"Woah, Bear."

This morning I realized that Hna Hudson's "Nashville Tribute Band" CD is my favorite of all the missionary music we own. Ah, how missions change you.

This week was good. We worked hard. We tried to find. We are about to drop the last two families we've got because they bailed on Noche de Hogar this week haha.
Seriously though, people.

This week when we went to visit Jose Angel he had set up his entire living room sound system outside- guitars, speakers, mics, a keyboard, and a sound board. That got out of hand real fast haha. This week we will be telling him of the new mission rule that missionaries are not allowed to play guitar at anyone else's house, either.

Elder Kopische of the Seventy is coming to visit our mission this week, which is all very exciting. He'll be speaking to the Spanish zones on Wed, and I'm expecting lots of changes will result from his visit.

Last time a member of the Seventy came, it was shortly before we arrived in the mission field and he taught a lot about planning- so our mission has always done a very thorough weekly planning session. Hna Hudson and I are getting better at doing it faster, (and it's a lot easier when you have few investigators.. ahem) but we always take breaks and stuff.

Last week during a break I taught her the highlight reel of the American Civil War.
This week the discussion topic was bears; she taught me about types of bears, a place called "Bear World" that is now on my bucket list, and how to survive bear attacks.

DID YOU KNOW:

If a black bear is coming to attack you, try and make yourself as large as possible, put your hands out in front of you and say "WOAH, BEAR."

Good, I'm glad we've now all covered that.

So, General Conference- better than usual, right? And guess who stayed awake for the ENTIRE 8 HOURS?!? This sister.
I tried to really focus on listening to impressions of the Spirit, and as a result, I feel more excited to do better and be better than I ever have before. I learned so much about good changes I can implement in my life and I'm excited to start.

GEN CONF HIGHLIGHTS:

- Elder Bednar: "A grateful person is rich in contentment." Some of the blessings we receive from the Lord are things like discernment, self-mastery, or increased resolve and resiliance. The personal growth/skills we acquire from facing a challenge is often more eternally valuable than recieving the solution to our challenge. Sometimes, our personal growth IS the solution.

-The Family Choir. I don't think there's much I need to elaborate, but I am just so happy that happened.

- Basically Everyone: Put God first. Magnify your callings. Put God first.

-Elder Ballard: "Hearts change when circumstances change." God cares about timing- both in the history of the world and in our lives, and when He wants something to happen He will create a suitable environment to facilitate it.

- Bonnie Oscarson. Just her, in general. She spoke to us at the MTC which naturally, makes us close personal friends. That story about her great-grandmother was so good.

-"The safe course is rarely the path of least resistance." -somebody.

Do the little things. Say meaningful prayers and study the scriptures daily; attend church (all 3 hours!) every week and you'll never be able to get off track.

-You haven't used all your strength until you've used Heavenly Father's help.

-Hey women, don't forget you are actually supposed to get married and be a mom at some point in your life. We are so happy to see you wearing pants and going to college, but woah, bear.

AND LOTS MORE. So pumped for the Ensign!!

Keep it real; Keep it grateful.
XOXO,
Hna Simpson