Niagara, 1/7/13

Hello Family!

We're anxious for this week. Things will probably pick up this week. And things are probably going to pick up a lot in the coming months! Our mission is going to have many, many more missionaries. And many of them will be Sister missionaries, and I think they'll see tons of success. It's a very exciting time to be serving the Lord. Charles didn't get baptized yet, so we're a little worried about him. He was away most of the weekend, but we've stayed in contact and hopefully we'll be able to dig a little deeper and see what we need to help him with. I believe he is someone who will make a great contribution to the Lord's kingdom, and that's probably why he's facing so much opposition. The Lord needs us on His team. He needs you, any of you who have strayed.

We had an awesome testimony meeting yesterday here in the St. Davids ward. A couple of guys who I really admire got up and said some really thought-provoking things. One man said "Becoming a member of the Church is my greatest accomplishment in life. And what did I accomplish?? Nothing [in a worldly sense]." And the other man spoke about his thoughts about New Years resolutions, and he shared a couple of his goals. One was to focus more on eternal things rather than on temporal things, and the other was to pay more attention to the promptings of the Spirit. He said "the clock just keeps on ticking, and I don't want a whole year to go by with me doing nothing."

I was inspired by these testimonies. The truth is, if I were to have all the pleasures that the world can offer, but fail to live the Gospel... I would have nothing. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is real. It is the reality we must be living in. If we are not living the Gospel, then we are living contrary to the nature of happiness. So, many of my current personal goals and plans are to ensure that I consistently and diligently live the Gospel. Because I know it is living the Gospel that brings me the most joy. This is the joy that missionaries all over the world are inviting people to receive.

I love you all so much! Make this week a great week, and strive to make 2013 the best yet!

Love,
Elder Brett Simper