Week 96 - I'm Coming Home!

week of 10/31/2022

Week 96

On Sunday, October 30, I left Frutillar with my companion, Elder Mortensen, and the assistants. We headed out to pick up a few other missionaries who were going home, too. We dropped off Elder Mortensen before arriving in Puerto Montt. Once we arrived in Puerto Montt we checked into the hotel. I was lucky enough to get my own room with a king size bed. That night we had dinner on the top floor of the hotel.

On Monday, October 31, we had some free time, so we went on a walk by the coast before heading to the mission office in Puerto Montt. At the mission office we played Uno, threw a football around, and ate pizza as we rotated through final interviews with President Gervic. Then, we all went out to get ice cream including President Gervic. Later we had a nice meal before sharing our testimonies with the whole mission via zoom.

We spent another night at the hotel, and after our breakfast the next morning, we took a bus to the airport in Puerto Montt. The whole group flew from Puerto Montt to Santiago, and then had an 8 hour layover there. Finally, I boarded a flight to Atlanta, Georgia by myself, but then noticed there were other missionaries from other South American missions. It was a 9 hour flight and I was tired but so excited that I was on my way home.  Bonus, I had a whole row to myself.  I rushed off the plane when it landed in Atlanta, zipped through customs, and made it to my connecting flight to Salt Lake City. On that flight, I met a guy that was on his way to the Provo MTC to start his mission. Through our conversation we made a connection - He's a convert from Tennessee and a guy I know from Allen, Texas, Jaren Heidenreich, was part of his conversion story.

pictures include: Sister & President Gervic and me; Sharing my testimony on zoom; Missionaries that are heading home - Hermana Cáceres, Hermana Glenn, Hermana Bundy, Hermana Meneghini, Hermana Wilson, Elder Bastidas, Elder Moon, Elder Steele, Elder Cisterna, and Elder King

Week 95 - Last Week

written: 10/24/2022

Week 95

The time is ticking down, as this upcoming week is my last full proselytizing week. Mixed emotions but I can be at peace knowing I've worked hard and that this week will be a great week as well with many things left to do.

We had an awesome district council on the Lago Llanquihue with tons of sun and amazing weather. I did get a pretty crazy sunburn but I'd say it was worth it. Afterwards I was able to do my last exchange and I went to Fresia with Elder Rowley, from England! He is super awesome and although he likes Arsenal, we are still friends. It was a great exchange, we almost had 3 people accept a baptismal invitation and I got to spend time with papito, who I'll miss a lot. He made me sopapillas and he gave me his parting advice and wisdom and made me promise to keep in touch which I told him he doesn't need to worry, we will. On my trip to fresia I also ended up buying 4 kilos of yerba mate to bring home to feed my addiction when I'm back in Utah.

We had some pretty great lessons with some of our friends. After over 2 months of constant communication with our Haitian friend Calvin we were able to go to his house and share about the Book of Mormon. It was definitely one of the most interesting lessons as we taught in English and he is an interesting character to say the least but it was a lesson I will never forget that's for sure. We also saw our friend Roberto and although the lessons were a little contentious at times we still felt like we got somewhere with him and are hoping for the best.

I was super excited for our friend Rodrigo who was going to be baptized this upcoming Sunday but sadly he didn't attend church and isn't going to be able to be baptized. It was tough for that to happen and I got a little upset but then I always have to remember a district council message I gave a few weeks ago about only worrying about the things we can control and not things outside of our control. It's a good life lesson too and although it's tough that it won't happen how we thought, it'll all work out eventually.

Next Monday I'll be in Puerto Montt with all the other missionaries going home and shortly thereafter on my way to Utah. Man how time flies!

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: P-day adventures; District council by the water; and Papito

 

Week 94 - Two More Weeks!

written: 10/17/2022

Week 94

Crazy to think I have 2 weeks left, where did the time go??? However, no rest for the weary, we still had a great week and are working hard. Of course I am trying to take advantage of every moment.

We had a very interesting day on Friday to say the least. We are still teaching our friend with messianic views and wow is it hard. The sad thing is that it kind of is turning into bashing which is not what we want to be involved in. It can be a little stressful but we are holding out hope that things will get better. We were heading home, we had just bought a maracuya pie and ready to try what looked to be a great tasting dessert. We are 3 minutes away from our house as we are walking up the rocky hill when we saw a man on a bike flying down the hill. The road was even rockier than usual and he screamed "buenaaaa" and he continued flying down the hill and slammed on his brakes and went flying and did many flips in the air until he landed face first on rocks. He laid there motionless and we ran to him along with 4 others people close by in a field. He had a bloody face, coughing up blood, and was incredibly disoriented and drunk. One of the kids called an ambulance as we waited. A few minutes later the man got up and looked for his bike and hat and walked away into a field. Didn't wait for the ambulance or anything. We looked around and the 4 people said don't worry just head home. Never been in a situation like that before, definitely scary. Always a first time for everything no??

The best part of the week was definitely yesterday!! For the first time in 3 months our friend Rodrigo could attend church with us! He has a baptismal date and he loved attending church. We took advantage of the time with him and taught him during 2nd hour and he loved learning about the doctrine of Christ. He reiterated many times how he wants to be baptized. We extended a new baptismal invitation for October 30th, what will end up being my last day in Frutillar, and he said he'd love that and he's excited. He told us how he could feel the spirit and explained how he feels like a weight is lifted off his shoulders every time he is with us and it comes back when he isn't. We told him when he's baptized he will have the spirit with him always. He is super excited.

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: My amazing District; Elder Mortensen and I enjoying food on the go; and posing for a picture with my new Iranian friends in front of their new restaurant.

Week 93 - All Good in the Neighborhood

written: 10/10/2022

Week 93

Pretty normal week here, nothing too crazy jumps off the page but nevertheless good vibes all around. I keep hoping for a week without rain but this weekend and today we've had a ton of sun to enjoy.

This week we had some pretty interesting discussions with messianic jews and we've been able to learn about them and their beliefs. We are working closely with one specifically and his family and its been a great experience so far. I can honestly say I had never heard of these beliefs before but the mission is all about new things right. This week we are supposed to have a study session with him and he was the one that suggested we use the Book of Mormon to accompany the study and he loves the Book of Mormon, so we are excited.

We were also able to help and participate in a branch baptism of Benjamin! The best thing was his dad, Cesar, was able to baptize him. Cesar was the person Elder Jara and I were able to help with his baptism! It was my first time seeing a convert perform a baptism and I was happy to be part of the process. Benjamin's mom told me she will never forget me! I know I'll never forget them and I can't wait to see them be sealed next year. I love that the work we do can have a domino effect.

We were able to participate in sports this week as a way to find and teach people (and also enjoy the sports as well!). We were able to play volleyball one night and we got to meet a lot of cool people, including a Chilean that had recently moved to Berlin. The next night we were able to play basketball with the same people we played with a few weeks ago and they've become great friends to us. We are very competitive when we play but now friends after. I asked to take a picture of the group and they were all sad thinking I was leaving and this was the last game!  I assured them it wasn't and that we'd play again.

That's about it for this week, all good in the neighborhood! 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Sports highlights playing volleyball and the Boys of basketball.

 

Week 92 - Free at Last, No More Masks!

 written: 10/4/2022

Week 92

Free at last, free at last! One of the best things of the week was taking off the mask beginning October 1st! It always drove me crazy how in the United States they stopped wearing masks forever ago and for my entire mission we've had to but now it's not a requirement in any place. Of course it happens as im finishing my mission, but better late than never!

The week was different than most weeks, as we got to enjoy general conference this past weekend and yesterday we got our pday switched so we could have zone conference! General conference was awesome and I have definitely grown to love conference even more being on the mission and it is crazy to believe I've gone through my 4th and final conference. I learned a lot and I loved hearing all about Jesus Christ and plain and simple gospel truths. Zone conference was also a great experience and we focused a lot on the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

The coolest thing to happen this week was with one of our friends, Rodrigo. We found him knocking doors a few months ago and the last month we lost all communication with him, mainly due to his busy work schedule. After we finished lunch one day, we decided to go and stop by his house even though it was a random time and most people are out and about or working at 3pm. As we got close to his house we saw someone enter into a truck and once we got to the truck we saw it was Rodrigo. He was just leaving to go somewhere and we caught him at the perfect time. He said he has one month free from work and I told him how perfect that timing is and I extended a baptismal invitation to him and he said of course! After, Elder Mortensen and I talked about how the timing of everything just worked out perfectly and we couldn't be happier to help our friend.

That's about it! Things are great, I'm happy, I've got an awesome companion and I'm super excited for what is going to happen this month! 

Love, Elder Collin Steele

pictures include: Machines in Motion aka Missionaries at Work!; Yes, we are that cool!; Zone Conference friends; Ballin' it up with my homies!

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.