Well it is apparent that homework trumps blog-even if it is small amounts of homework. As the semester ends, I am finding more time for blogging. Unfortunately there are 3 months that were missed in the midst. But the fact that I have stuff to blog about creates a paradox in that I don’t have time to blog about it because events are happening. Thus if I have time it must mean there is nothing to blog about.
That being said, the question is why go to all the trouble to summarize and write at all. Well this is the extent of the Steele journal so if posterity ever wants to know about Grandma and Grandpa Steele-this is about all they’ve got. So, here goes---
February:
Before going into the details of the major events, it should be mentioned that work kept us both busy. Not hard, just busy. There were also tons of get-togethers with friends, which is really want I wanted to happen this ‘final’ semester.
February opens with the Super Bowl weekend! The Dexter’s invited us all over and the boys watched the game while the girls made an apron for me! Kayde also found a recipe for beignet and we fried some ups and had a delicious treat!
Ty and I also learned how to make origami cranes! 
My dear friend Ris decided on the 1,000 crane wish and used them as decorations for her wedding! So a bunch of her friends got together and learned how to fold! Way to go Ris and Tevan!
Mieka’s final month in Orem! She was due to report to the MTC on March 30th so she decided to move back home for the month of March. A surprise party was held for her on the eve before her Orem farewell. We wish her the best of luck in Edmonton, Canada!
The month ended on a bit of a sad note. Dear Uncle Morrie passed away just after Valentine’s. He was going thru a very tough time physically, but the passing of a loved one is always hard. Grandma and Dad quickly arranged a funeral, and it was (at least) nice to see all the family again.
Just one week after the funeral Ty was on his way up to help with the aftermath and was re-ended in our newly revived Honda. Luckily Ty wasn’t hurt and we got a settlement for the Honda. Ty is optimistic he will be able to fix it himself and get Frankie back up and running.
Here is Elder Lewis’ thoughts for Uncle Morrie:
I was sorry to hear about Uncle Morrie. I know this has to be hard for each of you, especially Grandma. We love him and miss him. But how fortunate are we to have the gospel! As a missionary, it truly is heartwrenching to see the pain in people´s eyes when they don´t understand the plan of salvation. Without the healing power of the atonement in their lives, these wounds can last hears. Some of them are willing to accept His peace, and others, unfortunately, refuse to accept hope. Meanwhile, we who know can find the same strength as Martha. Though she mourned for her brother, her faith remained unwavering.
"Nevertheless, I know that whatsoever thing that thou shouldst ask of God, He will give it thee."
Moments like these are always painful; even God feels sorrow from time to time. However, if we respond like this great woman from the scriptures, we too can find solace in the Savior´s response:
"Thy brother shall rise again."
While it is true that we have to wait for this promise to be fulfilled, I testify that it is true. He is "the resurrection and the life" and "whosoever beleiveth in (him) shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life."
Our dear friend has gone home. His spirit has returned "to the God who gave it life." He is carrying on this great work on the other side of the veil. He loves us and is watching over us now. He is patiently waiting for the day when we wil meet each other once more, the day when he can return to his earthly body, and this time, he will be free of pain, of sickness, and of suffering. Certainly let us mourn for Him, and let us honor him by serving the Lord and trusting in His promises, by living worthily to find our dear friend in the Celestial Kingdom once more.
March:
Okay so March only has three main events, but it is birthday month so we stayed extra busy!
First off, I decided to throw Ty a surprise birthday fiesta! Planning started clear back in February and he fell for it all. Hilary made an awesome nacho cake! Kayde and Mieka helped with a piñata, and Maria made some great gorditas! Thanks everyone for helping decorate and bringing food, and thanks especially Nate for filming and Hilary for being the ‘distraction’!
Ty put together this clip-enjoy
Next big ticket item was the LA Travel Show! Ty and I are grateful that Dad and the CVB for St. George invite us to come because its always fun-plus we get time with Ty’s family! This year’s show was extremely exciting for me because I got to meet Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel! No it wasn’t just a photo opportunity-we (me, Dad and Ty) stood around and chatted with her at a party!
After the party we got a tour of the Grammy Museum and we lost Ty on the John Lennon floor.
I also want to talk up our hotel! We stayed at the Hotel Figuerroa in downtown. Definitely one of the coolest places ever! The pictures do not do it justice, but it was an attempt!
Well to round out the end of the month, we did the annual birthday sushi at Yamato! Delicious!
We wouldn’t want to forget dear Elder Lewis:
Everyone seems a little excited to here about life in Catonas. Well, here goes.
When I got here, the average ward attendance hovered around 60. Last
week we had 88, and I´m hoping to break 100 soon! Interestingly
enough, that doesn´t include the bishop, as he´s been sick in bed ever
since I got here. He´s a very good guy, and I hope that he gets better
soon. He´s already helped us with several lessons from his kitchen
table, having offered to let us teach investigators in his home. Once
he´s on his feet again, we could see some very good things happening.
He also has a son out on a mission, who just got to Brazil two weeks
ago. I think we´ve been sort of adopted in his place.
Supposedly, "you can´t baptize in Catonas" but that´s what they´ve
told me in every area I´ve had up to this point, so I really don´t
think that´s going to slow me down.
As far as the apartment... it´s infamous in the mission. Our roof
leaks, water enters in under the doorway, none of our furniture can
touch the walls, our it will be taken over by spiders, we don´t have
heated water, or purified water, and sometimes we just don´t have
water. We have very noisy neighbors who blast music all day long,
making it very hard to feel the Spirit during weekly planning
sessions. A giant flock of mosquitoes enter every time we open one of
the windows, and (Mom will never believe this) it´s a whole lot
cleaner now than it was when I got here.
But in spite of all that, it´s home! I love it!
The area´s practically all dirt streets, but that´s okay with me. The
members are very good to us, we eat well, and I´ll have to be very
careful not to gain weight in my last months.
Anyway, that´s all I´ve got time for. Thanks so much for your letters,
your love, and your support. I´ll be looking forward to hearing from
you after the Conference. Let me know what your favorite talks and
impressions were.
April:
Okay, so if truth be told, I only finished February and March before our trip in May (see other post) so the ‘April’ section of this post may seem a little brief.
First off, we have General Conference! Quite possibly my favorite weekend of spring! Everyone keeps say how geared it was toward the young single adults-which is true, but I have a feeling October’s conference will speak to a different crowd.
Second, Ty had interviews with ‘real jobs’! We are kinda rooting for the one our friend suggested (mostly because he’ll be working with Tyler), but Cass is mostly concerned with the benefits part.
Third, we are forcing upon pain of death that our friend Hilary watch Lord of the Rings! And since our dear friend Adam offered his apartment and life-sized-screen projector, we decided to make it a party! After the first half of Fellowship, Hilary was ready for the second half! This is a good sign, but I knew it would happen!
Fourth, we are of course swamped with finals! What’s new? That’s mostly why it took so long to get this post out! But since it did take so long, you get to see the results sooner than we did.
Tyler Spring GPA: 2.99 | Cass Spring GPA: 3.76 |
Fifth, Ty got a real job! Yes, with our friend Scott, in fact, Scott is Ty’s supervisor! It comes complete with 40 hour work weeks, insurance, and employee access to the gym and pool! We are very excited!
Sixth, Dining Services put together an ‘Awards Night’ for the staff members. Both Cassidee and Paul won awards so that pretty much makes the salad room even more awesome! Thanks to everyone I work with!
Seventh, we joined the ward choir just in time for the Easter concert. It was fun enough-they even let Ty stay in the choir. During the meeting we found out that the student-married wards were being dissolved. It was a little sad, but since we are graduating we’d be finished anyway. It was a good way to leave the ward at any rate.
Eighth: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Grandpa Madson! Riley! and Shandon! all fall on April 11th!
So there is April in a nutshell. He’s Elder Lewis, he ends much better than I do:
“What a wonderful banquet of spiritual treats! I didn´t notice much of a solid theme, but an underlying principle seemed to run through the conference: God´s expectation´s versus Man´s efforts. Whether it was Elder Oaks helping us make our desires meet with those of the Lord, Elder Snow letting us see the hopeful horizon that God sees clearly, Elder Uchtdorf about living beneath our potential, or Elder Christofferson helping accept the Lord´s lifting counsel when it arrives, many of the talks compared what we often offer in comparison to what the Lord asks.
It seems that by popular opinion, Elder Bednar´s revelation talk was the gem of the conference. The analogy was so perfect, and has received comments from many people, including almost all of you. I quite liked it myself and am hoping to use it with several investigators.
I traveled by bus to listen to conference (mostly in Spanish) but we still managed to have 5 investigators listening, and hopefully a few more at home on the internet. Which leads to an interesting story... 10 minutes had passed since priesthood meeting had begun...and our chapel could not find the signal... which was very problematic for us, seeing as we had an investigator in the priesthood session! So... we piled into any and every vehicle that had arrived and shipped ourselves off to the nearest chapel with a satelite! For that reason, if someone could send me a text copy of Elder Andersen´s talk as soon as possible, I´d be very grateful... we sort of missed it, and I heard it was about missionary work...”
Then Ty went with Kevin in the VIP car to take pix and vid during the bike course, and we all made it back down tot he finish line for the winners!
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