Heavenly Father is not over with miracles!

Well, talk about a wonderful week. I have a wonderful story for this week. But first I want to thank everyone that came to talk to me on Christmas. I know all the troubles that people went through just to chat with me for like 5 minutes. Most are probably thinking that it totally wasn't worth it. But if truth be told... nothing could have affected me more. I truly can feel all of your love from here in Argentina. It really doesn't matter what we talked about. I talked to you. And that has brightened up my life. Thank you so much for talking to me. My one wish for Christmas is that you will all know how much I love you.

Well, like I said. I have a wonderful story. Last week after I sent my e-mail... I went to see an investigator... let´s call him Alan (because I called him that last week). Alan was contacted about 3 months ago when I was with Elder Sagripanti. He was actually the 3rd house I ever contacted myself. He invited us to come back and when we did we discovered that he was not only the most intelligent man we had ever talked to. But he also had no faith in God or Christ. But he kept on inviting us back. He didn't pray much or read much and really just wanted to learn and not do anything. We dropped him once. But went back about a month ago and picked him up again. He recently got divorced and is now dating a wonderful lady that he loves very much. They were planning on marriage too. Well, last Sunday like I said... I felt prompted to go to his house. We went over and well... he was a mess. He fought with his girlfriend and ended up smashing his guitar and lighting it on fire. We somewhat calmed him down and last week we went over again after I finished the e-mail. This is what happened:

We showed up and he invited us in. He was shirtless (not unusual here) and smoking a cigarette (the kind you role yourself... straight tobacco). On the table there were 5 bottles that had once contained alcohol. He dropped into a chair and we sat on the couch. We asked how he was doing and he went on for a bit catching us up on what had happened in the past 24 hours. Also expressing his feelings of how alone he was. We told him we had something to share with him, so I opened up our lesson with a prayer. I prayed both vocally and mentally with all the power I have. I pleaded with God to help us help Alan. Then we started talking about some things that could help him and how he really needed to find faith before he could receive answers from God that would help him. During this he smoked and for some reason it really bothered me. My mind couldn't get off the fact that he was smoking. I prayed again and felt that we really needed to talk to him about the Word of Wisdom... or a church health code. I then interrupted my companion and pulled out Mosiah 2:40 (a wonderful scripture I had read earlier in the day because a close friend put it in his letter to me... thanks). It talks about how we are blessed when we do what we are asked of from God. Then we taught him the Word of Wisdom. My companion looked at me like I was crazy when I started... but I just kept on going and he supported me. Alan was quiet and listened to us. After teaching him about it we promised him he would receive an answer if he followed God´s commandments and asked with real intent. Then we closed the lesson and asked him to pray. I bowed my head and prayed as I had never prayed before for him to receive an answer. I was praying so hard I almost didn't hear him crying. He was pleading with his Father in Heaven and truly asking for inspiration. He closed and all of us just sat there for a few moments as the Spirit washed over us all. We got up and he thanked us with all the sincerity of his heart. And asked us to come back in a few days. We agreed and left. When we came back on Christmas Eve there were no bottles... no cigarettes and no problems. He was happy and full of inner light. He welcomed us in as a friend greets a long lost friend. We sat down and he told us how his life had changed after we left. He had received his faith and truly felt our Heavenly Father´s love. He was no longer alone. Everything about him had changed and truly we did rejoice together.

This Sunday he came to church... an hour early. He understood everything and set up another appointment for this week. He is on his way to entering the fold of God... after wandering in strange pastors for a long time. This has brought joy to this work. Although we get rejected a lot right now because of all the bustle of the Holidays... one man has not only welcomed us in... but has helped us realize how it feels to find the truth. What better Christmas present could we ask for?

Well, I wrote too much. But if I can praise my God... I will. For that night, I did not teach him. My words are small... and even smaller in Spanish. God taught him. God held his heart... and the whole world should know this. Every person should know that our Heavenly Father is not over with miracles. And for that, I praise him.

Okay, some other news... Actually, I don't know what else there is to share. We have been finding more and touching people in a similar way. I was blessed to spend time talking to my family and friends. Oh, I should probably explain what Christmas is here. Well, on Christmas Eve (or "night good" in Spanish) everyone sets off fireworks at about 12. It is like the 4th of July. Then they get drunk and sleep till like 3 the next day. On Christmas day we had a meeting in the morning. We walked out onto the streets and there was absolutely no one. It was really quiet and really weird. Fun though. We took a bus and he was going like 60 or something. It was crazy. He wasn’t drunk... don’t worry. But there was just no one out. So he didn’t have to worry. Um, yeah, driving is just different here. Don’t worry about it. Um, I listened to a lot of music... and played a lot of games with people because we weren’t allowed to be outside parts of those nights. I don’t know... it was a good week.

Oh, one last thing. If you want to catch up to me... we are reading the Book of Mormon this transfer. So by the first Monday of February we will be finished with it. We started this last week and SHOULD be at about page 80 today. And then 13 pages a day should be good. If you want to catch up and read with us. It is a whole mission goal. It is great reading it though again.

Anyway... I’m over time. So I need to say my farewells and leave. But again, thank you all for all that you do for me. I am doing wonderful and really have nothing to complain about. I hope the same is true for you all. Take care now.

All my love,

Tommy

PS There are photos... the family is the family I was with when I called home minus the father. They are wonderful.

PPS I must admit... one thing I do miss right now is the snow. Someone should enjoy it for me.

Merry Christmas Gainza Family!!!

too cute

Yes, I can cook Chicken Pot Pie!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

HELLO WORLD!!!

Merry almost Christmas. That also means I’ll be calling home soon. I HOPE my family has that all planned out. I’m not sure what minute exactly I’ll be calling. But around 11-3 WA time. I’ll be calling second. So basically whenever my companion is done... I’ll go.

OH!!! We just had transfers today. I’m staying in El Cruce with Elder Hakes. Which is cool but I kind of want to go out into the world if you know what I mean!!! Haha, all is well though. I’m excited to stay in "my" area for Christmas. We have 4 people almost ready for baptism and more progressing.

Well, this week was really HOT!!! It was fun and exciting. But HOT! We ended up walking a lot again. You`d think that people would let us in because of the heat. But there was a soccer game on, so no one wanted to be bothered. But it was chill... in the cool kind... or um? awesome. That is a better word. I’m really working off my baby fat... or whatever you want to call it. Lucky for me, my face refuses to change. And because I probably say that every time... remind me not to talk about it again.

I recently received two packages!!! TODAY!!! I opened one from the Whites and have to say... THANK YOU!!! I love recipes and music. Perfect. Thank you. The one from my Mother I will open on Christmas. Thank you all though. I really do feel in the spirit of Christmas now.

Well, I had a request for a day in the life of. So... since this week was a tiny bit slow... I’ll do that this week. So... every day is the same. At 7 we wake up and are supposed to work out. But... um, we don’t. I normally take that time to eat and fill the shower tank and heat it up. Our water system in THIS pinch is a little old fashioned. Almost all others are normal. But this one has a tank (that currently we fill up with a hose connected to the only water source we have) and needs to be heated up for awhile. So we do that while we eat and study. My companion takes a shower... then we refill and reheat. And I take a shower. During this time we study the scriptures and Preach My Gospel personally. Then we do companion studies. During this time we talk about what news our investigators have and finish off planning for the day. Then at 10:30 after we are all prepared we take off and go working.

If we have set appointments we go to those. If not we go to either find or swing by investigators/families of members. Really, we strive to be lead by the spirit if we don’t have a plan. Which happens often. So, we do that until about 1. At which point we eat for an hour (either we cook and eat... or eat with members and teach them). Lunch is the biggest meal here. Then we study the language for an hour while all of Argentina is napping. Seriously... EVERYONE!!! They take about a 3-4 hour nap in the middle of the day. So we use that time to eat and study some more. Then we have about an hour of really slow tracking because everyone is asleep. But we got some work done there. Anyway. After language studies we work more. Appointments or whatnot. Every day of the week we have something special... like district meetings or ward meetings... something like that. So sometimes that changes. But normally that is what we do. Normally we work though dinner... or eat with members. We walk almost everywhere. So we don’t go back to the pinch much because it takes too much time.

After working a long day, we head back to the pinch at 9:30 to 10... depending on whether we are teaching or not. Then we call people for the next day’s appointments and plan the next day. While doing this we normally cook something up and then head to bed. It sounds kind of lame. But all that time I just throw in there as ¨work¨ is really when we are seeing the miracles of this work. We see people being healed... people finding truths in their lives... we serve people... all sorts of things. For ejemplo.... this week we cut a really poor ladies lawn. With Macheties (spelling?). I think scissors would be faster... but it was good. I really felt the love of God when we did it. I also darkened my already really dark skin. In truth, this time of working is the best. Also when we plan... we hear the spirit whispering to us who to teach... and when we show up we find out why we needed to visit.

This week we were walking and I was like... We really need to go see Alan. So my companion was like... okay. We swung by and it turned out that earlier that day he got in a fight with his girlfriend... kind of fiancé. He ended up smashing his guitar and ransacking his own house. We talked to him and he really was calm when we left. He hadn’t had faith in God before that... but I think this experience really changed his outlook. We will find out in a few minutes when we visit him. He has changed a lot and we have seen this change come over him. I just hope we are able to always hear the Spirit and help him to God.

Um... Mondays are our p-day. We work on these days... but normally only after 6:30. The rest of the day is full of clothes cleaning and pinch cleaning and buying food... and that sort of stuff. Only the best... right. And it always seems that we do something difference. But I always email... right.

Well, I’m off to go do the work of God. Wish me luck. Sorry no photos. But I’ll be calling on Christmas to make up for it. Probably 12:30ish.

I love you all.
Elder Steinkuhler

PS MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

after thought...

Oh, random comment... I do read every single e-mail people send me. But I normally print them out and read them latter. So if you don't want to write me through the mail... which is really inconvenient for most.... don't worry about it. Just e-mail me and I'll print it out for later when I have time to read. But thank you again for those that write.

Gracias!

PS could you tell Mother that there is a 6 hour time difference between us. So whenever I call will be 6 hours ahead. Te Amo!

it all happened in one week

First of all, Happy Birthday to all of you that I’ve missed. I’ve wished them all to you on the day... but in the rush of p-day, I forget to say it... or type it. Sorry.

Secondly, I’d just like to say that you never know what is going to happen. This week has been crazy and I can’t believe it all happened in one week... yet it happened to me. Wow! Anyway, I hope you all get the photos, because this will be much more fun with them.

Well, I BAPTiZED!!!! My first one. We had planned for the grandson to do it, but he couldn’t... so she asked me to do it! I felt so honored. It was a crazy experience. We had a problem with the fount. It wouldn’t hold the water very well. So we over filled it... but then the bishop showed up an hour and a half later. So when we did the actual baptism, it was only at my knees. She also didn’t plug her nose... So not only was she basically lying down on the floor... but had a little water entering her nose. She was great about it though!!!! It all got done with the proper procedure though. Sorry, her name is Nilda!

Nilda

Nilda y Familia

Another thing about this week that was funny is that we ended up running into an interesting person. We went over to talk to a friend of ours and they had a friend there. It was funny because I was worried this friend was a little too flirty, but we tried to share our message anyway. I asked their name and things got awkward. They mumbled something or another and so I asked again... and they said something like Fabricio (mans name) but that it was changed to Brenda (womens name). I just thought the parents had played a rude trick on the girl... but it turns out they had a sex change. Talk about weird!!! I’m not sure what to do with that kind of thing. We´ll see how that progresses...... later, much later.

So, question to you all... what kind of pictures do you all want? Photos of people, me, places... that kind of thing?

I got some letters this week, thanks for all that sent them. It looks like it takes about a month to get to me. Most were post marked at the beginning of November, and I got them last Tuesday. So, I don’t know... I think it is random. But I have stamps now... so I hope you´ll all be getting letters more regularly. I HOPE!!! No promises.

This week we also ran into a lady who had been baptized 3 years ago... but never confirmed. So we will be teaching her again and rebaptizing her! And then we ran into a literature teacher who had talked to the missionaries a few years ago and has since read the Book of Mormon 3 times!!! So, we´re going to jump on that opportunity this week.

I’ll be honest... not a whole lot happened that was too crazy other than that. Most of my time was spent preparing for and then doing the baptism this last Saturday. It is a sacrifice I’m willing to make. But I did go all out and do something fun today. I’ve been planning this for awhile and so today I just went ahead and did it. I shaved my leg. I say leg, because I didn’t have enough time for both. And I’m debating about shaving it. For all you ladies who have never had hairly legs... let me tell you that having hairless legs is like having a numb leg. I can’t feel anything. My pant legs can touch my legs and I don’t notice. It is WEIRD!!!! Especially since the other leg is normal. We´ll see how that all goes. But I put up photos. You might wonder why I did it though. I’ll tell you. It was because on your mission is the only time you can do it and no one will find out. No one sees your legs. So now you’re probably wondering why I told all of you. Well, honestly it is because I know you´ll all laugh. And by the time I see any of you again, it will be normal. So, no worries. But someone should tell Sister Keri Nielson that you really can see my scars now. Thanks.

Antes de

Despues

So, I’m still a little lost as to how people are doing. I have some people who write me faithfully. But not others. I hear rumors that close friends of mine are engaged or pregnant. If you know about this... please do fill me in. I heard Aubrey is pregnant... and that Jon is engaged?! Anyone got news on this?

Another thing we did today was watch Kung Fu Panda as a zone and we ate waffles "in the morning... I’m making waffles". It was really funny again... and really distracting from the work. Everyone felt totally relaxed afterwards... it was weird. We also watched part of the RM... so now we are all reminded as to what we are going to go home to.

So we had a special even this week. Here they call it "Noche de Luz"... which literally means "Night of Light". But it was the mission´s Christmas performance. 20 missionaries (10 Elders, 10 Hermanas) sang and a video was also shown. It was really peaceful and helped to bring the Spirit of Christmas to all. It is really different down here in the heat. But I can really feel the TRUE Spirit of Christmas now. I’ve felt it before, but on the mission when your life is focused on Christ... Christmas has so much more meaning. We were all reminded of his wondrous works for us and the joy we have in celebrating it. This time of year is special. Unlike anything else. Many people say it is their favorite time of year... and it should be. It is the one time of the year where all try to bring joy to others. The one time of the year where EVERYONE is trying to be selfless. It is this Spirit that I want to share with you all. I know it is impossible to share from here... But I know that if prompted, you might share it with others and therefore feel it yourself. We are going to do service this week. We try to do it every week. And this week we are planning to basically cut down a jungle... from the way she explained it. Every time I do service I feel the peace from knowing that I am laboring for someone in a way they cannot. I love it! Please, go and share this with others. Go serve someone this week. I know you will feel the Spirit that this time of year brings. Even if it is in your own family... go out of your way to sacrifice a few minutes and bring love to all. That is my wish for this year. I want to bring a little more love to my faithful readers. My sister informs me that this site has been visited over 1000 times in the past 5ish months. For that I want to thank you all. I know I have truly wonderful friends. That really does bring joy to me. So thanks for your love.

All of my love, your friend...

Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

Mask of a member

My companion in the mask