Tender Mercies

I was really excited to be a trainer, but things aren't going as well as I hoped. He's kind of taking over everything. Even though he just got out of the MTC in Provo and so he has no experience. He also gets upset at me when I don't agree with him, or when I ask him to follow mission rules, like going to bed on time at 10:30. I'm talking with my mission leaders to see if there is anything I need to do. But right now I'm kind of just enduring. It's not very pleasant.  But it's making it very difficult to get anything done.

But the Lord is showering me with tender mercies in many forms. Like finding a random Kit-Kat in the freezer that I must have put in there. Or the quotes on those cards that you gave me. On Saturday, a lot of things that were difficult to handle happened, but the quote for that day was "today's trial is tomorrow's testimony." Or the fact that an Elder who I was really good friends with while I was serving in Ueda and he was serving in my district became my Zone Leader,so I can talk to him about everything. Or like the fact that when we had to go to the next area over to buy a bike for my companion, we ran into a member on the way back, and she told us her conversion story, which was a pretty crazy story and she spoke fluent English, so she was switching back and forth between English and Japanese and she bore her testimony to us. Or how We showed up at the church in time to catch the last 30 minutes of a fireside that they broadcast from Tokyo that was really good.

It's still pretty hot here. Although the weather has been kind of strange this week. Almost like the rainy season again. It just starts raining unexpectedly a lot, but not usually for very long. You have to be careful about it though. We got caught in the rain without umbrellas and had to walk home in the pouring rain last Thursday.

I really like Nakatsugawa. I feel really close to the members here. Because there aren't that many of them, and I speak a lot more Japanese than I ever have before so it's easy to just talk. There are lots of mountains around us. And not a whole lot of people. This week there were 4 days of festivals that I didn't know we're happening. So we went to see fireworks and dancing. I think it was in conjunction with the Japanese festival of the dead (Obon), when it is said that all the ancestors come back from the world of spirits to their graves, so every has family gatherings and goes to visit the family grave, kind of like Memorial Day.

Still teaching English class. They do it in every city where there are missionaries in Japan. It's kind of fun. I still don't feel like I know what I am doing most of the time though. There isn't a lot of guidance as to what we are supposed to teach, which is okay, it just makes it difficult for our students to progress in their English skills. We also have a children's English class here in Nakatsugawa. They have them in some places, but this is the first one I've ever taught. It's crazy! It's just a bunch of little girls between the ages of 4 and 10. And some of them just make fun of you, but it's just "whatever" because their just crazy kids. There are also sister missionaries serving in Nakatsugawa,which is also a first for me. I've never really served in the same area as sister missionaries, other than the month when I was in Fuji.

But just know that things are a little tough right now, but I am doing my best to work through them. And I know that God is looking out for me. He manifests himself in funny ways sometimes, but I know He's there. I would love your prayers for things to work out with my companion.

Talk to you next week.

Alex

New Assignment

Another transfer has gone, and this new one I have a new responsibility:
I'm going to train a new missionary!

Training takes 12 weeks, so the rest of my mission is pretty much decided now, unless something crazy happens.

So I'm going to be companions with someone who's fresh out of the MTC. And I'm pretty excited about it. It's going to have it's difficulties but, I'm ready to do my best and leave the rest to heaven. Sister Hamamura who is serving here in Nakatsugawa is going to train a new missionary as well, so things are going to be kind of hectic these last two transfers.

This week was really busy due to the fact that I had to go on two companion exchanges this week just like last week. And because of long travel times, they tend to take up a lot of time, so Elder Johnson and I haven't been able to meet with our investigators much at all. But one of our investigators, Taguchi, came to the branch barbecue that we had on Saturday. And he seemed to enjoy himself a lot and made good friendships with the members there. We are really trying to do everything we can so that he can be baptized in the next couple months.

Church is true. Christ lives. And I am His servant.

With love,

Elder Mueller

 On the bus home from the district activity last week.

BBQ!

We're Melting Over Here

Guess what! My companion and I went to Kasugai, the next area over, because our area doesn't have a good bike shop, and I needed to do some repairs. And there was a thermometer, and it said that it was 42 degrees Celsius. I'll let you have the joy of converting that temperature.

We had interviews this week with President Ishii for the first time. It was nice to be able to talk to a friend.

We are also going to go play tennis as a district in a couple hours, so I'm pretty excited.

Transfer calls are this Saturday, so everybody is going to get shuffled around. That's always exciting. It's also President Ishii's first transfers, so there will be an extra measure of unexpectedness.

Well, the work goes on. I'm still doing okay. Just trying to stay healthy in mind, body and spirit. It's a bit difficult, but I think I'll manage okay. It's just kinda busy and hot.

I love you all,

Elder Mueller

Two Decades of Life, ACCOMPLISHED!

Hello. It my twentieth birthday today. It's pretty exciting. And I'm
down to 100 days of mission, so I'd better make the time count.

(Note from Alex's mom: his birthday gift was a book of 100 thoughts, one each for the last 100 days of his mission.) I got your package on Wednesday. Thanks for the present. I will use it well. It will also be a good exercise in self discipline. I've got to use some self control so that I don't just read all the cards and ruin the fun of it.



This week there were a lot of interesting things that I had to do. Such as getting called upon to go to another area in the district to perform in their music night. There's a sister missionary who can play the violin who is going home in just two weeks, so they had a mini concert. Or at least it was supposed o be mini. But their ward missionary wanted it to be 60 minutes long, so they needed more people to play. So I went. It was fun. I played a Japanese song from some movie that I've never seen. I got the sheet music from another missionary last year.

We also go to work in the fields of one of the members every week. And this week was pulling weeds in the tomato greenhouses. It was quite the afternoon.

The thing that just made my week though was getting a phone call on Thursday telling me that I would be giving a talk on Sunday about. . .wait for it. . .food storage. It's been the theme all month, so I was a little worried when I got the phone call in the first place. But with some preparation, it turned out pretty good, I think. Even if I did have to speak in Japanese. I think it was even long enough, too. Which has been a difficulty when I've given talks in the past. Like when my farewell talk only took up 7 minutes of the 10-15 minutes that I had been assigned. Oh well! That was a long time again.

My birthday has been pretty great so far. We had a lesson with an investigator this morning that went really well. I'm not sure he'll get baptized while I'm here, but I think he will eventually be baptized. The sisters of the area also decorated the church and gave me some cake. And you can tell I've changed a lot here, because it was cheesecake. And I ate it. And it was pretty good.

Here are some pictures:

package from home, including the traditional Thomas the Tank Engine birthday banner :)

So that was pretty great.

There's also an investigator who we are going to visit tonight when said that he would feed me shrimp fry when we went. So I'm excited for that

Anyway, I'm doing good. It seems like I'm doing better than I was on my birthday last year. So that's great!

Thanks for everything!

Elder Mueller

Faulty Typhoons

Hello. We had quite the week this week.

Nakatsugawa is really far away from everywhere in the district, and we have to ride trains just to get to other parts of our area in reasonable time, so money has been a little tight this week due to our having to go to Kasugai twice this week. The first time was for a companionship exchange. The events of which were eating pork chops, and visiting a less-active member who told me that I shouldn't settle for anything less than great and that I should do something awesome with my life. It was kind of a funny conversation, especially because he was trying to speak in both Japanese and English at the same time, but in all seriousness it made me think about what I want to do with myself once I come back to America.

I also presided at my first district meeting as a district leader this week. It was a little nerve-wracking at first, but I think it turned out good. At the very least, my companion loved it.

We were also supposed to have a typhoon this week, but the center of it went over land too quickly for us to experience anything more than some bipolar rainstorms. Nevertheless, one of them caught us off guard yesterday when we had no umbrellas and we got soaked.

All in all, things are going pretty well. I'm definitely tired, and this is still not the the easiest thing in the world day-by-day, but it's definitely been made easier by those who have extended their love and kindness. And I'm feeling better every day.

God is still alive.

With love,
Elder Mueller

Summer is Well Underway

Hello my friends,

I am doing great! Things seem to be working well. I get along with my companion, I enjoy my district leader responsibilities so far, and I feel like I've chopped through that incorrect thoughts and ideas that have held me prey for most of my mission, it's like finally getting to your machete and escaping from a python!

Elder J and I have been really busy this last week. We had to go to Nagoya twice. On Wednesday to meet the new mission president. That was great! I love President Ishii already. And I'm already pretty close to him after working with him in Toyohashi. And then the second time we went was for a Zone Training Meeting which we have every once in a while.

I have my first district training meeting as a district leader his week too. It's a bit nerve racking because the Zone Leaders will be there too. But I'm excited because I finally get to share some of the things I've learned on my mission.

There might be a typhoon coming this week too. If so we might have to stay inside all day.

We're also going to start using the iPads more in regards to planning and record keeping. I'm really excited for this because the paper records are a mess! It seems like nobody really got very used to using them the way they were supposed to be used. But now, it seems like everything will be a lot more organized and clear too.

Anyway, things are good. I'm feeling a lot better than I ever have. I also talked to my mission president about my fatigue problems and he said I should rest. "You need to be relaxed." So I can take a few minutes to nap or take a break if I need to.

I'm going to make it home in one piece!

With love,

Elder Mueller

A New Era

Hello everyone from Nakatsugawa Japan!

The weather is either hot or rainy, the hills are beastly, the branch has 15 active members, and I am having a great time.

It's hard work. There's a lot to be done, and there's a lot that you could potentially complain about, but I'm sure that you could do that anywhere being involved in anything at all. There's always something
to complain about.

Nevertheless, I feel good. I feel like I'm doing what I'm supposed to. Not that what I'm doing has changed much, mostly just my perspective. The church in Japan is still pretty young. But there have been many prophecies made concerning this island nation. And I will trust in
those. The Lord shall hasten His work in its time. So we missionaries need to be patient.

Elder J and I work really well together. He's still a pretty young missionary, having only come to the field about three months ago, so there are a lot of opportunities to help him. And he is really supportive of me. And he likes my cooking, so that's a bonus.

We're working with a new investigator that we found two weeks ago who is really humble and really anxious to read the Book of Mormon. We met with him twice this last week and we're going to see him tomorrow for another lesson. We actually just ran into him on the way to get my hair cut a couple hours ago, and he was pretty happy to see us. Hoping the he can get baptized eventually.

Elder Mueller's companion, Elder J above Nakatsugawa.