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

February 6

Luddington is in Dundee now, which is somewhere in Northern KZN. That's absolutely horrible with Kolby. Taxi drivers are the worst. These Zulu drivers here have no respect for other cars on the road. I'm sure he'll be fine though--Priesthood blessings work. We had a freaky experience with something kinda like that this last week. On friday, we had a lunch together as a district, so the six of us had lunch at our boarding. We all left for the area at the same time, but before going to Imbali, I asked if we could stop at the post office so I could send a letter to Ben that I had been procrastinating for a very long time. The post office is on the way to imbali, but it's only about 1 minute away from all three companionships' boardings. As I went into the post office, there was an enormous line. I was kinda mad because I wanted to go fast, so I could go work in the area sooner. It took about 15 minutes in the post office, and in the same minute that I walked out of the post office, my phone rang, and it was Elder N telling us to come to his boarding right then to give his companion Elder M a blessing because he was very sick. Elder M has been out for about 5 months, and he has been to the hospital 3 times already on mission for 3 different things--2 of which were life threatening. Since we were only 2 minutes away, instead of the 20 plus minutes that we would have been if we'd have gone to Imbali, we rushed over to their boarding to find Elder M convulsing in pain on his bed. Elder Preslar anointed the oil, and I sealed it. It was pretty powerful. He was still in a lot of pain, but about an hour after we left, he sent us a message saying that he was doing much better and that the pain was pretty much gone. I'm not sure if it was inspiration for me to send that letter on that day, but I had been procrastinating that letter for a long time (you know me how I usually don't procrastinate things for long because I usually just do something rather than delay) and on that day, I just decided that I was going to finally send it. He probably wouldn't have died, but it was definitely causing him a large amount of discomfort. I'm glad that I was living worthily to be able to give that blessing. If I had woken up late, been lazy with my studies, and other things like that, then there's a good chance that I wouldn't have been prepared to give that blessing.

I'm out of time, but I'll print off the rest and send you a letter, and I'll actually send it on time. I love you all so much. Take care!

Elder Steed

January 30

Sorry my time is really short today, but here it is. I told crystal about a few funny things that happened this past week, so you'll want to read them. I read a scripture the other day that explains very well why I've been getting kinda fat. It's proverbs 28:25. It's very true. Yesterday I weighed myself and it came out to 87 kg's which is about 190 pounds. Times are hard i guess.

Our baptism was confirmed yesterday. I was so glad. I know that she is someone who will truly benefit from the gospel in her life. After someone is baptized, we start to re-teach them all the lessons, so their understanding will be better. As we've started to do so, we've gotten her cousin to join in on the lessons so she'll be able to be baptized somewhat soon too, if all goes well.

Kyle's in Iowa, not Ohio. That's pretty cool that you saw dayvin the other night. How's he doing? Hopefully, crystal will do something that she likes. That sounds good with school and everything. I hope everyone is just loving all the stress and sleepless nights that come with college and school. You're working in the DSC library? That's pretty cool. I always pictured people who are extremely strict working in libraries. You might seem a little out of place, but I'm sure you'll do great. The temple truly is the House of the Lord. I love you so much mom. Take care.

Elder Steed

January 16

The baptism was great! She is incredible. She is one of those people that just need the gospel in their lives. She is the first baptism that I've had that I found her, taught her the lessons, helped her to keep her commitments, and finally took her to the waters of baptism. It was my privilege to baptize her. I'll send some pictures. I'm so happy with the progress that she's made. We found her about 4 months ago, and we gave her a Book of Mormon probably about 2 weeks after that. Since she's received it, she's read completely through 2 Nephi by now. She won't have too much trouble staying in the Church after baptism. It was so cool to see her accept the laws of the gospel  and stand up to it when it came tempting the very next day. I will miss her so much when I leave Imbali.

The oranges disappeared from off the face of the earth here because they just went out of season. I still eat apples though, and sometimes, I buy watermelons. There was a holiday in december that kinda cracked me up. It's called beach day, and pretty much everyone goes to the beach in Durban and the coastal areas. The heat isn't too bad. It's worse in Saint George. I thought that all of Africa is just really hot, therefore, africans would be used to such heat, but both companions that I've had so far (from Malawi and Zimbabwe) have complained about the heat like crazy. I sweat a lot, but it doesn't keep me from working because it's not too bad.

That's really cool with RJ's story about putting other's needs first. I told dad all about the sick missionary who is like a Pharisee and his companion who is long-suffering and patient like Nana. That's really cool that they were able to find a way for her to be baptized.

I love that you mentioned how she talks in her sleep. That's so funny with mary's sleep talking story. I can totally picture that. When it's really hot at night, missionaries will sit up and teach lessons and weird things like that. I've heard of both missionaries in a companionship who both woke up, sat on the edges of their beds, and testified about what their companion just taught. I actually found myself praying outloud as if to start a companion study session one night. That was a fun journal entry. I've been thinking about my patriarchal blessing a lot and realizing how true the Church is. I love you so much mom.

Elder Steed

January 9

I didn't have much time to email last week, nor do I have much time this week, but I thought it best to read through the earlier emails that I haven't replied to yet so I could be up to date. The meeting house search is very slow with little hope. The properties that we have found are municipal which is pretty much not going to work because municipal takes so dang long--probably until about 2015. Times are hard; double recession. I haven't taught in church for a while now. Maybe it'll stay that way. I doubt it though. I don't mind teaching in church because we usually have investigators there, so it turns into an opportunity for me to teach my investigators at church, which I like doing.

Charity is truly the best quality to have out of them all. One of my zone leaders spoke to us about how he's noticed that every single missionary can teach by the Spirit, but what makes a missionary stand out is the ability to love his companion and love the people. With people here, they are taught to pay attention to spiritual matters, therefore, they are very much in tune to the Spirit. They can feel when missionaries love them or not. It cannot be faked, nor do you have to tell them that you love them. Charity is what makes a mission mean so much. Without charity, one is just going through the motions, but with charity, missionary work takes on a whole new meaning. I've been studying a lot from Alma chapters 17-26 for the last few weeks. I love the approach that Ammon takes in earning King Lamoni's trust. He serves faithfully first, then he teaches, and because he served first and built the bridge of trust between them, King Lamoni believes everything that Ammon teaches with no questions asked. That's the missionary that I'm trying to become. Love the people, serve the people, then convert the people. There  can be some  missionaries that baptize people like crazy. As you look at the kind of missionaries that some of them are, you notice that they are disobedient and sometimes apostate. When those missionaries are transferred, the people they baptized go less-active almost immediately. I would be perfectly happy if I baptized 5 people my entire mission if those 5 people all went on to be married in the temple and remained strong for the rest of their lives. Those 5 people will be able to build the Kingdom of God in South Africa much longer than I will be able to, so why not turn them into member-missionaries? That's my idea about a mission. We will be having a baptism this sunday.  I'm glad to say that I think she will be one of those people who will build the Kingdom when I'm gone. She will be the first person that I can say I found her, taught her, and baptized her. She is incredible, and the church will be such a blessing in her life.

I love you all so much! I hope that shool has started well and that Jessica is loving both high shools that she's attending.

Elder Steed

January 2

I actually spoke this week in church too. Last week I got the assignment at about 6:30 am so I had a few hours to prepare, but this week I had about 20 minutes to prepare. No stress though. Last week I spoke about the true meaning of Christmas and something about how we need to remember the Savior by caring for others. I also read the words to Hark the Herald Angels sing. I love that hymn. I don't really need anything right now. Everything is going great.

We have been finding a lot of new people tracting and only time will tell how serious they are about investigating the church. There was one 18 year old boy and his mother that we tracted into a while ago, when I was still with sincreah. We have seen the boy about 5 times since then, but we only saw the ma once. We gave the boy a book of mormon on the second visit, and he shared it with his mom. Apparently, she's not very busy during the days, so she spends her time reading it. We found out on saturday that she has nearly read the entire book of mormon. I was absolutely shocked to hear that. We taught her once, didn't even give her a book of mormon, and she's nearly finished with it. I expect great things to happen in their lives very soon.

You had decent grades. I'm really not surprised. You complain all the time about how bad your grades are then you end up beating me and dad. Also, as we attend the temple regularly and put the things of God before the things of the world, He will bless us. You are doing that, therefore, I am not surprised. Congratulations! Nana truly is an angel in everything she does. I used to wonder what made her do all those things for us and for everyone. I also used to think that the answer is very difficult, but it's really not: she does it because she loves us and is filled with charity. I would love to be like her someday. Driven by love for people--just like the Savior. I'm sorry that this email is short. I will write you a letter soon and you will receive it eventually. I love you so much mom and family!     Happy birthday Ariel!!!

Love,

Elder Steed

December 17

It doesn't even feel like Christmas. Christmas here for many people is just an excuse to stop working and drink more alcohol than you did in the entire year. Anyway, my comp's name is Elder Kondowe, not Kongolo, my bad. He's a very hard worker, and we will have great success together. He's from Zimbabwe, and he's pretty cool.

Gogo means grandma pretty much. That gogo is so sweet though. We are planning a braai (barbeque) for the day after Christmas with our zone leaders. It should be pretty cool. Don't sweat about the recipe book. There's no need to rush. Meat is not too expensive, but I don't buy too much of it. Canned goods are extremely expensive here. Canned soups are something I will probably never buy here, but I can make soups from scratch, if you send the recipes because that'll be much cheaper.

That's a bummer with auston's homecoming talk being cut short. Everyone wants to hear rm's speak for a long time - it's sort of a way to present a last will and testament as a missionary--to summarize the whole thing. That's really nice that he's home though.

It seems like everyone is being destroyed back home. That's definitely not good. I wish them well, and I will keep them in my prayers for sure. Every few weeks, it seems that I have an experience, ordinary or extraordinary, that increases my awareness of the purpose of this life. It reminds me that there really is a life after death and that the righteous decisions I make here are giving me happiness now and securing my place in the celestial kingdom. I love you all so much. I will keep you in my prayers.

Merry Christmas

Elder Steed

December 12

Elder Sincreah is getting transfered to Richard's Bay, and he is not happy. 2 reasons why:  It's the hottest place in the mission and summer is coming into full swing.  It never rains, but it pours. My new comp is Elder Kongolo from Zimbabwe. He's coming from Swaziland zone, but that's all I know about him. Apparently, he's a really hard worker, and I'm very glad. I'm sure we'll get along very well. I haven't met him yet, but I'll meet him tomorrow.

Everything has been going fine. Our statistics have been dwindling in unbelief because everyone goes crazy here in december. Maybe it's something to do with the heat. It's frustrating because people have been bunking us like crazy, even our good investigators. Everything will be fine. These things happen because when these things happen, people say these things happen, and that's why they happen. I've been wondering lately about what we can do to find more investigators. We can teach anyone, but out of those people, very few will go on to be baptized and remain strong in the Church. The trick is to find those who will build the Kingdom after they're baptized, and bring other people with them.

 We went to see a gogo on saturday and invite her for church. We shared a brief spiritual thought with her, invited her for church, and we were about to leave when she asked us if she could give us a few bananas. We agreed thinking that she would give us 3 or 4, but instead she grabbed a 5 kg bag, dumped out like 30 bananas, wrapped them up in some newspaper, and handed it to us. It was very hard not to laugh out loud, but we managed somehow. She exercises perfect zulu culture with us. As a sign of respect, zulu women stare at the ground as men meet with them, and they only glance up at their eyes to show that they're listening. There are so many other things that she does that I cannot even begin to describe. It's really, really funny because she's this sweet gogo that treats 2 young missionaries like kings.

I got the Christmas package you sent. Thank you so much. The Christmas tree is very nice. I haven't opened anything yet, but I've taken full advantage of all the candy canes that were included in the package.  I love you so much.

Elder Steed

December 5

My absolute favorite part about serving a mission is having nothing else to worry about except God's work. Here on mission, we are expected to set our lives aside and become instruments in the Lord's hands.

This week was good, but kinda disappointing. We were late in getting to the area almost every day this week because of service projects and what not. I don't mind having a little less time in the area as long as we have quality time in the area. Prayer truly is my greatest tool. It always works. We saw our recent convert this last week, but he still didn't come to church. His situation is filled with temptations.

Take care!

Elder Steed