I have 1 Year Left

This week we ate some great Tongan food at a place here in Salt Lake City.

I have one year left. And that is completely weird to me!! It feels like I just got here and that I have a long way to go to be the kind of missionary I want to become. 

We had mission-wide fleet training this past Wednesday, and it was a success! Sister Davis and I created a kickin' video which entailed Sister Davis and I rapping about problems we are having with the cars and with sisters and spoofing it. Who knew we could still be straight up G's while on a mission? We had a companionship help us out with filming, and one of the sisters, Sister Fiquet from France was a great addition to our rap, not to mention her incredible beat-boxing skills!!

So we had a disappointing event happen last week. Last letter I wrote home, I had mentioned that Sister Davis and I are doing a 21-day sugar fast (so not even yogurt or brown sugar oatmeal in the morning!) for one of our investigators who told us he would give up alcohol. Well we got a defeated text last night saying he drank an ENTIRE bottle of alcohol Wednesday night, and was ashamed to tell us. We were so sad, and almost felt as if we did our sugar fast for nothing. But we realized his efforts weren't in vain and told him we are going to continue our sugar fast until it has reached 21 days. We will be successful! We want to show him that we have faith in him that he can do it. It also reminded me a lot of the atonement. Christ has paid the price of our sins. Whether we accept his gift or not, he has still paid the price.

We taught our investigator, Millie, today. I have been teaching Millie since my first transfer back in September. Last transfer we were going to call and drop her, because she wasn't progressing, but lo and behold, she is progressing! She loves it when we give her assignments to read in the scriptures. We called her an hour ago, and she said she had gotten "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" in the mail the other day and decided to watch it and LOVED it. She felt she could relate well to Joseph Smith in not knowing what church is true. She is still very much intrigued with the idea of the Plan of Salvation, and continuing to live on past the grave. I know she will come to the fulness. The next step is prayer!

So we went to a baptism this past week for a man named Yao-weh. He is Chinese. He is actually living here but returned to Sweden where his job is taking him. I hope he is proactive in finding a building out there! Sister McQueen (from New Zealand), Sister Yeung (from Hong Kong, China) and Sister Davis and I sang "Joseph's Smith's First Prayer at his baptism.

For our assignment each Sunday this transfer, we are in charge of standing by the flag pole while people exit the Tabernacle after music and the spoken word and taking any tours in English for people that are interested in learning more. We took these two men on a tour of Temple Square, and ended up talking to them for an hour about our beliefs- word of wisdom, law of chastity, eternal marriage, high standards, obtaining faith, and the scriptures. We gave a Book of Mormon to one of them and hope it affects his life as much as it affects ours. That is the part about of mission that makes it hard not to know what ever happens to people I meet on the square, but I know that God is looking out for them. They are in good hands(:

A chapter I had come across this past week was Helaman 11. To me, it shows that we have to make the choice to follow Christ and to have faith. Once that faith becomes unwavering, we are entitled to as much revelation as needed because it is for the building up of the kingdom of God. Helaman 10:5 states: "...I will bless thee forever; and I will make thee mighty in word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that ^aall things shall be ^bdone unto thee according to thy^cword, for thou shalt ^dnot ask that which is contrary to my will." Nephi, Helaman's son, has perfect faith, and Heavenly Father therefore knows that Nephi will NOT do anything that is contrary to his will, thereby endowing him will power. God will trust us with his power if we trust him to guide us to become better than we were the day before.

Well, I love you all! Remember to send me an email: angelique.steenhoek@myldsmail.net

Sister Steenhoek