Hola Familia!
I love you all so very much! It sounds like you're doing a good job of keeping busy. And Kelley is awesome! Good for her for being so good at basketball. And it I'm starting to sense a common theme with Cam's wrestling. I think the past three emails Scott has been mad that Cam didn't pin the guy. Maybe he should just get over it. And yay for Nate! So glad that he's liking it and that he's doing well. Hopefully that's helping drain some of his energy so he goes to bed at night. Are you still reading Harry Potter? I hope so!
Funny that you should mention working with the child life specialist. I was sitting in Relief Society yesterday and I was thinking about real life and had this huge panic attack about what I was going to do with the rest of my life and how I was going to get back into the swing of things again and how I was going to get home in the summer and have to apply for grad school in the fall and take classes and all of that stuff about real life. And I was super stressed out for about 37 seconds. And then I realized that I basically have a million years before I have to worry about all of that again. I have way more important things to worry about right now.
I hope that you do well on your test today. I'll be thinking about you and praying for you. I'm sure you'll do great. You're so smart. And I'm so proud of you, Mum. If there was ever an example of hard work and perseverance and general awesomeness in my life, it's you. Thank you for teaching me to set high goals and to work hard to achieve them.
I think that whatever you send Dani, she will love, but the pillowcase and goodies is a great idea! She especially loves chocolate. Tell her I love her. I sent her a card last week, hopefully she's gotten it by now.
And Jackson, I knew it!! I'm so happy for him! I got a letter from him last week and he told me about his novia and how she came home with him for a little bit, so I had my suspicions. I will be very disappointed if I don't get a wedding announcement.
This week was a pretty good week for us. I think I'm finally starting to adjust to this whole missionary thing. At least every day doesn't seem like it lasts a year anymore.
We had zone conference this week, and that was a much needed spiritual boost. And we got fed lunch! We talked a lot about how to extend invitations and help investigators keep commitments and also how to follow up. President Riggs also talked about the talk from Conference, "What Will a Man Give in Exchange for His Soul." If you get a minute, you should reread it. I was reading it again this morning and I learned a lot of new things. We also had our cars checked, and Hermana Stewart and I won the award for the cleanest car, which means we get an extra 100 miles this month! See, I can be clean in some things!
We've seen some miracles this week. It's been really cool. Heavenly Father is so involved in this work. On Wednesday night after zone conference we were checking up on a less active family, except the address that we had for them didn't exist. Yep. That happens pretty often. So, we decided to just check the apartment number in the building with the closes address. No one answered. As we were walking down the stairs I felt this impression that we should knock the door of the apartment under the one we thought the family lived in. I kind of brushed it aside though and kept walking down the stairs because it was late and we had one more family to check before we went home. But the thought just kept repeating through my mind. So we get to almost the door of the building and I told Hermana Stewart that I felt like we needed to go back up and knock that door. She asked if it was even Hispanic and I just said that we needed to try. So we listened to see if we could hear anything and sure enough, the TV was on, in Spanish. So we knock and there are three middle aged men just chilling in the living room. One invited us to come in and we were about to ask if there were any women home when the man in the back corner pipes up and says, "they can't come in, there's no women here." Um what?! So I look at him and I'm like how did you know? And he tells us that he had been to the temple's visitor's center and had been taking the missionary discussions before, kind of, but then he just kind of lost contact with the missionaries. And his friends had heard of Joseph Smith and they were all like yeah, come back when our wives are home, we really want to learn more. And you can tell us all about that big temple in Maryland. Guess who has maybe finally learned how to listen to the Spirit. This kid. I felt like a real missionary. It was a really neat experience and we're headed back tomorrow to go and see them and their wives.
Then last night, during correlation, we got this phone call. We didn't answer it, but the guy left a message. He said he was interested in learning more about the church. So I called him back and this is what happened: He moved here from Honduras six months ago and has been looking for a church to go to here. Last week he ran into some of the English speaking sisters on the street and they gave him a pass along card with our phone number. He told us that when he got it he intended to throw it away, but he left it in his car. He found it on Sunday and decided to give us a call. So we met him at the church last night and taught him all about the restoration. He's definitely interested and is very excited to read the Libro de Mormon and come to church. I still can't believe he called us. From a pass along card! That has never happened before.
I was thinking a lot about these experiences and similar ones from the past two weeks and I realized that I am seeing miracles here. My first transfer was so hard and there was a lot of heartbreak during those six weeks, and I sometimes felt like Heavenly Father had just thrown me here and fed me to the wolves. I was so ready to see miracles and to be my definition of successful. And that's not what happened. I was ready for everyone's great mission miracle stories to happen to me. And it just seemed like that was not going to happen for me. And I realized that those miracles that people talk about are miracles because they don't happen every day. But I also realized that there are other miracles that I have seen on a day to day basis. This is the Lord's work and He is preparing His children. And He is preparing and molding and shaping me as well. And I feel so blessed that He's given me the opportunity to be a part of it. I really like being a missionary. I really love the opportunity to share my testimony multiple times a day. I really am starting to see people not for who they are now, but for the potential that they have and what they came become through the knowledge of the gospel. It is truly what brings us the most happiness. I know it.
We also had a not so miracle this week. We have a mousy mouse living in our house and I think he's pretty smart because he won't get stuck in our trap. Boo. I've spotted him once and Hermana Stewart has spotted him once. And we hear him and find his poopies. It's yucky. Hermana Stewart wants him dead. I feel bad wanting him dead. I just want him to find a nice home that's outside and not under our fridge.
Family, I love you so much. You are the best. I hope you have a good week. And Kelley, I got two letters from you this week. You win! I'm still working on yours, but as soon as I finish it'll be in the mail! I'm also sending a super awesome surprise that will be your birthday present. Love you so so so much.
xoxo
Hermana Simpson
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