Week 91 - Alonso's Big Day!

written: 9/26/2022

Week 91

Great start to the transfer here in Frutillar!! As always, the time flew before our eyes. The highlight of the week was the baptism we had on Saturday!!

On Monday, last P-Day, we were able to go as a zone to a ward activity of the hermanas in Puerto Varas and it was a PARTY! They had mountains and mountains of food and the entertainment was awesome as well. There were some youth that performed as a band and then to end the activity the dance floor was opened and at the end all the missionaries were out there having the time of our lives. As you'll see in the pictures, I was very happy and just living life to the fullest and enjoying my last "Dieciocho" here in Chile.

This week we were mainly focusing on preparing Alonso and making sure he was ready for his baptism! Every time we went over there he was the most attentive listener and always remembered the things he needed to. He passed the interview with no problems and he was super excited the entire week. Everything was going great including on Saturday as we were getting the chapel ready. Our branch president came at 3pm to fill the font, as the baptism was at 5pm. Around 445 I went to go check on the font with the branch mission leader and he pressed a button and it didn't seem right and then he realized he needed to just turn a knob a certain way to stop the font from filling more. I asked if the water was draining and it didn't look like it. Well... 10 minutes later we went back and the font was completely drained, not one drop of water!! We had to act fast and they started filling the water, although it takes almost 2 hours to fill. We started the baptismal service and just had the faith there'd be enough water in the font. Elder Mortensen and Alonso entered in to the freezing water and the water was only up to elder Mortensen's knee but thankfully Alonso is small and there ended up being 0 problems! Always some trial associated with every baptism but everything always seems to end up working out. Alonso has been a great example to me and it's been awesome teaching him the last month or so. I'm thankful I have been a small part of his process and he's going to be a great future elder!

Lastly, I have continued to read the New Testament and grow my testimony of Jesus Christ. As I near the end of my mission I am soaking up every opportunity I have to study and I am learning every day. I can definitely say my love for studying and the scriptures has grown a ton over the course of my mission. It is also really interesting to see the attributes I've gained or improved over my mission as well. I am seeing the person God always saw me as. 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Alonso and his family; and Party time celebrating Chile Independence aka "Dieciocho"

 

Week 90 - Viva Chile!!

written: 9/19/2022

Week 90

A week full of celebration that ended with some wonderful news! We had the zoom call of transfers last night and I'll be staying in Frutillar with Elder Mortensen! However, we won't have Llanquihue anymore and we will be able to focus 100% on Frutillar! In the zone, only one missionary is leaving, I'm going to miss my friend Elder Quezada. I'm super excited to be staying and I know there's much left to accomplish here.

This week was jam packed! Tuesday we were in Fresia, a small town, to do a "blitz" or "invasion" where we just knock doors in a sector that isn't ours to try and help the companionship that works there. Afterwards, we did exchanges and I got to spend the day with Elder Morris and of course we also got to see Papito, I've mentioned him a few times. Always a good time to see him. It is refreshing to leave your sector and to be able to see things from a different perspective but a day or two is enough, I was glad to get back to Frutillar.

The best thing about Chilean independence, El 18 de septiembre, is that it isn't just celebrated on that day. At least for us, the celebrations started on Friday, and are actually still continuing today on Monday. The whole weekend we were able to enjoy lots of typical Chilean food and many empanadas. Our branch activity on Friday in Frutillar was the best activity I've had on the mission! There were 100+ people and many people that were not members of our church and we were able to meet a lot of people! A lot of them seemed very interested in learning more about our church and one of the people that attended the activity ended up coming to church on Sunday! We had Llanquihue's activity on Saturday and we were able to enjoy a ton of typical Chilean games and also a few games I had played before. Musical chairs was very fun and I ended up winning even though a member tried the old trick or trying to swipe the chair from under me when it was the final 2. All good, we laughed it out and I gave him a hug. Another awesome thing was the ability to finally be having these activities after the pandemic. They haven't been able to celebrate like this since 2019. A big blessing!

Lastly, we are super excited for this upcoming Saturday, as our friend Alonso is getting baptized! He is one smart kid! He has progressed a ton and as a result of him wanting to be baptized his whole family is coming back to church. His grandma has been the only active member in the family for years and we've seen her strong testimony but you could tell it was hard being the only member and now her daughter and grandkids are coming to church and she has been very happy!! Great things are happening and there are many more to come! 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Elder Pastene returned to Chile; Our new friend, Daniel; Salchipapa with Elder Morris; Papito!; Lunch "Post-Blitz" in Fresia; The tradition of Mango Loco continues; and Tug of War.

 

Week 89 - The Calm Before the Festivities

 written: 9/12/2022

Week 89

Great week here! This upcoming week is September 18th, the most important day of the year for most Chileans, and I'm excited to spend my 2nd September 18th here and the party will basically be all weekend, I don't know if my body is ready for all the food but thanks to Shaun T and Insanity Max 30, hopefully it won't be too bad.

Tuesday and Wednesday Elder Mortensen got sick with a stomach virus so that knocked us out for those two days. Being sick stinks on the mission and also being the companion that isn't sick and wondering what to do. But after those two days we were motivated to make up for the stuff we couldn't get done. It has been tough finding people recently but things have a way of working themselves out. The member we live next door popped by Friday morning and said he was going to Llanquihue. We had planned going 1 hour later but took him up on his offer to take us and we would take advantage of our time before lunch to knock doors. We also are playing a bingo with the zone and the challenge was teach 3 people in the streets about temples. The 3rd person we met we ended up talking to him for a little bit and talked about Jesus and what happens after this life. He also said he had a great relationship with elders from Utah many years ago. We were happy to finally be able to find someone, especially in Llanquihue! Yesterday our challenge for bingo was invite 10 random people in the streets to come to church. We invited 6, not a lick of interest. We invited someone working on power lines and he said he's from Santiago and was busy. We walked away and heard someone say come back come back. He motioned us to him, and he was another person working on the power lines. He asked us which was our church and he said do we have meetings next Sunday and he said he wants to go and hear the word of God! We got his number and we will hope he shows up!

I have enjoyed working hard and it's all a process. We feel good with the work we are doing. I have really enjoyed reading the New Testament and learning and re-reading all of the miracles and amazing things Jesus Christ did when he was on the Earth. My testimony has already grown after not even finishing Matthew. I am excited to continue reading and learning from the New Testament. 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Best District EVER, Papito, and good times with good food.

Week 88 - So Long Chile Osorno Mission, and Hello Chile Puerto Montt Mission!

written: 9/5/2022

Week 88

 September begins and the wonderful weather is becoming more common as the days pass. What a wonderful way to continue working hard and it helps keep the enthusiasm up. The work hasn't been on fire but that's alright, we are keeping our spirits high and there still is lots to do. This week we received news that our mission name and headquarters will change. So long Chile Osorno Mission, hello Chile Puerto Montt Mission! 

We started the week off with an awesome experience. On Tuesday we had planned to stop by three people we had recently found knocking doors. We didn't have success with our first person but the next two people are a couple and we felt good about it. We stopped by their house and they came out with a lot of enthusiasm. They told us they had been waiting for us! They were the people I mentioned in my email last week. We were able to get to know them a little more and share about the plan of salvation. They really seemed to like it. We also were able to meet their son, Drake, and find out he's named after Nathan Drake from uncharted, what a great video game. When we finished the lesson they asked to take a selfie with us and then they went to the kitchen and said "hey we bought you guys cookies we hope you like them" and they are the cookies we buy almost everyday!! Gotta love coconut cookies.

Another update from people we found last week, we were able to have contact with our friend from Casma! Our one and only friend we met the day we went. We called him and wanted to see how he was doing and we told him we had been calling him last Saturday to confirm he wanted to go to church and didn't answer. He said he was waiting for us on Sunday and was sad he couldn't come. What is hard is he lives 30+ minutes away in car, but we were able to coordinate with a member to go pick him up and he attended church yesterday!! He said he loved it and he wants to keep coming! There was definitely a reason we went to Casma. Everything is on God's timing.

On Friday, Elder Renlund had a special zoom call with our mission and it was a special moment! His message was short but I could feel his love and I could feel he knew about us and that we mattered. He made sure we know we have been called to be in this exact mission. 

A few rapid fire things that happened. We played a 5 v 5 basketball game between Frutillar and Puerto Varas with 2 missionaries on each of the teams and we destroyed them. Last Pday we were able to go to the Saltos de Petrohué which was absolutely beautiful and an awesome experience. This pday we are having a cookout with the district and Papito from Fresia, it is going to be a blast!

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: #elderenergy, Elder Mortensen and me, and thrift shop finds.

Week 87 - God Will Bless Us Even When Things Don't Turn Out The Way We Want Them To

written: 8/29/2022

Week 87

Hard to believe it's almost September, but that means that many good things are happening including more sunlight, better weather, and Chile's independence day in a few weeks. This week I was asked by an office elder what airport I want to fly home to and that was definitely a crazy message to receive (don't worry, still got a few more months left, they just like to be prepared). 

I can't say there were many WOW moments, but an overall enjoyable week with lots of positivity amidst not as much success as we hoped! For example, we went to Casma, a very small town, to go exploring and knock doors and get to know the area. We had planned a good chunk of our day to go out there and we had high hopes. In the end, we were able to talk to one person for more than one minute and the rest didn't answer or told us no. The thought definitely came to mind of why did we come out here and feel the need to come out here for hours and we didn't see the success we wanted. I then had to remember my council from a few weeks ago "God will bless us even when things don't turn out the way we want them to" and Elder Mortensen is a very positive person as well, so we knew we gave our best effort and we were happy with that even if people chose not to listen to us. 

One afternoon we planned to go have a lesson with someone we found knocking doors. Sadly, she wasn't home. This has usually meant that there's someone prepared to talk to us, so we knew it was time to knock some doors. We knocked one door and out came a young lady who seemed a little out of it, like she was going through a tough moment. Shortly after, a man came out as well. We told them we were missionaries and they invited us in. They told us they had been having some arguments recently and weren't having the best time. They asked us if we could pray with them and they were grateful we had come by. We invited them to church and sadly they couldn't come but they want us to come back and as they told us "talk about God". It isn't a coincidence! 

I was able to finish the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time during my mission and it was an awesome experience reading it again, as this time I read it side by side with the institute manual. My next goal is to read the New Testament. I am thankful for the Book of Mormon and I have grown to love it. I know it's true. 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: #elderenergy - Me, Hermana Glenn, Hermana, Elder Mortensen, Elder Quezada, and Elder Morris; FHE with the Bastidas family; Post basketball activity with Alejandro; 3/5 of the basketball team; and El buen tipo

 

Week 86 - Families Can Be Together Forever

written: 8/22/2022

Week 86

A great first full week with Elder Mortensen!!! We really are very similar and we work very well together. We were able to see many great things this week and I have no doubt this transfer is going to be awesome! 

The week didn't start super amazing and we weren't able to see a lot of success. A small example, for Elder Mortensen's first experience knocking doors a man flipped us off and then came outside and started shouting at us saying we were spies, cussing us out and telling us to go back home. Did it really affect us too much? No, but it was just part of the opposition. However, after the first part of the week, we knew why we had received opposition. 

On the mission I have come to realize we receive opposition before great things and blessings from God because Satan doesn't want us to achieve and see these miracles. We had a family home evening scheduled with an active member who last month told us her grandkids want to be baptized. We had planned to ask her how all of that process is going and she said "they'll be here in 5 minutes, let's see". The grandkids arrived and she sat then down and told us "OK talk to them" and we asked "do you both want to be baptized" and they both nodded their head and said "yes!" We had thought it wasn't going to happen so fast but God's timing is perfect. We also were able to see success knocking doors. When you knock doors here, it is impossible if one of the two missionaries in a companionship isn't fully invested in knocking doors or doesn't have enthusiasm. Elder Mortensen has lots of enthusiasm, so we were able to see success! We had lunch and began knocking doors because the weather was beautiful. We ended up finding an interested lady and talked to her for 30 minutes outside her house. Already happy, we kept knocking and found a small little street and began knocking. That's when we met Nicholas. We began talking and he said he hasn't found a church with his beliefs of the world and proceeded to name parts of the plan of salvation and I was able to tell him that there is a PERFECT plan for him, made by a perfect God. As I told him this, he began to cry. He said he is going through many tough things right now and he had prayed/yelled out loud in the morning and he knew we were a sign from God and he felt peace and he said how amazing it was to know God has a plan for him. I told him it wasn't a coincidence we knocked his door. It is a great feeling being able to be an instrument in God's hands. 

The plan of salvation was a big focus of ours this week and it is something that makes our church different than the others  I love being able to tell people that they can be with their family forever. We told that to someone who invited us in their house on a door contact and he said "wow, recently I found out the catholic church doesn't believe in eternal families and I didn't like it and felt sad and I didn't know your church or any church believed in that". I am very thankful that families can be together forever.

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: #elderenergy lunch; awesome zone; incredible district; fun and food!

Week 85 - I Have a Son

written: 8/15/2022

Week 85

What an absolute BLAST this week has been! Monday night was the big transfer call and I found out I'm staying in Frutillar and Llanquihue and that I'd be receiving Elder Mortensen, fresh from the MTC! My first time training! More on him in the little. 

I didn't receive Elder Mortensen until Thursday, so Elder Amaya and I were still together for a few days. We got along super well and in the few days we were together became awesome friends. We were always laughing and enjoying the time to the fullest. Something we also took advantage of was knocking doors! The weather was nice and he loves knocking doors so I knew with his enthusiasm and mine we would see some miracles. We started knocking on a street and first house, nothing. As we waited on the second house, a man left to check on something by his car and we started talking to him. He had talked to missionaries in the past and said he'd love to talk to us again. We walked a few doors down and we knocked again and a man came basically running outside and opened the gate and began talking to us. That usually doesn't happen. He said he talked to missionaries recently and he pulled up his whatsapp and showed us a picture of Elder Jara and I!! I checked the phone and it was actually the old missionaries from a few months ago, but I knew it wasn't a coincidence! Long story short, he talked to missionaries 7ish years ago and when we returned the next day he told us he didn't want to mess this opportunity up, he loved the restoration, he loved the book of mormon and he wants to invite his sister also. He has a ton of potential!!!! All by just knocking a few doors!

We continued having lots of fun all the way up until our last moments! I was sad to not be companions with Elder Amaya longer but then I met Elder Mortensen! He is the best!!! He is my height, which I've seen I've grown a little, as he is 6'5". He loves basketball, he has a sweet tooth, we have the same interests and we just get each other. He is from Washington and the only bad thing about him is that he likes Gonzaga. We spent the weekend getting used to each other, and I was doing my best to show him the ropes and make sure he felt comfortable as a new missionary. He is doing great and his Spanish is very good already. There is never a dull moment and we always have something to talk about. I'm super excited for this time with him!! 

Something that stood out to me in my studies this week was this quote, "The overwhelming message of the Atonement is the perfect love the Savior has for each and all of us. It is a love which is full of mercy, patience, grace, equity, long-suffering, and, above all, forgiving." I know Jesus Christ loves me and I want to emulate his love to others as well. Elder Mortensen and I are ready and up for the challenge. 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Me and my new son, Elder Mortensen; Stake Conference; Elder Amaya and me; and #MangoLoco