I needed a CAT scan!

Monday, June 27, 2016





Hey guys, before you ask, I'm fine. That's just a quote from another Elder that I heard this week. We asked him how he had been doing in a certain area with a certain companion, and his response was. "Guys, I had to get a CAT scan I was so stressed" I love that kid. Anyway. 

This will be a short email, because I don't have a lot of time. 

What happened this week. We taught people. Like A TON of people. Like more than I ever have before. I'm really tired. But that's okay, right? The work is moving forward. 

Adventures from this week:

Filipino birthday party. It was amazing. Enjoy the pictures! 

Ward BBQ. It was really fun. We had a lot of investigators/non members/less actives there, so it was very successful. It was also just really fun. 

Zone Conference. I had to give my dying testimony. That was really strange. I'm not ready to die yet. :'( 

I received a really nice quote this week which sums up my feelings on the matter. "I'm just a nobody telling everybody about Somebody who can save anybody." 

That's pretty much who we are as missionaries. Just random kids from random places who somehow have enough power and authority to help people come unto Christ. Pretty dang amazing if you ask me. It was quite the humbling week for me. I saw a lot of changes in my investigators, and I learned a lot about my purpose while teaching them. I love the work, I love the area, and thank goodness I don't have to go home yet. :) 

Love you guys! 

Love you bye.

Elder Muller 

P.S. Jeremy, I didn't wish you a happy birthday because it is not possible for you to be 18 already. Go on a mission. Love you bye. 

Hmmm, wonder what that is that he is eating!

More purple food!

Get Saturated

Hey everyone, 

It has been another wet week in the Netherlands. It's funny, they say that summer is supposed to be starting soon. Here it's just wet. So we're getting saturated :) 

Well, what should I talk about this week. I honestly don't have much to say. We had a week of missionary work. We taught a lot of lessons, we found new investigators, we went on exchanges. Normal missionary stuff. 

So instead, let's take a dive into Elder Muller's mind for a moment. Are you brave enough? It can get pretty scary haha. 

So the biggest things on my mind lately have been my relationship with Jesus Christ, and the fact that my time as a missionary is becoming shorter, and shorter, and shorter. Thankfully, these are both interconnected. 

Tomorrow I'm going to my last Zone Conference on the mission. I get to give my "dying" testimony to the missionaries in the Den Haag and Amsterdam Zones. If that doesn't get you thinking about your relationship with the Savior and what you've done on your mission, then I don't know what will haha. 

As I've been pondering what I will share tomorrow, I've been focusing on how my conversion has changed these past two years. How I've gone from a greenie missionary, full of faith, energy, and enthusiasm, to a tired, worn out, happy, "old" man. (bear with me haha) It's been interesting to see how my focus has changed. When I started out in Brugge, I was focused on very tangible things. Now I'm much more introspective. I think a lot more, rather than focus on just working. I think a big shift of that came from missionary work becoming my life, rather than something that I was trying to "learn" how to do. The shift went from "What do I need do to be a good missionary?", to "What do I need to do to be a good disciple?"

I would invite all of you to do the same. Because if we are all good disciples of Christ, then we will all be good missionaries, or Primary teachers, or Bishops, or Gospel Doctrine Teachers, or whatever you are, whatever you want to be, and most importantly, whomever you want to be. Because that's why we do all these things in the church. It is to help us learn, grow, serve, and become more converted disciples. That is my focus, and that is the focus I will be sharing with the missionaries tomorrow. 

Have a great week everyone! 

I didn't take very many pictures this week! Sorry!

 

Love you, bye.

E. M. 

I'm gonna miss Africans....

My subject line is a quote from Elder Richards after we had Fufu with a member for dinner. 

This is the African dish called Fufu. It is a chicken dish. The dumpling in the middle is a type bread. You tear off a piece, dip it in the gravy and pop it into your mouth! You eat the dish with your fingers!

Well this has been a really long week. It's one of those weeks that every day goes really fast, but the week as a whole has just been long. Thankfully we have seen a lot of miracles, so it ended well. 

Something that Elder Richards and I have implemented in the zone is what we call Power Hour. Every companionship dedicates at least one hour every day to hardcore, dedicated, goal oriented finding. Doing finding is the grind of missionary work, and it can be hard to get excited for it, but if you have the right attitude and expect miracles, then you see them. We've only been doing it for a week, but we've already seen the miracles coming from it. Last night it was 8 pm, and it was raining. It was one of those nights that we could have just stayed inside and done some planning and brainstorming for the zone. Instead we decided to do a Power Hour of bell ups, (or ringing door bells, possibly in apartment complexes) We had been going for about 58 minutes (and we had already found some really cool potentials including a Bulgarian family) when we finished one section of bell ups. We stopped, looked at each other and said "One more section before we go back to the car." We pushed through to the end, and found probably the most positive person of the night on that last section. That's how it always goes in missionary work haha. 

Elder Richards braving the rain doing bell ups.

I think what I've been thinking most about this week is a line in a song that Elder Richards and I both love. The line says "I found my life when I laid it down." Of course that makes me think of "Lose yourself to find yourself", but I think it goes a bit deeper than that. This is on the tail end. This is coming from someone who already laid down their life. 

I was thinking about my mission (of course..... typical, I know) and I realized that although I didn't "Lay my life down" literally, in a lot of ways every missionary does lay down their life. We give up a lot. Elder Richards and I were talking about how crazy we are. We spend a ton of money to come here for two years, obey rules that to most people don't make sense, work our tails off for 2 years from 9-9, 7 days a week, face rejection everyday, and yet somehow it's all still worth it. I have in a lot of ways "found my life" while on my mission, and I'm so grateful for that. 

Have a great week everyone! 

Love you, bye!

Elder Muller

And now, for your viewing pleasure, Elder Richards demonstrating the fine art of eating Fufu!

It's not over until I WIN!!

Getting Elder Isaksen on the train for transfers, with Elder Eli Andrew

Monday, June 6, 2016


Hey everybody, it's Monday again! 

It is also June, which is pretty scary to think about. It's beautiful weather here in "de mooie stad achter de duinen"(aka Den Haag). (the beautiful city behind the dunes) I just really want to go to the beach... -__- 

Maar goed. (But good) So transfers happened. Elder Richards is now in Den Haag. We had quite the good first week together. We helped some people paint, helped some people move, taught some great lessons, found some new investigators, went to lots of meetings; normal missionary stuff. 

So today I wanted to talk about more spiritual things rather than just give you a run down of my week. I don't have that many group emails left, so I want to make the most of them. :) 

I was thinking a lot about the Savior this week. More than usual, at least. I was pondering my relationship with Him. 

A question that we ask a lot of people when we are street contacting is "Waar vind u geluk in het leven?" or in other words, "What makes you happy?" We were talking to a less active Brother about the Plan of Salvation. We got to the point about our life here on Earth, and I asked him, "Brother B---, what makes you happy? I believe the purpose of life is to be happy, so what makes you happy?" He then bore his testimony of the gospel and how thankful he is for his loving Heavenly Father. 

As he was sharing his testimony I had a realization about just how important gratitude is when it comes to our relationship with the Savior. Mostly because I don't think we will ever fully understand the magnitude of what He did, of what He's given us. I took a look at myself, at everything that I enjoy doing. Almost everything I enjoy doing stems from a talent that I was given. 

On Sunday I was making a new planner. The theme that I used was, Het Licht. (The Light)  On the back I put a picture of the sepluchre with the stone rolling away. As I was putting the planner together, I was thinking about that moment where the stone was rolled away, and just how much hope that moment gives us. It is the defining moment in human history. The moment when we all won. Because of Christ. Isn't that awesome? We all win! 

Front of this new six week planner

The back of this new six week planner with the stone rolling away from the sepluchre 

                                                         
So where do I want to go with this. Honestly I have no idea, but this was on my mind this week. I think the biggest thing is that life is what you make of it. We've been blessed with so many things, we've already "won", so why worry about life? Why not just go out and grab it by the horns. Go do it! Go live your dream! 

Love you! Bye,

Elder Muller

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-jwWYX7Jlo

The Vision Board - (L-R, top to bottom) Physical, Spiritual, Mission and Future Goals! 1. Ask 2. Believe 3. Visualize 4. Grateful 5. Just Do!

Good-bye, Elder Isaksen!

Last dinner of the transfer! Check out the four matching ties!

Yeah, bud!

Yep, we got our hair cut at Magic Hairz! Elder Muller and Elder Richards