Snail Mail

Still here

I got the package :) alright so the story with the ATM card....  I took out some money to buy a few things and I just left the card in the machine being the 18 year old that I am…. with the pin typed in so anyone could take out as much money as they wanted.  I didn't notice until.... we left and went to buy a pair of flip flops. When I opened my wallet to pay I noticed my card was gone. My heart instantly went down to my feet...... I also said like 3 back to back prayers. We ran to the computer place and I sent you that email to cancel it, then left.... about 30 seconds after we left 2 of the missionaries in Clorinda called us and said we have you card. When I heard that I said another 3 back to back prayers of gratitude. Then we ran back to the Cyber to write you again. The lady behind me in line took it out and then saw us leave and turn the corner. She then left the bank and saw 2 different missionaries walking and gave the card to them............ There are good people in all parts of the world.

(Good-bye to Elder Harris)

As for transfers I stayed in Clorinda, but I got a new companion Elder  Skouson.  (below)

  He arrived in the mission 3 months ago with me and speaks even less Spanish than I do.   I’m the senior companion. But it doesn’t really mean much. :) Hey if you just want to put this letter on the blog this week that would be great.   This hour of writing feels like five minutes and I don’t have time to write more or respond to everyone :( mom the mission is going soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo fast. I cannot believe it. Days feel like 2 hours and weeks feel like 2 days and months feel like 2 weeks. It’s ridiculous but I love it and I’m learning soooooooooooo much.  Tell Paige Logan Thacker and Eli to just drop out of school and serve a mission... They will learn more that way ;)

We are just praying a lot and my Spanish has grown in the last three days more than in the last 3 months. We are going to have some baptisms finally, 3 chicos next week :) the kids are soo cool.  Elian, Luiciana, and Sergio. Other than that we are practicing our teaching a lot.. .. we have lots of people to teach and we have a lot of untouched houses in our area. 

I’m still happier now than I have ever been before. I love you guys and don’t worry about me feeling home sick.... It doesn't even feel like the holidays.... It’s way too hot to be the holidays... At least that’s what my body is telling me.

Oh and just because I don’t respond to every little detail doesn't mean I don’t like reading it and knowing :)  You guys tell everyone that I’m thankful for them and their prayers. You guys really do help me function everyday more than you think :)  The other night I had a dream I got off the plane and saw you guys it was weird. But don’t worry I’m having so much fun, and I’m learning how much our Heavenly Father and  Jesus really love us.  Love you guys!!!!!!!!!

<3 E Simmons

Fastest Week of My Life

It was a fast week to say the least. Like really fast I feel like it should be Tuesday of last week. If the rest of my life goes this fast I’ll be sad because then I’ll blink and I’ll already be a grandpa. There is nothing wrong with being a grandpa though.  This week we did a lot of things but since I only have like 10 minutes to write this I’ll sum it up.  It rained a lot this week again.... And now it’s just pure hot. 

Pretty much I just love the mission. I feel the best when I just work as hard as possible and then go to bed exhausted. Those are the days where I feel the best :) And I’m not even kidding when I say this but this transfer felt as if it were a week and a have long. It went by soo fast it actually kind of scares me. Me and E Harris had 155 lesson in six weeks.  Don’t you fear we are working hard and eventually the people will choose to come closer to Christ.  Tomorrow are transfers so we will see what happens. 

  I haven’t eaten anything with flavor for weeks... but its ok because I’m having so much fun and I’m working hard. 

Wednesday we walked to a little pueblito or little colony about 5 miles away from Clorinda that supposedly  is in our area. It was reallllllly poor. We walked the 45 minutes to it and taught a few lessons. When we invited them to church they just straight up laughed at us, because it’s so far away, anyways it was an adventure. We went with a member just in case there are people that didn’t like 2 white kids walking in their neighborhood. His names Oscar  I want to tell you about Oscar.  He’s 20 When I got here Oscar was less active and drank and smoked a ton. About a month ago we invited him to stop and that day he quit and hasn’t gone back. He even gave up some friends and now is preparing to receive the priesthood next week.  I’m officially done with my missionary training and transfers are tomorrow and I think one of us is going to leave this area so we will see. Oh and we taught the Law of Chastity this week to a couple that are living together but aren’t married. That was really interesting and we will see what they decide to do.   I had one of the most spiritual lessons of my mission last night too.   With a girl named Suzy. The truth is I don’t know why it went so well except the fact that I prayed like a thousand times during it. She told us that Joseph Smith being a prophet makes sense, and that she can feel the spirit when we talk. So the work is good here in Clorinda Argentina. I’m about to head out for a barbeque with a member sooooo ya…………

Real quick I want to share a scripture I found that is super sick.

D&C106

4 And again, verily I say unto you, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh, and it overtaketh the world as a thief in the night—

 5 Therefore, gird up your loins, that you may be the children of light, and that day shall not overtake you as a thief.

I just like it.  I guess we just need to everything possible to prepare for the second coming. That is the purpose of this life and we need to help everyone around us too.

 I know you guys all think I’m turning into the Cliché missionary that all say the same thing. But the truth is cliché missionary I am now and it is probably that happiest I’ve ever been. The church is true!

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Elder Simmons

Mud

Well there was a lot of mud this week... Like a lot. It rained every single day this week except for Saturday and Sunday. Literally ever single street turned into a river. 

But that didn't stop us. I love it when we are walking down the street and it’s raining soo hard that you can’t see 100 feet in front of you cause of the rain drops, and people look at us like we are drunk or something. We just wave, throw thumbs up. To me that’s missionary work right there. I don’t know if people notice that. But if these 2 kids from Utah out in the middle of nowhere in Argentina during the rain, they must be sharing something important... Well we are.

It was another great week. We were able to see a few people come out to church. Mabel and her daughter, who were references from a recent convert and they are really interested in the church. The other was Inosencia. Who is the mom of a recent convert.  Inosencia speaks about as much Spanish as I do. She is literally a Lamanite and she speaks a language called Toba. It’s crazy and I don’t understand one word of it.  She doesn't really understand what we say but she told us that she feels the spirit every time we talk. I talked about her about a month back how her husband that passed away came to her in a dream and told her that she needs to listen to the missionaries because what they are saying is the truth. sooooooo ya. Alma 13:24. This is the last week of this transfer we will see what happens this next transfer because it’s likely that either me or E Harris leaves….So we will see. I love the work. I really do.  

Guess what... I finished the book of Mormon in Spanish. So what if I only understood like 60 percent of it. I prayed to see if it’s true last night and surprise surprise... It’s true in Spanish too. Oh and the mosquitoes are coming out like no other. And the mosquitoes here don't have rules. They will bite you through your pants.... they don’t care. So I've been showering in bug spray.

I love life. I love the church and everything it does for me.

<3 Elder Simmons

11-3-2014

Hello family friends, I’ll start out by saying. Congrats to the San Francisco Giants..... hahahahahah sorry I couldn’t help myself. Anyways it’s been the best week yet here in the mission field. It’s also been the rainiest week yet. But I like the rain; it gives us a break from the 110 degree weather.

 I hope everyone had a great Halloween cause it doesn't exist here. This week we taught a lot. After 2 months here the area is starting to roll. We have the opportunity to teach a lot of families. One family came to church this week. Which is a big accomplishment since coming to church is struggle for the people here. They were even soo dedicated that it was pouring rain and they showed up on their little scooter completely drenched. And then the first class they ever experienced was a class on the law of chastity...... But they said they loved it soooo yay!

 One day this week it was pouring, and we had to walk a good mile in the rain. I was completely soaked from socks to my stylish missionary haircut.

 But the truth is that those are moments I will never forget. Last night, we were teaching a family and the mom hates us. She told her sister that we brought diseases from the United States. But for some reason last night she listened to us. I’m not sure exactly what we said it was probably just my homie the spirit and she just opened up to us. She said that she wants to stop drinking she wants to change but she doesn't know how. We just bore testimony that through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we can change and find happiness. You know I've really realized the importance of a mission. There are people that need this gospel more than I need the two years I gave up. But the other thing I realized is how easy it is for people to have missionary experiences even though they aren't a missionary.  I’m just some white kid form P-Town Utah, but I’m serious try sharing your testimony with a friend. Try giving out a book of Mormon. The amount of joy you will feel with give you a feeling that you will just want more and more of. Anyways love this gospel I know its true. Love all you peeps. Eat some Halloween candy for me. :)

Elder Simmons

Baseball

Well I can easily this was the best week when it came to teaching, Me and ol EIder Harris and the spirit made 2 moms cry, and got some more people to accept a baptismal date. This week we met a family, the Guato family. They have three kids who are all super cool and the mom who told us that the Catholic Church just doesn’t feel right. Aka she’s gold. So we have been teaching their family a lot this week. We had the most spiritual lesson with them. We started talking about the plan of salvation, which it was ok but I felt like something was missing. So I said a little prayer in my heart. The next thing you know Elder Harris shared a scripture and I shared my testimony and boom she was crying. We asked them if they want to get baptized and they said ya... I still to this day have no idea what we said. But the spirit is a real homie and helped us out a ton.  I also had an interview with President Franco. The man is soooo loving. Anyways he complimented me on my Spanish soooo pretty much up in the big leagues now. After the interview we took a bus an hour and a half back to our area. Without AC wow it was hotter than a dugout of summer ball. I seriously somehow fell asleep and when I woke up I was completely drenched. But don’t worry I showered. Other than that this week was full of a lot of finding knew people. Me and E Harris started really trying to use the tips in preach my gospel on how to begin teaching...... and wow that book is better than a grand slam. You wouldn’t believe the type of miracles we had the opportunity to see and the people we were able to find. Home runs bro.  

You know this week I’ve been reading 3 Nephi in the book of Mormon when Jesus comes. I really am excited for Jesus to come again. Sure it might be intense. But like the book of Mormon says that the righteous need not worry. I really want to prepare for that day. Sure you can say that this is really a cliché thing for a missionary to say but really that’s the reason why we are here on earth, to prepare to meet God. And sometimes living in the world there are so many distractions.   I’m soo grateful for this opportunity to be a missionary. I love it so much....... Like baseball  and my family and all my friends. And while I’m at it shout out to all my missionary friends.

To Dad: One of the things that I really have learned on my mission is just how much drugs and alcohol tears families apart. It’s terrible. And thank for the help with the less actives. They are soooo hard to reactivate because the know it’s true but the just don’t want to go. Hey thank you for everything love you!

To Mom: Ya people here in the mission are focused a lot on the numbers. How many baptisms.... how many months... how many months I’ve been a leader. I really don’t want to get sucked into this number game because it’s really is so much more than that. And ya my number one pet peeve is when people pretend to be people they are not. And for that I will always be Tanner Simmons. It’s cool to hear you guys are having missionary experiences too. This Sunday we had 20 people tell us that they were going to go to church and none of them showed up. Me and elder Harris literally had the most spiritual week with the investigators but the hard part is we can drag them to church. They have to choose. I’ll make sure to send you guys some mail like once a month or so. And ya we have a lot of people praying for us. Anyways love you tons. Miss you thanks for everything!!

SnapBacks and Barrio Toba

Another week in the heart of Argentina. And let me tell you that the heart of it is really hot. Like 110 degrees with 80 percent humidity hot. Parental discretion advised for this next sentence, because it’s kind of gross. It’s so hot that I literally swim in my own sweat to all our appointments. But don’t worry girls I shower, and my companion tells me I smell good soooooo :) This week we did a lot of work with a recent convert, he just got baptized and he literally thinks that the gospel is better than sliced bread, which first off the gospel IS better than sliced bread, second off sliced bread doesn’t exist here.   He took us to every single one of his family members so we had a ton of lessons and new investigators. Hopefully we can really help them come unto Christ. We also have been working with a less member active named Oscar he’s like 21.  2 weeks ago he was really drunk and got in a fight and it turned out really ugly. Just like a lot of things do with drinking and drugs.  We later had a lesson with him and the spirit was stronger than Spencer Steck.   Shout out to him if he’s reading this. We invited him to prepare to receive the Aaronic priesthood. That was 6 days ago and he has now gone 5 days without drinking or smoking and came back to church where the bishop had an opportunity to give him a priesthood blessing of strength. The kid is a stud. Other than that I’ve been trying to speak Spanish find new people to teach, be obedient and have a little fun. This week we had a lunch with a less active member, and after talking for a little while he randomly told Elder Harris that he could have two alligator skins. Ya real alligator skin!   It still has little chunks of alligator meat on it.  He brought them home and  put them on our plush tile floors and it smelled awful. I’ll give you a comparison. Those of you that know Salem Hills, know that in the spring the soccer field is a swamp. And it smelled like my soccer cleats after playing a whole season with them in the mud. It stunk. But ya anyways we have alligator chilling in the house. I Skype'd home yesterday (because it was mother’s day in Argentina)  :) I had an hour but it literally felt like 6 minutes.

 I miss my family a ton, but I know what I’m doing is what I’m supposed to be doing.  We are all on this earth to learn and grow, to make decisions. And this is probably one of the best decisions I’ve made. I’m loving every minute.

Much Love From  Elder Tanner Matthew Simmons