Mosiah 2:34

(Aldste Cummings)

Hej hej!

Last week was kinda crazy, but this week is about to get even more busy. We had a couple meetings last week that fell through but were rescheduled for this week. On top of all the people last week that we met for the first time who we're scheduled to meet this week, it's a lot of people. If everything goes according to plan, we will start teaching 10 new people this week, not counting anyone we haven't met yet.

On Wednesday we went on splits (that means we switched companions for a day) and I was paired with Elder Grover from Borås. He's only been out 7 weeks and I had only been out 1 week. So that was interesting. We spent most of our time just talking to people on the street. I actually had a lot of fun though and it turned out to be one of the most fruitful contacting-stunds I've been a part of.

Also this week, we had a conference to attend in Göteborg. We stayed the night with the elders in Västra Förlunda, one of which is Elder Wolff from my congregation back home in New Jersey! That was really fun and reminded me of home a little bit.

One of the people we met tried to teach us, among other things, that the Bible teaches us that dinosaurs lived at the same time as humans. Again, I would explain, but it would just be more confusing.

The scripture I chose this week is something I came across in my personal study. The part of it that I appreciate the most is the part where King Benjamin encourages us to "render to [God] all that [we] have and are."

It is most important that we recognize how much we owe our Heavenly Father. we are "eternally indebted to [Him]." He has given us everything, not only that we have, but most importantly everything that we can have through the Atonement of Jesus Christ whom He gave us as well. We owe our life, salvation, and eternal life to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. In return, it is only right and just that we devote everything to Him. Not only everything we have, but also everything we are. As we turn to Him and offer ourselves to Him, He will be able to make of us what He needs.

Enjoy your weeks, I love you all!

Äldste Cummings

Roubando Cigarros

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey yall!

This week was fun. We ran around talking to people and having fun. I think one of my favorite moments was when our investigator, Antonio, gave us a huge handful of cigarettes. We have been working with him for nearly 4 months and finally he called us almost in tears saying that he was sick of being addicted and brought us these. I saw a man really come to his knees and plead for help. We taught him about the Atonement and before he left he managed a smile and promised to read.

Take that!!! Haha

The later at church we had all these cigarettes in my bag (i forgot to take them out) and in Gospel Principles I pulled out my scriptures and all of them came tumbling out. Then the Patriarch asked for all of them and took the filters off and handed me back the white part. I was like... why?? and apparently the filter stops cuts really well. LOL I love being in an area where all the members are converts!

Other than that it was pretty uneventful. The Church is still true!

Sister Ellsworth

D&C 31:3

(Aldste Cummings)

Tjena!

This week has been wild.

We woke up on Monday at 2:30 AM to arrive in Sweden at 6:00 AM Tuesday (Sweden time). I couldn't fall asleep on the plane and we didn't get to go to bed until 10:30 PM that night. So we had been up for 36 hours by the time we finally got some rest.

I have been assigned to serve in Skövde with Elder Martineau! It's a medium-sized college town near Göteborg. It's been pretty great. We have been working pretty hard and have been very busy. The congregation here is pretty small--around 30 members come to church on a good day--but they're hardworking and we are too. Together, we make a good team.

Weird experience of the week: A schizophrenic lady with no pants walked in on a lesson we were teaching and spent the next 15 minutes talking about how much she wanted to bear the children of the man we were teaching. I would explain more, but it would just make less sense.

I chose the verse above this week because it reminds me of how important this work is. Sometimes, you can get dragged down in how difficult it is and how often you get rejected or how tired you are, but the Lord councils us to rejoice in it. I am here to do His work and there is no greater call. I really could not be spending my time right now in a better way and I am so excited to keep going at it for the next two years.

I love this work. I know Christ lives and is our Savior.

Love,

Äldste Cummings

Fall In Portugal

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey! There are many stories that happened this week... It rained once. Apparently that means it's fall now! And it rained on Pday and I'm not quite sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing but we went out to see Rossio and Santa Apolonia anyway. We went with a huuuuge group of Elders. Our zone has 30 elders and 6 sisters. It was us and half the elders so it made for some pretty fun and crazy adventures.

We had a couple of lessons with some lazy investigators and gave them the whole 1-2 thing. It's basically where you give a really powerful stop-being-lazy-and-do-the-things lesson and they wrestle with the spirit the whole time. One decided to start reading and the other kinda just backed off and continued to run. That's okay. Area book, right?

We had a fantastic Zone conference though. Our president gave an awesome training on being a Woken up missionary. You can look the scriptures up later because they're pretty cool. (2 Nephi 1:13, Alma 12:11, 2 Nephi 4:28,  Psalms 24:3-4, Mormon 9:27, Alma 5:7, and Mosias 4:5.) I would also add Revelations 3:16 and Mosias 4:27.

He talked about waking up is when your conversion takes place and you being to understand how the Atonement works and why it works. You start to work because you love the Lord and not just because your District leader is going to call that night and ask when happened or that the Zone leaders are pushing and pushing for numbers. One of my companions asked me once how she can work tirelessly and we had a good long talk about how the good missionaries are the ones that try and don't stop trying. They're the ones that work hard when no one is watching, the ones that smile and are happy when talking to people even if they know that they are standing in fresh poop (that happened this week too XD).

I think the most important thing I've learned so far is how to love being a missionary. This is the best thing I've ever done and I've never been so happy (and so exhausted) in my life. I mean just look at this beautiful place....

Rossio

top of a restaurante named Bellalisa in Rossio. You could see all of Lisbon. We stayed there for a long time :)

​bahahaha *points finger and laughs* Oh tourists. You're so funny with your crazy sunburns. She had a white hand mark on her arm from sunscreen.... you gotta rub it in honey......

Love you all, Sister Ellsworth

Arrived Safely in Sweden

(Aldste Cummings)

Raw Eggs, Animals and Brazilians

(Sister Ellsworth)

Hey yall!!

This week was pretty fun... Telo smashed a raw egg on my head. C'mon guys I need ideas for missionary appropriate revenge.... LOL!

We had divisions this week with Sister Salas and Sister Pastrana. Sister Salas and I stayed here in Povoa while our greenies wandered around in another area... lost and scared without their moms. Haha! Sister Salas and I had a party here were we hit the ground running.... Literally. We were late for like everything but we taught a bunch of lessons and contacted a bunch of really cool people.

We were walking in the road and we basically found a picture of Portugal.

This is an underground trashcan that is so full of beer bottles that it's over flowing. We left a Word of Wisdom pamphlet :)

We found a new best friend!! It's a little teeny tiny lizard that hung out with us and rode around on my shirt for a while. He was so cute!!!

Also there's a petting zoo really close to our house and one day the peacocks got out and we helped chase them back into their pens!

Okay I swear I'm doing missionary work and not just playing with animals XD

We also found this Brazilian family this week. The mom had talked to the Elders a while ago and invited us back and we heard their whole life story in an hour. We laughed and cried and groaned and now we're best friends. The best part was hearing that they believed that God sent us to teach them about God.

Love you guys! Have a great day!

Sister Ellsworth

2 Nephi 25:16

(Aldste Cummings)

Hej hej,

This week has been so crazy. We got our flight plans. We're heading out of here at 3:30AM on Monday and will land in Stockholm at 7:00AM on Tuesday with a short (literally 1 hour) layover at JFK. We are so excited. I can't wait to get over there and be completely blown away by how little Swedish I actually know/can understand. I can tell you all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Swedish, but I have none of the vocabulary needed to order a meal or anything of the like. I guess that's just something you pick up in the field.

I had a fun experience this week with my companion, Elder Bird. His permanent retainer broke so we got to take an exciting off-campus trip to the orthodontist. It was the chillest orthodontist office ever. they let us sign our names on the wall like they do with their other patients and they gave us free slushies afterwards. It was so fun.

Anyway, this week I've been thinking a lot about how important the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. A quote from our missionary teaching guide entitled "Preach My Gospel" states it very to-the-point:

"Regardless of needs or problems, all people are best helped as they accept and live the gospel."

At first this may seem rather unqualified and and a blatant generalization, but the more you think about it, the more you realize that it's true.

Given that Jesus is the Christ and the reality of His Atonement and Resurrection, is it not true that it is through Him that we can receive all the help we need in this life and more? Through His Atonement, He took upon Himself the pains and sins and afflictions of the world so that He may know how to help us in those very same pains and sins and afflictions. He is the perfect sympathizer and thus is the perfect panacea for all mankind. He is the Light of the World, the Living Water, and the Bread of Life. Dependence on Him for succor and salvation is perhaps the only thing that every single human that has ever and will ever live share with each other. It doesn't matter where you come from or what has happened in your life, Christ Jesus is the answer. He unifies humankind.

Knowing this, its no surprise that we have a responsibility to "talk of Christ, rejoice in Christ, preach of Christ" and so forth. He is the way the light and the life (John 14:6).

I know He lives, I know He loves us, and I know that through Him we can find everything we ever need in this life or the life to come.

Äldste Cummings