Some of Will's photos from the end of 2016 and the beginning of 2017

Week 67 (1/9/2017)

Happy Monday everyone!

This week has been pretty normal. Not a lot happened but I do feel really good in my new area with Elder Reid. It has been a little stressful these last few weeks but I feel like We're finally in a good rythm here. Working with members has been kind of tricky not knowing where they live or who they are but it's getting easier now.

This week we found a really great family. The mother is a member of the church from several years ago but hasn't gone to church in a long time. She has three kids (all older than 8 (Woooo!)) and her husband isn't a member either. Her nephew is also living with them so that totals to five baptisms if we can teach them. The kids really like us and I love teaching kids.

Elder Reid has been learning a lot. I feel like he's going to be a way better missionary than me. His Spanish ability holds him back a bit but he has learned everything so quickly. I'm really happy to be training him and to have this chance to share some of what I've learned.

I'm seeing the impact that the Holy Ghost can have on my life every day. I can really feel proptings to contact certain houses or to use certain questions in lessons. I'm really grateful that I can be a missionary and have these experiences. Even though I haven't baptized very many people I have seen changes in lives and in my own life.

I forgot my bird journal again this week. I'll bring it next week to report on my progress. Haha! Birds are so great and thanks again to Ellie for my new notebook.

Thanks to everyone for writing and for your love! I love you all and I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Elder Steiner

Week 66 (1/2/2017)

Happy New Year and Christmas!

Sorry for not writing last week. Pday got a little crazy...We went to the dam and we didn't get back until about 5:45 so we had to write to president super quickly.

These last two weeks have been pretty busy. We had lots of activites with the branch and as missionaries the week of Christmas. There was a branch activity Thursday and then a mission activity Friday. Saturday was Christmas Eve and then Christmas on Sunday. That whole weekend was really busy. 

This week was a little less busy but we still had a lot to do. On Saturday we didn't get to work at all because a dog bit my companion. What a great way to spend your first New Year's Eve as a missionary...It was only a tiny bite but it was pretty annoying because we drove around to a bunch of different hospitals and none had the injection we needed so we went to do it today. He's fine incase any of you are worried. We washed the bite with alchohol and put a bandage and everything. My companion does, however, avoid all the dogs on the street now. Haha!

I got some packages on Christmas morning so it looks like Santa stopped by the mission offices to bring the packages to Acuña. He even put them under the tiny Christmas tree! Ellie sent me a little notebook made out of an old Peterson bird guide which was really cool. I've decided to use it now as my journal to record all the new species I see. Starting from the 26th (when we went to the Amistad Dam) I am going to record every new bird I see until I get home. I might make it like a mini big year. Haha!

Today we finally got around to reorganizing the whole house. It was a little disorganized from the last elders and we haven't had much time to clean it all up until today. It looks way better than before.

Well, that's it for today. I hope that you all had a great Christmas and New Year. About eight months until I get home so I'm going to make them good!

Love,

Elder Steiner

Week 64 (12/19/2016)

Happy Monday everyone!

This week has been really busy but really great. On Monday after I sent my email I had to run to pack all my stuff. I ended up packing all my bags in a few minutes. I had to put all my wet clothes in a trash bag because I couldn't put them with the clean ones. It made travelling a little tricky. However, I did manage to get the trumpet in a bag this time!

We went to Saltillo for the new elders and slept in the secretaries house. There were a bunch of elders that night so not a lot of sleeping. Haha!

The next day we had a training for trainers and then for the new missionaries. We then got our new companions and mine is Elder Reid! He's from Provo and he's a great new missionary. He doesn't speak Spanish yet but he's learning really quickly and I am really glad to be with him. We're into lots of the same stuff so I expect to get along with him really well.

We're opening area so we have been working a lot to find new investigators and We already have a baptism for this week! His name is Rodrigo and he's eight years old. He's going to be baptized on the 24th!

This area is really cool. There are several little rivers that go through our area and I saw some ducks and coots the other day. I think I'll be able to see some other water fowl soon.

Well, I'm already out of time so I think I need to go now but I hope you all have a great week and a great Christmas! This week is going to be full of activities and stuff so there will be a lot to say next week.

¡Feliz Navidad!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Steiner

Week 63 (12/12/2016)

Happy Monday!

This week was really good. A little slow work wise but we had some great activities. On Wednesday we had a contacting activity in the main plaza of Monclova with all the missionaries here. We showed the new Christmas video, Light the World, and contacted the families there. We also sang Christmas hymns for a while and a news guy came and filmed us with his phone. I was directing the hymns so after one he stopped us and asked me what we were doing. He asked if we were Jehovah's Witnesses as well. Now, for the second time in my life I have been interviewed on the news for something church related. :D

On Thursday we had our Christmas devotional with President Cahoon. We had a great meal with all the missionaries and then some other elders did a small Christmas program with President playing the piano and three other elders singing for us. They read about Christ's mission and his birth between the songs. At the end Sister Cahoon and President Cahoon spoke. Lots of elders were crying because of the spiritual atmosphere. After the devotional we had cake and a gift exchange. It was really fun to see all the missionaries together and to hear from President.

Well, today I found out that after five weeks in Monclova I'm leaving. Last night the assistants called me to tell me that I would be a new district leader and trainer so today I'm headed to Saltillo to meet my kid! Also, I found out last night that I'm changing areas. So, I'm going to be a leader, trainer, and getting to an area I have never been in before. Woo hoo! Responsibility x3! We'll see how this next change goes. It's also going to be seven weeks long.

Well, that's all for this week. I hope that you all have a great week!

-Elder Steiner

Week 62 (12/5/2016)

Hello everyone!

This week we started off the Chirstmas initiative #LIGHTtheWORLD with a bunch of service on Thursday. We took some pictures of the work we did but I fogot my card adaptor so I couldn't upload them today. In the morning we helpped a less active sister cut the branches that were hanging over her house. It was a lot of work because we only had a hand saw and a hatchet but we cut them all just fine. After that we went to help an older sister to paint her house. We ended up eating at the second service we did so that made our schedule a little easier.

On Friday we had exchanges. I stayed here in our area with our district leader. We ended up contacting a lot abd found some really good new investigators. In the evening we also went to the farewell for one of the missionaries leaving from the ward. It was good because we also found several new people to teach there.

On Saturday we worked with a youth named Noel who is preparing for his mission. He helped us contact and then came to eat with us. I really like working with return and future missionaries because they are always so excited about the work. That night we we're going to head back toward our house to work when we ran into Noel again. He said he felt like he should visit a specific family and we ended up going with him. It turns out that the sister we visited had been praying for us to visit her about two hours before. We had a really cool lesson with her and her daughter and we helped her answer some questions she had.

On Sunday we had fast and testimony meeting. It was really good and I felt really close to the members here. There were some crazy kids running up and down the aisles in the meeting but it made me think about how patient Godis with us and with all of our outbursts and mistakes. It was also really rainy yesterday. It made work a little harder but it was all good.

Well, that's all for this week. I hope that you all keep working of the Christmas initiative and that you have a great week!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Steiner

#LIGHTtheWORLD

Week 61 (11/28/2016)

Happy Monday! 

This week was normal again. Even with Thanksgiving it was a normal week of work because no one celebrates it down here. I didn't even realize it was Thanksgiving until I was planning for the week on Thursday morning. When I noticed I called another American missionary and asked him what day it was and he didn't notice either. We were both pretty surprised that morning. Haha!

This week we also had stake conference. The stake president here is really young but he was really powerful. He was really direct with the stake about what needs to change and how to improve. He also had all the missionaries go up and stand with him to show us to the stake.

This week the Church also sent our the new Chrismas initiative. It's called Light the World. We have special cards and everything. The Church really went the extra mile with it. There is a main video and 25 little videos for each day leading to Christmas. It is focused on service and spreading Christ's light to the whole world. I hope each of you can go check out Mormon.org and start the challenge. To start of December all the misionaries are supposed to do four hours of service. We are also going to try and do each of the daily services. Lately we have been sharing the video and scriptures realated to service with all the members. Please look it up and share it.

That's it for this week. Thanks for everything! I love and miss you all!

#LIGHTtheWORLD

-Elder Steiner

Week 59 (11/15/2016)

Hello everyone!

This email might have to be short but this week was great!

I got to my new area on Tuesday morning and it has gone really well. We already have two people ready for baptism this Saturday! Their names are Julio and Alen. Elder Gomez baptized Alen's brother a few weeks ago.

My companion is Elder Gomez. He's from Mexico City and has 10 months on the mission. He has been without a companion for the last five weeks so he worked with the zone leaders for these past weeks. We are basically learning this area together.

This area is pretty interesting. It has a lot of restaurants and stores. A lot more than in any of my other areas. However, it is a really big area and the streets are really confusing. All of the main streets go in different directions and I have difficulty orienting myself sometimes. But, I'm really excited to work here.

Our house is nice and has plenty of forks (unlike my first house with one broken fork) and the beds are big! It is also cleaner than most houses. The worst thing is that we don't have running water and that we've had to organize a lot since no one has been living there for a few weeks.

Yesterday there was an area wide conference for all of Mexico. Elder Nelson and Elder Hales spoke along with Sister McConkie and Elder de Hoyos. President Nelson was really direct about keeping the commandments and paying tithing. I enjoyed it even though it was difficult to get to know the ward members in a conference. Haha!

Well, I'm looking forward to this area and I'll let you all know how the baptism goes this weekend. I hope you all have a good week!

-Elder Steiner