Epilogue, 4 March 2014

Tomorrow marks my one month anniversary of being home.

Honestly? It feels like I crawled out of Narnia and while I have lived an entire lifetime, the people around me are going along at their own pace, not realizing what has happened. So to be honest, this last month has been harder than any month on my mission. Not only have I had to redefine my life, but also all of my relationships, including my relationship with God and myself. It has been a really hard transition and I have struggled. A LOT.

That being said, I've experienced some of the sweetest moments of my life as well.

Reuniting with these folks.

And this sweet girl.

And the best family that ever lived :)

And a sister I formed a newfound friendship with on my mission

And these kids.

It's been very, very bittersweet. And for a lot of it I have fallen into a pretty severe depression, feeling lost, feeling like I'm floating, feeling like I'm without a purpose. I have some pretty incredible friends and family who have done their best to help me, but in those moments by myself, I have felt utterly and completly useless.

Until yesterday.

Now, 2 day ago I was hanging out with Ty Virgin and helping with some homework. It took longer than we expected, and so I ended up staying for dinner and their Family Home Evening. It's been a VERY long time since I've been to one of those as not a missionary. But his dad started talking about service and how it makes us happy because it makes God happy. I knew that, but I kind of brushed it off and politely kept listening and then we went back downstairs and finished the homework and watched a movie and I went home.

Yesterday, incidentally, is one of the first days I've actually sat down to really STUDY the scriptures since being home. I've read them every day, but Satan's pretty good at distracting me. But as I prayed and opened my scriptures, I began to realize how unhappy I was and how it wasn't anyone's fault but mine. And in that moment, the Spirit helped me realize why: I wasn't serving anyone anymore! Ty's Dad was SO Spirit-led. The last month has been entirely focused on me. On what I wanted, on what I thought about myself. And so I decided that I want to change the world. And in so doing I knew that I would be happy.

No, not world domination. All I am deciding to do (and this is where yall come in) is do and say one nice thing to two different people every day. Two little acts of kindness. And in doing, I know that I can be happy again. In fact, I already am :) By just having that simple purpose--to make someone elses day better--I am happy. And it is SO FREEING!! Being miserable stinks! But something I learned on my mission is that if I'm going to be happy, I have to turn outside of myself and help someone else. That is what Christ did and in my opinon, Christ was the happiest person who ever walked the planet. Because He was the most focused on serving others. 

SO! I am inviting you to join me. Everyone can stand to be a little happier :) Every day, do and say one nice thing to someone else. Be on the lookout for those who need your help. God answers prayers through others, so if you involve Him in your journey, He will lead you to those who need YOU at this very moment. Then in the evening, write them down! And invite others to participate. With those two small acts a day, we can change the world :)

Now, most of yall serve people on a daily basis. Countless moms and dads and siblings and people who just serve because it's a part of them, second nature, service to yall is as unconscious as breathing. So look for something out of your way to do. I'm not saying it has to be a grand guesture. But look for someone you don't normally serve! Let the other customer go first at the grocery store. Let that car in that is trying to exit but got in the wrong lane. Hold a door for someone. Sincerly compliment someone out of the blue. Simply DON'T say something mean to someone! The opportunities for simple service are endless, but they might change someone's world. And who knows? One day maybe you'll need that kindness back to you.

I hope you will join me. I know that as you do (and as I do) that the happiness and love you will feel will grow. Because "when ye are in the service of your fellow beings, ye are only in the service of your God." So can we change the world?

Love,

Cass

February 2, 2015 "And That's All She Wrote"

Wow. It has been an emotional roller coaster of a week. I never expected a place so far from the people I loved to have captured my heart so thoroughly as it did.

So yes, I am excited to see yall.

But I am leaving my heart in Louisiana.

It belongs there. These people I love more than anyone else except for maybe my family. I bore my testimony this week in Sacrament, and as I was looking at the congregation, I realized why it is going to be so much harder to leave than to have come out in the first place. I KNOW these people. I have been in their homes. I have been there to help some of them through their problems, I have sat down to eat with them, and I have seen many of their lives change through the Atonement. 

I will never be the same.

I want you to know that I am not the person I was when I came out on my mission. I will not settle for anything less than what the Lord has in store for me. I will not be swayed from my testimony of this gospel. If the Lord converted no one else through me, I know that He converted me, and I know that's the reason I came out. I look back at all the different experiences since July of 2013, and despite this being the hardest year and a half of my life, it has been the most rewarding. I am so grateful for my Heavenly Father for giving me this opportunity. 

I had an added bonus this week of one final testimony--we got to meet Elder Quentin L Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Seventy, shake their hands and ask them questions. As I sat there in the chapel, I had this unbelievable peace come over me that I knew those men were called of God, especially Elder Cook. I know he is an apostle of the Lord and that he was called by a prophet in these latter days. 

I don't have much for this week. I got to see a bunch of friends and say a lot of goodbyes. It's been a really hard week becuase of that, but I am willing to pay that price for the love I have for these people. 

I am excited to be home! 

But I am not excited to leave my new home. 

I'll see yall in a few days.

Love,

Sister Cassidy Steele

PS: I added a few more people to this email than I usually do. That's because I want you to know my testimony, if you remember nothing else about me. To my mission friends, I love yall. I'll see you again sometime (a lot of you tomorrow) and if not tomorrow somewhere down the road. God be with yall till we meet again.

1/26/15 "Going Out With A Bang!"

Just some pictures, to start :)

one last time, of course :) got absolutely filthy that day! 

It was so much fun :) Gotta love exchanges!

my Louisiana family

I have never seen a baptismal service so well attended! It was most of the ward! I am so so so proud of him!

WOW. What a week. I think the pictures kind of sum it up. I couldn't be happier right now. What a way to end. I don't even have words for this week! So I'm pretty much just going to close it like that. I have one more week left, and it's going to be amazing. We get to see all of my favorite members and there is a mission conference on the 31st, so I also get to see ALL MY MISSION FRIENDS!! (and some non missionary mission friends!)

​The time has gone by so fast but it has been so, so worth it. Next week I'm going to bring my journal (I meant to today but I forgot). But I want everyone within the sound of my email to know that I KNOW THAT THE GOSPEL IS TRUE. I have never seen anyone as happy as I saw Joe after he decided to be baptized, until I saw him after he had actually been baptized. I know that we don't just do missionary work to increase numbers or anything like that. I know that the ONLY way for people to receive that joy is through living the gospel of Jesus Christ. I loved what Joe said this week as we were over. He and Nikki were happy before--at least they thought they were. But once they fully accepted the gospel in their lives, the happiness RADIATED from them. It was like they were new people. (It was like they were newlyweds, too haha). They were united, working towards a common goal--they're going to the temple next year! And they are just so HAPPY. They have that JOY it talks about in the scriptures and that came because they finally understand that living the gospel (having faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repenting and changing their lives to come closer in harmony with the Savior's teachings, being baptized by one holding the priesthood or authority from God, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, partaking of the sacrament and continually pointing their life towards God). I am SO proud of them. And now I understand what the scriptures say, finally.

"I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it. I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy."

"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.... yea, and we have been instruments in his hands of doing this great and marvelous work.  "Therefore, let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord; yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever. Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which I feel."

I know that we have a prophet on the Earth today and that God wants us to be happy. I know He loves us and the commandments  He gives us is proof of that. I know that He has made it possible for families to be together not just until death does them part, but now and in eternity. AND I HAVE GOTTEN TO BE A PART OF IT. I am excited to come home, yes. But I am so, so sad to leave these people that I love. I am so humbled and grateful to the Lord for the blessings He has given me, and for the path He took me to get here. This has been the greatest experience of my life. I am not the person I was when I left. I hope you can see that. I love y'all so much, but what's more I now know how much Heavenly Father loves you! I know that because I finally understand that He loves me. So if you are struggling, if you are stuck with nowhere to turn or if you are looking for a way to be happier, just try it. Put your life in greater harmony with His teachings. 

I think God knows something we don’t—things that are beyond our capacity to comprehend! Our Father in Heaven is an eternal being whose experience, wisdom, and intelligence are infinitely greater than ours. Not only that, but He is also eternally loving, compassionate, and focused on one blessed goal: to bring to pass our immortality and eternal life.In other words, He not only knows what is best for you; He also anxiously wants you to choose what is best for you.
If you believe this in your hearts—if you truly believe the great mission of our Heavenly Father is to exalt and glorify His children and that He knows best how to do it—doesn’t it make sense to embrace and follow His commandments, even the ones that appear difficult? Should we not cherish the light posts He has given that guide us through the darkness and the trials of mortality? They mark the way back to our heavenly home! By choosing Heavenly Father’s path, you lay a divine foundation for your personal progress as a child of God that will bless you throughout your life. 

 I love yall a lot. For those of you at home, I am excited to see you in a few days. For those of you, my family here in Mississippi and Louisiana, I have been trying not to cry for the past several days at the thought of leaving you behind. But the good thing is that there is no such thing as goodbye. So I will see you again some day. 

I hope yall have an amazing week. I know I will.

Love,

Sister Cassidy Steele

1/20/15 Half a Month Left. Wow!

Yeah. Half a month left. Wow.

So, I love national  holidays. I do! But why they ALL FALL ON MONDAYS. So annoying as a missionary. Libraries get closed! :P Which is why this is coming on a Tuesday. Which means I only have one Monday pday left! Wow. Crazy! Time has really flown.

I don't have too much to report from this week--we had zone conference with Elder Teh of the Seventy. That was really good, and a nice reminder to not be trunky (getting ready to go home too soon, basically). I want to endure to the end so much. Sometimes it's hard because I'm just SO TIRED but each time I think that I think "I can do anything for [x amount] days." It's worked remarkably well.

Hmm.....Lessons with Joe have been going really well. It's been incredible to see the change in his and his family's life, even just since last week. There's a greater peace in the house, and even though he was already living the way he needed to to be baptized just that one commitment has allowed the Spirit to more fully be in the home.

I've been thinking a lot about sacrifice lately, especially since zone conference. In my scriptures, where Abinadi is getting martyred, I call it my Elder Ryan page because I have "What a stud" written in there I think three times. But I also have a saying on the top of the page from him. It says "if it's not worth dying for, it's not worth living for." I've been thinking about that phrase a lot. It kind of relates to the scripture "greater love hath no man than this......" you know it. The greatest sacrifice we can make in THIS battlefield, the battlefield for souls [Elder Ryan is on leave from the army, so that's where that came in], is to lay down our life, our desires and our will for God's. So it's a really hard sacrifice, there's no getting over that. But we know that nothing we do that's worth anything is going to require a sacrifice. Otherwise we can't possibly have the power we need to help in saving souls. And you know as well as I do that the greater the sacrifice, the greater the blessings. Even if to the world it doesn't seem like a hard sacrifice. Heavenly Father knows where we're coming from and how difficult each sacrifice we make is. And as a missionary, you don't just have to sacrifice the time of 2 years-18 months. There are a whole lot of sacrifices we have to make out here to become more than just missionaries, but true disciples of Christ.

I don't know, I was just thinking about this when I've been emailing today. And throughout the week. I guess Joe has also triggered that, looking at all he's given up on this path. We were talking to him last night and they were saying that a year ago, you wouldn't have even recognized their family. But the Spirit works pretty well on people, and prepares them to be in the right place at the right time so that they can accept the gospel.  Anyways. I know we all know the concept. But sometimes we just forget. That's just what's been on my mind today.

We went on exchanges with the McComb sisters this week--I love exchagnes so much. It's been such a privilege to work with these sisters. I loved going on exchanges with Sister Greer this week because I went on exchanges with her her first transfer and it's been so cool to see her grow as much as she has.

I played a musical number for the Amite branch this weekend, that was fun. It's fun how interconnected the wards and branches are in this area, because the missionaries are so connected. We're kind of the ones that bridge the gap. Also because one of the members of the Amite branch presidency is in Hammond ward but lives right accross the street from the church and LOVES missionaries and is super involved in our ward too. They also bridge the gap :) it's fun.

Yesterday we went and hung out at the church, and played phase ten and went to a hibachi place. I forgot my camera so I only have the pictures from Sister Monk.

My kind of restaurant!

So, those were the highlights of my week. This week will be really good :) Exchanges, we get to see the all my favorite people in the ward, and then the baptism on Saturday!!!!! It's now been over a year since anyone I had taught was baptized. I'm so grateful the timing was right, because if I had had my way I would have gone out the June transfer (which entered the MTC June 12th). But the Lord clearly had another path for me, and if I hadn't been here at this time with these missionaries, I wouldn't have gotten to be a part of Joe's story. I'm so grateful I don't write my own! It'd be awfully boring.

Alright. I'll talk to yall next week (EXCEPT FOR KATIE I'M SO EXCITED FOR HER and a little sad I won't get to see her)! Love you!!!

Love,

Sister Steele 

1/12/15 A week of all weeks--Storytime!

Hi there!!!!!

Wow. What a week. I've actually been thinking about what to write as the week has gone on, because it's definitely been an action packed week to say the least. I don't think I'll quite be able to express what I want to because there's a lot of emotion involved in it, so I hope you can understand even though you can't hear me talking.

Monday was really good. We had a zone pday, which meant dodgeball and capture the flag. We had an upper hand in capture the flag because Elder Ralph was in the room playing hte piano where our flag was, and he would stop playing any time someone was in the room looking for the flag. so we won :) Then we started exchanges with the Hammond Sisters (it was a complicated exchange) and Sister Hafford and I went to one of my favorite people's houses. She has been going through chemo for bone cancer and so she's been really weak, but she got a B12 shot this week that left her looking better than I've seen her in a long time. Plus, it's really fun being on exchanges with one of your best friends.

Tuesday was also pretty good. We had a combined district meeting with the Hammond District, and then got Mexican for lunch. We got back in contact with our investigator, K, who had broken her phone so we couldn't find her for a while. She still wants to learn and we're helping her with her college applications sometime this week. We stopped by some members to drop off a thank you card, and then went to dinner at another member's house. Afterwards, we found a corner of the world to pull off and stargaze for a while, until I was shivering uncontrollably so we had to get back in the car and go. But it's just been such a spiritual week. We talked a lot about the pre-earth life and how I know there are people who we met before this life, and promised we'd find each other and help each other along the way. I know Sister Hafford is one of those people, along with everyone who this email reaches. all of this was accentuated by the fact we were stargazing which is one of my favorite things to do back home. It just brings a special spirit to any conversation :)

Wednesday was MLC, my last one. I learned a whole lot, or at least relearned a whole lot. Elder Bluth (our area Seventy, he lives in BR3) came and instructed, and we talked a lot about leadership and invitations and strengthening people's faith. It was a spirit-packed meeting as well, plus it was fun to see my friends like I always do at MLC I was sad that Sister Baird isn't a Sister Training Leader anymore, so I didn't get to see her.

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But we stopped by the Putnams after to say hello. One of the highlights of the week was knocking on the door and Blythe answering and then screaming and trying to tackle my legs while saying "Sister Steele is home! Sister Steele is home!". I really do love that family :) and it's always a bonus when people remember your name :) then we went and dealt with Baton Rouge traffic to get back to Hammond, where we had dinner. This is where my story of the week starts, because it's so true that the Lord puts things in motion before we even need them. So here we go:

So, at dinner, we were going to show this member some Mormon Messages called "Patterns of Light" which is about receiving revelation and are quite good. But her computer froze up as we were pulling it up, as did her tablet. I was joking when I said "maybe we just need to share something else tonight" and so I pulled up one of my favorite talks, "Lord, I Believe" from April 2013 Conference from Elder Holland, and we shared that. It was good, and the spirit was there, but the other one would have been just fine. No life changing anything. But we go on our merry cold little way back and are planning for the next night.

Now, the next night we have a dinner appointment with a family that I absolutely ADORE. The husband's not a member and has been investigating the church for 12 years or so. I have always felt really really connected to them for some reason. Probably because the family situation (mom and kids members, dad not) is really similar to my own. I had this....desire....I guess, not really a goal, to find a family like my own and help them in some way. I'd found a few families like that in Prairieville but had gotten transferred away before I could make too much of a difference. But the family is one of my favorites and I am really really close to Joe, the husband. Probably because he reminds me of Dad.

Anyways. We were calling the Elders to see what we should teach, because they taught last week, and we were bouncing ideas off each other and came up with the idea to watch the talk "Lord, I Believe." Then we made the decision to invite him to be baptized. Which is really scary, because if we push too hard he'll push back and we'll have to start over. So we were going to try and invite him to be baptized on a specific date, and we came up with the 28 of February. So we hung up the phone and Sis Monk and I decided to pray about it. It didn't feel right anymore, so we sat looking at my calender for about 15 minutes, thinking about every Saturday from January to April. The only one that felt right was the 24 of January, which was 16 days from when we were seeing them. Crazy fast. But we prayed about it and it felt right, so we called the elders back and told them and we were going to fast for him the next day. We also got all the missionaries who knew the family to be praying for us as we went over.

Thursday rolls around. We have to plan ZTM with the Zone Leaders, so we do that. Then the moment comes, we're going to dinner. One quick prayer in the car, and in we go.

The atmosphere is completely wrong. The kids are being teenagers and there's just tension in the air. We set our stuff down and I look at Sister Monk and we kind of read each other's thoughts, then we decide we're still at least going to show the talk and we'll see how it goes from there. Dinner goes well, and we sit down and are watching the talk. The whole time, I am praying my HEART out that the Spirit will be present. I still feel like I should go for it, and that's kind of scary. I don't think I've prayed more earnestly in my entire life. We're talking about what we liked from the talk, and Joe gets up and starts pacing. I can feel my heart racing, but my mind is completely focused (thank goodness, that was a gift from God.) I look him directly in the eyes and basically say "Joe, are you ready to lead with your faith? We know you have questions and doubts, but you also have seen the blessings." (he's been coming to church every week, paying tithing, everything.) Deep breath."Joe, will you be baptized by one holding the priesthood authority of God?" Silence. You could hear a pin drop. He's still pacing. Finally, he answers "Yes." Okay, step one out of the way. He'd always said he'd be baptized. The next quesiton is the hardest: "We have prayed and fasted to know when to invite you to be baptized. Would you be baptized on the 24th of January?" Then I explained why we had chosen that day, which was really really soon. Again, silence. And then....

"Yes."

After which I then promptly burst into tears. 

Some other stuff happened that night, we called a bunch of people and got a bunch of stuff figured out, and I couldn't stop shaking because the adrenaline finally kicked in and I could finally feel it. But this man, who I love so much, had finally decided to take that step closer to the Savior--and what's more, his reason behind it is so that he can be sealed with his family a year from now in the temple. I cannot wait for the 24th, and I cannot wait for next January when I get to come back. So, 2 weeks before I go home, I get to have the honor of singing at his baptism, the song that started it all: I am a Child of God. 

The rest of the week went really well too. ZTM went super great. The spirit was really, really strong. I love feeling the Spirit testify through me to help others, not just investigators but other missionaries as well. I've learned that meetings aren't just meetings, they're revelatory experiences where we can receive answers to questions. I am so sad to have finished my last ZTM!

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I was really really tired....we had to get up early and plan our whole instruction because of Joe's lesson the night before we hadn't gotten the chance to plan anything.

I also got my flight itinerary that day which cued a panic attack, haha. I flip flop between being trunky and freaking out. I look super gross in this picture so don't judge.

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Saturday we had Stake conference (and exchanges again), also I played at another funeral of someone I didn't know. I just work here, haha. Elder Perry was supposed to come to conference but he wasn't able to make it, so Elder Johnson of the Seventy came instead. I am so grateful though because I really needed what he had to say. It was really good. Saturday night we stayed with Sister McEntire and didn't get much sleep, so Sunday we went and I was sleep deprived and pretty emotional so when we sang "God be With You Till We Meet Again" I couldn't help but shed a few tears. I don't really like that song. Too sad :( Goodbyes are not my specialty.

But we came home and kept doing missionary work and just had a really good Sunday. I don't want to come home! I love being a missionary and while I miss y'all, this has been the best experience of my life and I am so sad my time here is ending.

But it was a really good week. Hope y'all had one too!

LOVE YALL!!!

Sister Steele

214 E Church St

Hammond, LA 70401

1/5/15 T-30 Days and Counting!!!

So I was joking with a member in our ward yesterday at church about the fact I have a countdown in my planner, and then once I got the new manual for the year and was holding it in my hands it finally hit me that it was January and I literally had a panic attack in the middle of church. I don't think anyone but Sister Monk noticed but it was super awkward. I was kidding about panicking....I thought I was anyways.

Happy New Year!

This week was pretty good, if I do say so myself. We got to start up exchanges again this week, and so I spent New Years with Sister McEntire! We partied, we had a good time and really enjoyed ourselves. We also got a whole lot of stuff done and miracles happened!

Sorry, I suck today and have absolutely no creative power. I love yall! This month is going to be crazy. Let me give you the lowdown:

Tomorrow: District meeting as usual

Wednesday: MLC

Thursday: Planning ZTM with the Zone Leaders

Friday: ZTM

Saturday: Stake conference with Elder L Tom Perry
Sunday: Stake confernce again with Elder L Tom Perry

Monday: Pday!

Tuesday: Zone Conference with Elder Teh of the Seventy.....where the leadership is apparently getting interviewed? I think I might actually pass out if I have to be interviewed....

So that's the next week. Then we're on exchanges, then a week, and on the 31st, we're having another mission conference when Elder Cook of the 12 is coming! What a way to end, yeah?

So yeah. Crazy life. 

Happy January! I hope yall have an excellent week :) Write me a letter or something!

Sister Steele

214 E Church St

Hammond, LA 70401

12/29/14 Happy New Year!

So...this week. Well, we got stuck inside on Tuesday night thanks to the weather, so we deep cleaned our entire house. It all started because I wanted to fold my laundry, but didn't want to put it on my unmade bed....and thus the OCD triggered and we cleaned top to bottom. The tornado hit Amite...again...about 15 miles from where we live. Some members took pictures of the funnel cloud forming by their house. Ah, Louisiana!

Then, Wednesday we started teaching a new investigator, Kim (all my investigators seem to start with the letter K, this is getting difficult), and that is going to be interesting. She actually approached us about learning more about the gospel because she needs to turn her life around. Then we met up with the elders (we once again got permission to ride together) and saw a few members and had tamales, and then went to our Stake President's house for the rest of the night. Sister Monk and I were the two wise women in the Christmas story :) 

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We also got a visit from Santa that night!

and a last minute present for sister Carpenter! The office elders were playing Santa that night and delivering packages from all across the mission. That's what happens when transfers were a week before Christmas! (That's Elder Bennett in the suit, and Elder White the Assistant behind him).

Then Christmas morning came, and we got up at 5 and opened presents! Yes, we were little kids. The other sisters pulled their mattresses into our room and we had a sleepover. It took us 2 hours to open all the presents and then we went to the Gardiner's for Christmas morning and skyping :) The members here are so sweet, I love them :) they took care of us.

After a good skype session, we visited a lot of other people, until we were ready to drop after so much food. So we went to the church and got in comfy clothes and settled down to watch our one movie of the year--How to Train Your Dragon 2. I might or might not have bawled my eyes out on Sister Hafford's shoulder. It was a lot of fun. We finished the night out at the Bourgeois' and slept really, really well :)

It rained on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We were also out of miles so we tried to stay as close to home as possible. We did get treated to lunch at chili's though by the manager! that was pretty cool :)

Then Sunday we went to drop off thank you cards. Not too much of an interesting week, but oh well! Christmas was definitely fun :) thank you to eveyone who thought of me and my companion this Christmas, it was very well appreciated! It was so much fun seeing all of the Steele side of the family (though I missed Cody and chelle!)

This week we get to start exchanges up again, starting with Sister McEntire! We get to do a long exchange in Denham Springs, so its going to be really fun :) and probably we'll do a puzzle on New Years again.

Merry Christmas!!! I didn't take any pictures of myself on Christmas, so here's one that someone else took of me over skype (not the gorgeous girl holding the iPad, the one in the silly bouncy snowman-egg things in the camera!)

Have a great new years!

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​Here's Christmas Eve I guess!  :-)

​Love,
Sister Steele

214 E Church St
Hammond, LA 70401

12/16/14 For the First Time In Forever

I'm getting what I'm dreaming of...

A chance to stay companions

A chance to be normal

Don't know if I'm elated or panicked

But I'm somwhere in that zone! 

For the first time in forever......

I won't be alone :)

Yeah.........while I haven't seen Frozen, I might or might not know the entire soundtrack by heart :) One day, one day I will see this movie :)

ANYWAYS.

so.

I'm not getting transferred.
I'm in my last transfer

and 

I'm trying not to freak out :)

Um. Let's go through the week I guess!

Monday: Party for pday! We had zone pday and it was a blast :) Then we went to a member's house and made cookies and had dinner and we were going to go caroling but it got too late :) So much fun :) one of the best days on my mission. Also, we practiced a whole lot for a musical number e fowler (who got transferred to the zone from prairieville) and I were performing on Wednesday.

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most of the pictures of this week are action shots of people yall don't know so I figured I'd at least throw in one.

Tuesday: We did the blazin' challenge at Buffalo Wild wings. I don't actually have pictures of that but  I will next week, they're on another elder's camera. It was a bit of a letdown because it wasn't as spicy as I expected them to be. FYI, I am no super super into spicy :)

Wednesday: Specialized training!!! I got to see my baton Rouge peeps. And sing with Sister Hoskins for a last minute second musical number! The first one went better though because somehow in the 15 minutes in between them I managed to develop a really stuffy nose. That's okay, we still did it! We also went caroling and wrapped presents for the Hammond ward's giving tree. I earned the title secret agent elf :)

Thursday: I don't even remember Thursday. I was in a funk so I don't really know what we did. Missionary work, I assume. Oh! and we helped a less active move and had dinner at one of my favorite member's houses! (planners are useful if you look at them, haha :) ) We watched Joy to the World and He is the Gift.

Friday: Oh! We went on exchanges. We got up super early and drove to McComb, Mississippi! I almost kept going to Natchez....I might next time (with permission of course!) we did a whole lot of service (my kidn of day) and went caroling! after the other sisters got there we ended up getting a 4 part harmony going! It was a blast. The spirit was so strong.

Saturday: Drove BACK to McComb leaving at 6 AM (one of the sisters had the ACT so we had to get her back up there) adn then the hammond sisters' investigator got baptized this week! and then promptly volunteered to be hammond ward's first black woman santa :) we got invited to the party, I organized a musical number for the baptism, and we just had fun :) 

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Sunday: Church was great! you guessed it....I sang again. And then we actually got studies, and went to see our investigators....y'know, normal missionary stuff. Then we went to dinner and surprised the denham springs sisters by going to their musical fireside! It was really well done :)

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(the man in the background is a member of our stake presidency haha)

Then yesterday we did service and tried not to be antsy but that didn't work (it didn't help that we were stuck in traffic for about 40 minutes because a chemical tanker overturned!) But we got the news and it was all good!

So now we are going to have another week! Then onwards and upwards and my last dang transfer!

Love yall!!

Sister Steele

214 E Church St
Hammond, LA 70401

12/8/14 That week I dragged 2 districts around caroling and they decided that they liked it after all

It's DECEMBER.
That means CAROLING :)


oh yeah hey my district :)

Yeah! So we went caroling a lot this week! It was fun :) People grumbled a lot....but then we got into it and it was great fun :) I love singing, if you didn't know. It brings the Spirit like nothing else.

Um....that was our most eventful event this week! We sang a lot, and next week is transfer week so no email until Tuesday. This is the last time I will have to worry about transfers....weird. Then the week after that is Christmas!

Um. So not too much to report this week. Here's my letter to Presient which pretty much says the same thing :)

"This week has actually been really cool! I think it's been one of the busiest weeks of my mission, for sure. Aside from just the regular grind, we had exchanges with the Hammond sisters, (which is always fun!) and ZTM. I really felt like we were fulfilling our purpose this week! We have been going caroling, both by ourselves and we've combined with the albany elders and Hammond missionaries for a few times throughout the week to give out the "He is the Gift" cards. I LOVE CAROLING. It lets the Spirit testify in a way I know I can't touch people. To me, music has always been the best way to invite the Spirit. By singing (okay, I sing or whistle literally all the time except if I'm asleep or someone's talking to me, hopefully Sister Monk isn't too annoyed with me) because for one thing, it makes me a lot more approachable, and for another, it makes me happy :) Plus, people are always so surprised when we show up at their door singing! It's a Christmas tradition that's been forgotten, especially around here and people are so much more receptive! We have a few potential investigators from caroling and it's only week 1, and I think we've given out like 50 "He is the Gift" cards. I'm fairly certain I've watched the video over 20 times myself, because we show it everywhere we go! It carries such a sweet, peaceful spirit with it. It's so much better than tracting, haha :)

It's also funny that you talked about involving family with investigators because we started to with our main progressing investigator this week, and now her sister and her niece want to learn more! The niece wants to be baptized right away, but we have to teach her first, haha :) Her sister has a lot of changes she'll need to make, but she wants her kids around us as much as possible so we'll take that and run with it. Its cool to see how much an impact the gospel really does on families!
ZTM went really well--the Spirit was really strong while we instructed. The missionaries who bore their testimonies were such examples of power and strength to me. I always grow more from what I teach than anyone else, I think!
We talked about how Christ really is our reason for everything, not just for the Christmas season. He is my Motivator, my Cornerstone, my Solid Ground. Without Him everything crumbles.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!


Sister Cassidy Steele

12/1/14 "He is the Gift"

Welp. It's December. That's kind of bizzare. 

So you remember last April when the church put out a video called "Because of Him?" 

Well, they've put out another one, called "He is the Gift." Yall should definitely watch it!

http://www.mormon.org/christmas

I like how it says "Discover the Gift, Embrace the Gift, and Share the Gift." sharing doesn't neccissarily mean sharing on facebook or twitter or whatever's popular nowadays (I really don't know anymore) (but do that too!) but sharing it in real life. How can each of us share the first gift this Christmas?

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

That's Christmas. That's why I'm out here. That is my why. I realized that this week. Lately, I've been feeling super overwhelmed and trying not to be trunky, and a little bit discouraged because I still don't know this area super well and I should by now. I guess you could say I had lost my purpose, or my motiviation. I call it my why. But yesterday I was studying after church, and I realized how much I LOVED Christmas. I don't love it for the lights, the presents, the decorations. I love it because everyone, myself included are a little more like Christ around this time of year. When the lights get dark outside, when the sun goes down and it gets cold, we have to look inside us to find the light within--the Light of Christ. And yes, while we only observe Christmas in December because of a political decision a LONG time ago, it still fits. We celebrate light. After all, He is the Light and the Life of the world, and we need Him if we're going to make it through the winters of our lives. So this season is all about light. And life :) And I love y'all! 

This thanksgiving was CRAZY! I never want to eat that much food again. We wer eallowed to hang out with the Elders all day, so we started out the day with a good ol' fashioned Turkey Bowl! Yes, I got to play football! It was kind of frustrating (we could only guard/be guarded by girls, so it kind of limited the 

amount we could play)  I thought this one was a decent action shot. It was fun though! 

Then we went on to the food part of the day. The problem is that everyone is such good cooks! And EVERYONE invited us over. We had 3 sit-down meals, they all gave us leftovers. Then we had another few people invite us over and just gave us leftovers, and we stopped by 2 other people just to say hi. Don't worry, we were well taken care of.

Then we all died of food overdose and went back to the church and hung out with the other missionaries again. So it was a good day.

that was our trunk. fortunately only half of it was ours, the other half was the elders. The only other thing in the trunk was our bike rack, so yes that box is full of food.

This week, we get to start caroling, all night, e'ry night. And we have ZTM, (my last one! Crazy!) so we have to work on our instruction there. It's going to be a good week!

Hope your week went just as well :) Miss yall and love yall! Merry Christmas and try to find someone to Share the Gift with!

Love,

Sister Steele

Nov. 24, 2014 16 Month Mark- CRAZY!!!

You're probably all wondering why I've gathered yall here today.

Actually, if you're wondering this late in the game, sorry, but you're a little late to the party :) Today is my 16 month mark! Wow............crazy. It's like you spend the first half of your mission looking for a fast-forward button, and then you spend the rest of it looking to slow it down. Sad news, friends: you can't find the slow-down button.

So. This week. I don't remember much of it because I woke up with a cold on Tuesday that turned into bronchitis on Thursday which means I exposed all of the mission leadership to it....

Yeah.

Monday was kind of....bleh. It was cold, really cold and I wasn't feeling super well, so I just kind of vegged out most of the time. 

Tuesday, we had district meeting in Amite, so we drove behind an ambulance that I'm fairly certain was distracted while driving because they couldnt' drive in a straight line. I accidentally thought one of the elders was roleplaying being gay when he was really roleplaying being a golden investigator (someone who lets you in, lets you teach and eventually gets baptized with no problems whatsoever....very rare occasion), so that was #awkward. Then we tried to find a bunch of people and no one lived where they said they lived, so we visited the Primary President and our less-active member, who came to church and the Thanksgiving dinner on saturday! It was so cool to see how the ward welcomed her and her adorable daughters back :) They're hopefully going to be coming back more often!! But she made us this AMAZING shrimp pasta that I could eat until I bursted, with homemade cherry pie. Goodness it was so good :)

Wednesday we had MLC (mission leadership council) all day

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(I look sick, sorry). We talked about Christmas and increasing the vision of the mission and positivity and I tried to stay awake because that cold hit me really really hard :) All I know is I did stay awake (it didn't help we had turkey for lunch!) and we went to ihop after with Sister Hoskins and Sister Baird (sister hoskins has been out a YEAR. A YEAR I SAY!)

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and then we did exchanges with this girl. That about sums us up (and sister Hafford, too :) ) What you don't know is that this is after we ambushed her with nerf guns and then sis Hafford threw her nerf gun to the side and jumped into sis mcentire's arms :) It was a good night. what you don't see is the entire roll of toilet paper I used in exchange for tissues that day.

Thursday I woke up and promptly fell asleep again. I was SO tired all day. but we went out and worked, and did some service etc, and at our dinner appointment I realized I was running a fever and probably should get home. So we got home, but that also meant we got to extend exchanges until Saturday night! I was pretty happy at least about that :)

Friday I don't really have any memory of. I know I slept a lot.

Saturday, we had the Thanksgiving dinner! It was fun and a whole lot of people came, including our investigator K! We had a grand old time and there was also a baptism going on in the Hammond ward so we got to go let K see what it was like to be baptized. The Spirit was so dang strong! As of right now, K is on track to be baptized the 13th of December, so that's super exciting!!! we finally exchanged back and then I drove home and fell asleep.

I don't remember too much of yesterday, either. I think we went to a member's house for dinner, I know we had interviews with President Hansen, but aside from that it's all pretty fuzzy.

This week, though we have an awesome Thanksgiving! We get to do a Turkey Bowl, and Pres lifted the restriction of having only one set of missionaries at an appointment for the day! So that's excciting. It'll be a good day. Then...it's CHRISTMAS SEASON. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY AT CHRISTMAS. people are so much more open to us and the Spirit is so much stronger. I'm pumped!

Happy thanksgiving! I'm so grateful for each of you. I am most grateful, though, that I have a testimony of this gospel and I get to represent Jesus Christ in helping people become clean from their sins. This has been the best decision I have ever made in my entire life, and I know that this gospel and the commandments we live help us be happy and come closer to God. I know that this is HIS church and that one day my family can be together forever as a family! I can't wait for that to happen :) until then , I'll keep helping others!

Love you!

Sister Steele