A Week of Miracles

(Sister Cummings)
First off I am just going to say that we still have not gotten lost thanks to many prayers. All in all there were about 8,000 people who visited the temple this week and I go to be there for about 4,000 of them. We worked everyday this week taking the hour and a half drive to get there, sometimes needing to wake up at 5:00 am in order to make it on time. I actually started getting cramps in my legs from driving our aged car from our end of the island to the other. But it was worth the sacrifice.

We were able to see so many miracles in being there. For example there was a moment when I and my companion were working in the reception tent and I was helping people at the information counter when a woman came up who only spoke spanish. Now the area I am serving in used to be full of spanish speaking people, however with certain changes in the area boundaries we actually do not teach in spanish all that often. So I have not really had the time to learn Spanish as I am trying to perfect my French. Well with that being said I really do not speak Spanish. Anyways so I started helping this woman, she pointed to one of the pamphlets that we had about genealogy asking if she could take it. I said she could but we only had those ones in French however we did have these other pamphlets that were in spanish, they were the same thing but just smaller. I then invited her to fill out one of the comment cards. Which is a pretty normal conversation except it was a little different this time because I WAS SPEAKING FLUENT SPANISH. One of the sisters serving from Mexico commented on how good my accent was and asked if I had spoken spanish at home... Well lets just say the gift of tongues is real and that that woman probably really needed that pamphlet because God performed a miracle to give it to her.

Another miracle happened a little later in the original form of an adversity. This entire week our car has been just having problems. Hmmm Funny how it just happens to be on this week of all weeks where the House of the Lord would be open to the public. Anyways one of the main problems has been that randomly our trunk opens. As in, getting of the highway and suddenly it just pops right open and we can't close it. We had talked to one of leaders and he had showed us what to do when it happened. SO one morning we were running a little late to the temple, we had hit some unexpected traffic and had turned onto an empty road. There was literally no one there when suddenly our trunk opens. We obviously pull over to the side of the road and try doing what our leader had shown us. It didn't work. We tried again. Nope. Nothing. Before reverting to insensible slamming of the trunk multiple times we called our leader and he wasn't available. Finally I said a prayer. I had just finished when a man comes out of literally nowhere. The road was completely empty and then this guy is just there. He comes up and in perfect English (which was quite rare for the area that we were in at that time which is known as the most french area) shows us how to close our trunk. And it works. I don't think I have ever been so grateful in my life for someone who could show me how to push buttons. After saying thanking him we got back into the car and...the guy had vanished. We are pretty sure it was one of the three Nephites or an angel. Because that was actually the day that we could not be late to. The most people came through the temple and the most miracles happened.

Now I don't really have too much time to continue but I did want to share one last miracle. We were working the video rooms which consisted of inviting people into the room giving a short speech very similar to a flight attendant speech and then starting the video. It was early in the week so not as many people were coming. Our tour group ended up being only two non-member men. We had some time to get to know them and we asked if they had ever been in a temple before. One had never been in a temple but he had lived two blocks away from the Oakland California temple for about ten years and had always wanted to visit a temple. The other his grandmother had been a member but his mother had never been baptized or was interested in the gospel. But he had started looking into the church when he had stumbled upon the temple open house. Now this was maybe our fiftieth time doing the introductory speech and watching the video but this time was different for some reason. he spirit was very strong and after the video we saw that both men were crying. AND THAT WAS ONLY THE VIDEO. We did not get to see them after their tour but I am confident that they had felt the spirit even stronger.

I am so grateful I was able to be a part of the temple open house here in Montreal. This was a moment I realized I was quite prepared to be a part of. The chances of people able to be a part of it at the exact last transfer of my mission where my French is at its best and I have become aware of how to follow the spirit was amazing. I am so glad that I could be a part of this wonderful experience. I love every single one of you and I hope you have a wonderful week.

Love

Sister Cummings

The Indian Summer and the GPS Miracle

So as I mentioned last week the temple has been finally opened to the public after nearly 18 months of restoration. And with its opening we are seeing many many miracles. It is part of my job during this open house to welcome people into the reception tent after the tour and ask them how they enjoyed the temple. Everyone says the exact same thing "It was breathtaking!" It doesn't matter who it is or what their background is every single person has said the exact same thing. Breathtaking, peaceful, and full of love.

It seems that the weather is also celebrating this beautiful opportunity. We are  experiencing what is called an Indian Summer by these Canadians. A random moment where it suddenly gets warm in mid November. Yes it was snowing two weeks ago but I have not had to wear a coat for the last four days.

Now I wanted to share a story. Shortly following our emails last Monday, all the sisters in the mission had a training by Elder Richards, a member of the seventy. We had arrived a little early as had been requested, and were sitting in the sacrament room waiting for Elder Richards to come. It was reverently quiet in the room as all the sisters were taking the moment to study the scriptures and further prepare for the training.

So flashback a little. Here in our mission if we would like to have a GPS we need to provide it. I had a GPS that my family had sent me about a year ago. It is our family GPS that was would use before people started having iPhones and hadn't really been in use until I started to use it out here. When I left Lemoyne the sisters were begging and pleading that I leave it there so that they could use it. Seeing as my new companion had one in her possession I lent it to them. Now flash forward to the meeting. It was after this meeting that we would be transferring and with that transfer I would lose my companion AND her GPS. So we had called the sisters to try to get my GPS back.

So as we are sitting in the sacrament room of the chapel waiting for Elder Richards feeling the spirit the Lemoyne Sisters lean over to me and mention that my GPS had stopped working and it wasn't charging anymore. Boom. Freakout moment. We were an hour and a half away from our area. Which hour and a half included driving directly through the middle of the Island of Montreal. AKA a rather large City. I started stressing out hard core. But still wanting to be ready for the meeting I tried my hardest to focus on the scriptures.

Well it didn't work right away so I turned to my study journal that contained all of my notes on conferences and trainings I had attended. One word kept standing out. "Adversity." Hmm... I wonder why.... Anyways I decided to study adversity in the scriptures. The very first scripture I turned to was D&C 58:2-4 which talks about how though there be hard times now blessings will come in the future.

Now this is the moment that is miraculous. I found peace.

It wasn't because my GPS just started working or anything like that. Nor was it that I just forgot about it. The Lord brought to mind my very very first day in the field as a missionary. We were in the Middle of Montreal, no GPS and I was supposed to drive. I hadn't really driven in about a year, not including the one or two excursions I had ventured the month before I started my mission. And driving really stressed me out. Especially highways. Well we decided to say a prayer. Then started driving.  I have never been so confident and calm while driving that day. And my companions directions consisted of "I think it is that way."  But some way unbeknownst to us we arrived at our apartment in Mascouche without getting lost. Not even once.

After remembering this I realized something else. I had served above the Island, on the Island and below the island. I had served in every area I needed to in order to make my way to the temple and back.

Peace came into my heart as I realized that I could trust the Lord. He had shown me that before and he had prepared me for this moment. I needed this peace because afterwards when we began our training and had a personal tour by a member of the seventy of the church through the temple I received an answer to my prayers that I was in sore need for. If I had been distracted by how I would get home I would not have been able to receive that answer.

I love you all and if there is anything that you can get from this weeks email I would like to give my testimony that I know that God blesses those that trust him. I got home safely that night and I have gotten home safely every night since and have never once been lost. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

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

Back to Pisa

We got transfer calls this past week and the news is I'll be going back to Pisa again! My new comp's name is Anziano Mattson and I will be meeting him there tomorrow. All I know about him at the moment is that he is going into his fifth transfer. It'll be interesting to see how we manage since we're both still pretty green! It's crazy to think that I'm already done with my first two transfers and am therefore finished with my training. I still have so much more to learn to be able to feel comfortable with the language, but then again I'm not sure I will ever be satisfied with it haha.

We worked hard in Livorno and I grew really close to my two companions Anziani Brown and Jensen. Both are amazing guys, full of laughter and desires to work hard! I learned a lot from them and with them and I hope to get the chance to serve with them again sometime in the future!

I've really enjoyed the past few weeks that I've been in Livorno. It's really opened my eyes to to how much the Lord supports us. I've had many conversations in Italian in the past few weeks, a thing I didn't think was possible after only four months of studying a language. But not only that, I have seen hearts change and ears open with the words that we have said. Not because of our ability to speak eloquently, or even intelligently, but because the spirit spoke for us where we lacked. The Lord does not expect us to be perfect, he only expects is to try, and when we try our best, he magnifies our efforts!

Sorry for the short email, I don't have much time to write today! Anyway, have a great week everyone!

Miracles

(Anziano Wilkinson)

This week was a very successful one for us! We had some great lessons and I continue to meet more great people everyday. One of our lessons was with a man named Gabriele, who is absolutely amazing. We teach him in English because he speaks perfect English (He translates/makes RPG board games from English to Italian for a living, way cool if you ask me!)

Gabriele has been an investigator for a good bit of time, but he is starting to make progress again. He is reading the Book of Mormon with greater depth than most members (and amazingly doing it in English, not his native language). He brought up a really good question in our lesson about miracles. He told us about how often in the news and in traditional Catholicism there are miracles like crying Mother Mary statues and other somewhat odd claims. He seemed rightfully skeptical and asked us if we believe in miracles.

We explained that we do believe in miracles, but to illustrate the kind of miracles we believe in, we had Anziano Brown share a miracle story that had happened to his family only two days earlier. Anziano Brown explained that his family has never had much money and also that he  as a brother who is severely mentally handicapped. His dad co-owns  a charity (basically it's a Free Store) which helps people get up on their  eet again. A few years back this charity helped a woman who was in dire need. This woman recently won a lawsuit for a huge sum of money. Her first move was to find this charity that helped her out and give back. Catching wind that the Brown family was in need of a new house, she offered to have one built, specialized to accommodate Anziano Brown's special need bother.

This miracle story brought the spirit very strongly and we could not help but bear our testimonies to Gabriele that God does indeed love us and answers prayers. Know that our Heavenly Father is watching over us and is always there for us in our times of need. I know that he answers prayers, whether it be through grand miracles like the one that happened to the Brown family or little ones when we need them. Miracles are real. And as long as Heavenly Father lives that will always be true!

Have a great week everyone! Be a miracle for someone this week!

(On a side note, I had the best burger I've ever had in my life in a small burger shop in downtown Livorno; I feel like I'm betraying America by saying that, but I'll just defend myself by saying, Italy really knows how to do food!)

-Anziano Jake Wilkinson

Yes! Candians do celebrate Halloween!

(Sister Cummings)
Well to be honest I don't really have time today to write much plus not too much has happened this week. It felt kind of like the quiet before the storm, with Hurricane temple being forecasted in the near future with the opening of the doors to the public this Wednesday. Our Preparation day is even cut short in order to have training. But none the less this is what happened this week. First off before I forget, we received our transfer calls early and it seems that Sister Rawlings will be leaving me to go English speaking. However I will be receiving Sister Blanc! She was my third companion in the field and I am sooooo excited to have her (and her food) with me again! =D Anyways let us continue...

Yup thats right elders with swords. Scary experience. Sister Rawlings and I gave a training in our district on the amour of god and how obedience is our protection in our work relating each piece to a certain council that we are given such as studies, planning and of course the sword of the spirit. As we had about three weeks to plan the training we decided to make it intense. Each Elder got a sword and Sister Rawlings and I made bets on who would break it first. We were right.

This week was the ward Halloween party where we found our buddy the Canadian Mounty. Hmm sometimes I forget I am in a different country, mind you everyone here speaks French but still somehow it is more of a culture shock to see a little kid running around in a red uniform on Halloween than ordering food in French. Either way Sister Rawlings and I took the initiative to make our mission to Canada complete by taking a picture with a Mounty. Check!

​The day of Halloween was pretty hard. We literally had no one to see planned. But we called up a few people and it turned out to the one of the best Halloweens ever! We started off with raking leaves, a perfect fall activity. Then we decorated someone’s house for a Halloween party and finally we passed by a family just as they were getting ready to carve pumpkins! So we helped them out =D Things got pretty intense once the power tools were brought out =D

Well I hope to have even better pictures next week! I love you all!

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.