Week 58 (11/7/2016)

Happy Monday!

 

This week was fairly normal. The zone leaders decided to torture me again and had me switch roles with Elder Antonio so for another week I was the district leader. The worst part of it was that I had to give the training in the district meeting again...Just like last time they threw the training on me at the last minute....

 

Being the last week of the change we tired to put in a lot of work with the investigators to prepare them for the next months. We have several prospects for the next few months. It is a little hard when I don't baptize but I'm glad that people I've found were baptized after I left the area. Even though I don't see the fruit of my labor I know that I'm planting seeds of faith. :)

Today marks the end of my time in Allende and also as junior companion. Tomorrow I take a bus to Monclova. My new companion is Elder Gomez. He was in the Acuña zone with us last change. He's really funny and good at staying excited. I think this next area will be really good. I mostly hope that my new house is clean and that we have hot water. It's not very fun when the houses are hard to live in.

I've learned a lot about my teaching style in this area. I know all the lessons and whatnot but I sometimes can't apply them as well as I need to. There are so many different parts to missionary work and it's really frustrating when you can't get it all right but It is a really great learning process. I am sure that being a missionary is better preparation for life than basically anything else.

This week I saw some Northern Cardenals and a bunch of crows. It's weird that being in the area with more birds than any other I haven't seen many of the birds I saw in Piedras. Well, I guess that's how it goes. Haha!

Well, that's all for this week. We'll see how it goes in Monclova this next week. I hope that you are all well and that you have a great week!

¡Les extraño y les quiero!

-Elder Steiner

Week 57 (10/31/2016)

Happy Halloween! 

This week was pretty normal. A little busy but mostly normal. On Sunday night we went to Acuña and spent pday there, like I said in the last email. That night we worked with the zone leaders. Elder Hernandez, my companion from Saltillo, and I went and looked for some references. One of them turned out to be a family of Jehovah's Witnesses. Those contacts are always interesting... Haha!

On Tuesday we had our zone meeting. The zone leaders directed the meeting towards helping us set goals to improve. It was really good because we were able to set goals as a whole zone and work together on improving.

On Friday Elder Paredes came to work with us and help us improve as a companionship. He gave us lots of help in our area and helped us recognize how to improve individually and as a companions. One big thing I have seen as a missionary is how much change happens to each of us. More than ever in my life I have been able to apply the Atonement and work on cutting ever bad quality from my life. There are always things to improve but I know that as we come unto Christ and perfect ourselves in Him we truly can improve.

Halloween here is a lot less exciting than at home. Halloween was never really my favorite holiday but at least mom would put up a bunch of fall decorations and stuff. I haven't really seen any decorations up and there has been no pumpkin carving so that's kind of boring. I think we may go look for candy later today but other than that Halloween as a missionary is basically a normal day. Haha!

Again, no specail birds this week other than the ravens everywhere. I guess they kind of go with the Halloween theme. It's also not bad because they're my favorite bird.

That's about it for this week. I hope you are all well and that you all have a lovely Halloween! Thanks for everything!

-Elder Steiner

Week 56 (10/24/2016)

Happy Monday!

I don't have a lot of time because we're in Acuña and we're cutting pday a little short to spend time with the other elders.

Not a lot different happened this week other than that the zone leaders made me district leader for a week. I had the chance to direct lessons and the area just like senior companion. It was a good learning experience because I got to work out my own teaching style rather than simply following my companion. I've been able to direct area a few times before and to lead in the lessons but for a whole week helped me learn how to be more effiecient and effective in lessons.

Today we came to Acuña to spend time with the zone leaders and to be here for the meeting tomorrow.

I didn't see any new birds this week but there was a huge flock of Chuhuhuan Ravens in Allende this whole week. There have always been a few the whole time I've been here but the number of crows this week was crazy. Almost everywhere we went we would see a group flying by.

Well, that's about it for this week. I hope that you've all had a good week and that all is well.

-Elder Steiner

Week 55 (10/17/2016)

Hello everyone!

This week was really different from normal. We started off early Monday moning heading to Acuña to spend pday with the other elders. We played basketball and hung out for a while (which doesn't happen too often when your area is three hours away from the rest). Later one of the zone leaders bought a bunch of ingredients to cook for us so we went wih one of the members and cooked hamburgers and some other dishes (I don't remember the Spanish names). To finish off pday we worked in the area of the zone leaders.

Tuesday we had the zone meeting and the zone leaders trained us. They gave us several key points on how to be baptizing missionaries. Lately the mission hasn't been having a lot of baptisms so the leaders are trying to train us on key points. After the meeting we stayed in Acuña and went in trios with the other missionaries. That ended up being really fun especially because the sister that gave us lunch that day also gave us icecream cones! I ended the day sleeping on a pile of blankets on the floor.

The next day President and Sister Cahoon and the assistants came for interviews. Sister Cahoon was going to check the houses that day so I spent the morning helping the other elders clean. A lot of elders don't keep their houses very clean...

Interviews were good. President has been working on changing the focus of the mission and working out the wrinkles. President Cahoon is a really good mission president and I like what he has in mind for the mission. While I was waiting for my interview I helped Sister Cahoon talk to the other elders because she has been having a hard time learing Spanish. It's funny because sometimes I start talking in Spanish without realizing it because I hardly ever have a chance to speak English here.

We returned to Allende Wednesday afternoon and got home around 7:30. That night we started divisions. Elder Castro, the new missionary in our district, and I stayed in Allende. We had an okay day Thursday. We ended up contacting in the sun for about two hours which wasn't very fun or effective but I had plenty of time to get to know Elder Castro. :)

On Friday morning we finished the divisions and had a normal day of work. However, Saturday morning the assistants came to work with us and Zaragoza. We were in a trio with Elder Franco. He had actually been in Allende six months ago so the members were really glad to see him. That night we went to the birthday party for one of our investigators as well. Our ward mission leader brought a bunch of chicken for the party.

Elder Franco stayed with us for Sunday so all the members got to see him in church. We worked with him all day Sunday and then him and his companion left for Saltillo at 12:30at night. And that's how our week ended.

It has been kind of different this week but it has also been a really good time for me to learn. Working with different missionaries and anilizing what we can do better is really important.

This week I didn't see any particularly different or exciting birds. I did see a different hawk yesterday but I didn't get a good enough look to identify it. :(

That's all for this week! I hope that your week has been less hectic than mine and I hope that you all have a good coming week.

Les amo y les extraño.

-Elder Steiner

Week 54 (10/10/2016)

Hello everyone! I hope you've all had a great week.

This week has been pretty normal with a lot of extra walking and a lot of looking for our investigators. One thing I have noticed about this area is that we have plenty of peole to teach from references and contacts (considering that we cover several cites) but we have a hard time finding many of our investigators at home. Another difficult thing is that when we get references or investigators in other towns we need the members to give us rides to and from the lessons. At least I'm learning how to be a little more efficient about my contacting and planning lessons.

Yesterday we had a mercy from heaven show up at the church. Yesterday afternoon we ended up without lessons and at 7:00 pm we need to call the other missionaries for their dats so we ended up going to the church. When we got there some of the members asked us if we had invited someone to the church that night. I was kind of confused because we weren't expecting anyone but it turns out that someone the missionaries had contacted about five noths ago came to church that night. His name is Lionel and he had remembered the invitation the missionaries had made back then so he came to the church looking for us. We ended up giving him a short lesson and answering some of his questions (he had a lot of questions...). By the end of it he seemed really interested and said that he would read the Book of Mormon and would come to church with his wife and kids the next week. I know that that was definitely a miracle. It was a miracle that Lionel remembered the missionaries from five months ago. It was a miracle that he showed up at the church (even if it was several hours after the services) and that people were there, and that we happened to show up a little after he got there. I know that the Holy Ghost guided Lionel and us so that we could meet.

Other than that not a lot happened this week. We did have to deal with a loud puppy during sacrament meeting (our investigator brought it as a gift for his girlfriend). We ended up taking the puppy in it's box behind the church. I said a prayer that the puppy would clam down and not bark anymore and it worked! 

Here are the birds!

Swainson's Hawk

Say's Phoebe

Greater Roadrunner

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher (These are really cool looking)

Well, that's about it. I can say that my testimony of missionary work has really grown in these last few days. I've been feeling a little bit worried about my weaknesses and faults lately but I know that God is molding me into something great. I also know that He is preparing people, like Lionel, to receive His gospel and make the changes to return to His prescence. I am so happy to be a missionary and to be a tool in God's hands.

Thank you for all your suppport and love! I hope that all of you are well and that you have a good week. Also, I hope that all of you are reading the Book of Mormon every day. It's super important!

-Elder Steiner

Week 53 (10/3/2016)

Happy post-conference Monday!

This week has gone well. For the first week of the change it was extra normal. Being here in Allende with the same companion for two changes in a row sort of makes all the weeks and days blend together in my mind.

One intersting thing with changes is that a new elder that just got to the mission is here in Zaragoza (20 minutes away). It will be intersting to see the little baby missionary grow up in the most isolated area of the mission. Haha!

This week we had the chance to contact a reference in one of the neighboring cities. His name is Thomas and he shows a lot of interest. We have only had two lessons with him but he accepted the baptismal invitation really well and he started reading the Book of Mormon. The sad thing is that we have had this reference for several weeks... That's why you need to contact all references within a day because if not your golden investigator will be waiting for a while.

The highlight of this week was conference so I think I'll just write a little bit about my impressions. I really liked the talks by Elder Oaks and Elder Andersen. They both talked a lot about missionary work and how we as members can involve ourselves in that work. I liked them mostly because I know that as members involve themselves in missionary work we can press this work forward even more effectively. I hope that all of you can listen to Elder Oaks' talk again and try applying some of the points he gave about sharing the gospel.

I also liked Elder Bednar's talk about how we can know Christ. Knowing Christ should be the center of our testimony and conversion. I feel like as a missionary I really need to work on knowing Christ because He is the center of everything I do. I think that this is so important for all of us as children of God.

Here are the birds!

Osprey

Broad-winged Hawk

Ferruginous Hawk

Scaled Quail

About the birds: I only write the cool or different birds I see each week. There are all sorts of cool birds here but I figure it would be boring to get a list of the same 15 birds each week.

Well, I'm about out of time but thanks for everything! I hope that everyone is well and that you all enjoyed conference.

-Elder Steiner

Week 52 (09/26/2016)

Hello everyone!

This week I completely forgot to take notes about what happened but we'll see if I can remember. On Monday I got a haircut. I can't rmember anything else that happened that day.

Tuesday we had a district meeting here in Allende with just four missionaries. It was  a little weird having the meeting without the other district being there but it was good. Elder Antonio trained us about charity and working with the members.

On Friday night the zone leaders came to interview our baptismal cantidate Saturday morning. We spent Saturday morning with them and then they went to do the interview. Sadly, our investigator was not ready for baptism for a few details so he couldn't be baptized this Sunday, but we are confident he will be baptized this coming month.

Saturday afternoon we went to Zaragoza to do an interview for their baptism which went really well. While we were there a huge storm started to roll in. The four of us started to walk toward the church when the lightning started. Then we saw a whole bunch of vultures flying away, and that's when the rain started. It was really heavy rain and it's been a little cooler these last few days which is a lot nicer than the regular heat.

Sunday was normal but really nice. I always like Sunday as a missionary because it just seems to be a little less busy than the other days. A recent convert brought her sister to church so we got a new investigator as well.

Today is changes and I'm staying right here with Elder Antonio. Super exciting, I know. I'm excited to see how this change will go because we have several people that I'm confident can be baptized this month. This last change was a little hard because we had a hard time finding new investigators but This change will be awesome. Woo hoo!

Also, everybody get pumpped for conference this weekend! It's like church Christmas. :) I love conference and I hope that all of you are ready and as excited as I am to hear the talks. I think next weeks email will be mostly about the talks and whatnot. :)

Birds:

-Greater Roadrunner

-Lesser Goldfinch

-Ladder-backed Woodpecker

Well, that's all for now! I hope that you have a great week and that you enjoy General Conference!

-Elder Steiner

Week 51/52 (09/19/2016)

Happy Monday everyone!

Sorry for not writing last week. We had to go to Acuña so our pday time was cut short.

Last week was pretty normal. I learned how to solve a Rubik's cube which was pretty cool. I also had a really interesting service experience on divisions. I went with Elder Garcia to Zaragoza and for our last lesson we went with an elderly homeless man named Elias. He was really interested in everything we taught and he received the lesson really well. A few lessons before Elder Garcia and his companion had given him blankets and this time we gave him shoes and a new shirt. One of his legs was injured pretty badly so we helped him put on a new pair of pants along with the shirt and the shoes. It was really interesting reflecting on it afterward with Elder Garcia because I think it embodied "the pure love of Chirst". 

President Cahoon has started to put a lot of emphasis on charity and I'm so happy for this change in the mission. I think I truly have been lacking in my love for everyone here. I have been a missionary for one year now and I've learned so much, but I think I sometimes forget about the most important part of being a missionary. Love and charity are so key to becomeing more like Christ because charity is where we all must start. I was reading in Moroni 7 the other day to learn more about hope and faith. In verses 40-48 there is a fantastic explanation of how we can have greater faith and hope. Every characteristic of Christ can be obtained if we start having greater love and charity for all of our brothers and sisters. Charity leads to humility which in turn leads to hope and then to faith.

This week was a little more exciting than normal. On Wednesday I ended up waiting for my companion in the bus station for three hours while he returned from Acuña. There were probably the most boring three hours I have had during my whole mission...Haha!

This Friday was Mexico's independance day so there were several celebrations Thursday and Friday. I also completed one year as a missionary! WOO HOO! We had a special activity in the church for independance day and several investigators came which was good.

Yesterday we had the chance to give the sacrament to an elderly sister who can't come to church. It was a great experience because she took the sacrament with such deep apreciation and love for us and for Christ. She shared her testimony with us afterward about the priesthood and the baptismal covenant. It was by far one of the most powerful testimonies I've heard as a missionary and it made me feel so much love for what I'm doing here.

Being a missionary for a year has been really interesting. I've grown in a lot of ways and I know that I've definitely improved, but I can also see my faults so much more clearly than ever before. There are so many things I need to change and improve. My testimony of the gospel and of our Saviour has grown more than I can say. I know without a doubt that I am doing the right thing and that this church is the true church of Jesus Christ.

Here are the birds! (almost forgot)

-Black Swift

-Zone Tailed Hawk

-Cassin's Kingbird

Thanks you all so much for your love and support! I hope you all have a great week and that this email isn't too long/confusing.

I love and miss you all!

-Elder Steiner

Week 50 (8/7/2016)

Hello everyone!

Happy Monday/Labor Day/day after my birthday!

I don't have a lot of time to write but I'll try to write what I can.

This week was pretty normal. 

We had a really interesting lesson with the parents of a less active member. The sister (named Diana) was really interested the last time we had seen her and we were really confident that she would be baptized soon. However, two days later we went and taught her and she started off by saying that someday we would see that we were wrong and that we would recognize the truth. It was kind of confusing but her son, the member, told us that between our visits she had met with her other son who is a Christian pastor. I was a little uncomfortable at first because I had no idea what to say but then her son, the member, started telling her how it was. He raked her over the coals a little bit (with love) and I could really feel the spirit. I know that probably sounds kind of weird but it made me realize that the members or family members can have a lot of power in lessons.

On Friday we had divisions. I went to Zaragoza (a tiny area next to ours) with Elder Hernandez. Elder Hernandez has a little less time than I do but he is senior companion now because his companion was sent to an area in Saltillo last week. He seemed kind of worried about directing the area as a senior companion but we worked hard together and he did really well.

Yesterday was my birthday but it went by like any other Sunday. We went to church then went to eat with some members and then we worked all day. Haha! We did have some cake at lunch but other than that nothing special. Oh, and some YSA from the ward came and gave me a tiny jello cup bucause they had forgotten it was my birthday. That was pretty nice. :)

I didn't see any especially cool birds this week but there is a swallow nest on our back porch. That's pretty cool. Also, we are in the middle of butterfly migration so while we are walking lots of butterflies pass by the puddles in the street.

That's about all for this week. Thank you for all your love and support! I hope you are all well. :) Have a good week!

-Elder Steiner

Week 49 (8/31/2016)

Happy Pday!

This week was a little less eventful than last week so this email might be little shorter but here goes.

On Monday night one of the zone leaders came and stayed with us so he could go to our district meeting the next day. My companion and Elder Paredes (the zone leader) spent a while planning the training for the next day so I went up on the roof to look at the strs for a bit. I ended up falling asleep so it turns out that when they couldn't find me they went out in the street to look for me. They ended up looking for about ten minutes when I finally came down. Luckily they were in the house when I came down because they had locked the back door when they couldn't find me.

The next morning I left at 8:00 for Acuña to do divisions with the other zone leader while my companion and Elder Paredes went to Zaragoza to hold the meeting. I was on the bus while the district in Acuña had their meeting so for the first time in my mission I went without a weekly Tuesday meeting. When I got to the bus station the other elders weren't there so I waited there for about an hour. I worked in Acuña all day Tuesday and then I went back to my area in the morning on Wednesday. During my bus ride my companion was left alone in the bus station here in Allende so he sat in the bus station for three and a half hours by himslef. We practice patience a lot as missionaries. Haha!

On Friday we had a movie night in the church. We watched The Other Side of Heaven, the one about the missionary who served for two and a half years on a tiny island. Several of the members brought investigators and their friends so I think it went really well. After the movie some of the sisters in the ward have strted calling me Kolipoki like the American elder in the movie.

On Saturday we had a really good lesson with an investigator named Ricardo. His wife is a less active member and the missionaries have been working with them before. It was really cool because Ricardo said he wanted to get baptized and get rid of his past mistakes. It's really great when the people we teach really understand the purpose of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how the Atonement can function in our lives. I'm really happy to be here and to be helping all the people I can to come unto Christ and be clean of their past mistakes.

Thank you all for your support and for your love. I hope you all have a great week!

Les amo y les extraño.

-Elder Steiner

Week 48 (08/23/2016)

Hello everyone!

This week has probably been the busiest of my whole mission. It has also been really fun.

On Tuesday I left Piedras to come to Allende which was about an hour bus ride. When I got to the bus station I didn't see any other elders waiting for me so I was a little confused. I thought that I had gotten off at the wrong place for a minute but then a member came over and started talking to me. After that my companion and the other elder from our district came around the corner from eating breakfast. After that we went to the house to drop off my stuff and then we went to get the other elder that was arriving from Saltillo. Then we went to eat and got on another bus to take us to Acuña (three hours north of us) for a zone meeting the next day. We ended up staying the night with the zone leaders in Acuña.

The next day we had our zone meeting and then we took another three hour bus ride back to Allende. The rest of Wednesday was normal missionary work.

On Thursday we worked like normal but that night the other elders from our district arrived from Zaragoza which is about an hour away from here. They stayed the night with us being the second sleepover this week.

On Friday morning the four of us went to the bus station to go to Piedras Negras for our zone conference with Elder Valenzuela of the Mexico area presidency. I learned a lot of ways I can improve during the conference. Elder Valenzuela and President Cahoon both taught us a little bit. I really like President Cahoon's new vision for this mission. During a break in the conference we went out in the hall and I was eating some trail mix for a snack when Elder Valenzuela came over so I shared some trail mix with him while some elders asked him questions.

After the conference we went right back to Allende with two elders from Acuña. Apparently the secretaries messed up and these two didn't have a bus so they came to our house. We did mini divisions Friday afternoon and Saturday morning which was a little crazy because I still have no idea how to get around in this area. Saturday ended up being our first full day of work this week. It was a little weird to work all day after being on the bus for so long. Haha!

Overall, this week was a lot of bus rides and several sleepovers with the other elders. I'm excited for this area because the ward is really strong and the members help us out quite a bit. I'm excited to work here even though it's hot. :)

This week I saw quite a few birds.

-Crested Caracara

-Chihuahuan Raven

-Common Raven

-Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

-Common Nighthawk

-Black-bellied Whistling Duck

-Swainson's Hawk

-Western Wood Pewee

-Common Moorhen

-Black-crowned Nightheron

-Black-chinned Hummingbird

-Green Heron

-Green Kingfisher

-Little Blue Heron

-Whit-faced Ibis

-Great Egret

On Monday I was by some wetlands in the evening so I took advantage to see some cool birds.

Well, that's about it. This email ended up being a little longer than normal but I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures here in northern Mexico. :)

Thanks for everything!

-Elder Steiner