Merry Christmas!!!

Dear Family,

Christmas was so great! I didn't get to go out and proselyte for very much because we moved our weekly planning to that morning. I got to have dinner at the Alfrey's home which was roast beef and potatoes and green beans! So good! Sister Alfrey has a niece that is serving a mission, too, so she had a call set up with her for later that night. I had the first call home, and Elder Anderson had the second. While I waited during his call, I played a board game with the family. They are great! I almost forgot how fun board games are!

On Christmas Adam, my Zone when to an "old folks home" to go caroling! I should have taken a picture of it... I loved the caroling! I even got a lot of compliments on my singing. The "old folks" really enjoyed our performance and we wished them a Merry Christmas before we left to go to our Christmas Devotional. It was great!

I am glad to hear that you all had a great Christmas, too! I love you all so much! Don't ever give up! Church on Sunday seemed to have a topic that was on our divine potential. Each and every one of us are sons and daughters of God. We have the potential to become like Him! How different would our lives be if we saw everyone as princes and princesses to the Kingdom of God? Would we be a little more compassionate? More kind? More serving? I know that as we remember everyone's divine potential, we can find greater happiness in our lives, and in the lives of those we serve.

I love you all!
Love,
Elder Bretton Steiner.
No Items Received this week.

I made a Birthday cake for Jesus! It was so good!

Christmas calls were fun! I love you Bryson!

Here are some of the things that I make, just for fun! :)

I made a giant map of the area out of about 17 papers, cut and pasted together! I am now highlighting the roads so we can see them better. This is still a work in progress.

This is a water-proof box that is meant to carry 1 Book of Mormon and 2 Restoration pamphlets, and to be mounted onto my bike! It took me about 2 weeks to make it. Oh, and the Velcro keeps it closed!

Christmas Is Coming! "Snow" Way!

Dear Family,

This week has been pretty great! Elder Anderson and I are seeing blessings and miracles happen in Scenic Hill. Christmas is on the way, we have presents under our tree, we are listening to Christmas Mormon Tabernacle Choir, everyone is nice at this time of year, and there is no snow, just rain. Yep, lots of rain. It would feel more like Christmas if it snowed. I am pretty excited for Christmas to come! It is also very awesome to have the car full time again!

Elder John was my District Leader last transfer, but now has been transferred to the Skyway ward in the Renton Stake. His first day there, he got shot in the leg, but he is doing good now. Anyway, my new District Leader is Elder Bakes! Oh, and my district includes the Assistants to the President! That is so cool! Since my District Leader doesn't have a car, we are their ride for everything! I will probably get a picture of us in the car sometime later today.

On Sunday, we were going around doing work, and I found this list of less active members to visit that I had forgotten about. We have had it for almost 4 weeks. So, I chose the Muauu family and decided to go visit. When we got there, Brother Muauu was actually home. We don't visit them often because he works from 9 am to 10 pm every single day, so the fact that he was home was a miracle! I shared the short Christmas message from 3 Nephi 1:19-21 (The one about the signs of Christ's birth) and talked about how important it is to remember Christ, the true meaning of Christmas. Sister Muauu said that this was exactly what she needed and was grateful that we came by. I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of all of us! He knows our situation and is willing to help. Sometimes He offers the comfort of the Spirit, sometimes it is by a loved one visiting, or even sometimes the missionaries will come over! I know that He loves all of us with a love that we cannot comprehend! Let us rejoice because He has given us this great gift, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ to atone for our sins! Let us celebrate His birth this Christmas!

I can't wait for Christmas calls! I am so excited to see you! Mom will know the details of the Skype. I will get only 40 minutes, so come prepared with questions or things to say. I want to make the most of it! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

Items Received:

* 2 Christmas Packages from home
* Package from Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield

I realized I forgot to take some pictures of my new companion, Elder Anderson, so I got a picture right here at the library!

This is our Christmas tree, missionary style!

Transfers, The New And Upcoming

Dear Family,

Today is Transfer P-Day! Everyone knows that after training, the Trainer and the Trainee don't stay together, so I knew something was coming this transfer. Elder Miner is getting transferred, and I am staying in Scenic Hill! Also, Scenic Hill has a little change, again. It is, once again, full time car! Yay! I have seen a lot of changes over the 4 transfers I have been here. This next transfer is going to be fun! It will contain: Christmas, New Years, and my Birthday! After looking on the missionary portal, I found that my new companion is named Elder Anderson. Since transfers are happening at 2:00 today, I can't really tell you anything about him, yet. Next week.

This week was the last week of the transfer, so we got to see lots of miracles! Here is just a very brief overview of some of them: We helped members move into an apartment complex that we were recently kicked out of, so now we can go there again! We finally got an investigator to church! (First one since Lili Tuiloma. About 9 weeks without any.) Lots of less-active members came to the Ward Christmas Party and we got to talk with them! And many more miracles!

The Family Home Evening with the Ainuu family last night was amazing! It was a little goofy, but a lot of fun! When they found out about transfers, they were really sad. They related to us how grateful they are that we never gave up on them and helped them return to church. It has been a testimony builder to me that the Gospel isn't just baptizing people, but it is something that changes lives for the better. The Gospel is the way and the truth, our opportunity to become something better than we currently are. Heavenly Father loves all of us. This is His plan. This is His blessing. We are so blessed to be a part of His true church and to be able to live up to our full potential.

I can't wait to speak to you on Christmas! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

Items Received:

* Letters from Oak Hollow Primary. I loved them! I love all of you, too!

The finish of our last exchange with Elder John. Both Elder Miner and Elder John are being transferred.

This is my first time making Russian Chicken on my mission! It was awesome! Thanks for the recipe Mom!

The Ainuu family at the end of last night's Family Home Evening.

A funny picture with the Ainuu's.

It's Raining, It Must Be A Bike Day!

Dear Family,

This week has been good. I remember a few weeks ago I made a joke that it always rains when we don't have the car. It was funny at the time, but this week it actually happened that way. When we had the car, overcast and cold. When we were on bikes, raining and still cold. Don't worry, I have 2 sweaters, a raincoat, a scarf, and a beanie, so I am not cold. :)

This week we found a new investigator who is really funny. He is a pretty old African American who loves to talk and has a strong faith in Jesus Christ. We have only had 2 lessons with him so far, but I love how energetic and excited he is. It is really funny, he would talk about what he has learned in life, and then we would find a scripture in the Book of Mormon that taught the same thing! He is known to say, "Oh, help me Lord!" whenever he can't remember something. He is also known to say, "In Jesus name!" when he agrees with something. I love having a really energetic investigator!

I love you all so much!

Love,
Elder Steiner.

P.S. I have started to write down Sister Tuiloma's Conversion Story, but it is far from complete. As far as I know, she hasn't been baptized yet, but I also haven't been in contact with her new missionaries. I am debating waiting to write it to you until after she is baptized. Let me know what you think. Thank you for your patience!

Items Received:
* Package containing (what seems like) hundreds of letters! Thank you everyone! Your the best!

This is our P-Day group! We were at Jack In The Box doing the 10 Taco challenge that Elder Miner came up with. I actually only got 4 tacos. Elder Czarnecki ate 7, Elder Miner had 10, and Elder Lloyd had 13!!! That's crazy.

I don't know how well you can see this, but the road is closed off because of flooding. This picture was taken just a few hours ago.
​

Giving Thanks for Blessings and Miracles!

Dear Family,

Thanksgiving was pretty great! Elder Miner and I got to eat with 2 different families! The Ainuu family kind of canceled on us. They let us come over, but they told us when we got there that they changed their minds and wanted to go to their parent's house for Thanksgiving. They gave us some food (The typical turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes, but with Macaroni and Cheese, too) and we still got to talk, but it ended up only being about 30 minutes. The last 90 minutes of dinner, we spent over at another less-active family, with Sister Tingey. They made Italian Sodas for Thanksgiving. I usually don't like sodas, but they were so good!

I could go on about what cool things we got to do at the Thanksgiving Activities, but I would rather tell you a couple of miracles that happened this week. And I am so grateful for them!

Elder Miner's bike (which is borrowed from another missionary) has had troubles this week. We found out on Friday, that it had a flat front tire. We tried to patch it up, but every time we thought we fixed it, we found another hole in the inner tube. The inner tube had about 8 holes in it. I have no idea how it had that many holes, but it became apparent that it was irreparable. We had to make an emergency visit to the bike shop. Due to all of the red lights, we arrived around 6:55. I thought that the shop closed at 6:00 and when we approached, the lights were off and it was obviously closed. We were in the parking lot about to turn around, when another car came up behind us and parked. The man that got out of the car happened to be the owner of the shop and he was just out for a few minutes. The shop was really supposed to close at 7:00, but he said that he was gone to help out one of his friends. When we showed him the inner tube, he gave us 2 brand new ones for free! I was totally shocked. If we didn't have all of those red lights (and it was pretty much every single stop light) we would have shown up and left before the owner got back. So, this was a double miracle!

I told you a couple of weeks ago about our goal to find 5 new investigators each week. The last 2 weeks, we didn't reach our goal, but this week, we have been blessed! Heavenly Father has lead us to a family of 4 (actually 5, but the father wasn't in our lesson) and they are searching for the truth! I hope that we can help them come closer to Christ by helping them be baptized!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

P.S. I still haven't written down Sister Tuiloma's conversion story. She actually hasn't been baptized, yet. What I hear from our member fellowship is that she is still committed to be baptized! I will tell you this much, the theme of her story is "Open Your Door". It will be a lot shorter than the first one, but that is because I have a bad memory. I hope that I can get her to write down her story and send it to me.

Items Received:

* Letter from Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield. Thank you! I love you!

Q & A

Do you have transfers the same week as Christmas?
* No. President Eaton decided to shorten the transfer to 5 weeks, so transfers are a week and a half before Christmas.
* My companion will probably not be Elder Miner. I have served in Scenic Hill for almost 6 months. Odds are that I am going to a new area for Christmas.

Will that affect your call home? Where will you go to make the call?
* All I can do is set up skype calls with the Alfrey's in Scenic Hill. Pretty much all I can hope for is that my companion in "my probably future" area has Christmas calls set up.

Do you even have Facetime or Skype?
* Yes. Calls made in this mission are generally done over Skype, but I think Facetime might work, too.

Do you know anyone that has that technology that will share so we can see you on Christmas?
* So far, I know the Alfrey's did it for Elder Nelson and Elder Green on Mother's Day. I hope Christmas works for them.

Elder Miner is ready to celebrate Christmas! He really likes to wrap his blanket around his head.

We decided that we wanted more Thanksgiving food, so we had Stuffing! YES!! I love it!

It was foggy all day on Sunday. I loved it! It felt like an adventure! Also, can you find our Ponderizing Scripture in the reflection on our windshield? I had to print a reversed paper in order to make it reflect the right way.

Knowing that my time in Scenic Hill is winding down, and as Elder Miner's training is almost complete, I took him to see the Seattle Horizon, just like my trainer showed me.

Join in Mighty Prayer Alma 6:6

Dear Family,

This week was Zone Conference! It was all about mighty prayer. The scripture I put in the subject line is the ponderizing scripture we had for this week. Mighty prayers aren't about how much time or how beautiful the words are, it is the feeling that makes it mighty. It is a prayer that you pour your whole heart and soul into! I feel like mighty prayer is also very specific. President Eaton made it pretty clear that we can actually pray for specific experiences with our investigators. I am pretty excited!

I also went on an exchange this week! This time a left Scenic Hill and went over to the Crestwood ward with Elder John! Every time a member asked where I was from, they would always say there are a lot of missionaries from Kaysville, Utah. I remember one particular experience from it. Elder John and I had a set dinner at 5 and we forgot to bring our reflective vests to put on after 5. So, we quickly went back to the apartment to pick them up, but while there, I accidentally left my second sweater there. (Yes, I wear 2 sweaters because of how cold it gets.) After dinner, it was dark and cold. That was when I realized that I forgot it. I said I was cold, but then said, "Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done." I was just quoting a scripture, but I feel like it was real. I prayed that God would keep me warm for the rest of the evening. Right after that, we went over to an investigators house, (The investigator has been out of town for 3 weeks.) and he was there! We got to teach him a lesson on the Book of Mormon and he was totally fixed on it! He was already committed for baptism, and now I see why! He was amazing! I noticed later on, that I didn't feel cold anymore. I know that God will answer our prayers and sometimes, we just need to ask.

Love,

Elder Steiner.

P.S. I still haven't written down Sister Tuiloma's Conversion Story. It is hard to write it on the spot, so give me some time.

Items Received:
* Thanksgiving Package from family! Yay! Muffin Tins! Now I really get to make desserts!

I had to get a picture of the sky. I didn't get to see the blue sky for almost a week. I had no idea I would miss it so much.

Goals

Dear Family,

This week has been pretty good. It is starting to rain almost every day! We even got some snow on Saturday morning. I got a picture of it. It only snowed for about 30 minutes and all melted by the end of the hour. I am grateful that I have a car at least part time! The heaters are nice!

This week, there has been a focus on goals. Our mission is currently working on the goal of 40 baptisms this month. I think we were at 17 last week and we had some on Saturday, so I think we are over 20 now. Elder Miner and I started working on our own goals on a paper called the Standards of Excellence. Over about an hour of discussion and prayers, Elder Miner and I have set a goal for 5 new investigators every week. I feel like it is obtainable through God, but I know that there is no way we can reach that goal on our own. We worked very hard and showed a lot of faith throughout the rest of the week. We had several opportunities to meet that goal, but because of agency, they fell through. By the end of the week, we only found 2 new investigators, but I don't feel like we lost. We did all that we could do and we worked hard. God blessed us so much that those 2 new investigators are conditionally committed for baptism (meaning they will be baptized when they learn the church is true). I hope that we will be able to accomplish our goal this week and continue to work hard and show our faith. I hope for the promise that is said in Ether 12:6, "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith." I know that in the end, we will be blessed for our faith and diligence in His work. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

Elder Miner got bored during our Weekly Planning snack break.

The snow we got on Saturday morning! After I saw this, I realized it is already half way through November! Time sure is flying!

The Light Of Our Testimony

Dear Family,

This week has been full of adventures! And it has been full of fun, too! The housing coordinators came by when we were doing Weekly Planning at our District Leader's apartment, and they didn't clean it ahead of time. :) I have seen the blessings of opening my mouth this week!

We are now starting a new transfer, that is why this e-mail is on a Tuesday. I can't believe how fast time has been flying! This week marks the beginning of my 4th Transfer! Elder Miner and I are both staying in Scenic Hill for another transfer! Yay! I am still training!

I am starting to realize how much time has passed because the sun now goes down at 5:30 rather than the 10:00 I am used to. The lights on my bike are starting to get really important now.

On Tuesday, during the daytime, I noticed that the headlight on my bike seemed a little dim. I thought that it was fine, it only looked that way because it was bright outside. As the day got darker and darker, it became apparent that my light really was low on battery. It got to the point where I had to follow closely behind Elder Miner and use his light to shine the way. This made me think about our testimony. If the light is our testimony, then darkness would be trials. It is easy to think that we have a great testimony when it is bright outside, but when the darkness comes, when the trials and tribulations come, we realize it isn't enough. It is day time right now. Now is the time to prepare and strengthen our testimonies, so when trials come, we can still see the true way by the light of our testimony.

I hope that all of you are taking every moment possible to add to your own light. We know that we are living in the last days and hard times will come. My hope is that we will all be ready for when that time comes. I love you all, so much!

Love,

Elder Bretton Steiner.

Sorry again for the lack of pictures. I want to take pictures, I am just too busy. There really is work in missionary work!

Q and A:

Are you able to get dry?

• Yes, when I am not in the rain, I eventually dry off. It might just take a few hours.

Do you get to go to the temple at all during your mission?

• Yes. I automatically get to go 2 times, one each January. While on the January Temple trips, we will be able to visit a Deseret Book, and I plan on getting more missionary approved music! I also get to go when my recent converts enter the temple.

Do you have any requests for your Thanksgiving package? Do you need new shirts, socks, pants, or anything?

• Yes, some snacks. We don't get very much money for our shopping, so our snacks are very limited. I loved the last package and you did choose the kind of cookies that I like!
• I don't know if I am in need of anything, but I would love to have another pair of black slacks and another pair of "darn tough" socks (now my favorite socks).

Halloween!

Dear Family,

This week has been pretty fun!

On Monday night, we had a meeting with the Bishop to coordinate with missionary work in Scenic Hill. We were on bikes that day, and we had to bike for about 15 minutes to get back to our apartment. The meeting took a little too long, so it was about 9:14 and we were about to leave when Bishop Gealta comes running out to us with a frozen, unbaked, apple pie. Fortunately, I had just enough room in my bag for it. By time I got it into my bag and was ready to leave it was 9:17. We biked as hard as we could to get back by 9:30. We got there at 9:31. We jumped right to daily planning and getting excited for tomorrow's lessons and plans. The next morning, I was cleaning the apartment a little, and found the floor wet underneath my bag. I looked into my bag and found the pie. We totally forgot about it. Thankfully, it was in a box that was in my bag, so it didn't thaw completely. My bag was sticky and wet, though. We put the pie in the freezer and cooked it during Weekly Planning on Halloween. It is still good!

Speaking of Halloween, we didn't do anything really special. We weren't allowed to be out after6:00 pm, so we put our Weekly Planning for that night. Our investigator, Lili Tuiloma, finished moving out on Halloween. She is now officially in the Federal Way Stake. She is still set to be baptized, and I am hoping I can get permission to attend her baptism. Don't worry, we are still teaching a lot of people because the work has exploded this week. We doubled our lessons this week and next week looks just as good! I hope you all had a good Halloween! I love you so much!

Love,
Elder Steiner.

PS: My camera was in my bag with the pie, and so got the lens a little dirty. I also forgot to clean it before I took these pictures.

We biked in the rain for 2 and a half hours on Friday. It was actually pretty fun! I just got soaked!

This is our Halloween Dinner. Most of this we got from Brother Weiderholt. He gave us the pancake/waffle mix, the waffle maker, the hashbrowns, and the orange juice mix. And for some reason, Elder Miner likes to eat waffles with Peanut Butter. I tried it and it is pretty good, but also really fattening. He also likes to heat the syrup in the microwave.

Halloween Is Coming Up!

Dear Family,

This last week was kind of short because last P-Day was on Wednesday. I can't believe that it has already been 4 months! Wow! I hope you are all excited for Halloween! People in Kent have some quality Halloween decorations! I forgot to take pictures this week, but I hope I will remember next week!

Have I told you yet that we have a bus card? Well, it turns out that we do. Elder Miner is from Salt Lake City and he is familiar with buses and how the bike rack works. On bike days, we can't go down into the valley because of the steep hill, unless we take the bus.

It was hard enough to try and figure out all of the bus stops, but on Friday, we had to make an emergency bus trip down into the valley. Elder Miner forgot that we don't have the car on Fridays when he rescheduled with an investigator. It also happened to be exchanges that day, too. Elder Miner went to Crestwood and Elder Riley came to Scenic Hill. Elder Riley had no experience with buses, either. It was kind of crazy. We got to the bus stop 15 minutes before the bus was supposed to show up, but the bus came 10 minutes late. So we were standing at the bus stop for almost a half an hour. I am so happy that the bus bike rack was easy to figure out and use. It definitely was an adventure for us and was quite fun!

I just found out today, that there is a bus stop closer to our apartment that goes to the same place. Well, that is good to know for future bus trips!

We are still waiting for Elder Miner's bike to come. It has been 3 weeks. I am starting wonder if he ordered it right. Wish us luck with his bike! He is currently borrowing another missionary's bike.


Our investigator, Lili Tuiloma is moving this week. We don't know exactly where she is moving, yet, but it is probably in the Federal Way Stake. I think it is kind of funny and sad. Every person I help bring to the Gospel ends up moving out of our ward. Oh, well. At least she is on the path!

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

Oh, sorry, no pictures this week. I forgot.

Afflictions Consecrated 2 Nephi 2:2

Dear Family,

I am grateful for the letters that I have been receiving this week! I got sick last week, and they really helped me get through! I got sick bad enough that I had to stay inside for all of Tuesday last week.Tuesday happened to be the day that I received the Cokeville Miracle package from Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield! I read about the scripture that they were ponderizing, 2 Nephi 2:2. It read,"Nevertheless, Jacob, my firstborn in the wilderness, thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain." It made me think of what blessings will come from being sick. Well, we updated the Area Book completely, and also reorganized it to be easier to split with the Sister Missionaries in Scenic Hill. Oh, and I also got a lot of sleep! That was nice. I feel like that scripture has helped me see the bright side of being sick, so it was a lot easier to get through it! Thank you!

We had Zone Conference yesterday! Elder Larry R. Lawrence of the Seventy came to this conference. It was so great! They talked about the House of Israel and our part as missionaries. We are to gather the House of Israel in preparation for the Second Coming. I am so excited! We also set a new goal as a mission: We are going to get a total of 40 baptisms in the month of November! That is double of what we are usually getting, but I think we can do it! We can really use some support and every prayer helps!

I almost forgot to mention the Ainuu family! It was pretty funny because when we did our Family Home Evening last Monday, Sister Ainuu said that I was losing weight. She then quickly followed up by saying that our next Family Home Evening would be over dinner. The Ainuu family is a Samoan family, so when they say you are losing weight, they mean that they are going to feed you a ton! We didn't actually end up having that dinner because Sister Ainuu was feeling sick, but it was still a funny experience!

We have an investigator that is progressing to baptism! Her name is Lili Tuiloma and she is technically ready for baptism. She is in the process of moving, so she can't get married until after the moving, so she had to delay her baptism. We talked with her earlier today (Yes, even on P-Day) and she told us her conversion story! I hope I can find the time to write it down and tell you about it! She is so getting baptized!

I love you all and appreciate the prayers! I know that I am being watched over and cared for! I love you all!

Love,
Elder Steiner.

Items Received:
* Cokeville Miracle package from Grandma and Grandpa Sheffield
* Letters from McEwen's and family

Q and A:

Do you mostly eat at members home, restaurants, or cook the food yourself?
* We mostly cook the food ourselves. We go to restaurants sometimes on P-Days, and we get meals from members probably 1 or 2 times every week.

I thought this was hilarious. The little sign says: "If we wee you smoking, we will assume you are on fire and take appropriate measures." (see the fire extinguisher below the sign)

You know how you live in Davis County? I live in King County, but the way they wrote this sign makes it sound funny!

Biking in the Rain

Dear Family,

This week has been pretty good. I can't believe I have been training for 2 weeks already! It is really weird being Senior Companion. I am used to sitting in the passenger seat of the car, being free to take pictures whenever I want, but now, I am the driver. So, sorry for the lack of pictures this week.

We got to go on a blitz with the Assistants to the President on Saturday, but it was really short because they showed up late. It was very rainy that day. Elder Miner went with Elder Downing and the car, and I went with Elder Berkhiemer (That might not be the right spelling) on bikes.

We got to teach one of our investigators on Tuesday. He lives in a household full of many different faiths. He recently got layed off of work, so we could start teaching him more often. For this lesson we sat down at his kitchen table and there were some people watching TV in the next room. I had a prompting to ask him to turn off the TV, but then I thought that would be mean for the people who were watching it. I then asked him if he could turn down the TV. He went over and just turned it off. I that if I didn't follow that prompting, it would have been a lot harder to focus and feel the Spirit. It turned out to be a successful lesson and we plan on visiting him more.

Next week, P-Day will be on Wednesday. It is all weird because of Zone Conference and because general authority is coming to our mission! I love you!

Love,
Elder Steiner

Items Received:
* Package from family. Thank you for sending my GPS! I can actually find my way around now!

Q and A:
How are you doing with biking?
* Pretty good. Elder Miner ordered his bike last P-Day and we are still waiting for it to come. He is currently borrowing some other Elder's bike. We had to bike in the rain on Friday and Saturday. It was pouring on us! We recently found out that Scenic Hill has a bus pass! Now we just have to figure out all of the bus stops...

Do you share the car with the Sisters?
* No. The Sisters have their own car, full time. We are sharing our car with another set of Elders from the Park Orchard ward.

Is there enough work to go around since you Split the Area?
* Not really. Our teaching pool is very small and we often run out of things to do. But I know that God wanted this area split, so He will help us increase our teaching pool.

Let me know how you are doing.
* Sore from biking, but still happy.

This picture is actually from two weeks ago. Elder John and his trainee, Elder Riley, are in the back. Elder John is now my District Leader.

Training Week 1

Dear Family,

I think you might be dying to know about this week. I will start off with Transfers. I had to stay in the Maple Valley Stake Center and wait for the new missionaries and Elder Nelson left to be a Zone Leader in Graham. I have never felt so much anxiety in my life. I remember sitting down in the chapel, waiting. I had a packet in my hands with my name on it and my new title, Trainer. I opened it and started reading the papers and instructions inside it. As I was reading, an overwhelming sense of peace came to my heart. I smiled as I realized that God will never leave me and will fill the hole in my heart with His Spirit. At that moment, I knew that everything was going to be okay. I felt happy, hopeful, and even excited to meet my new companion. It turns out that I actually got to meet him before I knew he was my companion!

President Eaton was running late, so we got to have dinner with all the new missionaries first! Elder John, Elder Miner, and one other Elder sat across from me. We had a nice conversation and we got to know each other. I had a feeling that one of those three would be my companion. When President Eaton arrived, we found out who our new companions would be. This is what President Eaton said, "I didn't realize until now that their names rhymed. In Scenic Hill, Elder Miner will be serving with Elder Steiner."

I'll be honest. I feel like Elder Miner came pre-trained. He has some pretty amazing skills for missionary work. It has been awesome being able to serve with him for one week, and I am looking forward to serving with him for the rest of the transfer! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

P.S. Sister Ellineta Smith's Conversion Story Part 3, as said by Ellineta Smith, with details added by Elder Steiner and Elder Nelson.

On August 10th, the missionaries taught Sister Smith in what they called, "The Mission Home." She met President Eaton and Sister Eaton. President Eaton entertained her son, Josh, and Sister Eaton helped with the lesson. They taught about repentance that night.

Sister Smith worked very hard to do what the Elders taught her to do. She slowly read more and more of the Book of Mormon. The missionaries invited her to a Mission Devotional on August 16th, but she wasn't able to attend. She had to go to Auburn to get her car fixed and stay at a friends house over night the same night as the Mission Devotional.

The next morning, August 17th, the missionaries received a phone call from Sister Laude. Sister Laude was in a panic and was speaking so fast, the missionaries almost couldn't understand what she was saying. She was saying that Sister Smith had just called her and had said that she wasn't interested in being baptized anymore.

The missionaries immediately called Sister Smith. She didn't reject them over the phone, but instead said that she had a lot of questions and she wanted the missionaries to answer them. They set up an appointment for later that evening.

When the time came, the missionaries came to Sister Smith's apartment with Sister Laude and one of her sons. The missionaries listened to Sister Smith's questions. It turns out that the friend that she stayed with over night, had showed her an Anti-Mormon blog.

The missionaries help her realize that the real question she was asking was whether or not the Book of Mormon was true. They showed her some videos (some were actually from the devotional the previous night) that talked about the Book of Mormon.

The missionaries then asked her if she would kneel and pray and ask God if the Book of Mormon was true. She accepted and said a very sincere prayer. The Holy Spirit was there so strong that she was crying at the end of the prayer. She said to the missionaries that she wants to be baptized still! The missionaries set up her interview and said their good-byes for the night.

The missionaries taught her about the Law of Tithing on Wednesday, the 19th.

Sister Smith passed her interview on Sunday and was ready to be baptized! She kept reading the Book of Mormon and finished all of 1 Nephi the day before her baptism.

On August 29th, Ellineta Smith was baptized. She came up out of the water with a huge smile! The Spirit was so strong! She was Confirmed the next day, August 30th. She showed up that day with a Tithing envelope in her hand.

Sister Smith has since then moved out of Scenic Hill into a different Stake. She moved to try and find a better place for her son to grow up. The missionaries hope to see her again, in one year, at the temple.

Q and A:

Where is your new companion from?
* East Salt Lake, Utah.

How is your training going?
* Very busy, but good. We only had time to train 3 times last week.

Does he like to work?
* I don't know yet. Probably yes.

What are some of his talents?
* Charity in contacting and in lessons.

What are some of the things he doesn't like?
* I don't know, he seems to like everything.

Does he cook?
* Yes, he cooked a meal from our crock pot already.

Now that your area is split, do you still live in the same place?
* Yes.

You would think you could see more of my desk top if I got a bigger desk. Nope. But, I did get to inherit the Master Desk and Master Chair! 

Elder Steiner and Elder Miner.

From "First 12 Weeks" To "Second 12 Weeks"

Dear Family,

This last week has been crazy. Guess what? We are going to split Scenic Hill, again! I split it last transfer, but it was canceled, but this time it is not! This time we had to scramble to put everything together because they told us we were splitting after we did weekly planning. We had to use our meal times (after we ate) to put together the new Area Book. I am now serving in Scenic Hill A, and Scenic Hill B will be Sister Missionaries. Here is another surprise! I am Training! The purpose of the "First 12 Weeks" training program is to have missionaries be good enough to train right after their own training. Well, I guess it worked. I want to call my new training curriculum the "Second 12 Weeks." Elder Nelson is being transferred to Graham to be a Zone Leader and I am staying here, in a newly split area with a Trainee. Oh, and now Scenic Hill A is a car share area. Yep, so I will be biking half the time! So, I am the only one with experience here. I have just got to say, I am pretty nervous! Transfers are happening in a few hours, so I don't have my new companion, yet. I have found out who my new District Leader will be, though! It will be Elder John, who happens to also be from Kaysville, Utah!! When I say, "I used to work at Bowmans", he actually knows what I am talking about! He used to work in Fresh Market, just across the street from Bowmans. Who would have thought we would serve together in the Washington Federal Way Mission!

Okay, cool experience from this last week. Hmm... Oh, I got it! On Wednesday, Elder Nelson and I had a lesson with Lili Tuiloma! We set it up to be in the Stake Center, but we couldn't find a 3rd male to come with us. Our fellowship for Lili was Sister Weiderholt, whose husband was at work this time. We eventually had to call Brother Jackson. He is retired and can't drive by himself. So, we had to drive to The Village to pick him up, then drive to Sister Weiderholt's apartment, guide Sister Weiderholt to Lili's apartment, then all drive up to the Stake Center. It was pretty crazy. When we got there, we found out that the Zone Leader Trio was there having a lesson in the foyer and some Sister Missionaries were outside having a lesson! It was awesome to see so many lessons at the church at the same time!

The day before that, we got to go on an adventure! We found out on Tuesday that Stella had a flat tire. Elder Nelson put his garage skills to work and replaced that tire in 10 minutes! We had to go to Auburn to get the tire fixed. We were there for 45 minutes. We decided to still proselyte, so we walked around in nearby neighborhoods in Auburn. I found out that the addresses in Auburn are really weird. We heard from the Sister Missionaries that serve there (We happened to run into them) that there were 3 different 16th Streets in Auburn. I am glad that Kent's addresses actually make sense.

Well, I am going to have a very interesting next week. Wish me luck with my trainee! Wish me luck taking over this Area. Wish me luck with biking! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

P.S. Due to lack of time, I will post Ellineta Smith's Conversion Story Part 3 next week

Q and A:

Will you be able to view conference? How? Will the time of the Conference be different for you?
* Yes, in the Kent Stake Center or in Member's homes.
* The Conference will start at 9:00 in the morning because of the time change. In other words, I will be watching it at the same time you are.

Did the transfers effect you this time? If so, who is your new companion? What is he like? etc.
* Oh, yes. I am effected.
* I don't know who my trainee is, so I will save this question for next week.

We got to see the Supermoon Eclipse! Did you? It was actually really lucky that the sky was clear that night.

Since Elder Nelson is leaving, we got the excuse to take pictures with the Ainuu Family!

We have FHE with a less-active Samoan family, the Ainuu's. They gave us Lava-lava's (They call them Iae's). They kind of match, so we wanted a picture of them.

You may have to turn your head to see this one. Our last picture as a companionship. I am almost going to cry. I will miss Elder Nelson. He gave me this "Posterity Tie," telling me that I must give it to my Trainee. The next morning, I was called to be a trainer. I guess I won't hold on to this "Posterity Tie" for very long.

We tried to make bread because we heard that it only took 49 sense to make it. It did not go very well at all. It didn't expand like it should have, the whole inside wasn't cooked, and there were air bubbles everywhere. We both concluded at the end to save bread baking for after our missions.

Time to split the area again.

My desk at the end of a crazy week. It actually doesn't look too bad compared to Elder Nelson's desk. Oh, by the way, since I will now be the Senior companion, I have inherited the Master Chair and Master Desk. You can kind of see them in the top picture. My trainee will get this desk.

The Miracles of Missionary Work

Dear Family,

I feel that God has been our guide this week. I have seen many miracles. On Tuesday, we felt prompted to contact at the Scenic Hill Neighborhood. We have no investigators there. It has just been a void in our map of people to visit. While we were contacting, we actually ran into a Less-Active member! She was running away from an abusive home, and I assume she was just calling upon God to help her, when we showed up. We were able to give her the Bishop's phone number, so she could find help. We also gave her a Book of Mormon because she had forgotten to pack hers. I pray for her and hope she is alright now.

On Wednesday, we were struggling to find fellowship for our lesson with Lili Tuiloma at the church. The Ward Mission Leader had contacted everyone he knew might be available, but no one could be there. About 15 minutes before the lesson, Elder Nelson felt prompted to call Brother Finch. It turns out that Brother Finch was already at the church doing some work, and had just finished. He was able to stay there and be the fellowship for this lesson! I know that God will help us when we do our best to do His work!

There were more miracles on Friday during exchanges! We finally re-established contact with former investigators and were able to teach some! We also had a lesson with Sister Smith again! We still faced trials, though. We struggled with getting fellowship for Sister Smith's lesson, too. Eventually, the Ward Mission Leader himself came to fellowship. We were all outside the church building ready to go in. When I pulled on the handle of the door to the church, I remembered that it was locked. I have no key. Elder Nelson had taken his key with him on exchanges. I asked Elder Gonzalez, who was with me this exchange, if he had his key. He had left his key in the Spanish Elders' car. Then I asked Brother Woodruff, the Ward Mission Leader. He left his key at home because he rushed to get to the lesson on time. We had no key to the church. So, we taught the lesson while standing outside the church. I am grateful to have taught Sister Smith one more time. She is moving this week to a different stake. I don't know if it is even in our mission. I am grateful to have been a part of the huge change in her life.

I found a scripture that really applies to this week. 2 Nephi 27:23 says, "For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith." I know that if I continue striving to show my faith, God will bless me, even with miracles.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

PS: Sister Ellineta Smith's Conversion Story, Part 2; As said by Ellineta Smith, written by Elder Steiner, with some details added by Elder Nelson.

One night, Ellineta had another dream. She saw the men in white again. This time one spoke to her, "You should join the Mormons." When she woke up, she told her room-mate, Fatima, that she would join the Mormons.

Later that day, July 24th, a Friday, the missionaries came by again, but this time there was a new missionary. Elder Steiner was Elder Nelson's new companion.

Ellineta welcomed them in and let them share their message. The told her about Jesus Christ and how His Gospel has been restored to the earth! She had this feeling when they were there. She explained it as, "goosebumps." She then told the missionaries how she knew that, "God is good." The missionaries asked her if she would follow Jesus and be baptized. She accepted, but her room-mate was hesitant and didn't want to. Ellineta agreed to set a goal to be baptized on August 29th. The missionaries set up the next appointment and bid her good-bye.

The missionaries gave Ellineta a call on Sunday saying they were going to be late for their lesson, so they set the lesson for 30 minutes later, at 6:30. The missionaries were unable to contact the fellowship to tell her of the new lesson time. Cecile Laude (Pronounced: Loud-ie) showed up at Ellineta's door at6:00 instead of 6:30. Both Ellineta and Cecile were from the Philippines and so became great friends in those 30 minutes.

The missionaries came at 6:30. This time they taught about the Book of Mormon and Sister Laude shared her testimony of it. The Missionaries challenged her to read all of 1 Nephi in 10 days.

The next few lessons Ellineta had with the missionaries were all at either the church building, or at Sister Laude's house. They started calling Ellineta, Sister Smith. She struggled with reading the Book of Mormon daily, but she kept letting the missionaries teach her.

On August 10th, the missionaries taught Sister Smith in what they called, "The Mission Home." She met President Eaton and Sister Eaton. President Eaton entertained her son, Josh, and Sister Eaton helped with the lesson. They taught about repentance that night.

Sister Smith worked very hard to do what the Elders taught her to do. She slowly read more and more of the Book of Mormon. The missionaries invited her to a Mission Devotional on August 16th, but she wasn't able to attend. She had to go to Auburn to get her car fixed and stay at a friends house over night the same night as the Mission Devotional.

To be continued...

This is probably the tallest wall of trees in my area. This is actually where the hill starts, if the road were to continue, it would go up hill, pretty steep.

At this time of day, Elder Nelson always has the sun in his eyes, whether he are driving towards the sun, or away from it.

A Walk of Faith

Dear Family (That now includes my niece, Melody!),

Welcome to the family, Melody! I am glad that everything turned out okay! I have been praying for you!

This week has been a little on the harder side. Many people dropped us this week and we didn't have any lessons on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. There were still miracles, though! On Wednesday, our schedule suddenly had a big hole in it because one of our lessons fell through, and the others all called and canceled. Elder Nelson told me that Heavenly Father has something else planned for us. We said a prayer and asked to be guided to those who were prepared. We felt impressed to stay in Meridian Green Apartments and contact there. While we were contacting, I felt impressed to knock on a door. At first I doubted because I thought we weren't allowed to knock on apartment doors. When I told Elder Nelson about it he said, "No, it is not allowed. Which door did you want to knock on?" We ended up knocking on it anyway. The man who opened the door was very open to us and he said we could come back! Elder Nelson explained later saying, "It might not be allowed, but to Heavenly Father, if it means saving one of His children, it is allowed." Over the next hour, we followed the Spirit and found two more people who are willing to take the lessons! I felt the impressions of the Spirit so strong that night. That is one miracle that has happened this week! We like to call it our Faith Walk, or our Walk of Faith.

Love, 

Elder Steiner.

PS: Sister Ellineta Smith's Conversion Story, Part 1

Ellineta grew up in the Philippines. Her first contact with the church was by the missionaries there. She was very young, but she remembered them because they were the only white people she had ever seen, while growing up. When she got older, she traveled around the world for a few years, but eventually settled in Kent, Washington, USA.

She had a dream one night, where she saw men in white. One of them touched her forehead and she felt like she was paralyzed and couldn't move. From that dream, she wanted to learn more about God.

She looked online to find a Bible. She came across a website called Mormon.org, where they offered a free Bible! She typed in her address and requested the Bible. She expected to receive the Bible in the mail. Instead, a pair of missionaries, Elder Green and Elder Nelson, showed up to give it to her. Since she lived in Village Green Apartments, which are in-door, they had to ring her bell from outside. Ellineta actually worked there, too, as a janitor. She was working next to the front door when she saw them. It was raining outside, where the missionaries had to wait. She opened the door and asked them who they wanted to talk to. They said ,"Ellineta Smith."

Ellineta had heard that Mormons don't believe in Jesus Christ, so after telling them she was Ellineta, she asked them, "Do you believe in Jesus?" The missionaries said, "Yes," and gave her the bible. They also said they wanted to come by and teach her about Christ. She told them she was busy and closed the door.

Several more times, the two missionaries came back. When she actually happened to be home, she would always ask, "Do you believe in Jesus?" The missionaries would always say, "Yes." She didn't ever have time for them to come and teach her. They would give her small assignments like to read their pamphlet or to search on Mormon.org, but she never did them.

One night, Ellineta had another dream. She saw the men in white again. This time one spoke to her, "You should join the Mormons." When she woke up, she told her room-mate, Fatima, that she would join the Mormons.

Later that day, the missionaries came by again, but this time there was a new missionary. Elder Steiner was Elder Nelson's new companion.

To be continued...

​This is my Zone! Elder Nelson and I are on the far left. The short Elder is Elder Gonzalez, and the funny Elder in the middle is one of the Zone Leaders, Elder Andrasko. The other Zone Leader is Elder Mousser, on the far right.

Labor Day Weekend

Dear family,

Honestly, I haven't even considered what to write in this email yet. I am sorry I didn't end up sending a letter home, it turns out I didn't have time to write it.

This week has been pretty good. We got another promising investigator. Her name is Valaauina, but she goes by Ina. She is Samoan and just turned 18 on Sunday. She is currently living at her Aunt's house, who is Less Active. It was a great experience when we contacted her. It was late at night, about 8:45 pm, it was dark and we were looking around our complex before we turned in for the night. Elder Nelson and I were walking. I saw Ina in a dark corner in front of her Aunt's apartment, and Elder Nelson saw the two guys wearing reflective vests walking under a light. As we passed Ina to go to talk to the two guys, all I managed to say was "Hello", and "Have a good night". The two guys weren't interested and after our conversation ended, we continued walking. I felt prompted to go back to Ina, even though I had already said good night. When I told Elder Nelson, he didn't even notice she was there. We went back and talked to her about the Gospel. She was prepared to hear our message. It was then that we found out her name and a little about her. I know that if I didn't follow the prompting from the Spirit, we might have never seen her again. We have since then had 2 lessons and she has committed to be Baptized! Here is a funny thing, during our first lesson with Ina, her aunt came out and said to Ina, "You should be baptized." Her aunt was Less Active. I hope that this baptism will reactivate their family!

Here is a lesson I have learned from that: Talk to everyone. Not just the ones in shiny, reflective vests. Chances are, there are some prepared people who aren't wearing shiny, reflective vests. Everyone is a Child of God and is in need of the Gospel.

I love it here! I know that there are people out here that I can help! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner

Q and A:

Did you do anything special today? (Probably meaning Labor Day)
* Nope. I did a lot of Proselyting, though. It was pretty great! Everyone was either out of town or had family visiting! I think mostly everyone had family over. There were also a ton of great smelling barbecues going on!

Do you have a guess for the weight of Brianne's baby?
* Yes. 7 lbs and 12 oz. Is that the right way to guess a baby's weight?

Did you get our package? If so, when did you get it?
* Yes. The Zone Leaders actually went to the Mission Office on Friday (The day it arrived), so I actually got the package on Friday instead of tomorrow (Wednesday). :)
* Thank you for the Cereal. It happens to be pretty expensive out here. I also loved the Milky Ways. They didn't even last one day.

​We found a full rainbow! It was so amazing. Elder Nelson took this picture while I held the umbrellas.

This was taken today, just for you. I am supposed to get my haircut today, too. Wish me luck!

​I feel like we are always stopped at Gowe street... maybe the next street is a little Meeker.

Those clouds look so fluffy! Sometimes I think Washington has the prettiest sky.

Baptism Confirmed!

Dear Family,

This week has been so full of amazing things! I probably won't be able to fit them all into this email... hint: This means written letter incoming (If I can find time to write it).

First off, Sister Smith was Baptized! I am so happy for her! I performed the Confirmation on Sunday. I was so nervous about it, but when I started the prayer, everything just came to me and it all worked out. I know that the Lord will help me in my efforts to do His work!

This week, we got a new Tiwi box in our car! Remember how I said Timoathy's (The name of our old Tiwi box) speaker was broken? Well, now we have a replacement and we named it TJ, for Timoathy Junior.

This week we were able to teach Kayla a lot. She is pretty shy and hasn't committed to a baptismal date yet. She is only 11 years old. Now, we have taught her all the necessary lessons to be baptized. She is ready, she just needs to select a date, and get written consent from her Dad!

This week, we had a lot of appointments fall through, but because of it, we were able to teach people we didn't originally plan to teach! I know that the Lord's hand is in our work. I might not recognize it at first, but now looking back, we have obtained 2 new investigators committed to Baptism because of it!

Here is a story I forgot to mention: Elder Nelson and I were talking about a contact we had just had. I made a comment, "It must be one of those temporal things." Elder Nelson laughed. I meant to say,"... one of those temporary things," but I guess I am getting too missionary minded. Now we use it as a joke. To almost everything, we can say, "It must be one of those temporal things."

Next P-Day will be on Tuesday the 8th because Monday is Labor day and everyone is at home on Holidays! Yay! Prime proselyting time!

I have been seeing God's hand in this work. It is His work after all. I am so grateful to be an instrument in His hands to bring people to Him! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

Q and A:

What kind of odd things have you been asked to do to serve as a missionary?

* Walk in a parade and teach Gospel Principles at church. Other than that, I think I do pretty normal missionary work.

At Sister Smith's Baptism! Left to Right: Elder Steiner, Elder Nelson, Joshua Smith, Sister Ellineta Smith, Sister Cecile Laude.

Elder Nelson's Mustache! 

I have been all over Scenic Hill and this is the best view I can find! There are so many trees here! You have to look closely to see Seattle.

Look very closely, to see Seattle.