What would the world do without missionaries?

Well, one week down. 64 to go... not that I’m counting or anything.... my companion is though. This week has been the most packed and longest in history. We played soccer... talked to a million people and worked like there is no tomorrow. We finally have everything running smoothly in this wonderful little branch. We have a wonderful lady by the name of Hercilia that is going to be baptized next month. We have been working a lot with her and others. The blessings are starting to pour down from all the work we have done. It really does feel wonderful to see the Lord`s hand in action as his work goes forth. If there is one thing I’ve learned out here it is this: We are doing the Lord`s work. We are actually guided by the Lord and he will force us to do it the right way if we are doing it wrong.

Well, this was a very un-eventful week to write about. But this one funny thing did happen. My companion FORGOT HIS PLAQUE (name tag) on his shirt when we washed our clothes. How, I don’t know... but he thought he lost it. The next day it falls out of the laundry.... all messed up. It has some of the letters gone and doesn’t close anymore. So last night we boiled it to try and fix it a bit. If we damage a plague it takes about 7 months to get a new one.... so we have to use this for now. See photos for reference. The boiling process worked fairly well... it made the plague look old and faded... but at least it closes.


Today (being Tuesday) we are going to do a zone activity... so we switched our p-day again this week. But don’t worry... it isn’t a usual thing. Next week we`ll be back on the Monday schedule. Today we we’ll be watching a movie and eating Argentino BBQ.

We had a cool dance this week also. A young lady is getting married in our ward... so they invited us to the wedding reception. It was in the church, at the same time as the stake dance. Well, none of the youth were dancing. So Elders Kushlan, Trujillo, Vargas and I busted it up. We looked in the rules and it actually says NOTHING about dancing... so we went out there and started acting like clowns. Everyone thought it was hilarious and joined it. By the time we left, it was a real dance. What would the world do without missionaries?

All right... that is about it. I’ll try to think of something more interesting for next week. Sorry this is so lame. I’m excited for all that is going on at home though... Of what I know about.

Take care everyone, I send you all my love,

Elder Tommy S.

they look at my smile and break down

I had a QUESTION!!!! What is the country like...? They say that our mission is "the armpit of Argentina". Whenever we tell people where our mission ends and starts, they tell us that we happen to be in the ugliest part of Argentina... geographically speaking. There are no mountains, one river (that I still think is the ocean), no hills and lots of trees (you can just throw seeds out your door and the next day have a garden). It is not Washington, Utah or New Hampshire... that is for sure. And currently it is VERY cold. I don't know how it changed on me like that... but I like it.

ON that note: It rained here a few days ago... and with the cold I wore my long trench coat (I’ll send pics). Dogs naturally hate missionaries and this one in particular. It came up to us and I started whipping my coat at it (if you play with the dogs they like you more). It started acting like I was a bull fighter and he was the bull. It was pretty fun for awhile. He`d lunge at my coat and I’d pull it out of his way... we played for awhile as we walked... until a girl took a few kicks at it for the noise (she missed).

ON that note: The day before we went out trying to find someone late at night. It was dark and cold and we were thinking about just going back to the pinch. I pulled out the name of one last member and we headed off. The house did not exist. So I clapped another one to ask what happened. A boy came out and I asked him about this member. He asked us to wait and took off back inside. THEN... it started to rain... HARD. My companion always, ALWAYS, has his umbrella.... except that day. The kid looked out the door and yelled at us to come in, we would get all wet. We entered the house and found a young family. We chatted a bit and they wanted us to come back... so we set up an appointment and left. As soon as we walked out the door... the rain stopped. Oh... how amazing the mysteries of God.

Elder Trujillo received a package this last Tuesday and inside was a bunch of balloon animal balloons. None of us have a clue how to do it... so I picked one up, practiced and ended up going with a monkey (I’ll send pics). It was awesome. I want to call him Jerald... el mono. I found that I like balloon animals, go figure.

Something EVERYONE always says is to keep smiling. I would like to once again comment on it. My first baptism (Martin) sent me a letter this last week. It was dearly wonderful and I got my animo back from it. He commented, "I’ll never forget your great smile that you always had." There, my friends, is proof I smile. I like people watching when we travel. People here look like missionaries feel... tired. Everyone is frowning and glum... like they are afraid of something. I now understand why. But I find myself smiling every time I see that. I find myself smiling all the time. When I don’t... people mention it. People have let us in because of my smile. People think I’m a lot younger then I am and have pity on us. So they look at my smile and break down. I’m glad God prepared me from the beginning for my mission. He really is a wonderful father.

Wonderful news... we took out two more baptismal dates this week. We are really tearing up the area. I probably won’t be around to see all of the fruits... but I feel it now as I look back. I’m glad to finally report that I’ve made an impact here in Villa Zula. Here I was thinking I was a failure, but... go figure.

Last note... I probably can’t send it, but there was a kid juggling on the train today. HE WAS AMAZING. I videotaped it and will try to send it with the other pictures next week. Sorry. But he was AWESOME. I love traveling in trains here. I think people could live on the trains if you want. Food, comfort, and entertainment.

Well, I’m out. Sorry this is short. We played soccer as a mission today. It was fun, but it took all our time. Just so you know, I was the goalie and kicked some trash... And I now have a sweet Argentine jersey.

All my love,

Tommy

I think it was unanimous

This week has almost killed me. They say that as you get farther out in the mission... time gets faster. If this week is a sign of the next year... I’m done for. I will admit that I am tired, hurt and want to sleep. I am happy though. I’m glad that I’ve done all the work I have... I feel good about that. We have really exploded this area. We have taken a dead area and turned it into a smooth running machine! But it certainly does drain ones energy. But talking to the family yesterday was certainly an uplifting experience. I’m glad to hear that everyone is doing so well.

Well, a little heads up. Next week we are changing our P-Day to Tuesday because we are going to play a huge mission wide soccer game again. It is Zone vs. Zone. So today we practiced and I was asked to be the goalie. I think it was unanimous... so I guess I’ll do it. The only problem with that is that I have NO time today. My apologies. I did just talk to everyone yesterday... so I hope people won’t be too mad. I’ll give you one quick story though.

I did a contact about 2 weeks back. She said I should come back... so we did... and she told us to come back again. Some people say that so that we just lose interest and they don’t have to reject us openly. But I felt good about it... so we went back a third time. She invited us in and we taught her and her son. They were very open people and very receptive. She had even been to church before. Well, we taught them lesson one and she said that being baptized by someone who actually had power from God would be a good thing. So we are working hard to help her get that blessing. We have already taught her twice and we are returning today. She and her son are reading the Book of Mormon and praying about the message it contains. This next Sunday they should be at church again. I love the way the Lord works. We really are being blessed here for our labors.

Well, I’m off. Sorry this is short. Know that I send my love from Argentina and that I’m safe and sound. I’ll try to get something more interesting out next week... but with the championship and all... we`ll see.

Take care until I return at least.

All my love,
Elder Tommy Steinkuhler

Truth is really the only weapon we have

This week has been a rather long one. I would like to make a few corrections about my previous e-mail that seem to have been misunderstood. First of all... I know I said that the transfers were not that exciting and I want to clarify that I meant the changes... not the fact that I was staying in Villa Zula with Elder Kushlan. As a matter of fact, I love being in Villa Zula and cannot think of a better person then Elder Kushlan to work with. We are the perfect team. We compliment the faults of the other person... so together we are a powerful force of bringing the gospel to the good people of Villa Zula.

I would also like to clarify one other thing... um, we do not have bikes anymore. I know I wrote that we bought them. But after discovering a few problems with having bikes in Argentina... we have reverted back to the good old walking method. Sorry to disappoint.

Well, now on to our extremely odd week. We had transfers last Monday... which means we did not get that day of rest. So all week we`ve been dragging our feet. It is hard giving up the one day of rest we have for an 8 hour bus/train ride across half of Argentina. So, I'm sorry to say that Monday and Tuesday were not that effective. By Wednesday we had picked up our game again and taken off. We found a lovely lady named Elvira who accepted our message warmly and we have a return visit to talk to her whole family. Actually, I would like to point out a funny side note. My companion keeps on calling us "Villa Zula- the finders of women". We can’t seem to get any man in our area interested in our message. So we have a huge long list of ladies we visit. Which is hard because we can’t enter their houses when they are alone (fortunately you don't have to enter the house to teach them). We`ve found that most people in our area are single women with kids. We`ve also found out that of the ones that are not single... all their husbands work away from Villa Zula. This makes things particularly hard. That is one reason it is SO IMPORTANT for the members to help out the missionaries.

Anyway, we have been going out trying to literally talk with everyone. I think that I’ve never talked to as many people in my life. We end up getting rejected a lot. But if we can actually share something with the person before they shoo us off we can normally come back. In our agendas there are pages for contacts. In this last week we have already filled up half the pages. We still have 5 more weeks to go. We have been doing so much walking and talking that I finally busted through the side of one of my shoes (Don't worry... I’ve already fixed it up). There should be a picture of that. We ended up finding 4 people this week who all have great starts and real interest in the gospel.


Good Story:
We have a couple that we are teaching who are not married... but she is pregnant. They are reading and praying... And this week we read the Family Proclamation with them. We dropped the cane on them for doing what they were doing when they knew it wasn`t good. The good young sir understood and accepted the fact that changes needed to be made. But the young lass was a little harder to get the message though to. My reason for telling you this story is because it was a wonderful experience for me. When we have the opportunity to preach the truth... the spirit often testifies back how true the things we are teaching are. This particular time I felt the truth rushing out of us and hitting the investigators hard. It really doesn’t matter how hard hearted they are or how much they don’t want to change or how much fear they are... the Spirit still has power to testify. Which is wonderful, because two 20 year old kids don’t know all THAT much about the Law of Chastity. We really don’t know all THAT much about marriage or eternal relationships. It is moments like that when the Truth is really the only weapon we have (the SWORD of Truth).

Not much else has happened. The weather is chilly at night and super hot during the day. We speak a lot of Spanish in the pench with our Latin friend Elder Vargas. My white watch died. We hear about a plague in the states all the time... what is up with that?

So... I’ll be calling home on Sunday. If you are wondering when... I would be too. I’m guessing about 3-4 again. But I’m not sure. I’m not sure when church is. Actually... probably later. I’m not sure at all. There is a 4 hour time difference. So if we call when we get back to the pench at 8... it`ll be 4 at home. But there are 4 of us and we have about an hour each. So... I don’t know when we`ll call. I’ll probably call home in the morning to tell you all when I’ll be calling home. Don’t worry. One way or another... I’ll call home this Mother`s Day. Sorry that things are not so sure... but hey, life isn’t sure.

Well... I would now like to turn the time over to questions or requests. I NEVER get many questions (except for you... and you know how you are). A lot of people ask "How are you" or "How was your week"... well. I promise Ill answer both of those each week. Any other questions? Actually... I have this WONDERFUL camera and LOTS of space for photos... I just don’t know what to take photos of. Any requests? What part of Argentina would you like to see?

I love you all! Hasta Lunes,

Elder T

PS This Labor Day we realized that EVERYONE in the world was not working... EXCEPT US! It was good for the work... but rather a drag. HAHA