March 26

Kimberley is good. We're starting to get the work moving at a rate that it should be. We haven't been able to teach those three guys yet, but we will call them this week, and hopefully set up a day that we can see them. That's really cool that Stevon Anderson got back and gave a great talk. That's kinda funny that he spoke about standing in holy places because we were having lunch at the branch president's house yesterday (I love having young branch president's who are RM's like Pres. Mkhize because they're so fun to talk to) and we were talking about something similar to that.

That story about Stevon's sacrament meetings have tons of distractions is so true. I heard a quote from I think President Spencer W Kimball that when he was asked what he does in boring sacrament meetings, he said "I don't know; I've never been in a boring sacrament meeting." That obviously means that it's up to us to make the sacrament meeting good no matter what is happening around us.

All is well with the food and everything. You can trust that I'll never go hungry and that I eat plenty of fruit.    I love that story about the Nephites getting the Lamanite guards drunk and them bailing. Just another reason why God as commanded us not to drink alcohol. I also love the other story you mentioned. I love how the 9 were focused on their own salvation but the other 3 were focused on the salvation of others. It's so cool. All 12 will receive the same reward, but I think that the 3 will have more joy because they were able to work among the children of God for longer. That's where joy is found--working for others and helping them to find joy in the gospel. I also love where Nephi, the son of Nephi, son of Helaman, Helaman preaches with so muc power that the people could not disbelieve his words, and so great was his faith that angels did minister unto him daily. That's so powerful. I would love to be half the missionary that he was.

Everything is good though. I'm still trying to write those letters to all of you. I'm so grateful for all your love, support, and prayers. It means so much, and I'm sure that it has helped more than I could ever imagine. I love you all so much. I told dad a nice little story about the schlemiels in Free State. Give it a look.

Elder Steed

March 19

You said that Kanesville was just a stone's throw and a hair pull away from hooper? Pretty Hoop. He's from California though, so I don't think that's them.

The area is really good. There's so much potential there. We've started to find a lot more people, but we're still in the process of separating the wheats and the tares, so we won't know how well it's going for a few more weeks. We've been blessed with a few miracles in the past couples weeks though. One happened yesterday at church. Three men walked into church wanting to know more about the church, which was fantastic because I had really been praying for miracles in this area, and they are coming. These three men were walking past the church two weeks ago sunday, and they wondered what we are about, so they asked one of the young men who was standing just inside the fence what it was. That young man goes teaching with us, and he said, "Well, I can't tell you through the fence. Why don't you come see next week?" So, they came this week, and they loved the service. None of the three are from Kimberley, but they stay in a flat while they work during the week, then they go back to their families for the weekends or something like that--but apparently they are in kimberley on sundays because they came to church. They asked a lot of questions in our investigators' class in sunday school. They seem to be very promising, but the hardest thing will be getting hold of them because of their random work schedule. We have a branch in Kimberley.

I've heard that story from Bro King. I always wonder if I'm receptive enough to the Spirit. I feel like I am, but there's always room for improvement. I wonder how many more miracles I would have seen if I had been paying closer attention to the Spirit. I feel like I'm getting the hang of it because as I tract, we're starting to get in more doors and I feel more guided as I do so. It's always a great experience to walk down a street, knock on a door, and find someone who has been looking for the truth, even if they didn't know they were looking. With a few experiences, I've realized that when that experience came knocking, the time for preparation was past, so if I wasn't ready then who knows what would have happened. It seems like the best stories (like brother King's rocking pushing story) usually end up bad with the person looking back wondering why they didn't follow the promptings of the Spirit or why they weren't receptive to the Spirit. Personally, I'd rather have questions about what would have happened if I didn't listen to the Spirit instead of having regrets about what did happen and wondering why I didn't listen to the Spirit. I love you so much. Have a great week!

Elder Steed

March 13

That's cool that the boys are playing good football. What's Dayvin been up to lately? I might get that letter sometime soon, but if I do, it will be at zone conference on the 16th. The reason being that I getting transferred to a town called Kimberley. Lesotho, Swaziland, Free State, and Newcastle provinces in South Africa constitute what is known as 'Outer Darkness' because they are all so far away from the mission office that the zone leaders are not able to go to the office because it's so far away. If it's in the office before the 16th, then I'll get it at zone conference. If it's not, then I'll get it in about 3 months or something like that. I'm really excited to be transferred, but the only thing that kills the excitement is the 9 hour bus ride required to get to Kimberley. Not to mention the fact that the nearest missionaries from Kimberly are about 4 hours away. I really hope I get along with my companion, or it will be a very long transfer. Elder Redford is going to be my new companion, and I've heard that he's pretty cool. I'm sure I'll get along with him. Elder Preslar (who is currently serving in Imbali 1) was in the same mtc group as him, so that's how I've learned about him.

Kimberley is way cool. It's a lot like Saint George as far as size and weather. We're the only missionaries in Kimberley, so we have the whole city to ourselves. Oh, and the reason I'm emailing on a tuesday is because we had zone conference yesterday in Bloemfontein. We woke up at 5 to get ready then drive for 2 hours, and zone conference went until 3:30, and we got back to Kimberley at about 6 pm, so most of the email shops were closed. My comp is Elder Redford. He's from California and he's pretty cool. The area is a bit skimpy as far as investigators, so, I'll be tracting a lot, which is a good thing because I like to find my own investigators instead of inheriting them from other missionaries. The area has so much potential. There are something like 75,000 people in Kimberley, so there's no shortage of people to teach.

I'm sorry that this email is really short. We have quite a few appointments today, so I can't spend as much time as I'd like to, but I'll definitely read the rest of your email next week. I'm glad to hear that everything is going well. I love you all so much!

Elder Steed

March 5

Marcus told me about his flight experience, and it sure sounds like God is watching out for him. That would have be awful to have to wait at the airport only an hour's flight away from home. I'm sure buddy remembers him by now, and I'll bet that he's had a few sleepless nights on the master's assistant's pillow since then.

I can relate to that experience that Mike had. If you remember when we bought the 7 chickens, we tied their feet, threw them into the trunk of the car, and drove back to the flat to slaughter them. I'll probably do that again sometime throughout the rest of my mission.

I think I mentioned last week that we were going to the PMB botanical gardens to have a braai (barbeque). Here's a tree that we found, and I took a picture next to it just after we ate a ton of food, so I look something like the tree.

I'm running out of time, so I won't re-cap the transfer news story to you other than to say that I'm getting transferred to Kimberley in Northern Cape. I'm pretty excited to go there, but the excitement dwindled a bit because of the 9 hour bus ride required to get to Kimberley. I'm not sure how the transfers are going to work other than I'm going to sit  on the bus forever until I get to Kimberley.

The woman who was baptized is doing fine. She is reading the Book of Mormon a lot and she's loving it. She's learning a lot from it, so it's becoming more and more important to her with every verse that she reads. She's about half way through Mosiah, so she's well on her way to finish the Book of Mormon sort of soon. I love you all so much. I'm sure that everyone's thrilled to have marcus back, and I wish everyone the best. I always pray for your happiness and safety.

Elder Steed

Feb. 27

Marcus gets home this week? What??? I thought it was still two weeks away. What do I know though because I'm on the other side of the world from you. That's terrible luck for the bowling club. Getting to the ninth inning and scoring an own goal. Bummer. I'm trying to write a physical letter, but I'm so dang lazy. I'm trying though.

I always, always pray for you. You don't tell me about the struggles at home except for a small hint, but I know the sacrifices that you make every day, and I am so grateful for them. I know how hard it has been at home for the last while, and I can only think that it is for our own good in some mysterious way. That's how God works. Our trials and experiences would be pointless if we weren't to learn from them. Towards the end of last transfer, I was planning on leaving Imbali because my companion and I were having a few difficulties. I was hoping that I was leaving, but I ended up staying. This transfer has taught me patience. I still have much more to learn about patience, but I've learn a good amount so far. I think that I could say that it takes quite a bit to get me really ticked off to the point of yelling and things like that. One of the things that has helped in teaching me patience has been one big headache in the form of three young boys. These 3 boys are members, and I've been trying to get them to read scriptures on their own. Very little success. When we try to read with them, they won't, but I just keep asking them patiently to read. They resist for about 5 to 10 minutes, then they read, and it's nice. I think it teaches me more than it teaches them. What I've learned so far about patience is definitely something that is preparing me for the rest of my life. I love you all so much. Marcus, I don't know when you'll be home, but enjoy your last few days as a missionary. God speed.

Elder Steed

February 20

Did the J5 speak on Elder Bednar's talk about personal revelation? I absolutely love that talk. Those examples of light are so cool. I've noticed that the more powerful converting experiences and revelations come like the sun rising in the morning--we don't realize it happening, but by the end, we can see how much we have grown. It sounds like Ben had a neat experience too. I love to gather experiences like that, and they only come if we are truly seeking them.  It sounds like everything is pressing on. And no shool tomorrow. It's kind of funny how those days off turn into days full of homework.

I love you so much.

Elder Steed

Flying over the North pole? What? Is that part of your flight plans home or something else? I don't think mom will get any sleep tonight because I see that she sent me an email at 10:13 my time, so she probably slept at about 3 your time. That's so cool that Ben is finally leaving. I'm sure he's so excited. At least for me, I saw going on mission as the end of my life to a point because I was thinking "I have 3 days until I leave. What will I do with my life?" Time is incredibly short, and unfortunately, we realize that only when the time is short--For example, see what time mom starts writing her emails to me and marcus. And coach fielding was there. That's so cool. I miss that man so much. And the golf team is smashing touchdowns out of the park against Juan Rodriguez who just got in from Tijuana. Poor guy. It sounds like Jace is a pretty good pitcher. That's cool. I hope everything is going well and that Buddy isn't getting stepped on too much by his Master. Take care.

Elder Steed

Lions in the city? Only one or two. In the township, there are dogs everywhere, and they are so rabid and starving that they kind of look like lions sometimes. That's pretty funny with the laser pointer. I did that with a flashlight to a little kid;  he didn't buy it fully, but he still grabbed for it.

I'm so glad to hear that Kolby's doing better. That's cool that J-5 is back too and that cody is going out. Ben is leaving really soon too. I think on wednesday. I love the personal revelation aspect of the gospel. One time about 4 months ago, we had a lunch appointment with President Mkhize (the branch president in Imbali). Pres. Mkhize loves to talk and tell stories and he talked about how there are many missionaries around the world that get in the habit of reaching for study manuals while they're studying instead of learning by the Spirit. He went on to say that by the end of the 2 years on mission, missionaries are no longer teachable because they think that they can't be taught anything else, so they are sent back into the world to be torn down and retaught (like Jared in the RM). Those study manuals that he was referring to are really, really good sources of knowledge, but the way I see it is that those books are collections of revelations given to prophets, apostles and other authorities of the church. So when we read those books, we are learning, but we are denying ourselves the opportunity to receive that same revelation ourselves. It is promised that we will receive revelation, and it will be the same revelation that the apostles and prophets have received--God will confirm the same truths to everyone. What I've learned is that the revelation we receive is not simply about gathering information, but a large part of the learning comes from the process of receiving that revelation where we are able to grow closer to God as we commune with Him instead of learning from secondary sources. It's so cool to come on mission and to learn line upon line, precept upon precept, so at the end of those two years, we can look back and realize that we would never go back to the wickedness that may or may not have been present in our lives before those two years.

I'm so grateful for the sacrifices that all of you are making for me to be out here on a mission to serve the Lord. I have learned so much in these last 6 months, and I can't wait for all the great and marvelous things that I will yet learn in the coming year and a half. I want you all to know how much I love you and how much gratitude is in my heart for the influence that you've had on my life. It means so much to me.

Elder Steed

Feb 13, 2012

     I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well and that Jean just randomly decided to help. The Lord prepares people like it's nobody's business. The gospel is such a blessing to the whole world. All that the Lord asks is for us to be humble enough to follow Him, and we'll have eternal life and exaltation. No matter how much I can tell some people about the gospel and no matter how much they feel the Spirit, they are just too stubborn and proud to change and receive greater blessings. I would be rich enough to retire if I had a dollar for every time that a zulu baba has told us that we need to bring someone his age with us because we're too young to teach him anything. Babas here can be so stubborn, and when we find a humble one, there is serious hope for them to be baptized. It's kind of two-sided because almost anybody you ask in Imbali, they will let you into their home to hear your message, give you drinks and food, but they usually will not change.

     I had a pretty unique experience like this on saturday: We were tracting, and we tracted into this one house where a young man, about 22, answered the door, and almost immediately let us in. We went in, sat down, and one of the first questions he asked us was "who sent you here?" I wasn't quite sure what he meant, but I just told him straight that we were called by a living prophet of God to preach the gospel. He said, "No, if you were truly called of God to preach the gospel, then you would have been sent here by the apostles." We later found out that this guy was a member of a different church. They believe that there was never a great apostasy, and that even though the apostles were killed, the authority to run the true church continued through the apostles' spirits which were still around?!?!  This guy then starts telling us that we don't have the Holy Spirit with us because our church was false because we don't have apostles or the Holy Spirit. I started to explain to him that an apostasy did in fact occur and that the Bible would have continued to be written by the apostles until today if there was not an apostasy, but because the bible stops and for many other reasons, there was an apostasy. Before I could tell him this, he cut me off and started to tell me all this crap about how the apostles did this, the apostles did that, and that we were wrong. The whole time we were with him, he was asking us questions to try and show us why we were wrong, but when I would answer his question, he would move on to something else. If I would ask him a question, he would always dodge it. These people are so stubborn--they speak like there's no tomorrow, but they don't listen for 15 seconds, and they will never stand and fight on a topic; they always run because they know that they will get beat. Then, randomly, this guy just calms down and says, "I want to hear your message now." There's no way that we were going to share it with him, but he said he really wanted to hear it, so I said, "okay, let us pray to invite the Spirit to be with us, and we will share something short with you" (I was going to be as bold as I've ever been by telling him that his church was an abomination in the eyes of God--something like that). He started freaking out and telling us that when he preaches, he doesn't need to pray to have the Holy Spirit with him, but that people know automatically that he does. Then he just started trashing our beliefs. He was swearing throughout our meeting, and as we were leaving, he used the Saviour's name in vain, and I gave him fire like there's no tomorrow. This guy was speaking blasphemies the whole time, and I was so close to dusting my feet. I didn't, but i would have received the slightest impression to, it would have been done without second thought. So yeah--then ended the hour so far on my mission. After that, I was shaking because I had never had so much crap shoved into my ears at once, but my testimony was as strong as ever. I knew with all my heart that what I am doing is true and that this great work will not be frustrated by a few hypocrites just because they say that they worship the Saviour Jesus Christ, but inside themselves, they seek to destroy those who truly desire to grow closer to the Saviour, even if they are a little lost on how to do it. The Saviour never turned away people who wanted to follow him, but they didn't understand it fully. He always tried to build their understanding and just to help them in any way they could.

     I'm sure there was more that happened this last week, but after that experience on saturday, it's like my memory has been erased and only that dreadful experience occupies what's left of my memory for the past week. I love you all so much! The Book of Mormon is so true!

     Elder Steed