Supreme Court and Little Bros

This week a lot has happened but the thing I wish to share most is something my brother posted on facebook not long after the supreme court ruling. My little brother Jared has already been set apart as a missionary and leaves next week to go and serve the Hmong speaking people of California. I am so proud of him and all the choices he has made. With this I leave the words to him, which I can testify at every moment is the truth. I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

"With the Supreme Court’s decision on same-sex marriage I would like to explain the reason why I don’t support the ruling. I expect that my views are soon to be stereotypical of a dwindling minority. Rather than leave doubt on why I believe what I believe I would like to explain myself to anyone willing to read.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Church does have a spotted history with the LGBT rights movement, and I recognize that. The Church’s stance on marriage has been clear since “The Family: A Proclamation to the World” was publish in 1995. If you are not familiar with the document you can read it here: https://www.lds.org/topics/family-proclamation?lang=eng

I have spent many hours pondering on why the Church’s stance on gay marriage is what it is. It has not been something I have chosen to believe in blindly. I cannot say for sure, but I think it is possible to have a relationship between two people of the same sex that can be loving and happy much in the same way that traditional marriages in this life can be. That being said, happiness in this life is not remotely the most important thing. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has doctrine on where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going that is unlike any other religion that I am aware of. It is called the Plan of Salvation and you can read more about it here: http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/plan-of-salvation.

What makes this plan so unique is that, number one, unlike other branches of Christianity there is no everlasting hell. It is a well established doctrine in the LDS church that God loves us immensely and will bless us with a type of eternal glory unless we knowingly deny it, something a tiny minority are even capable of doing. God does not punish the sinner eternally. That being said, the second defining component of the Plan of Salvation is that not all glories are equal. There are three major divisions: the Celestial represented by the glory of the sun, the Terrestrial represented by the glory of the moon, and the Telestial represented by the glory of the stars. Furthermore, we are taught that the greatest degree of glory, the Celestial, can be divided into three subkingdoms, the highest of which has among its requirements a marriage that has been sealed in an LDS temple for time and all eternity. As you read in the Family Proclamation only heterosexual marriages can be sealed. You can read about this doctrine of eternal marriage here: http://www.mormon.org/faq/together-forever.

That is the key. The highest degree of glory is what God wants for us. It is there and only there that family relations can continue beyond the grave. God gave us this Plan of Salvation so that we can become like Him, in all His glory, happiness and perfection and it is in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom that we do become like God. Yes, that means that it is LDS doctrine that we not only have a Heavenly Father, but a Heavenly Mother also. They are both perfect exalted beings. Their happiness, eternal happiness, is the only happiness that lasts beyond the grave. The happiness homosexual couples can experience in relationships together in this life will not continue after death. Where there was happiness in this life there will be an emptiness. The same goes for all heterosexual marriages not sealed in LDS temples. I do not support same-sex marriage because it is my firm belief that eternity will not be as happy as it could be for them. I want all people to have a full measure of eternal happiness, regardless of any discriminating factor.

I want more for my gay brothers and sisters just as I want more for all of my brothers and sisters who do not yet know the full truth of the gospel of Christ. I believe in the potential of all of God’s children to become as their Father in Heaven and I believe the Plan of Salvation to be the only way for that to be possible. If I were to support gay marriage I feel that I would be denying my LGBT brothers and sisters of the full measure of my love. I do not support gay marriage because I support gay exaltation.

I know that God loves all of us perfectly. I strive daily, hourly, by the minute, to have that kind of love for everyone. I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the full truth of Christ’s gospel on the earth today. I know that Joseph Smith was indeed called to be a prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon was translated by the gift and power of God. It is my testimony that Christ lives, that He died for not only our sins, but every shortcoming and pain we experience. Know that I love you, all of you.

If you have any questions about what I have said, I would encourage you to send me a Facebook message to help clarify what I have said. I hope I have not angered anyone. That was never my intent. If I have I would ask that if you do message me with questions know that I am sorry and while I find it acceptable for you to vent that anger, do not slander me, my religion, or my God.

If you have made it this far I must thank you for reading this. I hope why I believe what I believe is clear."

Baptism!

Dear friends and family:

We baptized this week!

The story: A few weeks ago, I thought of a less-active member who was baptized the week before I got into Florida, almost 2 years ago. Her name is Mikerlange. I thought, 'we should go and see her.' And so we went and saw her. We found out that her daughter, who had been 7 at the time that she, her husband, and her other daughter were baptized, was now nine. We went back to see them several times and got the ward involved in supporting them and encouraging them to go to church. And we set her daughter with a baptismal date for the 20th.

Skip ahead until last week: Mikerda is now ready to be baptized, we set up her interview with the zone leaders (because the district leader is sick.) We show up to the interview early to fill out the baptismal record. We write in all of the information, and I notice something odd about her birthday. As it turns out, when Haitians say that they are nine, they really mean that they are eight years, eleven months, and two weeks old. So we cancelled the interview, scheduled another one with the bishop, and went ahead with the baptism as a child of record baptism instead.

So... no baptisms in the mission. Instead, we helped the ward do a non-convert baptism!

Next week we will have two solid convert baptisms as well. Lusane and Jonal have been to church three times now, and they finally accepted a hard date for the 27th. We've scheduled their interview for this Wednesday, and their baptism will be on Saturday. Hooray!

Also, our ward had a father's day activity after the baptism on Saturday. It was really slow at first, with not a lot of participation, but after 30-40 minutes the entertainment came. Apparently, they had hired a Mariachi band to come and play for the activity. Everybody was very excited for that, and many people got up to start dancing. It was really fun to watch. I recorded several minutes of audio, but I lost my cord to connect my recorder to the computer, so I can't send it to anybody unfortunately.

Thanks,

Elder Slade

Father's Day

So I must admit that I completely forgot about fathers day until we walked into church yesterday and all the little boys were wearing matching ties with their daddies. After the first reaction of "oh that is so cute!" I then wondered why...well that answer came pretty quick after the primary came up and sang "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home"... so happy fathers day!

This week was amazing! We worked and worked and worked resulting in just under twenty lessons for the week! Nearly record breaking numbers for those on the Northern frontier! We were ecstatic! Although as what normally accompanies missionary work we had our fair share of awkward moments. Seriously though. I have often wondered if one of the reasons I am out here is to build up an immunity to awkward moments. For example, no matter what time of day, what type of dog, what kind of weather, if we see a dog being walked by its owner, just as the thought comes into our head thinking it is cute, it decides to take a dump. This is the case WITHOUT FAIL. However on a more applicable note, we witness these awkward moments even in lessons. But you know sometimes these moments are in a way the answers to our prayers.

I am most often a loving person however these past three weeks I had found it inexplicably hard to have charity towards one of our investigators, as she called us all the time telling the exact same sob story. I had been praying so hard that by some miracle I would be able to find a way to love her, as it is one of the most necessary ways to help her. Well Heavenly Father answered with an awkward moment. Our investigator not thinking we believed enough that her mother never came and visited her and didn't care about her called us in a conference call with her mother. The clip from "Mean Girls" most certainly came to mind as we sat silently listening to daughter accuse mother and mother patiently love daughter. I felt tempted to yell out "*gasp*! Is that what you really think of me?" and hang up. But I didn't. After a while our investigator acknowledges our existence, introduces us, and then kicks her mother off the line. It was horrible. It was awkward. And most definitely not the most treasured of moments.

After explaining and asking that whatever had just happened not happen again we finished with a scripture about patience and hung up. Immediately afterwards we called her mother to apologize. Her mother, who was a 91 year old blinding woman just thanked us. She thanked us for having love for her daughter. She said that we were an answer to prayers that she prayed for every day. She was so grateful that her child had friends like us who were able to see the good in her. And that though she had problems were able to have patience and were willing to help her change.

I nearly cried as I felt at that moment the love that this mother had for her daughter. It was so real and tangible that I recognized at that moment that my prayer was being answered because it suddenly clicked. This mother loved her daughter no matter her problems, and prayed for her everyday. The scripture came into my mind when Jesus says "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?" If this parental love that this woman had for her daughter was just this strong, how much stronger was Heavenly Father's love for her. I could love her too.

I am so grateful for all that I learn out here. This experience was quintessential in a following feeling. A gratitude to my own parents, and particularly my father. I recognized just the amount of love that he holds for me, as he was willing to help me understand the math homework I was having trouble with, or help me make and design a project for school. I love my father so much and am so absolutely grateful for the patience that he has had with me and my siblings as we have been growing up. I am thankful also for my father in heaven who has sent me here at this time to be a messenger of his goodness and mercy. Thank you so much for all of the prayers that you send my way. I love you all and pray for you daily.

Love,

Sister Cummings

Good Week

Dear friends and family:

We had a really good week again. We're very excited for many of our investigators. We had six total investigators come to church this week, and three of them can be baptized this Saturday.

Mikerda is extremely solid. She is the daughter of a member who was baptized the week before I got into Florida almost two years ago, and she is very prepared to be baptized and she is excited to come to church each week, and to help others receive the gospel as well. We had a lesson on missionary work, and we asked her what she can do to make sure that as many of her friends as possible get to live with her and God in the celestial kingdom. She told us that she wanted to help others come to church and want to be baptized, because otherwise it would be really lonely when we got to heaven and some of her friends weren't there!

Lusane and Jonal are also excited to come to church. Lusane had a dream where she went to a restaurant and she was served a half-plate of white rice and a half-place of brown rice. And here we come, a half-companionship of white missionary and a half-companionship of brown missionary. I'm not being racist, just frank. She wants to be a part of the church, but she is very hesitant because she is afraid that she will be baptized and then will realize that she made a mistake and will regret doing it. So again we're hoping to help her recognize her answer as she reads the Book of Mormon so that she can be baptized with Mikerda this Saturday.

I don't have much time today, so that's all I have time to tell you!

Thanks,

Elder Slade

The Beauty of the Silences

This week has been just absolutely amazing! I just can't even write in all the ways it has been amazing, other than what I have recognized has been my part in it. At this months Zone Training, where our missionary leaders and President teach us and train us, there was a focus on understanding why we need to be more obedient. In the idea that we do not know why all of the rules we are given are given. We may get a glimpse at this "spirit of the law" but we do not know all things. However we do understand and know all of the "letter of the law" or the rules that we must follow. And since we know these rules and we know that they have been given to us by a Father in Heaven who loves us, we can show that we love him and trust him as we go about following those commandments he has given us. In part of what made this week so amazing was that my companion and I tried our hardest to take this to heart, and be obedient.

During the training which our loving President was teaching he explained how these "rules" are not just rules but they are directions. They are leading us somewhere. And not just any somewhere, but Eternal Life; where we may live with our families forever in happiness. As we are willing to adhere to these commandments we may also see many blessings along our way to this final and beautiful goal. Which blessings could be held back from us. For example, many people not affiliated with the church may find our health guidelines, or "word of wisdom" rather strict. Which warns against most vividly the partaking of tobacco, alcohol, coffee and tea as well as many other harmful substances. Though strict the blessings are realized in the long run. We have seen how many studies have been done on tobacco alone and how it inhibits our bodies from being fully and completely healthy. So in the seem of things as we follow this commandment the Lord is able to bless us much easier with health and other blessings. And more personally I know that when I am obedient here as a missionary that the Lord is able to bless me with his holy spirit which has helped me and many like me to do his work more fully. Which was one of the blessings which Sister Ford and I directly saw this week.

There was one day in particular. We had woken up on time, exercised, had started our studies and in an effort to make our companionship studies more worthwhile, we studied a portion of "Preach My Gospel" a manual we as missionaries use to better use our time effectively and to know more fully what we teach. This particular morning a certain topic seemed to be taking precedent in both mine and Sister Ford's mind. This topic was that of what many call the "awkward silences." As we talked we thought about how these silences can be really useful as it is the time that those we teach can process what we are teaching. Immediately following that study we went to work teaching the people of Lemoyne. In one of our final lessons of the day, the woman we had been teaching had a question on one of the words we had used. To answer her question we turned to a portion of the pamphlet that we generally use that includes definitions of certain words. We read it and started to explain it. The woman was still focused on the pamphlet, thinking it may have been a language issue we allowed for a silence. Which Silence allowed for our investigator to read a portion on Baptism which was also contained therein. This lead to her asking a question that nearly knocked me off my feet, for it showed exactly what it was that she was struggling with. This question was "Why do I need to be baptized twice." We then taught the most joy filled teaching of apostasy I have ever given just because we had finally found her problem! FINALLY!

I know that as we are obedient to the commandments which the Lord has given us that we are truly able to find even more the blessings which he pours upon us. I see this everyday of my life out here as a missionary. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I have been given to be out here in Canada teaching the Lords word. May God bless you!   

When life gives you marbles, roll with it.

Not exactly sure where that title came from but hey, its kind of catchy so I am going to keep it. Boy has it been a week. As the Elders in our ward lost their car we were asked to switched apartments so then they may be able to live at least remotely close to their area without always having to take a thirty minute bus ride. For taking over an elders apartment it was actually pretty spotless and is one of the best apartments in the mission so we most definitely lucked out with that.

However with the move we had a couple of just ridiculous things happen. We had agreed that we would move our food but the condiments wouldn't stay in the apartments. However this must not have been as clearly explained as we had believed so we arrived to an apartment where there was absolutely nothing there. Not even salt and pepper.

After realizing this we called the Elders asking if we could swing by and grab at least some of the spices that we had left. After a small pause they informed us that after arriving there the first action that they had undertaken had been to throw everything away. Not only food mind you, but dishes and pans and cups and you name it. Including the Tupperware and dishes that members had loaned to us and we had been planning to return back to them that Sunday. How a pair of Elders could have chosen to keep plastic containers and throw away the high quality glass ones loaned to us? The world may never know. Needless to say Sister Ford and I were not harboring the most righteous of feelings towards them. However we chose to stop it. And instead of acting on those feelings we bought the Elders dish soap that they didn't realize that they had needed.

However things just kept happening. And happening. And happening. It literally felt like it was one of the worst days I have had in this past year. Finally the time came where we both said "if it happens one more time..." then citing the scripture about if your brother offenedeth thee a fourth time then do ye have a right to act. Ironically this no good very bad day "just happened" to be on the day when our recent convert Martin, whom I had helped baptize three months ago, was receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood. As we were about to leave the car we turned to each other and realized we did not have the spirit with us. And decided to say a prayer before leaving the car.

During the ordination the thought came into my mind to prayer even harder. It was then that the words came into my head "If you forgive and forget then isn't it always only the first offense?" A feeling of love came over me and as I later was told over my companion as we realized that no matter how annoying or ridiculous these two Elders were, they were righteous children of God, trying all their might to serve him.

My message this week is a message of forgiveness and longsuffering. Sometimes the Lord sees fit to test our patience and chasten us, but if we always put our trust in him these moments do not seem as hard as they could be. I love you all and thank you for the prayers that you send my way. May God be with you as you go about doing good.

Sister Cummings

Staying in Miami

Dear friends and family:

Transfer calls were yesterday. I'm staying in Miami, with Elder Storm, for another transfer!

We had a pretty good week, with just a few hitches. Our biggest strength this week was we were consistent with getting members out to lessons with us, and so we even improved on that from last week. One of our biggest weaknesses was that our work with recent converts and less actives suffered a lot this week, and got almost zero attention as a result. So we'll be working on improving and balancing out our efforts throughout the week, so that no specific task or group of people gets shafted.

Part way through the week, I started having a large amount of pain in my throat, paired with bad headaches and ear aches that felt like ear infections. I thought that it was strep. When we called the mission nurse, she prescribed a few medications and told me to stay home for three days. I did my best to work things out with other companionships so that we could go on exchanges and continue to get work done in both areas for the days that I was out of commission. I'm back to working now, but I still don't feel 100% better. My throat doesn't hurt like strep anymore, but my headache and ear aches become very distracting when I forget to take ibuprofen to keep it down. If they don't go away on their own in another day or two, I'll call the mission nurse again and get it worked out so that it doesn't become a bigger issue.

This Sunday, we were rounding up our investigators to come to church, and we had a ride set up for several of them. We arrived there to help the investigators get in the car, and we discovered that the car that our member was going to drive them in had developed a flat tire. We weren't sure what to do, but we stayed around and helped him fix the problem, even though church was starting in just a few minutes. We arrived at church 30 minutes into sacrament meeting, and were just barely on time to take the water from the foyer. (There has been several baby blessings beforehand, fortunately.)

One of the investigators who came to church is named Mikerda. She is the 9-year-old daughter of a less-active member (Mikerlange) who was baptized the week before I came into Florida more than a year and a half ago. They all came to church together as a family, and they all really enjoyed it. Mikerda is probably one of the smartest 9-year-olds I have ever met. She's probably one of the smartest investigators I've ever met, in fact. We asked her to read in the Book of Mormon; when we came back, she had read the first six chapters, and she proceeded to describe to us exactly what happened in those chapters, and what she thought it meant. Elder Storm and I are both happy that we're still here together to help her be baptized on the 20th.

Yesterday I tried to cook a meal for lunch. I boiled a bunch of vegetables and fried some chicken, then I combined the vegetables and chicken and fried them together for a little bit. I boiled the vegetables for too long, so they were mushy and came off on the chicken, making it look like I had added pesto or some sort of guacamole. Also, I forgot to season it. I won't be trying that again for a while. :)

Thanks,

Elder Slade