Oct 21, 2012

Hey Dad,
After sending a weekly email for the past like 60 weeks, I feel like you guys must be bored of hearing about the same old stuff. I don't always know what to write... I guess there were a couple crazy stories this week. Stuff always seems to happen in the zone and now we are supposed to deal with it. A companionship in the zone is working with a lady and her 12 year old son. They had to go to hospital friday night because they though the son had appendcitis. He was a complete mess and screaming at everyone and said he would only take his blood sample is Elder Diaz was there. So I get a call at 815 from Diaz saying they need to go to the hospital and help this kid. I said if they can get a member to drive them they can go for it. They call me back at 9 and say they couldn't find a member. They said they are on a bus going to the hospital (it is a 40 minute bus ride) and I tell them to get off the bus and go home because it is way too late. Diaz tells me he promised her over text they would be there. If you knew Diaz this would make more sense.. he is only 18 and is really hyper and talks non-stop. He is a really nice kid though just a bit lost sometimes. So they go to the hospital. I had been up all night the night before talking to Elder White on exchange as it was the last time I will see him. So I am exhausted and just to tired to deal with it. So Perry and Atkinson go to the hospital to find them and bring them back to our flat to spend the night. I called them at 11, because they still weren't home and apparently Elder Diaz's phone had died but last they heard they were still waiting for the doctor to turn up. I decide to go to bed. I am woken up at 215. 215! Apparently Perry went in and tracked them down. They waited for hours to the doctor to come. When the doctor came, he said that the kid is alright and doesn't need a blood test and can leave now. Flippin NHS. We all acted like we were really upset with Diaz and stuff but really it was a pretty funny night.
The only other thing that happened is we taught Alice and Keith. We taught the WOW. We committed Keith to live it, and he said he would start by cutting out tea and coffee and work towards quitting smoking after. We then asked Alice, and she said she would quit everything right now. They got in this huge argument. They were like yelling back and forth with us sitting there. Keith was trying to convince her that she can't quit smoking because her son is really misbehaved and if she quits she might die because without smoking her body can't deal with the pressure and stress. We kept assuring them it was possible and they finally settled down. Every time we give them a big committment absolute chaos erupts. I wish I could film some of these teaches.
The brightest ray of hope for our area is a referral we got this week. A YSA guy who I have gotten pretty tight with gave us a friend of his to teach. We stopped by him, and he was really open and we have an appointment to see him. We will try to get the YSA friend with us also. Members refferalls is where it's at. Also I am really excited for Saturday. The bishop asked us if we could organize a sports activity. He is really worried about his son who is going less-active. So we are playing basketball saturday morning with the young men, most of the ysa guys and some of the other men in the ward. We got less-actives coming and if we can make it a regular thing we can start getting investigators and get members to bring their non-member friends along.
So ya that's pretty much it. Sorry I didn't send the photo you want. I'll try to remember this week.
love Elder Steed

Oct 20, 2012

Hey,
That was a long email. But it was good to hear so much about what you guys are up to.
So I told you guys a few weeks ago I was struggling... and I have been getting loads of stuff ever since! You sent me two packages, and a letter. And I got a package from some girl, so I have just had loads of stuff lately! Thanks so much for those they were really nice. We used those balloons and glow sticks and had a dance party in our flat last night. It was fun. I have attached photos. Also I am wearing my new BYU shirt. Elder White thought it was a sign from heaven and that I am meant to go to BYU. I assured him that this is not the case.
Elder White is seriously my best and maybe only real friend in this mission. My other two friends, Simmons and Palmer, have gone home long ago. I feel like everyone I know now is cool but not the same. So Elder White goes home in like 5 days. It's really sad but I'm sure I'll see him again sometime. He is an assistant, so we were able to do an exchange this week. I also have a photo of that attached.
No, so far the DA's have not led to teaches. But we are sort of switching focus and I am trying to work with the YSA more now. They should really have loads of friends that we can teach. We are still knocking and working with Less-actives but I think YSA is an under-utizlied resource. And we have like 10 of them in this ward. We went to a YSA fireside last night and gave a spiritual thought and chatted with them afterwards and it seemed to be a really positive thing.
The temple sounds awesome. I can't wait to see it. And I was blown away that 100000 people went through! That is a tenth of the population of Calgary! Hopefully you guys can find other people to work on and share the gospel with. And thanks for all those letters from Riley's friends. It is great to hear about their stories. Brinley is an office elder. Haha, maybe it is different there but in this mission everyone always is making fun of office elders.
Christmas package... last year I wanted loads of stuff. This year I think I have a different mindset. I could use a new shirt. I really like the Enro short sleeve shirts that I think come from missionary mall. One of those would be good. Actually 2 of those would be nice. Maybe don't get me very much for Christmas, and instead I will have Christmas next June. The month before I leave I want to go on a huge shopping spree. The clothes here are so much better. I want to buy a really posh english suit and some other stuff, jeans and shirts and whatever. CLothes here are cheaper and better. I really don't need much for Christmas. My satnav broke, but I think rather than buy a new one I will just try to survive the last 8 months. That is kind of my mentality lately. I want to just make everything I already have last until the end. I would love rootbeer... but it is so expensive to send. There is a place here where they sell american food maybe just send money and I can buy stuff? I don't really know. I like mormon music... there are lots of good lds things that aren't motab. I have a ton of it already. When I get home I am going to send Riley a ton of awesome music. So if you can find anything like that it would be cool. I always like new ties. A new sweater would be cool. A scarf? I dunno. Pray about it.
Sean emailed me this week. I am glad that although Sean might be a bit shaky still he is not given up completely on the church. I really want to move to Edmonton when I get home. The only thing holding me back is Sean and Tyler. I think it could be really good if I stayed and tried to help them but at the same time I don't want to get dragged down again.
So ya, I don't know what else really to say. I'll mention the area briefly in my letter to dad. Love you mom, have a good week,
Elder Steed

Oct 14, 2012

Hey Mom, 

That was a good email to read. The pornography talk sounds like it was really good and hopefully all the kids can stay away from that. It destroys so many people. Good to hear about how the family is doing also. 

Haha women speakers at conference... that is my nap time. I do feel bad I missed so many conferences at home when I would just be asleep on the couch. 

I pretty much said the big news to dad. Don't worry about us here. Transfer day is in two weeks exactly. It is changed this transfer from Wednesday to Monday. We need to get going to our zone pday. 

Just a quick update on our only real solid investigators, Alice and Keith. Keith accepted a date for Nov. 10 that seems really solid. He has come to 3 weeks of church in a row and loves it and believes the BoM is true. He was really prepared. Alice thinks it is true and loves it, but she thinks that God will accept her whether or not she gets baptized and does not want to get baptized at all. She flips out when we talk about it. But we are making slow progress. She will get baptized, maybe a little bit after Keith though. She bought me a tie and gave it to me when we taught her on saturday. I had a really good exchange with a new missionary who has been out like 4 months in Bournemouth. It just reminded me that there are loads of good, normal missionaries out there. 

Love Elder Steed

p.s. Thank you for the care package! That is my favorite one I have ever got. Twizzlers, fuzzy peaches, sweet chili heat, photo albumbs, eat mores, that was perfect. I am eating some of my sweet chili heat right now and loving it. Also thanks for the missionary letters from Josh and Brinley and those guys. Crazy that Graham had to go home. 

Oct 8, 2012

Hey dad,

Thanks for the letter. Things aren't all bad. You and mom worry too much. We got our first baptismal date this week. We had 7 D.A's this week and we used to get 2 or 3. Our zone has gone from 0 to 7 baptism dates since the start of the transfer. So it isn't like things are just a total mess. But you are right. My time really is running out. I can't just wait for transfer day. I only have 6 transfer days left. I know you guys are thinking of me and praying for me so thank you. I have struggled far more than this before and I will be alright I am sure. 

So this has been a pretty crazy weekend. We got a call at like 5 yesterday from the Elders in Yeovil. They were talking about a fight and a station and calling president and we couldn't understand. We thought they were making a joke about how they got robbed or something. But we realized it wasn't a joke. These two Elder were out knocking in Yeovil and a guy came up to them and asked them for their money. They had none, Elder George refused to give him his backpack because his scriptures were in them, and it led to this big fight/chase. Elder George got beat up, his companion was just frozen, they got taken to the police station and interviewed for like 3 hours. We got the call and drove up to Yeovil which is an hour drive. Their bishop and ward mission leader were there. So we hung out at the police station for a while, did some missionary work with one of the officers who was working at the desk, and waited until like 1030 when they were released. They hadn't eaten since like 1230 so we took them to McDonalds and I got everyone some big macs and then Elder George went to the hospital to get his head checked out. It was just one unarmed guy, but the Elders didn't fight back at all and George got hit a few times. He was fine, but had to wait at the hospital until like 130. We stayed at there flat, and went back to the police station this morning. It was pretty crazy. They were really shaken up. Elder Ormsby was one of them and he has been out like 2 months and was really upset. So we took them back to Poole with us, we are going to spend p-day together and tomorrow morning President Millar is coming to do interviews with the zone so we will take them there with us. It was pretty scary. My first real crisis I have been involved with. They are both fine.

So because of that I don't have much time. It is already 1. And we are going with the zone to play laser tag. I have been remembering fondly the laser tag games we did the week before I left as a family. Fun times. And that christmas card idea is brilliant. I will try to get a suitable photo and send it next week. 

Love Elder Steed

Oct 7, 2012

Hey,
That sounds like quite the race. Congrats on your finishing time. Anything under 4 hours is pretty good.
I feel like there isn't really that much to mention from our week. Me and Perry have not got along at all this week. We sorted it out yesterday for the most part but the tension is still there. I'm just not sure I will ever like zone leaders even when I am one. Most of the problem is my companion is the senior zone leader and believes he should be in charge but I am a much more dominant personality. So it has been a struggle this week. We have good and bad patches. The other 2 in our flat aren't getting along either. The Russian guy got so angry at his companion calling him dude that he punched the door of his room. It dented the door, ripped open his knuckles, and left bloody streaks all over the door. Luckily for both our companionships there are other people around to talk to. We are able to put all that behind us when we go to work, and we are having success, but we will have so much more success if we increase our comp. unity. If there isn't unity in the companionship people we talk to don't feel the spirt as much. We had a zone p-day monday but only half the zone came. That was disapointing but we played bball and dodgeball. We also had our first zone training on wednesday. We got the AP's and a the 1st counsellor in the mission presidency to come and instruct us and it seemed to go quite well.
Sorry my email is short. I am trying to sort out my ipod and stuff as well.
Love Elder Steed

Oct 6, 2012

Hey,
You guys are always on holiday. I am wondering if you have started selling drugs or something on the side because Dad is always off doing something and working like 3 times a month. As soon as I leave it is like a monthly family holiday.
Those were awesome photos. Dad looks like he had a good race, the Dodgers game looked awesome, Alyssa didn't defile the temple grounds with immodesty, Jackson has longer hair with a swoop, all three kids are trying to dress really trendy, Noah is flippin huge, you seem to have different hair colors in different photos, and the one of Riley leaving was nice. He had a weird suit on though. I brought those 2 500 dollar suits with me, destroyed one of them, I am saving the other one, and I wear a 70 pound black suit everywhere. I'm going off on a tangent, but I had to buy new shoes. I need a new 8 gig memory card for my camera, and I need to do some dry cleaning. So the credit card will be used a bit. The good news is I don't have to buy much food. When I got here we were getting a few DA's a week. We now have a DA every night, and we have thursday, friday and saturday both lunch and dinner. I'm not the best missionary and I have a lot of weaknesses but getting people to feed me has been one of my stronger suits.
I'm really jealous about the outdoor musical you saw. But in my first area there is an outdoor theater just like that, carved out of the side of a cliff. So we can go to that one.
Conference was so good! We had 3 investigators come to the sunday morning session, and that was the greatest session ever. Hollands talk like knocked me out of my seat. We tried to download it but it isn't realeased yet. That is one of my favorite talks ever. All 3 investigators, Alice, Keith and Alice's daughter Michelle, were like 'we know this is true. Everything they are saying is true. This church has so much more power and strength then the CoE. I believe they are really apostles.' Stuff like that. I was just like 'ya they are, shut up I'm trying to listen to them.'
This week was alright for us. We found a new family to teach, got to know more of the ward, normal stuff like that. Probably the best was we went out to TGIF's with a LA couple in their 20's. The guy works there, so we got 50% off. And they had like 4 of their non member friends eat with us. Apparnetly as soon as we left they started asking all sorts of questions about what we are doing and what we believe. So that was cool. We are going back in a few weeks.
Hopefully you have a good week,
love Elder STeed

Sept 30, 2012

Hey dad,

I have always wondered why our ward never seemed to have that great of missionaries in it. The YSA ward I went to the year before I left had great missionaries but they are the only good ones I have ever met. Getting to know the ward like that is a huge job in wards where there are like 250 active like sundance, but I think doing stuff like that is really important.
It really is such a blessing to have the temple so close. But I think it is too bad that there will no longer be the cardston road trips with all the youth. Those were always so much fun.
So ya we are still having some companionship issues but things are getting better. I think the things you said are pretty accurate. They did a lot of administration and not a lot of ministration last transfer. I have learned a lot about my companion in a week. He is someone who is lacking confidence. He naturally just conforms to the habits of his companion. But because he felt like he was the senior zone leader he wanted to be running things. We have had many discussions, some pretty intense ones, and I think we are finally starting to understand each other more. You and mom know probably better than anyone else. I can be pretty tough to live with sometimes. I am very set in my ways and expect people to do what I say but I don't always listen to what they are saying in return. So I can see where he is coming from as well.
And he is a good missionary. He still seems pretty young and inexperienced, he hasn't really had many investigators to teach on his mission. But he has a lot of good qualities. He is really caring and kind, and I think he does a good job making people feel loved. He is also fun, he isn't a boring robot missionary he knows when to have a good laugh. And he is really obedient and he is always keeping me away from the edge. He doesn't like to push the limits. I always get put with someone or at least around someone to keep me on track.
The zone is doing a bit better. We had a zone leader council this week, where we all went to the Presidents house and talked about our zones. The biggest change we came up with is that we no longer account every night. Up until now, every night the District leaders call their areas and account for their day, and then they call the zone leaders and account to them for their district. President Millar felt it was too much phone calls, too much time, not effective, and it made people feel less accountable to the Lord in their nightly prayer. So I totally agree. And I love having an hour of free time before bed now. We are running a zone training on wednesday for like 3 hours and hopefully can ignite some of the elders here who don't seem to have their hearts into it.
I wanted to mention as well that this alice lady had a pretty cool experience. She said 2 days before she met us, she prayed to god and he told her to stop drinking tea and coffee. So she tried to stop. And then on saturday the member we brought with us casually mentioned that we don't  drink tea or coffee, and she told us of her experience. She was pretty amazed and she definitely took it as a sign. Which is cool.
Also last week we were knocking. I don't like to cook my own meals here. So we talked to a really nice catholic lady for like 10 minutes  and she said ultimately she wasn't interested. But she was nice, so I invited ourselves over for dinner sometime. She was a bit shocked, but she was like ya of course you can. So this week on saturday we went over for lunch. Pizza, salad, good stuff. Except she also brought her catholic priest over as well. We had a really good chat, nothing hostile just really friendly. Even though we didn't share the restoration with them, I think things like that can do a lot to change how people view Mormons and mormon missionaries. I also found it really funny that the priest was drinking a beer when we walked in and offered us one.
So good luck with your marathon.
I also got that shoebox full of sweets so thanks for that. My favorite part was the envelope of pictures, especially the pictures of your guy's canoe trip.
Love Elder Steed

I thought of one more crazy story. We got a referral for a russian guy given to us by the Elders in the neighboring area. A lady answered the door, and looked at us like we were really suspicious. She said that the Russian man who lived in one of the flats had just been murdered. She pulled out that day's newspaper, and sure enough the front page story was the murder of this Russian guy. We were just like well, what about yourself? Would you like to read the BoM? She was not.

Sept 30, 2012

Hey mom,
If you want to send me the same thing you send Riley that is fine. I have attached some photos. I will try to send 5 or 6 every week. I have just filled up my second memory card. I have 12 gigs of video and photos. I will buy another 8 gig and hope it lasts me until the end.
You guys are going to get snow! I'm jealous. It is getting really cold here. And starting to rain most days. Winter is coming but it is a totally different winter. I have finished my last English summer.
That is great to hear about Landon and Lindsey going through the temple. What did Lindsey think about it?
This has been a good week. We have met a lot of the ward and we have some good less-active work we are doing. We also found one family that is pretty solid. She is a gypsy but really nice, and he is a 70 year old guy who grew up in really high class english society but lost everything to gambling and now somehow they are together. He said he wants to be baptized. They came to church yesterday, the ward was really good with them. A lady who bore her testimony even mentioned how happy she was to have them there. We had like at least 10 people bear testimonies who I think must be slightly special. So the investigators names are Alice and Keith. We tried to commit them to work towards a baptism date saturday night. Keith immediately accepted. Alice said she doesn't feel ready yet. Keith then proceeded to do one of the most bold examples of resolving concerns I've ever seen. He just went crazy and tried to commit her to be baptized as well, she kept saying no and it got really heated and awkward so we said we had to go and we will try again next time. Pretty funny.
We also knocked on the door of this indian lady. She let us in in like 5 seconds. Her and her husband are hindu, but really cool and they said they felt the spirit and we are going sometime next week and I am making them grilled cheese sandwhiches. I forget how we got to that agreement, but they ended up feeding us awesome curry and I said I would make them grilled cheeses and they seemed really excited about that.
We have got a few people to work with this week. We had those 2 investigators at church and there have been no investigators at church here in like over 3 months. So I am hoping this area might be getting some life. I always remember that the Lord puts people in areas because it is where they need to be for a reason. And any success that we have doesn't come as a result of our efforts but it is done because of the Lord and his timing. I think I came to this area at a time where the members are just ready to help and God has definitely put people into our path.
Having a car is awesome as well. I am losing all my strength though. Luckily I have a Russian to fight with. Actually the two other guys in our flat kind of hate each other. I don't think they are speaking right now. So it can be a bit weird at times. But it is still really fun. We are having a zone p-day and playing some bball and football and stuff in the chapel. So I am excited to finally have a good pday.
Hopefully you have another great week, send me Riley's stuff,
Love Elder Steed

Sept 23, 2012

Hey,

Maybe you will have to wait until I'm back to finish the treehouse. It sounds tough. Speaking of cursing though... in this country damn and hell aren't swears and people say them all the time and in church and stuff. So tell Dad it's no big deal. 

I will try to send photos every week now. We have a huge family history center in this church. There are like 10 computers.

 Okay, the church here is amazing. 150 members come every week, we have solid returned missionaries, we have a youth and YSA program, people feed us all the time, we have a car, this area has so much potential. My companion is Elder Perry. From Wales. He is a good kid but still seems pretty young. He has been out 3 months less than me. I came into this area expecting there to be investigators and things on the go.However, Elder Perry was just serving with Elder Day and it was Elder Day's last transfer and he is now home. So Elder Day was dead. And they didn't seem to have done much. We have no investigators and no real potentials. And we are the zone leaders here now so we really need to turn things around. We have just been finding a ton and having DA's with awesome members. I have never been in a strong ward on my mission until now, and I am really excited to bring people to church. We have a great bishop and WML. We picked up 4 new investigators last night. They are a family, and I think one of them might be a gypsy. But they are really open and want to come to church and stuff. 

The London Times this week had the front page of 'THE MORMONS ARE COMING' with a picture of a missionary. This was because of the Book of Mormon musical opening in London, but even though the musical is pretty much making fun of our church, a lot of people have been talking to us because of it. So that has been good actually.

My other thing I am really excited about is we are in a 4 man flat. It is really fun! It is us two, and also Elder Culciu and Atkinson. Atkinson is a great guy and we get along really well so far. Culciu is a Russian convert. He grew up in the street and survived by mugging people. He speaks decent English. He is just such a character. He is tough and a lot of missionaries don't really know what to make of him. But so far we have been like best friends. We served around each other when I was in Slough, and he is a really genuine guy once you get past his Russian exterior. We wrestled last night. He choked me out in about 10 seconds. So we rematched and went for about 5 minutes and called it a draw. I am really sore now. 

The summer is over. It has been cold and raining most days. This was a pretty rubbish summer. 

We were eating with a family yesterday for lunch. They were both RM's from Spain. Returned missionary sisters are on such a spiritual level then a lot of the other ladies in there 20's. These two are my favourite members so far. But sis. silsby talked about a friend of hers who went to central america. She said she had a parasite once that was so bad she had no control over her bowels. She said she completely pooped her pants on a few occasions. We were dying laughing and I can't wait to hear Riley tell stories of this happening to him. He is going to have such a different mission than me. 

Have a good week guys, forward me anything Riley sends

Love ElderSteed

Sept 23, 2012

Hey Dad,

It really is a beautiful place. It is pretty posh though which can be good and bad. It is good because there is beautiful places to see and it is safe, but not good because usually the poor people listen to us. Alma 32. And after Guernsey, I don't think anywhere will really compare. I really have had amazing area's in terms of scenery. Except Slough.

I am still driving the car. I heard that because I went to Guernsey I get another year in the UK because they have completely different driving rules. So I will stick with that until a cop tells me otherwise. The cops have no way of knowing when I came into the country either. 

So I think I told mom everything already. The only thing different I wanted to mention to you is that it has only been 4 days and me and my companion have already had some disagreements. He was called as a zone leader 6 weeks ago. And I was just called 4 days ago. So he wants to be the boss and run the show. I am fine with that. But honestly as far as I can tell him and his companion last transfer just kept themselves busy with useless zone leader stuff and neglected any real missionary work. They had found like 30 potentials in 6 weeks and taught 0 lessons and found no investigators. We talk about how if we do all that we can it doesn't matter what results come. But seriously, if you put the time in people always come. So I am a bit frustrated and I think I have been a little bit too bold these last few days in trying to shake up our area and our zone. Our zone had no baptismal dates and we were the least productive zone last transfer. So that is what is really happening in the area and the zone. I am going to learn a lot this transfer. I am really glad it is a 4 man flat so there are other people around when we have a disagreement. But I really just wanted to see if you have ever had an experience like this and what you did to resolve it?

So far in my mission I have got along with every companion and obviously have disagreements and no real problems. I really hope that this transfer is no different. I think I will need to learn to humble myself a lot. I'm sure I have something to learn. A lot to learn. 

I'm excited to hear how Riley is doing. 

Hopefully you have a good week and keep the swearing to a minimun when doing DIY projects. 

Love Elder Steed

Sept 16, 2012

Hey,

I am at the mission office at the temple right now. I just flew in from Guernsey. The last day has just been a whirlwind. I am being transferred to Poole. So I am staying in the same zone. I am in a four man flat which I am really excited for. I get a car which is nice but also not good because it means that I am going to put all the weight on again. I am serving with an English missionary named Elder Perry. I am really good friends with his grandparents as they live in Cornwall and had me over for dinner like every week. I am sad to leave Guernsey but excited for this change of scenery. 

Love Elder Steed

Sept 16, 2012

Hey,

The generic email eh?

Just kidding, thanks for writing.

But are you even reading my emails? I said last week that I recieved that package with all the emails from Josh and Graham and those guys.

And Elder Petersen? I served with him like 6 months ago in Slough... I am with Elder Erickson. Haha. My first son.

That was a great email to read though, thanks.

I can't wait to read Riley's first email. I am going to email again Wednesday so I'll keep this short.

I gave my 20th district meeting of my mission this week. I have been running out of ideas lately, but I really felt I had some inspiration this week. I gave a district meeting on covenants. It was a pretty intense (as far as phone calls go) meeting and revolved around the New Testament (or the new covenant) and personal covenants (like the Anti Nephi Lehis who make a covenant to give up their weapons of war). I learned a lot in my studies about it. I have loved learning more about the scriptures and the doctrines of this church. There are so many things you just never know or find out going to sunday school each week. But my hour a day of personal study is one of my favorite times.

Don't work too hard mom. Sounds like you are getting really involved with church callings. Don't go too crazy, just find the balance. I'm sure it is different as this is a new calling, I'm sure things will calm down as time goes on.

And ya I do tell you guys more know about what's going on then I did when I lived with you. Weird. Oh well, enjoy it while it lasts.

Good luck with you taxi service and piano practice policing!

Love Elder Steed

Sept 16, 2012

Hey,

I can't believe Riley is in the MTC. That is really weird. He will probably hate it, but he will tell you guys he loves it in the emails.

At least for the first few weeks. Then he might admit how much he wants to get out of there and into the field. He will be going into the field just before Christmas. That is going to be tough.

So yes it is transfer week. Most people will find out Tuesday morning where they are going but Elder White has promised he will tell me tonight. So only a few more hours and we will know what is happening.

He also told me one of us is leaving, which is pretty suspenseful. I have a feeling it is me, but it could be either of us. I just feel like I have done what I have been supposed to do here. 6 more weeks would be alright I guess. Elder Erickson is a great kid but if you met him I think you could see it is tough to live for 12 weeks on an island with just him. He just has no fire in him, no risks taken and always just wanting to be comfortable. He has grown up a lot already in the 3 months though. I don't think he realizes it but he is not quite the same kid he was when he arrived.

The temple work sounds great... I'm impressed you guys are inviting so many people. And I also have some good videos of our fire. I can't wait to see Brad's. That one sounds quite a bit bigger actually.

If you want to send a generic email that is fine with me. Maybe send a generic one with a personal bit each at the end. Riley is going to need some good emails but he probably won't have as much time to reply to them.

The week has been eventful. Lots of knocking. Lots of cool potential investigators who will become investigators this week. We found more potentials in the last 6 days then in the first 30 days of the transfer. So that was cool.

Do you remember this lady named Bernadette we were teaching? We were over there last monday night. We had a really good teach, but then as we were leaving we were just standing in her kitchen chatting. I was a bit bored and so I was lighting this candle on her table. The wick had like burned away, so it would light for 3 or 4 seconds and then burn itself out. So I kept lighting it and it would burn out a few times but then I got bored and we left. She went to work like an hour later.

She called us the next morning in hysterics. She was crying and yelling and just a mess. She is a old crazy portugese lady who speaks very bad english so it was hard to understand. But it in the end, I guess the last time I lit the candle it didn't burn out. And she didnt' notice it burning before she left work. So it sat there burning all night until she got home. The candle burned down a few inches. But before you think I burned the house down, nothing happened. Her main concern was that her cat might have jumped onto the table and caught fire. She said she never wants to see us again and that she can never trust visitors in her house ever again and loads of stuff like that.

We had been seeing her like 2x a week for a couple months, and had become pretty good friends. I thought. Apparently not though. So she is gone. I felt horrible and depressed and beating myself up over it for a couple of days, but I am starting to see now she over-reacted a bit and maybe there was some other concern there that she just didn't tell us (the last teach we had where this all happened was the word of wisdom). So that sucked.

Also, we had a few people come to church with us. One lady Jacky is an active member of the church of scotland. She is really posh and really nice, in her 50's and we volunteer with her at the charity shop we work in every thursday. So she took us on a tour of the island on last monday (and is taking you guys on one as well next summer) and said she would like to come to our church. We said of course. So she came to church. The speakers were Erickson and our first counsellor in the branch presidency, Manuel. Erickson gave a really good talk, but Holly's three kids were running around screaming, just doing there normal thing. And jacky used to be the headmistress of a school, so she is really not used to mis-behaving kids. Erickson's was good, but he can be a bit monotone at times. And then Manuel goes to speak. He apparently forgot he was speaking today. So he stands up and just starts rambling in his broken English. And then opens up to Alma chapter 7 and reads a few verses. And then keeps going. And he reads the entire chapter. It takes at least like 10 mintues. The kids are still running riot. But the worst part. He read it all in Portugese.

He can't read English. It was insane. And then he just rambled a bit more. It was literally the worst talk I have ever heard. And I'm sure Jacky was like what the heck is this. We also had Ursula there. About

6 mintues into his reading, she tapped my arm and said she had to use the toilet and left. She never came back in. She decided she would rather walk for like 2hours home then endure that talk. I was considering following her. So that was pretty discouraging but also I was trying not to laugh at just how absurd it was.

The other cool part of our week was yesterday we picked up a new investigator family. They aren't really golden or anything, we met them two weeks ago knocking and we tried back by and they let us in.

They are active CoE and we got to share a message with them about the BoM and they said we could come back next sunday and teach them the restoration. They are really cool, a husband and wife and their 15 year old daughter. So there are some good things happening here at the same time some of our old people are falling through.

Thanks for the email. Thanks for the great example you have set to both me and Riley. Neither of us would be out here without your help.

And mom's. Have a good week,

Love Elder Steed

Sept 9, 2012

Hey,

I made up for my lost email of last week by sending mom a really long email this week.

I am sure that it's all tough for you, the family must just be so different without either of us there. It is really weird for me to think that when I come home Riley won't be there, and when he comes home he won't be this scrawny little kid he will be like grown up or something. People at the start of my mission thought I looked about 16 or 17. Apparently now I am starting to look older. And I feel older.

There is this fatigue that just never goes away. Riley is going to do great though. He is going to be the greenie that every trainer dreams of. Except he might be a bit shy at first. It is always tough to have a companion who doesn't talk very much. I can't wait to get his emails and start to see what type of misisonary he is and what his mission is like. I think it will make me think back a lot to the start of my mission.

I'm glad he wore the tie. I didn't know if he would like it or not. I feel stupid about the badge though. I am sure he can't wear that in Guatamala as I would guess they use a word that isn't Elder for the badges in Spanish.

Haha Ryan seriously sent the best emails ever.

And about time Sean got rid of that girl. Hopefully he can find a good one or start thinking again about a mission or something. That would be cool but I'm sure is a lot of work.

And I checked my blog... it hasn't been updated in so long. How come that stopped? I would send more photos but it is impossible here. Once I get back to the mainland I will.

Oh ya, thanks so much for all those photos! Honestly, those were so good to see. The highlight of my week maybe. I was laughing at a few of them, everyone just looks so normal and happy and funny. Send me some of Elder Steed Jr.

And you gotta love those dumb 16 year old boys. Trying to knock back a gallon of milk. I bet with some training/conditioning you could do it.

Alyssa has no boyfriend yet I hope?

But you can't start the countdown for Riley to come home right when he leaves... haha it is such a massive amount of time. C.S. Lewis remarked that when viewing things of very large size, at a certain point humans stop seeing in quantity and they start to see in quality.

The sublime. Like a mountain, or outer space. Or a two year mission on the first night in the MTC. Time is weird on a mission. Riley will be gone for so long but when he comes home it will seem like it went by so fast.

Okay, and to close. The Chav story. Have I told you before what a chav is? In this country the government gives you money if you don't have a job. And they give you a house. Or if you have a child. And the more children you have, the more they give you. And they call it socialism.

So they make these huge estates of government housing, and then everyone who doesn't have a job or is too lazy to look for one gets put in these estates. For generations they just waste away and breed and have more kids and get more money and no one is married and they have no work ethic or determination or motive for even being alive.

They have their own culture, vocabulary, clothes, it is like a different world. The closest thing I can think of that you would know of is natives on a reserve. But it is different even than that. So these are Chavs. People who were born on these estates, who have children on these estates, and who will die on these estates. It is incredible to see. But anyways, we occasionally will venture into these estates and do some knocking. We met a few last week and they accepted our offer to do some service. We talked to one for maybe 10 mintues at the door, and asked her if there is anything we could do for her in her garden or something. She said yes, then proceeded to show us round back to the garden. She pointed to the shed, and told us we need to move the shed to the other side of the garden. And that the tools were in the shed. We were like... we meant maybe another day? We were dressed in ties. But we cycled home, got changed, and then came back. The tools she provided for us were a scewdriver, and a wrench.

And she said move the shed. So this shed is massive, and we needed to take it apart. So we try to start unscrweing it. It is held together by the most random assortment of screws and nails that are mostly stripped/damaged. We have absolutely no luck with the screwdriver. She is sitting on a lawn chair watching the whole time. Her two sons, aged

16 and 18, and inside playing xbox. We tell her the problem. She starts going door to door to her neighbors asking for a drill. She comes back and says we need to come back tomorrow, because she found a drill for tommorow. And while we are there, we might as well help her clean up her yard. So chavs have the dirtiest yards/houses ever. Her yard is filled with years worth of crap. Our job is to move it all into a big pile in the center of the yard. We do. We throw in a matress, old bikes, lawn chairs, wallpaper, sacks of garbage, an old swimming pool, a bunch of firewood, parts of the fence, the old shed door, like just the craziest pile of stuff. And then she gets a jerry can full of gasoline, sticks a newspaper in the opening and lights it on fire. I have some awesome video of this. It was like a moltov cocktail. She said it is too expensive to take rubbish to the tip, so she wanted to burn it. Needless to say, in a couple of mintues there was a raging inferno of like 30 feet in her backyard and it must have been the most enviornmentally unfriendly fire ever built. Her neighbor noticed, and rather than calling the police dragged over an uprooted tree from her backyard, and tossed that on top. This was a huge tree.

We were sure the fire department would be there any mintue, so we got out of there. When we went back the next day, no police or fire services bothered to show up. There was a huge black ring in her backyard and ashes everywhere. True to her word, she had procured a power drill. With one drill bit and a dead battery. We somehow managed to take the shed down into four walls and a roof. She watched. Her sons helped by coming outside at the end and kicking the shed apart when there were a few scews we couldn't get out. She wants us to reassemble it next. But where she wants it put isn't level. And she has no way to level it. She said she doesn't care, we should just rebuild it there anyways. I can barely even comprehend this. But we might do it one day. We helped her neighbor clean out her rodent cages. Rats, mice, gerbils, rabbits. Disgusting. But that is a whole different story.

Hope you can understand slightly now what a chav is. I will be sure to show you some when you come to the UK next summer.

Have a good week. Good luck Riley and all his stuff. Don't be too sad, it is the perfect place for him to be.

Love Elder Steed

Sept 9, 2012

Hey mom,

I can't believe that this time is finally here. Riley leaves on what day? And tell that clown to email me from his ldsmail account.

Sounds like quite the meeting. Both you and dad and actually also grandpa talked about how many people were there and how great of a meeting it was. Grandpa said it was really spiritual. Tell the teachers not to use vodka next time though.

And the after-party... I guess we know who the more loved child is.

Sounds like way more of the family and friends turned up for his. Oh well, I can live with that.

I am trying to picture you and dad these last few days... haha I bet you guys have just been a total mess. Breaking down at all times without warning. Try to be happy, you're going to see him at Christmas which is actually pretty soon. He will probably get out to the field right before Christmas which will probably be really tough for him.

I'm trying to think of things you or dad could put into his bag, becasue you both asked me about things he might like. The things I remember for mine was a big shoebox full of candy that was really good to have in the MTC. Also dad gave me a card with 'The Standard of Truth has been erected' on it which I have always remembered. I have loads of awesome missionary music I have picked up along my travels.

My 8 gig ipod has been full for months and I keep having to delete more stuff to cram new stuff on. So when I get home I'll make him some awesome CD's and send those to him. Make sure he has a good camera.

And a case. A journal. A watch. I have really loved crayola twistable crayons for marking my scriptures and PMG. A credit card. Actually one thing a lot of misisonaries have that I don't is a picture book. Most have an album with photos of friends and families that they will sometimes look at and they can show their companions and stuff to see who their family is. That could be good. An electric razor has been nice. And my gps. Ipod speakers. There is loads of stuff that I didn't think about before my mission but now I couldn't live without. I'm sure if he has a credit card he can get these things as he goes along.

That's all I can really think of.

I guess I should probably talk a little bit about our week... okay well the highlight was our trip to Jersey. There are 2 sisters there, and neither of us ever see any other missionaries so I organized a workover. We went early wednesday morning, and came home late thursday night. We spent the night at a members house who was really cool. We were supposed to leave thursday afternoon but we took too long at pizza hut for lunch and ended up missing our ferry by like 3 minutes.

The ferry was still sitting there, we were still 30 mintues early, but they had closed to doors and couldn't be bothered to open them again.

I decided not to make a scene and just go later that day. We did lots of contacting, had some good teaches, and I learned a lot. The sisters there are two of the best sisters in the mission and are great at everything they do. It really helped Erickson as well to see someone else and see how they do things. We obviously coulnd't really split up like a normal workover with elders, but we paired off and contacted down the high street and around town always staying within like 10 meters of each other. Erickson, who is usually fairly negative/down/moody has been pretty happy since Jersey. It has been nice to be able to crack some jokes and have some conversation and stuff. I think he is doing a lot better lately.

Other than that, we still are seeing Ursula and Bernadette. Ursula made us a really good roast dinner saturday night, and then backed out of church sunday morning at the last minute. Bernadette is doing alright but just works too many sunday's. We do lots of finding, and we might have found someone really good. We found her like 2 weeks ago knocking, but every time we have gone back there is no answer. So we went yesterday, and she answered! Turns out she has read into 2 Nephi already and really liked it. So we are going back wednesday and I just have a really good feeling about her. We really need some new people, we have struggled to find some the last few weeks. We taught one ancient guy who just sits in his living room smoking all day and he just said yes to everything we said. He said yes, he believes in the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith and the first vision, that ours is the true chruch, etc. It was like he was zoned out the whole time and you could grab his attention for like 5 seconds and then he would zone out again. And when he zoned out his just nodded his head and said yes to everything. And I was dying of second hand smoke inhalation. So that is not exactly the people we are looking for. So we are still looking.

Riley is going to be having a bad week when he only baptizes 2 people that sunday. But even still, I really don't envy having to live in Guatamala.

That's pretty much it. Have a good week with and without Riley! He will be great, he is prepared and he will light it up.

Love Elder Steed Sr.

Sept 2, 2012

Hey,

So I am still fuming over losing mom's email. I hate re-writing everything out. So I will have to make it much more brief.

I had gone over 400 days without being sick. I felt like Jay Bouwmeester. Never taken any sick time my whole mission, up until this wednesday. The sickness that Erickson had must have passed to me. I woke up all though Wednesday night sick and then at around 7 am I started puking. I felt pretty horrible all day, my stomach just felt in agony and I coulnd't get comfortable or fall back asleep or do anything except roll around feeling miserable for like  6 hours. Then I felt a bit better, and was able to sleep. Then I woke up really hungry, and I didn't care if I puked or not, I needed to eat. So I started eating Ichiban type noodles and juice and toast and held it all down so that was good. I woke up Thursday feeling pretty much back to normal. But I was gutted, as I wanted to go the whole 2 years without taking a sick day.

I'm glad Riley liked the package. My only concern, something I should have thought of, is that they might not use the Elder Steed on spanish badges. They might use like some spanish word instead of Elder.

We did service for the people who wanted to give us a car. There are too many miles on it, so it is unlikely that we are going to be able to drive it. But we cut their hedge, and I got to mow the lawn with the ride on mower. It is like the biggest lawn i have seen in England.

The people, Luke and Gemma, came to church with us Sunday as well.

They are both pretty crazy but I think they enjoyed it and the branch seemed to like them. To say thanks for the lawn, they took us out for a big sunday carvery after church with their whole family. Gemmas dad owns one of the hotels here, so it was at the hotel and was amazing food. And later that night they picked us up and took us to their church, which was Anglican. It was my first time ever going to a different church. It was really different, but it was really interesting and I really liked it. We got to talk to a lot of cool people afterwards as well including the reverend. And I rang the church bells.

This week we have just done loads of knocking. I told a really good story about doing service for chavs in my email to mom, but lost it.

If you remind me next week I will tell you about chavs.

Urusla actually invited us over for dinner thursday night and she came to FHE withthe branch on monday and she loved it. So things are going okay with her again. She also gave us 3 huge bags of groceries and sweets.

I did get the big package of letters from Graham and those guys a few weeks ago. That was great. Thanks also for that photos of the crew at the Draycotts and also Riley wearing his new jersey.

And I never got the binder from uncle cam. But he did send me two of his favorite talks my first month as a missionary. The talks were 'In the Strength of the Lord' and 'Beauty to Ashes.' Both are great talks, but In the Strength of the Lord especially has made a difference to my mission.

I gotta go teach someone in 11 minutes. Bernadette.

Love Elder Steed

Aug 26, 2012

Hey, 

Well you have about 730 days until both of us are home again. So keep counting haha. But I really only have about 10 months left which is pretty crazy. 

So my feelings about Guernsey... I love it here, I love the people and the branch and my companion and everything, but I am getting a bit 'transfer trunky.' Next transfer day is three weeks on wednesday, and to be honest I am really hoping I get back to the mainland for that one. I will have finished training Erickson and have done over 4 months here.   I think I could maybe survive one more transfer. I mean, I'll serve anywhere the Lord wants, but I just hope he needs me back in England. It is really hard to serve here, especially with a new missionary. I think he has considered throwing in the towel a couple of times, only to realize he is from Utah and if he goes home he will be a social outcast for the rest of his life. A lot of pressure is on this kid. I tell him that serving here is no different than any other area and that he needs to stop thinking that when he gets to a new area life will be easier. But I am telling him that mostly because it is what he needs to here. Life as a missionary actually is a lot easier and more fun on the mainland. But there have been things here I have learned and experienced that I could never have learned anywhere else. So I am grateful for that. 

That does sound like an awesome week. I want to cram so much in next summer, but between family reunions and work I don't know how much I could really fit in.

And Noah was sick? Elder Erickson was also sick. Holly's three kids were really sick one day when we visited them and Erickson is really paranoid about getting sick, so he used hand sanatizer and stayed away from the kids and didn't touch anything. I was playing with the kids and never use hand sanitizer and in the end he got really sick and I was totally fine. So saturday after lunch he started puking and so we took the rest of the day off and he just slept and puked for the rest of the day. I was so bored. I will never understand missionaries who just want to sit in the flat all day. So boring. 

Also, Ursula dropped us this week. She said she is being tormented (by satan? I don't know who/what is tormenting her) as she is getting close to baptism so she can never see us again because it is too tough. And then like 3 days later, we get a knock on our door, and it is Ursula. Apparently she went over to a members house, who told her where we live, and she came with her daughter and brought us cupcakes. This marks like the 6th time she has dropped us and then un-dropped us. She is coming to the branch FHE tonight. So weird. 

Oh, something else awesome happened. We were out knocking, and met some people who had met Elders in the past. We chatted with them for a bit. One of them is a 20 year old guy Luke, and his finacee Gemma who is probably in her 30's and Gemma's brother Glenn. Glenn is a outspoken atheist who tried to convince us of the falsehood of god the whole time but Luke and Gemma were somewhat open. They are seriously nuts. Like Gemma has an attention span of less than 5 seconds. And as we left, they offered to give us their car. Gemma had an extra car, and it isn't insured at the moment, but she said we could drive it away and take it. It isn't the nicest car, but still. And then Glenn stopped trying to tell us there was no God and said we could take his car if we wanted. We're like what the heck? His car was actually nice. He said he is going to norway next week and we can borrow it until christmas. And they are dead serious. So we asked the President and he said he would get back to us soon if we can do it. I really doubt it but it would be cool. And then today Luke and Gemma dropped by our house (I don't know why everyone knows where we live... the past missionaries must have told them or something) and brought us like 5 really nice suits and drove off. I guess I'm not really complaining though. 

So ya, I really got to go now. But have  great week. Try not to die with all these adventures. Love 

Elder Steed

Aug 26, 2012

Hey, 

Sounds like you guys had quite the adventure this week. So did my package for Riley not arrive yet? The scripture is actually Joshua 7 13 not 7 15 like I said in my email last week. Sounds like great lessons at church. I am sure katianne's uncle was awesome. And I actually have a few talks prepared just in case. The one I have most recently prepared was a talk on happiness. I am actually really looking forward to a chance where I can share it. And I am also in the thought process of preparing a talk about speed bumps. Because they are everywhere here.
And you ate a hotdog! Wow. Did you know that in this country hotdogs come in cans or jars and are always in this water stuff? So I don't like them as much. Also, I ate cottage cheese for the first time ever this week. It was at a D.A. so I had to eat all of it. So nasty. I don't know how you eat that stuff. 

16 days! Wow. I guess we all knew this would eventually happen, we would both be out at the same time, but I think it has always seemed so far away that it never really seemed like a reality. It is going to be really cool to watch Riley go through the MTC and then his first few months in the field and stuff. He will do great. 

Thanks for the photos. They were really great. And we meant to email a bit earlier. But we were in a crazy lesson. We have been teaching this catholic portugese lady who speaks very poor english. And I think she is not even that literate in portugese. But we talked to her last week about being baptized, and she said no she had already been baptized as a catholic and her parents would not want her to do it again. So we just said pray about it. Today, at the end of the lesson, I asked if she prayed about it. And she had. And she said she feels like her parents did the best they knew how when she was a baby and baptized her, but now she knows more and she knows her parents would want her to be baptized into this church, so she will do it! She asked if we could do it this weekend. Haha we had to push it back into the middle of September, and even that is going to be tough to cover everything by then. Her name is Bernadette and she is really funny and a bit crazy but she is pretty cool. 

So because of the lateness of the time, I don't have time to write a lot. I will mention a few other funny things of this week in dad's email. We have a branch fhe at the branch presidents house in about 40 minutes. We are actually at his house right now emailing, but we need to go to an investigators house and walk with her up here so she can find it. So ya, hopefully you guys have a great week.
Oh, just as a side note. My companion got 10 handwritten letters and a package this week. I got nothing. Everyone says in your last 6 months people start to write to you again. I hope they are right. Don't feel you need to send anything though. Just make sure to send Riley lots of stuff at the first. It helps a lot those first few months. 

Love Elder Steed

Aug 19, 2012

Hi,

Glad you liked the photos. I really loved getting your guys' photos as well. Carson is way different! He looks like he has really grown up.

And it is always nice to get a few more pics of Alyssa wearing short shorts.... not. It looks like it was great to meet up with the Michelsons and Simpsons. I bet dad was happy. Except for the roller coaster. I am amazed a) he went on it and b) he was in such bad shape that he was willing to sprawl out on the ground like that in public.

He must have had a really rough time. I really don't think I will ever be as fit as that. I don't ever want to run 20km in a row. That is really impressive though.

That was a good idea with the projector. Are you still nagging those kids every time they glance at the xbox?

And Holly is a member... she was baptized like 3 months ago. So she didn't leave. Her friend Hannah left. And we have made a bit of progress with Ursula this week. What I really want is normal people who have a foundation of Bible knowledge and the intelligence to understand biblical english. But that must be asking to much. We will continue pressing forward with our little band of... unique people.

I think I covered most stuff in the email to dad. We knocked loads this week. Erickson is struggling with everything and is just really pessimistic and negative and hard on himself. I am trying to push him to become better without completly destroying the self-esteem he has.

It is a balancing act sometimes.

I still talk to Ken every Sunday night which is really nice for me. I guess Ken called Simmons at home this week, and SImmons is pretty down/depressed. He is really struggling adjusting to normal life. But I pretty much knew that was going to happen.

Okay, in the package I sent Riley, I forgot something. There is a letter I wrote in there. And also some scriptures in the package. In the letter I mention that I marked 2 of my favorite scriptures, but then I totally forgot to mark them before I mailed the package. So if Riley forgets (I'll email him as well) the two that should be marked are Joshua 7:15 (I think that is the one. It should be the one in Joshua seven that says take the accursed thing from the midst of thee) and also Mark 6:48.

Have a good week,

Love Elder Steed

I have a couple more minutes  I thought I would share a couple of funny stories. We have been asked by the mission president to teach 2 principles of the discussions in a 1-mintue form when finding. So me and Elder Erickson, to make things fun, decided that we would assign each other the 2 points. It got pretty funny. The best was probably Elder Erickson picking 'the three kingdoms' and 'the law of chastity.'

And I successfully taught both points after knocking on his door.

Although we chatted for a while, the guy wasn't interested in the end.

Erickson had a couple of tough ones as well. It was really funny and helped make knocking a bit more enjoyable.

Also, we went looking for a less active lady this week. We got to her house, and she was sitting on the lawn in a chair reading a book. I walked up and asked her if she was Suzanne. She looked at us, said no, and then just walked into her backyard and shut the gate as I was trying to talk with her.Really weird. So I'm shouting, knocking on windows and doors and the gate, and it is just silent. A mintue ago there were like 3 kids running around causing havoc as well and now it is just dead. So we leave for 10 minutes and knock a few doors on another street. And then go back. She is outside again. I approach her again, and this time she sort of mumbles a few things and starts speed walking away from us. So we follow her. And then she speeds up and is just ignoring us. So at this point it is incredibly awkward. It was one of the strangest things that has ever happened to me. I end up being able to shout down the road to her for a bit. She stops and is willing to shout back. She says she isn't Suzanne. I tell her we met her neighbor yesterday and she told us that you are. She had no response to that. I guess it is safe to assume though that she is no longer interested.

Aug 19, 2012

Hey,

I actually meant that I was going to explain those photos to you (along with all my other like 400 or so) when I got home and we could sit down. But it sounds like you both were expecting the story of the photos today. So I'll try.

So the Japanese Gazebo. Elder Erickson is scared to death of street contacting. He is not always really confident. So we decided one day to go to this really popular and nice park to try to contact some young families. The contacting was terrible. No one was on the path's and we didn't want to stalk the families into the woods or anything.

So we left after a short time. But on our way out, we saw this really cool gazebo over some duck ponds and got some photos.

We decided we needed haircuts a couple of weeks ago. He cut mine with the clippers, but then I had to run off and account and told him to cut his own and I'll do the finishing touches. So when I finished accounting and went to check on him, that is what he had done to his hair. I told him he needs to keep it like that, that bowl cuts are coming back. I thought it was like the greatest haircut ever but he forced me to cut the top as well.

The most famous thing about Guernsey is probably the milk. The milk is seriously unreal. The famous Guernsey cows make good stuff, and I always drink the full cream milk which is just really thick and creamy. So along with that, all the other Guernsey dairy products are really good. Like the best butter I have ever had is here. And the best ice cream. It is just called Guernsey Dairy Ice Cream, and is sold at a few shops, but it is just so delicious.

The one of me and the one other guy who is laughing I thought was funny. That is Elder Kankkunen, one of my really good friends and he is from Finland. He was my district leader in the MTC and he is currently in the same zone as me. So he is one of the guys who came over a couple of p-days ago to come hang out with us and see Guernsey and everything. We had a really fun time and he is a great guy.

In the photo with all three of us, the other guy is Elder Lusk. He was one of the zone leaders. And I actually liked him as a zone leader he was pretty laid back and down to earth. We were doing a cliff path walk and that was at the edge of one of the cliffs over looking the channel.

The last one of me and Elder Erickson on the beach is probably my favorite photo of us two. I am wearing my English national football jersey and favorite hat, and that was just such a fun day. Our branch had an activity at this really nice beach. It was so hot and I wish so badly I could have taken a swim. But three of our investigators who came (Luke, Louise, and Holly) were trying for like an hour to either pour a bucket of water on my head or have Luke grab me and throw me in the ocean. I evaded them for a long time but eventually Luke got me (he is like 6'4 and 250+ pounds) and was about to throw me in but the senior couple stopped him. He would not listen to me that I really couldn't go in.

I am still having fun. But it is getting tough to be on Guernsey for so long. I do sometimes wish I was around other missionaries more. It gets a bit lonely at times. And Elder Erickson has been struggling a lot these last couple of weeks. But I am still trying to stay happy and find joy in all the little things that are going right.

Do you really think I look different now? I looked at a photo of me at the start and I thought I looked pretty similar still.

About my memory card. I actually already have two, I filled my 8 gig card and got a new 4 gig card. But I keep them both in my camera bag.

So ya if that was stolen or lost that would be really bad. Maybe I will store the 8 gig one at home. I don't really want to send it home because I have heard a lot of people who have done that they have been broken on the way.

I finally got everyone's Christmas presents. I will probably send them at the start of September. I sent Riley a package this week (belated birthday). They told me it should get there in a week. At the most 2.

So expect it sometime this or next week.

It was a funny Sunday yesterday. The 1st counsellor in the stake was here for a visit. He was alright, but seemed a bit weird. I've told you before I'm the EQ teacher, and this Sunday we had Ursula at church and Pres. Lingad pulled me aside and asked if I could teach a gospel principles class as well whenever investigators are here. So on sunday I was passing the sacrament, I spoke for 20 mintues in sacrament meeting, and I was teaching gospel principles and EQ. It gets a bit crazy in small branches. And I didn't even know I was speaking until saturday night after I sent those pictures to you. The senior coulpe mentioned I was speaking tommorow and I was like what? But I ended up talking about the Holy Ghost, and because I didn't really have time to prepare I just shared a lot of stories from my life and a few scripture stories. I thought of you though, how when I did my 3 day BoM challenge and didn't really feel like I got a huge answer. And then the scripture you shared from 1 King ch. 19 really helped to put things in perspective for me. i have never forgot that scripture and I talked a lot about it yesterday in my talk. I also had to do a district meeting and did it on the Law of Christ vs. the Law of Moses.

One of my all time favorite topics. I have studied that loads on my mission.

Ursula had a great time at church but then dropped us like an hour later. To be honest, i'm not to concerned. I thought it was too long since she had last dropped us. She has done this like 5 times now and we always are able to convince her to keep going even though it is tough. She must be like a bit bipolar or something or have serious mood swings.

Haha that Vietnam Ashton story is such a classic. That Eureka branch is a good one, and I am sad I missed that talk.

And it sounds like you guys have got lots of good outdoorsy things done this week. Fun stuff.

I can't believe Riley leaves in 3 weeks. It has really snuck up on you guys. When Riley leaves the MTC and gets into the field, it will be Christmas time already.

Hope you guys have a great week,

Love Elder Steed

Aug 12, 2012

Hey,

Thanks for the fishing photo. That was good to see and bring back some memories. That was actually a pretty good looking fish.

Training is pretty tough sometimes. Especially here where there is no breaks and no one else. When I was here with Elder Martins I was desperatly praying that I would get a new companion. I don't think I could have survived 6 more weeks with him. But I was actually really hoping to get to stay here for one more with Erickson, and I got my wish. I think that this will be my last transfer though. Just a gut feeling.

I'm glad you guys got those photos. It was really nice of them to help us out. And ya when I get back to the mainland, I will probably be on a bus again. So my current level of fitness will fall back I am sure.

Maybe when we come back here next summer we can all rent bikes at this one bike shop and we can get around the island like that so you can see what it was like. That would actually be pretty fun.

So now you are mountain biking? Downhill or just normal mountain biking? But I really do want to get back into the triathalon thing when I get home. Hopefully I don't get too busy with school and work and everything.

So you did a week home alone? And you didn't cook for yourself? That's usually what I did as well. I could use a subway. I haven't had one for at least 6 months now.

This week was alright. I was exhausted yesterday and just collapsed when we got home. I sat down and told myself I would just rest for a minute then get up and make dinner. As soon as I sat down I was asleep for like 20 mintues. We found 4 new investigators this week which was nice. We had a really spiritual and awesome teach with one of Holly's friends, Hannah. She said near the end she was feeling something in her heart she had never felt before. And she said she wanted to read and pray and all that and come to church with Holly. Sadly, she moved to France 2 days later. Hopefully there is a seed planted though and something good will come of it. We had a lady named Bernadette come to church with us. She is really Portugese and catholic and I don't thinks he fully understands what we teach but she loved church and loves to have us come by. She is a bit lonely. Ursula is still going slowly. She has dropped us three times now. Each time we will teach her, she will text us a few hours later saying come see me anymore I can't do it I just need to go back to my old life, and then I will wait a day or so and then text back (I call it text-testify) and get her to let us continue teaching her. It gets really old really fast though and it is hard to work with that all the time. We really want to find a normal family to teach. That's always the dream.

Okay, I think I need to share the funny story of the week. We had a branch council this week. You would have to understand the branch better to get the full impact of the story. But there were us, the senior couple, the Lingads (branch president and primary president), Manuel (1st counsellor in branch) and Holly (1st counsellor in

primary) at this meeting. The only one who was really missing was Fiona (the relief society president) and Shirley (the sunday school president). So Fiona is seriously crazy. She has some major health issues. She always like staggers and falls into walls and is skeleton thin. The first time we went there for lunch and she had one of these attacks and staggered and stumbled back into the wall to catch herself, me and her son and husband didn't even flinch and erickson jumped out of his chair and was freaking out. But she just is really a character and maybe you will understand when you meet her. But so we were in branch council and Manuel mentioned that he noticed our church was listed in the phone book. We all thought this was really strange, because we have no church. So Holly called the number that was listed as ''The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints' in the phonebook on speakerphone with her phone in the center of the table. And no one was really suprised when Fiona answered it. I was just dying, trying not to laugh audibly, I thought it was so funny that she had listed her home phone number as the church, but the branch president was furious. Those two don't get on at all. I just found it pretty hilarious. Especially when everyone was like 'Oh, we've always wondered why she always seems to be the first to know when visitors are here.'

Have a good week,

Love Elder Steed

Aug 12, 2012

Hey,

yes that was a great start to your email. But did you really need to describe all that food you are eating too me? I haven't ate anything like that in 13 months now. It made me really hungry and really wanting some good North American food. But, Elder Erickson did cook us Hawaiin haystacks last night. That was actually really good. And we had a bbq for lunch and ate all of our mince (hamburger) that was about to expire. So we are eating all right.

This island has just been incredibly hot lately. You just always feel sticky and gross, especially when going around on the bikes. I think that the humidity really contributes to how hot it feels. Because this week, especially yesterday, was just so hot that it wasn't comfortable. It sucked the life out of me and I think we were cycling at like half of our normal speed.

My take on the great and abominable church... I think that it is referring to the Jehovah's witnesses. Haha just kidding. But there is a JW infestation on this island. Everyone thinks we are JW and are about to slam to door, but when we tell them we aren't they are usually really happy and will have a chat. I guess the JW knock this island to death. We have actually only ran into two of them. The first one whipped out her made-up JW bible and started trying to bash with me. The second one was really nice. But that week I went through my scriptures and found like 40 scriptures from the bible that really doctrinally prove that Jesus=Jehovah. So next time one wants to try to bash with me, they will be in for a suprise. Just kidding. Sort of. I don't like to argue/bash with people, but I just am really not fond of the JW religion at the moment especially if they provoke me.

Okay so back to the real question. I think that other churches are almost all really good. There are a few people we have run into that belong to other churches that aren't really that nice... but I imagine that it is just the individuals and their conduct really isn't a accurate reflection on the church as a whole. So as a whole, I think Christianity of any sect is a good thing. Although other churches are lacking the priesthood and a living prophet, they are helping people become better. So it is a really good question. I don't think I really have a good answer for you. The people in them are good and they are doing the best they can. I guess one possibility could be to look at the origins of the churches. Like the Catholic's or Church of England.

They were started on corrupt principles and ideals. Which would be of the devil. I don't think God believes Shakespeare when he said 'All's well that ends well.' So the foundation of these churches is not based on Jesus Christ, it is based on divorce or political power or greed or whatever, and so maybe that is why the Lord calls them abominable. I don't really know. Maybe you can do some research and tell me next week.

All these stories of life at the cabin make me miss it a little bit.

You are always having a great time there it sounds like. The prospect of coming home one day is seeming less like a dream and more like something that is actually going to happen. But 11 months is still a massive amount of time. It was crazy to see Simmons go. He apparently had a mental breakdown on his last week. Elder White said he was speaking in this southern-hick accent all week, and then on his last night he just started attacking people and his mood would go from laughing to really angry over the smallest things. He was asked to give the keys back to Elder White and just ran out of the office and into the night. He refused to give up the AP mobile phone. He took it home with him. But that might have been an accident. I just can't see that kid as anything other than a missionary. This was just his life, he was completly immersed in it and I don't think he thought of anything else. He is going to struggle to adjust back to the real world but he will do fine. I already miss him. Seems like most of the people I have gotten tight with are either home or leaving really soon.

So enjoy this time with Riley while you can. I'm sure this next 4 weeks will just fly by for you guys.

love Elder Steed

Aug 5, 2012

Hey,

Ya that stupid shift key really bothered me as well. I really want to save enough money in my account so when I get home I can buy a laptop and a phone. If I can get those 2 things I should be pretty sorted.

I'm trying to spend less money, I have just a couple more purchases for Christmas to make and then hopefully I can go the rest of the time without spending too much on there.

Did I catch a fish on that float we did? I seem to think I did but I can't really remember. Mom sounded like she really enjoyed the date.

Oh, and did you guys get an email from a random lady from Washington?

We were cyclying around and pulled over for a second to check the map and look at the ocean, and this random lady just walked up to us and said 'Hi elders, can I buy you dinner?' We are like 'Ya! Who are you?'

Turns out this lady is here on a cruise with her sister and her mom, they were probably in there 40's, and they are LDS. They were amazed to see Elders here and so we chatted with them for a bit and they bought us fish and chips so that was really nice. I gave them your email and they said they would email some photos.

Haha sounds like an awesome greenie. Mine is pretty funny as well. He has like 2 meals he learned to cook at college. It was nice at first because I had never had them, but beef stroganoff or fried rice gets old after a while. He is always trying to talk me into letting him make sloppy joes but that just sounds crazy. I have definitely realized that Utah is a whole different world. I guess you could argue it would be good to raise kids there. But I don't think I could ever live there.

So far I think it will really just be Simmons I will see after my mission. And Elder Palmer, but we didn't even serve together. He really helped me out a lot in my first few months and after Simmons left. But maybe like you said after you get home you just move on and get back into the real world and all the mission things that seemed so important really aren't anymore.

I can't believe Riley goes so soon. I really need to send him the stuff I have got for him. I am just waiting for one final item.

One last thing. One of the sisters in the district was accounting the other night, and she asked me if I knew any Byam's. Turns out she went through the MTC with McKay Byam. She knew we were both from Alberta and asked as a longshot. She asked if I could get his mission address because she wants to write him a letter. She is nearing the end of her mission. So I told her I would ask if you could find out from Barry or something what his address is. Thanks.

Have a good week,

Love Elder Steed

Aug 5, 2012

Good day? Who starts off emails like that?

Haha sorry Mom, but you probably do miss me winding you up all the time. And I just remembered I don't actually call you mom, I only called you mother. And for a while I got in the habit of calling dad Joel. Haha he didn't really like that.

I loved the waterton challenge. I will need to set the record one day.

And sounds like a crazy hailstorm. That time I had with Grandpa to do the shingles was a good bonding time for us. Maybe Riley can go down and help as well and get to spend a weekend with those guys before he leaves. I really enjoyed getting to do that. Enjoy the rest of your summer away from home, sounds like it will be pretty good.

So this week was good. Probably the hardest part was fasting. I think on average we cycle around 10-15 miles a day. I am still losing weight and feeling really good, I have a 6 pack on the way even. I do sit-ups in the morning. But so this week it was like 20-30 degrees every day and not much rain. We had our usual Sunday roast at Odilia's at 1 after church. Since it was fast sunday, we started our fast at around

12 on saturday. We then went out and worked all day. We had to do two massive hill climbs. We had a busy day and put in a lot of miles on Saturday. All with no food and no water. Erickson like shut down. I was barely keeping moving as well. We made it to church Sunday morning on the bikes, and after church we just had to get to this lunch appointment. But it was a big hill climb. And I was in my suit jacket.

It was scorching hot and we were both like delirious. I think I had reached the point where I couldn't even sweat anymore. We barely made it to her house, and Erickson was way behind me. We finally got there and just like collapsed on the couch while she got the meal ready. She knows I love Dr. Pepper and buys a 2L bottle every week, and I seriously drank like at least a litre and a half. As well as downing my entire water bottle and just devouring all the food. I think we were both really dehydrated. I didn't (couldn't) go to the bathroom for like 2 days. But we are feeling better now. Back home I would usually just sneak downstairs and eat food in the storage room right after church. That was the hardest fast of my life.

Something good happened as well this week. We have been teaching this Ursula lady. She is really cool, but just wasn't seeming to understand everything we taught. And she had committed to come to church for the last 2 weeks but both times she cancelled last minute. She has a lot of anxiety about crowds and new people and stuff. But we have gone there quite a bit and she has an 8 year old daughter who really likes us, so we got her daughter to really pressure her to come, and we did a lesson about church and everything and amazingly, she came! That was yesterday, and it went so well. A member named Shirley gave her a lift, and when Shirley knocked on her door to pick her up, she had bought her a big boquet of flowers to say thanks! And when she got to church, she had bought us each a banana milkshake and reeses peanut butter cups because Erickson casually mentioned he loved them like 2 weeks ago. The ward was really good, people talked to her and sat by her, and then at the end Shirley invited Ursula over to her house tonight to have an FHE evening with us and some other branch members.

Ursula's daughter seemed to enjoy church as well. So things are going really good with her. And last week she accepted to be baptized on Sept. 8, and now she has come to church that is actually a possibility. And her 8 year old daughter could as well! We are both really excited. I know that a month is a long time and there are always going to be issues as someone moves towards baptism, but she really wants to and she says she knows this church is true and the BoM is true and everything. The first few times we taught her she was saying she couldn't understand what the BoM was saying. This week we assigned her to read 2 Nephi 9, and the next day she sent us a really long text telling us all about what she learned, and she pulled a lot out of it. And then when she got to church she had her BoM with her, and she had pages and pages just full of notes she has taken and things she has been learning as she has read way more than anything we have assigned her. And she is saying she knows it is God that has helped her to make sense of the Book. So it's all really good. The only problem is she smokes about 10 a day. I took all her toabbaco last week but she bought more a few hours later. We just need to help her conquer that last hurdle.

Aside from that, just tons of knocking. We have stayed happy by knocking what we call 'Chav madness.' I might have told you about chav's before. Well in this country if you don't have a job, the government gives you a house and a bunch of money. So all these council houses are all in the same area, or what we call estates. You get these massive neighborhoods of unemployed, uneducated, no ambition, no future chavs all living in the same place. It is just like a breeding ground for everything wrong in the world. All the houses have tons of rubbish in the front yards, it is always just dirty, these chav kids are always running around causing havoc. But we just both find it so entertaining and people just say and do the funniest things.

We taught more lessons this week than I ever have before on Guernsey, so our teaching pool is getting a bit bigger and some of the finding is paying off. Still a bit slow, but Erickson is getting used to it and this Ursula thing has him pretty excited as well. Holly also has introduced us to one of her friends, Hannah. Hannah is pretty interested but has a pretty shady lifestyle.

I can't belive that this transfer is already over. I think it has been one of my fastest ones. I think I got a bit better at training. I've learned a lot. I would love to have the chance to train again and see what I would do differently. So Wednesday is transfer day. I really want to stay here for 1 more transfer and then move. I am pretty sure that neither of us will transfer, because training is supposed to last for 12 weeks or 2 transfers. And we are getting along great so there is no need to seperate us. I have been blessed with really good companions. Most people have that one or maybe two tough companions they serve with at some point. Maybe I am that companion or something.

So ya, that's our week.

July 29, 2012

Hey dad,

I just looked on the calendar on my phone and calculated it and I am pretty sure that July 3 is my final day. And I also read that on the office computer when I was there a couple of weeks ago. So I am pretty sure.

Did you ever train someone on your mission? Do you remember it? And have you ever visited any of the people you met on your mission? Or any of your companions? Do you stay in contact with them? Simmons is going home next week, I know it is unlikely that we will ever like hang out all the time, but I really hope I can get down to Idaho next summer and see him. I think his dad is flying out Ken and Toni next summer as well at a time that I can make it, and I am really excited for that.

Between BLC, the camping trip, our Europe tour, my Idaho trip, and family reunions, I think I am going to be really busy. Hopefully We can get a system where I can manage BLC over the phone and through emails and online so I don't always have to be in Calgary to make it happen. I am also thinking that if I can do that, I can move up to UofA for school and try to open another BLC branch in Edmonton and start getting it growing in two big cities. Thanks for the advice about school and career and everything. It is such a big choice and it is a tough one to make. The new mission president is a heart surgeon so I'm sure I could guess what his advice would be.

Thanks for the update on Ryan's dating life. How do you even find people online? Like dating sites? I always find those stories awesome.

I'm sure he will find someone eventually. And Lindsey too. I just thought of when she tried to get home from DeWinton and ended up in Forest Lawn. Classic.

The men's camp really has changed... I don't know whether I prefer the old fishing camp or the new dirt-biking camp. I think I would like it if it were a bit of both.

Some more reactine would actually be really nice. I think I have about a month's worth left and then I'm out again.

So I'll just give a quick update on the work here.

The mission president came over on saturday to finally meet us. He stayed until Sunday afternoon. We had a great time together. When he first arrived he somehow started talking to a family and got all their details. They are a young married couple with a young daughter who said they would like it if we would come visit them. That was sweet.

We went on 4 teaches with the President and his wife on Saturday. One of the a lady named Ursula accepted a baptism date for Sept. 8, and at another one one of our investigators Luke started telling the president that he is addicted to procreation and so living the law of chasity is really hard for him. He told sis. Millar a story mainly focusing on how he goes commando all the time and getting 'pantsed' by people. These are the oldest mission president couple in the world and they were a little taken aback. I was busting up laughing this whole teach but trying to conceal it. It was so funny. You never know what you will get when you go teach Luke and Louise.

We also got a referral from sis. Lingad, the branch president's wife, and we taught her. She is a lonely Portugese lady who likes to talk but might have some potential. We might have the senior couple here handle that one. We finished the teaches at 9, and we were all hungry so he took us to this really posh steakhouse and told us we need to get something nice. I got a filet mignon, and it was delicious.

Literally the only good steak I have had in this country. Bernaise sauce. And the Millars couldn't finish what they ordered so they sent it back with us and we had it for lunch on Sunday. That was the first time I have ate out in Guernsey. We also re-established contact with a bunch of our investigators who had disapeared or gone on holiday. We contaced 5 people yesterday who we hadn't seen or heard from in 2-3 weeks. 2 of them let us in to teach them and one of them chatted with us outside for like 15 minutes. He is a 19 year old guy who promised to read the whole BoM before next Sunday. We will see. So Elder Erickson is really happy. It is nice to have some things get going again. If we can get a few people to start teaching more regularily, it will make all the difference. The bad news is that still no one is coming to church. Only Luke came yesterday. That is always frustrating.

So that is about it. Enjoy the week without the kids.

Love Elder Steed

Also, what size of shirt do you and mom wear?