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!!!!
Monday, September 28, 2009
Monday, September 21, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
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.
Monday, September 7, 2009
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
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
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