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.