Week 100 (08/14/2017)

Hello everyone!

Well, I hope that you get a chance to read or see this email before I get home. This week I finish my time as a missionary. Once it started I thought a lot about these last weeks (probably too much) and now that they're here I never thought it would actually arrive. I don't really know how to feel to be finishing these two years and return to normal life. Haha!

I feel good about everything I've done here but the idea of going home and not being a missionary is a feeling I can't really understand. I'm really going to miss the friends and experiences I have made here. These two years have changed my life and things won't be the same after this. I have learned to love missionary work and Mexico. I have really learned to love the people of Coahuila and have loved the opportunities to serve them. I have loved all of my companions even with the difficult moments. I have learned from all of them and I have learned something new in every place I have been. I will never forget the time I have spent here nor the people I have met.

I am so grateful to have served as a missionary for these two years. I know that what I have learned here will change my life forever. I testify of the importance of missionary work and the blessings that we can all receive through our service. Heavenly Father loves all of His children and he wants us all to have the chance to live His gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ changes lives and gives us true happiness. I've seen the change in the families and individuals I have taught and I have seen the change in my own life. The gospel is the only way we can improve and become like Jesus Christ. I ant everyone in the world to hear this message and to apply it in their lives. It makes me so sad to see those around me who don't accept the message. I don't get angry with them I just wish that they knew the joy they could have.

I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Christ and that we are all God's servants. He expects much of us. If we dedicate ourselves to Him and sacrifice our will for His we can become something so much greater. I know this is the truth. I know because God has shown it to me.

I love you all and I am very excited to see you all in a few days. Thank you so much for everything you have done for me and for all your support.

-Elder Steiner 

Week 99 (08/11/2017)

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry for not writing for the last two or three weeks. These last few weeks of my mission have been pretty crazy but they have been really good and I've learned a lot. My companions are doing really well and I'm trying to teach them all that I have learned. President Cahoon asked me to teach the whole zone everything I know but I feel like they already know everything I do. Haha! This zone is fantastic and I was glad to have worked with all of them.

Two weeks ago we had a wedding! Our investigators Armando and Ruby were married on the 22nd of July and we were the witnesses along with the other companionship. It was really great especially because they were able to be baptized along with their two eight year-old daughters, Kimberly and Sherlin, last Saturday on the 29th. They are such a great family and they will be well supported by the ward here.

This coming week is my last full week of missionary work. Next Tuesday I go to Saltillo and then on Thursday I fly home! I'll write a finishing email next week because I'm about out of time. I hope you are all well and that you have a great week.

See you soon!

-Elder Steiner

Week 94 (7/17/2017)

Hello everyone!

This week was really good but also really busy. On Wednesday morning we left here for Saltillo and were in the bus all day. We got to Saltillo around 8:00 that night and slept in the assistants' house. We played Risk until about 1:00 in the morning so none of us slept well...great idea...

The next day we had our missionary leadership council. President really wants us to help change the culture of the mission. A lot of the change is coming from the leaders he took from our zone and put in other zones so that's really cool. We also played a volleyball tournament after the meeting and President and Sister Cahoon won... President is really good at volleyball for his age.

We headed home that night around 6:00. We didn't get home until about 3:30 in the morning so that was rough. Lucky for me I had to get on another bus at 9:00 that morning to do a baptismal interview in another city. Another elder and I went and stayed there for the interviews and baptisms. We left at 9:00 Friday night and got home at 12:00. Overall, it was a lovely weekend of travelling.

On Friday night we had a huge activity in the church. It was set up as a sort of tour so that the investigators could learn more about the church and the gospel. We had a lot of members volunteer and many investigators came to learn. It was a success because every companionship had new investigators come.

Sunday was good. We had a good chuch meeting and we had several investigators come with us. Church is really busy as a missionary because I alwa

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 need to be running to help investigators and members. It will be weird to have a Sacrament meeting without having to take a call from other missionaries or always be pending of the investigators.

Today marks one month until I get home. Time has gone by really fast but it has been a fantastic experience. We'll see what more I can do in these next four weeks.

Thank you for reading! I hope you can follow my crazy week. I love you all!

-Elder Steiner

Week 91 (6/26/2017)

Hello everyone!

I'm sorry for not sending an email last week. I was sending a few things to President and I also got distracted by some bird thing but whatever. The important thing is that I'm writing now!

This week was kind of busy. We have decided to help the zone a lot by doing divisions with all the elders so every week we do about two divisions or so. It works out well because we get closer with the others and we help them learn more. It's also a great way to see how the others work and learn from them. In this zone it's especially good because we are only 10 and 2 of the elders are in a different city so we can easliy get with all of them.

The zone ended the month with 11 baptisms which is what we had last month. It's good because we are meeting the mission goal but I feel like we can do better. This zone is one of the best I have ever been in and these areas are great. I have been here for more than six months now so I hope to finish off well here. My companion and I have the goal of baptizing 13 more people before I go home so we're going to work really hard to meet the goal. Right now we are teaching a kid named Jeremy. He is 10 and his grandmother is a member. We found him walking on the street one day when he shouted at us so we decided to see what was up. The next time we saw him he told us he wanted to be baptized and that he had told his grandma we were teaching him. We hadn't even mentioned baptism with him and he already wants to do it! I love when miracles like that happen.

Today we went to look for a new house because the owner of our house needs it for her sister. Luckily we found some houses in our same neighborhood. We'll see how the change goes but it should be fine. Besides, almost all the houses here have the same pattern. I feel like every neighborhood I go to is the same. Haha!

This weekend we will be holding a soccer tournament for the youth. Missionaries can't play soccer but I think we might play volleyball afterward.

Okay, well thanks for reading. I think that's it for now. I hope you have a good week!

-Elder Steiner

Week 88 (06/05/2017)

Hello everyone!

Today is a little crazy because President started this phone meeting thing (where all the leaders have a conference call) so I don't have a lot of time to write everything. Then again, this week hasn't been too crazy.

The biggest thing is that we were able to baptize Eliza on Tuesday. It was really difficult but really cool because:

1. The church ran out of water so the font was only a few inches full

2. The sister is really old and fragile right now so we had to have three elders with her in the font

3. The elders got together and started filling the font with buckets from the neighbors house to get at least a few feet of water

4. Three of us got in the font and sat her down on a tiny chair from the primary so she could easily go into the water

It ended up being a great baptism and she was so happy. We are going to visit her right now to see if her family wants to start coming to church with us. :)

Elder Reid also baptized this week in the other area. His name is Hector and he is really cool. He wants to serve a mission so a year from now he will be able to be a missionary too!

Today we also learned about the changes but only one thing changed in our zone. Elder Reid went to Saltillo  He is a zone leader now! I'm so proud of my little trainee. He will do great things.

Well, I'm out of time because I need to call people now. I hope you all have a great week! We should have two baptisms this Saturday. Their names are Lizet and Jorge. I will let you know what happens! I love you all!

-Elder Steiner

Week 87 (05/29/2017)

Happy Monday everyone!

Like I said last week we had some crazy changed in the zone the beginning of last week and I have a new companion. His name is Elder Ibarra and he has nine months as a missionary. He is from Acapulco and is a really good missionary. President wants me to get him ready to lead more in the mission so as a new leader I have to teach a new leader. Haha! Talk about the blind leading the blind... Just kidding but it is a little stressful. However, I'm certain we will have a lot of success here.

This week we had the chance to help another couple get married! We put a lot of effort in last weekend to help them sell and set up a raffle to earn money for the wedding. Their names are Mary and Eduardo and they have four little kids. Mary was meeting with the missionaries for a while but her husband never listened. A few weeks ago they had some problems and we were worried they would get separated but then we started teaching them together. We taught a lot about the importance of the family and Eduardo loved it. They were very happy to be married and baptized. I attached some photos of the baptism and when they got married. They got married at 12:00 and baptized at 5:00 the same day. I baptized Eduardo and Elder Salazar (our district leader) baptized Mary.

This week we also worked a lot with the other elders in our zone to get them going and excited for the coming months. The mission goal is one baptism for every missionary every month. This month we were able to meet the goal and then some so I have high hopes for Acuña. President wants us to be an example for everyone so we are working with faith and diligence.

Lately we have been going every Monday to play volleyball in the church with the other  missionaries. Today we also played some other games and it gets surprisingly competitive among missionaries. It's really fun though because we can become more united as a zone and gain trust.

Missionary work is really great and I am a little sad that my time is running out. I only have eleven weeks left here so I am going to do my best to get everything done.

Tomorrow we should have a baptism. Her name is Eliza and she is really sick. We taught her a while ago and we are going to baptize and confirm tomorrow. She is a really sweet lady and I'm glad we can help her. Elder Reid will baptize her because I taught her with him.

Thanks for reading! No bird news this week. I'll let you know next week. I love and miss you all!

-Elder Steiner

 

 

Week 86 (05/22/2017)

Well, I haven't written these weekly emails in two weeks so I don't really remember everything I need to say so I think I will just give a summary of these last few weeks.

First off, we haven't baptized in two weeks so you are all updated on that. This week we will baptize two investigators. They are going to get married on Saturday and then baptized afterward. They are really great and I have seen a huge change in the two of them. They have four little kids who love us and I know that the gospel will help this family a lot.

This week was my first full week working with Elder Painter in my area because before that we were with Elder Reid working both areas which was crazy. Elder Painter is a great missionary and we got a lot done in the time we had together. Now there have been a few changes in the zone but I'm excited to see how things work out.

Elder Painter got a call from President on Friday about some changes in the mission and it turns out that Painter is going to be the new assistant. Woo hoo! Now, I have had less than a full change (six weeks) as a zone leader and I am now zone leader 1. That means that I am 100% in charge of this zone and I need to do everything possible to help the other missionaries have success. I have never done this before and most missionaries have a little bit more time as leaders before they do it. Apparently, President has lots of confidence in me. I still don't know why exactly but I'm going to do my best. :) The leaders of the mission have a lot riding on us to keep the mission excited and working hard.

My new companion is named Elder Ibarra. He was part of this zone and President decided to move him up as ZL 2. He is still kind of new but he has lots of potential. I'm excited to work with him.

Thanks for reading even if this was just a summary. I didn't say what has actually been happening but I hope you get the gist of it.

This week I saw a Yellow-crowned Nightheron. That's a bird I have never seen before. I was close to getting a picture but I'm not fast enough.

Have a great week! I love you all!

-Elder Steiner