Thoughts from Asher, RM (Returned Missionary)

Hello everybody!

       Well this is Asher McMullin - no longer Elder McMullin - coming to you from the McMullin family's dining room computer in Stoughton, Wisconsin! I got home from my mission last Tuesday around 10:45 AM and have been home with family since then. I wanted to share a quick last snippet of what my final week was like, and what it's like to be home after two years in Florida!

        My last week in Florida was a miracle filled, packed, emotional, joy filled roller coaster. We had a lot of good teaching opportunities and time to be out talking to everybody. One experience was on Sunday afternoon - we had a few minutes so we were out in a parking lot walking around before dinner. We saw a guy cleaning his car, so we went to talk with him. We had a great conversation and were able to pray with him, share about the Book of Mormon, and set a time to come back. Halfway through our conversation, while Elder Masino was talking about how the gospel has helped him, I was almost overcome with emotion, to the point of tears, when I realized that this was one of the last times I would be able to do this. All week, I realized how grateful I am for every day of my mission - for everything I learned and everything that I've experienced!

       On Monday, we drove the departing missionaries to Saint Augustine to walk on the beach and play sand volleyball. 

With Elder Masino, last comp and good friend.

That night, we had dinner and a closing meeting with President and Sister Lee. It was so good to be able to share and hear testimonies of how our missions and the gospel have helped us to grow. 

       Tuesday morning we got up early, drove to the airport, I hugged my companion Elder Masino goodbye, hugged President and Sister Lee, and hopped on a plane to Atlanta.

    As the plane picked up speed and left the Florida ground, I just felt overwhelming love for the people in Florida and gratitude for the conversion that I've watched people go through. After Atlanta, I flew to Madison, touched down, rode down an escalator, and hugged my family. 

What felt like the longest escalator ride of my life!

Ephraim has grown a lot over the last two years! It was great to see him again.

And of course, mom!

We drove back home and I spent the afternoon with my family.

We had time in the afternoon before I was released from being a missionary, so I showed Ephraim and Sylvia what we would do on the street; talking to somebody and tying it into the gospel!

Ephraim was a natural.

                                       

Sylvia (AKA "Bob" in this roleplay) may have struggled to take it seriously for a few minutes, but she's a natural too!

The more serious side shown here.

                                                       .

 We went to the Chicago temple on Wednesday - it was my sister Sylvia's first time going, and it was really special to be able to be there with her.

         Both sets of my grandparents came into town this weekend to visit, and to hear my speak on Sunday. I was asked to speak on what I learned on my mission, so I spoke about the doctrine of Christ - faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. That really is what I learned, and it is what I love!

It was great to see my grandparents again! They've helped me my whole mission and keep on helping me.

Grandma and Grandpa Chiddix

Grandma and Grandpa McMullin

   Saturday night we had a family dinner and party for friends at a local park. Ultimate Frisbee happened afterwards until the sun started going down.

Ephraim bringing some Welcome Home balloons to the party.

The grill masters in action.

Specialty brats from a meat shop in Appleton were a hit.

All the visiting family members at the family dinner.

 Ultimate Frisbee crew: Mattias, Tyler Romney, Jason Johnson, Asher, and Ben Johnson

                                              

       It's an interesting transition - it feels weird sometimes to look in the mirror and not have a nametag. It's weird to be able to eat meals and not worry about missing an appointment after dinner, or staying a minute too long. It feels weird to do things by myself, without a companion. It's weird to be doing the same things I did before my mission - playing tennis, playing viola, spending time with family and friends, etc. Even though I'm doing the same things, though, I feel different because of the change I've felt and the experiences I've had. I'm so humbled grateful for the way I've grown and changed - becoming more humble, more patient, less judgmental, more loving, more focused, more driven, more joyful, I could go on and on.

         I know that the gospel of Christ is real - its true. I know that Jesus Christ lives - he is our leader, our Savior and Redeemer, our Captain and our King. He leads us, and he has lead me and walked with me every single day of my mission. It's hard for me to express my feelings about, and towards, Jesus Christ. Learning to follow him has changed who I am. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God - it was translated by Joseph Smith, who was called as a prophet to restore Christ's Church. I know that our Heavenly Father loves us very, very, very much, and that he has given the Holy Spirit to let us know of that love. I can testify of this with all my heart.

        In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love you all! Thank you for the support, thought, emails, and prayers you've given for the last two years. I hope you know how much they mean to me and the difference you made!

End of Mission Musings

Hello dear family and friends!

        I hope this week finds you all happy and well! This week was amazing, like every other week. We had exchanges with the Kingsland and Saint Augustine missionaries this weekend, which is always fun and a great learning experience. It is amazing to see how much I still learn every day, even though I’ve been a missionary for a while. 

        So... for those who don’t know, I will be home in Wisconsin next week. I have lots of mixed feelings about coming home. I love Florida. It has my heart. I love the people here and have done everything I could to serve and help them for the last two years, so it’s a little hard just hopping on an airplane and coming home. But that’s just part of life, and I’m exciting to keep learning and growing. 

         I thought it would be appropriate to just share about three people who changed my life on my mission. Now I wish I could write about hundreds, but for times sake, here’s just three. :)

          

1 - Brother Cody Johns, from my time with Elder Jenkins in good ol’ Lake City! He is a member in the congregation, returned from his mission a few years ago, recently married, and just had his first baby. He changed the way I see the gospel, and helped me understand how to keep the same fire and zeal I feel now. I will never forget one of the things he said to me and Elder Jenkins, sitting in their small house out in the middle of nowhere. “The gospel is beautiful. You know that now. After you are home, you will have times when you ask ‘Is it still beautiful to me?’. Be able to say yes, and you will never lose your fire.’

2 - Eugene Hatley, from Gainesville! I love Eugene with all my heart. I have never seen the process of conversion - a complete change of nature and heart - as evident as with Eugene. He struggled with a lot of tough things and vices, and was in a really rough spot in life when we first met him. He latched onto the gospel because it was intellectually interesting. He read, prayed, and came to church, but refused to give up some things in his life to be baptized. 

          Over the course of nine months, he changed as he let the Spirit enter his life by showing faith. He literally changed on the outside - he had more energy, a light in his eyes, and joy in his voice. He is now serving as a leader in the congregation. He is a testimony to me that the gospel works, changes hearts, and changes lives!

3 - President Lee, my wonderful mission president. He has changed my life in too many ways to out here. He is one of the most genuinely Christlike men I’ve EVER met in my life. All he does is serve. All he does is love. He has such high expectations for who us, as missionaries, can become, and gives his heart to helping us grow. He is so humble and so grateful. He has helped me understand what it means to always have the Spirit with us. I will always be grateful for him. 

I haven’t written a poem in a while, so here one is! About my time in Florida. 

This time of two years,

Has felt like a day.

It’s gone by so quickly,

Time makes no delay. 

The memories flood,

The rooms of my mind. 

I thank my kind God,

As I look behind. 

Long days knocking doors,

In Florida heat. 

Or biking in rain,

On our way to eat. 

Or sitting in homes,

With tears on our cheeks,

As we teach the gospel,

To those who are meek. 

Or each dear companion

Who’s opened my eyes.

Or blessings from heaven,

That’ve rained from the skies. 

These years changed my life,

My heart and my soul. 

For all that I’ve seen,

My gratitude’s full.

I love you all! I will see you next week! 

Elder Simkins just made me laugh all day while we were out working. He’s hilarious, and such a hard worker. 

Elder Smart! We had a fun day together here in Mandarin. He is great at connecting with people and building them from where they’re at. 

And... just because, here’s with my first companion ...

...and last companion. The whole two years! 

Elder McMullin

The temple, exchanges, and trainings..

Hello family and friends!

       This was one of the busiest, most miracle filled, diverse weeks of my mission! We trained in five district meetings, we spent Friday and Saturday on exchanges with other companionships, we found so many people who want the gospel in their lives, and we went to the Orlando Temple! 

         I love the temple - I thought about a quote that I read by one of the apostles - he said something like “In the temple, all feelings of doubt and inadequacy begin to fade away.” What a blessing! It’s reassuring to feel the Spirit letting you know that what you’ve done is enough, and then go out with a passion to keep doing God’s work!

   

     Also... here’s a complete MIRACLE from this week. We were walking around in an apartment complex, after talking to one of the people we visit with there, and were walking back to our car. A lady drove by and here’s basically our conversation...

“Hey are y’all Mormons?”

“Yes, we are!”

“Oh my goodness - it is so good to see you!” 

*us with confused/amazed/excited faces* 

       

  She recently moved across the country and was going through a hard time - we prayed with her, shared scriptures, and shared our testimonies as she wiped tears from her cheeks. After just that 10 minute conversation, my conviction that the Holy Ghost is a comforter deepened. It is real, so real! What a blessing to be able to share - I love this work. 

Love you all! Here are some pictures from the week. 

All of us missionaries at the temple!

It was fun to be there with five of my companions! I love them. 

ELDER MERRILL!

A tradeoff with Elder Josse! He’s an amazing soccer player, great at talking with people, and an amazing teacher. 

Elder Carter!!! He is so good - so good at getting missionaries excited and building up their faith. 

Elder McMullin

"Being Quick to Observe"

Hello everyone!

       This week was so good! We learned a lot this week. One of the number one things I learned is what it means to be “quick to observe.” That’s how Mormon, in the Book of Mormon, describes one of his sons who he trusts a lot. We’ve thought a lot about that phrase and here are my thoughts on what it means and how it can apply to you!are you excited? Well hey you should be. 

         Being quick to observe means being open minded, eyed, and eared. It’s having an awareness of those around us. It’s looking into somebody’s eyes and seeing if they’re filled with joy or sadness. It’s seeing who’s outgoing, excited, and talking, and who’s not including themselves or being included. It’s seeing who’s sitting alone. It’s having eyes to see, and ears to hear, as Christ says. 

          Our mission president talks to us about this a lot. We’ve seen that you can learn so much about a person just by being quick to observe. So there’s that :) 

         Here are some pictures from the week! Love you all!

Elder Jaksina and I in Gainesville. It was raining. A lot. 

After zone conference with Elder Willets, my previous companion! I love him so much - grateful for good friends made from faithful service and sacrifice! 

Elder Ballard in Ocala! He is so good - he won state in Tennis where he lives in Arizona. He’s super super good! An even better missionary, though. And he speaks and teaches in Spanish! He can do it all. 

A little tennis, a lot of work.

Hello everybody!

        This week has been one of the most diverse and enjoyable of my mission. Here are pictures to describe the week. 

A sub-par phone selfie post tennis. We play with the other elders in our ward and the sisters in another ward. One of the Sisters, Sister Sosa, played all through high school and she’s super good! It’s fun to see people use their talents, that’s one of my favorite parts of missionary work. 

Tradeoff with Elder Houskeeper! He had to go home for surgery but is now back out. He is so loving and caring - really personable and Christlike to everybody who we saw that day. And he’s from Oregon! Somebody who’s not from Utah, Arizona, or Idaho!

Tradeoff with Elder Burt in the Gainesville YSA. Where I was trained! Ahhhh this was such a fun day to be there in Gainesville. I LOVE Gainesville. 

We taught Maurya that day - when I was in the YSA we taught her for 6 months. She plays viola at UF and is really good. It was good to see her again and we had a great lesson on connecting to God through faith, and how that seeks the Spirit. 

I send so many pictures from tradeoffs that I decided to send one pre-picture. Fixing the tie before the picture is always a major key. This is from Price Creek, my last area, with Elder McBride, an old companion. It was so good to be back - a little piece of my heart will always be in Lake City. In church we were studying about the word “sacrifice” and from the word roots, it means “to make sacred.” We sacrificed a lot in Price Creek, and from the bottom of my heart I can say that that place is sacred to me. 

  Elder Forsyth as we drive back from church. Sunday afternoons after a focused day at church can be tiring, especially for a missionary who’s been out for two weeks. It made me look back and remember how exhausting missionary work is at first before we get used to it. He’s absolutely amazing though, such a dedicated missionary. I trained Elder Birch, so he’s my “son”, and Elder Birch is training Elder Forsyth, so he’s my “grandson”. 

Here’s the transfer board with our schedule for the next 6 weeks.

Love you all! We hope you have a great week and a good Father’s Day this Sunday!

Elder McMullin

Finding joy in the variety of the work!

Hello Everybody!

       This  past week was... busy! Started out with dropping all of the departing missionaries off at the airport, hugging the elders we’ve spent almost two years around, and shaking the sisters’ hands. There was a quick second where I almost cried - we love these missionaries! Faithful disciples of Christ. It was a little hard to see them go after being with them, hearing their testimonies, their faith, and miracles they’ve been a part of. They will be great people going forward! 

         So that was at 3:45AM  Tuesday morning. (We’d gone to bed at 11:30PM the night before.) We worked all day and then the most exciting part of the week for us! The new missionaries from the mission training center, eight sisters and three elders, get off the plane and we get to be at the airport when they arrive so we can drive them home. We were standing in the terminal waiting, and their flight had landed. People started filing down the long hallway. We were standing there with President and Sister Lee, and we can’t stand still, just waiting eagerly. A couple passes us and says, “Don’t worry, they’re coming.” Everybody notices the missionaries!

         So then there they come! Smiling, excited, full of energy, a little nervous, but just full of light. It filled the gap that had come from dropping the departing missionaries off that morning. The new elders and sisters are so good - so much faith to be sacrificing so much. The start of a mission is hard, but they were so joyful and ready to serve. Such examples to me. 

        

  Love you all!    - Elder McMullin

Here are some more pictures from the week:

From last Monday, with the departing missionaries at the beach their last day! 

Tuesday was Sister Lee’s birthday. We bought her a dozen roses, knocked on the front door, and I played “Happy Birthday” while Elder Masino sang. She did the mom thing where she put her hand over her mouth and teared up and said “That was so sweet!” even though we probably didn’t sound the best. It’s the love that counts! Anyway, President Lee got a hold of my viola and here he is with some good ol’ country fiddling. We might have to talk about now placement, but he was pretty good for never having picked up a viola before! 

Here’s an exchange with Elder Hansen. We had a great day and taught some amazing people. He’s a naturally caring and loving person - he is great example love of showing love in the way people need it. 

           Same, but more dramatic. 

Transfer week as an AP

Hello everybody! 

        Here is my weekly email, summed up with pictures. 

Elder Brown! I served around him in Gainesville and we had another tradeoff. He is great - really loving and ministers to the people we taught. We had a fun day - we went to his area, and I went with him while my companion went with his.

     We visited lots of people but the HIGHLIGHT was teaching a guy who was willing to let us inside at 8:45 at night. Who even does that? We taught about the Book of Mormon, Elder Brown testified and brought the Spirit, and they will teach him again soon! 

     THE ORLANDO TEMPLE! Truly The House of the Lord. What a beautiful place on the outside, but the Spirit inside is why I love it.
      We went on Thursday with the missionaries at their halfway mark and those going home. So fun to be with them, see the people I loved in a place I love just as much. I left with a renewed desire to serve Christ and sacrifice to follow Him!

   Post transfer call at President Lee’s, pressing the “That was Easy” button after finishing a transfer that I probably wouldn’t define as “easy” but I would call the best transfer of my mission so far. It just gets better and better - I want to stay here forever. 

    Today we went to Saint Augustine with all of the missionaries who fly home tomorrow morning. We went to the beach with them  and were the stars of the show wearing our white shirts, slacks, and ties, with the Sisters wearing their dresses.

   It was fun to be there with them - afterward, we went to a old fashioned street where there are lots of shops and unique crafty places. It is amazing to see these missionaries at the end of their missions - two years or 18 months of faithful diligent service has sure shaped them. 

After that group of missionaries flew home, we picked the incoming group up at the airport.

We took them to the church building for training and to meet their companions.

The board! All of the missionaries and where they are serving. 

Elder McMullin