Dear Family! (7/27)

This week was great as always. We have taught some amazing lessons and it has been really fun. Sad news though. Just when the we get a miracle something changes. But it's okay because I know ultimately Heavenly Father is in control and it will all work out. So I told you last week about the Burmese/Thai family that we are teaching and how we got the missionary pamphlets to teach them with. We were so excited to teach them and we felt like this was the breakthrough that we had been waiting for. So we went to teach them one night this week and within the first few minutes of talking with them the mom told us that she is really sick and her body isn't responding to the treatments that the doctors are giving her here so she has decided to fly home to Thailand and Myanmar for three months so that she can have the doctors there treat her with medicine that her body is used to. We were so sad to hear this but as she was talking I had to sweet feeling of the Holy Ghost confirm to be that the Master's hand is in this and that it will all work out. I still firmly believe that there is something so special about this family and I know that one day things will fall into place and they will join the church. I am just sad that I won't be able to be a part of it. After she told is this we went ahead and gave her the pamphlets and she was so excited by them. She just kept saying "My language! Thank you my language!" It really touched my heart. She promised to read them and study them and pray about them. I am sure that this will really help her along her journey. They are scheduled to come back on October 30th and I am hopeful that I will still be here in the area.  wrote the date on my calendar so I won't forget and I am going to try and visit them then because they said they were going to live in the same house. As hard as it was to say goodbye, I really know that everything will work out for this family. I can't wait to be reunited with them either in this life or the next because I love them so much. 

  In this coming week Sister Clarke and I are praying to find an investigator that is ready to progress whether it be someone we already know or someone that we will meet this week. We had another investigator that we thought was golden drop us this last week because she is so busy she just doesn't have time to meet with us. That was really sad too but I have seen time and time again on my mission that when we get dropped or things seem to be falling apart, that is when the miracles come and we meet someone else who is ready to progress. It's a bit like the Lord is helping us clear our schedule by putting those aside who aren't ready to progress so that we are ready and have the time to focus on someone new who is ready to progress towards baptism. It will be interesting to see what happens this week because I think something great is just around the river bend. If there is one thing I have learned throughout my mission is that the Lord is in control and that everything has to happen in His timing and not ours not matter how much we want it to. 

  Another area of our work that we are seeing a lot of success in right now is the work we are doing with the less-actives. President Rudd has posed the question time and time again of "Who is more important to the Lord, the person who has yet to make sacred covenants with Him, or the person who has forgotten those covenants?" Untimely he is saying that a re-activation is the same as a baptism in the eyes of our Father in Heaven. I love visiting and working with less-actives because they have so much light and faith inside of them, they have just forgotten it. All we do is help them feel the spirit to rekindle that flame of faith that they already have. It is such an extraordinary process! Over the last few weeks we have gotten so many less-actives to come back to church  and it has been so exciting! I love being a missionary! I love working with people and seeing them turn their lives around and follow the Savior so that they can take part in the happiness that He is just waiting to give them. 

  In conclusion I am still as happy as ever and I am loving every minute of every day. I am living in the most beautiful country on earth, teaching the most amazing people, and having the most wonderful experience. Everyday I learn more and more about myself and everyday I am able to grow and improve a little bit more. I have learned how to overcome some of my weaknesses and magnify my strengths. The process of change and the changes I can see within myself never cease to amaze me. Sister Clarke and I talked about this  and  for a long time one night and through the course of our conversation I was really able to realize where I was when I started my mission and where I am now and I am so grateful for the changes that I have been able to make. I am happier than ever and I know now more then ever before that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me and that through His help and through the help of my Savior Jesus Christ, I can do anything and that is a wonderful feeling. 

  I love and miss all of you so much and I am looking forward to the day that we can be reunited. I didn't realize just how much I would miss everyone. You all mean so much to me and I talk about all of you often. My favorite thing to talk about is my family and friends because you mean so much to me. Have a great week and remember that I love you!

Love, 

Sister Simkins