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 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

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 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 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 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 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 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

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?

July 22, 2012

Hey,

That trip sounds amazing. You stiched your leg up in the wilderness without anasthetic!? That is crazy, I'm sure that was a lot worse than my lip in Mexico. I'm glad you made it out alive and we totally have to go next year. Now, in terms of going next summer with July 15 as the target date... that is definitely possible. I have just looked at the calendar on my phone. I think that my last transfer date is July 3 next year. But in reality I think that the Sunday before is the last real day, and then on the Monday you go up to North London for a tour with all the other dying missionaries and then that night you have a farewell ceremony that parents are invited to. So that would be July 1, and then after that it's over. So that is still a really long ways away, but maybe that will help you plan something. I want to do that kind of fishing! But to be honest, I highly doubt I could ride a horse for 5 minutes let alone 6 hours. And if I did ride a horse in and had an allergy attack, it would not be good to be in that situation in the woods. So maybe if there was some other way to get there that didn't involve horses... my allergies are actually horrible. I am back to taking those pills that make me drowsy, because if I don't I can't really function. And even with the meds my nose has been blocked most days.

The Olympics are a pretty big deal here, but not like London. Actually, the Olympic torch came here for what is the first and probably the last time ever. It came on Sunday morning last week, and we both really wanted to go. So we got a member to pick us up and we went into town at like 830 thinking we had plenty of time to get to church by ten, as the torch bearers started the run at 9. So we did see it, and get photos which was sweet. The bad news was that for an island of 60,000, there were like 12,000 of them in town where we were trying to see the torch, and so getting out of there was a nightmare. We had to push through massive crowds and then there were just so many cars. We ended up a few mintues late to church... but we did see the torch.

I have still not met Pres. Millar. Or seen another missionary except Erickson for a month. But he did call and he emails me back every week so we have a bit of contact. The good news is that he is coming to the channel islands this weekend! He is going to Jersey first on Friday then coming here Saturday and Sunday. I have never worked with the mission President before and so I don't really know what to expect. But I'm excited to meet him and learn from him.

The district here is very small. Just us and the sisters on Jersey. So we never do exchanges or p-days or workovers or even district meetings because we are on different islands. On wednesday morning we have a sort of district meeting thing, we will have a meeting over the phone for an hour and just talk and try to help each other. I think they are struggling a little bit. When I started as district leader in Slough I was really excited, but over time I just got really tired of it. Mostly of all the stupid missionaries who love leadership and do anything for it and then zone leaders and others who let it go to their heads. I got really fed up with all the nonsense and told Pres. Shamo I just wanted to do real missionary work and not worry about all this other stuff. So he released me and sent me to Guernsey. But then in the transfer before he left he talked me into trying district leader again and it is pretty hard to say no so I said yes. It isn't so bad here because we are so far removed here. It mostly involves just accounting at night and doing the district meeting. But I do really miss doing exchanges.

Well the great things happening has dried up a little bit since last week. We had I think 7 people committed to come to church and none of them showed up. Really disapointing. It feels like every week we can find one or two new people who will let us in and talk but none of these people really seem like seekers and I want to find people who are prepared and not just wanting to chat or just nice people. Erickson gets really excited when people let us in but I just want to find some golden people. I'm satisfied with what we have been given/blessed with but I know there is more out there.

So hopefully this week goes well.
I'm sure this week for you will be a lot more calm than last week, and hopefully everything is good at work.

Okay, two more questions. One, who is Maria and who is Brock? Grandpa mentioned them in his letter to me and it sounded like they were boyfriend/girlfriends of Ryan and Lindsey.
Also, what did you think about my new thoughts on my future/career path?

Love Elder Steed

June 17, 2012

Hey, 

Happy Fathers Day!

Ya usually we don't go in boats or anything, but the AP's just let it go because we were with the Branch President and the only young man in the branch. I have a feeling though that the new mission president will crack down and there will be no more fun things like that going on. 

It is like 830 now and I don't think we really have a long time. We are just at the mission office with the AP's. We had an awesome day. We played football with a bunch of missionaries from one of the zones in London. And they brought all their young men from their wards and their young men all brought friends, and we had like a 10v10 football match. It was English people against americans and everyone else. They were way more skilled than us, but they didn't pass. We started off down 3-0 but ended up beating them 10-8. And then played some american football afterwards. Really no one there had ever played football before, even the americans, except for Simmons. Every fourth I would just hail mary down the side line and he would throw a bomb. Touchdown. No one had any idea how to play. It was actually a great day.

 I am amazed that you finished the race. I don't think I would ever be able to do any one of those 3 things on its own, let alone in a row. I can barely make it this big hill, to get to where all our investigators live, on a bike.

I think that branch presidency doesn't have to be a high priest. But I'm not sure. One of our guys I don't think is even endowed. You just wouldn't expect England to be one of the places where Elder's need to play that big of a role. 

That semi accident sounds crazy. Thanks for the photos. 

And thanks for the updates on BLC every week. I am going to have some big plans for when I get home. We will take that business to the next level next summer. We will get some good things going for Riley for when he gets home. 

This was an amazing week. Holly's baptism went so well. It was just 9 people there, but what was really nice was that her father and his new wife also came and supported her. Me and Elder Martins sang a duet, and we gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was like 500 degrees in this pool house and the wind was gusting like crazy outside as we confirmed her. It was just like the first couple of verses in Acts ch. 2. I thought it was a really spiritual service and experience.
And tomorrow is President Shamo's final zone conference. So he is having half the mission tuesday and the other half wednesday. I am going to be really sad to see him go. And then a month later Simmons leaves. And then 3 months after that, White leaves. And then all of my really good missionary friends will have gone home. I'm the oldest missionary in our district right now. It is really strange to see so many new young missionaries who I don't know. Does it feel like a year already to you guys?

I sent you something for fathers day. Just a small package. But I sent it this week so it is more than likely going to arrive to you a bit late. 

I thought it was cool that you were using that waterbottle finally. And also, in one of those photos you but onto my ipod at Christmas had you wearing that Expos hat I got you a long time ago and then you never wore it once. haha I'm glad those things are getting at least a little bit of use.

The missionary work in Guernsey is weird right now. We have a ton of investigators. But they all have issues, whether it is word of wisdom, or not being married, or having community service from growing drugs on sunday mornings. We have found a really cool family last week that we had knocked on their door a few weeks earlier. It is a mom with 3 kids, two teenage boys who like us and are pretty cool. They asked us to go cliff jumping and playing football with them and stuff (we told them no...). But it just seems like we are finding a bunch of people who aren't really interested in religion or the gospel but who just like to have us over and feed us dinner once a week. We have like 4 families that just like us to come over and eat with them. I have never really had this before. It is nice because we are getting to know more people, and they are introducing us to their friends and stuff, but it is also frustrating that we aren't finding anyone who is really prepared. I think that one thing I have learned on my mission is that there are always things you can find to do to just fill the time but that isn't really that productive. I just want people who are ready to hear this gospel and who recognize the truth of it. This gospel is just so true when you really look into it. If people would just give it a chance. Maybe I'm just being lazy. I don't know.
Other good news is that Ken and Toni are doing great. In a couple months, the relief society president in Helston is going on a mission. i am going to guess that Toni is going to be in the presidency when it is reorganzied. And Ken is having a lot of success with his own buisness he has started, and is hoping he will eventually be able to quit working the door and work more normal hours. And make a lot more money. The things that have happened with Ken the last couple of weeks have just been filled with miracle after miracle. It has strengthened my faith seeing everything unfold the way it has. I will tell you guys about it sometime. They are going to the temple on the 17th this month... which just happens to be moves day. So I am hoping that one of us gets transferred just for the sole reason that it means I would most likely be able to go do baptisms in the temple with them. How cool would that be.

 The Baral's are also doing great. The Baptists have been annoying but it seems they have mostly just given up now. It is good I wasn't in Slough, for this whole baptist thing. Pettersen is a lot more passive. I probably would have killed someone. 

Holly has introduced us to one of her friends, a lady named Samara. She was cool, she didn't think we were weird or anything. And on wednesday night Holly is having like 3 or 4 of her friends and us over to her house for Chinese food and just to meet them and stuff. I am hoping that there can be a chance to start to teach some of them. New converts are gold mines for new solid investigators. 

I can't really think of what else has happened this week. Not too much. Pretty normal. The weather is getting better. It has just rained and rained non stop for like a month. I have been so sick of it. I cut my own hair this morning as I was sick of it being long. Next monday is 'black monday.' But I should still be able to email on monday. I have a feeling that one of us will move. Elder Martins is a good missionary, but is just a bit boring. In the sense that he is really textbook. He doesn't think about anything he is doing, he just does things in the only way he knows how. It works for us though. 

It is getting late. Tell mom I am sorry I can't send her an email as well. But to be fair, it is fathers day. 

Love Elder Steed

June 10, 2012

I don't have a ton of time anymore. We are at the Lingauds house. We just spent the day him Pres. Lingaud, and the one young man in the ward (a 16 year old named Joe) and were out ocean fishing for Mackarel all day! It was really fun, Joe had a little boat we used. We only caught one fish. But it was a beautiful day, the ocean was calm, and we had a lot of fun. At the end, we started talking to another fisherman who had a ton of crabs and we bought 5 from him. So we came back to the Lingauds and just ate the fish and crabs but were still hungry so President is going to pick up some CHinese food while we finish emailing. These guys are the best. And in one year they are moving to calgary, because their permit runs out here and they have family in calgary. So I'm sure I will see them there. He wants to go with us fly fishing on the bow.

What is Brooks doing that is so rude towards Riley? Me and Mike are good friends, and I hope it doesn't cause him to dislike me when I take over next summer. Not that it really matters. If he is going to be weird about it that is his deal.

John Watson really is crazy. We had an appointment with him last week.

We showed up to his house and no one was there. We called him a couple hours later to see what happened and apparently someone had insulted his family and he heard about it so he ran off to go beat them up. And he did. But he is a good guy.

The huge black guy is Ernest. He was one of my best friends in Slough.

He asked me to be the best man at his wedding, he always said he wanted to get baptized and all this stuff but he would never come to church. He was from Ghana and was a great guy but just had no commitment. I don't know, for some reason me and that guy just clicked. He was always saying to me 'Im a hustler man,' But I never understood what that meant because he wasn't doing anything illegal.

Okay so I better get going. Hopefully next week will be more relaxed.

The TV is on and Joe (the 5 year old) is running around and it is hard to focus.

I can't wait to hear about Ryan's trip to Utah. Please let me know how it goes.

You are putting a lot of money into BLC... hopefully it pays off.

Good luck in your race. That sounds really intense. I think even if you finish it that would be quite the acomplishment. And ya sometime tuesday afternoon will be the baptism, so if you are starting in the morning I'm sure you will be racing while we baptize Holly. Enjoy the race and the waterbottle!

Love Elder Steed

June 3, 2012

Hey,
That is amazing that you were able to do that triathalon with so little sleep. I am glad you are no letting Toni beat you. Good luck with the Ironman. Just think of me on Guernsey peddaling up these crazy steep hills here in a suit and just about dying at the top. I am still so out of shape. I was actually having a big issue this week--I was falling asleep everywhere. When we would be watching the Restoration DVD with investigators I would fall asleep in the first 30 seconds and not wake up until the end when Martins would kick me. During a spree of like 6 houses in a row that didn't answer the door, I fell asleep leaning against the wall at a door. I would fall asleep as soon as we got back to the flat for lunch/dinner. I fell asleep sitting on the couch sending a text, sitting on my bed doing the Rubiks cube, just everywhere. And I would go to bed at like 8 at night and really struggle to get up at 630. So I had no idea what was wrong. But then it dawned on me. It is those new allergy meds you sent me... I haven't taken them the last 2 days and I feel way better. So although they completely got rid of my allergies, I was just a total mess. So i think now I will just have to struggle through these allergies.
Speaking of this, ya, I can solve a Rubiks cube now. I bought one because there is nothing else to do here. My record is 2.30 mintues.
Okay the investigators here... also a lot of familes. The active membership here is like 8 a week. A month ago, Martins and the guy before me had 29 people at church (including kids.) We had 20 this week. A lot of families. One single mom (Holly), a family that isn't married yet but comes to church every week and wants to get married and have 2 kids (LUke and Louise), a really cool young family with 2 young kids (Jason and Steesha. Jason isn't as interested, but he just likes us. Steesha has come to church every week for like 3 months and really likes it. They just aren't married. We went to their house last night for an AWESOME roast dinner). And all 4 of these people live within like 3 minutes of each other, with Holly, Sarah and Steesha are neighbors, and live in three houses in a row. So that is pretty cool. We also have picked up a Portugese lady as a new investigator who has 2 kids (13 and 15) that aren't really interested. We met her street contacting and she just invited us over to her house. We went back yesterday to share the Restoration DVD after we shared the first lesson on Tuesday, and she had bought a ton of popcorn, cupcakes, coke, other sweets, tons of stuff like that. And invited 2 of her other friends over. We had a really good discussion and we are going back to have a Portugese fish feast soon. We also have an Indian guy we are about to drop and a crazy celebrity guy named John Watson. He has 14 kids and you could easily find him if you looked on google. He really wants to get baptized.
So that is pretty much the work here. A lot is going on, and if there were some weddings then we might be having a bit more success.
I will definitely be able to do buzz lawn care. I am still deciding if I am going to lifeguard or not... but if buzz is going that well and I can earn enough money doing that, I will be willing to not lifeguard and just do it full time.
There is going to be some big conferences soon before President leaves. Everyone is going to miss him. Okay well the twins are attacking me. Tamsen and Imogen (Holly's 2 year old twins) are fighiting me and making it hard to email. I will send photos.
Love Elder Steed

May 27, 2012

I also did get your email. I just thought I'd let mom have the long one this week. Crazy about the squirrel nest, and thanks for the allergy meds. Those things are soo good. They have helped so much, I will need more in 80 days though. Thanks for those birthday packages.

They were great, especially that calendar with a big picture of my face on the front. All the missionaries I was with when I opened that were just dying laughing when they saw my face on the front of that calendar. I thought it was pretty funny also, but really nice. Thanks for that stuff, I have already devoured all the sweets and I really like the tie. And that little book of references is proving very helpful as well.

Good luck in your half marathon triathalon. Hopefully I will be able to get back into those when I get home. They were pretty fun. Well it is a beautiful day and we are going to go have some fun and take a bunch of photos. I need to find some way to send them. It might be months though until I can send any photos. I got in an argument with the guy who owns the internet cafe on the island so I am sort of hesitant to go back. I got out some CD's from the library and tried to use the internet cafe to burn them onto my ipod. But none of the computers had itunes except 2, but both of those 2 couldn't read CD's for some reason. So I was on for like 30 mintues, and he wanted to charge me a pound fifty for trying like 10 different computers to do what I wanted and having none of them work at all. I told him I didn't feel I should have to pay for his computers if they didn't even do what they were supposed to. So he got a little fired up, and I think it would be weird if I go back. So ya, it will probably be in my next area when I send you guys photos. But hey, I love you guys, and I hope everthing goes well this week 

I also remembered about that cake mix you sent over in the pacakge.

Devils food chocolate. Thanks for that. My birthday was spent in a conference so it wasn't that exciting. But that night, we were staying with the AP's and 4 other zone leaders. I had the cake mix with me, but we had no eggs. We went out to this really nice Thai resturaunt for dinner, really posh place, great food and service and everything.

And at the end, I called the waiter over and asked for some eggs. All these guys were from Thailand and Bangladesh and stuff. It took some coaxing, and a couple other waiters and a cook got involved, but in the end I got my three eggs from the kitchen for my cake. All the other guys were dying laughing. We went home and I mixed the cake in a big wok and then cooked it in the oven in a frying pan. We had no cream or ice cream or anything, but it was still awesome and we used all those candles and lit them on the gas oven. Pretty funny night, but it was a great birthday. Thanks for sending that stuff.

Love Elder Steed

May 20, 1012

Hey,

I am also pretty excited to be here. Sounds like Riley is doing a little better with his lawn care. And sounds like some fun work projects. I love doing stuff like that.

But so far it has not been the best start. It rained every day this week. Not just a little bit, is has poured like non-stop every day this week. And on thursday I started to feel really ill. Saturday and Sunday I was probably the most sick I have been my entire mission. I wasn't puking or anything, I think it was a combination of allergies and cold. But I am still so stuffed up, I just feel sore and have no energy and it has been a bit miserable. But I went to bed at 9 last night and I am feeling a bit better this morning. My rule is only take a day off work if I am puking, so I have just been working through it. I think that may have made it worse though. I think if I would have just taken some time thursday to rest I might have never got this bad. Oh well. 

It has actually been a pretty good week work-wise though. We have some awesome investigators here. We have one family, Luke and Louise, who have been coming to church every week for like 3 months. They are getting baptized as soon as they get enough money to get married. They fed us chicken and chips the other night and they are... interesting. But very nice. And they have a 7 year old daughter and a 4 year old son. We also have Steesha, who is 24 and has a 4 year old son and a 2 year old son. She has come to church like the last 4 weeks. She is really solid, we are going over there tonight for dinner. We are trying to get her partner, Jason, involved. He is really nice but so far just isn't that interested in religion. But he is asking more questions and tonight he is really excited for us to teach him the plan of salvation. Steesha will get baptized as well as soon as she gets married. We also have a lady named Holly, also 24 with 2 kids around the same age. She is probably the most solid, as she is not living with anyone so we dont' have to worry about the whole marriage thing. She comes to church every week and has 3 kids, a boy and two twin girls, and wants to get baptized. We have been talking about doing it in the ocean which would be really cool. Steesha and Holly live on the same road. There is this little road with 4 houses on it. Steesha is one, Holly is another, another one of our investigators named Sarah is one of them (but she is also studying with the jehovas witnesses) and the fourth house is a lady named Claire but she isn't interested. And all four of these ladies are friends which is cool. We also have another young couple in their 20's named Sam and Sophie, who didn't come to church this week and I haven't met them yet. But they were at church last week. I think they have a kid. And also Richard and Kelly are another young couple in their 20's with a son (Richard and Sam are cousins) who we are teaching. We also have a guy named John, whose son is a professional boxer, and an Indian guy named Gotham we taught on wednesday. He fed us these Indian sweets that were soaked in sugar syrup and so sweet it made me sick. So we have a lot of stuff going on right now. The ward is usually like 6 active members. The branch president, his wife, the 1st counsellor, and then 3 other people. But we have 3 BYU students who are living here for a couple of months, and the church attendance has been at like 30 the last few weeks due to all the investigators and kids. If only they would get married and join the church...

The other really cool thing is we found this lady named Mary. While Elder Martins (my comp.) and his last companion Elder Anderson were teaching someone in this cafe, one of the waitresses came up to them and just announced that she was a member of our church. They got her info and we saw her yesterday. She is Portugese, she didn't know where the church was and she works sundays so she hasn't been coming for the

2 years she has been on the island. She is 26 and joined when she was in university because she had a really close lds friend. She wants to start coming again though and said she would book time off work. She also took a copy of the Book of Mormon to give to her little sister, who also lives on Guernsey. I guess a bunch of her family lives here as well, and they get together for lunch every sunday. We are going to try to get ourselves invited and try to meet them all. And hopefully find even more people to teach.

So, that is Guernsey. Between seeing all these people and dealing with illness I've been pretty busy. But I also got a rubiks cube and learned how to solve it already. It is pretty fun. We don't ever see other missionaries or have anything to do on p-day/free time so I bought it to stop myself from going crazy. I also got my new suit and raincoat. The suit was literally the cheapest one I could find here.

It was 80 pounds for the jacket and trousers. I thought I would just get a really cheap one and beat it up and then when I am about to go home buy a nice one I can wear back home.

This Sunday the Baral's are getting baptized. It is right after church though. And I obviously can't leave Guernsey ward unattended. But I am going to be at that baptism. We have a mission-wide conference they are flying us over for on Friday. So I think I might ask president to send back one of the missionaries in staines to Guernsey for the day and I stay in Slough with Pettersen and his comp and then the other missionary in Staines goes with the zone leaders. It is complicated, but it is the only way I can see this happening. And I might need to pay for my own airplane ticket back to Guernsey on Monday. But I'll use my own money for that, and I see no better way to spend my money than to be there. Either that or Elder Wood, the senior missionary in Slough, said he would pay for me to come back. So we will see what happens.

Sorry I just have rambled on. I just have so much new stuff to talk about.

Love Elder Steed

May 13, 2012

It was great to see you guys. It wasn't quite as exciting for me as it was the first time, but I still can't wait to see you guys and Riley again at Christmas.
The crazy senior couple here always says really funny things. I have like 2 pages of quotes from him I'll send you one day. But he always was talking about how this stuff with the Baral's is a chess game. We always laughed, but it actually kind of was. It seemed so hopeless at times, like they would never be baptized, but then one day something just clicked and they took that big step. Teaching them has been one of the most challenging, frustrating, but also rewarding parts of my mission. I hope we will stay friends. Dumbaru has been doing a bit better, he had a little bit last night but got up and went to work this morning  which was good. I returned the credit cards to his wife but he still thinks I have them.
I called President this morning and told him I felt like I needed to move. I thought and prayed about it a lot. I feel like Pettersen will get them baptized with his new greenie (he is training now, that will be good for him). I am flying out to Gurnsey at 1150 tomorrow morning. It sounds like a crazy place. The ward has 11 active members, and they had 35 people at church yesterday. I told President that nothing will stop me from getting back to the Baral's baptism on the 27th. They will have to fly me back to the mainland, but President Shamo agreed. It actually worked out well because there is going to be a mission wide conference they would have flied me back for anyways on the 28th, so it's not a huge inconvience. I'll email again wednesday and tell you what it's like!
Love Elder Steed