Lead and I will follow

Okay... I know this will be the worst weekly report ever... because it will be completely random. But I’ve just got a lot of good stories to tell. So listen up.

Lightning Bug: This Tuesday I was on intercambios and we basically got rejected all day long. BUT we had a dinner appointment that night, so we had something to look forward to. Well, it gets dark really early here now, so about 7 we were walking around trying to do contacts in the pitch black darkness of Argentina. We passed by a large black field and I saw a light flicker off in the distance. Then again. So I told my companion and we ran out into the field to discover what it was. He could not see anything and was tripping all over the uneven ground. But because of my colorblindness... I see really well in the dark. Long story short. I caught it (when it was not light-up). It was the coolest catch I’ve ever done. It involved me jumping off a hill and snatching it out of the air way above my head... good times.

I received my packages this week!!! So all of you who have sent me packages... thank you. I finally got them. And Meghan, I love that music. We have been listening to it non-stop in the pinch. And people around here love the Japanese candy. Not to mention... Nasty homemade root beer never tasted so good! And the letters where just what I needed. Thank you all so much. I’d give you a hug, but with the way things travel around here... you won’t get it until I get home anyway... so just wait.

Update on "grandpa" or the guy who looks like an older me. We went over to his house to talk to him this week and he explained to us a few problems he was having. And so we set an appointment up to come back. When he was explaining his problems a thought entered my mind... you see: Last week an angel sent me an e-mail. This beloved Child of God sent me the "Message from the First Presidency" in English. It struck me as something to share with this family. So we returned and read it together in Spanish. His wife started to chock up and Hermano Huarte (my twin) really stopped and listened. It was amazing to see the Power of our first presidency at work within the lives of these my dear friends. And all I can say is thank you to my angel, the first presidency and God.

Every once in a while I go through the list of ex-investigators and pull out a few names of people that look like we might be able to teach them. Some papers say "Left on vacation, go back in 3 months-2004". So we swing by and the people who were once ready for baptism had completely forgotten about the Book of Mormon. I had a name in my lists that was kind of out of the way. But this week I just decided to go. They reason for dropping him was as follows, "drunk-2006". So we swung by looking for his house (we didn’t have the exact address). So I clapped a house and a man comes out with long hair and a scruffy beard. I said, "Hi we`re looking for someone... is this *address XYZ*"... Yup... "Do you know Mario"... Yup... "Are you Mario"... Yup. So we come over and he pulls out some chairs. The man was basically dead drunk but he still wanted to listen to us (when we left, my companion and I both agreed that he was the smartest drunk man we`d ever met). He pulls out a Book of Mormon in a white case with pictures of Jesus all over it. Right on the top it says in English, "Please Baptize Me!!!". We opened up the book and he read a chapter to us. Afterwards he says... I need to change. So we take out a baptismal date right there and then... The next day we come back and the man had not only shaved but got rid of all his alcohol and cigarettes. We taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he committed to follow it. So hopefully in 2 weeks we will baptize him. Lead and I will follow, right.

We are also teaching a girl named Mikaela. She is wonderful and we should be taking out a fecha with her soon as well.

Also, a nice mother of one of our recent converts told us she wanted to get baptized. We taught the member about temples and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. During the lesson, this lady told us she really wanted to be baptized. Then she came to the ward activity and church the day after. We had invited her there... but she then came all on her own... without her daughter. She reminds me a lot of my Grandma. Full of energy and always improving herself. I am really looking forward to teaching her (she is just afraid of Water... we`ll see how that goes).

Well, I’ve got more... but not more time. It is fun working here with my companion. We both drag each other around all the time and we really get the work done. We get rejected 10 times more and walk 10 times farther.... but we have about 20 times the success. I love it here and really feel like I’m making a difference. I’m so glad to know that I’ve got everyone of you behind me supporting me. It is great to have people to rely on when times are hard. Thanks for reading. Don’t forget to pray.

All my love,

Tommy

PS This weekend is conference. The wonderful thing about that is that I’ll know exactly where you all are during that time. And you`ll all know where I will be. So... see you at conference.

Yup... Beach

Hey everyone... I’m sorry that this will be so short today. I have a rather busy day ahead of me. But believe you me, this week could take weeks to explain. I don’t know why, but this week seemed like at least 3. It seems like everyone has said that to me as well. Hmm, well, I don’t know what God is doing, but I think it involves slowing time down for some reason or another.

Well, one reason might be because they changed the time this week. Now we work in the dark for an extra hour. It is weird. They changed the schedule for all the people who work early in the morning (all 5 people in Argentina)... but that means that by the time we go home at night... we were in the dark for about 2-3 hours. It really is odd.

Well, Elder Kushlan. A lot of people want to know what he is like. I’ll tell you, he is like a missionary. I like him. He is from Utah, sadly. And really likes to work. He can’t waste five minutes of time... so as annoying as that can get when you need to pee... it really is good. We have been getting a lot of work done in our area and I can already see the area getting better. We have been working our tails off to find people and to reactivate people. We really are getting a lot of success and are planning on taking out a few baptismal dates this week. A funny side note about him... Elder Trujillo was with him in the MTC. So when I found out I was going to be with him, Elder Trujillo yelled out "HAHA, the Russian Assassin". I was totally lost... but now I understand. I’m not sure why it fits him... but it does.

An interesting story about our area. We have an area that is about 20-22 kilometers long... or about 12-14 miles long. We took a bus this week to the end of the area to see if there was anything there. It turns out... there is very little. Well, the bus driver basically told us, "well, you`re already here. Might as well take a look around. I’ll be back in about an hour." So we took off and still found nobody. But there is something very interesting about our area. It runs right into La Rio De La Plata. For those of you who don’t understand what that is... I’ll explain. There is a river between Argentina and Uruguay. It is the widest river in the world. It basically all runs into the ocean. So basically it looks like the ocean. ANYWAY: We chilled at the edge of the area (the water front) for awhile... then went wandering around. It just so happened that our friend/investigator was life guarding there. So we sat down and taught him and his wife. Then they gave us a ride home and we continued working. That night a missionary who is done with his mission came to visit a family with HIS family here in our area. So we went over there and chilled with a Californian family that speaks NO English. It is interesting to see how far I have come when I have to translate for others.



Another cool thing... That crazy contact I did with Elder Harmon right before he left... well, when we returned his daughter in law was like... Hey, I’m leaving right now... when are you coming back. So we came back and taught her. She is very receptive and progressing nicely. AH!!! I’m loving it. Progress feels so good.

Um, my companion got sick this week so we spent some time chilling in the pinch. I’ve played WAY too much chess and it turns out no one in the pinch can beat me. :D My companion used to play in state competitions... just goes to show that my Dad and I could take on everyone in Utah without breaking a sweat. Well, except Ryan of course.

Okay... I’m jumping off now... Take care everyone. I’ll write more soon..


Love,
Tommy

PS the weather here is super hot again. I hate it. It cooled off for like 2 days. Now we`re back to sweating up a storm.

"You Mormons?" "You betchya!"

Well, this week had been a load of fun... but also a load of work. My companion Elder Harmon is at this moment waiting for his plane to come so that he can return from 2 years on a mission. Yes... that does feel weird. I am now companions with Elder Kushlan. He has about 4 more months then I do and is RUBIO!!! Sorry... blond. Um, we will be staying in Villa Zula and working here harder then ever before. He seems like a cool guy and I like him (again, VERY IMPORTANT). Well, because my companion left today... my last week was somewhat odd.

Monday I went to a little out of the way area and slept there for the night. I was with my Zone Leader Elder Smith because Elder Harmon and the other Zone Leader went to Capital. We didn't get together again until after district/zone meeting on Tuesday. Elder Harmon and I then returned to our area to work. We had the goal of doing 30 other lessons this week to help him finish strong. An "other lesson" in our mission is any time that we teach a principle from Preach My Gospel, leave a challenge and they promise to do something (in our area, buses and stuff don't count). 30 is about 3 times what a normal companionship does in our zone. To top it all off... it was raining almost every day (I loved it... Elder Harmon hated it). Anyway... we worked until Thursday night, when we took off and switched companions again. I went to the Zone Leaders area this time and the leaving elders took off to the temple... a special treat because we don't get to go much. We got together late Friday night and worked again Saturday. Then all of Sunday we traveled trying to find old investigators/members again before Elder Harmon left. We spent all day traveling around our mission and visiting people. When we finally got home we both just crashed. Then this morning at 5 we took off again for the transfer meetings. Needless to say, I'm tired. We didn't quite get 30 other lessons... but in only 3 days, we did get about double the norm. Well, I'm sorry if this message is a bit crazy. I blame it on the tiredness.

Cool stories: On our way to church from the train station... a man called out "you Mormons?" I stopped, realized we were in front of a Catholic church... turned around and basically said "you betchya". It turns out he had recently found a Book of Mormon and wanted to be baptized. So we invited him to church and he started walking with us. We started teaching him about what he needed to do before he could get baptized. As he was smoking, we told him we don't smoke or drink. At which he threw his cigarette on the ground and chucked his package of other cigarettes. "Fine, I’m done" he stated. We got to church and he stuck around almost the entire time. He was really cool and the Elders there will be going to teach him soon. So, that was cool.

Cool Story 2: There is no form for contacting... you have to realize that before I go on. Well... we contacted this lady who told us to come back. So we were coming back to our "finding appointment" and she wasn’t there. So we turned around heading to another destination. I turned to my companion and said, "I think we should clap here... Good people live here". My companion just laughed and said, "Sure, but its yours". So I clapped and a man came out. I said this in Spanish, "Hi, we are representatives from The Church of Jesus Christ and we pass by your house all the time. But today we want to talk to you and share a message about prophets. Is that okay?" The man just stared at me for a second and I could feel my companion already starting to turn away... at which is said "Bueno, passen". Or in other words... cool, come on in. So I walked in and turned around to see my companion standing with is mouth slightly open staring at me. We came in and taught him. Cool guy, good family. We`ll go back soon. Sometimes the simple words work best.

Cool Story 3: Transfer meetings are basically a huge gathering of about 250 or more missionaries. About half end up taking one train and the other take another. We all have it timed out as to how long it takes to get to the mission house. So, we normally all end up on the same train... even if we live miles apart. Anyway. We got on the train at about 6 today and had a 3 hour ride to the mission house. During the ride an elder pulled out his Ukulele (little guitar from Hawaii... I can’t spell). Because of the fact that there were about 100 missionaries on the train... we started singing and passing out pamphlets. Five of us were doing it and because of that... about 1000 people on the train all got to hear a little of the gospel and all the other missionaries had people coming up to the asking them about the gospel with a pamphlet in hand. It was amazing. I felt good. Oh the power of a few tired, bored kids with a message and musical instrument. :D

Okay... those are just some good stories. I’m not sure what else to say. Any questions? It has been some time since I’ve got any.

Well, I’m going to get going and start the long trip home. Wish me well... Sometime when I get home I’ll tell you all about traveling in Argentina... it is pretty fun stuff. But alas, there is no time today... nor will I remember next week. That is, unless someone ASKES me about it.

I love you all. Keep your Spirits up,

Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

PS Boom Digidy.

my Mother tells me to "shine"

So this week was CRAZY!!! I want to tell you all about it... but I’m on intercambios and REALLY short on time. I did manage to get a lot of pictures up from this week. So, check them out... hopefully they will make up for my shortened time. I might have time to write tomorrow because I’m not using all my time today and my companion will be needing to use the Internet tomorrow because he is in Buenos Aires currently. ANYWAY... Some big points:

Summer break just ended down here... so everyone started back up at school. Here that means there are a ton of little kids and teenagers going around in white clothes. It kind of looks like little doctors going around everywhere... but I like it. I think it is both funny and cool. It also reminds me of Harry Potter a little bit.

We did end up going to the Capilla or church building here in La Plata. It is a HUGE Catholic chapel. We got the tour and everything. I loved it and actually was very impressed. It reminded me of the dedication early pioneers had for their temples... that so often got burnt down. This chapel was quite interesting and I ended up taking like 30-50 pictures. I feel like I’m turning into my Mother. Perhaps I’ll send more some other time.

There are also pictures of a man in our ward, Brother Huarte. The first time I walked into the building people started telling me I looked like him. So, I ended up getting over to his house (he hasn’t yet been to church since I’ve been here) and taking photos. He reminds me a lot of Grandpa and looks a lot like me. I also got some photos of his younger self. I think without the whole chin clef, we could pass for twins... if we were the same age.

Uncle Huarte when he was my age

Uncle Huarte .. or me in 50 years

A lot of people make frequent mention to my smile. Why, I don’t know. But they do. I started taking notice of it. I think my Mother tells me to "shine" every time I hear from her. So I just smile and hope I’ve brushed my teeth recently. I love to smile and my companion rarely cracks a grin. ANYWAY... this is all leading up to a story that I want to tell... because I haven’t been keeping you all up on the Spiritual part of my Spiritual 2 years. So, here is a wonderful story for you all...

We recently went to a member who hadn’t been to church in a long time. He was the only member of his household and so we ended up teaching the entire family. They loved it and asked us to come back. We were passing by before our next appointment because some other menos active (less active) families live on that block. We passed by the corner as normal and I felt the odd feeling to talk to them... as normal. But I saw the beer and decided to keep on our way. We ended up clapping like 3 houses within 50 yards and getting rejected 3 times in 50 yards. We normally only do one clap per street... so we were leaving the street the way we came and ended up passing by the same house. I wanted to talk to them really bad and glanced over at them... with a huge smile. I slowed my pace a bit and nodded (as is my custom). Someone blurted out something and I stopped... I was really only looking for an excuse to stop. My companion was just following me around, so he stopped also. We ended up standing there for about an hour and a half (not normal) talking to this family of 7 adults and about 10 kids. They were rather loopy drunk seeming at first. But really wanted to know what we had. They ended up not actually being drunk (but yes, drinking) and after teaching/talking to them for over an hour and a half... they invited us into their yard and we had about a 30 minute discussion from the scriptures.

All of them started out with the mind-set that if we had ever clapped their house... they wouldn’t even come out (they straight up told us). After finding out we were normal and interesting... they listened. Then the Spirit touched them and they invited us back. I love how the Spirit changes people. ANYWAY, we ended up teaching them Lesson 1, 2 and 3... along with 10 commandments, Word of Wisdom, Law of Chastity and "O.L.A." (Orar, Leer and Asistir). We never do that... but they wouldn’t let us go and wouldn’t stop asking questions. We`ll go over it all again because we didn’t challenge them to any of it. But they all know the principles and promises. Oh, I did very much enjoy that night. They even asked to take pictures with us.

There is a little Spiritual blup for the week.

Okay, I’m off... Next week is transfers, so I’ll have a new companion for sure (mine is going home). I love hearing about all the news out there. All my pregnant/new parents/recently wed/recently engaged friends. You`re all so wonderful.

"I’m doing good. I’ll write more later. Write me. Love, The Elder"

Take... luck.

All my love,

Tommy

I've turned British ... when I finally learned to smoke a pipe.

GIANT Empenada!

Boom!!!

Berisso y Villa Zula Pinch-Mates

So, this week is not that exciting to report on. We had a lot more success this week than normal. I started focusing on contacts while we traveled. We found a few golden people and ended up teaching a lot more lessons this week then last. We also did intercambios (companion exchanges). I went to another area with this really cool Elder named Elder Mason. We had a grand old time and got a lot of work down. It is really fun to work outside your area... because you feel like you can make a fool of yourself and by tomorrow it doesn't matter. So you try to talk to more and more people. You get out of your comfort zone more. It`s crazy. I love it.

We also had interviews after intercambios. The President (Presidente Asay) gave me some good advice and helped me redirect my path. Every once and awhile I feel like sliding around... finding cracks. It is great to have someone help you find the center again. Now, don't get me wrong... I'm not like sneaking out at night or anything. I just hadn't realized how much power I had as a junior companion. I believe that because of his direction, we`ve been having more success. President Asay also approved our area for bikes. So we might be going out to buy bikes soon. Our area is HUGE and goes all the way to a giant river... which then runs into the ocean. I looked at a map recently and realized how close we are to the ocean. Look up Berisso on a map and you`ll basically see where we are. If you`re bored or something.

After the interviews were over, the President came up to me... pointed at my companions hair and said "to here Elder... by tonight". So we went home to our citas (appointments). We just happened to have a cita with a member who cuts hair. She lent us her buzzers and that night I cut my companions hair (see photos). When he took off his shirt and I told him I couldn’t cut his hair with all his back hair staring at me. So I shaved his back too. That was a pretty fun night. He said he really liked his haircut and that it was the best he`d had in a long time. I think people in Argentina don’t really know how to cut hair like a missionary. So, maybe I’ll get a job or something doing this... who knows. All I can say is... Thank you Melanie!

The weather has been REALLY weird here. We have some of the hottest days... followed by some of the loudest thunder I’ve ever heard. Saturday night we all got woken up by what sounded like Cannons going off in our bedroom. It`s funny because I miss the rain a LOT... but my companion hates it. All well, at least I get to enjoy myself sometimes.

Um, I’m sorry this is so lame... but I don’t really know what else to say. This week wasn’t really that cool. I’ve been studying the scriptures more and more. I’m still trying to understand the importance of Hair and Honey. They get connected in a few spots too. In Isaiah 7 and the story of Samson. Anyone got anything good for me?

Hey, a little side note... if you are going to send me a package... which I LOVE!!! I need you to send it Express. Otherwise bad things happen and it just makes things... difficult. Thanks.

Um, I guess that is about it. I’ll take off now and leave you to your thoughts. Sorry I’m so boring. Today we should be going to the GIANT CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL! Hope for pictures.

I love you all. Thanks for all the prayers and love. I’ll be home soon... I’ve just got a few more things to do here.

All my love,
Tommy

PS The church really is the only thing that brings peace. I’ve learned that this week.

This is what you call a Villa

This is what you call Crazy