Dear Family,
To start off I want to apologize for my wimpy emailing. Most missionaries have a huge, long email that they send to their families. So far I've done the opposite with having small, undetailed emails but long detailed letters. I guess I'm saying this because I know Chels is keeping a blog and she puts my emails up on there, and they don't have very much in them. I'll try to write better emails because I can't expect to make her type my letters and put them on the blog. I'll try to do better.
Anyway, Houston is fun! My area is about 15 miles wide and 15 miles north and south. Most parts are really ghetto, but some parts are really nice. The ward is tiny, but the members are awesome. People are so different here. Everyone is friendly, even gangsters are really friendly and respect us. Everyone here is religious. It's really easy to get investigators (we have like 21), but it's hard to get them to commit to do anything.
So far I've had plenty of interesting things happen. One of my first few days here we went to visit this guy. He pulled out a bong as soon as we sat down and started smoking some marry-Juana. We asked him if he could not do that while we were there and he respected that enough to stop that and to just burn through 4 cigarettes in the next half hour we were there. What made him so crazy was that he's just not right anymore. The things he has taken have messed with him so bad that he's not himself anymore. It's pretty sad. Another thing was he had the most evil, terrifying laugh. It was so loud. His average laugh would last about 5 seconds. The first 4 seconds would consist of this weird, loud laugh that is more comparable to a yell. The last second was a little half-grin at the end of his laugh. He doesn't even smile when he laughs!
There's another family we visit and the first thing I noticed when I get in the door is me being attacked/humped by some ugly huge dog. Anyway, the family is really cool and they love having us over, but they have a 20 year old special son who is so depressed and so rude. It's not his fault, but it causes so much contention and there's constant yelling. We sit there all awkwardly while they yell and argue. We try to get them to pray together as a family and they do every so often.
Okay, so I finally had my first real lessons. We have a bunch of investigators, but the two biggest and most recent are Michael and Renee. Before I got here they [the missionaries] taught Michael the Restoration and they said it went really well and that he understands it and said it makes sense. We visited him last night (16th) and since he hadn't read, we read the BOM with him. He seemed to understand it and enjoy it. After we were done he said it was very similar to the Bible. He made the connection that we can apply it to our lives today. He seemed to enjoy it and said he would read Chapters 3 and 4 before our next visit Friday (18th).
The other investigator that I would like to share about is Renee. She's this really awesome, short African American lady with gold teeth! Anyway, we had our first lesson with her Monday (14th). Before that even began we asked her what she was expecting to get out of our meetings with her. She said that she felt that we know something that she doesn't know and that it was no coincidence that we met (we had no intention on stopping at her apt, but the garage door opened as we were walking by). She said that she knows that we were sent from God.
So the plan was to do what is called "The Powerful First Lesson." Which basically is the lesson of the Restoration, but if, after stating Joseph Smith's account of the First Vision the Spirit is really strong, then we have a kneeling prayer and ask the investigator to pray to know if what we are teaching is true. After they pray we have them read Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith." Then you ask if they are feeling any of those things. When they say they do then we testify that that is the Spirit and then ask them if they will be baptized.
Anyway, so yeah, that was the plan. We got to the part about the First Vision. My companion asked if we could close our eyes while he said it. The Spirit was so strong. There was such a long silence after he finished and she finally broke it by saying, "That's nice. That's beautiful." She was really touched by it. It made so much sense to her, because it does make sense! So we asked her if she was feeling any of those things in Galatians 5-22. She said all of them and we testified that that was the Holy Ghost testifying of truth. We asked her if she would follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority of God and she accepted.
Our next lesson with her was on Wednesday (16th). She was so excited to see us and to talk with us. We taught her about the Book of Mormon and read the first 2 chapters with her. At first she was really reluctant or hesitant at the idea of it, but as we read she liked how it was similar to the Bible and has lessons that we can learn from it. We really emphasized the importance of being baptized and becoming part of the true church because we felt that she didn't entirely understand that. (A lot of people here actually believe the Restoration and feel that it's true, but they don't understand the importance of it, that this is the only true church.) She said she will continue to read and pray and seemed very excited to do so. We meet again with her Friday(18th).
I am doing well. Me and my companion get along great and have a lot of fun. I'm so glad I get to do this. It makes me sad that so many people don't get to do this. One thing that I've learned is that anyone who is worthy and has the desire to serve can do this. Anyone can become a missionary as long as they have those 2 things. I would encourage anyone who has those to do it! I'm starting to settle in! No more pukes for me (I hate that that's what I do when I'm nervous.) I thought that I would be fine since I didn't throw up before reporting to the MTC, but guess not haha.
Well, I hope everything is going well back home and that everyone is well and happy! I'd just like to end by saying that the Atonement is REAL. It literally can take away burdens and guilt. It doesn't matter what you've done or how long you've done it, you can fix it and become truly happy. The price has been paid, but we need to use it and not let it go to waste. It's never too late. I'm thankful for it and it is why I'm here. I love and miss you all. I think about you every day. Let my friends know that I love and miss them. Also that I think of them often and hope and pray that they are doing well. I love you all!
Love,
Elder Steed
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