5/30/16

Rollercoaster of a week.
Tuesday at Penn State I was chilling at some bike racks because it was in the shade. A guy came rolling up on his bike to, obviously, lock his bike. We had a unstressed conversation which was the main product of the setting both of us were in. I wasn't chasing after him, or making him feel uncomfortable, we were just two people talking. I told him I'd watch over his bike while he was gone. He was only gone for like 5 minutes. We talked again and the BOM was brought up, from some great questions he asked that were: What will this book bring me? And, what is main difference between us and other religions. His questions were awesome. I taught about the fullness of the gospel in the book and that we believe that God has called a prophet again. You know, the good stuff. I tried the zone leaders commitment to share Moroni's promise with him, he said it makes sense and he liked it. So cool beans, he didn't want to give out his phone number so I didn't get it. Seeds. The comedic part of the day was thanks to the sisters. They made a meet the Mormons movie night poster, with all the info needed, well except the address! I had a good time reminding them that all these people you're barking at, as they walk by, will have no idea where it is. Good luck with that. Their next poster on deck is the plan of salvation. So anyways, I dominated at Yahtzee this time around.

Wednesday's weather was a high of 86 according to our car. Yowzaz! We had a district meeting on the Book of Mormon. I felt like I was beating on a dead bush at a lot of parts because the Book of Mormon was the message at zone training. But the parts I did amuse myself with the activity in which I wrote out objections that were above average on difficulty. Handed them out to everyone to have them write a response. Some were harder than others, but the lesson I was going for was, that in the end fun you read and come to know the book is true, none of the confusing points matter. Some were irked by my personalized objections but once they ate food they liked me again. Haha! After lunch Haroldsen and I went out to Port Matilda to get into the nitty gritty. Tracting. The first two trailers we went to had at least 15 cats milling around. But both were kind to us, both knew Mormons, one even let us in to talk to the husband, but both weren't interested. We tried some more houses, one had a Doberman that would've been able to kill me if the owners let the screen door open just a crack. But we did get to a house where a guy named Ryan was talking to us. He was surprisingly open to our message, took a BOM, said we could try to catch him another time. He has a two month old boy he was watching. Nice guy, wasn't down to let Haroldsen put his number in his iPad though. So was Ryan actually open or was he just being nice? To be continued...
We also walked into two older ladies chilling in their back patio. Dorothy and Pat. We shared the BOM with Dorothy. Pat is already a saved baptist so she don't need us. We read the first chapter together. Not sure how well it sunk it, but they were appreciative of our visit and prayer. They said they'd read the book together, we'll see. I know I sound skeptical but after a while you have to be.

Thursday. Due to my companions choice of things to do in the morning, I did nothing for three hours. I did do a lot of indexing obituaries though. And granted he didn't expect to take two hours on the computer, but I was peeved to say the simplest. Service was good this week, we had time to stay and serve the food to people. That was a good time as well. We had dinner with the sisters at the Reeds house. I had a great time because I thrive in informality. Kathy had birthday cake that was peanut butter and chocolate flavored. Twas fantastic. And as a gift to Kathy I let her cake me in the face. I doubt there's anything I could've done to make her happier.

Friday was another sweltering hot day, so I sat on a bench in the shade. I even talked to more people sitting there than barking at them. I'm realizing how important setting is in talking to people. Me sitting on a bench is much easier than them and I both standing and I have to walk up to them. While I sit they walk past me, making it easy to talk to them.
Saturday we balled in the morning, I actually participated because the Biggers came. Had breakfast at Waffle Shop which was fantastic. Afterwards my companion had a headache or something so he laid down. For 3 hours. So I started to draw a firetruck. We had dinner at a members house which was great. Then after we went back and my companion chose and practiced a song he's going to play for Zone Conference. I finished the firetruck drawing. Literally the worst day of work I've ever had. I wasn't too ecstatic. Good news is that this week that won't happen. At all.
Sunday the Hilemans came to church, awesome. But they bounced after sacrament. But I'll take what I can get. After dinner we tried some old former investigators. We met a lady named Jackie. She's had a crazy life with missionaries evidently helping her out before. She recently found out she has to move and she's been freaking out and then we showed up on the door. She was blown away that we were there, offering to help. Tears were shed, all we could tell her is that God is in charge of her life and we're just his tools. She wants peace and order in her life and this is a gospel that brings peace. And an organized church that brings order. I hope that I can be here for the time that she's ready to accept the gospel. I've done a lot of pre humbled work on people but she's definitely in a humbled state now. We'll see what happens.

Elder Simmons

Putting my proselyting hat to good use

Pink Sorority house

Just chillin'

Making some beats with the Hippies

5/23/16

Solid week

Tuesday we were in the family history center in the morning, then hit up Penn State for the usual talking to people. It was pretty sparse but it's a good time still. We had a good lesson with Bro Henderson, I hope he'll get coming back to church soon. We played Yahtzee at Alice's, I was terrible at it again.

Wednesday we had zone training, it was BOM themed. And since we've been trying to base our lessons with members and people on the street with the BOM. It's been pretty good, nothing crazy happened. But on Tuesday I got to play some sports. Calaway and I played catch for a while then I stood on the same field as the people who were playing frisbee. Good news, no backwards knee this zone activity. I went in exchanges with Elder Averett, we had a good time. We had dinner with a family, and we got a potato and a half! Hah can't wait to be a college student. But don't get me wrong it was great. We had BOM class that evening and Sherry came. Rad. Afterwards we finagled some Dairy Queen off Calaway. Thanks man.

Thursday Averett and I were determined to share the BOM with someone on the streets. It's really hard to stop someone while there walking past you. But we did try people who were stationary. One lady told us to bug off because she was texting her friend a prayer. Another guy was a construction worker and eating a sandwich. He said, I'd like you leave and stop bothering me. I didn't feel bad for bugging him. The only positive thing that happened was when we stopped and talked to a girl who was at a table where you could pot free seeds. So my garden is growing! I'll have lettuce and cilantro if the sun ever starts shining here again. She had met the sisters before and we told her to listen to them. In the long run we lost that round of trying to talk to people. But at least we tried.

Got our inner hippie out. #farmersnow


Friday we were at it at Campus again, even more desolate than last time but we got to talk to Minjeong again! Hopefully she'll meet with the other elders soon. We had dinner with a group of us at a members house. The guy I call Clark Kent told his awesome appendicitis story. Also, I read that higher ups stipulate that Alvin Smith died of appendicitis. Modern medicine. Lesson learned. We dropped by at the Hilemans, they're doing better and said they're going to be coming back into it. So progress. Saturday was a wonderful day. The ward had a garage sale from 8-1. We went to help out. Turned out most of the hours In the middle no one needed much help. So I played four hours worth of church mini golf. It was pretty epic. I didn't win but I am homies with more young men than I was before. That counts for something. We left there at 3:30 with a surprising amount of junk ourselves. I got some books to read that are all from the 70s. Should be good.

Sunday was also good. We had a good amount of people we're working with come to church. The crazy part of church was when a old guy in our ward fell while attempting to sit down. I didn't see it but haroldsen swooped in real quick to help him. It was a intense moment, luckily it was on the back row so it didn't cause a big stir. We had dinner at the Liechtys, a family with 5 boys. Going over there is one of the few times I miss my family. Watching the kids quarrel reminds me of all the craziness I was in. After dinner we tried four people and went and saw Donna. We read the first chapter of the BOM with her and her friend. I may have thrown down on the pastor that spoke at the funeral for her husband. But I promised her good things about the BOM. Felt the spirit, it was nice. That's about it

Super Simmons

For the Haters.

5/16/16

Well quite the week, on Tuesday I went to Altoona and stayed with Elder Johnson for the day. We went to a food bank and I had a riot of a time taking left over food with no guilt at all. Wednesday we had a district meeting it was ok. But after we went out to contact a referral, he doesn't live there and claims he didn't put his info on there. We also visited Donna because someone's got to visit her. We gave her a BOM to read. We also went to beaver, college and talked to people there. We talked to an awesome guy named Joe that I spotted holding a banjo in a toll booth. That same day Elder Haroldsen (Brad's new companion) told me how he wants to learn banjo one day. So we took our opportunity. Nice guy, he also got a Book of Mormon. He sounds interested but he also claimed to be in between phone numbers. Heard that one before. So I'm not to sure what to think of him. Wednesday was a good day, it was a day that turned things around. The first day with a new companion can be and was hard for me. But Wednesday was a turning point.

Elder Haroldsen learning the banjo

Thursday we talked to a lady named Georgia for a half hour as she waited for the library to open. She's got a crazy life, so she got a BOM as well. After lunch we went to service, helped make guacamole. And it was the nastiest stuff anyone's ever created. But we put more avocado in there and things mellowed out. Thursday was also Haroldsen's birthday. I let our dinner know before hand and they bought him a apple pie and put stuck some tooth picks in there and called it a cake. They also took us for a ride in their 1969 Chevelle SS. Or in other words a old red Camaro. That was fun.

Friday we were at Penn State and we swamped the place with 10 missionaries. With the sister's red rover/search party tactics not many people got by with out being talked to by a Mormon. Calaway and I were standing together when a Korean girl named Minjeong came past, stopped then asked what we were doing. Gave her the run down and she was super interested with the idea of us having more than the bible. She lives right by the church, which is awesome. The coolest part was her personality, I've never met such a spunky Korean in my life. The other elders will be meeting with her this week. Saturday we chatted with our ward mission leader then tried a bunch of people that missionaries have talked to in the past. We've talked to one person in every four it seems. It's good to be able to offer our message again whether they take it or not.

Sunday is always good, church is wonderful. Had dinner at our bishops house and after we got back to it trying people. We met a guy named Mark, who is a Born Again Christian. He respects us for believing in Jesus but he wasn't down for what we had to say really. What he did talk about was a fictional book and the phrase spreading sweetness. I guess there's a Greek word for it but when back in the day they'd put honey in a babies mouth to start getting them on solid food. Somehow It all connected they way he said it but it reminded me to spread sweetness. Don't shove it down them, don't condemn people, but share the happiness.
The end

Elder Simmons

With my Spirit animal.

Penn State's Point

5/9/16

This week was pretty intense. Tuesday and Wednesday we didn't have our van which makes visiting people pretty hard, so Tuesday we built walls with Emile and Wednesday we walked around 3.5 miles in the rain. Fun stuff. Thursday was service day and that's always a good time. Because it was the fifth of May we made enchiladas. I wrapped around 75 of those suckers.

Friday we were to talk to people at Penn State, everyone was graduating it seemed and where we were standing not many people came by. So the four of us tried a different tactic of bus contacting. Which is by far my favorite way to talk to people. It's one of the best ways to talk to someone and everyone gets to feel like there being treated like a human. I talked to a girl with crutches she grew up reading the bible and has started to wonder what things has man added and changed. She asked me if we believed in every part of the bible and I told her about the JST and that we believe in a prophet and with prophets things can get fixed. I then told her about the BOM and its role in comparing doctrine with the bible as a sort of filter to weed out the changes of men. When I offered her one she was surprised and happy that I was willing to give her one right then on the spot. We exchanged numbers and in two weeks, she said, I'll text her and see hows she's doing. Pretty cool, better than chasing people down and giving them a card. Can't count the chicken before she hatches though.

Saturday was one of the more crazy days of my mission. In a freak accident while building walls with Emile, Elder Curtis got cement powder in his eye. Which quickly turned into a much more serious situation when he couldn't see out of it, even though we washed everything out. So we jetted over to the hospital and at a stop light I gave him a blessing. After that we calmed down a bit, if anyone can fix his eye it's God. At the hospital he got his eye flushed out and checked up on while I got to relax and watch the Pirates game. Perks of hospitals people. The results were that he chemically burned his eye and that antibiotic drops were coming his way and a whole lot of pain. And pain he was in, a lot of agony he had to go through that first night but now he's doing a lot better.

Sunday was also an important date, Emile came to church! He had a great time, there was a wonderful lesson on Faith in Jesus Christ and we talked about seeds of faith. The best ways to nurture it, etc. At the end of class we gave Emile a copy of the Book of Mormon he was really grateful for it and I'd bet a good chunk of change he'll read it. The I got to skype with my family that night and it was a great time. This past transfer Elder Curtis and I's combined injuries have been, hyperextended knee, sprain ankle, food poisoning, and a burnt eye. Oh and one nervous breakdown by yours truly. So it's been a truly unforgettable time they I've had with Elder Curtis and I'm going to miss the guy.

Elder Simmons

With Emile after church.

5/2/16

Quite an eventful week.

Tuesday we got to help out Emile, the trench was finished and we filled it halfway up with rocks. Learning the importance of a good foundation in this project. The best part of the whole day was when he took us out to a Asian buffet. I got to eat sushi and try squid but the point is he was asking us about church. When we told him anyone can come to church he pulled out his phone and said, next week I can come. That made my day. Emile is a good guy, and doesn't have any stigmas against us like a lot of people. In fact we've got a great starting base with him which was made by digging a trench twice a week. It's helped make all the work feel worth something. I crushed at Yahtzee with over 400 points.

Wednesday we had a district meeting with the Zone leaders visiting. The activity was good in which we all studied a not usually known doctrine then taught it to a partner. Then the partner told the whole group what they were taught. So that was decent. But the rest of it was a joke. The piano playing is so bad that we didn't finish either of the songs. I went on exchanges with Elder Calaway and we had a good time. We had Book of Mormon class, which I always learn new things from.

Thursday morning we went to a thrift store and sorted and tagged clothes. I got to try on pants size 52X30, which could've fit three more of me inside.

Barely too small

We had service at the kitchen which is always fun. I enjoy trying to cook, and watching Sis Ewell get hit on by a homeless guy, who no one understands because he has no teeth. But we did understand when he predicted that she was a cocktail kind of gal. Nailed it. The kitchen was overwhelmed with cooks, the highest count being at 19 so it was way too over crowded. Our lessons got canceled that night which got me in a depressed mood. Rough Thursday night.

It wasn't happening this day.

Friday I was still emotionally drained, just wasn't feeling it. At Penn State my stomach started to hurt. And by the time we were driving to Cracker Barrel for dinner with a member I was not feeling well. Just looking and smelling all the food there made me feel worse. I got a boxed salad for later. We got home and I tried to lay down and sleep but I knew what I needed to do. So I hunkered down in front of the toilet and tried to get myself to throw up. Once I started it was game over, I had forgotten how awful it feels to throw up so much. It's so hard to breathe in between a ralph, and every face hole you've got has some kind of liquid spewing out of it. Except ears obviously. Five up chucks later I was done and was still feeling meh. My stomach stopped hurting around midnight but I still only slept an hour at a time. I saw every hour of the morning as Saturday got closer and closer. Saturday I started feeling better and I got to shovel rocks, dirt, and mix cement for a combined time of 8 hours. With a baptism to watch in the afternoon. My stomach stopped hurting and my personality was back. And how one so lovingly put it, "I actually want to be around you again".

Sunday was pleasant, church is always enjoyable. No one we teach came but one day. We had a nice dinner with a family, tried to contact a new referral that requested a Book of Mormon. Scary part is it's a nice house in a nice area which makes me think a couple things. One that it's a prank it's happened too many times. Two it's some one who wants to murder us, which has a very low possibility. And third it could be a humble wealthy person who is ready for the gospel. I don't mean to be a downer here but it's probably a hostage situation where I don't come out alive. We drove out there and no one was home. So to be continued.

All in all It's been the worst week of my mission but at least it's over and I'm in good spirits again!

Elder Simmons

With Sister Chuah

"I love being a district leader" is a phrase I've never said.