Niagara, 12/27/12

Hello Family!

Next preparation day is Wednesday 1/2/13 instead of Monday 12/31/12.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! It was a great day for me. I enjoyed being able to Skype home and I'm grateful for all the love I felt from you and from the people here. As I've been thinking about the arrival of a new year, I thought about things I want and need to do better. Something I've done on my mission a couple of times and have had success with is writing down goals of "Who I want to become" and also writing down some plans on how I can become just that. Its a continual work in progress, and I am no where close to the person I want to become. But it is helpful to write down these goals- they can be anything! And remember to be patient and work at it one day at a time.

There is so much depressing stuff going on in the world. We all know that. We all get a little hopeless about it and maybe we choose to ignore it sometimes. But I know that we can make a difference in the world by starting small. Start with yourself- evaluate and improve yourself, then see what needs to happen to improve the relationships with your family and loved ones. This is something I'm still working on. We need to work at this the same way we should with our goals- be patient and work at it one day at a time. But the important thing is, is that we actually do it! Evaluate, set goals, and make plans to improve. If you can see something way down at the end of the tunnel and seems like a long way away-- don't give up, because I know from experience that if you just keep on going towards that goal, even if you fall... you will make it.

I know that in some cases, it is necessary to cut off certain relationships that are harmful. But I think if we cut off relationships based on assumptions, then we are making a big mistake. "When it comes to hating, gossiping, ignoring, ridiculing, holding grudges, or wanting to cause harm, please apply the following: Stop it!" (Dieter F. Uchtdorf) We're all human and we all struggle with these things. But we need to be careful with the way we treat each other. If we're not careful, and we burn all our bridges, then the coming years are going to be absolutely miserable.

I love you all very much. The Church is true, and God lives. Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love us and are always calling us home.

Happy New Year!

Love,
Elder Brett Simper