Great Oden´s Raven WHAT A WEEK!
 
This week was crazy!  I had my first two baptisms in the field and it was freaking awesome! One of them was this little old guy named Hermano Fransisco and the other was this tiny lady named Hermana Olga. I got to baptize both of them and it was dope but  didn't quite go as planned hahaha. First I baptized Fransisco which was super easy but Olga was not so willing hahahah. She has a type of mental disability and was super scared of the water. I was in the water with her brother trying to help her get in but nothing was working! We were there for like an hour trying to slowly ease her into the water. Then she freaked out and got out of the font. I went and started changing because we didn’t think it was going to happen.  Then I was standing in the stall in the dressing room butt naked and Albrecht runs in and says "Dude how undressed are you? She’s in the water and ready!" I didn’t have any time to get back in my white pants and shirt and stuff so I threw on Fransiscos' wet jumpsuit--free balling it of course--and went to go do it. When I got back in the water it wasn’t so easy. hahaha  She wouldn’t go backwards and we only had one chance because then she would freak out and run out of the font.  I had to baptize her facing forward. hahahah I said the prayer and legit had to body slam her underneath the water!!! It was the craziest thing ever! hahahaha  Everyone was laughing so hard I was dying. Anyway, super awesome to baptize with my own hands! 
 
Other than the baptism it was a pretty average week, just walking around trying to figure out what people are saying. hahaha I know most of the words that people are saying but it’s just so hard to understand them! There will be times when I know exactly what they say and others when I’m completely lost. Little by little though, right? It will come!
 
We had a talent show in the ward on Friday, which was super fun. All these little kids we singing Mexican songs and stuff.  It was great.  Today for p-day we went to the beach! We just hung out and played soccer and stuff.  It was awesome and felt so good to relax.  All I eat is chicken, rice, beans and tortillas hahaha It can get pretty dang picante though. hahaha. I have learned that you can honestly put ketchup and mayonaise on absolutely anything and that is not a good thing let me tell you!
 
It was an awesome week though, can’t wait for the adventures to come!
 
Love you all! The church is true!
 

​By the beard of Zeus!
 
It has been a crazy week!!! I really can’t even believe I’m here honestly. hahaha. I have never been so sweaty in my entire life.  I walk outside and I’m instantly wet. At least our apartment has A/C though! I’ve been eating the oatmeal for breakfast and that is the best thing ever! hahaha All of the snacks and stuff are going to save my life. My casa is actually pretty nice. I took pictures of it so I’ll send them when I can. None of the computers have SD card readers so I need to find an adapter but there aren’t any stores here that have them. Hermana Haws might be able to order one for me but I can’t ask her until I go back for some training thing in like a week. It has been so awesome I’m not going to lie.  According to my comp, my area(Frontera)  is his least favorite so far in the mission so that makes me excited to see what the rest of the mish is like because it’s dope here!!! My comp is so freaking cool. He has been helping me soooo much. hahaha I thought that when I left the CCM I knew a decent amount of Spanish but then I got here and I cant understand shaz hahahaha. Here they have a super trash accent where they drop the "s" at the end of words so it makes it really hard to understand them. Little by little, Right?! I just need to give it some time and always be ready to learn. Last week was probably the weirdest week of my life now that I think about it. hahaha. 
 
Last week on Tuesday we went to a little pueblo in the middle of the jungle called Miguel Hidalgo and met with the branch president. His name is Hermano Antonio. He is the nicest guy in the world I’m pretty sure hahaha.  Right when he got there he said "Elders, my sister was talking to me today and she wants to meet with you" Her name is Hermana Olga. We went to her house and sat down to teach. The first thing she says is "When can I be baptized?" I was like what the freak is happening! hahaha. My first lesson and that’s what she said hahaha. So we have a date set with her for this Saturday which is dope!! It was so funny though in the middle of the lesson she just started picking her nose and eating it and I was about to lose it! hahahaha. We also went to this lady’s house named Hermana Delia and she gave us this cake called carlota which is probably the best thing I’ve had in my entire life! Soooo good!!!! The other food here is pretty good too. It’s not too spicy so I can handle it. We have lunch with someone everyday and its always the same thing --caldo de pollo every meal here! I guess I’ve got some time to get used to it! hahaha. We went to Miguel Hidalgo on Thursday and it started to rain so hard. I really experienced what tropical rain is all about hahaha, we were walking in the street and it started to dump on us so hard it was crazy. Holy, it is a crazy place here. It feels like I am in a different world it’s so weird.  I am so excited to see what I can do here though!!!
 
Love and miss you!!
VIVA MEXICO

***Today Andrew departed the Mexico City CCM for Villahermosa!  He has been looking forward to this moment forever it seems.  We received a quick note from him when he arrived and also a letter from the mission office with pictures attached.  Elder Simonsen looks happy and ready to serve!


Well shoot! hahahaha. I finally made it to Villahermosa!!! I’m not gonna lie, it´s hot as balls but I can do it. We have just been doing some training stuff today and then we´ll get paired with our comps soon. It’s going to be dope!!! I get to email tomorrow so it’s all good. Wish me luck !
 
Love you guys!!!

Hey Everyone!
​
I actually get to email today!! Holy smokes! My first area is insane! hahahaha  We are in this tiny little city outside of Villahermosa called Frontero. It’s in the middle of the jungle so I have to figure out what’s going on. hahahaha It is going to be freaking awesome, I can already tell. Just getting here makes me want to learn Spanish so fast because I legit can’t talk to anyone. hahaha.
 
My comp is a gringo from Beaver Utah and he seems like he is dope! He said he will really help me out with the Spanish. His name is Elder Albrencht and he is sooo chill. He has about a year in the mish so he’s got the language down for sure and can help me with anything that I’m going to need. We live in this upstairs apartment in the pueblo! It is about a billion degrees and I’m sweating my balls off here already. Not only is it super hot but the humidity is insane. As soon as I walk outside I’m instantly wet. Actually it’s so hot in our apartment that I’m just always wet. hahahah This will take some time to get used too! My comp said that we have a baptism scheduled for Thursday so we´ll see how that goes hahaha.
 
Holy! I’m so excited to be here. I can’t wait until we can get out and teach! It is so unreal that I’m actually here. I have a lot to learn but it will come with time. I am so grateful for this opportunity and I know it’s going to be difficult but I just need to put some trust in the Lord! Right?!
 
Love and miss you!!!!


LETTER FROM THE MISSION OFFICE!

​Dear Simonsen Family:
 
On behalf of President Haws, President of the Mexico Villahermosa Mission, we happily announce that we have received Elder Simonsen today in our great Mission. He is very enthusiastic for being here and we are going to help him in every step in his missionary experience. We’ve attached the pictures of him at the airport with his class companions and with the President Haws and his wife. Thank you for everything that you do. If there is something we can do for you, please, let us know. Please confirm that you have received this email. Thank you and have an excellent day.
 
 
Elder Elizalde
SECRETARIO DEL PRESIDENTE
MISION MEXICO VILLAHERMOSA

​YOOOOO!!!

​Holy sack! I can’t believe it’s my last week in the CCM!!! It’s weird because
everyday seems like ages long but it has gone by in a blink! I am so ready to
leave this place. hahahah There is a reason they call it the Concentration Camp
for Missionaries hahahahah jk lol It’s been awesome here. I’m so freaking excited
to get out to the field though! Only like 4 more days it’s insane! I think my
Spanish is pretty decent but I have a feeling that when I get off the plane I’m not
going to understand a thing.

This week has been awesome though! We've had a ton of meetings for our last
week and they gave us these green dots to put on our tags so now everyone
expects us to know everything! hhahaha. I got my flight plans yesterday. Our
flight leaves at 7 am on Monday, September 10th so we have to be at reception
by 2:30 am to drive to the airport. hahaha  I’m debating on whether or not I
should even go to bed. That first week in the field is going to be insane. hahaha
Parker left this last Monday and he said he was pooping himself on Sunday!
hahahahaha.  I’m sure I will be in the same boat this coming Sunday. I still see
Koleton all the time so that’s great. I am sure going to miss all of my buds.
This last week we have done a lot of activities to try and keep us motivated in the
CCM. One of them we used ties as blindfolds to help with giving directions in
Spanish. I don’t know why but Stewart tied the tie around his head and said "Hey
guys! I’m from Brovo!"  For some reason it was the funniest thing in the freaking
world! hahahaha. 

​We had quite the interesting experience on Monday night. Hahaha We live in a
casa with a bunch of Latinos and they invited us to do a home evening thing with
them. It was awesome. They talked a bunch about having faith and asked me to
give a thought and I about died hahaha. I shared Enos 1: 12, which is an
awesome scripture by the way, and they all thought I was a beast for doing it all
in Spanish! Then after the thing was over we went back to our room but the door
was closed and we all forgot our keys! We had to run to reception at
like 10:45 without shoes on to go and get another key. hahahaha  We looked
crazy but it was so funny! 

I’m so excited to get to Villahermosa. I know it is going to be an amazing
experience! I have a lot to learn and I know I will grow so much as well. I am
going to give it everything thing I have, the best is all I have to give.

Love you all!!!

P.S. The church is true!!!!