3rd Email from NY

Hello Everyone,

Mondays are just as exciting for me as they are for you because I get to read email, and write letters. That's so exciting to know that I am part of the "Missionary Minute" now. I always enjoyed listening to the updates of the other missionaries in the ward, and now I am one of them. Sounds like your week was pretty busy. We had a couple of celebrations too. On July 1st, that is Canada day (or something like that) so Canada was doing a big firework show and since we are right by Canada, we could see it. It was awesome. Then on the 3rd of July, we had a BBQ with a bunch of people and ward members in someones backyard. It was way fun! I was surprised though. They don't do fireworks here in the North Country. They don't even sell them in the stores. That was a little weird to me. It is a good thing though since we go to bed so early. We didn't have try to go to sleep with fireworks in the background.

So, the members here are awesome. There is one family, The Gaines Family, who are recent converts. They just moved to Ohio! It was a sad day. They were like our family. We would go over for dinner every Saturday. Then on Sunday, we would have dinner with them at the Johnson's, and then on Tuesdays, we would go over for dinner to the Williams, but they would also be there. We would also eat lunch at their house on Thursday's usually. So we saw them a lot. They are an amazing family and we miss them already.

The Williams family is also amazing! They are also recent converts and were Baptized on Valentines Day! They are in the Mormon Times today. You should look it up. It has a little bit of their conversion story in it. Look up Mormon Times+Due West+Dave and Heather Williams. Or something like that. They are so good to us also. Every Tuesday night we go over to their place for dinner. They are moving too though. But hopefully they will be able to stay in our branch because our branch is tiny. The Branch President is also thinking about moving. We can't have any more people move because our branch is already small. We need it to grow not shrink. We are hoping that once everyone moves, we will still be able to have a branch. I guess we will just have to wait and see.

First story. So one of the members has a pitbull for a pet dog. I bet you wouldn't believe me, but her pitbull fell asleep in my lap. Yup. It was a little weird. She said that means she trusts me. I was just afraid that if I moved my body wrong, I might get attacked. But I was okay thank goodness.Even though that is a nice dog, I officially hate dogs. They bark too much and I fear for my life sometimes :c) Yesterday when we were tracting we almost got eaten like 5 times. One of the times it was a screen door. I knocked on the door and two dogs came flying at the door and the door flew open. They came out of the house and were just growling at us. It scared me half to death. I literally saw my life flash before my eyes. At another house there were also two dogs. They were pitbulls. The slammed into the door and were barking and growling like crazy. The lady yelled, " I would back away from the door if I were you!" I am glad I am still alive :c) yup. I hate dogs. I haven't been eaten yet. But I hate barking, angry dogs now and they are everywhere! I have been eaten by something else though... Are you ready for this. MOSQUITOES! They are everywhere! I think I get like 5 more bites everyday. Especially when we have to walk through weeds and long grass to get to someones door. Thank goodness for anti-itch cream.

So last week, when I said it doesn't get too hot here, I spoke too soon! It got up to 101 with a high percentage of humidity. It was insane. I have never sweat so much in my entire life. I have lost 10 whole pounds from sweating so much and walking so much! it is insane. Luckily we don't have to wear nylons :c)

Well, Goodluck to Brianna and Shelby in their Try-outs for HAIRSPRAY!!!!! I have a feeling you will both make it, especially since I won't be able to see it :c) jk. I hope you both make it and someone will have to record it for me for later!

I have not gotten your letters yet. But I am glad to hear you got mine :c) It takes a little bit longer to get to me since it has to be forwarded from the Mission Office. Hopefully they will get here soon! I am anxious to read them. Pictures may be coming soon. We just have to go get them developed. You know, you could send me pictures too. I want to see all your great adventures.

Being on a mission, I think I have a little more of a taste of being like Christ. First, the rejection. Rejection is hard and painful sometimes. Second the sorrow you feel for people that you learn to love who drop themselves as investigators. People who are so close to baptism that just ask you not to come back again. It is hard getting to know people and love them, and then being asked to never come back again. We respect their wishes. Now I have a small taste of what Christ had to deal with being rejected, and people turning away from what they knew was right. (I don't even know if I am making sense right now). But I know that there is no better place for me to be right now and no better thing for me to be doing. I look at it like this, even though I miss you all LOADS, I am away from my family for 18 MONTHS so that I can help bring families together for ETERNITY. Being away from my family for 18 months is nothing compared to eternity!

Well, my time is up :c(

I love you all,
Sister Simmons

p.s. I wouldn't mind more letters :c) jk

Hello!

Dear Family and Friends-

How's it going in Utah? What's the weather like there? It hasn't been too bad up here at the top of the United States :o) The hottest it has gotten is 80 degrees and it hasn't felt too humid. Today is a little bit more humid, but it is still bearable. I got my first sunburn yesterday. I need to start wearing sunscreen now :o) I have a sweet farmers tan too! (or we can call it a modesty tan). Anyways, yesterday was the first day I didn't have to wear nylons. We have to wear nylons if the temperature is under 75 degrees. I think when the mission is over, nylons will be the one thing I will be happy to get rid of :o) not that I'm thinking about coming home, but I got the date I will be coming home. it is December 20, 2011. Right before Christmas! I will be the best Christmas present anyone ever got! jk. Just thought I'd let you know just in case you wanted to make a countdown or something. :o)

Okay, funny story. Yesterday we were tracting and ran into a lady and 2 men that were sitting out in the woods having a little BBQ. They had us sit down because they wanted to hear more about our church. We were excited to teach them. We noticed they were drinking beer and asked them if they were drunk. They said no, so we moved on. As we were talking to them trying to get to know them better, they would laugh like every 10 seconds at things we said. We didn't say anything funny. Well, we started to teach them a little bit, but would only get a sentence in before they would laugh more, or change the subject. Well, while my companion was talking, I started counting how many empty beer cans there were just around them. From where I was sitting, I counted 20 between the 3 of them. Is that a lot? I don't know much about beer. Well, anyways, we weren't getting very far with teaching them, so we said we would come back when they weren't drunk. Yup, we said that to them. The one guy agreed that would be better... I don't think we're going back there. We said if we do come back, that we would bring our friends, the Johnson's. (The senior couple in our area of the mission). so yeah. I don't know if that is funny to you, but it is funny to My companion and I. You may have just needed to be there for it to be funny.

Anyways, the area out here is really struggling. We get really good investigators, but no one is willing to keep commitments. There are a couple of investigators who KNOW all of this is true, and they know what they need to do, but they aren't willing to do it. Like coming to church is one of those commitments. Church is so hard for people sometimes because they have to drive so far to get there. I think the furthest someone has to drive in our branch is like an hour and a half. Talk about commitment there! But we are working with them.

So, I told you all that our branch is really small right? well, it is shrinking. We have two families moving soon. That's like 25% of our branch gone. We are working hard to build the branch up. If all of the inactives came to church, we could have a ward! So we are working with a lot of the less actives, and then trying to get more investigators.

Well, I am working on becoming a better missionary and learning a lot. I think I will be working on it my whole mission. There is always room for improvement right? and I have a lot of improvement to do!!! I think the one thing I have learned the most is that I can't do this on my own. I need the Lord. This is the Lord's work.

well, my hour is almost up and I have to write my letter to my Mission President still. But write me back!!!

Love you,

Sister Ashleigh Simmons

Mission Presidents Picture

First Email from New York

Dear Family,

Well, This is the first E-mail from New York. I miss you all like crazy and think about you all everyday. You should all write me letters :c)

Here is the scoop of all the great news since I haven't talked with you for like two weeks! CRAZY! Anyways, We flew from Utah to Chicago on June 22, 2010 and had to leave from the MTC at 4:00 am. Sorry Dad that I couldn't get a hold of you to call. I tried 4 times and ran out of money. Hopefully the messages were enough for you. I wish I could have talked but oh well. :( So, we flew to Chicago and then had a one and a half hour layover in Chicago where we ate lunch and got to where we needed to be. Then we flew from Chicago to Syracus where we were greeted by the Mission President and his wife. President and Sister Bulloch. They are two of the nicest and funniest people I have met. Once we got our luggage, we went straight for Pizza! But not just any pizza. Really NY Style Pizza. MMMMM it was DELICIOUS! Loaded with CHEEZZZE :c) After this we went to the Mission home, which is amazing, and started our training right then and there. They just through us right into it. After that we ate dessert which everyone knows is my favorite meal, and then just relaxed, talked, and had fun. 4 elders and I made music. One elder played the piano magnificentally and the 4 of us sang Hymns. I LOVE HARMONIZING! it was way fun getting a chance to just sing for fun. After that we got ready for bed.

When we woke up, we got ready and had AMAZING breakfast just waiting for us. Sister Bulloch is an amazing cook! We had Scrambled eggs, French Toast and Bacon. But with her eggs she puts butter in them!!! YUP BUTTER. MMMMMMM. We also had REAL MAPLE SYRUP. Oh my goodness. Real maple syrup is so SO SOOO Delicious.

After breakfast we went to the church to do more training and.... wait for it :c) Meet our companions and find out where we were going to be sent. So, here is the news you have all been waiting for. My companion is Sister Despain and I am up in the Ogdensburg area. All the way at the top of New York. Where we live, we can see CANADA! my backyard is the Saint Lawrence River. Cool huh?!? I can see the bridge to Canada too. It's pretty cool. So this is where I am. Up here, it is completely opposite of Utah. Completely! First of all, it is totally green, and trees everywhere. Utah really is a dessert! it has rained every other day here. I really like it actually. It's not too hot up here since we are so far north. What's the temperature like in Utah? Next part of how it is completely opposite is there are only about 20 active members in the branch! That's including all the kids. It is tiny. I think there were only 7 Ladies plus the 2 of us sisters in relief society. So it is way different! There are so many different churches up here. There are like 5 on every street. It's insane.

Anyways. our area is pretty big. I think the furthest part away from where we live is about an hour and 15 minutes. So we have a car and definitely do a lot of driving. We drive on long country roads with nothing in sight. It is so pretty out here just driving. Yesterday, we decided we were going to tract a road. We thought there some houses on it. It turned out that for the hour we were walking, we only tracted 4 houses. I think I figured out we walked down about a mile and a quarter of road and only went to 4 houses. At least we got our exercise right?

Okay, my favorite part of north country are the Amish people :c) There are so many Amish up here riding around in their horse drawn buggies! It's fun! And they are so friendly. We are going to meet with one amish family this week somtime. They have 10 kids. Wouldn't that be awesome if we converted their whole family?!?! My companion said the percent chance of us converting this is about the same percent chance of us becoming amish. it could happen though! Other than that, this place needs a lot of help. People are so confused up here. Also, we will definitely be teaching the Word of Wisdom to a lot of people. Almost every house we have gone to, someone is smoking or drinking a beer.

The Mission President told my companion that this is one of the hardest areas in New York to work, so I don't know why they put a newbie here, but it is WAY hard up here. People don't even give us a chance to share our message. I need to remember not to turn disappointment into discouragement. Which is definitely one of my weak points. But I am working on it.

I am trying my best to do the things I need to do to be a good missionary, but this is hard work. It is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I am still trying to come out of my shell and just accept people for who they are, Children of God. It is hard to love everyone, when no one loves you because they think we are just trying to get them into our church for numbers. I just need to remember that this is the Lord's work and we are possibly planting seeds. We will not see the fruit of our labors completely. I am working on putting my full trust in the Lord that everything will work out for the better. I just need to work on my confidence in what I know I can do, and then rely on the Lord for what I can't do. I am learning a lot, but have a lot more learning to do. I love you all!

Love,

Sister Simmons

p.s. thank you for the prayers. I need all the prayers I can get!

2nd Email from the MTC

Dear Everyone,

Wow! This week flew by! okay, so funny story for the day.So, I am sick for the first time on my mission. Don't worry, nothing too big. Just a head cold. So, because of this head cold, I have had many... I'll call them, "Blonde Missionary Moments." I will tell you just one of them. We were in a Large Group Meeting and I was so out of it! I was taking notes to try to stay awake, but I was still dozing off. I kept falling asleep. It was probably funny watching me bob my head up and down. Anyways, like I said, I was taking notes. I read my notes later and they were really sloppy, and didn't make any sense. Here is the last sentence of my notes. Let me know if you know what it means. "Every minute member less 1 minute time teaching spent is is." there you go! There is "Blonde Missionary Moment" For the week. so, could you send my my pink lemonade emergen-c please? I don't want to get sick again :c)

Okay, so exciting news. We are allowed to call home while we are at the airports! (If we have time) so, here are my travel plans. We leave on June 22. We leave from the SLC Airport at 7:10 AM. so you may get a call around 6:00am, if that's okay with you. Then we fly to chicago and have a layover. We arrive at 11:10 chicago time and leave from the airport at 12:40 chicago time. So, you may also get a call between 9:00 and 10:30ish your time... maybe. Calling home all depends on if we have time. so don't expect the phone calls, but they are a possibility. I sure hope we have time to call!

Since we are leaving on the 22nd, can you tell people not to send a letters to the MTC after the 18th. Have them send it to my Mission Home Address.

well, the MTC really is a roller coaster. There are so many ups and downs! This week has been hard, just as last week. But there have also been some very rewarding experiences.It is kinda hard being with a companion 24/7. I miss riding my bike on long bike rides by myself. I miss my alone time. The only time I get alone is in the shower or in the bathroom just like Sister Weber said. I cherish my shower time :c) but I will get used to it I think. It is nice when we are lost being lost together though. I love my companion. She is amazing!
Last tuesday Robert D. Hales came and spoke at the Devotional. It was a wonderful devotional and the spirit was so strong. He talked about the light of Christ. My favorite line he said was, "Jesus came to bring light to those who sit in darkness." then I was thinking, us as missionaries are doing the same thing.

Keep Sending letters!!!!
Love,
Sister Simmons

P.S. Thank you for the 5lbs of Gummie Bears. They have been put to good use. They are good bribery for the elders. :c) I am now sister gummie bear. My watch broke the other day and I told the elders whoever could fix it would get a whole bag of gummie bears. I didn't think it would be possible to fix, but guess what? they fixed it! It is as good as new! The miss Vickies Chips are gone too! Thanks for those. They were delicious!

First email from the MTC!

Dear everyone,

you probably weren't expecting this email, but here is my first one from the MTC!!! First, I want to thank those of you who have written me. Letters really do make the day so much better. This first week has been really REALLY HARD!!! this is the hardest thing i have ever done in my life! I feel like I don't know anything. there is a lot to learn! This past week has been really overwhelming! I have felt very incapable of doing this and kept wondering what I got myself into. but I do know that this church is true. i have learned that testimony is the biggest part of teaching. If I don't know what to say, i just testify. I know that i am not perfect, and that with the Lords help, i can learn alot. and i am learning a lot here. It is amazing how strong the spirit is and how much a person can learn in one day. I have also learned that I need to put myself in my Heavenly Father's Hands. I cannot do this on my own. I NEED Him every step of the way! I found a really good scripture that has helped me a lot while being here when i get discouraged about everything. The scripture is Alma 17:11... yet ye shall be patient in long-suffering and afflictions, that ye may show forth good examples unto them in me, and i will make an instrument of thee in my hands unto the savation of many souls. It is amazing how the scriptures can tell you exactly what you need to hear and when.

anyways, my companion is Sister Cox. yup that's right! Sister Cox and I knew eachother in Jr. high school. it has been kind of nice being here with a familiar face. Sister cox is so strong in the gospel and knows a lot! I am grateful she knows a lot about the doctrine and how to teach it because that is one of my weaknesses. but, i am learning A LOT and improving on my teaching. (I still have a really long ways to go though :D ).

Tomorrow will be the one week mark! woot woot!!! Everyday, it gets better here. I am excited to see how much more I learn.

I have met so many AMAZING people here. Especially the sisters. I am in a room with 5 other sisters who are all amazing. We clicked right away. one of the sisters is going to Cambodia in mid July( her name is Sister Robertson), and the other three are going to Thailand today!!!(Sister Harris, Sister Chambers, and Sister Jensen) I am going to miss them so much even though we only knew eachother for a week.

We are really busy here and everything is so organized! (Which is also one of my weaknesses.) We plan out every minute of everyday and use our time very wisely. It is amazing how much you can get done when you use your time wisely. SO, I am very busy here. and by very I mean VERY!!! When i go to bed, and pretty much hit my pillow and I am out for the rest of the night. We have gym everyday which is so SO NICE!!! I love it. and to let you all know, I have not gained weight yet :c) I will be in the 1% of sisters that do not gain weight on my mission :c)

The food is so good here!!! They have dessert with every single meal pretty much. Ice cream sundae Sunday's are amazing also. And i am eating quite healthy. I have made sure to eat a fruit or vegetable with every single meal :c) are you proud of me mom?

Well, I gotta go, my time is ticking a way and it will close out and delete the message if i don't send it now. But send me letters and I can reply to those :c)

Well, I hope all is well at home!

luv you,

Sister Simmons

p.s. Send Me Letters!!!! PLEASE!!!!

MTC

Sister Simmons entered the MTC today at 1:30!