The Need for the Liahona

This week we passed the halfway point of our stay at the MTC.  That is hard for me to grasp.  As much progress as I have had with the language so far, I still don't think I'll be comfortable going out and speaking only Hmong to people in just another month.  It is going to come fast.

We sent off two more missionaries since I last wrote.  One was the other Korean roommate we have had and the other was one of the native Hmong elders.  We miss them both.  Class has definitely been more difficult without Elder Vang.  Of the eight Hmong Elders left, four will be joining him next month.  It really has been amazing at how well we have all meshed together.  Each Elder is different, but it works real well.  There haven't been any issues between any of the Elders.  We all get along great.

The topic of sacrament meeting yesterday was the Book of Mormon.  To prepare for it I spent a lot of time in the Book of Mormon, specifically 1 Nephi 16.  This is the chapter where Lehi finds the Liahona to guide them to the promised land and when Nephi breaks his bow and the family goes hungry for a while.  It occurred to me as I was reading it that this chapter is an extended metaphor for the need of continuing revelation.  I ended up taking a few pages of notes explaining all the symbolism and implications. 

The Liahona, a "ball of curious workmanship" (1 Nephi 16:10) that directs Lehi and his family to the promised land is symbolic of continuing revelation.  The pointers which gave direction "did work according to the faith and diligence and heed" that they gave to it (1 Nephi 16:28).  The writing that told them the word of the Lord was "plain to read" and "changed from time to time according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it" (1 Nephi 16:29).  It is the same way with living prophets.  They speak for the Lord in our day today.  What they teach changes from time to time according to the needs and issues that face the world today.  Prophets teach plain and simple truths, inviting all to repent, believe in Christ, and come unto him through making sacred covenants.  We may not understand how they work, but we know that they are of God, and help us to go where we need to go, "keeping [us] in the more fertile parts of the wilderness" that we call mortality (1 Nephi 16:14).

Twice in this chapter Lehi and his family stop traveling for a time (1 Nephi 16:17, 33).  In both instances, what follows is starvation and an inability to access food, symbolic of the spiritual food we need that comes in a large part through prophets who speak in the same way that Moses, Abraham, Adam, and the prophets of old did.  When the family stopped traveling--stopped being guided by the continuing revelation of the Liahona--they were not literally physically nourished and symbolically they were not spiritually nourished either.  This separation from spiritual food through God's appointed way is referred to as apostasy.

We believe that following the death of Jesus Christ and his original twelve apostles the priesthood authority so often referenced in the New Testament as the power by which Christ and his apostles acted was lost from the earth for a time.  This period of time is called the Great Apostasy.  As Paul testified in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, speaking of Christ's Second Coming, "that day shall no come, except there come a falling away first."  The Great Apostasy is what he was speaking of.  This prophecy was known even in Old Testament times as we read in the Book of Amos that "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it."  So, for over one thousand years following Christ's death the truth was on the earth, but not accompanied by the authority to teach it and perform saving ordinances.  Many people, such as Martin Luther and William Tyndale, with good intents tried to reform the truths, but to bring back the authority a restoration was needed.

That restoration did come in the year 1820 through a young man named Joseph Smith because he asked in earnest prayer to know where he should go to obtain spiritual food, to know which Church was true.  He was told that the many churches then on the earth had many of the words of God, but that through Joseph the true church, with the same power and authority that Christ and his apostles exercised on this earth, would be restored.  Nephi, when his family, when all those around him were starving, asked his father, just as Joseph as his Father, "whither shall I go to obtain food?" (1 Nephi 16:23).  Nephi did obtain food for his family, and when he returned to those who suffered in famine, "how great was their joy!" (1 Nephi 16:32).  I know that this message, the message of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ will bring joy.  It will end the thirst for the hearing the words of the Lord.  It will change lives.  It will heal the brokenhearted and raise up the downtrodden.  It does change lives.  I have seen it work miracles.  It is a message of happiness.  It is a message that proclaims that because God loves us he again speaks through prophets, he again gives guidance as in days of old.  The Lord has "bless[ed] us again with food" that we perish not (1 Nephi 16:39).  I am excited to share this gospel, this good news.  I know it is true.  I have seen its fruits, and know that they are good (Matthew 7:20).

With love,

Elder Jared Cummings

For more information on the Great Apostasy and the Restoration through Joseph Smith, visit http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/restoration

The Elders Vang

Dear friends and family:

Last week ended really well, with ten investigators at sacrament, and plenty of dates and new investigators. Starting the very next day, however, almost all of our investigators started dropping off the face of the map. It was like a magic trick, but it wasn't very fun to watch. The only two investigators that remained by the end of the week were Lucia and her daughter, Jessica. (And it took until Thursday to finally get in contact with them.) I'm sorry to report that thus sudden change of direction in our area caused more than a little discouragement between the two of us.

Lucia and her daughter have been to church three times now. They have a baptismal date for this Saturday, which we will do everything in our power to help them keep. Lucia feels like she needs to know more before her baptism, and she also confided in us that she doesn't feel like she has fully repented of everything she has done in the past. We're not going to push her, but we will help her with that process and encourage her to read the Book of Mormon and to pray. We have plans to have her interviewed early this week, to help her see that she is ready.

The other three investigators that came to church are new investigators from this week, that we found while knocking doors. It is a family: Ezekiel, and his two daughters, both of whom have names that I can never remember or pronounce for the life of me. (Someone else who lives in the same house has an interesting name, pronounced the way you would read "qui est la lune" in French, although it is not spelled that way. It means "who is the moon." Just... thought you ought to know :D) We gave them a tour of the chapel before church started, and they were really interested in the story of Joseph Smith. (We had only found them on Saturday, so we had not had a chance to teach it to them beforehand.) They also have soft dates, but their dates are for the 22nd.

Maxime didn't come to church. Apparently, his job required him to drive all throughout the weekend, because school is starting up so soon. We have stopped trying to see him, because he is almost never home and because he can't progress or be baptized unless his wife hops on the bandwagon and they decide to be married. It's sad, but we made the decision and we feel like it's the best thing to do.

Thanks,

Elder Slade

Amazing Quebec

Quebec is as usual amazing! All this week we have had such beautiful weather! With the sun shining during the day and insane thunderstorms at night. Sister Ladd and I have taken to planning our following day in the garage overlooking the lightening from a nice dry corner. It is breathtaking!

Anyways this week I would like to share one of my favourite scriptures. It is in Moroni 7, and it reads

 12 Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.

 13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.

I love this scripture so much because the logic it presents is just so simple. Anything good that invites us to do good is of God. And anything that doesn't is not. However my absolute favourite scripture comes just a little bit later

15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

Something that we teach is the importance of free agency, which is the power to choose for ourselves. In French it translates to libre arbitre. Libre, meaning free. Arbitre meaning choice, but what is interesting is that this word, at least in Quebec, is the word used to describe the referee at soccer games. Isn't French so cool?? If we look at what a referee does it is there job to determine what follows the rules and what does not during a game. Thus judging from right and wrong. With this knowledge, agency also takes on a further meaning, the need to choose between good and bad. But we are not alone! That is the best part! The Lord gives us so many opportunities to check up to see what is right, much like a rule book, we are given the scriptures, priesthood blessings, but even more prayers! The Lord promises that if we but ask it will be given unto us. So that we may be able to know with a plain and a perfect knowledge between right and wrong just as we see the difference between the light of day and the darkness of night.

I love you all and I know that these things are true that if we just ask God that he will be able to help us know right and wrong. Often out here we ask others to pray to know if the book of Mormon is true, or that Joseph Smith was a Prophet. These are not vain demands. Each has a purpose. I myself have prayed and I can testify that I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God and it was literally translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith. I thank you for all the prayers that you send my way and know that I pray for you. Have a wonderful week!

The Plague Continues

So in continuation from last week. I am all better from whatever bug I may have caught. However my lovely companion caught my little ball of fun... So we had an entire day of sitting and making calls. And because the Area Book had already been updated and the apartment cleaned to shining, I got the opportunity to make a scripture case, it isn't finished yet but I am so excited about it #bepreparedforpictures

Besides that we had a mini mission this week! Her name was Kayla, so it was really really strange to hear someone calling my name, my REAL name, so often. It kind of gave me a little glimpse at the awkward RM I am going to be... #foreverhandshaking

But besides the random points of trunkiness, Kayla helped me realize something quite vision changing. During the mini mission we had an opportunity to bring our third companion to a district meeting. Or the meeting where all the missionaries in our little area meet with to discuss the needs of our areas and learn from each other. Kayla was asked to give her testimony on how her mini mission was helping her, and what she said was so simple, but it really hit right home.

I have been on my mission for a good bit of time okay? No one can refute that fact. And just like with anything that we have been doing for a while, I have fallen into the habits and life of being a missionary. The things I do just don't always hit the same as they did a year ago. So when Kayla commented on how much it really touched her that we would listen to Mo Tab in the morning before studies, which we did every morning. It made me take a step back and look at what I have been doing out here on a mission. I have been doing and feeling so much good that I just don't see the difference anymore.

This past week my brother wrote about recognizing the spirit, in comparing it to a stop sign. I would like to add another analogy to that, which I discovered at the beginning of my mission and can now farther testify of it. Have you ever moved from one place to the next? I remember moving from Illinois to New Jersey and for the first solid month, we were searching for those moments when the New Jersey accent would appear. After a while the chwaclate and cwoffee turned into normal. Feeling the Holy Ghost is a lot like this. When we are put into a new environment and doing new things we recognize it so often. And then after extended exposure it becomes normal for us, and we don't recognize it until not too long afterwards someone points out to us that we are using this same accent in our own conversations.

I can testify that this is true. I saw it happen this week.

I love you all!!!

Have a wonderful week!

Strong Week

Dear friends and family:

Elder Storm and I are doing very well. We started off the week very strong, working well together and always looking for more things we can do to help our investigators and keep our area healthy. The hard work paid off, and by the end of the week it resulted in... ten investigators coming to sacrament meeting! That is one of the highest I have ever gotten on my mission. Church was a madhouse, we were so worried about getting each of the investigators to their proper classes and getting members to talk with them. In all of the people who came to church, we have...

Maxime. He came for the third time this week. He loves the church, and the only thing that is preventing him from getting baptized is that he isn't yet married with his significant other. They want to get married, but she doesn't want us to help out with it, because she feels like if we do it then we will use that as leverage to get her to come to church with us and to get baptized. (Neither of which are things that she wants to do.) But we'll keep working with them, hopefully she has a change of heart or some other miracle comes along so that he and his kids (and her as well, by preference) can all be baptized together.

Lucia and Jessica. Lucia is a member referral from her cousin, who lives in Canada. She and her daughter, Jessica, have come to church twice, and they have a date for this Saturday! What we're struggling with in helping her get baptized is that she works very late every day, so we have to see her at the end of the evening, so we don't have a lot of time to go over what we need to cover, and even then she isn't always home yet. But we're not complaining, she's great!

Christelle. We knocked into her several months ago, but never went back to see her because she wasn't committed to come to church and didn't have a very strong desire to be baptized. But she called us a few days ago and told us that she wanted to take us up on the offer to come to church. She came, loved it, and has a date for the 15th!

Livesta & her five siblings. We used to call her Abigail, because that's how she introduced herself originally, but apparently her first name is actually Livesta and she told us that that's what she prefers to be called. So... Livesta has been to church five times now. We were really trying to get a big push for her to be baptized last Saturday, but her parents aren't quite on board with it yet. They don't believe that she is mature enough to be baptized. (She's 16, by the way.) So we're going to try to work with them on that and show them that she is old and mature enough to make that decision for herself.

Thanks,

Elder Slade

Faith Will Move Mountains

I cannot believe it has already been another week!  Time flies so fast here.  We have taught more lessons, learned more Hmong, and we sent off one of our roommates to Korea and one of the Elders in our zone to Wisconsin.  It has been a great week.  I am so happy to be here serving my Creator with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.

In the Book of Mormon there is a passing reference to a prophet named Mahonri Moriancumer (referred to as "the brother of Jared" for short, sadly no relation) moving a mountain by his faith.  I have spent some time thinking about this verse and the applications it has for our lives today.  Moving mountains in our own lives--whether they by literal, financial, health related, spiritual, or otherwise--takes faith.  No one ever approaches an issue unless that have a belief that there will be a resolution.  Do they have proof that there will be a resolution?  No.  That is called faith.  The prophet Alma described faith as a "hope for things which are not seen, which are true" (Alma 32:21).

So how does faith move mountains?  The brother of Jared's story is not the only reference to faith to move mountains.  What I have found is that the scriptures do not consistently specify 1) the rate at which mountains are moved and 2) the amount of people moving the mountain.  We move mountains shovel-full by shovel-full and shoulder to shoulder--that is the pattern God has set.  None of us can move a mountain, and we really shouldn't even try to move a mountain, on our own.  We aught to work together in faith and labor until the work is done.  As we press forward and endure to the end I know that we will overcome any and all obstacles that block our path and slow our progress.  I know that we all posses that faith, that faith to work miracles.  The greatest miracle of all, that of the Atonement of Christ, was not even realized until after its completion.  Is it reasonable then to expect to recognize all the lesser miracles that occur in our lives before they come or as they occur?  No.  Look back on your lives.  Mountains have been moved.  Miracles have been wrought.  God's hand has always been in your life and it always will.

As I prepare to head out to Fresno in five more weeks I am impressed by the gravity of the work young LDS missionaries across the globe are called upon to do.  We are called to go forth to all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people proclaiming that the truth of Christ's gospel is once again available in its fullness.  There are a lot of people in this world.  Missionary work truly is a mountain.  I have absolute confidence that as the efforts to grow Christ's kingdom and prepare the earth for his return continue, as hundreds of thousands young men and women work shoulder to shoulder in faith, in time that mountain will be moved.  In time scattered Israel will be gathered.  The message of the Restoration continues to roll forth.  It will not be long before it fills the earth.  It will not be long until Christ returns to rule and reign forever.  I am so humbled that I have been called to serve a mission.  I am so grateful that I have been called to move this mountain.

This week we watched this video in one of my classes that I loved immediately.  It is an explanation of the Book of Mormon by a living apostle named Jeffery R. Holland.  Elder Holland, like the apostles of old, has been called to to bear a special witness of Christ's divinity.  I would encourage you all to watch it.  https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2009-07-29-gods-words-never-cease?lang=eng

I would like to close this letter with my testimony of the Book of Mormon.  I may not be as eloquent or wise as Elder Holland, but I do know for myself that the Book of Mormon is in fact scripture, as is the Bible.  I know that it truly does teach men the way to follow their Savior, as does the Bible.  What sets the Book of Mormon apart from the Bible is that if the Book of Mormon is true, then Joseph Smith was truly a prophet called of God.  If Joseph Smith truly was a prophet called of God then we can know that God speaks today through a prophet, Thomas S. Monson, that God does live, that He loves us, that His son loves us.  We can know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true church on the earth, the only church with true authority to baptize unto salvation.  I know all these things to be true because I have prayed to know.  I went straight to the source and asked God.  I have never been content with taking the opinions and persuasions of others as fact.  I encourage you not to either, but rather to go straight to the source, to pray to know what is truth.  I bear witness that as you do so in humility and faith, by the power of the Holy Ghost you can know the truth of all things, even the truth of the Book of Mormon.

I love you all.  Thank you for supporting me in this mission.

-Elder Cummings

Of Faith and Apostles

We had a really special guest speaker at the MTC this last Martedi (Tuesday), Elder Russel M Nelson, president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. His discorso (talk) was his first as president of that quorum and it was so cool to feel the spirit that he brought into the room and to hear his testimonianza del salvatore (testimony of the Savior). It was also extremely special to sing for him at the devotional.

This week has had an unspoken theme of faith for me personally. I'm come to realize that which is quite frankly obvious, that when we trust everything to the Lord, he will make everything work in the best way possible. For example, in lessons, we as fledgling Italian learners often are so worried about making cogent sentences that we try to plan them out in our heads before we say them. The only problem with this is that it's hard to sincerely listen to what your companion or investigator is saying when you're trying to think of what you're going to say next. But when you take the leap of faith to simply listen and sincerely try to understand the situation, the words are literally given to you to say. One of my favorite experiences with this so far happened during fast and testimony meeting this Sunday. I felt prompted that I needed to bare my testimony, but had absolutely no idea what I should say. So, remembering the principle of faith, I ceased giving the topic any thought and just listened. I stood up to bare my testimony and still have no idea what to say, but I just opened my mouth and inspiration flowed right though me.

I know that faith is a true principle and that we do have a Father in Heaven who love us and wants the absolute best for us. I know that He sent His Son to take the burdens of our sins so that we could become perfected though Him. His Atonement is real and it is sufficient to cover us entirely, all we need to do is believe and try our best to follow his commandments. We were sent to this Earth quite simply to see if we loved our Father in Heaven enough to return back to him. And I am so glad that I get to help the people of Italy by pointing them in the right direction to return home.

One more realization that I had this week was the shear insignificance of my own desires. Who cares what I need or what I want? I have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my Life. And the Gospel of Jesus Christ is everything. There are people out there who do not have this. Who am I to be concerned about myself when there are people out there looking for the truth but are kept from it only because they no not where to find it? I have a Job to do, and it's not to satisfy myself, but to serve my God and his children with all my might mind and strength. Salvation is on the line. What else could be more direly important than that?

I hope you all are having a great week! I've only got 12 more days until I take off for Italian soil! I am really excited to say the least!

-Anziano Wilkinson