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