The Spirit really guided our words and wow

Hola Familia!

I just love you so much! It sounds like you are doing so well! I've been thinking about all of you a lot this week and praying for you too. Keep being so good! It's so exciting to see so many people getting mission calls. The Lord is truly forwarding His work! We're seeing it here. That's so exciting that Mason is going to Leeds. My good friend Eric served his mission in Leeds and loved it.

We've have a pretty interesting week. We're trying to hard to be obedient and to do everything right. And it seems like when we do so, we just realize even more of our weaknesses. But, as it says in Ether, if men come unto Christ, He will show us our weaknesses. So I guess that means we are coming unto Christ. And we just have to have faith that His grace is sufficient to turn our weaknesses into strengths. I know that it is. We're also learning how to be patient with ourselves, which is hard. There's so much we have to do and so much we want to do and by ourselves we just can't do it all. But when we put the Lord first and follow His will, everything just seems to fall into its proper place.

This week has also been a mixture of crazy, heartbreaking, and really neat. Let's start with the crazy. Tuesday night at about 8:00 all our plans had fallen through. We had no idea what to do, so we prayed about it. We felt impressed to head south down the Route One to see a potential investigator. So we made it to the apartments and knocked his door. No one was home. We were really relying on that, but it didn't work out. And there was no one out and about, so we were stumped. As we started walking back to our car we were both praying that we would have the opportunity to meet someone with whom we could share the gospel. We got back almost to where we were parked and there was a young guy waiting at the bus stop. So we started talking to him and gave him a pass along card. And he said, "Thanks, I really needed this right now." So we start talking to him more and asking if there's anything that we could do to help him out and he starts crying. It turns out that he had been living in Hawaii but his mom had just had a stroke so he moved here about a month ago. She was his best friend and now she doesn't even recognize him. He's also living with his dad, who abandoned him and his mom when he was a kid and his dad is a drunk and also really verbally abusive to him. He's also gay and HIV positive. He told us that he's been contemplating suicide. because he just feels like he has nothing left to live for. It was so sad. But we talked to him about the Atonement and we went to our car and got one of our few English copies of the Book of Mormon and told him that he would be able to find comfort and direction if he would read the Book of Mormon. We asked if we could say a prayer with him and he said that would be great. So I started praying and even though we were standing on the side of the street and cars were driving by and it was freezing the Spirit was so strong. I could just feel the love that Heavenly Father had for his child, even though he has made some major mistakes in his life. Afterwards we we all a little teary eyed and Alberto said, "Thanks so much, I feel a little better now. Can I give you girls a hug?" And before I could say no, he grabbed me and gave me a great big hug and a big smooch on the cheek. Oops. I don't know if there was a way to avoid that situation, but I got kissed by a gay guy this week. And that's all I have to say about that.

The other thing I wanted to tell you about is Junior. We love this kid so much! Last Monday he came to fhe and loved it. We've been getting really exciting because he really seems to be progressing and he's feeling the Spirit more and more. He's been reading the Book of Mormon and he likes it. Fast forward to this weekend. Juan, his cousin came into town (he lives like an hour and a half away). Juan is Hna. Castaneda's son and he's bad news. He's been inactive for longer than he's been active, and he's just exactly the influence that we don't want for Junior. So we had a mini lesson with Junior Saturday but he didn't even want to read the Book of Mormon with us. He's super shy and I think he was embarrassed because there were so many people there and I don't think he really wanted to talk about church stuff because he was feeling pretty uncomfortable. So we just shared a scripture and invited him to church. He said maybe. And told us that they were going to a party that afternoon. I hate parties. So we stopped by Sunday morning and invited us to church and Juan was still there, they had been out late, and they had been drinking. We asked Junior if he was going to come to church and he told us no, that he was too tired. We tried our best, but he wouldn't be convinced. He told us that he really wanted to sleep. But he did ask us if we were going to come back in the afternoon. So I guess that was good that he still wanted to see us. I told him I hoped he changed his mind (it worked last week with Hno Castaneda) but it didn't work and he didn't come. We were pretty disappointed. At church Hna Castaneda told us that Junior also been talking to his mom in Mexico and that she's been discouraging him from moving forward so that's hard too. But we went back Sunday night and we had a completely different lesson. We asked him if he got his nap in and he said kind of. Then we asked if it was worth it. And he said kind of, not really. We asked him why not and he said it was because he should have gone to church. We then started reading in 2 Nephi and we talked about how Lehi had to sacrifice everything to leave and he still praised and thanked the Lord. Why? He had to give up everything. His gold, his silver, his home, his friendships. Why was he still so grateful. Junior said, because he knew that the Lord had saved him. We asked him if it was worth it, even though he had to sacrifice so much. And Junior said yes. And that's where the Spirit took over. We talked about sacrificing so that the Lord can bless us. About giving things up that don't really matter. And about doing what we know the Lord wants us to do, even if sometimes we don't feel like we want to. There were times when you could have heard a pin drop. Which never happens in that house with the million people that live there. Hno Castaneda and Pili were there and they had the opportunity to testify. The Spirit was just so strong! I wish I could explain it more. So yes, we chastised Junior, but it was done in love and it was done because we were so sad that he was missing out on blessing, on the opportunity to receive answers and on the opportunity to grow a testimony. And it was amazing. The Spirit really guided our words and wow. I think that's often how Heavenly Father is with us. He chastises us because he loves us. He knows what we're missing out on when we're disobedient or when we put other things before Him and He wants us to be happy and He wants to bless us. But he can only do that when we are doing what we need to do.

So that about sums up our week. It's been another good one. I love being here so much and I love being a missionary.

And to answer your question about the unmentionables, let's just say that Rocky Mountain Oysters are probably the closest. Just know that it was so yucky. And I never want to experience that again. And this week we got fed liver. Also disgusting.

Well family, I love you so much. I hope you have a great week this week! You're the best ever.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

p.s. Can you give Dani my email address. They email policy has changed and we are now allowed to email friends as well. Thanks so much. A thousand hugs and kissies.

We Had A Miracle Happen......

Hola Familia!

I love you so very much!  It sounds like you've had a pretty busy week!  We have too!  And Mom, I'm so proud of you.  I just think you're the coolest person in the world.  And the best mom ever.  I'm really excited for this next quarter for you.  It sounds like it's going to be really good.  You're going to learn so much so that when you start working you're going to be the best nurse in the whole wide world.  You're such a good example to me and I'm so glad to hear that things are going well for you.  I absolutely love the skirt that you sent!  It's so cute and so comfortable!! I would wear it ever day if I could.  And it is so fun.  It looks super cute with boots (see below picture), but I can't wait to wear it in the summer!  And my hair is so long.  I'm thinking about cutting it today, but it just seems like such a boring way to spend a Pday.  And I'm scared to get it cut because I don't trust anyone as much as I trust Amber.  So we'll see what happnes.  And yes, there is a couple in my mission, Elder and Sister Harris, that work in the office, and they are the parents of Connie's daughter in law.  They told me that a couple of weeks ago and were pretty excited about it. They're so sweet.  Elder Harris is the car czar and we've talked to him quite a bit the last few transfers because we are always having car issues.  Speaking of transfers though, I'm still in Old Town!  I almost cried in relief when we found out.  I had been really praying to be able to accept the Lord's will with where He wanted me to go this transfer but also praying that if it was His will, I really wanted to stay in Old Town.  I think I would be perfectly content to spend my entire mission here.  I'm so grateful to be here and I love the people here and I love the work.  And I feel so blessed to be able to be in such a wonderful area.  Transfers are starting to get really scary now, especially with the formation of the new mission this summer.  We still don't really know what's going to happen with that, other than we're loosing Woodbridge and Stafford.  So it could be that when they form it, whoever is in those zones might just end up in that mission.  And that's scary.  I know that wherever I end up is where the Lord needs me to be, but I really hope it's in this mission.  It's so exciting how much the work is progressing though.  We got 25 new missionaries this last transfer and it has been crazy trying to figure out new areas and zones.  Rumor has it that next transfer we'll get another set of Spanish missionaries in this zone, so we'll have four sets of missionaries in the ward.  That's so many missionaries.  

We survived walk about Wednesday.  It was snowing and freezing and we got soaked.  It was really cute because we went to eat lunch with one of the grandmas in the ward and we got there and she saw how wet we were, went back to her closet and came out with this two pink nightgown things.  She told us to put them on and then she took our clothes and went and put them in the dryer.  It was the sweetest thing ever.  And so funny.  I wish I had had my camera with me so that we could take a picture.  Just imagine it though.

The work is going so good here.  It has really just exploded this week.  Last transfer we had a hard time.  None of our investigators were really progressing and we were focusing so hard on finding.  All of that hard work is starting to pay off.  Heavenly Father has blessed us so much.  We are finding like crazy and we have people that are so nice and super cool.  And they're reading the Book of Mormon.  We met this one guy a couple of weeks ago knocking on his door.  He was busy then, but told us that we could come back a different day.  We left him with the Restoration pamphlet, but weren't able to visit him the next week.  By the time we stopped by he had read the Restoration pamphlet and wanted to know if we had anything else he could read.  His wife still wasn't home, so we couldn't come in, but we scheduled another appointment.  So the time comes for the next appointment and he wasn't home, so we just left a copy of the Book of Mormon on his doorstep.  We came back a couple of days later and he thanked us for dropping that off and told us that he was reading it!  He really likes what he's reading and is super excited to learn more.  We couldn't believe that he was reading the Book of Mormon all on his own.  We can't even get our investigators that we've had for months to do that.  We've seen so many little miracles like that happen this week and it's been amazing.  We are so busy, and I love it!  

We also are seeing so much progress with Junior.  We had a miracle happen this week with him.  He was supposed to be working in North Carolina this weekend, so we didn't really have any hope for him for coming to church this Sunday.  But Saturday afternoon we were teaching a combined lesson with the Elder Rivera and Elder Creager and they told us that they had just visited the Castanedas and that Junior was there.  So we went over and visited him and read with him.  It's been so hard to try to help him understand why he needs to read the Book of Mormon.  But we read just the first three verses of Nephi and explained them and he asked us questions.  He never asks us questions!  So that was really good, because if investigators are asking questions it means they're thinking about it and trying to understand.  And Junior is starting to understand.  So we also invited him to church, and he said maybe.  Saturday night we bought doughnuts and Sunday morning before church we took him some doughnuts and said that we just wanted to help him get up and get ready for church.  And then we invited him and he said he'd come.  We also invited Hermano Castaneda who is super inactive and he said not this week.  I then I put my bold pants on and when we were leaving I said, "Well hermano, it was good to see you, but I really hope you change your mind and come."  And guess what.  They came!  The whole family came.  And Junior really liked it.  And last night we had a baptism and Junior came.  And he loved it!  We asked him how he felt afterwards and he said that he just felt really good.  Like this feeling of peace had just washed over him.  There was a different light about him last night, and he's changing.  It's taken a while, but step by step he's learning and he's progressing, and he's starting to grow a testimony.  And that's what this work is all about.  I love it so much.  It's so good.  We've had a ton just amazing experiences, I could spend hours telling you about it, but that gives you a taste of it.  Missionary work is so hard.  But words can't describe the sweetness of experiences like this.  This is really what it's about, inviting people to come unto Christ.  And when they do, step by step, there's no greater happiness that I've experienced.  I wish I had words to say what my heart is saying.

I also realized this week during our weekly planning session that I'm changing too.  It's been so subtle, and I don't even know if it's that big of a change, but I was so scared that I would be too stubborn or maybe just too thick headed to let the mission change me.  But it is.  And it hasn't been easy.  There's been a lot of really hard things, but I can see how Heavenly Father has been using these experiences to help me grow and to help me become the missionary and the person he needs me to be.  I'm so thankful for this opportunity that I have to be a missionary.  I couldn't have picked anywhere better to be right now.  

Also, I've really grown having Hermana Wallis as my companion.  We're still together, and I've learned a lot from her.  It wasn't as easy for me to love her at first as it was for me to love Hermana Stewart.  We're very different and we have different opinions.  But we've learned a lot from each other and I have so much respect for her.  And we do love each other now and we've really learned how to work together and we've seen so many miracles.  It's just so neat.  I can't say enough how much I love being a missionary.

I've also learned a few things this week.  Mainly this:  Bedbugs are more than just a silly rhyme you say before you go to sleep at night.  They're real!  And they bite!  And we are about 89% sure that we have them.  It's disgusting.  We're going to try and figure out where they're coming from today.  Happy Pday to us.  And yep, I'm allergic to them.  They're way worse than mosquito bites.  

So that's about it for this week.  I love you so much and I hope you're doing so well!  

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

Pday bowling last week.  I may be the worst bowler in the history of ever.

Last district meeting of the transfer.  Except none of us got transferred.  So we took the picture for nothing.  And I have hippie hair.

Chinese food after district meeting with the Sanchez family.  We love this family so much!  And I want Melina's purple pants.

Blessing in Being Diligent‏

Hola Familia!

I love you all so so much!  And I am so proud of all you are doing.  Mom, you got a job!!!  I'm so happy for you!  I knew you could do it!  I've been praying so hard for you.  And all your hard work is finally going to pay off.  You did it, Mumsie!  And that will be so nice to have a break from clinicals for the rest of the quarter too.  I have no idea who Brandon Mull is, but I'm glad that you and Taz were able to go do that.  I'm so surprised at how fast the weeks have started going.  I never ever thought I'd say that, but yesterday I realized that it was already Sunday again.  It felt like it was just Sunday.  And also, transfers are this week.  Wild, right.  We just had transfers.  And yeah, this has been only a five week transfer, but I can't believe that we're already almost through.  I'm getting really nervous though.  I really don't want to leave Old Town.  I love it here.  It has really become home to me, and I can't imagine leaving the people here.  I love them so much.  Really truly.  I can't really even explain it in words.  But I know whatever happens will be the Lord's will, and it will be hard, but I'll go where he needs me.  We'll find out what's going to happen tomorrow night.

This week we've had some really amazing experiences.  Some of them came out of trials, but my testimony gets strengthened every single day that the Lord is so involved in this work.  So we'll start with the hardest part of the week.  On Tuesday morning I woke up at about 5:00 and I was so sick.  I was throwing up about every half hour.  It was miserable.  I couldn't keep anything down, not even water.  But we had lessons to go to and district meeting, so it really wasn't an option to stay home.  District meeting was miserable, I couldn't even sit through the whole meeting without being sick. Afterwards the Elders offered to give me a blessing.  It helped.  We had to take a little break Tuesday night, but it was more miserable not to work than to be sick, so we headed back out.  I was really worried for Walk About Wednesday, but Heavenly Father is so good.  Somehow I made it through, and wasn't completely miserable.  We walked about nine miles, I hadn't eaten anything for almost two whole days, but we made it.  And we were happy.  We met a ton of people and taught some lessons in the street.  Hopefully some of these people will turn into investigators.  It was so worth it to work and to do my best, even though I felt like dying, and I know that Heavenly Father blessed us for being diligent.  It was a great lesson to learn.  He is always waiting to bless us when we put Him first.  And we were way happier too.  And don't worry, I've gotten over those sickies and I'm doing great now.  And I got the box!  Thank you so much!  I got it on Tuesday night when I was so sick and so sad and it made my whole day!  It was kind of a bummer not to be able to eat those fruit snacks right away, but I've more than made up for it.  Thank you, thank you!  You're the best mom in the entire world.  And Kelley, I love the earrings.  They're so cute.  Thanks for thinking of me.

On Thursday we had one of those experiences that I've been waiting my whole mission to have.  I know that doesn't mean a whole lot because I haven't been out that long, but it was beautiful.  So we have this investigator named Junior.  He's 22 and he's the nephew of Hermana Castaneda who is a member in the ward.  He's super shy, but we've been teaching him since New Year's and it's been fun to see him warm up to us.  The problem is, we haven't been able to get him to pray.  He always says maybe next time.  But he really hasn't had a spiritual experience and he really didn't even understand why prayer is so important.  So we decided to dedicate an entire lesson about prayer.  We read Matthew 7:7 and he told us that he didn't really understand it and so we explained it.  It's a little different in Spanish than in English, but basically we explained that it's like we're on one side of the door and Heavenly Father is on the other side.  He's waiting to open the door and He wants to let us in and answer us, but we have to let Him know that we're ready and that we want to come in.  We asked Junior if he believed that and he said yes.  And then we turned to 3 Ne 19:24 where Jesus is praying with the disciples.  Part of Junior's problem with prayer is that he doesn't really know what to say and he's embarrassed that he'll say the wrong thing.  We read this verse where the disciples aren't really worried about what they're saying, and it touched Junior so much.  We asked him if he understood the verse and he said, "It doesn't matter so much the words I say as what's in my heart."  Hermana Castaneda then bore a beautiful testimony about how much Heavenly Father wants to hear from us and how much he wants to talk to us.  And then we asked Junior if he would say a prayer with us and he said yes!  He didn't even hesitate.  It was so beautiful.  Hearing people prayer for the first time is such a neat experience and the Spirit was just so strong.  Afterwards we asked him how he felt and he just had this big grin on his face and he said, I feel kind of strange.  And he put his hand to his heart and said, it's something I've never felt before.  He was so happy, we were so happy, it was so good.  I wish I had more words to say how it feels, but it's something that words can't really express.  But it's so true.  I know it, and I love helping other people come to know it too.

Yesterday we had another neat experience.  After church we had plans to check on someone we had found knocking the other day.  We went to his apartment and knocked and he wasn't home.  We were kind of bummed out.  So we were trying to decide what to do next.  We both really wanted to go home and break our fast (we were starving) but we had a potential that lived in the same complex, so we decided that it would be best to see if we couldn't get a lesson in with her.  So we did, even though we didn't really want to.  And Heavenly Father blessed us. We realized that we had gone to the wrong building to find Marvin, and the building that we were heading to was actually his building.  So we knocked on his door (the right one this time) and he was home!  And so was his wife so we could go in!  We taught them the first lesson and they loved it.  His wife, Jenny, said, I didn't realize I could pray like that.  I guess it's really important that I come to know if this is true so I can know if I'm really doing what God wants me to do.  And to think, we wanted to go home and break our fast.  Such silly hermanas.  Heavenly Father is so good to us.  There are blessings in being diligent.  It's truly how to be a happy missionary.

I love this work, I love the Lord, and I love His gospel.  And family, I love you!  I pray for you all the time, and I miss you oodles, but that's okay, because I know that we're all where we're supposed to be.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

p.s. Isn't it wild that they're splitting Brady's mission too?!  The work is progressing!  Our bishop told us that they're opening 58 new missions in the world!  So exciting.

Also, here's a picture of the baptism for the week.  This is Alisson and she's the cutest little girl ever.  Her parent's have been less active for a while and they've just started getting active again so they asked us to come and teach her and help her prepare for her baptism.  It was so good!

Maybe it's a Bolivian Delicacy or Something...‏

Hola Familia!

I love you so much!  You all sound like you're doing great!   And Kelley, your talk was so good!  I'm so proud of you! You have such a beautiful testimony.  You should probably be the one out on a mission right now :)  Thank you for sending the package for me!  I haven't gotten it yet, but maybe today.  

So this past week has been interesting.  We set some high goals this week and we were really excited to work hard and reach them, and then things just did not work out.  Over half of our appointments cancelled on us, we took some of the Laurels in the ward out with us on Saturday and our other appointments fell through, and we got stood up quite a bit.  It was kind of frustrating and we did a lot of knocking.  It's okay though, because we're looking for new investigators that are really ready to make and keep commitments.  Hopefully we'll find some soon.  Our mission is really trying to focus on finding those that are ready and have been prepared by the Lord.  We know they're here, we just have to be willing to work to find them.  Hermana Wallis and I were talking about that today during companionship study, and how it's the things that we have to work for that are really worth it anyway.  I never expected quite how much sacrifice being on a mission would require.  I thought that once I had made the decision to come and made those sacrifices things would be a little different.  Boy, was I wrong.  Being a missionary requires sacrifice on a daily basis, and it really requires giving up the natural man and doing things that we don't want to do.  But when we sacrifice, we see miracles, and we learn to recognize the Lord more and more in our lives.  And we appreciate that the Lord allows us to witness so many tender mercies, even when we don't deserve them.  It's hard, but learning to have this perspective makes it better, because it's part of the Lord's plan.  I think of the Savior and the work that He did.  It wasn't easy, and it wasn't fun, but He did it.  Why?  Because he loved the Lord and because He loved us.  So He let go of His own wants and His own personal conveniences because He knew there was something more important.  The same is true with us.  

This week we also had interviews with President Riggs.  I love that man!  He is so full of wisdom and love and I feel so blessed to have him as my mission president.  We talked a lot about the atonement and about grace and I learned a lot from him.  

Some hard things about this week:  We have an investigator who has a super machista husband and she dropped us this week.  It's really sad because she really wants to learn and progress, but her husband is so against the church.  Satan has a really strong grasp on him and we think that he is forbidding her to see us.  Our investigator Priscilla has also fallen off the face of the planet--we haven't been able to contact her for almost two weeks, so we're going into detective mode today to try and figure out what's going on.  Hopefully we're successful because she is ready for the gospel!  IT's very hard to love people.  What I mean by that is not that it's hard to actually love them--that comes very easy.  Sometimes I wish it was harder, so they wouldn't break my heart so easily.  These people mean everything to me.  I wish I could explain in words the feelings I have in my heart.

I'm not sure what the best part of the week was.  We have a bunch of highs and lows every day.  We had a really neat fhe with Jean Paul and his family this week.  We also had some menos activos and an old investigator that we visited come to church this week so that was also pretty exciting.  And we had a really good lesson with Moises and his mom about the restoration that we tag teamed with the Elders for.  Now if only his mom would be more supportive in helping him make the decision to be baptized.

We also had two very interesting experiences and I'm not sure if they fall in the good or hard category.  Maybe just the weird category.  First, we were driving and we stopped at a light but Hermana Wallis had kind of pulled into the crosswalk a little and there was a guy that was trying to cross the street.  He stopped right in front of our car and started making hearts at us with his hands.  And then he started walking over to the door.  We hurried and pushed the lock key and he was knocking on the window for us to roll it down.  Of course we didn't.  Then he went and stood in front of our car and even though the light was green, he wouldn't let us drive.  We didn't know what to do!  Maybe we should have just run him over...It sounds scarier than it actually was.  He finally left.  Mostly it was just awkward.  And speaking of awkward, you'll never guess what a member tried to feed us last night!  There's a Bolivian lady in the ward who makes us dinner every Sunday.  She's super sweet and we really appreciate.  Expect for last night.  We didn't really appreciate dinner last night.  I'm almost too embarrassed to tell you...but we got home (she makes it to go) and we opened it up.  And it was the unmentionables of some animal.  It was TRAUMATIZING!  We honestly didn't know what to do.  Maybe it's a Bolivian delicacy or something, but there was not a chance we were eating that.  So we made spaghetti.  I guess on the bright side at least she didn't feed it to us at her house.

Anyway family, I love you so much.  Be so glad that Mom doesn't make food like that.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

AN INFINITE ATONEMENT

Hola Familia!

I just love you so much!  It sounds like you are doing so well.  Mom, I'm so proud of you and so excited for your interviews.  I'll be praying for you and I know that you'll do awesome because you are awesome.  I got some pictures of Cam but no video.  That's okay though, I don't really have time to watch it.  I'll just take your word for it that it was good.  Good job, Cam!  And yes I did get Kelley's letter.  Thank you so much Kelley!  That was way too nice of you!  We used some of it to buy Uno to play on Pday.  And Kel, I love getting your letters.  I'm sorry I'm not better at writing them back, but they are seriously the best part of my week when I get them.  You are so awesome and I love hearing all about your life.  I also got the shampoo, but not the conditioner yet.  Someone in my district had to stop by the office and saw a package for me.  I guess the conditioner will have to wait.  That's okay though, I'm not completely out of shampoo yet.  If you haven't sent that box yet, could you add the white downeast undershirt that I have?  Thank you so much for doing that for me, I really appreciate it.  You are the best.

This week has been a roller coaster for me.  As a missionary I think I've experienced every emotion possible on the spectrum.  Hermana Wallis and I have been working really hard and we're seeing little miracles every day.  Recognizing the hand of the Lord in our lives is so important.  He is so involved and He loves us so much.  This week I've been studying a lot about the Atonement and about repentance and I'm so far from even being close to understanding everything, but I did learn something that kind of has to do about what you were saying. In Alma 34 it talks a lot about the necessity of an infinite and eternal atonement and about justice and mercy.  In verse 12 it talks about "an infinite atonement that will suffice for the sins of the world."  I've been thinking a lot about that.  Especially about the word suffice.  It's very similar to the word sufficient, which means enough.  And I've come to realize that this scripture is true.  The atonement of Jesus Christ is sufficient.  If we allow it be.  We do not have to rely on our own merits, because they aren't enough.  They never will be.  But when we rely on the Jesus Christ, we don't have to do it for ourselves.  We can lay any sin and weakness and His feet and he will lift us up.  And this is what the gospel is all about.  People need to know about the saving and healing power of the atonement.  This is why we're missionaries.  Because the gospel gives us access to the atonement, which is sufficient.  

We went to the temple for Pday with our district, it's open on Mondays when it's a holiday.  It was really special.  I love the temple.  It is the house of the Lord and His presence can be felt.  I'm so glad that we have temples to give us perspective on our lives.  We have such a great purpose to accomplish here on the earth.  I've really needed to feel peace, and the temple was just what I needed.  

Jean Paul got confirmed on Sunday and it was so special.  He has so much support from his family and from the ward and I know that Heavenly Father has great things in store for him.  I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father has allowed me to be a tiny process of his conversion process.  It's the best feeling in the world.  

At district meeting today we talked a lot about the Book of Mormon.  Family, the Book of Mormon is true.  It was written for us and we need to read it and understand it and apply it.  I love this book.  I've started rereading it and I hope that you'll join me!  I think almost all of us in our district are doing this and we're asking our families to be a part of it.  I know getting together for family scripture study is never the most fun thing in the world, but it's so important.  There is a power that comes from reading the Book of Mormon that will bless us in more ways that we can even recognize.  It was written for us.  And that makes it special.

I love this work and I love the Lord.  And I'm so thankful that our family can be together forever.  I love you all so much.  

xoxo 

Hermana Simpson

I know this looks like a temple date...It's not.  You can tell by the awkward gap between the hermanas and elders.  Being a missionary is so incomodo sometimes.  We can't even take a normal picture.  Oh well.  The other elders in our district had already left with the member that they went with.  And Elder Rivera's eyes are closed.  Oops.  It was super good session though and I'm so glad we got to go.  This temple is amazing!!!

                                                                 Hermana Wallis and I

 

Great Big Miracle!‏

Hola Familia!

I love you so much!  I don't have a lot of time to email today, so sorry that this is going to be short.  Thank you for ordering shampoo for me!  You're the best.  Did you send it USPS?  I don't know if that's an option, but that's the only way the mission office can forward it so we don't have to wait until transfers to get it.  If not, that's okay too.  This week has been HARD.  Taking over the area has stressed me out in a way that I've never felt stressed out before.  I feel like I usually handle things pretty well when I'm stressed and can compartmentalize, but this time it's been almost overwhelming.  My companion is trying, but she just doesn't know a lot about the area yet and so she can't really contribute much when it comes to planning and she doesn't know our investigators.  Sometimes it feels like the weight of the world is on my shoulders.  And I feel like everyday I just recognize one more weakness I have.  And I really miss Hna. Stewart.  Her first name is Allie by the way.  I'm trying to stay positive.  I know there's a light somewhere at the end of this tunnel.

And we did have a miracle this week.  I don't know if I've told you about Jean Paul before.  His family (mom, dad, and sister) got baptized this summer but he didn't.  The elders tried teaching him for a while but they were mostly just buddies and didn't have too much progress.  In November we asked his mom if there was anyone she could think of that we could teach and we asked her to pray about it.  She thought and thought and couldn't come up with anyone.  Then one day she thought of Jean Paul.  And she thought, maybe the Hermanas can do it.  So we've been teaching him.  When we first started seeing him he would always avoid us and have an excuse for why he couldn't stay or he would just get home and hurry and jump in the shower.  Well somewhere along the way he started listening to us.  And we eventually gave him a baptismal date for February 17.  He accepted it and said that he would pray and read the Book of Mormon and try to get an answer by that date.  So Thursday we went by and we had assigned him the Enos to read.  He read it!  Then we asked if he felt like he was praying like that and getting answers like that.  And he said yes!  Then we asked him if he had gotten an answer about that date.  And he said yes!  He felt really good about it.  He still hadn't even told his parents that he was thinking about it, which was really bad because half of the ward knew because of ward correlation, so we were all keeping this big secret from his parents.  Anyway, he told his parents that night and we were over there the next day and his mom told us that she was supposed to have her gall bladder removed on the 13th and she was going to try and postpone the operation.  But the Jean Paul asked if we could push back his baptism.  I just said (kind of joking) "well we can do it this Sunday."  And he said okay!  So we put together a baptism in two and a half days!  It was amazing.  He got an answer and he knew it was right.  Hna. Stewart and I had fasted for him the week before, and it was the next week in church that he knew what he needed to do.  We're hoping that he'll decide to go on a mission, but he's really set on the Navy.  When Elder Rivera did his baptism interview though he said that he was thinking of a mission if the Navy didn't work out.  And then he told him not to tell us.  It's all so exciting. I've never been so happy.  I really thought my heart was going to explode with happiness last night.  The Relief Society room was jam packed with people.  There weren't even enough chairs so some people were just standing.  It was so good to see all the people there to support him and his family.  This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know it.  And I'm so thankful that Heavenly Father allowed us to be a part of this miracle.  

For Grandpa, um... I'll never forget the time you were playing got your nose with Nathan when he was about three.  He decided that he wanted to play too, so he grabbed your nose, and wasn't he surprised when he pulled it right off!  I'll never forget the look on his face when that happened.

Also, could you send my white shirt with the flowy sleeves if there's room.  I love you so much and I hope you're all doing well.

xoxo

 

Transfers. Not So Much a Fan.

Hola Familia!

I love you all soooo much! Do you want to forward me that picture of Brady and Perry? I'd love to see it! Hope Kelley is having fun in Utah! And yay for Cams! I'm really excited for him. And I'm so jealous you got to talk to Dani! I love that girl. I haven't gotten Kelley's letter yet, but we had transfers last week so the mail is behind a little bit.

Speaking of transfers, Hermana Stewart got transferred. That was so hard for me. We really thought we would be together for another transfer so it came as a complete shock. We had started finally making progress in our area and with the members. And them boom. She was gone. I don't think I can go through this every six weeks for the rest of my mission. And I've taken over the area. The whole transfers thing was definitely the hardest part of this week. We were really truly devastated and more than a few tears were shed. And I have no idea what I'm doing. I just barely finished training and I am not prepared to take over this area. These last few days I've felt so inadequate and I'm so worried that I'm going to forget something important that's going to hinder someone's progress. It's been really stressful and I'm trying so hard to rely on the Lord and let Him teach me, but I think I'm a really slow learner. I just pray that my best is good enough and that His grace will make up the difference for all my weaknesses.

Enough being Moaning Myrtle. Things will get better. My companion is trying really hard to get to know the area and soon we'll be able to support each other better. Speaking of my companion, are you ready to meet her? Her name is Hermana Wallis, she's from Vernal, Utah and she's been out for six months. She's super Utah! But that's okay. She's really sweet and she's a very diligent and dedicated missionary. We're very excited for this transfer and we're looking forward to seeing miracles. Something that I've come to learn is that miracles happen every day. We just have to recognize them. Heavenly Father is so involved in this work and I'm so grateful to be able to recognize His hand in even the little things. We had a pretty big miracle this week though that I'm really excited to tell you about.

We have an investigator named Priscilla and she is amazing. We met her the first Sunday in December when she came to church with a friend. He asked us to give her a Book of Mormon and we also got her phone number and address so that we could stop by. When we stopped by, she told us that she had been to a bunch of different churches and she had always felt an emptiness. That was filled when she came to ours and heard the conviction of people bearing their testimonies. Then she told us that she wanted to learn how to be a member of our church! We were so excited. So we started teaching her as well as her eight year old daughter Suyana. Suyana is the most precious child I have ever met. And she learned about baptism in Primary and has become obsessed with the idea--asking everyone what it is and why they were baptized and everything. She's amazing. Words cannot explain how much I love these two. When I think about it I feel like my heart is going to explode from loving them so much. But about two weeks ago things started going downhill. And it was heartbreaking. Priscilla lives with Suyana's dad and they aren't married. And they've been having problems and he's really trying to stop Priscilla from investigating and coming to church, telling her things like that she change and what makes her think that a church is going to help her change. So she told us that she thought that it would be best if we stopped meeting for a couple weeks so that things could calm down. Hermana Stewart and I were devastated. We couldn't lose her now, not when she was doing so good and really growing a testimony and we just couldn't let her go. Not in a time when she was going through such a hard trial, because it's really the gospel of Jesus Christ that helps us through and she needs that strength and support right now. She wants so badly to be a woman of God, to be a good example for her daughter and to have an eternal family. So not yesterday, but the Sunday before we decided to have a special fast for her, and that we would be able to see her and that her heart would open to seeing us. Two days later we found out we would be transferred. But it gave us the perfect opportunity to stop in unannounced so that Hermana Stewart could say goodbye. So Wednesday night she was our last stop. We knocked on her door. No answer. So we knocked again. No answer. During this whole time we were both praying so hard that she would answer. We knocked one more time. No answer. And we were on the verge of tears. So we sat down to write her a note, we stickied it to her door and started walking down the stairs. And when we did that, Suyana opened the door and recognized the tops of our heads! She invited us in and we had a really good talk with Priscilla. She told us that they had both fallen asleep, but that something woke her up and she felt like she needed to check the door. It was a miracle! Heavenly Father heard our prayers. We then got to invite her to the baptism and she also told us that she would come to church on Sunday.

Saturday we went back with a member and she asked us, so what do I need to do to be baptized. We then taught her the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. I was a little worried, because she drinks tea and she's not married, but the Spirit was so strong. She accepted is a a commandment of God and she loved the promises in the D&C 89. She told us that she had just bought tea at the store, but that she was going to return it! She came to the baptism Sunday night and she was able to meet the bishop and so many members of the ward. They welcomed her with open arms. And she even asked the bishop a question using the phrasing, "so when I get baptized..." It was amazing. I love these two so much and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has allowed us to meet and to learn and grow together. I'm so excited to see her progress.

So that was our week. A lot of sadness, but a lot of joy as well. I keep reminding myself of the scripture in Isaiah where the Lord says, "For my ways are higher than your ways and my thought higher than your thoughts." It's so true. We do a lot of things as missionaries and sometimes we don't understand why we do them. But when we are receptive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and when we obey with exactness, we are allowed to see miracles.

Family, I love you so much. I hope you know that. I'm so proud of all of you and I miss you oodles. Keep being good. And a quick shout out to all those that have sent me letters, I love you. Thank you so much. I'm trying to write back, but I'm slow.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

p.s. Mom I think that would be okay for you to give Dani my email. I just can't email her back. So I'll write her. Also, could you send me some ibuprofen and tylenol. Especially the night time stuff. I don't need three big costco bottles, but if you could maybe just fill one bottle with a concoction of them all I would be so grateful. If not, that's okay and I'll try and buy some, it's just expensive. I love you so much Mom. Sometimes all I want to do is call you and then I remember I can't. But I think about you and pray for you all the time. And I realize just how much you've taught me that has helped me prepare to be here. So thank you. Huggies and kissies.