that we are working on have come out of the book The Power of Everyday Missionaries by Clayton Christensen.  I encourage you to get it if you can and take a look at it.  Can you maybe send me a copy of it please, if you don't that is OK. 

11.  How are your studies coming?  They are going pretty good, I have been continuing to study the New Testament and also I have been reading True to the Faith.  That book is pretty cool.  I love the simplicity of the book.  It’s full of simple definitions that we use all of the time and it helps you understand things that you may not know a lot about. 

15.  Are you still fully invested in your mission and 100% committed?  Yes, there are definitely days that are better than others.  It’s especially hard on the days that are slow, but I’m committed to finishing out strong. 

16.  How are things with you and Elder C?  Things are going well.  He still talks a lot about computers and programming and all kinds of stuff that goes way over my head.  But other than that we are doing well together. 

17.  Anything fun that you want to share?  Well this week was quite the treat and will make for some good journal memories that I’ll remember forever.  So this former investigator that we were teaching when I first got here decided to feed us.  I had no idea that he signed up on the sheet until we were at the church for something and we saw his name.  The last time we had checked the sign-up he wasn’t on there, but all of the sudden his name was on it.  Still not sure when he signed up.  At first I thought maybe he didn't realize what he was signing up for.  But we sent him a text asking if he was feeding us and he said yes.  I was slightly worried about what we were in for at that point.  I asked him what we were having and he said, “what the dog likes” and I immediately thought, “oh dear, we’re in trouble”.  But then he said we were having chicken.  So that was a little relief for us.  We showed up at his house and he was just barely starting to make things and I was having a slight panic attack about how things were going to go down.  So he starts making dinner and to give a little background…the man has a lot going on in his life so he is kind of grumpy some times.  As he continues to fix dinner he gets a call on the phone but he does not answer it.   About 10 or 15 minutes later there is a loud knock on the door and he just ignores it.  Then they knock again and in a mean/rude way he says, “I'm busy”.  Then from the other side of the door, a lady begins to shout, “State College Police”.  Immediately my heart sank and I thought this just got 1,000 times worse.  Now the cops are here and we are just innocent bystanders over for dinner.  Finally he lets them in and the fire chief had come too.  Apparently the alarm company got a notice that a smoke detector had gone off and they needed to check to see if everything was OK.  The phone call before was the alarm company, but he ignored it.  I never heard an alarm going off.  Finally, the cop wanted to figure out who we were and we told them we were missionaries that had been invited for dinner.  The cop then leaned over to us and whispered, “Are you guys OK?”  We said yes.  Everything turned out fine after that and the food was decent and then we enjoyed dinner.  That’s a story for the journal for sure.  The other story is about our outing with the Penn State wrestling coaches. We had to take the sacrament to some people and they went with us.  I got to go with the head coach, Bro. S, who also is an Olympic gold medalist.  So that was pretty cool, not many people can say they have delivered the sacrament with an Olympic gold medalist. 

18.  If it’s Tuesday, did you just switch your pdays?  What are you doing for your Pday?  The same old, same old…we’re going shopping, I am getting my haircut, and then we’re going to the church after to play games with everybody in State College.

Well there is my interesting and exciting week.  Hope you all have a wonderful week.

Elder Muir

Week 84...School is Back in Session

January 12, 2015

School is Back in Session...We are Penn State!!!

December 2014 Zone Conf.  

Elder Muir is in the 2nd row, 5th one from the right (red/orange tie)

1. How was your week?  What were the highs & lows?  It was a pretty good week.  School is back in session and we got Mother Nature's cold shoulder.  We’ve finally been able to get some things set up and hopefully will have some lessons this week.  One high this week was a dinner appointment with the  B family (he spent Christmas with this family).  They had all the missionaries over in the State College area which was 10 missionaries.  On top of that, they had 2 extra missionaries because the ZLs were up here on exchange.  So we had a total of 12 missionaries at their house for dinner and had a good time.  Another high was Wednesday after district meeting.  For lunch we all went to Olive Garden and we all got the soup & salad with breadsticks deal.  You will be so impressed, I had some of the salad and it actually was not a half bad salad with the dressing that they have on it.  Also we talked to one of our less actives for a bit on our way home from dinner one night.   Hopefully we can see her tomorrow.  Probably the biggest low had to be the cold. 
2. Did you survive the cold?  Did you stay in, go out or did members help shuffle you around?  Yes, I survived.  We spent a lot of time at the library doing area book work and things like that.  It gave me a new appreciation for the pioneers and the long 1,000+ mile trek they made during the heart of winter.  I was watching Ephraim’s Rescue and as some were in dire circumstance with no food, shoes or shelter I thought how I am pretty lucky to have the bus to transport us and to have a warm apartment and food.  I don’t know how they did it.  I think that maybe I would have laid on the side of the trail and hoped that I froze to death.  I am in awe at the strength and motivation they had to make it to the Salt Lake valley.    
3. Your New’s Eve sounds like it was quite an adventure.  Where’s the Texas Rdhse?  How far did you have to walk when you missed the bus?  Where were you trying to catch the bus at?  Down on Waddle Road for your Google earth reference.  We tried to get the bus from the Pattee library on campus and then we tried College and Allen, but we barely missed it there.  So we walked from College and Allen (basically the library) to home.  So about a 45 min walk. 
4. I got a new VISA for you in the mail, when does the one that you have expire?  It expires at the end of the month. 
5. How are things with your investigators?
1. L & M   Still nothing with them, I’m not sure if they are avoiding us or they are really busy.  Our WML is trying to invite them over for dinner this week with us. 
2. Any new leads/prospects?  Not right now, but I hope to have some now that school is back in session. 
3. What are you doing to teach or find people?  We are really trying to work with the members on finding.  We also are going through old records and checking with people that have been taught in the past to see if they are interested again. 
4. Any success from the share the gift pass alongs?  No, not that I have seen. 
6. What are 5 positive things from the week?  1)  I did not freeze.  2) I had the bus to ride and did not have to walk everywhere.  3)  School is back in session and we are starting to have things to do again.  
7. How are things with the ward members & dinner appts?  Now that they are all back in town things are going well and hopefully things will get rolling again. 
8. What are you studying right now?  I am studying the New Testament and reading in Luke about Christ and his many miracles.  It’s pretty cool.
9. Anything new, newsworthy or funny that you want to share?  So apparently there were some people in our ward on Good Morning America the Monday before Christmas because they won a Home for the Holidays contest to go home for Christmas (all paid by GMA).  You might be able to find it on the GMA website if you type Welker into the search bar or go back in the history a couple of weeks.  So there is a random side note thing.  You can see some of the people in our ward. 
10. Is there anything you need from us?  No
11. Are you happy & healthy?  yes
12. How are things with you and Elder C?  Things are going well.  We still are trying to build unity with one another and getting to know each other.  It hard sometimes because we don’t have a lot in common but that doesn't mean much.  Overall, we are doing good and enjoying being companions.

Well I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Muir

Week 83...19 Months in the Mission

January 5, 2015

Well this week has been an adventure.  New Year’s, a new church time, and now today marks 5 more months left in the mission (technically less since I fly home on the 3rd).  Also thanks for the info about the Berrys and the sister missionaries on Nightline, you’ll have to keep me posted.  So I guess on to my New Years adventures and the questions. 

 

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  Well this week had its fair share and highs and lows.  The worst part of the week was probably Saturday with the freezing rain and ice.  It was a very cold & wet day.  However, the upside is that we stopped at a members’ house and they let us dry off and ended up feeding us, so that was a plus.  Church is at now at 1:00 pm which is kind of a bummer, but we all have to take our turn.   It takes up a huge chunk of the day and I would rather have it in the morning since we are up early anyways and then we could have the afternoon to work, but whatever…I only have it for 5 more months at max and if a transfer is involved the time might change.  A high was definitely exchanges.  I stayed down here with Elder J Jackson.  It was a slow day, but we had a good time together.  Eating at Texas Roadhouse on New Year’s eve was fun (they had some college games on and it was weird seeing TV again)
2. What did you do for New Year’s Eve?  Did you get my package?  Did you take pics?  Did the Martinelli’s survive?   So let’s start off with the Martinelli's…yes, they survived and yes, I got your New Year’s package….thank you.  Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures, but we can still take some. They just won’t be on the night of New Years.  President said we could be out until 9 pm like normal, but we came in around 8 pm because it was turning kind of crazy and we figured that most people would be downtown and wouldn’t want to talk to us.  We ended up going to Texas Roadhouse for dinner with one of the gift cards I got.  After dinner is when the adventure began.  We took the bus back downtown and had plans to go to the CATA (bus office) office to get some free hot chocolate and cookies that they were serving for all the people downtown to get warm.  But little did we know that there was a 5K going on at that time. I guess I had heard about it a little, but I did not realize it was at that time.  So we waited at a transfer station for another bus because our normal bus route was whacked out.  All of the sudden busses just stopped coming and by the time we said lets walk to downtown the 5Kcame around the corner and up onto campus. I then realized the buses had been stopped so we hurried to try and catch it at another spot but we barely missed it.  We called dispatch to see if we could get the bus anywhere else and they said “nope, things are stopped downtown” because of the festivities so we just walked home instead.  We arrived home and decided to stay in the last hour, thinking that it might be smarter and safer.  Now you have the New Year’s adventure 
3. Is State College starting to fill with people again?  Yes, slowly. So hopefully we can get the ball rolling forward again and get things moving.  Luckily, school starts this Monday on the 12th and things will be back to normal.  It’s crazy to think I only have a month left after this semester is over.
4. Any mission things going on this month?  Interviews at the end of the month. 
5. How are the meals & members?  Any fun dinner appts. since the funeral?  They are going good, last week was kind of slow but now that people are getting back into town things are starting to pick up.  The lady that is in charge of the calendar is good at making sure our week is full. 
6. How are things with the investigators?
1.  YL & family?  Were you able to meet with them before they left?  Yeah, we saw her and pretty much that ship has sailed.  She has a project for school and is super busy, so I think she’s done with us.  So we may stop back one last time to say goodbye.
2. L & M?  Still nothing new with them.  I hope to meet with them this week.  I really want to get her going again and meet with her. 
3. LA lady & NM investigator mother in law?  We have not seen the less active at all.  Right now the mother in law wants to hold off on the lessons because she has a lot going on in her life at the moment. 
4. What about the contact you made and were hoping to have a lesson with?  No we have not seen him we keep trying but he is never home. 
5. Any new leads or opportunities?  No not really, but the ward finally gave us their rescue list with 15 names on it. There are a lot of part member families on there.  So maybe we can get pick up some people from that.  We also have a husband of a less active who has taken lessons before but was not really interested.  However, on Saturday we walked to their house in the ice storm to help them move some couches.  He was really impressed that we walked all the way to their house in terrible weather to help them. 
7. How’s the weather?  Well, it has taken a turn for the worse.  Mother Nature has given us the cold shoulder and I think we have turned on the freezer for the week.  Yesterday it was windy and 50.  It was much nicer the day before.  Not sure if you saw any of the cameras but we had a nice ice/slush storm with rain on Saturday.  It was quite a mess and to top it all off we were soaking.  We were out in the pouring rain, freezing rain and ice.  Not so fun and it was rather cold and miserable. Another day for the memories of the good ole Pennsylvania weather.  Luckily, we stopped by a members’ home on the way back home to get warm and dry off.  We ended up staying for dinner and ate French toast with them.  Let me tell you an ice storm and rain makes the roads a slushy mess. Add cars to it and it’s not so fun to walk in.  Today it is freezing cold and super windy, so let the misery begin.  I’ve heard we have your freezing temps coming our way and the temps with the wind chill will be in the negatives this week L
8. What are 5 positive things from the week?  1)  With the cold weather coming this week, it is quite nice to have a bus to get onto to stay warm and get to places without having to walk.  2) I have set my 2015 goals (it is slightly weird planning goals for when I get home). 
9. What families do you enjoy being with in your ward?  Sis. V’s  is a fun family to be with.  The B family is a fun new family that moved in over the summer and they have a little boy.  A funny side note is that his mission president was Pres. Cottrell (my old mission prep teacher) from our stake. 
10. Anything that we can do for you?  No

14. Any funny stories or adventures that I’d like to hear.  I feel like your emails are getting shorter and shorter…throw me a bone.  I need enough to last me for a week.  So Elder C  and his district at the MTC came up with a great new code word for when you have a bad belly.  It is Jeremiah 4:19-21.  You will have to read it for it to make sense, but I think you will all get a good laugh out of it.  Also, this was a few weeks ago but I think it was pretty funny.  One of the sisters was getting a drink in the drinking fountain and I kind of scared her standing there and when she put her head up she accidently sprayed the water in her mouth all over my face.  It was all an accident and was pretty funny.  

Well I hope you were sufficed by that epistle and it was long enough for you.  Thanks for everything and I hope you all have a fantastic week as I freeze here in State College. 

Love,

Elder Muir