20s baseball

Our zone played baseball this morning. It was so fun. The teams tied 15-15. We played 5 innings. I had some really good hits and runs and catches and falls and getting people out is fun. Baseball :D We really enjoyed ourselves this morning, thats for sure. We also played with this man from this video:

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/a-change-of-heart?lang=spa#d

It was so cool to get to know him. I saw this video in the CCM in Mexico and was like to everyone THATS MY MISSION!!! IM GOING THERE!!!!! Well little did I know I would run into the guy :P Hes really short. Man baseball is fun. It was especially fun to teach the Latinos how to play and watch them succeed and love the game :D dont worry we sang lots of American songs. Im still sad I missed the 4th btw.

THE WORLD CUP ENDED HALELUJAH. Now people will be in the streets again. We can find more people to teach. Its gonna be so much nicer. Also my ward mission leader was going for Alemania (Germany) and he kept doing the Hitler sign. it was super chistoso. So now when he sees me he says Hermana Steele! and does the sign. Oh Dani.

My comp is still sick. The nurse thinks she has parasites hahaha wonderful. The nurse gave her something called The Bomb to get rid of them. oh dang haha. She could get really sick from it. We will see what happens...........

I dont have much to talk about this week. It was a pretty normal week.

Franklin is doing alright. He wanted to talk to us the other day which always makes missionaries nervous. He has a problem with his parents. He says they need to change before he thinks he can make a change in himself. He told us he just couldnt change because of their bad example and he didnt want to meet with us anymore because he wasnt going to do anything. Well we shared looots of life experiences with him, and he finally said he will keep meeting with us and he will keep trying to change and to learn from their example. AHhhhharhgaiew. I know he can do it. We just need patience. 

Patience. 

ahhh.

As I frequently tell people, nunca estoy tranquila.

But Im working on it. 

We had a really funny moment the other day in a lesson. We started teaching the brother of a member and this guy, Roberto, is super funny, expressive, and isnt really serious. Hes a really cool guy. He loves to say that people are the church of Christ.<somos la iglesia hermanas!!>. NOOO ROBERTO. NO SOMOS LA IGLESIA. TIENE QUE IR A UN EDIFICIO. He kept saying it and kept saying it and finally I said (rather loudly and expressively but it was so funny and it fit with his personality so he took it well) <HERMANO. SI SOMOS LA IGLESIA... SI SOY LA IGLESIA, SOY UN PROFETA. Y, DOCE APOSTOLES, Y TENGO AUTORIDAD PARA HACER CUALQUIER COSA EN EL NOMBRE DE DIOS, Y PUEDO BAUTIZAR MI MISMO!> or in English, <if we are the church... If I am the church,  I am a prophet, 12 apostles, I have authority to do whatever thing I want in the name of God, and I can baptize myself.> I asked him, <Hermano, can you baptize yourself??> I promise you it was so hilarious. He still didnt get it but it was a nice realease to say all that hahahahaha well see him again tomorrow. 

L and J are the couple that were baptized with Hermana Groll and I. J went back to smoking and drinking. Its really interesting to see how someone can be so high and so strong and fall so fast. So fast. Dont worry, L and A her daughter are still super pilas and todavía están perseverando. I love them. We had a noche de hogar (family home evening) with them last night, just those two, and it was really wonderful. I know that L will endure whatever challenge the Lord throws at her. We just need to get J back on his feet. 

I love you all! So much happens and I never have time to remember or write it all. Cant wait to tell stories when I come home. 

with love, 

hermanita steele

19s what a week... looong email day woo

We went to the temple this morning and thats why I am writing on a Tuesday. It was so beautiful and spiritual as always.

NEW PRESIDENT!! President Bowler from Nevada. His sweet wife doesnt speak any Spanish, and he hasn't spoken Spanish for 40 years. Right now I think my Spanish is a little better than his hahahaha not even joking. BUT he is WONDERFUL. Because my wallet was stolen a few weeks ago, I had to go into the office yesterday to get a new temple recommend. Well the interview was like 2 seconds (easiest interview for a temple recommend in my life, probably none after will be that easy haha) and then the Elders took forever to get my membership number so President and I sat there for about 10 minutes just talking about our lives and it was so fun to get to know him. I LOVE being in President's ward. I know that this man is called to this work and he is going to be the President that we need, thats for sure. 

We are teaching a man named Franklin. I LOVE FRANKLIN. So he is the son of a family who was baptized about 1.5 years ago. He was the ONLY one in the family not baptized, his parents were baptized and so were his 3 sisters. Only he wasn't. And the family told us they wanted us to teach him but they said he would never accept us. So when I was with Hermana Groll, we started building a friendship with him to gain his trust (they live two houses down the hill from us so we always would see him in the calle). Just saying hi, shaking his hand, not talking to him about the gospel yet to not scare him away. Just little by little. Then Hermana Groll left and here comes Hermana Saldate. I told her about him and I was like, you know what, it is time to teach him. So we went up and asked if we could visit him and he said yes. He is 19 by the way. We have been visiting him every two days. He has this huge desire to change his life and he really does want to be baptized. His date right now is the 26th. Hes super pilas, he always keeps the commitments we give him (like reading, HE IS SO PILAS. NO ONE READS). Lemme tell you, this mans prayers are unlike any Ive ever heard. He is the definition of praying from the heart. Ive been praying all my life and I have never prayed like he does. Hermana Saldate and have been working on praying more sincerely after we heard his prayer. man. Anyway hes our most positive investigator right now and our favorite to teach (not like I have favorites.... I love them allllll.......)

Something cool. Our zone leaders called us the other night to tell us that our zones dats were really low as a whole, but our dats were awesome. They told us to keep it up and asked for our help motivating the zone. So that gave us a little animo and a little more drive to work harder. Our zone leaders are really awesome Elders. One is a chubby Mexican who loves food and the other Elder I had a class with at BYU and he lived in the same area as me. Theyre wonderful leaders. 

¨It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise than for a man to hear the song of fools¨ Ecclesiastes 7¨verse 5 I LOVE THIS VERSE. My companion told me I am really good at being direct with the investigators and calling them to repentance. Its what they need. Im not gonna ramble on and beat around the bush. I tell them what they need. In a loving and awesome way of course.  I love them and they love me hehehe 

FOURTH OF JULY. My comp and I talked about it to like everyone we knew on Friday haha. We made you all a video. I will have to send it next week but it is pretty great. I lost my voice. You're welcome. 

No one is in the streets these days because of the World Cup. Its a little annoying but we are still workin.

​OH RIGHT THAAATS what I wanted to write about. I almost forgot. I got burned haha um I was cooking platanos and I dropped one in the pan but I put more oil than usual and BOOM SPLASH and I have just a few second degree burns on my left hand and my neck. I'll send the pic next week. It really wasnt that bad it just hurt ​for awhile that day before the blisters formed. But then the next day the big blisters didnt hurt so I forgot about them and accidentally popped the biggest one, meaning a totally ripped off the skin. IT. HURT. IT. HURTS. and its gross. Its just like exposed. growing new skin hurts. Im doing my best to not let it get infected but man this place is gross.  Sorry for these images. But hey that's my life. 

Please, please, PLEASE. I am talking to members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints specifically right now. PLEASE be Christlike. Please fellowship new members into your ward. Please say hi to church members ourside of church. Please dont judge. Please be kind. Please fulfill your callings. You do NOT REALIZE how you affect people not of the church. If people have an issue with someone inside the church, they will not listen to the missionaries. We can't teach them. People go inactive. PLEASE. Be the same person who you are in church on Sunday. You can maybe fool some people, but you can never fool our God. JUST BE A GOOD PERSON. It would sure help out the obra misional. 

Thank you to those members who are doing their part. We had a man run up to us in the street the other day asking how much a Book of Mormon was and we were like wut and I reached into my bag and shoved one into his hands and told him to take it. Why was he interested? Because he works with a Mormon and he has seen how good a person he is and he wants to see what he has. Thank you to those people who are doing the things they should and setting examples for everyone else. If you're not doing what you need to, it is never too late to repent and start over. Trust me, I'd know.

I love you all. Keep praying and reading the scriptures. Smile at everyone and have an amazing week!!!

love, 

hermanita STEEEEELLLEEEEEE

18s Changes

So everyone and their dog knew that Hermana Groll was going to leave the area.

Im not joking in the least bit. It was a little freaky. Our investigators (the people we teach), the members of our ward, and all the missionaries just assumed she was leaving, they didnt even ask. So when we found out, it wasnt a surprise. Hermana Groll is now a Sister Training Leader in the area nextdoor to mine. It was nice to know I was trained by one of the best missionaries in the mission. She really is a wonderful missionary who really loves her investigators and strives to teach according to their needs, like we need to. I miss her!!!

My new companion is Hermana Saldate from California (another gringa woo!). She likes to work hard, which is great. Its really kinda weird switching companions. Its just.... yeah. Weird. But Hermana Saldate is great and she likes to be direct. Her Spanish is really good but she just came from serving in the South so I cant understand her sometimes and neither can the people here in the city because of her accent hahahaha but its good. Im sure well adapt.

We had quite the lesson with Guadalupe (the former UN ambassador) and it quite frankly didn't go very well. Man. She is really stuck in her ways and doesnt want to change the beliefs she has had over the years. After a little bit of the Spirit leaving the lesson I realized wow we really need to calm down and get this back on track. So, I told her that all my life I thought Estonia was in Africa. And then someone told me it was in Europe and I was like what there is no way that is true. But when I searched for the answer on a map, boom. Estonia is in Europe. No matter how long I believed it was in Africa, I was wrong. If I went my whole life thinking it was in Africa and died that way, it doesnt change that Estonia is indeed in Europe. It doesnt change the truth. No matter how long she has believed what she does, it doesnt change the fact that it is not truth. Truth is truth and it is unchangeable. I told her to look for the answer from God. We can tell her all these things over and over but she is never going to believe anyone except for God. We will see what happens next. Shes leaving the country for awhile pretty soon so that sucks.

Our new mission President arrives today! Im excited to be in his ward still. He is from Nevada. I will miss President and Hermana Hernandez a lot. They are so wonderful.

Follow promptings from the Spirit you guys. Theyre real and they will help you. Hermana Saldate and I walked by a lady holding her baby yesterday and I looked up and smiled at her (she was in a balcony). As we walked she kept looking at us. I turned around again and thought, I really think we should go talk to her. And then Hermana Saldate looked back too, and I finally said, we should go back huh. and immediately Hna Saldate was like yes. And we turned around, taught her about faith, and she accepted the challenge to be baptized. Her name is Yeny (Jenny) and she doesnt go to any church because she doesnt like any of them. She says something is missing. HEY. HEY! YENY! WE HAVE WHAT IS MISSING!! WE HAVE ALL THE TRUTH!! Ill keep you all updated on this wonderful woman. and her cute baby :D

Listen to what the Lord is telling you and always have faith.

My Spanish is getting tons better. Still have lots to learn but Im doing super well now.

byeeee

love, hermanita steele

pictures next week I hope

17s:I know yooou I walked with you ooonce upoon a dreeeeeam

I sang that over and over yesterday for I think 30 minutes dancing with 5 children. I was exhausted but it was worth it and they loved it. 

​When it rains here its a good thing. 

Everyone eats with their hands and its a good thing. 

We went to the temple with a few of our investigators on Saturday. I got some really good pics but I cant send them today. Maybe next week. I sang twice and it was great. Latinos have started asking me for a cd again just like in the CCM haha. 

We went with -G- yesterday (the lady who was the UN Ambassador). She has had some incredible dreams all about her being in darkness and following a light and being afraid to follow it too. One was literally the spirit world. We read about the spirit world in the Book of Mormon​ and were like hey does this sound like your dream? And she said yes. She is going to be a slow process but I can tell every little bit she reads of the Book of Mormon is helping her realize there is way more to life than what she knows. We recignize she might be scared. For goodness sakes she has been a devout Catholic for 65 years. Its her life. But if there is something else that is true out there, she feels like the last 65 years have been a lie. I have faith her eyes will be opened to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. This is His church in its FULLNESS upon the earth. I testify of it. 

Changes are Wednesday and Im done training which very well means Hermana Groll and I might not be companions any more. Especially with 10 new hermanas coming in that need trainers. Im a little nervous. Not ready for a change. Our President goes home on the 2nd of July. 

We baptized my little friend Christian last night. He is so cute. Hes only 8 but all of his family are members. His parents and older sister are very very inactive, but his older brothers always come to church and bring him too.  I love those boys! Pictures next week.

Love you alllllll bye

h.steele

Mom's note: she got her wallet stolen last Sunday. $$, drivers license, insurance cards... But not her debit cards or passport so I guess we can be thankful for that. 

16s I'm really enjoying myself here

This week was an adventure. We had multi zone conference which took up almost an entire day, we were sent home early by our zone leaders another day, we had J's BAPTISM!!!!, and yesterday we had a multi zone activity. So we basically lost four days of real missionary work this week, so our 'dats' (data/stats) were super low. But were gonna make up for it I promise. Were working real hard in this dang area. Its just characteristically hard to baptize. But it doesn't matter. We have had success and we are gonna have even more. 

One little thing before the big message, Banana Soda. I love it.

I really love my companion. We are learning lots from each other and she has been a wonderful trainer and a wonderful friend.

So the multi zone activity was like a night of music and testimonies to bring our investigators to. It was aweeesome and so spiritual. Hermana Groll and I started everything off singing ¨More Holiness Give Me¨(but in Spanish of course) and it went really well. It brought the spirit immediately. The whole night was wonderful. I love Jesus. haha

Everyone mentions my blue eyes. The other day we were with a member and I saw a pretty blue butterfly and was like ¨Mire que bonita!!!!!!!¨ and she's like ¨it flew out of your eyes¨ and I died laughing. That's what happens when I come to a country filled with ojos cafes.

We didn't get to meet with Gudalupe this last week dangit. She was busy fixing up her house and finally moving in. This week.

<B>. I don't think there is anything more we can do. 4 baptismal dates, countless visits, countless prayers, countless effort, (countless monies spent on taxis too haha) but en serio. I really believe at one moment she was prepared, but something went wrong on her end. She is set in her mind that she just can't do it. So thats the end of that.

We met a wonderful woman named Marlene. Ill tell you more about her as we continue to teach her, but in short, she is a single mom with three loving children. She has already accepted our challenge to be baptized and loved our lesson on the Restoration. I LOVE HER!!!

I want to share something I learned this week in personal study. For some reason I had been fascinated with the story of Peter walking on water. It is a story I have always wondered about throughout my life and I wish I would have understood it sooner.

The story is in Matthew 14:24-33. Ill just share some of my insights for sake of time. The thing that has struck me for years is when Jesus says ¨O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?¨ This always confused me. Peter was an apostle. Peter had lots of faith. He exercised
tons of faith just asking for Christ to call him out on the water. But, he obviously lost faith since he started to sink. Why did Peter lose faith even though Christ was RIGHT THERE? RIGHT THERE. right there in front of him and he still lost faith. Why did Christ stop the wind and the waves AFTER they were both safe in the boat, and not before to help Peter walk on the water to Christ?

We all lose faith sometimes even when Christ is RIGHT THERE. even when he is influencing our lives an incredible amount. This happens when we look away from Christ. When we look at the wind and the waves. When we pay more attention to walking on the water than getting to Christ. Christ didnt stop the wind and the waves until Peter was safe on the boat because we need trials of our faith. If everything was easy, why would we need Christ?

This next week, I challenge all of you to focus on Christ rather than focusing on walking on water. Walking on water can be work, school, any endeavour you are pursuing in your life. We fall when we focus more on this than Christ. 

Keep your focus on walking on the water, and you will fall.

Keep your focus on Christ, and you will be able to walk on water.
Peter left the boat not to walk on water, but to go to Christ. 

I love you all!!!!! so much! pray lots and remember Christ is there when you need Him, when you call for Him, when you accept Him.

Honduras is great.

love, 

hermanita steele

15s I'm teaching a former UN Ambassador and wedding pictures

J & L's wedding day (from last week)

Guadalupe. What do I even say. Ben and Pati moved into our ward two ish weeks ago, and last Sunday, they asked us to come teach Ben´s mom. Ben has been a member for awhile and he served a mission in New York speaking Spanish. He also is a Gringo, but his dad is French and his mom is Honduran so he knows English French and Spanish and Im just confused as to his life. His wife Pati is Brazilian. But anyway. They asked us to teach her. Ben told us she is very very Catholic and very very educated and just a real intelligent lady. So we set an appointment and later that week took a taxi to the rich part of our area and got to the house. We started to talk to Guadalupe for a bit to get to know her and Ben slips in Oh yeah she was an Ambassador to the United Nations for Honduras for 30 years. 

WHAT. 

So now my comp and I are of course intimidated as we realize how smart she really is. We went back again yesterday and man, our lessons with her are like none other. This is certainly an opportunity. She is a very powerful woman and says what she thinks. She is reading the Book of Mormon and of course remembers everything she reads and asks us little details. She also believes in some kinds of crazy things so thats an adventure too.  I just keep telling her that hey, sabemos que usted es bien inteligente, but you are going to learn the truths of these things only through prayer and a testimony from the Holy Spirit. This is going to be an adventure.

My companion and I were reading from the Book of Mormon the other day in Spanish and I came across something funny. We read something about churches becoming very rich. We argued for awhile about what the guys name is who sings I CAN BE YOUR HERO BABYYY. I thought it was Enrique Iglesias. But we were like nooo that cant be right. Thats so not his name. Because then his name is rich churches. But ohhh were we right.

 I love Spanish.

The other day we were planning. And there was a point where everything just came to a stop. I was looking at a list of people were teaching on the wall. And my companion and I were trying to decide what to do the next day. And everything just stopped and we were silent for a sec. and then I said ¨Hermana. We just need new investigators.¨ We just need new people to teach. We met a lovely lady yesterday who I already love named Marlene. Were meeting with her later this week and I am so excited. But this is kinda what our focus is right now, meeting new people. And getting J baptized. 

J & L's wedding day (from last week)

FINALLY. J IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY. But an enemigo is really working on him. I can't believe the faith of J and L. J just turned down a real good job and L turned down two because work on Sundays was required. GO DIA DE REPOSO (day of rest). WOO COMMANDMENTS. Theyre awesome. But I really hope they find work soon. 

Keeping an eternal perspective of live gets me thorough the hard times. I read the talk ¨No Other Gods¨ by Elder Oaks last night and this morning (yes twice cause its that good) and just read it. Its great. Always remember your Heavenly Father and your family are the most important things in your life. 

Happy Fathers day on Sunday daddy!! Love you!!!

I invite all of you to read or reread the Book of Mormon. Really its such an interesting book and it has some powerful words. Really truly it is the word of God. I know it. I know this is the church of Christ reestablished upon the Earth. 

I love you all, have a wonderful week, and update me on your lives! 

love, hermanita steele

ps write me letters. :D

reception 

 

14s Star Valley

*Letter from May 26*

Here in Honduras Im making up for all those years I didnt drink soda.

Small world moment, Hermana Suyapa, a wonderful member of my ward who is the mom to my best friend baby Jagger, lived in Star Valley, Wyoming years ago with the Scherbel family. Tommy Scherbel was one of my bosses when I worked as an RA at BYU this last fall.  Also the Perkes family (Chases moms side of the family) is from there, and I was in Star Valley this summer. Super crazy!!

Okay so I started with something awesome so now something sad. Theres been lots of sadness here lately. Don't worry I wont tell you about it all. Two Elders got in a car accident on Thursday. Elder Martinez, from El Salvador, died on Friday and his companion from Utah, Elder Lewis, has been sent back to the states to recover. Its super sad when missionaries die. Really scary too. Especially when it happens so close. Also hermana Carmen in my ward (family you met her on skype!!) fell in her pila and has really serious injuries and could have died. She has to stay in bed but she is recovering. She is the most positive person I know and she has such a wonderful relationship with Heavenly Father. Ive been thinking lots lately about why such awful things happen to bad people. There are reasons for everything. All you have to do is trust in God.

This weekend we have a wedding (WITH FAITH. PRAY THAT THE PAPERS WILL GO THROUGH FAST) and right after a baptism!!! The wedding is for <L> and <J>. L will be baptized right after but we have to wait for J to get baptized until the 14th of June because he needs one month without smoking. FINALLY. This is finally happening!!! they are SOOO ready!!!!! We saw J  de repente in the calle the other night. He was only walking to the pulperia but he was carrying around the church pamplets to give him strength not to smoke. he is such an example to me. He has SOOO much faith!!!! 

I always have all these spiritual things to share with you all that I think of during the week and then I forget them. So just read your scriptures. This is the church of Jesus Christ. I know it is true. Always work hard and always keep the faith. Pray more than you think you need to. Dont waste your time, you dont know when your time on this earth is going to be over. Life is very short, I have learned that in Honduras. You just dont know. Take care of yourself and learn every opportunity you get. Life is too short for anger. Life is too short not to smile. In your trials confide in the Lord and He will give you comfort. Study the life of Christ and become more like Him. Yeah I know its hard. Yeah I know you have to do homework, or work, or run an errand, or whatever. I know. I know. But how much do you love Christ? Do you love Him enough to give Him a few minutes of your day to pray and read your scriptures? How much do you love Him?

Lots of things Ive thought about this week. I wish I could share everything with everyone, but until next week...

H.Steele