Week 4 - Families can be Together Forever

written: 1/27/2021

Week 4

Another great week at Home MTC that flew by! I only have 10 days of training left until I either go to Chile or a reassignment. I am looking forward to getting out to the field but I am going to miss being at home and being with my great district.

There was a really cool that happened this week during MTC. At the end of last week, during our afternoon class, our teacher told us she was messaging someone on Facebook and wanted our help in messaging her as a district. She later informed us that this girl had liked her repost of a video the two sister missionaries had made going over a brief lesson in Spanish. Our teacher had checked who had liked her repost and they were all members of the Church except for one. She recognized her name from school and decided to message her. Well after going back and forth for a little, she invited her to our zoom class. She spoke 0 English so we really had to put our Spanish to work. We were all a little shocked that we were actually speaking to a non-member and knew we actually had to speak and say something, so thankfully a lot of us said the best we could. She had mentioned that her mom had passed away when she was young, so in my broken spanish I asked her if she believed she'd see and be with her mother again. She said she didn't know but she hoped so. I testified families are forever and she will see her mom again. It was just a really cool experience and I look forward to getting to know so many people and being able to testify to their needs. 

This weekend I was also blessed that my brothers and their wives along with my niece and nephew were all able to spend time with me. We got to take family pictures and they turned out great. We were able to play games and laugh for hours and I was able to just enjoy time with my family! I'm going to miss them but I can't wait to be together with them when I get home! 

Another awesome experience was on Sunday. I mentioned to my brother Austin that I had to teach a lesson the next day and I wanted it to be really good. Even though they were packing up to leave and had to really get going, he took the time to sit down and help me plan out my lesson. When I taught my lesson on Monday, afterwards my teacher told me what a great job my companion and I did and that we had done everything right! I definitely wouldn't have been able to do that without Austin's help, so I am so thankful for that and for family in general!

Lastly, last night I was able to go out and celebrate my birthday 2 weeks early and "celebrate" me leaving for my mission. It was such a great night and the food at Ruth's Chris was amazing. It was awesome to be able to celebrate as a missionary and just focus on family and making a few more memories before I am gone for a quick two years!

I am so thankful for families and I know that families can be together forever. I am blessed with that knowledge and I can't wait to share that knowledge with everyone I come into contact with. The gospel is true and I am so excited for everything that is going to happen these next 2 years!

Love, Elder Steele

pictures include: This little man is my favorite!; Morgan, Austin, Collin, Kyle, Alanna, Mom, Grant, Dad, and Evie; and One more hug!

Week 3 - Halfway done with MTC!

written: 1/20/2021

Week 3

I am halfway done with at-home MTC and it is flying by! Sometimes I wonder how much I have really learned as the days and lessons tend to blur together, but I am slowly but surely learning more every day. I am beginning to comprehend a lot of what I am reading and I can comprehend some parts of spoken Spanish. What I am struggling with is speaking exactly what I want to say because I know what I want to say in English as a response to what I heard but I can't form a correct sentence a lot of the time, but I know once I am in Chile surrounded by Spanish 24/7, that will come and I am feeling less nervous about the language now.  I am super close with my companion, Elder Peterson, and we get along extremely well together. Every day I feel like we grow closer and it makes the MTC even more enjoyable. We have a very similar sense of humor and it feels great getting some laughs in. We work really well together on our practice lessons and I look forward to improving my teaching skills even more over these next 2 1/2ish weeks. 

This past weekend was great, as we were able to have Evie's baby blessing and it was a very cool experience to participate in a baby blessing at home. The power of technology is amazing and I am so thankful that the Church and for their continuing adaptability towards technology. It was also great having the Buth family stay at our house, especially because Sunday was filled with games and fun, and I love playing board games. Something different as I have been a missionary is not spending my entire Sunday's watching football, as I used to in the past once I got home from church. It has been difficult at times to not just plop myself down in front of the tv, especially during the playoffs, but I have been rewarded by spending my Sundays enjoying family time and focusing on what is really important! 

Lastly, this week my mom and I finished season one of The Chosen. As I had mentioned in my email last week, it is an amazing show. It made me want to study Christ's Earthly ministry and the New Testament even more and the show portrays Christ amazingly. I know that Jesus came to the Earth and truly performed all of these miracles and He loves all of us so much and wants to help all of us return back to Him. You will not regret watching the show and I felt the Spirit so strongly as I watched. 

Quick note, I am totally addicted to the new Mountain Dew Major Melon Zero. I had Zak, Kyle's father-in-law, look for it in a small gas station by Kyle's house and he bought the last 8 they had and then my mom went looking and bought me 18 of them. I might as well enjoy them while I can haha!

I am looking forward to this week and to continue practicing teaching and learning more Spanish and hopefully, I will get flight plans at some point so I can really start getting more excited about getting out into the field! I am extremely happy and I know I am doing what I am supposed to be doing. God loves all of you and I love all of you! 

Love, Elder Steele

pictures include: Kyle, Evie, and Me on her blessing day; and My mom's haul of my Mountain Dew

Week 2 - Mucho Espanol!

 written: 1/13/2021

Week 2

This week in the MTC was really great! This week we learned how to teach effectively and got many opportunities to practice. We have already taught two lessons to our teacher as an interested person along with talking with members in Mexico and Honduras and teaching them brief lessons... all of this completely in Spanish. Going into each lesson, my companion and I wrote out our lesson plans and got what we felt was enough to teach. There were multiple occasions where we had to change our lesson plans last minute and switch to our backup plan. Although it didn't go as smooth sometimes, we were glad we switch our plans because we felt like it was what we needed to teach. In one of the lessons with our teacher, I completely went off script and implemented what I had just learned in the lesson beforehand. It wasn't perfect, and it was really bad Spanish, but after the lesson, she complimented us that we had used what we learned in class and that it was awesome. The biggest thing I have learned so far in teaching in Spanish is that the biggest thing I need to do is follow the Spirit and even if I have no idea what I am saying or if I am even saying a coherent sentence, God will help show my efforts and know that I am trying!

Other than teaching a lot and practicing Spanish, we are getting into more grammar, and at times it can get overwhelming, but I just try my best, and our teachers and my district are really great at being positive and making sure we know that if we make a mistake that it is totally normal and to just keep trying. 

Something that I have really enjoyed about being a missionary is that I have so much time to focus on the gospel and deepening my understanding. One way that I am accomplishing this is by watching the Book of Mormon videos and The Chosen. I have really enjoyed seeing stories come to life and it allows me to understand stories in a way I never have before. Especially in The Chosen, I have only watched 4 episodes but it has allowed me to see Jesus in a whole new way and see how much he truly loved all those around him and the way he spoke and carried himself. I definitely recommend The Chosen to everyone, you won't regret it! 

I just wanted to give a quick shoutout of how awesome my tour of Carthage Jail was today! I was able to get a tour of Carthage jail from some of the sisters in Nauvoo along with Sister Cisneros and her companion and it was really spiritual. I was able to gain a deeper understanding of Joseph Smith and the spirit was so strong over Zoom. I am so thankful for Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith for their lives, and I know that they sealed their testimony of the Book of Mormon with their death and that holds such great power. I am so thankful for the sisters in Nauvoo and Carthage, and I HIGHLY recommend taking a tour with them, and I know you will feel the Spirit and have a great experience. 

Lastly, I am thankful for family! As I mentioned last week, home MTC allows for me to just spend lots of time with family and I was able to see my niece Evie again. I do not think that it is a coincidence that our Church focuses so much on families and home MTC allows for family time that otherwise would not have gotten to happen. 

I don't have many pictures this week, don't worry if you know my mom you know I'll have lots of pictures once I'm out in the field. The only picture I have is just a picture of my MTC district that is awesome!

I hope all is well with everyone and I am happy doing what I know I am supposed to! I love all of you!

Love, 

Elder Steele

pictures include: MTC District via zoom

Week 1 - One Week Complete

written: 1/6/2021

Week 1

One week down and it has flown by! I have really enjoyed MTC at home and I honestly can’t imagine it any other way. I have great teachers, I’m giving plenty of breaks so I’m not staring at a computer screen for 10 hours straight, and thankfully they’re easing us in Spanish. I was really worried we’d be thrown straight into Spanish, although I know I’d learn either way, but they speak Spanglish to us in our classes and we’re progressively adding more Spanish to our classes and our daily speaking. We are teaching our first lesson tomorrow so hopefully, all goes well!

There are always trials during missions and I have definitely experienced one already. Almost immediately after I began training, they made it a priority to us that we’d be memorizing a lot and that it would help us learn the language much faster. I really struggled with this at first, wondering how I’d be able to memorize a scripture in Spanish and then memorize much more daily. After we memorized our first scripture, I kept going over it in my head, driving myself crazy, still not feeling confident. I prayed that night that I’d be able to feel comforted and to be able to memorize the scripture. The next morning, I woke up, and ever since then it has consistently been on my mind and I have mastered it! That scripture is Moroni 10:5, “and by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things” and in Spanish, it is “y por el poder del Espíritu Santo podréis conocer la verdad de todas las cosas.” I know that by the power of the Holy Ghost I can do hard things and that I can do things I didn’t previously think I could.

Cue it’s a small world after all... my companion, Elder Peterson, who when I got my picture of my district it said he was from Canada... just so happens to be from PROSPER TEXAS! What are the chances that me being in Utah now and his records partly being in Canada would happen to be companions... and we aren’t even going to the same mission, but someone in our district is. God doesn’t do random and I’m thankful we’re companions. We both are a little older, we both turn 20 within a few months, we both enjoy sports, and we both went to BYU-Idaho AND lived in the same apartment complex. 

Also, I don't know if everyone knows, but you'll be able to see in my picture holding Evie, that I have a broken left pointer finger (my dominant hand). I was extremely worried that I would not be able to write what I needed to write during my MTC training and that I'd not be able to journal or do what I needed to do. Well... I was way wrong. Not only have I been able to write while I have been training but I write a TON. I have written 5+ pages a day across my scripture journal, notes from class, and my personal journal. What a blessing it has been to be able to write and I am so thankful. 

I’m so glad I was able to visit Kyle and Alanna and see my little baby niece Evie! I’m so thankful I’m at home MTC and was able to have the day off for New Years to see her! Life is so precious!

All signs are pointing to me being able to go to Chile! We are gaining hope every day that I will be able to go there immediately after training, as I have not received a reassignment yet and Chile is opening up, and what a great way to celebrate my birthday!

One last thought I’d like to share with all of you. I’ve really enjoyed doing my personal study every day and this week I focused a lot on Alma the Younger. He was one of the most wicked people but after being struck down by an Angel and being unable to move or speak for 3 days, he completely turned his life around and preached the gospel for the rest of his life. No matter what anyone is going through, they are never too far away from God. He is so loving and will accept anyone who chooses to accept Him. I’m so thankful I’ve chosen to serve a mission and I love all of you!

Love,

Elder Steele

pictures include: Meeting my niece, Evelina Beth Steele born on December 28, 2020