(Elder Cummings)
Hello friends! Merced
is treating me well! Elder Bagley and I
have been working hard all day every day.
This area has challenges for Hmong missionaries very different than
Fresno. We had only two appointments
this week where we actually needed to speak Hmong. If we are not making an effort to speak Hmong
to each other then our language study time is often the only language exposure
we get in the day. We try hard to speak
it as much as we can. This last week was
the first weekly planning of my mission that was conducted in my beautiful
second language: Hmong.
Being in YSA work has opened my eyes again to what normal
concerns of my peers are. Last night we
had a beautiful lesson with two amazing recent converts who recently went to
the temple for their endowment in preparation for moving away and for
missionary service. They shared their
conversion story with me as I had not yet heard it. Something that struck me was how frequently
they would express their gratitude for how complete the change in their life
had been over the last year.
There is a lie being pervaded in society "by that old
serpent, who is the devil, who is the father of lies" that seeks to
persuade us that we are unchangeable (2 Nephi 2:18). From this lie comes excuses that claim to
say that change is not possible because "it is just the way I am" or
because "I was born that way."
True, you may be that way now, and maybe you were born that way too, but
there is no doctrine under heaven that states you must stay that way.
What is the purpose of life if not to change? The great missionary, Amulek, taught
powerfully that "this life is the time for men to prepare to meet
God" (Alma 34:32). This preparation
is not vacuuming the front room, or puffing up the pillows in preparation for
company, nor is it the casual discipleship that many in today's world are prone
to think it is. "No unclean thing
can dwell with God," and "all we like sheep have gone astray"
and will continue to go that way unless we yield "to the enticing of the
Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the
atonement of Christ the Lord" (1 Nephi 10:21, Isaiah 53:6, Mosiah
3:19).
Change, also known as repentance is fundamental to our life
on earth. Through our faith we can
change our desires and dispositions to be fully in line with the will of God. We don't need to surrender control to natural
appetites. We are not unchangeable. God is unchangeable. We are not as God is, not yet. That will come long after this life through
our faith and diligence and through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Only then will we have the capacity to
fulfill the comission he gave to "be ye therefore perfect, even as your
Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).
Greek synonyms for "perfect" as is used in that
verse include "complete," or "fully developed" (see
footnotes in LDS edition of the Kings James Version of the Bible). It is my hope with all whom I teach that
someday they will reach their full potential and return to live with God on
high. In the words of the Apostle, John,
"now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be:
but when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is" (1 John 3:2).
I love this gospel! I
am so happy to fill my life with its truth and to be here in Merced, California,
sharing that joy with all who will listen!
With my love,
Elder Jared Cummings
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