9 Weeks! (Mom counting not Elder Simons)

Hey!

This week went by really fast!! But it was a good week! Nothing crazy or out of the ordinary happened, but it was a good week! Our investigator is doing really well! We are trying to help him study more effectively from the scriptures which is helping me know how to study more effectively!! haha.

I don't have a lot of time today. But I guess if I could talk about anything, it would be about following the Spirit! I'm a super prideful person haha which isn't a good thing I know, but it can make it hard to recognize or follow spiritual promptings. However this last week I have really felt the Spirit in my life guiding me! I know that if we try to follow the Savior's teachings, that He will help us in all things! He gave us the Holy Ghost that we may be comforted and guided to do the right thing! I testify that Jesus is the Christ and that He has established His church again on the earth. He calls us to do different things, and we have to be ready to heed the calling. The way we can be ready to be obedient and to follow the Spirit.

Sorry it's so short today, but I was lazy and waited a long time haha. Today for P-day we went and saw an Orthodox Monastery, and a creepy old half constructed hotel haha. The Monastery I went to a year ago but I don't think I took pictures, but it is super beautiful!! HAha and my companion and I bought sheep cheese there from the gift shop. It was pretty good haha. The hotel is super sketch haha but cool to see.

Well I hope that you all have an awesome week and that you feel the Spirit in your lives!

Love,

Elder Simons

October 19, 2015

HEY!

So Super fast cause I didn't have a lot of time today!! we went on a hike which was fun and pretty beautiful!! but it was kind of rushed so I don't have pictures cause I didn't take my camera!! but I cut my hand pretty good haha! ;) it was gross! haha!

This last week was really good! One of our investigators is really starting to move forward!! we are really excited for him! He feels like he is doing a lot better too! He is an awesome guy!! I'm super blessed to be able to teach him and know him!

My companion and I are getting a long really well! He is an awesome guy! and a super great missionary! a really good Almost last companion!! haha. This week should be great!! I'm trying to have more effective studies, so if anyone has any suggestions for study topics, that would be ballin. Always good to study fun things! haha.

Well I hope that you all have an awesome week, sorry it's so short! but hey God loves you and He will help you with anything that you need, that will bring you closer to Him! Sometimes stuff happens in life, like you accidentally crush your hand with a big rock while climbing haha, but He is always watching over us and is ready to help us!

I love you all and hope that you have an amazing week!

Elder Simons

October 12, 2015

Hey!

So Emily, my awesome older sister, got home from her mission last week! I'm so happy to be a part of my family! They have been awesome examples to me!! I am so grateful for thee remaining time I have left on my mission!! I have loved my mission! And I am so grateful for all of the things that the Lord has taught me so far!

This week was good! We got to go to Peja again and see Ajdin, a member there. We also got to see one of my old investigators and hopefully we will be able to meet with him when we go to Peja once a week. We also went to Prishtina for a Zone Training. It was a really good meeting and I feel like I learned a lot about how I can improve as a missionary! We have awesome mission leaders here in my mission! I am so thankful for all the help that the Lord gives to us as we try and improve ourselves! This is His work after all and He is always there for us when we need Him!

I am excited for this week, to see what that Lord has to teach me! Now that both of my siblings are home it has kind of hit me that my mission is going to end too haha so I am really trying to take advantage of every minute! I have been a little lost in my personal study since I finished Jesus the Christ haha But I have been trying to study Charity and it is going well! The scriptures have so many wonderful things to teach us! We just have to be willing to look for them diligently! I have gotten a lot better at studying the scriptures, on my mission. I wasn't the greatest before, but now I understand a lot better all the help that they can give to us. And it is really one of the ways we can receive personal revelation from our Heavenly Father!

Well I am running out of time fast! I just want to testify that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of the Living God. He came down to earth and sacrificed His own life for us! He suffered more than is humanly possible so that we don't have to! If you come unto Him, He will lift us up and guide us back to our Heavenly Father. I know that He restored His church in these last days through the Prophet Joseph Smith! God's priesthood authority is back on the earth and we have a living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson. I love you all and I love our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost that He has sent down to us!

I hope you have an incredible week! I love you all!

Elder Simons

October 5, 2015

Hey Everyone!

So this is the first week up here in Gjakova! It was a pretty good first week! I really like the area! I LOVE Kosovo and so I'm happy to be here again! Plus my old city, Peja, is part of my area here so I get to go like once a week and it is awesome! The people here are great! We haven't had as many problems with people being rude here which I am really appreciating!! haha.

My new companion is pretty awesome!! His name is Elder Braden. He is 3 months longer in the mission than me, so his group just went home last week, but he extended. So I'm spending my last transfer killing a companion! haha it is pretty weird, and might make the last 6 weeks a little rough!! haha but I'll manage! But we are having a good time! He is a super awesome and hard working missionary so I have a lot to learn from him! He is super tall and so he walks a great deal faster than I hahah so that's sometimes rough, but I guess I'll just come home in shape! haha.

So I was studying Jesus the Christ a couple weeks ago for my personal studies, but I finished it, so I've been a little lost for studies because I really loved that book! hahah but I've been trying to study Charity, because I guess I'm not super good at it! haha. But I've been reading the Book of Mormon and marking the verses that I think contain charity! It is actually pretty awesome! It is helping me understand the different aspects of charity. It is so crucial, and is essential for us if we want to return to live with our Heavenly Father! Jesus Christ was and is the perfect example of Charity, so studying His life, has also helped me understand what I need to try and do to become more charitable! I love my Savior and am so grateful for His example for us! It is through Him, and only through Him, that all things are possible, so I am grateful to be about His work! He has blessed me so much throughout my life and continues to bless us! His love for us is one that we cannot comprehend, but He will help us become like Him as we follow Him! I love you all and hope that this week you can come closer to the Savior, I know that He loves you all and is waiting for us to come closer every day, every time we make a decision! I hope you all have an awesome week!!

Love!

Elder Simons!

PS My sister goes home this week!! She is a baller and I wish her the best of luck and safe travels!