Welcome to Fresno!

(Elder Cummings)

I am here!  I made it!  Nine short weeks at the MTC and now it has happened.  I have been pleasantly surprised with how much Hmong I actually know and understand.  I was all ready to translate in Sacrament Meeting this week, but with the forest fires in the area raining ash down on us I've developed a cough that wasn't going to make the job easy.  Speaking of rain, it is raining today!  My trainer, Elder Ballard, said this is the eighth time in almost two years that he can remember.  That hopefully will help these fires calm down a bit.

The same day the new missionaries arrive they go out and begin teaching.  Such was the case with me and the seventeen other missionaries who arrived with me.  We went out with our temporary companions (we got our actual companions the next day) and began teaching.  My companion for the day took me to an area where we were sure to meet Hmong people, and we did!  We talked to many Hmong that day.  There was even a lesson we taught where I understood everything that was going on and was able to participate.  Then there was another lesson we taught in Hmong where I didn't catch a word.  The accent of the speaker matters a lot.

The entire experience reminds me of a verse, 1 Corinthians 2:1, in which Paul, the evangelist known well for his bold approach to missionary work, describes himself teaching.  He writes, "And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God."  I definitely connect with that.  I feel pretty good about my language skills, especially for only having been studying for ten weeks, but my Hmong definitely is not "excellency of speech."  My sentence, although they are spoken in Hmong, are still most definitely of English structure and style.  I can be understood, but just barely.  I do not understand Hmong proverbs.  I definitely have not come to Fresno with much "wisdom" as it pertains to the Hmong culture.  In spite of all of this I have come declaring unto the Hmong people the testimony of God, and I am "determined not to know any thing among [them], save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). 

It is amazing to me what faith can do.  Faith in Jesus Christ motivates upwards of 80,000 young men and women all over the world to give up two years or eighteen months of their lives to serve their fellowmen preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  That is incredible to me.  That sacrifice brings with it an undeniable power.

Faith is a real power.  Sacrifice brings real blessings.  There is so much more I could say on the topic, but my email time for the week is running short so I need to wrap it up.  I know that my Redeemer lives.  I believe that Jesus is the Christ and that He did give his life to atone for the sins of all mankind.  "He was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities...and with his stripes we are healed" (Mosiah 14:5).  I truly do believe that with all my heart.  There is a way for peace in this life and in the life to come.  That way is Christ's way.

I hope you all have a great week!  If any of you want to send me a letter via the US Postal system, my address has now changed to 1814 N. Echo Ave. Fresno, California, USA 93704.  Thank you to all of you who sent me mail while I was at the MTC and thank you all for the emails you send me!  Both are highlights of my week, every week.

With love,

Elder A. Jared Cummings