last email home!

well, i´ve been thinking about what i would say in this email for a while now. i cannot believe it´s the last. how grateful i am for the time i´ve spent as a representative of Christ and His church. i wouldn´t trade this year and a half for ANYTHING and i´m so grateful to my Father in Heaven for sending me here to Chile to learn and to grow. 

i know the gospel is true. i know Christ lives and loves us so much more than we will ever know. i know our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy and return to Him, and that is why He sent us His Son, who i love with all my heart. i know that if we follow His perfect example and live His perfect gospel, we will not fall. it doesn´t mean that it will be easy...it´s not supposed to be. but as we do the small and simple things we find peace, joy and happiness through our challenges. as i watched general conference this weekend i noticed that almost everyone spoke of or mentioned our personal conversion to the gospel. i know that it is SO important that we become truly converted to His gospel and that we live it to experience that happiness everyday. equally important is sharing the happiness we have because of what we know. i´m excited to keep being a missionary and sharing the gospel with those around me!!

thanks for the support and love i have recieved from all of you. you´re the best. i love you all so much. see you soon.

XOXO, hermana steele

"Because He Lives"

hola familia!!

this week we had an activity with the ward for the new inciative, "Because He Lives"! We had a tour of the life of Jesus Christ. all the missionaries in our zone came to Pto. Varas to help! in the first room the Elders talked about the birth of Jesus Christ. in the second room the sisters talked about Jesus's baptism. and in the third room the elders taught about Christ's suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane. in the fourth room hermana Ralph and I talked about the resurrection! we show the video "because to Him" from last year! it´s a great video! I had chance to watch it many times and think much about the real meaning of Easter. 

I know Christ lives. I know that His life didn´t ended on the cross. He arose on the third day and because of him, I will also be resurrected and return to the presence of Heavenly Father. and as the video says, i always have a second chance to start over because of Him. I think life would be impossible without those second chances ... but we have them! everyday! I love him very much and am very grateful for what he did for me. Mosiah 16: 9 says: "He is the light and life of the world, yea, a light that is endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is endless, that there can be no more death."

in the last room they watched the new video, because He lives. I love this video too ... is SO great! if you haven´t already seen it, i inviste you to watch it! and not just watch it, but share it! post it on your facebooks with your testimony of the living Christ to help others understand who He is for us.

Friday we went out to visit some hermanas with the new president of the Relief Society. We decided to visit a less active family that the ward is trying to help come back to church. They are such a great family ... the parents both served missions, and are sealed in the temple! When we got to their house the bishop had just showed up! so, we decided to share the new video with them. the dad began to cry and expressed his feelings of Christ and his desire to come back to church. he was very sad that his family stopped doing the small and simple things. all of us were crying and we were able to testify to the power of the Atonement and His love for each of us, no matter what we have done in this life. I think it was one of the times I have felt the Spirit stronger throughout my mission. we said a prayer and left. and yesterday, the whole family came to church and stayed for all the meetings! It was a miracle. 

on saturday little moira was baptized. i cried through the whole baptism. i think it was a lot of emotions that came all at once. i was so happy for her and her family! the spirit was definately present! i also couldn´t help but think about the fact that i´m coming home next week. i´m so grateful for my mission. i wouldn´t be who i am today without it.

on saturday, we had lunch with the bishop. he told me "hermana, you´ve been here for a long time and i wanted to thank you for all you´ve done here. maybe you haven´t had as many baptisms as you wanted here in Pto Varas but you´ve reactivated 11 almas. and that is a great thing." it was super sweet of him! i think in this sector i´ve come to understand the joy our Heavenly Father feels when 1person finds his way back to His fold. "And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance."

well family, i love you all SO much. i pray for you always. thanks for all you do. seriously...watch the video if you haven´t. and have a box of tissues near by. 

helives.mormon.org

XOXO, hermana steele

Moria Jara will be baptized!!!

¡HOLA!

this week went by REALLY FAST! i guess that´s nothing new...

on monday, i started feeling sick. (you know, the whole nose ears & throat thing) it definately got worse as the week went on. and then on wed my companion started feeling sick. so it´s been a week of lots of tissues and hand sanitizer. all the elders say it´s normal to get sick because it´s my last transfer. (whatever that means?)

on tuesday we had a training on a new iniciative the church is doing for easter. at this time of year we celebrate Christ´s resurrection and it´s a perfect time to seek the ones that seek Him. the iniciative is called "because of Him" and we are REALLY excited to use it to find, teach, baptize, and reactivate the people of pto varas. a new video and website will come out this saturday and i invite you all to share it with EVERYONE on your facebook, twitter, instagram, ect. to invite everyone to learn more about our Savior and help them remember that because He lives, we will too. we came up with this idea with our ward mission leader: this next sunday our ward is going to have a fireside and we´ll present the new video and challege all the members to share the video with their friends. then anyone who "likes" the video is a reference for us!! we are super stoked! and on abril 5th, we will be in the plaza downtown with a projector showing the video. super awesome right? (check out this message by Elder Nelson with the link to the new website: lds.org/new-era/2015/03/because-he-lives) 

so remember those two little boys of the less active we started teaching last week? ok their names are Vicente & Rodolfo. guess what? they read the chapter we left them in the Book of Mormon...and they really liked it! they came to church on sunday...and they really like it too! on Friday, we went and taught them about prayer. they sat and listened VERY intently and told us they would pray everyday. they asked great questions and we were able to help them understand how to pray correctly. i had the idea to make them little signs that say "pray always" and after the lesson they colored them and together we wrote the steps of prayer on the back. IT WAS SO CUTE. i love them so much. i think i´ll bring them home with me. 

this saturday Moira Jara will be baptized!!! i invite you all to come and watch this little angel make covenants with her Heavenly Father! we are so very excited for her! we have our last lesson tomorrow with her and her family that have been COMPELETLY reactivated. they are one of my favorite families here in pto varas. i think i´ll bring them home with me too. (this week i´m feeling really grateful for facebook and skype haha)

last week we found a new apartment building and decided to knock a bunch of doors. we found A BILLION new people that are very, very prepared to hear the gospel. on one door we knocked a man about 30 years old answered the door. he started asking us who we were and what our church believes in. he asked for our number and we left wondering if he´d actually call us. he told us he´d be at church on sunday. and guess what? he called. he asked more about the church meetings, what time they started, and what he needed to wear to get in. guess what else? he came to church with us yesterday! the ward was SUPER awesome with him. we have an appointment with him and some members of the ward tonight! pray for alejandro! (and if you want you can sing the song "alejandro" by lady gaga Syd)

yesterday we had a SWEET ward cousel. i´m really really grateful for the Cólon ward and all my leaders here. they are great and i feel privigeled to have been able to work with them so long. our ward mission leader is helping us A TON. it´s been really awesome to see his desires to serve and his excitement for the work. i feel like the ward is progessing A LOT. i know that our Heavenly Father is hastening His work. I know He is a God of miracles. i´ve seen SO many this week. and i´m excited to see ever more as i continue to serve Him with all my heart.

i hope you all have a great week! you are in my prayers! i love you so much!

con amor, hermana steele

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.

"Work hard and work smart"

THIS WEEK WAS SO AWESOME!!!$%"·!!·%&/

on Tuesday we had zone conference with President Obeso. oh how i love that man! i´m so grateful for him. he talked about a lot of things i really needed to hear and things i´m really excited to apply. i´m grateful that the Spirit could testify to me of those things. President talked a lot about hastening the work of salvation...and working with the members. and this week we had at least one lesson with member present every day. it was so sweet. stan always says "work hard and work smart". i know that working hard is my part...i should be doing all that i can do help the work progress here in Puerto Varas. but this week i learned what "working smart" means. it´s working with the members. the work runs so much better when the members get involved. it´s like a truck stuck in the snow...we can spin our wheels and work really hard but we wont get anywhere unless we have chains to help us get out. and the chains are the members.

so we have this new investigator named Fernanda. she´s lovely! honestly, God prepares His children to hear and accept the gospel. this week she told us she´s been praying everday to know that Joseph Smith was a prophet...and she said she feels really happy. she understands she has to act upon what we teach, not just listen. it´s a miracle we found her...last month we fasted to find Gods elect...and yesterday we fasted for one of them.

anyways, i hope you´re all doing well! i love you all SO MUCH! SO SO MUCH! i pray for you always. have a great week! 

XOXO, hermana steele

Allegory of the Olive Tree!

guess what? I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY.

this week i read jacob 5...the allegory of the olive tree. i read this part and it hit me: "And it came to pass that the servant said unto his master: How comest thou hither to plant this tree, or this branch of the tree? For behold, it was the poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard. And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit." i feel like the past few weeks i´ve been asking the Lord why i´m in this sector. it´s been rough and i wasn´t sure why God was planting me in this part of his vineyard. but i love His answer. the Lord knows this is a poor spot of ground and He knows that it can bring forth much fruit. i´m here to nourish it...and that may take a long time. sometimes i ask (like the Lord did) "What could I have done more for my vineyard?" but the answer is in verse 71..."Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might". i know the Lord asks that i go, and labor in His vineyard...and i know without any doubt that the Lord is laboring with me (v. 72). and if i serve Him faithfully with all my heart, might, mind, and strength he will tell me "blessed art thou; for because ye have been diligent in laboring with me in my vineyard, and have kept my commandments, and have brought unto me again the natural fruit" and i will have joy with Him! it´s not easy. it´s not supposed to be. but i know if i do the Lords work in His way, i cannot be frustrated and i can be truly happy. in D&C 42:8 it says "and inasmuch as ye shall find them that will receive you ye shall build up my church". so the question always is "did i build them up?" my desire is to build God´s kingdom here in Chile. i love being a representative of my Savior and i love working with Him in His vineyard.

anyways, i hope you all have a great week! 

XOXO, hermana steele

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO COSETTE! i love you so much cosy!! 

I love my purpose as a missionary!

hey family! this week was another hard one. i´ve felt a little discouraged...the work seems to be going really slow. and i wondered why the Lord has kept me here in Pto Varas. on thursday i asked for a blessing from a brother in the ward. it was a beautiful blessing!! he blessed me with energy and strength to keep working hard. in the blessing he talked about the power of my calling and how i can turn to the scriptures for the comfort i need. i hadn´t told him anything about how i was feeling but the blessing was perfect and it was just what i needed. at the end of the blessing, i was crying and so was hermana meacham. the spirit was very strong. i felt Gods love and i realized that in this time of trial i can choose to turn to Him or i can turn away from Him. and no one else can make that decision for me. i know the only solution is to forget myself and give it all to him.

i love my purpose as a missionary. i absolutely love what i do...invite others to come unto Christ. the word "come" is a verb...it requires that people act and that they personally accept that invitation. and when they do, they change and become happier. i´ve learned that i´m not here just to invite others to come unto Christ. that invitation is for me as well. i personally have to act and accpet the invitation from Christ. and as i do, i change and am happier. i know that Christ suffered for me so that i can return to live with my Heavenly Father one day. but i also know hat He died so that i can change and become more like Him.

we´ve been working with a less active who doesn´t understand that very well. she´s committed lots of errors in her life. she knows God can and will forgive her someday...but she doesn´t understand that she can be forgiven now! we´ve been working with her for a long time now and i love her with all my heart. she hasn´t been to church for over 6 years because of the guilt she feels. but she´s been to church the past 3 weeks now and it´s been a miracle. she´s changing and i can see she´s much happier as she accpets Christ and His Atonement.

another less active family we´ve been working with has been to church for over a month now. they want their youngest daughter to be baptized so we are preparing her for that and helping the family at the same time. the husband of the family said this to me yesterday: "we are so glad you´re still here. we need you here." i can see that this family is also accepting Christ and are MUCH MUCH happier!!

i know God see´s and knows things we don´t. i know He knows us and give us commandments because He loves us and wants to bless us. his commandments aren´t punishments but are the way we change. i know He loves all of His precious sons and daughters here in Chile. and i know the only way to have true happiness in this life is by following Christ and accepting His invitation to come.

XOXO, hermana steele

The spirit always testifies of truth!

HOLA!

i had an eye opening experience this week. i´m not sure i´ll be able to describe it very well...but here it is...

so ever since i got here to Pto. Varas we´ve been trying to find Shery and Ignaica. They were both baptized like 3 years ago and haven´t been to church in about a year and a half. Shery is basically Ignacias mom because she died when Ignacia was really young. anways...THEY ARE NEVER HOME. but last sunday we were in their neighborhood and (like always) we passed by. they didn´t answer the door...there´s this huge gate on the outside of their house. so then like an hour later we got a call from Shery...she asked us if we had knocked and said she was in the shower and asked if we could come back the next day. so anyway, we went and got to know them...shared a scripture (we didn´t have a lot of time) and then went back yesterday. our job as missionaries is to teach all the less active members the lessons like we do to our investigators. so yesterday we decided to teach lesson 1 about the restoration. lately i´ve been in this rountine of teaching that lesson just to teach it...because it´s my job. i know it´s true with all my heart...i would never doubt it. but i guess it´s just been hard because we´ve been rejected so much the past few months that i´ve forgotten how powerful our message really is. so we started teaching and they remembered everything really well. then when we started teaching about Joseph Smith we had Shery read in James 1:5. "if any of you lack wisdom let him ask of God" then we had Ignacia read the first vision. after they read Shery started bawling. the spirit was SO strong. SO SO strong! she started telling us that she doesn´t know how she´s gotten to were she is now. it was such a great reminder that the Spirit always ALWAYS testifies of truth.  

in the end they both kept telling us how grateful they were we came. Shery said "you don´t know how much you´ve done by teaching and reminding us of this simple truth. thank you so much". they both said they´d pray to know if Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God. we told them we would do it too! i know we are going to see lots of progress and i´m really excited to work with them. they are great and i really love them.

we´ve also been working with a family with 3 girls...they are such a cute family! they´ve been to church every sunday for the past 5 or 6 sundays. it´s been a miracle as well. the oldest is 19 and wants to go to BYU next year...so Hermana Meacham and I have plans to be her roommate.

so anyways, we also did a contact in the street the other day that ended up inviting us into her house and then accepting the invitation to be baptized. so we are excited for her...pray for Marisol.

hermana meacham and i are staying together for another 6 weeks! i cannot believe she´s finished her training. she´s such a great missionary. i´m very grateful for her. i love her a lot.

have a great week! i love you all SO MUCH! "the church is true and the book is blue."

XOXO, hermana steele

A week of rejection and miracles

hey family!

this week was a rough one. a really rough one. but we saw some pretty sweet miracles too. i learned a lot this week. i donno where to begin.

the beginning of the week was rough because there weren´t a lot of people at home for new years...and if they were home they would NOT open the door. so after new years there were finally a few people that opened...and we were rejected pretty bad. but i donno, not just rejected but attacked. people told us we don´t know who Jesus is...that we need to go read the bible. so that was pretty frustering. friday night we had an appointment with a couple we are teaching. we ended up watching the Joseph Smith movie with a member here in the ward. after the movie we shared our testimonies with them. and then they were like "no this isn´t true. the bible says to beware of false prophets." and he went on and on and on. in the end we invited him to pray and to ask God about it and promised him that if he asked, he´d get an answer. the next day we went to a less active that doesn´t remember anything about the church. we taught her the plan of salvation. my companion started talking about our life with God before this life. she freaked out telling us that we did not live with God before. we read some scriptures with her but she still didn´t believe it. we invited her to ask God. i truly believe that if people want answers to their questions they can ask God and recieve answers. its important that we ask with right intentions and with faith. and with hearts willing and ready to act on whatever our answers are. 

so anyways, it was a week of lots of rejection. i was feeling really sad there are so many people who need the gospel but aren´t willing to accept it. i want it so bad for them! i started doubting my efforts as a missionary as well. wondering if im doing enough...teaching the gospel efficiently. and i realized that Christ himself was rejected by many. He was the the perfect missionary that ever walked the earth and there were still many people who didn´t believe Him and His gospel...but you´d never call Christ a failure.

like i said, we did see a ton of miracles this week too. we had 2 investigators at church and 7 less active families that we´ve been working hard with. so that was pretty cool. happy happy happy! we´ve also been training some of the members on "how to share the gospel"...haha there´s kinda a culture here that the missionaries do missionary work. so we went to their homes and practiced with them how to give a book of mormon or a pamphlet to someone they know. it was TONS of fun and the members got way excited. so hopefully we´ll see some fruits from that here soon.

anyways, i love you all SO MUCH! thanks for all your prayers! you guys are the best. have a great week!

XOXO hermana steele

Our imperfections are a sign of our humanity, not our worth!

hey family! guess what? I LOVE YOU!

this week was fun...not too much happened. we couldn´t work christmas eve or christmas day. but it was so good to see you all! i´m glad you´re all doing well!

one of my favorite talks is called "his grace is sufficient" by brad wilcox. in it he talks about a child learning to play the piano. we know we can´t be perfect at first...we don´t expect him to be. it takes practice. but as long as he is progressing in the right direction we are happy. im so grateful for the Atonement. i´ve learned so much about it out here on my mission. i feel like i will forever be indebted to my Savior. the Atonement has changed me, and will continue to change me forever. i know that because Christ spent time in the garden of gethsemane so i can get out of mine. he suffered so that i don´t have to. giving Him everything is hard sometimes...but it´s always my intention to do His will.  sometimes i want to sit down and be able to play the piano perfectly. i know that the Lord loves us much more than we love ourselves and i know He is pleased when we do our best. when we´ve given all we have it´s like paying a full tithe...all that was asked. i know that the Lord doesn´t want half of us, He wants ALL of us. and when we give ourselves to Him, we change. i´ve also come to learn that our imperfections are a sign of our humanity, not our worth. God sent us here to make mistakes, but with the Savior and His Atonement, we cannot fail.

well i´m really excited for the new year! i cannot believe 2014 is over. it went by SO FAST! but i´m really excited for 2015...i´ve got good vibes. i´m super excited to set new goals to help me become more like my Savior! i hope you all have a happy new year! and that you can also set some goals that will help you to come closer to Christ.

shout out to everyone that wrote me letters for my christmas package this year! it was so good to hear from you all! it was definately the best gift ever! thank you!

XOXO, hermana steele

Luis and Anna are progressing!

hey family! MERRY CHRISTMAS! i´m so so so grateful i get to be on a mission this time of year. i don´t think christmas will be the same after the mission. i feel like i´m a lot closer to my Savior and my Heavenly Father this year. the material things just really don´t matter. i know i´m giving the people here in chile the best gift they can receive here on earth...and it´s a gift that can change their lives. there´s NOTHING of greater value. let us all be grateful for the gift that we have in our lives...the gift of knowing we have a Father in heaven who loves us so much that He sent His son to be our Savior so that we can return to live with Him someday. when He came, there was no room for Him in the inn, but i hope  there is room for Him in our hearts this season and always.

so remember luis and anna? yeah they started progressing A TON last week. it was so fun to see...and then guess what happened? they moved. we were really REALLY sad! we didn´t even get to say goodbye either...but i know they will keep progressing and one day have the gospel together.

this last week we found a lady named paula that´s just super sweet! i love her so much! she´s had a pretty rough life...it´s been hard to get her to open up. pray for her! she came to a relief society activity we had on saturday and she really enjoyed it! the sisters were super great with her too! we could hardly talk to her because all the members were. we are excited to work with her.

on thursday we had a zone activity for christmas! it was lots of fun! we went into the busy part of the city and sang christmas hymns for like 2 hours! it was super fun. this week our district (which is us, the zone leaders and district leaders) are going CAROLING! i´m super excited!! i just love the christmas hymns!

so we´ve started having ward counsel every week. its been good but there are always a lot of leaders missing. yesterday the bishop starting yelling at everyone because the ward is doing nothing to help us with missionary work...so that was a little rough. all i know is that when we´re upset or angry or even stressed out it´s almost impossible to have the spirit...and without the spirit, the work of salvation doesn´t happen.

anways, i´m REALLY excited to see you all this week!! i love you all so much!!

merry christmas! hermana steele

Christmas package!

i LOVED my Christmas package! i seriously i loved it sooooooooooooo much! i love all my clothes! it was all i wanted! the 12 days of christmas is the cutest thing ever. i love all the stories. reading them every night it seriously one of my favorite parts of the day. they just melt my heart! hermana meacham and i read them every night together! i get so excited to open the envelop everyday!

I know that we can be perfect in the eyes of God!

hey family! 

so hey don´t worry about my feet! they are much much better!

also, my christmas package was the cutest thing ever. THANK YOU SO MUCH! i loved all my clothes!!! thank you! i´ve started my "12 days of christmas" and i love it so far! you guys are the best.

so this week the doctor came and spoke to us. i thought he´d talk to us about taking care of our bodies or something. but he stood up and said "we are weak. but the Lord is strong and with Him, we are perfect." perfection is a commandment from God...and He never gives us commandments without a way to accomplish them. so He sent His son to earth. the Atonement works in the past...we can be forgiven of the sins we have already committed. but it also works in the present AND in the future. there was a lady that always said "well, 10 minutes after i take the sacrament i´ve already sinned again...so why do i even take it?" the Atonement doesn´t just help us with the mistakes we´ve made in the past, but the ones we will make in the future. God has asked us to put off the natural man and become as a child. but why? because children are innocent...they are perfect in the eyes of God. they have no sin...they are covered by the Atonement of Christ. i know that we can be perfect in the eyes of God. i know He loves us. i feel so blessed to be here in chile helping others make promises with God to become more like their Savior and receive all the blessings of the Atonement.

anyways, i´m so excited to skype with you all! i hope this week is a magical one! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

XOXO, hermana steele

I Believe the Book of Mormon is the word of God!

hey family...you know how last week i said it was the fastest week of my life? yeah i lied. this last week was the fastest week of my life. 

the weather has started warming up! we are so happy! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

so now that its warmer cool thing happened...

pretty much my whole mission i´ve worn my sorrels or my hunters for the rain and cold. My boots were always kinda damp and humid inside. and in valdivia we didn´t have fire to dry our boots out. my feet started looking like rasins a while back....and as soon as it started warming up i started wearing flats...my feet started killing. long story short the nurse told me i have "trench foot"...like the soldiers from WW1. My feet started cracking and bleeding once they started drying out. anyways, i dont really know how to explain it but im putting creams on my feet and im taking an antibiotic and some other medicine. just pray for my feet haha. i am feeling much much better. i know God takes care of His missionaries.

so last week we went and visited a couple we´ve been teaching and asked them about their reading in the book of mormon. they told us there is no possible way that the book is true because there is no evidence that the events actually took place. they bashed us pretty hard for about 15 minutes...and while they were talking i started thinking about faith. faith isn´t to have a perfect knowledge of things...if you have faith you hope for things which are not seen. that´s the basis of religion...any religion, not just ours. most people have faith that God exsists...that he is real. but they cannot see Him. we pray to God and we have faith that He listens and answers. it´s the same thing with the book of mormon. we believe it´s the word of God, we believe Joseph Smith translated it...and that is our faith. we may not know where Zarahelma is but we know it existed. we´ve received a witness from the Holy Ghost that it is true...and any person that reads it with faith will receive that witness as well. i know it.

speaking of the book of mormon, i have a goal to finish it by christmas. i´m really excited! on my mission i´ve come to really love the book of mormon. reading it in spanish has been super cool...and another testimony to me that it is true. i will defend that book until the day i die, and nobody can tell me that it is not the word of God.

im excited for this week! to keep working hard here in chile and finding Gods elect. i love being a missionary! and i love you all so much!

love, hermana steele