Amos 3:7

(Aldste Cummings)

Hello everybody!

I hope you all had a great week, because we sure did!

On Wednesday, I met my new companion and son, Elder Burns! He's a stud from Connecticut, so we have the East Coast thing in common which is super fun. He's a hard worker and loves learning the language and is already making great progress with it! On the train ride down, he was able to bear his testimony to potentially change the life of a man we sat with in the dining car. The man very quickly recognized us as servants of the Lord and revealed to us his most personal thoughts and feelings--feelings that he had never shared with anyone else.

The man was especially touched by the fire in Elder Burns' eyes and the strength of his spirit. He broke down in tears when he discovered that they both shared the same name: Anthony. The man gave us his number and we sent it along to the missionaries in his area where they will contact and try to help him come yet closer to Christ. Way to go, Elder Burns!

This week, we were privileged to hear from the Lord's Prophet, Apostles, and other ordained servants during the Church's semi-annual General Conference. What and experience it was to listen to them speak and receive the witness of the Spirit that this truly is the Lord's church and is led by living prophets. I testify that President Nelson is a Prophet of God who not only receives revelation for the Church, but also the entire world. I would encourage each and every one of you to listen to and obey the counsel he reveals from the Lord. After all, "surely the LORD GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets"(Amos 3:7).

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. Three generational photo. From left to right, Elder Martineau (My father, Elder Burns' grandfather), Me (Elder Martineau's son, Elder Burn's father), and Elder Burns (Elder Martineau's grandson, my son).

2.  No more ice on the sea!

3. Elder Burns and I in stan.

4. Kebab pizza.

5. Elder Burns and I as we point to our assigned proselyting area.

1 Nephi 2: 19-20

(Aldste Cummings)

Hey everyone!

This week was pretty exciting! As it turns out, I will be assigned to serve with a missionary coming directly from the MTC for the next twelve weeks! It will be pretty exciting seeing as he won't be able to speak practically any Swedish for a couple weeks and I'll have to handle nearly everything that goes on. In missionary-lingo, this means that I am becoming a "father" and my new companion will be my "son." I'm really excited to meet him on Wednesday!

With this new assignment, I got the opportunity to attend a training meeting in Stockholm and got to stay the night in the office there with a couple other elders. It was super fun. It is a 6 hour one-way trip though so that was a little "jobbigt" as Swedes say. I'll be making the trip there and back again this week to meet my new companion so I'll have a good amount of travel time this week as well.

The scripture I chose this week stuck out to me while I began to read the Book of Mormon again from the beginning. I liked it a lot, not only because of what it says, but also because of the context it gives when compared with the beginning of the next chapter. The Lord counsels Nephi to keep His commandments and comforts him with blessings he will receive in doing so. Then--as the scriptural record would seem to indicate--only minutes later, his father--prophet of God--relates to Nephi how the Lord had commanded him and his brothers to return to the land of Jerusalem and confront Laban in request for the genealogical records of the Jews.

Nephi immediately relied on the counsel he had just been given from the Lord to follow His commandments to the letter. This is an example to us of how the Lord not only prepares a way to follow His commandments, but also prepares us to receive them! I would encourage each of you to reflect on how you have been prepared by the Lord to accomplish His purposes.

Have a great week!

1. TU is the abbreviation we use for "Potential Investigator" in Swedish. We thought it was funny but you guys probably won't. I decided to send it anyway.

2. This is the biggest dog I have ever seen. You can't really tell because no one is standing next to it to reference to, but it's head reached well past my elbow.

 

John 15:26

(Aldste Cummings)

Hey all!

This week was a whole lot of fun. We had zone conference in Malmö so we got to travel there on Tuesday and spend some time with the other missionaries in the zone. We don't really get to see each other often, so we make the most of the opportunities we have to catch up.        

As far as the work in Karlskrona goes, it's starting to pick up! We've had a lot of people we've been trying to meet with over the last 5 weeks but have had a hard time scheduling it all. It's looking like the stars will align this week though! We're really excited.     

We met a family on Saturday who had been taught by the missionaries 12 years ago but decided to stop taking the lessons. We met the father and mother and their daughter (who was in the womb last time they met the missionaries) and were able to talk a little bit. They invited us over again this week and want to start taking the lessons again! It's very exciting.

Another fun success story, Camilla--who Elder Cluff and I had the opportunity to teach and see baptized in January--and Ståle got married last week! I'm so happy for them. They intend to be sealed in the temple next year and I am looking forward to being able to be with them then. They are incredible and I love them so much. I'm so grateful the Lord allowed me to meet and spend so much time with the two of them.

This week I've been focusing my scripture study on how the Spirit speaks to us and what the fruits of the Spirit are. There is a very good activity on page 96 of Preach My Gospel that gives a lot of good insight into how the Holy Ghost has a hand in our lives. I've taken the time to reflect on and even write down a lot of the spiritual experiences that I've had that I haven't written down or reflected on as a cumulative whole. This week I've certainly strengthened my testimony of the reality of the Holy Ghost--or the Comforter as Christ calls it in John 15:26. I know the Spirit really is there and can speak to us if we are willing to drown out all the other distracting voices and listen. I would encourage all of you to take some time this week and reflect on how God has spoken to you through His Spirit throughout your life.

Have a great week!

Love, Äldste Cummings

1. Elder Harris and I dropping a beat between doors during a tracting stund

2. Me impersonating how every Swedish teenager looks and walks​

Alma 12: 14-15

(Aldste Cummings)

Tjena!

This week was a good one. I don't think I've ever said that a week hasn't been good in any of these emails. I guess that's because they're all good!

This is finals week with all the college students so a lot of the people who would like to meet with us were busy with studying and stuff. We spent a lot of time with the Sweden Stockholm Mission classic: Stan. That is to say, downtown. "Stan" is short for the Swedish word "Staden" which means "the city" and just means, like I said, downtown. It's generally where all the stores and malls are and the streets are closed to car traffic. That's where we as missionaries talk to people and try to find people who are interested in learning more about our glorious message. We had some pretty good success with that this week and are excited for the weeks ahead!

As for the scripture I chose this week, it's a little depressing maybe. We as members of the church tend to focus our attention on "the blessed and happy state of those who keep the commandments of God"(Mosiah 2:41) and not so much on the other side when it comes to judgment day. I admittedly don't like to think about it either, but oftentimes feel that people misunderstand what is going to happen that day.  I've met a lot of people here who seem to be pretty proud of their defiance before God. Most recently and clearly, a man said to us yesterday, "If God exists, I am a child of Satan."

No one will be proud of wrongdoing when we stand before the bar of God. We will not be punished because God made an arbitrary decision that such would not be tolerated in the kingdom of heaven. Rather, as a law outside of His control, such can not be tolerated in the kingdom of heaven. We will stand before Him with a perfect knowledge of our sins and "acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just."

God is a loving father who created this world for us with the desire that ALL of us would return. He has done everything to make that possible. He will not shut us out because he doesn't want us to live with Him, our own wicked actions will deny us the opportunity according to the universal law of justice. In fact, it would be more comfortable for us to be separated from Him than stand unworthily in His presence.

With that in mind, let us always "acknowledge [our] unworthiness before God"(Alma 38:14) and strive with all energy of spirit to be worthy to look into his face and worthily accept His loving embrace.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

Jarom 1:2

(Aldste Cummings)

Hey all!

It's snowed almost every day this week which is very uncommon. We've gotten about a foot which is more snow than Karlskrona has seen in about 15 years. Everyone says that it's usually pretty Spring-like right about now. So Spring is a little delayed. But hopefully it's coming soon.

We had a great week this week. I got to go on splits with my good friend Elder Barney who is in the same group as me. It was the first time I've ever been on splits with an elder from my group which was really fun. We had a good time and put in some hard work for sure.

I would highly recommend that you all follow the page @swedish_mormons on instagram. It's run by a young couple in the branch here and they post a lot of pictures of the missionaries and stuff. They are the greatest people in the world. I'm in a good number of the pictures they've posted recently.

We also had stake conference in Malmö so we got to travel there for the Saturday session. The meeting was amazing and we also got to see the other missionaries from around the stake. That was fun too.

Jarom 1:2 is the only verse in the book of Jarom that has ever really stood out to me. I love it because of how concisely at the end of the verse, Jarom emphasizes the importance of the Plan of Salvation. God's plan for us to receive eternal life and reach our potential is the most important and beautiful thing we can ever hear. With that in mind, what have we done with the knowledge we have about the Plan of Salvation. We must make sure that we never become satisfied or complacent with how much we do or don't know. We must always try our best to reach our potential, learn more, and unlock the windows of heaven.

Love you all!

Äldste Cummings

D&C 6:36

(Aldste Cummings)

Hello!

I'm running a little short on time, so this won't be very long unfortunately.

This week was a good one. We've been investing a lot of time and energy into the area and we're starting to see the fruits! It's always good to see how good things can come of your personal hard work while also keeping in mind your place in the missionary work as a whole.

I love Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 because of it's bold simplicity. It teaches eternal truth with both clarity and power. The Lord teaches commands us to "look unto [Him] in every thought," as well as to "doubt not," and "fear not." We can clearly learn from this that when we put our faith in the Lord, we need not doubt or fear. In another light, however, what I have found in my own experience is that when we exercise all our energy to "look unto" Christ, our doubts and fears are expelled. A theme that modern prophets and apostles have taught recently is that darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. When we "look unto [Him] in every thought," how can we doubt? How can we fear?

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

Jacob 4:7

(Aldste Cummings)

Hello from Karlskrona!

On Tuesday I left my beloved Skövde for good. It was a sad day, I'll miss that place and the members there very dearly. I stayed the night with the elders in Jönköping then continues on my way to Karlskrona the following morning, arriving around 11:00AM.

The city is so beautiful! It's a little warmer down here so it feels like spring is on her way already but the people who live here say we still have to wait a month or so before it really gets here. The town square here is apparently the largest square in all of Scandinavia and boy is it large. I'll attach a picture below. If it's this beautiful now, I can't wait to see what it's like in the summer!

Elder Harris is amazing and we're having a ton of fun and a ton of success. It's incredible to see how many people's hearts have softened to hear the word of the Lord. We're teaching a good amount of people who aren't necessarily religious right now but are genuinely searching to find the truth. Luckily for them, we've got it!

Moving to a new area has given me the opportunity to compare myself and my current missionary skills to those I had when I first got to Skövde. It's amazing and faith-building to see the difference in the person and missionary that I've become. I've been impressed with myself (hopefully not TOO impressed--pride cometh before the fall) but more importantly I've been thankful for the difficulties that I had and the ability the Lord has given me to see His hand in my life.

I love Jacob 4:7 because it teaches us that God gives us trials and weaknesses, not only so that we can learn and grow and eventually be able to overcome them, but so that we can realize that our progression and achievement have come from a source independent of ourselves. The Lord will bless us when we turn to Him. In our humility, He will strengthen us. And then in our strength, we humble ourselves before Him as we see what we have been able to accomplish through His grace.

I am so thankful for Jesus Christ and everything he has done for me. He has blessed me and strengthened. As expressed in the lyrics of a familiar song, "[He] lift[s] me up, so I can stand on mountains."

Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Cummings​​