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