Transfer Calls!

(Anziano Wilkinson)

These past few weeks have really flown by. Already we're doing transfers and it feels like I just got to Muggiò! I'm going to stay here for the next month or so, but my companion is going away to, of all places, Verona! I spent six months there and I can attest to how amazing the city is. Needless to say, Anziano Engen is very excited for his transfer call. My new companion's name is Anziano Farneman. He gets here on Thursday, so I'll be sure to tell you more about him next week!

These past few weeks with Anziano Engen have been really great and I'm excited to keep things going with my new companion. There are some really amazing people in this area and there's never a lack of excitement. Right now we are working with a man named Paul who is extremely faithful and has recently decided to make the commitment to be baptized. We are working with him to help him prepare to reach the goal and I continue to be amazed at his faith and desires to learn. He truly has a desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ. He's been coming to church every week and every week in Sunday school the teacher struggles to finish a lesson because Paul asks so many good questions haha. He's learning fast though!

On another note, we had an adventure of sorts while we were on a companion exchange with the missionaries in Lecco. Their proselyting area is massive and travel from one end to the other is very impractical at times, but since we have a car, we decided to help them out. They had some visits that they needed to make in a town called Sondrio that sits along the border of Switzerland, over 80 kilometers away from Lecco by car. The entire ride was a breathtaking trip among beautifully snow capped mountains and unbelievable panoramas. Even if all of the appointments we had set up had fallen through that day, the whole trip would have been worth it just for the beauty of it! And luckily our lessons didn't fall through! There was one man, who's name is Patrizio, that I got to meet who is very spiritual, as was clear by the way his home was decorated. There were Buddhist and Christian symbols hanging from every wall and sitting on every shelf inside his house. I guess he's both Buddhist and Christian, which is an interesting since I didn't know that was possible, but hey, no judging! He also just happened to be an artisan wood worker as was evidenced by the abundance of handmade wooden furniture and knickknacks with man had. Definitely an interesting man!

Like I said, there's a bunch of exciting stuff going on right now, but I'll spare you the reading and just post some photos at the bottom! Anyway, I hope you have a great week! Remember the Savior often! Even if you're a devout Buddhist, cause I guess that's fine?

-Anziano Jake Wilkinson

Lago di Lecco

Portimão Week 2

(Sister Ellsworth) 

Olá!

This week was great! We had a lot of great lessons with some of our investigators. It was so much fun! We also went to the beach for P day! Not much happened, this week passed by really fast and I can't really remember what happened. But here are some fun pictures to enjoy!

Pedro, who is one of the most incredible people I've met. He's grown and changed so much in the short time we've known him.

Hanging out at the Castles!

We found a  sea star!! Reminded me of playing on the beach in Oregon as a kid!

Sister Ellsworth loves sea shells!

We got here early before all of the tourists got there.

Portugal is the best mission ever!

Sister Ellsworth

The Book of Mormon

(Elder Cummings)

Transfers this week!  Elder Gray and I will be splitting up.  He will keep the truck (Carollas get better gas mileage anyways) and the apartment, but I will keep the Hmong branch.  My new assignment is to serve as a district leader and train a new Hmong missionary.  Elder Gray will be going back to the McKee ward to continue as a zone leader.  This is his third time serving in that ward!

I am very excited for this changed!  I know that this is God's will for me at this point of my mission.  On Thursday I will meet my new companion.  I don't know anything about him.  There are three new Hmong missionaries coming in and it is yet to be determined who will come and rule the "wild north" with me.

Yesterday Saint passed the sacrament for the first time.  He is a good kid.  He has had the gift of the Holy Ghost for two weeks now and the Aaronic priesthood for one.  His brother Saint has asked if he could get the priesthood early because deacons quorum looks like fun.  They are great young men.  Saint struggles a little more with reverence than Stephen does, but that makes every lesson with them an adventure.  When we met up with them on Wednesday we taught them about personal revelation by comparing it with the revelation prophets receive.  They both took some time to write a short description of what the Holy Ghost feels like.  Their answers were wonderful.  Saint wrote that the Holy Ghost "feels like I am in the Celestial kingdom with God and Jesus Christ."  His spelling of Celestial was even more wonderful.  He did his best to sound it out.  Both boys have decided that when they get older they are going to serve missions.  We didn't have to say anything.  As they have read the Book of Mormon their desire to share the gospel has increased.

The Book of Mormon is a gift of God for our day.  In the Pearl of Great Price, additional revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith we read that in the last days God promises that "righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth" (Moses 7:62).  The Book of Mormon is a tool for conversion.  It is from God.  It is true.  It's purpose is for "the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ" (Title Page of the Book of Mormon), and I have been thoroughly convinced.

With love,

Elder Jared Cummings

We had a visit from President Nelson this week!  It is wonderful to hear from a living prophet.  God still speaks through prophets.

Bemvindos ao Portamao

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey!

This week has been such an adventure, filled with lots of travel time, miracles, and the works! On Sunday night we got our transfer calls and I was reassigned to Portimão to serve with Sister Aiono! I was super excited to get to know a new area!!

Monday we packed our bags, cleaned, and said goodbye to some of my favorite people in Barreiro. It was so hard! I was able to see all but one of my recent converts. Fabiana and Alda were so sweet and Amaral almost made me cry. He told me about the difference he felt in his life because of the things that I had done for him. It made me remember how hard we worked to teach him and to help him adjust to life as a loyal member. He bore his sweet, simple testimony to me and I felt like every rejection and slammed door was 10000X worth it and I would do it all over again just to find someone like Amaral again.

On Tuesday I rode the bus down to Portimão with two Elders to meet up with Sister Aiono, The bus ride was so long but it was glorious because I had my first nap in months. We didn't get to our area until really late at night so I had a quick tour of the chapel here and went home. The next day we visited some investigators and toured the area doing contacts and visiting members. That night we went back to Lisbon on the same bus to go to a meeting for leaders in the Mission, since Sister Aiono is a Sister Training Leader. We spent most of the day in Lisbon and came back to our area really late at night. The next day we worked our area some more!

On Saturday we went to Faro for Zone conference and learned a lot about how we can better our teaching. There were some members of Faro there and they pretended to be investigators and we taught them all of the lessons. We had some really powerful lessons that really strengthened my confidence in our teaching. On Sunday we had church and I taught Sunday School by myself! It was so nerve wracking but nobody apostatized so I guess it was good! Haha!

Everything has been super great and I'm happy!

Sister Oliver and I!

Sister Oliver, Amaral, and I! The first 10 pictures he refused to smile... This was the best one we got XD

Sister Aiono, Vitor (recent convert) and I! Vitor is actually really funny! He's a happy person I swear!

I hope you guys have a great week!

Love,

Sister Ellsworth

Highlights

(Elder Cummings)

This week we began teaching a Shaman.  That is a little different than just another person who follows the traditional Hmong animism.  It is equivalent to teaching paid clergy.  His income revolves around his spiritual practices.  That aside though, he is letting us teach him and we aren't keeping any secrets about where we see this all going---baptism.  His name is Khai, he has been in the states since the mid-90s, and he is very intrigued by the Book of Mormon and the joint concepts of apostasy and dispensation.  That is a miracle.  I bought a Hmong story book at the New Years that I have been using in language study, and in the initial contact with Khai we talked about some of the folklore, and that is a big part of why he let us start visiting.  It is so neat when you know that God has prepared you to meet someone.

We were tracting the Hmong families out of a neighborhood (a very long process, but an enjoyable one) and within minutes of arriving there a saleswoman from a solar company ran up to us and asked if we were Mormons.  We said yes and she said that she used to go to church as a young girl.  She had never been baptized, and said that she had heard some rumors about the church that she didn't like and wanted to fact-check.  They were very standard questions about some commonly misunderstood aspects of church history.  We answered here to the extent that we were qualified too and began to answer her last question "can I have one of those pamphlets?" by teaching her the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  She loved it, took the pamphlet and a copy of the Book of Mormon, and we are handing her off to the YSA elders in Fresno to do the teaching.  Heavenly Father puts us in the right places at the right time.

God leads us and guides us.  One of my favorite things about missionary work is that it has taught me to be aware of that influence.  God loves us and watches over us.  I know this.

Count your many blessings this week!

Elder Cummings

A Baptism and Transfers!

(Sister Ellsworth)

Bom Dia!

This week has been awesome!! Our friend Fabiana was baptized! She's Alda's granddaughter, who was baptized a few months ago. She's been absolutely awesome to work with and she has such a strong and pure testimony. I absolutely loved to teach her about the great plan that Heavenly Father has for her.

And I'm being transferred to Portimau to serve with Sister Aiono! I already know her, she served in the area next to me and we lived in the same house my first transfer. She's so fun and I'm excited to learn a lot from her. I'm nervous to move on to another area but at least it's in the best part of Portugal!! I'm sad to leave Sister Oliver because she's been such a great friend and example to me. She's going to be training a new greenie here and I'm super excited for her.

One of the best things that happened this week was a little lesson we had with Fredy, our friend who is going to be baptized next week. We finished teaching him all of the lessons and we wanted him to come to a resolve on his own to be baptized. After the first hour of church on Sunday we pulled him into a room and began to just talk about everything. I was very nervous that he was going to tell us that he didn't want to be baptized anymore but instead he began to share his experiences of his prayers to know the truth and the happiness he felt with the new knowledge that he had. In that moment, all the work and frustrations we had gone through with him were redeemed as he bore his little and simple testimony that the Book of Mormon was truly another witness of Jesus Christ and that though Joseph Smith, Jesus Christ reestablished his church on the earth again. Fredy's going to be baptized next weekend :)

I absolutely love this area and the people here! I love my mission. It's the best thing I've ever chosen to do. I feel like I've learned so much and really come to know who I am and why I'm here.

Love all of you guys lots!!

Bejinhos,

Sister Ellsworth

Always Remember Him

(Elder Cummings)

This has been a wet week.  It has rained, and rained, and rained!  That has been fun for Elder Gray and I, as we both love the combination of small lakes in the road and our pickup.  There was mild flooding in town.  The rain is a blessing for all the parched farmland.

The best part of the wet week was the baptisms!  Saint and Stephen were baptized Friday night, and Saturday afternoon I went down to Fresno for John, Mai, and Harry's baptism.  They are a family I started teaching a year ago when I was still with Elder Knapton in Fresno.  They asked if I would baptize them.   It was an honor.  They said I was "their missionary," the one who really got their conversion going.  This is the first time that I have had a full family that I taught progress to baptism, complete with a father, mother, and children.  It was wonderful.  The gospel blesses families!  Mai is due to have a baby in two weeks.  That child has to be excited!  He is coming into a family that has now fully embraced the same gospel that we all embraced pre-mortally!  Who wouldn't be excited??

I have spent some time this week thinking about the covenant of baptism, specifically the importance of always remembering Christ.  Saint, Stephen, John, Mai, and Harry have now made a promise to do exactly that.

As part of this pondering, I came across D&C 45:3-5.  In these verses read like this:

Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—

Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;

 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.

There is a pattern here.  Christ pleads with our Heavenly Father that he will keep in mind both the sufferings and death of our Savior (the body, or the bread as represented in the sacrament) and the blood of our Savior that was shed (or the water, as represented in the sacrament).  It is after Christ's plea with God the Father to always remember the Atonement that Christ pleads that we, the sinners, can be granted everlasting life.  Our Heavenly Father can permit us, unclean as we are when left to our own merits, because he remembers and honors the Atonement.  In His perspective all of our negative attributes are swallowed up in Christ's perfection because of the covenants we have made at baptism---the witness that we are willing to take Christ's name upon us.

We all make mistakes.  We all have weaknesses and imperfections.  There are also many things that we do well.  In spite of even our best attributes, it is only through the "through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah" that any of us can return to the presence of God ((2 Nephi 2:8).  When we always remember Christ we remember who He is too.  We don't just remember what He did.  Because of our covenants, who He is individually is also who We are, Him and us, together. 

We in mortality tend to identify ourselves based on what we have done.  We are athletic because we were on the cross country team when we were younger.  We are musical because we have spent hours at the piano.  We are consider ourselves intelligent because of the books we have read or the schools we have attended.  We view ourselves as skilled or unskilled, as winners or losers, as righteous or wicked because of our past life experiences.  When we always remember Christ we are begin to identify ourselves with His past experiences.  We no longer are weak as we once were because who He is gives us strength and ultimately changes our character.  In our covenant relationship we are perfect in Christ.  Because of that covenant relationship we can live with God, our Father, again and live with our families in eternal joy and glory.

That is exciting.  That is what I want for everyone.

Remember Him this week!

Love,

Elder Cummings