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| This is an awful picture, but here's my hair. It's a little on the short side (A LOT), but it will grow. |
Ok, so fun fact. I cut my hair this morning. Actually, I chopped it. It's pretty short.
Anyway, this week was so great. Here are my highlights:
Samstag:
We
were writing letters in our residence hall, and Sister Darton was
bored.. So she switched all of Sister Balls/McCrary's stuff because they
were doing laundry. Everything was exactly how it was, just in a
different closet/bed. It was so funny. They laughed (Sister Balls wanted
her top bunk back.) Then I helped Sister Darton take their mattresses
to the room of some other sisters in our zone. Sister Balls and McCrary
didn't think that was so funny. We did. We did bring them back in and
put everything back eventually.
We went to the temple. I was
feeling really weird and homesick before we went, but it was so good to
go. It gives me perspective and it brings such a peace into my heart. I
love it. I talked to one of the other german teachers here. She is from
Germany and she is so smart. She served her mission in California, and
she knows: German, English, and French really well, and Spanish and
Russian. Holy Cow! She is in the 321 French class at BYU, but we took
201 at the same time. I am out of practice, but it was super fun to talk
to her. It was a tender mercy because I miss speaking french. That
night, Sister Darton taught me a country dance in our room and I taught
her some folk dances from my class at BYU. It was so fun. We decided we
hope we are companions over Christmastime in Germany. She is awesome. We
have since repented for dancing in the MTC, and we will learn more when
we are companions.
Sontag:
We had
choir and sang "A Child's Prayer." He brought his son and another
little boy to sing with us and it was so cute. I miss little kids. He
told stories about his experiences as a father and how much he loves his
kids, and likened it to Heavenly Father and how much he loves us.
Montag:
I
went to the Doctor for my heel.. They got me right in during my
exercise time (and it went a little into class time and I was
stressed/felt bad for being late to class, but Bruder Nielson ended up
having a training meeting, so we didn't miss anything). The doctor sent
me to a podiatrist, and that was another little miracle, because they
were able to get me in the next day. I felt kindof silly, but I was
actually really scared that it would get worse and that I'd have to go
to a doctor in Germany. I have been praying super hard (auf Deutsch) for
Heavenly Father to heal my heel.
Dienstag:
We
cleaned toilets. Last service!! Sister Hammer and I went to the outside
world (aka the doctor). He looked at my foot for 15 seconds, then
talked to me for 15 minutes about all the problems I'm going to have for
the rest of my life that will have to be surgically corrected (nothing
related to my heel). Ugh, ich hasse the doctor. I would rather not know
everything that could possibly be wrong with me. I don't know how right
he is, because Dad and I have the same feet and he's fine. I wish dad
would have been there. Anyway, he gave me some advice for my heel [Feel
free to take this all out before you email this to everyone: (he thinks
my shoes are putting pressure on where my Achilles connects to my heel..
or that I have a buildup on my bone or something that rubs). I decided I
was just going to have faith that it would go away. He prescribed me an
antibiotic so I take that when I remember and put deep blue on it
before I go to bed and have faith, and it has felt a LOT better. I know
it wasn't a made up problem, and I did talk about it and Dad kindof
looked at it once, but we didn't have a lot of time.] Anyway, all is
good. I'm fine and I'm going to Germany and the Lord will bless me!
Sister hammer and I grabbed a sack lunch before we went to the doctor,
but didn't eat it until we came back. We ate outside. I got a ton of
honey all over my orange so I wanted to wash it off, and Sister Hammer
decided to brush her teeth, so we walked back to the classroom and we
looked ridiculous. My hand was GLUED to the orange. I made her swipe her
card to open the door and I also made her laugh and she drooled out
toothpaste. We laughed so hard. We are ein bischen dysfunctional. I have
decided that being covered in honey is now one of my fears.. For the
Devotional, Sister Rosemary M. Wixom spoke, and so we sang all primary
songs. She is so cute, and just so happy! There was a group of little
kids who sang with us and it was awesome.
Mittwoch:
We
had taught our second skype lesson to a lady in Germany (actually she
lives in Utah now.) We taught her last week too, and we talked with her
about how we can study the scriptures better. She is SO sweet and it was
so fun. We don't understand everything she says, (and I'm sure she
doesn't understand everything we say), but it was a great experience. We
just love her. We also took these stupid german grammar tests that we
all did very badly on (I got a 23% and a 41%.). I say stupid because
Bruder Nielson decided to take it too and he got an 87% (granted, he
speed-took it). We apologized for our scores and told him that we hope
he doesn't get fired, haha. After he took it, he said, "Well, we might
all be leaving the MTC at the same time. You to Deutschland, me to
McDonald's." It was just a progress thing, because I don't think you're
supposed to get 100%.
Donnerstag:
We
had In-Field Orientation. It was 9 hours long. It was basically
"everything we haven't taught you about that you need to know before we
send you into the world". I didn't feel good, so that wasn't fun, BUT it
was fun to hang out with different missionaries all day, and I did
learn a lot. One sister I talked to told me about how she joined the
church: her friends invited her to a stake dance and then to church the
next day. She told me that before that point in her life, she had been
happy, but that day at church, she felt something in her soul. That was
really cool to me. The gospel gives us perspective, and it brings a
different kind of peace and happiness than anything else in the world.
It changes us. Another thing we learned about was baptism. We don't want
people to be baptized because we want the church to get bigger. We want
them to get baptized because that starts them on the path to returning
to God. Conversion, (knowing the doctrine of Christ and knowing how to
receive revelation how to apply it in our lives), is how we will
continue down that path. God loves all his children. You don't know who
is and isn't ready to hear the gospel. He is preparing everyone. I wish I
would have shared the gospel more before my mission. It makes me so
happy and my life has so much more meaning. Listen to the spirit and
share the gospel with the people you know!!!
After it ended,
we had dinner, but Sister Hammer and I decided to nap instead because I
didn't feel good. She ate a hotpocket from the vending machine and I
slept for 25 minutes. I felt better afterward. We had study time, and we
watched these health and safety videos for an hour and a half (they
were required for us).
Freitag:
Sister Voiglaender and I ran the mile. (My foot didn't hurt all day.) Originally, we thought the record was 6:44, but it was 6:25, so adjusted our splits and a lady came and timed us. I matched the time and ran 6:25.
I know I could've gone faster, but that's okay. It was awesome and felt
really good. I thought about trying again on Monday, but it doesn't
really matter. I'm glad I ran it, though. During class with Bruder
Alston, Sister McCrary was really thirsty, so I gave her my waterbottle.
She laughed while drinking and spit water all over herself/into my
waterbottle. It makes me laugh out loud everytime. :) We had class with
Bruder Nielson, and we had one question that was supposed to only last
for 5 minutes, but it turned into 2.5 hours of talking about the gospel
and our duty on earth. It was AWESOME. Seriously. We were all so excited
and I learned SO much. I love the scriptures and the gospel. It is
beautiful and symbolic and SO applicable to us. Bruder Nielson is a
great teacher and I am so thankful for his example. Friday
was one of the best day I think I've had the in the MTC. I love it
here. I have been so blessed to get to know people, to have great
teachers and I have learned so much. I'm going to miss my district so
much. I love being a missionary and I am so excited to go to Deutschland
(Also very nervous.. but I know Heavenly Father will help me).
I've
been studying God, and how I can learn more about Him and my
relationship to Him this week. Elder Holland said that when Jesus Christ
came to Earth, He was showing us "who and what God our Eternal Father
is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and
nation." It made so much sense to me. They are one in purpose. They both
want us to return to them and to have lasting happiness. We come closer
to God when we are trying to learn of the Savior and follow His
teachings and when we pray. Prayer should be hard.. It should be a form
of work. Ether prayed all day and all night. I'm trying to get better at
praying more earnestly and with more focus. The Lord rewards us for our
efforts, and He will give us what we truly want and desire in our
hearts. I am so so SO thankful for all of the blessings God has given
us. Please share His love with the people around you, because EVERYONE
needs Him and everyone needs our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Ich Liebe Sie!!
Sister Simpson
p.s.
Mom, I got your package. Thank you SO much! I love you, and I'm so
sorry you had to pack up my room. That's a lot of stuff. I can't wait to
talk to you Tuesday morning. Sorry, I probably can't write you a letter
before I leave. I have to pack (ACK!). I love you pii! I hope the
wedding was great!!
p.p.s. Please tell Sister VanDam that I
LOVE the CTR ring she sent. She gave me the CTR ring from when she
served her mission. So So So cool. I will try to write a thank you to
her |
| The beds we switched (hahahaha) |
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| Sister Hammer, Sister Voigtlaender, me |
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| We are making korean hearts (apparently). We love Sister Ha! |
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| I think this is the letter that got returned for postage. |
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