I prayed for a nap and I got to take a nap

Hello. So it is spring here in A Coruña I've been enjoying some sunny skies with a high of 60 and scattered afternoon showers. I'm not mad. But all the little Spanish men are because supposedly we are in a drought.

This week we had zone conference! It was great. Since we have a legit church building everyone came here and its always fun having 8 hermanas over in our piso! It was such a great zone conference and I feel like I got know President and Hermana Pack a lot better. They are awesome! Just so much fun, spiritual and great leaders, but just really cool people!

This week I played fútbol in my rainboots.

Also our fridge is not fixed yet but someone came to check it out so yay.. Probably one more week!  I've started just talking to people about food from their country. Know someone's food and you know their heart. 

My comp actually got sick this week so I had my first, figure out what to do with myself while she sleeps for six hours, day. it was not bad. I've never read the scriptures more in one day. But things are going well. And I'm pretty sure she's all good now. 
Thanks to some hard work we met several new people this week to start teaching. We actually had a referral.!!! , Marta (that never happens) and she is definitely being prepared to hear the message of the restoration. She is in a point where she really can feel the power and healing that comes through Jesus Christ. It was incredibly humbling to offer that healing to someone who needed it so much. It is amazing to me how much just the hope of change through Christ can change a life.
We are excited to keep working with her and sharing the good news!
This week we had some intercambios and somehow me and the other newest missionary in the zone were put together! I LOVED IT! It was so fun to see just how much I actually have grown and that with a little help of the spirit we really are perfectly capable of doing whatever we need! It was so fun and we were able to teach a great lesson!  

Not much else happened between zone conference and sickness that was my week, but man. I've just been thinking so much about the message of the restoration. Either Joseph Smith was a prophet of God or he wasn't. And if he was then the very kingdom of God established on the earth through Jesus Christ is on the Earth today and we are invited to join in and be saved! All we have to do to know is read the book of Mormon and ask! 
Well I've read the book of Mormon! And I've asked... And it's true! 

Once we put in perspective the reality of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus christ, we can clearly put our own life in perspective. There is nothing more important than learning this for yourself! 

Love you all
♡ Hermana Simmons


1. Zone Conference 

2. Haha I'm the 'youngest' missionary in the zone. 

3. Haha we were doing some contacting practices with the district and my companion is practically the theater major of the year, most animated person ever, she was pretending to be an old woman (cuz there is soooooo many old people here) and I'm like screaming about how the gospel blessed families..  too classic

We had a lot of time in the piso this week, can you tell?

Hello everyone

So hello everyone! We have zone conference today and are hosting everyone so I don't have oodles of time. This week. Man. We worked hard. By the time night rolls around I'm poooooooped but happy haha. I've started absorbing my sleep. I don't even really dream anymore!

This are getting warm here! It hasn't been raining much either which was great because we had a whole lot of time on the streets this week!

We had an incredible lesson with our investigators Kati and Esthefany, man I love teaching. I can totally tell the spirit is guiding our teaching right now which is incredible. We brought one of our other investigators Stephany who is waiting to turn 18 right now so she can be baptized. She joined us for a day in a trio and was just awesome. She bore the sweetest testimony of how the book of Mormon has changed her life. It was incredible. I finally got the chance to invite people to be baptized! They don't have a date yet but we're getting there.

Haha also.. We were talking to this random bus driver and when I said I was from Utah he said he was a Jazz fan. What? How does that even happen. He said he remembered watching Stockton and Malone when he was young and has just followed them ever since! What? So yeah... We are meeting with him to talk basketball and also book of Mormon. Do that's the best! 

Honestly this week could have been rough but Hermana glover and I are getting good at this positivity thing and we have faith if we show God we are willing to talk to everyone we will find His elect. 

Also our fridge is still broken. But people keep giving us food so that's great. The other day we met this lady in the bus and she sent us on our way with 100 kiwis! We've been hanging them outside because we don't have a fridge! Haha. 

Have a good week! 

Hermana Simmons

1. Drinking warm juice! 

2. This is our investigator Stephany she came to teach with us! She's just waiting for her parent permission to be baptized or June when she turns 18.. Whichever comes first

3. I hit the big 3 this week and HG hit 7.... We only had these candles though... Haha

1-15-18

Hello. Haha honestly not much has changed here! It was a really good week but it's been a battle getting people to follow through on their appointments with us! All our investigators suddenly had more important things than salvation come up so we spent a lot of time on the streets! It really was a ton of fun though! We are improving so much in our contacting and I just think it's so fun to talk with random people 5 minutes at a time all day long!
We also met a ton of awesome people and because of that we have a jam packed schedule this next week!
So if you'd all just hope and pray something more important doesn't come up for every person we know this week, that would really help the mission work up here!
Progression man.
It's so true! If your not moving forward your moving backwards. I think stagnation is such a tool Satan uses. There is just such an urgency in the work of salvation that is awfully hard to convey to others! Not even just missionary work, there is urgency in improving ourselves, helping our family, and those around us! Someday... Is such a dangerous word! But we're trying! We are having lots of fun! We are getting to know all the streets and alleys of this here town, and man we are working hard! By the end of the day we are just pooped! Haha I'm serious!! So tired! It's the best!
So yes that's this week! It came and went so fast I'm sorry I don't have much more to say right now! It was a thrusting in the sickle sort of week, but get pumped because the harvest week is coming one of these days!!!!

Fun story.. So I'm doing alright with Spanish, like I can understand and generally have some good conversations.... But there is this one lady we met with this week Isora... She is cubano and they just speak a different Spanish I swear! I can understand literally 3 percent of what she says.. It's weird like I know what all the words she is saying mean but somehow nothing makes sense! It's insane! So here I am listening so intently and doing the 'yeah yeah okay mm hmm yeah' nod you do when you can understand people, there is a break in conversation... Suddenly I'm eating an orange... Then another... And another... And then she fills my backpack with oranges.. Haha I guess she kept asking if I wanted an orange, but clearly I missed that.. And nodded yes.. Over and over and over again! Haha. It was such a beautiful new missionary moment. I laughed for the rest the day and now I have a ton of oranges! 

Love you all! Have a great week!
️Hermana Simmons

1. Tired but happy 

Felíz día de los reyes

Best week ever. Lots of great things happened.

1. First.. We had intercambios, so I went to Vigo to hang out with Hermana White for a day. She is about to go home and she just preached how fast it goes and learn to love each day. Something cool. We took a boat to our teaching appointment! Haha it was awesome! We sat up top and we got sprayed hard with ocean water. Coolest most beautiful thing ever. There are some seriously beautiful islands round these parts.

2. We met the best new investigators ever! We contacted them awhile ago and gave a book of Mormon so we go teach them and Kati and her cute daughter Esthefani explain how they loved reading the first few chapters and were able to apply the story of Nephi to their own life this week......... What!? We hadn't even taught them yet. I'm so excited to keep teaching them. They also remembered we mentioned this drink that we hadn't tried called Morir Soñando and so they had it all set up cute ti make it with us. Wow. It's crazy the love you can feel for people after knowing them for 1 hour. I want sooooooooooooooooooooooookoooooooooioiiiioooooiiiioooooooooooooo badly for them to have the blessings of the gospel that my family has!

3. We are helping a member quit smoking so we put together a little project. We've been visiting her and it's great. But cats....... And dogs............ Haha. Heaven Help me.

4. Also this week was the big Christmas holiday here in Spain, Día de los Reyes, it's when they get the gifts instead of Santa coming the three wise men come. But yeah... They have partying here since Christmas haha. But it's over now and everyone goes back to normal life today. But we used it as a contacting method and learned lots about the Spanish traditions, so of course we had to try it out. They have this cake called Roscón de Reyes, so we got some to try and then people keep giving more to us.. We've eaten so much. Haha and our Fridge just broke so we have a lot of food to put down today so it doesn't all go bad!

Yeah. I'm so happy. I just love the people here! Even if they don't love me! Haha.

I've been studying some if the Book of Mormon missionaries. I love Alma and Ammulek. Wow. They knew what it was like to sacrifice. They made covenants, kept them, accepted a calling and with that call were given authority. Through their diligence and this authority they were given power. This power is available through Jesus christ for each of us to serve in God's kingdom in ways that may seem impossible.
Through the atonement if Jesus christ we can receive power that enables us to be more than we now think possible.

Also.... I just am obsessed with being happy... Haha sometimes I miss my old 'Life is Good' hat... Life is good. If you want to be happy....... Then Be Happy! I really believe we are as happy as we want to be. It sure helps to understand the atonement of Jesus christ and spend time thinking about others, but really, if you want more joy in your life, you can have it! Today! Despite circumstances.
Living the gospel of Jesus christ brings Joy!
Haha that is what I keep telling people! And I'm just pumped for others to come to learn that for themselves!

Life is Good!

Love you all!

️️️Hermana Simmons

Christmas & New Years

Okay. This last week has definitely been the best week so far. It started out chatting with my family on Skype. Weirdest thing ever. It doesn't even seem like that happened. Thankfully the work is picking back up a little bit as people are coming back from holiday. 

This week we had a meeting with all the new missionaries that I got to Skype in on. I'm not kidding it was a game changer for me.
I realized something. Even in my good intentions and righteous desires I am thinking so much about myself. So far my thought have been, how can I be a better missionary, what can I study to be more knowledgeable, how can I improve my Spanish. These things aren't inherently bad buttttttttttttt... If you want to be happy, stop thinking about yourself so much!
So I tried this. Man. As I spent even just a few days thinking about others I felt my very capacity to feel joy expand.
Wow. I was so happy this week. There are so many incredible people here... I've said it before and I'll say it again.. Life is Good!

New years! Yay! Church was kinda crazy.. Haha we had 2 investigators come so yeah.. We have quite a few investigators but not many progressing so this was really awesome to have someone follow through on a commitment! 
But new years eve we participated in the Spanish tradition where when the bell strikes 12 you eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds.... Haha our grapes went bad! So I ate 12 moldy grapes at midnight to roll in 2018!

My ode to 2017, man....... No words...... Just grateful for all I learned. But 2018 I feel so lucky. This is year I have the unique chance to forget myself and work like I've never done before! I can't wait to work and love and serve others every day! This year I don't have to think about myself one bit! Yeah I feel so lucky to have this opportunity and I'm stoked to work!
This may be the year with the least naps of my life...... Sorry to end on that bummer note. 

Ooooooooh yeah! It has been dumping buckets hahahahahaha I'll send some pics! There was this insane rain storm the other day, I broke 2 umbrellas in a day haha. It was hilarious but awesome. 


So yeah... That's all. We really got to work hard this week because our teaching pool needs some shaking up! 


Today is pday and we went to a pulpería and had some octopus.. Not going to lie.. I didn't consider myself a seafood person but maybe I just never had it done right. It's good! 

️ Hermana Simmons 

Our pday adventure(she's a Lil breezy. S/O to Iceland)  

Pulpo 

Christmas with the Bittons

What you know a bout rain