Week 94...Preparing for Baptism & the Bug

March 23, 2015

Boy, it’s been another interesting week.  Illness seems to be a common thing everywhere right at the moment.  We have been sick like the rest of you.  Our ward has had its share of illness and Elder T had his turn this week.  He came down with some sort of stomach bug/flu, but we’re still not sure what it is.  He thinks it may be the meds that the doctors gave him from the ER visit, but with all the sickness going around it’s hard to be sure.  He was dry heaving, not feeling good and running a fever on Tuesday night and so we were told to take a down day on Wednesday.  He still didn’t feel great Thursday so we did a half day.  That is cool about Bro. Lawrence serving in Meadville and being here for the dedication of the Meadville chapel.  I don’t recognize the lady's name (Sis. Lang) he mentioned.   

1.      How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  Because of the sickness it was another slow week; however, we were still able to get a fair amount of stuff done.  The biggest setback was Elder T being sick.  So that was kind of a bummer.  We did quite a bit of sitting around not being able to do much since he did not feel well.  The high out of all that is that I still have not gotten sick and I hope to stay clear of it.  A low has been the temps have dropped again for the past few days so it has been kind of cold, but at least there has been no snow.  The biggest high of the week was RR  passed her baptismal interview and she is all set and ready to go to be baptized on Saturday.  It will be great to be able to report on that next week.  Another high was we had 3 investigators at church yesterday.  

2.      How was church yesterday?  It was good.  The ward is very very small.  Like I said before, it is a huge ward it’s just all of them are less active (LA).  The good thing is that there is a lot of potential to reactivate.  I think I only counted a little over 50 people.  I still don't really know a whole lot of people, but I am slowly starting to figure out who people are.  The priesthood lesson was interesting. It was based on Pres. Eyring’s last priesthood session talk.  He talked about the importance of the Aaronic priesthood and the future of the church.  They gave some of the stats of the ward and things like that and it was kind of sad to see how much they’re struggling in the ward.  It would be nice if they could get a senior couple here again.  They had one about a year ago.  So as a result of church, I found there is a lot of work to be done.  It’s definitely different than what I experienced in State College.  

3.      Did you meet a lot of people this week?  Kind of, we did meet a LA lady that is pretty cool.  She got baptized a few years ago and we had a pretty good lesson with her.  We talked about the part in the BOM when Nephi is bound with cords and breaks free from them.  I also met a few people at church yesterday. 

4.      When you went to stake conference last week did you stay overnight on Saturday?  Yes, we spent the night with the Jamestown elders.  

5.      How are things with you and Elder T?  Are you getting more adjusted to your surroundings and him?  Things seem to be going good.  There are still random things that he does not care about, but really I am kind of just letting him go unless they are major things. I feel like it just makes things worse if I try to argue about it.  I wish it didn’t make things worse, but unfortunately that’s what I have to do for now.  So I don't know if that is what I should be doing or what.  It is sort of a balancing act and I have to pick my battles.  I have found that just loving him and leading by example is the best thing that I can do right now.  But he is a cool person and I really like him.  He’s come from a rough patch and had kind of sad life.  His dad died from ALS when he was in high school and they struggled financially a lot of the time too.  So his home life was kind of sad.  We were talking the other day and he told me that after his dad died his mom never really made food at home they would just go out and eat somewhere.  So he is pretty cool other than his small little “not wanting to do anything” sometimes.  Yes, I am getting more and more adjusted to the area.  Luckily, we have a list of a bunch of people that the Bishop wants us to try and see. The goal is to stay healthy and busy this week.  

6.      How are his stomach issues?  Anymore ER?  No more ER visits.  His stomach is still not doing so well so he just has to watch what he eats.  So basically it is still about the same.  The only problem this week was he had the stomach flu and was in all day Wednesday with a fever.  So we stayed in but there was kind of no point to that because I guess he can't really sleep during the day.  He did not want to sit at the apartment all day so he decided that we should go spend the day with the family that RR  is friends with.  I didn’t agree because he was not really resting trying to get better.  So really no problems solved yet.  

7.      What’s your guess on Derek’s mission call?   I think he is going to Frankfurt Germany 

10.  How are things with the investigators?

a.       RR?  She is doing great.  Like I said she passed her baptism interview and is getting baptized on Saturday.  Pray for good things,  right now all systems are a go.  

b.      Any new leads/investigators?  We have a lady named A that they were teaching before I got here and we are seeing her tomorrow.  She and her daughter were at church yesterday.  

c.       Less actives?  Things are going well.  I still don't really know a lot of them or about them though.  

d.      Service opportunities?  We helped a less active lady clean her house on Saturday.  

11.  What are 5 positive things from the week?  1) RR is getting baptized.  2) I didn't get sick.  3) The weather is starting to get better.  

12.  Why do you have a truck?  Because in the winter there is a lot of snow.  Lots of the roads are either dirt or don't get plowed very well so we need 4x4 to get around. Now it is really muddy, so occasionally we can get stuck and I don't think a Corolla would do so well here.  The moving crew missionaries have a 2014 or 2015 Chevy Silverado.  Yeah, the mission cars are always brand new when we get them. Our truck only has about 18,000 miles on it right now.  It actually is nice because like I said a lot of places are a mud pit right now so it is very easy to get stuck.   

13.  Any update on the apartment?  No, not really.  President seemed to not think it was time for a move.  He just said to try and keep it as clean as possible.  So I think right now we are just going to stay put.  

14.  Any mission events this week (Zone Conf/training etc).  My last zone conference is Wednesday and that is about it.  I get to give my departing testimony at zone conference.  

16.  Any meal time appts/stories?  Well we don’t really have lots of dinner appointments.  We just eat at home usually.  

17.  Are you happy & healthy?  Yes.  I am just hoping that I can stay clear of what Elder T and everyone else has.  I seem to be doing well right now.  

18. What can we do for you and what can we pray for?  Please pray that I can continue to get to know people and we can stay healthy.  Also pray that all will go well with RR’s baptism on Saturday.  

Well there is my week.  It was kind of boring, but I guess being sick is sort of exciting.  

Attached are some pictures.  The one with all the people is the mass exodus out of the library the day Penn State closed early a few weeks ago because of the ice, snow and cold.  The other is Elder T and your favorite missionary.

Love,

Elder Muir

Week 93...Welcome to Meadville, PA

Week 93…March 16, 2015

 

I arrived safe and sound and am now serving in Meadville, PA…a small town right in between Pittsburgh (90 miles south) & Erie (about 45 miles north), PA.  Boy it’s been an exciting week in my new area.  I will give you details below.  That is no bueno about everyone being sick and your hot date at the instacare on Saturday night.  I can probably one up you, we went to the ER in Erie on Friday night.  I will explain later, but so you can start breathing again it was nothing major and had nothing to do with me.  Elder T has been having stomach problems and they think it might be his gall bladder, we still are not sure.  Also, tell Ambrie to look into the student life stuff at SLCC.  It won't be the scholarship that I have but they still give tuition stipends and different things like that.  Tell her to go SLCC’s website and search student life leadership or email Brandi or Tyler.  Also, I keep forgetting to tell you I noticed French Toast Crunch is back on the shelves when you put it in the Chex mix that you sent.  I also saw it at Walmart last week and wanted to buy some but that meant packing it away which I did not want to do, so no French Toast Crunch.

 

Onto the questions…

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  Well this week has been sort of hard with some ups and downs.  To be honest, I miss State College but I am here and running with what Heavenly Father has given me and I know this is where I need to be.  I am still trying to figure out why I am here in Meadville and I am slowly starting to get ideas of why I am here.  So I guess I will start with the highs.  We had stake conference this weekend and that’s probably been the best thing so far.  It was up in Jamestown, NY (about 1:45 hr. drive from Meadville).  Lucille Ball was born there and is now buried there.  So we had a road trip to NY for the weekend.  Stake conference was awesome because we talked about the importance of councils just like you guys did.  It’s interesting that you included info about that in your email.  I think that is the theme for this year’s stake conferences.  Also they talked about temples and family history.  At the Saturday meeting they talked about councils and the importance of them.  I really liked the talk that focused on family councils.  It made me think of our family and the important things that we have counseled about over the years and the decisions we have been able to make as a family.  Also I started thinking about the councils that I will have in my own family and how that timing is coming soon.  It was weird to think that I am almost starting to enter into that next phase of life.  Quite frankly it is kind of a scary thought, but also it’s pretty exciting.  On Sunday they talked about the importance temples and family history.  I thought it was very cool as they talked about how important the temple really is to our eternal salvation.  They shared a lot of stories about parents leading by example to show their kids the importance of the temple.  You and dad have definitely been that example in my life.  It made me think of the day that all of us will be able to sit in the celestial room together as a family.  That will be an awesome day!  You’ve already got one there (me) and Boris will follow here in the very near future.  You probably can’t wait for that day.  Another high was I was able to have interviews with Pres. Johnson Saturday after conference.  It’s always great to be able to sit down and talk about the mission and what I can do to improve.   We talked a lot about the last few months of my mission and how I need to live it to the fullest and not let get anything get in the way.  I need to serve with all my might.  Unfortunately, the low part of my week is my new companion, Elder T.  He is a great companion and has a lot of great qualities, but exact obedience is kind of a problem for him.  It’s the small things that he has a problem with, but sometimes those are the most important things.  The small and simple things are what keep us on the path and exact obedience brings blessings.  He’s kind of pushing me with some of the rules, but I’m sure it will get better.  Little things like taking stuff out to the garbage with one of our investigators, who is a girl our age, and he doesn’t think I need to go with them.  That’s a no go in my book and for sure in the handbook.  So I’m trying find ways to help him care about obedience and ways that we can be unified.  The other downer is I’ve haven’t met many people yet, investigators or members.  There’s a girl that has a date for baptism, which is great; however, he likes to spend a considerable amount of time at her home after we’re done with our meal/lesson.  He thinks its good bonding time and thinks it’s helping her prepare for her baptism.  In reality, we’re supposed to be in and out after eating and giving our message/lesson.  Basically, we’re wasting a lot of time there.  There are other random small things that he does that I’m concerned about.  Right now I am still just trying to read him and see how it goes.  So we will see how it goes.  This could be a long 6 weeks or it could turn around and be good.  Hopefully it will be the latter as I start figuring things out.  There is work to be done here and good things could happen.  Well enough with my ranting, it will be an uphill battle and work in progress but I’ll survive.  
2. How did everything go with transfers?  Who did you drive to Pitt with etc. Transfers went well.  I left State College around 9 am on Tuesday and drove to Pitt with an elder in our district that was going home.  We left early because he stopped by his first area to say goodbye to a family and we had lunch with them.  It was the first time I have met this family, but her reputation precedes her.  I have heard about her and I think the entire mission pretty much knows who she is.  She has recipe she makes for the missionaries called Not Brownies.  It is sort of like brownies, but not really.  I don't really know how to explain them.  After the transfer meeting we drove up to Meadville.  
3. How is your new area?  Welcome us to Meadville, PA…what are some interesting things about it?  What do you like best about it?  Well…it’s OK, it’s not State College J.  I definitely miss State College and like SC better so far.  It is pretty cool because this is where early church history started.  We are only a few hours away from Kirtland, OH.  It reminds me a lot of Ridgway.  Not sure what is interesting about it yet.  I’m sure I’ll get a better feel for it soon.  Its home to Allegheny College and is an quaint, old town.  I know steel was a big industry here.  I like of the farm feel and woodsy stuff around town.  There are lots of trees, lakes and rivers.  I’m sure it will be very green when the trees start to blossom.  
4. What kind of national chain eating establishments are around?  Not much, we are kind of the middle of nowhere.  It is kind of like driving to southern Utah.  It is a town like Beaver with not much in it, just the random few fast food chains for people to stop at as they drive through.  Really there is nothing until you get north to Erie or to the south when you start getting on the out skirts of Pitt.  So basically the drive from Erie to Pitt is like a drive from  SLC to St. George.  
   
   
5. Introduce us to Elder T?  Where’s he from?  He is from Henderson, NV.  Where did he last serve?  He has been here for about 6 weeks now and got here mid transfer because of some bad drama that went down with another missionary and a recent convert.  The elder got sent home for being way too flirty and I will just leave it at that.  How long has he been in Meadville?   About 6 weeks.   He is very blunt with people which is good sometimes, but unfortunately sometimes it comes across as rude even when he is joking.   
6. How’s your apartment?  Take pictures pretty please.  It is rather weird, it is like a giant hallway.  I will definitely take pictures and send them to you.  It’s not the mission’s best asset, it’s really old and gross.  We may end up moving if we can find somewhere else and get approval.   
7.  Do you have a car?  Do you drive?  Yes, it may be the mission’s best asset J.  We have a 2014 Nissan truck like Maughns.  I have not driven yet, but I will soon.  
8. How many missionaries are in your district?  Four and it is funny because 3 of the 4 missionaries are named Zach.  Elder T is the only non Zach.  What areas?  Our area, Meadville and the Franklin ward.  What zone are you in and where will you go for zone meetings?  We are the Jamestown zone; however, we will go down by Pitt to have zone conference because we combine with another zone.  
9. How’s the ward?  Not really sure yet.  I have not met many in the ward because it was Stake Conference.  It sounds like a slightly dysfunctional ward.  It is a pretty old ward, not young like State College.  Who have you met so far?  We met our WML and also a counselor in the bishopric.  They are pretty cool.  How big is the ward?  There are about 300 on roll, but only about 70 active if the weather is good.  What time is your church? 9:30 am    
10. How’s the weather been? Looks like you were on a flood watch over the weekend for possible ice jams.  It has been nice in the 40's and 50's and it will be almost 60 today.  
11. How big is your area?  Probably about as big as Ridgway.  What’s included in your area?  Still trying to figure that out.  
12. What do most the people do in Meadville for work?  Unfortunately, a lot of them live on welfare and don’t work.  If they did work most of them are retired now and worked in steel and tool die plants.   
13. Just want to confirm the address you sent to me...  Yes, however, we may end up moving though because our rent just went up and the apartment we live in is kind of a gross apartment.  I guess the missionaries have lived here forever.  Nothing is for sure but we may start looking and we need to talk to the apartment lady as well to see if it’s a good time in our lease to move.  But as of right now the address I gave you is where we are.  
14. Did you know about, see or participate in the Meadville St. Patty’s Day parade on Saturday?  I had no idea about it.  I think there was a 5k that went past our apartment for it though.  
15. How’s the missionary work in Meadville?  I think good.  
    1. Who are you teaching?  We are teaching a girl named RR.  She is a girl that is our age.  Her friend is a recent convert that referred her so that’s a plus. This is the recent convert family & investigator that we misuse a lot of time with. She is getting baptized on March 28th which is pretty cool.  To be honest, they are a little bit weird and vulgar, but luckily they try to be mellow and tone it down when we are there.  Unfortunately, we don't really teach a whole lot of other people because apparently not a lot of people are really good candidates to be taught.  However, I think it might just be a lack of effort which I am hoping to fix.  It seems like there is a lot of opportunity for reactivation in this ward.  
    2. Any new prospects?   No, not really.  
    3. Is the missionary work busy there?  Not really, but I think there is a lot of potential if we can put some work into it.  
    4. Any service opportunities…impromptu or set service?  Supposedly, weekly service is hard to come by here, I guess.  But apparently lots of members will call us for help.  
16. How are dinner appointments?  Have you had any this week?  This area is not a thriving meal area.  It is a pretty poor ward.  We have eaten a lot with a LA & recent convert’s family. Their daughter’s friend, RR, is the one investigating and she has the baptism date for March 28.
17. Tell me something funny that will make me laugh J.   We helped this odd less active lady shovel a pile of snow that had a bunch of dog poo on it so her grass would not die. 
18. Any other news/stories that you’d like to share?  Well finally I can tell you about the ER saga.  Nothing unites companionships like spending time in the ER together.  Elder T has been having some really bad stomach pain and sharp stabbing pains after he eats for the past month or so.   So finally this week he has been trying to get to a doctor to get checked out.  He’s been calling Sis. Johnson back and forth to get things figured out.  He thought he would just go to a family doctor but all the paper work they wanted was not really easy to get with the constraints we are on.  So finally we told Sis. Johnson we were going to the ER so the tests and stuff that potentially needed to be done would be right there.  We were thinking his gall bladder was the problem so we thought it might be removed that night.  Meadville doesn’t have a great hospital so we made a road trip to Erie Friday night around 8 pm.  It’s about a 45 min. drive one way and we got home around 1:00 am.  Luckily it wasn’t really busy and we got in pretty fast and got the tests run quickly, but then we had like a 90 min. of nothing…zip, no one!  We figured something must have happened and someone must have come with an emergency.  Sure enough when the doc came back he said sorry we had someone come in that was in cardiac arrest and did not make it.  It was kind of sad.  They came to a few conclusions with Elder T but said he needs to go to a GI specialist, however, they can't get him in until the middle of April.  So the saga continues.  
19. Is there anything you need or that we can pray for?    Well just pray that I survive this transfer and that we can get some decent work done together and overcome our differences and be unified in our companionship.
    Well there you have it, that is my adventuresome week!!! 
     
    Love you,
    Elder Muir

Week 92...Transfer #16 & So Long Happy Valley…I’ll Miss You

March 9, 2015

Well this was quite the week.  The weather was quite an event.   It was slightly dangerous on foot or in a car.  It was pretty much an ice skating rink.  It seems we enjoyed a slight warm up but only enough to make a slushy mesh of everything and have it freeze solid again thus forcing the closure of schools on Wednesday, including Penn State for the first time since 2008.  It might not seem like it, but State College is approaching the finish line of the 2015 winter that felt more like the ICE AGE.  Ice age is actually a good description for our winter which brought record cold temps into the area.  The average temperature in February was 17.1 degrees below the norm of 29.6 (12.5 degrees below the avg.)  After a bitter cold weekend, this week we have the possibility of making it into the high 40’s/low 50’s.  It’s enough to be a little bit excited about and bring out the flip flops…oh wait, missionaries can’t wear flip flops J.  Maybe a short sleeved shirt.

 

Well onto the questions and the adventure. 

1. How was your week?  What were the highs/lows?  Well this week was a slightly hard week, but I survived.  We went on exchange with the zone leaders which I thought would be fun, but I guessed wrong.  Maybe the ZL was having a bad day.  I say that because for some reason the ZL that I exchanged with decided to be not so nice.  He literally complained about everything I did and had nothing nice to say to me.  Before the exchange I thought this missionary was nice.  I’d seen him around and heard/seen him at zone conference etc. He does go home in 6 weeks, so maybe he is just super trunky, but whatever…it was not fun at all.   There were a few times that I wanted to smack him upside the head, but I used my better judgment and did not.  I just kept telling myself that I could survive the day and I’d be back with Elder C at the end of the night.  The thing is I was not really doing anything wrong.  I guess I was just not doing things the way he liked and how he thought I should be doing it.  So we argued a bit and then towards the end of the night, when we had about a couple of hours left, I finally asked him if he had anything nice to say to me.  I also asked what it was that I’d been doing all day that was causing this behavior.  I told him I felt like he was just ripping me to pieces.  His response was, “I thought since you have been out so long that you knew what you were supposed to be doing” and all that good stuff.  I said, “does that mean I am supposed to be a perfect missionary”  because I felt that was the card that I had been dealt.  Luckily, there is a bright side to the day. I guess let me back up a bit before I get to the bright part.  He is obsessed with Legos and we saw a Lego sign in someone’s window and he really wanted to go talk to the person and basically tract to find it.  I said no to that  because we had other things that needed to get done.  We argued again about it for a minute and then left.  Here’s the bright spot…so we have a guy that is in the process of being re- activated.   We’ve been stopping by and trying to get in to visit with him and his active wife (he is pretty much active now).  Well we happened to stop by and his wife told us she had been praying for someone to help him.  He is bipolar and was having sort of a depressing day.  So we ended up giving him a blessing.  The cool part is we knocked on the door pretty much right as she said “Amen” to her prayer.  Well I am out of time, I will write more in a letter once I get settled down in my new area. 
2. What’s the scoop with transfers?  Are you staying or going?  After 4 transfers here, I am leaving State College.  I've been 3 transfers in Camp Hill, 4 in Lititz, 4 in St. Marys & 4 in State College...only 2 to go and I'll most likely end my mission wherever I'm going tomorrow.  I am kind of sad about leaving, but YaY for new adventures and new memories as I am sure they will be unforgettable too.  I really wanted to stay, but figured I was getting the boot because I was getting too comfortable here and loving it.  Last week I slowly started having the desire to leave.   So really at that point, I did not care if I stayed or transferred.  I decided I would leave it up to the Lord and go where He wants me to go.  I’m fine leaving.  Unfortunately, I don't think I will make it to the DC temple because I think I’m staying on this side of the mission according to one of the APs that I tried to get the lowdown from.  We’ll see what happens. 
3. What about Elder C and the rest of your district?  Well everybody else is staying the same except for me and there is an elder going home.  I think Elder C may be trio training because there are a few Mandarin speaking Visa waiters coming in.  He did not get a call saying he was training though so we don't know.  Our theory is that he will be an unofficial trainer and whoever the new guy is coming to replace me will be the official trainer.  The reason I think it will be a trio is because who knows when the Visa waiter will leave so if he leaves that would just leave a normal companionship after that.  Hope that all made sense. 
4. If you’re being transferred were you able to say goodbyes & take pics?   Not really, I got a few pics. Unfortunately, Penn State and everyone else is on spring break here so a lot of people are gone.  Sadly all of them get back after I leave tomorrow.  Lucky for me I will be able to see them again here in a few months when we come back out.  I got to have dinner with the B family (Christmas dinner) so that was fun.  So really it was kind of a crappy week to leave because everyone is gone. 
5. How do you feel about transfers?  I am happy, sad and excited all at the same time.  I am to the point where no matter where I am it is all of the same.  I’m serving the Lord and I’ll go where he wants me to go so it is not a big deal where I am at.  I wished I could have stayed here because we’ve got a lot going on but that usually means time for a change.  So it honestly doesn't even matter, really it is all the same wherever you are.  However, my heart will go on in State College (that was said in my most beautiful Celine Dion voice.). 
6. How’s the weather?  Has spring finally sprung?  Great at the moment.  It was 43 when we got off the bus to go to the library and like I said above I think that’s what is forecast for the rest of the week.  We may even hit 50 this week which would be downright balmy.
7. How are things with your investigators/teaching?
1. CC?  She is doing well.  We had another great lesson with her on Saturday.  She even came to church yesterday.  She was a little late though because she forgot to change her clock…oops.  But she still came, so I was impressed with that. 
2. Sierra Leone sister?  Have not heard anything on her, we are going to stop by again.
3. McDonald’s referral?  We tried to find him.  The address is kind of vague and the member doesn't know a house number.  Hopefully we can take him with us next time.
8. What are 5 positive things from the week?  1) I survived the snow or should I say ICE.  2) Most likely, I only have one more time to pack after today.  3) Packing is made easy due to the fact that I bought some space bags from Walmart and they work wonderfully.   You suck them down with the vacuum and it makes lots of space.  4) I made a great infomercial for you on the SD card which you will get soon.  5)  We’re having a heat wave today at 43 J. 
9. Any good mealtime stories?   We had another funeral with Sis. V on Saturday for the Elder going home.  That was an adventure.  Pictures are to come when the SD card goes home.  It was super nice of her to still do it because her son slipped on the ice and broke his arm like grandpa did.  Luckily, no surgery will be involved though.  Just a nasty break.  On top of that she was leaving for a 20 hour drive to South Dakota to visit her husband and look for a house there.  So she definitely had a full plate but she still took time for us, she’s a great lady. 
   
10. Any mission news/events coming up?  Zone conference is at the end of the month and interviews are coming up as well. 

Well I can't wait to report to you on my new area.  Signing out from State College for the last time…I’ll miss you Happy Valley J.

Love you,

Elder Muir