Monday, August 31, 2015

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.


Monday, August 24, 2015

2 Months Already!?

Dear Family,

I can't believe I have been away for 2 months! Bryson was right! It really doesn't feel that long! And now Becca and Bethany are going to school!? Wow! You must have had a really short summer or something. Becca, congratulations on getting your Driver's License! Brianne, Good Luck with Hujimina! I love you all!

This week has been pretty great! Transfer P-Day was kind of crazy. Elder John and his trainee, Elder Riley, are opening an area in Crestwood and all the employees at their apartment complex decided to take a day off! They couldn't get a key from them, so they stayed in our apartment for one night. It was weird having 2 companionship's in one apartment, but it was a great experience. Elder Nelson and I have never made pancakes for breakfast, but we bought some Blueberry Muffin mix to make them, so why not? We, of course, had to find out the right temperature and things, so this was a test run. We ended up with large pancakes, small pancakes, burnt pancakes, pancakes torn to pieces, and pretty much any other form of blueberry pancakes. The Elders were nice and ate our imperfect pancakes anyway. :)

Things with Sister Smith are going very well. Her baptism is scheduled for this Saturday and I think she is ready! I can't believe we have been teaching her for 6 weeks! This reminds me of one of our earlier lessons. We were teaching about the Book of Mormon and she felt the Spirit. I remember she held her 4-year-old son, Josh, close to her and said to him, "You see these two missionaries? You are going to be just like them some day." That made me feel pretty good. Not only are we changing one person's life, but also the lives of those she and her family interact with. Her son could one day become a missionary and also invite people to come unto Christ. That is really cool to think about. Our actions really have a large impact in God's family.

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner

Some investigators are nice enough to feed us! Yay! Ice cream! 

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Wow! What a week!

Dear Family,

First off, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRIANNE!! I am grateful to hear from you and your family!

Today is Transfer P-Day! Transfer P-Days are on Tuesdays instead of Mondays. All I know right now is that I am staying in Scenic Hill with Elder Nelson! YAY!! It is strange to think that my training is half-way over! This week has been so long but also so short (if you know what I mean)! So much has happened this week! Let me start with the lesson at the Mission Home.

We were teaching Sister Ellineta Smith at the Mission Home with President Eaton and Sister Eaton. I expected President Eaton to teach with us. Nope. He spent the whole time entertaining Sister Smith's 4-year-old son, Josh. I will never forget the moment I saw President Eaton run through the room and jump onto the giant bean bag! Sister Smith did teach with us and shared a scripture that fit in so good with out lesson plan! Of course, if you teach in the Mission Home, you get dessert! Yay! The standard Washington dessert(I have seen this most often): Cookie with Ice cream on top! It was good!

On Wednesday, the Zone Leaders had to borrow our car again because they let the Spanish Elders borrow their car for the week because the Spanish Elder's car got in a wreck (It wasn't their fault). Did you get all that? At this point, the Zone Leaders have used about 100 miles on our car, so they granted an additional 100 miles to our monthly limit (only for this month)! So, because we had no car, and our bikes were being borrowed by the Zone Leaders, (My bike, too, because the other Zone Leader's bike had a flat tire.) we had to change our plans and walk-contact for 2 hours in the hot weather. Yep, it was really hot. It worked out pretty good and we found quite a few potentials from it.

Thursday was Weekly Planning, but with a twist. Elder Nelson and I have known that we will be getting a new companionship in Scenic Hill for a few weeks, so we have been praying that there would be enough work to fill both sets of planners. Our prayers were answered and we were successful in completely filling all 4 planners with work! Yay! That was a very busy weekly planning. Then we found out yesterday that we aren't getting more missionaries in Scenic Hill. Oh, well. At least I can say I split an area!

Friday was Zone Conference! It was super Spiritual! The main topic was the Doctrine of Christ, but also a side topic was about the missionary purpose. One thing that I got that I really loved from it was a quote from President Eaton. He said, "Surrender to God all you are. He won't take your personality away, He will take your rough edges away." I love that! That is a lot more that I want to write about, but I don't have time.

Sunday was the Mission Devotional! I sang in the choir and there were some very spiritual videos and testimonies from recent converts! Elder Nelson told me that there used to be Recent Convert Firesides that were about 2 hours long and were boring, but President Eaton turned them into Mission Devotionals, where missionaries can invite investigators to one hour of powerful and spiritual Music, Videos, and Testimonies! I am so grateful for our mission president!

I love you all!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

Beautiful sunset on the way back from the Mission Home.
Wait, where is apartment 308?

Weekly Planning and Splitting. 
We finally got some real rain this week. This was taken after Zone Conference on Friday. That little black box on the left of our windshield is the Tiwi. We call it Timoathy. It has been struck dumb and can no longer speak. Actually, it's speaker is just broken, so we are getting it replaced sometime next week. I want to call the new one TJ, or Timoathy Junior. We also won the Gold Plates again. We worked so hard to clean the car. We washed it, waxed it, put armor-all on all the leather and the tires, and put wind-ex on the windows. It all paid off.

Monday, August 10, 2015

Charity And A Hair Cut

Dear Family,

Wow! You really have had a crazy week. At this moment, you have seen more rain in Utah than I have seen in Washington! Now that is not what I expected. I got a hair cut last P-Day... I forgot what I was supposed to tell the hair cut person. It also didn't help that she didn't speak any English. Elder Nelson said that a 2 works best for around the ears. So I thought, "Well a 3 is probably a lot bigger than a 2, so I do that on top." Well, yep. My hair is now way too short, but it still isn't that bad. I just scare myself whenever I look in a mirror.

This week, I had the hardest lesson ever! We were teaching in a part-member family where the husband is an active member and the wife is the non-member. The husband invited us over to try and bring his wife to the gospel. She rejected everything we said, but every time she didn't accept something, I felt a deeper love and concern for her. I cared more and more for her salvation and I know that we can eventually get through to her. The only way I know how to explain it it by quoting from Preach My Gospel. On page 118, the last paragraph under "Charity and Love", it explains exactly how it felt. It won't put it in because it is a long paragraph, but I want you to go and take a look at it. It was great!

Here is the quote:"Charity is a gift from God. The prophet Mormon said that we should “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love” (Moroni 7:48). As you follow this counsel and strive to do righteous works, your love for all people will increase, especially those among whom you labor. You will come to feel a sincere concern for the eternal welfare and happiness of other people. You will see them as children of God with the potential of becoming like our Heavenly Father, and you will labor in their behalf. You will avoid negative feelings such as anger, envy, lust, or covetousness. You will avoid judging others, criticizing them, or saying negative things about them. You will try to understand them and their points of view. You will be patient with them and try to help them when they are struggling or discouraged. Charity, like faith, leads to action. You will develop charity as you look for opportunities to serve others and give of yourself."

A couple of our very promising investigators dropped us this week, but one still remains! Sister Smith is progressing still! Everything we teach her, she readily accepts! I am getting so excited for her! I am so happy that she is willing to take the steps necessary to come unto Christ!

I am grateful for your letters! It is great to hear from you! I love you!

Love,

Elder Steiner.

P.S. Here is a pun or two just for Bethany: Where does the frog put his money? The riverbank!
"What do the markings NB mean in my music?" "It means you take everyone's breath away!"


I know some of you were just waiting for a picture like this. Yep, short hair
Most recent picture. Behind us is the only wide open place in our area, a farm.
Stella (Our car) is getting old. Mission cars get retired after 50,000 miles.



Monday, August 3, 2015

Elder Nelson's Birthday!

Dear Family,

It was Elder Nelson's Birthday on Tuesday! We made a Triple Chocolate cake, but then put M&M's on it, so maybe it was a Quadruple Chocolate Cake. It was good. It took us all week to eat the cake, just one or two pieces a day. I think my puns are contagious, because Elder Nelson wanted to cut the cake just so he could say, "Piece of Cake". And throughout the week, we both said puns and laughed together. 

Elder Nelson is so awesome. Our progressing investigator, Ellineta Smith, is doing great! She is accepting everything we teach her and she is keeping her commitments! We have taught her 4 of the 7 lessons and she is scheduled for Baptism on August 28th! She has great faith that God loves her and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I am getting very excited for her. 

This week has been very hot! Thursday through Sunday were all the upper 80's and 90's. Friday actually got up to 98 degrees! Honestly all this hot sunshine weather feels like Utah, except without the Air conditioners. :) Everyone here is shocked that it has been above 80 for so long this summer. Anyway, we also got a new Ward Mission Leader, his name is Brother Woodruff (And no, he is not related to Wilford Woodruff). 

I feel like we have been eating like Kings! Every week, we choose 2 or 3 meals from "The Missionary Cookbook" that Grandma gave me. We have been trying new things and they are so good. I have a few pictures of the kinds of food we have been eating. We also use The Missionary Cookbook to help us put together our grocery list. So if you are thinking that we are starving, it is actually the complete opposite. :) I hope you are doing good at home! I miss you all and love you!

Love,

Elder Steiner.
Items Received: Package from the McEwens

Q&A:

What is your Typical Daily Routine?
* This will be a long answer...  We usually wake up at 6:20, do some exercise (Running, lifting weights, etc.) until about 7:00. Then we take showers and prepare for the day and eat breakfast until about 8:00. We do Personal Study until 9:00, Companionship Study until 10:00, and sometimes Training until 11:00 (Training just needs to be an hour long at anytime in the day). We usually have lunch at 12:00, but we adjust it as necessary for proselyting. We proselyte until dinner at around 5:00. After dinner we proselyte until 9:00 and return to the apartment. We plan our schedule for tomorrow, (Since Elder Nelson is the District Leader) we do district things (calling the district on Tuesdays and Sundays, following-up with their goals, etc), we report our doings to the Ward Mission Leader every night. We go to bed at 10:30. Repeat tomorrow.

Why do some areas have bikes and other areas have cars?
* Well, it depends on if the area is big and if the people are nice enough not to steal your bike. Scenic Hill is a large area and in certain places, there are poor people that will take your bike if they have the chance. Also, our apartment is in one corner of the area, so in order to go to the Valley, we would have to ride for a long time, then make our way up hill for the return trip. So, yep. I am grateful for our car. :)

Elder Nelson decorating his Birthday Cake, and his Birthday dinner already done: Chili and Rice.

"Let's Baptize"!
Fruit Smoothie every morning for Breakfast!

We are eating vegetables, don't worry. :)

Yum!

Vegetable Stir-Fry with lunch meats, over rice! Oh, and cake for dessert!


Tortilla Roll-Ups: Cream Cheese, lunch meats, vegetables.

Yep. Lots of Trees.