Not just any spider can make you Spiderman

Hola Familia!

It sounds like you've had a pretty good week. I just realized the other day that it's basically the end of May and that soon everyone will be out of school and that Cameron will be a high school graduate! Wowzee! All I have to say is I hope I get an announcement! I kind of feel like a lamester missing all these events. I realized last week that I haven't been home for Mother's Day for the past three years and that when Brady graduated I was in Mexico. But the most important part is that at least you know I love you. Mom! You are almost finished with Nursing School! How awesome is that! Push through this last little part and you win! I can't believe you've made it this far. I know it's been a battle, and I am so proud of your dedication and determination. You've been such a good example to me the past few years.

Mom, thank you so much for your email this week. It was really what I needed to hear. I think the hardest part is that I just miss feeling like I'm being loved. That's probably selfish, but I just don't feel that in this companionship. I don't know why it's so hard for us to connect, but our relationship is just so superficial. I'm trying to share more of myself and express love, but I don't know how to get through. But I keep praying everyday for the charity to do it. Obviously there's still something that I'm not doing right. It's kind of funny what you told me to do, because I kind of came to that conclusion myself this week too. Really the only person that can be in charge of the way I feel is me. And sometimes I'm just not strong enough to be happy on my own, so that's when I need Heavenly Father's help. I don't think I've ever pleaded so much in my life for the power of the Atonement to lift me up. I find myself taking bathroom breaks or something just to take a minute to pray because I feel like I can't go an extra minute on my own anymore. On top of the companion stress comes the stress of this area. I'm constantly trying to find ways to work smarter and more effectively so we can share the gospel with as many people as possible and find those that are ready to accept it. The only thing I want is for the next missionaries to come in to a beautiful, strong area that is organized and is going somewhere. I think of so many hermanas here that could do this job better than me, but for some reason or another President Riggs received the revelation to send me. I have no idea why, but I trust that. There was something I was sent here to do that only I could do. Maybe I'll never know what it is. Maybe it's something that I needed to learn, or maybe it's someone that I needed to talk to. I am doing my best and I'm learning that that's really all that I can do. But when it's truly everything, that's acceptable to the Lord. In my studies this week I've noticed a group of phrases that keep popping up. At least once every single day it talks about either a person or a group of people pouring out their souls to the Lord. When they did that the Lord comforted them in their afflictions and they saw miracles. So I'm trying to do that too. And we are seeing miracles. Little by little this area is growing. When we had our planning session I realized that we had almost 40 names on our whiteboard. Not all of them are investigators, but they will be soon. Then I realized that four and a half weeks ago we had nothing on our whiteboard. We didn't even have a whiteboard! So I know this area is progressing. I just need to keep an eternal perspective. And be patient.

We did have some pretty amazing things happen this week though. Like I said, the Lord is working miracles. First, we had exchanges. And I got to go to Woodbridge. I was so happy because after the mission splits Woodbridge is not going to be in our mission anymore so I'll probably never have the chance to serve there. Unless I get transferred this next time and end up going to the new mission. Not likely, but it could happen. This exchange was like heaven. It was so nice not to be in charge for a day. I finally felt like I could breathe. I still had to drive though because Hermana Whitaker is waiting for a visa so she's not insured. That was an adventure. I'm coming to learn more and more just how bad I am at following directions. We got lost more than a few times. But Hna Whitaker is great! We became instant friends and that's something I really needed. We got a lot of work done and I really felt like we were a power companionship for a day. She's also having a hard time in her companionship and she helped me see the perspective from the other side (she's being trained). Her struggles are completely different than what mine and my companion's are, but we were really able to talk and bounce around ideas about what we can do to strengthen our companionships. It was really good for me. We also got to go and see Hna Matute who is a member that lives in Woodbridge that is one of my favorite people ever. She is a really good friend of the Castaneda family and so she was in Old Town all the time. I told her at Reyna's baptism that I was coming on exchanges to Woodbridge and she was so excited. She fed us dinner that night and told me that she called Lourdes to find out if she knew anything about me coming and then decided she would stay home all night just in case we came by because she didn't want to miss us. It was so good to see her. I love her! I also met the funniest little kid. His name is Jarbin but he tells everyone it's Peter Parker. He's five and doesn't speak a word of English. Anyway, he's obsessed with Spiderman. His mom was telling us that the other day he found a spider and was doing everything he could to get it to bite him because he wanted to become Spiderman. She just about died. So we told him that not just any spider can make you Spiderman and that the special spiders don't live here. That kid is crazy!

On Friday we had a half mission conference and Elder Echo Hawk came and spoke. They were kind of keeping it hushed, but I figured it out because he was coming for our stake conference this weekend too. It was such a good mission conference. Elder Echo Hawk spoke when I was in the MTC and a lot of what he said was very similar, but this time, it was exactly what I needed to hear. It touched me so much. He talked about how he is a convert. That when he was baptized when he was a teenager but he wasn't really converted. Until he had a Young Men's leader that really helped him out. He had a horrible football injury in which they though he was going to loose his eyesight but he promised Heavenly Father that he would read at least ten pages every day if he could only see again. It happened and as he read the Book of Mormon he was changed. And this all started because a member one day asked his father if he could send the missionaries to his house. What touched me the most was that here was this young boy with no hope of a future who turned into a man who had a four year football scholarship at BYU, graduated from law school, and eventually ended up working as the Head of Indian Affairs in the Department of Internal Affairs. Why? Because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, because of the Book of Mormon, and because of people that cared about him enough to come to the rescue. And I thought, how many of those people do we pass on the street every single day? Those people who have so much potential to do so many great things and they don't even realize it. It's our job to help them realize that potential. And it's not really us that doesn't anything, we just teach them where to find it--in the Savior.

So yesterday was stake conference and Jhoana came. And so did her sister Esperanza. Jhoana is really progressing and Esperanza is starting to too. They really liked it and are already talking about coming again next week. We're going to put Esperanza on date this week and we're hoping that her and Jhoana can get baptized together. Jhoana has progressed leaps and bounds since we first met her and it's been so amazing to be a part of it and to become her friend. For someone who is only 19, I'm amazed at her desire to do what is right and to find the answers to her questions.

So that's about it this week. Sorry it's kind of been a novel. Oh yeah, and I got a wedding announcement for Mari this week! So Maricita, if you ever read this, congratulations! I'm so excited for you!

Thanks family for being the best in the whole wide world. I love you so much.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

 

Yep, thats Elder Echo Hawk

 

 

 

EVEN WHEN IT'S HARD AND MAKES ME WANT TO PULL MY HAIR OUT

Hola Familia!

I just love you so much! Talking to you yesterday was so fun! I wish it could have lasted longer, but the work must go on! And my companion was getting super antsy about leaving, even though she started way before I did because her computer didn't have any technical difficulties. Oh well. You all look and sound great. And I'm so happy about Baby Alex's new shirt! I need more details! Have Brett and Elise found out if they're moving yet or any details about that?

Anyway, we made it to our dinner appointment and had Peruvian chicken and it was so yummy! And then we made it to our miracle lesson. Wow. We got there and he wasn't home but his sister said that he just ran to the store so to come back in half an hour. So we did. The sister and her son are being taught by the English missionaries and so they sat in on the lesson too. And really liked it. But basically we sit down and Geraldo says, "I have two questions that I would really like to be answered: First, what is the Book of Mormon and where did it come from? Second, how do I become a member of your church?" Wowzee. So we taught him and he was just so into the lesson and we would teach the apostasy and he would just say how much sense that made. And then we taught the Restoration and he loved it. And we taught about Priesthood authority and he just saw that that made so much sense too. When we invited him to get baptized he was like sure, not tomorrow, but sure. So we gave him a date for June 15th. It was a really cool lesson.

Like I was telling you yesterday, Jhoana also came to church and that was a miracle. Elder Young and Elder Macias had been teaching her, but she takes care of all of her siblings kids and there was never a man in the house so it was super hard to teach her. So they passed her to us and told us good luck getting her to church. But we've been teaching her for the past few weeks and she's just absorbing things like a sponge. She has so many questions and has really wanted to see what church is like. Friday we had a lesson with her and we took a member and they just clicked. They member offered to give her a ride to church and she was so excited. She also didn't have to work taking care of all the kiddos so it was super easy to get her there. And she loved it. She kept saying how different it was from the other churches she had been to, but that she really liked it. She is on date for June 8th and she's really progressing.

So that's about the update for things here. Every day is a struggle, but Heavenly Father is blessing us. Going back to Old Town for Reyna's baptism this week made me remember that I didn't love Old Town when I first got there either. Or even after my first transfer there. That it took a lot of work and that there were a lot of tears, but that it became a place that I love more than I can say. That can happen here too. It's requiring a lot of work and there have been more than a few tears, but that's okay. Heavenly Father knows why He put me here in this area with this companion. I pray every day that I can be teachable and learn from her and learn from this area. Maybe we'll never be the best of friends like Hna Stewart and I are or like Hna Wallis and I have come to be, but we can accomplish what we were sent here to do and we can love doing the work. That's the most important thing.

I love the Lord and I love this work, even when it's so hard that it makes me want to pull my hair out. It was so good to see you all yesterday. Thanks for being the best family in the world.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

I think I'll just stick to a mission‏

Hola Familia!

I just love you so much! And Mom, I did go to high school, of course I know what Star Wars day is. And way to go, Cam for giving out a Book of Mormon and wearing leopard print! You win! It sounds like all is going well with you. Can you believe it's May already? I can't. It's almost time for everyone to be getting out of school and then summer will be here! It's been pretty chilly here the last few days and it hasn't felt very much like spring. Oh well. I'm sure as soon as summer gets here I'll be wishing it was like this again.

Let's see, what can I tell you about Sudley? The ward loves us. That's really good. Way different than when I started out in Old Town. They're so excited to have hermanas here again. We also have a good calendar. So we should be getting fed a little bit more. It might kill our miles, but we'll get to know the members a lot better so hopefully it will be a good way to help get them excited for missionary work. We really need their help. It's a lot more diverse down here. As in not every one you meet is from El Salvador. We met a Chilean last night, and now I think the only country in South America that I have left is Paraguay. Then I will have met or taught someone from every South and Central American Country. Sweet!

This week has been yet another hard one. Remember Pedro, the sweet little Domincan man? His wife got home this week. We're were super excited to go and teach them together. It turns out that Pedro's wife is not quite as sweet as he is. She told wouldn't let us talk to him and she told us that she told him that he was wasting his time with us. That she studied the Bible and that if he wanted to study the Bible he could do it with her and her church. That he was the only member of her family that didn't go to her church and so if he wanted to find God, he could do it in her church. We tried to explain and clear things up, but she wouldn't have it. We tried to ask her to just give us 20 minutes of her time, but she said she was busy. When we asked if we could come back, she didn't say no, so maybe in a few weeks we'll try it again. I know that Pedro felt something. So that was the lovely start to our day and it just went downhill from there. Typical Saturday.

But, it finally did turn around. About 4:00 in the afternoon, I told Hna Sorensen that I felt like we needed to change our plans and go down to Manassas. I had had that thought the night before, that we needed to go see a family, but it just didn't make sense for us to go all the way down there and we were going to see them at church on Sunday. But we changed our plans and after dinner headed down to Manassas. The first person we had decided to see wasn't home. After the day we had had up to this point I was pretty discouraged and I thought, wow, we came all the way down here for nothing. But we headed to our back up and I just prayed the entire way that we could just teach someone something. At this point I wouldn't have even minded if I had to do it in English (teaching in English is way harder). So we park on the street by the next apartment complex and we start heading to see the Martinez family. There was no one even out on the street to talk to. Until we rounded the corner and there's this little boy that's trying to run and play in the street. And then we see his mom, sitting on the steps. So I started kind of playing with him, asking him what he was doing playing in the street. And then we started talking to his mom. We told her who we were and what we did and she said she would love to hear our message and invited us in. We started teaching and got to the point of the apostasy and I paused and asked her if she had ever lost something and not been able to find it. She hesitated for a moment, and then got really emotional and told us that when she was about two her dad had died and she had never had the opportunity to know him. And that she hoped that someday she would have that chance. We stopped right there and I testified with all my heart that I knew that she would. And that she could know too. That that's why we were teaching the Restoration, because through the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ she can see her dad again. She doesn't have to wonder. if she'll ever have that chance. The message of the Restoration changes lives. She wants us to come back, because she wants to know. After that, we continued walking to see the Martinez family, which was our original purpose. We got there and they weren't home. But the family that they live with were just pulling up. They're familiar with missionaries, but have never really listened to them. They invited us in and we asked if we could share a quick though with them. We were able to give them a copy of the Book of Mormon and testify of it's truthfulness. They told us that want to come to church to see what it's like and that they had wanted to for a while. Hopefully we can start teaching them soon. They are so nice. It turns out that we really did need to go to Manassas, and it wasn't ever to see the Martinez family after all. Heavenly Father wanted us there to teach Maria and to introduce Fernando and Nelly to the Book of Mormon. He answered our prayers.

It's hard, and it's discouraging, but it's still the Lord's work, and He knows what he's doing. I know that someday this area is going to flourish. I don't know if it's going to happen while I'm here, or how long I'll be here and I'm not even really sure why Heavenly Father has me here, to be honest. I know a lot of missionaries that could probably do a much better job than me. But I know that Heavenly Father has His own plan and His own purposes, and it's just my job to do my best, regardless of how hard it is and how long I'm here, even if I never figure out why. But I'm here to do His will.

I'm tyring to learn patience. Training is so hard. I don't know what to do to help my companion progress. I feel like I'm having to reteach her everything. Things that are just common sense to me make no sense to her. And sometimes I just feel like saying, did you learn anything for the six weeks you were in the MTC? Don't worry, I don't actually say that, so it will probably forever be a mystery. And the Spanish is just not sticking. I'm trying everything. So if anyone has any ideas, I would love them. We'll spend 15 minutes working on something and then five minutes later it's back to saying it wrong. She's frustrated because she isn't getting it and I'm frustrated because I don't know what else to do to help her. And I hate correcting her because I feel like the biggest jerk in the world. I do it nicely, but still. We're working on it. I'm doing the best I can and I'm really trying to teach by example. I think that's the most important thing.

So family, that's about it. I love you tons. I'm learning a lot. I've heard so many times that the things you learn on a mission will just prepare you for dealing with marriage. If that's the case, I think I'll just stick to a mission. It's hard enough.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

And we had the best suprise earlier this week......

Hola Familia!

I just love you all so much! It sounds like you have had a sweet week! I love your fhe story! We get weird stuff like that all the time. You just have to laugh and brush it off and then try to keep going with the lesson. Go Kelley for inviting a friend! You're the best! I got the box this week! It was the best. I love it when you send me granola bars and fruit snacks! Those are my two best missionary foods. Also I like the boots. I think they fit...I haven't been really able to try them on yet because I sprained my ankle and it doesn't really fit inside and I can't really get my foot at that angle to go into them either. But I will let you know. The left one fits. So yeah, that's really awesome. We were playing soccer for Pday and this really big Elder, like Brady big, had the ball and I was playing defense so I went for the ball and his foot was just so big that it got in the way and I tripped over it. So that was kind of a bummer. It's fine though. The Elders gave me a blessing later that night and the next day I was able to walk on it. We also talked to the mission doctor and he said he didn't think I would need to go get it X-rayed or anything and he just told me what kind of brace to get. It's kind of like Kelley's air cast. But I'm wondering if you find find a less intense brace and maybe send it. This one is super heavy duty and I don't need quite that much support anymore. So that was just another trial to add to the list. Sometimes I feel like Job. I think Heavenly Father is trying to teach me something. Maybe patience? I just wish I was a faster learner. That's probably really ironic. But I've been studying a lot about patience this week, just with everything that's been going on and the whole situation that we're in here, because it's so frustrating so often. But I've kind of been working on what patience means for me right now and what I'm figuring out is that being patient is being content even when things don't go your way. If things were going my way right now, they would be a lot different. We would have investigators, I would have a companion that could speak Spanish, I would know the branch and the area. Honestly, I would probably still be in Old Town. I miss it so much. I worked so hard there and really started to see progress. I knew the area like the back of my hand and I knew and loved the people. And it was so much easier to find people to teach because there were so many more people. But I guess I learned everything I needed to learn there or did everything that the Lord needed me to do there. And that's been really hard to accept. Because I still want to be there. And I still want to be teaching the people there. But the Lord needs Hna Wallis and Hna Dopp there right now and for some reason, that I'm still trying to figure out and that maybe I'll never know, the Lord wants me here. And he wants Hna Sorensen here too. So I'm trying to learn to love it. Maybe he just wanted me to learn to love knocking doors. We definitely do plenty of that. Poor Hna Sorensen. The very first door she knocked was this super atheist guy. Welcome to the mission! Training is so hard. I have to be patient with that too. So many questions that are just common sense. The farthest my companion has been out of Utah is Arizona. We'll just say she's very sheltered. And the Spanish. Oh dear. It's really hard for me to relate to what she's going through because I came out speaking better Spanish than my trainer. So I don't know what it's like to be learning Spanish as a missionary. I'm trying to find a balance of giving her lots of opportunities to teach so that she stretches herself, but also not giving her more than she can handle. I can't leave her to talk to anyone though because she doesn't understand what anyone is saying. Here's just one example. So I've basically become the ward pianist, and yesterday in church I was coming down from the stand after sacrament meeting and this dear woman was talking to my companion. Hna Sorensen knew that she was talking about me, but thought that she was saying that I did a good job of playing the piano. What she really said was, "The zipper on your companions skirt is broken, you should probably help her out." That's a lot different than she played the piano really nicely! I was so embarrassed. The zipper on the back of my skirt had somehow split and was completely unzipped. And I had no idea! Oops. I guess the whole ward got to see my unders. I was wearing a slip so I guess it wasn't all that bad. But still, what a great way to introduce myself to the branch.

So. About the area. The stake is the Centreville stake, and the branch is called Sudley and it's actually down in Manassas. We are living in Centreville though and that's where we're focusing most of our proselyting efforts. Except for single women that are investigators or less actives. Of which there are about a million. So we're still trying to figure out how that's going to work out with miles. And we had the best surprise earlier this week. I was really, really craving chocolate chip cookies. And of course we had absolutely nothing to make them with in our naked apartment. But then during companionship study we get this phone call from this unknown number. I answer it and it turns out it's a Sis. Palmer. She then proceeded to tell me that she was a friend of Jackie Creer's and that she had baked some chocolate chip cookies for us and wanted to know where she could drop them off. I just about cried. It was definitely a tender mercy. I really needed those cookies. For just a minute it made me feel like everything was going to be alright and work out and just that everything was going to be fine. It was perfect! So thank you, Jackie, for living in Centreville once upon a time and for still having friends here and for thinking about me. It was just what I needed. I was oh so thankful.

We've been focusing most of our efforts on finding and we've had some successes. We had a neat experience the other night where we had a return appointment with someone and then we show up and someone else answered the door and was super rude to us and it was just a really weird situation. It was about 8:25 and so we were debating about whether or not it would be worth it to drive to who we had planned on seeing next. Hna Sorensen then asked if it would be okay if we went and knocked on a door that she just couldn't stop thinking about. Of course! I was just like, why didn't you say that sooner?! You have just as much right to revelation for this area as I do, you silly! And so we went and knocked it. No answer. Typical. But then the door next to me caught my eye. I wasn't even sure if it was Hispanic (you learn to recognize which ones are and which ones aren't), but the light was on. So we knocked it and started talking to this woman from Guatemala named Glendy. We talked to her on her doorstep for a few minutes and I honestly didn't think she was going to let us in. Her two little kids came up to the door and we kind of started talking and playing with them and then out of the blue she just said, "Why don't you come on in? You'll just have to ignore the mess." And then we taught her part of the first lesson and she invited us to come back! Funny how the Lord works.

We've found a couple more people that really have a lot of potential, and so hopefully things start looking up here real soon. Our investigator Pedro, the Dominican one, is so wonderful. He wants really, really wants us to teach his family, and this week when we went by, we invited him to get baptized and he told us that if he knew that this was it then of course, because he really wants to be with his family forever. His wife and daughter get back this week so we're really excited to teach them.

We're also getting to know the ward better and everyone is so excited to have Hermanas. It's going to be a little tricky because this branch is so spread out, but I think that a lot of people are excited about missionary work. We've talked to a couple of families about praying for revelation specifically to know who they know that is ready to start receiving the gospel and they are really excited about it.

I'm sorry if I sounded like the most miserable person in the world in this letter. I promise I'm not. I've just had a lot thrown at me and I'm trying to work through some of these challenges. I know I can and I know I'm not supposed to do it alone, so I'm trying my best to learn how to give it all over to the Savior. I know I have a lot to learn and I'm really being stretched right now. But I know that there's a lot of good that's going on too and we're seeing the hand of the Lord in this work. We're figuring out how to work effectively so that we can really reach as many people as possible.

About Mother's Day, I don't even know when it is. We have church from 1:00-4:00 and we'll probably be able to figure out somewhere to skype. If not, we can just call you on the cell phone. But I'll figure that out this week and let you know for next week. What time do you have church at? And when did you want to family fast? I'm in. Just let me know.

Family I love you so much. You're the best. Keep up the being awesome.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

p.s. Yes, I was the driver, and no, I did not get a ticket, there was hardly any damage done. Except the fact that it was a brand new car, and I'm pretty sure the entire mission now knows that Hermana Simpson wrecked the brand new car. Yep.

I Have Even Less Idea What I'm Doing Than I Did Before‏

Hola Familia!

I love you so much! It sounds like everything is so busy there!  I can't believe Mercedes is home! That's so crazy. I bet Sister Kurtz is really happy to have her back! I hit six months this week! Can you believe it? I don't know where the time went.

Are you ready for the transfer news? As you already know, I'm training. Yikes. Her name is Hna. Sorensen, she's 20 and from Utah and very, very sheltered. She doesn't speak much Spanish, but I'm really impressed with how much she has already learned and how bad she wants to speak Spanish. She is so enthusiastic about the work, and hopefully I'm teaching her something. Also, I finally left Old Town. My heart is still really sad about that. I miss it so much. I miss the Castanedas and I miss all our investigators. Hna. Dopp took my spot though, and I know she's going to do awesome there. I'm just so sad that I can't be there too. I got transferred to Centerville and we're opening up a new area, called Sudley. There have been two sets of Elders here for a while, but they haven't had Hermanas here for years. So we are starting from scratch. We got some teaching records from the Elders, but most of them are from at least five years ago, and some even from 2003. We've done a lot of knocking this week. And this area is definitely not the city. It's so suburban that I don't know what to do. In Old Town we could spend all day just talking to people on the street because there were so many. That's not the case here. And everyone lives townhouses. Or really nice apartments. Or houses. It's so weird. Brett and Elise will get this, but I feel like that girl in Suburgatory. I miss the city. Also, we got a brand new apartment. It's really nice, the bathroom is basically the size of our entire apartment in Alexandria, so that's a plus. The bad thing is that they thought they had a member that was going to donate a bunch of stuff, but there was a miscommunication and that didn't happen. So we're living in a naked apartment. We have exactly one giant desk, two chairs, two beds but no box springs, two bowls, two cups, two forks, two knives, two spoons, and one saucepan. It's almost like we're camping. Just inside. So we're working on furnishing our apartment, but we're surviving. It's been an adventure for sure.

I'm trying really hard to stay positive, but this week has been exhausting. I know I said that my first week in the MTC was probably the longest of my life, but this one has been a million times longer. I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing. We have to spend all day finding but I don't even know where to go to find. And we're in an English district, so our District Leader is no help when it comes to things like that. And I don't know how to train! I'm still figuring out how to do everything. And my companion is so enthusiastic about everything. Her only concept of missionary work is what she experienced in the MTC, so for her it's all sunshine and butterflies. She hasn't quite realized yet that it's hard work. I don't want to ruin her view of missionary work, so I'm trying really hard to be excited with her, or at least not let it show how hard this is and how stressed I really am. We also got in an accident on Friday. We got stuck in this sudden downpour and we hydroplaned. Right into the back of the SUV in front of us. We couldn't stop and it was terrifying. The worst part is, we just got a brand new car. There was hardly any damage done, but I feel so sick inside every time I think about it. I don't really know what we could have done to prevent it, but it's just awful. And now, even though it's dry, I'm terrified that we're going to hit the car in front of us every time we brake. It could have been much worse, and I'm thankful that we were kept safe. There's been quite a few trials since Wednesday, and I keep trying to tell myself that the Lord has put me here for a reason, that I did everything he needed me to do in Old Town and now he needs me here. I know that He does have a purpose for me, but I'm having a hard time figuring out what it is. I know you already do, but please keep me and this area in your prayers. We're going to need all the help we can get.

On the bright side, the branch is super excited to have sisters again. We're kind of like celebrities, so that's fun. The Branch President used to be a mission president so he's really involved in the work so that will be helpful.

We did get two new investigators this week. One was a referral from English sisters, so it's a miracle in itself that he was actually interested. Usually English referrals are people that aren't interested at all. Anyway, his name is Pedro and he's Dominican! I was super excited to finally find and teach someone from the Dominican Republic. So Jeffery Young, if you're reading this, be super excited! I finally found one. The other really neat part is that we taught him the first lesson and he loved it. And when we finished he told us, "My wife and daughter will be here in 10 days, you can come back before then, but when they get here I really want you to teach them this, because they are really going to like it." That was music to my ears.

I don't really have much else to say. I love you so much. Keep praying for me, pray for the people here, and keep praying for Junior and Pili. My heart is breaking that I can't be with them. Things are going to get better here. I'm going to learn how to love this area and the people here and I'm going to learn how to hunt down the Hispanics. I'm going to keep working hard, and I'm going to do my best to help Hna. Sorensen become the best missionary she can be. And hopefully I can even help her learn Spanish. I love you so much. Thank you for everything you do for me.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

I'm going to miss my District so much. I love them!

La familia Castaneda. I miss them so much.

 

What If He Didn't Like Ketchup?‏

Hola Familia!

 

Hello!  I just love you so much!  I love hearing from you!  And Cam got his call!!!!!!! I've been so excited to come and email to find out.  It was torture waiting until today.  I may have squealed out loud here in the library. Oopsies!  I am so excited for you, Cam!  You have a long time to wait, buddy.  As long as I did.  Don't waste this time you have.  Work hard.  Read Preach My Gospel, read the Book of Mormon, and really learn how to recognize the Spirit.  It will help you so much when you get to the field, I promise.  I wish I would have prepared better.  It felt like I had so much time and then all of a sudden I was giving my farewell and it hit me like a ton of bricks that I was actually going on a mission and I realized that I wasn't near as prepared as I wanted to be.  I'm so excited for you though!!!!  A little sad that you'll be speaking Portuguese and not Spanish though.  That's so exciting that you and Brady and Ben and Perry will have all served in Brazil.  I kind of feel a little left out.  Oh well, I wouldn't trade DC for the world!

We have had a pretty amazing week this week, full of awesome experiences.  Hopefully I have time to share them all.  The other day we were walking about, it has been so nice this week.  Almost too nice, actually.  I think we might have hit 90 at least once.  And it was humid!  But anyway, we were walking and we passed this guy and the street holding a sign asking for food.  We didn't do anything because we were headed to an apoointment.  But the image of him just kept nagging at me the entire time.  And I thought to myself, if he's still there when we get back we should do something.  So we head back from our appointment and guess what.  There he is.  We usually have granola bars or something in our bags, but this time we had nothing.  We walked past him and we both just looked at each other and said, we should do something.  Hna Wallis said, "Let's just buy him a burger."  It made sense, there was a Five Guys right in front of us.  But I was so worried.  What if he didn't like ketchup, or what if he actually wanted a cheeseburger, or what if he only wanted two pickles instead of four?  Or what if he was a vegetarian?  That would have been a problem.  It's silly, but I was really concerned.  But then, this thought just came to my mind, just invite him with you.  I'm not an expert at taking homeless guys out to eat, but I said to Hna Wallis, "Why don't we invite him to come with us, maybe we can even share a message."  And we did!  He was so grateful, and he was asking us what it was we did.  He's from Southern California (the same place as Alena, actually) and he had seen missionaries before, but we were the first girl missionaries he'd ever seen.  He's out here looking for his birth dad, and he found him, but it didn't turn out to be what he had hoped.  So he's stuck here with a place to stay sometimes and he's looking for a job.  It's really hard to find work here right now though.  He told us that he's really interested in church and everything.  He went to church as a kid, but stopped going because he didn't understand what was being taught.  And then he asked the golden question:  Every church teaches something so different, how do I know what's right?  Well, we know of someone else that had the same question...transition to the first lesson.  It was awesome!  We taught a lesson in the middle of Five Guys and the spirit was there and some of Jeff's questions were answered and the English elders are going to get in touch with him.  Heavenly Father really does put prepared people in our path, we just have to be willing to talk to everyone.

Later that night we were looking for a less active but we were given the wrong address.  We only had about 45 minutes and we didn't know what to do.  We had a couple of options but we didn't feel super content with any of them.  So we went back to our car and decided to pray.  Afterwards, I was waiting for an answer and going through our options doing pros and cons in my head, but I couldn't really focus on any of them because one thought just kept overriding all the others: "Listen to your companion."  Oh.  Then Hna Wallis looked at me and asked if I got an answer.  "Yep," I said, "Listen to your companion.  No pressure."  The thing is that she had gotten the answer that we needed to knock in that area, but she was hoping that I had gotten something different, because she didn't really want to do that.  Neither did I, to be honest, but we did.  And we found a family!  That was a really interesting experience, especially because I've been trying to be more humble and to rely more on my companion, and that really taught me a lot.  And also about revelation.  We both received revelation that was completely different, but it was the revelation that we needed to do what Heavenly Father wanted us to do.  We had to work together to figure it out, but we were blessed because we did.  He truly guides this work.

Continuing on to the Junior saga:  The Friday before last Friday we fasted for Junior.  It was Hermana Castaneda's idea and her and Pili did it too.  This whole week he has been in such a good mood, he's been listening and he's been excited to see us and he wants to learn.  It's been a whole different Junior than the week before.  That in itself is a miracle.  Even better though is that we got to go to the temple on Saturday!  And we actually made it there.  Something always happens with the Castaneda's and things that we plan never seem to turn out, but this time they did.  And it was so special.  We called the sisters there the night before and told them what we would like and they did an amazing job.  They received revelation for exactly what Junior needed to hear and the Spirit was really strong.  We talked a lot about families and how Junior can be the light that his family needs by accepting the gospel.  He knows it's true.  Those VC sisters are so special.  Junior really loved all of it and even posted the pictures on Facebook before we had even made it home.  It was such a good temple trip.  I wish I could explain it by saying more than how good it was, just know that it was.  He still wants to get baptized in November.  He's crazy, but we'll see what happens.

Yesterday at church we also had a surprise.  Reyna was on date for the 13th, but she told us on Thursday that she didn't quite feel like she was ready and she was worried that her mom, who died and was super Catholic would be really disappointed in her decision.  We asked her to pray about it and specifically ask Heavenly Father if this was what He wanted her to do and if her mom would accept her decision.  She ended up not getting baptized the 13th, but on Sunday she came up to us and asked us when she could have her interview.  Um, what?!  So she had her interview and is ready to get baptized.  The only problem:  She doesn't want to do it alone because she doesn't want all the attention.  So we've got to find someone else real quick that's ready to get baptized.  I'm so excited for her though.  She's very smart and very firm in her decisions and she got the answer that she needs.

And now for the terrifying news.  I got a phonecall last night from AP Litchfield (who is a friend of Mindy Strong, by the way), and he asked me if I would do him a favor.  Of course.  And then he asked me if I would be willing to train.  Yikes!  I told him that if he was sure that was what the Lord wanted then yes.  He said he was sure.  And then he said, "Here's the thing, you won't be staying in Old Town."  Those might be the most heartbreaking ten words I've ever heard in my life.  I'm not ready to leave and I'm not ready to train.  But it's what Heavenly Father wants.  So I'll be training and either white washing or opening up an area.  And I am so scared.  I don't feel ready for either of those responsibilites, let alone one of them.  I guess I've done everything the Lord needs me to do here, but it breaks my heart to have to leave.  I love these people so much.  Especially the Castaneda's.  They've become my family here.  My comfort is knowing that Heavenly Father has His plans and this is His work, so if I'm willing, He will make miracles happen. 

Family I love you so much.  Thank you for being so wonderful.  Thank you, Mom, for praying for the people that I love so much and for loving them even though you don't know them.  Just know that they are so special and that your prayers are being heard and making a difference.

xoxo

Hermana Simpson

 

 

The Spanish Soap Opera that is Our Life‏

 

Hola Familia!

 

I love you so much!  It sounds like you have had a great week!  That's too funny about dad in the movies.  I'm glad you all had fun though.  Things seem to be moving along great for you guys!  I'm so happy that you're all working so hard to do what is right.  I'm so excited for Cam to get his call!!!!!!!!!!!  Hna Wallis is guessing Virginia Chesapeake Mission (that would be super cool, especially because I could end up there) and I guess Ghana or Kentucky if he's stateside.  Hopefully I'm right!  I hope that you all take the time to watch the parts of general conference that you didn't get to watch this weekend.  Does that sound preachy?  Probably.  Oh well.  It was so good!  We were so lucky to be able to watch all of the sessions and we even had our investigator, Reyna, come to the Sunday Morning (which is actually in the afternoon) session.  I was praying so hard that President Monson would speak in that session so that she could have the opportunity to listen hear the words of the prophet, and he did!  She really liked it.  She said that something that she noticed and really liked was that everyone talked about real life problems.  She said that in her experience a lot of churches just talk about the Bible and the facts about the Bible but that during conference she saw that the teachings of Christ were applied to help solve problems.  In the session she watched there was a lot said about marriage and family and it was perfect for her!  She's experienced and is still experiencing so much heartbreak in her marriage, but she has a three year old son that she just loves to pieces and she wants to do what's best for him.  We promised her that if she went to Conference with a question that it would be answered, and for her it was.  And for me too!  Heavenly Father loves us enough to listen to and answer our prayers.  I love the gospel!  I had prayers and questions answered that have really been weighing one me lately.  We are so blessed to live in a time where we have living prophets!  Did you get a chance to hear Elder Holland's talk?  That touched me so much!  I've been studying and pondering a lot about faith and sometimes I've felt like I haven't had sufficient faith to do what I need to be doing here.  That talk was heaven sent.  If you didn't get to listen to it, I hope you do.  And if you did, I hope you listen to it again!

This week has been a weird week.  I haven't been sleeping too well and I've been kind of grumpy.  On top of that, we had a lot of things fall through and a lot of things go not according to plan.  It's so frustrating when people use their agency to do things that are not good for them.  I can't imagine how Heavenly Father feels with us.  Junior has taken a turn for the worse and is breaking our hearts.  As in smashing them to pieces.  This week we had set up an appointment to come and see him with Rudy, one of the single adults in the ward that was baptized last year and is awesome.  But Junior completely avoided us and wouldn't even come out of the room to talk to us.  Um what?!  We had no idea what was going on.  At first I was so mad at him.  I couldn't believe that he was being such a stinker.  I may have thrown a tennis ball at him through the open door.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (I still haven't decided), I have really bad aim and missed.  We had set up this appointment and Rudy had come and he just didn't even care.  And him avoiding us didn't make any sense.  But that mad turned to sad really fast.  It  breaks my heart that he is choosing to miss out on blessings that Heavenly Father wants to give him.  Especially because he's felt the Spirit so strong!  So we had a lesson with Hna Castaneda and Pili.  It was really good for Pili.  I don't know how much I've told you about her, but she's a Hna Castaneda's youngest daughter and she just moved here from Mexico right before I got here.  She has four of the naughtiest children I have ever met, so naturally I love them.  Part of the reason Pili and the ninos left Mexico was because her husband was super abusive.  It's a really sad story and they're all trying to recover from it.  The kids came here first about a year ago and then she got here pretty recently.  She's been pretty inactive for a long time, but she promised Heavenly Father that if He would help her get back to the United States she would do her best to come back to church.  And it's been so hard.  Trial after trial has come and she's trying so hard to be good and do what is right.  And she's even been trying to work with Junior.  She's amazing.  So it was good for Pili to be able to talk to Rudy and to have a lesson even if that wasn't the original purpose of our visit. 

Heavenly Father is so sneaky though.  We decided to give Junior some time, we didn't know what he wanted and we were at a loss of what to do.  Wednesday though, we were talking to Lourdes, Hna Castaneda's other daughter, and she said that her mom was so embarrassed about everything that happened and that she just felt terrible.  So later that day we decided to stop by really quick and tell her not to worry and that everything was going to be fine.  And it was Walk About and she lives close.  So we get to her house in the middle of the day.  The timing was perfect because Junior was going to be working and Hna Castaneda is always home at this time.  Wrong-o!  We get there and walk up the steps and guess who we see sitting at the table from the sliding glass door.  Yep.  Junior.  He got home from work early and Hna Castaneda was doing errands.  I was shocked.  Jorge, the inactive returned missionary son was also there.  We talked on the porch for a while and we ended up having a lesson.  We had no intention of doing so, but the Spirit kept pushing for me to share something.  I had something in mind, but then I opened my Book of Mormon and it fell open in the middle of the story of Aaron teaching King Lamoni's father.  I had no intention of sharing anything from this story, I had something else in mind, but I have a verse highlighted that just felt perfect.  It's after Aaron has testified and King Lamoni's father is praying and he says something so powerful.  He says, "I will give up all my sins to know thee."  Junior and Jorge's hearts have been hardened, but something about this touched them.  They didn't say anything, but the look in their eyes was enough.  The Spirit testified.  I don't know if it was enough to change anything right now, but at least they know that we're still going to love them and that we're not giving up on them.

Then Saturday we went over to watch the Testaments with that family between sessions of General Conference.  Junior would hardly say hi to us.  He was sitting slouched on the couch on his phone.  He was really being a punk.  But, that movie touched him.  After the movie was over we shared part of 3 Nephi 11 and testified of Jesus Christ.  I was able to look into his eyes and bear testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ and His gospel.  And what I saw there made me want to cry.  He just has this sadness and this look of being lost that is so sad.  And we have what will fix all that.  When we were saying goodbye I had the chance to talk to him really quick and I asked him if he liked the movie.  He said of course.  Then I asked him if he felt anything and he said "I can't say."  And I said "Of course you can, it's as easy as yes or no."  Then he said that he did.  I went on to tell him that it was because it's all real. 

So we'll see where we go from here.  He's so good, but he's so lost.  I promise we have more investigators, we're just always worried about him, so that's what you get to hear about.  Welcome to the missionary soap opera that is our lives!  I love it.  Someday something's going to happen that will help him to take action.  We just don't know when but we're not giving up hope.  Some good news:  some of our investigators decided to get married all on their own!  So that's our week.  Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.  I love you so much!  Does that blog that you were telling me about come in Spanish?  Junior doesn't speak English...

 

xoxo

Hermana Simpson