June 23, 2012

Hey,

Thanks for the email. How come none from dad though? Is he getting tired of hearing my stories?

Ottawa sounds awesome! I have never been anywhere in Canada east of Calgary, which is weird, but it sounds like a cool place to go visit.

I actually met a couple of Canadians this week. We are trying to re-activate this portugese waitress that works at this cafe on saturdays, so we stopped by to just say hi. An older couple stopped me on my way out, they said they saw my flag on my backpack (thanks

Alyssa) and asked me what part of Canada I was from. They are from Toronto, but are going over to the Stampede this year. We had a really good chat, but I realized that I sound nothing like them. My accent is completely different. Maybe that is just because they are from the east... or maybe I'm starting to sound more English. Who knows.

So this French guy really didn't speak English? I was a bit confused.

Jordan sounds like a really good guy. That is cool he was just hanging out. I really hope he can get permission to get back out onto his mission.

And ya dad is crazy. I'm amazed he finished that whole race. He will need to take me out excercising and get me back into shape.

I had to give a talk this sunday about the Restoration. We invited a ton of people, like everyone we know. Most of them said they couldn't make it. But we did get 3 to come. Luke and Louise, who we have been working with since before I got here. They are like the coolest family ever! Luke is really funny and isn't always serious, but I can see deep down he realizes how important this is for his family. And he is a huge guy and he alwyas says he has our back if anyone messes with us. Louise is one of the most spiritually prepared people I have met here. She really is making a big effort. They tell their friends they are Mormon, they read the BoM everyday, we have been doing FHE with them, they come to church every Sunday, but they just aren't married yet. It's too bad, but hopefully one day they will get motivated.

Sarah also came. She is in the boat that she thinks it doesn't matter which church you belong to. Just stop fighting and work together to make the world a better place. And I mean, fair enough, that is a valid point. She just meets with JW's, meets with us, and goes to a bunch of different spiritual and evangelical churches so she is a bit confused. But she is an awesome lady. We actually went to a production she was in on Saturday night. She is in a acting group, and they did a few songs from a musical they are doing and had some other people singing and stuff. It was a bit like a talent show, they are going up to Dublin to perform and it was fundraising. It was great though, I met a lot of people and they sang a few Les Mis songs. Sarah was supposed to be going to this other happy clappy church yesterday, but because we came to this show thing she came to hear me talk which was nice.

We also are teaching 3 portugese ladies. Odilia, Zelia, and Mary Sol.

Mary Sol is a committed Catholic but the other 2 dont go to church much. They said they would all come here us talk though. But they never showed up. When we saw them that afternoon they said they got to the church like 5 mintues late. The door's were closed but they could hear singing and they even saw Holly through a window. The doors look like sliding doors, but you actually just push it open like a normal door. They said they tried to open it but couldn't, and then tried all around the building to find another entrance but couldn't find a way in. They decided we must have locked the doors and so they went home.

They were so close! So frustrating.

One of them, Odilia, is like 20 chapters into the BoM and is really understanding it. She has a 13 and 15 year old son, and they seem to like us coming over. And these Portugese ladies always feed us.

Actually it seems a lot of people like to feed us. Yesterday we went to Odilia's house after church for a roast dinner (here a roast is usually chicken with roast potatoes and gravy and veg and it is like the thing everyone makes on Sundays) and it was really good. Only 3 hours later we were off to Sarah's house for another roast. On saturday we went to Zelias house and she also made us a roast. We are starting to get taken care of a little better here. And they always buy like 3 litres of Doctor Pepper and then send it home with me.

Our other really good family is Jackie with her sons Jordan and I forget the other ones name. They are feeding us every week. They started with roast as well, but now it is just whatever we request. I don't think Jackie is going to progress very fast, but Jordan is doing really well. It's tough for him to understand the BoM (he is only 14) but he is just isn't your typical 14 year old bonehead.

Oh ya, amazing news. I have been talking to Simmons a lot. It is extremely likely that 2 more missionaries are coming to Guernsey! And he also said Martins is probably leaving. But with 4 missionaries here it would be so good. It gets lonely here not seeing anyone else. I really hope they send over some good guys and we can get this branch alive. I think 4 missionaries could make a huge difference here. Other good news. If Martins does leave, it means we are flying to the temple tomorrow. And, Ken and Toni are coming to the temple for their first time to do baptisms on Tuesday! I really hope I can make it. A few of my other friends from Helston will also be there. Simmons is trying to organzie everything. I talked to Ken last night and I have just been so excited ever since. I just hope it actually happens or I'll be devastated. Ken has made it to church the last 2 weeks, and is doing really good. Toni is still on fire as always. The relief soceity prez.

is leaving and I swear Toni is going to be the next one.

The Baral's are good. Dambaru is sober again for like a month. He is getting baptized on Sunday if all goes well. They are an amazing family also.

It was Holly's birthday this week. She turned 25, but we got her a happy 30th card and Cool Runnings on DVD. She loves church and her and her 3 kids have sparked some life back into this old branch.

I had my final interview with Pres. Shamo this week as well. We went to the temple on Monday as I told you, and we left Wednesday. I was actually the very last missionary in the mission that Shamo interviewed. I thought that was cool. We talked for like over an hour.

About my mission so far, what I want to do in the next year, he gave me lots of advice, and we also talked about my plans after my mission.

I told him hopefully med school one day. Okay, before I go further, in the MTC is when I first started to question this. All the guys in my MTC district thought a doctor wasn't the right career path for me. I just laughed it off but I think my whole mission I have been questioning if it really is the right thing for me. I think I need a job with (relative) freedom, interacting with people, other things/people/competition to push me to my limit, organizing/coordinating people or things. And I seriously have no idea of where to go to school. If I should go to Utah (I don't think so...

but it is an option), or Calgary or Edmonton or B.C. or out East or what. I just have no clue. So in this interview with Pres. Shamo, I told him I want to be a doctor. He immediatly said no. I was like 'what?' He said he thinks I should be an entrepenur. He said if I don't pick something I love doing I not only will be miserable but also I won't be very good at it. He also talked about using the talents I've been blessed with. So I thought that was weird, but I have been thinking a lot about it. Me and Simmons have been talking a lot about going into buiness together. It started as sort of a joke, but I think we are both thinking of it fairly seriously. I think I'm just confused as to what to do with my life. And the fact that I only have 1 year left doesn't really feel like that long of a time. So I am really excited to come back and do the BLC thing. See if I enjoy running a buisness and see if I am any good at it.

Anyways, I better get going. I will let you know Wednesday what happens with moves.

Love Elder Steed