Oct 20, 2012

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

Oct 14, 2012

Hey Mom, 

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

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

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

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

Love Elder Steed

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

Oct 6, 2012

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

Sept 30, 2012

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

Sept 23, 2012

Hey,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a good week guys, forward me anything Riley sends

Love ElderSteed

Sept 16, 2012

Hey,

The generic email eh?

Just kidding, thanks for writing.

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

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

That was a great email to read though, thanks.

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

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

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

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

Good luck with you taxi service and piano practice policing!

Love Elder Steed

Sept 9, 2012

Hey mom,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That's all I can really think of.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Love Elder Steed Sr.

Aug 26, 2012

Hey, 

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

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

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

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

Love Elder Steed

Aug 19, 2012

Hi,

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is a balancing act sometimes.

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

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

Have a good week,

Love Elder Steed

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

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

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

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

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

Aug 12, 2012

Hey,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

love Elder Steed

Aug 5, 2012

Good day? Who starts off emails like that?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So ya, that's our week.

July 28, 2012

Hey,

Sounds like you guys are staying busy. As always. I was talking to one of the ladies we are teaching who is a single mom with 2 kids and I told her about how you always felt like a Taxi driver and never had a moment to rest and I think she felt the same. So enjoy this relaxing time you have with all the kids gone. And I also have learned a bit of similar history... there is a great talk you might like. It is called 'why 1820'. Here is a link.

http://www.colterreed.com/spokenwrit/media/Why%201820.pdf

It talks a lot about the great apostasy and the catholic and protestant churches and everything. I really liked it.

I'm sure the Eureka cabins will be great for the family reunion.

Hopefully I'll be around for that.

Sean sent me the funniest email about his visit to our house. Noah was apparently cracking some classic NHL jokes. He didn't mention Melissa being there as well though. Also pretty funny about the old uncles photo. I'm glad Sean is still doing relatively good. I can't wait to get back and see that guy.

Landon will do fine there. I hear they treat missionaries there like a celebrity and people actually baptize a lot and love it there. I'll have to email him when I get a minute. But I seem to not have to many spare mintues lately.

My companion is not Elder Peterson. That was 2 companions ago haha. My son is Elder Erickson. He is getting quite discouraged and frustrated so I am not really able to be feeling discouraged. I am staying positive and trying to keep him happy. He is actually doing quite a bit better the last few days. We work really hard and we don't really see much success and he is struggling with that. He expected things to just happen and to come easy. I think I felt really similar when I was being trained. But don't worry about us. I'm used to it and things really started to pick up the last 2 days. I'll mention that more in Dad's email.

Thanks for the email. It was a really good one today, I like to hear how everyone is doing back home. Is Riley still excited to go?

Well the zone leaders and 2 other missionaries from the mainland are coming over in just over an hour. They are catching the ferry. It will be the first time I have seen another Elder in over a month. So I'm pretty excited. We are going on a walk along some cliffs by the ocean and eating the amazing Guernsey ice cream. I should get some good photos.

Love Elder Steed

July 22, 2012

Hey,

That really was a crazy trip the boys went on. I can't wait to go.

Sounds like a good trip in Montana and Waterton. Oh, and I got the package you sent! Thanks for that. The second time I've got a package this year! It was really nice to read the letters from the mormon crew back home and it sounds like they are all doing great. I was actually feeling a bit envious as I read their letters, I was missing the days of being a new missionary. Those are some of the best times. And also thanks for the sweets. If you can send a pacakge in the near future, some things that would be greatly appreciated are: maple syrup and mapeline, ranch, barqs root beer (or any rootbeer), sweet chili heat doritos, and anything else you can think of. I have some good stuff to send home soon. I will wait closer to Christmas. It will be like 40 pounds to ship the box though.

Hopefully Jordan is gone. It would be good for him and Sean as well. And ya I liked Katiann but never seemed to really go crazy over here. I think as soon as I left I told Sean I have no problem with him going for girls I had liked, and I think he fell for Katiann really hard. It's to bad she couldn't get him on a mission. He was really close at one point, I remember an email he sent me a year ago. He could have been out on his mission by now.

Riley is going to be such a good missionary. Don't worry about him too much. He will be fine. I can't wait to hear his adventures in Guatamala. Even if he dies over there, he will probably go straight to the celestial kingdom (just kidding). I have been writing him the last couple of weeks. And I wrote Hayden a letter. And after reading what you said about my short-shorts sister, I might have to write her a letter sometime soon as well.

So we don't really have much going on here for a teaching pool. We have the usual people, but I am spending less and less time with people who I just don't see progressing. The branch almost fell apart here this week, so we have been dealing with that quite a bit this week. I don't want to say too much detail, but in a small branch like this personal disputes can become really big deals. And everyone always tries to get the Elders on their side. It is hard at times to stay neutral. I have just learned that I need to sustain the branch president and love and respect everyone else after that.

But I don't feel discouraged. The weather is great now and that lifts our spirits. We are having fun knocking and meeting new people. Yesterday an older Methodist lady let us in to her house. I think she was more interested in talking our ears off than learning about Jesus, but it was a good chat. She is also raises tortoises. She had a huge pen in her backyard of like 10 massive tortoises. We got to go play with them and feed them and hold them and stuff. So little things like that keep life interesting and make the day enjoyable. I remember in Helston with Simmons we had nothing going on except Ken and Toni for most of my time there. But having that one family that was progressing and everything did make such a huge difference. That is what I want here. One family or even just a person who really wants to learn and who will keep their commitments and see the difference that it makes. So that is what we are looking for. We have some potential in a few people.

Enjoy your week. I doubt it will be quite as exciting as this last one.

Love Elder Steed

July 15, 2012

Hey mom,

Okay, so most weeks I will write my letter to you guys first and then at the end write my letter to the mission president. This week we were cutting someones grass and are really late, so I had to write to him first. So rather than re-type the cool stuff that happened this week that I just wrote to him about, I figured I would just copy and paste it. Hopefully you dont' mind.

In your reply to my letter last week you mentioned that when things seem dark and hopeless is when satan wants us to give up, but if we push through it we will find the light at the end. This week, at least to a small degree, has illustrated that point.
I would like to talk about two main events that occured this week.
First, about two weeks ago we met a lady by-the-way contacting. She had met Elders before and had them over before, but told us to come by sometime and told us her address. This week we were finally able to catch up with her. We saw her saturday night, and we were able to leave her a POS pamphlet and set an appointment for sunday evening. A few hours later, we got a text from her asking some very good questions about the POS, mainly the Fall and Adam and Eve. We replied back that we would talk about everything tommorow. So yesterday we went back and had our lesson. She has met Jehovahs Witnesses before, but she said the things they taught filled her with fear and doubt. She said that as we talked about the POS, all of her questions were answered. Everything just made sense, and as we talked about what the Holy Ghost felt like she quietly said that she had felt it as we had talked. We asked her if she would pray after we left to know if what we have taught is true. She said she had prayed before we got there for God to show her if what we would teach was true, and she said that her prayer had been answered and she believed everything that we taught her was true. She said she felt peace and understanding. She is going to come to church Sunday. We are seeing her Wednesday morning and will commit her to a baptism date then. This was an amazing experience. After a hard week, to finish on a spiritual high like that was amazing. Elder Erickson is really fired up to teach, so I let him take the lead in this one. I just kept things focused and clear. But what an experience for him, to be able to hear that the things he had just taught had allowed someone to feel the Holy Ghost. I am sure that this has boosted his confidence, which is exactly what he needed.
Secondly, we met a lady knocking last week. She told us to come back. We did, and were able to teach her this week. Turns out she is good friends with Holly, the recently baptized member in this ward. And also used to work with Shirley, a long-time member of our ward. She had religion forced on her by her parents as a kid, but still believes in God and an afterlife. She just is disillusioned with the churches that she has seen. But she has a good impression of us, Holly told her a little about us and about our church. We called her to confirm our teach for this morning (that is why this email is so late). Turns out her grandfather died a couple of days ago. She said she had some things to take care of with the funeral. So I offered to help her, we had noticed last time her garden was very untidy and overgrown, so I asked if it would help if we would strim and cut the lawn for her. She accepted, and was so grateful for the help. It must not have been cut for 3 months, it was a like a jungle and took us a long time. She had to leave after and hour, but left us with the house keys and asked us to lock up as we left and put the keys back through the mail slot. So I feel we are gaining her trust. We are going to teach her soon, but there is so much potential there. I really do just feel that she has been prepared.
So for almost 3 weeks filled of finding, that is mostly what we have to show for it. Hopefully more will come.

So ya, it has been a really good week. Those two ladies, Ursula and Emma, are going to be great. And it is nice for Elder Erickson to start to get some teaching experience instead of just finding experience.

So we got him a new bike on Saturday. He bought a new one last Saturday, but it was a really crappy cheap one and it broke on Tuesday. He tried to talk to the people at the store to get his money back but they just told him to call this careline and have them sort it out. He called the careline and they were just being difficult and we just wanted our money back from the broken bike but no one would give it to us. So we went back to the store on Saturday and I talked with them, I got to the store manager and he gave us a full refund in cash which was really nice. So we were able to use this money and go to a real bike shop and we got Elder Erickson this really posh new bike. It is beautiful, and it was like 230 pounds but the store owner cut it down to 200. So far it has been great. He is a lot faster now. I would be waiting for him non-stop when he had the crap bike. I still have to wait a lot, but he is getting a bit faster. He is actually really sick right now. I did something I probably shouldn't have... on Saturday after we got his bike I was really excited. We were getting behind on following up on our potential investigators because on foot we just can't get to them all. So as soon as we got the bike, we just went non-stop. At the end of the day I calculated it, and we had biked 26.5 miles. He was walking up the hills and really pale, but I didn't realize we had a problem until he said he was feeling really light-headed as we were biking home. So I pushed him way to hard that day. He was sick sunday but he had to give a talk and we had stuff to do so we just worked through it. Today we have already knocked for a couple of hours and mowed someones lawn. He is like dead. He might need to take it easy for a while. He said he has never been this exhausted, I think I had forgotten the physical and mental toll that this work takes on someone who isn't yet accustomed to it.
But all that talk a few months ago about me gaining weight is history. I am dropping pounds like crazy. I started my mission at 130. I got up to 160  at the end of my time in Slough. But now I am down to around 145. I think this is a good weight for me. I feel like I could do a killer bike time in a triathalon right now.

Okay so, I get that you really want me to be obedient. But I am not going crazy and breaking rules or anything. I don't really know why I was allowed to go fishing on the ocean, the AP's just said we could. Maybe I'm too good of friends with them. And then for the emailing friends thing... Most missions are like that, where you can only email family. But in this mission, we are allowed to email whoever we want. That was president Shamo's rule, and President Millar came in and said that as long as you aren't being distracted by it, you can write to who you want. So don't worry about me... I don't always live by the white handbook but I'm not going out of my way to break mission rules.

For the most part, we really haven't felt any effect of the new mission president. We really are just totally doing our own thing over here. We actually just got a new senior couple out here, but they are really weird and aren't doing anything. We found them a house to live in at least.

I will write Hayden a letter today. I have been meaning to for a long time, he sent me a letter when he was in the MTC and I haven't got around to replying because he didnt give me an address in the Halifax mission I could send it to, so I just looked up the mission office there today and I will send a letter.

Thanks for the Thomas S. Monson quote.
Love Elder Steed

July 8, 2012

Hey,

Well my official year mark is on July 14. Saturday. But because you finish about ten days earlier than you started, my last day as a missionary will be July 3 next year. So I have passed that. I have been thinking a lot about what I want to tell Riley, and some things I want to send him. I have a really good idea, but he might think it is lame. I will probably send it in a couple of weeks and hope it gets there for his birthday. I'm sure his visa will take much more than 8 weeks. But luckily he will be in the MTC for like 3 months, so i'm sure it will be sorted by then.

Girls camp sounds fun. I just remembered a time that I think me and dad came to a girls camp for a few hours and hung out. That was weird.

But that is a very good story of running up the hill. You're really good at using personal stories to illustrate points. I really like it when people do that.

I am trying to imagine Alyssa painting that fence... I am sure you have been met with all sorts of opposition from her about that.

The boys are going to have so much fun this weekend. I am really jealous. I really want dad to organize another one for next summer when I get home. I would love to do something like that. And I have a ton of survival/camping gear with me that as long as I don't need to use for 2012 I will have to use for stuff like that.

The fact that the Byams got a house by us and even better the Pitchers got a cabin in montana is amazing! I'm seriously so excited, what is their cabin like? We are going to have a blast down there once we are all off our missions.

Okay, for Riley.

I have probably 60 kg of stuff with me in my 2 suitcases. For my first

2 areas I was hauling it around with me. But then I could only take 20 kg to Guernsey. And so I had to leave a ton of stuff behind at the mission office. What I have learned, is most of that stuff they tell you to bring/pack is totally unnecessary. At the moment, I have 3 short sleeved white shirts, 2 long sleeved, 7 pairs of garments, 7 pairs of socks, 2 tshirts, one pair of shorts, one pair of sweats, one pair of dress shoes and also my running shoes, one suit, and 3 extra pairs of trousers. And some ties. And that is all I brought and I am living very comfortably with just that. So you really don't need to get everything the list says. My advice, especially for Guatamala, would be to pack light. One of the worst things is having to spend like 3 hours packing all your stuff when you move areas and also having to lug around 2 massive suitcases is always tough. I would just make sure he has money and he can buy whatever he needs when he gets there. You really don't know what you need until you get into the field and other missionaries tell you. But make sure he has a good pair of shoes. Most people here have eccos, and they seem to be really good. My pair I brought wore out after about 8 months, and they cost

130 dollars. Eccos are about 300, but everyone says they last a lot longer. Also, don't get that Mr. Mac raincoat that I got. The long black one with a liner in it and a hood and it is kind of like a trenchcoat. I wore it once in my first 6 months and then just left it behind in my first area. My companion now has one that he wears. It just isn't really a great looking jacket and only really greenies wear it and only until they can find a new one to buy. If you have any other specific questions just ask.

So do you remember when I first got to Guernsey and there was a ton of families and kids and cool people coming to church? Well in the last few weeks, they have kind of been wavering and cooling off. So this week was an interesting one for me because of the incredible number of people we dropped this week. We dropped like 5 young families that were just wasting our time, and also a few other individuals, and got dropped by 2 other young families. Our teaching pool literally just went to like zero at the start of this week. And that was compounded by the fact that our bike was broken so we were on foot, the 4 people from Utah who had been here for 4 months were moving away, we got news that the senior couple that was supposed to be coming couldn't find a place to live, so they had to change those plans, it won't stop raining, and we also had only one d.a. booked. My companion didn't really understand how bleak things were looking, which was good. He just had the casual faith of 'okay well we lost all our investigators, lets just go find some more.' Which was cool. So we did a ton of finding this week. We had to do all of it close to where we live, which I was a bit concerned about because I had assumed that these nearby areas must have been worked to death by other missionaries. But everyday we walked by this one street and I have always just noticed it and felt good about it. So one of the first streets we decided to knock was this one. It was literally the best street I have ever knocked. The first door we knocked was a lady who had met Elder before, they used to volunteer at a community center and she always saw them there and was impressed with them. Her name is Emma. We booked a return appointment. A few doors later, we knocked in! For my first time on Guernsey. A lady openend the door, and she had met missionaries before because they once knocked on the door of her cousins house when she was there. Because it was raining so much, they let them in and chatted for a minute. We taught her the restoration and it went really well, we have an appointment with her tommorow. Her name is Maile (pronounced Miley). As we went down the street, we also met a lady who was lds when she was a child but slowly just drifted away but said we could come back, and two other people who were busy but who we were able to book return appointments with. It was crazy how many miracles we saw on this street. And then also some opposition. We were knocking, and some guy with a name tag saw us, stood really close and watched us while we knocked on someone doors and then when we finished talking to them came up to us. He was trying to be really intimidating and went on to tell us that he owned this block of houses, and that we were bothering his tenants and we needed to leave. I was very polite, but I just told him no. He wasn't very happy about this, he tried to sound really smart and throw some legal jargon in there but when he realized that I knew he couldn't stop us he tried to tell us he is just concerned about our welfare and it is a dangerous area and got our contact info and stuff. And we kept knocking. We knocked a lot this week. Nothing was quite like that street, but we did meet a lot of cool people.

The week that started out so poorly turned around. We found a good bike that was on sale and we are mobile again. One of the less actives we visited for the first time came to church yesterday for the first time in months. And incredibly, just as the Utah people moved away, 2

19 year old guys from the UK moved here for the summer to work. One of them is preparing for a mission soon and will not only strengthen the branch but also hopefully help us on teaches. We are going over to where they are camping to have a BBQ with them on saturday. The senior couple found somehwere to stay and should be getting over here in a couple of hours. We booked 4 da's for this week. When we went back and taught Emma (which also went really well) it turns out she is actually really good friends with Holly (the one who was just baptized). We got back into contact with 3 of our portugese lady investigators who we hadn't seen for over 2 weeks. Holly was called as the 1st counsellor in the primary presidency! I tried to tell Elder Erickson that we were like the Edmonton Oilers. We had a big firesale and are now in a rebuilding phase, but that the future looks bright. He doesn't really understand hockey so he didn't really have any idea what I was talking about. But whatever. We have had a great week. I think that the 'greenie faith' is helping great things to come to pass.

He is such a funny kid. But he is a very hard worker, and by me trying to push him to the limits I am finding I am pushing myself as well. He is a good cook and likes to stay very clean, which I like. He is going to see things on his mission he has never dreamed of living in Centerville utah, but he is going to have great time and be a great missionary.

Love Elder Steed

July 1, 2012

Hey,

This has been a crazy week. I didn't get a chance to email you guys on Wednesday, as they flew us back to London again for transfer day. They have flown us back and forth so many times. I'm sure we are the most expensive missionaries in the mission.

So the big news, Elder Martins was transferred to somewhere in London.

And my new companion is Elder Erickson. A greenie! My first son. Only

6 weeks before Simmons goes home, so he got to see a grandson before he leaves. We have only been together since Wednesday, and on the island since Thursday. But it is exhausting. My gameplan is to work him to the point of just complete exhaustion. And even though it will probably just about kill me as well, try to just act like this is normal and I'm doing totally fine. But I am already totally knackered.

We knocked for like over 3 hours yesterday and walked at least 10 miles. Erickson broke his bike on his first day. So we are now on foot. He has money though so he is going to buy a new one. My favorite part of yesterday was when we were walking and Erickson said we needed to stop and sit down for a quick rest. I want him to be on the brink of collapse every day for the next couple of weeks. We haven't taught a single lesson all week. Just pure knocking and contacting.

But so far it is going really good. I've been working hard my whole mission but I haven't been this diligent or obedient since Simmons.

Things like staying in my shirt and tie until I finish accounting at night, or actually excercising every morning. It is hard work. But I think this will be good for this branch. Elder Erickson, like every greenie, has huge expectations and is just on fire to start baptizing like crazy. That greenie faith often leads to a lot of miracles. So we will see what happens.

There were two really good parts of the week. The first was one of the highlights of my mission. Getting to go to the temple with Ken, Toni, another family from Helston I was good friends with, Simmons and Oscarson. Like the odds of all of us being able to get there at the same time was astronomical. And this happened to be the only 2 days all month Ken had off work, which happens to be transfer day, which happens to have all three of us missionaries coming to the temple.

This was all meant to happen and doing baptisms with them was one of the most spiritual and special experiences I have ever had. We had a lot of fun as well. We all went out to a pub/restaurant for dinner their first night at the temple, and we all got these massive 12 oz.

hamburgers. Me and Simmons split the bill for everyone because we were both really happy.

The other awesome thing was the greenie prank I pulled. I had the AP's in on it as well. The first day new missionaries come to this mission they have a solid day of training with the AP's and with President Shamo. And then at night, right before dinner, we have a ceremony where they are all assigned to their trainers. So when the greenies arrived, I was already sitting in the eating area where they were going to have lunch. Elder White introduced me as a new missionary. We said I was from Provo, that I had had VISA issues and so I did my three weeks in the MTC, got my VISA, and now I came here. Greenies are scared to death their first day at the temple so they all believed it.

As we ate though they started asking me a lot about Provo. Turns out one of the kids who sat by me went to provo for a week for VISA issues. They were asking me about all the rules, where my district was going to, how my companion was, about all this other random stuff. But I managed to keep up with it. So I did a full day of training with them. The President and his wife and everyone was in on the joke as well so they didn't blow my cover.

Me and Elder White were loving it. He was using me for like every example. I was teaching the plan of salvation out of the book of Moses at one point. When White opened it up for us to ask any questions, I started grilling him about if he had any girlfriend back home. We talked about why we were out here and I said the only reason I was here was because my parents made me. These greenies must of thought I was the strangest missionary ever. But they didn't catch on still. The highlight was when my area phone started ringing in my suit jacket which I had draped on the piano. Everyone started yelling like whose phone is that. I didn't say anything, and eventually whoever was calling hung up. But then they called right back, and I was forced to stand up and take the phone out and reject the call. The greenies just about lost it then. They were all shouting at Elder White 'he has a phone!' Me and White were trying not to bust up laughing.

But the coolest part was at lunch. A couple of real missionaries I know came into where we were eating. I didn't want them to recognize me and ruin everything, so I put my head down in my hands like I was crying. Another missionary saw this, he came up to me and put his arm around me and just said it's alright, he still remembered how tough the jetlag was and that everything would be alright. That missionary was Elder Erickson. After lunch all the greenies went to grab their luggage, but I stayed behind. I asked President Shamo if he would allow me to train Elder Erickson. He just smiled, but then sure enough, that is now my companion. President Shamo said I was supposed to train someone else, but about 15 mintues before I had come up to him and asked him, he had changed me to serve with Erickson. I thought that was pretty cool.

Erickson is from Utah, he told me in the MTC he was asked to pretend to be an investigator and to just try to act like one of his non-member friends. Sadly, he doesn't have a single non-member friend.

Centerville Utah. But he is a great kid. He is going to see a lot on his mission he has never seen before. But I am so excited to work with him. He isn't some loser greenie. He is excited to be a missionary. He has no problem talking to people. In the few cases we have done a little bit of teaching, he isn't afraid at all to talk. I remembered being terrified and having Simmons do like all the teaching when I first started. So we are going to have a  good transfer.

I'll stay off the ocean. Don't worry though, we had lifejackets.

Just one last insight I thought of today during personal study. In the sacrament prayers, we witness that we are WILLING to take upon ourselves the name of Christ. We aren't actually taking his name upon us, just saying that we are willing to. Actually taking the name of Christ upon us comes later. Sacrament should then not only be to renew our baptism covenants, but to remind us of the covenants that come later that allow us to more fully take Christs name upon us. I just thought of that as you mentioned talking about the sacrament. I read Mosiah 5 today. Great chapter.

Love Elder Steed

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

June 10, 2012

Hey,

Yes Guernsey is just like that. It is probably a bit different than from back then. All the locals complain that there are too many cars.

And there are a ton of latvians and portugese people that have moved over here. So I'm sure it is a bit different. But it really is laid back and peaceful. Most of the shops are just like mom and pop places.

Everyone is laid back. The max speed limit on the island is 35. THere are a lot of islands you can see on a clear day, but I have never been to the place you can see France. We have actually been in some of these German bunkers along the ocean, you guys will love it if you ever come over here after my mission.

The investigators are doing great. We have a weekly sunday roast with Jason and Steisha... she is really interested and comes to church every week but he just thinks we are cool guys and likes to talk to us. But they aren't married, so even though she reads the BoM everyday and goes to church she can't get baptized. We had a member of the stake presidency over (they come about once a month) and taught Luke and Louise and they are doing good, I think they will be working towards marriage hopefully sometime soon. Holly though is the real miracle. In 2010 the branch presidents wife got baptized. Before that in 2006 a lady got baptized but went inactive or moved away immediatly. So in the last 10 years that is pretty much all that has happened here. Everyone is pretty excited. The Lingauds (a phillipino family that is the branch presidents family) have a 5 year old son who has desperately wanted a primary. A year ago president Shamo came over and re-dedicated the island for missionary work and specifically for finding Joseph (the 5 year old son) a primary so he wouldn't be the only kid. Holly has 3 kids, and they love primary. I think that prayer is being answered. We were having a problem finding her a place to get baptized in. She didn't like the idea of the ocean, and we went around to every hotel with a pool and none of them would let us reserve the pool for a baptism. So Holly took it upon herself and found a friend of her dad who would let her use her private, heated, backyard pool.

So in five days she will be getting baptized! It is a very exciting time. She has read the Book of Mormon every day for a few months now, and she is actually smart so she understands what she is reading which is really nice to see in investigators.

The other crazy news is the Barals... I don't know if I have mentioned much but they have had the baptists trying to get them into their church the same time we have. In the weeks leading up to baptism and also the last few weeks since, they have been going over in gangs, like 4 or 5 at a time, and just throwing a ton of anti material and trying to change them. Pettersen told me all about it, and I gave them a call and asked Pratigya about it. She was so cool... she was like 'we have already chosen, we will never change our mind, we know this is the truth, they won't even read the BoM,' and all this other stuff.

I was really worried about it but it sounds like things are okay. I always text Lukas good scriptures to look up. I guess the baptists came over and tried to tell them we do baptisms for the dead and that it wasn't biblical. Lukas flipped out at them and pulled out the scripture in 1 Cor. that talks about it and confounded them. Even Dambaru has said he realizes that this is the truth. It didn't help the baptists that one time they came over they took a BoM and then threw it in the garbage. Pratigya kicked them out and put up a bunch of stuff on it on facebook and stuff. So I am still a little bit worried about having the baptists over too often, but they are so solid and handling it really well.

You should email Toni though. She said she hasn't heard from you in a while.

There are only 4 priesthood holders here including us. So the stake presidency guy wanted to set us apart one of us as a member of the branch presidency and one as the EQP. But because Shamo goes home in like 2 weeks he said he doesn't know what Millar (the new guy will

think) so that they should wait. So I got set apart as elders quorum teacher and Martins is sunday school teacher. That is only my second time ever getting set apart.

Sounds like the hockey went well. It was pretty funny to hear about the fall of the Sasquatch. I also hope you guys aren't in wheelchairs when I get back.

And also I'm sad I missed seeing the Skinner clan. I haven't seen them in ages.

Oh, I also read those talks you sent me. The ones Riley was told to read. They were pretty good... the Lock Your Heart talk was pretty funny. Good advice though. You hear a lot of stories as a missionary about dodgy stuff.

Those donughts looked so weird! Were they any good?

Well we are going over to Luke and Louises to do a little FHE with them and the kids. We've had a great day today. But I'll talk more about that in dads letter, it's something I think he would find interesting.

So jealous about the breakfast for dinner... where we are we don't get too many D.A.s, there is no fast food and the groceries are just stupidly expensive. So we have like 3 staple meals we always eat...

chicken nugget wraps, frozen cheeseburger, and pasta with mince (hamburger). We just eat cycle through every 3 days. I haven't had a pancake in so long, let alone french toast or waffles. THey just don't eat them over here.

Send me one of those homeade donughts. Actually, if you are ever going to send another package, I would love some rootbeer and ranch dressing. I told Jason I will have him drink rootbeer as he had never even heard of it. He thought we were talking about real beer at first.

Well, see you later,

Love ELder Steed

May 30, 2012

Hey!
Okay, when you put last weeks letter in those terms it sounds just ridiculous. President Shamo never said I couldn't book the flight, he said the mission had no money so they were unable to get the tickets. They have reimbursed me though--I have like 500 dollars in my mission account that I have no way of getting back into my CIBC account. I did have to buy the plane ticket for my companion as well, as it would not have gone over so well if I had left him alone in Guernsey. Staying with the Baral's until 1030... some missionaries get so caught up in every rule (Law of Moses) that they become robotic and I think (this is just my opinion) that they lose a lot of opportunities to follow the spirit (the Law of Christ). The Law of Christ is how President Shamo likes to run things. The spirit was there that night, and I believe that everything that happened last weekend was meant to happen exactly how it did. Things worked out perfectly. The internet cafe and egg thing... ya I can't really say much about those. But President wasn't upset I did what I did, he said he had even tried to use his own personal credit card to get me back to Slough because he felt very strongly about that I should be there.
The Barals were confirmed yesterday in church. I was so happy to hear about that. The only problem is that Dambaru is still a drunken mess. He came to church, totally drunk, for their confirmation. Apparently he stood up in the middle of the meeting after his wife was confirmed and yelled 'My darling! My darling wife! I love you so much, can I kiss you?!' And then ran to the front and embraced her. I wish I would have been there for that one. He also stood up and applauded and yelled when his kids were confirmed. It is really sad and honestly pathetic the way he is. He was such a great guy for those 60 days he was sober. I just wish he could see what he is throwing away because of this stupid alcohol addiction. Nothing seems to work for him. So at this point I just have to laugh when he does stupid things like that, or else I would probably cry.
Too bad to hear about the fine Riley got. I wonder if someone called the cops on him.
I love to hear about everyones sporting events... but where is the weekly update about team Crush? Is the season over already? And what a classic moment at that basketball tournament with that coach freaking out. I am going to miss playing basketball on a team... maybe I will have to find an old person team.
So today is a national holiday, it is the 60th anniversary of the queen being crowned. So the whole island is just having a big celebration. All the shops are closed. The only place we were able to email was at an investigators house. So we are at Holly's house right now. She is a single mom with 3 kids, but is really cool. She has come to church every week for like 2 months. And a couple of days ago we finally asked her to be baptized... and she is getting baptized next saturday! Not the 9th, the 16th. So that is exciting. Keep her in your prayers. Because we are here, I will be able to send some photos as well!
My piano skills are horrible. They are getting even worse because I literally never play. Someone here had a guitar the other day also and I picked it up, and I can't really play that well either anymore. So all my musical talent is gone.
Today is a bit hectic, but next week I will send Riley an email. Going through the temple is a pretty big deal and so is preparing for a mission. I will see if I can think of a few words of wisdom.
Spending some time with Simmons and White was really fun. They are great guys. It is so crazy to see some of my best friends here going home soon. Simmons only has 2 months left. And as you can tell, I haven't really changed all that much. I still do my normal thing. I have been out for 11 months next week. Coming up to my year mark is a scary thought... it is something I didn't really think would ever happen.
Anyways, tell both grandparents I love them also and especially Grandma Steed that she is in my prayers.
I love you guys,
Elder Steed

May 27, 2012

Hey mom,

Thanks for the letter. This has been one of the best ones in a while.

Truman, the sports, the apostate missionaries, team crush, classic. So Alyssa has not been going on any real dates though? Hopefully she will enjoy working as a lifeguard. My only advice is don't work at Trico. I loved my job and the people there, but they are a really bad influence.

I can't belive that A) you are playing that aggresive and B) you lost a game!? What happened? I'm gonna fly home next week if you guys don't pick it up.

And ya, that is really dodgy what those missionaries are doing. That is just what we call wasters. Especially if they are hanging out with a cute 16 year old girl and her mom under those circumstances...

someone needs to sort them out.

Okay, the AP's are with us. Simmons and White, just like the good old days. It's a long story. But pretty much, there was a mission leadership conference on friday they flew us in for. And then I wanted to go to Slough for the baptism of the Baral's and President was going to send the AP's back with Elder Martins to work Guernsey until sunday night when I flew back. Then Thursday at 3, 3 hours before our flight was supposed to leave, they still hadn't bought our tickets, and Martins got a phone call. When he hung up, he told me that we weren't going to the conference anymore. I flipped out and started making some phone calls. I got ahold of the office elders, the airport people, sorted out investigators to start driving us around. I eventually just bought the tickets myself over the phone  and got to the airport just in time to catch the flight. It was REALLY expensive. But I then talked to President and got his approval for the mission to reimburse everything. So I will be getting over 500 dollars reimbursed this week, but I have no way of getting it back into my CIBC account. I might just hold on to it until the end of my misison. I don't really know what else to do.

But all of this was worth it. Coming back for the weekend was seriously one of the best choices I have made on my mission. This last week I had been in constant contact with the Barals, Pettersen, and the senior couple about how things were going. The baptists, anti-mormon stuff, alcohol, family pressure, friends, it just seemed like everything on earth and hell was fighting against getting these people baptized. I got back Friday night and went to see them. Dumbaru was abducted by the baptists. He has been drinking all week. They took him up to Yorkshire, for some baptist conference up there. At first I was really mad, but I have since realized that it was necessary, and all just part of the plan. I think the one thing I have learned from the whole Baral thing is that God always has a plan. The week before I left Slough I was just so down. Everything was unravelling then with the Barals, after everything we had been through, and I just felt like shutting down. My faith was shaken at times throughout this process.

But somehow everything just came together at the end. I need to log off and log back on. I will send this message.

As I was saying. Until Friday, Luna was not going to be baptized. She was concerned about all her friends at the baptist church, she wasn't sure about why Joseph Smith was a prophet, like how the BoM proved him to be a prophet. She was worried about her Hindu friends and family in Nepal. All sorts of problems. But I talked her into taking the interview anyways. She did, and she passed. Saturday night was then one of the most intense and spiritual teaches of my mission. We went over at 7 for dinner, with the Woods. The Woods left at 8, and I taught them, but mostly Luna, about the Restoration as taught in the Bible and the BoM. I was so glad it is a topic I have studied before.

By 9, Luna was understanding, but still said she didn't want to be baptized. I can be a bit stubborn, and I just told myself we weren't leaving that house until she committed. For the next hour and a half, I just tried everything. Starting with getting Lukas and Pettersens greenie to stop speaking. Me and Pratigya went at Luna with everything. She is also stubborn. She twice said she refuses to be baptized. Pratigya at one point just told us to give up and go home, she wasn't going to budge. But eventually, even though it was like 1030, she finally stopped and just thought. It was dead silent, you could have heard a pin drop. For like 2-3 minutes. And then she looked up and said she would do it. It was one of the best moments of my mission.

Then Sunday was even better. We went over at 830 and prayed with them, and then they got picked up for Church. I'll tell you all about it some day, but I don't think email can really do justice to how church and the baptism went. One of the most sacred experiences I have ever had. But it all worked out. They were all baptized, and were all so happy. We went to members house after and had a BBQ, with the Barals, and then I went home and got picked up and flew back to Guernsey by myself. The AP's picked me up there, and I went to bed. I was exhausted. It seriously has felt like a war this last week. I don't think that the problems are over, or that things with the baptists or Dumbaru are going to stop now, but I think that this was a big step.

It taught me that no matter how bleak things may look, God has a plan and he is in control. Things work out how he wants them to.

So that was my week. There really isn't much else to say about it, and I also need to go because an investigator is picking us all up to go walk these really nice cliff/ocean paths along the coast. So I hope you guys all have a great week! I wish I could send the photos, but the computers here don't have the capability.

Love Elder Steed