From the Mission President

Dear Simmons Family,

We had the great pleasure today of welcoming your daughter to the Spain Madrid Mission.  We spent the day together at the mission home where she received training and orientation on her missionary assignment.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time together and felt a wonderful spirit present.  We appreciate all that you have done to prepare your daughter to serve the Lord and for the sacrifice you are making in giving her to the Lord for a time. 

Hermana Simmons has been assigned to labor in A Coruña with Hermana Glover.

We thought you might enjoy these pictures that we took during our lunch break.  May the Lord bless you and your family in all of your endeavors.

Sincerely,

President and Hermana Pack

Transfers

Heyyyooooooooo! I just finished packing my suitcases. It would have been helpful to have Eli and Logan help again. But tonight is my last night. Tomorrow I will meet the APs from the mission and we will go to the mission home. We will spend the day going over the info we need to know then get our travel info. We will meet our trainers tface to face if in Madrid, if not over Skype and then if I'm in any of the Madrid areas  I might have lessons to teach or dinner with members. If I'm traveling a ways to my area then I will spend the night at the mission home and head out early the next morning so I can spend the day getting to work!

I'm so ready. I'm so excited. Hah, the mtc president here told me the mission isn't actually that hard, we make it hard. Essentially what dad always says. Don't tell yourself a story! So yeah! I'm so excited. And so ready. 

One cool experience from this week, the park was awesome Saturday. On the train back we sat by the angriest man I've ever met. He ripped us a new one for the entire time. All we said to him was hello! Good news. My Spanish is getting better because I understood pretty well what he was saying. I've never had anyone speak so terribly to me before.. Oddly though I felt the spirit during this.. I felt the authority of my calling. This man has no idea the power we have! I felt if the spirit so directed I could pull an Ammon and slice his arms off, or Nephi and shock him, or Brigham young and tell him, "cut the thread that binds you to a prophet of God and sink yourself to Hell." (I've made an effort to learn this is Spanish) 

But I didn't feel so prompted so I just sat there then left and felt sad for Him because some day he'll realize what he did. 

Moral of the story. There is power given to the servants of God to fulfill his work that is real and strong. I felt that. It's awesome! I can't wait to teach about Jesus all the time! 

See you all later! 

My pday are switching to Monday so I will bewriting you next Monday.. So until then!

Have a good one! 

And read the book of Mormon! 

Love you guys. 

️️ Hermana Simmons 

Happy Thanksgiving

It was and orange week again. No offense to the pears but they just aren't as consistent. 

The park this week was the best! Haha I had the coolest comp! She the quirkiness little lady but such a stud.. Hahaha she would fake trip herself just so she could have a conversation starter with people! I was very impressed and learned a lot from her (methods to trip myself included)! My Spanish is helping me get by. I know the gift of tongues is a thing because when I'm sharing the gospel and on the lords errand I can understand and communicate okay for the most part, but as soon as I'm in a store asking for help, Suddenly I feel like people are speaking Italian. Haha we will see how it goes in a few days. Honestly though, I'm ready to get to work. I know it will be hard. But if I could get up at 5:30 to scrape ketchup chunks off elementary school tables everyday and still have some fun then by goly I'm going to have fun these next two transfers.

One of my favorite things to do here is mess with the non English speakers. They all are working on their English and asking questions so I like making up incorrect random phrases to teach them. Today I taught them the saying, I'm in a Fat napkin. Hahaha ha they all understand the meaning and have accepted my invitation to use it this week in casual conversation! It's hilarious! You learn a lot about yourself as a missionary. I have learned I'm a good liar. 
Oooooooh that reminds me. So the sisters here think I'm psychic because I've learned this other weird skill I have. I can guess people's food preferences based of what I know about their personality. For example I usually am always spot on about how people like their meat.. You can just tell a medium rare person from a medium well person. It also works vice versa, you can tell me your food preferences and I can make blanket statements about your personality, desires, fears. It sounds ridiculous but I'm oddly pretty accurate. Who knew? But the sisters think it's hilarious and I give several food horoscopes a day.
Today we are going to have a special Thanksgiving lunch and then I get to go get my Spanish residency card! So that will be a fun Thanksgiving!
Wow I love the people I have met here. My companion Hermana Pinkney is awesome. She is exactly what I needed. We have so many differences but it has been so great learning to work with each other. I really love her. Also I have the best district in the world. The sistrict! I cannot explain how much fun we had this week!

Right after this we have our Thanksgiving feast and then I get to go become a legal resident of Spain. So yay. I have my entry interview with my mission president, so woop woop for that! I'm excited to meet him. Then in the morning I will walk over to the mission home and go from there! Crazy! I'm ready. My spanish is what it is, but I've got all the will in the world! 
Nice thing is that's all I really can give and God help me out with the rest. I'm learning so much about Jesus christ. I'm beginning to understand that we really can apply his atonement every day, not just for mistakes. He enables us to have strength beyond our own. Wow. I love it. I love him. 
Thanks for your love and support. Pray for me and my friends as we become the freshest new greenies in town! 

Write ya when I write ya! 

Have the happiest of Thanksgiving! What a beautiful holiday, thank you Abe.

Much love,
Hermana Simmons 

1. So I love matching now I guess.. Hah. Okay. 

Well family I don't know if you still go around and do that thing where we say what we are grateful for and tanner says Camo and Eli says girls  but if you do here is my version.

Can I just say I'm incredibly grateful I am just learning Spanish and not Russian like the other missionaries here at the mtc! 

Anyways... 

First off I am so grateful to be here in Spain for Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong I am really missing some stone box catering right now and Thanksgiving as a family Is so great. But I am so grateful the lord has given me this opportunity to be stretched and refined as I participate is his work.

2nd I'm grateful for my brothers, man.. I lucked out! I'm grateful for tanners (and Olivia's) example as a missionary. And I hope you other three know a mission is worth every sacrifice.

3rd I'm grateful for my grandparents. Who have sacrificed much of their lives to providing a better life for their posterity and setting a righteous example of enduring in the gospel.

4th I'm grateful for my mom. She is everything I aspire to be. She has such a quiet and steady strength that is so beautiful. And if I could be the type of mother she is I would be beyond happy. 

5th I'm grateful for my dad. I'm grateful he is my friend. I'm grateful for the love and concern he has for me. I'm grateful for the way he knows our savior and the priority he has made it to teach our family.

Most of all I'm so grateful for our savior. He is more real and personal than we know. He gives power, forgiveness, life, mercy, confidence, joy. He really is our savior and our brother. I know him, I know he loves me and has made a way I can receive all the glory of our father in heaven. It is beautiful. It's the most incredible gift.

Okay yeah there is a lot more, like I hope Olivia knows what a great blessing she is in our family, I'm feeling pretty grateful needless to say. But I hope you all have a fantastic Thanksgiving and eat more than you thought physically possible for me! I love you all soooooo much!

Happy Thanksgiving!

️ Hermana Simmons 

4..5...6.... I don't know how long I've been here

Okay. After eating more oranges than I ever thought possible I have made the desicion to switch to the pear.. So far so good.
I don't know what else to say about the MTC. At this point I'm just trying to absorb as much as possible. It's like they pour everything down your throat in 6 weeks and you spend the next 6 months digesting it! I'm just excited to get going with the digestion process already!
Terrible analogy but you get the point. Its so great, spiritual, and ridiculously fun. Man I can't tell you how much fun I'm having.. So, soooooo, soooooooooooooo much fun.. I wake up loving life and go to bed feeling the same, although somewhere in between I just really want a nap. As great as it is  I can't wait to get to the field.. I'm excited for a great challenge with much more rewarding consequences!
Wow. I've got to reiterate how much I sing here.. It's crazy. This week alone I've sung for like 8 hours! I know called to serve in Spanish, English, Portuguese, Italian, French, German, Norwegian, Swedish, and good old Russian. Haha I'm singing in church this week. Boy, Its like being a sister missionary they just assume you sing. No. But oh well. It's great!
I love my teachers. I love my bunk bed mates, I love Spain, love the MTC president. Lotta love going around.
Saturday at the park was great, got to have some good gospel discussions, put a few more book of Mormons in the world and make some great friends! Spanish people are great.. They don't really want to hear about religion but they really are for the most part really loving. At the park I could actually understand people! That was sure nice! For all you non Spaniards, people only talk to me in the vosotros, so that's fun. I love the accent too, it's just so natural! The rest of the Spanish speaking world is missing out! 

I'm learning lots about the gospel too, especially about Jesus Christ.. It's obviously important for me to be learning the language and gospel doctrine and how to be a missionary... But seriously the best way to do all of this is develop my personal relationship with christ. When we know christ, we naturally want to share. When we understand his atonement, we trust he will give us power beyond our own. And when we know our resurrected savior, we overcome doubts and fears in our lives... I think this applies to everyone.
No matter what trials or problems you have in life, yes there are specific things to do and answers to help but I really believe the fist think to do is place greater focus on Christ. When  we do this all other aspects of our lives are blessed.


I love the simplicity of the gospel.
I love it too because the simplicity of the gospel matches the simplicity of my Spanish haha!


Being a disciple of Christ rocks!


Love you all!
Hermana Simmons

1. We went to the royal palace these week

2. My shoes almost lasted a month.... 

3. Some picture my teacher took while we were in the park.  These are the nicest ladies ever we met.  They told me I have a baby angel face.  I told them about the Book of Mormon and give it to them and in return they gave me an orange.  It's awesome, people are great!

11-9-17 Week 3

Okay I have to reiterate something... I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN. I would say everyday at the mtc there is like an hour in the day where I'm beyond tired or frustrated or annoyed with something but overall, it's so much fun! My friends are awesome, girls are crazy but it's the best! Teaching lessons is really fun! Playing futbol in Spain is the coolest, and we must be at a lower elevation or something because despite how many oranges I eat in a day my mile time is oddly impressive.

Oh! Mom! I keep forgetting to tell you this! My painted fingernails lasted I think maybe three days into the mtc. I got some compliments though so worth everything! 
This week I had my first, truly terrible lesson, some how we spent the time talking about the purpose of a physical body rather than testifying of christ.. Also had some great ones so at least I'm learning! Would you believe it if I told you I already went through all the candy I brought! Haha Thacker would understand!
I have learned so much, hah, imagine that! This week I really committed to this work. The thing I want most is to be an instrument in God's hands. If I ever would have committed this much to sports I could have gone a lot further! At the park Saturday I felt a little discouraged. I felt my actions did not reflect the level of commitment I feel on the inside. Not a huge fan of feeling like that. I realized just how far beyond me this work really is. If I am relying on myself, no matter how committed I am I cannot have success. I am seeking to learn how to more fully draw the enabling power in my life. To find strength beyond my own to be an instrument in the lords hands.
Each week we write letters to the MTC president and he reads them and responds, all he wrote on mine was meet with me 9:15... So yeah... I did.. Because that seriously is like the next best thing to having an apostle sit you down, have you read from his personal scriptures and teach you about christ. Him and I talked for like an hour. I know he is a busy man.. He probably had to blow things off to spend that much time with me, but it was an incredible opportunity. I am learning so much about Jesus Christ. Really, it was a fantastic experience. That man understands how do draw power from Christ into his life and I really don't see a reason I should wait till I'm 60 to have that too. He helped me understand a few things and then invited me to put my heart into studying. I am sure going to! I have soooooo much faith in christ. I know I can have this power to do his work and I'm going to keep seeking it!

How I love this gospel. Everything about it is beautiful but honestly it all comes down to Jesus Christ. He is the reason for all things good. I know he lives!

Thanks for your prayers and support, keep praying for the missionaries, we are doing our best in a work that is far beyond our own capabilities!
It's awesome.
It's fun!
Its such a blessing!
Love you all!
Hermana Simmons

Mom, if the ensign calls and wants us to model for them, we accept! 

We got to go see the crystal palace, you know you have made it in life when you have peacocks wandering your estate! 

11-2-17 Week 2

Okay the MTC... You pretty much are just hanging out with your friends all day talking about the gospel and trying to speak Spanish. we still talk about music and boys and how we are going to do our hair on p-day, and cute dogs and girly sorts... Today some girl split open an apple with her head. It's the best! Seriously, it is the weirdest place ever but also the best! Some days I think we have a little too much fun! Like today I learned all the irregular conjugations in the preterite, but I also wisely learned from Hermana Boggess that you "can't kiss personality". Wow we have fun. Let me tell you living with all girls is crazy and so different but fun! 

I feel like sister missionaries can be summed up in one small story from this week. We went to the gym and after everyone got a 5 minute workout we spend the rest the time in the weight room doing a massage train.. Sister missionaries... Massage trains... 

The number of oranges I have eaten has now surpassed 35 and I have spend approximately 40 hours waiting for my companion in the bathroom but I love it!
Thanks for your prayers,  we have more unity when we teach. ! We have really had some great lessons.. We finished with our first investigator. She shared with us that she has really felt the spirit and has actually applied things we have taught and has felt the spirit! Yay! 

This Saturday at the park was great we had been proselytizing for like an hour with no real success. We met this guy who was awesome, he had heard of Mormons but thought we were polygamist Amish people. He couldn't believe it when we told him we are normal, I asked about his family and told him about mine, we are very similar! He had soooooo many questions so we pretty much taught the first lesson, shared Moroni 10:4 and 5 bore testimony, asked him to read the book of mormon, and set an appointment for him to meet with the actual missionaries here in the Madrid mission who can speak better Spanish than We! It was such a cool experience. It's pretty crazy that there are people who are really looking for truth in their life! It takes like an hour of getting rejected to get to share one message of christ but it is soooooo worth it!

So I am in the grand old MTC choir. Hahahaha more or less! I am somehow a soprano... I can't sing high enough but I also can't sing anything but the melody so stand in the middle of the sopranos and Altos and do my own thing. I think the gift of tongues music style is a thing. I know called to serve in English, Portuguese, French, Russian (kinda), Spanish of course, and next week we will learn German. It is fun singing!

The best part about being in such a small mtc is I have a personal relationship with the mtc president. He is an incredible man! I met with him this week and we chatted, he reminds me so much of my dad. He and I have a similar attitude about the mtc I think. I don't know it really isn't that hard. Obviously we work hard all day but that's life. You'd be amazed though so many girls have such a hard time! We were really able to talk about how I can help! Christ looks out for the one! I have one sister in mind and I am going to do all I can to help her realize how awesome this opportunity is! He and I talked for like 20 minutes. I told him the thing I really miss is talking to boys.. Haha girls are great but I love my boys. Can you believe it Eli... These girls don't think fart jokes are that funny!? I was telling them what it is like to kill a chicken and they were mortified! Anyways talking with the president was incredible. I set my ultimate goal for the mission, to always keep myself in a position where I can witness miracles. I believe I will have that opportunity if I work hard and focus on Christ!

Once we become completely dependent on the enabling power of Jesus Christ, we learn to love whatever situation we are in. I love being a missionary! What a blessing! 

️️️ Hermana Simmons ️️️

Fotos

1. Spanish study.. Okay I'm fairly certain my companion edits all the pictures, I still have acne, don't worry. Things haven't changed that much

 2. Temple at night

3. Touring the city

4. Our Halloween festivities 

5. Bad Hair, Great Life

10-26-17 Hola a la gente

The extreme length of this first letter is just for my mom, everyone else can just look at the pictures at the end and know being a missionary is a challenge, but I love it.! 

The MTC is tiny here, there is about 50 missionaries, most going to Spain although the other languages taught here are French, Portuguese, and Russian. One benefit of such a small MTC is I know the president personally and hear from him almost every day. President packer, he is an inspired man and such a blessing! We are right on the temple property, it is beautiful outside but we don't often get to go outside. The Spanish here sounds so different from that Spanish people speak in the US, it is difficult to understand but I'm getting more used to it. The food, is not great.. I eat an orange every meal. Good thing I like cereal with no milk because I swear it's powdered milk! Where you @stoneboxcatering!! I have lots of friends now, Hermana Pail from Austria is my favorite... We are in the same district. She is maybe just 95 pounds full of love, patience, and thank goodness... Humor! The work is good, it's a lot for sure but I don't feel overwhelmed, so that's good. 

On Saturdays we go to the park, it is like the central park of Madrid and we go on exchanges and just contact like crazy... man that is one way for me to get over my discomfort speaking Spanish. Okay so I am probably the second best at Spanish right now, which is saying something because I know very little, everyone will probably catch up but I know more than most and honestly I know enough to have conversations but taking about the gospel is so limited... Pretty much I do all the talking right now when we proselyte. It was nerve racking talking to these Spanish people and I can barely understand let alone answer their questions, but I was able to give away a single book of Mormon last Saturday and bear testimony of it... It was a great opportunity for sure! The Spanish people are so different then it might be in South America, there are a ton of atheists and gays, it is a little different teaching them but when I talk to them, even if we just talk about futbol and they have no interest in the gospel, I can just feel God's love for them because they are his children. Christ really will strengthen us when we give our all, we have to work and sometimes fail for an hour straight! But he will make up for what we lack! 

Wow I am so missionary already, I don't pray over my cereal at breakfast yet but I will probably get there! So we get to play sports everyday for an hour and my favorite is futbol... I know it is my companions least favorite, and is more of a 4 square kind of girl, but it is soooo fun! We play at this place called the pit (it's so funny when the Spaniards say it, El Peet) , it is pretty much what it sounds like! It's this random cement stadium in the middle of the city that has enough graffiti to fit in brooklyn.. I like to play futbol because we get to play with all the elders and sometimes random Spaniards come play with us and it's the the funniest thing ever... I think lots of people think we are either jehova witnesses or nuns... I guess we sorta are nuns.. Like I was saying though.. I'm so missionary... The white handbook said don't be competitive so I am the opposite.. Giving people chances to score and complimenting everyone... While still maintaining a healthy respect for the game of course and putting a few goals in and keeping the German elders humble! I don't think I would make it without getting to play sports now and again!

My companions name is Hermana Pinkney (pink knee)  Her and I are sister training leaders together, much like zone leaders but for sisters. She is very good at noticing those who seem left out or not loved and I can tell that is extremely important to her, which is awesome.

Today we get to go to the temple and then be tourists around Madrid, I will send pics next week but I'm way pumped!
Anyways that may be the longest letter you will ever receive mom! Oh yeah that reminds me, I can read emails everyday just not respond so feel free to send them!
Being a missionary is awesome. There is not many other times in your life you have to rely on God so wholeheartedly. I could not do any of this work without him! I think I'm cool and all, but seriously this work is so far beyond my capacity there is no way I could do it without the help of God. The atonement of Jesus christ is real and his enabling power applies to every aspect of our lives. It can change us and strengthen us in incredible ways. I love you all, I haven't had too much time too miss you yet but it is definitely in there!  I can sure tell you I feel your prayers and I am so grateful for that!
Talk to you all soon!

️ Hermana Simmons

Fotos 

Me and my companion Hermana Pinkney

The beautiful Madrid temple... We go once a week

... my district... That's right, ALL HERMANAS! They call us the celestial district!