Hello Family!
Its good to be able to write you today. I feel like the work is progressing here in the St. Davids Ward, and that's a good feeling. Sometimes, in any situation in life, we may feel like things aren't progressing as fast as we would like. We must realize that there are things we do have control over, as well as things that we don't have control over. So, do your best with the things in which you do have control, but don't worry so much about the rest. I have to remember this time and time again.
Marlene wants to get baptized but she doesn't feel quite ready to commit to a specific date. That's okay, its her decision and her journey. We are simply here to help her along that path, but she chooses what to do and when to do it. We've found a few others here and there, some want to go forward and some just drop off. Its all part of the work! The more I'm here I realize that we are merely instruments in God's hands. And I don't say merely to minimize what we do, because its actually a lot of work to be worthy to be used literally as God's hands. A scripture I really like is in D&C 4, it says "Therefore, if you have desires to serve God, you are called to the work." It later lists many attributes that qualify us to serve God. Among them is faith, hope, charity, love, and an eye single to the glory of God. And it lists many other attributes which, to be completely honest, make me feel quite inadequate most of the time.
I want to share a story from my life, which I think only Mom & Mick will know. Its an experience that I will always remember and draw from to help me keep moving forward. And its amazing to realize how many people share a very similar experience. When I received my Patriarchal blessing, I was terrified. I did not feel worthy. In fact, some people would say I wasn't worthy. I prayed constantly prior to receiving it "Please help me feel the spirit during this experience, I know I'm not what I should be, but please help me..." The Patriarch, whom I've never met and didn't know the pleading prayers I had offered, said as part of the blessing that I would feel the Spirit "which you have prayed for concerning your blessing." Whoa. God was speaking to me.... I felt like he was saying "Hello. Yes, I am real. I am here, and I heard your prayers. I love you very much, you are my son. You have made mistakes, you are still going to make mistakes, but trust in Me and in the Atonement of Christ, repent (move forward & work hard to be better), and everything will work out."
I am so grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord. He shows us so much mercy, so much love. Love is the motivation behind everything that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do for us. I know that they want to help us be happy and successful, and that is why they have given us the Gospel. They will help us become worthy. Its a process, not a one-time-thing.
I love you all. I hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Brett Simper
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Niagara, 3/11/2013
Hello Family!
It has been a good week. Lots of cool things happening. A girl here named Marlene wants to be baptized! She is the daughter of a recent convert. She's about 20 or 21 yrs old, and she seems to love coming to church right now & she loves to bring her 2 little sisters (who are baptized). Their Mom works quite a bit, so this would be a good change for the entire family. We also met a nice lady named Jennifer a couple weeks ago, and we sacrificed some P-day time to visit her today (that's why emails are late). It was a great sacrifice! She is also going to come to an FHE activity we will have tonight. So, those are a couple highlights from the week.
Today, we got this from President Scott:
Notice
To: General Authorities, Area Seventies, and Mission Presidents
From: Missionary Department
Subject: Adjusted Missionary Email Policy
Missionaries are to write to their families each week and are also authorized to communicate by email with friends, priesthood leaders, and new converts. Mission presidents should allow sufficient time on preparation day for missionaries to write emails and letters. While in the mission field, missionaries should receive authorization from the mission president before entering into communication, including via email, with converts and others of the opposite gender within the mission boundaries (see Missionary Handbook, 36–37).
.....
So, that's pretty cool! Now I don't have to worry about the people I haven't written letters to. Now I can just email you back! :) But of course, snail mail won't stop completely.
I feel like my mind is kind of scattered right now, but I hope ya'll know how much I care about you and love you. I don't want to do a lot of "preaching" anymore. Preaching doesn't really do a whole lot. That's why our purpose as missionaries is to invite, not to preach to. But I will continue to share my thoughts with you, and any news from the past week that I find necessary to share... which for some, it may still sound preachy. :) I know that the work that I am doing is truly God's work. If it wasn't... I'd be wasting my time. And only someone powerful as God could take someone like me, and somehow use me as an instrument in His hands... to do whatever little things or big things He wants me to do. It is true, as the Book of Mormon says, that "by small things, great things are brought to pass." We should never give up, nor expect too little from ourselves. We have tons of potential.
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Brett Simper
It has been a good week. Lots of cool things happening. A girl here named Marlene wants to be baptized! She is the daughter of a recent convert. She's about 20 or 21 yrs old, and she seems to love coming to church right now & she loves to bring her 2 little sisters (who are baptized). Their Mom works quite a bit, so this would be a good change for the entire family. We also met a nice lady named Jennifer a couple weeks ago, and we sacrificed some P-day time to visit her today (that's why emails are late). It was a great sacrifice! She is also going to come to an FHE activity we will have tonight. So, those are a couple highlights from the week.
Today, we got this from President Scott:
Notice
To: General Authorities, Area Seventies, and Mission Presidents
From: Missionary Department
Subject: Adjusted Missionary Email Policy
Missionaries are to write to their families each week and are also authorized to communicate by email with friends, priesthood leaders, and new converts. Mission presidents should allow sufficient time on preparation day for missionaries to write emails and letters. While in the mission field, missionaries should receive authorization from the mission president before entering into communication, including via email, with converts and others of the opposite gender within the mission boundaries (see Missionary Handbook, 36–37).
.....
So, that's pretty cool! Now I don't have to worry about the people I haven't written letters to. Now I can just email you back! :) But of course, snail mail won't stop completely.
I feel like my mind is kind of scattered right now, but I hope ya'll know how much I care about you and love you. I don't want to do a lot of "preaching" anymore. Preaching doesn't really do a whole lot. That's why our purpose as missionaries is to invite, not to preach to. But I will continue to share my thoughts with you, and any news from the past week that I find necessary to share... which for some, it may still sound preachy. :) I know that the work that I am doing is truly God's work. If it wasn't... I'd be wasting my time. And only someone powerful as God could take someone like me, and somehow use me as an instrument in His hands... to do whatever little things or big things He wants me to do. It is true, as the Book of Mormon says, that "by small things, great things are brought to pass." We should never give up, nor expect too little from ourselves. We have tons of potential.
I love you all!
Love,
Elder Brett Simper
Niagara, 3/4/2013
Hello Family!
I'm going to keep this one kind of short, because Elder Tinney has a ton of stuff to do today. And we have to clean our apartment, and we're going to see the Falls again... So, I'm sorry about not being able to write more!
There were many simple, but great, things that happened this past week. Nothing huge, no parting of the Niagara Falls, no awe-inspiring miracles. But the little things are the things that are the most important. Tiny moments that remind us that God is real, He is mindful of our situation, and He loves us. To me, there is no knowledge more important than those 3 seemingly small principles, because they are not small. Most of the time it seems like I'm just a spectator on the sidelines, watching as miracles take place in other peoples' lives (often complete strangers!). Not that we don't do anything, because we most definitely are always doing something, but most of the miracles I've seen happen when we just get out of the way. This is God's work. We are His children. We either submit to Him, and feel love, gentleness, and peace... or we don't and we are fighting against the nature of happiness. Because God doesn't need us to submit to Him, but we do. He doesn't command us to just for the sake of reigning over us... its just the nature of life. Anytime we are not loving or gentle or we don't act the way God has told us to, we will fail. We will go backwards.
I really do hope that none of my emails are in vain. And I hope that you will look to God for your support, for answers to your questions. Don't take anyone's word for anything. Ask questions, be reasonable, and be fair.
I love you all so much. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Brett Simper
I'm going to keep this one kind of short, because Elder Tinney has a ton of stuff to do today. And we have to clean our apartment, and we're going to see the Falls again... So, I'm sorry about not being able to write more!
There were many simple, but great, things that happened this past week. Nothing huge, no parting of the Niagara Falls, no awe-inspiring miracles. But the little things are the things that are the most important. Tiny moments that remind us that God is real, He is mindful of our situation, and He loves us. To me, there is no knowledge more important than those 3 seemingly small principles, because they are not small. Most of the time it seems like I'm just a spectator on the sidelines, watching as miracles take place in other peoples' lives (often complete strangers!). Not that we don't do anything, because we most definitely are always doing something, but most of the miracles I've seen happen when we just get out of the way. This is God's work. We are His children. We either submit to Him, and feel love, gentleness, and peace... or we don't and we are fighting against the nature of happiness. Because God doesn't need us to submit to Him, but we do. He doesn't command us to just for the sake of reigning over us... its just the nature of life. Anytime we are not loving or gentle or we don't act the way God has told us to, we will fail. We will go backwards.
I really do hope that none of my emails are in vain. And I hope that you will look to God for your support, for answers to your questions. Don't take anyone's word for anything. Ask questions, be reasonable, and be fair.
I love you all so much. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Brett Simper
Niagara, 2/25/13
Hello Family!
I am staying in Niagara Falls. Sadly, Elder Lee is leaving me! He has been one of my favorite companions. We only got to serve with each other for 5 weeks, but he is awesome. He's remaining in English work and going over to Leamington which is way over on the Southwestern part of Ontario. I don't know who my new companion is yet. He is one of the many missionaries coming into the field today, so I'll get to meet him tomorrow! Just so ya'll know for mail or whatever, next transfers are on April 7th.
It has been a pretty good week. Not many of our current investigators are progressing right now, but we have a couple of really good potential investigators that we'll be meeting this week for the first time. There is a couple named Marlee and Blair, they are being married by our Bishop here, and they would like to learn more about the church they are being married in. Could you keep them in your prayers?
In the world we live in, and in the world we're moving in to, people need to have a personal relationship with God. And families need to be unified by love. And well... that is what the Gospel is for. We don't baptize to get a statistic or to gain more members of the church. Baptisms, and more importantly- living the Gospel- help us feel closer to God. Feeling closer to God helps us know our purpose here. And knowing our purpose here helps us know our full potential for the Eternities. Baptisms pave the way for this path, and open the door to the Celestial Kingdom.
That entire above ^^ paragraph is found in the words of modern day revelations, as well as ancient scriptures. I tell you that so I don't take credit for it- its a bunch of words from people a lot wiser than me... God is always telling us "The Way"-- He is always calling for us to come back home! Pray to Him, read His words, and as long as you keep moving forward and never give up, you will never go astray. That's a promise from God. (which promise you'd find in the scriptures or modern day words... read them!!!)
We don't have a whole lot of time today, so I'll cut this one short. I love you all! And I hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Brett Simper
I am staying in Niagara Falls. Sadly, Elder Lee is leaving me! He has been one of my favorite companions. We only got to serve with each other for 5 weeks, but he is awesome. He's remaining in English work and going over to Leamington which is way over on the Southwestern part of Ontario. I don't know who my new companion is yet. He is one of the many missionaries coming into the field today, so I'll get to meet him tomorrow! Just so ya'll know for mail or whatever, next transfers are on April 7th.
It has been a pretty good week. Not many of our current investigators are progressing right now, but we have a couple of really good potential investigators that we'll be meeting this week for the first time. There is a couple named Marlee and Blair, they are being married by our Bishop here, and they would like to learn more about the church they are being married in. Could you keep them in your prayers?
In the world we live in, and in the world we're moving in to, people need to have a personal relationship with God. And families need to be unified by love. And well... that is what the Gospel is for. We don't baptize to get a statistic or to gain more members of the church. Baptisms, and more importantly- living the Gospel- help us feel closer to God. Feeling closer to God helps us know our purpose here. And knowing our purpose here helps us know our full potential for the Eternities. Baptisms pave the way for this path, and open the door to the Celestial Kingdom.
That entire above ^^ paragraph is found in the words of modern day revelations, as well as ancient scriptures. I tell you that so I don't take credit for it- its a bunch of words from people a lot wiser than me... God is always telling us "The Way"-- He is always calling for us to come back home! Pray to Him, read His words, and as long as you keep moving forward and never give up, you will never go astray. That's a promise from God. (which promise you'd find in the scriptures or modern day words... read them!!!)
We don't have a whole lot of time today, so I'll cut this one short. I love you all! And I hope you have a great week.
Love,
Elder Brett Simper
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