Another Week :)

This week we had interviews with President LaPierre, and they went well! It really is amazing how devoted he and his wife are to their mission, the missionaries, the people here, everything! Talking with them makes me want to do better!

Yesterday in our testimony meeting, nearly all of the members went up to bear their testimonies. We would have gone over time, but the Branch President thinks that the "one hour and ten minutes" of sacrament is fixed in stone, plus everybody was hungry from fasting, so he got up right on time to close the meeting haha. But it was great, the Spirit was so strong as everyone shared how they knew that God our Father lives and that we are His children, and that through His Son, Jesus Christ, we can be saved.

Also, we taught the Principles of the Gospel class to our one investigator who came and to a few other less active members. We asked one man to give the opening prayer, and he started to get nervous and told us he didn't think he could do it. We assured him he could, and just then our investigator, a woman named Flavia, also began to encourage him! She explained to him in Guarani that all he had to do was start with Heavenly Father, give thanks, ask blessings, and close in the name of Jesus Christ! It was great to see her share her own testimony of prayer! And in the end, Severiano gave the opening prayer and was so happy that he did!

Good news!!!!!! I talked with my old companion, Hna Tapia. She told me that she got in touch with my other old companion, Hna Gunter, who is still in Santo Tome. Mariela and Fernando, the couple who got married and then both were baptized, are both still very strong in the gospel! Mariela is a teacher in the Relief Society, Fernando received the priesthood, and a few of their children have decided to be baptized as well!!!!! Seriously, I am so excited and happy for them. They changed so much in the short time that I knew them, and their life just keeps getting better and better! Christ can truly change people! He can change us if we let Him!

Oh, and on Saturday Hna Garcia and I missed the bus from Trinidadback to Hohenau ("missed" is one way to describe it, "the bus drivers come up with their own schedules and change their minds all the time" is another haha) Anyway, we ended up walking from Trinidad to our apartment in Hohenau. It took us a little over two hours, and that is walking at a decent pace, and only stopping to rest once (for about 4 or 5 minutes). But hey, now we can tell all the members in Trinidad that they never have an excuse to not come to church, because it IS possible to walk all the way there.

I remember learning in Sunday School that the first law of heaven (or something like that) is obedience. D&C 63:5 "Behold, I, the Lord, utter my voice, and it shall be obeyed." God is completely loving, merciful, patient, etc. But He is also perfectly just. We must obey His commandments and turn our hearts over to Him to partake of His mercies. Obedience brings blessings, and exact obedience brings miracles!

I love you all! Have a great week! Sorry this letter is so long!

Hermana Simmons

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Yep, It's definitely "primitive" at times, but the way I see it I only "have" to live primitively for a year and a half, while basically everyone here lives like this their whole life. I'm glad I get the chance to really see how blessed I have been in my life. I'm considering that one day when I have my own kids we'll have to do a "Mission Week" once a year, where we can't use dishwashers, washing machines,  dryers, toasters, microwaves, etc... Where everyone has to do their own cooking (from scratch), and the electricity gets shut off every once in a while and we take cold showers haha. 

Julia and Bernardo decided to not get married. In the end, Bernardo didn't want to spend the money (they really are quite poor), and we did EVERYTHING (honestly, everything) in our power to help them. So Julia couldn't get baptized. And now she thinks that she will never be able to get baptized (she has had several baptismal dates fall through), and so she thinks it would be better to just stop taking the discussions all together. It's pretty sad. She still has a strong testimony, but she is just letting Satan's sadness and disillusionment get the better of her. We are hoping that in a few days or weeks she will change her mind.

But, there are other people who are progressing and who are doing really well!

Also, not much has been said here about that new movie ("Meet the Mormons"), but it sounds great! I guess I just have to wait another year to see it with you all. I'm glad everybody is doing well! Love you!