Buddhist Meeting

Dear Family,

This week has been a busy one! The work has been taking off and Elder Ward and I are scarcely finding the time to get everything done! We had a lot of lessons this week and some cool experiences! One of which had to do with Buddhists!

There is a part-member family in this ward where the husband is a Buddhist. He is respectful to us and we are too and he comes to church every once in a while to support his wife. He invited us to one of his Buddhist meetings that was on Friday. We got permission from our district leader and we went!

It was definitely a new experience. It was held in someone's house and there were about 5 people there. They started the meeting by chanting some words for about 20 minutes. Elder Ward and I didn't know what to do, so we sat waiting for it all to get done. One thing I noticed is that they could all be great singers!

After the chanting, they pulled out a magazine. It looked like an Ensign, but for their religion. They opened it up. It had a monthly message, things for youth, and discussion topics. Pretty cool. We spent most of the time there discussing and finding common ground between our beliefs. Both sides were respectful and willing to hear each other out.

I learned that Buddhists has a lot of the same values that LDS members do. One main difference is that they don't believe in God, but in reincarnation for eternity. If they do good in this life, they will get a better life next time and vice versa. It was cool to testify to them that God lives and what resurrection is. I hope that our testimonies helped them!

Anyway, it was a cool experience to realize that this church really is the truth. Satan will take truths and he will put a twist on them so they aren't full truths and will deceive as many as he can. Heavenly Father knows what is truth, it is His truth. And He will tell us what that is if we ask Him. I know that this church is true and that there is a God and that He loves us, not just those in this church, but every child of God.

I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Love,
Elder Bretton Steiner.

P.S. Today is my Birthday! Hooray!

It is the gumdrop tree!

Teaching the Plan of Salvation!

Dear Family,

This week has been one of those slow weeks. It is probably because both Elder Ward and I got sick, so we didn't get to do very much. On one of the days, we did get to teach John K! He is doing very well and is progressing! He has just about quit smoking and he is enjoying our lessons.

This week, we taught the Plan of Salvation. Brother Graham came with us and he brought his little picture set that he made when he was on his mission. They were very simple and they worked great! John understood a lot of what we taught and he agreed to help us teach this to his daughter a week from now.

I know that as Elder Ward and I do our best to teach to our investigator's needs that we will be given what to say and what to do. I know that Heavenly Father loves all of His children!

I know this letter is short, sorry! I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Love,
Elder Bretton Steiner.

The Spirit Will Help You Remember!

Dear Family,

First off, Happy Birthday Logan!!

Second off, Elder Ward and I are both staying this transfer!

Okay, now I can move on... This week has been a slower one. A lot of our lessons fell through, but we still had 2 of them! I had a pretty great experience during one of them, but I will have to explain a little.

Our lesson was set for Friday and we planned for the lesson on Thursday during our Weekly Planning. Since it happens to be the end of a transfer, we wrote our plan notes in the new planners for next week. We planned to show a Mormon Message video and 2 scriptures to Brother Buckley. He used to be a member and now he wants to come back. We teach him almost every Friday.

At the lesson, I realized that I didn't bring the new planner that had all of my notes in it. I couldn't remember what scripture I was going to share! I quickly said a silent prayer and while my companion was discussing the video, I pulled out the Bible and started searching.

It didn't come all at once, but little by little. I remembered Corinthians, which one? 2 Corinthians. I was flipping through it trying to remember where it was. Chapter 7. I read the chapter heading and skimmed through until I found it! Versus 9 and 10.

I shared the scripture and we had a good discussion on repentance. I don't think Brother Buckley or even Elder Ward knew that I had this experience, but I know that the Spirit helped me out when I needed help. I know that Heavenly Father is watching out for us. I know that He loves us and will guide our every step in His work!

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

Love,
Elder Bretton Steiner

This was my district last transfer! From left to right: Elder Leavitt, Elder Kim, Elder Bollwinkel, Elder Richards, Elder Steiner, Elder Ward.

​We have a pretty cool view from the hill of all of the businesses.

Happy New Year!

Dear Family,

This week has been a slower week, but you can expect that. Many people have gone out of town for the holidays, so it has been a challenge! John and Saleena are doing good, but we didn't get to meet with them this week. We hope to see them again next week!

I went on an exchange this week to the Skyway B area this week. That is the most northern area in our mission and it covers a lot of Seattle homes (but not the city itself). It is totally different there than any other place I have seen in the mission. It is also one of the more dangerous areas. I found a few things that I thought were funny or different and I have some pictures of them! :)

Have you made any New Years Resolutions? If you haven't, you should probably stop and think about it. Heavenly Father wants us to return to Him. What do I want to become? How am I going to do that? How am I going to become more like the Savior this year? Asking questions like that combined with the power of prayer and scriptures, the Holy Ghost will tell you what to aim for. God always has blessings in store for those who strive to serve Him.

Knowing that New Years marks the fact that I have less than 6 months left in my mission. I want to give it my all for the rest of the time that He has given me in this mission. I know that there are people that He has been preparing to receive the restored Gospel. I will do my best to be an instrument in His hands for His work.

"I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy." Alma 29:9

That is still my favorite scripture when I think about missionary work. I hope you all have a great week and start of 2017! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Bretton Steiner.

Houses in Seattle are so packed together that they are running out of house numbers!

This is as far north as the mission goes. Pretty good view of Seattle!

If it doesn't say no parking, then people will park there! And yes, this is somehow a 2-way street. You just hope that someone isn't coming from the opposite direction!