Happy Easter!

Dear Family,

This week has been busy! Since, it is the first week of transfers, the office stays busy! Many things had to be updated: New missionary addresses, Mission President's contacts, new e-mail list for all of the missionaries (now including the new missionaries), and more. Oh, and several apartments were moved around. :) Very busy. Most of the time this week was spent moving and closing apartments. I had to close my first apartment this week. Remember when I deep cleaned it before I left a few months ago? Yep, again, but this time I actually had to take all of the furniture, too. It had the heaviest desk I have ever lifted! It was huge (and I loved it when I was there) and it was really hard to move. Most of the furniture was either too large or not in good condition, so most of it we had to take to the dump.

Easter Sunday was awesome! So many people came to church this week! It is so awesome! The Coate family didn't come, though, because they are sick. They are still on date to be baptized on April 16th! They are planning on going to Utah for Spring Break and going to General Conference! That is so cool! "You can bet your money on the Prophet!" (Quote from The District) I love you all! Happy Easter!

Love,
Elder Bretton Steiner.

Q and A:
Is it still raining all the time?
* Yes, but there have been more sunny days this week! Spring is coming!
* Fun fact: Maple Valley is the 2nd rainiest city in the United States.

I love you, Bryson!

It is nice to have sunny days at last!

One of the less active members in the Elk Run Ward worked for the Seattle Sea Hawks when they won the Super Bowl. Bishop Moulton said that he had this amazing ring, so we went and asked to take pictures of it. It is way bigger than I expected it to be! Does this count as worshiping idols?

This is the sunset of Easter Sunday!

God Watches Over His Missionaries

Dear Family,

Today is transfers. The cool thing about being an Office Elder is that I can see what happens at transfers before most other missionaries. :) I also took all of the departing missionaries to the airport yesterday. I had no idea that driving to an airport could be so stressful, but I had another missionary, Elder Lee-Wen (who was an Office Elder in the past), guide me through the steps. There were so many miracles that happened at the airport. First off, I managed to get the giant van to the airport. That is probably the largest vehicle that I have ever driven (There was barely an inch of clearance between the roof of the van and the ceiling in the parking lot). One missionary, Elder Tavo, had to travel alone while the other 6 missionaries got to be together most of the way.

Elder Tavo had to take 3 different flights, but he doesn't know anything about airports or even what to do. But God knows. When we went to check in his luggage, the man at the desk happened to be the Stake President of the Seattle Stake and he gave Elder Tavo his baggage for free. Not only that, but he also upgraded him to premium, meaning it goes directly to his home, so he doesn't have to check it in after every flight. But the blessings didn't end there for Elder Tavo. After we checked him in, he had to go through security and there was a line that was about 1 and 1/2 hours long. Elder Lee-Wen felt prompted to talk to the lady at the premium line and as he did, the lady said Elder Tavo can go through premium (at no cost). That allowed him to completely skip the line and go through first. We couldn't follow him through security, but I know that he is in good hands, God's hands.

I know that God is watching over his missionaries. He is willing to help us out in times of need and I know that He protects us. I am very happy to be out here serving His children. Even though I don't do as much proselyting as a regular missionary, I still get to serve my fellow missionaries around the mission, making sure that everything runs smoothly so that they can focus their efforts on serving. Also, being an Office Elder is a lot of fun! I love you all and I hope you have a great Easter!

Love,

Elder Bretton Steiner.

Spring is in the air! And the beautiful sunsets are returning! Oh ya!

Just for fun. :)

Group picture this morning! Elder Lee-Wen is on the right, Elder Elzey is in the middle, Elder Jackson is in the middle, but a little to the left, and I am on the very left.

Prosperity Picture!! My Trainer on the left, Elder Nelson. My trainee on the right, Elder Miner.

Welcome Enumclaw Stake!

Dear Family,

This week has been pretty good! The Coate Family is progressing very well. Sister Coate is a member who has been less active for a while and she just got re-married to a non-member. I don't know what gave her the motivation, but she just out of now where started to bring her whole family to church. She has talked with the bishop and has set up a plan to get her husband and son baptized and the rest of her family to return to activity! So far, we have had the first 3 lessons with them and they are accepting it well. Brother Coate really wants to get baptized, and so does Isaiah, their 11 year old son. They currently are committed for April 16th to be baptized, but at the rate that they are progressing, they could be ready long before that! During my last lesson with them, they set a goal to be sealed in the temple in April of 2017. Wow! They are so committed!

On Wednesday, Elder Davidson and I put our "8 birds with 1 stone" plan to use. We filled the trailer with the supplies that many missionaries needed, and for the first few hours of the day (While all of the other missionaries were doing their studies) we dropped by 7 different companionship's and either picked up furniture of dropped it off. Then we went and got a replacement mattress for the new mission nurse that moved in last week. Yep, 1 drive, 8 tasks complete! It was going to be 9, but we didn't have time to go to the D.I. to donate the futon... Anyway, the plan was a success and we put 124 miles on the truck that day! Good thing we have unlimited miles! It is so nice!

Saturday and Sunday was Stake Conference. I thought the Saturday session was pretty full, but then I was surprised again when the Maple Valley Stake Center was completely full on Sunday. The parking lot was full and people parked all the way down the street. It was pretty crazy. The Stake Center is about the same size as the Haight Creek Stake Center and it was so full that people had filled the whole gym and were sitting on the stage all the way in the back. It was amazing! The Stake was officially split into the Maple Valley Stake and the Enumclaw Stake. Two new Stake Presidencies were called, too. It is a pretty exciting change. I love you all!
​
Love,

Elder Bretton Steiner.

Elder Davidson is really good at backing with a trailer. This is when we are putting it back at the storage unit.

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The Wonderful Plan of Happiness!

Dear Family,

This week has been pretty busy, too! We don't get to proselyte very much, but when we do, I always look forward to when we get to see Candace! She is a recent convert who is paralyzed from the waist down. We go over to her apartment every Tuesday and Thursday with the ward mission leader to read the Book of Mormon with her. She usually invites the maintenance worker of the apartment complex. His name is Tony and he is a non-member. He has had all of the lessons, but somehow just hasn't decided to get baptized, yet.

On Tuesday, we read Alma 40 with Candace. This chapter talked about the Plan of Salvation. I remember looking around the room and seeing the many statues, pictures, and stuffed animal horses all around her apartment. It also had a lot of Indian beads, cloths, and pictures, so it looked awesome! We read about the Resurrection and Brother Bean (the ward mission leader) talked about how the body will be restored to its perfect frame. He talked about how his daughter got in an accident when she was 13 and was paralyzed from the waist down, and how he knew that she will be able to walk again some day. Then he got emotional and with tears he said, "And I know that Candace will be able to ride horses again." Candace was crying, too, and the Spirit was in the room. It turns out that riding horses was a huge part of Candace's life and she had to leave it because she became paralyzed from an accident, too. In fact, Brother Bean's daughter and Candace both had their accidents the same summer.

Knowing about the Plan of Salvation brings a peace and comfort into your life. Candace, even though she is old and bed ridden, has the hope for a better life in the Resurrection when she can continue to do what she loves most, to ride horses. God loves us so much! That is why He set up this plan for us! There is a reason why it is also called the Plan of Happiness. It is because God ultimately wants us to be happy and joyful! He knows what it takes and He is willing to help us out at any time, if we call upon Him. I know that this is true.

The Maple Valley Stake is being split next Sunday! The new stake is going to be called The Enumclaw Stake! The Enumclaw Stake will be the largest in the mission and the remaining Maple Valley Stake will be pretty small. It is pretty dense, like Provo, except with more non-members. :) Actually when we call it Provo, we meant to say, if there is anywhere in the mission that we would call Provo, the Maple Valley Stake would be it. :) Anyway, I will still be in the Maple Valley Stake and so will the Mission Office, so no change for me. With the formation of a new Stake is making all of the missionaries think there might be a new Enumclaw Zone next transfer! No offical call has been made, yet, though Elder Davidson thinks he heard Assistant Mousser talk about "another zone". I don't know how it is going to work, but I am excited to see the changes!

I love you all!

Love,
Elder Bretton Steiner.

We finally finished deep clean the old Lake Lucerne apartment this week. We brought our District Leader and his companion to help us out. Elder Jackson decided it would be easier to just mop out the refrigerator. The housing coordinators were happy with it. :)

This was my failed attempt to get our P-Day group picture. I look like a ghost and I totally missed Elder Davidson's face. You can see Elder Jackson (The left back) and Elder Raps our District Leader (The right back).