Happy End of April!

This week we had a great experience teaching a young woman named Jessica. She lives alone and is neither working nor studying right now, but was interested in learning more about the church. We knew that she was smart and would be able to understand all of lesson one, and we felt impressed during our morning study to study a little bit more about the apostasy. To explain a bit more, not many people here ever get a grasp on the idea of the apostasy or dispensations. Not many people went to school or are used to following that type of line of thinking. I know, it's not actually that difficult of a concept, but for lots of people it is something that has never occurred to them before. In Argentina we teach all of lesson one, but here in Paraguay we teach in as simple terms as possible. SIMPLE simple simple. Anyway, back to the story. As a rule, we generally don't go into very much depth here while teaching about the apostasy because people just become confused. But with Jessica we decided to teach about it. And that was the most spiritual part of the lesson! As soon as she understood that the Church that Jesus Christ had established was lost, she could feel the importance and significance of God calling a prophet in modern times to restore all that was lost. Jessica even came to church on Sunday! Goes to show that when we study and prepare, God will bless us with the Spirit. Also, we should never be afraid to follow spiritual promptings, even if it seems to go against our personal experience.

Elder Oaks went to the Argentina Resistencia mission for a fireside, and we were invited to watch on satellite. He talked about the importance of keeping the sabbath day holy. That is definitely something that I would like to improve. Sunday should be a holy day in its entirety, it shouldn't just be a day where we go and sit at church for three hours. That means the music I listen to, the activities I participate in, everything should be centered around the Savior.

By the way, thank you for the letter/package! I got the letters and candies from home and from the Peregrine Ward Beehives :) I love you all!

Romans 12:2 "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

Keeping the sabbath day holy is a another way of consecrating ourselves to God. It's what He has asked us to do so that He can purify us and so that we can feel closer to Him. I love my Heavenly Father and my savior, Jesus Christ!

Have a great week!

Hermana Simmons

P.S.

Yeah, I´ve been traveling a lot for the legal paperwork of staying in these two countries and then also because I have to go and do splits with other sisters in my zone and the neighboring zone.

As an HLC (Hermana Lider Capacitar?, i.e., Sister Training Leader) I go to consejo once a month where the zone leaders and HLCs talk about how to improve the mission and how the missionaries are doing. Once a transfer I need to go on splits with the sisters I work with, and a few times a week I should call or text them to see how they are doing. During meetings I sometimes have to give trainings to both elders and sisters in the zone. That's about it.

That´s fun that you all participated in the run! That is something I miss a little, being able to go out for a jog on my own. I didn´t even like jogging that much before! haha.

Traveling and Trips and Traveling Again...

This week I got to travel to both Posadas and Asuncion! It was a little strange to be back in Argentina and see all the missionaries that have been serving there these past few transfers. We had a big meeting with President LaPierre, his wife, and the assistants. It was exciting to be working with all the other missionaries trying to help the mission grow and improve. I went to Asuncion just because we had to do tramites (legal paperwork) over there.

Even though I had to travel 5 days out of the week this past week, we still had some great lessons! I`m so glad that my companion is such a hard worker! She loves the people and never looks for excuses to avoid proselyting. I love it! She`s a good example to me of loving the Savior and loving the people.

I know that this is God`s work! I know that Jesus Christ has established His Gospel and His Church on the earth once more. No matter what happens in the world, this work will go on and can never fail. This week we were not able to work as much as we wanted to here in Ciudad Nuevo, but we did what we could, prayed a lot, and tried to strengthen our faith. And this Sunday a member brought her cousin to church! We had been praying to find someone new to teach, someone who could progress. And out of nowhere God sent us a miracle :)

1 Nephi 9:6 But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen

Love you all!

Sister Simmons

Good morning!

I am currently running on two hours of sleep. We traveled from Ciudad del Este to Encarnacion last night at 1 am. We arrived here around 7am. I traveled with another sister and some of the zone leaders nearby (nearby meaning everyone within 5 hours of Ciudad) to come down to Posadas to go to a big counsel with all of the leaders in the mission. I´ve never been to one before, so I´ll have to let you all know how it goes.

This week I have been amazed by the amount of little daily miracles God blesses me with. Everything from catching a bus right on time to finding a house that we had contacted and thought had lost again. Here I have come to realize that if we look for our Heavenly Father, we can find Him pretty easily. He doesn´t necessarily appear with numberless hosts of angels or in spectacular visions, but in the extra strength I receive to just keep walking, the feeling of peace when we make it safely home, the happiness as I work with and get to know so many new people, He truly is our Father and loves us so much.

My new companion is Hna Moreno, and she is from Ecuador. She also has a little over a year in the mission, and is a really hard worker. She did crossfit and fighting tournaments before the mission, so even though she is really short and tiny, she is kind of a fireball. She reminds me a lot of Alair :)

We have been working a lot with meeting new people this past week. It´s amazing to see how many people God has prepared, and if we are not afraid and will just follow promptings, God will help us help others.

Mormon 9:19 "And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles."

Love you all!

Hermana Simmons

ps- congratulations to Katie Sonderegger on receiving her mission call! I´m so excited for her!!!

General Conference! Transfers!

I hope you all watched the four session of General Conference! They were all so amazing and inspired! I love hearing from God`s prophet and apostles. I also LOVED the emphasis on the importance of family and its central role in God`s Plan of Happiness. That is definitely something that the world needs to remember and protect.

I absolutely loved the talks by Elder Andersen about "keep practicing, keep trying" and Elder Renlund about what it means to be a saint. It was also exciting to hear the prophet announce more temples to be built. I know that God has called a prophet to lead and guide us! I know that Heavenly Father is a God of order and He doesn`t want us to be in confusion. That`s why we have so much help given to us through the scriptures and modern revelation! I know I felt the Holy Spirit testifying to me of the truthfulness of all the messages given this past weekend.

And for Easter, lots of people here are Catholic and have a couple of interesting traditions. Thursday and Friday before Easter lots of people will eat nothing but fish and chipa (a cheesy, unleavened bread). So lots of people gave us chipa for free. I am not sure I ever want to eat it again! But other than that, it was a very peaceful weekend here in Ciudad del Este, which was a nice break from all the partying and drinking that normally goes on the weekends here.

My companion Hna Dance left today! My new companion is Hermana Moreno, and I have done a few divisions with her before. I`m really excited! She is a great missionary! Also, I ask for your prayers and support, because this transfer I was called to be one of the Sister Training Leaders. I`m a little nervous about this new responsibility, but I want to do my best to help the sisters here in Ciudad.

Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets."

Love you all!

Hermana Simmons

Some News

Welp, it looks like the doctors here have done every possible test and procedure to try to help my companion, but nothing is working. She will be going home this transfer (luckily it's only one transfer early for her). She is such an amazing missionary and a great person, I know that the Lord must have other plans for her!

We spent a lot of this week traveling again. We went to Encarnacion and I went on divisions with Hna Moreno while Hna Dance crossed over to Argentina with the mission nurse. Then we came home and basically stayed inside all weekend. And yep. That was my week.

Something that I have really noticed while here on my mission is that people are complicated beings. Obviously. I guess I always "knew" that, but being out here has forced me to truly understand that idea. We meet thousands of people, and somehow we have to try to help them all. The interesting thing is that no matter what the problem is, or what the background is, or what plans this person has for the future, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the solution, is the way, is the only hope. When we live God`s commandments, we are happy. Period. No other explanation needed. Everyone can find lasting happiness through Jesus Christ`s atonement. And I`m not just saying that. I am grateful to my Father in Heaven that He has given me this opportunity as a missionary to see this in action. The Gospel of Jesus Christ truly can change a person, can fix problems, can make ANYONE happy.

That`s why the prophet Alma said he was commanded to "preach unto my beloved brethren, yea, and every one that dwelleth in the land; yea, to preach unto all, both old and young, both bond and free; yea, I say unto you the aged, and also the middle aged, and the rising generation; yea, to cry unto them that they must repent and be born again."

We can never judge who will and will not accept the Gospel- God knows His children. He knows that the Gospel of Jesus Christ will benefit every single one. And I know that too. I love you all!

Have a good week and LISTEN TO GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! Woohoo!

Hermana Simmons

P.S. Yeah, there are tons of Catholics here. So the entire week before Easter is called "Semana Santa" or "Holy Week." I`m not super familiar with all the traditions since this is my first year here, but I`ll be sure to let you know next week after we`ve passed through it all! What I do know is that everybody makes bucketloads of chipa (it`s a cheesy bread made with mandioca flour) because it doesn't require leavening, just like the passover.  (Click here to see another definition of chipa)

my companion Hermana Dance and I. We were at the multi-zone conference this past wednesday. 

We even got to dye easter eggs!

we went and visited the itaipu dam (see also here) as a zone today. the colectivo we were riding in crossed the parana river and i was in brazil! woohoo! i have been in four countries so far while set apart as a missionary (the U.S., Argentina, Paraguay, and Brazil!)

Miracles

This week has been a little crazy.

So, my companion has been sick. We decided to go to Posadas in Argentina to see if the doctors there knew any better what was going on. We got to Encarnacion (a 6 hour colectivo ride, yuck), and found out that Hna Dance`s passport was in Asuncion. Long story short, we ended up staying with the Sisters in Encarnacion from Wednesday to Friday, and never were able to cross the border. So we got back on a bus and came home.

Even though we weren`t able to work much in our area this week, we had some fantastic lessons! We met again with the woman named Liz. We talked to her about how Heavenly Father called Joseph Smith as a prophet, and we still have a prophet today to lead and guide us and speak to God. She told us that she had always wondered why God would call prophets in the past but then not for us. My companion explained Joseph Smith`s first vision, and the Spirit was so strong that she started to cry, and we all started tearing up. After Hna Dance shared her testimony, Liz looked at us and told us "I believe it." Then she asked us to pray so that the next time we go to visit her husband will want to sit in and listen as well.

Okay, that was amazing lesson number one. Here comes lesson number two. We`ve been going to the doctor a lot here in Ciudad del Este, in centro. Today was going to be one of the last doctor visits, so Hna Dance decided to take a Book of Mormon and give it to the doctor as a gift. At the end of the consultation, she pulled out the book and gave it to him, explaining that it was a gift and is the reason we both left to serve missions here in Paraguay. He looked a little surprised, then (to our surprise) opened the book immediately and began asking questions "So what is mormon? Who is Josè Smit? Do you believe in Jesus Christ? Do you think he will come again?" We were still in his doctor`s office, so we hadn`t been planning on teaching him a lesson or sharing a spiritual thought, but we did our best to answer the questions he had. We even told him that the church has two websites (mormon.org and lds.org) and he pulled out his laptop and asked us to show them to him. We couldn`t stay much longer, so we just decided to show him the video "Because of Him." We felt the Spirit testifying of Jesus Christ SO STRONGLY. He still had more questions, but we realized it had been 1 hour and 45 minutes!!! A very long time. So we explained how he could contact the missionaries close to his house or chat with them online and then we left. It was amazing to see how someone we hadn`t really even considered sharing with had so much interest in the church.

This is why I am on a mission:
"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children(and the people of Paraguay and Argentina!!!) may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins." 2 Nephi 25:26

I love you all! I know Christ lives and that the Book of Mormon testifies of Him! 

Hermana Simmons

ps-Happy Birthday to my adorable niece Tinley!!! Woohoo! We both turn one year old this week!

Happy Monday!

Well, Hna Dance had her surgery on Friday and it all went well! So hopefully this week we`ll be able to hear the results and see what has been going on. Due to the surgery we were stuck inside the pension basically all day Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. It is so nice to be able to breathe fresh air and not be stuck inside anymore!

For those of you who remember, when I was in Pdte Franco we were meeting a lot with a woman named Laura and her son Arn. I was just informed that both of them were baptized on Saturday! So thank you for all your prayers and support from home.

One of the things about being in the pension a lot this week is that we have been able to notice what works well and is nice, and what we should probably get fixed. For example, the air conditioning is a life saver. However, our kitchen smells like there is a dead animal somewhere in the piping. And yeah, that`s not actually an exaggeration. Walking around in Ciudad we know what dead animal smells like, and that`s the smell coming from our kitchen sink.

The other day right before leaving to work I felt like I should grab a few copies of The Family: A Proclamation to the World. We don`t normally carry those with us, but for some reason the thought kept coming into my head, so I packed one. While we were out walking, Hna Dance and I didn`t want to just start clapping at doors. So we decided to try and think if any specific person or house came to mind. Hna Dance said that we could try talking to a family that we had seen sitting outside before. So we went, and the woman let us in right away! Her name is Liz and she told us that she and her boyfriend are both Catholic, but can`t get remarried in the Catholic church because he is divorced from a previous marriage (yeah, I don`t really get it either). Anyway, they are both experiencing a lot of criticism and rudeness from people at their church. They both have lots of faith in Christ and want to have a strong, united family. She told us that they have considered looking for another church, but if they change religions they want to make sure that it is the true church of God, because if not they might as well keep going to their Catholic church she said. I was able to pull out the Family pamphlet and we shared our testimonies with her about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and how it can help her family. We definitely felt the Spirit, and we will be going back to see them this week!

3 Nephi 9:14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.

I know Christ is always waiting for us. Always. We just have to make the decision to turn to Him for support and help. As soon as we begin to obey and follow His example, He can begin to bless and guide us. I love my Savior Jesus Christ! Through Him I know I can return to live with my Heavenly Father.

Love you all!

Hermana Simmons