Pressing Forward

(Elder Cummings)

So much has happened this week.  It has been a blast. Elder Knapton and I have just walked into so many great opportunities and had so many chances to become more immersed in the Hmong culture.  We were invited to watch a traditional "soul calling" (ua neeb) and kept running into shamans as we were talking with people throughout the week.  It is so cool to learn about.  One of the shamans we met let us take pictures with the spirit-sword that they use to protect themselves as they ride through the spirit world to find the dab, the evil-spirit who stole one of the many spirits that they believe we all have.  They typically sacrifice a chicken and either a pig or a cow when they are doing the ritual.  The chicken spirit guides the shaman through the spirit world and the pig/cow spirit is brought along as ransom to exchange for the human's spirit.  Way cool.

This Sunday we had the amazing opportunity to listen to an apostle speak in a multi-stake broadcast.  It was neat.  Elder Renlund gave a great talk about respecting other's beliefs and still bearing testimony in the process.  Elder Knapton translated for him, an experience most missionaries never have!  I translated for one of the seventy who spoke.  I guess technically it is interpretation and not translation since it is on the spot, so I interpreted for one of the seventy who spoke, and Elder Knapton interpreted for Elder Renlund.

We were also offered a job and six-figure salary this week to invest in a company and start working for them rather than finish our missionary service.  That was...interesting...but didn't phase us.  We remembered the teachings of that Savior.  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33). We had been having a slow week up to that point, and once we declined the offer and went away we quickly were blessed to find four new investigators and all in all this week we met two new families who want to learn the gospel! 

Sadly, through all of this, Vicky sent us a text last night and told us she can't meet with us.  Her family situation is a little more complicated than we originally realized.  We know she is well prepared for the gospel.  I am glad that we have done our part to help her receive that.  Some day in the future she will have the chance again, and this time nothing will hold her back.

The bishop baptized his father this Saturday!  That was an amazing, spiritual experience.  He was SO happy when he came out of the water.  He is more than excited to start a christian life.  The gospel is for everyone, regardless of age, sex, race, or cultural background.  There is no more fulfilling work than building up the kingdom of God.

I know that Jesus Christ lives and is my Savior.  I am exhilarated by this opportunity that I have to represent Him to the Hmong people in Fresno, California!

With love,

Elder Cummings

There isn't a lot of meat on these little guys, so to keep as much as they can they burn off it all and cook them whole.  This is right after the burning phase.

Zong Gua Vang's baptism

Happy Valentine's Day

We had permission to take this one, this is a normal sized one, but from the things that are on it you can tell that he is an experienced one.

God Prepares His Children

(Elder Cummings)

It has been another fantastic week in Fresno!  It is starting to warm up again.  Today it was up in the 70s.  It really is a beautiful day, so Elder Knapton and I decided to make to most of our preparation time and went to the zoo.  I've never thought of zoos as a place to go for spiritual enlightenment, but today I found out that they could be.  Seeing all the different animals, all the diversity, from all over the globe just left me in awe of how great our Father is.  All of these things, the elephants, the cobras, the chimpanzees, and cockatoos, testify to me that there is a God.  He is real.  He does have a plan for us.

Elder Knapton and I have been continuing with an incredible streak for finding new investigators.  This week we met six more people who welcomed us into their homes and learn about the message of the Restoration.  Two of them agreed enthusiastically to be baptized and were only a little disappointed when we told them we couldn't do it that weekend. 

Vicky and her daughter Angelina and incredibly prepared for the healing power of the Atonement.  The zone leaders had met Vicky and scheduled a hand-off lesson for Friday morning.  She came home from translating for her family members at the immigration office late, so it ended up just being Elder Knapton and I who were able to meet her.  For missionaries there is a rule that a companionship cannot go into a home without an adult of their same sex in the house.  This was going to be an issue with meeting Vicky, and as I was playing through alternatives in my mind the Spirit told me very directly to not worry and go into the house.  The lesson was incredibly guided by the Spirit and the entire visit felt like we were in an oven.  Vicky has been searching for a church and had almost given up on the whole search, but God was not even close to giving up on her.  Before we left she committed to be baptized with her daughter on the 21st of the month.  She came to church Sunday too.  She was telling us about how much she loved the sacrament and Relief Society and all the new friends she had made.  Some of the sisters had offered to teach her to read Hmong and Vicky herself had volunteered to give one of the members a ride to the Relief Society activity the next Tuesday night.

This week in my studies I have been focusing on chapter 9 of Preach My Gospel, "How Do I Find People to Teach?"  I love how many people Elder Knapton and I are meeting and I've been studying looking for ways to continue the way things are going.  One line that really hit me was "seek to strengthen your faith the God is preparing His children to receive the message of the Restoration" (Preach My Gospel p.167).  I can definitely say that my faith has been strengthened this week.  We found Vicky and I know there are more God would have us find.  As missionaries we represent the Good Shepherd, and it is the lost sheep that we are sent to find.

I know that the Lord God has a work for all of us to do.  He will tell us what that is and how He would have it done if we seek Him in prayer.

With love,

Elder A. Jared Cummings

Building the Kingdom

(Elder Cummings)
Pahoua's baptism this last Saturday was great.  She was so happy and on Sunday she received the Gift of the Holy Ghost, completing the covenant.  She is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints along with her three brothers and sister who have all been baptized in the last few months.  We are going by their house tonight to share a lesson with them and invite their parents to begin investigating the Church.  The mom has been reading from the Book of Mormon, without any missionaries suggesting it, since as far back as October, but we haven't been able to sit down with her and talk about it.

It is so wonderful when people make the decision to follow Jesus Christ!  Conversion brings absolutely lasting joy.  In the Book of Mormon the prophet Lehi sees a vision where the gospel likened to the fruit of a tree.  In sharing this experience with his family he says "that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy" (1 Nephi 8:10).  He hadn't even tasted of the fruit yet and he knew that it was something worth striving for.  Everyday missionaries meet people who know, like Lehi, that the gospel will bless them and will bless their families. 

One woman we just started teaching is just like that.  We met her at the Hmong New Years and the Holy Ghost touched her and she knew what kind of fruit we have to offer.  She took a copy of the Book of Mormon from us and when we went back to meet her again later she already had received a witness that this is the direction the Lord wants her to go with her life.  We have been visiting her and her family since then and it is amazing how the Lord is preparing people.

This week we also reconnected with a former investigator who has read the Book of Mormon FOUR TIMES and wants so badly to be baptized.  She knows the doctrine of Christ, and she understands why she must be baptized, but she is a minor and cannot be baptized without parental approval.  I don't know how soon that will come, but her siblings are now interested in learning too.  With many prayers and patience she will have her opportunity too.

It has been a crazy fun week and I am excited to see what the next seven days have in store for Elder Knapton and I.  This gospel is so true!  God really does lead this work!

With love,

Elder Jared Cummings

P.S. Our mission president's wife has a birthday coming up, so all the missionaries are taking pictures doing really obedient things to make her day.  Elder Knapton and I decided to take a picture of our "language study" to send in.  We are both getting pretty good at Hmong, but Elder Knapton's reformed Egyptian is taking leaps and bounds.

Found a Jawa out proselyting

Ferocious Finding

(Elder Cummings)
This week Elder Knapton and I have had the best week for finding investigators of my mission to date.  We found eight new investigators.  As we have been working together to strengthen our faith that the Lord will lead us to those He has prepared to receive the missionaries or He will lead them to us.  Both of those happened this week.

Last Monday night is a great example of a miracle.  The three appointments we had set all fell through, so in discussing what was the next best thing to do, the Spirit told us.  We were to go visit our Bishop's non-member father.  We did and that night he emphatically agreed to prepare himself to be baptized on February 6.

All week long things like this were happening!  I know that God directs this work.  Without His love and mercy no missionary ever could find, teach, or baptize.  It is so miraculous that God chooses the small and weak things of the earth to aide in bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

This Saturday we will be having a baptism for Pahoua Vang.  I am so excited for her!  Her family has been eating the gospel up.  She has asked me to be the one to baptize her.  I am so grateful to be blessed by to have this fantastic opportunity!  The gospel is true for everyone.  It blesses us all to know it better.

I hope you all have an amazing week and continue to find ways to build your faith in Christ!

With love,

Elder Jared Cummings

A Wonderful Week

(Elder Cummings)
I don't have words for the miracles we have seen this week.  My new companion, Elder Knapton/ Tub txib Ntaj neeb Lauj is a powerful missionary.  He teaches with the Spirit and the power and authority in his words are clear.  We are on fire together.

It is now post-Hmong New Years so we are now doing post-Hmong New Years work!  That is knocking on several hundred doors of those who signed up at the New Years and experiencing quite a bit of rejection.  Elder Knapton and I weren't having too much fun with this.  We were having no success, so we spent some time thinking and studying the next morning.

We decided to change our approach.  We had previously been introducing ourselves as "The missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint," and we realized where that fell short.  We aren't really representatives of a church.  We are representatives of Christ.  We are servants of God.  So, with that increased understanding we began to introduce ourselves as servants of God, sent by God to them to teach repentance and baptism for a remission of sins.  The work took off.

In two days we found five new investigators, one already has a date to be baptized on January 30th.  People can feel the power behind our testimonies in a much more powerful way now.  One older lady who believes the Hmong spiritualism jumped when we pronounced who we were and immediately changed from disinterested and stand-offish to inviting us to come back and talk with her son.  We are seeing miracles!

A large part of that is coming from an increased faith in Christ.  Last week I wrote about grace and this week I realized that grace applies in missionary work.  It is a common thing for missionaries to hear that "exact obedience brings miracles."  A big emphasis on that truth is made in all missions around the globe.  The equivalent doctrine of that is that "a sinless life brings salvation."  Equally true!  It is not, however, possible for us.  That is why we need grace, and as I wrote last week, we access that through the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End).  For missionaries none of us are or ever will be exactly obedient.  We all fall short in so many ways, from staying out to late, to eating lunch too long, to breaking the laws of the land and speeding.  We all fall short of exact obedience.  As we focus our lives on the Savior we still can receive all the blessings God promises us.  We missionaries can still work miracles as we have true faith in Christ and real intent in our actions.  We are not perfect, but through Jesus Christ we can work as if we were.

Elder Knapton and I have done this this week.  Our shortcomings are being noticed and of our faults we are well aware, but we know in whom we have trusted.  Jesus Christ will qualify us as we earnestly seek to chose the right.  It is empowering to know the plan.

Let us all press forward, drawing nearer to our Savior each day.  He loves us.  He watches over us.  I know that He lives.

With love,

Elder A. Jared Cummings

More Hmong New Years

(Elder Cummings)

It has been a while since I have had a preparation day (due to Hmong New Years), so sorry for not having sent anything last week and due to issues with the myldsmail server someone of you may not have gotten my email the week before.  No need to fear, I am still working hard in Fresno, and speaking better Hmong than ever.

So much has happened since I last wrote.  The world celebrated the birth of the Savior, the ward wished me a happy birthday, and the eight Hmong elders in the California Fresno Mission found 1,221 potential investigators in a week.  We are all absolutely exhausted, and just in time for the busiest time of the year for Hmong work.

Christmas in the mission field is something special.  I loved it.  Having your whole life, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week dedicated on the Savior has given me a more completely perspective on just what Christmas is.  Jesus Christ came into the world to give his life for our sins, to give us strength to overcome our weaknesses, and to "take upon him [our] infirmities...that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people" (Alma 7:12).  Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind, the God of Israel, the God of the whole earth, began his humble sojourn in the flesh in a humble manger in the small town of Bethlehem.  Christmas marks the coming of our Salvation.  Christmas is His day.

A birthday in the mission field is less "exciting."  We went to church, and then booked it straight over to the Big Fresno Fairgrounds to proselyte until the sun went down.  We ate dinner that night at a wonderful senior missionary couple's home.  Mom, we were all well fed for my birthday dinner.  We had salad, ribs, twice-baked potatoes and homemade apple pie.  I think I hit a real landmark of maturity that night.  Despite the ribs I did not get anything on my white shirt and tie.

Hmong New Years was an event unlike anything I have ever seen.  Thousands upon thousands of Hmong showed up to celebrate the end of the year from all over the world!  I talked with those from Massachusetts, Georgia, North and South Carolina, all over the west coast, all over California, Alaska, Canada, Arizona, Texas, Laos, Thailand,  and France.  Listening to someone speak Hmong with a french accent is a particular skill I have not quite developed, but the one I did meet asked for French speaking missionaries to come visit her at her home in a town just outside of Lyons, France.  All eight of the Hmong elders were there and we were working hard.  Elder Gray, one of the two newest additions found over 200 people through his own efforts! 

As part of the new year celebration the missionaries all dress up in Hmong clothes.  In the attached picture we have from left to right, me, in clothes designating me as a Thai-Hmong-American, Elder Gray in traditional White Hmong clothes, Elder Bagley also in White Hmong clothes, Elder Cunningham with a Green Hmong set plus a matching coin vest, Elder Richardson wearing traditional Americanized-Hmong clothes, Elder Pace eating an authentic Hmong churro, Elder Knapton wearing a White Hmong set with another matching coin vest and a pretty cool txoj siv (belt), and in the front we have Elder Ballard in his Green Hmong set.  The biggest difference between the difference clothing is the pants.  White Hmong is loose fitting, Green Hmong is essentially the original hammer pants, and Thai-Hmong which is pretty tight around the calves, and fit and look like a really cool pair of jogger pants.

And yes, that "temple" in the background is our booth.

I am very excited to press forward this next week and reconnect with the 169 potential investigators who live in the Fresno Hmong West area.  There are so many prepared people.  This is going to be fun!

It is 2016 now too.  2015 has left my life much changed.  I got into college, was struck with senioritis, had a miraculous post-graduation recovery, began my missionary service, left home, my older sister came home and I learned a second language.  The Lord has blessed me with so much and I am excited to see what he has in store for me this year.  I am excited to see what he has in store for all of you this year.

Thank you for you Christmas and birthday wishes! Make 2016 count!

Elder A. Jared Cummings

Me with General Vang Pao.  I've been telling Hmong people that he is my grandfather to much laughter.  In the Hmong culture when you respect someone you refer to their last name first, first name last.  Vang Pao is Pao Vang, and since I am a Vang we are related...somehow.

Tub Txib translates more directly to what the calling of a misisonary is, "son sent."  The one on the left is in Green Hmong and the one of the right is White Hmong.  On the name tag the change is subtle, but this was I can reach out to more of the people we teach by being more a part of their specific language culture. 

Walmart run with Elder Gray: This was a fun one, so many people were giving us funny looks, but we needed to get some water for all the thirsty missionaries back at the booth.

The booth - just before take down.  Kayla was a temple missionary, and I so was I...kind of.

Hmong New Years

(Elder Cummings)
Hmong New Years is completely exhausting.  We have receive 450 referrals in the last three days, 203 of them are from today alone.  We have been working hard!  I got myself some Hmong clothes of my own that I love!  I'm not wearing the top right now, but here is a picture of the ankle of them.  They cost me $145, which was a really sweet deal.  A recent convert gave me a Hmong cap for my birthday too.  That with the Hmong clothes plus my curly hair makes me look like a Jewish boy.  I'll send you a picture of the hat too.

It was great to see you on Christmas!  I love you all.  I will be writing more next week!

With love,

Jared

Welcome to the Covenants

(Elder Cummings)
Less than twenty-four hours ago I had the fantastic privilege to witness Pieter J. follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by one holding the proper authority from God.  It made me unbelievably happy!  Normally my preparation days are accompanied by a pinch of homesickness, but not today!  Today I am beaming.  I am so happy for Pieter!

Seeing Pieter baptized got me thinking about Johnny, one of my good friends from my congregation back at home.  I love Johnny!  He has such a firm testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He believes with a passion that Joseph Smith did see God the Father and Jesus Christ and that the Book of Mormon is God's word on the earth.  I met Johnny around two years ago at a Stake Conference.  His mom was a returning less active member and Johnny was coming to church with her.  He had never been baptized, but one of the first things he said to me was that he wanted to serve a mission someday!

Johnny was taught the missionary lessons and he was baptized not long after I met him.  You should have seen the smile on his face!  He was filled with joy!  He had promised with God that he would do all he could to live according to Christ's commandments, to be a witness of Christ in all places, and to always remember the sacrifice of his Savior.  The next Sunday he was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, exactly as we read the Apostle Paul doing it in Acts 19:2-6.  He now has the constant companionship of a member of the Godhead to protect him and teach him the truth.  Pieter will be receiving the same blessing on the 20th of this month (the same day three more Hmong investigators will be getting baptized).  I am so happy for Pieter!  Having seen the joy the gospel has brought Johnny and to myself I know that Pieter will have the same lasting peace and happiness.  God wants so badly to bless all of His children!

Baptism is essential the beginning of the path that leads us back to God.  It is the first covenant that prepares us to make other covenants in God's holy temples.  Helping people receive these covenants, to come into the fold of Christ is infinitely rewarding!  I am so happy to be a missionary!

In a few days my older sister will be returning home to conclude her missionary service.  For the last eighteen months she has been preaching the gospel in Montreal, Canada.  She sent her last email home today and testified of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  I bear witness with her that what she testified of is true.  Jesus makes possible all progression along the path of righteousness.  Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer.  He came to the earth to so that the world in sin and error pining could rejoice in the new and glorious morn.  With Him we will stand at the last day.  Before him we will all stand to be judged according to our actions and the desires of our hearts.  He is the Only Begotten of the Father.  Is is the light, the life and the hope of the world who rules today at the right hand of His Father.  I echo wholeheartedly the testimony the living Apostles.  God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son!

With my love,

Elder A. Jared Cummings

Elder Bagley and The Week of Miracles

(Elder Cummings)

Before I get on with my letter for this week, I just want to share something with you that never fails to cheer me up.  One word: peanuts.  In Hmong this translates to "lub txiv laum huab xeeb," which translates back in English to "the fruit tickles pregnant cloud."  It makes sense to the native speakers, so I'm not going to question it.  I'll just keep smiling.

It has been a WONDERFUL week and Elder Ballard and I have welcomed our WONDERFUL new companion Elder Bagley who hails from Rexburg, Idaho.  This morning as we went shopping he bought a five pound bag of potatoes.  And so the old adage rings true, you can take the missionary out of Idaho, but you can't take the Idaho out of the missionary.  He has a real gift for the language.  After nine weeks in Utah he has come out knowing more words than I do after twelve additional weeks in the field.  I haven't been lazy with my time as a missionary and apparently neither has he!  He is a great missionary.  The three of us get along great and have done some great teaching together already!

A great example is our visit to Song Lu Xiong this week.  He and his wife are long time investigators and when we taught out of the Book of Mormon as a trio the Spirit was so thick and there was a tangible energy in the room.  Song Lu volunteered to begin praying to ask God if the LDS church has more truth than his.  He has been invited to do that several times over the last few years, and has always said no.  He and his wife have changed their hearts completely all because of the wonderful influence of the Spirit!

Another great example is Dow Xiong, a woman in her late twenties we met last night (not literally related to Song Lu, but still his "cousin," there are only 18 Hmong last names).  Elder Bagley and I contacted her while Elder Ballard was busy with a phone call and she changed her mind about the need for a church completely over the course of a ten minute conversation.  She went from not interested to agreeing to be baptized on January ninth in just six hundred seconds!  We bore testimony and taught the message of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and now she will be following the example of Jesus Christ and uniting with His restored church!  The Spirit changes hearts.

There was Raquel, a less active member whose brother attends our Hmong congregation.  As we taught her by the promptings of the Holy Ghost we helped her to reconnect with God in a powerful way and offer her first prayer in years.  She is in the court proceedings of a messy divorce and the peace that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings was just what she needed and it was just what the Lord wanted to give to her.

The Lord wants all of us to have that peace.  He wants to bless all of us, and He will bless us as we strive to live in accordance with His laws.  Get blessings!  Be obedient!

I love you all,

Elder Jared Cummings

Apparently you have already seen a picture of him, but here is Elder Bagley smiling, and winking, for the camera!  And could Dad send me the picture that President Clark sent?  If you have the one from when I came in that would be great!  I would love to keep them all in one place.

Celebrating Thanksgiving and Serving in Summerset

(Elder Cummings)

This week I made the decision to stop numbering my emails by week.  I was studying in the Book of Mormon this week about the story of the sons of Mosiah preaching to the Lamanites.  This story is all about missionary work!  One of the first things I noticed when reading was the Aaron, probably the most well known of Mosiah's sons, went on his mission to the Lamanites without an end date.  I don't quite have the liberty of serving a mission indefinitely, but I decided that I could do more to at least lose track of time.

Elder Ballard and I have been all over Fresno this week...again.  We have had the opportunity to serve the local Hmong community by translating for a relief effort that is currently going on.  One of the major Hmong apartment complexes in Fresno, Summerset, has had the gas shut off for a few weeks, with a few weeks to go before repairs will be made.  We have taught and contacted A LOT of people in that complex and we were beginning to feel that it had been worked out.  Now doors are opening again, and not just for the chicken and rice we are bringing around!

We got into contact with Kenjie again (he lives in Summerset).  He was happy to sit down and talk about the Bible.  We had a long talk about characteristics of God with him.  He still isn't ready for us to try teaching him again.

One of my favorite people that we visit also lives in Summerset.  Her name is Niam Txhooj Vam, which translated is "Song Vang's woman."  There isn't a word for wife in Hmong.  It is part of the culture to quite literally take your husband's name, or as Hmong puts it, your man's name.  She speaks with a THICK accent and for the most part I haven't been able to understand her.  This week that changed and I had a conversation about how her children are doing, how she is doing with the gas shut off, and what she remembers about Laos.  The missionaries can never visit her and her husband without her going off about how our church "sib hlub sib pab"/love and help  like no other church.  She is great.

Her husband has been going for walks too.  He is a very frail old man who is very, very sick.  Or at least he was.  Elder Ballard gave him a blessing that promised him that he would live to accept the gospel.  His health has improved!

Thanksgiving was great.  Hmong know how to eat!  There was so much food!!  There had to be at least forty pounds of pork belly, a couple of gallons of one of the soups the make, and a dish I hadn't seen before that turned out to be uncleaned intestines.  Honestly, you wouldn't have been able to tell.  It made me grateful for the wonderful people I am here to serve.

Speaking of wonderful people, that is the exact same way my setting-apart blessing to be a missionary described the Hmong.  I was getting excited for the Christmas season this week and studying Jesus the Christ when it occurred to me that "Wonderful" is one of Christ's titles and it suddenly became profoundly significant to me that I am here in Fresno serving Wonderful people.  I have definitely come to know my Savior better in serving them.

The next transfer starts on Wednesday!  Elder Ballard and I will be staying in the Pioneer Park Area BUT we will be co-training a new missionary!!  I am very excited.  Twelve weeks ago I came into the Fresno Mission and twelve weeks later I get to welcome someone new!  We are excited for that!

Thank you all for the love and prayers that you are sending my way!  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

love,

Elder A. Jared Cummings

This week Elder Ballard and I had the opportunity to talk to some very nice Hmong people in Laos from the comfort of our investigator's living room!  The gospel really can reach into every nation whether or not the governments allow missionaries in their borders!

Here is Elder Ballard reciting traditional Hmong poetry in the central market of a nice little village!

The intestines are in the dish with the big wooden spoon up and the to right a little bit.

The First Baptismal Date

(Elder Cummings)

Another week has flown by!  Elder Ballard and I have been working hard this week.  We have racked up almost four hundred miles over the course of seven days driving all over the west side of Fresno teaching the gospel to the Hmong people...and to one great German man!

His name is Pieter and he is a ton of fun to visit.  His wife is Hmong and a lifelong member, making him "our" investigator.  They met in the armed forces in Germany, and Pieter has been investigating the church on and off for the last few years, and now the wait is over!  He will be baptized the weekend of December 12!  Elder Ballard and I are over the moon, as are his in-laws.  This makes me so happy!  He is coming to the covenants of salvation!

I am so grateful for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  I cannot help but smile to think that the power of God is on the earth again, that after centuries of silence God speaks to mankind again through a prophet!  I love to share this message, and I love these people!  We read in 1 Corinthians 13 that the message of the gospel, if not spoken with charity, the pure love of Christ, it becomes "as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal."  Effectively just really nice noise.  The gospel is so much more than noise!  I pray that we all can reach out to those around us in the spirit of charity so that they can understand that too.

Lots of love,

Elder Cummings

I Cant Believe Its Monday Already

(Elder Cummings)
It has been ANOTHER great week!  It has been a fast week.  I've got some doubts that this is actually Monday again.  This week has flown by.

I had my first exchange this week!  Because of scheduling conflicts we haven't had any since I made it out to Fresno.  I was with the district leader Elder Cunningham for the day.  We had some great visits with recent converts and members.  I learned a lot from how he teaches and ended the day feeling like there is a lot I could work on, but not feeling overwhelmed.  My favorite part of the day was the baptism.  That's right, I've had my first baptism!  I "baptized" on an exchange.  Not many missionaries can say that!  It was a beautiful service.  They all have been excellent.  This one has been my favorite though.  John, the person being baptized, has been investigating the church for four years, waiting to turn 18 since his parents wouldn't give permission for him to be baptized earlier.  He has waited a long time, and it was clear the he is ready!  The Spirit was so strong as he went down into the font and was baptized.  After four years of waiting he finally was given the opportunity to witness before God that he is willing to keep the commandments and to take upon himself the name of Christ.  It was a wonderful place to be.

All five of us Hmong missionaries were there for the service!  I know I haven't written about them all, and I think it is about time to introduce them.  Four of us are in Fresno and one is up in Merced training an English speaking elder.  So here they all are with John and Ritcherd, his long time friend who actually performed the baptism. 

From left to right we have my trainer Elder Ballard.  He and I get along so well.  We have the same interests, the same quirky sense of humor, and in teaching we play off of each other very well.  It has been great being his companion!  Next to him is Elder Cunningham, our district leader.  He was my companion for the day and is from the tiny town of Koo-Sharem, Utah.  I'm sure I didn't spell that right.  A state champion long jumper and a powerful missionary!  In the white we have John on the left and Ritcherd on the right.  They have grown up together both at school and in the church.  Ritcherd and his dad are the only Latinos in our Hmong ward and we love them!  Next we've got Elder Napton, Elder Cunningham's companion.  Apparently I am supposed to be wrestling him some time soon, but if that has to wait I won't be heartbroken.  Other than me he is the youngest of us Hmong missionaries and has been out for just over a year.  Skip over me and then you have Elder Pace.  I don't know him too well.  I've seen him four or five times at most.  He is the one who is serving in Merced right now.  The other elders all talk about him and love him to death!  We have an extremely solid Hmong program.  We have three more coming to the mission on December 2, Elders Bagley, Biggs, and Grey.  We are excited to meet them soon.

I love being a missionary!  It has so far been the best experience of my life!  All of you who have the opportunity should make every effort to go.  You will never regret serving the Lord.  I hope you all have a great week!

Elder Jared Cummings

There is no end to truth!

This week has been my favorite yet.  This church is true and the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ brings more joy than we can presently comprehend.  Elder Ballard and I have seen the miracle of conversion in action over these last seven days and we are excited to move the work forward!

Saturday morning I attended a funeral for the second time in my life.  The first was for a neighbor who passed away after cancer complications.  This one was for a newborn baby girl.  Both were sad occasions for the families and those in attendance.  No one wants to see a loved one go.

With death on my mind so often, it makes sense that my studies and my thoughts have been on the Plan of Salvation this weekend.  There is so much joy that comes from knowing the plan!  Everything makes more sense in context, and in the context of eternal truth death is not the end!  Through Jesus Christ we all can overcome spiritual death, estrangement from God as a result of sin, and physical death, the separation of the body and spirit.  Death is a necessary part of God's plan.  Not even the greatest of all of us, the Savior of mankind, could reach a fullness of glory and power without it.  Death must proceed immortality and eternal life.  If it was not an essential part of God's plan for us then the Resurrection would not have been a central tenant of Christ's earthly ministry.  We read in 1 Corinthians 15:20-22 that "now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.  For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." 

To paraphrase Linda S. Reeves in the General Women's Session of this last conference, happy endings come at the end of the play.  We do not find them in act one, the pre-existence, or in act two, life on earth.  Our happy ending will come in the eternities living with God again!  As the Prophet Thomas S. Monson testified, "No one is foreordained to inherit less than all their Father hath."  God's plan for us is to be sealed as families in the temple for time and all eternity--that is how we live up to our divine potential and become like our Father.  He loves us and wants us to grow up to be perfect, just like him.  This is made possible through the temple sealing.  No one is foreordained not to have that blessing.  Christ lived, died, and lives again so that we can go to the temple and make sacred covenants of marriage with our spouses that will unite our families together forever.  Without temple sealing then we could never become like God, and the Atonement of Christ would never be utilized to its full extent.  The ultimate end of Christ's sacrifice is that families can be together forever.

I am so grateful for the blessing it has been to be raised in a home with parents who understand that.  I am grateful for grandparents and great-grandparents who have made the sacrifices and come to the covenants of God.  I am eternally grateful, in the most literal sense, to live with my family and all my loved ones forever.

These blessings are real and they are available to all who live worthy of them.  Death is not the end.  If we choose righteously there will be no end to the joy of our existence.

Have a blessed week you all!

With love,

Elder Cummings

Choose the Right, Be Changed by Your Choices

(Elder Cummings)
This week Elder Ballard and I had the opportunity to teach a lesson at a baptism.  In the ward that we are in there are always 4-6 missionaries who live in the same apartment complex (when transfers come we walk across the parking lot), attend all dinner appointments together, and teach one of the missionary lessons at the other companionship's baptisms.

The baptism was for Ler Vang and it was incredible!  He loves the gospel of Jesus Christ and has changed his life for it.  Even though Elder Ballard and I haven't had an "success" as it is often phrased, it makes us both so full of joy to see others come unto Christ.  It is always wonderful.

We taught about the Plan of Salvation and the role that the Gospel of Jesus Christ plays in it.  As we were teaching I impressed myself with how fluidly the Hmong just rolled off of my tongue.  The only time I thought in English as I spoke was also the only time I didn't have a word to say.  I felt the Spirit very strongly.  Earlier that day I felt the Spirit the same way when translating the members' testimonies in sacrament meeting.  The ability to speak and translate a language is a talent, a gift, and not one that comes without work.  God does not bless us unless we are actively working for the blessings we desire.

The closing hymn for the baptism was number 116, "Come, Follow Me," and verse three touched me.  It reads:

Is it enough alone to know

That we must follow him below,

While trav'ling thru this vale of tears?

No, this extends to holier spheres.

That is a pretty good question!  Is it enough for us to only live a good life now in mortality?  No, it isn't.  Why isn't it?  We read in the Book of Alma that "this life is a time for men to prepare to meet God" (Alma 34:32).  If we intend to be prepared then we cannot make a temporary commitment.  We cannot commit to this life only.  Heaven is heaven because those who make it there have become heavenly through their mortal experience.  God is an all knowing God.  He knows what choices we will make, he knows how it will end for each of us.  As hard as we try we can never surprise our Father in Heaven.  If mortality is only about the choosing the right then it is a vain existence.  We are here to become something.  As a result of our choices we become the people worthy of the highest of all blessings, eternal life.  If we are not changed by the choices we make then the choice hardly matters.

This is a period of growth.  It is a perfectly personal test.  It is the refiners fire.  Through the righteous use of moral agency we can return to live with God and live up to our birthright.  No one is predestined to fail.  My prayer is for all of us to not just choose the right, but to be changed by our choices.  Blessings are there and they are limitless.  All that remains is for us to become worthy of them.

I love you all.  Have a wonderful week!

Elder Cummings

Shoua's Halloween costume.  Shoua is hands down my favorite person I have met on my mission so far.  She is a fantastic sister with an amazing conversion story.

This is a teaser for Hmong New Years (starts December 26!), but these are Hmong clothes!  Back in Thailand and Laos this (minus the white shirts and ties) is what would be normal wear for farming.

Speaking of Lao, Elder Ballard has taught me a few characters, and I am just barely starting to learn how to read.  I know about five characters out of about sixty.  It is a cool language.

Dropping Kenjie

(Elder Cummings)
We have had a great time this week!  As a Hmong speaking missionary called to the California Fresno Mission the call to serve is almost a two year call to serve on the Pioneer Park ward council.  You spend the vast majority of your service in that ward.  One Elder who went home shortly before I came in spent 21 of his 24 months serving in the ward boundaries.

It really is a great congregation.  There are so many committed saints, singing praises every week in Hmong, English, and on occasion a little Lao.  It is so much fun to serve a missionary here.

I had a great learning experience this week.  Kenjie, an investigator who I have loved teaching since I entered the field, has been dropped.  He has been a lot of fun to teach and has been investigating for over a year.  He has a solid Bible background, and is a lot of fun to talk to, plus his Hmong name, Kong Mang Vang (Koob Meej Vaj) is the same as mine.  We bond over that.

Flash back a little bit and I would like to talk about a different miracle.  On Wednesday I was fasting for inspiration on setting some goals for the next transfer, the next six week, and nineteen hours into what became a twenty-three hour fast I was feeling pretty weak and had just been handed a bottle of water by yet another kindhearted niam tais.  For those of you who don't know, fasting is a voluntary abstinence from food and water for an extended period of time.  It brings the "natural man," or our physical desires, under the control of the spirit.  It helps us to be more receptive to revelation, and since I was seeking inspiration as to what goals to set I was fasting.  With the water in my hand I was contemplating ending my fast.  I had already gotten the answers I was looking for, and I was really thirst and finding it increasingly difficult to simultaneously stay awake and decipher through this woman's thick accent.  It doesn't seem like it would be a bad thing to end early.  I said I was going to fast until our dinner appointment, but fasting until now seemed alright.

Lately I have been studying Christ's suffering and prayers in the Garden of Gethsemane and I have love what I am learning!  In this, my moment of weakness, a verse that Christ spoke to Peter, James, and John in the Garden that I had been pondering the day before in personal study came to mind: "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  (Matthew 26:41).  It felt like an inspired thought, so I did as the verse directs and prayed.  Immediately the thirst began to subside and the Holy Ghost told me that I had chosen right and that in the next appointment for the day, one with Kenjie, Elder Ballard and I needed to invite him to be baptized.

Off we went to the lesson.  As my companion and I taught and testified together Kenjie began to understand for the first time in his year of investigating that the state of his eternity following death hangs on the question of whether or not the Book of Mormon is truly God's word.  If it is, then the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church that has the authority of God necessary to save.  Kenjie is a strong Christian, and when this understanding finally dawned on him, the Spirit pierced his heart, we invited him to be baptized, and we knelt with him as he prayed to know what he should do.  He was now deep in thought and visibly moved by what he felt as he prayed.  My companion and I set up a return appointment for the following Friday.  We left the lesson ecstatic.

Kenjie has been taught that you cannot trust emotions as a medium for receiving revelation from God.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that emotion is half of the way we are even capable of receiving revelation.  Kenjie had received a witness from the Holy Ghost, but by the time we returned on Friday he had talking himself out of it.  He cited concerns with the doctrine that didn't make logical sense with his interpretation of the Bible.  In a strange reversal of roles he called meeting with us a trial of his faith.  He was not willing to read the Book of Mormon to find for himself if it is true.  Every missionary who has ever taught Kenjie has felt that it is only a matter of time before he joins the church, but because of his decision in the appointment on Friday, it will still be some time before that happens.

One thing that impressed me about the interaction with Kenjie is that if you choose to try to prove to yourself the truth of the Book of Mormon by any means other than what the book teaches, through prayer and diligent study, receiving a witness of it by the power of the Holy Ghost, then you will never get the confirming answer necessary to obtain a testimony.  Unless you are doing as the book directs you are already denying the truth in its pages.  The invitation is made clear, and the promise is clear that he or she who asks with a sincere heart will know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the book is true (Moroni 10:5).  I know that is how it works.  I have tried it myself many times and every time I have received the same answer: the Book of Mormon is true, Jesus is the Christ, Joseph Smith is the prophet of the Restoration, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is "the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the Second Coming of the Messiah." (Introduction to the Book of Mormon).

I invite as many as are willing to ask or re-ask the question, to read the Book.  It will change your life, it will help to secure your salvation.  This is a promise, and I leave it with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

With love,

Elder Jared Cummings

Teaching the Atonement in a McDonald's Parking Lot

(Elder Cummings)

This has been another great week!  I'm pretty sure I say that every time, but it is always true!

This week I gave my first blessing in Hmong and had my first teaching appointment in Hmong that didn't feel much different than an English speaking appointment.  The language is coming as fast as I am willing to study it!  I see the literal blessings of the gift of tongues daily.

This week we witnessed another miracle that has been on my mind.  My companion and I were leaving a teaching appointment at McDonalds (yes, it was for teaching only) intending to rush a few blocks over to make it to a Shoua V.'s house for dinner.  Shoua is an incredible example of faith.  She taught herself to read Hmong by staring at the pages of the Book of Mormon and praying.  I could go on and on about the miracle of a person she is.  This miracle isn't about her though.  This miracle is about a less active man who God loves.

As we were leaving McDonalds Elder Ballard stopped to talk to a man in his late twenties or early thirties, arms covered in tattoos, a longboard at his side, and some serious face scruff.  We were already late, so I was not terribly happy that he was using more of our time.  In the words of the Savior found in Doctrine and Covenants 61:3, I was "moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side [were] perishing in unbelief."  The man sat on the curb unresponsive, making me even more impatient as my companion continued to try to get him to talk.

Eventually we got in the car and, as per missionary rules, I guided my companion to back out of the parking space.  As I was doing this the man walked up and began to apologize.  He told me that he was raised a Mormon, that he knew the Church was true and that God lived.  He told me about the path he followed that led him to where he was now, living on the street stuck on crack and crystal meth.  He felt defeated and I felt humbled.

I did the first thing I felt prompted to do, bear testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the potential for all of God's sons and daughters to be saved by its power.  I told him that he was right, that God did live and that he does love him, one of his sons.  I told him that God intends for him to return to live in the Celestial Kingdom, and I bore testimony that I will one day see him there.  I was taught by the words that came out of my mouth.  In front of me stood a man who minutes ago I was not interesting in talking with and now I was promising him access to salvation and eternal life.  The Holy Ghost was guiding my words and was changing my heart.  I began to love this man and made sure that we did not leave before he accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon.  It is miraculous that my companion and I continue to run into less active members everywhere we go.  It is miraculous that God put is in the right place at the right time, a place we were not even intending to be when we planned the night before, and that my companion listened to the Spirit in reaching out to one of God's children that felt he had been lost by the wayside.

The Atonement is a real power.  It is capable of freeing us all from all our guilt and cleansing us of all our sins.  As the prophet Isaiah wrote,  through the Atonement "though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18).  All of us have access to it through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.  This gospel is true, and it does change lives.

Have a wonderful week everybody!  I hope you all find an opportunity to reflect on all the ways the hand of God is active in your life.

With love,

Elder Cummings

Mai L.

(Elder Cummings)

This week Elder Ballard and I hit a bit of a slump in our teaching.  Over the last four weeks our teaching pool has decreased sixty percent.  Not all bad.  We have been able to focus more specifically on the people who are more sincere in wanting to learn.  Sincerity is an issue you run into a lot in Hmong work apparently.  There is literally no word for "no" in Hmong.

All that aside, we have seen miracles!  This week we went to contact a referral in downtown Fresno, only to find that they lived in a gated community.  Naturally we did the missionary thing and went to the call box and began calling the numbers of each Hmong women's name on the residents list.  It wasn't long before we had success.  An old niam tais (grandmother) excitedly said that she would be over the open the gate the moment she heard that we were LDS missionaries.

Mai L. came to let us in, and she wasn't blind like our referral was supposed to be.  As she was leading us to her apartment we did pass the blind Hmong woman we were looking for.  She ended up not being interested after all, but Mai L. was!

Mai was born in 1948 and has spent most of her life in America.  She was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in September of 1987 in San Diego and attended church there for five years until she moved across the country for a job.  This was the last contact she had with the Church.  For longer that I have been alive she has had a testimony of Joseph Smith and has not known where she could go to worship.  When we she excited pulled out her "Selections from the Book of Mormon" in Lao we more than excitedly gave her a full Lao translation.  We taught her about the living prophet, a new one to her, Thomas S. Monson and about the things he and the apostles have taught us recently.  We told her about the Hmong ward in Fresno and she excitedly committed to start attending.

We went back to see her on Saturday to follow up with her and introduce her to the members who volunteered to give her a ride to find that she had a friend who she wanted us to teach who spoke only Laotian.  My companion has picked up a little bit of Lao while he has been in Fresno, but that wasn't enough to teach on.  We taught the message of the Restoration in Hmong to Mai, who then taught it in Lao to her friend, who then replied to us in Lao, which Mai translated into Hmong, which my companion translated into English when I wasn't catching it all.  There was a lot going on, but at the end of the lesson, and under the direction of the Spirit we taught about baptism and Elder Ballard was able to commit our new investigator to be baptized in his native tongue.  He accepted!

God works in mysterious ways.  It is hard to grasp the big picture when we are in the moment, but as the plan unfolds in becomes clear who the author was.  God does not forget His children.  He does not leave them comfortless.

Thank you for all the emails!  It has been great to hear from you all about your adventures wherever you are in the world.  I hope you all have a great week!

With love,

Elder Cummings

Sorry the file size is too big to send two pictures together.  This is what I ate this week!

And here is evidence that it really went down!

It came back up later that night.  There was something wrong with the pork.  You're also not supposed to eat the chicken's eyes...oops.

Community Service and Apostolic Callings

This week has been a fantastic one.  That seems to be the trend.  While it was not our biggest week for teaching lessons it was definitely one heavy with service hours.  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday my companion and I spent most of our days helping to translate English to Hmong and Hmong to English at a free dental care clinic. 

The clinic was an experience!  I have been working at this language for three months now and it was a fun stretch of my abilities to talk to people about their medical history and dental procedures.  My companion, Elder Ballard, did help me a lot.  It was really pretty incredible to see this clinic.  There were several hundred dentists on the floor of an enormous convention center doing everything from routine cleanings to pulling wisdom teeth for no charge.  We had people come from over three hundred miles to get this free service.  It was an incredible community event.

The only downside of that was that I missed most of General Conference on Saturday (Mission President approved, no worries).  I may not have raised my hand with the rest of the Church to sustain the three new Apostles, Elders Ronald A. Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, and Dale G. Renlund, but I do know that they have been called of God to fulfill this sacred calling.  They're charge is just as the original twelve, to "teach all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19).

God really does speak today.  I find that fact miraculous.

This next week is looking to be a great one.  I love you all.  Have a great day!

-Elder Cummings

Dental Clinic

Pictures from Fresno

The mandatory hair part.

An acquaintance had a stroke, so to help them mend we came across these three chopping up yard waste!  The two older women are bad shammans apparently--they joked about how they still pray to God when they are scared, and invited us back to hear our message!

Best thing ever.  I highly recommend it.

This week we went to an investigator's house to help them with some farm work.  Rice farming is their source of income for the year and they were happy to get some extra hands.

We went rice farming for service.  I had a cool flower print hat, but we didn't get a picture.  These are some pictures of what a Hmong farm looks like.

A man we've seen a couple of times who isn't all there, but is a mechanical wiz.