More miracles!

HOLA! so much to say, so little time.

well just so you know, i signed up for classes. it was so stressful, but it´s done.

so remember like forever ago when i told you about a less active we found knocking doors? and when we taught her the plan of salvation and she would just not believe it? yeah well we´ve seen some pretty crazy miracles with her lately. basically when we found her she didn´t remember ANYTHING. (or she didn´t understand ANYTHING when she was baptized) so anyways, we finally got her to come to church with us a few months ago and she´s been every sunday since. she LOVES the book of mormon. she reads like 10 chapters every week! and last week, we taught her the word of wisdom and yesterday at church she told me that she hasn´t drank coffee since our lesson! it´s been super cool to see.

another family that we´ve reactivated is progessing A TON too. the dad was called to be the president of the young mens yesterday and the youngest daughter will be baptized  next sunday!!!!!! we are SO excited for her! we´ve been teaching her and her family for a while now...she understands EVERYTHING PERFECTLY.

we finally have a mission leader!!!!!!! YAY!! we had correlation for the first time in 6 months last week. it was a miracle.

on saturday we found ANOTHER less active member. she told us to come in and teach her and her family. her 2 youngest boys aren´t members. when we asked them if they believe in God they told us no. so we shared alma 32:21 about faith. we talked about a lot of things that we can´t see but that we can feel (ex the air, love, ect.). in the end we left them with their own copys of the book of mormon and the little boys were like "SWEET! thanks!! we are gonna read it!!" the mom told her kids they would go to church next week and the little boys were super stoked. it was pretty cool. the whole lesson i thought of this primary song: 

"A long time ago in a beautiful place,

Children were gathered ’round Jesus.

He blessed and taught as they felt of His love.

Each saw the tears on His face.

The love that He felt for His little ones

I know He feels for me.

I did not touch Him or sit on His knee,

Yet, Jesus in real to me

I know He lives!  I will follow faithfully.

My heart I give to Him.

I know that my Savior loves me."

i know that Christ lives. i know that this is His work. it´s not mine. and any success i have as a missionary isn´t because of something i did, am doing or will do! i´m just His representative. and i´m here to bring the truth UNTO the people and then put that truth INTO their hearts. i feel like i just watch miracles happen all the time. i know for a fact that i´m here to do the Lords work in His way. like nephi said when he was commanded to build a ship, "Now I, Nephi, did not work the timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me". (1 nephi 18:2)

i hope you all have a great week! i love you guys SO MUCH!

con amor, hermana steele

I know He hears us!

HOLA!

hm not too much happened this week. that doesn´t mean i didn´t learn A TON...because i did. and i could sit on the computer for hours writing ya´ll. but this week we had to stay in the house for half the week. you know how last week i told ya that there were riots happening all over our sector? yeah well...they got worse. basically a boy in our sector commited suicide and everyone thinks that the police killed him because they found his body. so all the gangs in Puerto Varas got together and started barricades all over our sector. apparently they all had bottles of gas so that they could set the policemens house on fire (because here in chile they all live together). there were policemen ALL OVER our sector this last week! hermana ralph and i were pretty freaked out! i found this sweet verse in the book of mormon this week though. it says "look unto God with firmness of mind, and pray unto him with exceeding faith, and he will console you in your afflictions, and he will plead your cause, and send down justice upon those who seek your destruction."

i´ve learned that Heavenly Father doesn´t always answer my prayers in the way i want Him to. there have been lots of days where i´m SO tired and don´t think i can do anything more. or days where i feel like i just do not have any more patience. more than once i´ve fell down on my knees asking for His help. and He DOES help. we see miracles everyday. sometimes it´s nothing more than a feeling that everything will be ok. most days i don´t know how it will all work out but it always does. and everyday i´m happy to be a missionary doing what i do as a representative of Christ. i love my sector, i love the members, i love my companion. although most days are hard, i´m glad there´s not a quick solution to my problems. i´m glad God gives me the chance to turn to Him for help. i´ve come to know my Heavenly Father in a way i wouldn´t have if He answered my prayers the way i wanted Him to. i´ve learned to trust in Him. i know He hears us. and sometimes just the fact that He is there listening gives me strength to keep going.

anyways, we ended up leaving the sector this weekend. i´m glad that everything is back to normal now so that we can keep working hard and finding Gods elect. i´m ready to preach repentance unto this people...haha.

i hope everything is good where you are! i love you guys SO MUCH! pray for my sector and the people here in Pto Varas! have a great week!

con amor, hermana steele

Charity suffereth long!

hola hola!

this last week hermana ralph arrived in Puerto Varas! she´s from UT.. but lived in HAWAII for most of her life. she´s great! i love her lots! i know we are going to have a great transfer together! we are still in the process of trying to find people to teach. yesterday we couldn´t leave the house because there were a bunch of riots happening in our sector. kinda sketchy...

so the other day i was talking to one of the sister training leaders. she was asking me how she could have more charity and show it with more sincerity. i started thinking a lot about patience. i´ve always known that all the atributes of Christ go hand in hand...but as i thought about the relationship between charity and patience it became clear that we can´t do anything without patience! charity suffereth long, it is not easily provoked, it beareth and endureth all things. without patience we couldn´t have charity. as we are patient we show our faith and wait for blessings to come...like i´ve done here in Puerto Varas. missionary work isn´t easy, neither is everyday life. lots of people asked "why me?" sometimes i ask "why this sector?" but the question should be "Father, what do you want me to learn?" without patience we cannot become like our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the perfect example of patience. if we want to become like Him we must learn to wait. and work towards that perfection. i know that living the gospel is a road i will walk my whole life. everyday i grow and progress and learn and am preparing myself to return to my Heavenly Father. and even in His presence i will contiune to learn and grow. "continue in patience until ye are perfected". in our gospel principals class we were talking about eternal mariage. (don´t worry, i´m not trunky) an elder said " the world would have us believe that there´s always someone better. but the gospel teaches us that that someone can BE better." so true! it takes a lot of patience to run the race towars perfection but the prize at the end is always so worth it.

i´m grateful for my Heavenly Father who is so patient with me...who has never given up on me. in D&C 64:33 is says "be not weary in well doing". i hope that we will always have faith in Him, show our faith, never give up, and never get tired of doing what is right.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!! have a great week!

con amor, hermana steele

The Power of Gratitude!

hola hola, 

this week we have transfers. we all thought i´d leave puerto varas, but guess what? nope! this will be my 5th transfer here! hermana meacham is leaving...she´s going to la union! i was SUPER excited for her! she´s going to love it! my new companion is from utah! (more info on her next week) i can´t believe it´s my last transfer. it doesn´t feel real. the only thing thats reminding me is the trunky agenda that my district leader made me (pictures attached) with pictures of families, boys and couples  on EVERY PAGE. it got so thick he had to change the binding to bigger one. it´s hilarous but ridiulous. my district leader thought it was pretty funny...he´s a funny guy. the time has gone by way too fast. 

i´m extreamly grateful for the time i´ve had with hermana meacham here in pto varas. i´ve learned SO MUCH from her. she has changed my life and i know she´s going to change a lot more lives here in Chile. i love her so much and i´m thankful to say i´ve found a true friend. it´s going to be really hard to say goodbye!!

it was another tough week. we aren´t seeing much progessing in our investigators...and we haven´t found too many new ones. but like ALWAYS, there were lots of miracles too. i feel like i could sit and write about how hard it´s been and all the challenges we´ve faced. but something that i´ve learned on the mission is the power of gratitud. it´s crazy how much of a difference being postive makes. i know that being grateful doesn´t change the situation...but it does change how i feel! choosing to be grateful brings true joy and happiness. and there is so much to be grateful for. “Dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.” i´m grateful i am here in chile sharing the gospel with the people i love. i love being a missionary...even when it´s hard. "dont worry about a thing. cause every little thing is gonna be alright".

i hope you all have a great week filled with gratitud! because “have we not great reason to rejoice?” i love you all so much!

con amor, hermana steele

Overcoming weaknesses!

hola familia!

mom i got my package! thanks SO MUCH! you are seriously the cutest. the emu oli was super awesome...it made me think of dad reading me "edwina the emu". i´ve been putting it on my knees! also, the garments were SO WHITE...and greatly needed!

this week hermana meacham and i started saying gratitude prayers before we leave the house. it´s been really humbling to remember all the blessings we are receiving from the Lord and all the miracles He continues to bless us with. we also started a "i´m thankful for..." wall. every night we write one thing down that we are thankful for on a sticky note and stick it up on the wall. it´s been fun to write down at least one thing we are grateful for everyday. i just love being a missionary.

i have SO many weaknesses. i know that God has given them to me so that i may be humble and turn to Him for help to overcome those weaknesses. i´m not perfect but i´ve realized that my imperfection is a sign of my humanity not my worth. i know God loves me WITH my weaknesses. He doesn´t expect me to be perfect. but in His strength i can do all things...even the hard things. i think i´ve forgotten that "the Lord is able to do all things if it so be that i exercise faith in Him". i want to become like Christ. so i´m striving with all my heart, and through His grace, my weaknesses can, will be, and are becoming my strengths. it´s hard sometimes to remember that Christ will help me if i let Him. sometimes i feel like the mission is just too hard...but then i remember that i don´t have to do it alone. i know Christ gave His life so that He can help me overcome my natural women. i love Him and am forever grateful for what He did for me so that i can be happy as i strive to become better. how dumb it would be to try and do it without Him and His divine help. so "let us be faithful unto Him" so that when He comes we can hear "well done". 

this week we visited TONS of less active members. we visited one lady named silvia who lives in  a little shack like house...the roof didn´t even cover the house and there were rats running around the floor. then later that night we visited another lady who lives in this big beautiful house. it was amazing to see that they both needed Christ and His Gospel. they both have problems that they can´t deal with on their own. i know they are both daughters of God who loves them the same. i could feel that love for them...it didn´t matter where i was sitting. 

well i love you all SO MUCH! thanks for your examples. have a great week!

con amor, hermana steele

HUGO STARTED HIS PAPERS!

hey mom we just got on the comptuer!! and guess what?! HUGO STARTED HIS PAPERS TO GO ON A MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Agency

hey family!

i dont have much time and not much happened this week anyways. 

agency is a crazy thing. without it, we wouldn´t have a plan of happiness. there´s a less active family we are teaching that ALWAYS tell us they will read the book of mormon and come to church but they NEVER do. we´ve taught them everything we know...and the spirit is always really strong in the lessons. we know they know. they are the sweetest family you´ll ever meet and i love them a lot. but yesterday at church (when they didn´t show...AGAIN) we were pretty frustrated! and i thought to myself..."i wonder how Heavenly Father feels when i tell Him i´m going to do something and then i don´t do it." i´m sure He gets frustrated...but frustrated because i know He loves me so much and wants me to be happy. and the ONLY way i can be truly happy is by keeping His commandments and using my agency wisely. "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

this sunday we are going to sing in church with a less active! we are going to sing "i believe in christ" and we are really excited! it´s going to be really pretty. a young man in the ward is going to play the piano...but he is playing the EFY 2009 version!

anways, have a great week! i love you all so much!! 

XOXO hermana steele

ps. i have a crazy obession with trix. i love them and you should too.