Weird Doctrine, funny stories!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was a weird one I ain't gonna lie! We have had this investigator who has asked us some weird questions about what we believe and what other believe and just goes from one topic to another like that! 

Monday: We got done emailing and it was pouring rain, so we really didn't do much that day because when it rains in Scottsboro, you are literally stuck inside because there is nothing to do. A member texted us and said she had tacos and got way to many so she wanted to give us some! So she came to the church with her boyfriend and gave us tacos. Now when someone gives me free food and i trust the person, I wont ask questions and eat, so thats what I did. Later the member told me, after finishing all the tacos she gave my companion and I that the meat inside the taco was cow tongue.... It wasn't bad, but at the same time it was nasty too. So next time she brings us food, Im making sure that there isn't any cow tongue in it! 

Tuesday: We had a lesson planned for our investigator, but she cancelled on us which was a bummer. We did a lot of tracting that day and some success in getting into people's homes to teach them! 

Wednesday: Wednesday we did tracting mainly and met a lady we later taught during the week! Nothing exciting that day!

Thursday: We visited the lady we met the other day and taught her the plan of salvation! She was very interested in the lesson because she lost her husband last year. We did more tracting and just went around talking to people! We had Monte Sano and Byrd Springs ZL's stay over for the night because we had district meeting the next day!

Friday: We had district meeting and had a bunch of people there! Usually its Fort Payne, Monte Sano, and Scottsboro. This week is was all of the ones I already stated and Byrd Springs ZL's and Byrd Springs STL's. So we had a good district meeting and celebrated Elder Farrel's birthday! We had cheese cake and oreos and such! It was a fun little birthday party! After district meeting we did some tracting and then went to dinner at a members house!

Saturday:This was the weird doctrine day. So Elder Cannon and I made a return appointment with this one dude and went back to see him. Little did we know that this guy used to be a preacher. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he asked why he needs another book to understand the bible and stuff. We told him how the Book of Mormon is a companion to the Bible, and then he pulled out another book that wasn't from the bible and said he reads this book to understand the bible. I was like dude you just said you didn't need a book to understand the bible, yet you bring out this book that isn't even from the bible or the word of the Lord and try to throw this on us! So we put that aside and then started talking about baptism. This is were this man tried to tell us the John 3:5 was about being born. Like literally being born from your mother. He told us
Nichadeamus asked Jesus what it meant to be born again. A man cannot enter his mother's womb twice. So Jesus said a man must be born or water and the spirit to enter the kingdom of god. You would have to look up the real scriptures I don't have my bible with me so don't take this for the literal scriptures. So I was thinking if this dude took this verse as literal as Matthew 26:26, then he must believe Jesus's body was made of bread! You would have to look up the scriptures to read about it. I believe it is Matthew 26:26 I am not sure though. So that was fun! And then he tried to tell us that the Book of Mormon was a new version of the new testament. We made him read the first chapter and he understood that it wasn't a new version. He was a really nice guy, but had some weird thoughts about the bible and such!

Sunday: We had church and it was good! We visited with some less actives and had dinner a member brought to us! We drove to Monte Sano to spend the night for P-Day today!

Well that was the weekly run down! Other fun news is tornado season starts next week and runs until may! Hope we don't get one anytime soon! I love and miss all y'all!. Have a safe awesome week!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

Santa's got some GUNS!

 

So I am sending this email again because apparently the email server crashed and the email I sent before could have not reached some people. We got permission from the AP's to re-send our weekly email and other emails home. Sorry for those who got this email twice!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was awesome! Elder Cannon and I worked hard and accomplished a lot! We had an amazing week with some pretty weird and funny stories as well!

Monday: P-Day! after emailing we tried fishing, but it was super cold and gave up cause it was also getting dark. We then were going to contact a referral we got, but the guy who gave us his number gave us a fake number, so we couldn't meet him. I hate it when people do that!

Tuesday: Tuesday was pretty cold! There was a huge cold front that swept the south and had temperatures drop into the teens at night and low 30's-high 20's for the day! So we did tracting and froze! So we basically spent the whole day tracting and then it got dark. We started to walk back from our apartment when low and behold the police showed up again! They said they were looking for a man in a brown toboggan. I knew someone called the cops on us again for preaching the word! So we said no we haven't seen any dude walking around. the cop offered us a ride back to our apartment which was awesome! So yea, I rode in the back of a cops car while on my mission #thugmormon. 

Wednesday: Wednesday we did a lot of tracting again and it was still cold! We had some success in teaching people, but it wasn't the best day! We finished with mutual and watched an amazing face to face with Elder Razband or Rasband I don't know how to spell his name! It was awesome!

Thursday: We had zone training and this time I wasn't high! Back story on that: Last time there was zone training I had surgery on my foot and they gave me strong pain meds so I was gone in my own little world while zone training was going on! But this time I wasn't! It was an awesome training and I learned a lot from it! Right after it, the elders went to Buffalo Wilds Wings. Some elders got the hottest wings available and once they ate them, they all started to sweat and cry! It was so funny! then we had an exchange with the Monte Sano elders! Elder Larsen and I went tracting and knocked on a door and this dude who looked like santa answered! I kid you not he was the spitting image of santa! Only problem was he was holding a giant .45cal pistol and wondering who the heck we were! Once we said the missionaries, he put his gun away, smiled, and let us in to teach him! He turned out to be an awesome guy and had like over 15 guns just laying around everywhere!

Friday: Friday we did tracting and met a baptist dude that wanted to debate with us about why the trinity was the godhead. He used google as a reliable source and the website he used contradicted itself like 5 times, We tried to teach him, but he was looking for a bash. So we left!

Saturday: Saturday was good! We did a lot of tracting again and talked to a lot of people! We also got locked out of our apartment which was embarrassing and fun! That was the high light really of that day!

Sumday: We had church and it was good! We did tracting and didn't have success until the very end where we met this family that was amazing! They let us in their home and we taught them and they said they might come to church with us! so that was exciting!

Well there was the week! I hope everyone is doing well and being safe! I love and miss all of y'all! If you ever get a chance, shoot an email or write a letter! I will be more than happy to reply back! Stay safe and warm!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

Better Late than Never!!

Sorry All!  I was on vacation all last week so Ethan's post is one week late!!
Nicole


What is up family and friends?!?!

First off, I have one little request from all yall! Please please PLEASE if you have any pictures of you and me at all, send them via email to me! I need a lot of pictures for my desk to make planners and such and just for memories to show other missionaries! If yall could do that, that would be awesome! Here was the week!

Monday: This was the last P-Day with Elder Park! We stayed in Monte Sano that night, so we played Gator ball and emailed and then drove back home.

Tuesday: We did some tracting that day, but most of the day was spent saying goodbye to people for Elder Park. It was a little sad seeing my trainer go, but I guess new people await to be comps with!

Wednesday: We woke up at 6am because we had to drive to Decatur to meet other missionaries and pick up my new companion! So we took our drive and met at the church. My companion was coming from Booneville, Mississippi! His name is Elder Cannon and he is from Holiday Utah! Fun facts about him: He is 6'4 which reminds me of a very certain someone back in Washington/Idaho! You know who you are! We drove to Huntsville, and then I showed Elder Cannon around the town of Scottsboro! The town has nothing in it really! The only cool places are Unclaimed Baggage and Payne's. Then we went to young men's and young women's so Elder Cannon could meet some of the ward!

Thursday: We had district meeting and met the new sisters that came into the Fort Payne area! They are pretty cool! Monte Sano stayed the same elders they were before! After District meeting we went tracting and had no luck.

Friday: We spent most of the day tracting and had a little luck and taught some lessons. We also contacted a referral and this lady told us she wanted to be baptized! It was awesome! So we have to work with her more to help her reach her goal of baptism! We spent the rest of the day tracting and had no luck after that!

Saturday: This was a funny day! so we tracted, and tracted, and tracted and had no luck. We knocked on some guys door and he let us in! He then started to tell me how he has seen the backside of Jesus and how Jesus has gold in his hair and such. It was a little weird to hear this from him, but then what he said next was even weirder! He started to tell me that he has seen a spaceship over Scottsboro and how it watches everyone! He said he could take us to the spaceship so we could see it, but that he would be abducted or something like that because the aliens don't want anyone to know where they are. This dude was a little crazy in my book, but he was really nice as well. So that was the funniest part of my week and the weirdest as well!

Sunday: We had fast and testimony meeting and it was really good! After church we decided to go contact another referral we had and drove out with a member! The girl we were looking for wasn't there, but the dude she lived with was. So I asked for his name and he said it. This guy was another referral we had been looking for about a month!!! It was crazy and awesome! Long story short, we are going back there tonight to teach them! 

Well that was my week! How is everyone doing? Remember to send pictures cause I need them! I love and miss all y'all and hope everyone is doing awesome! Have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

New Companion!

Dear family and friends,

To start off this email, shout out to Kyleigh Wittwer for entering the MTC in Chile! I got an email from her mom today with all the pictures of her flying from St. George today and I want to congratulate her on a huge milestone that will be forever life changing! 

This week was very interesting. Monday after emailing Elder Park and I went fishing and it was awful! We tried the lake where we usually go, but the shore of the lake was frozen... so no fishing there! We went to a members pond, but our rig we were using was too big for the fish. So we left and bought worms because worms always work! Well as soon as we got back to the pond, we opened the container and the worms were all rotten and shriveled up and we couldn't use them. At his point in time we were just kind of done at that point and returned the worms to the store and went home.

Tuesday we went tracting and had some luck. nothing really interesting happened that day. 

Wednesday we had interviews with President Hanks! So we drove to Huntsville and was in Huntsville for a long time because interviews go on for a very long time! They interview was good! I learned how to become a better missionary and how to have more confidence when doing door approaches. For everyone out there who thinks door approaches are easy, try doing them in the south! almost everyone looks at you, looks at your companion and mid sentence cuts you off and says "not interested I am a Christian and believe in Jesus too bye!" And shuts the door! So they thats always fun!

Thursday we did tracting, and visited referrals we got! There was one referral that we received and this lady wanted a bible from us. Almost all the referrals we get, everyone just wants the free bible and don't want too talk to us. She wanted a bible for her nephew, so we got the address of her nephew and went over to her nephews house! We ended up with two new investigators! It was awesome!

Friday was the interesting day. Elder Park and I were tracting and we knocked on this ladies door. Well this lady opened the door and was behind it. I didn't know why until she said she wasn't dressed! I was wondering why the heck she was even opening the door in the first place if she wasn't even wearing the proper clothing to begin with! So that was super weird! 

Saturday was just a normal day of tracting. We got the call for transfers though. Elder Park is going to the most southern part of the mission which is Greenville Alabama! I am staying in Scottsboro and I will be having Elder Cannon as my new companion! I already know this Elder and he is super awesome! This companionship is gonna be awesome!

Sunday was a normal sunday with church and all! Everyone started to learn that Elder Park was leaving so everyone was sad about that. 

Well that was my week! Wednesday I will be with Elder Cannon and Tuesday night will be a strong storm that could bring a tornado so thats always fun as well! That was just for you mom! If yall are bored, shoot me an email! I miss and love yall and can't wait for what happens this week!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

SSNNOOWWW!!

Dear family and friends,

This week was awesome!!! The highlight of it was the snow we got! It wasn't much, but it stuck to the grass and trees and it was awesome! Reminded me a lot of driving through the trees in Redmond when the snow falls in Washington! Everyone here in Alabama does not know how to drive in the snow. I was laughing so hard when everyone was ditching their cars and closing restaurants and such for snow that wasn't even foretasted to stick on the road! As soon as the first little flake fell, everyone freaked out and stayed home and bought bread and milk. Man if they think that was bad, try driving up into the cascades after a huge winter storm! This week was really good though! I already told you about last Monday, but Tuesday was P-Day! After emailing we all went to play this awesome new sport called Gator Ball! It's a mix between soccer, football, and dodge ball! So all these other Elders and Sisters have played this a lot and I have no idea what I am doing. All I know is to hit the chair on the opposite side of the gym. So I get the ball, run and throw it and peg the chair 8/10 times! I thought it was a lot of fun! After that we went back to Monte Sano and then went to Walmart and did some store contacting there! Wednesday was the mission world wide broadcast! So we spent almost the whole day in Huntsville because the broadcast kept freezing on us due to weather issues. After the broadcast we had an exchange and I went with Elder Johnson from Fort Payne around the Scottsboro area and didn't have that much success. Thursday we went tracting and didn't have that much luck all day. Friday we went tracting again and had not that much success. We had a return appointment we went too, but no one was home. As we left the house, it started to snow! Basically that whole night it was snowing and it was awesome! We had dinner with a member that night and he tried to take us out to 3 different locations, but all of them were closed! So we ate at this Chinese place. After the snow and such the next day, we went tracting and found a family of three! It was awkward cause at first we found them in their van and they said come on in and teach us in their car. Kind of sketch, so they took us inside their house instead! We taught them the restoration and they were super into it! Especially the mom! It was awesome to see how much more she got interested the further we went into the lesson! Sunday was good and church was awesome! This email is super short I know, but I keep forgetting my journal at home, so I would be writing more if I had it! But I will put pictures on here for yall!  Hope everyone is safe and having fun! Shoot me an email or letter if your ever bored! I love all y'all!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

Surgery Slow Week

Dear family and friends,

Well the title says it all really! It was a slow week due to a surgery! now I didn't break my foot or anything serious like that, but I had a wart removed from my foot. Apparently it was a big one and required getting stitches and pain meds and such! So here is my week! Monday after emailing Elder Park and I attempted to go fishing, but it was so cold! The wind is what killed both of us! Elder Park lasted 30 mins and I lasted 445 mins until we both were like, "yup time to go warm up!" We warmed up and that was basically Monday! Tuesday we did work! We did a lot of tracting and talked with a lot of people and just giving away book of mormons and inviting people to come to church! Wednesday we started off by doing tracting, but we both had to go to the doctors for our "surgeries." Elder Park had some stuff on his arm, so I let him go first. It was so cool to watch him get those things cut off him! the doctor used a tool that looked like a pen, but had a circular blade at the end of it! So the doctor got done with elder Park and went to me. I got shots in my foot and then the doctor cut out the wart! I couldn't feel a thing and it was way weird! After he cut it out, I had to get 7 stitches in my foot. After everything was over, my foot started to hurt, so they prescribed me some pain meds which I would have died if I didn't have them. As soon as I was waiting for my pain meds in line, my foot was on fire and in pain. We went to YM and YW that night and I took my meds which make me really sleepy. So I was walking like I was drunk and people were like "What the heck happened to you?" Some people made fun of me too, but I was too drugged to care and passed out in the primary room. We drove to Monte Sano for the night because we had zone training the next day. I took my pill and fell asleep. Thursday was a painful drugged one. At like 3am my foot decided to hurt like no other and it took an hour for my pills to kick in which sucked. We went to zone training, and I was too drugged to really do anything. One of our zone leaders got up and was like "We are having a white handbook training by Elder Wilson!" Elder Wilson didn;t have the training and he was confused/ freaking out because he didn't have anything. Our zone leader wsa like "Nah just kidding! It's actually by Elder Muhlestein!" I didn't have the training, but my head was down and I was sleepy. So I got up, took my handbook out and yelled, "Okay y'all! Today's training is on the word of wisdom and how to follow it!" Not everyone caught on to it, but people laughed! That whole day I was basically out of it and it wasn't fun. Friday was a little better! I didn't take my meds until night, so we basically were in the car all day contacting referrals and doing a little tracting. By the time it hit dark, I had taken my pills because my foot hurt and I was gone and out! Saturday we helped move a sister into a house! I was supposed to sit there and do nothing, and that didn't happen! I helped move her in and paid for it. After we were done, we visited an investigator and talked with him just about life and how Jesus and the Gospel can make life so much better! After that my foot was raw and hurting, so I took my medication and was gone once again! Sunday was good. Church services were good as usual, but my foot was killing me from the day before! As soon as we got to the apartment, I couldn't take it anymore cause my foot was killing me. I took my pills and slept for about 8 hours that day! I know! I was out and down for the count because at this point, I couldn't walk really because of the pain. After I woke up, I ate a little, took my other pill, and fell back straight into bed! So yep! That was my drugged filled week! how is everyone doing?!? I would love to hear from y'all! I know I say that every week, but I really do want to hear from y'all! I love writing letters and emails to people so don't be shy! Love y'all and miss y'all as well! Stay safe and have an awesome week!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein

​The foot after the surgery

New Years in the mish!

Dear family and friends,

First off, I hope y'all had a Happy New Years! I had an awesome New Years Eve with my District! So to start off, Monday after emailing Elder Park and I went fishing as usual! The weather however did not like us at all that day! We get out of the car and it is pouring down rain. I had a rain jacket, but the wind started to pick up and blew the rain everywhere! So I basically soaked my jeans from waist down! After fishing we played basketball with some members! I stuffed Elder Park, but he returned the favor a little later in the game... Got to start working on my vertical! Tuesday we spent the day tracting with not that much success. Nobody is home during the day and only at night. And we know what happens when we tract at night... the police usually like to give us a visit haha! Wednesday we did more contacting, but no luck. People just didn't want to hear what we had to say! During the might we had our Book of Mormon class and it was good! Thursday we did more contacting, but ended at 5:30ish because we had our district come over and we weren't allowed to contact past 6 because the crazies of Alabama were gonna be out! So we all went to a members house and had a new years eve party! It was so much fun! We had good food and played board games with the party goers and had an awesome time! All us elders had to leave at 10 because we had to be back in our apartment at 10:30ish. After we got back to the apartment, we pulled out the Poly!! Aka mission lingo for Monopoly! Man that was an intense game! It ended up with Elder Park winning.... I was close, but sadly lost! Then it hit midnight and we went crazy and drank our sparkling grape juice and ghetto kool-aid. Ghetto kool-aid is like kool-aid, but 100X better! Friday we had District meeting, but everyone was dead from the New Years Eve! We had dinner at a members house and then did a little contacting and then crashed hardcore! Saturday we did contacting and had a lot of luck! We got to teach a lady the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which was awesome! She is Southern Baptist, but isn't opposed to taking more discussions and coming to church! It was awesome! Sunday was church and it was good as usual! We didn't have any investigators come, but thats okay! We still got this week to get some to come! How is everyones week going??? I'd love to hear from y'all! Love and miss y'all lots! Stay safe and Roll Tide!

Love,

Elder Muhlestein 

 The New Years Eve gang!