Another week!

This week has been super busy! We had our intern mission president, President Ferrin, interview our Zone on Wednesday. It was great to meet him again and get to know him. However, miraculously, President Taylor will be back into full swing next Sunday after meeting with the doctors and a member of the Seventy. This has been an answer to our prayers and fasting, and it sounds like he is doing great! I get to meet him soon and I am excited! Elder Clarke always talks about him and how great of a man he is.

This week at the soup kitchen (Homeless Shelter that we volunteer at), we made sloppy joes. I ground like twenty pounds of ground beef and mixed the sauce. Thanks mom for teaching me how to make sloppy joes! The practice definitely comes in handy when you have to feed like 150 people.

Dinners with members have been so great! Last night, we ate at this members house who made Philippine food and it was delicious. It reminded me of home! [mom edit: home meaning Hawaii...not sure I've ever cooked Philippine food!]

I went on two different exchanges this week. One with Elder Jewkes who is a Zone Leader, and Elder Barton, who is a District Leader. On Tuesday, Elder Jewkes came over to my area with me. This was my first time being responsible for the area. It was kind of stressful to think about before, but everything worked out great! On Saturday, I went over to Cherry Park with Elder Barton this time. We did a lot of walking again (it's a walking area). The thing I like about walking is that we have many opportunities to open our mouths and talk to people about the church. The down side of not having a car is that it is very unproductive, especially if someone cancels an appointment and you are like two miles away from home. But you definitely run into some fun homeless people while walking the streets of Portland.

One thing that has helped me a lot this week is reading the scriptures. I have focused a lot of time and energy pouring over the scriptures and studying as much as I can. Along with the hour of personal study every morning, I have tried to spend some time studying at lunch and before I go to bed. I have definitely felt the strength that comes from reading the scriptures and I promise you all will too! You don't have to spend hours doing so, but make sure you set apart some time to study what the prophets of old have been inspired to tell you. It has really helped build my confidence.

I didn't have enough time to listen to Conference Talks this week, because I've been spending so much time on the scriptures. But, I would highly suggest reading Alma 40-42. There are some great things about the Plan of Salvation in those chapters and I love it!

Alright I am going to play some ball! 

- Elder Sims

The Elders and Sisters were playing ball on p-day and shattered the backboard....oops.