Colombia Round 2

Email written: 4/19/16

After 5 and a half months of the Villa Oculta and after 9 months in Villas/capital of Buenos Aires, I now have the opportunity to be in Provincia! My new area is called Savio and it´s pretty far away from my other areas (so there goes the chances of seeing everyone I know). I´ve only been here for 2 hours but I really like it. It´s almost like a different mission. My new companion is Elder Vides from Colombia (I swear if he starts to have back problems... but at least I´ll know what to do). 

 I wasn't 100% sure if I was going to leave, so we treated this last week like any other normal week and we worked. The rain and late lunches kind of hurt us but we have really been able to work with the members a lot better. But I did say goodbye to a few members for that just in case I leave security. Looking back, a ton has happened and while it wasn't  always the easiest or the most fun, I am very grateful for the lessons I learned and the people I met. One of the things I really learned is you can't ever give up on something. As a missionary you can't give up because you don´t know who you may help. As a parent you can't give up on your children. And this attitude of can't give up comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why testimony and conversion are so vital. Anything can happen in life, and 92% of the things that happen we can't control, but there are things we can do and if we do our part, we will receive help.  -Elder Steele

Photos: Liniers Zone and Guess how many months I completed?

Eu Não Falo Português

Email written: 4/11/16

So this week should have been transfers, but because of a change in February this transfer is 8 weeks. It´s passed by fast more or less but being here for 5 months has started to take its toll. It´s been pretty easy to feel tired of the routine of the area and to start wondering where I might go next transfer. And just when it was getting bad, I got some hope.

There has been a member who lives close to our pension but we haven´t been able to visit them much. We tried to make a greater effort to visit them and after getting lunch with them and doing service, we got the mom of the family to go out and do visits. After these visits we "trained" her on how to be a member missionary but we didn´t think much of it. A few days later she called us and told us that she talked to a friend who wants us to teach her and she already set up the appointment. So the next day we went to visit her friend Lucinda. Lucinda is from Brazil and speaks Portuñol which is Spanish-Portuguese, so we still basically understand her but she sometimes doesn´t understand everything we say. Luckily one of the elders who lives with us is from Brazil and has taught me some Portuguese (side note: Portuguese is pretty fun to speak) and we were able to get her a book of Mormon in Portuguese. Even though there is a little bit of a language and age barrier, she seems to understand and feel the spirit and loved church yesterday.

It was a relief that after all these weeks in this transfer, to finally have someone so ready and willing to learn is a blessing. I then realized that I can´t be tired of the area and blame it on the area because it doesn´t matter where I will be serving I still have to work, so transfers are next week and although it would be kind of nice to have a change of scenery, I will be fine with whatever comes my way. 

-Elder Steele

Spring Break?

Email written: 4/4/16

This week was a week that could not have come at a better time. 

Starting with Tuesday we had interviews with President. It has not been easy these past weeks (well my whole mission) and especially now when there is a lot of pressure to raise the Oculta up to it´s baptizing excellence again.

A lot has gone through my mind but President in his wisdom and experience helped refocus my eternal perspective. That same day I got a letter from an old companion which really helped motivate me and to build my understanding of the plan the Lord has for each of us. 

On Thursday I got to finish the Book of Mormon (or should I say Libro De Mormon) after taking the challenge of President Ayre to read it in 3 months before conference. And yall want to know something? The Book of Mormon is just as true in Spanish as it is in English! The incredible thing about the Book of Mormon is that as we read and apply the principles day by day we do not see or feel great changes, but looking back at these 3 months I have been changed. I feel different about the scriptures and my thoughts and actions have changed. I have come to love the Book of Mormon. 

Riding these good feelings led us right in to conference. This was only about the 3rd time in my life where I watched all the sessions of conference and I really enjoyed it. I have come to admire and respect the apostles and all of those who have been called of God to fulfill offices in His church. The talk by Mervyn B Arnold really struck me in the importance of rescuing in the church. We may not have investigators right now, but we can still bring others who have left the church to come back and experience the blessings because, as we learned more than once this conference, we are ALL children of a Heavenly Father and therefore we are ALL important. And then to end the conference Holland just capped off an incredible 2 days. 

The weird thing is that we do not have investigators and have not really found anyone in this week, but we have worked very hard and we feel we did everything we could have. It is interesting to note that success and knowing you did your part is not always about the numbers you write down every night (although it is a lot nicer when you have new people to teach).

(the closest you can get to the Elefante Blanco to take a picture)  

-Elder Steele

The March Madness Won't Stop

Email written: 3/28/16

Just when I was getting comfortable and starting to work in the trio I got a call from the assistants telling me that I was going to receive a new companion that night. It´s Elder Nina from Bolivia. So, this week was the week where we opened the Villa Oculta, and when you open an area you have to start from 0 and spend the first bit really working with members. It helped that I know a handful but we really had to work a lot this week. And because we focused a lot on members we didn't really find any new investigators. But we have seen small blessings in working with the members. First of all we have started to better the relationship between the missionaries and the ward (something happened in the past, and for that the ward has been kind of cold to missionaries even though us 6 haven´t done anything). Another blessing that we saw was that we received a few references without even asking. On Friday there was a ward activity and a family from our area brought their friend who was an old investigator. She wants to get baptized but her Dad is hesitant to give permission. 

This week got harder when we went to see a "golden family" that I found on divisions. They were a miracle and a really amazing family of 7, and almost all accepted baptism. But in these weeks they´ve been sick, and when we finally passed by the mom told us that they prefer the other elder. That one hurt because I had been so happy to find them and then praying and preparing for them so much, and to be told they just want the other elder was a big bummer. It´s been hard being in this Villa so long without a baptism and I don´t really know what I´m supposed to learn from all of this. But I've got to keep going.

Recently I've been reading in Ether and something that called my attention was that it says multiple times "and [this person] did that which was good in the sight of the Lord and[received this blessing]" I understand the importance of my call and know that what I am doing is "good in the sight of the Lord" and therefore (not to sound selfish) I will be blessed. Whether it be now, after the mission, or after this life. I just have to do my part to the best of my ability. I am grateful for this Easter time and for my Savior, Jesus Christ. 

-Elder Steele

We Found Jesús!

Email written: 3/21/16

This week was one that did not go according to plan at all. First of all President had said I should expect a new companion this week, but he still hasn't received the revelation of who to send so now I am officially in a new area with not 1 but 2 new companions! So I´m still in Parque Avellaneda but now I´m in another part of it with Elder Sherman and De Avila (the elders who were living with us in the pension). Being in a trio is fun because we can enter whatever house we need to and I like this area because it´s in Soldati. To get to this area we either have to cross through the Monoblocks of Soldati (my old area!!) or the Villa Soldati so almost everyday I run into somebody from Soldati and it makes my day. On Thursday I ran into Guadalupe and I just felt really good. 

But this week has been pretty rough in teaching and finding. Almost everyday the member that we would set up to go out with us would cancel about 20 minutes before and then we were stuck. All the plans that we made just didn't work out. We had some moments where we found people (including a kid named Jesus) but by Sunday we didn't have anybody progressing.  The ward situation has given us some hope because we got a new mission leader and he just finished serving his mission so we are going to really start to be able to work with the ward starting today. 

I have learned 2 big lessons this week. The first is that we normally talk about faith without works is dead, but the inverse is also true. Works without faith is also dead. And we realized that some days we are just going out to work without the faith that we are going to find. It is so important to maintain faith and a positive atitude. The other lesson I learend in talking with Elder Sherman is about success here in the mission. Elder Sherman although only has 3 months here already has a large vision and we both realized that true sucess here comes through diligence and obedience not titles or numbers (Elder Sherman is also a fan of Steve Nash so we used him as our example of true success). We both have realized that the transfers when we put in work and didn´t worry about numbers were the ones where we felt more successful. We both share that our greatest fear is getting home and realizing that we didn´t do everything we could have done and that has been our motivation to try to work and get better everyday. 

-Elder Steele

Adios Mi Parcero

Email written: 3/14/16

Parcero is slang in Colombia for best friend.

On Monday after I wrote we went to the pension and the assistants packed up Elder Troya and we said goodbye and then I got put in a trio with the other 2 elders who live with us (Elder Sherman and Elder De Avila). Yesterday after Stake conference I talked to President and he showed me the email he got from Elder Troya and that he made it home alright and is going to start treatments today. 

With me being in a trio, that means that the Villa Oculta is now a closed area. Yes that´s right. I am the Elder that closed the Villa Oculta. One of the most successful areas in the history of the mission is now closed. So add that to my list of why everyone knows me (throwback to October when I baptized the member). And I talked to President yesterday and he still doesn´t know who he is going to send to be my companion. 

It´s been kind of difficult with all the changes this week because I have done a lot of divisions with Elders in the zone and members so I don´t really feel like a true missionary because I´m just kind of floating around. On Wednesday night at 10:28 Elder Bustos (zone leader) called me and said he felt like we needed to do divisions the next day and that I needed good plans. I was really stressed because I have not planned a full day in this area for a month and we have nothing. So with A LOT of prayer and trying to put my faith in that we were going to find something. I planned for a little bit in the morning and after lunch we reviewed the plans and prayed again hoping for something. We left feeling really good and excited that we were going to find someone. For almost 3 hours we couldn´t find a single member, less active, or old investigator. We were losing our excitement but I knew I had to keep at lest a little bit of faith and stop to doubt because we needed to find someone. We had a meeting at 7 and our only set appointment fell through so we kept looking for people. Elder Bustos had read our area book and wrote down a few names and asked me if we could find them. The first one I thought I knew how to find but the house number didn´t exist. We saw a lady and I asked her if she knew where the house would be and she didn´t know. I then felt to just keep talking to her and I asked a really stupid question about the houses and then Elder Bustos gave her a pass along card and we both saw he kids kind of laughing at us, so we asked if we could enter and share with everyone. After teaching for a little bit we left with 4 people with a baptism date! They are such an incredible family. It´s so hard to explain and tell all that has happened with them these past few days, but they are such a miracle. This is where it´s complicated because technically my area is closed but I have permission to keep it alive. It´s going to require a lot to make sure I can visit them between now and when I have a new companion. But now the Villa Oculta has hope when it gets reopened. It was such a testimony that even when it all turned against us, we held on to the tiniest thing of hope that we were going to have a miracle and we ended up having one much greater than we imagined.   -Elder Steele

Pic: We found out how to get up on the roof and we have a good view of the Elefante Blanco! 

Back to Work (Kind of)

Email written: 3/8/16

So this week was another interesting week. Pday was normal and fun but at about 6pm Elder Troya was complaining about having problems again. Tuesday we didn't get to do a whole lot of work. Wednesday we got to go to yet another doctor and got yet another opinion about his back. So finally Thursday morning he got to receive some injections in his back to help the problem, but we couldn't work in the afternoon. Friday he felt better and worked all day and we started getting back into the swing of things. Saturday we kept going good and visited a bunch of less active families with members. Sunday was another hard day and we couldn´t work and today we had to go back to the mission home to talk with President about Elder Troya. Nothing is final, but tomorrow I will have a new companion to be able to work in my area. 

We saw 2 big miracles this week with the ward. The first was on Tuesday we received a call at about 6pm from our ward mission leader and he told us we had our weekly coordination meeting which was a very good thing because just a few days ago he said he had quit. Then on Sunday the ward attendance jumped up from 100 these past few weeks to 170. And even some of the inactive families we visited showed up. We might not have had a lot of time to work or investigators, but we felt so good to see that the ward is progressing in a very good direction. It´s an example of patience, humility, and prayer.   -Elder Steele

We finally took a picture of the 4 of us in the apartment.