So this is the life of a Missionary... I LOVE it!

Sept. 2 - Sept. 7, 2014

I am finally figuring out what it is like to be a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! What an amazing blessing and experience this journey will be! I have seen so many miracles already and it is only my 2nd week here in Melbourne! I am loving my mission! Although I miss you all so much, and every night I think about my family, I know this is where Heavenly Father wants me to be! Just know I pray for all of you each night, and I know you do the same for me because I can feel it everyday!

Melbourne Mission Home

Wow! What a week. How about a little recap.

Tuesday (9/2/14):

So we are teaching this guy named David. He is from Cambodia and he is sooooo “keen as” (Aussie term for sharp, eager). I mean this guy is solid! We teach him, and he just absorbs everything we’re saying like a sponge! He NEVER has any questions or concerns with the church! The spirit is sooooo strong while we are teaching him! So we’re sitting there teaching David the first lesson, and as the lesson came to a close, I had this weird feeling to share with him the importance of being baptized by one who has the proper authority... so I did! You will never believe what happened at the end of our discussion.  David accepted my baptismal challenge… for this Sunday! HE IS GOING TO BE BAPTIZED! I love this gospel! It is amazing to see how the spirit works to teach and testify of the truthfulness of the gospel. There are truly miracles happening all around Elder Newell and I!

You can imagine how this experience boosted my confidence in my ability to testify. I know the Lord is preparing people all around us to hear the gospel. We just have to be willing to submit to the Lord's will and open our mouths when prompted by the spirit.

Can I say the rest of today was just cherry! Elder Newell and I even got Bible Bashed, HARD CORE... But I didn't even care, because I was on such a spiritual high from our time spent with David. 

Speaking of “highs,” I did the Tim Tam Slam this week. I guess it’s not so much a high, as it is a huge “flavor rush.” So there's an Australian cookie called a Tim Tam. A Tim Tam is a chocolate biscuit with a chocolate cream center, all of which is then covered in chocolate… is your mouth watering yet? Wait, it gets better, because now comes the “Slam!” First, you get a nice rich cup of hot chocolate (The Aussie’s use coffee, but as I spread the gospel to everyone in Australia, they will soon be converting to hot chocolate). Next, you bite off both ends of the Tim Tam, place one bitten end of the Tim Tam in your mouth, and dip the other bitten end into the hot chocolate. Now suck using the Tim Tam as a straw. As the hot chocolate is pulled through the biscuit, the structure of the biscuit and chocolate cream collapses. Once the liquid sensation hits your tongue, you pop the whole Tim Tam in your mouth before it explodes! Clearly the invention of a bored Australian bloke playing with his food… a very tasty, and entertaining invention. But hey, now I’ve done the Tim Tam Slam, and even lived to tell about it.

My first of many attempts at the Tim Tam Slam... there are 11 biscuits per packet.

Our kitchen in our Richmond apartment... Scene of the Tim Tam Slam!

I'm giving the whole incident 2 thumbs up!

Wednesday (9/3/14):

Every single lesson appointment canceled on us today! It was pretty depressing, but I figured since we didn’t have any appointments, God needed us to find people instead! So Elder Newell and I GQ'd all day long… for like 8 hours straight! Haha. I love GQing because I am able to share a short message that is near and dear to my heart, and really gain a better understanding of how firm I am in the gospel! The Lord is definitely blessing me because I was able to get 8 New Contacts all by myself today (of course with the Lord's help)! Now you may be wondering what constitutes a “New Contact.” A New Contact means I have gotten the persons name, phone number, and scheduled a return appointment! So I (I mean the Lord… duh, this is the Lord's work) got 8 new people to teach lessons to! Can you say PUMPED!

Thursday (9/4/14):

The day started out by teaching this Bloke (Aussie term for “Man or Guy”) from Sydney at our Branch building. His name was Nigel, and boy was he possibly the most interesting guy I have ever talked with in my entire life! Wow, just some of the things he said, for example: "Evil is all around us and we are all dooooomed," and "I have been cursed with evil many times in my life," and "When you cut yourself you bleed." Just totally random, bazaar thoughts! So while Nigel was sharing his random thoughts, I was thinking to myself, “What in the heck does this guy want from us?” Well, it turns out Nigel thought we were therapists... ya, like WRONGO! (American term for “completely wrong”). The black name tag indicates I am a missionary, not Nigel’s personal street therapist. So I turned to Nigel and asked, "would you like to hear a message about Jesus Christ?" Unfortunately, he declined, got up, and walked out of the branch. Just one of many experiences I’m sure I’ll remember forever!  

But good things did happen today! We taught Dana for the second time. Dana is a Jewish girl in her mid twenties and is "keen as!" She has been searching for the next spiritual enlightenment in her life, so we are helping her find herself! During today’s lesson she talked about how nice it would be to start over! The thought came to my mind... "hmmmm, start over.. spiritually reborn… she needs to be baptized!" So I committed her to Baptism! Well I didn’t, but the Lord did through me. :)  Her date is set for September 20th! Man, there are so many miracles happening out here!

Sunday (9/6/14):

First Fast Sunday Down! Dad and Talmage, you both looked way good in your Fast Sunday ties that matched mine! Soooo righteous! I feel so connected! :)

Tag, Dad and Talmage, standing together (with some quick help from Photoshop) 

outside the Melbourne Branch, wearing their matching Fast Sunday ties.

It was definitely weird fasting without you guys today. As a family we’ve always knelt together to make a list of the things we were going to fast for. So to make it less weird, I took matters into my own hands and made a list myself! :)  It was a huge testimony builder to create a list of things I wanted to fast for, all on my own. It was also a great opportunity to bond with the Lord as a missionary in his service!

So at church today I was sitting in Gospel Principles and the Branch President came up to me and said “I need you to teach Gospel Principles today”... Ya, talk about frightening! What could I say? So I willingly accepted the challenge to teach! I taught about service, and how it helps us to grow! I taught how we can feel closer to the Savior by following his example of service! No doubt the Lord was guiding me through this lesson.

Inside our Branch with Sister McFadden.

Her son is my family's Home Teacher back in Fruit Heights.

So everyone reading this letter, try praying this week for opportunities to give service to someone in need! Try to especially serve someone that you don't know! I promise, as you seek for, and give service, you will feel our Savior's love, and blessings will come your way!

I love my mission! It is by far the hardest thing I have ever done but the most rewarding! I am learning things about my self that I never knew were even a part of me! I love my mission and the people! You guys should read the talk The 4th Missionary! You can find it on Google, written by Lawrence Corbridge. It is an amazing talk! I am striving to be the 4^th Missionary! It can benefit everyone not just missionaries. 

I love you guys so much and I am eternally grateful for all you have done for me! I cannot wait to be with you for EVER AND EVER!! I Love you so much, and I love this gospel!! 

I hope everything is going well in the 801!

Love Elder Steele

PS Thanks so much to everyone who has emailed me. I love to hear from you and I am trying to write back but my hour to email goes by sooooo fast!