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?

It works like a charm.

Well, this week seems to have gone by slowly. So much happened, but at the same time not much at all. First of all, a few pieces of news:

The "pouch" system does not long come to Argentina. So all DearElder letters or letters sent to me via Utah will no longer get to me. It seems to be a problems for the church and with the whole raising the bar thing... we are trying to cut down on ineffective use of missionary time. Which is great... but means we won’t be writing as much as before.... but eh, whatever.

I’m still training Elder Gallardo. He is an interesting fellow and I found training a real trial at first. But the majority of the corners in our relationship have been rubbed out and we are doing fine. We have been working really hard here in Villa Zula. I don’t have any fun stories this week, so you`ll just have to settle for something more spiritual.

I’ve been trying out a few new techniques we learned from Elder Aidukitis. One of them is basically just walking into the person’s house when doing contacts. It works like a charm. We do a contact and then tell them we are just going to explain it and walk in. They are normally just like.... um...um... okay. And we find people. This is really good because I feel like I’ve talked to almost everyone.

We also took out two more baptismal dates this week. We taught this girl I’ve been teaching since I got here. She and her boyfriend finally agreed to a set day to be baptized. It was a huge experience for me. And I’m sure that when she gets baptized... it will be the best day of my mission.

We also taught this lady who started off the appointment telling us, "look, I don’t plan on going to your church or being baptized. I’ve already been baptized and I’m Catholic". I explained to her the Holy Ghost and she felt the power of my words. I testified of how I feel the Spirit EVERY DAY. How it puts Spanish words in my mouth that I’ve never learned. How it helps us find and teach. At the end of the lesson you could see the change in her countenance... She found the desire to pray and receive an answer. We`ll see. I love teaching like that.

I also had a few "drop the cane" appointments. Those are great. It really was an amazing week, especially since we doubled the attendance in sacrament this week from a few months ago. And we re-activated a 17 year old kid... who started visiting members because of what we taught him. It was amazing.

That and so many more things... that I don’t have time to explain. Just know it was amazing.

I hear Jamo and Becca tied the knot. Congrats. I hope everyone else is doing well... know I’m great.

Love,
Elder Steinkuhler

PS I’ll admit, I’m tired of the cold.