November 10, 2014: A New Companion

I don't have a ton to report this week, since it's a short week for emails. My new companion is Sister Monk, she's a sweetheart from Highland, Utah. She came out with Sister Hoskins, so we get to celebrate her year mark on the 19th at MLC! (The Missionary leadership counsel where I will get to see sis baird and sis hoskins as well)

Hmm.....what happened this week? We got lost a whole lot (that's what happens when it gets dark early and I have to take over the area after a transfer!) So we went through a whole lot of miles :) goodness gracious it's gonna be fun :) But also, we had some really good lessons with some less-active members and our investigator K came to church!!!!! She LOVED it and said she was going to keep coming! She's 19, but a senior in high school, so we have her in Young Women's for now. She really really loves it and has made a ton of friends! The ward has been so good to her (she's been coming to the young women's activities on Wednesday nights, but this was the first time she came to church)!

Tender Mercy of the week: We were on exchanges (I was here in Albany and Sis Monk was in Amite) and I was trying desperately to find someone to see. I had a small prompting to go try and see a less-active member who I hadn't met, but who a previous missionary had asked we stop by. Well, we were going and I was talking, and missed the turn to her house. I was going to keep driving but I decided last minute to turn around and go back. She was home (which she never had been before) and let us in. She said she was having a bad day, but when we asked her if she wanted us to come back, she said that having us here right now would probably help more than anything else. A little later in the conversation, she told us that earlier that day she had been praying that God would show her that He loved her, and if she didn't get an answer that day she was going to throw in the towel on religion. So we showed her a Mormon Message called Mountains to Climb. if anyone is going through a hard time right now, stop what you're doing and go watch that. Not joking in the slightest.

Mountains to Climb

She was crying by the end of it and said that was exactly what she needed to hear. So that was a huge tender mercy for me showing me I can actually be Spirit-Led still!! Sometimes I wonder, haha :)

Um....I can't think of too much else interesting that happened! I tried to see a whole lot of people but lots of people weren't home!

The state was in mourning after the LSU game....except for a few people who were proudly sporting Bama colors. I remained politically neutral in the game. Actually, I forgot that the game was Saturday night, so we tried knocking doors then and...well, that failed miserably.

I love y'all! I hope everything is going well back home and wherever you are (since not all of you are home) Remember to love the Lord and serve Him the best you can, and to stand tall despite the world around you! Feel free to write me a letter...heh...heh...

214 E Church St
Hammond, LA 70401

LOVE YOU!!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!


Sister Steele :)

Halloween and Transfer Week November 4, 2014

Before I begin, yes, sister McEntire is getting transferred. apparently I'm a hard companion to keep since this will be my 6th companion in 6 transfers!! I think my companion is going to be Sister Monk. It's either that or I go into a salt and pepper (english/spanish) companionship with a sister named sister black. both of them are super sweet though.I just am not super happy Sister McEntire is leaving!
Also! Happy November :)
So....what happened this week? Let me think. I think I just told you the two highlights, but I'll go through the day.
Monday: We went and played dodgeball again...I am slowly but surely getting better! I took second place this time. Next week, you know I'm gonna win!! Also, we had dinner at our ward mission leader's house. He made us steaks as big as our dang plates! I thought I was gonna die it was so much food. Thanksgiving in Albany will be....well, interesting. I don't know how I'm going to eat that much food. Lots of prayer, I guess.

Tuesday: We didn't have district meeting because the Amite missionaries didn't have miles, but we did carve pumpkins and see a lot of people. Our pumpkin was quite excellent :) I mean, we weren't the ones who carved it because my artistic skill is lacking, but we got one of the zone leaders to carve it for us. It looked much better than anything I could have done.

Elder Watkins and our awesome pumpkin :)

​We also went on exchanges with the hammond sisters! That was fun :) I was with Sister Carpenter. She is such an awesome sister! We had a lot of fun and also we didn't have to pack a suitcase since we live in the same house! (Neither of them are getting transferred.) I have really enjoyed being an STL this transfer. It's helped me grow a lot more than I ever expected. Also, it keeps me busy and helps me make more friends which are added bonuses!!
Wednesday:
We finished exchanges and then had to go on the hunt for another halloween costume! I don't know why, but we decided we were going to be something different :) So, we found these beauties :)
(Us, elder Hacking, Elder Larkin and our investigator K)
And went and helped out set up the halloween party for the ward! That was a lot of fun :) it was great to see the little kids in their costumes!

yes. I was a shark.

Thursday: We actually worked. Amazing, right? we saw a lot of people and got a lot of work done! (Okay, we're pretty good at working, it just doesn't seem like it sometimes. We taught 20 lessons this week which counts for something!) We even did weekly planning. So that was pretty impressive.
Friday: Halloween. We worked most of the day, and then we had to either be in by 6 or have an appointment, so we had a member throw a going-away party for Elder Hacking (he goes home Wednesday). It was super fun! We played pictionary and one of the members had little games that she totally rigged so the sisters would win :) but we won pictionary fair and square! Apparently I'm good at that one, too. I just start throwing out words and then one of them is the right one eventually!
Saturday we had a multi-cultural event in Denham Springs, that I finally got to use my German because we did a musical number in a bunch of different languages! I have been looking for a way to use it for a while now, so that was fun :) We sang "I am a child of God" in French, Spanish, German, Mandarin Chinese and Sister Carpenter did it in sign language. It was a really good devotional. I enjoyed it! Also, watching one of the Fijian elders dance was pretty great :) I also have that one on video but I can't send it :( Oh well.
Sunday: Despite being here for a transfer, I got asked if I was new, a visa waiter, or on exchanges at least 5 times on Sunday. That was interesting. I think it's because the elders have been switching up so much that they just assumed I was too. But now they won't because...well, I'm taking over. I would have rather kept it the way it was, though!
Monday: We did a lot of service and then the transfer calls came in.....we were really surprised and I'm fairly sure I went through all 5 stages of grief. It felt like someone died and I was NOT happy about it. So we spent the rest of the night saying goodbye.
Now we have ANOTHER new adventure. Onwards and upwards, I guess! I'm always ready for another adventure :)
Love y'all!!!! take care and I'll talk to you in a week :)
Sister Steele

Happy Last Week of October! October 27, 2014

Shoot! this month (and transfer!) have gone by SO FAST. That's right folks, transfers are next week. Now before y'all get all freaked out, yes, it was a short transfer--it was 5 weeks instead of 6. it's kind of crazy! I think myself and Sis McEntire are staying (at least.....I sure hope so!) though, the last while of my mission I haven't been able to keep companions very long at all! If one of us does get transferred it will be my 6th companion in 6 transfers and that would just be sad.
Let's see...this week was pretty good! We had no meetings outside of district meeting this week, so that was super nice. No instructions to prepare :) But we did have two exchanges this week AND the elders got sick so that was no fun. We went to the Denham wards' trunk or treat with the other Sisters, dressed up as.....that's right.

we went as elders :)

​pretty much we went as the elders who converted an old lady, her granddaughter (who's mother died) and their pet cat :)

That was the most interesting thing that happened this week! Aside from that, we:
Played dodgeball again....which I get better at by the week
Had a birthday party for one of the zone leaders and had a BIKE DAY for the first time in 4 months! I was so excited :)
Went on an adventure to Tickfaw state park while we had an extra 20 minutes before a dinner appointment and no one else even remotely in the area

Helped set up an egyptian exhibit at a local school on exchanges and got my name written in a cartouche (whatever that is)
Helped with the Primary Program!

Actually, Sister McEntire helped with the primary program. I got sick with whatever the elders had on Saturday and so I laid in bed and slept for about 2 days straight. All is well now though :)
So yeah....this week is transfers, which means you won't hear from me until Tuesday. I think we're pretty safe but everything with transfers is a gamble!
I hope everything's going well back home. I love and miss yall and hope to hear from you one of these days!
Love y'all!
Sister Steele

It's Pday again! October 22, 2014

Fun fact: Here's what happened a year ago :)


Once upon a time there were two little sister missionaries in a place called Vidalia, LA. Their ward was across the Mississippi river in a town called Natchez. Their mission president, President Wall was coming to speak at church that morning, and so they wanted to be there early to greet him. However, they were low on miles and also they had to take care of a member's dogs, so they set out on bike at 7:30 to cross the Mississippi and bike the 6 miles to the member's house, then to the church for sacrament meeting. That weekend had been the Natchez baloon races, so as they were biking the bridge they watched the hot air balloons fly over them and were so happy to be missionaries. They biked along, climbing each successive hill and coasting to the bottom, until the last hill before they got to the member's house. Sister Steele pedaled as hard as she could to the top, and stood to wait for Sister Jones, slightly confused because Sister Jones always was in front. She looks down the bottom of the hill and Sister Jones is panting, walking up the hill with her bike next to her. She gets up top, and out of breath, she says, "Sister....I got a flat." 3 miles from the church. We walk to the members house, take care of the dogs, and try and figure out what to do. We call the Elders--they bust up laughing and they don't have any way to help us. So we call President and he tells us to lock our bikes somewhere and they will come pick us up. The Elders call back and say a member had just pulled up with their truck and they were on their way to come get us. All while laughing far too much :) President spoke in church and made it a point to mention we got a flat to the entire ward...that was definitely a memorable day!

This week on the mission was so so crazy in the best way possible. It's hard to believe it was only a week though! I don't know how much of it will make sense, but I will do my best.

So this Monday, we got put on lockdown because there were tornado warnings across the state. Typically on lockdown that's a great time to catch up in your journal, maybe go to bed early......but not when you live with 3 of your best friends. We were laughing hysterically and having the best time I have ever had on lockdown. We didn't get anything done, haha :) But Monday for pday we played dodgeball and played in the rain. We had a blast :)

Tuesday Elder Jenson left for Brazil. We were instructing for zone conference, so we spent the whole day applying for college and working on our instruction. Elder Larkin came back with Elder Hacking, who goes home at the end of this transfer so it's pretty likely Elder Larkin will get double transferred out and we'll get a new set of elders. We had a relief Society activity and I re-learned that bread pudding is a gift from the gods, especially if it's pumpkin spice bread pudding. That's the only thing I really like about it getting cooler--the pumpkin stuff is starting to come out.

Wednesday we actually got to work! It was a miracle. We saw a recent convert and her cute 2year old daughter, and our investigator came to Young Women's and LOVED it! She said she felt so good when she came into the church. She was going to come to church on Sunday but then had to watch her sister's kids instead but she is coming to young women's from here on out! We finished up planning (I have planned more this transfer than I have my entire LIFE) and got ready for zone conference.

Thursday was the big day--zone conference is where it's not just the missionaries, it's the assistants, office elders, and President and Sister Hansen as well. We were instructing on building others up, and so we collected compliments about each member of the zone and made a paper chain talking about unity and how each one of us has a unique role in the mission. It went super super well--I know the Spirit was totally guiding is. It was nice to see the good in people and as we read out each person's strengths, their faces brightened and I knew we had been led by the Spirit to say what they needed to hear. Everyone came up to us after and told us how good of an instruction it was, so hopefully that's some evidence Sis M and I can stay together next transfer! We did exchanges with a set of Sisters after zone conference and that stayed until Friday.

Friday was really fun too! it was my first exchange staying in the area--the last two I had gone to the other sisters' areas because I don't know anyone yet, haha :) But we had dinner at a recent convert's, and she HANDMADE all her food. she hand breaded and fried her chicken. She made her own bread. It was so delicious. She is such a sweetheart. I got to drive up to McComb, MS (I finally made it back to Mississippi!!) and then sis M and I had such a good drive back. She has become one of my closest friends, I LOVE her as a companion and can't wait to party it up at school :)(

Saturday was probably one of the best days on my mission. Sis Stephens was back visiting, and we had to go get our car inspected in Baton Rouge, so we went to the temple and she was there and so were a bunch of our mission friends. If the celestial kingdom is a giant reunion, this was a small taste of that. I was so so happy to be there. Then we went out to lunch with some other missionaries, and then we went to get dessert with the Putnams!! It was so fun :) We came back up to Albany and even had time to see 3 people, before we went for second dessert with a family in Hammond Ward who still loves us and also Liza was there too.

Sunday was great too :) sacrament meeting was excellent, and we were able to work hard and see a lot of people. I love being a missionary. I love it so so much. This really has been the happiest time of my life because I am serving God with all my heart, might mind and strength. I know my heart has been enlarged since I've been out, both for the people out here and the people (y'all) back home! I just feel so much more love than I did before. I know that's one way I feel the Spirit--feeling love for the people around me. It just makes me so happy.

I hope y'all have a fantastic week. I love you so much and I am excited to hear from y'all next week!!


Love,


Sister Steele :)

The Things You Learn in Louisiana, Part 66 October 13, 2014

Well SHOOT. It's been a crazy week. I've barely even had time to breathe, let alone do anything else! Life has gotten REALLY REALLY busy really fast. I'm not saying it was all work and no play, but we were DEFINITELY on the go all the time.

However, we did get to go fishing. Twice. We went on Friday (I'll explain in a second) and then again this morning for pday. Our ward mission leader, Bro Ribando, is a crazy Italian who has a pond outside his house that he keeps stocked with perch and catfish. We didn't have enough time to hook a catfish, but I caught my first fish since....who knows when! I actually caught 3 perch. Elder Jenson hooked a catfish, but the line broke right as he was about to net it. It was SO FUN though. Good bonding time.

Okay. What on earth did we even do this week?

Monday: We played volleyball and dodgeball in the church. Believe it or not, I've actually gotten a little bit better at volleyball. Which isn't that difficult :) But the Assistants and Office Elders came up and we had a party and it was great fun :)

Tuesday: District meeting, and the only full work day we had this week. We saw a cute old lady whose husband has really bad alzheimers, and another really sweet lady who's bedridden so she was grateful for the company. We saw our investigator K, who is doing really well and should come to church this week! And I feel like we did more I just don't remember.

Wednesday: We had MLC (mission leadership council!) It was great, because I got to see sister Hoskins and Sister Baird. I couldn't tell any stories about anything without one of my companions being there, pretty much. It didn't stop me from talking, though because apparently I'm one of those people who talks all the time (if you couldn't tell). It was so fun, even though it was a big long meeting. It was only supposed to go until 3, but we were setting some goals for the mission so it ran an hour late. It was long and my brain was totally fried after. It was good though! I enjoyed it, but then again, I love people. We started another exchange Wednesday in Zachary and had a blast, then came back on Thursday and had a meeting with the zone leaders to plan ztm (zone training meeting.) we were instructing on keeping our lines in the water. So, Friday, we went fishing! Seeing as it had been a long time since I had ever fished, it helped with our instruction.

I just got notice that I'm being logged off in 5 mintues, I don't know if we'll be able to get back on. We may not.
Saturday we had ZTM. The instruction went really well. We also had a child of record get baptized, which was a really good experience.

Sunday we got to meet the ward (finally!) it was so much fun :) we're helping out with the primary program again.

If I can get back on I will elaborate. I have a really funny story to tell! But if not, until next week,
Sister Steele
LOVE YALL!!!!!!!!!

My first fish :)

Hello, Albany! October 6, 2014

I am really bad at coming up with catchy titles for emails if you haven't noticed by now :) oh well. This week was really good! Any week when General Conference is on is going to be good. I might have shed a tear or two, seeing as its my last conference on my mission. That's crazy to think about. Today is my 14 month mark of being in Louisiana, and yesterday was my 4-month left mark. The time goes by SO FAST and I'm not sure what to think! Hopefully I'll finish out my mission in Albany.


Albany is SO GREAT! I love it here :) My companion, Sister McEntire, is awesome. She's a lot like Sister Stephens and Sister Baird--we laugh a lot and have a really good time, but also can teach really well together. I love this area already! We have two other sisters who live with us (we actually live in Hammond, but work in Albany), sister Hafford and Sister Carpenter! They are really cool too :) We get so distracted in the evenings because it's just so easy to sit and talk to each other! We get along really well. Sister McEntire's been out for almost a year (her year mark is next week) and Sister Hafford has been out 9 months, and Sister Carpenter has been out...well a week! So it's a good house. It's weird because there are only 6 sisters older than me on the mission. 6. And I know them all. So I am one of the oldest sisters out at this point! so everyone's younger than me :)


Okay. So we went on our first exchange this week (so I swapped with another sister for the day) and so I got to hang out with Sister Stephens last companion and have fun and talk about her :) It was great fun and I am so excited to learn from all of the sisters I serve around. It's going to be such a good transfer! I've already learned so much.


This wekend was General Conference, like I said. One of my favorite parts of the talks was President Monson's. He was talking about a woman who went to the Holy Land and was amazed to walk where Jesus walked and be where He was. But then President Monson said something that really struck me. He said: "it is of far less importance to walk where Jesus walked, as it is to walk as Jesus walked." We all will walk that path. Jesus walked the path of pain, disappointment, and temptaion. We will too. But He also walked the path of obedience, service, and prayer. We can walk that path if we want. But as we strive to place Christ at the center of our lives, He promises to give us eternal life. No other choice we make makes us what He can. that was such a good talk, in my opinion. Whenever I go to General Conference it makes me want to try a little harder to be a little better.


It's been fun meeting all the members and trying to learn the area. This week we have MLC (missionary leadership council) and ZTM (zone training meeting) so I get to head down to Baton Rouge on Wednesday for a meeting, then plan and put on another meeting with the zone leaders. It's gonna be a party.


I love yall! I hope everything is going well. When the chips are down, always remember my favorite scripture: "Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not."

Sister Steele

Sister Carpenter, Sister Hafford, Sister McEntire, Me!

"Well This Has Been an Interesting Week!" Sept 29, 2014

I don't even know where to start. It's been a whirlwind and somehow I only have 3 transfers left! I AM getting transferred tomorrow. I am going to be a Sister Training Leader in Albany (not new york), so I will be leaving the Zone. (I figured it out for myself, we're not really officially sure that's where I'm going until tomorrow, but that's the only STL companionship getting transferred so it is the only place I could go.) I thought I wasn't going to get transferred because I was training, but here we are and I'm packed and almost ready to leave! It's been so awesome being in Baton Rouge 3rd Ward....I'm going to miss it so much! But I am so excited to move on and have new adventures. Because, as you know I love adventure :)

I have been so distracted writing this email....I started it an hour and a half ago but transfer information keeps coming in and I am one of the missionaries in the mission who makes it a point to have all the transfer information I can before transfers. It's fun because then everyoen comes  to me for transfer info and I feel special :) kidding, I just love knowing/guessing where everyone is going.

what are some things we saw this week?

Well. We saw one of the members in the Plaquemine Branch get arrested....and tried to bail her out. We pull up to breakfast at another member's house, (we slept over at the Plaquettes' because sister Hill had to come home for medical reasons) and there's cop cars surrounding HJ's car. We see them cuff her and stick her in the back of the cop car, and we go in and the otehr member called the police because they didn't recognize the car. Theen the charges were dropped but apparently one of her dogs got out this mornign so they were looking for her to pay a ticket so she got arrested anyways. We finish breakfast, go to the ATM and pull out the $250 to bail her out, run to the police station and with the money triumphantly in our hands, we open the door, go up to the counter and say "we're here to bail someone out!" The clerk just looks at us...and says "you have to go down to the jail to do that one." #awkward. So we leave the police station and are about to drive down to the jail when we see the police officer who arrested HJ walking in! We run up to him and ask for directions, and he says she's bailing herself out as we talked to him. It would have been a better story if we'd been able to, but she still paid $57 in pennies and 81 in in $1s (She never spends her 1s or change) and the rest normally. so that made up for it a bit, but that was the adventure. Then we had to spend the rest of the day crying because we had to take Sister Hill to the mission home and say goodbye. That sucked. Pretty bad. I was so emotionally drained by the end of that day I just wanted to go to bed. So I did. Also we got stuck in traffic for almost 2 hours so that wasn't fun either.

Wedneday was also a bit of a fun day....we found out Sister Ririe is allergic to wasps! We were doing a service project and she got stung, so we drove to a member's house and gave her benadryl and her hand went numb and she passed out. No death though, thank goodness. I had to check like 15 times to make sure she was still breathing.

Friday we got to go to the temple, which was awesome :) Always a blessing.

Saturday was the women's broadcast! Taht was so cool. See my spiritual thought at the end :)

Sunday I already knew I was getting transferred, so I said goodbye to people and it was very difficult to leave :( I have really loved this ward. I have definitely grown a lot here, and grown to love people more. It's been so busy! but so good :)

Yesterday was spent running around saying goodbye as well--plus, a member in our ward I'm good friends with got her mission call to the Leeds, England mission! She reports in England on January 1, 2015. It was such a tender mercy I got to be here for the call. I have been working with her for a while and I love her a lot, and it comes my last full day in BR3? if that's not divine intervention I don't know what is.

so that was this week! Next week, who knows what will come? I am so excited for it :) Though it's a bit bittersweet, because Sister Stephens goes home tomorrow. But at least I know it's not the end :)

So here's my spiritual thought:

The women's broadcast was all about preparing to go to the temple. I thought that was so cool, but in one of the talks one of the speakers turned temples inside out. she quoted this scripture:

1st Corinthians 3:16: "Know ye not that ye are the temple‍ of God, and that‍ the Spirit‍ of God dwelleth in‍ you?"

She then said this:

"The temple's purpose is to serve manking and to push back the darkness. We are temples of God. Our purpose is to serve mankind and push back the darkness." It's so true! If we are temples, every good word, thought and deed help push back the evil in the world. As Dumbledore said, "we must fight, and fight again, for only then will evil be kept at bay, though never quite eradicated." We can't completeyl stamp out the darkness in the world, but we can push it out of our lives. Dark and light CANNOT exist in the same space. We have to choose which one we want to exist in. So as we are kind to ourselves and each otehr, as we take a stand for the things that are right, we push back the darkness a little further and bring a little more light into the world. Temples are lighted at night so they can be seen in the darkness. We are as well. Christ said "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven." He also said "I am the light which ye are to hold up." when we do good, we emulate the Savior of the world. We hold up His light that banishes the darkness.

LOVE YALL SO MUCH!!! I'M ONTO ANOTHER GREAT ADVENTURE!!

Sister Steele

Saying goodbye to the Baton Rouge 3d Ward Young Women.  I'll miss them!