A furious wind upon the face of the waters

Mom that email was amazing. It brought happiness to me so thank you so much. And yes you are right about Jr. He will come when he comes. That is really exciting. 

So we got transfers this week and Elder Leithead is going down to Roseville and I'm getting Elder McMurray from Canada. It will be good to get some new blood in the area. It will be good. Not much changed in the zone. Another missionary is training so that will be good for him and the whole zone. Add some greenie fire here. 

Life is amazing right now. We are still struggling to find new investigators but we know they (like Jr.) will come when they are supposed to. It is a trial of my faith. It reminds me of Gridley... well the work does. Kinda slow but with some good work, great things will come to pass. 

I have been pondering lately trials in my own life and why we have them, and I may have mentioned this before but let me take you back to Ether and the ships they make and in some of the verses it says that the Lord is going to send waves and winds and storms against them. And I just sat pondering. Why in the world would God do that? Why couldn't he make it 80 degrees for them and give them a nice breeze to the promised land. It would have been so easy! They would have been able to make it no doubt with no hiccups right? And I prayed about it and pondered some more for a couple days and I couldn't figure it out until a couple chapters later where it says "And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a ^afurious wind blow upon the face of the waters, ^btowards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind." That is when the Spirit and the answer came flowing to me. The Lord sends forth these trials to push us closer to the promised land or in other words eventually heaven. It almost never seems like our trials can benefit us,  but they do. They send us and teach us what we need to know and do to return to live with God once again. If the Jaredites didn't go through these trials they would have done the same thing they did while on the beach. They would have forgotten to call upon their God for help. But while they were buried it gave them a chance to rely upon God. I love the Lord and I love how He works. He is there for us and He cares more than we know. Let us call upon our God daily for every thing that we and our loved ones stand in need of. I love you all so much!

Elder Simons

His angels are with me

That is too bad about Sam [editor's note: our 13-year-old dog, Sam, died this past weekend], I was basically in tears until i read Dad's comment. Typical dad, always trying to bring his sense of humor into serious matters. I love that man though. Speaking of which, Happy Fathers Day,, Dad and all of you other dads out there.

This week has been another good and fast one. I got invited to another meeting this Friday. I swear my mission is like 50% meetings. Its crazy. I do like meetings though, because i get to see my mission buddies.

Anyway Sela, our recent convert, got called to be a ward missionary. I'm pretty excited for that because she has no fear. She will be a really good help in lessons and fellowshipping. But I have a good feeling that I am being transferred. We will get the call Sunday night. I'm so nervous. I really don't want to get transferred! I absolutely love Roseville. I have become obsessed with it. Its getting close to how much I loved Gridley. But I don't think it has topped it yet. But I'm hoping for another six weeks here but who knows what will happen? I feel like i may get transferred to Chico or Auburn. I wouldn't mind Auburn. I guess we will just have to wait and see. 

So all of our lessons with the people we teach this week have fallen through. It was frustrating to say the least. And this next week most of those same people will either be out of town or too busy. I want to leave this area in full swing but it will be hard to if i can't teach anyone! I will put my trust in God though, and know that whatever happens, his hand is in it. I will hopefully be able to come back for our investigator's baptism. I would never miss that one. His family left to go on a cruise yesterday so we had to say early good byes in case I do get transferred. It was pretty sad. My mission has really helped me in hating good byes. They are the worst!! Another reason why i don't want to get transferred. I have built so many good relationships that i don't want to lose. Time doesn't really help either because then the relationships start to fade in my mind. But that's okay its all part of the game. I wish i could tell you that we picked up a new investigator this week. Or set another baptism date. But it was a tough week. It happens though. Again like i said, its all part of the game. You win some weeks and some weeks you lose. As i gain a more eternal prespective on why i'm out here I find it easier to deal with those losing weeks. I know God is with me. By my side. I love this scripture in D&C 88 "...for I will go ^bbefore your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my ^cSpirit shall be in your hearts, and mine ^dangels round about you, to bear you up." He is with me. I know that. His angels are with me. Life is not easy. But with the knowledge we have and having modern prophets we can do it. The easiest way i get through tough times in my life is to have fun. Have fun while working. Have fun while tracting. Have fun while suffering! Its possible. I guess I learned that from my parents. Anyway i love this work. Thank you for your prayers of support and love. I feel them daily. I love you all! 

The lessons I have learned

So this week has been a week of total ups and total downs. First with the ups, me and Buhler are getting along so well, maybe too well. Its so awesome how well we fit together. I love that kid, i am so glad he is my son. It has been alot of fun living with the other Elders in Gridley. We have had a good time.
We picked up an investigator this week! I have been trying to visit this former, for about five months now and she has really NEVER been there and we just decided to randomly go over there and she was for once there! And she was like "it is crazy you guys came now because i am usually gone (yes i know that lady!) and today i just had a sick day". I said "well maybe you were sick for a reason and we came and visited you for a reason!" And she laughed and said "maybe", and we talked a little more and set up a time to go back on Wednesday.
I am really excited about Wednesday. We will be meeting with all three of our investigators. Hopefully we will set three baptismal dates!
So that was some of the ups of the week. There were just a couple downs. First of all my bike got destroyed this week. So Elder Buhler has really bad luck when it comes to bikes, so the bike that he was on was being dumb so i decided to try it and try to make it work so i had him riding mine for a day or so, and right before he gave it back it started making this crazy sound and we are like what the heck! So we took it back to the apartment to fix it and i took the bike completely apart. And then put it together again and figured out that the chain got destroyed. So we bought a new chain and we are back in business now. So it wasn't that bad.
The real bad of the week happened on Wednesday though. We had a lesson with our deaf investigator and we went in planning to talk about how Jesus fufilled all righteousness as it talks about it Matthew by being baptized then tying it into 2 Nephi 31 and then inviting him to be baptized. And there was silence... silence... and he is thinking and thinking, and i was praying in my head harder then ever for him to just say yes. Not for my benefit but for his and he says "yes". (when he says yes i squeeze Elder Buhler on the back because i was so excited) and then i get back into my game face and ask him when worked best for him. And he says well i first need to work out a couple problems ("oh no..." i say) and he went off for about twenty minutes about how Halloween is for satan worshipping, and how the church doing trunk or treat was a bad thing and we defiled the church parking lot. I was like "come on, would you let that stop you from getting into the kingdom of god?" And he said that's besides the point. So that was really hard for me. I felt like he was playing around with us. I was wondering why i have been teaching this man for five months and put my sweat and tears into this process to hear that about Halloween.  I had a long conversation with God. And I never got the impression that it will be alright in the form of him being baptized but i got the answer that it will be alright in the form of you learning something Elder Simons. It was really a wonderful experience. This man may never get baptized or progress while I'm here but the lessons i have learned alone from teaching him are incredible. I just love how the Lord works. It amazes me. In my gospel study i have been studying the Plan of Salvation. And I had the thought that i might have the chance to teach him in the spirit world. It just came across my mind. But i would rather teach him here so he can go to the temple and be sealed to his wife.
Overall the week was wonderful. I love my mission. Why me? I always ask myself why i am lucky enough to be able to be out here. The Lord truly blesses each and every one of us. We just need to make sure we have our eyes open and are watching for them.
I love you all, Have a wonderful day.
Bye!

All these things shall give thee experience

So we were supposed to get transfer calls on Saturday night but that didn't happen. So then we were going to get them Sunday night but no, and we just barely got them and this is the verdict:  Elder Peterson will be going to Colfax and I will be staying and training a new missionary from the MTC!!!  I am super excited, but a little nervous. I feel so young! Maybe because I am only four and half months out! But don't worry, I am going to train a warrior! He is going to be such a good missionary! AH! Hopefully I don't mess him up though. I am sure i won't because the Lord is on my side and He will help us figure this thing out.
This week has been a good long one. We have done a lot of service for people, which is always fun because you get to meet new people.  We helped clean up Biggs the other day. I love Biggs alot, its a great little town of about 1700. There are some really nice people and really hard-core gangsters there. Well not really but "wanna be" gangsters. The other day a little girl made fun of my helmet as i rode past and I frankly agreed with what she said but i am wearing the helmet for you, mom,' and thats the only reason.
Haha funny story so on Friday for lunch i called Elder Osejo and was telling him goodbye (he is going home tomorrow) and i saw a craw-dad in the canal across the street from our house so i run inside and grab a pan and i catch two of them. And i am looking for more and then a cat (not gangster) came and started messing with my lunch and ripped one of the claws off. So i just decided to go in and start cooking them. So i threw them in a pot and boiled them up real nice. And then cracked them open and ate the meat. Two good sized pieces of meat. One was the size of a quarter and the other the size of a dime. Haha good eating in Gridley!
This week we still have been doing some good work with our less-actives. We met some nice people tracting too. It was cool. Nothing much has changed. I love my mission so much though. I love Gridley and Biggs so much. One of our investigators came to all three hours of church yesterday! It was such a miracle! Also we had six less-actives come to church this week. What a great week!! The Lord is truly blessing our efforts!
That is really wonderful about Lindsay and Ryan getting married in the SLC temple. I so wish i could be there but i understand why they are going ahead with it. A temple marriage is what we should all strive for. I don't understand how people could turn away a church that binds husband and wife for eternity. I guess alot of people don't really understand it, but oh well, i am working to find those people that are looking for the truth!
I want to share a sweet scripture with you. It's in D&C 122:7:
"And if thou shouldst be cast into the ^apit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the ^bdeep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to ^chedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of ^dhell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee ^eexperience, and shall be for thy good." 
Holy cow! When i was reading this i was like "oh sweet, this is going to end with something like 'you will be saved and you won't have to endure this if you are faithful' ".  But no. It just ends with "it shall be for thy good"! Wow. This is just a testament to me that life is hard. It isn't meant to be a breeze. We are meant to get tested and prepare to meet God. And if all this stuff happens to us we need to realize and have the faith to be able to accept that it is for our good. We go through trials to learn from them and grow. I have found that to be true in my mission. The hardest days are the ones where i grow closer to the Lord and learn the most stuff. Also, on those hardest days, that's when i find new helpful insight on the scriptures. I know the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. We must read it daily. We must know that book cover to cover. READ IT DAILY! I love the Lord, I love my mission, I love my family.
You guys have a great week! I will send you a picture of my new comp next week!

We can be at peace

Editor's note: Elder Simons continues to write wonderful hand-written letters in between emails.  They are treasures -- like having a conversation with him!  Here is a thought from his most recent letter...

Mom, the talk you sent me from Jeffrey R. Holland has such a good quote in it: "God doesn't care nearly as much about where you have been as he does about where you are and with his help, where you are willing to go".  So beautiful.  Life is hard, times are tough, people mess up daily.  But God knew all this.  He knew.  So the wonderful Father that He is, gave us a way so when we mess up we can make it right.  When times are tough, we can be at peace.

Blessed Art Thou

The letter was so so so great. Thank you so much. First thank you for sending some more books out for me. You really are the best! Ah im so happy today.
In answer to some of your questions:
So if you look at a map of Gridley you will see Live Oak and Biggs right by it. so we have Biggs in our ward and third ward has like some of Gridley too and then Liberty ward has also some of Biggs and Live Oak. So six elders in towns of like 1,400(Biggs) 5,000 (Gridley) 6,000 (Live Oak). The Liberty elders actually live in our area but they have a car too. Leone is our district leader and i just called him and told him about the missionary mom thing. we are pretty good friends. so it goes without saying that our moms need to be friends. I love him so much he is like so nice. There really should only be two elders in Gridley. 
Any color of ties works! (the ones you sent me i will for sure wear i like old ties a ton)  and things that i need, well here are a couple things i can always use a fresh supply of anytime; white shirts, clear page protectors or whatever for my talks and cool things, books, ties, and talks. so yeah thanks mom!
That is really cool about Grandmas ice cream thing. i bet she loves that! i hope you had a good time at the reunion.
And what a blessing for Dad, that he gets to be able to have Fast Sundays like that. how much more will he be able to gain understanding and blessings from his Fast Sundays and fast subjects. At least thats how i feel, i thought it would be a chore to have Fast Sundays while we are doing work but it really brings the spirit in, in a way that you can't get it other wise.
I can't wait for the weather to get cooler. It will be sweet! there is always sweat on you no matter what. you will see in like two years mom when we come back. :) but it will be nice to get some new white shirts!
And dinner mom? what did you make? Just let me imagine it. there are a ton of onions and mushrooms here. i swear people just throw them in there just because i don't like them, just kidding but things would be so good without onions!
Scripture time, i want to just give a little thought i had that can help anyone Helaman 10:3-5  First this is about Nephi and he is preaching to some not so great people.  In v. 3 he was super down cause of their wickedness and in life sometimes we are super low.  There are so many things that get us down. and what i have realized is that sometimes we are meant to have 'down time' so (like in the end at v. 3) a voice comes unto us (to me a voice can be anything that helps us do good, we all know this is the Lord but sometimes the scriptures are the voice that helps us or the prophets or church... Heavenly Father wants us to realize this so sometimes he humbles us so we see need for all those things). The Lord then says "blessed art thou Nephi". blessed art thou! everyone how blessed art thou. We need to remember this always, we are so blessed, yes times are tough and stuff happens but how blessed art thou. its so sweet. in v. 4 it says thou..hast sought my will. how can we seek His will? we all know the answers reading the scriptures, praying, going to church, how simple those answers are but how powerful the results are. verse 5 may be my favorite, it says because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness behold i will bless thee forever. wait wait wait wait wait wait what? He will bless us forever? are you kidding me? if all i have to do is face my trials with my chin up and try to seek the will of the Lord i will be blessed forever? umm deal! you can't say no to being blessed forever. i think we don't really see or understand as much as we should about our trials. we need to see that they are short, and we need to understand that God puts us through the trials for a reason. He knows. I have had too many realizations that he put me in places for a reason to not know that God has a plan for us. Its literally so amazing. But it goes on and says that we will be made mighty in, word, deed, faith, and in works. We are so blessed to be part of this gospel at this time. I hope we all can see and thank Heavenly Father for our trials. Try it. Sorry i just like to talk about the scriptures even though i have such a little view. Right now we don't have an investigator to study for but right now i will study so i can bring a thought in every p-day. Dont expect much but expect something.
So in the area our investigator Bill basically said he doesn't believe all of the Book of Mormon and not all of the church.  He has been an investigator for years so we dropped him cause he is unteachable. Which is sad but i have faith that its the right thing to do. Our investigator named Matt who said he wanted to get baptized, we talked to him Wednesday and he said yes in a few months after i get questions answered.  I was like "you could ask us", and he was like..."no not yet". So we have no idea where he is or what he wants but he will come unto Christ i know it. I told the zone leaders i want to stay here this next transfer. The area is harder but the fact that there are so many people here that are hiding from us that need this gospel that are not getting it is harder on me. I feel like the blessings of my efforts are about to shine upon this Gridley first ward. Next email be expecting 30 new investigators!
-much better week eh?
Love you mom! and dad!!
Have a great monday and remember how blessed art thou
Elder Simons

"MTC Ups and Downs" or "A Conversaton With Elder Simons"

{Editor's note: He emails like he talks... it made it feel like he was right here talking to us!  :) }

Hey everyone,

how is life? i sent mail back to everyone who sent mail. Man the mtc is a place for ups and downs. i have had some good times and bad times. i am trying my hardest to feel the spirit so i can teach well. i miss everyone so much. are you guys missing me at all? i hope so.. some questions you had...my companion is twenty one and from colorado. he is really cool and is alot of fun to joke around with. i am sending recordings of us today or tomorrow. i hope everyone is doing okay. i never thought i would be a person to get homesick. but i got so homesick it started effecting me physcially. i am keeping up faith. its just weird cause all you do is classes and meals. i dont eat here. my stomach isnt making me hungry.  it sorta stinks. i miss you guys. why cant you guys just be here. just kidding. the classes here are good. long but good. three hour classes. i wish i could just be out in the field. it will be so much better. i just want to go and knock on peoples doors. i am trying to stay positive. how do i improve my homesickness? its becoming a huge problem. i love you guys but it is bad. the other two guys in my room are also going to roseville. we are all excited to go together and also hoping we can fly home together. the first week has flown by. well i think it has. its sorta just a huge blur. its hard to wake up at six thiry. hmmm whats else to say.....thank you guys so much for my birthday stuff! it was so great. everyone here was pretty jealous. i will start eating that stuff as soon as i get an appetite. sorry for fastness and stuff with the email. i only get thirty minutes in the dang mtc. i know i am learning alot about the gospel and so far just the first lesson. we have taught a fake investigator elderly couple and that was cool. things came into my head without me really thinking about them. it was the spirit. it was really cool. i want to be fake investigators when i am older. its way cool and i want to help the missionaries. it would be fun. lets see...we went to the temple today and it was cool. huge temple. i loved it. i wanted to go back cause it was just calming. remember when dad fell asleep the last time we went? that was funny. i miss you parents and everyone! robbie lindsay whitney and mike. my faith is for sure being tested!!! and also my patience!!! as a district leader i have to tell people to do stuff and there are some people that....dont like that but i try to be nice and loving. it was a good afternoon. i ate a full bag of small chips...and that is such an improvement. MOM where are you! i miss you so much!!!!!!!!!! i love you a ton. i am praying for you guys and i hope you are praying for me too. i am waiting for my laundry to be done. soon enough. tell everyone keep sending letters. at least while i am at the mtc. its been tough. i always say i am tough. but i am nothing!!! it gets discouraging!! Dad sent a letter on dear elder.com and i know that the spirit was involved cause i was going through a way rough patch and the letter just told me about trials and stuff. it was perfect. i still read it about every hour. i make my elders laugh and i am glad i am bringing happiness to them! my teachers are pretty cool. both young and newly returned from their own missions. it is crazy what goes on here. my comp and me are getting along great, we work together so well. its nice and i am blessed. i know that we were put together for a reason. he is so cool. i love you mom and i love everyone.

love elder simons