Yeah We're Pretty Special

Email written: 1/25/16

This week we felt really special for a few reasons. The first is that Tuesday we had a special guest go out and work with us.... President Ayre!! He called us Saturday night and told us that he felt really strongly that he needed to go out and work with us for a bit. He could only be with us for 2 hours but it was really neat to have him with us. At first I was nervous but then we got to work.

Tuesday morning we also got to go to the temple and start replacing the stuff we lost. We felt weird because the temple is part of another mission but it was fun to go to see the temple. And yes, we thought about going in and doing a session, but in the end decided against it. 

Wednesday we had a special broadcast for all the missionaries in the world and it helped me focus on the things I want to improve on. Friday we got to go shopping again, this time in the Plaza Once, and now we pretty much have everything replaced. Friday and Saturday flew by and we have been working really hard and Saturday night we felt really good for Sunday. But Sunday came and all 7 of our investigators had some sort of problem and couldn't go. So our excitement and energy took a hit but we pressed on. The truth is we have close to nothing to work with starting this week. All we really have is our diligence, obedience, and prayer. But we have to keep positive and hold to our faith that we will see fruits of our labors and benefit from these experiences.   -Elder Steele

Who Even Does That?

Email written: 1/18/16

This week has been a little bit of a disaster. Let´s start with the first day of transfers. We received a call from the Zone Leaders and they told us that one of the other companionships in our ward had found a map and it turns out their area is bigger than they thought which means our area is smaller than we thought. And with that we lost Leandro, Roberto, and Amelia. Or in other words we lost everything we had coming into this transfer. It´s been a little hard, but Elder Holtry is going to start teaching them so I know they are in good hands. And then yesterday was one of those days. My sube (bus card) ran out of credit and my companion´s card stopped working. This meant that when we depend very much on the bus to get around, we did plenty of walking. And then the cherry on top our laundry. The Relief Soceity president offered to wash our clothes and told us to bring our clothes to the church. So like every week when we have stuff like baptism clothes or tuppers to return, we left it in the kitchen. After the meetings ended we went to the kitchen and guess what wasn´t there... OUR LAUNDRY!! At first we thought it was a joke from the other elders, but then we talked to someone who was sitting in the kitchen and he told us that he saw someone leave with our bags. So yeah, we got robbed. And the saddest part is we didn´t even see the guy who robbed us. But on the bright side we got special permission to go to the temple/MTC this week (because it´s in another mission) so yeah we feel pretty cool. So Sunday night with no sube, the majority of our clothes gone, and no investigators, but 3 things came to mind: the words of Ether (in the Book of Mormon), Rocky (from the Rocky Movies) and Jimmy V (Former NC State basketball coach):

34 Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen.

´´Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody!´´

“Don’t give up, don’t ever give up”

So yeah. The mission (and life) are going to hit and we are going to be faced with situations and the real test is how we react. Elder Troya and I decided that we just need to smile and laugh and what´s happened and get back to work. And some good news is that there is no way next week is going to be worse! 

-Elder Steele

I Don´t Know Enough About Colombia to Make A Joke

Email written: 1/12/16

Transfer time and my new companion is Elder Troya from Colombia and it´s fun/scary because we arrived in the mission together so neither of us has a great idea of what we are doing haha. More good news is that one of the new elders in the ward is ELDER HOLTRY!!! That´s right my MTC companion is with me in the ward so it´s going to be fun. 

I am going to miss Tex-Mex a lot because of all the miracles that we saw and all the lessons we learned. We got to end the transfer good with the baptism of Kiara. She is the cousin of Axel and slowly we are completing the Mercado Family. It was really special to see the change in Kiara when 4 weeks ago she didn´t even want to listen but thanks to her Grandma, Axel, and the Ward she was really happy Sunday.

The thing that struck me the most is she still was a little worried but when she came out of the water she looked up and said "Gracias. Gracias. Gracias" with a really big smile. That´s the power of change baptism helps bring.  I am really excited for this transfer.   -Elder Steele

Pics are Kiara´s baptism and the group of missionaries that played futbol (almost) every morning. 

Email Runs on Mormon Standard Time

Email written: 1/4/16

So last week was a little complicated and we ended up with about 10 minutes to do everything in the cyber. But we have time this week. 

So first of all it has not felt like the holidays at all. So for Christmas on the 24th we had an activity for the mission and my favorite part was seeing not only Elders Hardcastle and Holtry but all my old friends from Soldati. As much as I love my new zone, I realized how much I´ve missed Soldati. And then that night we went to a member´s house for dinner and we got to stay out until 10:30pm and after dinner we got to watch the fireworks. It´s so weird to know that I already made it to Christmas. Christmas day we had pday and I got to talk to the family which was really awesome to do. It didn´t feel like I had seen them for 6 months and Collin had changed so much. It reminded me how much I love them. To finish off that week we got to baptize Axel. His Grandma is a member but we had been teaching him, his grandpa and his cousin. HIs cousin left for vacation so we have to wait for this week to baptize her and his grandpa still has some doubts. But in the end his grandma was really happy and now she is active again (because they moved from Bolivia and hadn´t been to the church here because she didn´t know where it was and had been praying to go back to church and then we showed up).

This past week has been a little slow because of all the holidays but we still have 4 investigators including an old couple who have been married for 48 years and after teaching them the first lesson Elder Cruz and I both realized that we could help them get sealed and in the end that´s the real goal. Because baptism is only the door and the temple is the higher goal. So we have spent the last week really trying to prepare them not only understand baptism but also the temple. We also have Leandro who showed up to the church when we had our weekly correlation meeting and asked how he could be a member (we call people like him elegidos) and he is going good for his baptism Sunday along with the others. For new years we had to be in the apartment at 8:30 so we didn´t do much but at midnight we were up because the fireworks were everywhere and we couldn´t sleep. To start the new year as a mission we are reading the Book of Mormon all the way through before the next general conference, so if anyone is up to it, why not join us. Also with this new year it´s the time to set goals to change and be better and that´s what I´ve been thinking about a lot lately; how can I be a better missionary and a better person and it all starts with the simple things, so that´s what I´m going to do. 

This pday was the best pday I´ve had in the mission because we made Tacos and played basketball as a district along with one more companionship of elders and sisters. And the tacos were pretty authentic thanks to our texmex knowledge and the store Jumbo which sells all the stuff we needed including refried beans and taco sauce imported from El Paso Texas. It was the best way to end this transfer and I really look forward to see what 2016 has. 

-Elder Steele

No 2 Days Are Ever the Same

Email written: 12/21/15

A "little" Christmas cheer thanks to Missionary Packages of Argentina

This week was a very different week to say the least. On Tuesday, we had interviews with President and we talked a lot about goals especially after the mission with a focus on marriage even though I still have a year and a half left.... But one of the things I took away from the interview is what president told me about whatever I do in this life I have to go big and it´s helped me keep working here and set better goals for after the mission.

Wednesday was a normal day but then came Thursday. Elder Cruz in the morning was talking about some back pain but he figured he could just sleep it off. So then we went to a member´s house and after 30 minutes of sitting down, Elder Cruz couldn´t get up. It took him almost 40 minutes to get up and walk to the door. We tried calling a remis but none of them wanted to enter the villa. Luckily after some prayer and thinking we had a member who had a car and took us to a public hospital. After 3 hours of nothing they told us to go to the private hospital that we have insurance for. At 5 we got to the hospital britanico and after some waiting the doctors had an idea but he needed and MRI and his appointment was at 11:30pm. So we had to wait around the hospital a lot, but luckily at about 9 the Elders from the area near the hospital visited us and brought us food because we didn´t eat all day. We got home at 3am Friday and had to go back at 9 the same morning to read his results. Luckily it´s nothing too serious, he has a bulging disc and needs about 3 weeks to recover. But we can still work, just not as much.

The heat this week wasn´t too bad (or maybe it was because we didn´t go out much) and the hottest it got was when we burned Elder Cruz´s shirt to celebrate his 1 year (and my 6 months). 

And on Sunday we had another baptism- Luciana. Her mom was the one I talked about 3 weeks ago as one of our miracles. Not only did we baptize Luciana but her mom is now full active again and has become our mom of our area.   -Elder Steele

Tex-Mex

Email written: 12/14/15

This week was the first full week in my new area and I really do love it. First of all, Elder Cruz is like my brother from Mexico and we get along and teach so well together (and our new nickname is Tex-Mex because there is no better combination). Aside from all the fun we did work this week. We had 7 progressing for baptism (minus 1 that was baptized yesterday and another one we had to drop) and we have been working so well with the members recently. We have continued to see so many miracles and it is truly incredible to see.

But with all the ups, there has to be a few downs. This week we had 3 days (thankfully not in a row) without lunch, the heat/humidity/mosquitos are killing us at night because we don´t have a/c or even a fan, we´ve been 3 days without a phone, and one of our strongest recent converts was drunk on Saturday and it was so heartbreaking. But those downs have really helped us appreciate even the smallest miracles we see day to day.

Like I mentioned above, we did get a baptism this week, Lucia. Her mom was baptized 2 weeks ago and now it was her turn. It was nice to see how happy she and her family were. Sadly we couldn´t get a picture because the ward mission leader wanted to speed things up. But I do have a picture of what happens when you show up early to zone meeting (the 3rd elder is Elder Romero from Spain and yes we do talk to him with the lisp and it´s really fun).   -Elder Steele

The White Elephant in the Room

Email written: 12/7/15

Well I had my first week in my new area. And all I have to say is WOW. It´s such a cool area. It´s a villa (villa oculta) and has the Elefante Blanco, which was planned to be the largest hospital in Latin America but it never got finished so now it´s just a giant abandoned building in the middle of our area. Seriously, I love my area and Elder Cruz is the best. We´ve worked really hard this week and have 4 baptisms set for the next 2 weeks and a ton of more possibilities. This has started out as an awesome transfer and we know it´s only going to get better. 

Photo courtesy of Roberto Montano

One of the reasons it´s gone so awesome is the amount of miracles (both big and small) that we see everyday. Everything from the members instantly gaining our trust and giving us references without asking to meeting old members who have children and grandchildren of baptism age. One of them is Miriam. We were looking for a house and this lady crosses us and says ´´hola elderes´´ and I looked at her and figured she was a member and because I´m new I don´t know many so I shrugged it off. Then she said it 2 more times and was walking away. Then Elder Cruz asked me if she called us Elders and then he ran after her and talked to her. Turns out she was baptized 10 years ago in Formosa but was inactive. She told us her daughter is 9 and wants us to baptize her. We have seen so many amazing things this week and we know that if we grow out faith, stay obedient, and work diligently, we are going to do great things here in Villa Oculta.    -Elder Steele