Email received February 25, 2014

Hey all,

We had an ok week. Still trying to get our footing here in this new area. I didn't get chased by dogs this week! That was good. However, my companion had two flat tires this week. He's just not having the best of luck haha. Well the highlight of this week was in a lesson with Laura. I was in the middle of asking her if she's been able to pray to know if the Book of Mormon and the church are true. She cut me off mid sentence saying "It's true, I know it's true." Hearing people say something like that will make you a type of happy that you didn't even know existed. It's hard to explain. Well that's the best part that happened this week. Our ward had a total of 3 investigators at church yesterday. There is a lady named Paula who I have been trying my whole entire mission to get to come to church. The sister missionaries in our ward just recently got a car. When they did, we passed Paula off to them since there isn't another male in the house and we could never go inside. Well, the sisters had one lesson with her, and she was at church on Sunday. It just goes to show that sisters know what they are doing and we clearly do not. Haha.

Church was really great. Laura really enjoyed it and I think Paula did as well. The sisters have a baptism this Saturday. He's a 19 year old kid and he's awesome. I've been asked to sing at the baptism and I have no idea what to sing. I'm stressed out about it haha. I don't want to sing "Come Thou Fount" because I just did a couple of weeks ago. Oh well, I'll figure something out. We are going to meet with Laura twice this upcoming week and hopefully we can help her progress. We are working really hard on getting her fiance to sit down and talk with us. Hopefully that will happen. Well, I know that this was a lame letter. I'm doing alright. I miss you all and would love to hear from anyone reading this. Have a great week!

Elder Steed

Elder Valdez and I at service. This guy is seriously one of my favorite people ever. I look really skinny. It's an allusion :)

 So we did service where we painted a house. Elder Su'a and Elder Valdez were scared to get down. It was funny haha.

Email received February 17, 2014

This week was very...interesting. This area is very hard. We have about 3 people to work with. The east part of our area, where most of the english speaking people are, is called the 5th ward. We aren't allowed there after dark. So it's been very challenging trying to find people. The biking is alright...I would much rather be in a car though. haha. On Wednesday, I was biking by a house and as soon as I passed the truck in the driveway, a dog was waiting for me on the other side. It jumped up and bit my ankle. Luckily, it just barely knicked my ankle as it bit down, so it seriously didn't hurt at all. The next day, we were biking to go to correlation and I was chased by 2 pitbulls. I hate pit bulls and there are loose ones everywhere. It's retarded.

Well this week was kinda slow and pretty challenging. We got 3 new investigators and taught them the Restoration but they aren't really all there, I don't think they can grasp the message. That's alright though, the are lovely people and I love going over there! We got another new investigator, we had an appointment with this referral that we have been trying to meet with for awhile. We went there and she wasn't home. Her son answered the door and said she wasn't home. I told him what we do and asked if he would be willing to hear a short message. He agreed and we taught him the Restoration. His name is Dyron. He's in his 20's and he's a really cool guy! It was a pretty good lesson. We weren't able to meet with Laura or Roy this week :(. Laura came to the Book of Mormon class and shared a an experience that she had. It was very spiritual. She teaches the class better than us! She didn't come to church though. We couldn't get a hold of her all week until today. We have a lesson with her tomorrow so hopefully that will go great! We also are hoping that we get to visit with Roy sometime soon!

Our new apartment is very nice. It's a new complex. My new companion's name is Elder Hilder form Rexburg, ID. Being in a 4 man is pretty fun, although the food goes out soooo fast. It's ridiculous. I'm really hoping that we have a better week this week. I'm guessing that anytime you open a new area things go pretty slow. I'm sure things will be looking up! Sorry that there wasn't much to report on this week, I love you all!

love,
Elder Steed

PS.  Oh and if anyone is interested. my new address is:

Elder Nathan Steed
4004 Irvington Blvd #635
Houston, TX  77009

 Saying goodbye to Elder Hamelau. He's seriously the best. I love him.

 Saying goodbye to Elder Christensen.

 Saying goodbye to one of my favorite elders, Elder Blad.

 Everyone we talked to at the park only spoke Spanish. Haha I'm getting some good practice in.

  District meeting: Sister Tau, Sister Williams, Elder Bergman, Elder Su'a, Elder Steed, Elder Hilder

Email received February 10, 2014

Hey all,

We had a pretty good week! To start off, we got transfer calls last night. Our area is huge and they have decided to split it. I will be covering the southern part of the Melbourne ward on bike. I get my new companion tomorrow. Pretty excited. I will still get to teach Laura, which is very exciting! Elder Su'a and Bergman will still be in the Melbourne ward but will be covering the North half. There are lots of changes in my zone. Sister Bonner is finally leaving, she spent her first 5 transfers here. Sister Williams will be staying though. The Melbourne ward will have 2 sets of elders and sisters. Oh, and senior missionaries. Eight total missionaries in Melbourne! Crazy!

Well, last P-day after emailing, a group of us went downtown. Which is right out of our mission, but we got permission to do so. We went to the tallest tower and went to the top floor. The view was insane. I knew Houston was big but man, that was such a crazy view. You couldn't see the end of city. There was also lots of smog. Lots of pictures are coming your way this week!

We had a lesson with Laura this week that was amazing. We went over to her house and watched the Testaments with her. At the end we all sat in silence and pondered. It is such a powerful movie, you should watch it if you haven't recently. Anyway, I was crying like a baby and it was very spiritual! She has told us that she knows its true. She just needs to make a decision. She is amazing and I'm glad that I get to continue teaching her.

We got a new investigator this week. His name is Roy. He was an old referral on our referral list. We have taught him twice now and it has been amazing. We taught him the plan of salvation this week. It answered a lot of his questions and he loved it. We are working on getting him to the Book of Mormon class this week. He works on Sundays though :(. I know that the Lord will provide a way for him to come to church if he really wants to though.

There's an update on some of our investigators. I'm excited to see who my new companion is and to spend time outside and not in a car all day. I'm sure my thighs will get buff biking all day. Hopefully I'll lose some weight. haha. Yesterday I sang Come thou fount in sacrament meeting. Sister Bonner played the piano for me. I was kind of nervous. I used to not be nervous to sing. It was fun! I miss singing. Well I love you all! Keep up the good work and I'll talk to you next week and let you know how my new area is!

love,
Elder Steed

from the top of the chase tower. Picture doesn't do it justice.

 

 Elder Grasse. He is a spanish missionary and I'll be moving into his apartment this transfer. We'll be in a four man apartment. He's a goof.

 Such a cool experience.

 

 Our awesome district.

 I look fat. Elder Bergman is hungry, Elder Su'a is Russian, Sister Williams is... I don't know. Sister Bonner is possessed haha!

 District.

 

 Zone.

 Concord at Little York Elders! Some of my favorite people. I'll miss them!

 

 Concord at Little York!

Email received February 3, 2014

Hello,

The Book of Mormon manual is so awesome. I'm glad you were able to get one dad. We had a pretty good week. Not too much to complain about. Laura is still doing pretty good. We have now taught her the law of chastity, word of wisdom, and tithing. She committed to live each one. In the last lesson, when we tied it in with the Atonement, she asked us what we mean by "use the atonement" I tried explaining it but it just didn't really work out haha. She paused for a while, let the Spirit teach to her, and then she gave us pretty much the most beautiful definition of the Atonement that I have ever heard. It made me tear up. She's at the point where she can recognize and learn from the Spirit often. She is living her life in a way to have the Spirit teach her more often. This work is awesome. Besides that, all our other investigators have gotten kinda bogey-ish. A bogey is a term for flaky, or just whatever you wanna call it. haha. Laura is doing great, but besides that, we are struggling a little bit. I'm trying to be as patient and understanding as possible. haha. Church was great yesterday. Spirit was very strong. One of the most spiritual sacrament meetings I have been in. There were 2 ward members who had an immediate family member pass away that bore their testimony of the Plan of Salvation. I'm grateful for that amazing plan and the love that God has for us to give us that plan. Families can be together forever, through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can return to our Heavenly Father to live with Him and with our families for all eternity. I love you all. Sorry this was such a lame letter, but we had a rougher week than usual. Keep praying and reading your scriptures. Dad, use the BofM manual. It's amazing. I love you all.

love,
Elder Steed

We eat a lot of pizza.

 Coolest district ever. Elder Bergman, Elder Steed, Elder Su'a, Sister Williams, Sister Bonner

Email received January 27, 2014

Hello All,

We had a pretty good week this week. The Book of Mormon class we had this week was pretty good. We taught it this week. Elder Bergman taught about how we can study it more effectively. Then Elder Su'a and I went over 1 Nephi 3-4 and talked about faith. It went really well. There was actually a pretty big group of people there. There was about 10 members and 1 investigator. Laura came! It was awesome. She really enjoyed it.

We got a new investigator this week. His name is Elton. He was a media referral that we got. When we went over there he said that he isn't a big fan of organized religion but is a "believer". He said that he just finds it interesting and likes to see where the different christian religions stand. We went through the first lesson on his door step and I felt that it went really well. He seemed very surprised by it. He said something along the lines of "So you're saying that your church is the same church Christ set up, with that same priesthood?" and he thought that was pretty cool. It's always a good lesson when you can at least get them to understand the claim of the Restoration. Some people feel the Spirit but they don't fully grasp the concept. He did. We can't meet with him for like the next 2 weeks, so hopefully we can get back into contact with him. He seemed pretty interested.

Laura has been progressing a lot. On Saturday we taught her the law of chastity. Always a bit nerve wracking to teach that haha. It went very well though. We have had very spiritual lessons with her. I won't go into them, but there have been feelings and thoughts that she has had that leads her to change. I told her that she is beginning to better recognize the Spirit and that she is beginning to live her life in a way that the Spirit can testify to her more often. She has gotten her answer, she just needs to choose it. She's in a very difficult situation but I think she will do what is right. She's so cool.

Laura also came to church on Sunday! She really enjoyed it. She came and 2 of the sisters' investigators came! Gospel Principles was amazing. Jackie, one of the sisters investigators with a baptismal date, started crying and said that she feels something different when she comes to this church compared to all the others, and Laura agreed. The work is going great. I love all of you so much and I think about you often. I hope you all have a great week!

Love,
Elder Steed

Melbourne Nerf Mafia. Left: Elder Bergman. center: Elder Su'a. right: Elder Steed

 Don't let Elder Su'a get a hold of your camera.

Ice storm! They stink! haha

 

Took forever!

Email received January 21, 2014

Hello all,

I hope that you all had a great week. Sorry I didn't email yesterday. All the libraries were closed here so we didn't have a place to email. We had a really good week. We had another lesson with Jonatalie on Tuesday. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. She liked it a lot. She had had a heart attack since we had last met with her the week before. We ended up giving her a priesthood blessing and she was crying at the end. She said she was still in pain but just felt comfort. It was an awesome experience.

We had a really great lesson with Monica on Thursday. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it was really great. 3 of her daughters have already been baptized so I think they are a big example to her. We extended a date to be baptized on the 8th of February, although she didn't come to church so we might have to change that. She was taught by missionaries about a year ago, so she already knows a lot.

Saturday was the highlight of our week. We had another lesson with Laura. It was simply amazing. We ended up not teaching any of the things that we had planned to teach. She said that the hardest challenge for her is that her family doesn't support her meeting with us and going to church. They always go somewhere else when we come over and she said it's really hard on her. One of my companions shared an experience that related really well to her situation and how after he had still done what the Lord wanted him to do despite not having any support, things worked out and the family member now supports him. There was a time in the lesson where the Spirit was so strong that all 4 of us were crying. She said that she believes that this is what God wants her to do.

One of the most amazing things about that lesson was that as we were closing up and about to leave, Laura's niece walked in with her friend. Laura started talking to her niece's friend about us and what we do. She started teaching her about the Apostasy. We ended up teaching the friend, whose name happens to be Laura as well, the first lesson. She loved it and wants to be taught more. It reassured Laura (the 1st one) what we had told her an hour before, while that her family might not be ready for the message, there are people out there who are, such as herself and her niece's friend. The friend lives in the south mission so we will have to pass her on, but we have an investigator who found us an investigator and helped teach the Restoration. It was so cool.

Well that's just a tiny portion of my week. I love you all so much and I hope that everyone is happy and healthy. Stay safe and stay awesome.