Week 2 (09/25/2015)

Hello Everyone!

I've been missing home and reading everyone's emails makes me very nostalgic but I'm happy I'm here doing the Lord's work. This week was busy because I was still figuring things out but I'm really starting to love it here.

We taught Sylvia during this week and we had our last lesson yesterday. It was a great experience and it helped me know how important it is to love your investigators and everyone around you. I have really started to love Spanish and I love teaching in Spanish. It's really hard but I'm getting it.

Our other investigator who we have had two lessons with is named Elias. He's from the Dominican Republic and he is super buff. He has a lot of questions and out of our trio I know Spanish the best so I usually have to respond to all of them. Haha! He is really fun to teach because I get to practice my Spanish and my knowledge of the gospel. We showed him a video in yesterday's lesson called "Waiting on the Road to Damascus". It is based around a talk by President Uchtdorf about how we usually won't have experiences like Saul becoming Paul (Pablo) but we will be converted through continuous faith. It answered a lot of his questions and I think we are really making progress with him.

My companions are great. I get frustrated with them sometimes because I am really strong in my opinions but I'm listening to them more and I'm working on growing closer to them. I think our trio can grow strong through the Spirit and through service to the Lord. We read in 1 Corinthians chapter 13 yesterday during class. That chapter is my favorite chapter in all the scriptures. It was a reminder that none of this is about me. Everything I do is for my companions benefit, the investigator's benefit, or God's benefit. I'm focusing outward and trying to be more tolerant/loving/perfect.

I was assigned to be district leader on Sunday because Elder Ogles and Elder Ashcraft (my companions) are going to be the new zone leaders. I haven't done much as DL. It's not really different from just being a district member. Haha! I am glad to support the district, though. I'm excited to see how everything goes and if I can do a good job.

I miss you all and I appreciate the emails and the snacks. I'm glad to be serving the Lord and I'm going to work hard. I love you all. Thank you for your prayers and love.

-Elder Steiner

Week 1 (09/18/2015)

Hey everyone!

This is only my third day in the MTC but technically it counts as my first week. I'm having a pretty good time but Wednesday and yesterday were super busy. Today, Friday, is my district's p-day. So if you want to email back and forth that's the day.

My Spanish has been coming along and with my several extra years I'm learning and speaking fairly consistently. I've also been trying to help the others in my district with vocab and different grammar things. Today we have our first lesson with Sylvia. She is a mock investigator who only speaks Spanish. We're going to try and teach the first lesson as best as we can. I'm interested to see how well my companionship teaches together.

My district is pretty good. I've only been with them for a day and a half so I can't make a final decision about them but they seem like nice people and they all seem to have a strong spirit about them. I'm in a trio so I have two companions. I think it's because I was tacked on the end. Their names are Elder Ogles and Elder Ashcraft. Elder Ogles is from Provo and he's going to serve in LA. Elder Ashcraft is from Oregon and he is going to serve in Chicago.

We met our branch presidency yesterday. Our branch president, President Price, is great. He loves to give hugs and he's hilarious. He came to our residence last night to "tuck us in" and to say goodnight. I'm hoping I get to go to the Mexico MTC soon but if not I'm glad to be here.

I had a mini panic attack last night when we met our presidency because they were telling us that for sacrament meeting we are called randomly to give a talk. It has to be pre-prepared and it has to be all in Spanish. I don't think I'll be called on this Sunday but I'm still a little worried.

I also found out last night that I am assigned to be junior companion for the next two weeks. Elder Ogles is my senior companion and Elder Ashcraft is our district leader. I'm interested to see how good of a follower I can be since I've been in leadership positions for the last two years.

So, the best way to write to me is through Dearelder.com. It converts the emails into letters so I can read them during the week. Also, please feel free to send candy or snacks. The food here is good but, against my parents suggestions, I didn't bring any snacks so they would be much appreciated. Elder Ogles was smart because before he came here he ordered 6 cupcakes to be sent to himself today.

I'm glad to be here and I know it's going to be kind of hard but I know I can do it with support from companions and from the spirit. I need to focus on staying calm, though. My tendency to stress out and make everything more serious than it needs to be might end up killing me. However, I think that my seriousness and consistency about planning and getting things done will help me and my companions.

I'm excited to hear from you all! 

-Elder Steiner

Will's Farewell.

Will had his farewell on September 13th. He gave an amazing talk and after we had some family and friends over for a yummy lunch. It was great to see how many people love and support Will. He will have lots of people supporting him while he is gone.

Will went into the Provo MTC on September 16th. Originally he was supposed to go straight to the Mexico MTC but there were some issues with his visa so he will be in Provo until those are sorted out. Here are some picture of him saying goodbye to our family and his final selfie.