We Snorted WHAT?!?!

Monday, December 17, 2018

The Moon

Welcome back to the most popular and advanced mission blog this side of the Mississippi!!!

TUESDAY, December 11th: We had service at Caritas in the morning and then had to run to catch the bus. We had brought our proselyting clothes in a bag, but I was "that guy" who forgot to bring a white shirt. So, I ended up staying in service clothes during the entire district council. We organized area books as a district after the meeting.

WEDNESDAY, December 12th: We went to the Flemings’ for lunch because Elder F. gave Sister Fleming enchilada seasoning, and we use any excuse we have to eat Sister Fleming's enchiladas, haha! We had been planning on waiting until Christmas to do this next part, but it was too perfect to wait. Elder Fleming had told us a story about his sons. He once jokingly snorted Jell-O at the dinner table, and his sons immediately started doing it. It had made Sister Fleming very upset...so we decided to do the same thing, hehehehe.

We sneakily got Sister Fleming to make Jell-O, and all the elders and Elder Fleming were just glancing at each other as we reached the end of the enchiladas. Eventually, Elder Fleming broke and told Sister Fleming what the plan was. Then after we begged Sister Fleming for permission and to not kill Elder Fleming, he "ingested it through his nasal passage." Elder J. followed but failed miserably on his first attempt. One of the best moments of my mission was seeing Elder Fleming slowly throw his head back and burst out laughing at the attempt. For the next 20 minutes, Sister Fleming was almost crying from seeing four elders and her husband nasally ingesting Jell-O. So. So. Funny. 

THURSDAY, December 13th: We were inside planning for most of the day....but we had sushi at our favorite Koi Sushi Bar. Then, we had a lesson with two of our new friends from Zimbabwe, and when we went to the cafe to have the lesson, we ran into the other elders (we were just at sushi with them), and it turns out Elder F. knows a guy that our friends know. So, we all taught together about the Book of Mormon and started doing the 21 Day Challenge with them. Then, we had a lesson with Squad 1: D., O., and F. O. needed to go somewhere, so he missed most of the lesson, but we taught F. and D. more about the Great Apostasy and why there are so many churches. It went pretty well.

FRIDAY, December 14th: We had service with R. and did more plastering. We had a little bit of finding with the other elders and then a spiritual thought with squad 5 or 6 or whatever; I can't keep track anymore. We then got dropped by Squad 2. They spoke to their pastor, and their pastor pretty much told them not to listen to us. Funny enough, the planned lesson was on Quenching the Spirit. So, we bore testimony for an hour and then individually asked them if they would like to continue to learn and to read from both the Bible AND the Book of Mormon. All said no except for D. Then for the second week in a row, he came out and smashed his roommates in pure testimony and said that everything that WE have said will happen has happened and that the Spirit has been telling them that it's true. LEGEEEEEND!!!!!!!!!!!!

SATURDAY, December 15th: We had coordination meeting with everyone, and then we ate gyros with the other guys and had a doctrinal discussion as always. We went with Elder Fleming to G.’s new apartment and ran into B. (recent convert) and invited him to join us as well. The lesson was full of the Spirit, and B. and Elder Fleming bore powerful testimonies. We will see what G. does. He is becoming more and more happy, and it's amazing to see. I hope he will make the decision to know for himself if he should be baptized. We were supposed to have a lesson with D. about his baptism, but there had been another killing in Cameroon, and the atmosphere in the apartment was not good. We shared Alma 62:41 and gave them our love and support.

SUNDAY, December 16th: J. CAME TO CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She was even early to Solomon's Square and sacrificed her only day off to be with us all morning. She even stayed after church and we taught her more about the Plan of Salvation. She is such a light!!! She always brightens our day with her smile and warm spirit. She is prepared for the gospel! We also had O., S., G., G., and S. in church. We broke the record with 38 people in church!!!! LEZ GOOOO BOIIIIS. We also received transfer calls...yeah, it was a surprise to us as well. Elder H. and I will be staying in Nicosia, and Elder J. will be joining us for a few weeks—trio time, lads. Elder F. will be training Elder I. (an American but who is Greek-speaking already from his parents) who is being transferred from the MTC early.

That's all for this week. Love you all. Keep Lighting the World!!!

- Elder Müller

How we learn Greek. I have lots and lots of these bad boys

New Flashcard/throwback to the MTC style

New Flashcard/throwback to the MTC style

When you are updating the area book for
almost 2 hours and you are just done...

When you are updating the area book for
almost 2 hours and you are just done...

Dat Spirit Tho/Good Ol' Limassol

Monday, December 10, 2018

CRISTINOS...that's Cafe Nuovo, btw

Christmas Scripture Count Down Tree
Made by Elder Muller's sister, Alyssa

TUESDAY, December 4th: So, we went to Caritas like always, and it was crazy busy. We went to visit our friend F., and he brought us upstairs into his apartment, and there we found like 18 Nigerian and Cameroonian university students......it was crazy. I enjoyed rebuking them publicly every time they made a reference to a perversion of the Law of Chastity, an eternal law that God the Father has ordained from the beginning and will be ordained for the everlasting. It was quite fun, and they all had a good time and invited us over to come talk about the Word with them. That evening, we went caroling with the other elders and the Flemings to some less-active members. It was great.

WEDNESDAY, December 5th: We had an apartment inspection in the morning and once again passed with flying colors #keepthatTajMahalniceboooois. I taught piano to our friend again, and we gave him a Book of Mormon and taught him more about it. He's a great kid: 17 and all alone in Cyprus, fleeing a war where his family is still stuck. We went with Elder Fleming to visit D. and O. We had a great spiritual lesson and invited them to be baptized. D. asked for three days to pray; we also fasted with him, and O.  said he has some things to sort out but will decide before the 20th. They felt the Spirit very strongly. 

THURSDAY, December 6th: We went to go see F. up in the village, and we brought coats for him and the refugees he has taken in! What a LAD!!!!! His place is small but spotless, and HE HAS DREADS!!! He does it for the cold because he says his head hurts otherwise, lol. He took us to go see our friends from Nigeria who live in the same village. There are 11 of them total, but we were able to teach 5 of them. It was great, and we brought four copies of the Book of Mormon and pamphlets for them to start reading. We had a good Law of Chastity lesson with our friend G. We celebrated my one-year in Cyprus by having lunch/dinner at TGI Friday's. I am now the longest-serving missionary in Cyprus. GO TEAM!!! (Just not APOEL...anything but APOEL) [Editor’s note: This is a football, aka soccer, team in Nicosia.]

TGI Friday's for lunch

Elder H. TGI Friday's for lunch

FRIDAY, December 7th: It was the day of days. We went to Limassol (home) for Zone Training. The training was good. I am the grandpa of the zone now, and I always enjoy welcoming Elder B. to the island. ;) After Zone Training, Elder H.  was a beast and was stopping everyone on the way down to the bus stop. We even taught two lessons, by the way, one of which was with a 20-something-year-old Greek kid who brought us to the nearby Greek Orthodox church, and we kind of taught him on the steps.

Greeks have this thing it seems that they only like to talk about God in a church or with apriest present....#Alma31&32 and the guy was surprised when we asked him what he personally believed about who God is, not what his church teaches. That seems to throw people a lot. I encourage everyone to put in the work to know the answer to the question, "Who is God?"

I saw Cypriot Brother, C., and my friend K. as well. We passed by A. and said hi. It is always nice to see him. At the bus stop, I got a talking to this girl, and we continued our conversation on the bus. We ended up talking for almost two hours about everything in life pretty much. It was super weird, like we knew each other or something. And, it was all in Greek. I had been asking her for help with the language because I felt like I was losing it. Halfway through the bus ride home, I was able to speak to her about God and who he is and show her the Book of Mormon (unfortunately, we had given out all our Greek copies already, so I only had it in English). As we were about to get off at our stop, I asked her if we could meet up and give her a copy of the Book of Mormon in Greek. At first, she really didn't want to give me her phone number (Boyfriends create a lot of problems for elders, guys), but after I bore my testimony and promised her that she would find more peace and happiness if she would read the book, she gave me her phone number!!!!

Famous Nuovo Cafe
Elder Muller and his man, Cristinos

After we got off at our stop, we taught Squad 2 (P., D., J., and E.), and it went soooooo well. We invited them to be baptized, and even though no one accepted the invitation, every single heart was softened, and two of them told us that they know everything we have been teaching is true. GUYS!!!! The Spirit is the real teacher. Seriously, if we don't have the Spirit, we are nothing. 

SATURDAY, December 8th: We had a couple people flake on us but had a good family home evening with our Chinese member and her friends! I made fried rice for the potluck on Sunday.

SUNDAY, December 9th: We had G., O., F., and D. in church, and our friends F. and R. came again for Sunday school and the potluck! I helped Elder J. teach the Plan of Salvation to our Chinese friend with our member translating. Her son wore my suit coat, and she wants him to grow up and be a man like me.....#I'llMakeAManOutOfYou #DisneyMulan.  We had a lesson with J.! She read the introduction of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration pamphlet!!!! We had an amazing time with R., L., and the other elders at dinner. R.  called us later and said it was the best time he's ever had with the missionaries in six years!!!

#I'llMakeAManOutOfYou

#I'llMakeAManOutOfYou

I love you all. Guys, please, if you haven't in a while, or ever before, read the Book of Mormon. Just do it. Read it every day for 15 minutes for one week. See what happens. Write down what feelings you have. I love the quote about working on your dreams, but I like to apply it to reading the Book of Mormon and trying to know the truth about God:

"Most people don't work on their dreams (or reading the Book of Mormon). Why? First is because of fear—the fear of failure: what if things don't work out (what if it's not true?)? What if they do, and I can't handle it? (what does it mean if the Book IS true?)"

Guys, don't let fear rule your life. Step into the dark, and just like Indiana Jones...you will find something there.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!

- Elder Müller

Elder H. - planning meeting

Elder H. - planning meeting

Elder Muller's typical morning breakfast

Elder H. lunch at TGI Friday's

Elder H. lunch at TGI Friday's

Elder Muller showing us his awesome hair

Elder H. - language study in a sketchy park

Sketchy park

Sketchy park

Elder Muller's freshly made bread
He's becoming a pro!

The Email With No Title

Monday, December 3, 2018

Elder Muller ran into two members from Limassol!

MONDAY, November 26th: After emailing, we did some finding and met a guy I met a little bit ago, and he invited us into his sushi shop. It's brand new, and he and this really chill Cypriot lad just started making us sushi—like 50 euros worth of sushi—and they gave it to us all for free! 

TUESDAY, November 27th: We went to Caritas, and I needed to do some translation again. The guy there started to teach me how to say “hello” in Arabic but with proper pronunciation. It is hard! We had a great District Council about listening and had a good lesson that night.

WEDNESDAY, November 28th: We did service at L.’s, fixing his roof. I think there were pictures that Elder Fleming sent, but they were in last week's blog. We brought the other elders back to our apartment and ate food. As they were leaving, I looked at the time, and it was 3:05. We had a very important appointment at 3:00. We were still in our service clothes and covered in cement as well. We called Elder Fleming, and as per usual, he was willing and ready to help us out. We had a great lesson with our friend, and the Spirit was there. Elder Fleming bore great testimony and was such an amazing teacher. We had Greek class, and it went well. 

Doing some kind of rope game on L.'s roof!

THURSDAY, November 29th: I told Elder H. on Wednesday night that Thursday would be a miraculous day. Well, we had a boring morning inside doing studies and planning. We had lunch with the other elders: FRIIIIIIED CHICKEN from the Great Dane and Greek salad from the Portuguese Princess. We had a lesson with G. and had B. as a member present, and it went really well!!! I taught C. piano after that, and then we were waiting for our friend DL. when these two guys walked up to us and said, "Hey, you guys tried to talk to us a few weeks ago, but we were in a rush. We have time now. What's up?" These two legends are from Zimbabwe and are soooo chill. We gave them a Book of Mormon and invited them to church. DL. came, and we had another lesson with him as well, lol. So, it was a full day of teaching.

FRIDAY, November 30th: We had service with R. in the morning, and L. had made her cheesecake. This cheesecake will always get a shout-out in my emails. It might be the greatest thing I have ever eaten. We had a lesson with an 18-year-old kid from India named B. That went really well. Then, we had the lesson of all lessons. One of the best moments of my mission happened: the best lesson ever with Squad 2. We presented the Plan of Salvation, and J. had great questions and concerns, which we were able to resolve.

Then, P. started "rebuking us," talking about how anything that is not in the Bible is wrong, etc. We sat there and took it for a good ten minutes without saying anything. J. started going back on the bandwagon, and the Spirit prompts me to ask, "Do you feel the Spirit of the Lord right now?" As soon as P. had started speaking, the palpable presence of the Spirit, which had been there as we taught and testified, fled the room. The Spirit was with Elder H. and me.

They all mumbled “no,” and we explained that the truth is the truth, and it doesn't matter what book it comes from or who says it; the Spirit will testify of the eternal truth that has been stated. The lesson ended with D. rebuking P. and bearing testimony that the Spirit is the tool God gives us to find if something is true, not the Bible (though the Bible does help). J. told us he wants to be like us and be able to tell his friends that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. And P. asked, "How do I feel the Spirit?" I sat there smiling for a solid minute at that one. I was so dumb. P. just simply doesn't know how to identify truth. We are excited for our next lesson with them.

SATURDAY, December 1st: We tried to go see my old investigator (now a member) F. out in the village he lives in. He had forgotten to tell us that he had work in Larnaca, so we weren't able to see him. We returned to Nicosia and immediately went to the Hope for Children's shelter to do our service for the Worldwide Day of Service. We organized a big room that was the "dump everything in here room." We were with the entire District and the Grovers and Flemings. It was loads of fun!

World Wide Day of Service
Photo Credit: Elder Fleming

We came home and ate and did calls, and I started baking cookies. I was baking cookies while we did Weekly Planning (yeah, we've been too busy to actually do it, lol) #alittleapostatebutnottoomuch, and then we went to our Movie Night. We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with a bunch of new people we have been talking to. After the movie, we answered questions and ended up teaching all about the temple. It was an awesome night! And, people liked my cookies! #vinerite4lyfe

SUNDAY, December 2nd: We had people in church again! Elder F. and I got to teach their Chinese investigator, and she asked such good questions. This lady reads the Book of Mormon in Chinese and English and marks it all up and has a gospel words dictionary she is creating at the front of her Book of Mormon. Our friend F. couldn't attend sacrament meeting because his pastor had driven him and his brothers to church, lol, but this legend snuck out with his friend (turns out I know him as well) and came to Sunday school!!!! We have body snatchin’ like nobody's business out here! ;) We had three appointments bail on us after church, but one came an hour late, and we taught her and her two friends. We are meeting them next week and bringing another Book of Mormon for her friend. We had a mini belated Thanksgiving dinner with the Flemings, other elders, and the G. family. It was awesome and soooo good. After that, we headed with the other elders to Squad 1's house to bring them dinner. They have been going through some challenges and needed a pick me up. It was amazing.

Love you, guys!

Before I get off, shout out to Sister Coponen who reads my blog faithfully every week...but isn't coming to see me and Elder F. in Nicosia but sees everyone else on the island.... if she somehow reads this and makes a surprise visit here, she would be highly rewarded with another shout-out, lol!

- Elder Müller

Doing planning in some interesting places while it rains!

"Industrial Standard" τι μου λες hahaha
Wet shoes from the rain