Provo MTC: April 2, 2000

[ed: Some context.  This letter was written shortly after President Hinckley announced that new temples would be built in Asunción, Paraguay, where I would be serving as a missionary, and in Snowflake, Arizona, which is about thirty miles from my home.]

Fam:

Wee!  Temples in Asunción and Snowflake!  I am so excited!  And, and, and!  I'll be in Paraguay in THREE days!  Wahoo!  Oh, and I'll be seeing all y'all on Tuesday.  That's groovy, too.

Here's responses to stuff in the letter that accompanied the package (by the way, the jerky was great!):

I saw Brother Jones last night… [ed: my seminary teacher in high school]
No letter… :(  He might be too late.

I bought a coin map...
Neat-o!  That's cool.  I managed to acquire a 1999 Susan B. Anthony dollar, uh... a while ago.

Who do you know from Australia?
Heh, heh, heh.

I made an executive decision here about an hour ago.  Since I will probably have returned home when the Asuncion temple is dedicated, I am going to fly there.  What better excuse to visit my mission than a temple dedication?  Plus, it would be awesome to attend the temple with some of the people that I will baptize.

Just a quick note of my thoughts for today.  See all of you on Tuesday!

Joe

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Provo MTC: March 26, 2000

¡Familia! [tr: Family!]

¿Cómo está?  Estoy bien, pienso.  Es posible que esté equivocado, pero no pienso que sí.  De todos modos…  ¿Quieren una traducción ahora?  ¡Claro! [tr below]

How are you?  I'm good, I think.  It's possible that I'm mistaken, but I don't think so.  Anyway…  Do you want a translation now?  Sure!

Alrighty.  I'm gonna attack this monster letter now.  Here I go!

… Dad had an abdomen pain attack…
Oh, no!  That can't be good… [continue reading]

… he will be just fine!
Yay!  That's good!

So I wrote a speech and resigned from the board for health reasons…
I'm glad you got out of that, Mom.  There's been too much garbage going on with the school board lately.  I'm relieved that you don't have to be in the middle of it any more.

… Sarah has been called to be a counselor in the Beehive's!
Awesome!  ¡Felicitaciones, hermanita! [tr: Congratulations, little sister!]  I know you'll do a great job, Sarah.  Just remember that, as a leader, you are an example to the others.  Continue to lead a good life.  Something we hear a lot here is this: "Live so that those who know you, but don't know Jesus Christ will want to know him because they know you."  And one more thing: you go girl!  I am proud of you!

… Renaissance Festival.
Wee!  What fun!  That place is sooo cool!  Didja get the jester cap?

So, about the Guaraní scriptures&emdash;can you read them?
Heh.  Um.  No?  Let me share a scripture from it.

Ha che, Nefi, ha'e kuri che rúpe: Aháta ha ajapóta Ñandejára ojeruréva chéve, aikuaágui ha'e no me'êiha mba'eve tembiapoukapy omoîporã mboyve tape ojejapo haguã upe mba'e ojeruréva'ekue.

That was 1 Nephi 3:7.  Tough, no?  I hope to be able to read and speak Guaraní before I get home, but it won't be easy.

Oops.  Just dumped my water botter on my notebook.  That was smooth.  Oh, well.

My district is going to sing "We'll Bring the World His Truth" in sacrament meeting today.  We'll be doing it with another district.  They speak Mandarin Chinese.  It's gonna be so cool!  We'll sing the first verse in Spanish, then they'll sing the first verse in Mandarin, then we'll all sing the last two in English.  By the way, I bought a children's songbook in Spanish.  It didn't even cost me $4!

Hey, Dad.  Remember what you told me before I went to Canada?  "Honor your name" and be good and stuff like that?  Well, here's a little excerpt from a letter from Sara [ed: a friend that I met over the Internet.  I flew to Canada to visit her about a month before I entered the MTC.].  "Oh, my mom said to tell you that any letters you write here will be shared with the family… This is because she has pretty much adopted you now…"  Sounds like I did something right, ¿no?

Oh!  I guess I should talk a bit about my little enclosures.  I wanted to send something cool home to the fam, and I couldn't think of anything cooler than my nametag.  So I ordered one special for you guys.  Also, don't miss the HLJ ring for Sarah.  HLJ stands for "Haz lo justo", which is, of course, Spanish for "choose the right."  In addition, I've included pictures of each of the elders in my room, along with some others.  I especially like the prison picture.  Don't miss the Far Side cartoon!  It's about cows!

Okay, my pouch address will be as follows:

Elder Joseph D. Simper
Paraguay Asunción Mission
PO Box 30150
Salt Lake City, UT 84130-0150

Don't forget that only letters can be sent via pouch mail.  I don't wanna get in trouble.  I'll send my other address when I get it, in case you wanna send me pictures or cards or something.

Well, I need to go write a talk on love in case I get called on to speak in sacrament meeting.  I've got about an hour left.  Oops?  I think I'll be okay.

I love all you guys.  See you in NINE days!

Joe

PS Oh, no!  It starts at 1:30, not 2:30!  !Ay!  Sure hope they don't call on me…

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Provo MTC: March 20, 2000

Hey Fam!

Sorry for the delay and for the shortness of this letter. I'll write a better one soon.  I've just got a few important things to discuss.

First off, please find the included FLIGHT PLANS!!!  Woohoo!  Please note that I've got a slight lay-over in Dallas.  Could you see if Aunt Darcy and Uncle Brian can meet me at the airport?

Second, and nearly as important, I finished the Book of Mormon yesterday.  Awesome, no?  When I finished it, I moved my bookmark from the back of the book to the front.  Today, I'll start again.

Love to chat more, but I gotta go work now.  ¡Hasta pronto!  [tr: See you soon!]

Joe

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Provo MTC: March 11, 2000

To the family:

Woohoo!  A package full of nummies and a letter in the same week!  Yay!  Um... uh... yeah.  I'll get to the letters now.  First, the one on the AWESOME cow stationary:

...my retirement disability had been approved!
That's great news!  I finally got a at-home mommy!  But... I'm not at home to enjoy the at-home mommy... :(  Oh, well.  I'll survive!

If I were to go back to work, I'd lose money.  Pretty neat, huh?
That's all?  "Pretty neat"?  That is wonderful, spectacular, and flat-out groovy, baby!

Okay, now from the letter in the package:

...you should be buried up to your "hoo-hoo" by now.
This is interesting here 'cause I read it on... uh... Wednesday, I think.  Wednesday was as sunny as can be.  We didn't get snow 'til Thursday or Friday.

Do you get to go outside and play in the snow?
Well, we haven't left class for that purpose, but we can at other times (not now, though, 'cause it's all gone).  I got a (hopefully) nice picture of Elder Miller and I outside my building with the snow making a nice backdrop.  I'll send a copy when I get it developed.

...blisters...
Ouch?  I haven't got any blisters, yet, but a couple of the other elders... wait, yes, I have.  I got one little one on day two, but it didn't hurt or even last more than a day.  Elder Pribyl got a couple monsters, though.  I'm talkin' an inch across easy.

...enjoy the goodies...  I hope you like them...
Plain M&M's.  Peanuts.  Aunt Edwina's ginger cookies.  TEXAS SHEET CAKE.  How on earth could I NOT like them?

This week has been pretty routine, with the exception of one thing.  Well, two actually.  The first one is sad.  My favorite teacher, Hermana [tr: Sister] Hopkin has been whisked away from us.  A new district came in, and there aren't enough teachers. :(

The other one is happy.  Last night we were doing a lesson on helping others feel and recognize the Spirit.  I was sharing experiences back and forth and then I was struck, like lightning.  I had been praying for quite some time to know that the Book of Mormon is true.  I felt like I hadn't received an answer.  Last night I realized that the Holy Ghost has been testifying to truth to me every single time I read.  I now know that the Book of Mormon is true.  I'd also like to add that, if you really want an answer to your prayers, listen for it.

I love all of you.

Joe

PS Like my sticker?

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Provo MTC: March 9, 2000

Provo MTC: February 28, 2000

Hail, fellow humans!

Sorry 'bout that "other" letter.  I was reading a missionary quote/tip book and it said, "Write your family weekly, not weakly."  That hit me hard.  I wrote you that letter just to get a letter off this week.  This one is in repentance for that lame letter.

Hey, remember all them missionaries with them blue plastic bags going into the MTC?  Well, they were returning from the temple here in Provo.  I've been there every Monday.  I attended three sessions and today we did baptisms.  It was really cool.  I got to confirm Elder Merkley for ten people.  About half of the names were German and the other half were Spanish.  Then, we were asked (we being Elder Merkley and I (by the way, I don't think I've ever seen him before today)) to perform the confirmation for Sister Queen (never seen her before, either).  Then, Elder Merkley and I were witnesses to the baptisms, and then we baptized each other.  Needless to say it was awesome.

The Elders who were the assistants to the branch president left for México this morning.  Elders Ball and Holt are their replacements.  Neato, no?

Elder Miller's parents are Layne and Tammy Miller.  They live at [ed: sorry, not gonna print that here].  It's a blue dome house.  Their phone number is [ed: nope, not putting that here, either].

My little Ninja Bear is getting a lot of action.  He's really fun to squeeze (so he does his ninja voice thing) and then toss at the other elders.  It took them four weeks to figure out how to throw him back.  I really love my Ninja Bear.  Don't tell him I said that, though.  He tried to strangle me last time I said it.

I have an awesome script to share with you.  It's 3 Nefi 5:13 [tr: 3 Nephi 5:13].

He aqui, soy discipulo de Jesucristo, el Hijo de Dios.  He sido llamado por el para declarar su palabra entre los de su pueblo, a fin de que alcancen la vida eterna.
[tr: Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.  I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.] 

Speaking of scriptures, I bought a Book of Mormon today.  Well actually, it's a Mormon Kuatiañe'ê Pehengue [tr: Book of Mormon].  That's Guaraní, Paraguay's second official language.  It's not the entire Book of Mormon, but most of the importantestest parts are there.  It's really cool.

Well, my Book of Mormon study time is drawing near, so I'd better close.  Love ya all, and thanks for everything!

Joe

PS Like the card, Mom?

Alma 29:9,13

"And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." --Matthew 4:19

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Provo MTC: February 26, 2000

Hi fam!

Wheee!  Cookies!  Yum yum!  Uh, sorry.  I kinda lost control there for a second.  Okay, now I don't remember what I was gonna write.  I guess I'll just go into general stuffs.

Things are going well.  Spanish is coming along just fine.  Nobody's eaten anyone else in mi cuarto [tr: my room].  Food's pretty good.  It ain't no home cookin', but it's better than starving, ya know?  One problem, though.  There's all the time an... shall we say "unique?" aroma in here.  Ooo boy yum yum.  Cookies!  Oops, lost my train of thought again.  I'm really scatterbrained hoy [tr: today].

Oh!  Hey Mom!  I've been sleeping on the same sheet for three and a half weeks!  Aren't you proud?  Wait.  I forgot the key point.  I've washed it every Saturday.  My feet smell.  Just thought I'd share that with ya.

Okay, I'm starting to get even weirder than usual.  I'll just be done then. ¡Chao!  [tr: Bye!]

Joe

PS  Yea, I'm still Joe.

Oh!  Flip this over!  →

It seems I am able to receive email.  I'm unable to send, though.  This groovy thingy is done at called2serve.com.  You'll need my name, mailbox number, mission name, and departure date.  Also, you gotta them 'em your name and email address.  Anyone can do it and as often as you want.

In case you forgot...

My name: Joseph D. Simper
My mission name: Paraguay Asunción (NOT North)
My departure date: April 4
My mailbox number: 198
Your name: Um... if you forgot this, you need help

The other elders in my district.
Back; left to right: Liechty, Skiff, Bell, Marx.
Front; left to right: Warner, Palmer.

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Provo MTC: February 11, 2000

Hey fam!

Thanks for all the great stuff!  I really didn't understand what Laura [note: my first cousin] said about receiving stuff here, but I do now.  It's a really great feeling.  Now, what's this about "Do not open until February 14th", huh?  Huh?  What's the point of getting mail if I can't open it?  Arg!  Of course, I'm just joking.  I'm really grateful for all the stuffs.  And I'll even wait 'til Arizona turns 88 to open the card.  Thanks a lot!

Joe

PS  Yes, Mom.  You can send food stuffs!  (Hint, hint)

PPS  Oh, yeah.  I'm doing just fine here, with the exception of a mild cold.  Learning is going good.

PPPS  It's okay to send candy and stuff.

PPPPS  Sorry this one's so short, but I gotta get to class.

PPPPPS  Can you send me Eldon's address? [note: high school buddy who was serving his mission in Korea at the time]

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Provo MTC: February 6, 2000

Dear all,

I was going to wait until probably Friday to write you again, but I had an experience today that just can't wait.

We had testimony meeting today.  I didn't get up and bear my own testimony, but most of the elders in my room did.  Every one of expressed a great love for the rest of us in the room.  I didn't know it until then, but, even after only a few days, I love them more than myself.

That got me thinking.  If I can feel this much love for these five men after only having knowing them for five days, how much does the Savior love us?  The sheer enormity of the concept was amazing, but what I felt was even more powerful.

I have been crying for the past hour.  The Spirit of the Lord has undoubtedly wrapped itself around me and won't let me go.  And I don't want it to.  Elder Miller saw me crying and asked what was wrong.  I pointed to a paper I had taped to my closet.  Then, I told him I had never been happier in my life.  On this paper I copied the hymn, "I Stand All Amazed" and John 15:13.  "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends."

Before I came here to the MTC, I knew in my head that Jesus Christ loves me.  Now, I know it in my heart.  I testify to you that he loves you as well.  He gave his life for you, so that you would be able to live with him again.  I also want you to know that I love each and every one of you as well.

I can't wait to get to Paraguay.  The people there need to hear this message, and I want to be the one who brings it to them.  I want my brothers and sisters to return with me to live with Christ and Heavenly Father for all eternity.  Please share this with everyone you know.

Love,
Joe


I Stand All Amazed

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me.
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

I marvel that he should descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine.
That he would extend his great love unto such as I.
Sufficient to own, to redeem and to justify.

I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the my debt.
Such mercy, such love, can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man should lay down his life for his friends." -- John 15:13

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Provo MTC: February 3, 2000

Hey family!

Day one is over.  It was a little hectic, but I didn't get lost too much.  At least, I don't think I did...  Did I?  Uh... right.

My companion is Elder Miller.  He was called to the Paraguay Asunción mission also.  But that isn't the really neat/weird part.  He is from Joseph City.  [note: Joseph City is about 15 miles from my home.]  We haven't been together for a full day yet, but I think that we'll work well together.

Other news of questionable value: I forgot soap and shampoo in the van.  Oops.  I'll have to stop by the book store and pick some up.  An interesting note about the bookstore (well, interesting to me): it sells a lot more than books, so it's not very aptly named.

The elders in my room are pretty cool so far.  Four of us, including myself and Elder Miller, are off to the Paraguay Asunción mission.  The other two elders are going to the New York Rochester mission, speaking Spanish.

This morning was kinda funny.  Each one of use has an alarm clock, and none of them were set for the same time.  It sure helped me to get up, even though I wasn't able to sleep until about midnight or so.  I hope that I'll be able to overcome this little problem of mine.  If not, I'm going to be very tired.  I feel okay right now, but I've only been up for about an hour.

The food was pretty good, and there was plenty of it.  I wasn't able to finish it all, though I came close.

Elders Thomas and Pribyl are reading the Bible right now.  I'm quite impressed by them.  They discuss the chapters between them.  I never even thought about doing that.

Well, I don't think I've got any more stuffs to talk about.  I'd say I done pretty good for only having a couple of hours to write about.

Love,
Joe

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