Week 18 - Lluvia Loca

written: 5/3/2021

Week 18

The weather here in the south of the world is LOCO. This past week was rain, rain, rain, and oh yeah, more rain. We rarely left the house, but when we did we were soaked, and even a large rainproof jacket won't keep every part of you dry, especially with the wind here. But a little bit of rain won't stop us! On Wednesday we were finally able to begin going to neighborhoods and search for members on our list. We were walking house to house, mainly no one answered or they said they were busy, but we were able to hand out a Book of Mormon and begin cleaning the list! We were only outside for maybe 2 hours, but it was a nice little experience of what missionary work used to be like. And one more note, there are an abnormal amount of dogs here and especially in the neighborhood we were in, nonstop barking, and fearing these dogs were going to jump us, but all good, still alive :)

We had a mission advice meeting, and at one point, I hear "and Elder Steele" and I immediately freeze and try to hear what I need to. President Meek said "and something really amazing I read in all of your weekly letters was from Elder Steele. Elder Steele could you tell everyone the 3 words you used and 3 words you added after" and I thought oh no, because I did not remember at all. After a brief second to think, I remembered the main idea and was able to share with everyone what I had emailed. Those words were "go, go, go" and now "stay, stay, stay" and this was in response to wanting to leave the house everyday. My view of wanting to leave the house really has changed and the work has grown exponentially and we are never going back to the old way, only pushing forward. Last april, we had 80ish references from social media. This April, we had over 300!!!! CRAZY! 

This week was relatively slow in the amount of lessons we had and we kept having connection issues or something would come up, but we kept trying and never gave up. On Saturday, we were finally able to have 3 lessons in one day and we were able to have some really powerful lessons! 

Elder Calderon and I along with the other companionship in our sector got to have some amazing food! We got to visit the restaurant where one of our friends in teaching works at along with her boyfriend. I got an amazing burger with guacamole, fried egg, bacon, and a fried onion and finally fries that were cooked all the way through. 

Lastly, a reference Elder Calderon and I received about 2 months ago but moved to a different sector is getting baptized today! Elder Calderon and I knew after the first lesson she was going to be baptized and although we aren't the ones baptizing her, it is just awesome that she made the important decision! 

Even when things get hard, don't give up! Things don't always go our way, but things will eventually be made right if we have faith in Jesus Christ and try our best. 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Rainy day in Chiloe; some of the best food so far! Elder Pillpe, Elder Calderon, Elder Bennett, and Me; Basketball is a great missionary tool!