3/31 My new companion!
this week has gone by super fast...but really slow at the same time!! haha my new companion is really great. her name is hermana aquino! she is a super hard worker! and i´ve already learned A TON from her! she just talks to everyone...and she teaches when she finds and finds when she teaches. i miss hermana bennett a lot...i was with her for 3 transfers! it´s just weird because i was so used to hermana bennett! but it´s good that i´m with hermana aquino now! it´s hard because she doesn´t know anything about the sector...so im basically planning everything because she doesn´t know anyone! so it´s a little stressful to have to remember everything on my own! but it´s good for me!
so i talk way more english with hermana aquino than i did with hermana bennett....weird huh? haha it´s because she wants to learn english so she talks in english and i help her read the book of mormon in english. it´s super fun!! and of course she helps me a lot with spanish. she´s super patient with me haha.
GUESS WHAT!? so right now we don´t have a mission leader of the branch. and so we´ve been without a mission leader for like 3 weeks now...but guess who got called as the new mission leader!? HUGO!!!!!! and he´s reciving the priesthood next week...and he´s been coming with us and the elders to visit investigators! it´s really awesome. i´m glad to see that he is still progressing in the gospel.
hermana aquino and i are really trying to help each other be better missionaries. after lessons we always talk about what we we did good and what wasn´t so good and how we can do better. we are trying to simplify our teaching so that our investigators really understand. i think that´s one of the reasons i´m in a spanish speaking mission. because if i was in an english speaking mission i think i would just teach everything i know about everything haha! and i would confuse people! but with spanish i have to remember to stay simple. so i´m helping hermana aquino with that. and we are really trying to help our investigators feel the spirit. so we are "purfiying ourselves" and doing a fast for 40 days of the things that drive the spirit away. our fast is going to end the last day of this transfer so i´m really excited to focus on how i can have the spirit with me more in every aspect of this work.
don´t worry about my package! it will come when it comes! it doesn´t matter!!
that´s really awesome mom! sounds like girls camp this year is going to be super awesome! i´m really excited for you! you´ll have to tell me everything!
and you´ll have to tell me how it goes in north carolina! i´ve heard its really pretty there too! i hope it all goes well! i know that you will know if it´s meant to be! i will be praying for you guys!
im super super excited for general conference!!!!! & yes it´s starting to get pretty dang cold here. and it rains a lot! so that´s fun. i want you guys to come pick me up so bad so you can see how pretty it is here!
i love being a missionary! i know that this is the Lords work and that he will never leave me alone. im so grateful for this time in my life to be able to testify of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel. thanks for everything!
hermana steele
3/24 GUESS WHAT?
hola hola from THE GRAND CHILE OSORNO MISSION!
first of all...we have exchanges this week. on wednesday. and GUESS WHAT!?!?!?! hermana bennett is going to open a new sector!! im so excited/nervous for her!! but i am one proud daughter haha. she´s going to do awesome. im so sad that we won´t be companions anymore...haha it will be weird to have a different companion. but im EXTREMLY grateful for the opportunity i had to work with her for 3 transfers. we saw a lot of miracles together and i have learned a lot from her.
so im staying in la union another transfer...but obviously im getting a new companion. haha...and GUESS WHAT?!?! SHE´S A LATIN!! IM SO SO SO EXCITED!! she´s from paraguay! everyone says shes really awesome. and all the north americans tell me that whenever they have latin companions their spanish gets a lot better. so i´m really excited for that. i guess you´ll hear more about her next week!
GUESS WHAT ELSE!?!? hugo got baptized on saturday. it was the best. the whole baptism was so awesome and the spirit was so strong. his entire family came! and none of them are members. hugo has 2 brothers...one is 19 and one is 27? and they all live together with their mom. so they were all there...and his dad and his grandparents and all his aunts and uncles. a ton of members were there too! the branch really loves hugo. i was so SO glad hugo asked me to talk. it was really special. hermana bennett said she has never seen a missionary talk at their own converts baptism. so it was super awesome to be able to talk about hugo and his progress. i was also grateful for the opportunity i had to testify that i know that in the church of jesus christ, we have the authority of god to baptize and confirm the gift of the holy ghost. everyone was bawling...his mom and his dad...and me! haha. but right after i spoke hugo bore his testimony. it was one of the most powerful testimonies i have every heard. seriously. he stood up and was like "well my feelings are REALLY strong in this moment." and then he was like "excuse me, im going to bare my testimony to my family. i want you all to know that this church is the only true church of jesus christ. the truth is here and you cannot find it anywhere else. if you want to be happy in this life, this is where it is." woah it was super powerful! his family is super awesome, and I KNOW that they will all be baptized. i can just imagine them saying "yeah hugo was first, and then we were all baptized."
"i always want the Lord to know that if he needs an errand run, Hermana Steele will run that errand for Him." -pres. monson.
have an awesome week! you guys are the best family in the whole world! i love you all SO much!!
3/17 Hugo is getting baptized this Saturday!
hola hola!
im really excited for this week! hugo is getting baptized this saturday! you´re invited! hahaha. hugo asked me if i would speak so im exicted for that too! kinda nervous as well haha. but im so excited for him! i know for a fact that he is going to be an awesome member of the church. yesterday we had a FHE with him and the president of the relief society and her son. we talked about the holy ghost and how the holy ghost communicates with us. we played this game called "yeah, ready, come". one person is the holy ghost. there are 3 pieces of paper on the floor and one person goes out of the room and the rest of the people chose a piece of paper. and then the person comes back into the room and has to pick the right piece of paper. and the only way that the person knows which paper is correct is by what the "holy ghost" says...either yeah, ready, or come. when hugo finally figured it out...we tricked him. the holy ghost was the one saying "yeah" but i was satan and said "ready" to confuse him. so when he came into the room he picked the right paper which was "yeah" (because thats what the holy ghost said). and we were like are you sure? and he was like yeah im sure. and we were like "how do you know?" and he was like "because your the holy ghost!! and hermana steele isn´t!" i can just imagine him saying that in a real life experience. saying to himself, "no satan, your not the holy ghost and i´m not going to follow you." i know he is always going to pick the right piece of paper...or in other words...i know he will always choose the path that god wants for him. that path that will make him truly happy. haha. i hope that made sense. it was a really awesome lesson. hermana bennett and i are going to sing " i feel my saviors love". we are excited for that too!!
anyways, i love you all! have a great week! hermama steele
3/10 I love when it's hard!
WE HAVE A BAPTISM IN 12 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hugo is getting baptized!!!!!
im soooo excited! i don´t even know what else to say. haha.
we had district conference this week and hugo came and loved it. it´s so awesome to see his progress with everything. and he´s changed so much. he loves the book of mormon and he says if he´s not reading the book of mormon he´s praying. haha. its amazing to see how the lord has prepared him...he´s so receptive to everything we teach. he understands everything!...its like we don´t even have to teach! (no just kidding...we do). but thats how it is with the spirit...because we really aren´t the ones teaching...the spirit is. and the spirit always always testifies of the truth. last night we taught hugo the law of chastity. at the end of the lesson hugo said the prayer and in his prayer he talked about his mission! and he´s so excited to receive the presithood! last night during the lesson i could just picture hugo being a really great leader of the church. and that was awesome. i know that he is going to do a lot of good, and change a lot of peoples lives. it was one of my goals in the mission to be with an investigator through the whole process. and with hugo, we found him knocking on doors. so its been really awesome to see him from the beginning and now be with him for his baptism.
i love the mission so much! the only problem is all the bread they eat...and seriously they serve us so much food. it´s really starting to stress me out. honesly you would not believe how much food they eat here. anyways... i love when its hard. because when it´s hard i know that i´m learning and growing...and that´s why we are here on earth. to gain the experience that we could never gain anywhere else. i can´t believe i have been in chile for 5 months! time has gone by so fast!! i feel like i just got here yesterday. well i love you all so so much! have an awesome week!
con amor, hermama steele
3/3 llegar a ser "to become"
this week was AMAZING. saturday was my favorite day of the mission so far.
i dont even want to try to explain this week in an email...because there just aren´t words. but im going to do it anyway.
we have a new district leader...and he´s super super awesome! the other day in district meeting he talked to us about becoming. he asked us what we want to become in the mission. in spanish the word "to become" is "llegar a ser". and the word "llegar" literally means to arrive. so basically we have to leave where we are now to become what we want to be. super cool huh? yeah i love spanish.
on saturday we taught hugo...our golden investigator. i will never, ever forget that lesson. the spirit was so strong...i don´t know that i´ve ever felt the spirit that strong in my whole life. we taught him the gospel of jesus christ and the word of wisdom. as soon as we were done talking about faith, hugo was like "i´ve been thinking a lot, and i know i need to be baptized. so that´s what i´m going to do." and then i was like "yeah? why do you need to be baptized? why do you want to be baptized?" and he was like "because i want to be pure." and then i was like "well baptism is the only way that you can purifiy yourself. it´s the only way. through baptism, we are born again and ALL of our sins are washed away." and he was like "when can i be baptized?" it was really awesome. and the spirit was so strong. when we started teaching him about the word of wisdom and he told us he has problems with drinking and smoking. but he was like "i´m going to stop. my life has no direction right now and i want to stop. i´ve been waiting for this." it´s so awesome to see his desires to change and follow christ. hermana bennett and i have been praying for hugo like crazy. he loves the book of mormon and he loves the church. im so so so grateful for the opportunity i have to teach him and help him progress. i want him to have what i have and im so excited that he wants it too. after our lesson with hugo, hermana bennett and i were walking home and i was just SO happy. i don´t know that i´ve ever experienced that kind of happiness. its a happiness that doesn´t come in any other way. and a happiness that i want forever. it´s times like that that i remember why i´m here in chile.
hermana bennett and i have been working so so so hard this week. our numbers were higher than they have ever been. and i know it was because we have seriously been talking to every single person. im really grateful for hermana bennett and her example to me. i hope one day im a missionary like her! im really excited to keep working just as hard this week. and invite even more people to come unto christ. i love this gospel. i know that it´s true. without any doubt.
i love you all so much! thanks for being the best family EVER! have a awesome week! con amor, hermana steele
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