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
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
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
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
Saturday, May 12, 2012
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
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
Monday, May 7, 2012
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
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
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