It's been about a year now...

So here's the deal. Every week I get on with a lot of CRAZY stories to tell, and then I just get caught up into all these WEDDING PLANZZZZ. Marriage trumps mission. FINE! hahahahahahahhahaha

 

Lindsay is getting married! YAY!!!! This is so fun. Big fan. and SO GLAD I GOT TO MEET RYAN BEFOREHAND SO I CAN HONESTLY SAY I LIKE HIM HAHAHAHAHAHAHHA What started out as disobedience has now turned, in hindsight, into inspiration. THANK YOU!!!

 

As Jesse McCartney and my mom have both remarked, It's been about a year now! Kind of hard to believe. Those first few months in California were the slowest thing of my life. And now they're going pretty fast. I'm so happy to be a missionary. The call letter (and beginning of PMG) promises "greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you serve the Lord in this labor of love among His children." I don't know why I put that in quotes; I'm just guessing here. But it says something like that.

 

Anyway, I feel it. Every day I wake up SO happy to be a missionary. My companions are nice and funny and they love to work. And if I couldn't ask for any more than that, this area is INCREDIBLE.

 

MISSION STORY:

We knocked on a door Wednesday afternoon. It was hot; we were a'STRUGGLIN. And then 25-year-old Roberto opens his door and says, "actually that's funny; I was just thinking earlier today how I wanted to find a church."

We go to his back patio and teach lesson one. We share the First Vision and then I pause and say, "I feel in my heart that this is true."

"Yeah, me too. I feel it."

Really though, after EVERY POINT of the lesson he would stop us and say how it's so strange, it sounds so familiar- it agrees with everything he believes. We invite him to be baptized on April 13 and he agrees.

 

WE SHOW UP 2 DAYS LATER TO TEACH PLAN OF SALVATION. Roberto is wearing a button-up shirt, sitting outside with his Book of Mormon and folleto all ready to go. The first time we taught him there was dog poop all over the patio and laundry hanging off the line in the back- he's cleaned up the entire patio and set chairs out all ready for us.

 

Before we even say the prayer he starts gushing about how he feels like he's changing, how this is the right path for him. "This morning I picked up a cigarette to smoke it, but then I said no, I'm not going to." WE HAVE NOT SAID ONE WORD ABOUT THE WORD OF WISDOM YET. Lesson hasn't even started and I'm in tears hahahahaha.

 

We teach L2 and he just EATS it up. Says he's already talked to his family about being baptized, and says they'll support him. His sister was playing Rhianna music out the window the whole time which normally would have been distracting to all of us but the Spirit was SO strong it didn't even matter.

 

He comes to church on Sunday. I don't know what happened in Priesthood class (we have that first) but all I know is all the elders in our ward come running to find us after and they are practically drooling. Actually, they loved him so much that they practically attacked him as soon as sacrament meeting was over. "So are you getting baptized? Do you have a calendar yet? Have you heard about the temple?" We're like WOAHHHH THERE BOYS. We are trying to take this one step at a time. But he was so polite and nice about it and so now we're trying to plan a visitors center trip this week (even though as far as I know we still have not explained exactly what the temple is.) But whatever; everyone loves the temple so fair enough.

 

The point is, Roberto is great. The other 2 people who are getting baptized is a man who has been investigating the church since like Dec. When I came to the area the hnas told me that he was feeling pretty hounded about baptism so we were going to teach a lesson about the Holy Ghost instead, but I felt so strongly that we should read the baptismal questions with him so we changed tracks mid-lesson and now he has a date for April 13 as well! He could easily be baptized next week but it's his decision so whatever. We're just happy for him!!

 

And this 10 year old boy who hasn't been baptized because his dad didn't know he had full custody of his son until now, they thought he needed his mom's permission, and she wasn't going to give it. But now he can be baptized so hooray!! He is the cutest, chunkiest little thing. Hahahaha and he is a HOOT- when we taught him lesson 1 he interrupted a lot to tell plots from various movies he had seen about prophets, so for our next lesson we decided to watch the Restoration video. He commented a lot on how cute all the baby animals were and stuff, so I was just kind of crossing my fingers hoping that the important parts would stick. After it ended, we talked about the Holy Ghost for a couple minutes, and he started rolling his head around all weird. I was like, is he okay? But then all of a sudden we saw these tears well up in his eyes and start rolling down his chubby cheeks. His dad was SO sweet. "You are so happy right now, huh?" (crying nod)  "You know it's true." (crying nod.)  "I love you, my son. We're going to do this together, okay?"

And Alejandro just nodded, crying "I love you, Papa."

 

His dad called us the next day, thanking us, and said Alejandro had cried for an hour after we left. How his dad feels like this really is his time. So now we're planning his baptism for General Conference Sunday. Sweetest thing in the world.

 

The crazy part about all of these stories is that we really didn't do ANYTHING. This is the Lord's work, and truly He is able to do his own work.

 

THE THING I HAVE LEARNED MOST THIS WEEK is follow the Spirit with exact obedience. Say what it tells you to say when you are talking to people. Bring your bag when you feel like you should even when you think you won't need it. Stop your sister-training leader from contacting dangerous people if, hypothetically, you are on exchanges and she's acting unusually overzealous and you feel that walking in this gate is not a smart idea. You will be much happier and avoid a lot of trouble if you listen to the Spirit. You will be a better teacher; you will be able to help people progress in the gospel. You will be a better companion and be sensitive to the needs of those around you.

 

MISSIONS ARE SO GOOD.

I am so grateful that God, in His goodness and mercy, made it possible for me to have this experience in my life. It is the most precious thing. My life before feels like a dream sometimes-- not in the foreignness of normal experiences I enjoyed, but in the sense that I think I lived shallowly, self-centeredly. Serving a mission is the best thing I have ever done. I am so, so much happier feeling that I am being used by the Lord better than I was before. It is the best feeling. It is such a privilege to serve.

 

Hna Earnshaw's dad emailed me this quote this morning, which I thought was very sweet and I'd like to share it:

"Jesus is the Christ, God's Son, the leader of all humanity, and the measure of all mankind. He is the King, our Counselor, and our Friend. He is worthy of our most pure and profound adoration and deserving of our very best efforts."

-Elder James Dunn

 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK AND REMEMBER:

How can you see what your life is worth,

Or where your value lies?

You can never see with the eyes of man--

You must look at your life through Heaven's eyes.

 

Happy Prince of Egypt,

<33333333

xxoxoxoxoxoxo

Hna Simpson

 

P.S. Dad, I bet you think you are soooooooo funny sending me Catholic stickers with all your letters. Before serving a mission, "Ave Maria" was one of my favorite Christmas songs but now I can't listen to it because Mary-worship just drives me nuts hahahaha.