I know the message is true

Hey mom! Thanks for the email

So we went to the temple this week. I totally would have sent pictures but I forgot my camera. Maybe next week or in two weeks I'll just show you. It was an amazing experience. That is the fourth time I've gone with Bo and Sister Pratt on my mission. There has always been other people but they were always there. They both mean so much to me. Same with the temple. I feel I learn something new each time. Well obviously I do but it just is amazing to be in there and feel the influence of the Savior and Heavenly Father. I love the temple, I can't wait to go when I'm home. But I will go one more time as a missionary. I will be going with my departing group not this Friday but my last Friday. I can't wait to be there with all of my buddies. It will be a great end to an amazing two years. 

My mission has been unreal with how many miracles and spiritual experiences I have had. I couldn't have had those without coming out here to California. I'm going to miss my mission for the rest of my life and think about it everyday. It is really interesting because with the time left it is impossible for me to get any more baptisms. Because investigators have to come to church three times so it has been interesting turning my mindset to realizing that I still can do so much for the great people in California. I hope to find people that will be baptized in the coming weeks and give them everything I can so they can find the peace I have found. I love this work. I love bearing my testimony of the truth. That probably is one of my favorite things about my mission. That when I'm testifying I know the message is true. That is such a good feeling. 

My companion is doing well and is teaching me by example. He is great and we are having fun. I feel like I'm always laughing and having a good time. Our area is still pretty slow, but we picked up a new investigator last night, which was cool. This kid has gone through a lot of tough things in his life. It will be good for him to grab hold of the sure and firm Gospel. It will bless him in his life. I'm excited to teach him a couple more times, then hear from Elder Solomon what his progress is through letters and emails. 

Welp I better go, I love you all and I'm thankful for you! We will talk to you soon!

Elder Simons

It Has Changed My Life

That is pretty exciting about the new stake presidency. That will be great for the great stake of Corner Canyon. I will miss President Beard a lot but luckily he still is in our ward so that will be fun. 

So this week has been good, yes we got sprayed on by a skunk. We were coming out of the members' house that we live at to walk towards our house then as soon as we opened the door it was right there and sprayed us. I knew it got me so I just ran and was screaming. It smelled pretty darn bad. Luckily it only got on my shirt and I won't be bringing that one home so I'm over it. It was a cool story though, I will tell my kids about. 

This week has been good, the work has been slow and the time has gone fast. I really wish it was the opposite, like that the time went slow and the work was going fast. We have been meeting with a guy and last night we taught the restoration and it was just awesome. My companion shared the part about Joseph Smith and where he had the first vision and the spirit just hit me so hard like it always does that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of God. I love that story. I will never get tired of it. That story is true, and I will never deny it. 

Elder Solomon is still a trooper, we are having lots of fun. We are trying to find those true seekers. We had some funny experiences this week.  Its been a lot of fun. 

We are going to the temple this Friday with a group of people from Gridley. Bo and the Pratts and some other choice people are coming. I'm so excited! I will be sure and send some pictures! But I think that is about it from my end of the world. As I always say I'm thankful for my mission, It has changed my life in so many ways. It has been such an amazing experience. I want to thank everyone who helped me get out here. which is so many people! I love you all!

Elder Simons

p.s. I'm glad you made it home safely. Can't say I wasn't worried, but I did pray really hard.

Make every minute count

Hey mom!

So first about transfers! Elder Vaitai is getting transferred to actually be with Elder Bowerman. So that is kinda sweet. I will be getting Elder Solomon from Idaho. I went street contacting with him on his first day on the mission when I was a ZL down in Antelope. Good stuff. I'm excited for it. We are going to work our tails off but I will miss my crazy Tongan companion. He will have a good time up north though. 

So I have 6 more weeks. That is just unreal to me, it is just scary but makes me realize the time I have left is so precious. I need to make every minute count. I do not want any regrets! None at all. Last week I was defining the word "regret" to Elder Vaitai because his English isn't perfect yet so he still doesn't know a couple words. It is always fun explaining stuff to him. Like last night I explained "red neck" to him. Good times. But anyway I was defining regret to him and while I was defining and thinking about it I was like "wow I do not want to have any regrets from my mission". If I do I will think about them for the rest of my life. I don't want that! 

Anyway another slow week but things are going to be changing around here, I can smell it in the wind. Can't you? It is just so hard to find the people to teach. We got a little more area to cover though, we are taking some of the Alta Sierra ward and half covering it with sisters which will be...weird. They are so many sisters that they double cover wards now. Luckily we get all of Lake Of the Pines to ourselves. 

Wasn't Easter nice? What a special time we have to reflect on the Savior and His life. It was amazing to partake of the Sacrament and realize that our Savior has done so much for us and through His resurrection we can be saved in the Kingdom of God. We are so blessed! 

This week is going to be crazy. It will probably fly by but oh well! Our new district has 12 missionaries in it. That is crazy. It will be good though. Thank you for everything you do! I have to go but remember the Church is true and don't forget to listen to conference. It can change your life, only if you let it though. I love you!

Elder Simons

A week full of blessings!

Hey mom,

This week has been full of blessings! First of all we got a car! This area is like the area where bikes shouldn't be allowed because it is sooo dangerous and there are like mountains we have to somehow bike over. So we got a brand spanking new 2013 Toyota Corolla with 100 miles on it. It is so amazing to drive. We are loving it. Since we have a car we are able to travel around more easily and visit so many more peeps. 

We were visiting this less-active and she has a friend living in her home that is interested so we are teaching him too. I'm so excited for him. He said yes to the question 'if you knew these things were true would you be baptized?" That is always good to hear. So basically i'm hoping and praying he will be baptized soon. 

We also picked up another investigator.  He is about 10 years old. He wants to get baptized too. We have our first lesson with him on Wednesday. It is great! What else is new? So funny story... every time my companion sees a big fat dog he says "good meat". He used to eat dog in Tonga and so he like sizes them up and how they would taste and stuff. It is funny. I love him so much! 

Anyway there has been some great things happening. I love how excited the ward is about all of the work. So this week on Saturday Elder Neil Anderson is coming! I can't wait. The whole mission is going down to Roseville. It is going to be amazing. Thanks for everything! I feel the prayers coming my way and I appreciate it so much and can't thank you all enough.

Elder Rasmussen, Elder Simons, Elder Wilson

I feel like I live on a farm

Hey Mom!

This week has been a good one again. I love my comp. He is amazing! He has so much charity and patience and he is so Christlike. He learned English in the MTC so we are still working on that and having language training each day to help him learn it better. Hey I may pick up some Tongan while I'm at it. Who knows? He is so funny too. I love just hearing him talk. It is the best. I hope I can bless his life as much as he already has blessed mine. 

So our area is Lake of the Pines. It is a huge gated community that surrounds a lake. It is pretty cool. We live with members. I have a queen-sized bed. I love living with them. I wake up in the morning and go and put wood in their fireplace and get the fire going. Then I go and feed the chickens and let them out. Ah I feel like I live on a farm. It has been nice. 

So I'm not a zone leader anymore. ZL's drop for their last couple transfers so they can finish just like normal missionaries. Which I have been looking forward to for a bit of time. I love just having to worry about my area and my comp. It makes things a lot less stressful. It is a great humbling experience to be able to sustain and support a district leader that actually has stewardship over me. Before (as a zl) I would pray for my district leaders that they could lead and guide their district and help all the members they are over. But it is a whole different thing praying for one to lead and guide and help me with everything that I go through. I love how perfect the organization of the church is. I love it! 

The work here is not so great though. We don't have anyone that we are teaching. Like no less actives or investigators. My comp doesn't really know the members too well or how to get around very well. This should be interesting. I'm loving life. It is great. Thank you for everything you do for me! I love you all

Elder Simons

Busy and Loving Life!

Hey Mom!

Elder McMurray and I are doing great! He is from Cardston Alberta which is sweet. They have a temple there so that is really exciting. We were able to find a YSA investigator and start teaching her so that is great and we are excited for the potential there! 

We have to do like 4 exchanges this week which will be soooo crazy but that is okay. One of which I'm going up to Mt Shasta. So I'm pumped about that. 

We were able to set a date with another of our investigators. This guy is the man. I'm pumped for him. We still need to teach him some major commandments so that will be good. 

I'm loving life and having a good time. I'm super busy which is good and bad. It makes the time fly by so quick that I can't keep up but at the same time I'd rather be busy than a lazy missionary. 

So anyway our ward is doing great, they are so missionary minded. And it all really stems from our bishop. He is excited about it and that makes others excited for it as well. It is amazing. 

I'm sorry this is so short but I have so much to do today! And today is supposed to be my p-day! Ha! I love you all so much and have a great week. 

p.s Maybe Junior is waiting for me to come home?

The Lord is hastening His work

Thanks for the email mom, it was so great to hear from you. 

This week was great...well except for the fact that my companion had strep throat since Tuesday morning. So he was in bed from Tuesday till like Saturday night. So I had to do so much paper work by myself! It was okay though, we had ZLC on Friday and also stake correlation on Sunday so that was fun. We discussed how we are getting 31 new missionaries on Feb 19th. We normally get like 7-12 each transfer so this one is a huge! I'm pretty excited and really, really want to train another missionary before I finish my mission. We will see. 

So we had [name removed] baptism on Saturday, and that was amazing. Such a special spirit that is at baptisms that you won't find anywhere else. It is really cool because when we are baptized we physically follow our Savior. He stood in water waiting to be baptized by John and we can do that same thing. I think that is amazing and really humbling.

 

We do need to find more people to teach. We haven't found someone new in a while and it has been hard because our teaching pool is quite small right now. We are teaching quite a few less-active members and that is going great but we want to focus on both sides of missionary work. 

Life is great though. We actually had this big meeting with all the Bishops, Ward missionary leaders, high councilors, stake presidencies in the Redding and Anderson stakes and with President Weston and Elder Trythall the area seventy so that was amazing. Only the zone leaders were able to attend but it was still sweet. The message I got is the Lord is hastening His work and we need to be ready and be willing to do whatever He asks and whenever. It was a very enlightening meeting. I loved it. It is really cold in this FHC so my fingers are cold so I will end this email now but I love you all!

Elder Simons 

Christmas phone call and photos

From Bob and Dayna:

As we sat around the table playing a game on Christmas Eve, Bob received this photo on his phone. Wilson and his companion had been invited to go out with a family for their traditional Christmas Eve Chinese food dinner.

Christmas Eve 2012

                          

We were able to Skype with Wilson on Christmas morning. It was amazing and wonderful to have the opportunity to see him and have a conversation with him. It made it seem like he wasn't that far away. He looked great and we could see the happiness just shining from his face. It was great to see him smiling and laughing and not one bit homesick or sad. What a wonderful Christmas present!

Later on in the day, Bob received another photo on his phone from a member. This one is of Wilson and his companion at the member's home. Doesn't he look great!?

Elder Simons and companion on
Christmas Day 2012

Mushrooms the size of California

So this week was a good one. We had some weird things happen but that is okay. So first we got a text from one of our legit investigators in our family ward that was going to be baptized soon. And he said he was going to have suspend his Mormon studies. That was bad. It was really hard for us to hear that and deal with it, because he is so ready and willing to do what the Lord wants. We just boiled it down to the fact that maybe we just are not "his" missionaries. That's okay, just as long as eventually he is baptized into the true church. 

Also the YSA girl is doing good. She wanted to postpone her baptism so we are pushing it back and still working on a date. We will let you know when the date is. But she is still happy and doing good. 

So something crazy happened. we were driving to the church on Wednesday I think it was (it was really windy, 50 mph wind gusts, and it was also pretty rainy) and all of a sudden we hear this motorcycle revving its engine and we look ahead and this genius of a man was doing a wheelie and was doing it for a couple seconds and he starts getting really shaky and eventually falls and crashes and it was just crazy. His shoe was thrown like 80 feet and his motorcycle got beat up pretty bad. He was going like 50 or 60 down this road. So we are like "wow we better go and help him." It was just crazy so i figured I'd tell you. I never have seen someone crash like that. It reminded me how precious life really is and that we are so close to the other side every single day. Just interesting. 

So we had transfers this week. I'm staying along with my companion. So we are excited about that and are really expecting to see some good things happen this next transfer. 

I love Christmas. Its so interesting to think about Jesus Christ and how He is the only Begotten of the Father, the Prince of Peace and all these other amazing names that describe Him. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and yet He descended below everything. He descended below how I, myself, was born. I just marvel on how he could have born anywhere. He could have been born in an awesome kingdom with all of these amazing amenities but yet he let himself be born in a little barn of sorts. Christ's example is amazing. I fully believe that as we follow His perfect humble example we will be blessed and we will eventually return to live with Him once again. 

Another random story that is kinda funny. So we were over at this cool family's home and we had this good looking salad and I was pretty excited until I looked closely at it. It had mushrooms the size of California in them. They were huge. So I skillfully sifted what I grabbed with the tongs in hopes of not grabbing an extra large and nasty mushroom. So I put the salad on my plate and I sift thru it a bit and find that I have this huge mushroom. I was like "how did that happen?". So the whole time I was stressing on how I could hide this mushroom so the family wouldn't see it. So I continued to eat the rest of my food and the next thing I know the mushroom is gone from off my plate. I'm like "wow did I eat that thing, where did it go...oh no?"...but at the same time I was like "Sweet! I don't have to eat the dang mushroom anymore". So I just kind of shrugged it off and considered it a miracle. So yesterday I was telling my companion about my miracle and how I was so blessed and he just started laughing. I was like" yeah yeah what?" And he continued to tell me how he ate my mushroom while I was not looking. It was pretty funny. No matter how the mushroom left my plate I'm happy and blessed. 

Life is great! I love having these amazing experiences and having a smile on my face at the same time. I love my Savior and I know that He is with me every second of the day. This is His work, not mine. I'm just trying to be a tool and trying to sharpen myself through prayer and study so I can be better prepared to serve His Children. I love you all

Elder Simons

Familiar faces from Draper

Some friends from our ward here in Draper were in California and "bumped" into Wilson in Antelope just before his transfer to Redding. He SO loved seeing familiar faces from the old home ward.... and we SO love seeing him in photos with those familiar faces! Makes it seem like he's closer, somehow.

Faith and Testimony

This week has been good. We had our zone training meeting this week (zone conference is tomorrow), but our meeting this week was on how our faith and testimony should effect our obedience level, work ethic, attitude, gospel knowledge. And if we are struggling in any of these categories we are struggling with our faith and testimony. It was pretty intense. I loved it. So the Redding zone has been averaging about 9.5 lessons a week and according to Elder Maynes the  missionaries and the ward should work together so that the missionaries teach at least 20 lessons each week. We were getting about 16 or 17 in Antelope and I really wanted to improve it but I didn't know how. Because I can't go into every ward council in the stake and ask them to give the missionaries more teaching opportunities. So I thought a lot about it and what Elder Leithead and I could do about it. I felt strongly that we should commit each companionship to reach 20 lessons per week whether or not the ward is giving us names of people to teach. Everyone was pumped about it when we issued the challenge. And so later on this week when we recorded numbers (Sunday night) we pretty much doubled in every key indicator! It was so awesome!! Also our average went up to 15.5 lessons per week. I can't wait for the growth that is going to come from this. It was so legit! I love this work. 

We picked up these two YSA aged girls and one of them committed to baptism for the 8th of December. Its so exciting. I was so pumped. The other one is really great as well and will probably have a date this week. The work is truly picking up here in Redding. I can't wait to see some of the great results but I'm not forgetting to enjoy the moment. 

Anyway, life is great. I love it up here in Redding. It is getting really cold up here. I'm always freezing!! 

Elder Simons

Photo from Redding

Editor's Note: Every now and then I receive texts or emails from someone in Wilson's mission area who has had him and his companion over for dinner. They are always so kind and full of wonderful things to say. I love when they include a photo or two. It almost makes it seem like he is closer to home. I LOVE how technology makes things just a little easier to bear for us missionary parents!

Here's the photo that popped up on my cell phone last night... from the family that fed them all last night.

Redding is very different

Redding is very different. I like it a lot up here. It reminds me of a mixture of downtown Salt Lake with a little bit of Park City in there and just a touch of Draper. Its nice. Some of the roads are like "wow this could totally be a street in Utah". The only main difference is pretty much all day we smell weed being smoked or harvested. It stinks way bad, oh well.

So my companion is Elder Leithead he has been out for almost one year (he hits it this Saturday). He is from Lovell, Wyoming. The zone has 14 missionaries in it. All elders -- so its been a while since I have been in just an all-elders zone. We live in a four elder apartment. We live in the ghetto of Redding. Its kind of funny. We drive a 2012 Corolla, which is sweet but I miss my truck! Oh well!

There is zero work in the ward which stinks but that is okay we will turn this area around real quick. I had to be on exchanges this week in my own area because there was a Halloween party in our ward and I wanted to meet all my members. It was funny because no one in the ward knew me or my companion from a different ward so they probably thought we were just bums stealing food. Which I guess we kinda were.

Oh there was a scorpion in one of the showers in our apartment. I had no idea they would be all the way up here in  Northern California. That was crazy.

The members are great. Its a pretty young ward so it reminds me a lot of Roseville 9th Ward.

But life is good and I'm having fun. I was asked to speak to our singles branch on Thursday. So I did that. I was nervous but the Lord sent the comforter and I was able to do it. I spoke on Enoch and how he was this amazing man that understood his weaknesses and knew what to do when he needed these things to become strengths. He is legit. But I better go! I love you all!!

We barely have time to breath

Hey!

This week has been amazing! We were blessed to be able to set another baptismal date. We were worried because the lady we set the date with, (her boyfriend is LDS) lives with her boyfriend. They have a kid together. But we went over again on Saturday (we set the date on Tuesday) and she said "something has to change about the living arrangement here huh?" and she said "well we don't have enough money to be married." And then we told her they could get married for free by the bishop. They were like "okay, want to get married tomorrow?" Such an amazing experience. I can't wait! 

Life is great. Dorothy our investigator getting baptized on the 15th, is doing great. She asked me to baptize her. Which is such a humbling request. She couldn't decide if she wanted Elder Ellsworth or me to baptize her so she just asked if Elder Ellsworth could go in the back of the font and hold her back as she goes down. What a awesome experience that will be. 

I love how the Lord is building me with these wonderful situations. I feel so blessed I have been able to serve Him for 15 months of my life full-time. Let's see what else happened this week...Elder Coburn and I are doing great. We are working hard and we are seeing so many blessings. We had 13 member-present lessons last week. Which is the best I have ever had on my mission. We are teaching some less-actives as well. We barely have time to breath, we are so busy with teaching. Which is a good thing. Well I love you all, and continue praying for missionary experiences. They will come. They always do.

Elder Simons

I want to be diligent in every calling

[Editor's Note: We have been out of town, so a little behind in posting, but I wanted to share the following from a letter Elder Simons wrote to us. He hasn't skipped a week in both emailing and handwriting a letter to us! I never would have taken him to be much of a letter-writer before his mission! :)]

Hey parents,

So hopefully I didn't hurt any one's feelings on my email. I do feel though that we are kinda lazy! We have the truth! I want to be diligent in every calling I have. Dad, I need a calling the week I get back. Give me someone to go home teach starting the month of May. I need to be serving. 

Right now I'm in Alma 45. So really close to you! I'm really trying to get the most out of the war chapters. I'm trying to take it slow. 

Anyway, my companion and I are doing great! We are working so hard! Its sweet. We have some great investigators with some awesome potential. This work is great. I can't believe I've been with Elder Coburn for two months. Time really flies. Am I really about at my 15 month mark? Holy cow. I can't believe that! 

An honor to teach him

Well this week has been another good one. I can not believe its the 7th of August. Time runs through my hands like sand. It is crazy. Elder Coburn and I are having such a good time. We joke around a lot and just have fun. We are trying to teach everyone we see and we will see success from it, I know that. The investigator that is having trouble with coming to church didn't come on Sunday. It was really heart breaking. I called her and she took a spill and was really sore. I felt really bad and was down on life but it was okay. Everything happens for a reason. We didn't have any other investigators come to church. It was a bit frustrating, but again everything does happen for a reason. I hope and know that as we involve the Lord more in our life we will see an abundance of blessings.

We had ZLC on Friday. It was a good one. I learned so much. Something that the spirit really was whispering to me was that we need to be more grateful for the commandments we have been blessed with. Often we look at commandments as just something we are supposed to do, but as we do it with a willing heart and with a grateful attitude we will receive so many more blessings from our loving Heavenly Father.

So "Mike's" [name change] story is a really interesting one. I love this guy so much. We were actually supposed to meet with him this morning but he wasn't home. His wife was baptized about five years ago and he wasn't interested in joining until about three months ago. And he has very little Christian background so it has been really interesting helping him build his faith in Jesus Christ. Most of the people I have taught have had that solid testimony that Jesus Christ is their Savior and Redeemer but "Mike" knew very little about it. It has been such an honor to teach him. I love that man.

I have been pondering the 3 disciples out of the 12 in the Book Of Mormon that decided to stay on the earth and help build up the Kingdom of God. What a decision that must have been. They probably had a good knowledge of what heaven would be like and how it would feel but they decided to forego that and stay on the earth and help bring others to Christ. What a sacrifice. I feel humbled to see their example and it often makes me ask, "Do I have that dedication to the Gospel and building God's Kingdom?" I hope I have that faith and determination to serve and follow Christ.

We have half mission conference on the 23rd with Elder Cardon from the Quorum of the Seventy. I can't wait to see all my buddies and a servant of the Lord. It will be such a revelatory experience. I will make sure to let you know how it goes.

So I love you all very much. Thank you for you prayers and everything you do for me.

Elder Simons

 

This is a little message from Sister Jackson ( the one who gives your son candy when he visits the office)  Your son is great!  He is a hard working missionary who is loved by all.  Thank you for sharing him with the California Roseville Mission.  We are extremely proud of our fine missionaries and your son is one of the best.  Sister Jackson

Baptisms and a new companion

[Editor's note: You may notice that I try to omit the names of the investigators and new baptisms... Those of us who are doing missionary blogs have been told that there are some crazy, mean people out there who read these types of blogs, and then try to find those who are investigating the gospel or newly baptized and harass them with anti-Mormon garbage. Whether that really does happen, I'm not sure, but I think I will try to keep things on the safe side! :)]

What a week, what a week. It was such a blur. One of the most rewarding weeks of my mission though. I truly have been humbled by the Lord. We were able to have the 2 baptisms we hoped for. They were amazing. I did get to see Sister Farr from the Sacramento Mission. That was really awesome!! She is doing great. 

So first we had the baptism of the [girl from the young adult ward] and I was super nervous for that one, let me tell ya. But it was fine and I didn't hit her head on the font. So that was good. 

Then we had Mike's [name changed] baptism. Man I love that guy. He is so cool!! He is truly humble and a wonderful man. We have seen huge changes in him.

 

I love this gospel. It truly changes people for the better. I have seen it many times on my mission, in my life and in others. Elder Ellsworth is getting transferred. Well technically as of right now he is gone. He got transferred across the freeway so he is just like 15 minutes away. I will miss him. We had a lot of fun while working hard together. I'm excited for my new companion too. Elder Coburn is such a good missionary. I love that kid. He is from Murray Utah. He has been out for 1 transfer less then me. We are going to work our hardest and I have no doubt that the Lord will truly bless us. He has before and He will again. We have an investigator that is amazing. She knows this church is true. She is just afraid to come to church. Every time we bring it up she says she will come when she is ready. I'm confused with her. She did come to a chapel tour we were having and loved it and totally felt the spirit!! How can we get this wonderful daughter of God to church?? We are meeting with her tonight. I'm not sure what we are going to share, but I will find out soon. Every companionship in the zone was changed except one of them. It was crazy, I'm excited for the change. We are going to have a wonderful transfer.

Being in Antelope, I am like 2 minutes from the mission office and I get to go there like every other day. I have gotten so close the office couples! They are amazing, they are so nice to us elders and without them our mission would fall apart. They do so much.

This has been the fastest six weeks of my life. I can't believe I only have 7 transfers left. Is that a scary thought to me? Yes. It terrifies me. But all I can do now, is put my head down and press onward! I love you all so much. I hope you have a wonderful day. Continue to read your scriptures. This is where we find true happiness. Again i love you and think and pray about all of you a lot!

I love my life!!

Thanks for the email Mom!!

Anyway this week has been so stressful!! We had some missionary problems (getting along). That was really frustrating. We had to be on exchanges all week with the missionaries. It really made me understand being a parent in a way. When I was so frustrated with them I had two choices show them that I'm mad and frustrated or I could be nice and loving and help them know that all I want for them is to have a good mission. It makes all the difference in the world. But we eventually had to have an emergency transfer.  I have never have been able to study less and do less missionary work in a week. And it has killed me! But this next week will be a good one. 

We already have three lessons planned for tonight. We have so many wonderful investigators. I love this work. We have 2 baptismal dates. WE have a lot of potential. I can't wait for the future. I need to live in the now though. We have interviews tomorrow. That will be good. 

What else happened this week...Elder Ellsworth and I are brothers. We got super close this week. That was good. We teach so fluidly together. I never have like morphed so well with a comp before. I love all of my companions very much, but with Ellsworth and I we trade off so well. It has really worked out well. I feel like I'm the bad cop and he is the good cop. Haha I'm so weird. Its really fun working with him though. I love it. It has been so much fun to watch people, even in my two weeks here, grow so much in the gospel. I love my life!! Thanks for the support everyone!

I have never worked harder...

Well this week has been soooooo tiring. Wow, I never have worked harder on my mission. And I never have felt more blessed on my mission. The first night that Elder Ellsworth and I got together, we bound each other to help each other work the hardest that we have on our mission. And we are helping each other do that.

We have met some prepared people. I'm so excited for them. Working in two wards is really weird. That means 6 hours of church, 3 hours of ward council, and 2 hours of MCM. So many meetings!!! I'm always so hungry during the regular 3 hour block but now my stomach will have to adjust. I am so tired!!!! That's all I can think about.

Antelope is great, though getting transferred is not my favorite. But I will get used to it. I'm learning to slowly love it here. My emails from here on out will probably be shorter, which I'm sorry about, and they will most likely be on Wednesdays or Tuesdays.

I just can't believe how busy we are. My companion is Elder Ellsworth. He is amazing. He is such a good missionary, he makes me feel like a greenie all over again! But we are doing some great work. We get along great and he is from Orem! He is from the Heatherridge Stake. So maybe Grandma is in that one?

So we live in a huge house. Its crazy, I get lost alot. But we house the departing and incoming missionaries. Its so much fun seeing the greenies.

Well, I love my mission so much. It has changed my life. My testimony has grown so much. I can't believe I have grown this much. I feel so blessed that I was able to come on my mission and serve around so many great missionaries and also serve the Lord.

Our zone is doing good. We have some room for improvement, though. We are trying to help get everyone's numbers up so we can reach the mission standard. Anyway, I love this work!

I love you all!!!!!

Elder Simons

Moving on to Antelope...

Elder Simons with other elders
in front of the Sacramento Temple

That's sweet that you met the Buschs!! They are such a great family. So, do you think you could put my other pictures on that hard drive? I would appreciate it very much. Thanks!!


So, I did find out if I was getting transferred! I'm going to the Antelope YSA ward as a zone leader. I can't really believe it, and don't really understand why. But I will go where the Lord wants me to. I feel really humbled. In a lot of ways I feel like I shouldn't be a zone leader. I feel like I still have so much to improve on. So many Christlike attributes that I can and will work on. I know the Lord will bless me for my effort. I'm excited to get in this zone and watch miracles happen.


So, we will live in a house. Like a big house (or so I hear), because the greenies and the departing missionaries stay the night there. So that will be so cool to say goodbye to the departing missionaries and say hi to the new greenies!!! My new comp (Elder Ellsworth) and I have already talked and we are both pretty pumped and are going to set some lofty goals for ourselves and the zone. I have always worked harder when I know my leaders are working hard as well, so I hope to work the hardest I can. I feel like I have so much to improve on when it comes to leadership! But lickily I know the best leader and where I can learn more about how He led. And that is Jesus Christ. There are also many other amazing leaders in the scriptures. I love Nephi for one. He was always strong. Always. Even when everyone around him faltered. Even his dad!!! (Luckily I don't have that problem) How hard would it be to keep the faith and the trust in the Lord when even your dad is doubting. I always have been impressed by him. I love his last words in the Book of Mormon, too. "I must obey". Talk about powerful last words. He was at a point in his life where he knew the Lord so perfectly and knew the doctrine because he has lived it, that he could not disobey. What an amazing person. I can't wait to meet him and shake his huge hands.

This week was a great one. We had a sweet meeting on Friday. We talked about the doctrine of Christ. And some other things. I loved seeing President and some of my other buddies. It was nice. 

Saturday was an interesting day. I was on exchanges with Elder Frank (I will miss him so much) and they had a baptism that we had to prepare for. We had to do so much stuff and had to run around Roseville like six times. It was crazy. We went to Costa Vida and a member paid for us. Man it was good. I will miss Roseville so much. It has been so good to me. I almost love this place as much as Gridley. I bet if i would have stayed 1 more transfer i would have grown to love it just as much. I have met some amazing people here that have changed my life. Literally, their testimonies have changed me. I loved serving here with Elder Rasmussen and Elder Shock. Two missionaries that have taught me a lot. that have changed me a lot too. I will be grateful for both of them. I think that i will be able to come back for Bro Zerilli's baptism. I can't wait for that. That will be one of the best moments on my mission. And in a year when I come back for the sealing, that will be unbelievable. I love this work!!! I love my life. I love you all.

Thats great to hear about the wedding and i want to see some pictures!!! I love you!