We aren't obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see!

this week i´ve been thinking a lot about obedience and how it relates to the love we have for the Lord. i know that being obedient isn´t always easy. when we obey, we are showing our love for our Heavenly Father by saying "this isn´t easy for me, but i´m doing it anyways because i know it´s the right thing to do." there are lots of people here who don´t want to listen to us becuase they think we have too many rules. but i know that when we obey, we are truly happy. we aren´t obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see. Christ told us to be like Him...and obedience is the path to perfection. i know i´m not perfect but it´s my job to try to be everyday. i want to be like my Savior. i will make lots of mistakes in my path to perfection...it´s impossible not too. but the atonement of jesus christ makes up for those mistakes. but something i´m learning in the mission is that the atonement not only makes up for the mistakes i make but it´s also there to help with the things that are hard for me. i know that the Lord is there for me, helping me, even before i fall. through the atonement i can recieve strength beyond my own...strength to keep going when it´s hard. elder bednar said "not only does the atonement of jesus christ overcome the effects of the fall of adam and make possible the remission of our individual sins and transgressions, but his atonement also enables us to do good and become better in ways that strech us far beyond our mortal capacities." i know without any doubt that the atonement is for the sinners AND for the faithful who know what they want to become. 

OH MY GOSH I AM SOOOOO EXCITED FOR GENERAL CONFERENCE YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

being a missionary is hard. it´s SO hard. this week has been a very very challenging one. it´s just super frusterating sometimes! haha but at the end of every day there are always miracles that happen...and those miracles make it ALL worth it. i know god see´s our efforts and blesses us for working hard. i still love it here in puerto varas and i´m loving training hermana jenkins. it´s been a lot of fun!

hope you have a great week! i love you all soo much!!

hermana steele

Hello from Puerto Varas!

hello from Puerto Varas! the most beautiful sector in the mission. SERIOUSLY. HOLY COW. i can´t believe how pretty it is here. i never ever want to leave! the ward is awesome, the members are great...the bishop actually goes to church every week and helps us out a ton. we are teaching a lot of people and i have A LOT of faith that we are going to see miracles here. this sector has a lot of potential to progress. i feel SO blessed to be here. the greatest part is that our mission leader has a fruit shop, so we get fruit for free.

also, MY DAUGHTER. oh my gosh. i love her. that is all.

haha no just kidding. she´s so dang cute! and she´s working so hard! she reminds me of me when i first got to the mission. i´m learning A TON from her example! i´m so so grateful for the opportunity i have to be with her this transfer. what a blessing. i´ve loved it so far because i´ve been able to remember some things that i´ve forgetten. i´ve also learned that teaching is a lot more than just talking. i could talk to her all day about the things she should and should not do but i think what will have the most impact on her is what I MYSELF am doing and not doing. i love asking questions to see what she understands and then going out in the streets and actually applying what we learn and study. i always want to treat her as the missionary i know she is capable of becoming. she has LOTS AND LOTS of potential!

the other day we had a special training for the sisters in my zone. IT WAS AWESOME! i loved it! we talked about about the power of our thoughts. we are what we do. we do what we think. and what we think we want to become. so we are our thoughts! haha...we talked about how there are 3 types of people in the world. there are the negative people, the people that have the desires to do the right things but never do them, and then there are the people that take advantage of every moment of everyday..the people that know what they want to become and they work toward becoming that person. so if we have good thoughts, those good thoughts should lead us to ACT. so my goal is to be postive. and to act on those positive thoughts. i want hermana jenkins to always have a good attitude...even when someone slams the door in our face. 

well i hope you are all doing well! i love you guys so SO much! i love being a missionary here in chile! it´s the best thing ever. i can´t believe how fast time is going by. i don´t want it to end! anyways, have a great week! i hope we all wake up every morning and fall on our knees to ask our heavenly father what we can do to find his children that are ready to hear the gospel.

love, hermana steele

Another transfer...I'm going to Train!

hey family! so much to say, so little time. shoot.
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> well first of all we have transfers this week and I´M GOING TO TRAIN! crazy right? i´m leaving Valdivia and going to Puerto Varas to finish training a new missionary! i´m super excited but WAY nervous. advice? i feel so very blessed that the Lord is giving me the opportunity to help a new missionary learn and grow...i hope i can be the trainer she needs! i think the best thing i can do for her is to be a good example of a hard working, obedient missioanry. im super excited to go to puerto varas. i´ve heard it´s beautiful! i´m very sad to be leaving valdivia but ready for the change. i can´t believe that i´ll be going to my 3rd sector.
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> last week we had exchanges with the sister training leaders. it was my first time leaving my own sector. usually i stay in the sector and the sisters come work with me. but this time i left. it was different...i think i like staying in my own sector better! one thing i realized on this exchange was that certain missionaries are in certain sectors for a reason. i know that president obeso recieves revelation from God about where each missionary needs to be. while i was in the sector of the sister training leaders, i did NOT feel like it was my "home"!! i´m grateful for that reminder... especially now as im leaving valdivia and going to a new sector. changes are usually a little rough at first but i trust that God wants me in Puerto Varas for a reason.
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> anyways, i love you all so so much! thanks for all the birthday wishes!! i hope all is well in texas! have a great week!
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> the church is true! hermana steele

How do you know God exists?

hola family! this week went by SO FAST! holy cow.

today was the first day of school right? how did it go?! tell me all about it! syd as seminary pres!? YOU GO GIRL! you´re gonna rock it. i just know it.

anyways, we had an AWESOME week. last thursday we were knocking doors and found an ANGEL. seriously. it´s amazing to see that the Lord really is preparing people to recieve the gospel. it´s so true that people are literally waiting for us.

her name is Maria Jose. our first lesson with her was amazing! she understood everything we taught...i´m pretty sure she understood better than anyone i´ve ever taught in my whole mission. when we asked her what it would mean to her to know that the church is true she said "well it would mean that God is giving me the opportunity to be apart of the restoration of the gospel." she told us that we helped her to see a "different vision"...and at the end of the lesson she was like "i want to share this with my loved ones! i want them to feel what i feel right now!" how awesome right? basically she wants to be baptized...tomorrow we are going to have a family night with her and one of the families in the ward...im SUPER EXCITED. it was so awesome to see the spirit testify to her of the truthfulness of our message. when i bore my testimony at the end of the lesson she started crying and said "i know you guys are here for a reason". i really love her so much. i love being a missionary...i love helping people come unto christ. it´s the best thing ever.

yesterday while we were knocking doors, we found a guy...a crazy guy to say the least. the lesson we had with him was weird. he has a lot of weird beliefs. it´s been really bugging me...how the lesson went.

so when we started talking about God we said that God has a body of flesh and bones...just like ours. we read in genesis that God made us in His image. he asked us how we know that God has a body if we´ve never seen Him. we talked a little bit about faith...how we know things are true even when we can´t see them. then he started telling us that God could be a plate of pasta, or the water. he said there´s a difference between knowing and believing. we testified to him that we KNOW that God is real...that we´ve prayed to God to know it and have FELT it through the Holy Ghost. he still continued to say that there´s no possible way to know. he kept asking how and why. SO my question for you is: how do YOU know that God exists? email me your testimonies of what you know and how!

anyways, thanks for the birthday wishes! i love you all SO MUCH! SO SO MUCH. i´m so grateful we are an eternal family. thanks for your examples to me of faithfulness. hey when you can you should watch the mormon message "because of Him"...it´s awesome. have a great week!! 

con amor, hermana steele

our merry missionary!