Turn Around

Email written: 5/29/17

Well this week we just decided to keep going because there really is no other option................
And things started to turn around!

Monday night we went to follow up on a contact we made, and the first miracle is that THEY WERE HOME (this has been something that has not happened to us this month) and she said she read what we left her (and a little bit more) and she said she liked it, partly because "it says in the beginning that it is true and no other book says that so I want to learn more" So we set up another time to go by. That time she wasn't home, but our back up plan was to visit an old investigator and she answered the door and said she wants to learn more, but because of her work and study schedule, it was hard, but now she has more time! That night we were looking for a part member family to visit, but they weren't home, but we remembered about and old investigator and when he answered the door he said "Hey I thought you forgot about me or something what happened?" He then explained his hours got changed, and even though he works as a taxi driver, he was going to be able to come to church because he really wanted to. On Saturday the ward got together again to share the Book of Mormon and they were really successful, and then the best part was that we also had a teaching appointment. We weren't really that optimistic that they would be home, but we went anyway. They were home and they had read and wanted to have us explain more! We haven´t found families of 10 people who want to get baptized, we haven´t had crazy scary stories, we haven´t changed the world (yet), but what we have managed to do is learn how to just keep going. We know there is still a lot to do, but we´ve learned not to get down on ourselves and that things do and will get better.

Something very interesting that helped us a lot this week was a scripture I found in Doctrine and Covenants 124:49 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the sons of men to do a work unto
my name and those sons of men go with all their might and with all they have to perform that work, and cease not 
their diligence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that work, behold, it 
behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those sons of men, but to accept of their offerings" 

-Elder Steele

When Life Knocks You on Your Back

Email written: 5/22/17

This week we were able to work all day everyday as my back was feeling better, but like the subject says, it was not easy. We were so excited to get back to the routine of finding but even with our best efforts, nothing happened. We kept getting what we started calling "almost miracles" Like for example we got 20 references from the church offices and other missionaries and NONE of them existed. We said "oh well" and kept going. Then we had a zone conference and the whole zone with president and his wife went out to share books and the majority were in our area! only 1 of the 14 was willing for us to pass by again. We are lost and we don´t really know where to go from here. The only thing that has given us hope is  Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." Obedience brings blessings, but sometimes we have to wait for them. We can´t give up even if no one wants to even look at us in the street. 

One of the reasons why we didn't want to give up was a street contact we did a few days ago. It was getting late, people were being very openly opposed to us and we were getting frustrated and everything. I said a prayer that was basically "we´re trying so hard and you know it. why has it been almost 3 weeks with nothing?" and then I saw a lady walking and I thought "You have nothing to lose, just do it" and we did. It was one of the most powerful contacts ever. She started crying and saying how hard life had gotten and how she needed something like this, and we could feel God´s love so strong in those few minutes. It made that hard day worth it.

Something that I have been thinking about all week was something that my uncle mentioned about the principle of agency. It´s our ability to choose and it´s the only thing God can't take away from us. Even if we do our best to help some one, in the end it´s on them. We can´t change some one´s mind, but we can do our best to make them feel the desires to change.

pic- from the balcony of the other elder´s apartment, I could see 3 of my areas (the far right Parque Avellaneda, in the middle is Nueva Pompeya, and the far left back Soldati)

-Elder Steele

This Week Took My Breath Away

Email written: 5/15/17

Literally. So to start last week, I slipped in the rain and fell right on my back (and got winded so I lost my breath for about 30 seconds) so the rest of the week was me trying not to hurt my back more. Luckily my companion had a home made heating pad, which he made out of sewing 2 socks together filled with rice and then we heat up in the microwave. Because I´m basically an expert in back pain already thanks to the mission, I knew kind of what to do (and not to do) so we took it slow this week. We still were able to leave and go out, but only to the appointments we had already set up since last week. It was frustrating because the whole zone is growing and finding more people to teach and baptize and we got stuck with nothing. As I was laying there, I was asking "Why? Why now? I just want to end well. I´m doing my best to stay focused on the mission and not think about the end. I´m working harder than ever before and there is so much to be done, but I have to stay in bed. Why has everything that could go wrong these past few weeks gone wrong?" and I didn't really get an answer for awhile. 

Then on Sunday, it was another week of people telling us they'd come to church and then not come and it was kind of sad to see almost no one in the gospel principles class. But at the same time I kept thinking "We've already committed this much to work outside the villa, why would we just give up?" and then I just felt good. I felt at peace that what we're doing is going to pay off, and even though I not might see it, the ward will, and that´s what´s important. Whether we have 10 or 0 baptisms, we've worked so hard and will continue, and some very valuable lessons have been learned, and will continue being learned.

Most of the time we focus on the destination or the end goal, like for example on a road trip from Utah to Canada. It was easy for me to only think about getting to Canada to take the cruise and enjoy the vacation that I was starting to not be able to appreciate all the points in between, from the amazing scenery to the conversations with my family and grandparents. At one point my grandpa even took a detour to have a more scenic drive, at first I got impatient then I realized the lesson that he was trying to teach. That's how life can end up, we can focus on the destination being heaven and we forget that we came here to get experience and to learn to prepare us for the destination, not just show up and get to the destination as quickly as possible.


I came here to baptize, that is my commission, but more than that it is to invite others to come unto Christ and that very much involves helping others on a journey of change and that's where the lessons are learned and the joy is felt. It has taken me 21 years to figure that out, that life is just made up of a bunch of experiences and how we enjoy them will determine how much we get out of life. We´re still going to work hard to do out part to baptize, but this week has given me peace in my efforts and I know that nothing is wasted.

Pics- Soccer, dinner, and the homemade heating pad

-Elder Steele

Count Your Blessings

Email written: 5/8/17

Well, at least we're alive (Don't worry Mom, nothing scary happened) that's about all we can say this week. This week was brutal. Elder Comp and I are staying together here in Pompeya and we were ready to keep working and see miracles. We were all set up to have 2 or 3 baptisms this week but they all fell through and then we lost every other investigator. We were so confused because we had been doing everything we were supposed to do following the counsels of President Smith along with talking to literally everyone, fasting, praying, and focusing on being obedient to make us worthy of miracles and in the end.... nothing.  Like for example, Franklin. The kid who by miracle showed up and is so ready for baptism. His parents had changed their minds so we made a plan, fasted and prepared so much. We even filled the baptismal font and set up as if we were going to have a baptism to show our faith and desires. We had the best lesson planned and when we showed up, that plan went out the window and it did not go how we planned. They said they want to wait a year to baptize Franklin and then we invited them to be baptized and they didn't give us a clear yes or no and it was so frustrating. I was frustrated because we had done everything to show God we were ready for a miracle, and to get nothing was really hard on us. On Saturday we went to the youth activity to teach a lesson and they asked me to give a spiritual thought (I was not in the mood to do it) then as I thought about what to share, the youth theme this year is James 1:5 which basically says that if we want to ask something from God, He will answer. That at first bugged me because we had been asking and we didn't receive but then I was reminded of the example of Christ found in matthew 26:39 and how even He was asking for something that he didn't receive. That made me realize something. It´s not that we're not going to see a miracle, it's that God has something a lot better and bigger planned for us and we'´re only going to get it if we keep up our efforts. Yesterday during testimony time, a few members gave incredible testimonies and the ward just seemed happier. Then one pointed out it was that they've all started reading the Book of Mormon as a family. One sister got up and was crying tears of gratitude for our challenge in having them read the Book of Mormon. While it's not technically what we were working for this week, it was rewarding to see that we are still doing good. 

Yesterday in Gospel Principles we talked about Fatih (in Spanish it´s Fe). One of the members made a joke because Fe on the periodic table is iron. That made me think a lot about how our faith can be. Iron is a metal, which means it´s strong and pretty hard to break, but at the same time it can be heated up and bent and twisted and reshaped. We need to be firm in our faith but also allow God to put us through the heat to purify and reshape us. We have no idea why last week was so discouraging, but we know something is going to change soon enough. 

Pics- My belt finally broke, and the inside of my agenda (to help keep me focused) 

-Elder Steele

What Storybook?

Email written: 5/1/17


This week started out as one of the greatest ever! Saturday we had interviews with President and it was an awesome interview. President Smith really helped me understand a lot of things and it was the best. This week we also had the new idea from President to leave every morning at 10 until lunch to focus on sharing the Book of Mormon and finding new people. We worked hard trusting that we would see miracles and they started to come. The ward is so excited in sharing the Book of Mormon and they are now so willing to help us (we're eating so much more now haha). We really do have the best members and bishop here. We have found a lot of people and we realized that we can start baptizing more and we were so pumped.

On Friday we had the baptism interview of Franklin (the kid who just showed up and asked to be baptized) and things looked good. The baptism was at  5:00 and at 5:20 his family still didn't show up. We called and his dad said that they changed their minds. I was mad. The bishop was with us and he told us to stay calm and he called the ward mission leader to come in with us and the 4 of us made a plan of how we were going to teach and baptize not only Franklin, but the whole family.

Then just like they say "as one door closes another opens" a member who we helped come back to church showed up with her daughter and told us we need to teach her because she had just moved from Bolivia to study.

We started teaching but because we were so excited we kind of overwhelmed her and then we worried we blew that miracle too. Then on Sunday of the 7 investigators we were waiting for, none of them showed up and that was just another hit. I was frustrated and asked God "Why don´t I ever get the storybook ending. Why don´t things ever turn out" and then the question came to me "well, who's writing the book?" and that made me think a whole lot. I'm going to be honest, I don't know why a lot of things happen, but I realize I have to just trust and keep going so we can still achieve great things. 

Pics- making donuts and fried oreos

-Elder Steele