Letter from 1-12-09

Just me and my goofy looking self with Pere Noel

Elders: Dewey, Me, Ferguson, Davis, Pere Noel, Gonzalez and Reynolds at the Ward Christmas Party in Charleroi 

Dear Family,

Well sorry that my stupid email was deleted...it was really good...I promise, it was sick to the maxis saxis...Anyway this week went really, really well. E. Reynolds took off to Arras, France on Wednesday early morning along with E. Gonzalez who finished his mission! Man, that was crazy...you always feel like that is a long time away and that day is in the future forever...but it's not! He was such a good missionary, he taught me so much. E. Reynolds and I had a couple of really good transfers. We saw Esther and Dylan baptized and found Daniel and did a lot of growing (spiritually...maybe weight wise too...) and a lot of changing too.

I picked up E. Schmutz Wed. morning...we came back to the apartment , did some planning and unpacking and then we had a pretty good but crazy and stressful day. Then Thursday rolled around and it was still stressful, and Friday...and Sat. ha ha...no...It was really good. We have already had some insane experiences. On our first day we found a sweet Muslim guy named Grid Mohamed. We taught him this Friday night and it went really good. He kept asking us why he had never heard of Christ coming to the Americas and all that. He really liked it and said he would start reading the Book of Mormon...he said it would only take him 3 or 4 days to read it (we'll see about that). Also we found this awesome Belge couple named Marie-Claire and George. They are super interested and super believing and we are seeing them next week on Wed. One thing I realized after E. Reynols left was that we don't have many investigators...So we are really working on that...other than Daniel we don't have many progressing investigators. Cyr is not doing anything...he is never there at his rendez-vous and never comes to church. It seems like he just doesn't have the desire to live the Gospel...Also it seems like he is bugged by us calling him and trying to set up rendez-vous or inviting him to church. So I think for the moment...we are going to let him call us when he is ready. A lot of our investigators (other than Daniel) are like trying to get a fat kid that sits and plays video games all day...to get outside and run a marathon. They're only going to do it if they have the desire. Daniel on the other hand is still doing awesome. He has never missed a day at church, he has never missed a rendez-vouz and he always reads in the Book of Mormon.

This week we were rushing to get everything taught so that he could be baptized on the 17th..but on Wed. we had a rendez-vous with Frere Van Buyten and we taught him the law of Chastity and he was a little hesitant...I got a little discouraged that night because the lesson didn't go real good and Frere V.B. told us that he didn't think he was ready for the 17th. I was humbled that night because I realized he was very right...we had a rendez-vous with him the next day and we really focused on the spirit and how we feel and recognize the spirit. We asked him why he comes to church and what he feels...he told us that the first time he came was just to see what it was like, but he loved it because it was tons of people talking and teaching, not just a preacher. He said that's why he keeps going because he loves it, and he says he feels good when he is there. Then we asked him how he feels when he reads the Book of Mormon and why he always reads it...and again he said that when he reads it, it just makes him feel good and it is just "truth" he says. Then we asked why he keeps meeting with us...and he was like..."well, I've never told you this, but I really like you guys. I love the message and I just love meeting with you." It was such an uplifting rendez-vous because he realized that all these feelings that he was felling was the Spirit testifying to him.

Well...I had some other interesting things to say, but uh...I can't remember them, and I gotta go. But I love you so much. I am going to try and back up my photos at Patrick's house and then send you my card!

Well...Love, Elder Simonson