Hello all,
Christmas was very nice. Very quiet. But I got to talk to my family this week, which is always nice. Although talking to them makes me notice a lot how I've changed. I'm a lot different than I used to be. I behave differently around them than I did before.
However, on Saturday, during an exchange, I had a bit of an accident. I hit an icy patch in the road on my bike, and I slipped and fell. I was mostly okay, and luckily there weren't many cars on the road. However, my hands hurt a bit, and things seemed a little strange, so I went to the doctor this morning and they taped things up. However, something was hurting just now that didn't earlier, so I might need to go back tomorrow.
Things are good. The gospel is still true.
Love,
Elder Mueller
Hello!
The snow here this last week was ridiculous! And I'm really sore from all the snow shoveling that we did. It probably snowed about a meter and a half in two or three days! We were supposed to have a Christmas Zone Conference, but it was postponed because the trains weren't running at all.
Things should be good for Christmas this year. It's a lot quieter here. They don't celebrate it that much. Everyone just eats cake aparently. That's about the extent of the celebrations. But we have our ward Christmas party tomorrow; it's going to be really fun!
I love you all,
-Elder Mueller
...in a good cause! Missionary work. It's good stuff, you know!
Hello, everyone!
This week, our mission got a special visit from Elder Ringwood of the Seventy. He did a mission tour, and so there were three conferences in different parts of the mission. But because the zone I'm in is so far away from everything else (Even just to get to the stake center takes three hours by train. Longer, if the tracks are icy), so we had a special one that was just our zone. The Spirit we were able to feel there was magnificent, and I was able to learn a lot and receive special revelation that I needed.
Last week, we also found our that Elder Ballard of the Twelve is visiting our mission in February, so that's going to be great to look forward to.
I'm working things out with Elder W. He's opening up more and being more honest with me about what he wants to do and how he wants to do it, and I think we are starting to understand each other more.
One thing that I've been learning more and more about is to be less judgmental of people, especially myself. I am sometimes very hard on myself, but it's better to be more patient with myself and with others as we all try to get better.
We also started to prepare things for the Christmas Party that we are having for the branch next week. The youth are putting together this ridiculous play based on an idea they stole from the Toy Story short that Disney made with the Hawaiian vacation. And at the end we are singing "Oh, Happy Day," a song from some Whoopi Goldberg movie. I feel so white when I sing it. And I'm singing with other white people and Asians. Oh well. しょがないね.
Keeping my head up,
Elder Mueller
Hi, Everyone! Alex didn't send a general email this week, but he is an obedient missionary and wrote to his mom. Here are just a couple of thoughts I wanted to share...
"Well, things are a bit rough right now....But I'm figuring things out. And I'm learning a lot too. Of all the times on my mission, this is the one when I feel most connected to Heaven's power."
"It snowed here this last week, so things have been pretty cold. I'm staying warm though. I got some boots today, so when it snows again, I'll be able to walk through the snow more easily. We can't ride bikes in the snow very well. And it snows a lot here."
So, please keep Elder Mueller in your prayers. I know it helps him a lot! Have a great week!
Hello,
This week was transfer calls. Aaaaand. . . . . . . .everything is exactly the same. All of the Takayama Elders are still the same.
Because everything is still the same, I need to work really hard to do things differently. We didn't get a lot done last transfer. And though it's a lot easier to change things with a new companion or a new area, there isn't the luxury of that this transfer. This whole situation is just really. . .confusing. But I asked my district leader for a blessing today, so I am hoping for some guidance to come through that.
It's been kind of rainy today. But I think it's supposed to start snowing soon, so we will probably have to switch to working on foot. That will be a new adventure.
Lately, I've found just how much the Book of Mormon can help in times of trouble. Whenever I have been feeling confused or lonely, I just open the Book of Mormon and lose myself in the stories in there. I guess it's not that surprising that I do that. I did that with other books before my mission all the time.
I really like Japan. Japanese is really fun to speak and I like talking to Japanese people. Especially the members. I think the biggest bummer about eventually going home is that I won't be able to speak Japanese all the time. Maybe I'll have another Japanese companion, so I can just speak Japanese 24/7 again.
Love you all,
Elder Mueller
