Tornados and Policemen

Dear Family and Friends,

Man I feel like I didn't even leave Washington with this weather that has been going on! Well, here was my week! Monday was my birthday and it was on a P-Day which made it 100 times more awesome! We went fishing, but the lake was on its low for water so we caught nothing but weeds... that made me a little mad! After fishing we went to a members house and they made me my favorite dinner which is ribs! And we had a birthday cake and Mt. Dew, the drink of real men! Tuesday Elder Park and I did a lot of door contacting and went around sharing Luke 2 or the Christmas story! Lots of people either told us to come in and read with them or come back another day! It was awesome! We had a grandma tell us she was a baptist and didn't need to hear the Christmas story because she already knew it. I mean, it doesn't hurt to hear it again before Christmas geez! Wednesday was a weird day. We did some contacting, but then we got a call from our zone leaders and they told us we were on lockdown. I guess there was a big storm system going through our area and the threat or a tornado was not likely, but the mission president wanted all missionaries either in their apartments or at a members house. So Elder Park and I went to a members house and stayed there with all these little kids and played with them and helped out the family! Then our mission president called us. Now whenever the mission president calls, usually we both are like "oh dang what did we do?!" Basically our mission president told us we were the only area that had a tornado watch still so he wanted to know where we were and that we were safe! So we headed back to our apartment and got ready for bed. As we were lying in bed, our zone leaders called us and were like, "yea y'all have an 80% chance of a tornado tonight, so have fun and be safe! Remember to get bike helmets and a mattress over you in the bath tub if one does touch down!" After that I was like, dang! The thunder that night kept me up all night and it was awful! Luckily a tornado didn't touch down in our area, but Mississippi did get some bad ones that took the lives away from 14 people which was really sad. Thursday was a super wet day and we did some tracting, but it was useless because everywhere was either flooding or flooded. So we went to a members house for Christmas Eve and it was a lot of fun! they got us gift cards to Wendy's because Elder Park loves his Wendy's! Friday was Christmas and we spent it indoors all day because of flood/Flash flood warnings all over our area! I was grateful for the members house we stayed at because they got us presents and treated us like one of their own kids! Shout out to all the people who sent gifts and special shoutout to Marcus "Mark Bills" Van Gils for getting me a ghetto basketball head wear to keep the sweat out of my eyes! Saturday was dry, but everything was still flooded. We did contacting all day basically and everyone told us to go away. that night we had dinner with a member and we got to the members house about 30 minutes early, so we decided to do some door contacting! We got maybe 10 minutes into contacting when cops showed up everywhere and were flashing their lights on us. I was like, crud I can't get arrested out here! They asked us what we were doing and we said we were missionaries for our church. They said that we can't solicit out here, but we told them that we were proselyting, a huge difference! They were confused and said we needed proper licences to do this, so we showed them that as well! They had no idea what to do after that and didn't know if we could be doing it past dark which we can. They said sorry for bothering us, but they have to respond to calls. We told them that we were Mormons and one of the cops walked back to his car and yelled to the other cops still standing next to us, "You okay Tracy?" She yelled back, "Yea im fine! If anything they might save me!" It was funny! Sunday was Church and it was good! We then went to a referral's house and knocked on the door. I kid you not, this 6'9-6'10 guy comes to the door, looks at us, and says, "Y'all Mormons?" I was like yes we are, please don't kill me! As soon as we said yes, he smiled and opened his door and greeted us in! This guy has studied all Christian religions besides ours! So he wanted a Book of Mormon to read! He is open to learn, but told us he doesn't want to join any church. It was awesome to talk with him about what he has studied and his life too!

I love and miss y'all a lot! If y'all want to write me either a letter or an email, I would love to read whats going on in ya life and write ya back! Have a Happy New Year, and Roll Tide!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

Sketchy in Scottsboro....

Dear family and friends,

This week I can say was the weirdest week of the mission so far! Monday was P-Day so my companion and I went fishing and I caught a nice bass! After fishing we went home and did laundry and such! Tuesday Elder Park woke up feeling really sick, so we spent half of the day watching Book of Mormon videos and Bible videos and trying to get him over his sickness! The next half of the day we went out and did some tracting, but had no luck at all :/ Wednesday we  woke up and Elder Park still wasn't feeling good, so we went to The Mart and bought Nyquil and other drugs so he would feel better. We stayed home for that day so he could break his fever and feel better again! We then got ready and went to the Church for our Book of Mormon class we started! Nobody showed up, so we sat there and talked with Branch members that were hanging around the place. The YW and YM and Relief Society went caroling and came back and we all had hot cocoa and hot cider! The cub scouts needed a spiritual thought so we gave them one and then they wanted to play basketball! It was fun dribbling the ball around them and making them fall with swift moves like kobe or D-Rose! Thursday. This was the super sketchy day. We both woke up and did our morning routines and such and then we had to go to the church to print off some papers for our District meeting which was Friday. As soon as we walked into the church, broken glass. Someone broke glass on the door that lead to the family history center. At first we though it was an accident that someone didn't clean up, but as we went to the YW's room, the window was open and drapes were torn off the ceiling and things were thrown from the cabinet! Someone broke into the church and went through all the rooms in the church vandalizing them! Luckily they only rummaged through the cabinets and didn't take anything from them. We called our branch president and the police and they all came down and had to call investigators to assess the situation even further! We went into the library and found out that whoever broke in also stole two TV's and a projector from the library! I was so sad and mad that someone did this, but things happen. Apparently these people needed those items more than the church did! Friday was district meeting and it was good! Elder Park and I went to CVS and picked up his prescription medicine for his sickness. Saturday we spent the day hitting up that T-City life! We got into two peoples homes and shared the Christmas story with them! It was awesome and I think they want us to come back! Sunday was church and it was a good session! After church, Elder Park and I thought that we should go visit a man that recently lost his wife. So we called up a member who knew the man and we all went and visited him. He was super grateful we came by and wanted us to come back and take our lessons as well! It was awesome and I can say that having a member with us was the key to getting back to him! Without the member, we wouldn't have gotten a return appointment! After that we visited a member who recently got a divorce. When we got there, her kids wanted to play with the Elders! So we got out the toys and played with them as their mother talked with other members at the house. The kids had lightsabers and wanted to duel us. So being all jedi like we had little duels with the youngest kid and we always let him win! All the members were laughing and applauding the little kid as he took down the evil sith lord (me and Elder Park) and put his foot on our chest and flex his muscles! It was so funny and cute! I love and miss y'all! I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas and remembers why this day is so important! On that day, God gave his greatest gift that we ever could have received, a Savior for all of us. Happy Holidays everyone!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

Safe in Scottsboro!

Dear family and friends,

Wow im sorry for this email in advance but it is going too be sad and short because honestly nothing really happened this week! Monday Elder Park and I went fishing and caught about 6-8 fish in total! It was a good day of that! Tuesday was a boring day because we went too T-City and had no luck whatsoever! We knocked on 20 doors and only 1 person answered in a neighborhood! It was sad and we kept going and nobody answered! Even though no one answered, we kept going! Wednesday Elder Park and I started up a Book of Mormon class! It went really well and 4 people showed up! 4 dosent sound like a lot, but it is here in Alabama! After we did the class, we just helped out branch members with whatever they needed help with that were in the Church! Thursday Elder Park and I spent the morning studying and then we packed up our bedding and mattresses and left for Monte Sano! Yes I said mattresses! Some how we managed to fit both of them into our Toyota Carola! It was funny driving around with all of that in our car! Once we reached Monte Sano, we did a little exchange and I went with Elder Larson too visit some referrals! None of the referrals wanted too talk with us so we went to T-City and talked with a Church of Christ minister! The dude was super nice and was happy we were going around talking about Jesus too people. He said that both Mormons and Church of Christ's beliefs were the same, besides modern day revelation and miracles. He told us that if we could bless him and take away his ailments and make him whole that he would give us his house and all of his property. It was kind of funny cause first off we wouldn't do that because he basically wants too test God. I don't know if he has read lately, but the last time people wanted too test God like he wanted too they were either struck dumb or dead... So yea haha! After that we went to The Mart (Southern for Walmart y'all!) and did some store contacting there! No luck there! After that we drove to the Sparkman Elder's apartment because we were going too spend the night there! We had about 10 Elders in an apartment all at once! It was packed, but boy did we have fun! I got my hair cut which was good and so did some other Elders! Right as I was about too go to bed, my trainer and another Elder looked at me and holding a lighter said "Young one, we must mark you with a burn!" I didn't know they were kidding, but as soon as the Elder who wasnt my trainer walked towards me I went into fight mode! Shout out to Kristian for wrestling me cause as soon as he came near me, I put him in a head lock and went down and held him there! My trainer was laughing and decided to try too pull me off the other Elder and didn't have the best of luck! The other Elder still had the lighter in his hand so I grabbed it and accidentally snapped the metal part of it and we all stopped, looked at the lighter, and all laughed super hard! It was so funny and we all needed a laugh that night! Friday was the Christmas Party! I got too see Elder Ravenberg and Elder Whetten, my MTC district Elders again! It was awesome to see where they were at with their mission and catch up with them! We had a huge feast and a telent show and a movie for the whole party! It was good too relax for that day! After the party Elder Park and I went to a Christmas festival in Huntsville to help answer questions about our church! It was a good festival, but there were bashers that showed up and tried too "save our souls from going too Hell!" They knew what they were doing and had rehearsed it before and we just were like we will answer you're questions, but we are both christian and Christ wouldn;t want us or you to come into another person's church and tell them they are wrong! They all left after the festival was over. Saturday we did service for a branch member and again went to the festival in Huntsville because these branch members wanted us to go with them! So we went again and it was just as good! No bashers this time! As we were driving hoe, we got a call from one of the AP's. They called too let Elder Park and I know that we both would be staying in Scottsboro for another 7 weeks! It was awesome to hear that because this means I get too stay for 14 weeks! I was relieved to hear that I get to spend my birthday and Christmas in Scottsboro with branch members who love their Elders! Sunday was just church and eating with branch members! Love all of you guys and hope everyone is doing well! Ive got time too email so if you want too shoot a quick email, ill be here too reply! Stay safe and CHRISTMAS IS NEXT WEEK WHAT THE OH YEA!!!!!!!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

Bullfrogs and Bashes

Dear family and friends,

This week was filled with so much fun and spiritual memories! Monday was a usual P-Day and emailing people. It was raining so hard I felt like I was back home in Redmond! My companion and I went fishing for about 2 hours and had no luck whatsoever. Go figure... Then we played basketball and ate dinner and that was pretty much it for that night! Tuesday we started off at the dentist because Elder Park had to get some teeth stuff done. At the dentist, I learned I was going on an exchange with our zone leaders. I went to Huntsville which is North West of my area. I was with Elder Littleford for the day/night. We went to T-City and taught 5 lessons in less than two hours which is super good! The only problem was the lessons we were teaching, I wouldn't get too go back and teach them the next day because I would be in Scottsboro... Crap! But it was all good in the end! Wednesday we switched back and Elder Park and I got to go teach another guy who's name is Ben! He told us straight up he won't convert or anything, but he would love it if we played ping pong with him whenever he was free! I was thinking, "you say you won't convert now, but we will see when you find out what the gospel really has in store for you!" We played ping pong with him and he was freaking good! I only beat him once and it was pure luck! Thursday was the temple day! Ahhhh it was so nice to go there! It was a peaceful happy day, and then we went into the hood. That's right, I went to the real hood of Alabama! the area was Ensley Alabama and if you really want to know how cool/terrifying Ensley really is, google it. My companion and another Elder we were with both served there and wanted too have dinner there and say hi to a member there! It was super ghetto, but I want to serve in the ghetto so bad! Scotssboro is awesome and all, but I want crazy stories and such that only come from serving in the ghetto! The members house he went into had bullet holes in the windows and side of the house. Ensley is the 3rd most dangerous zipcode in America, or so we have been told. We said hi and had a spiritual thought with the member and then went back to safe Scottsboro. Friday we had district meeting and it went well! Then we said bye to some elders that we knew were going too get transferred to different areas. I so hope Elder Park and I don't get transferred! Friday was just another day of T-City after district meeting and such. Saturday we did service for a member and also met up with a kid named Hunter! He is 15 and his dad is super anti-mormon, but Hunter really wants too be baptized and be a member. He has had a hard time with family in his past, so he wanted to know what a father and mother's roles were in a family. We read with him the family proclamation to the world and through teaching him about it, I also learned a lot and how to become a great father. After we visited with Hunter, we went to dinner with a member at a restaurant. As soon as i looked at the menu, i noticed they had frog legs. I said "wow i have never had frog legs before!" And the member then bought about 7 fried frog legs. So yea, I had frog legs and these ones were honestly bad. I didn't like them at all and the meat was rubbery! Sunday was fast Sunday so that was fun and all! After Church Elder Park and I went with a member to visit an man who just lost his wife. This man was distraught when we came over and we made sure he knew that he would see her again and told him to come to church with us to learn more and also because someone falsely accused him of a crime that he didn't commit so his church wont let him come back. After that, we went to another family and this is where the bash began. This family wasn't part of any denomination at all and they were saying the weirdest things ever. We tried too teach them about having the proper authority of God and such, but they kept getting louder and yelling at us basically and telling us we were wrong. After that part about yelling at us, I stopped everyone and said "Lets say a prayer." After that, the whole conversation changed! The atmosphere was more in understanding way. It was honestly amazing! Hope everyone is doing well and if you want too shoot me an email, i'll be on the computer for a little bit today! Also I write letters too people! If you want to write a letter, I will write back and love to do it! Stay safe everyone and ITS ALMOST CHRISTMAS!!!!!1

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

​Temple trip with my companion

​My P-Day set up for catfishing

Thanksgiving X5!

Dear family and friends,

Time has gone bye so fast! I feel like I was emailing y'all yesterday! This week was supposed to be eventful, but appointments fell through and such. It happens and people are busy which is okay! Monday my companion and I went fishing and I was the only one too catch fish! Looks like all that hard work of fishing over the years pays off! Just kidding it was all pure luck! Tuesday my companion and I went tracting and we found a man who was talking with us about religion and what he believes and such and it was a good experience! We have a return appointment with him today actually! Hopefully he remembers that we are coming over! Wednesday we helped a member with some service and did some more tracting. No lucky tracting, so we decided to give another investigator a call too see if we could come over for our return appointment! He said he couldn't this week because of Thanksgiving and all. I was like "Ben no!!! We have too play ping pong!" He wants too play ping pong with us and teach him again! So we rescheduled with him for this Wednesday! After that my companion and I went too the church too help with Young men and Young womens! Wednesday's and Sunday's are my favorite days in the mission because I love being around the youth and the leaders and the branch! Makes me feel like i'm at home and the branch members love us a lot! The young men didn't have young mens that night because of Thanksgiving and all, but the young women had too do some painting ornaments for a Christmas tree they do in their stake center! For all of those who really know me, you know that art and painting really isn't my best attribute... I tried painting ornaments and such, but I got kicked off that committee because I wasn't doing them right. So I laughed and they all laughed and I helped cutting out cardboard and such! After I was done I got bored cause I couldn't do any of the artsy stuff, so I found a basketball and started too dribble and spin the ball on my finger and such just for fun. After that I helped clean up and started too get ready for the next day, which was Thanksgiving! Man that day was full of food and pain for me... I started the day off with breakfast at a members house and they fed us steak and eggs! I was so full after that, and then I went too another members house for a Thanksgiving dinner/lunch ordeal. I was already full, but had too eat again. It was painful, but the food was so good! After we got done with that, we had yet another appointment! I thought I was going too burst from food overdose! Luckily for us, we played some kickball with the members before the food so I got too rest from eating and get some exercise in! Shout out too the Wittwers for getting me into soccer a little more because I destroyed that game and kicked so many home runs! After kick ball we ate, yet again. I was so done at that point and when we went home, all the Elders in our district came over for district meeting the next day. Yet again another night without sleep thanks too Elder Ferrell! That next day we played football which as always was amazing! Caught 6 touchdowns and led my team too victory with a pick and then a touchdown to win the game! It was awesome! Had an exchange that day so I went south to an area called Monte Sano which borderlines Scottsboro. I was with Elder Larson for the night. He is a cool kid! We had 2 Thanksgiving dinners that day as well.... I was not ready for them! After the dinners we went tracting and such and had no luck there. Saturday came rolling around and the Monte Sano elders and my companion and I went too a members house for some lunch and it was good! For the rest of that day we tried too tract, but since it was the Iron Bowl and all, nobody, and I mean nobody was going too answer the door! Football is a way of life down here! Everyone who saw us thought we were crazy because we weren't watching the game! Found out 'Bama won the game... but I will still be War Eagle all the way! Sunday was good as usual! It has been a good week, and this week I get too go to the temple which is awesome! Love and miss all of you guys! Happy late Thanksgiving! Remember what you're thankful for even though the holiday has passed! Next is CHRISTMAS!!!!! The best holiday of the year!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

First Fish!

Dear family and friends,

Well, I didn't have any luck catching a monster catfish... but I did catch 2 bass and a crappie instead! This week has been so so because I have been sick for most of it and it has been terrible for sleeping or even functioning too! It has been coughing and sneezing and sore throat all week long! The branch members though have been so nice and given me medicine and home remedies too help get over my cold! Even though the church isn't strong up here, the branch members are like a huge family who love and take care of everyone who needs help whenever! So on Monday of last week I started my week with study and then emailing! Then I got my fishing gear all purchased and my licence too! Im going too be really mad if I get transferred too Mississippi because I got a year long licence for Alabama and not Mississippi! That would suck if I did, but I'll manage! After getting all the gear and everything, my companion and I went too the lake and started too cast out! In total we caught about 6-8 fish! They were all bass and crappie and pretty good sizes! We took them over too a branch members house so she could cook them up for us! Turns out, these fish have a lot of bones in them and they weren't cooked all the way through! That made it fun too eat! On Tuesday, my companion was pretty sick so we laid low for that day. Wednesday we had YM and YG. I feel like I love Wednesday's and Sunday's the most because I get too be with the Branch and the Branch members are so amazing! We had too set up for a Thanksgiving potluck on Sunday and help the activity day girls with a skit they were doing! It was super funny because there are two girls in activity days that are obsessed with Elder Park and I and they had us watch them do their skit I think like 6 times because they would always stare at us the whole time! Elder Park and I laughed because we both thought it was super funny how they are in love with us and have us do everything for them! I give Elder Park a hard time about it because this one little girl just always has too come up and talk with him or make fun of him and I laugh all the time at it! Thursday was super cool because we drove and hour up North too see Elder Dube from the first quorum of the 70 because he came too speak too us missionaries! I got too shake his hand and talk for a tiny bit with him! It was funny because as we was shaking my hand, he tried too read my nametag and was like "Elder....Muh.....elder.....Muhle....ummm....Elder Muhelle....ummm" So i helped him out and said Muhlestein and he said "Ahh! I couldnt pronounce it! I'm sorry for that but you're a wonderful young man!" I thought it was cool cause everyone shook his hand for like 2 seconds and he grasped my hand for about 30 trying too read my last name! So yea... I held a  first quorum of the 70's hand longer than anyone there besides his wife did! More blessings for me I guess haha just kidding! Friday we hit up T-City and talked with this older gentleman who had leukemia and wanted too chat because he never had company. As we were talking, I tried too give him a book of Mormon, but he said no because his head was hurting him. So I took the book back from him and set it on his coffee table and we all said a prayer together. After the prayer, Elder Park and I left and I left eh Book of Mormon on his coffee table. If he wasn't going too take it from me personally, I was going too have to "accidentally" leave it on his coffee table! Saturday was Elder Park's birthday! We had a breakfast with a branch member, then lunch, then dinner! the branch members sure love him up here! Our lunch appointment, the branch members fed us steak! But these steaks were huge! And it was the best steak I have ever eaten! Perfectly cooked and seasoned too! I have too start working out every night now because we get fed so much and I cant keep the pounds off! Sunday was the usual besides the potluck after church! I don't think I have ever been somewhere where they feed us after church! It was a whole Thanksgiving feast and it was soooo good!!! Love and miss all of you! hope too hear from everyone soon and happy Thanksgiving week! 

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

my first fish ever caught in Alabama!

Happy Missionary=Happy Mom!

Dear family and friends,

Can you believe it has already been a week??? It feels like its only been a couple days too me! I guess it is true what they say, time flies when you're having fun! Well I have been living in my new area which is called Scottsboro, Alabama! It is in North Eastern Alabama and the people here are either really nice or really rude! My new companion's name is Elder Park! He is from Rexburg Idaho and has been out for about 15 months coming up on 16! I'm almost at my month mark for being a missionary! It's super crazy! This week we started off with lunch with a member who needed help with her lesson in Relief Society about missionary work! Her name is Sister Johnson, but everyone calls her Grandma cause is basically like everyone's Grandma! She took us too a place called Pikeville market where they serve the best burgers ever! Now I know in Seattle everyone says Dick's burgers are the best, but these burgers were like burgers that were 20X better than Dick's! Southern cooking is the best! But we drove around Wednesday so that I could get a grip of the area. It is a really really pretty place out here! Then I went tracting for the first time! That is probably my favorite part of being a missionary. Talking too new people everyday, or getting yelled at by people too! Some guy in a really old, but nice and loud Corvette rolled up too my companion and I and looked at us and said "Do y'all have permits too be doing this?!" And we said yes and showed him them. As soon as we showed him our permits, he took off and was gone! Talk about being rude! I thought it was super funny though and couldn't stop laughing! He was going too Citizen's arrest us if we didn't have our permits and he was just looking for a fight really. If you're looking for a fight, don't come after the missionaries cause all we are going too do is preach the gospel and give ya a Book of Mormon! We had District meeting on Thursday and all the Elder's in the District which is 4 slept in our tiny Apartment in our room. We didn't sleep at all because Elder Farrell wouldn't shut up and would make us laugh all night! Other than that, Saturday was the big day for me at least. Elder PArk and I were tracting in a neighborhood and came across a man named Ben. We talked for about 5 minutes and then asked if we could teach him a lesson. He said yes and we taught him the restoration and he was super interested! He wants us too come back next week because he is in Georgia right now, but it is super exciting too be able too teach him about the Gospel! I have been reading in the New Testament for the past week starting with Matthew and it's just amazing too read about Jesus's parable about the ninety and nine sheep and the one lost one. That one sheep who was lost was more important too bring safely home than the ninety and nine. The reason? If we have already been converted ourselves too Christ and followed what he has asked of us, the Lord is happy. But if we bring that one sheep into the ninety and nine who was lost, the joy is even greater because we have brought another into his fold. I have never really liked reading at all and most of you know this, but I can't get enough of the scriptures. It is like I see them on a whole new level. I learn something new from then everyday and try too use the teachings in them too better myself and others. I love all of you and cant wait too hear about you're guy's life and whats been going on with it! I get too go fishing today which is amazing for me cause I love to do that! Hoping too catch a giant catfish!

Address: 3707 South Broad Street Apartment 604 Scottsboro, Alabama 35769

ALSO: If anyone one for some reason were going too send Christmas gifts (not saying you all should this is just for the people thinking about it) send them right now because I have transfers two days before Christmas and the Mission President has asked too get all the presents before transfers in case I do get transferred to another place!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

News from Alabama

Alabama Birmingham MissionK 

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Elder Muhlestein has safely arrived in the Alabama Birmingham Mission! 

 

We are impressed with your son and want to thank you for all that you have done in preparing this wonderful young man for his mission.  He met his new companion and traveled to his first area.  

 

Attached are photos of Elder Muhlestein, one with President and Sister Hanks and one with his Trainer, Elder Park.  He will bless this mission greatly with his enthusiasm and dedication. We love him and pledge our best efforts in directing his service here. 

Elder Muhlestein has accepted a call that will change his life and the lives of those with whom he is serving.  These first few months will be full of new and challenging experiences, and your support in the form of encouraging and uplifting letters will help him greatly. 

Our greatest hope is that each missionary has a positive and growing experience, which will help give him a foundation for a lifetime of service to others. We appreciate the time you have spent raising your son to be such a responsible young man.  We thank you for your willingness to share Elder Muhlestein with us.  

President and Sister Hanks 

 

The Missionary Has Landed!

Niki received the following email from Ethan this morning...

"Hey I get to email you about my first area! It's in Scottsboro Alabama, near Tennessee and Georgia. North Eastern Alabama. Address is 3707 South Broad Street Apartment 604 Scottsboro Alabama 35769"

His current mailing address has been added to the sidebar for easy reference.

Go write Ethan a letter!!

-Holli (Ethan's favorite Aunt) :D

And he's off......Again!

We got a lovely jolting wake up call at 4:45 am this morning.  It was Elder Muhlestein hanging out at the airport before his flight left for Georgia.  He is super excited to be headed to the field.  Please keep him in your prayers.

Nicole M

Last Day in the MTC

Hey everyone!

So im sorry I lied to everyone and said I wouldn't be able to email until next week. Didn't know I could email during laundry time... go figure! This last week has been amazing in the MTC! I had an investigator I had to teach and her name was Sydney Young! She is a single mother of 5 and is searching for a church without holes in it. My companion Elder Butterfield and I taught her all the lessons: Restoration, Plan of Salvation, Gospel of Jesus Christ, Chastity (That was an awkward lesson...) Word of Wisdom and Tithing and fast offerings! She loved all the lessons and received them very well! The only problem in teaching her was she taught us most of the time! She was super into history and the first lesson we had with her I learned more about Scottish History and Bible History then I came in with! She is super sweet though and we asked her to be baptized. She said she would love too, but has to do her research before she gets into anything. It still is really good because at least she is reading her Book of Mormon and finding out for herself if this church is for her. Today I had to say goodbye too my teachers, Sister Luft and Brother Nielsen. Both of these teachers prepared me well for the field and were super amazing! Its sad to say goodbye, but it isn't forever! My zone is already planning our reunion when we all come back! It's funny, but it might actually happen! I don't know if I told everyone before, but Elder Gilbert is a DJ and has opened for big artists like Diplo, and he want's to DJ our reunion and is serious about it. I mean im all game for that and all, but I have no idea where and how this is ever going too happen! The District +Smith is doing well. I say +Smith because there is an Elder named Elder Smith who hangs with my District. So like a lost cute puppy, we adopted him into the brotherhood. He is super chill and heckaaa funny! All the Elders are great and i'm going too really miss them all! 

I'd love too hear from anyone! How is everything going?? Who is still undefeated in the NFL and College ball?? Is Darth Vader really Luke's father??? 

This is my District and our teacher Sister Luft!

Sincerely,

Elder Muhlestein

Another Picture!!

Sorry, overkill.....

Unlisted Number

Mom of Ethan here!

I received a text earlier today from an unknown number and like a dunce, I downloaded whatever was attached!  To my surprise it was this picture of Ethan and his district

at the temple.  We, as missionary parents, are so blessed to have members throughout the world looking after our kids and taking an interest in them.  This nice person snapped the photo and then sent it to me.  What a great day!

The Cardboard Legacy Begins!

Dear Friends and family,

Too start off, I have this blog spot that you can go too for address and other stuff that will be important as the years continue:    Eldermuhlestein.blogspot.com

So this week at the MTC started off very crazy!The days were long, and the nights were even longer. The first night was terrible, but now I sleep like a baby in my bed! My district has become closer and closer everyday and I love it! We are currently volleyball champions of our gym time. We destroy in sports! Elder Gilbert plays semi-pro hockey and Elder Butterfield is 10th in state for the 100M. And theres me so you could say we are stacked. But the food is getting very old now, it always hurts my stomach! I have no idea why it does that, but for some reason it does! The classes are amazing! Sister Luft teaches in the morning and Brother Nielsen teaches in the afternoon. Sister Luft does the most amazing job at these practices called demos. She has one of us be an investigator and she is the missionary. She always gets the spirit going so strong in the room, that everyone is silent and feels the spirit! Brother Nielsen also is an amazing teacher and always has us walk around the building to simulate finding an investigator throughout the floor. Like we look for other companions who are pretending to be investigators. He is an amazing guy who served in New Mexico and has been back for two years. So you're probably wondering about the title. The missionaries who just left today found cardboard in their room that had a bunch of signatures of old missionaries that went back to 2013! It was packed with signatures and pictures and stuff. So my district and I started our on cardboard signing in our room! We did our name, district number and letter (District 60B) position in district (Zone leader) and then a quote. I would tell you my quote, but you wouldn't get the back story too it so you would think its awful haha! I get too show the new missionaries around tomorrow because im a zone leader! My companion, Elder Butterfield and I are pretty chill so im not worried that the new people wont like us! Other than that, I havent done that much besides classes and chilling with the District! I wont be able too email for 2 weeks because Tuesday I leave for Alabama at 3:30 AM!!! Its crazy I know! But at least ill be in Southern Country! Love you all and hope too hear from you!

Sincerely,

Elder Muhlestein

 

This is almost my whole district! Far right is Elder Butterfield. Then Elder Frizzel, the Elder Girlbert, then me. Sweater man is Elder Ravenberg and the white shirt guy sitting down is Elder Hoffman!

The Elder has landed!!

I was so surprised to get an email from Elder Muhlestein today!  Happy day for mom.  If you would like a personal email, please email him directly.  He left me a TWO PAGE list of friend emails and I don't think I have the energy to type all those out.  I love him but seriously!  Here is his first email:

Dear friends and family,

Well I survived my first day at the MTC!! Its actually really great here and I love it a lot! I dont have that many people on the email yet because I forgot to add people before I left haha! Mom thats a que for you too go onto my email and add those people to my contacts please!!! The MTC is great! My companion is Elder Butterfield. Sick last name i know! Anyways, we are pretty tight and so is the rest of our district. Elder Butterfield and I are the zone leaders as well. Too describe Elder Butterfield with me is like having a good friend and me cause we goof off and make everyone laugh. I leave for Alabama in 10 days now and I honestly want to go out so fast! Ive already started planning lessons for an investigator that I have to teach on Monday! The lessons are easy and teaching is easy too. Having Elder Butterfield with me is a blessing cause we both have a lot of important things to say to the investigator and they always come along so smoothly and the investigator always is happy when we are done teaching him. I also got a couple care-packages today which i'm soooo grateful for! Thanks mom! Dinner is at 4pm and im always starving once im in my dorm for the night. Now I have some sort of food too eat and I dont have to waste my money on the vending machines too fill me up! But its great here and I cant wait to get out and serve! The way we teach is by the spirit, we are only mouth pieces too God to get his word out and I love it. Hope everyone is doing well and is happy! My P-Day is on Tuesday so ill be able to write again. If you would like my address for the MTC, ill have my mom email the group message and also my Alabama Address as well. Love you all!

Elder Muhlestein

 

And he's off!

We got Ethan up bright and early to head to the airport.  Two friends of his woke up before the sun and came with us.  Everything went smoothly, he waved goodbye and that was it.  I had been sick with worry.  Not about him or the mission but that his ticket would be wrong, his bags would weigh too much, he would miss the shuttle in Salt Lake and have no cell phone.  Once the bags came in under weight I could breathe and watch with joy as my son embarks on a new phase of life.  Good luck Ethan!