Notes from Friday, 29 November, 2014 - Lights, Camera and Lots of Action

Thanksgiving was a BLAST yesterday! We went over to the Stake President's house of a stake up in 

Bountiful. The stake president and his wife picked four of us up at Temple Square and took us to 

their lovely home. It is always so nice to be in a home. But before they came, we talked with one of 

our favorite homeless guys, Jack and his teenage son Joey. We actually set up an appointment to 

teach them on Temple Square tomorrow! Jack is in a wheelchair, and he has been reading 2 

chapters in the Book of Mormon since we gave it to him a few weeks ago. 

Well we of course had turkey and pumpkin pie during our Thanksgiving meal. We also watched 

Ephraim's Rescue. I had seen it once before on my mission, but I think I liked it a lot more this 

time! When they were driving us back to Temple Square, they drove us past the Bountiful Temple!! 

It is so beautiful. To make it even better, all of the houses surrounding the temple had big posters 

with scriptures telling the story of Jesus' life. I guess you'll all have to see it one year around 

Christmas time!

We got new pots and pans in every single missionary apartment on Temple Square! Let me just 

say, pots and pans make ALL the difference in cooking.

Sister Chiu and I also watched Mr. Kreuger's Christmas AND Meet the Mormons this week as well! Mr.KC=awesome.

We called up a guy named Mostafa that I met about 6 weeks ago. I had originally set up an 

appointment when I met him, but I didn't call him because I felt that I shouldn't. Well I called and 

taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He asked where he could go to church. When we explained 

that we'd be happy to look up the closest church building to him, he said, "But I actually just 

booked a plane flight to Salt Lake right before you called. Where could I go to church in Salt Lake?" 

What?? Oh my goodness!! He is coming out here to visit his son. He is going to come to our church 

on Sunday and bring his son as well! What he said was, "I don't believe this is a coincidence," and 

I don't think so either. Heavenly Father knows what the right timing is for each of his children.

I am giving my farewell talk on Sunday! Wish me luck!

We went to Scott's baptism this past Saturday!!! Scott was so ready to be baptized. It is neat to be 

a part of one's conversion. I know that Sister Stigsson and I were only agents in the Lord's hands, 

but it is still a pleasure to be such!

Sister Steenhoek

PS the church just came out with a "He is the Gift" campaign, so if you are reading this, go to christmas.mormon.org and watch the 5-minute video. Then share it with all of your friends on 

social media. We want all to be aware of the love their Savior has for them! It is being highly 

advertised here on Temple Square as well(:

"This is not a gratitude of the lips, but of the soul." ~Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Notes from 21 November, 2014

Rosalee is a wonderful lady that was on a layover. She is a stewardess for an airline, and had had 
many previous layovers in SLC, but never stopped to see Temple Square. It was one of the best 
encounters with contacting someone. She didn't refer, but she asked many questions and truly 
got to know our religion. She is definitely searching.

We met a woman from Eritrea on chat! If you didn't know where that is located, I didn't know 

either until I checked out a map. It is located by Ethiopia in Africa.

We were privileged to view Savior of the World last night, a musical production that is all voluntary 

that is put on by the church to encourage everyone to gain a stronger testimony in Jesus Christ. 

We went to the Relief Society building for more explorer days this past week. Did know we had a Relief Society Building did you!?!? Well we do. I found out while I was on my mission, so no worries! But I truly recommend checking it out. It talks about the importance of women's roles in the church and goes into detail about the Primary, Young Women's, and Relief Society. Attached to the email, I've sent a picture with me next to a back-in-the-day Beehive uniform that the young women would wear!

We had a district dinner this past week, and we have a sister missionary from Pakistan in our district. I tried this Pakistani drink that she had made from her country!

We met Zach on chat. Zach is a 15-year old who is currently meeting with local missionaries. He wanted to express to someone his excitement to be baptized, but for some reason was too nervous to talk with his Elders about baptism. He had been meeting with them for a few lessons, and they asked him if he wanted to be baptized. He was pretty confused when they asked him that because he thought that when he agreed to meet with the missionaries, he already agreed to be baptized! He was like, "Well ya, that's what I'm here for." Hahah super cool kid. We will be calling him in a few days to continue helping him along. 

It is pretty entertaining watching people guess foreigners flags, but it is even funnier when it is Asians that get Asian flags pretty wrong. There was a group of Koreans  that thought sister Chiu was from Thailand! I was tryign sooo hard to be serious. 

I met this HILARIOUS drunk guy named Kent, and him and I talked for about an hour one evening while I had a desk assignment. He was telling me that his sister is now working for the FBI, and he said, "She is tall and blonde. Hey. She looks like you. You could be in the FBI!" He showed me the background picture on his flip phone, and it was of turtles that get stuck in plastic from tin cans and such. He was quite passionate about the sea turtles. He told me, "I will beat anyone us that has a bad recycle bin!" He said he was just kidding afterwards but uh.. just to make sure, I need to repent and be a better recycler!

Right after that hilarious conversation, a dad and his little boy walk in the visitor's center. The little boy looks at me and says, "Mommy!!" Me:"Ohhhh no!" We walked out pretty quickly before the little boy got any other ideas haha.

During our companion study one morning, Sister Chiu and I looked at 3 Nephi 27. There was something cool that I noticed about verse 21, and then verse 13. In v. 21, Jesus Christ invites us to do what he does as his Gospel. But in v. 13, he says that his Gospel is to do the will of the Father. So what he is saying is the Gospel of Jesus Christ is to follow Jesus Christ and do the will of the Father. The scriptures are the coolest!

"21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

13 Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me."

Love you all!

<3 Sister Steenhoek

PS. I'd love to hear from each one of you! You're welcome to send me an email: angelique.steenhoek@myldsmail.net

My mailing address is:

50 NW Temple Street

RM BSVC
Salt Lake City, Utah 84150

Konichiwa - Notes from 14 November 2014

So we were in the Assembly Hall greeting people as they came in for a lecture by Sheri Dew, when

this older man (probably in his 80s) turns to my Taiwanese companion and says, "Konichiwa!" With

all the fervor of his being. He was very confident that she was from Japan... I could not help but 

burst out laughing! Hahah so funny. 

Well, while we were helping the hosts and hostesses greet people, in walks Sheri Dew! 

She came over and gave the both of us a big group hug. We told her we wish we could stay, 

but are going to go find the elect outside in the cold. She wisely told us, "It takes the elect to 

find the elect." I love that! We need to strive to become what we see others becoming.

As we were talking to a young mom, we heard another wonderful phrase,  

"Snow makes the cold beautiful." What a great outlook that is! I need to keep that in mind this winter.

We had part of our explorer day this past week. If you are not familiar with explorer day, it means that 

new missionaries and their trainers get 12 hours to "explore" what temple square is all about and get 

familiar with it so we can tell others about it! We went to the Humanitarian Center and Welfare Square 

with Sister Cuevas and Sister Quidiman. 

It was so neat to be able to review the information, but also to think about how prepared our church really is! 

We have so many resources to improve the quality of human life. One just has to look for it. Something that 

we have a LOT of is opportunities for people to serve. One can have a calling, one can serve a mission, one 

can do service for another, one can help out with humanitarian/welfare efforts. One can serve his/her family 

members, etc etc.

We gave Jack a Book of Mormon!! Jack is a homeless man that sits outside of the City Creek mall. No one 

was stopping to talk to him, and so we talked with him. He isn't a member, but he really likes Temple Square! 

I gave him a picture of the temple. When we asked if he had read the Book of Mormon, he said he had a while 

ago, but he has lost it. We went back to Temple Square and got him his very own new copy of the Book of 

Mormon and underlined some powerful scriptures that he can look at.

We met Lesi at the mall just a few days ago. Lesi is an awesome Polynesian woman. She is currently working 

on becoming a BYU religion professor. I have written about her in previous emails, but she loves going around 

to the sisters and giving us pages and pages of quotes she has printed out from past prophets and apostles. 

She testifies to us that God is the ultimate God. That no one will come above him. She testifies with a lot of 

gusto! I told her I wish she could follow us around on tours and we could cue her in when we want her to testify.

Dee has her temple recommend!!! She got baptized just a week ago, and now she is all ready to enter into the 

House of the Lord. What a powerhouse of the Spirit!

I am currently studying in the Teaching Skills section of Preach My Gospel for personal studies, and I am 

studying how to teach the Restoration to those without a Christian background. Something that stuck out 

to me was that it doesn't matter our cultural or religious circumstances, ALL of God's children have to 

experience faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost in order to be truly 

converted and enter into the presence of God. As simple as it is, we should not be afraid of testifying of 

the very points that Christ teaches.

Love you all!

Sister Steenhoek

P.S. for Zone Activity today, we actually went to the Salt Lake City Cemetary and found graves of many 

past prophets, and even Joseph Smith's body guard, Orrin Porter Rockwell. Pretty eerie and cool!

Notes from November 7, 2014

We went to the temple as a mission this past week on Halloween, and it was an incredibly 

spiritual experience. All (around) 200 of us sisters and senior couples gathered to make 

covenants (or promises) to our Heavenly Father.

Sunday was a special day as well. It was my sister's birthday! Happy Birthday, Aubrey! 

But it was also Dee's baptism day. Dee was baptized 7pm Washington DC time. 

Sister Chiu and I were able to skype into her baptism. It was so beautiful and I am so 

excited for Dee for having taken this important step in her eternal conversion.

So we will be going to the Asian market today. I think sister Chiu is SO excited to be 

eating food that is not so foreign to her. I think I am becoming half Asian!

We took 2 women on a tour today from Chicago-a Buddhist and a Jew. Quite an 

interesting mix to teach for understanding and conversion. But what is so cool 

about the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that it is for everyone. They both identified 

with sealings (marriages for eternity in the temple) and with service and humanitarian 

work for others.

We met a super cool returned missionary girl that had just come out of the temple. 

Her quote of the day was, "Life is full of transfers." They don't stop when our mission ends. 

We will always have beginnings and endings to different things. But that is the only way that 

we will grow. Friends, events, and opportunities will come and go, but if our heart and mind 

are in the right place, we will be progressing towards eternal life with our Heavenly Father, no 

matter what is thrown at us.

I taught sister Chiu how to leave voicemails on peoples' phones. Now she's a pro. 

My companion is so awesome! She is such a fast learner, and she LOVES roleplays!! 

Woah. I am soo glad. (:

We went to Music and the Spoken Word this past Sunday, and Billy Casper, the golfer, was also there. 

Also, Natasha Hunt from Katy Texas was there with her grandma as well!

Last night, Sister Torres (our district leader) and I were walking to exchange back with our companions when

we saw this group of about 80 people being led by a random man around temple square. If you are not familiar

with the tour guidelines of Temple Square, tours can only be led by sister missionaries. So we jumped in at the 

front of the tour group and started taking this 80-person group around. Usual spontaneous events during the 

daily life of a Temple Square missionary. But there really is not a more powerful feeling when 80 pairs of eyes 

are on you and your companion, and you are able to stand right in front of the temple and boldly testify of the 

power of God that has flooded our lives because of the temple.

I'd like to end my email this week with a man named Paul. Paul came up to the desk in the North Visitor's 

Center wanting to watch a movie. We went downstairs to play the movie for him, and he just broke down. 

He is the father of 3 kids and is divorced. He completely strayed away from the church, has no job and is 

lost in life. His self-esteem is almost non-existent. Because of various life events, he has minimal 

possessions. He begged us to get him a copy of the Book of Mormon so that he could read it again. We 

asked if we could teach him on Temple Square and he hesitantly accepted our invitation.

We taught Paul again yesterday on the steps of the temple. He felt so nervous to walk on Temple grounds. 

We testified of God's love for him and that he is NEVER lost. We focused on the atonement of Jesus Christ 

and how because of Christ's suffering, we will ALL be able to find a way back, no matter our circumstances. 

At the end of the lesson, we saw a glimmer of hope in his eye. He knows that he may be able to progress. 

We will help him regain his testimony of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. I am just in awe that Heavenly Father 

and Jesus Christ would allow us to feel Christlike love for other children of God here on Earth. I know that God 

is real and that he is aware of EACH one of us. Pray(:

I love you all! And I would love to hear from each one of you as well. 

Don't hesitate to send me an email: angelique.steenhoek@myldsmail.net

Sister Steenhoek

Notes from 31 October, 2014

So I am training again for my last 2 transfers of my mission! I will attach a picture below, but my companion's name is Sister Chiu (cho) from Taiwan. She is so sweet, and I can tell that we are going to have a great transfer together! Today is our p-day, and we have something so awesome planned for Halloween! The Square is closing at 5pm, and we are going to eat dinner at the Church Office Building and then do a session at the temple as a mission. How unique and special!! 

Well this week, we met a man named Andrew on mormon.org chat. He was looking for more in life when his friend told him a little bit about the LDS church. He got a copy of the standard works of the church (all of the scriptures we read) and he found that alot of his questions were being answered! He came onto chat and asked about the evidence of Heavenly Father having a physical body. We ended up setting up a return appointment for the next day, and we committed him to be baptized! He has definitely been prepared.

Dee is getting baptized this Sunday evening!! Sister Taggart and I taught Dee while we were outbound. She has had many missionaries teach her, so she will have a huge crowd at her baptism!! Something pretty special is that Sister Chiu an I will be able to skype in for her baptism and celebrate with her! I am sooo excited for her.

Paula, the older woman we taught outbound, kept telling me that I wear the same jewelry. So I was sent jewelry that she bought for me to mix up my jewelry selections haha.

Well, my trainer went home this past transfer and is done with her mission, and 2 of my past companions went outbound! By the time those 2 come back to Temple Square, I will be going home. Man does time fly!

I have learned so much about the enabling power of the atonement. With Heavenly Father, we can do all the things that he has in store for us. How marvelous is that to think about? We usually set our own plans and don't always accomplish them. But with the Lord's help and with using his help to set plans for our lives, they will always be possible and will always lead us to greater growth. (1 Nephi 3:7)

Sister Steenhoek

PS. Tell me about the missionary work you have been doing lately! Make sure to pray for opportunities, and the Lord will put them into your path.

Picture: My companion and I in the teaching center taking mormon.org chats.

Notes from 27 October, 2014

So there was a woman at the Christus statue yesterday reading a book. 

We ended up talking to her. I started talking about the temple and how I want to go consistently when I get off my mission. We asked if she had been, and we found out that she had been married, divorced, and still hadn't been to the temple. We committed her to prepare to go. God makes sure everyone has an opportunity at accepting his message, even more than one time.

When we were taking a tour yesterday, a man pulled me aside to ask me about the 12 oxen in the baptismal font of the Salt Lake Temple. I started explaining the temple to him, and he has decided to learn more! He is a Muslim from the states, and his teenage son is a Christian. It will be interesting teaching him for sure!

As we were walking around the desolate grounds while all of our guests were listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert yesterday morning, a member (Ron) came up to us and said he had 2 co-workers who seemed interested in receiving copies of the Book of Mormon. We took all 3 of them to the Christus statue and taught them about faith in Jesus Christ. We now have an appointment to talk with both of them and the member over the phone this week!

The work does NOT end there! Bob, our lovely investigator from Clovis, CA, got baptized and confirmed over the weekend. We called and taught him about callings yesterday, and he wants so badly to use his carpentry skills to serve others in the church.

We took around 4 senior couples that are currently in the MTC about to go to different Visitor's Centers around the country- Mesa Arizona, Temple Square (:, Independence Missouri, and the St. George Visitor's Center. They were watching how we took tours and taught simultaneously, which was a little nerve-racking, but they also brought such an incredible spirit with them! I think those missions are going to be so blessed to have them.

So we have received our assignments for our next transfer. I don't know my companion yet, because she is coming from the MTC!!! I am going to train another sister for my last 2 transfers most likely, and I am so excited to do so. Missionaries that come straight from the missionary training center have such an excitement to learn and to grow. This will be wonderful!

Moroni 8:3.

Sister Steenhoek

PS. I took a picture with all of my Temple Square companions, from the MTC to the present time! Three will be leaving in just a few days, so I had to take this opportunity! The only one I am missing in this picture is my companion from Washington DC, Sister Taggart(:

The Assembly Hall on Temple Square.  Few missionaries every get a picture with all their previous companions.

Notes from 20 October, 2014

We met Leona today while she was looking at the painting of the boy Jesus teaching scholars in the temple. Leona is from the States and has bright red hair. She was here with her ward just walking around temple square on a youth trip. We found out she is not a member! We are so excited to have the opportunity to keep in contact with her.

We also met Ramdass from Singapore just yesterday. We explained ot him about the Book of Mormon, and he was SO excited to get his own copy!! We will call him next week after he gets home from Salt Lake. On the same day, we also met this girl from Singapore who asked us where she could attend a church meeting here. We will be keeping in touch with her as well to see if she liked the church service.

Bob getting baptized on Saturday! Sister Stigsson met Bob while she would exercise in the mornings. He knows German, Russian, and English.

As we were walking through Temple Square yesterday after Music and the Spoken Word, a member yelled, "the Church is true!" Only on Temple Square.

Scott, the man we met a few weeks ago, is doing great! He jut isn't sure what ward to go to since single's wards cap off at 45 for the older singles wards, and he JUST turned 46. He doens't know if he feels comfortable going to a family ward. But he accepted coming to our ward this Sunday! He is working through having some faith issues (such as tithing) after learning about the church for a year now. But we will help him.

Transfer conference next monday morning! I will know what my fate is for the next 6 weeks before I email next week.

My companion is famous!! A woman from the Ensign for Sweden came to visit Temple Square, and apparently all the members in Sweden know each other. So my companion was interviewed for the Swedish Ensign!! Check it out.

We met this guy from Ivory Coast by the Christus Statue, and he had an incredible story. He is a convert to the church, and after serving a mission, he decided to go to China for work. It turned out to be a scam, but instead of returning to the Ivory Coast, he felt he needed to stay in China. After a year of being there, he returned in the hopes of getting a visa to come to America. Apparently it is very difficult to do. When he went to get his visa, he went to a teller who spoke to him in Mandarin Chinese! She said his Mandarin was so good and that she has approved his visa for 3 years more than he had originally asked for. God works miracles.

There was a wonderful analogy that was shared in sacrament meeting yesterday. When a master pianist stands up from playing a wonderful piece of music, people don't come up to the stage and congratulate the piano. They congratulate the person that made the music happen. The same with miracles in our lives. God is the person that is causing the miracle, and we are only the instrument in his hands. We need to thank God for the miracles he has granted us to witness on a daily basis. 

I hope you are all having a lovely week! And I also hope that you are continuing to help out those missionaries in your local area. Members are KEY to missionary work.

Love you all!

Sister Steenhoek

Posing with some of the Sister Missionaries on Temple Square with David Archuleta and his accompanist, Kendra Lowe