Brantford 9/10/12

September 10, 2012

Hello Family!

I hope you are all doing well. It was a good week. Seemed like a short one, since the last time I emailed was just on Wednesday- so there's not much new stuff to share, but that's alright! We have had a lot of opportunities open again- opportunities that seemed to be closed for a while. Elder Pitre and I are always on the look-out on how to improve and how to be more effective and more successful in finding those people who are searching for the truth. Like most things in life, we have to be smart, work hard, do our best, then trust God's plan and timing. So that's what we'll continue to do.

I finally attached a picture for everyone. This was taken this morning at the Six Nations Indian Reserve Tourism Center. It's me next to a pow-wow dancer! It was good to be there, we got a little tour and learned a little bit about Native heritage and beliefs. Which is something I'm extremely interested in now, since I've been here. A couple of little things I learned- Lacrosse is, in some ways, a sacred tradition. Beliefs are that the Creator gave the game of Lacrosse for medicine and for entertainment. This next thing is especially interesting for missionaries: there is a Tree of Peace, I think they call it- or maybe its the Peace Tree- whatever it is, they buried their weapons of war underneath it. The book of Alma in the book of Mormon tells of people burying their weapons of war, for peace, and they covenanted with God to not go to war with their brothers. So that's pretty cool.

Last night, we watched the CES Devotional Broadcast with Elder Holland as the speaker. If you haven't watched it... you should! It was extremely powerful. I've never seen Elder Holland be so bold! He's getting more and more bold as time goes on. But he always balances out the chastening with God's love for us. He gave a beautiful Apostolic blessing at the end. Probably the most powerful one I've ever been able to feel. It was great... I really, really suggest you watch it.

Well, I will try now to send some more personal emails. I hope all is well... I love you all very much, and you are all in my prayers.

Love,
Elder Simper

Brantford 9/5/12

September 5, 2012

Hello Family!

It has been a really hot and humid week here in Brantford. I've actually said a lot "I'm excited for winter!" Then people tell me, "You won't be excited when its here!" Which is probably true. :)
This email is a day later than planned because we had Zone Conference yesterday, which I forgot about last week. Next week should be normal as far as I know. Now, I don't think this will happen, but it is possible that my last day in Brantford could be on Monday, September 17. That is the end of this transfer period. So, no one ever knows for sure what will happen until the night before. So just keep that in mind as far as mail and stuff goes.

Mom mentioned that I haven't talked that much about Elder Pitre. He is a super good guy! The funny thing is, he is about the exact opposite as Elder Johnson. He is quite a bit shorter than me, while Elder Johnson was way taller than me. Elder Pitre is really big on being super obedient, which is a good thing. He hiccups a lot. Which is funny. I'm not sure if I spelled hiccups right. I like to joke around with him a lot. The other day I was going to park facing the wrong direction on a street and I was like "It's not THAT illegal." And he was like "Not THAT illegal, are you serious??!!" He was thinking "What is wrong with this guy (me)?" Which, as the brown clown knows, is one of my favorite ways to mess with people. The parking thing was funny to me... it shows how total opposite my companions have been so far. Weird combinations too. Elder Johnson was way loose but not so easy-going, while Elder Pitre is strict but easy-going. As far as the training goes, that is going fine. We follow the program to the tee and Elder Pitre is doing just fine. I learn from him, and hopefully he can get something from me. We get along great! And all is well.

It has been a good week. Things are picking up here in Brantford. There is one member here who I have been thinking about a lot. His name is Dan, he is about 20 or 21 years old. He was away from the church for many years, starting when he was about 14 years old. His sister is currently on a mission in Korea. His sister had been through college, started a career as a teacher, then felt prompted to drop everything and serve a mission... With the primary intention to bless her family, with hopes that they would return into the light of this Gospel. In her farewell talk, she said blessings would pour down from heaven upon her family. Dan decided he would really watch for those blessings. "Yeah, okay... let's see if any 'blessings' come." I imagine that's probably what his thoughts were like. To Dan's suprise, he saw many blessings. Many "coincidences" began happening, time and time again. All the way to the point to where he has the desire to leave his old life behind and come back into the light of the Gospel. He is leaving behind drug addictions, drug dealing, and other things that the world offers as temporary escapes from pain.

To be completely honest, my primary intention to serve a mission was not to bless my family. Of course its something that I hoped for and continue to hope for, but it was not my primary intention. With that being said, I would be lying if I said I didn't care or didn't want my entire family to come back in, or enter into, the light of the Gospel. No one can force anyone to do anything, for even God Himself cannot and will not do that. However, I can beg and plead with you to do whatever needs to happen for you to come into the Gospel light. I know a lot has happened with all of us, a lot of things have pulled us apart. But I also know that we have a love and care for each other that never really fades away. Anger, grudges, bitterness may get in the way. But nothing ever extinguishes that true love we have for each other. I know I am guilty of offenses. As we all are. Our older brother Jesus Christ suffered so much pain that we can't even imagine... so that we don't have to carry these burdens. The journey to understand Him and His love begins with prayer. Does God care about me? Is He even there? Did Jesus really die for me? For what purpose? Ask God, and He will answer. He is our loving Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ is our loving Brother, and He stands with his arms open: "Come back, come home... come unto Me."

I love you all so very much. I hope you have a great week :)

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

8/28/12

August 28, 2012

Hello Family!

Its been a good day thus far, and we have some good appointments lined up for the rest of this day. Thinking of "good days", I always think of one of the cashiers at the Vista Target who always said "Everyday is a good day, just some days are better than others. Yesterday's history, tomorrow's a mystery, and today's a gift- that's why its called the present." I always liked that guy. Even though it was a rote thing, he was sincere when he said that to everyone. It was his sincerity that brightened my day. Its been a really good week, and I look forward to making the most out of this next week too. I will have my preparation day on Tuesday next week too, just so you all know. So, emails will be on Tuesday again. But I'm guessing the following week will be back to normal.

This past week was full of learning opportunities. I learned that I was believing a lie for quite some time. A very subtle lie. The lie was that I shouldn't be too "pushy" or bold when meeting strangers on the street or at their doorstep. But the truth is, we are representatives of the Savior. He suffered and died for us, so that we don't have to suffer for our errors. If I don't give people a clear choice, if I don't invite them and give them that opportunity to clearly say yes or no, then I have not fulfilled my purpose as a missionary to "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel." Just to say "hey, hows it going today?" then to say nothing if they say nothing, that is not clear enough. So, what I've learned is that there is a difference between being bold and being over-bearing. I was believing that being bold was being pushy, but that's not true. We shouldn't fear man more than God. That's one of the things I've learned. That's been really effective for me and Elder Pitre to put into practice and apply it in our real life situations. Its going to make both of us more effective, and that's exciting to me!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ makes life make sense. Before going on my mission, I questioned everything to the core. But there was a point where I stopped, because if you come to the conclusion that there is nothing, no plan, no organization, then it is utter chaos. If its utter chaos, what's the point of existing? I'm happy to know that there is a purpose to our existence. It is a beautiful plan. Its a simple plan, even when you dig a little deeper. And I'm grateful for the plan, no matter how naive or silly the world will falsely say it is. The truth is, the plan shows us how things really are, how they really will be. Its a plan of Happiness! "Jesus Christ is the way, the only way to happiness and fulfillment. Every other way is madness." (That's a paraphrased quote from one of my favorite general conference talks)

I truly am grateful for every single one of you. I love you! Work hard to center your life on the Gospel. And everything will fall into place. I promise you!

Much love and gratitude,
-Elder Brett Simper-

Brantford, 8/20/12

August 20, 2012

Hello family!

Real quick to clear up confusion I saw in some emails from you- my Preparation Day is still on Mondays. There are sometimes some weeks where the day will change due to holidays or other reasons. Like next week, for example, we will probably do emails on Tuesday instead because the Brantford library will be closed on Monday for some reason. I'll try to be better at letting you know ahead of time :) Also, I will be doing emails as early as 1 or 2 PM eastern time from now on. At least while I'm here in Brantford :)

Well, it has been a great week. We have visited many homes and talked to many people. We started a weekly hour of volunteering at a long-term care facility when they bowl on a shuffleboard table on Friday afternoons. We have met with the bishop here in Brantford to re-commit to him and make sure he knows we are on his team, and we have set goals to meet with many members and help make the spirit of missionary work spread like wildfire. We don't coerce or persuade anyone to "join the church." We are to create an atmosphere where people may feel the spirit of the Lord, and we are to teach, testify, and invite them to come unto Christ. How do we create atmospheres where the spirit can be felt? We share love, we share the Gospel. The love must be real and genuine, not phony. If it is phony, the spirit will not be there. And we teach simple truths. At the foundation of everything we teach, is the simple but powerful truth that God is our loving Heavenly Father. Everything He has done for us, every purpose for having the Gospel plan, the reason why we are here on this Earth, the reason for all the good and bad experiences we have, is because our Father in Heaven loves us. We are here to learn and grow. Ultimately, to learn how to LOVE the way HE loves us. So, love is the foundation of what we teach and how we teach. We're trying to use the same template to share spiritual messages with members of the ward, not just to those who are investigating the church. We're trying to create atmospheres for the members where they can feel the spirit of God. This is how we are hoping to spread the fire of missionary work! We are working really hard, and I am really coming to know for myself how fulfilling it is to be diligent in doing the Lord's work. I have faith that, as long as we are diligent and faithful, Elder Pitre and I will find those who are prepared to hear and receive the gospel of Christ! It is exciting!

I have been really bad at taking and sending pictures lately. I will try to be better! One thing I've noticed lately is how well I know my way around here in Brantford and in some surrounding cities. When I first arrived, I thought I would never get to know my way around! I actually wanted to buy a GPS. But I'm glad I didn't- its nice to just learn your way around. It also lets me think of this area like a second home. It was pretty chilly this morning. I guess it actually starts getting cold in Canada around this time. Not that cold, and its only in the mornings for now-- but its definitely just around the corner! I've also taken some time to realize more of how Canadians talk. People always say "Pardon?" or "Pardon me?" instead of "What?" or "Huh?" like Americans like me do. I've also noticed how "Mmm-hmm" is something people say, or hum, much louder and much more often in conversations than I notice in the States. I am still hanging on to my American vocabulary, the only Canadian (or non-So-Cal) thing that I've started saying a lot is "pop" instead of "soda." Because I felt weird saying soda when everyone says pop. Sometimes I do the "mmm-hmm" thing just to try it out, but I don't like it.

I better get going. I miss all of you, and I love you. I'm grateful for all of you. You are in my prayers. I hope you all have a great week!
Laus deo.

Love,
Elder Simper

Brantford, Week 14

August 13, 2012

Hello Family!

It has been a great week. And a busy week! Preach My Gospel suggests that we go through the Area Book often to keep it up to date, and to go through the former investigators once in a while because that is a great place to find people who may be ready to accept the gospel. Former investigators may have been dropped for many reasons- gone on vacation, got too busy, or maybe they weren't really interested. Elder Pitre and I contacted many, many people who seemed to be very interested but dropped because they got too busy, or contact was lost. Many of these people said they would meet again! So, that is exciting for us. A weird thing just happened yesterday, the Woodstock area closed for some reason. We're not sure what for, but hopefully it wasn't too crazy. We're guessing they just shifted some missionaries around to different areas. Woodstock is probably about 40 mins southwest from Brantford. So we got taken out of our district and were placed in the Stratford District, and we have been given some responsibility over the Woodstock area's investigators. We're not sure how much or how often we will have to go out there, but our District Leader said to be open on Wednesdays so that we could be available to help with investigators that are there that are close to baptism. That should be a neat experience for us too.

As far as the training goes, that is fun. Its just one of those things that you just go out and do, and learn how as you go. I hope Elder Pitre is enjoying it. I hope he has an awesome experience! President Scott half-joked last week that we should train them to be ready in 6 weeks instead of 12. I thought he was half-joking, but Elder Pitre said that was mentioned in their first-day meeting too. So maybe he wasn't! But that would be insane if some missionaries were ready after 6 weeks! It is definitely attainable. It'll be interesting to see what happens in 5 weeks.

Well, Brantford is an amazing place. The ward is great. There have been a couple of young (20 yrs old) ward missionaries called. And an old one too. So we're excited to create some energy among the young people. The Gospel is great. It teaches people to do good, and to be good. How can you go wrong? Its true. God lives, He is our Father. He loves us! And so does Jesus Christ. Through Him, all things are possible!

I love you all so much, and I hope you all have a great week! Its going to be a great week here in Brantford, we have a lot of teaching to do this week! Can't wait to tell you how it goes. This past week was all preparation and finding, clean up, and now its time to SHARE. (Spark Happiness And Rescue Everyone- something that we found in our apartment) Anyways- love you all, you are in my prayers.

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

Brantford, Week 13 (wednesday Prep-day)

August 8, 2012

Hello Family!

So, I'm sorry I caused some worries for you guys. By the end of my first 12 weeks, I was absolutely beat. No energy to do anything. Not because we worked so hard or anything like that, but because I was so emotionally drained. Anyways... there was nothing seriously wrong with me. But my first 12 weeks were extremely painful. But I will spare you of details because it was nothing physically or emotionally damaging to me, it was just painful. And it doesn't matter anymore. It was just a very discouraging start. But I learned SO much from it. And that is the beauty of life and every experience we have. So... PLEASE don't worry. I am fine.

President Scott called me on Sunday night and asked me to be a trainer! So, my new companion is Elder Pitre (pronounced Pete) from New Brunswick. He is 19 and fresh out of the MTC. It is amazing to have this new beginning. See, I told you not to worry. Maybe I will never share any negative things again :) We had our Trainer's meeting yesterday morning (Tuesday), and I got to meet and pick up Elder Pitre. I also got to see my buddies from the MTC, Elder Forsyth (my mtc comp) was also there to train for the first time, and I got to see Elder Rodee and Elder Wright who are awesome guys. It was a great day yesterday to have the meeting and bear testimony and meet my new companion. As we were leaving the Brampton Stake Center, Elder Green (one of the assistants as of this past week- but was my zone leader last transfer) gave us a hug as we left and he said to me "Go clean up Brantford, and just kill it!!" In other words, "Go change things and do awesome!!" It made me so excited! It pumped me up like crazy! It also helped me feel that he too was aware of my situation. So was President Scott. That's why I felt so good after my interview a couple of weeks ago.

So, to wrap things up-- I absolutely know, without a doubt, that God is aware of us and loves us. Every experience IS for our good. I knew that all along my first 12 weeks, that's what kept me going. But it doesn't make things easy. Please remember that. When things get tough... God is absoultely aware and He loves us and He knows what experiences we need to build our character. I want to share my testimony about the Priesthood. Itis a duty we take upon ourselves as Priesthood holders, a covenant that we make to do good in the world. As much good as we can. However, we cannot speak for God or do what He would do if we are doing it for OUR glory, to look good to others, or if we are trying to control others. Having the priesthood doesn't mean I have any power or control over someone. The heavens withdraw from the priesthood holder who seeks to control others. The priesthood is a commision to love, to serve, and to lift. That is how God works, and that is how His church works. Men can fool themselves and others, but no one can fool God.

I love you all. Very much. Please, please don't worry. Look to God and live the truly abundant life. He is begging you to do it.

With God on our side, Elder Pitre and I are going to turn Brantford around. And I'm SO excited. We are ready to "kill it!" We are going to love, serve, and lift.

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

Love

July 30, 2012

Hello Family!

I am looking forward to next week VERY much. We had interviews with President Scott last Tuesday, the 24th. It went very well. President Scott is a great, inspired man. It was good to have a nice chat with him!

If there was one message I could share with everyone, and do it in a way that they could understand it perfectly, it would be the message of God's love for His children. Luckily, that IS the message missionaries are commissioned to share with the world. God loves all of His children, and He is merciful to those that believe in Him. ALL of us are His literal children. And whether we choose to believe it or not, every commandment is based on natural laws that have existed for eternity. Commandments are not a restrictive lists of do's and don'ts, but guideposts on how to be happy and remain safe from emotional turmoil. Deep down, all of us can feel that these things are true. One important thing to remember is that we must never lose faith and hope in ourselves, or in others. The healing life-giving light of Christ's atoning sacrifice can and will shine anywhere, if we will let it.

I don't have much else to say this week. Everything is OK... like I said, I am very excited for the near future. As of now, all of my energy is gone, but in about a week, I will be in a situation where all the positive energy that's been bottled up for one reason or another will be ready to explode. Thank you for your love, and your prayers. With the situations I've been dealing with, I hope you can understand that I've tried to prayerfully consider how to handle things. And I have tried to do my best. President seemed to think I handled things well the past two transfers, so I trust that I did. Anyways- I don't know where I'd be without the love of God, and the love of my family and friends.

Laus deo.

Elder Simper

Brantford, Week 10

July 23, 2012

Hello Family!

Sorry its a late email today. I'm pretty annoyed about it, but its a long and not very important story, so I'll just leave it at that :)

I've heard there is lots of dry weather in the U.S., and there is here for sure. Or I've heard of other extreme weather, like too much rain. People are really worried about all the crops not surviving here. Be prepared!

The past week had a couple of nicer cooler days out. It was a nice change. Just last night there were thunderstorms surrounding Brantford. So in the distance you could see lightning flashing. I counted about 20-30 flashes in one minute. I've never seen anything like that before! It was cool to see. I kind of wish it was closer!

The past week I've been trying to study more about Christlike attributes. There is a chapter specifically about them in Preach My Gospel. Attributes such as Faith, Hope, Charity & Love, Patience, Virtue, Knowledge, Diligence, and Obedience. I've been reading a talk about the Atonement also. These studies have got me thinking about God's power. And about the Priesthood. Doctrine & Covenants 121:41 says "No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by LOVE unfeigned." Basically that means, that no man can say "Alright, I have the priesthood! I automatically have the power of God." No man can exercise Priesthood authority if he is a brute. I cannot be a true and effective representative of the Lord Jesus Christ unless I have a true feeling of LOVE and RESPECT for people.

I've been thinking about these things a lot. And its good, because it helps me see my flaws, past and present, and it helps me want to be better. It helps to remember that God IS a God of Love. His glory is to "bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." What makes Him happy is when we're happy. When we choose to follow the natural laws of God, when we can be together forever with our families (eternal life). All of us will live forever, that is a gift from God. But to have eternal life with our families, that takes faith, repentance, and making and keeping covenants, and enduring to the end.

I love you all so much, and you are always in my prayers. I'd really appreciate if you could keep me in your prayers. I feel them when you do, I know you have. I will need that extra boost for the coming weeks.

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

Brantford, Week 9

July 16, 2012

Hello Family!

The people of Brantford are great. There is one element to the work here that I did not expect... the church is very young and "immature" here in Ontario. Wards are fairly small, there are many smaller branches (I believe), and in general the church is very immature. I guess young would not be the right word, and I don't mean immature in a negative way. But its a funny attitude you get here. Communities in Southern California have a lot of respect for the church, and here the church has not branched out and reached out as much, so there are not many relationships or ties with the city, at least here in Brantford. We are hoping to change that. We hope the ward will do some service for the city of Brantford soon. Whether its picking up litter along the roads, repairing and fixing up parks or other public facilities, or whatever else could be of benefit. Jesus Christ lived an entire life in the service of others. From the day-to-day "going about doing good," to His infinite and eternal sacrifice for each of us. Everything He did, was for others.

That's a lesson I would do good to learn from, I know that for sure! Its one we can all learn from. I know that when I do things for MY own benefit, it is never truly fulfilling. But when I do things with other people in mind, the joy I feel lasts much longer and is truly fulfilling.

Reema, who was baptized about one month ago, is doing really well. We had some people who doubted her sincerity, but if you just heard her prayers and were able to look her in the eyes, she is one of the most sincere people you'll ever meet. Her good friend, who brought her to church was Lydia. I talked about Lydia several weeks ago. Her favorite thing to say is "God is great, all the time!" And you can definitely see that attitude in Reema. She is so grateful for the goodness that God has shown her. She is so grateful to be a part of the big extended family of the Brantford Ward.

Well... again, I want to focus in more on personal emails.

You are all in my prayers. I love you all so much. Look to God, and live.

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

Brantford, Week 8

July 9, 2012

Hey family!

I hope everyone had a good 4th of July and a good week! It has sure been hot up here. I didn't know how hot and humid it gets here. A few of the days were about 40 degrees C, which you double and add 30 and get approximately what it is in F. So thats about 110 degrees. But it just felt like 110 with the "humidex" which is like a wind chill, but the opposite... and with humidity, not wind... obviously. So yeah, for some reason I was expecting more mild summers. But that's not the case! I've never sweat more in my life. But that's okay. Its been a pretty good week. Most of our teaching appointments cancelled, so we spent most of our time trying to find new people to teach through street-contacting. But its been good for me. I'm pretty sure I've lost a few pounds just this week alone. I've been eating a lot of salads too, which, I know-- is not like me. But its been helpful. I was also glad to get out and talk to people more this week. We did not do as much finding in the weeks before, partly because we had lots of appointments, which is good... but it was still good to see that my talking-to-people skills were not as rusty as they, for some reason, felt.

I think I said I would try to take pictures this week. I failed... sorry! I will try again.

I've been thinking a lot this past week about unity, and happiness. And I think part of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" says it best: "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." These principles can be applied to individuals, marriages, entire families, single parents, any and all relationships. It takes work to achieve unity. Sometimes it feels like we will never be able to reach our goals, or it feels like we are stuck in situations that we cannot get out of. But living these principles will always make you free. But you have to want it, you have to work for it. All things of value require that you work for it.

I want to spend a little more time with personal emails this week... so I'm ending this shorter than usual.

I love you all. You're all in my prayers.

Love,
Elder Simper

Brantford- Week 7

July 2, 2012

Dear Family,

I need to apologize for last week's email. It wasn't consuming me, but
it at least bothered and nagged at me all week! It was not a very good
day last Monday, but its no excuse for me to be so negative. No one
wants or needs to read things that are as bitter as it was. I am weak,
but I'm glad the Spirit was nagging at me and reminding me of my
weakness, and I hope you can forgive me for my weaknesses.

Transfers are the time periods we go by on a mission, and they are
periods of 6 weeks. I say that because I had no idea how transfers
worked before I got out here. Anyways- I am one week into my second
transfer. I am more than half way through my training. The church has
a new program where new missionaries are to be trained and ready to be
a trainer by the end of their first 12 weeks. My first 7 weeks have
been full of experiences. Many positive and happy ones, as well as
some negative and bitter ones. As I have thought a lot about these
experiences over the past couple of weeks, I have realized that I'm
learning so much. I'm learning about how choices we make affect the
people around us. I've learned what to do, and what not to do. I think
one of the most important things I've learned regarding these things
is the idea that experiences we have, are 10% what happens to us, and
90% is how we react to things. And much of our experience depends on
our ATTITUDE. For example... last week, I made the choice to be
offended, to be bitter, to be hurt by someone. I didn't hate them, I
didn't have any feelings of malice towards them, but I was angry and I
wanted to prove them wrong. (I didn't in person, but I did in my mind
and in my email). But I should've reacted in a completely different
way. I should've just let it go. Sure, the things could've still
bothered me at the time, but after it passed I should have just let it
go. Learn from it, and move forward!

As I've been reflecting on the past couple of weeks as I've typed this
email, I've thought about the name I wear on my name tag. I am
supposed to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. And I must live in a way
and act in a way, and have the appropriate attitude, so that I can be
recognized as such. And another huge lesson I'm learning is that every
thing we do as missionaries must be done to glorify God, not self. I'm
learning that's a complicated thing to do. Its not like I go about
every day seeking to glorify myself, but at the same time- with an
email like last week's it was very much about me, myself, and I.

Nevertheless, I need to remember, as we all do, to be patient. To be
patient with our experiences, with other people, and with ourselves.
Each day is a new day, a day to decide to be better than yesterday. We
all are trying to have a good day every day. And much of that depends
on our attitude.

-----
Brantford is a beautiful place. The eastern part of the continent is
so old, and rich with history. Most of the buildings and houses here
are over a hundred years old. All old brick homes. Our house is not
though... its probably old, but its not brick. It is so green, and so
pretty in the country areas. I will have to take some pictures of some
of the places we have traveled. The scenery is nothing like the south
western U.S.--- On the Indian Reserve and country areas between
cities, there is a ton of green rolling hills. Big corn fields. And
some cities look like old Europe. It's really neat. I figured I should
say some things like this, since I haven't done much explaining of
those little things that make me smile. There are tons of squirrels
here too. Even different colors! Not just the reddish-brown we are
used to, but there are gray and black squirrels. They climb on all the
trees, and power lines, and all that stuff I've never really seen them
do before. Except the tree part, I've seen them do that. But most the
time it seems like they are on the ground all the time in California.
I will take some pictures today, and maybe send them next week.

I love being on my mission, and I am so grateful everyday to be here
in Brantford. I'm grateful for Jesus Christ, and His prophet Joseph
Smith, who taught that "The worth of every soul is great in the eyes
of God." And when asked, "How do we 'endure it well?" He said, "We
trust in God... and go on." I know these principles are true. God
knows each of us personally and loves us. Each experience we have is
for our good.

I love you all so much. I hope you have a good week!

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

Prisoners

6/25/12

Hello Family!

It is great to be able to email you. One quick note, if anyone
receives or has received an email from me at a weird time, like 1:30
AM, its just a delay in the email. Its not me! FYI, for everyone... so
don't worry. :) The "myldsmail" is filtered and probably monitored to
some extent, so that probably explains the delays when they happen.

I had someone tell me today that we (missionaries) are "prisoners" to
our religion" and that we are only trying to "work our way to heaven."
Well... that would be a sad life. If it were true, I would've stopped
being a Mormon a long time ago. First of all... there is nothing in me
that is saying "Oh, you need to go on a mission because that will get
you into heaven." Nor is there anything that the church says that says
that we go on missions only to get into heaven. We don't do any work
in the church strictly to work our way to heaven. That is a sad and
void motivation. If we do "works" with the intent of "working our way
to heaven," that is selfish. There are a lot of motivations I can name
that were influential in me coming on a mission. But the main one came
when I was pleading with God one day, for direction in my life. I felt
like my life was on hold. I felt like I was not progressing. I felt
like I would never be able to make it on my mission. I felt like, "why
not just stay home, go to school, work, get married, and continue on
with life? I can do that now, and I will be happy!" But then something
struck me with more force than ever before...I thought to myself: "I
need to go on a mission. Because somewhere in the world... whether its
in a home in North America or a hut in Africa somewhere, someone needs
to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ... specifically from YOU." There
was no thought that said "You need to go on a mission so you can work
your way to heaven."

About 99 percent of people I've met in the church do "works" because
we know are all on this crazy lost planet, and we are all searching
for a couple of things. We are searching for belonging, we are
searching for LOVE. We do "works" because it is through callings,
missions, so-called "works" that we help each other out and help each
other find our way back HOME. If it wasn't for this motivation... if
it wasn't for this gospel... I would be sitting around like a sloth,
with no purpose in life. (Brown Clown has accused me of being that
before--when it was true)... I have felt like that before!! And it is
this Gospel that picked me up out of the slums of my natural man, that
continues to pick me up out of the slums every day. It inspires me to
be better- to myself, and to the people around me. It helps me see the
path that I must take to be with my family forever. It helps me see
what I can do NOW to have happiness NOW, and what I can do to feel
happiness after death.

Because of Jesus Christ... we can have LIFE. Life after death, and a
new life at any moment we choose. We can choose to start over any
time. Failure only happens when we choose to stay down in the slums of
life. Success happens when we choose to get back up after we fall. Day
after day, moment after moment. The Gospel of Jesus Christ allows us
to improve each day, each moment. As long as we CHOOSE to do so. This
person who told me I was a prisoner also told me all the "rules" are
just made up by religions to... I don't know, keep us captive or
something. I know the "rules" are there to keep us safe. Safe from
emotional turmoil. God wants us to be happy. I know because I have
broken many rules. I have felt the emotional turmoil. And I have felt
encircled by the arms of God's love. He hears me every day, and He
heals me every day. I am so grateful.

I'm sorry I go on crazy psycho rants. I love this work, I know this
work is true. Otherwise, I WOULD NOT be on a mission. I would not
spend 2 years for something that I didn't believe in with all of my
heart. And I guess it bothers me when people accuse me of doing
otherwise.

My family... I love you. I miss you. I'm grateful for you.

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

Laus Deo

6/18/12

Hi Family!

It's great to have this opportunity every week to write you. There is
at least one more name I think I forgot to include last week. The
Sillars. I'm not sure what her name would have been when she knew
Grandma and Grandpa Oles, she was a teenager at the time. Her name is
Carol Sillars now. She says she remembers seeing a drawing one time
and she asked her dad "Wow, Dad! who drew that picture?" And he told
her that Brother Oles did. She and her husband had us over for dinner
last night, and she brought that up again and she also said to me "I
see your Grandpa everytime I see you." Which I thought was neat. A
compliment, too! Grandpa was a handsome guy! I have a photocopy of a
page from the Brantford Ward history book thing that Brother Hampshire
made. It has a picture of you, Mom, and some of your siblings, and
also Grandma and Grandpa as a fairly young couple with two kids (not
sure who the kids are in that one). Also, this next thing is pretty
exciting if I can contact him. Did Grandpa Oles have a brother named
Donald? I think I remember hearing his name before. I was looking in
the Brantford phone book and there is only one Oles in there, and it
is Donald Oles. I think I am going to call him and see if we can visit
him! I'll let you know next week how it goes if I'm able to meet with
him before then.

There is a lady in the ward here named Lydia, who is an amazing woman!
She is from Kenya. She has a super cool accent, and when she prays or
speaks it is electrifying! Well, maybe not that intense, but I
couldn't think of a cool word besides that. Everytime someone else
prays she always nods and says aloud "Mmm hmm, yes!" and stuff like
that. I kind of wish I could pull that off, but I think people would
look at me funny. I do nod during prayers though... but usually no one
sees that. So I guess I was spying on Lydia while someone was praying
because I know she nods. I have never met someone so grateful and so
full of Charity as Lydia. She has been away from her family in Kenya
for quite some time, and she is dealing with many challenges at the
present time, yet she is always so happy, so willing to help, and she
always says "God is good... all the time!" What an attitude! I want to
have an attitude like Lydia. When I feel down, when I feel alone, when
I feel angry, when I feel weak, when I feel anything that is negative
or bitter... I want to be able to think of all of my blessings and all
that God has done for me, I want to be able to put a smile on my face
and say "God is good... all the time!" I never hear a word of malice
come from Lydia. She truly lives the principle "With malice toward
none, with charity for all" that Abraham Lincoln said in one of his
speeches. I am grateful for Lydia's example. Lydia's friendship
brought someone into the waters of baptism yesterday. Elder Johnson
was able to baptize Reema, whom we have been teaching for the past
month or so. Lydia has been a best friend to Reema, and really,
because of her, Reema chose a path that makes her happy.

"With malice toward NONE, and charity for ALL" is the only thing that
will unite us as a human family. If we recognize the one simple truth
that everything we have comes from God, and if we look to fill our
lives with truth, light, and love... we will be happy. We will be able
to remember, even after times of weakness and darkness, that "God is
good... all the time!" and we can help brighten someone's day because
of the smile on our face. God is the source of truth, light, and love.
We are God's children, and we have that light within us... we just
have to uncover it, and let it shine! One small act of love, followed
by another... and another... will change the world.

I love all of you. I'm grateful for all of you and each experience
I've had with each of you, because that's how we grow. Through
experiences, good and bad. I'm mindful of you in my prayers, and again
I hope I can be in yours as well.

Laus Deo is latin for "praise be to God."

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

-PS- I attached a picture of us and Reema. Warning, the picture is
botched. Almost as botched as Brown Clown's face.

Bread Crumbs

6/11/12
Hey Family!

This week has been a very busy week here in Brantford. It has been a
week full of opposition and a week full of good things as well. Before
I forget again- the only people who I know we are related to somehow
is the Taylor family. Judy Taylor is a Davis, and is somehow related
to Welby Davis. But I have lots of names of people who knew Grandma
and Grandpa Oles, and lots of people have told me I look a little bit
like Grandpa. Here are the names: Jean Sheldon (or Shelton), Linda and
Dale Crandall, Sister Berkley (I'm told was your primary teacher,
Mom), and the Hampshire family, Brother Hampshire was a Branch
President here in Brantford way back in the day, and Grandpa Oles was
one of his counselors before they moved to Salt Lake City. So that's
really cool! I find out new things every week. I'm anxious to learn
more about our roots, and to find out the reasons why I'm here in
Brantford. Because I know it is not just a coincidence.

I'm a huge believer in bread crumbs. I like to define bread crumbs as
a trail of events leading to something that is meant to happen. I've
had lots of those events in my life, and we had one just on Saturday
night with a potential investigator. It was 9:00 pm, so we were
finished for the day. But before we headed home, we were going to stop
for a "Sunday Eve Treat," which is what my companion likes to call
getting a McFlurry. But this time he was undecided/leaving it up to me
to decide, and we were by a McDonalds, a Wendys, an A&W, and a Fast
Eddies (kind of like Rallys or Checkers). We were going to drive to
the other side of town, but then we realized we were by all of these
places already, so we stayed.

I suck at telling stories... but I will continue anyways. We first
stopped at A&W to see if they had milkshakes, because apparently some
do and some don't. We drove through and asked, and the girl said no.
So then we asked her if she thought we should go to McDonalds or Fast
Eddies, and she recommended Fast Eddies. So off we went across the
street to Fast Eddies!! Then came the next dilemma. Walk up, or drive
thru? I wanted to walk up, so we did. I was the driver so I was kind
of in control that night. (My companion later on said he was just
being nice, he wanted to drive thru-- that little detail is important
as you will see) We were walking up and some guy yelled from his pick
up truck "Hey! You guys have walked quite a long distance today, huh?"
We went and talked to him as he was parked for a minute. He went on to
say that he saw us earlier as we were walking, then saw us again just
then walking up to Fast Eddies. And he said something like "I don't
know, I just felt like I should come talk to you guys. This is the
second time I've seen you, so maybe its a coincidence but I don't
really think it is." The guy's name is Brandon, he is 22 years old,
and we met with him on our porch yesterday afternoon for about 45
minutes or so. We're meeting with him again tonight at 8:00. The most
exciting thing about him is that he is SO open. He is WAY into
positive energy kind of stuff. And he tells us constantly that he
thinks he is talking to us for a reason. He also mentioned that he saw
missionaries like us a year ago, but never had the time to call us or
anything.

Alright... so I feel like that story is very anti-climatic in an
email. But its way more exciting in my head, just so you know. The
point was, there were so many silly little things that led to us
meeting him. Things that if hadn't happened, we wouldn't have seen him
as he was driving through that very parking lot at that very time...
just sayin'... And I know there is a reason why we met him.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ allows people to be diverse. It might not
seem like it from the outside, or even on the inside sometimes. But I
know that God has created us all to be unique. We all have our own,
specific and unique "piece of the puzzle." A lot of Mormons would
automatically think "Oh, positive energy... that's weird." and feel
like someone into that doesn't fit into the imaginary cultural bubble
of mormonism. Or some would even say that my bread crumbs theory,
which I stole from Glenn Beck's book "The 7", is a weird theory and
that not everything happens for a reason. Take GB for an example. He
is hated, he is loved, both by mormons and non mormons. Not all
mormons have to have the same political views, or the same opinions
about government or any other silly political thing. Or views about
fate, or psychology, or science... we all are different. We are all
unique. We are all individuals in a huge human family.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us a way to constantly improve
ourselves, and teaches us how we should treat each other. That is why
I believe the only thing that will ever unite us as a human family is
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There isnothing to lose. Test it for
yourself if you haven't already done so, and I promise you will find
answers you are looking for, or you will find the void inside of you-
that you didn't know existed- being filled.

I love you all. I love hearing from you. You're in my thoughts and
prayers, and I hope I can be in yours as I do need them every day.

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

Bread Crumbs

6/11/12
Hey Family!

This week has been a very busy week here in Brantford. It has been a
week full of opposition and a week full of good things as well. Before
I forget again- the only people who I know we are related to somehow
is the Taylor family. Judy Taylor is a Davis, and is somehow related
to Welby Davis. But I have lots of names of people who knew Grandma
and Grandpa Oles, and lots of people have told me I look a little bit
like Grandpa. Here are the names: Jean Sheldon (or Shelton), Linda and
Dale Crandall, Sister Berkley (I'm told was your primary teacher,
Mom), and the Hampshire family, Brother Hampshire was a Branch
President here in Brantford way back in the day, and Grandpa Oles was
one of his counselors before they moved to Salt Lake City. So that's
really cool! I find out new things every week. I'm anxious to learn
more about our roots, and to find out the reasons why I'm here in
Brantford. Because I know it is not just a coincidence.

I'm a huge believer in bread crumbs. I like to define bread crumbs as
a trail of events leading to something that is meant to happen. I've
had lots of those events in my life, and we had one just on Saturday
night with a potential investigator. It was 9:00 pm, so we were
finished for the day. But before we headed home, we were going to stop
for a "Sunday Eve Treat," which is what my companion likes to call
getting a McFlurry. But this time he was undecided/leaving it up to me
to decide, and we were by a McDonalds, a Wendys, an A&W, and a Fast
Eddies (kind of like Rallys or Checkers). We were going to drive to
the other side of town, but then we realized we were by all of these
places already, so we stayed.

I suck at telling stories... but I will continue anyways. We first
stopped at A&W to see if they had milkshakes, because apparently some
do and some don't. We drove through and asked, and the girl said no.
So then we asked her if she thought we should go to McDonalds or Fast
Eddies, and she recommended Fast Eddies. So off we went across the
street to Fast Eddies!! Then came the next dilemma. Walk up, or drive
thru? I wanted to walk up, so we did. I was the driver so I was kind
of in control that night. (My companion later on said he was just
being nice, he wanted to drive thru-- that little detail is important
as you will see) We were walking up and some guy yelled from his pick
up truck "Hey! You guys have walked quite a long distance today, huh?"
We went and talked to him as he was parked for a minute. He went on to
say that he saw us earlier as we were walking, then saw us again just
then walking up to Fast Eddies. And he said something like "I don't
know, I just felt like I should come talk to you guys. This is the
second time I've seen you, so maybe its a coincidence but I don't
really think it is." The guy's name is Brandon, he is 22 years old,
and we met with him on our porch yesterday afternoon for about 45
minutes or so. We're meeting with him again tonight at 8:00. The most
exciting thing about him is that he is SO open. He is WAY into
positive energy kind of stuff. And he tells us constantly that he
thinks he is talking to us for a reason. He also mentioned that he saw
missionaries like us a year ago, but never had the time to call us or
anything.

Alright... so I feel like that story is very anti-climatic in an
email. But its way more exciting in my head, just so you know. The
point was, there were so many silly little things that led to us
meeting him. Things that if hadn't happened, we wouldn't have seen him
as he was driving through that very parking lot at that very time...
just sayin'... And I know there is a reason why we met him.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ allows people to be diverse. It might not
seem like it from the outside, or even on the inside sometimes. But I
know that God has created us all to be unique. We all have our own,
specific and unique "piece of the puzzle." A lot of Mormons would
automatically think "Oh, positive energy... that's weird." and feel
like someone into that doesn't fit into the imaginary cultural bubble
of mormonism. Or some would even say that my bread crumbs theory,
which I stole from Glenn Beck's book "The 7", is a weird theory and
that not everything happens for a reason. Take GB for an example. He
is hated, he is loved, both by mormons and non mormons. Not all
mormons have to have the same political views, or the same opinions
about government or any other silly political thing. Or views about
fate, or psychology, or science... we all are different. We are all
unique. We are all individuals in a huge human family.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us a way to constantly improve
ourselves, and teaches us how we should treat each other. That is why
I believe the only thing that will ever unite us as a human family is
the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There isnothing to lose. Test it for
yourself if you haven't already done so, and I promise you will find
answers you are looking for, or you will find the void inside of you-
that you didn't know existed- being filled.

I love you all. I love hearing from you. You're in my thoughts and
prayers, and I hope I can be in yours as I do need them every day.

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

No Greater Joy

Hello Family!

We are emailing a little early today at the library. Don't know why, but I'm okay with it. It has been much more productive today, and not such a waste of a day like p-days sometimes turn out to be.
I hope everyone liked the picture of the burger. It was the best burger in the world!! Other than In-n-out. It was at this place in downtown Brantford called Admiral, its a burger and sub sandwich place. Which subs are always called Submarines here, which is kind of silly. Canadians do a lot of silly things like that. Anyways, it was called the double bacon cheese burger or something, but it actually had 3 super thick patties on it. So I guess that's another silly thing, because normally a double burger is 2 patties. Then, the bacon was peameal bacon, which is the "real" canadian bacon. Its basically a thick slice of ham that is covered in corn meal. Its really salty. There were 3 slices of that on the burger, which was a little too much, like brown clown's face, but it was still good. The burger was amazing. It was just something you had to take apart and eat. And the fries were amazing, and they fill up a whole take out container full of fries. Anyways... it was good. I should probably stop talking about it.

Last night a younger couple in the ward had us over for dinner... the guy's name is Brett, like me, and we started talking about politics. (which he brought up, and since no one cares about canadian politics, we decided it was okay and justifiable)... We have the exact same political views!! He is an American at heart, he said. And he was a Glenn Beck fan, like me obviously, so the discussion was pretty fun! Then before we were leaving they said we should take a personality test and compare it because we were so similar. His favorite color is blue... like me. His birthday is May 24th, which is 5 days before me. It was all pretty funny because we have so many similarities. It started getting creepy and we had to go, so we will do a real personality test some other time. So, the point of this little story is not to say I added another guy to my list of man-crushes, but its fun to meet people who you get along with so well. My companion at the MTC was like that, Brett Fleming (the guy I just talked about), and I'm sure I'll meet some more.

In President Scott's weekly email, he informed us that we are on track with reaching our goal of getting 65 baptisms this month, because we have 90 baptismal dates. Elder Johnson and I will most likely have 2 baptisms this month. Reema is a woman from India, who has lived in Canada for about 2 years. She came to church a couple weeks ago, and asked us whether she should get divorced... which we can't determine that, so we said she should pray about it. But she has really benefited from feeling the calm and peace that the Holy Spirit brings when you earnestly seek it. She wanted it and needed it, so she felt it. And she was so prepared to meet with us, so she will probably be getting baptized in a couple of weeks. Phil will probably be baptized at the end of the month. His family recently joined, but he wanted to finish the Book of Mormon before getting baptized. He has a strong testimony, and he is just solid all around. He is quitting smoking in preparation, so we just continue to call him and meet with him weekly or more often. It is exciting that we have these 2 baptisms to look forward to!

The biggest thing I've learned this past week, is that there is no greater joy than the joy we feel from doing the Lord's work. The first presidency tells us that in the beginning of Preach My Gospel, and sometimes you want to say "yeah... right!" But all of the pain or frustration that I feel usually stems from selfishness. Sometimes its not, but usually it is. But everyday we teach people, or visit people, or even on days that we just try to find people and it turns out to be unsuccessful, we still tried. And at the end of each day, I feel happy. We tried and we did our best to bring happiness to the people of Brantford. President Hinckley once said "The most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves. The happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others." It is true! Another good quote I love is "Change the way you look at things, and the things you look at change." Stop looking at only yourself, or being concerned about ONLY yourself. LOSE YOURSELF in the service of others. I promise there is no greater joy than that which you will feel when you lose yourself in the service of others. That's what the gospel is all about. LOVE others, and treat others the way you would like to be treated.

I'm grateful for all of the birthday wishes and emails. You are all always in my prayers and thoughts. And I'm not just saying that. I literally pray for all of my family and friends by name, along with our investigators, so they turn out to be really long prayers!! But I'm just saying... I'm not lying when I tell you that. I hope I can remain in your prayers, because we all need them daily. The gospel is true. Jesus Christ loves us, He knows us personally, and He died for us. He rose again, and we will one day too. He lives! He has open arms, and He is begging us to turn to Him.

I love you all!

Love,
Elder Brett Simper

Brantford, week 2-or 3? I can't remember... :)

Hello Family!

I'm grateful for the emails I have received and the snail mail as
well. I want to insert a quick note- I really do enjoy every email and
every piece of mail I get. Missionaries get a little scatter brained
so if I don't mention you or say thank you for something... don't feel
bad. I really do enjoy everything I receive, and I'm grateful for
every bit of it! So, with that, I won't be sending a super long email
this week. But I'm sending some pictures through. I'm sending only 2
per email, because I'm not sure if the myldsmail server can handle any
more than that. This week has been a great week of continued learning
and growing, I feel closer to my companion than I did last week. I try
to see things from his shoes, and that helps me like him more. I am
really loving being here in Brantford. I've found out I'm related to
some people, but I'll have to write about that a different time. I
don't know the people at all, but its still neat. But I really feel
I'm here for a good reason, even if its just to feel to coolness of
being close to family roots. The Gospel is true, this church has its
fulness. Its not a cult run by a bunch of old judgemental white dudes.
There are the judgemental people, or the people who are super closed
minded. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is about LOVE. I love each and
every one of you. I'm praying for you daily. Look to God and live...

Elder Brett Simper

Brantford- Week 1

Hello Family,
It has been a good first week here in Brantford, Ontario! It is absolutely beautiful around here. Some areas, not so much, but I mean the trees and grass- it is so nice! Our little house is right across the street from a train station, so it gets really noisy. The first
night it kind of freaked me out. Everything kind of rattles when
trains go through and quite a few trains go through at night. But I've actually always liked trains, so its kind of cool.
There is so much history around here! Even family history! Mom, I met a family last week, the Taylors, and he said his sister named Dolores always talks about Grandpa Oles' conversion story. I gave them your info so she could call you or email you or something. But how cool is that! And last night, I had dinner with the Henhawk family who is alsoMohawk. They didn't recognize the Oles name, but its still pretty cool. In your next email can you let me know if we have a clan? That would be cool. I keep telling people I'm native, so I should probably have a clan name so they don't think I'm just a weird white guy saying I'm a native. :)

We do a lot of re-activation work and work with less-actives, along with teaching part-member families. We've been doing a lot of finding too, but working with less-actives is a huge part of the work here in the mission. Which we knew before coming, but its a lot more extensive than I thought. We've been helping out this guy named Joe, he's 20 years old. He's been coming back to church more often lately, and he's about a month sober from marijuana. He is actually doing a "mini-mission" with us, so he's staying with us, and working with us.
And he's trying to quit smoking tobacco as well. He's a funny guy. We
like to have him around, and apparently he's already made a lot of
progress from before I got here, and I've already seen some progress just in this past week. He is practically an investigator, so we teach him a lot of things too. We're going to continue working with him the next two weeks on the "mini-mission." President Scott has set a goal for us to get 65 baptisms in the month of June. Its pretty cool, we are all unified and working towards that goal.

My first sunday was good, people are so nice to the new missionary. They introduced me in Sacrament meeting, but they didn't pick on me for anything... yet. The ward is small. The work here is going to be picking up, it already is, there are a lot of things to do here. Lots of people moping around on drugs, alcohol, lots of relationship
problems. Lots of teen pregnancies. The devil has had a pretty strong
grip here. But I know if we work hard to have the spirit, that can change everything. Its not us, its the spirit. I'll be honest, its been pretty difficult with my first companion. He's a great guy, he has a testimony and he wants to help people, but he definitely has one
foot here in the mission and one foot in the world/back home. So its a
little frustrating. But we'll work though it. I just know that having one foot at home or in the world, would make this seem like a waste of time. I want to wear out my life for the next two years, because many people have made so many sacrifices for me to be here. So I want to make them count. One thing we're indoctrinated with as missionaries is the doctrine of Christ. That's all that matters. Faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
Investigators take that path, and we as members take it too. Faith, daily repentance, the sacrament weekly, being worthy of the Spirit, and enduring to the end. Living these principles can repair anything that needs repairing. I hope this email was not too long or boring. We've had kind of a dumb p-day. Lots of wasted time. We could've had a little longer to send more personal emails if we used time more wisely.

Anyways, I love all of you very much. You are all in my thoughts and
prayers daily. I can't wait to continue to share my experiences with you!

Love,
Elder Simper

CANADA!

I get to send a quick email today since I arrived in CANADA last
night!! My first companion is Elder Johnson... he's 24 and way taller
than me so I feel like a little kid! And my first area is Brantford,
which is the town where my mom was born! Which I think is pretty
amazing. I'm still in "whoa, this is the real world and I'm a
missionary" shock, but hopefully that will wear off with time. Meeting
my mission president and his wife and everyone else was really nice
last night. They're all so cool. President Scott is a way cool guy! My
regular P-day is on Monday, and I get to send emails around 3:30
Ontario time on those days... at least thats what Elder Johnson told
me so hopefully he's not a fetching liar... :) Brantford is pretty,
and its really old and run-down looking. My home is pretty old and run
down, and right by a train station. There are so many green trees here
though so I think Canada is beautiful. There seems like there are a
lot of Tim Guerrero people here, if you know what I mean. Haha. So
that should be fun! I should get to meet some tonight and tomorrow,
and every day for at least the next 3 months! I'm excited for what's
ahead, and I'll be sure to keep you posted. I forgot my camera today,
so I'll remember to bring it and try upload pics on Monday :)
My address for LETTERS not packages is:

38 Wadsworth St
Brantford, ON
N3T 3V6

For packages, its the one you already have. The one in Brampton.
Love you guys very much!

Elder Simper

Final week in the MTC

Hey Family,
I am anxious and a little nervous to go out to Canada. Because now it feels like its the real deal! But I know everything will be fine. I just need to be prepared, be obedient, and follow the spirit. And I need to be myself. Sometimes we get mixed messages th at make us feel like we need to turn into robots... but you just have to find the right balance. I'm grateful for all that i've learned at the mtc. But I'm grateful and excited to get out into the real world and talk with real investigators not actors or other elders during roleplays. it gets kind of old doing those... but they are helpful too. But we get to the point where we want to talk to real people. First opportunity to do so this Monday!! I'm sorry this won't be a very long email. But I will call you, mom & mick, on Monday A.M. from the airport. I want to promise you, all of you, that you will find the most happiness and peace from living the gospel of Jesus Christ. The world is so dark and so confused. Things that seem so right are actually so wrong. The gospel gives us that truth that we are all searching for. And the world will tell you how ridiculous and silly the story of the Restoration is. But Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw. He saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and they told him that all other churches had become corrupt. Its not that we have the "true church" just as something to brag about. its because its the only way to happiness and fulfillment in this life and in the life to come. God reveals His truth to his children when they are willing to listen. He can take it away too, just like he did in the past. But this is the last dispensation, the dispensation of the fulness of times, a time to prepare the world for the Lord's second coming. This life is like a blink of an eye. Nothing that the world offers will bring you lasting happiness. The gospel brings lasting happiness, because its how we can be together with our family for eternity. Again I apologize if this letter seems short... we don't have time and the keyboards are crappy. I love you all. And I promise you that you will find happiness... that sounds vague... but its the truth... you will find that happiness by living the gospel of Jesus Christ. Try it out. You're either going to be indoctrinated by the devil and the world or by God. You have the choice. Love you all, I can't wait to write you from Canada. I'm excited to see how it is!! Miss you all. but not too much :) We've got work to do!

Elder Brett Simper

Week 2, MTC

Dear Family,
It will be easier in the mission field, I think, to send emails to everyone individually. If you could forward this to family or anyone else who wants it that would be awesome :) These MTC computers are super secure. You can only really access church-related things. Even this software that I'm sending the email from is fully custumized by the church. Its crazy! Some people like to think its like a prison. Its not. If you look at it that way then it will seem like a prison... all the "restrictions" on the computers, the voices that call us in our residences from the front desk-- which is actually pretty funny sometimes. Someone will page our classroom or residence hall on an intercom, and I guess there are microphones in the buildings that you can respond to. The other morning, one Elder in our zone said, after the lady from the front desk hung up, "Magical voice, come back!!" It was actually pretty funny. So the voice thing is kind of weird, but its funny. Before every fireside or devotional, we sing about 3 hymns, plus our regular opening hymn. I've found that there's nothing that scares the devil away more than a group of hundreds, maybe thousands, Elders and Sisters singing hymns. It is really pretty amazing. The spirit rushes in like you've never felt before. There's a scripture in D&C 11, verse 21- it says something like this: "Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word. Then shall your tongue be loosed, then if you desire, you shall have my spirit and my word." I experienced that the other night in class. I felt like I had nothing to say in class about the Plan of Salvation. So, my teacher pulled me aside and asked if everything was okay, and asked if I would teach it to her one on one. So I did, but still, I kind of butchered the lesson. I was really freaked out. Like "why don't I know anything about this?! I know I know this!" Because I do. But I hadn't really studied it that much before from Preach My Gospel, which spells out doctrine in such a way that makes it simple and understandable. For both us as missionaries to learn, and for us to teach our investigators. Anyways, I studied it really hard that night and prayed really hard so that I could have a better day the next day, which was yesterday. Really all it was, was the devil was having a great time telling me I didn't know anything. And I really did need to look it over again, so I could teach it the proper way. I knew it enough for MY testimony, but not in the ways that were appropriate to share with investigators. But yesterday was a great day! It was the first day that both my companion and I would come out of our practice lessons and say "Wow! We both feel great!" Usually, one of us would feel good and one of us not so good. But we were able to teach effectively yesterday. But the key is, its not US. Its the Spirit. We just have to create an atmosphere where the Spirit of God can be, and focus on teaching the people as people. We're not to be cookie-cutter missionaries who just recite the things we learn in Preach My Gospel. We are to be ourselves, and we are to understand the needs of our investigators, and be able to teach them correct principles and INVITE them, not convince them, to come unto Christ. To have faith in Him, to change their lives, so that they might want to be baptized and recieve the Holy Ghost themselves so that they can ENDURE to the end. That's our purpose. So, yesterday, even though we didn't get to share every point of doctrine that sometimes we feel like we "need" to, we were able to have a good conversation... a conversation with a purpose, with each investigator. We shared our personal feelings and testimonies, as we felt the need to, and that proved to be extremely effective. I don't have any more time... I love you all, you are in my prayers. I leave here on May 14th to head to Canada.

Love, Elder Simper

MTC

4-28-2012

My companion is a cool guy, he is Elder Forsyth from some small town up north in Utah. He's 21, he's pretty spiritual, and he says fetch a lot, then corrects himself, so its pretty funny! I only have a few minutes to write you guys, so I'll be fast. The first night at the MTC taught me more than any stake mission prep thing could ever do! All of the mission preps from being a priest, and all the mission prep at byu-idaho, everything combined could not come close to what you learn here at the MTC. It is amazing! The spirit here is so strong. And we're so incredibly busy. But all the praying, singing, and practicing is helping me feel so close to the Savior. The focus here is teaching people from the heart the doctrines of Christ. Faith in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. That is the missionary purpose that is on page one in Preach my gospel. It is powerful. It is the only way to true happiness and fulfillment. Our focus is to get to know the people we teach, so we can love them as Christ does, and then teach them and invite them to come unto Christ. The MTC is amazing. I am super excited to go to Canada, and I'm pretty glad I won't be here for 3 months, but its still an incredible experience.

Elder Brett Simper

Contact Info for Elder Simper

I report to the MTC this Wednesday!  I'll be there for about 3 weeks.  To write me letters or send me packages, use this address:

Elder Brett Simper
MTC Mailbox #302
CAN-TOR 0514
2005 N 900 E
Provo, UT 84604-1793

And when I arrive in Canada, you can use the mission office's address until I can notify you of my first area:

Elder Brett Simper
Canada Toronto Mission
197 County Court Blvd Ste 203
Brampton, ON L6W 4P6
Canada