I played the part of Santa Clause

Well... I feel old in the mission now. Every missionary will call home 4 times and see 4 general conferences. By those you can see how much time they have left. I only have one call and one conference left... It`s all over man... I'm basically home. How sad is that?

Christmas was GREAT! I love talking to all of you. I'm sorry I couldn't talk to all. I had to leave early because my ride home was taking off. But the good news is that the car worked fine this time and we got home easily. Well it has been two weeks since I’ve written anything. I guess I should fill you in as to why and then what happened the week before.

My companion got sick... really sick. So we basically didn't leave the pench for 4 days. So... I didn't really have time to write. But I'm here for you all now. I know that you were all waiting with baited breath for 2 weeks to hear about me. I know that you still haven’t opened your presents and all, because you are all still waiting by your computers for my update. So here it is:

Two weeks ago... nothing happened...
Just kidding. We had interviews and also a fun trip to the offices. On Tuesday we woke up at 4 to go out to the offices and get my companion`s paperwork done. That was fun... NOT. I'm still tired from that trip. The really great thing about that week was finding these two great families:

Maria and Cintia are sisters. We showed them the Book of Mormon and taught a really great lesson about why it is important. Then we came back a few days after. Cintia had read the book and felt something. Maria had felt good, but nothing powerful. We taught them about Joseph Smith and what he did for us. Then connected it to the Book of Mormon and what our feelings mean. We asked Cintia to pray. As she did we prayed for her that she might know the truth. She asked God for a surety of his will for her. She stopped for a moment and then quickly finished the pray. The Spirit was so strong with us. We waited a few moments and then I asked her how she felt. It was one of those questions I knew the answers too. Everyone in the room had felt the power of the Spirit and Cintia took notice of that in herself. It was a wonderful chat.

Adrean and Veronica are a young couple. He looks like a metal rocker and she looks like a kindergarten teacher. They are an interesting mix. They had a lot of questions and we have answered many of them. They don't believe in God really, but they know they need something. So they are looking and trying to find the truth. I don't know how to explain this one, but just know that we found a wonderful family who is interesting and growing spiritually.

We also had the Ward Christmas party. I played the part of Santa Clause. Believe you me, I am a great Santa. We also stayed up way to late... a big regret of mine.

Well, this week was craziness. My companion was sick and I was stuck in the apartment all day. Now that everyone knows because my mother had to go and tell everyone... I was sick too. But just sick enough to make me sound sick. Anyway, I got board in the apartment, so I started writing a book with my companion about Dragons. It has been fun. With all the time we spent in the apartment we have got pretty far with it. We needed to be inside the entire time he was sick... then in by 6 PM on the 24th and 25th. We played a lot of funny card games with my Uno cards, and grew together as a companionship. It is weird how when you are together working and together sitting you learn different things. Elder Mortensen is a wonderful elder... but also a wonderful friend of mine now. I really appreciate the opportunity God gave me to learn and grow with him. I often forget who I’m with as I focus so much on the people. It was nice to get to know the man who is always with me.

Just so everyone knows... it has been really hot. I’m dying from the heat. It was a crazily hot week. My companion and I are back in full steam. Life is good and I am happy. I now miss everyone back at home a lot more... but there is nothing I can do about that. I just hope and pray that everyone truly is as well as they sound.

In this letter and especially this time of year... I send you all my purest love. I miss you all and love you all. I am extremely glad to have you all behind me supporting me and cheering us on.

All my love,
Tommy

PS Happy New Years!

I'll be calling home

Well, no update this week... I'll be calling home. It was a complicated week. My comp got sick and I have no time. I'm sorry, I'll try to do better. I love you all... 2 PM home time is when I should be calling home. I'll try to make that punctual. If not... 2:30 at the latest. Love you all.
Tommy

We eat and call a taxi.

This week was CRAZINESS!!!! I hope you all got the photos... there are photos of my new favorite flowers... they are double layered!?!?!?! The coolest dumbest dog ever. A few baptisms. My friends. And the new edition of the Bible that my father sent to me... and I changed a little bit. Well, I got board and gave it a covering (I want to meet the person who looked at a toilet and said... that needs a hat... or furry seat coverings)


So, the baptism was great. HORRIBLE, but great. Let’s just go through the steps. First of all, our bishopric promised to come, but none of them showed up. Well, we went to the church to start filling up the font at about 10:30. I know it takes about 2 hours... so the OTHER elders were going to turn it off at 12:30. We get to our lunch appointment and sit down to eat when my phone goes off and the other elders are screaming that we need to get back to the church (not an easy feat). The member offers to drive us in his car (one of 3 members with cars). We hop in and drive off... then break down. So we get out, try to fix the car... but eventually take a bus and get to the church. There we find that the other elders got there later then we were expecting and the water had overflowed. Fortunately all Argentine chapels are made out of tile floors... so we clean it up and take off back to the lunch appointment about an hour later. On the way back we see the member pushing his car home, so we jump out and push it all the way home... a lot longer then I remembered. We eat and call a taxi. That taxi never showed up... so we run over to a taxi guy and he brings us to the house of the family that is to be baptized. By the time we get there we were suppose to have started the baptism already. They get in the car... and fill it up. So my companion and I RUN back to the church and almost died on the way. We showed up about 2 minutes after the taxi... We get the baptism underway and at this point we notice that the bishopric is not there... so we go on anyway. While we are changing our clothes, we were going to watch a movie... but the controller was locked in the bishoprics office... so Elder Coats sang instead. The funny thing is that NO ONE in the room knew the songs, except Elder Coats... so he basically sang like 4 hymns all by himself. HAHAHA. But it all got done and we were very tired by the end of it all. Baptism days are SO hard.

new apartment mates

the OTHER apartment mate

Fun little story. We went over to an investigators house and she was being visited by a few friends. They were all drunk, but we had already sat down... so we chatted for a bit. We shared a bit with them because they had a lot of questions. They straight up told us that they were not in the condition to receive us, but that they wanted to learn more. So we set up an appointment with the wife of one because she wasn't drunk. On Sunday we came by and she came out with this puzzled look on her face. We asked to chat with her and her husband... and she just says... wow, you came. I didn't think you would come. Anyway, they didn't have time. So we are going back another day. My favorite part of this story is that they told us where the house was by the fact that they have two pigs in the front lawn. Ha ha... I'm teaching pig people. Go figure.

flower power

One last cool thing... we went to church one Sunday and see this man dressed up and looking alert. I figured he was with the other elders... they thought the same. Turns out he just passed by in front of the chapel and walked in. He was amazing. We gave him a Book of Mormon and are going to go by later this week.

Well, I don’t know when exactly, but I won’t be emailing next week. Our p-day is going to change for the next two weeks. I’m excited for Christmas. I don’t know when Ill call... we are going to do a service project as a zone, so I’ll let you know when I find out when the service starts. But for anyone who can or wants to go... I’ll be there... I hope you are too.

Next week I’ll have more time to chat because I won’t be sending photos again. So Ill try to write more spiritual experiences. I love you all.

Tommy

baptism from last transfer

We are the Friendly Giants of Mayol

I’ve been informed that I’ll be completing day 500 of the mission this week. Hiza for Israel. This week was a wonderful one. We worked really hard and got a lot done... but there is still so much to do. It is SO hard to get up in the morning. But it is just as hard to turn around at night and return to the apartment. I find the hardest rule for me to follow is to get home on time. We almost never make it within the right time frame. I talked to the president about it and he told me to be careful. There are dangerous people out at night. Fortunately they all come up to the bottom of my elbow... and everyone knows us... and loves us. Okay, not EVERYONE, but the majority. It is so funny. Elder Jones (from the MTC) was in Mayol for a long time as well. So everyone thinks I'm him, because I'm huge and lovable (and humble). We are the Friendly Giants of Mayol. It`s good being me.

Well, I had some wonderful questions asked to me that I would like to share with all. First of all... I had inquires of how Argentina really is. Well... the baptismal pictures are all taken from within church walls. The churches are not that different from the states. They are a little smaller and have no carpet (carpet is almost non-existent in Argentina). But the homes are mostly huts or small cement boxes. It is very humbling. The roads are mostly dirt and flat. There are often mud holes, and dirt holes... and animals, or carcasses. It is a different world. Some day I’ll come down here again and take pictures of all the... different things. Until that day... imaginense.

Speaking of which... fun little update, I’ll be speaking only Spanish after the Christmas phone call home (ET phone home (Elder Tommy) it just fits too perfectly). Which will be taking place about Christmas Day... mas o menos. Be there or be square.

So, next question: How do you "train"?
I don’t really train. I just kind of be a good example and guide us to do the right things. I teach my companion the rules and how to follow them correctly. I explain any mission specific rules (like no matè). I invite him to be the best missionary possible and then leave him to experiment for himself. I know that sounds a little weird, but it’s true. One thing I’ve learned from all my teachings and all my learnings is that teachers suck! Teachers don’t ever do anything. They can explain new ideas or what have you. The real teacher is the self, accompanied by the Holy Ghost. So I explain and INVITE... then leave him to pick his own path. I try to guide him to the best path if at all possible, but it’s not always possible. So, I’d say training is more of a guiding process. Never should a trainer try to crush what is already good. So I just push here, or pull there. I don’t do much.

All I can think of to say about this week is that it was crazy. We will be having 3 baptisms next week... so we’ve been working our tails off all day, every day. It is kinda like running on a roller coaster, you just try not to get hit by the train as you run around in circles. Hey, that is a good analogy. I feel like I’m running on a roller coaster track. YEAH!!! IM BRILLIANT!!! Anyway, it was a good week. My companion is amazing. He is getting better and better every day. We are working harder and harder every day. We are teaching better and better. My father sent me a bible recently and I’ve been putting it to use. I haven’t taught from the Bible in a very long time. I took an hour to get some numbers back in my head and I’ve been trying to use it daily since. I love the Book of Mormon, and it is hard for me to pull away from it. But I need to help people understand all of God's words.

Noche de Luz was this week. It was the Nativity choir from the mission. It was great!

And... I’m gone. I’ll send photos next week. I couldn’t do it today, computers here suck.

Love you all,
Tommy

I was swimming through the roads

This was a really long week. It rained almost every day this week. Personally I think that any week where you lose your P-Day is a long week. Fortunately this week we have our p-day. However, there is nothing too cool to report on. We have a lot of people we are working with. God has really blessed us, so we`ve been running between house to house to just teach the people who will be baptized this month. We should be having 6ish people get baptized this month. And the majority live in different sides of the world. We`re running around like mad men. I know many of you will be upset with me, because you always tell me to get more sleep... but I’ve been really tired this week. My companion and I went out with a member one day and they told us we were basically falling off our chairs all day. We had one appointment where my companion and I basically passed out waiting for an answer from the investigator. I remember asking a question and looking at them... they looked at their book and so did I. The next thing I knew, I was grabbing my scriptures before they fell to the floor. I couldn't have been out for more than half a second... but it was funny. The whole week was like that. The only thing that kept us awake was the weather and "our dog".

The weather here has been crazy. Every other day we get rain... the days in between are HOT and MUGGY!!!! So every other day I use my rain coat and every other day I use short sleeves (not much that can be changed). It has been fun.

But whatever the weather, Hooksy the dog has followed us around. He follows us every time we see him (basically daily). The only way that we can get him to leave us alone is by going to his owners and asking them to restrain him until we get at least 3-4 blocks away. Yesterday my companion and I did exchanges to get investigators in the morning. The dog followed us around and my companion took drastic moves to make sure he didn't follow us to church... again. I’ll tell you the story, but first, let me explain the situation.

Sunday we basically had a monsoon come and attack us. I literally felt like I was swimming through the roads to get investigators and to get back to church. My companion was wadding through this rain with the dog hot on his heels. We talked to the owners who were suppose to come to church, but decided not to because of the rain (it was a long walk in a torment). They also didn't want to restrain the wet dog. SO... my companion yells over the thunder for the dog to stay... he didn't. So my companion throws a rock in the general direction of the dog. It stops and just stares. As it starts to follow again, by companion throws a chunk of brick at him which splashes in the mud next to him. Sadly Hooksy looks at my companion and then runs off home. My companion is a very big hearted, animal lover and it almost killed him to have to scare the dog off like that. He said it reminded him of Air Bud and he wanted to cry. We`ll see if he continues to follow us. I love that dog, but he really is a problem in the missionary work.

Other than that... nothing that big happened. We've had some really interesting appointments and some really interesting things happen... but there isn't time nor cause to tell you all. Just know that I'm good and thinking of you all. I know that this week contains many birthdays and many special memories for me. I hope that all of those pass well for all of you and that you all know that I love you.

You are all always in my thoughts and my prayers.
Love,
Tommy

A story added later...

I was in a taxi this week and I tried to teach the driver. He said that he wasn’t religious because "church" did call his attention. I asked what did he mean and he said "girls". We laughed and he said that obviously church called our attention and for that reason we were out on the mission. I thought a moment and replied... "No. Church doesn’t call my attention. What calls my attention is the family". It was interesting how the words came out and I didn’t understand them. Then my brain caught up to The Spirit and I explained that he was my brother and I wanted to save him in the eternity. He thought it was odd that we leave our families for 2 years if the family is what calls our attention.... but it made sense to me. We gave him a pamphlet and he now has the opportunity to act upon what he felt when we spoke.

I love it when that happens.

Well, we just finished another transfer. I get to stick around with Elder Mortensen. This will be the first time in about 7 months that I get to have a second transfer with my companion. I'm excited to be working with him. We have at least 5 baptisms planned out for next transfer. Things have just been falling into place for us. We have been listening to the wise counsel of our leaders and have been blessed greatly for it. I know this means nothing to any of you... but it is something that surprised Elder Mortensen and I... according to the new missionary system that we are using in our mission... Elder Mortensen and I are the number 7 companionship in the mission. We have no clue why that is or how that happened... but we are happy about it.

This week was really interesting. We had a special visit from Elder Bednar. But I’ll explain that later. We were not able to work in our area much this week because of a million things. I was asked to do two baptismal interviews which were amazing... but took a lot of time away. All of Thursday we were with Elder Bednar. My companion was completely sick on Friday, so we didn't leave the pench. The fact that we were not working every day in our area made us focus every second of every moment we were able to work. We made some really good visits and found some really amazing people. We have been trying to change our teachings so that instead of teaching the lessons we know so well, we teach the people we don't. It is amazing how the spirit of the lesson changes when we focus on the people and teach with love and understanding. We took out 3 baptismal goals this week. We also found and taught some great people. All of the lessons were wonderful and had a powerful impact on all of us. Let me explain 2

There is a companionship in my district that was having problems with one of their investigators, so I was asked to lend a helping hand. I taught this person 3 times this week. The first time we cleared up the problem. The second we got them to read and pray... and on the third visit we were told that they had received the answer they looked for. So we set up a goal for them to be baptized. Every lesson we focused more and more on the Spirit to guide us and this person. In the end they felt the true love of God and for that reason they will be baptized.

We found someone last Monday. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and she read it. Our second visit she had questions so we were not able to teach her the restoration. But at the end of the lesson she asked us... why are there so many churches and how can I really know which one is true. So the third visit we taught her the restoration. It was probably the most powerful lesson I’ve ever had. She felt the Spirit as well as we did. I personally was taught by the spirit the truths of what we were teaching. I love it when that happens.

Okay... There was so much that happened, but I don't have time to tell it all. OH!!! Good story:
There is a sort of inactive member of our ward who goes to church every once and awhile. She is having problems so we taught her about the celestial kingdom. We explained that we need to live a celestial law here on earth if we want to live in a celestial world some day. She understood the lesson very well and at the end we committed them to make a list of 5-10 things that they needed to change to live a celestial law. That day she took out her tongue piercing... and yesterday she gave us her nose piercing as well. It is interesting sitting down to study in the morning and seeing body piercings covering the table with an occasional package of cigarettes that we've confiscated. Oh the interesting things missionaries get to do.

Okay, Bednar. I really can’t tell you anything about what he said. I made a promise not to pour all of it out to everyone. But one thing I will share is how he started. He explained how well we are at taking perfect notes of what every speaker says... but that we shouldn't. He asked us if we ever re-read any of those notes... or if we even knew where they all were. He told us to only write down what the Spirit indicated. Well, I came to that conference with lots of questions... I left with even more, but all the original questions were answered... although Elder Bednar only talked about one of them. I can truly testify to you all that David A. Bednar is a true Apostle of God. That he is guided by the Holy Ghost and that he has helped me in more ways than one. I hope that all of you take the time to read the conference talks from the prophets and apostles of these days. I know I used to take General Conference for granted. Don’t do the same thing I did.

I’m over my time. Take care. I love you all dearly and look forward to Christmas. Thanksgiving is a non-celebrated holiday in Argentina... so I’m really not that excited. But Christmas is this transfer and I will be calling home. And after that call I will not speak English until I talk to my family again. So I’m going to enjoy this time of language freedom while it remains.

Again, I love you all,
Tommy

and they want to get baptized

Well, the biggest news is that we baptized this week!!!! I'm trying to send pictures, but the computer kinda sucks. Maybe next week.

Anyway, we had three wonderful people get baptized. They have a really long story, and I don't remember if I told you all about it yet or not. So... I probably won’t tell you at all. HAHA!!! You`ll just have to wait till I get home. My favorite part is that two of them were studying with the Jehovah's Witness people. I love how true the church is, that we literally receive revelation from God. No other church really does that. It is amazing to watch the people as they change their lives and relieve the answers they look for. I love that feeling as you look them in the face and they tell you that they got their answer and they know the Book of Mormon is true and they want to get baptized. We have been working really hard recently and been able to see these kinds of changes on a regular basis. The problem is that people always need to get married or something like that. So, baptismal dates are pushed off into the future. My companion and I mapped it out and we are teaching in over 40 houses. About 10 of those houses have people that want to get baptized already... but about 9 of them need to get married. HAHA how ironic, no?

Well, I’ve got a fun little story for you all. It has to do with us and a dog. We are teaching this lady named Eli... as in Elisabeth. Her dog has been following us around for awhile. At first we didn't know who he belonged to. There are about 5000 dogs in our area, so we didn't really know who it was from. We started calling him Captain because of the eye patch he has and the fact that he always walks out in front of us... leading us. That turned into Captain Hook... then to Hook.... then to Hooksy. So, Hooksy follows us around all the time... normally all day. He will start in the morning and wait for us outside of houses... or the church. And when we go to bed, he waits for us until the next morning. He is really cool, kind of annoying sometimes, but cool. The members and investigators all think that we have a dog now. I guess we kind of do. Anyway, our captain leads the way for us.

Cool story. I’ve decided to put more focus on Christ in my teachings. Instead of just including what he did in lessons we teach... we now teach lessons based only on what he did. One of our lessons this week was just that... it was amazing. We had a member with us who always comes out with us. We explained things very clearly and powerfully using all sorts of examples and scriptures. The Spirit was very powerful and clear. It was a very good lesson, not that the others aren’t, but this one sticks out in my mind. I remember saying that we want to work as hard as we can here on earth to make up for what Christ did for us. For that reason we came on the mission and for that same reason this particular member helps us. The member was touched, and explained later that she felt she understood better why she came out with us after that lesson.

A desire that I have had ever since I got on the mission is to help the missionaries after the mission. I hope that you all have the same desire. Please go give them a hand this week. Don’t just feed them a meal and nothing more.... go out of your busy day to help them by finding someone or going with them to a lesson. I know that is what God wants us to do. This was a great week. I hope all is well in Zion.

Love,
Tommy

PS I got a few packages and letters this week. Thank you so much. I was able to wear a WHITE shirt to the baptism instead of a yellow one.

PPS This Thursday we get to hear from Elder Bendar... in person. I’m excited.

Christmas is Coming --> Mailing Packages

For those of you mailing Tommy a little something for Christmas here are some tips.

1. Always mail the package "Express Mail".
2. Keep in mind it will take longer than USPS says it will to actually get to Tommy. Plan on at least a month to get to him.
3. Tommy once suggested writing "Dios sabe todo y Dios vea todo." on the side of the box. It means "God knows all and God sees all". It seems to help it so that people don't rob from the packages.
4. Review this post for a letter sent from the Mission Office on sending packages.

Address:
Elder Thomas Steinkuhler
Quintana 447
1846 Adrogué
Buenos Aires Argentina

Please keep Tommy in mind this Holiday season, letters and packages from home really help to keep a missionary going. They need it. (I know, I've been there). ~Windy

this work is going forward with power and authority

Well, a lot has happened, but there really is no time to explain all. My computer is not working well and my time is almost up, so I need to get going. Let’s just start with the week then, shall we?

We WERE going to have 3 baptisms this week, but it is kind of hard to do baptisms if there is no water in the church. So, we put the baptisms off for next week. So next week we will be baptizing 4 people... in the sanja if we have to (someday I’ll send a picture of a sanja). We got everything ready and then... it just didn't go through. So this Saturday was kind of a bummer. We had fun though, chatting with the zone leaders and working with the bishop to fix things. Unfortunately things here are not like home... there is a baptismal font in each chapel because it is too hard to travel between chapels. Pretty much everyone just walks... so we couldn't change places... nor get enough water... nor nada. So, next week.

I’ve got a fun little story for you all. A week-ish ago, my companion and I were waiting for a bus at night. It was too far to walk at night... so we were waiting for a bus. It was already 9:25 and it takes about 30-45 minutes to walk home from where we were... so we waited for a bus. This drunk guy came up with a branch and started telling us to chastise this other guy because he was a sinner. I politely told him to take-it-to-himself (tomatèla) and leave us alone. He left and a young girl came up. When the drunk came back and started harassing us again, she stuck up for us and not so politely told the guy to get the heck out of there... explaining that we couldn't do anything and he knew... so, "stop being a bum". I was laughing my fat roles off because a little 22 year old girl scared off a 35ish year old punk. So, I decided to talk to her. I thanked her and did a contact. We ended up talking for about 25 minutes because a bus didn't come. During that time an investigator came up and started chatting with us. Once the bus finally came, we got on and I asked if we could come by some time to teach her family. She said, "sure, but no one will listen to you." So last Monday we pass by and the mother answers us. She looks at us and says, "no, sorry boys". I explain that we are looking for said girl, and she looks at me weirdly. I explain what happened and she laughs, saying that it was definitely her daughter. Before I could open my mouth to teach, she tells me she doesn't want to know anything. I smile at her... and teach her anyway. I’ve found that a "no"... really means "I have no clue what you believe". She told us no about 5 times, but I persisted... We eventually come up to her with the Book of Mormon and I explain what it does for us. She became all excited and accepted us. We testified powerfully and handed the book over after a prayer.

After leaving my companion just stared at me and said... how did that happen? I didn’t even think twice about it. It has happened to me so many times before that it just seemed normal. It felt good to reflect on the power of a testimony and the power of the Book of Mormon. This transfer we are focusing on the two most important tools in the missionary handbag. The Spirit and the Book of Mormon. Believe you me... this work is going forward with power and authority. I’m extremely glad to be out here. I don’t want to come home... so I’m sorry for all of you who are waiting for me. I’m sure they will send me home some day, but until that day comes, I’ll work as hard as I can. I hope that all of you are working hard at home as well.

I’m excited for the changes happening here. I love you all and hope that you are finding joy in sharing the gospel at home like I am here in Argentina. Take care... and write me sometime.

Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

I’ve broken in my new boots

Sorry but this one will be really short. This week has been crazy and there are a million things that went down, but none of them are worthwhile to tell you about. We are working hard and doing a lot... so right now we need to get going. We have three baptisms this week and some in the upcoming weeks. So we are running around like wild men.

There has been rain all week, so I’ve broken in my new boots pretty well, a little too well... We got wet almost every day. It has been a little dampening on the work. For some reason people here don’t want to let two wet boys into their houses when there is rain. SOMETIMES yes, but not this week. We have however been working amazingly hard and have done fairly well.

Here is a little fun story to share with you all about a comment my Mother always tells me. She tells me to "shine". Well, it is funny she says that because I try. I’m a pretty smiley person, but not always. It is amazing how much effect a smile has with people. So, I smile a lot to cheer people up, even if I don’t feel like smiling. Anyway, this week we had a meeting after church. Everyone was hungry because it was time to eat and everyone had been fasting. Also tired because we all drudged through the rain and mud to get to church. So I started smiling and enjoyed the effects of it. Then the ward secretary who is Uncle Dursley`s twin brother (mustache and all... from the movie) starts giggling. I normally don’t get that... from men, especially a fully grown and serious man. Everyone looks at him of course and he points at me. So everyone looks at me too. I smile back and everyone in the room just smiles. It was a fun moment. But the best part is that the ward secretary says, "You have this friendly face. I’d bet you have a lot of friends, I’d bet your friends with everyone you talk to". That just made the moment even sweeter. It was nice to see such a wonderful reaction from the people I work so closely with. So I hope I am finally able to report home that I am shining.

Christmas is coming up... so I thought I’d put a list together of all the things I would like from the fam and friends. So here it is:
1. A letter... HAND WRITTEN... and more than one page
2. A current photo... with the letter. Just one is good enough
3. For all that can... be home so that I can talk to you.

And that is about it.

All the stores around here have their Christmas stuff out and it makes me long for snow. Unfortunately there is only heat and muggy rain. Perhaps a miracle will happen.

I love you all,
Elder Steinkuhler

through prayer she received a powerful witness

Well, I will start this out with an apology. We played soccer this morning and I took a direct hit to the face several times. And scraped off about all the skin on my left leg (for those of you who know me well, you`ll know it is nothing new). But that means my brain is still kind of running on low brain power. So, sorry if this is really random.

This week was amazingly weird and long... but great! According to the mission standards we are still one of the best in the mission. I’ll stop telling you all what number, but we`re doing good. It feels good knowing that we are doing well. We are seeing a lot of hard work and success in our area. I’ve written down a few things noteworthy to tell you all about.

First of all... this Saturday something weird happened. We had a meeting early in the morning and almost no one could go. We are trying to train the ward missionaries. Well, two showed up... two ladies. We sit down to teach them and one of them had a seizure. She started shaking and spluttering up water. It was pretty scary. But my companion and I pulled out the good old oil (no joke on the old part) and gave her a blessing. It was interesting because my companion had never done it in Spanish. All I had to say to her was... Sleep. And she slept. The other lady said she`d never seen it so bad before. After awhile she came to her senses and went home to sleep more. But that was a fun early morning wake up call. I'm glad we are both worthy Priesthood holders.

Well, about 6 months ago my shoes died and I bought new ones. It rains here a lot, so the souls basically just died. And when I step on mud (unpreventable) it gets into my shoes. I got tired of it, so I went out and bought a new pair of shoes this week. I bought some nice ankle high boots with WOODEN bottoms. So much cooler and funner (FYI=Funner does not get caught by spellchecker). I’ll try to send pictures. I now have two pairs of shoes with wooden bottoms. I like them a lot more. They don't wear out and are actually pretty comfortable. I admit it is like walking around with a piece of tile strapped to your feet because they are so hard... but I don't walk that much. However, I do walk around in the mud a lot.
On that note.... it rained a lot this week. Like 3 times and the last one was a mini storm... some people had their houses ruined because of the strong winds. It was pretty fun. And my companion and I got all muddy and wet... fun times.

Something I am just bursting to tell you all. Last Sunday we found this family. It was Mother`s Day here and so I told this lady I had a Mother`s Day present for her and we walked into her yard. The whole family was outside chilling in the shade. We taught that God is our Heavenly Father and what the Book of Mormon is. Also that we can pray to know if it`s true. We set up an appointment and left. We were going to come back on Tuesday, but there was no time because the Zone Conference went long. I had the lady in my mind for a long time afterwards, but there was never time to go by. Finally on Saturday someone stood us up so we had a little bit of time. We booked it over to her place and found her there with her kids. She was washing clothes (by hand... as is normal) and just leaves everything to come talk to us. We sit down in her house with her kids. They were watching TV and I always find it distracting so I asked them to turn it off... but they only turned off the volume. So we start and pray. My companion still has troubles speaking... so he helped me with the lesson part (we taught the Restoration) but then got lost when we started speaking fast and about specific needs. So he tried to tranquilize the kids as I taught. MIB 2 comes on TV and that TOTALLY distracted me. I asked her if she thought the Book of Mormon was true and she said yes. That surprised me and so we read the last paragraph in the introduction page to the Book of Mormon. While she was reading I was looking at all the kids running all over the place and the movie going and a thought entered my mind. It was a quote from Preach My Gospel about someone that had a similar experience and the thought entered his mind to pay attention. I looked at her and focused all my energy on not loosing concentration. I asked her if she believed The Book of Mormon was true... again... then if she thought Christ was our Savior... if Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God.... and if The Church of Jesus Christ was the true church of God. She said yes to every question. The spirit filled the room and I forgot about the kids and craziness going on. I looked deep into her eyes and saw that she was completely and honestly sincere about all of that. I invited her to get baptized and she said yes. I love seeing the power the Book of Mormon has in the lives of others. She knew nothing, but through prayer she received a powerful witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. That is just one of the many times this has happened to me. The difference was how the Spirit pulled my mind out of the world to focus on the needs of this lady when no one else was listening to her. It was great!

Well, things are going great! I’m working hard and enjoying it. This was a rather rough week, but we pulled through with flying colors. I’m loving the work and don’t want to go home. Sorry, but I think I’ll probably stay out here as long as possible. I hope no one is missing me too much. But I also hope you know I miss you all dearly. What more can I say?

"I’m good family... Had a great week... tell you about it next week. Love ya"

I love you all...
Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

Easy come, easy go.

Well, I have to admit, I want to brag it up. We started a new system in the mission. The President is listing the top missionaries of the mission every week. Every key factor of the mission is weighed and then totaled. Of the 125ish companionships, we are ranked at number 20. And that is without baptizing or anything... WE ROCK!!! Sorry... I’ll stop.

Well, Elder Mortensen from St. George Utah is my new companion. He is an amazing elder. He speaks a lot better than I did when I got to the mission, and he is a lot better of a missionary then I ever will be. He really is an example to me. We have been working our hearts off this week. We ended up finding 19 new investigators this week... that was like 3-4 new families!!! I must admit, I’m quite enjoying the new missionary rush. You know... that rush of success you have from the missionaries freshly out of the MTC. Those elders who explode with the Spirit simply because they are so packed full of it. I love it! JUST LOVE IT!

We have had a pretty interesting experience week 1. Normally I don’t tell you all about this, but my companion already wrote home about it, so you can all find it out if you wanted to. We saw a drug deal this week. Day 2 on the mission and we walk by some drug dealer and his client... "just keep on walking elder". Later that day we found a guy who was obviously just doing drugs... HAHAHA... SURPISE!!! We also had a few drunks come up to us for various things. One of them wouldn’t leave us alone, so we gave him our apples an investigator gave us. Easy come, easy go.

The coolest thing about this week was finding. We really have been blessed to just find. We are bold and just walk in... it works out great! I must admit, this was a very powerful week for us. We got a lot done and I feel good about what we did. I don’t really know what all to say. Most of what happened was really personal, so I won’t tell you all. Let us just say that investigators are progressing. We took out a few baptismal goals this week, as well as dropped a few. Easy come, easy go. Some people just are not yet ready. But we also met someone who was just perfectly ready. A bunch of people actually. This week was AMAZING!!!

I’ll write more next week. I’m not really sure what to say this week and out of time all the same.

Love ya,
Tommy Steinkuhler

PS I’m sun burnt now and really blond again.
PPS We cleaned the pinch all morning... it looks pretty good.

Green

This picture just arrived from President and Sister Asay. Tommy is training again and here is his new companion, meet Elder Mortensen.

the true power of the Book of Mormon in connection with the Spirit

Well, it looks like things are going to change for me again. It is interesting to me that of my 10 transfers here in Argentina I’ve had 8 companions. That means I’ve only been with 2 companions for 2 transfers. Every other companion I’ve been with has stuck around for one transfer and nothing more. Elder Acuña has also left me. But that was somewhat expected. I just hope the Elder I receive will stick around with me a little bit longer. I`d tell you his name, but I cannot. I will find out tomorrow, because I’ll be training again. It feels weird not knowing the name of my companion again. I am currently with Elder Schupple. He is also going to train. He was in the MTC with me. Elder Hodson, my MTC companion is going to train also. YEAH!!! Elder Jones, the other Elder who came with us, left me to be a zone leader. I will miss that big Teddy bear.

Well, I am doing very well. I had a whole lot of things to tell you all. I even wrote some down, but then I changed agendas and now I don't have anything I wrote down... oops. But I have at least a few cool stories to tell you from what I remember. But before I start, I want to explain again that our focus is finding. So when we find, it feels great! It feels like we are completing with our calling as missionaries and will our calling as missionaries working under our great president. If that makes any since to you at all.

We got a reference last week from our zone leaders. They had no clue where it came from, just that it came. We went off to contact it the one day we had time. We got lost because they changed all the numbers on the street. We were walking down the street and I saw a lady sitting on a fence with her baby and I decided to do a contact. The Spirit just told me to ask her about the person we were looking for. She said, wow... that is my Mother. So we chatted and set up a time to come back when her mother would be around. It just turns out that her Mother is the daughter of an inactive member. She knows the missionaries very well and even cleans the churches. When we returned we asked to gather the family and explained to them just The Book of Mormon. It was very easy to feel the Spirit. It was strong in the room and all were impressed by the power it had on us. We invited them to pray and read. They promised they would... and the next time they would invite others as well. We found part of the family that day. There are about 15 in all, and we found 7. They were excited to see us return and are truly waiting for what we have for them. When we finished with the lesson, we asked the son in law to kneel down and pray to find out if what we were teaching was true. He and the family bowed down and he offered his first prayer. The Spirit was strong and I believe many received answers that very day.

A few days after we were walking down the road on our way to an appointment. I felt the Spirit pull me toward a house. I clapped and out came a nice lady. She smiled and said, ‘Hello Elder’. I laughed and said, ‘you must be a member’. We chatted and I walked into her house to meet her family. We sat down and began to learn. She was baptized when she was 12 years old, but stopped going because they moved and then she "didn't have time", that was about 20 years ago. Two days before we clapped on her door, she was talking to her husband about religion. She still says she is Mormon. Her husband is Catholic. The majority of her children are Evangelist. And one of her daughters is studying with the Jehovah`s Witness`. We called the family together and explained The Book of Mormon again. The Spirit washed over us again. We told them they could only know the truth by getting answers from God. We explained clearly and with power. All promised to read and pray who were there in the house. The mother offered the prayer. Something she hadn't done in many, many years. She cried softly as she communicated with her Heavenly Father again. The Spirit down poured on us and we left that house feeling full and edified.

Sunday I went out with Elder Coats, who got here about 6 weeks ago. He doesn't speak well, but has lots of power. We found 3 more. Those and every other person we found this week were just ready. They were all powerful lessons and great memories to me. If there is one thing I learned this week... it is the true power of the Book of Mormon in connection with the Spirit. We need to read from the Book of Mormon every day if we want to feel the Spirit. It is a clear and powerful way of feeling what God wants for us. I'm grateful for the time I have to read daily. I'm grateful for the opportunity to train again. New missionaries have such power, even if they don`t speak Spanish. I'm expecting to receive an American this time. So I’ll be able to learn all over again the Spanish language.

I love you all and expect to hear from you soon. Don’t leave me hanging high and dry.

Don’t forget that you are loved, at least by me.

Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

PS Argentina is going to mundial!!!!

We explained that feeling as the Holy Ghost

I feel like a broken record, but I swear this was the longest week in history. We did so many things. As most of you know, conference was Saturday and Sunday. So we spent all the week trying to prepare ourselves for it.

Wednesday we had interviews with the president. I got a package!!! I say this not to offend, but to help you understand my joy. I really don't get many letters or packages... So when something does come it is the thrill of a lifetime. Who was it from?! What does it say?! What is inside?! Needless to say, it is amazing to get things from the other world. So thank you mystery person. You know who you are... it`s great!

Anyway, interviews went well. I always expect the president to drop the cane on me... but he always just tells me I'm doing great and to continue doing it. So, I guess I get to stay in the mission for at least up till next interviews.

Thursday we did a Family Home Evening in the church with a whole lot of investigators to teach them a little more about the Prophet Joseph Smith and what a FHE really is. We watched the majority of Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration (which none of you have seen because it hasn't come out yet... hehehe... only missionaries have seen it). It turned out great... with lots of kids. You see, we are teaching a young couple who have 4 kids between the ages of 2 and 6. They are a handful. And we want our investigators to focus, so we normally play with the kids to keep them quiet while the parents learn. I’ll be honest... I still have a headache. Babysitting is something that I can do... it isn't ever easy with 4 kids... but even less easy as a missionary with 1001 rules pertaining to the child-missionary permitted conduct.

Friday we got a lot of people together to finish the movie and play volleyball (which doesn't really exist around here). I again was on child entertainment duty.

Saturday and Sunday during conference I was also on child duty. I basically only heard Priesthood and the last session of Sunday. Which were AMAZING by the way. I fought with kids for hours and then sat down to hear Elder Holland bear pure testimony about the Book of Mormon. It was extremely wonderful. Priesthood was off the spiritual hook as well. I took a million and one notes and only saw 2/5 of conference. I’ll be honest, I was starting to wonder if it was all worth it and then saw the change it made in the 5 investigators who went. DEFINATELY WELL WORTH IT!!!!

The young couple who went have had a very deep change of heart. The wife sat down for the first session on Saturday and during the talk of some lady leaned over to me and told me she had heard the talk already. I looked at her with a puzzled look and she asked me why I look so bewildered. I explained again that conference was happening at this very moment. That she was in fact giving that talk for the first time at that VERY moment. She stared at me and then clutched her chest. Soon tears were forming in her eyes and later she explained to us how she felt. We explained that feeling is the Holy Ghost and she looked at us as if she finally understood. The husband is a little more hard-headed. He only came to one session and loved every minute of it. Hopefully this week we will be able to take out a baptismal goal with both of them.

That wasn't all that happened. A lot more went down, but I can’t really explain how or why. Here is a cool little thing though.

Every day we need to do 5 contacts. Conference makes that hard. But we decided to do it anyway. Between sessions we returned back to our area to find more people. We did divisions with a few young men to get two groups. We took 15 minutes to do contacts. The only thing is that when we do contacts we don't just give them a pamphlet and leave. We try to find them at that very moment. Well, God always blesses us for being faithful and doing what he asks us. I decided to clap a house where a family was working on cleaning their clothes outside. The member that was with me said, "Hey, I know them. I just never thought we had time to stop by, so I never told you." We entered and taught them about the Book of Mormon and left all within 15 minutes. It turns out that they normally are not together, but that day they were because we took advantage of every minute of the day... God helped us find a family of 6.

There are just so many things that happen like that. We go a little bit more and God goes miles ahead of us to prepare our paths.

I’ve been thinking that it has been a long time since I have given my family/friends my testimony. I assume all of you are alright. But I know that there is something I’ve learned here on the mission that I want to share with you all. And it just so happens to be what Elder Holland talked about. The Book of Mormon really is everything. Every person we teach needs to gain a testimony of that book. They often ask us questions and the answer is always simple and findable within the Book of Mormon. We have been asked to divide the wheat from the tariffs more. The best way to do that is find out who is reading from the Book of Mormon and who isn't. It is amazing that every person who reads is progressing. Every person who doesn't gets dropped within a week. Many people have asked me why I don't use the Bible to teach. Well, it is simple. Everything I teach can be easily found within my triple... ESPECIALLY The Book of Mormon.
So I would like to add my testimony to that of Elder Holland. I am not as great at word choice as he, nor am I as powerful of a speaker, nor am I an apostle. But I want you all to know that I know The Book of Mormon is true. It is "the most correct of all the books on earth." I love it`s pages and glory daily in the power it has as I read and share with others what prophets have written to us. I love that book and will continue to read from it every day until the day I die.

Now is that dreadful parting we all hate. The moment where I go back into the Spanish world and leave you all to wait breathless for one more week (I doubt your breathless, but I`d like to imagine so). If anyone wants anything from me... let me know. I think I can find at least 20 minutes to reply to you all. I’ve learned one thing here on the mission. If you want to do anything special... you need to take sleeping time. I basically don't sleep anymore. So, if anyone wants anything... I now know how to find time ;) But in all seriousness... Is there anything I can do for my loyal listeners?

Love you all,
E. Tommy Steinkuhler

Elder Horse Whisperer... that is me

Well, this week was huge. I promise you, God has changed the time continuum or something. I know that the days/weeks are getting longer. There is no way I can tell you all of what happened this week.... but we`ll try. ("Do or do not, there is no try" -Yoda)

First of all... a funny little tid bit about missionary life in Argentina. The majority of members are converts. So they are used to the missionaries knowing more than them and being prepared to do anything. So every once and awhile they just ask us to do something last minute. Last Sunday, 30 minutes before Sacrament... they asked me to give a talk. I was with investigators and had no time to prepare, so sacrament meeting roles around and I sit down to write a quick talk... when the music director comes up and asks me to direct the music. So I go up to the stand and try to plan a talk in my mind. NOT ENOUGH TIME! As I was directing the music I realized I was doing a solo and that the reason I was directing was because no one in the audience (music director included) knew the words or melody. So I gave a talk about music and the power it has. I talked for 15 minutes and sat down. During the last hymn everyone at least tried to sing. It was really cool. The best part is that all the members gave me compliments this week on my wonderfully well written talk and all of them want to learn new music. I guess it was a success... and I guess God knew what he was doing.

Funny story: There are 4 elders in my ward. We went and ate together and were walking in some back roads when we saw in the distance a kid untie his horse. The horse bolted down the road right at us. The other 3 missionaries I was with screamed like little girls and ran for cover. I don't know why... but I jumped out at it and whistled. The horse skidded to a halt about 7 feet from me and took off like a rocket in the opposite direction. It was pretty funny. Then Elder Jones called me Horse Whisperer. Elder Horse Whisperer... that is me.

FUNNY STORY 2!: We went out one morning to contact a few people and put ourselves to do contacts. We saw a few kids in the yard of someone and a few adults, so we went to talk to them. As we are approaching the fence, we hear them call us and realize it is a bunch of ladies. Well, we decided to do the contact anyway. This lady comes up and we start to talk to her. Within about 2 minutes we realize she just wanted to talk to two young men from other countries. She started asking us how old we were, guessing I was about 25 and my companion 24. So we decide to finish talking with her and ask her when her husband would be around. She told us she didn't live there but would give us the direction of her family’s house. As my companion is writing her address down, she looks at me and blatantly says, "Sos lindo"... or in English, "You`re cute". Hmhmhmhmhm...Awkward. I just said thanks and goodbye. And we walked away. I’ll be honest, that kind of thing has happened to us before, but never has it been so blatant and hilarious. One thing I like is when they ask us if we`ll bring them back to the States with us. HAHAHAHAHA NO, soy un misionero!

Okay... now that we are done with all that fun stuff. I would like to talk to you all about a little more serious thing. The temple. It just so turns out I went to the temple again this week. Our ward was going so we decided to provechar (no clue how to say that in English anymore). We brought as many investigators as we could. In total we had 15 investigators and about 5 recent converts that all went with us. We could not go into the temple with them, but we walked around the temple and taught them all. It was a gorgeous day and I might have got a tan. I doubt I’ll be able to send photos today, but I’ll try to get some out. I spent a lot of time thinking about it and I would at least like to describe the investigators who went to the temple.

Damian/Nora: These wonderful people we found doing contacts my first day here in Mayol. They have 4 kids who are just adorable and cry every time we leave. He welcomed us into his house saying, "Yeah, let’s talk. But just so you know.... I don’t believe in God." He started to read The Book of Mormon and I think he is 2nd Nephi. The other day we taught him about Repentance and at the end he asked us, "Who are the gentiles?" It was great! They are some of the most wonderful people I know. They invited us to eat at their house this week and they ended up cooking all day to give us dinner. We had homemade ravioli with fish inside (WONDERFUL!). I’ll try to keep you all updated on big events with them. Just know that they are wonderful and I truly find joy with them.

Gloria: This wonderful lady is the mother of Juan who got baptized my first week here. She is beyond wonderful but can’t get baptized because she needs to get married (difficult here in Argentina). She knows more than most members and befriends every person we teach. I love her to death and all of her family. She is so patient and willing to serve.

Noelia: Also needs to get married. But she received an answer to The Book of Mormon my first week here. Ever since she has done everything we ask of her. The only problem is that she is REALLY pregnant. So it is hard bringing her places (like the temple). But she loves it to death.

Okay, there are a lot more, but I’m out of time. I´d just like to send you all my love. I worry for you all and pray for you all. I’m very happy. I’m working as hard as I possibly can and staying relatively healthy (always a problem for me). Something I learned this week is that children really are innocent. I saw it in the eyes of the children we teach. 3 Nephi 17 really had a powerful impact on me recently. Read it, love it. As for me, I’m off to the wild again. Love you all.

Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

PS Conference is this week!!!! Who is excited? IM EXCITED!!!!

They call us friends

Well, it looks like another week down. I can’t believe it has passed. I figure I’ll tell you all what time seems like for me, because everyone seems to mention it so much.

They say that the first year is hard and long... but the second is fast and easy. I fully disagree. I`d say that the people who say that are people who slacked off and didn't work their last year. Most people compare the mission to a mountain. At one year you reach the top and start to descend. I feel like I just climbed a mountain... yes. But instead of going downhill I started rock-climbing. But trust me, it is a lovely ascent. People say that "Days are like weeks and weeks are like days" on the mission. I kind of agree. The days feel like weeks, but the weeks feel more like months. Fortunately I think I’ll get my full 2 years out of my time here.

Another little thing about the mission right now, I feel like I owe you all apologies. Every Monday I receive e-mails that say that you are all praying for me... and that night I pray for all of you. I try to keep it up, but honestly... by Sunday I'm just praying for my investigators and that they all make it to church the next day. I’ll try to do better and be more consistent. Sorry.

Okay... that all said, don't take me wrong. I am doing wonderful. I love being here on the mission. We are working with some of the best people around. We brought a family to church this week that had never gone before. The husband wasn't able to come last minute, but his wife and 4 kids came. It was about a mile...ish walk to the church from their house. The kids range from 2 to 6 years of age. I know it is against the rules... but with the permission of the mother, I carried the smallest. We had a great time and the kids loved being in church. As well as the mother. When we brought them home we turned to leave and all the kids started yelling, "Come back!!! Don't leave us!" It was heart wrenching. The family has come so far. We clapped their house my first day in the area. The first time in their house they told us they didn't believe in God... or Christ. Now they are reading and praying basically every day. They have desires to change, get married and want to feed us. It is amazing to see the changes in the lives of people as we teach them. They call us friends and wait expectantly for our visits. I know it will take time, but we have surely found some "wheat" as opposed to "tariff".

We have the goal to find every day and as a minimum 10 people every week. We've been fulfilling this challenge, and then some. But as our President has taught us... we now need to start separating the wheat from the tariff. With so many found in one week and so little time to teach, we drop investigators all the time. If the Spirit doesn't tell us they will progress, we drop them. It is hard to tell good people that we won’t be coming around anymore... but it gives us more time to teach people who are ready for baptism. The mission is an interesting lifestyle. Full of it`s grand joys and small pains. I’ve learned so much since I’ve been here and continue to learn every day. Well, my reasoning for telling you all this is to explain a little more about why I don't write many stories anymore. With all of the sifting we are doing, I don't know how things will end. Just so you all know... we have 7 people who are ready for baptism, they just need to do this or stop doing that... and they will be baptized. That battle goes well here against Satan.

Well, I haven’t heard from a lot of you recently. I hope all is well and that all the birthdays are going well. I have everyone’s birthday written out on that calendar I got last Christmas, but I always forget to say happy birthday when the Monday comes around. So... HAPPY BIRTHDAY to all. I love you all and have faith that all is well. I’m doing great here!

Talk to you all next week,

Elder Steinkuhler

PS It got hot again.

I’m going to burn 90%

Well, this has been a rather long week. I'm writing you all on Tuesday because today is when we took our P-Day. We went to the temple for the last time today. The temple here in Argentina will be going under serious changes... so it will be closing down for 2 years... in October. So we went as a Zone and will probably not be returning. I did my last session in Spanish for a very long time. Very sad, but a lovely experience. My old companion Elder Kushlan leaned over to me as we were finishing up and said, "The next time you`ll be in the Lord`s house you`ll be at home". Scary thought!


This last week was a crazy mess of events. I did exchanges for the first time with my district. We baptized 2!!!! I’ve been trying to send you photos of these people, but it is really hard. Computers here don't run the same. But trust me, we baptized the 2 cutest little girls in history. We reactivated the family and then baptized the little girls that were too young to get baptized with the family. It was a fight though. A million and one top things that can go bad in a missionary week... went down. But it was fun, and a challenge. We ended up baptizing the girls and Elders Jones and Coats baptized a young man all on Saturday. Right after the baptism we gave them the Holy Ghost because the next day was Stake Conference. It is always an interesting experience telling someone: "Receive the Holy Ghost". But I’ll admit, I love using the Priesthood.

So, here are some cool things about my new calling as district leader: I ran my first district meeting yesterday. That was interesting. I planned it all out and then we did it. It was pretty straight forward... definitely time to improve. We also did exchanges. That was fun. I went to another area and we found 5 people and took out a baptismal goal. I’d say it was successful. Not to mention I got to spend some time getting to know my district. I went on exchanges with an American... so we talked English the entire time we were in the apartment. Really weird after spending 6 months only speaking Spanish in the apartment. We quoted Brian Regan to celebrate our new found English freedom.

We had Zone Conference this week. The President talked about the 12 tribes of Israel and how we need to separate the wheat from the tariffs. I always love listening to President Asay, he is simply amazing. There is no way you can know how amazing mission presidents are without meeting with them. They are simply amazing. We now have the goal to baptize EVERY WEEK, and find at least 10 new investigators every week. All of you ex-missionaries might understand how hard those two things are... but hey, it`s happening. We`ve baptized 2 weeks in a row... and not just one person, lots.

Um, there is not a whole lot of cool new stuff to report on. I explained to my dearly Momas this, but I’ll tell you all the same. Most of the stories I have I can’t share now. They all include private information that I don't feel comfortable sharing to the Internet world. Needless to say, wonderful people are making breathtaking leaps and bounds of faith. I love watching it happen... but you`ll all just have to wait about a year to hear the best stories.

Good news: I bought new garments at the temple today... I’ve decided that before I go home I’m going to burn 90% of my clothing because it is just not worth the effort of bringing it home.

Well, I hope all is well. I know lots of things are going on that I don’t know about... and even though I don’t know what they are... I hope they end well. I’d like to think that I’m still going strong. I feel good, I feel Great... I feel WONDERFUL. Baby steps, ya know.

All my love,
Elder T. Steinkuhler

PS It`s hot again. I’ll have blond hair in no time.

That threw me off guard and I politely turned down the request.

Well, what an interestingly awesome week. First of all to the questions.

Tell us about your new companion? My companion is a 22 year old child of Chile. He is short but stalky. He has a LOT of energy and loves working. He is an amazing example of desire and faith. I am his second companion... and he is still in his first area. But he already has major aspects of the mission mastered. I love him a lot... it is great to serve with him.

And how long were you a trainer? I was a trainer for 6 weeks (one transfer). I had already been in Villa Zula for 5 transfers... so the President basically had to move me out. Normally trainers train for 2 transfers (12 weeks). But my talents are needed elsewhere... But I´m not worried... with any luck, I’ll be able to train again. I love it.

Tell us about your new district, and the Elders there. My district consists of 4 elders. There are two Latin’s and two Yankees. Um, it is pretty good. I don’t know too much because I still haven’t gone out with them personally. I’ll let you know more when I do.

Tell us about your new area. It looks like city? It isn’t really, its more like the outskirts. Lots of mud... And the area is really small.

And the ward? Large or small? What kind of building? The ward is amazing. We share it with another set of elders. So there are 4 elders in total that go to the ward... and two more that meet with us for a branch on Sundays. It is pretty big. There are about 125 people in church every Sunday... here that is huge. The building is new and really nice, a typical Argentine chapel. I’ll try to send photos. The chapel is right in the middle of our ward boundaries (which would be our area) and right next to the apartment... so we go there all the time.

Your new apartment? Upstairs or down? 2 Elders or 4? The apartment is really a small house. There are 4 elders. Me, Elder Acuña, Elder Kushlan and Elder Hernandez. Elders Kushlan and Hernandez can’t find an apartment in their area, so they bunk in with us... it is really quite complicated. ANYWAY... It is a small house. We have 2 rooms for studies and a large room where we keep all 4 beds lined up. The kitchen is small and has no table. But we did just buy a new fridge!!!

What do you eat for breakfast…it can’t be American cold cereal. To tell you the truth, we try to find American cold cereal. The majority of the missionaries here eat that. But it is a little too expensive for me, so I make pancakes every morning. Which the other elders normally chow down on as well.

What are the holidays like in Argentina? There are almost always holidays here. Argentina is very Catholic. About 2-3 times a week there is a holiday. Normally for Saint Jo-schmoe... or whathaveyou. Everyone just takes the day off and does whatever they want. Really weird, but hey... what can you do. Basically the only corresponding holidays are Christmas, Easter, New Years, Valentine’s Day and Fathers day. Here Mothers Day is in the middle of October. So if you want I can call home the 16 of October instead of next May.

Well, that out of the way... let me share some of my week, although I have no time.

This area is very different. We go out with members almost all the time. The members here all were surprised at how open I was... they all thought I would be a square or something, anyway... they like me... so we go out with them a lot. That helps us baptize A LOT!!! This week we had a baptism. Next week we have a baptism... Our goal is to have baptisms EVERY WEEK! We don’t know how... but we have faith, we will try our hardest. The ward is split, so we share everything with two other elders. It just turns out the other elders are Elder Jones (from the MTC) and a new elder who JUST got here from the MTC named Elder Coats (who doesn’t understand a thing yet). Wonder to work with. Anyway... there is some background info.

As a district leader I have the opportunity to do baptismal interviews. Fortunately Elder Jones is a District Leader as well, so we can just do interviews for each other. He asked me to do one this week and so I got the opportunity to do my first interview with Celeste. She and her sister got baptized this Saturday along with Juan, the kid we baptized as well. During the interview I got to know Celeste. More than anything the interview is to help them feel secure and find out if they are ready for baptism. At the end I asked her who she wanted to baptize her. She asked me to do it. That threw me off guard and I politely turned down the request. I told her that it would probably be better to have someone from the ward do it or Elder Jones. She had Elder Jones do it (which I’m happy for). But I thought that was an interesting first interview experience.

The 3 people baptism went great! I’ll try to send photos. Baptizing days really are the best!!!

Well, it has been raining all week... so I’ve been all muddy all week. Just so you know. But the members still went out with us... They really are amazing. There are a few return missionaries here and preparing missionaries. One of them went to California, the mission next to Carlsbad.

It is interesting getting to know a lot of new people. I decided to just be bold and follow the Spirit in a bold way. During my first day we took out 2 baptismal goals and we found 12 people this week. It was an amazing week. It feels like every time the Lord asks me to do something new, fill a new calling of some sort... he makes me better, whether I want to be better or not.

Well, there is a lot more, but I’ll wait till next week. I love you all. Thanks for all the messages and love.

All my love,
Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

PS take it easy up there

Somehow I’ve been called to be a District Leader

QUESTION TIME¡¡¡¡
-Mate: Maté is a drink here in Argentina and some other South American countries. It is basically a tea, but you put the herbs in a... maté. You pour hot water on it. Then with a straw with a strainer on it you drink it... basically. But they refill it A LOT! So, everyone just shares the same straw. As missionaries we are not allowed to drink it, but I bought a matè. So when I get home I’ll try it out.

-Do you contact on the bus and train? YES!!! We talk to everyone. I didn't do it when I got to the country... nor did anyone else. But now it seems like the cool thing to do.

-Do you carry an umbrella? or just your raincoat? First of all... I'm from WASHINGTON. We don't believe in raincoats or umbrellas. Besides, normally we get caught out preaching. There really is no easy way to go back to the apartment, so we just get wet and hope the people have pity on us.

What do you carry with you?.... BOMs ? tracts? planner? lunch? ...in your yellow backpack, I guess. do you have a phone to keep in touch with the DL? I use my shoulder bag. When I go on long trips I use my yellow bag, but normally no. In my bag I have my Book of Mormon, planner, pamphlets, books of the Book of Mormon to give away, pocket hymnal, notes, and pens. Sometimes a movie or two, and always plastic bags for the rain. And no, I don't carry the Bible. I don't use it anymore. One of us has the cell phone. We use it to call appointments, leaders, etc.

Now... let’s get to the big news. I got transferred. I am no longer in Villa Zula. After 7 months there... I left. It feels SO WEIRD!!!! We get the calls Saturday night... so Sunday I said goodbye to everyone. A very sad day. It was like saying goodbye to my family, except I'm not sure if I’ll ever see them again. In any case, we finished strong. I figured... hey, I need to teach this new elder what working is all about. This week we found 5 new families and ended the week with 65 lessons in total. The elder who replaced me is all set up for GREAT success. I loved Villa Zula with all my heart, but it almost killed me. It is not an easy area. But it seems like in return for my hard work... the president has sent me to one of the best areas of the mission. Here I will baptize a nation. I'm in the area of Mayol... in Florencia Varela. My companion is Elder Acuña... from Chile. I live in another apartment of 4 with Elder Kushlan again... my old companion. I know none of this really makes a difference to you all... but to me it is huge. So... Here I am. Happy, sad, content... ready to work.

Speaking of working... The Lord has asked me to do a little something more. Somehow I’ve been called to be a District Leader. I don't know why... but I’ll do it the best I can. So... no, I don’t use the cell phone to call my district leader... because I don’t have one.

As for my request of the whole no-kisses thing... Not sure it worked. I did come here, so I guess I won’t get anymore. But last week I was averaging 5 a day (my companion kept count).

As a mission we set a new record. We baptized 49 in one month. The old record was 46. As a mission we are getting better and I as a person am more and more excited to work for God. I hope everyone is doing well. I’m trying to send photos this week so that everyone gets to see how I am. Don’t laugh at my yellow shirts. It just means I work hard.

As of my current state... I am good. Thank you all for the wonderful prayers that I know are coming my way. Thank you all for the love I receive from you all. My Father was wonderful enough to send me an e-mail with little notes from a lot of people. I want to let you know it was one of the best things I’ve received in the mission. I love you all and admittedly... miss you all as well. I hope the photos go over well.

Love love love,
Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

PS This is me walking in the wilderness finding a small peopling of peoples.


PPS This is me and Elder Acuña


PPPS This is how much my shirts dont fit me... HAHAHA

Protect me from the kissing people

So, I wrote down everything this week so I wouldn't forget what happened. Hopefully I can write you all a more complete letter, especially since I have a lot of time today.

First of all... I have a few requests. I really don't like asking for things, but I would like a few things from the States that I can't really buy here. For example: shirts. All my shirts are.......... old. And shirts down here don't normally have front pockets. That and I've been wearing HUGE shirts for the past 9 months...ish. If anyway wants to send me some light weight material long sleeve white shirts... I would love you a lot. Also, church movies. Not like "Finding Faith in Christ" or "The Restoration". Movies like "The Other Side of Heaven", "The RM", "The Best Two Years", etc. Something I can watch with the ward for a church activity. Oh, and NOT Singles Ward... please.

Also, I would like to know if any of you have ideas for cool activities to do with members. Cool ward activities that are low budget but fun.

Sweet... so this week started out on a bit of a bummer streak. Our baptism got cancelled on behalf of an early baby. It looks like 7 months is not the expected amount of time to be pregnant. Funny thing is... she got pregnant right after I got here... shows how long Ive been here. Anyway, she and her baby daughter are doing fine. But her son (the kid we were going to baptise) wants them both to be there. So we have to put it off.

Then there is Ariel. Some... people came and beat him up this past Tuesday at about 3 in the morning. He is a member of about 2 years. Not a pretty story. They injured his intestines and he had to have emergency surgery. The next morning our Branch President and his son-in-law gave him a blessing. Oh the miracles of the Priesthood. He is already sitting up and everything. No one has ever seen someone heal so fast. It is great!

Fun little story to express how long I've been here. At the beginning of my second transfer we found a nice lady by the name of Daniela. We taught her one time, but dropped her because she was never home. But this week we walked by and I had the impression that she might be there. So we clapped and sure enough, she was there. She invited us in just by looking at me and asked me a question. I answered her and she dropped her jaw and said, "Oh my goodness... you can talk Spanish now!!!" Turns out Ive become a little bit better since I got here. Turns out she is learning to sew now. Turns out I know more then she does and she wants my help. Interesting how old talents come in handy.

Speaking of old talents, I cook a lot here. Today we all got together and I made pancakes for everyone. Oh, and we watched LORD OF THE RINGS!!!! The first one. For some reason it got approved by the presidents wife and so we watched it. AMAZING, especially after seeing The Restoration 5000 times. The Restoration just doesn't have enough heads being cut off to satisfy all of a young mans needs.

So, Sunday we went to the top of our area again. Only this time we walked. Don't worry, it was only like 10km. Not a biggy. We decided to head out into the wilderness and low and behold... we found the long lost people of Los Tores. There is an entire group of people up there who have never heard anything from the missionaries. We plan on heading up there lots of times this week. I'll try to send photos when I can... I don't think this computer can do it.

Side note... I know I've mentioned this before, but I don't think I've ever been kissed so frequently in my life. For those of you who pray for me, could you ask the Lord to help protect me from the kissing people. Men AND women alike.

I guess that is really about it. I don't know what else to say to you all. I'm out of time anyway. I hope all is well at home. I miss you all terribly. I might be transferred next week. We will see. Um... Are there any questions?

Love you all,

Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

PS I'm doing good.

PPS So is my companion

PPPS How are you all? Long time no talk.

I like to be semi-white.

**question … where do you teach most of the time? And how? I don’t think you use flip charts either. Words and Spirit alone?

I GOT A QUESTION! I GOT A QUESTION!
Answer: We teach in various places. Like I said, we basically just walk in now. People here don't really have chair sets. Normally we sit down on logs, bed corners, rickety stools, etc. The houses here are sometimes just one small room. So we sit around whatever center piece they have... or just stand there. Whatever works. We really can’t sit on the floor, because it is often dirt... and I like to be clean. I know my shirts are not white anymore, but still... I like to be semi-white.

Every missionary teaches differently because we don't have a written lesson plan anymore. We really follow the Spirit with every lesson. Normally I use a few photos I’ve collected from magazines and pamphlets. When I teach the Plan of Salvation I draw it out in the back of their Book of Mormon. But normally we use words and examples and physical object to prove our points.

So, I’ve realized recently that I don't write as much as I use to. I started taking notice of it about a month ago. Since then I’ve realized how hard it is to write now. I was severely concerned for many days, until I realized why. It is so hard for me to switch from Spanish to English. Spanish spelling is so much easier. Not only that, but I speak Spanish almost all day. So the word order is very different. When I do speak English, it is with other missionaries who speak a mix of Spanish-English like me. So when I want to send a formal letter or formal anything in English... it is REALLY hard! So, I’ll try to practice my English a bit more so that you`ll get some better letters.

So, the weather has changed up a bit here. It was amazing how it went from freezing one day to SUMMER! Then a few days later it rained and everything felt like ice again. This Sunday morning it rained cats and dogs. People here don't have cars and taxis are expensive. So we only had us, the first councilor and the secretary in church. Four in total... a difficult couple of hours. Fortunately we all were prepared to teach and pray. Anyway, with the warm weather, everything has changed. New smells are in the streets and people act completely different. I`ll admit, I don't like the heat, but it brightens up things a bit. I'm sure I`ll be tired of it in a few weeks.

I have an experience to share with you all. More like a command. NEVER GO INACTIVE!!! We have a wonderfully terrible appointment this week with an inactive man. He ended up yelling at us more than anything. When we get baptized we get baptized for the right reason. Or at least I believe. Don't forget that reason. There is nothing sadder in this world then a person who abandons God because of sad things that happen. It has been some time since I wrote home a "call to repentance" letter. This is my plea to all of you: Read your scriptures, pray and go to church. If I get home and you are not doing these things... we are going to have a seriously long talk. I won’t forget.

Ha ha, anyway... it was a rather nice week. Rather difficult, but rather good. My companion is getting used to teaching, so that makes me as happy as can be. He is still really energetic and new. But it is amazing working with someone like that. Don’t worry about me. Things are going up. And from what I hear, things are going up for all of you as well.

I’d like to send a Happy Birthday and a Congratulations to all of you with Birthdays and big events in your lives. You know who you are. Chloe, Aaron, Zerr, Father, Jamo, Becky, Alex, David, etc... etc. Know that you are never far from my prayers and heart. I love you all with all my heart. Thanks for your support.

All my love,
Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

PS We should have a baptism this week! But we might change it because his mother just had a little baby daughter!!!!

I joined "The Gentleman´s Club" this week

What to say, what to say? Every week is so full that it feels like a month, yet when I get to the computer I cannot think of anything to say. I can tell you all about the wonderful p-day I'm having. But I bet you don't want to hear about that. Actually, I will tell you a bit about it.


Saturday the 8th of August of 2009, my loyal and once trusted shoes died. I have photos of the sad event. The sides ripped open about 4 months ago and I sewed them back up. Then they ripped open again, and I didn't fix them. Then the sole on my right shoe started falling off. They were only about a millimeter thick anyway, but still... they fell off. Well, they were falling off... so I just ripped them off. I decided re-soling my shoes would not be the best option. So today I went shoe shopping. It was something I had planned for quite some time now... but today was the day. You may all be wondering what I am wearing in the mean time. Elder Trent lent me his shoes. But today I bought some nice no-lace shoes AND a cool polo hat. Because the store was just amazing and the hat just called my name. That and I was wearing a green sweater-vest, so it just went along. I might admit, I feel somewhat sophisticated.


As for the week, it was a rather long one. We had interviews and intercambios (companion exchanges) and all sorts of stuff. It was a really eventful week. We dropped the cane on people. We worked with members. We did everything we should of... except baptize. We focused as hard as we could during the week and by the end I realized that I had taught more lessons this week than any other week on my mission. Which is interesting because we basically lost a day doing interviews. That was one of the reasons I bought the hat. I joined "The Gentleman´s Club" this week. Teaching more than 40 lessons in one week. So I bought a gentleman`s hat. We took out another baptismal fecha for this amazing kid. So hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be able to see another baptism!!!!

We have a new focus in our mission. We focused for a long time on teaching skills. For anyone who wants to see the data... here is what WAS happening. For every 30 people we found... one would get baptized. Now we are at about 15. A little lower than that. So we are focusing on finding people now. And to do it we have some new techniques. Basically we just say hi and then walk into the house. We have been praying for help doing that and this week we found about 7 people doing that. I was really scared doing it the first few times, especially since 90% of the people have metal bars in front of their house... and because I’m training. But it works well. I found an entire family just by saying "Is this your family?" and walking in shaking hands. At one point in my life I could have said I was fearless... Now I know I am.

Now that I have a year I feel the pains of a year on the mission. I’m loving it, but I’ve decided that more than a year like this will actually kill me. I told you all I wasn’t going to come home. Well, I think I might. We`ll see in a few months.

My training-ness is going pretty good. I’m enjoying training but it is really hard. We both started loosening up this week and enjoying it. But there were a few weeks there that were pretty uptight. Needless to say, I’m very thankful for all your prayers and concerns. As for the great missionary update: "I’m doing well. Keep the letters coming. I love you all. -Elder"

I don’t really have any stories I would like to share this week. But I would like to tell you all again... it is amazing to teach someone and feel the Spirit. To be in the middle of a lesson and the Spirit is just running out of you toward the other person. To say just want they need and to see the change in their face as the feel God`s love. And it only comes through complete and perfect obedience. I’m sorry if I have been rather cold to any of you. I’m sorry if I haven’t written in a long time. I’ve been really focused lately. I’m going to try and find time to write people. I know that a lot of big things have been happening to the people I love most... and I’m sorry that I haven’t said anything to you yet. My apologies for not being there for you all. I’ll try to do better.

In case I don’t see you: Good afternoon, Good evening and Good night (for the next year). Hugs and kisses to you all.

All my love,
Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

PS I hope you like the photos.
PPS Are there any questions?