HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

dear fans.

Another week in Saphansung! I really hope I'm here to see the end of this month. Sis. Ference and I are seeing a lot of miracles in May. Two of our golden investigators were baptized yesterday. It is amazing to me how much God can do with the hearts of men. One of our investigators started out only believing in God 50/50, but then...he PRAYED. He asked God Himself if He was real, and he got an answer. It's as simple and easy as a simple prayer, which is evident in the experience of Joseph Smith as well. One prayer changed the world. Satan worked really hard to stop God's work this week. On the day that all of our baptismal candidates were supposed to interview, one thing or another went wrong. One investigator had a few friends that got into a bar fight the night before, and being the saintly friend that he is, he had to take care of them and be with them at the hospital. He was about 3 hours late to his interview, but he made it. The sweet lady that got baptized yesterday is physically handicapped, and takes a LONG time in traveling places. She was also 2 hours late to her interview, and got stuck waiting for a bus at the market. But she made it. Our third investigator passed his interview....and then came to church the next day and told us that he had drunk/drank/dr0nken/drinked/sipped/consumed(or whatever word you would use there...) some alcohol the night before. Ouch. So we're having him wait til next week, but I think this experience is good for him, and helped him to realize what it feels like to have Godly sorrow and to truly repent before he is baptized. We have followed up with every investigator every day, and I  have really seen an increase of my love for them. In just one week, I feel like I really know these people, and really want to help them. The woman with the physical handicap called us later last night after her baptism, and thanked us. She thanked God and Jesus Christ for giving her permission to be baptized. And then she said that she was currently collecting her monthly income so she could pull out 10 percent in order to pay tithing next week. Ah she's so great! Anyway, I've rambled long enough now, but I do have one more miracle to share:

One night this week, we were hurrying out of the church because it was almost 9pm, and the elders made it out just before we did. Which was a bummer, because then we knew we would have to lock the front gate. The front gate is a beast, and the latch gets stuck almost every single time, making it almost impossible to lock. So this night it was being particularly difficult, and the latch just would NOT slide into the hole, and as hard as we kicked, pushed, pulled, and tugged, it wouldn't lock. By this time we were late getting home, but we couldn't just leave without locking the church. We debated a few times to call the Elders to help us. But the feminist in me said, "NO. You can do this." So we kept trying and trying for another 10  minutes and decided we may have to sacrifice our pride and call the Elders. But then I realized we hadn't even prayed yet. Why would we ask the Elders for help before we ask God for help?? So we said a prayer right then and there. Not two minutes later, we got an answer. The Elders showed up. They rode in on their bikes, because they had forgotten something at the church. And of course, they got the gate locked smoothly and easily, leaving us feeling defeated and humbled. So maybe we should have just called the Elders in the first place! HAHA God works in strange ways sometimes. And it wasn't the miracle I was expecting, but I'll take it. I'm glad to know that God has a sense of humor.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to my mumsers!! I love you so much!! It was great to see your face and talk for a little while. love you all!

Sister Steele

MAY DAY

what....i can't believe it's already MAYYYYY

Things are going really great here. This past week, Sis. Ference and I have worked really hard, and are trying to just take it a week at a time. We have two investigators looking really good to get baptized on this coming Sunday, and two others that came to church yesterday...and will also be getting baptized on Sunday. We'll do all we can to help them meet their goal! Overall this week has been awesome, and every time I think I couldn't be happier, God proves me wrong. Every day when I wake up, I know I'm happier than the day before. And if things don't go exactly as I plan, or I hit set-backs, then I just have to look at the little miracles. Having investigators come to church is great, but seeing new members (who were investigators just a week ago) come to church and continue to progress is even greater. Seeing brand new converts come to church, bear their testimony, and then ask you if they can pay their tithing that day...is probably one of the best things to see as a missionary. I love these people so much.

Following up with investigators EVERY day is SO important! I have a testimony of that now. We have an investigator that is trying really hard to quit drinking alcohol, and HE called US yesterday to thank us for helping him change his life. I'm so excited for him to be baptized this week.

I love this area, I love these people, I love this work, and I love my companion. I feel like every companion I have had has been strangely a lot like me, but an extremely better version of myself that I want to become. Anyway, things are just great here in Saphansung.

If you couldn't tell by the formal tone in the last 3 paragraphs, the previous 3 paragraphs were really just copied and pasted from my letter to president. because time is precious, and everything i told him was what i wanted to tell you. but...naturally, there are parts about my mission life that i would not include to my letter to president....like the time when i chased down a lady in front of the church. she was walking way too fast, and we needed more investigators at church that day...so we RAN. when she heard footsteps coming behind her, she turned around and kind of put her hands up like she was afraid we would hit her or something. maybe we should change our approach...? also, running every morning has been great. except for when we get 15 min. out and i decide i HAVE to go to the bathroom. all i could think of the whole time was rachel in her water-shoes..."oh looky there...it's RACHEL...and she's BOOKING it to the bathroom." (british accent). 

anyway, all in all, the mission is EVERYTHING. it's hard, awesome, work, cool, spiritual, fun, happy, sad, crazy, wonderful. mostly it's just PERFECT. because life doesn't get better than this. i love you all so much. thank you for your prayers, keep them coming!

Sister Steele

Sis Steele and her new companion, Sis Ference...from Holliday, Utah!

Sis Ference just turned 20!

What. It's almost Mayyyyy. Already?

HEYYY

this week has been crazy! last monday right after i got done emailing i found out that both sis. holmes and i would be leaving สะพานสูง. that made me sad. i was kind of expecting it, but then when the moment comes, it's so SAD. noooo i can't leave this place and these people. so we went about our day, preparing for a white-wash (when both missionaries leave and two brand new ones come into the area and have no idea what's going on in the area). basically, i've gone into areas white-washing and training every single time so far, so i felt like that would probably be happening again soon. anyway, we got everything taken care of, and then we had FHE that night at the Bruso's house (the american family in our ward). while we were there the A.P.'s called and told me i'm actually NOT moving. mixed emotions. i'm SO happy to still be here, but then at the same time, i had already wrapped my head around moving. but mostly i'm relieved that i get to stay and introduce the area to the next sister that comes in so we don't have people fall through the cracks, especially with all our recent converts. 

so transfers meeting. sis. holmes is going to Chiang Rai!!! that lucky duck. she'll do so good. i'm really gonna miss her. my new companion is sis. ference! she's amazing. she's from Holladay, Utah, and she's been out in the field 8 months so far. first time ever that i haven't trained! weird. she's so gOOD at everything. i'm really glad i have the chance to be her companion, even if it's just for a short time. (i have a feeling i'll be moving sometime in the near future). oh, and she's super good at going running every morning. and so begins my long and painful adventure of getting back into shape. oh. my. word. my legs hurt so bad, and i basically hobble around for the rest of the day. it's awesome though. we get to go running through a beautiful neighborhood called 'Perfect Place.' ironic. it's so perfect. hopefully my running will start to show results, because yesterday at church one of my RC's told me i had gotten fatter. so honest and blunt here haha.

on sunday (yesterday) Acare got baptized. and we started teaching another girl named Earth. she's pretty much perfect. there's so many prepared people here. and then there's those that reject us hard core. like the lady i talked to yesterday who told me she wasn't ready to have eternal life. or the man who was quite certain he had never sinned in his life. (which he told me as he smoked his cigarette). i'm thankful that i know what i know. i am thankful that i know about Jesus Christ. I am thankful that I know that He lives. not only does He live, but His teachings will make bad men good, and good men better. He knows the way, because He is the way. and i LOVE testifying of Him each and every day.

sis. steele

Sister Steele and Acare, who was baptized April 27, 2014.

The bike/running path

Happy Easter

hellohello.

well today my time is really limited, because my to-do list is miles long. the day of transfers is upon us, which means for the next few days i'll be running around like a chicken with my head cut off. plus we have a dying missionary in our midst (don't worry, she's not really dying, that just means she's done with her mission in 3 days. don't be alarmed). yeah, sis. kittima is near the end, so there's a bunch of random things we need to do. despite all of the that, the work goes forth. two of our investigators, Bowii and Gift, were baptized on Sunday! and their cousin, Acare, will be baptized next week. They're the cutest girls ever.

since i don't have a lot of time, plus the fact that i'm getting lazier and lazier in my writing, i will grace you with a few highlights from this past week:

Songkran: i have never been more wet. and i have never been shot straight in the eyeballs with a powerful stream of water soooo many times. by the end of the day, i couldn't see anything but cloudy white stuff.

Sis. Earth taught us how to make PadThai. OHHH my goodness. so good. i will definitely be making that when i get home. it's really not even hard, it's just about finding the right ingredients.

The Easter program: We have been practicing for this for months now. and the night finally came. the day of the performance we went to Asoke and then practiced about 4 times in a row....WOOF. i was ready to collapse. it was a really good program, and a lot of time and preparation went into it. the choir was....great. we tried to sing our little hearts out so that the altos could hear the part, but alas, it was still a little rough. the lighting people thought it would be cool to keep changing the color of the lights shining on us too, so i felt a little bit like i was at some weird dance party. when it came time for the actual final performance, all went well. The last note, HOSANNA!, I seriously could not hold it, because one of the tenors (probably a little deacon, bless his heart) belted out the last note COMPLETELY off-note. and i just smiled. really big. trying not to laugh. i loved the whole program, and so did everyone watching. and it wasn't because we were so super talented, or because we were perfect singers. it was because the saints of Thailand had gathered together to celebrate the Resurrection of Christ. He LIVES. whether on tune or not, these sweet people sang with all their hearts about something that they KNOW. and I know it too. Christ died for us. But He LIVES for us now.

Sis Steele

Sis Steele, Bowli, Gift, Sis Kittima, and Sis Holmes

This is one way of ensuring your customers use deodorant!

Happy New Year! Thai Style...

Happy Songkran!

First just let me say that I absolutely LOVED general conference, and every single talk (no, not just exaggerating) hit me right in the face. BAM. there's your answer. I was blown away. and i really liked how a big theme of this conference was JESUS CHRIST. i mean, i guess that makes sense, since this is His church and all. but i couldn't help but think of Helaman 5:12 as a theme, especially for the first day. i love that we can go right back to the basics. if we just look at Jesus Christ, and how he lived, we will know exactly what we need to do to be happy. ahhh loved every single minute of it and i'm sad it's over already. Oh guess what. Boo got baptized on Saturday! Bishop said she was good to go after interviewing her another time, just to make sure there were no more thoughts of building a church left in her mind. haha. She really was so happy too, after she was baptized. i explained that she would be asked to bear her testimony afterward, and based on her last testimony-sharing experience, i told her she could just keep it short, and just share her feelings. as she got up, i was still wringing my hands and biting my nails. but all was well. she was indeed a changed person. she talked about finally finding the right path, and that she knew she had been baptized in Christ's true church on the earth today, by the proper authority. her testimony was amazing, leaving me relaxed and happy in my chair. home run, sister boo.

This time last year was one of my first days in country, and I was lucky enough to be greeted by the annual water festival...or in other words the Thai New YEAR. Now that it's been a year, and I actually know what's going on, and what people are saying, I'm super excited to go out and play today. I even bought myself a nice flowery shirt. It's tradition. In case you forgot, Songkran is basically an entire 3 days (or more, for those die-hard people who can't give it up) of throwing water at each other, and smearing chalky paste all over everyone's faces. yesterday (sunday) we were trying to make it all day without getting terribly soaked. and we knew we had to be home before 7pm on these next three days. So we headed home from the church around 6:45, pedaling our bikes as fast as we could go. but then we went down the market street. big mistake. we passed a man with a big huge smile on his face as he threw a huge bucket of water at us as we rode by. drenched. haha welcome to Songkran. then we got home, inside our gate, and sister Kittima told me to lock it up....while she then grabbed the hose and sprayed me down completely, laughing hysterically the whole time! so then we had our own little water fight, right outside our door. we're so cool.

have a great week!

sister steele

Conference Time!

happy monday! or sunday, whichever day it is that you read this.

so i know we're a little behind the times here as far as general conference goes. we have to wait a week for the broadcast, and then we all get to go to the church and watch it. CAN't WAIT. Call me a typical missionary, but general conference is like Christmas. except it comes twice a year. oh and just a sidenote, i don't know if anyone noticed, but they called Elder Konnakam to be an area authority of the 70. He's from Thailand! tHis is the first EVER from Thailand. So cool!

this week was really good. we were crazy blessed and saw a lot of miracles. throughout the week i kept thinking..'crap. nobody's going to come to church, because we haven't found anyone in this heat that wants to talk to us.' along came saturday, and after calling everyone in my planner we had around 17 investigators confirm for church the next morning. not all 17 of them showed up, but 14 of them did! it's like God just shook the earth a little bit, and golden, prepared people just fell out of the cracks right into our laps. the field is white, and so ready to harvest, and we're seeing the fruits of the harvest. we have an investigator that's planning on being baptized this next weekend. she was actually gonna get baptized yesterday, but then we decided she needed to wait a week so she could understand what we taught her a little better....she thought she could just go out and build a church. she has great intentions and isn't trying to be apostate or start a new church or anything, but she really did think that she could use her 40 acres of land and just build a church in a city where there isn't any churches right now. to make things more interesting, she got up in testimony meeting and announced to everyone that this was her plan. she just needed some help from the members, etc. WOOF. that poor, confused woman. i just wanted to crawl in a hole and hide, especially when she mentioned my name 3 or 4 times. hahaha. i think the second she sat down, bishop hurriedly pulled her out and sat down and had a good talk with her. we met with her after church too, and reviewed the restoration. we talked about God's authority, and how these kind of things have to be decided by God, through His prophet. Not by sister Boo. i think she understands now, because now it seems like she's trying to be extra good, and prove that she's really ready to get baptized next week...the rest of the day she was singing extra loud and almost yelling 'amen' to show her enthusiasm.

today we had a zone sports day. i haven't played basketball for....a long time...actually probably since the last zone sports day haha. wow. i'm way out of shape. and my body let me know that so graciously. whenever we have a sports activity and i end up soaking wet, i just tell people it was raining. it might as well have been. that or i just took a sweat shower.

this is about all i can think to say, so until next week, have a wonderful 7 days.

love you!

sis. steele

March Miaracles

This will probably be another short one, because this internet place is sticky and hot, and I don't know how long I can stand to sit here. Although it's not much better once i go outside. i'm realizing that it is DEFINITELY the HOT season. this week street contacting was KILLER. if my message didn't turn people away, then my appearance surely did. hi, my name is sister steele, and i'm a hot, gross, sticky, sweaty mess. every once in a while i run into a friendly person that will see that i'm dying of heat as i try to give my little schpiel (sp?) about baptism, and they'll hurry and pull me into the shade so that i don't have to suffer anymore. every time we go out and invite people on the streets for 3-4 hrs. or so, i have to think long and hard about why i'm here. not that i have any doubts or anything. no, of course not. but day after day, when everyone here thinks we're crazy, and wonders why we come back every single day to face the heat and the rejection, i'm glad that i have a reason for it. and it's a reason that trumps all. JESUS CHRIST. because I know that He lives. Because I know that He knows the way back. He knows the way because He IS the way. He really is the only way. and people here, people all around the world, don't know that yet. and i know that my small inconveniences or obstacles are nothing compared to what Christ endured. and any time that some shrewd little old man, or some grumpy middle aged woman tells me that 'nobody here is interested. go home.', i get to turn to them (with probably a little more sassy-ness than necessary) and tell them that yes, people here are interested. because God is preparing people to receive His truth. because just yesterday, there were 9 people that followed the example of Jesus Christ and were baptized at our church. because in the month of March, there were 212 people who became members of the true Church of Jesus Christ. so yes, it is worth it. whenever i get stuck in my own little world of blazing heat, rejection, and 7/11, i pull back and look at the big picture. This mission is seeing so many miracles! in Novemeber, we had never seen more than 80 baptisms in a month, and then broke 100. and now it's doubled. but this isn't about the numbers. this is about people. God is preparing people, and we're finding them. and now i can't wait for april.

now that i've gone on and on, here's to another week! make it good:)

sis. steele

ps. remind me to tell you about our choir that we're practicing for for our easter program this month. it's been a stellar experience hahahaha. aka one of the elders said we sounded like a funeral march....thanks.

9 baptisms....Exciting!