Week 43 (7/18/2016)

Happy Monday everyone!

First off, it's really really hot here in Piedras. It is way hotter than when I was here in February (obviously). It's about 41 C every day...In the shade. :) Regardless, Piedras is where I started the mission so if I end up dying of heat stroke here I think that's okay. Haha! I think this will be an interesting next six weeks especially because it's the hottest part of the year.

The other day we were walking to lunch and it was really really hot. I was looking forward to getting into the members house because it is usually cooler inside because of the fans or cooling. I was very wrong. It felt like a furnace in the sister's house. I asked to use the bathroom hoping that it would be slightly cooler but it was the opposite. I think someone must have just taken a shower or something because it was really humid in there. Gladly, most members have better fans and AC which helps a little.

My new companion's name is Elder Domiciano and he's from Brazil. He has a four more months than me in the mission. He's pretty cool, but it's still a little weird changing from Elder Bauer where we almost only talked in English and we liked a lot of the same things to a companion who's primary language is Portuguese. I'm excited to see what I can learn and how this change goes.

It's kind of weird getting back here after three changes because all the Elders here have changed. No one in this zone was with me other than Elder Muñoz because he came back to Piedras with me. I can't remember if I said but Elder Muñoz and I are sharing a ward now. It's kind of weird to be spending so much time with my trainer but I can't complain. It's good to be around Elders I'm familiar with.

Our house  is pretty nice. We don't live above members so there will never be surprise cake or pineapple juice at the end of the day but it's still good. We live in a duplex with the other elders. There's a washer and dryer but we have to pay in quarters to wash :( We have a good cooler and it's a comfortable house. We are also able to spend a lot of time with the other Elders because they live next door.

This area is pretty cool and it has a lot of potential investigators and baptisms. We found 10 new investigators this week and that's without working at all on Tuesday. I'm confident we won't have much trouble finding people to teach here. I just hope we can find those that are ready for us and will be able to be baptized. We already have several progressing investigators but Elder Domiciano and his previous comp basically cleaned out all they had before I got here.

This area is also really nice because there are several areas with standing water. That means there are a lot of water birds that you don't see very often! This weeks birds are:

-Mourning Dove

-Great Egret

-Killdeer

-Double-crested Cormorant

-Rufous Hummingbird

-Black Vulture

-Common Poorwill

-Black-necked Stilt

-White-faced Ibis

-Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

Well, that's about it for this week. If you have any questions or concerns or whatnot just write me. I'm having a good time here and I feel comfortable aside from the heat.

Thanks for all your support and love. I love and miss you all!

-Elder Steiner

P.S. If you want to send me a package or letter tell me and I can talk to a brother from the ward or stake to get it from Texas rather than sending it to the mission office. Thanks!

Week 42 (7/11/2016)

Hello everyone and happy birthday Ameirca!! 

This week has been pretty good. We have mostly been preparing area so that if we were changed the next elder(s) could baptize this month. It's been a little hard with no progressing investigators but we changed up our contacting methods and we very quickly got several lessons. In this tiral I think God was letting us figure out what we needed to change. It took some time and lots of knocking doors but I think I learned what I needed to.

On Thursday we had our first zone conference with President Cahoon. We saw him briefly on Tuesday after our district meeting but we actually got to learn a little bit about him and his wife. Sister Cahoon spoke to us briefly but she doesn't speak Spanish so a sister missionary was assigned to translate. After that we started making a list of things we want to improve on so President could learn a little bit more about the mission. He seems really cool and I'm excited for the next half of my mission.

On Saturday we taught Alejandro, Jose Garcia, and Pedro Mata with the bishop and a high councilor to help them receive the Melchizedek priesthood. It was kind of last minute but we got them all interviewed and ready so they could be sustained in the priesthood meeting the next day. I was really happy to help them especially for Alejandro because his baby is coming next month and he'll be able to bless his own son.

Yesterday we had a pretty regular Sunday. It was a little hotter than usual which was pretty bad but I'm getting used to it. But the best thing that happened was with Jose Rocha, the investigator who can't leave his house very easily because of anxiety. We went with the bishop later in the day to see if he could come with us to help Jose. I think we woke him up but he was happy to help us. Haha! We ended up making it all the way to the church with him! That's the farthest he has gone from his house in 12 years! We didn't go into the church but I was really happy we could help him arrive and see the goal.

Today we ended the change. Elder Gallegos (my comp from Piedras) is now the new assistant so his companion, Elder Johnson, spent all day with us. We left early in the morning to find out where the president assigned us and I'm leaving Saltillo and headed back to Piedras Negras!!  Elder Bauer is staying here and then goes home in August. I'm not sure how I feel about being sent back to Piedras in the hottest part of the year... I'm excited to hopefully see some of the people I met while I was there and to get to know a new companion but I'm going to miss this ward and Elder Bauer. I think these two last changes have been the most fun of my mission even if they were the hottest and sometimes hard. I'm really happy to be here and I hope that I can make it in Piedras.

I leave for my new area tomorrow in the morning. It will be my eleventh bus ride between Saltillo and Piedras. I wish I could have been in Piedras today because you can see the fireworks from the other side of the river.

Well, that's about it. I hope everyone is well and that you enjoy your fourth of July!

Thanks for everything. 

-Elder Steiner

Week 41 (07/04/2016)

Hello everyone!

This week was kind of boring. Not a lot happened and we've just been going nuts contacting people.

This week we were supposed to have two baptisms this Saturday so we finished up the lessons and did a practice interview. The two are daughters of a less-active member and their names are Casandra and Careli. We arrived at their house with the zone leaders on Friday in the afternoon for the interview (basically a miracle because we're all out of money and we still managed to have enough coins for the taxi) and then they said that they didn't want to be baptised on Saturday. They had said they wanted to that morning so I was sure they would be all good for the interview. The funny thing is that right before we went in I was talking about how rough it would be if they said the didn't want to be baptized.

It hit us a little harder than normal because this week we have lost almost all of our progressing investigators. We've found several new ones that have potential but we were kind of in a slump. We had an activity at the church Friday night and I ended up sitting on the floor, cutting plastic leaves for the activity. It probably looked a little sad. Haha!

I feel fine today. Sunday and Pday are pretty good refreshers. Today we did a deep clean of the house. After that we played chess and then went to the mall. We ran into some other elders there and looked at ties for a little bit. Then Elder Bauer bought a hat and some bread. Normal pday stuff. :)

The best thing about this week was that we almost got José to the church. He still has trouble leaving his house but the bishop has helped us and José's anxiety is getting better and better. He knows and believes everything but he just can't get to church. :/ I think we'll get him there this week, though! He's made a lot of progress and It's so great to see the Atonement work in someone's life.

Here's the bird!

Scott's Oriole

Once again, not many cool birds this week...

Well, that's about it. Thanks for everything! I hope everything is good there. I feel good here even though the baptisms fell. :) We're working hard.

Oh, this was also President Rodriguez's last week. President Cahoon gets here tonight and we'll meet him pretty soon. I think Thursday.

Week 40 (6/20/2016)

Happy Father's day (yesterday)!

THis week was pretty good. It felt hotter than normal but today it has been cooler with a lot of rain.

Not a lot happened this week up until the weekend but we were working and doing everything like normal. We have several good invetigators and two are going to get baptized thiscoming Saturday.

On Friday we were invited to a YSA activity. The activity was to motivate them to go on a mission or help with missionary service. We didn't take up a lot of time but we shared our testimonies about missionary work. A brother from the stake talked about his mission as well and then a return missionary shared her testimony. It went really well especially since there were burgurs at the end. :)

On Friday night after the activity we started exchanges with Elder Muñoz, my trainer, and Elder Rodriguez. I went to ELder Muñoz's area and we worked there all Saturday. Their area was a little weird because it was several different housing developments with a strip of desert rnining right between them. We ended up crossing the desert part four times during the day. It was quite a bit of walking and I ended up getting a little sun burned on my face. By the end of the day we realized that we had left the keys inside and locked ourselves out. Elder Bauer and Elder Rodriguez met us at the house and I had to climb up and into a tiny window to open the door. I've had to break into a lot of missionary houses here on the mission...

Yesterday was Father's day as you all know. :) We visited several less actives and shared a Mormon message about fathers and Heavenly Father. It was pretty good. I'm truly grateful for both my dad here and my Father in Heaven. I have received such great blessings from the two of them and I hope to be able to honor them both.

After our last lesson Elder Bauer took dats so I sat there in the member's house and colored in an Avengers coloring book. I colored Hulk and Captain America.

Today we went to a breakfast buffet. Elder Bauer ate about three omlets. It was pretty good and not too expensive, but Elder Bauer is out of money so I payed for the taxis and the breakfast... After that we played risk with Elder Muñoz and Elder Rodriguez. Everything is going pretty well. We got wet walking to the computer place to write and I keep joking that I'll get tranch foot from all the water in my shoes. Haha!

Only two birds this week.

-Peregrine Falcon

-Chihuahuan Raven

Everything is good here. I feel happy and healthy and I'm working hard. I hope you are all well!

Thank you for everything.

-Elder Steiner

Week 39 (06/14/2016)

Happy Monday everyone!

This week has been pretty good. We ended up not working almost every morning for a bunch of different reasons.

On Tuesday we had a zone conference with all three of the Saltillo zones. It was the last one with President Rodriguez. It was really great to hear the President's testimony. I've learned a lot being here and I've been really happy to have President and Sister Rodriguez as examples. They're always taking care of us and I'm really going to miss them. However, I'm also excited to meet the new president, President Cahoon. I'm excited to learn from him too and I'll also have him as my president for more of my mission.

We also did exchanges on Tuesday and I went to the other area. Tuesday ended up being pretty easy since I didn't work in the morning and then I wasn't in charge of my area in the afternoon. Haha!

On Wednesday we went to the hospital because a dog bit me. Now, first reading that you probably think of some huge nasty bite from a pit bull, but it was actually just a tiny bite on my thumb from a chihuahua. Yep. A chihuahua spazzed out and bit me so Sister Rodriguez said I had to go to the hospital. I got some antibiotics just t make sure I wouldn't get some weird disease. It was okay because it was a house dog so it didn't have rabies or anything crazy.

On Friday we went to the hospital. Again. Elder Bauer hadn't been feeling too good and it hurt him to walk too much and to breathe. We had the doctor check him out and then he went and got x-rayed. He didn't have anything too bad. It ended up just being inflamed intestines from eating too much wheat and fats. The doctor gave him some pills and he's feeling better now. We were sort of making fun of each other about why we went to the hospital and who's was a more ridiculous/dangerous reason.

Today was probably the most relaxed pday I've had but it was weird because both Elder Bauer and I started feeling weird for not doing anything. It was kind of weird. Haha! At 6:00 we are baptizing a girl from the ward. It doesn't count as a convert or for us but it certainly counts in Heaven. :) Also, I like to think Heavenly Father gives brownie points for that kind of stuff.

Here is the bird!

Great Black Hawk -Aguililla Negra Mayor

Yep, that's the only different bird I saw this week. Not super exciting. I have been seeing lots of Cave Swallows, though. :)

That's about it. Thanks for reading and thanks for everything.

-Elder Steiner

Week 38 (06/06/2016)

Hello everyone!

This week has been pretty good. It's been a little more difficult bt still good. The last few weeks we found several good families but they disappeared about as fast as we found them so now we've been contacting and looking for new investigators like crazy. It's a little hard but we're working hard.

It's also been a little cooler this week. It rained really hard on Monday and it's been cloudy almost all week. The clouds are much better than the sun when you walk around in the streets all day.

This week Elder Bauer and I also started playing Jenga every day. We're pretty evenly matched and we've started playing it like tennis so you have to win by two games. We've decided that Jenga is very underrated.

I forgot to mention last Monday but we went to the center of Saltillo to get souvenirs. I bought a wool sarape (basically a poncho) and mailed some letters. I wear my sarape almost everyday after we get home. I think it makes me play Jenga better.

On Thursday Elder Bauer flooded our house. We were doing our weekly planning and he started filling up the washer to wash some of his clothes. He forgot that it was filling up so our whole kitchen and main room floors were covered with water. We were lucky that we remembered after not too long because the water was on it's way to getting to our bedroom. We had to sweep all the water out with a broom after that. Luckily, our floors were really clean afterward.

On Saturday the members that live below us changed the lock on the gate. We misunderstood when they told us the combination so we didn't know how to get in at night. We ended up having to climb up a telephone pole by our house up onto the balcony thing. I think it looked pretty bad because our neighbors were out and saw us basically breaking into our own house...

Yesterday we had a good church service and four new investigators came to church. I was really happy that they came because it has been hard getting people to church lately. Later in the day we also had a lesson with a less-active member who we haven't seen in a long time. His family is all active so I hope that we can help him reactivate.

Here are the birds!

Curve-billed Thrasher -Cuitlacoche Piquicurvo

Lesser Goldfinch -Dominico Dorsioscuro

Common Raven -Cuervo Grande

Killdeer -Chorlito Tídio

Not a lot happened this week but we're working hard and I feel good. I hope everything is good there. I love and miss you all!

-Elder Steiner

Week 37 (05/31/2016)

Hi everyone!

We started writing a little late today so this email might be short.

This chnage there were very few changes. Our zone is only a little different and Elder Bauer and I are still in the same area together. It's kind of funny because three out of my four companions are here in my zone. Elder Gallegos came to be our zone leader and Elder Muñoz, my trainer is in our district.

This change is the last with President Rodriguez and then the new pres. arrives. I'll only have President Rodriguez for about half of my mission so it will be interesting to have a new president for this next half.

Last Monday the other elders came over to our house to play risk and to wash their clothes. Elder Bauer and I had to leave after a little while so we left the house to them. When we got back all my socks that I had left to dry were gone. Apparently Elder Muñoz had taken them by mistake so this week I've been using some other socks I got from members for Christmas. Sadly, these socks are super uncomfortable...

On Friday we went and cleaned out another missionary house after they had left the area. Us and several other elders were there cleaning and we got to take anything the others had left. I got some extra toothpaste, a scarf and a pan pipe. Elder Bauer grabbed the toilet paper and some crocs. We also took a lightbulb because one of ours had burned out.

On Saturday a kid from the ward got baptized. It was the biggest baptism celebration I have ever seen. There were all sorts of fancy photos and Book of Mormon cupcakes and whatnot. I was a little jealous, to be honest. Haha! I wonder what it's going to be like when that kid goes on his mission...

Here are the birds!

Sage Thrasher

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Tamaulipas Crow

That's it for now! Thanks for reading and for being awesome!

-Elder Steiner