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

One More Added To The Fold

(Sister Cummings)
Hello everyone!!!!! I just have to get this out there but Vanessa was baptized this week!! It was quite a stressful week in preparation for her baptism. Although I have had previous investigators baptized in the past this is very much the first one that I had the opportunity to plan. And boy. Did we plan. Everything was planned down to the hair thanks to the amazing organization skills of my amazing companion Sister Rawlings. There was one day in the week that after our appointment, back-up, and emergency back-up cancelled we went to the church building to check out the font and to sweep it out. Good thing we did because there were maybe five or six families of various insects profiting in the quiet and peaceful environment of the baptismal font. They were promptly evicted as were the sparse yet still present colonies of mold. Lets just say we don't baptize all that often in Canada =D

Besides a quick stumble to find a piano player after the one planned for cancelled last minute everything went quite smoothly. The font was finished on time with water that was neither too cold nor too hot. Vanessa only needed to be plunged once as the ordinance was performed perfectly on the very first time. There were enough towels. The television properly showed the restoration while Vanessa was changing from her wet clothing. And there was just the perfect amount of food afterwards for a short reception. Needless to say it went...perfectly. Which was exactly NOT what we were expecting. But it happened and we are so grateful that it did.

Not much time but I just wanted to say thank you so much for all of your prayers given for Vanessa. They were answered and one more lamb was added into the fold.

I love you and hope you have an amazing week!

this is us updating the area book with Vanessa's Baptism

This is me having fun with my camera while Sister Rawlings was doing her emails

Yup thats them. They are cute together =)

Martin came and visited Laval ironically the day that Vanessa received the Holy Ghost. This is him and his return missionary of a girlfriend that should be getting married around april though the question has not been popped yet =)

Livorno Bound

(Anziano Wilkinson)

Okay, so I think I may have had the craziest two weeks ever. I'll just start at the beginning.

So on Wednesday after emails Anziano Robinson and I were lucky (or unlucky?) enough to get a ride home from a member. While entering the car, Anziano Robinson hit his head on the door frame on accident and I guess pretty hard too. It wouldn't have been that big of a deal, except for the fact that he was already getting over a concussion and so his head was already weak. This second hit was enough to cause the headaches and other symptoms to flare up again. So we were given orders from the mission doctor to yet again stay inside and not leave the house for any reason.

So to our dismay we were suddenly launched back to exactly where we were over a month ago. Then the next night we got a call from the head mission doctor over all of the European missions and he all but told us right then and there that Anziano Robinson would have to go home to rest up and be in the care of American doctors. The next day we got the official call from President Dibb and suddenly my companion had a flight to catch on the next Monday morning. We were both really sad about this, but he handled it very well I think, even though going home was the very last thing he wanted to do.

That Sunday we went to church (I gave a talk) and Anziano Robinson gave his departing testimony, then we both headed up to the mission office in Milan. I had to stay in Milan for the next three days and it was there that President gave me the news that I wouldn't be going back to Pisa, but instead was to go to Livorno (pronounced leave-or-no) for the rest of this transfer (it's about fifteen minutes away from Pisa by train). And if you were wondering, yes I had to be the one to make the awkward call to tell the bishop that there wouldn't be any Anziani in Pisa for the rest of the transfer.

On the bright side, I ended up being able to go to a conference with the General Relief Society President and General Young Women's President, which was a conference that all the Sorelle were invited to as well as the Milan Anziani, because the conference was in Milan. After the conference I caught a train with the Livorno Sorelle back to Livorno. They were the reason I stayed up in Milan so long, so that I wouldn't have to travel alone. That was a slightly awkward train ride though hahaha. Anyway, so I met the Anziani in Livorno that night and thank goodness I have a solid companion again! Two of them in fact! We went back to Pisa to grab my stuff the next and now I'm officially moved into Livorno.

I know what you all are thinking at this point, that the Italy Milan Mission is a crazy and disorganized mess, but let me assure you that President Dibb and the Office elders tried their best to make the best situation for me they could out of what they had. The timing for my companion to go home was absolutely atrocious considering the conference that was held here this last Wednesday. That being said, good came from this fiasco too, in the form of meeting new people, getting practice with the language (I carry the phone for the Pisa Anziani for the next three weeks), and seeing the examples of many different missionaries. I learned a lot from this experience and I honestly am grateful for those things that I learned, even if I had to see a friend go home a few transfers early (hopefully they'll let him come back out).

And best of all, from what I had heard from literally everyone is that 1) My new companions Anziani Jensen and Brown are amazing people, and 2) Livorno is the best city to serve in and the ward here is the best Ward in the mission. The shear volume of praise for Livorno that I had heard was astounding and I'm can now see that it is well deserved! Plus, president said he will most likely be putting me back in Pisa next transfer; I have come to love Pisa, so I would be very content if he does!  So anyway, things in Livorno are going great! We are teaching a high school age kid named Giacomo (Jacob) right now and he is growing in his faith every day! At first our approach was simply to help him feel comfortable with us because he is a very shy kid, but now, especially after the ward Halloween party this last Tuesday he is really open with us! He prayed with us for the first time in our last lesson and it was really powerful. He is such a great kid with a very sincere desire to learn more about Christ and His gospel! He has a baptismal date set for November and your prayers for him would be more than appreciated!

As I mentioned before there was a ward Halloween party this last Tuesday and it was extremely well done. Lots of people showed up, both members and nonmembers and I think everyone had a great time. I got the chance to meet a lot of people there and got to even sit down and hold a few conversations with some of the people who came. Ever since coming to Livorno I've been putting a ton more effort into engaging in conversations with people and I am surprised every day at the blessings as I simply take the leap of faith to try.

It's still scary at times and often difficult to understand what people say and to respond intelligibly, but as I've trusted in the Lord I've found that it always pays off when I do. I gain confidence, learn new words, become more familiar with the grammar, and hear new ways to say things every time I do so. But not only that, I witness the gift of tongues work within me each time and it always fortifies my faith and inspires me to try again and again. Faith is like a muscle, you can feed it all day with nourishment (like the scriptures and words of the prophets) but at the end of the day it will not grow until it is exercised!

At the Halloween party we shared a spiritual thought about overcoming our fears, which topic is very applicable to me right now as I just mentioned. One of the scriptures that has really helped me overcome my fears so far in the mission is 2 Timothy 1:7, which says "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." I love this scripture because it shows us that no fear of ours is one that is given of God. Heavenly Father has not given us our fears, quite the opposite in fact! He has given us sound minds, and His power, and the spirit of love! Therefore, of what have we to fear? If God Himself has endowed us with His power then there is no reason to fear anything as long as our pursuits are righteous! The bible dictionary describes fear as "something unworthy of a child of God." What is there that can be said more than that? As children of our Heavenly Father, fear is beneath us! Therefore, let us press forward in faith and cast fears far from ourselves! I encourage you all this week to face your fears in faith and follow the council of our loving Heavenly Father to "Look unto [Him] in every thought; doubt not, fear not." I promise that as you do you will find that the Lord will provide a way for you. Give him your fears and He will turn them into faith and you will feel His love poured out upon you. So in honor of Halloween, conquer your fears! There is no better time to do so!

Have a great week everyone and Happy Halloween!

-Anziano Jake Wilkinson

Pictures

(Elder Anziano)

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

It Rained, It Snowed, Somebody needs to check on the Old Man

(Sister Cummings)
It happened. It snowed. Sister Rawlings and I were getting ready to leave to an appointment and were wondering what temperature it was, it was then that we looked out the window... DUH duh DuUuUuhH!!!! There they were little white floaty things dropping from the sky. Resigned to our fate we bundled up. Only to find one hour later as we came out of our lesson to not a cloud in the sky and the sun shining. Which two hours later became a hale storm, Then one hour later a rain storm. Then two hours later bright and sunny and then finally just deciding to be snow one hour afterwards.

It was really quite disorienting. It felt by the end of the day as if we had just kind of witnessed three different days at interspersed moments during the twenty-four hours.

So besides the quite bipolar weather we are experiencing Canada is pretty fantastic. As always we have seen a lot of miracles this week. I would like to take the time to share some absolutely amazing once in a lifetime news.

I AM GOING TO BE A TEMPLE MISSIONARY!

Well you know not actually working in the temple but with the Montreal Temple opening its doors for the open house in two weeks I and all the other sisters in my mission have the opportunity to help with the temple! I will be introducing an introductory video before visitors are led to the temple doors as well as welcoming them afterwards to share their experiences.

I am so excited for this! But mostly I am excited for the miracles and blessings it will bring. For those who may not know an LDS Temple is a beautiful building that we build, wherein we may learn more of the truths of this world as well as receive personal revelation to help us through life. Quite literally it is the House of God where we may receive further ordinances that will eventually allow us to live with our Heavenly Father once more.

However unlike our church buildings not everyone is permitted to attend the temple. Just as in times of old only those who have specifically kept the commandments of God and have been baptized by someone holding the proper authority may enter in. Many members even are not found worthy to enter. However all of this is only after the Temple is to be dedicated.

About 18 months ago the Montreal temple was closed for renovations. Apparently the roof had not been designed to hold the weight of snow here in Canada for too long. Starting November 2nd the doors are going to be opened to the public and for the first time in many peoples lives they will have the opportunity to walk through its holy walls. It will then be dedicated the 22nd of November.

I am so excited for this moment. Never would I have ever thought I would have the chance to be a sister missionary here at this time. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I am so excited for the blessings that will come!

I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

This was a training I did on Charity. I was pretty proud about that one =)

This is Sister Rawlings and I throwing out Vanessa's coffee =)

This was us heart attacking like bosses. Due to the chest pains we had had a lot of time on our hands and made about 200 little origami hearts.

...It was October and we found this lady outside our apartment...You would be surprised how often this actually happens

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.