May 6, 2012

Hey guys,

Yes I can do 2 pm on Skype. We have set up a dinner with some members who said we could use their laptop. So I will go on around 2. I can call Saturday night as well for 5 minutes (ish) like last time. 

This week has been still pretty bad. Not much rain, but just really cold. 

A mission should help anyone learn how to talk with anyone. Paul says something along the lines of 'To the Romans, I am a Roman. To the Greeks, I am a Greek.' But just like anything you have to make an effort and go out of your comfort zone and just do stuff like talk to strangers. It can be really awkward at first or whatever, but as you just do it over time it becomes more natural. Missionaries who are held back by fear and refuse to do the uncomfortable things don't get as much benefit. A lot of times junior companions will be happy to sit back and relax. But I really think Riley will be an awesome missionary. Way better than I am. He will probably know the scriptures better when he leaves than I do after a year. And I think he might be sort of secretly spiritual. 

Okay I am going to keep it short this week. We are talking in 6 days so we will just catch up then. I just want to tell you about the awesome week I have planned. 

Our stake is doing a father and sons camp out this weekend. The Barals have come to church like 10 weeks in a row and are starting to just feel like part of the ward. I'm not even worried about whether or not I sit by them in sacrament anymore because they know enough people. But so we really wanted to get Dumbaru and Lukas out to this camp. Mostly for Lukas, to help him get to know the young men a bit better as Lukas is so shy. They weren't really sure about it, as they have never been camping before. I was getting really excited at this point. I love camping. I called the zone leaders and asked for permission to go with them on this camp. They said no, but I talked them into asking the AP's. They asked the AP's, and the AP's said no. So I called President and talked to him about it. He did something last week I didn't really agree with, and we talked about it and he knew I was a bit upset. So I think he might have felt bad about that or something, but ultimately he approved us to go on an overnight camping trip! It was a really funny phone call. He said he gets a lot of calls from missionaries asking him to do crazy things, like go to an amusement park or something. But he said in his entire 3 years this was the first time any missionary has asked to go camping. I think it will definitely be a way to do missionary work though. So this Friday night we are camping with all the young men and their dads in the stake. I am so excited. I have called around and have now arranged to borrow 2 sleeping bags (for the Barals, we have our own), 2 tents and a ride for all 4 of us to the camp. And we are getting a ride with a semi-active guy and his son I've gotten pretty tight with, who weren't planning on even coming. So it should be really good for them as well. I am really just so excited for this weekend. I have like 3 exchanges planned, the camping trip, a basketball game, and then the phone call on Sunday.  So missionary work can actually be fun. I'm going to have an awesome week! See you soon,

Love Elder Steed

April 29, 2012

I can't believe you got an iPhone as well. Do you even know how to use it? But to let you know, it literally feels like it has rained every day in April. It gets old really fast. But the sun is shining now and hopefully May will be really nice.
Life with a companion definitely has its ups and downs. I think I have learned to deal with it fairly well now. I don't really know what to say about it. At the moment we get along great in the flat and out contacting, I just get really frustrated that I have to do a lot of the small talk and teaching in DA's and lessons. It can be really draining. But it is only my 5th companion (counting the MTC). In this mission, to have only served in two areas in 10 months is pretty normal. My good friend from NZ actually just left his first area 3 weeks ago. He was in his greenie area for 9 months. It is the best way to do it though. I think ideally, I would like to have 4 6-month area's. 6 months just seems like the perfect time. By that time you know the area and ward really well, you know how to work the area and a lot of stuff has happened in 6 months. After 6 months is when people just start getting really comfortable in the ward and the area and can kick back and relax a bit to much. Not always, but sometimes. I was starting to feel a bit like that in Helston actually.
Haha Tanner 2.0? It sounds funny when you put it like that. I'll still just be mostly the same. I still have the side of me that likes to keep things interesting, even as a missionary.
I sent dad's mom a letter back today thanking her for her card. Hopefully she gets that soon.
You have now sold my car and my dirtbike!! What is happening! I don't have the money to replace these things when I get home.
But in terms of my birthday package... a lot of my stuff is starting to wear out. My grey suit trousers are destroyed, so I have been wearing only one suit now and it is wearing out really fast now as well. My other 3 pairs of trousers and getting pretty old also but still have some life. I think I mostly need a new suit and a new rain coat. The one I brought with me is that blue one I had back home and I can't really wear it because we need to wear black. I still do wear it if it is really coming down, but I try not to. And my other jacket isn't waterproof. And I forgot my umbrella on a bus a few weeks ago, so I have been umbrella less. I think it would be easiest just to purchase those things myself though. I think I should be able to get a good suit for like 100 pounds and a jacket for around 50. So mostly at this point all I really need is new clothes. I was going to try and wait until my year mark but I don't know if I'll make it that long.
Thanks for the great email. I love hearing all the details even if I don't have time to reply to them all.
I think the best way for them to stop fighting is just to have a good example of you and dad and how you guys resolve conflicts. If you guys and Alyssa and Riley will resolve conflicts peacefully, I would think they would as well.
I don't really know what else to mention. We had an awesome dinner last night with this family the Summersgils. The wife is from the West Indes, so she made us some really good food from that area like Jerk Chicken and Macaroni pie and this one drink made out of tree bark. The drink was not so good but everything was awesome.
I also got the chance to go to the temple again this week. I was on exchange with Elder Huang, and we went with an investigator who hopefully will be baptized in their area soon. I like being at the temple grounds, I just felt happy when I was there.
I should really write down things to tell you guys about. All the normal, day to day things that I find ordinary and boring are probably the things you most want to hear about, I just can't remember them all. I think I talked more about those things when I was new and those things were still exciting to me. Oh well.
See you in 13 days over Skype!
Love Elder Steed

April 29, 2012

Hey no worries about last week. I was just a bit down but I am feeling a bit better now. We went back over 3 or 4 times this week and they seemed to be doing better. I think Pratigya must have just been having a bad day or something.
Okay, first of all you need to read this article. Yes, I had to go to this other website to get it, but you guys have to read it.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/144288/Read-my-lips-Im-guilty.html
Plug that into the address bar.
In the photo at the top, the guy on the left in glasses is Neil. While he was in prison, he somehow built a relationship with Jesus. We taught him twice this week, and last night he accepted to be baptized, but he has not yet accepted a date. It was a really good restoration teach. I found him on exchange with the zone leaders like over a month ago, but it took until this week to finally meet up with him. He is really cool and really prepared. And he is actually just the nicest guy. So this was a really great part of the week. It is good to finally have started teaching another investigator who actually seems open and very interested. Even if he is an ex-con.
That first paragraph you wrote was actually something that I really needed to hear. Thanks.
I'm sure jackson enjoyed that for his first time. And bro. Mandin is a pretty good guy. I was really sad to hear that bro. Cartier was moving away though.
You bought Alyssa an iPhone 4? You guys are crazy. Although to be fair that is going to be the first thing I will be purchasing when I get home. But it will probably be an iPhone 5 by then.
I just signed on to my Skype account to make sure I rememebr the password and username. In this ward I am probably closest with this family called the Lovelaces. They are this really great American family that live here for work. They have us over every week for dinner. We celebrated Pettersens b'day with them, and they got him presents and stuff. She is the seminary teacher, and she asked for our help this week. So twice this week we got up at 5 am and taught seminary for her. She was there, but she just wanted us to teach the lesson because we are closer to the kids' ages or whatever. So I taught the book of Jonah, and I tried to focus on 'moden day gourds,' things that seem important to us but really are meaningless. Like not going on a mission for a girl or a scholarship, or like skipping church because you want to sleep or something. If you don't know what I'm talking about, read Jonah chapter 4. It is a really good story. And we went back to their house after seminary and had blueberry pancakes and did our morning study there. And at church this week, she bought us each a 12 pack of rootbeer! It was so good of her to do this, and I was really happy as they don't have any rootbeer in this country. So the point of this is, they are like my Slough family, sort of like the Morris' were back in Helston. And so I think we will probably go there to Skype. Unless they are in Paris because I know they are going to France soon. But regardless, we will find somewhere to Skype. Probably around 5 in our time, which would be around 10 in your time. Or is that when you have church? The latest we could really start is 7, or 12 in your time. My comp's parents aren't members so he won't have to worry about that.
Luckily I will be home when all of Riley's friends get home to keep an eye on Alyssa. Until then, I guess it is up to Jackson.
Love Elder Steed

April 22, 2012

Hey,
Thanks for the photo's! Those are really cool. Except for Riley's facial expression in the picture with Tiadora and it looks like Alyssa has not been reading the For the Strength of Youth pamphlet. But the deck looks awesome. I can't believe you built that, that takes some real skills.
Okay, I want to say this first because it is really important. And I would like it if you guys could email me back ASAP so that I can get your advice and hopefully try to use it this week. I'll come check my email again at the end of p-day for your reply.
Last night we had an hour to kill so we stopped by the Baral's. They let us in, and then it proceeded to be the worst hour of my entire mission. I don't know if I have said much how I feel about them, but they seriously feel like family. I can speak quite a bit of basic Nepalese, they always love to feed us, we have helped Dumbaru stop drinking, we see them like 3 or 4 times a week, and I care about them more than anyone since Ken and Toni. They are our best friends here. So when we went over last night, I was just devastated. They were just fighting non-stop. I think they are too comfortable around us. They had this big family argument while we were there. Dumbaru is still out of a job, and Pratigya is just so resentful about him losing his job due to drinking and how she has to pay all the bills. The kids just fight and quarrel non-stop, and as they live in a one bedroom flat this just wears so much on everyone and the kids are always running off to the bathroom to hide, as it is the only privacy in the flat. The kids don't respect Dumbaru, and Lukas is bigger than Pratigya and she can't really control him. They are just fighting over the dumbest stuff. Dumbaru won't eat the food Pratigya cooks, she is always telling him how bad of a father he is, Dumbaru is trying to change and repent but Pratigya just won't let him. They always interupt each other when they speak. She has so much anger and bitterness built up over the last 10 years. She was crying and whispered that she just wants to be alone. I'm pretty sure I was the only one who heard it. And not like alone just right now, but alone as in she doesn't want to be in this marriage anymore. Elder Pettersen finally just stood up and with tears in his eyes told them how sad he was, and then we left. I couldn't eat last night afterwards. I just had no desire or motivation to account with the district. I just wanted to go to bed. It was pouring rain. Me and Elder Pettersen went outside after I finished accounting and just stood outside in this park in the rain and hail for like an hour without talking. Ken called me, as he always does Sunday nights, and that really helped to cheer me up. I feel fine now, but I still am just at such a loss about what to do with the Baral's. Their marriage and their family just isn't working right now. They are fine at church and when we have other people with us over there, but in reality it is just so dysfunctional. I have no experience with marriage or this sort of thing. I need your guys' help. What should I do? Is there even anything I can do that might help them? This isn't really what missionaries are called to do but I can't let this family fall apart if I can help it.
That is a pretty depressing start to this email. Sorry, I just want you guys to be able to understand more of the situation.

Dad you mentioned that we have been working with the same people for a long time. It is true. At the moment, the only solid people we have are the Baral's. This week we found 5 new investigators. We taught a guy from Egypt who is Christian but lives with a bunch of Muslims, who runs a food stand in the local mall, we taught a lady from Ghana whose husband is a Christian Scientist, we taught a lady we met in the high street from Nigeria who lived in Belgium for quite some time and has her own church, we taught this family in the army who are lapsed Church of England members who we met knocking on an army housing estate, and we taught this other guy from Nigeria who is currently unemployed and never really sure of his schedule. We teach all of these people about the restoration, and get them to read the Book of Mormon. But then it seems like getting that second teach is the real challenge. We have so many one hit wonders here. At the first of my mission I was excited about people like this, but now all I really want to do is find those who are actually elect. I just want to find more people who are searching for and who need this gospel, like the Barals. So the reason I just mention the same people every week is because they are the ones we have found who are elect. I still really do care about these other people we are teaching, but it becomes easier to tell which people are genuine and which are not as time goes on. This week I actually had more teaches then any week of my entire mission. We had 19 teaches this week. Although 8 of them were to less actives/recent converts. And one of the days this week was not a real working day, as we had a zone training meeting all day Friday. So the work here is actually going qutie well, and this might sound bad, but right now I have tunnel vision and all I want to do is help the Baral's and help them to enter the water's of baptism.

I think from now on, sending stuff to the mission office is a much better idea. Although I did get the letter and money grandma sent. I have just had really busy p-days and have not had time to write back yet. I will soon though.
I think Riley made a good choice in doing BLC this summer instead of school. When I get home next summer, I think that I will keep that going. But you and Alyssa might have to do it until July when I get back. And that is awesome you guys dominated that first game. Haha Riley got scored on by girls 4 times. What a joke. And I miss that old Phil snapshot from the point. That shot saved us in quite a few games last year. Who is all on the team this year?
The AP's told me like 5 months ago we weren't allowed to ice skate. But I talked to them again and all it says in the white handbook is that we aren't allowed winter sports. So they said it wasn't like a real rule, it was just how they interpreted winter sports. So they said it was fine and we had a district p-day ice skating. A big reason why we went is because there is a less active part-member family we met last week. And the mom, the only member in the family, works at this skating rink. She is really hard to see and get into contact with, so as the district was there I spent some time talking to her so it was a good chance to get to see her again.
I don't know what this email is going to sound like to you guys. I had one of the best weeks of my mission that ended on such a bad note. I am doing good though. The work here is going forward, and things are going better and better with the ward. We have a few families that I am really starting to feel close to. Although one day on exchange this week, I was with Elder Bethers, a really good missionary who goes home in like 3 weeks. Me and him are both pretty outgoing and talkative. And on this exchange, two different less active ladies we have been working with asked me why Pettersen never talks. So that could be a part of the problem. But after you get to know him he opens up and is a really funny guy.
The other major problem that we have at the moment is the senior couple here. They are out of control. They go see the Barals all the time and just do crazy things. On Friday night they went over there for like 4hours, until 11 oclock at night, and taught the Word of Wisdom, talked about deep resurrection doctrine, about spiritual vs. physical death, and got involved with disciplining the children. When we went over for our teach Saturday  they had no idea what the word of wisdom even was. Like they didn't even know what I was referring to when I asked if the Woods talked about the Word of Wisdom with them. All they could remember was Joseph Smith was chewing tobacco and they aren't allowed to drink tea or coffee anymore. So bad. They also had a meeting with the bishop on Sunday  The Bishop loves the Woods by the way. They had like a family interview with him, and no one would tell us what they were going to be talking about. And then the Bishop invited the Woods to be present at that meeting but not us. This can get frustrating, but at the same time me and Pettersen are able to laugh about it a lot of the time.
They do other crazy things, like they sleep in every morning, they went to watch the new movie battleship in theaters last week, and other stuff. Me and Pettersen always get a laugh out of their latest exploits. They really are a good couple though, they are really nice and we like to be with them but they just are doing some things for the Barals that just seem to be a bit detrimental.
Well I hope you guys have a good week. And hopefully you can think of some ideas of what could help the Baral's.
Love you guys!

April 15, 2012

I miss those Sunday dinners we used to have. Those hutterites make good chickens.
Sounds like the house and cabin are going to be completely different when I get home. I'm excited to see everything though.
Ouch, sounds like the missionaries are struggling. If they aren't working with the members, it is probably their own fault though. Two of the missionaries in this district got whitewashed in last transfer (they both were moved into the area at the same time. This really only happens when an area is really dead and nothing is happening.) and for the first like 2 weeks they just visited members in the ward, getting to know them and street contacting on the way. Within a few weeks, they had gotten refferrals, found their own new investigators, and got the trust of the ward. One of those guys is an ex-zone leader who is training one of the greenies, but he goes home in about a month.
Haha I am trying to imagine Al Holm at church... I just can't see it. But i'm sure he would go to see the farewells if one of those boys would invite him. That could be really cool for him actually.
I have really missed the whole family as well, but I have been thinking a lot of how long it will be before I see Riley again. Like 3 and a half years. Such a long time. I will probably be married the next time I see him.
Okay, what the heck? 4 or 5 care packages???? I have got nothing since Christmas. I thought you guys had totally forgotten about me. Where did you send them to? The temple or to my house? I was kind of hoping for one for Easter  but when that didn't come I was just like oh well they must be waiting until my birthday. I love getting care packages, I wonder where all those ones went. Also, if you ever find those letters you wrote me the night I was set apart I would like to read those as well.
Ya, so this was an awesome week. We had 2 temple trips! On Monday night we went down with 2 families in the ward and the Barals to the temple for an Easter fireside. It was really good, although the Barals will still not accept baptism. We had an Easter egg hunt,and the temple sisters talked about what the real meaning of Easter is and everything like that. I think they really felt the spirit of that place. On Thursday we randomly got a call from a guy who lives in York. He is in Med School there. He was baptized in Slough like 3 years ago though, and he was back for a couple of days. He is always really into missionary work, so he called us and said he was going to the temple and would take any investigators we wanted him to. We brought down the High Wycombe Elders to do a workover, and me and Elder Izatt went to all our appointments that night while Pettersen and Bethers went with Ernest and this guy down to the temple. They said the temple went really well, and Ernest promised to come to church that Sunday  He wants to be baptized so badly just he always seems to work Sundays  He likes money more than church is what it comes down to. And so after committing to come to church at the temple in front of the Christus statue, I called him Sunday morning and he said he couldn't come any more. I was so frustrated. He was pretty mad at me as well though. I didn't tell him it woulnd't be me going to the temple with him, and he doesn't really know Pettersen that well because Pettersen doesn't really talk that much. He was really mad, but I apologized and we talked for a really long time, and he told me he wants me to baptize him soon and he wants me to be the best man at his upcoming wedding. I thought that was kind of weird but also kind of nice of him.
The other highlights of the week were Luna's tenth birthday. We went to a ward members house with the Barals and the Woods and had a big dinner and cake and ice cream and opened presents and just had a really fun night. The one problem is before me and Pettersen got there they were out feeding horses and stuff, so as soon as I shook hands with them I just started to die. I had to secretly dig through their medicine cabinet to find some bendryll, and popped a bunch of those. That helped with the allergies, but I got really drowsy and had to go to bed at like 9 because I couldn't stay awake any longer. We had a really good night though.
Also we met a really cool inactive family, only the mom is a member. They have 2 kids who are 9 and 13 and unbaptized, and they seemed pretty cool. The problem is they are quite integrated into the baptist church they attend. But they invited us back over for curry (they are from Sri Lanka) and she works at a local ice rink. So today for pday she is getting the whole district in to ice skate for free!
And because of how much I love Nepalese food and Nepalese culture, I am always joking with the Barals about how I am going to marry a Nepalese girl. And Pratigya (the mom) is always joking about how she is going to find me a Nepalese wife. Or at least I thought she was joking. She actually found me one. Haha it is really weird. She said she has a relative in London who is in university there. She is 21. She says she is really smart, a really good cook, very tall, and very nice. She said she is going to have her come over this week to stay at their house so that she can introduce us. I was like whoa, I was kidding. I have to wait like a year. And she is just like no problem, she will wait. So now I am in a very strange situation. I am getting wrapped up in some crazy Nepalese arranged marriage. In Nepalese culture, you have to marry the first person you date. Laxman and those guys said if you hug a girl, you pretty much have to marry her. Or her family will kill you. I think I might just stick to Canadian girls.
Anyways, that was pretty much it for this week. We got a new zone leader as well, who is way better than the last one. So I'm getting along a bit better with the zone leaders now than I did last transfer. People who are just really uptight and way to serious and strict I just can't help but try to loosen them up.
Well, thanks for all the emails and the support. I look forward to gettting all 5 of these packages at the same time.
Love Elder Steed 

April 15, 2012

Dear Dad,
Okay, I will make this short and fire mom off a longer one. I think that is a weird thing for her to be sad about though...
Did you have to teach gospel principles again? That is cool she brought someone to church. I didn't think she was really into the church that much. For us this week of church was just watching the sunday afternoon session of conference. So it was only 2 hours. I thought it was a good session. But we had a few investigators there for the first time, and I kind of think they found it boring and strange. We had Laxman, Arvind and Bunu all come. They are like the early 20's Nepalese students who are friends with the Barals. Bunu called in sick to work so she could come. I think they enjoyed it though, and the ward was actually pretty friendly towards them which was nice. The Baral's also made it to church, which is now just a normal thing.
The whole idea of sacrifice really is an interesting one. Becuase ideally, we don't actually want to have to sacrifice at all. We all need to get to the point eventually where the things we do for God/The Church, etc, are the things we want to do and not things we see as a sacrifice. But I don't think I'm quite at that point yet. There are still some days when I think about all that I am missing out on, and what I would be doing if I was home and things like that. But there are also days where I feel like the things I gave up are not anything close to the things I have gained. Regardless of how I am feeling though, I am almost always having a good time and enjoying doing this stuff.
That truck story just sounds so dodgy. Sounds like the funniest guy ever, haha I really want to see his youtube videos and everything. I guess when I take over BLC next summer I'll be driving it around.
I can't believe his papers are in either. They will be here by Mother's day. And if they aren't we could even probably do it the sunday after. I will be allowed to Skype again, and if it is easier I could get my hands on an iPad and even do like face time or something.
Oh, just before I forget. I used the VISA again this week. I needed it to send a package to Alyssa for her b'day, and also to buy Luna a present for her b'day. Your guy's package should be arriving this week and I got Luna some glowsticks and a fantasy art book.
I was not transferred. And I am still with Elder Pettersen. I am happy with that though. I have been learning a lot lately. I think one of the things I have realized is that the best points of my life/mission have been preceeded by the toughest. So when I am facing opposition/hardships, I have been trying to look past it and trying to see what I am learning through this trial and where I will be or what will happen after I get through it. That is something that has helped me a lot. One of the ward members here always says that nothing bad can happen to you. I don't know if I would go that far, but I do think that there is something to be learned from everything that happens to you.
I'm sure the presentation went great. I've never thought you seemed nervous when giving a talk or anything. One thing I have been learing on a mission is how to talk in front of people. I have to do a 2 hour district meeting every week, and I don't get much time to prepare for it, so I usually just end up winging it.
Thanks for the photos you sent, I always love to see photos so ya keep sending more.
Love Elder Steed

April 8, 2012

Hey,

Ya the big p-day was so fun. The only other p-day I have ever had that could rival that one was the time we went to Plymouth with Ken and Toni and went ice-skating and then out to Nando's. We had over 30 missionaries there, and I also got a recent convert to come play as well. It was our zone against the neighboring zone, and it was such a good game. We actually had a coach (one of the guys wanted to coach us) and we had 11 on 11, so the coaches ran the subs, and it was actually two 45 minute halves. We went down 2-0 in the first 10 mintues, but then got on track and went up 4-2 by half. With 8 minutes left we were up 6-4 and thought we had it in the bag, so we were taunting them and not really trying. But then they scored 3 goals in the last 8 mintues and won 7-6. We were so gutted. But it was a blast, and if I stay here next moves I think we are going to go up to Reading to rematch them in a few weeks.

The Woods actually got us the new shoes. They are the senior couple here. Pettersen is my companion haha. 

Transfers are every 6 weeks. Except the transfer that starts this Wednesday is actually only 5 weeks. My mission has 17 transfers, and two of them will be 5 week transfers and the rest will be 6 week transfers. So my last day will be sometime around July 1 2013 as far as I am aware. I think what might be good is if I come home and then like a week later us three could fly back to England and then we could go around and see everything/everyone and that way I will be released as a missionary and can do fun stuff. I think it would be good to email the mission president and ask him what the usual protocol is. I have heard of a lot of missionaries who get their parents to do that. 

Transfers is on Wednesday! I have a feeling that I am moving, but I'm not really sure. I have only been here for 2 moves, and we have some issues in the district and we also have the Baral family, so for those reasons I think I might be staying. But just with like 50 missionaries going home in the next 2 months, I think they are going to be doing a lot of changes. I would love to train a new missionary. 

Ya I will find a new suit, the suits here are all really slim suits and look really good, so I am excited to get one. I think that I can make my remaining suit last for 3 more months and buy a new suit at my year mark. That is good to hear about the good deals of the kitchen tables.

On a similar note, the Baral's moved to a new flat this week! We helped them move. They needed another double mattress, as the one they had been using belonged to the landlord and not them, and they called us the morning they were moving asking us if we knew of anyone that had an extra mattress. We didn't, so we went online to this website called freecycle and we found them a free mattress, which we were able to locate and pick up all in the same day and had it for them that night. It was a small miracle how many little things just worked out perfectly to allow us to get that for them. And their new flat is tiny, but it is all new appliances and actually has working radiators, so they seem happier about it. And it is quite a bit cheaper. 

We didn't have a great week for finding new people... we really just have the same teaching pool. We have dropped Jay, and Berry has pretty much fallen off as well. We are starting to lose faith in Ernest, as he just won't keep appointments to church.  Me and Curran found 24 new investigators last moves, and this moves we have only found like maybe 7 or 8. The work is a lot different based on who your companion is. Pettersen has his strengths as a missionary, but with Elder Curran we just seemed to have a lot of success contacting people on the street, and we haven't really had that this moves. It will be interesting to see what happens on transfer day.

The Barals are still really good... they asked us how we celebrate easter, so we have coordinated some things and we are getting them down to the London Temple tonight! They are having a special easter fireside there, and an easter egg hunt, so we are hoping it will be a lot of fun and a spiritual experience as well. We keep trying to push them towards baptism, but they just won't accept a date. It is very discouraging sometimes, but we are just trying to go at it from all angles and see if we can find anything that works. We have made them a calendar with a different BoM chapter for each day, and a place to record if they read and prayed or not that day. So for this week they have been reading and praying together as a family, which is a really big step and a really good thing. The only reason I would want to stay here is for them. I don't really feel like a part of the ward here that much, and we don't have any other really awesome investigators. Either it's time for a change, or it is time for me to stay here and learn something more from this area. 

Love Elder Steed

April 8, 2012

Hey,

My Easter was not really like that. We had no people at church, and it was just an average service. Not even any special musical number or anything. And we had no D.A. either. Right after church my friend Elvis and his family took us back to their house and we ate their leftover Phillipino food from a party they had last night, but we had to leave really quick to get to the bus station. The two missionaries in High Wycombe, one of the areas in the district, have been struggling (one is a greenie who has been out like 5 weeks now) so we went to see them. And then I hadn't exchanged with Elder Buglass yet this transfer (another missionary in the district in the other area) so we had to travel to Staines and exchange with them. So that was the whole day, and my easter was not so eventful. Oh well. 

In my personal study on good friday morning I was reading in 2 Nephi 25, mainly v. 12 and 13, and for whatever reason, it just felt really meaningful to me. I thought for a moment I felt what Nephi felt as he saw these things happen. So that was the best part about my easter this year.

Haha Skousen is crazy... have you heard of his famous talk about the atonement? It isn't doctrine, but it creates a lot of debate amongst missionaries. 

I can't wait to see the new backyard. You guys should send a photo when it's all finished. 

That's really cool about Tanner Peterson. I will never see him, but it's cool that we served in the same country and we will have lots to talk about when he gets home. 

I think Riley told me he is putting his papers in next week? That is pretty cool, I really hope that he comes to this mission. And if he sends them in next week, they will probably be back to you guys by mothers day!

Well it isn't really p-day, because it is moves week. Today is known as Black Monday, because it is the only monday of the transfer we don't get to have a p-day. So we are supposed to make our emailing a little quicker on Black Mondays (Simmons always called them white mondays). So I better send one to dad and get going.
Love Elder Steed

April 1, 2012

Hey,
Confrence was pretty good eh? A few of the talks really stood out to me. I remember watching conference at home, eating crepes and trying not to get caught sleeping. I actually took notes for the last two sessions and only fell asleep during the women speakers. Haha, I really like Elder Scott and Elder Christoffersons talks. The one about a prophet changing church practices and the other about the difference between inspiration and revelation. I also really like the one by Eyring about building a strong foundation of faith, and the ones by Bednar and Holland. There were some awesome talks. There has always been a bit of a running joke about Barbara Thompson (Baby T) in the mission, and we were all sad to see her released. We watched the two morning sessions live at 5 in the evening. And we watched priesthood at 10 sunday morning, and we still haven't seen the sunday afternoon session but will watch it in 3 weeks instead of sacrament meeting.
I actually did get the email from mom last week. I replied to it as well, hopefully she got that.
Ya I bought those glasses and I wore them for the last couple of p-days. I seem to be taking photos pretty much just on p-days lately. But I am still happy and having a good time. Last week when i emailed you guys I had had a pretty rough week, I was really down. But this week was a lot better and I am feeling really good.
That is so cool about cream puff! I was hoping he would come to this mission though... oh well. Maybe Riley or someone else I know will. He doesn't have very long, and that is funny about Mike.
Those stupid Flames. That is like 3 years in a row they have blown it right at the end of the season. Hopefully team Crush is able to perform a little bit better.
Okay so the bad news is that we are having a zone p-day really soon. I have been really busy this week organizing this p-day, because our zone leaders are really lame and no one really likes them. But I have got everything sorted, and we have like 35 missionaries coming to Windsor today to play football! We are having a full size football match, 11 a side, of the Staines zone vs. Reading zone. So we are going to have substitutions, our team has a coach (one of the missionaires who doesn't want to play who is wearing a shirt and tie haha) and some areas are even bringing investigators and recent converts to play. I'm in Staines zone, and I think that the Reading zone might be a bit more skilled but we have made a roster and everything and hopefully we will be able to just outwork them. Haha everyone, including me, is really excited. I think that things like this are what missionaries live for. Aside from solid investigators. It has taken so much time, and almost got shut down by Pres. Shamo this morning, but he eventually allowed it. So I need to get going to there soon.
What has made this week so good is that things have seemed to come back together after last week where things felt like they were falling apart. Laxman and Bunu and Arvind accepted the date of May 6 to prepare for baptism! Their biggest problem will be coming to church 3x before that, as they all have to work almost every sunday morning. Laxman says he is free this sunday though. We had a really spiritual plan of salvation teach with them, and we thought going in that there was no chance in hell that they would accept a date, but Pettersen felt like he should extend it, and after resolving some concerns they agreed to work towards that. It was really cool.
The Barals are also doing great. They are like my best friends. She called us on Saturday and said she wants us to come over. Not for any reason, I think they just like having us around. They made us dinner and we had a really good night. We saw the Barals maybe 2 other times in the week, but Pratigya was always working so it was just Dambaru and the kids. We got Dambaru and the kids to a ward activity, which they really enjoyed. We also had them at conference yesterday. Dambaru came to priesthood with us at 10, and then the rest of the family came at 12. We had a picnic on the lawn with the Woods (the senior couple), and a bunch of members of the ward and some other Nepalese people and then all went back in and watched the one o'clock session. I really think that they will accept a baptism date either this week or sometime soon. They are so solid, and just so close. They would be more converts like Ken and Toni I think. Also, they have found a new flat to live, which has really helped to take some of their stress away.
We had Jay and Amit at the saturday session. Amit left after an hour to a resturant across the street to get some Korean food because he was bored. And Jay still doesn't believe those guys are real prophets. So no real change with those two.
Ernest was supposed to come to conference. We have seen him a couple times this week, and he seemed really solid and really wanting to be baptized and everything, commited to take sundays off work and start to come to church every week. But I called him literally 8 times sunday morning, each time trying to see when he was coming and where he was. He kept saying he was on his way, that he was 20 mintues away, that he was waiting for a bus, and all these other excuses. In the end, he never even turned up. I was so mad, and I need to cool down for a couple days before I call him back and ask what happened.
We also had this muslim guy named danny come sunday night to conference. We met him street contacting and he said he wanted to come to conference and he did, and he actually liked it. But he is still muslim and not planning on changing.
So we had a really good conference weekend. What else happened... we had another big zone conference in which this general authority talked to us. His name was Elder Johnson, I found him very abrasive. He was insulting missionaries who answered questions wrong, trying to be joking around, but I didn't like it at all. I didn't really get much from him. We had an exchange with the zone leaders this week, which was good and we found some cool people here. Also, Elder Whitehead who is one of the AP's goes home next month, and he served in Slough for like 8 months at the start of his mission. So he came here and did a workover with us for a day and that was pretty good as well. 2 members bough McDonalds for us this week. The Woods noticed mine and Pettersens shoes were really worn out, and so they took us to a shop and bought us each a new pair of shoes. I tried to tell them no, but they insisted. They are really nice. Transfers are in 9 days! I am really nervous, I am kind of hoping I can get released as district leader. I would love to train a new missionary, or just be a normal missionary again.
Anyways, I got to run.
Love Elder Steed

Mar 25, 2012

Hey,
Ya it's to bad we missed that chatting opportunity. The bad news is that we just had our daylight savings time, so I lost an hour of sleep on Saturday night. I think that makes it even harder to set up chat times. It was so tough to get up Sunday morning since it felt like 530. I nodded off in church a couple of times.
I think I told you my bank statement would be really high... remember I bought all that survival gear? I have a survival pack in my flat now for emergencies/2012. But I was doing better recently until this last month I started to use them a little to much again. So I'll stop. I think around my year mark or maybe a bit earlier I might need to buy a new suit. I came out with 2, but the gray one I always wore is now ruined. The trousers tore around the crotch area and it is to the point that you couldn't re-seam it, you would have to patch it but it would be in like 2 places and would just look really weird. So I have only been wearing my blue suit this last month, but it is starting to wear out as well.
So what is your current streak up to for never missing work?
So far I have that streak going as well... I have been sick a couple of times, but I have never taken any days or even time off due to illness of whatever.
I'm glad to hear Riley will have his papers in, I just wish it was earlier. Me and Jace email every week, and we are both really hoping that either Riley or Logan will come to one of our missions. Or Landon or Justin I guess as well.
Ya this guy from Vulcan has told some very strange stories about that side of the family... like how his uncle married his step-sister and weird things like that.
The new mission president will be in for a fun couple of months, he is really going to crack down though. At least that will be my guess. Pres. Shamo is the most loving guy ever, but he is definitely more on the mercy as opposed to justice side of things. Which is good most of the time.
This has been a bit of a tough week. Church yesterday was bad. The week itself was okay, but I just feel like something is missing. I've felt a little bit tired and just overwhelmed and discouraged. I can't really put my finger on what is causing this though. I think we really need to find new people. I'm sure the Baral's missing church contributed as well.
We had the Barals over to a members house on Tuesday night, with the seniour couple there as well, and the member made dinner for us all and we had a really good night and a really good Plan of Salvation teach afterwards. Except the member and the Woods (the senior couple) took over the teach and it went on for like over 2 hours. Everyone was falling asleep except them. Too many cooks spoil the broth as they say, and this really was a case of that. We had what we wanted to do, and then the member and ELder Wood each had there own serperate game plan and it just made things not unified and confusing. We tried to extend a baptismal date, but they said no again. THey are still too afraid that they will be rejected by friends and family back home. THe 2 kids are reading the BoM, and really understanding it. THe 9 year old girl told us all about Nephi and Laman and Lemuel and Lehi leaving Jerusalem and everything in the first 3 chapters. She really understood it well, and was highlighting words she didn't understand and I defined them all for her the next time we saw them. That was really cool. Except Mr. and Mr.s Baral still haven't been reading the BoM, and so that is why they don't have a strong testimony yet.
We went to their house saturday night and cooked them dinner, since they are always cooking for us. We cooked them pizza balls, one of Pettersens favorite foods. Last week we bought 8 seeds, some soil and containers. We planted seeds, and have them in our window and water them everday. They are just starting to sprout. So we brought one of them (a sunflower) to the Barals, and taught them from Alma 32 about how our faith is like a seed, and the things they need to start doing better to help their faith grow. It was a good lesson, but the Baral's landlord is trying to evict them by April 15. And they have no tenancy agreement and pay everything in cash, so it is kind of dodgy. So they were really stressed and said they need to go look for a new house instead of going to church yesterday. They are very exctied for general conference though.
We have been struggling to see Laxman and that crew as well, as they are always working. They did invite us over Thursday night as it was Bunu's 24th birthday. There were like at least 20 Nepalese people there, and us. But it was really cool, all the Nepalese people were really nice and we talked to like all of them. I think that this could be good, for once we start seriously working with Laxman and Bunu and Arbind, we can hopefully start to spread out into this big Nepalese friend circle they have, and it will be nice that they know us and have seen we aren't like really weird or anything. We had a big cake, and they cooked really good food for it as well (my favorite was the goat meat!). The Baral family was there also. Such a fun night. Everyone wanted to take photos with us, especially Pettersen cause he is so tall and they are all short.
Jay has seemingly converted to born-again christianity. He claims that he does not believe in Joseph Smith/living prophets, but he has drawn a lot closer to Jesus. I might have mentioned this last week but I can't remember. He finished the BoM, and really liked it. At the same time he finished the BoM, he had dream in which he was told 'You have the answer.' But he didn't think this was the answer to his prayers about the BoM being true. He told us he thinks it just means that he knows Jesus is the Christ. He has also been telling us about how it is just through our faith and then the grace of Christ that we are saved and how our works have nothing to do with it. I am glad he has come closer to Christ, but sad that he has missed out on the truth and all that this gospel can offer to him. Haha I don't know if you hear too often about missionaries converting people to alternate faiths.
Let's see... aside from that, not to much has happened. We have a really good week of D.A.'s coming up again. And the weather has been amazing. It has been really sunny and warm every day. We didn't wear our suit jackets most days this week, just the white shirts. It is so nice for a change after the damp, gray winter here.
Well, this p-day the whole district is coming over to our flat. We are going to play a big game of RISK together and get some food, which I'm really looking forward to.
Love Elder Steed

Mar 18, 2012

Hey,
That sucks about those missionaries that flogged the D.A. you had set up. Haha that is missionary slang. I wouldn't miss a barbeque like that for anything except maybe like a baptismal service. And even then I might pick the barbeque. We had an awesome dinner appointment with some American members this week, the Lovelaces. They are the family that the new senior couple are staying with temporarily, and so all 4 of us missionaries were there and it was just the two of them as their kids have grown up. She made the most amazing salmon curry and salad. And she had ranch!! It was like real ranch, something that is not available here I think she must have like ordered it. And she said she might get me some rootbeer next time she goes to this Costco outside London. Ranch and rootbeer are things I really miss. And we had homemade brownies and ice cream for desert, and they gave us all the leftovers which we had yesterday for sunday dinner. And then we have another D.A. with them this Thursday as well! I don't think they ever had me and Curran over for dinner because he never ate any of the food members gave us except like burgers and chips. It is little things like a good D.A. that I get really excited about.
Sounds like a pretty intense lesson you taught on Sunday. I'm surprised those girls weren't all in tears. We again had to teach gospel principles yesterday, and did not prepare at all and just winged it. It actually went okay though, we just talked about prophets and Moses and stuff.
Thanks for the updates about all the mission stuff. I love hearing about all that going on, and it really is encouraging to hear about other people I know going on missions.
I really would like to read that Guns, Germs and Gold book. Why does he think our civilization is on the decline?
Ya I don't really know to much about Sean and his girlfriend situation.. he emailed me this week but didn't mention it. When you meet her at floor hockey you will have to tell me what you think of her.
Sorry I don't have a ton of time.
The whole Baral family came to church again! For the third time, which is pretty awesome. They are starting to integrate into the ward even, everyone is starting to get to know them and is really friendly to them. We should be going there on Monday or Tuesday and trying to extend a baptismal date. In just like 4 weeks I feel like we have become such good friends. The Nepalese culture is just so kind and welcoming and they are the best people ever. I might try to send some photos next week but I will need to go to an internet cafe for that.
Other than that, the work is slowing down a bit. We have pretty much dropped our whole teaching pool--Jay, Amit, Cherise, Lilieth, Shivonne, Patrick, Spencer, Eric, and loads of others. We really just have the Barals, the Nepalese crew, and Ernest left over. And a few new people we have found. One of them is a guy named Berry, and is Jamaican. We've only seen him once, and he seems to have a lot of promise. Hopefully we can see him again this week. Lee called us and said she was feeling like all our rules are just claustrophobic, and she doesn't think she could live them. So she isn't sure if she will meet with us again, but I really hope that she does. We had all these cool people who loved having us over, but they just weren't progressing or getting anywhere. So we are going to have to try to start over again, and find some new people who hopefully will be able to progress towards baptism. I hope that we have planted some seeds in these people we have been teaching.
We also are going to focus on a lot of the recent converts who went less active. There are a few that are just on the fence of coming back to church. Me and Pettersen are doing good, we are starting to adjust to each other and I think we are actually both really comfortable around each other and becoming good friends. I have a very bad feeling that I might have to leave Slough in a few weeks. In 2 months, a massive group of missionaries goes home. I think like 35. And by September  over half of the current missionaries will have gone home. In the next 2 moves, 55 new missionaries are coming in to take their place. We are going to be a really young mission. And a ton of people are going to have to be trainers and the whole mission is going to get all mixed around. And the new president comes in like 4 months as well. So this is somewhat of a strange turnover time. I think it would be cool to train in slough, but at the same time I don't think I'm ready to be a trainer yet.
Have a great week guys, I can't wait to hear how your week goes!
Love Elder Steed

March 18, 2012

Hey,
Ya I figured calling in May would make more sense. It's not to far away... is there any chance Riley would have his mission call by then? So we could open it up at that time?
And I got that recording of Alyssas song on my iPod, thanks for sending that it will be cool to have something she recorded I can listen to.
I actually never really play piano at church. I'm not good enough. At some district meeting I will play the piano to accompany our singing, but then I can only really play the right hand and a few chords of the left. Luckily in this district we have two concert pianists, so I haven't had to worry about playing the piano for a while. Although I do play some intro music before sacrament meetings some weeks but I have to play quite slowly.
Haha I can totally see the look of disgust on your face upon recieving the 16 dollar (I almost said pound) steak. I haven't ate a single stake my whole time in this country, except for like the second week of my mission me and Simmons bought a couple of like 4 pound steaks and cooked them over an instant charcoal grill in the backyard. They were pretty gross but we were both really excited to have steak. I'm sure everyone loved the food... my mouth is watering just thinking about those meals we used to have. I can't wait to come back and enjoy more of that kind of food. But yes, I have eaten millions of brussel sprouts. Everyone here seems to eat them with roast dinners. My first like 10 times of eating them I just hated them and had to force them down. I still don't really love them now, but I don't find them that bad. I find I can eat pretty much any food and eat as much as I have to so that no one gets offended. But yes, I am already a fatty. I have what appears to be a beer belly. And I think my legs are starting to rub together when I walk. Whatever.
Speaking of Vulcan, a new missionary just came into this mission named Elder Silito or something like that. He is from Vulcan, and apparently is related to a bunch of Steeds. I think his uncle might be Marlow Steed? I have no idea who Marlow is, but I feel like I have heard the name before. Me and this guy might be related, which is kind of weird. He is in the same zone as me at the moment and is still really green haha.
Nice dream... not. I still do feel discouraged at times, but I think most days I am pretty happy and really hopeful for the investigators that we have here at the moment. My first few months I thought of coming home a lot and I was sure I would never last two years, but they say if you can make 6 months you can make 24, and unless some crazy stuff happens at 2012 I'll be out here for a while yet. I remember thinking how hard it was at first and how I did a lot of things grudingly, but over time you can see the effects that living this way has on people.
 Writing in my journal is actually one of the hardest things I have to do. I am getting tired of spending like 10 mintues of my limited spare time every day on writing.. but hopefully I will have the motivation to keep doing it.
Did you and Mom buy new laptops? Mom mentioned her mac, and also mentioned your computer. I'm assuming you aren't still using that relic that you used to use.
Well I better write one to mom as well. Ernest is getting kicked out of his house or something and wants to store a few bags at our place for a few days so we need to go help him soon.
Love you guys, hope all is well.
Go Flames Go!
Elder Steed