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.
​