"One Day More!" - 28 avril 2015

What. A. Week.

Soeur Tane et moi at our
last district meeting in Nogent
Gournay-sur-Marne

The last district meeting with one of my favorite districts yet. We then did service at the Mourier's house where we held the meeting and had a delish barbeque. I LOVED working in the yard. Yes, mom, I miss working in the yard. It does the body so much good. Good old hard work. Good times.

We spent a lot of the week with members, seeing as Soeur Tane is going home tomorrow and the chances of me leaving were high. It was so good to talk and share with the members of this beloved

The wonderful Leconte Family
I have done service every
Thursday at their house for 5 months.
I LOVE this family.
What incredible Saints

ward. I love them so much, it's truly my 2nd home ward. We ate with the Angulos, Kusselings, Allanics, and Judas.

Saturday we had our missionary musical fireside for our ward and the branch of Aulnay. It seemed a bit like it would be a disaster, French fire sides are not like American firesides. It was on the stage, with colored lights, and spa music with Frere Kusseling and his daughter narrating. BUT it turned out to be really relaxing, filled with the spirit, and all was well. I sang two songs, "Venez voir" and "Joy in the Morning" with the soeurs. Super high range, but we did it and we didn't break any glass. Valerie came, and tons of members brought friends and neighbors. It was a great night.

All fresh and clean!
The newest member of the
Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter day Saints
Valérie.
What a miracle and a blessing.

Sunday, my last Sunday in Nogent, was beautiful. Church was great. and the best part of the day, Valerie entered the waters of baptism and was baptized as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. She is amazing, absolutely amazing. Her commitment to completely change her life and everything about it is inspiring. She is determined and diligent, an incredible example to us all. What a beautiful way to finish out the transfer.

Yesterday we had a full-mission conference, with every missionary in the mission gathered together in Versailles for iPad training. Elder Kearon and Elder Neilsen of the Seventy came and gave the training and it was wonderful. The possibilities given to us through technology to communicate and share the gospel is immense and we are just getting

The Soeurs of Nogent with Valerie
just before being baptized
Soeur Simpson, Soeur Tane,
Soeur Brandenburg,
Soeur Waite, Soeur Castillo
Nogent-sur-Marne

started. I am grateful to serve in this time where the Lord is hastening His work through the tools He has given us. We didn't get the iPads due to something going wrong in Germany, but they will be coming shortly. It's going to change the way this mission does missionary work and it's going to be wonderful. The effects of technology + the gospel have already been spreading like crazy and what a glorious time to be alive!

Donna! An amie that has never
come to church and
she just showed up on Sunday!
Super cool!

Serving with Soeur Tane has been such a blessing for me. I have learned and grown more than I thought I could and for that, I am forever grateful. It's weird to imagine her not being in the mission anymore, but I am excited for her to continue her life and live all that she has learned and become. I love her so much. I am also so grateful for Soeur Brandenburg and the opportunity to serve with her, even if it's just been a week and a half. I am just filled with gratitude in my heart

MTC comp: Soeur King!

and pray all the best for them.

Well, this week is transfers, as in tomorrow. I recieved a call from the Assistants on Saturday before the répertoire was sent out, and I have been assigned to serve as a Sister Training Leader (STL) in the secteur: Paris. Holy cannoli. It is quite a bit of a change going from my Bleue-ville to Paris STL, but I am grateful for the opportunity and hope I can give all that I can in helping and serving the sisters of this mission. My new companion is Soeur Tupai, a Tahitian in her 13th transfer, and who is my "grandma"

Trainer: Soeur Stevens

on the mission. She trained Soeur Stevens, so I was basically trained by Soeur Tupai too. I am so excited to serve with her. She is an amazing missionary and an amazing person. I couldn't be happier and more filled with joy, love, and gratitude.

The Lord Jesus lives. He is our brother and He is with us always. I am grateful for all that He has done and all that He does for me, and everyone in my life. I know His gospel is true and it was restored by the prophet Joseph Smith by the priesthood authority

Cacharelle, a recent convert
in our ward
I didn't bring a jacket
and she gave me hers
to borrow; so nice!
We had a lovely mangez-vous
with her last night.

of God. What a blessing and a strength it is to have the gospel in my life.

Thank you for all you do and all you are. Keep doing all the good you do in the world. Every effort is not wasted; it's the little things, truly, that make a big difference.

Well, One Day More! until Paris. I love you all and pray all the best for you!

Avec amour,
Sœur Kate Simpson

P.S. my new address is

Les Missionnaires
Sœur Kate Simpson
63 rue de la Tombe Issoire
75014 Paris
France

Check out this bear!
JK it's a dog, no worries

20 avril 2015

Bonjour tout le monde!

I hope all is well. This week went by super fast, it's already week 6 of the transfer! ONE MORE WEEK! Can't believe it. It is absolutely beautiful here in east Paris. The sun has shone everyday and it's warm, almost too warm, and everything is green, there are flowers every, and VALERIE IS GETTING BAPTIZED ON SUNDAY!

There are so many things to be grateful for. :)

We got a surprise on Thursday night. The APs called and informed us that we would be receiving a sister for the rest of the transfer because her companion went home. TRIO encore! Soeur Brandenburg, who was serving in St. Ouen, northern Paris, came to us Saturday morning and we've been rocking the threesome once again. She is very nice. It's been a stressful week for her, and this week is going to be pretty stressful trying to get everything ready for the missionary fire side and the baptism this coming weekend, not to mention Soeur Tane packing to go home, and potentially me changing areas, and ah! Lot's going on. BUT with lots of prayers and looking for the miracles, the work continues, and the Lord is with us every step of the way.

This week, metaphorically speaking, I felt like I was finally reaching the top of a mountain, when all of a sudden, the course changed and the climb got a bit steeper. But! I know it's making me stronger and I am not alone on this path. It gives me great comfort to know my Savior, Jesus Christ, knows exactly how I feel and what a blessing that is. He lives. I know he loves us. He is with us every single step of the way. :)

Be good. Do more. Look outward!

Love,
Soeur Kate Simpson

En Garde! - 13 avril 2015

Bonjour à tous!

What a splendid week. The sun shone, the temperature was beautiful, no tights, we had Zone Conference, we met our goal to teach 21 lessons, we met some amazing people and invited them to come unto Christ, and we had a blast doing it. :)

Esther, our wonderful amie
who is preparing for baptism too!
Villiers-sur-Marne, Paris

It was a week full of miracles. Soeur Tane and I decided that it was totally possible to teach 21 lessons in one week. 3 lessons a day, seems easy enough, right? Here in France that is not extremely easy to do, or so everyone says and thinks. I've never taught that many lessons in one week, nor have many companionships that I know of. Well, with a change of thought, a whole lot of prayer, and a whole lot of trying, we were able to reach that goal with a whole lot of heavenly help. I truly felt that we were directed to many of those we met and taught this week. It was SO cool to see Soeur Tane on fire and so excited to work. Of course, it was also a week full of trials and difficulties, but we both were able to learn, start over and try again.

Our 21st lesson was with a Jehovah's Witness who just Bible-bashed us, to which we loving listened, testified, and thanked her for talking with us, even though she completely drove away the spirit and left us feeling stupid. After we walked away from her, I asked if we could say a prayer to get the spirit back. It was so comforting to know that He is there for us, He loves us, and we truly are His messengers. We then sung, "Let us all press on" in French and it pumped us right back up. The words in french for the chorus are, "En garde! voici nos ennemis. Courage! Nous avons Jésus-Christ!" I love it. What beauty there is in the gospel of Christ.

Valerie, one of our progressing investigators, decided for sure that she wants to be baptized the 26 of

Valerie and her daughter Anais
Aren't they just adorable?
She's gonna get baptized! I just know it!

April. As in 2 weeks from now. Ah! So cool. There is still a lot to teach and a lot for her to understand, but I have the faith that she can do it. We taught her the Word of Wisdom on Thursday and guess what? She told us that since she met us, something told her that she needed to limit her coffee drinking, and she has! She doesn't drink or smoke, which is super rare in France. It is so amazing to see the ways the Lord has prepared her to follow Him, without her even knowing.

On Wednesday, we had an awesome 8:50pm miracle. We just had 10 minutes left until returning home for the night, and we decided we were going to teach one more person. We prayed for

Elisa, our lovely Brasilian miracle
We had a little lesson in Portuguese,
Spanish, and French.
Definitely with the gift of tongues.
Soeur Tane prayed in Spanish.
Super cool miracle.
Chelles, East Paris

just one more miracle. As we finished praying, we walked just a bit down the street to a bus stop where a lady was standing just chillin with her phone in hand. I looked at Soeur Tane and we both knew she was the one. Liaqui is her name and she is absolutely delightful. She is from China, but has been in France for a long time, so luckily she speaks French, and has visited America quite a bit for work too. We shared with her the message of Easter and the joy and happiness we can have by following Jesus Christ and His gospel. Turns out she is going to move, so we offered to help, to which she accepted, we got her info, and ah! MIRACLES!

Zone Conference was wonderful. I love conferences. It was mostly about finding new amies and how to better contact, find, and teach by the spirit. Faith over Fear was the training given by the APs and it was just what I needed. A phrase which my mom wrote to me came to my head, "what would I do if I wasn't afraid?" Reflecting on why I am sometimes hesitant to open my mouth and share the beautiful message I carry helped me to realize there is no good excuse. I then decided to have more faith and just do it. #nike The Lord is with us and we can do it!

And Zone Conference was a mini high school reunion too. Gotta love serving with Darts! It is so fun

Davis Darts Class of 2013
at Zone Conference <3
Elder Blackham, Elder Tidwell, Elder Garcia,
Elder Hedquist, Soeur Hogan, Soeur Simpson
Saint Merri, Paris

to see so many of us in the same mission.

Well, I wish you all a wonderful week. Life is good in Nogent! Just 2 more weeks until transfers. "Killing" Soeur Tane has been an adventure and I'm sure it's going to get even crazier in these final 2 weeks, but the Lord has supported me so much, and her as well. I know we can do it!

I love you! Be good. Be courageous. Just do it!

Love,
Soeur Kate Simpson

Parce que Jésus Vit - 06 avril 2015

What a glorious day and a wonderful weekend!

Pday today!
Just a lovely picnic in the
sunshine with the Tour Eiffel

How grateful I am to have a living prophet on the earth today. General Conference was absolutely amazing and such a blessing. It was an experience being here in France for conference. I am so grateful for technology to allow us to see conference live, well at least 2 sessions. We have two of our amies came! AND the best part, this week we committed them both to baptism. Valerie and Esther! A Française and Cote D'Ivoirienne (speaking of which... TEMPLE!!!!!)

It was a good week. Health was a bit of a struggle for us both, but that didn't stop the work of the Lord! Miracles and lessons continued and oh how wonderful was the conclusion of the week with Conference and Easter!

I love the church's video campaigns in the past year, Because of Him, He

I'm basically an African.
Central African wedding
reception dress courtesy of Dina!

is the Gift, and Because Jesus Lives, SO good. I've only seen in it French, but the spirit of the message is the same and it is powerful. Parce que Jésus vit, tout est possible.

I know He lives. I know He loves you and me.

Have a wonderful week. Be good. Do more. Look outward.

Love,
Soeur Kate Simpson

Soeur Castillo et moi
Super awesome exchange!

30 mars 2015

What a week in Nogent. One of the greatest weeks of learning about myself and about the Atonement of Jesus Christ that I have ever had.

Communication. A relatively simple word which is ridiculously difficult to do well sometimes.  It has been the basic concept underlying many of the trials of this transfer. Though we can communicate with one another, understanding is a completely different story. The opportunity we have to speak, to pass our emotions, feelings, and thoughts to another person is incredible when pondering of the idea of communication. I am ever so grateful for the chance to practice communcication everyday, not only with my companion and those with which I serve, but also the blessed communication with my Father in Heaven through His son Jesus Christ.

The healing of the Atonement is real. The love of Christ is often given to us through others. I am grateful for the difficult times in life, for they are the greatest opportunities to grow, to learn, and to love. The last words my dad said to me before entering the MTC were, "obedience fixes everything." I do agree, but would like to add patience and charity along with obedience.

I pray you have a week filled with the love of Christ. He is there for you. Always.

Love,
Soeur Kate Simpson

"There she goes" - 23 mars 2015

Bonjour tout le monde! I hope all is well! We had a pretty good week this week good old Nogent sur Marne.

Miracle of the Livre du Secteur (area book)

Organizing le Livre du Secteur
Nogent-sur-Marne
Sr. Tane, Sr. Dufour, et moi

So, in preparation for the STLs coming to join the work in the Nogent ward, we cleaned out our Livre du Secteur and organized it all nice and properly. I love order and cleanliness. It felt so great. Well, we then began to call all of the old investigators that didn't have addresses and hadn't been in-touch with the missionaries for a while. We called them all during the week, and every one of them said they were too busy, the number didn't work anymore, or they weren't interested. EXCEPT Juliette. She didn't answer our call, but she called us back when we were in a lesson with a member family and we set up a rendez-vous! She has been off the records and out of contact with missionaries and the church since January of 2012. Two thousand twelve. Well, this

668 steps later...
I'm on top of the world, hey!
La tour Eiffel
Me, Sr. Dufour, Sr. Farmer

Sunday, yesterday, we went to her apartment, met her and had a lovely lesson of the plan of salvation after finding out her sister had died the week before and was struggling with the death of another family member too. The Spirit was incredibly present and the 3 of us felt the invitation to baptism was needed. Soeur Dufour, for the first and last time in France, invited Juliette to follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ by being baptized by the priesthood authority of God. She said, "Yes. yes, I will."

I am so grateful for the valiant soeurs who served here 3 years ago and planted the seeds in Juliette's soul so that they could grow inside and soften her heart to be ready and accept the Gospel now. You never can give up. Ever.

It was an awesome Sunday, a perfect way to end the week!

"there she goes... there she goes again"

Au revoir ma sœur! Bon voyage!
Aéroport Charles de Gaulle

This morning, we woke up at 5:30am and headed to Charles de Gaulle International Airport to take our daughter, Soeur Dufour, to her plane to America. As I type this, she is traversing the Atlantic Ocean and is on her way to Salt Lake City, home sweet home. She'll be in the MTC for 6 weeks, I believe, she may be let out early for good English, haha, and then to Temple Square! It has been such a wonderful adventure and blessings galore to serve with her. She is incredible and will be such a blessing to Temple Square.

In personal study, one day this week, I did a little study activity in the end of chapter one of Preach My Gospel, and it asked to write down how I have come to know in my life that our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. As I thought about the experiences that have built my testimony of Joseph Smith and the First Vision, the Holy Ghost reconfirmed all of my feelings that I know to be true. I know that Jesus Christ and God the Father appeared to Josph Smith. I cannot deny it. I invite you to do the same this week. Reflect and write down the experiences and ways that you have gained a testimony of the First Vision, or how you can gain a testimony of it.

I pray all the best for you all! Be good. Do more. Look outward. Smile. Take lots of photos!

Love,
Soeur Kate Simpson

Je vais la tuer! - 16 mars 2015

I love my wonderful district.
Sr. Tane, Sr. Simpson, Sr. Dufour,
Elder Mattson, Elder Westwood,
Elder Pieksma, Elder Jouffray,
Elder Maono, Elder Utahia

The Verdict: SIX MORE WEEKS IN NOGENT!!! :) I am happy and excited. Though I would have gladly welcomed a new ville, I am happy to stay in my bleueville for another transfer! That means it'll be 6 months in my first area, and who knows? I could stay again? ah. that's a long time. But, I'll gladly be where I am needed. AND it means that I get to "kill" Soeur Tane! She's got 6 more weeks left on her mission and she is just about out of fuel, but we are determined to make it the best 6 weeks of her mission. :)

Saturday was the culminating event of the week and the transfer

Charles, Marie-Rose, Fatoumia, et moi
Chez Kusseling

and we definitely finished strong with the Soirée Tahitienne! It was SO much fun. For real, it was a success. The members came and brought their neighbors and friends. We had 17 new amis that came! We all danced, sang, and ate Tahitian-ness. It was awesome. :)

This week was filled with lots of thoughts. When transfers come around, it's hard to know what to think because you never know what's going to happen. I prayed that no matter what would

IAORANA!!!
Sr. Tane, Sr. Dufour, Elder Utahia, Sr. Simpson
Soirée Tahitienne
Nogent-sur-Marne

happen, that I would have the patience and love and accept with grace what ever came. My motto for the week was "come what may and love it." from Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin.

Sometimes we get to be the answers to others prayers instead of having the answers we want. Soeur Tane told me that she had prayed so hard that I would stay. I am her 17th companion, and Soeur Dufour her 18th. She said she couldn't handle a new companion in her last 6 weeks. Today is her 18 months mark! She is a trooper. Due to being a francophone, she gets to serve an extra transfer. I

The Fountain of Youth.
Lac de Daumesnil
Paris

am grateful for her and this opportunity I have to serve with her for the rest of her mission. I have a feeling it's not going to be easy, but it will be wonderful! Come what may and love it. <3

I pray all is well for all. Keep the faith and love life, no matter what is thrown at you. Alison wrote to me, "the Lord gives his hardest battles to his strongest soldiers." :) You can do it!

Bonne semaine à tous!

Soeur Simpson

I was a shrimp guillotine. Vive la France!
Chez Kusseling

Elder Hansen, Sr. Tane, Charles
Mmm Tahitian food!
Chez Kusseling

Olga and Sonia, our wonderful Young Women!
Chapelle de Nogent

The Dance Team.
Chapelle de Nogent

Fatoumia and Ivalanie,
a part of the food-prep team for the soiree
Chez Kusseling

Sr. Dufour and I
Chapelle de Nogent