Hi All,
I will honestly admit, I'd completely forgotten that today is Memorial
Day. Memorial day....I love being American. I'm so proud and thankful to
be an American. I always choke up when people start talking about the
armed forces or when I hear the national anthem. I am so thankful for
the men and women that have fought and died for so many years to give us
that right, that hope of a bright morning each day and a knowledge that
we are a free people. When the politics die down, when the economic
debates fade away, when all of the sophist discussions and philisophical
suppositions about how our country should be are blown away by the
winds of time, and we really get down to the core of things, we are
free. We are free citizens and we enjoy an abundance of blessings that
have been bestowed by the hand of God. That hand has guided and
protected hundreds of thousands of soldiers for over 200 years on home
ground or foreign soil. That hand has brought them back triumphant time
after time and it is because we never. back. down. God bless the USA.
God bless the valient soldiers that protect us. And may God give them
strength to smite our foes and lift the tired and oppressed legions of
this life. I love America.
Welcome to the last week of May. The last week of the change and the last week before I enter my last full change as a full time missionary. I....have mixed feelings about that. We talked a lot about that today in our leaders meeting this morning. It kinda slammed into me that I have so little time left. Like 11 Mondays (Predays). And that it's time to keep ramping it up out here. My comp is super tired and I know that he gets frustrated with me because I'm always racing around and pushing the pace. He's not quite used to it yet still, seeing as I'm his second companion and he's in his 3rd change but it's okay. We get along well, and we work well together. We're seeing unprecedented success, the most success that I've ever seen in my mission. I'm so grateful to the Lord for the numerous blessings that He showers upon us on a daily basis. I know that none of what we are seeing is thanks to me, I just hope I can stay humble enough to be worthy of His continued blessings.
We're still teaching the family of Nelson, the boy we baptized at the beginning of the change. His dad, mom, older sister and her boyfriend, his older brother and his girl friend are all listening to us. Almost all of them are going to church too. They are going on Tuesday to cancel the mom's previous marriage so that she and her current husband can be legally married. He can't read nor write but he loves to pray and he loves so much learning about the gospel. He gave up drinking and smoking and hardcore drugs about a month and a half ago and has only missed one Sunday since then. They're all progressing and learning about the gospel and filling their lives with the light of the Lord. The ward is helping a ton too and I think a lot of people are all rather excited to see such a notable change in this family and the progress and desires they have.
We're also still working with Alinson. She's trying to give up smoking and is trying to decide on when she needs to be baptized. She reads the Book of Mormon and went to church with us last week. This week she didn't come because she went to bed at 4 am, a pretty common occurrence in this country, so she was super tired. She's also very hesitant about permanently removing her 4 facial piercings. We're working a lot with her and she's learning lots.
Other than that, we're just trying to find new people, get some new blood into the system. We're going to be pushing it really hard this week to finish off the change.
Something we learned this morning really hit home with me. Jesus Christ
at the end of His 3 year ministry, effected the greatest work known to
mankind. He gave His all and atoned for our sins. Well...I'm getting to
the end of my full time ministry. I guess it's time for my swan song,
time to make my great and last sacrifice here to the Lord. I do not dare
compare what I will give to what the Son has given and continuously
gives. Rather, I make a simile, just as the Law of Moses was
representative of that Sacrifice. It's time to work harder than ever
before. They say that a missionaries last companion is the elder that
kills him. I plan on killing my comp before he kills me. :D The only way
to go is up. I feel closer to my Savior every day and I'm ever grateful
to the Lord for this time that I've had to serve. I've still time on
the clock, so I still have time to serve. I feel like the immortal words
of AC/DC are suiting. Gentlemen, for those about to rock, we salute
you. Well gentlemen, let's rock. And as we all know, Elder Simpson knows
how to rock hard.
I'm still ramping up my work outs little by little and I'm trying to at least get in a small workout at night. My days go a lot better and I'm always a lot more excited and energized all day long when I take my workouts seriously. It's great.
Well this week in my studies I've been in 2 Nephi 9 a LOT. Verse 4 is great.
4) For I know that ye have searched much, many of you, to know of things to come; wherefore I know that ye know that our flesh must waste away and die; nevertheless, in our bodies we shall see God.
The references from footnote b are absolute gold. I love the one in Mormon 9. I also really like the reference in Alma 42 and the one in Helaman. The promise that is right there is rather significant. We will stand before God in the flesh. How amazing will that moment be. Our responsibility now is to prepare ourselves the most possible for that moment and to help others to do so. I pray that when we see Him again, we will feel as did Enos in that we will be able to "see his face with pleasure." (Enos 1.27.)
Chau
Elder Andy
Monday, May 27, 2013
Monday, May 20, 2013
Saladero Salto Uruguay - May 20th 2013
Hi All,
Things here in the vineyard are going well. I'm super super tired, but it's okay. We've been working really really hard and it's showing. On Monday, we had pday.. Tuesday, we practiced our zone song for zone conference that we had on Wednesday. It was a great conference. It was really good to see President and an Elder from my MTC group that's in artigas. They came down to join us for the conference.
On Thursday I went on divisions with Elder Hewlett, one of the zone leaders. We didn't end up getting out to work til about 5:30 pm because we started the divisions after lunch and a plumber had shown up a their apartment at like 1 pm and didn't finish up til 5:30 pm which was a big time bummer. But. It's okay. We got to know each other a lot more so that was nice. We had a nice talk about whatever really.
We don't really see president much here in the mission given that we have to travel so much to get from one city to the other. He usually makes rounds once a change so we see him every 6 weeks or so. I love him a ton though and I'm really sad that he's going home just before me. It's okay though. It's only like a month.
I'm really worried about my district and the zone leaders (they're in my district) and my comp. We're not finding like we could be and I don't want them to get discouraged. That is such a noxious and contagious poison that corrupts and destroys all of our effectiveness. It is something that must be fought in a most tenacious manner. We're going to talk a lot about desires, becoming like Christ and what exactly is a successful missionary tomorrow in district meeting. The ZL's are really struggling and they're starting to get frustrated and embarrassed. All in all, it's like cutting off a problem before it starts, but it has to be done with the spirit at all levels or things will just get worse. In reality it comes down to how the individual missionaries perform and their willingness to work and change at the same time. But that's why I'm here. To help them see how they can do so and let them know that their doing a good job. It just weighs on me sometimes. I like to worry as you know all too well but it's okay. I pray about them a lot, all of them and the Lord guides me to know what I can do to help them the most.
Well.....this week was pretty routine. We're just out here working hard. I feel bad. I'm running my comp ragged and it shows. But we're always laughing and joking. We get along really well and we teach well together as well. He's still pretty knew which means he's moldable and willing to try new things which makes work entertaining. We're just out here killing ourselves. There's just a lot going on and I have to constantly remind myself to not get stressed because it's not all on me and that I need to trust in the atonement. Because that's the way it is. I cannot possibly bear the weight of what is on me, and I must trust entirely in the "merits of Christ" (Moroni 6.4) But that's what it's about isn't it? Letting go of our petty preoccupations and letting ourselves be consumed in the awesome warmth of the eternal Atonement of the Almighty. That's what keeps us warm in our winter of separation from the Lord.
Elder Andy
Things here in the vineyard are going well. I'm super super tired, but it's okay. We've been working really really hard and it's showing. On Monday, we had pday.. Tuesday, we practiced our zone song for zone conference that we had on Wednesday. It was a great conference. It was really good to see President and an Elder from my MTC group that's in artigas. They came down to join us for the conference.
On Thursday I went on divisions with Elder Hewlett, one of the zone leaders. We didn't end up getting out to work til about 5:30 pm because we started the divisions after lunch and a plumber had shown up a their apartment at like 1 pm and didn't finish up til 5:30 pm which was a big time bummer. But. It's okay. We got to know each other a lot more so that was nice. We had a nice talk about whatever really.
We don't really see president much here in the mission given that we have to travel so much to get from one city to the other. He usually makes rounds once a change so we see him every 6 weeks or so. I love him a ton though and I'm really sad that he's going home just before me. It's okay though. It's only like a month.
I'm really worried about my district and the zone leaders (they're in my district) and my comp. We're not finding like we could be and I don't want them to get discouraged. That is such a noxious and contagious poison that corrupts and destroys all of our effectiveness. It is something that must be fought in a most tenacious manner. We're going to talk a lot about desires, becoming like Christ and what exactly is a successful missionary tomorrow in district meeting. The ZL's are really struggling and they're starting to get frustrated and embarrassed. All in all, it's like cutting off a problem before it starts, but it has to be done with the spirit at all levels or things will just get worse. In reality it comes down to how the individual missionaries perform and their willingness to work and change at the same time. But that's why I'm here. To help them see how they can do so and let them know that their doing a good job. It just weighs on me sometimes. I like to worry as you know all too well but it's okay. I pray about them a lot, all of them and the Lord guides me to know what I can do to help them the most.
Well.....this week was pretty routine. We're just out here working hard. I feel bad. I'm running my comp ragged and it shows. But we're always laughing and joking. We get along really well and we teach well together as well. He's still pretty knew which means he's moldable and willing to try new things which makes work entertaining. We're just out here killing ourselves. There's just a lot going on and I have to constantly remind myself to not get stressed because it's not all on me and that I need to trust in the atonement. Because that's the way it is. I cannot possibly bear the weight of what is on me, and I must trust entirely in the "merits of Christ" (Moroni 6.4) But that's what it's about isn't it? Letting go of our petty preoccupations and letting ourselves be consumed in the awesome warmth of the eternal Atonement of the Almighty. That's what keeps us warm in our winter of separation from the Lord.
Elder Andy
Monday, May 13, 2013
Saladero Salto Uruguay - May 13th 2013
Hi All,
Well, I will admit, that talking to the family on Mother's day was super fun. I really enjoyed it. If I wasn't trunky before, I am now. For sure. But, it's okay. I'm still going to be working hard. I got home last night and got to planning and started making calls and then my world snapped back into focus and I was content. The call home just made me realize how much I miss all of my family and how much I love them. You all back home support me so very much and it's such a pillar of strength for me.
It....jarred my focus for a little while but then I got back into work mode and we're doing okay here. The only remedy is working my freakin tail off for the little time left that I have in the service of the Lord. Vamos Arriba che!!
Today has been a great pday. We dropped our companions off at the bus station last night at 12:00 (midnight) and then hopped on a city bus to go to Elder Pettet's area. Well turns out that that bus didn't go in the right direction and we ended up a long ways away from where we needed to be at 12:30 am. So we called a taxi. Well the taxi driver went to bed. So....we walked and got home at like 1:30 am and then got up at 6:30.
I had a great personal study. I'm currently rereading the book of mormon in 90 days, this time in spanish. It will put me at like the last week of my mission when I finished so I started in the nick of time. Then, after practicing a hymn as a zone for zone conference, elder Pettet and I got schnazy hair cuts and then went and got lunch and had great ice cream in an American styled coffee house/ice cream parlor. Super fun. Elder Pettet goes home in 3 weeks and I met him in Rivera over a year ago so it's been fun catching up with him after so long.
My mission has been so hard for so long. I've loved it but it's been a crucible for so very much time and now that it's ending, everything is falling neatly into place. I cannot believe how much the Lord is blessing me here at the end. I'm so thankful and so humbled by the miracles I see by His hand.
That couple that needed to get divorced from their former spouses, they're going in today to finalize that process and now we'll be moving on to helping them get married to each other instead of just living together. I'm super stoked and pray really hard for them. They are such good hearted humble people that already rely so much on the Lord. Their faith and love is astounding at times. The Lord will bless them for their efforts and their desires. I'm just happy I'm here to witness the miracles
We're visiting another lady who just recently got divorced and who has two kids. Her 14 year old son is inactive and questions her faith constantly. We're working with him. She reminds me a lot of you and is taking a cake decorating course. Every time we go over it's like getting a little bit of home. I pray that the Lord will help us to help her son. He's praying again and reading the Book of Mormon again but still feels like God hasn't answered whether or not He exists. I know that the Lord will answer him
We aren't knocking doors hardly at all now. I just knock them when I feel like the Spirit guides me to do so. It's part of always looking for new people to teach. It has a lot to do with diligence.
They did a Relief Society activity on Friday to celebrate mothers day. And they put on the album Gravity by Kenny G. And I laughed for like 20 minutes because we were listening to Kenny G at a church function. I found it very funny but no one quite understood why.
I know that as we obey the laws of Christ, we are freed from the clutches of the law of suffering and affliction. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Elder Simpson
Well, I will admit, that talking to the family on Mother's day was super fun. I really enjoyed it. If I wasn't trunky before, I am now. For sure. But, it's okay. I'm still going to be working hard. I got home last night and got to planning and started making calls and then my world snapped back into focus and I was content. The call home just made me realize how much I miss all of my family and how much I love them. You all back home support me so very much and it's such a pillar of strength for me.
It....jarred my focus for a little while but then I got back into work mode and we're doing okay here. The only remedy is working my freakin tail off for the little time left that I have in the service of the Lord. Vamos Arriba che!!
Today has been a great pday. We dropped our companions off at the bus station last night at 12:00 (midnight) and then hopped on a city bus to go to Elder Pettet's area. Well turns out that that bus didn't go in the right direction and we ended up a long ways away from where we needed to be at 12:30 am. So we called a taxi. Well the taxi driver went to bed. So....we walked and got home at like 1:30 am and then got up at 6:30.
I had a great personal study. I'm currently rereading the book of mormon in 90 days, this time in spanish. It will put me at like the last week of my mission when I finished so I started in the nick of time. Then, after practicing a hymn as a zone for zone conference, elder Pettet and I got schnazy hair cuts and then went and got lunch and had great ice cream in an American styled coffee house/ice cream parlor. Super fun. Elder Pettet goes home in 3 weeks and I met him in Rivera over a year ago so it's been fun catching up with him after so long.
My mission has been so hard for so long. I've loved it but it's been a crucible for so very much time and now that it's ending, everything is falling neatly into place. I cannot believe how much the Lord is blessing me here at the end. I'm so thankful and so humbled by the miracles I see by His hand.
That couple that needed to get divorced from their former spouses, they're going in today to finalize that process and now we'll be moving on to helping them get married to each other instead of just living together. I'm super stoked and pray really hard for them. They are such good hearted humble people that already rely so much on the Lord. Their faith and love is astounding at times. The Lord will bless them for their efforts and their desires. I'm just happy I'm here to witness the miracles
We're visiting another lady who just recently got divorced and who has two kids. Her 14 year old son is inactive and questions her faith constantly. We're working with him. She reminds me a lot of you and is taking a cake decorating course. Every time we go over it's like getting a little bit of home. I pray that the Lord will help us to help her son. He's praying again and reading the Book of Mormon again but still feels like God hasn't answered whether or not He exists. I know that the Lord will answer him
We aren't knocking doors hardly at all now. I just knock them when I feel like the Spirit guides me to do so. It's part of always looking for new people to teach. It has a lot to do with diligence.
They did a Relief Society activity on Friday to celebrate mothers day. And they put on the album Gravity by Kenny G. And I laughed for like 20 minutes because we were listening to Kenny G at a church function. I found it very funny but no one quite understood why.
I know that as we obey the laws of Christ, we are freed from the clutches of the law of suffering and affliction. Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Elder Simpson
Monday, May 6, 2013
Saladero Salto Uruguay - May 6th 2013
Greeting and Salutations,
I'm doing great. It's been a really busy week ended by 2 baptisms. A small miracle right there. I was really stressed out. It's just hard sometimes dealing with the fact that everyone down here is relaxed to a point where it doesn't faze them if we start things a half hour late. I don't think I'll ever get over that. But it's okay. The baptism went well and so did the confirmation on Sunday. We're going to keep working with both families because we've found a lot of people who are interested and listening in both homes. As for Alinson, she's still having a hard time with the idea of taking out her facial piercings and going to church. Little by little. :D
Things with my comp are going well. We laugh a lot and have good time. We're working really hard to continue strengthening the ward and find new investigators and help the ones that we have progress towards baptism. It's a lot of work but the Lord is truly blessing us in all of our efforts. For that I am thankful. We're going to keep it up for as long as the Lord wants. As for the district, they are doing great. We all had a stupendous week and now we're going to have a zone meeting on Tuesday which should animate them even more. Bit excited about that.
The weather is still hot here. It rained for about 3 days but now it's just back to where it was before the storm. I hope this keeps up. We're already in may and I sometimes sometimes sometimes need a jacket at night. Perhaps. Which is totally fine by me. If it wants to stay like this until august, I'm cool with that.
Well that's about it for the week. Here's one of my favorite scritpures.
Moses 7.41
41 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men; wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook.
I don't know how eternity can shake but it did. The eternities shake for our sins. Let us live so that we may reduce the agitations of the infinite.
Elder Andy
I'm doing great. It's been a really busy week ended by 2 baptisms. A small miracle right there. I was really stressed out. It's just hard sometimes dealing with the fact that everyone down here is relaxed to a point where it doesn't faze them if we start things a half hour late. I don't think I'll ever get over that. But it's okay. The baptism went well and so did the confirmation on Sunday. We're going to keep working with both families because we've found a lot of people who are interested and listening in both homes. As for Alinson, she's still having a hard time with the idea of taking out her facial piercings and going to church. Little by little. :D
Things with my comp are going well. We laugh a lot and have good time. We're working really hard to continue strengthening the ward and find new investigators and help the ones that we have progress towards baptism. It's a lot of work but the Lord is truly blessing us in all of our efforts. For that I am thankful. We're going to keep it up for as long as the Lord wants. As for the district, they are doing great. We all had a stupendous week and now we're going to have a zone meeting on Tuesday which should animate them even more. Bit excited about that.
The weather is still hot here. It rained for about 3 days but now it's just back to where it was before the storm. I hope this keeps up. We're already in may and I sometimes sometimes sometimes need a jacket at night. Perhaps. Which is totally fine by me. If it wants to stay like this until august, I'm cool with that.
Well that's about it for the week. Here's one of my favorite scritpures.
Moses 7.41
41 And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto Enoch, and told Enoch all the doings of the children of men; wherefore Enoch knew, and looked upon their wickedness, and their misery, and wept and stretched forth his arms, and his heart swelled wide as eternity; and his bowels yearned; and all eternity shook.
I don't know how eternity can shake but it did. The eternities shake for our sins. Let us live so that we may reduce the agitations of the infinite.
Elder Andy
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