Welcome Home, Äldste Steele!

7/8/19

#FamiliesAreForever

Äldste Kyle Matthew Steele returned home with honor, on July 4, 2019. It was, by far, the best 4th of July ever! Family and friends gathered at the Salt Lake City Airport and he was greeted with cheers, smiles, tears and hugs! Thank you to everyone who supported Kyle with your positive thoughts and prayers.

"...Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Matthew 25:23

Grammy was excited to welcome home Äldste Steele

Alanna Buth

The real Äldste Steele meets Cardboard Kyle

#BrotherHumor

Alanna Buth, Äldste Steele, Tylene Ama

President Sean Tanner, First Counselor in the Fort Herriman, Utah  Stake Presidency
had the privilege to release Äldste Steele as a full-time missionary for
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 7/4/19

De sista dagarna

Email written: 7/1/19

It feels surreal. 2 years, just like that. 2 years of preaching the gospel, of helping those in need, of learning a new culture and people I've come to love. I've built my foundation and I look forward to the future with hope. I am just filled with joy and peace. Joy in the fact that I have served the Lord. Joy in the fact that the Lord watched over my family and friends as I've been away. Peace in the fact that I served with a my heart, might, mind and strength. Peace that I was obedient, as my mom taught me.

I wouldn't trade this experience for anything. It was well worth it. I know it to be true!

Now, on to the next chapter of my life. To continue studying, marry the girl of my dreams, and to hold out faithfully to the end. Thanks everyone for the support, it's been a wild ride.

Like Dr. Seuss once said, don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!

See y'all soon 

Midsommar

Email written: 6/24/19

Hej!

My mission is coming to a close, with only one full week left in Sweden, before I start making preparations to fly back to the US. There's just so much to do here in Uppsala, it'll be hard to leave! But I know that Äldste Johnston will continue to work hard and help everyone here. Speaking of my companions, we got a call mid-week that Äldste Mathias was moving to Skövde, and so we are back to the normal 2 missionaries in a companionship. I kind of miss being in a tripan, there really never was a dull moment.

We had the chance to celebrate Midsommar this week! This year, we went out to a member's house just on the countryside and had a nice lunch with a lot of the other members. That which was a little unfortunate, was the average age of the people at the party was about 70, and so Elder Johnston and I felt slightly out of place. But, we had a good time! Lots of good food. I was even able to avoid all the pickled herring that they were trying to serve. 

Well, the party ended quite early and we were at home around 6pm. We had about 3 hours left in the day and we didn't know that we would do but we definitely knew that we weren't about to just sit around the house for a few hours not doing anything, and so we went back out to the streets. Well sort of. We decided to go out to Gamla Uppsala and see if they were still having some kind of celebration there. When we got there, we found out that the celebrations ended at 4pm and so there really weren't many people there, and they even had locked the gate that led to the midsommar pole. But, the craziest thing happened when we were there! We ended up running to a man that used to be a member of the church. He told us all about what has happened in his life and what led him to stop being a member of the church. We had the chance to bear testimony for him about the existence of God and the Restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith, that it was something that truly happened. He then told us that he said as we said that, it felt good for him in his heart. He recognized those good feelings that comes from the gospel. I hope that he can come back. It really wasn't a coincidence that we had that conversation with him. I'm thankful that we went out again and that we felt the day wasn't over yet. I hope that we can have that same attitude even to the end. 

I think I had mentioned something a member named Odd the other week. Odd and I have become great friends over the past few weeks and I hope to get some of the pictures that he took in his career. I never thought that I could become friends with a 75 year old. But anyways! We met up Odd in the church on Sunday and he told us that we could come by later in the day to give a Book of Mormon to his neighbor. We came over to his house that evening and he first showed us around his apartment a bit, and then he put on his huge fluffy slippers and we went next door to knock on his neighbors door.  We were let in almost instantly and had the chance to teach the Restoration and present a Book of Mormon! It was so awesome. Odd pretty much taught the whole thing and you could see how much he cared about the message and how much he cared about his neighbor. It was such an exciting experience, and it's just one of the many things that are happening with the members here! 

Hope y'all have a good week! Thanks for the support over the past 2 years!

Triforce, Tricity

Email written: 6/17/19

Hey everyone! It's been another great week here in Uppsala. Well, kind of Uppsala. I was outside of my area about half the week and so I guess I'll have to say it was a great week in Stockholm, Gävle, and Uppsala! Also, I was talking to my parents recently and they told me that this email is the 100th email I've sent out since entering the MTC.

On Monday night, we went out to Stockholm for my last zone conference. At the close of every zone conference, all the missionaries that are going home are asked to come up and give their 'dying testimony', because in mission lingo, the act of going home from your mission is called dying. Well, I got up and made sure everyone knew that my testimony was a LIVING testimony. I spoke of how my experiences on my mission have allowed to me to grow and develop into the person that I needed to become. I spoke of the change that happened in my heart and compared how I felt and acted in the MTC, to how I felt now. Through Jesus Christs, our hearts truly can be changed. 

Right after zone conference, we headed to a ward activity where one of the older members in the ward was going to be talking about his life. We had no idea what to expect but it turned out that this member, Odd, was actually a very successful photographer and so he showed us all of his projects, some in Palestine, Ghana, and even in some mines from Northern Sweden. It was fascinating! We had no idea that our man Odd was so talented and had such an interesting back story. We talked to him a little bit more about it afterwards and we became great friends with him and then all of a sudden he started talking about people that he knows that need the gospel and so we are going to be working more closely with him on that one! 

Later on in the week, we had the chance to go on splits, and I had the great privilege of going out to Gävle. Man I love that place! We did so many things that day and we were pretty much out from the start of the day to the end of the day. I am just filled with so much joy and just appreciation for having this unique opportunity to see the members that I had become such good friends with, and now this time, at the end of my mission. I even got to see Veronika, and her new baby when I was there! Words can't describe the joy I felt. So many times I felt the overwhelming feeling that the work I did in Gävle, as well as the rest of Sweden was impactful and meaningful. 

The rest of the week has just been going on one visit to the other and were not slowing down! Something that was a little tough was the majority of the people we were going to visit, ended up cancelling last minute, and because of that, there's not much else to report, but this upcoming week will be midsommar, and so we will be celebrating with a few members at their house out in the country side. We'll definitely be eating some potatoes and herring, mmmm. 

Ta hand om er! Vi hörs!

Member Missionary Work

Email written: 6/10/19

This week has been amazing! I don't have much time left in Sweden, but I'm making the most of every moment and every day that God gives to me. It's so cool to see that even after 2 years, I can still learn new things about the work and I can still get excited about those small little successes that happen daily. This past week we got quite a surprising text.

So, we went throughout the day and as we were standing around at bus stop, this one man caught my attention and so I started talking with him. Turned out to be a man from the Netherlands who's dating a girl from Pennsylvania. He was way nice and we talked about everything possible and he ended up being way interested and was going to talk about the church with his girlfriend! Well, as all this was going on, we apparently got a really good text but because I was so invested in the contact, my companions waited until the end of the day to tell me.

Well, you're probably wondering what the text was about. I'll get to that.

We had a nice dinner that evening and then after we walk out, my companions turn to me and say, "hey by the way, Johanna (name has been changed) wants to be baptized." Yeah right guys, very funny. Then they showed me the phone and sure enough we had a text from the friend of a member that basically said that she wanted to be baptized. The text said that she had spoken with her member friend and the conclusion was that she needed to be baptized. And then she wished all of us a great weekend. Things are happening in Uppsala!! The members and the missionaries are coming together in a unity that can't be rivaled in any other country. Elder Clouse, one of the older couple missionaries always jokes with me that there's too much work in Uppsala, I won't be able to go home. 

Not much else to report though. Just the same work as always, but so many things to be grateful for. I'm happy that I chose to serve a mission. Talk to y'all next week! Kram

One Month Left

Email written: 6/3/19

Hej!

Life is still great! Only a month left and we keep working hard. It'll be hard to leave hard to leave this place because of all the wonderful people I've met. 

I don't have a ton of time today, but I thought to share a cool experience that happened this past week. I don't want to give any credit to myself, it was by D grace of God this miracle happened. 

So, this past week one of our dear members in the ward ended up in the hospital and so we had the chance to go and visit him and give him a little bit of support and it seemed like things were going to be okay for him. He was released from the hospital and returned home on Thursday. After Thursday, no other members could get a hold of this member and so we all started to get a little worried. 

The days went by and we got pretty busy with about a million things to do and then elder Mathias got a thought that we should give this member a call. Well when we called, he picked up immediately and we quickly found out that it was not going good for him at all and that he needed to get back into the hospital ASAP. We quickly ran over to his house and he had almost no energy at all and hadn't eaten food in 3 days. We called the hospital and ordered an ambulance to come pick him up. They came with a taxi instead.

But, the whole miracle of this whole thing, was that this man's phone did not work. People would call but the call would drop before it even started. Our call was the only call that went through that week. We got a hold of him just at the right moment. I just love how good God is and how aware he is of all of us. 

Hope y'all have a good week! 

SMJ

Email written: 5/27/19

Hej!

Where should I even begin as I try to explain all the good things that have happened this week?? Transfers have officially happened and I've been with my new companions for almost a week now. Elder Norin is now in Helsingborg. Working in a tripan is a lot of fun. There's a lot of benefits, but at the same time there can be a lot of drawbacks, like making enough food for 3 and also making sure we don't overwhelm people as we contact them, but we're learning as we go and things couldn't be going better for us! Elder Mathias is from Oregon and Elder Johnston is from Arizona and it just blows these people's minds that we're not all from Salt Lake City. Also, Elder Johnston's mom is from Sweden and she was baptized in Märsta and so that's super cool to have in a companionship, someone who can relate even more to the Swedish people since he's a half swede!

But, anyways, we have been hitting the ground running since these new elders came off their trains on Wednesday. Just because it's the last transfer doesn't mean we stop running!! We go to the end, until we reach the finish line! But, to be honest with you, if every week can be like the past week that we had, I am going to have the time of my life and continue to become something better. 

A lot of weeks of my mission, I haven't reached our goals. We have set goals for people in church and for new people being taught and what not, and like a lot of other weeks, this week was one of those weeks where we had all 0's to report. I say this only to point out that it isn't all about numbers. I can reflect back on the week and remember all the great miracles and good experiences that I have had that have been a huge blessing for the area of Uppsala. 

Till exempel....

On the first day we were here, since we were in our short sleeve shirts and walking around stan, we were contacted 4 times!!! 4 people that came up to us instead of us coming to them! One of the guys that stopped us was on a phone call and then all of a sudden, he stopped us and said hey excuse me, I need to talk to you people. And so we waited for him to finish the phone call and then after he was done, we all had the chance to bear powerful testimony and even a member that just randomly happened to be with us also bore testimony of the joys of the gospel and there was just so much power in it! It doesn't happen very often that 3 missionaries and a member get stopped by a man wanting to know more about the church. So that happened. 

Also, we made some friends at the volleyball courts and played a little bit of sand volleyball in our shirts and ties. Everyone was quite confused but also super curious as to who we were. #plantingseeds

And then, the highilight of the week was the fact that we gave out 10 copies of the Book of Mormon. Not just 1 or 2...but 10. And those 10 were given out between Friday-Sunday!! Elder Johnston made a post on Facebook to give out a free Book of Mormon and this man's post got so much hate and there were so many people trolling on the post just making rude comments. Lots of people also wanted to take the post down, but that didn't stop 2 people reaching out to ask asking for a copy of the Book of Mormon. And not only did they want a copy, but they also said that they had a friend that was WAY interested, and so those two messages turned into 4 copies given out. One of the people ended up being an American! What a small world! But it just goes to show you that even if people will hate, and even if the post gets taken down, the work will continue to move forward and everyone will have the chance to learn about the gospel. 

Also, the other books we gave out were on the bus. We have such a good system. Front, middle, back. That's 3 people every bus ride. Pretty soon, this whole city will know who we are! Life is so good y'all! Only a few more weeks as a missionary, but the efforts now are going to have of eternal importance. Hope y'all have a good week!

Tripan in Uppsala

Email written: 5/20/19

Hejsan!!

So, we got our transfer calls yesterday and I found out that I won't just be getting one new companion, but two new companions. One missionary just wasn't enough to kill me so they had to call reinforcements haha. My companions are going to be Äldste Mathias and Äldste Johnston and I am really excited to be able to work with them. I know for sure that they are going to help me work all the way to the end. It's hard to believe that I've made it this far already. I'm in my final transfer. 

One thing that I am really grateful for is that I have worked hard and done my best so far, and so I don't have this feeling of oh no, I need to compensate for all the things that I haven't done!! It's more like I am very happy with the experiences that I have had. While I have a huge desire to talk to and teach every single person in Uppsala, I have to realize that it's kind of hard to talk to around 150,000 people in such a short time, and so I need to focus on helping those around me, and lifting where I stand. Our Heavenly Father will take care of the rest. 

One of the best highlights of the week was when we were out tracting in this really nice area called Kåbo and we didn't have a ton of time, but then after only about the 3rd door, we got let in. The man that let us in was this 75+ year old man and he had told us that he always had seen the church (including the original church building we had in Kåbo) and he always had wanted to know more about the church and he was so excited to have us in his house. I didn't understand a lot of what he said, just because old people tend to mumble and talk very unclear and so it can be hard sometimes, but I felt such a strong love for this man as we testified to him that while he is in his older age, he still has the chance to learn more about Christ and repent and so we look forward to continue teaching our good friend! It really felt like we were over at our grandpa's house when we were with him and so after we left I turned to äldste Norin and I said something along the lines of we just met my Swedish grandfather.

As I have been in the service of the Lord full time, I have been able to learn more and more about what it means to minister to others, where we serve in higher and holier ways. This past week, we were able to help a member who needed to uproot some old bushes and prepare her garden to plant new flowers. We went to help on thursday, but because she had pushed the time back so much later, we didn't have much time and only had time to take out 3 bushes, but then on Saturday, we were able to go back and help out since we couldn't just leave the job half finished like that. But it was great to just be able to give service in that way, something so small that means so much to someone else.

We also were able to go and support a local artist at his art show and as we were there, other people were asking us why we were there, if we liked art and if we were artists ourselves and whatnot, but we simply just told everyone that we had met this man and that we wanted to show our support. A few weeks prior, äldste butler and I had met this artist, Ulf, as he was in the middle of cutting up an old rainbow piano with a pocket knife. It was wild! And so, as we began to talk to him, we shared briefly about our beliefs and he invited us to come see his art show. So, we thought we could definitely come by and show him the support and it felt so good to just be there and appreciate the good someone else has done! That's what ministering is all about. It's about supporting. I don't think it is a coincidence that the Swedish translation for ministering in the church is stödverksamhet (stöd meaning support)

Well, that's about it from me! Ni får ha det så bra!

Pictures:

1) Some other art viewers

2) met a man from Venezuela that apparently is a very famous salsa singer (Negro mon)

3) gamla uppsala

1) Some other art viewers

2) met a man from Venezuela that apparently is a very famous salsa singer (Negro mon)

3) gamla uppsala

2nd to Last Zone Conference

Email written: 5/13/19

Hej!! 

I am just so excited to write about what has happened this past week. It was just such a great week and I can't believe that we have already made it to the last week in the transfer. Äldste Norin really has been a great companion to me so far and I've learned so much more about the culture and the language from him since he's from Umeå :D

So, the week started off with a zone conference! We took a train down to Gubbängen and got to spend the night with the ZL's and the Örebro elders. Since zone conference was usually on week 4 of the transfer, by week 5 rolled around we were just so ready to be at zone conference and learn a lot and get together with some other missionaries. The entire conference was just amazing and one of the comments that President Youngberg mentioned as he was preaching was, if this work we do as missionaries was only about baptizing, then they wouldn't send so many missionaries to Sweden. If it was about baptisms only, they would be sending a lot more missionaries to places where they are baptizing tons every week. But you see, this work is about helping people become converted to Jesus Christ. Conversion is a process. Conversion must precede baptism and for some people, the conversion process takes several years. The couple we baptized in Övik about a year ago, Stellan and Eva, took them 50 years! That's longer than I have been alive x2! And so, in our teaching and in our efforts, we need to be sure to helping people learn for themselves and become converted, that way, when the storms and the winds come, they will not fall away. 

Well after getting just about the best pump up ever at zone conference, and shedding a few tears by saying goodbye to my really good friend, Elder Lewis, we boarded a tunnelbana and were on our way back to Uppsala. We first came onto the train and there were no spots to sit down, so we were just standing there kind of awkwardly, and then, a seat opened up and I felt prompted to go take the seat. I strike up a conversation with the first lady. Before long, she asks, now what in the world is the difference between your church and all the other choices, and before I could answer, the train stopped and she got off. NOOOOO, but don't worry, it's not over yet. The second man comes to sit down. Wasn't interested. He gets off a stop later, and then the lady that was sitting next to him, slides over and we are now facing each other. The third lady then turns her phone around and shows me that she was watching Master Chef and we start having the best conversation ever! She was such a sweet lady and she was on her way home to go cook food for her son and so she was watching master chef for some food inspiration haha. But, before long, the conversation came into the gospel and she had  seen the church before but wasn't really familiar with it, and so I asked if she wanted to learn more and she said that it would be SUPER INTERESTING!! And so, after the third attempt on the tunnelbana, we found someone interested and we were able to send her on over to the assistants in Täby for them to take care of. What a great lesson that was for me about not giving up!! You never know how many times it is going to take to achieve success, but in the end, I would even make the assumption that there was success in the process, as the two other people got to learn a bit more as well as all the tjuvlyssnare on the tunnelbana and so just in those 20 minutes and with enthusiasm from zone conference, we were able to do a lot of good on the tunnelbana.

A lot more things are happening here in Uppsala as well!! We started teaching the man that came up to us at our grillfest and when we started the lesson, he told us that he likes asking really deep theological questions and that he really likes discussing, but after getting to know each other and teaching about the Restoration, he didn't really have a lot of those questions to ask and it seemed to all make sense to me. The message we share is powerful!! The message we have can even heal broken hearts, as we witnessed, as a friend of a member we recently started teaching, stopped feeling God's love as she had been going on a different path for the past 13 years. After our lesson with her, she said that we gave her hope and that was really special for me to see! And then, she came to church, and all the speakers spoke about a love for God and a love for others and so everything was perfect for her as she begins to feel the joy in the gospel. 

Well, that's about it! Vi hörs!

Pictures:

Domkyrkan

Party in Gubbängen

Our students

Domkyrkan

Domkyrkan

Domkyrkan

Party in Gubbängen

Our students

Valborg and Cinco de Mayo

Email written: 5/6/19

Hey Everyone!!

Sorry that it's been a few weeks since I've written last. Last P-day was totally crazy as we first met up in the city for lunch with a member and her husband from Gävle, and then waited almost 2 hours to get our haircuts, and then we met a member in the church that really needed someone to talk to and so all that resulted in no time to write last Monday, but hopefully this email can lift your spirits and give you a sneak peak into what's going down here in Uppsala! 

I am absolutely loving my time here. I can say that this past week, not only did we go to a yarn store, but we also ate some fufu with our man Valentine, and we also saw an absolute fight break out in the Subway in Gottsunda centrum. It was insane!! Elder Butler and I were on splits and since our dinner cancelled, we had to go get some subway and just as we were telling the man what we wanted on our sandwich, this huge fight breaks out right in the middle of the store!! And after the fight broke out and we got our food, we were sitting there just having a good time and then this random Taylor Swift comes on over the speakers and apparently 'The old Taylor swift is dead', so that was weird for us to hear. But, that was just the weird things that happened this week, now to get into the good stuff, the good lessons learned!!!

We got to celebrate Valborg this week and although it was a fantastic party/grillfest, we were unable to light the huge bonfire. It's been all too dry here in Sweden, and so there were no huge bonfire. Eldningsförbjud....kom igen!! But, the great thing that happened at Valborg was a member took one of her good friends there and we got to talk to him for the entire party and become good friends with him in real life and on Facebook. After the party, he told us that he was coming to church on Sunday and so that was just a testimony to me of the impact that members can have on others. We didn't even really talk much about the church, but just because of how members act, the special spirit that they have with them, others can notice that and be interested. Unfortunately, he didn't come to church because the member that would have taken him broke her hands at work and so she couldn't drive, RIP, but there's always next week!

But, there was someone else new that came to church this week and it was such a faith building experience. A few weeks ago, we went to a grill party with a few members right in the middle of the city. As we were grilling, this man came up to us and asked us where the temple was and then kept going on his way. All of the members there were kind of in shock but they were then super pumped to find out who this man was as he had been living in their building for the past few months and had never talked about the church. Randomly, but led by God, this man showed up to church yesterday and we set up a time to meet this Friday. He is from Concepcion Chile and his parents had just been in attendance of the temple dedication there. He met with missionaries in Chile but lost contact as he started studying in Sweden, but now he has contact again. His parents aren't members, but he said that his mom works at a nearby university and some of the leaders of the church visited her and gave her a book about temples and some other things! What a cool miracle!

Additionally, we set a goal this past week to find someone with the best kinds of questions. Since Äldste Butler had broken my bike, we needed to take it in to the shop to get it fixed. Well, the first person that we met at the shop was a middle aged man named Mohammed and he was very curious as to who we were and who we represented. He told us that he would love to receive a Book of Mormon and we told him that we could bring one when we pick up the bike. Well, shortly after that about a couple of days, we got a text that our bike was ready and so we went to pick it up. This time, a woman was working there, who also happened to be quite curious about who we were. We began explaining and then she said that she is deciding between Islam and Christianity right now and needs to learn all she can to make her choice and so she said it was a blessing from God that we were able to meet. She then told us that her biggest questions were, who am I? What is my purpose? How can I know the truth? How can I follow God in the best way? And many more. My jaw almost fell off because of the questions she asked. She gave us her information and told us that she would love a visit. But get this, we mentioned the man that was in the shop that we had first met and she told us that that man was her husband. And so we are going to start teaching a nice couple soon all because one of our bikes broke down!!!!

And then, in conclusion, we got to celebrate Cinco de mayo with our good friend Grisel who was baptized in October. She moved here from Mexico and she made us the best tasting quesadillas that I have ever had. We were able to be there with a man that we are teaching named Donald. The conversation at the dinner table was very spiritual and Donald told everyone how excited he was to be baptized as soon as he has received all the lessons from the missionaries. They then started talking about how big of a blessing the missionaries have been in their lives. They talked about how the missionaries were able to help them in such hard times in their lives and how that missionaries are truly miracle workers. It really hit me hard to listen to what these two people have been saying. Sometimes as a missionary, we can focus on all the people that we weren't able to teach, baptize, all the ones that were rude or didn't want to listen, and we forget about all the many people we have to bless, inspire, and lift. I then shared with both of them that just as missionaries are a blessing, are the people that we teach just as big blessings to us. These people have taught me so many amazing things and it's been a blessing to be teaching the gospel. I look forward to all that can happen in the upcoming weeks! 

Well, we are off to Stockholm in a bit for zone conference. Talk to y'all next week! 

Pictures:

1) Me and Björn!!!! He hosted the Valborg. I told him that he looked like a true Texan

2) Me and Äldste Norin

3) Fufu

4) grilling  

1) Me and Björn!!!! He hosted the Valborg. I told him that he looked like a true Texan

Add caption

3) Fufu

4) grilling

No time to write, but here's some pictures

Email written: 4/29/19

All,

There actually is not an email this week! Äldste Steele was very busy with errands and a fresh new haircut today, so that didn't leave him any time to write a general email. However, I will share the pictures he sent, as well as his parting thought to me in a response to my email:

"And about sharing the gospel! A great philosopher once said, preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words."

"just got a haircut"

On splits with Äldste Bills

Mom: Can you tell me where in general the pics were taken?

Äldste Steele: Some of them were taken in Gävle, some were at members houses to help prepare for Valborg and one is me grilling at a grillfest