Week 5

I had an expirience with angels the other day though! I had been super tired in the morning on tuesday and i had some good study and good lessons but i was just feeling down. after gym on tuedays we have service and so while we were doing servive (which was cleaning dorms of people who had just left the CCM) i found a 5 peso coin! its those little things like finding coins or feathers that let you know angels are around, it was a comfort to me here :)

All the suden it feals like my mission is about to really start! in a devo by president holland he said "your mission is real life, in fact its probobly the realest thing you will ever do!" I was really impressed by that because theres a lot of important things in life, but theres is little that is more important then bringing people unto christ! its the most important thing we can do. and if we do it we will receive endless amounts of blessings! the scriptures every time i read just take on new life! Its like the words jump out of the page at you! and every thing you read you feel could help someone grow and become happier! i did a little thing personally a couple days ago, i tried to write down as many things as i could find about being a good leader. Most everything i found was about king mosiah and benjamin! because they led by service! mosiah is such a powerful seccion of scripture! the whole book of mormon is just an amazing book! it truly is the greatest treasure i poses!

As far as your questions, MY violin playing was last night and it just went amazing! the oppertunity to play with a talented choir and pianist was just awesome! I felt the spirit so amazingly strong in that devotional after having used my talents to benefit the lord! The talk was on Zion and how we are helping to create a new zion here on earth just like in the bible! Also how by being of one heart and of one mind with your companion allows you to work together in faith and gain the companionship of god (the holy ghost) who will truly convert others :) That leads me to my companion, he and i are doing much better, we still have differences and sometimes anoy eachoether, but we have begun to work so well together, our lessens are taught in unison and i feel so much better! exspessially about spanish, i have a long long way to go, but i can understand so much so well now and it is really comming along!! You last question, about food... Well one of the best things here is probobly like a pork chop thing with mashed potatos, its super super good! the worst thing here though is harder, cuz most every thing is good, and you usually have 2 options so if something doesnt look good you dont eat it. The one thing that was bad was they had this awful fish with weird sauce on it. I dont even mind most the fish they had, but man that one was no good! But i still mostly have been eating a lot of fruit because its yummy :)

Unfortunatelly i dont have much more time, but i really miss you guys and i love you all! its weird and hard being away from you guys but its going so fast! ill be with you before you know it :) just remember that the lord loves all of us and he is there looking out for us :) the angels are always around us too, and thats definitelly true, ¨"Trust is the lord with all thy heart and lean not unto thine own understanding, he will dirrect thy paths" and i know that if we trust in the lord these 2 years will be the easyest and best of my life :) heck im already over 1/24th of the way! thats still significant! 

Love everyone!

Week 4

Hey everyone!

IVE BEEN OUT FOR A MONTH!!! that is just crazy to me! it literally seams like just yesterday i was on a plane and now im in the last stretch of my time here at the mtc! In the course of a month ive learned so much spanish, it is incredible! the gift of toungues is real and i know it helps me every day! the more we practice the easier it is, it just shows that through the lord, nothing is impossible, if anyone has any trials in their life, the atonement can and will help you! christ has so much love for his children and if you show him you love him he will do anything to help you, thats what older brothers are for.

On sunday i was made the new district leader of district 9-c, our old district leader is now our zone leader and so im in charge of our districe, its not anything special, but it gives me the opertunity to better serves those in my district, and i feel very very blessed to have that opertunity! In our district meeting i asked for imput on goals, and my district really stepped up to the plate! our classroom is now a spanish only zone, any english in class results in the punishment of 30 seconds of wall sits every single time it happens! you can already see everyone improving from it! our study time is more focused and our language skills are increasing rapidly! its like seeing blessings unfold right in front of your eyes! in addition every saturday and tuesday are solo espaol. meaning no english all day for any of the district members. Its hard but the more you practice the easier it gets. Through hard work and massive blessings i know the lord will help me speak in a way that will bless peoples lives!

So to share one expirience before i end, Me and my companion have had some troubles working in unision during lessons, so a few days ago we had a heart to heart about hoqw we would teach. I am some one who likes to talk and he is someone who has a much harder time just talking about stuff. We studied PMG for a while together and found that if we would set our lessons up in a way that one of us talks about a topic and then the other talks about the next topic we would be more successful. We also read to pray for your companion while he is speaking. IT HAS BEEN AMAZING! the spirit has been so much stronger when we have taught together rather than just one of us talking! we share scriptures to back eachother up and you can feel the strenth of your companion praying for you!  Weve been able to share many more expiriences and really focus our lessons on how to help our investigators rather than just a pre writen peice of paper. That is the true way to tach, by the sprit, so that the spirit can be the real teacher!

Lastly i am super excited because as i was writing this email i received the use of a violin! the choir director lady asked if i would play for the choir on sunday at devo and i am so pumped! we are given talents to use them and i know i need to practice but im so excited to help create a beautiful peace of music again. Music truly does bring the spirit. look at d&c 25:12 ´´for my soul deliteth in the song of the heart, yea the song of the ritous is a pray unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads´´ Im not much of a singer so having the opertunity to play is really awesome for me :) 

anyways, i want everyone to know that i love them, that through the power of the holy ghost, through god, we can do anything. and through christ and the atonement, we can live forever with families, for thats what is truly most important in this world.

love, Elder steele

PS. Big shout out to my family at the reunion! I love you all so much! have a blast and i will see you all again soon! you are awesome!!! If anybody wants to read something awesome, either 2 and the first part of 3 gives some awesome insite on how to have your prayers answered! you just have to act in a way that the brother of jared did! it takes some thinking but its definetely one of my favorite storys! love you guys!!!

Week 3!

Hello!

Today is the aneversary of my 3rd week here! it also is my half way point at the MTC! (hump day!) its been such an amazing and humbling expirience being here! ive learned more in the course of 3 weeks then i feel like i have my entire life! my faith has skyrocketed and i know that the lord blesses all of us! the more good works you do, the more you receive! but i encourage everyone, when you receive blessings, never forget to be thankful! The lord loves us, and loves to know we love him too!

My week went well! mostly just language and religion classes, but its way fun! the learning expiriences are pretty awesome! However every day we have a gym time, it is such a blessing, it helps you refocus and then your night study is 10 fold better! the lord knows we need breaks every once in a while! during this gym time we play soccer! sometimes with the latinos, (theyre hilarious) and sometimes just a bunch of missionaries, we play street soccer on street courts, and sometimes full games out on the main feild! The only thing i really wish i had at this point are shin guards! they are a bit beaten and bruised, but oh well! soccer, or futball, is just another skill i am learning. 

Learning is really what a mission is about too! its about growing and progressing, learning every day so that you can help others learn and grow as well. I am so excited to go out in the feild! i can understand spanish well, but i know itll be a super steep learning curve in the feild no matter what! i am just so excited to go and make a difference in someones life, i want to help them receive true happiness through the gospel of christ! thats the only thing in this life that does bring true happiness, its just amazing to have the oportunity to be part of this work!

On sunday this week we had an amazing devotional, it was a talk given by elder bednar a while ago, In his talk he said something to the extent of ´´dont draw vain attention to yourself, draw attention to the lord´´ Thats what its all about! im just a messenger, a pathway so that people can feel the spirit, as long as i am worthy and doing my best out here, i know that the lord will touch the hearts of investigators, he is the ultimate teacher :) The talke went on and at the end he gave his apostolic witness that if you are obediant and study hard, folling the promptings of the spirit, ´´You can do this´´ we can do anything through the power of the lord. Put faith in him, cling to him and none other, and he shall direct thy paths. Anyone who is going through hard times, trust in the atonement, its power covers all, and you can make it through anything with the power f god. You are never truly alone. Look for angels, search for the spirit in your life, Everything will turn out just fine ;)

I wish i had more time to write expiriences, but know that the CCM is just an awesome place and expirience, i have a lot to learn but i am learning a lot every day!  I challenge everyone to take moronis promise at the end of the book of mormon. Read it, and pray for yourself with real intent. You WILL receive a conformation of the holy ghost, and you WILL know it is the most true book on earth. I know it, and i want everyone to come unto christ and know of this glorious truth too. 

I love you all!

Week 2 CCM (MTC)

Hey everyone!

Ive been here in Mexico 2 weeks now! Its been such a humbling and uplifting expirience! I want to start off by sharing an expirience, Almost every day we do whats called "Progressing investigator" Its where one of our 2 teachers pretends to be an investigator and we teach them a lesson. What was really special, and what me and elder bartlett did not know at the time, was that our teach hermano vera took his investigator storys from real life situations. In his real life his cousin, carlos, (Who he pretends to be) is not a member of the church. His other cousin, Alan, fell down the stairs (im talking like long tall metal stairs) on sunday and is in the hospitol in a coma in critical condition. As we tought "Carlos" we could see real pain and worry, so we were promted to not go through our entire lesson, but instead focusing on how the savior loves all of us and through the atonement of jesus christ we can all be happy! We shared a fe scriptures like john 3 16-17. And the spirit was so strong! despite our language problems! Afterwards our teacher talked to us and expressed how gratefull he was for the love we showed. That is the key to missionary work i feel like! dont go about trying to shove a lesson down someones face. Just be a vessel for the spirit, care and love your investigators so that they can feel the spirit in their lives. That is how we can bring about true conversion in peoples lives. My purpose is to invite all to come to christ. I must try to do that in the same way the savior did. Through love for all men :)

Other then that, ive had multiple spiritual expiriences every day! i receive so many blessings in understanding both scriptures and spanish! I still need to work harder on my spanish but it is comming along! I want everyone to know that " Yo se que jesucristo es el salvador y por medio de la expiacion nosotros puedamos familias eternol" That is probobly pretty rough... (I can spell in english, how do they expect me to in spanish!?) but basically what i said was "I know that jesus christ is my savior and through the atonement we can be eternal families." i know that is true :)

Somthing really cool happened on the 4th for us! We were all down because we missed our families and being at all the 4th activitys, so.... The people at the comedor (the cafeteria place) Set up all red, white, and blue table cloths! they served us what was about as close to pulled pork sandwiches and aple pie as you can get in mexico! it was such a nice gesture! Then, after we all thanked the kitchen staff, the 250 ish of us that where in the room stood up and sang the star spangled banner! it may not have been home but it was an awesome expirience non the less :)

Its weird being here every day, but im still in the habit of waking up early to work out, and with the addition of gym time, you have plenty of time to  be active and enjoy yourself1 it helps alot with study too, HUGE STRESS RELEIVER!!!

I have a lot more things i could say i am sure, but id like to share just one other expirience. On monday, one of the sisters in my district ( Hermana Collins ) seamed to be having a dificult time. I talked to her a bit and she was just stressed and worried about her family, i offered to her that if she ever needed a blessing that any of us in our district would be more than happy to help her out. Yesterday night she asked for one but because of the lateness it had to wait till morning, so this morning after breakfast, me and elder bartlett gave her a blessing of comfort. I may have physically been speaking the words, but they were not from me. I could feel the power of the holy ghost surge through me and the words literally just came to my mouth! You could feel the peace that came into the room and it was just such an awesome expirience to be able to be an instrament for good in the hands of the lord! What ive come to realize is by holding the priesthood i have a responsibility to act as christ would. that is my duty. The cool thing is that you can never use preisthood authority to help yourself. only other people! That is the true love of christ! helping others, not yourself :)

anyways, im out of time here, but i want you all to know that the work is real! and this church is true! Its the most important thing we could ever have in our lives! love you all!

-Elder Steele

Hello everyone!

I have managed to make it through my first week at the CCM (MTC)!!! It has been so eventful i scarcley know where to begin! However i guess i will just start at the begining. So after what you heard, the first few days went by incredibly slow. There is inumerable numbers of meetings and classes and things to do! The first few days definitely where the hardest to get through as well, its a massive adjustment living here in mission life, just being away from my family and everyone i love has been so hard, but through my sorrows i have felt the massive help of the lord in my life! This place is so full of the spirit everywhere you go! so many valiant missionaries! its incredible!

My companions name is Elder Bartlett, he is a quiet guy, but very strong in the gospel, and pretty hilarious when he actually decides to speak haha. Odly enough he is from highland utah! we figure our houses where probobly within 10 miles of eachothers haha. In fact my whole district is from utah within and hour or 2 max from lehi, and all 6 of us elders are going to birmingham alabama! we have made it a habit of getting up at 6 every morning and working out for around 25-30 minutes before our day starts. Its amazing how something small like that can make you day so much better! your more alert and you learn more! I encourage everyone to try getting into a habit like that, its very good both physically and mentally. The rest of our day typically goes something like this....

Breakfast at 7

Personal study untill 830

Language and doctoring classes tell 1130

additional study till 12

lunch till 1230

language study untill 2

gym time (ill explain this later) untill 330

tall (spanish computer learning) till 430

Companion study till 515

dinner till 6

campanion study till we meet and teach an investigator (IN SPANISH!!!!)

Then lesson reveiw, and personal time untill bed.

As you can see we hardly have time to think! it actually has been very nice aswell because it helps get your mind off of sad things and on to learning and progressing! The gift of tongues is so real aswell, its incredible how easy it is to pick up the language! it just comes to you, not to say you dont have to work for it, but the work seams enjoyable and you can see the improvement daily! 

I am also very glad for the opertunity to come here to mexico! the food is... well, different. But what ive realized is how truly privilaged we are to have been born and lived in the united states! Mexico city has over 20 million people and driving through it you can just see the poverty. It is very humbling to see these people who have so little, and yet have so much faith and work so hard! they appreciate everything they have! It has been a humbling expirience being here but a very good one aswell.

So, as i said, we are teaching investigators in spanish already! we started like our second or 3rd day! there is definitelly a language barrier, however by showing love and trying to help your investigator, not shove doctoring down their throats, we can see the spirit touch their hearts and lessons have been getting better every time! Our investigators name is Myra Sandoval, she only speaks spanish and is an incredibly nice lady! shes probably mid 20´s and is very kind to deal with our spanish problems haha. We actually are pretty sure that she is a fake investigator and will become just our second teacher after we have taught her so many lessons. (We figure they wouldnt turn us loose on real investigators just yet) But it still gives us great opertunitys to teach and feel the spirit!

I wish i had more time to write! please tell my mom to ask any specific questions you have for next week and i can try and answer them, but its very beautiful here in the mtc and i love it so far! 

I guess the last thing that i want to talk about is gym time! we have 50 minutes a day to spend doing gym time. Its for working out or basketball, basically just being active.  because the basketball court is so crowded you hardly get a turn, my district has taken to playing street soccer! they have a hybrid basketball/soccer court and its surrounded by fence so the ball mostly stays in bounds. Its actually been extremely fun and good excersise. Ive never been much of a soccer person but i might be becoming a bit more of a fan during my time here.

 So i just want everyone to know that i love them and that although im far away i will always be praying and watching out for you guys, i love you all!