D & C 84:19-20

(Aldste Cummings)

Tjabba!

This week was incredible! We were really busy with everything going on. We've seen a significant amount of success these past couple of weeks. We have more people to teach and more progressing investigators than I think I've ever had in my mission so far. We were able to teach new investigators a good bit this week and then to top it off, Kristoffer was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday!

Kristoffer is amazing. He's a 27 year old normal Swede who is the nicest, most inviting person you will ever meet. We met him on the street about 5 weeks ago and he came to church the following Sunday and LOVED it. He said that it felt like a safe, warm embrace that he had been looking for for his whole life. We began teaching him the following Tuesday and he readily accepted an invitation to be baptized. Since then we had been teaching him and preparing him to become a member in Jesus Christ's church and be baptized for the remission of sins.

The baptismal service was beautiful and well-attended. His mom--who is taking the lessons from the sister missionaries in the branch and has been to church the last three weeks--gave a short little talk as well expressing her gratitude for her wonderful son. I made my mom's now famous pumpkin chocolate chip bread again and everyone loved it

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to confirm him as a member of the church and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost. That was a truly powerful and memorable experience. The Spirit in that room was almost tangible and was a testament to me of the reality of the ordinance. The power of God was manifest in that moment as Kristoffer received the greatest gift God can give His children in this life.

I love Kristoffer and am so thankful for his love and humility. I'm sure the Lord has big plans for him.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

D & C 110:4

(Aldste Cummings)

Hej hej!

As usual, we had a great week. I've said that probably every week since I got here and, judging how it's gone so far, I will likely say it every week until I go home!

This week we had a lot of success with teaching people and setting up lessons this week with people we've met over the past couple of weeks. It's really exciting to see how the work here in Karlskrona is progressing and developing!

We had another lunch lesson with Kristoffer this week! We brought some ingredients and we just made something up. On the menu this time was mung beans, radishes, cucumbers, bell pepper, and onions sautéed in olive oil and mixed together in coconut milk all on top of couscous spiced with cumin and coriander with a side of potatoes. It was divine.

A man who served here as a missionary in Karlskrona five years ago came and visited with his wife and bought us all ice cream at Karlskrona's famous Glassiären. It was also divine.

I thought I would take this opportunity to share one of my favorite scriptures about the Savior. This scripture is a quote directly from the Risen Christ himself who appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple. He testifies of himself with strong, powerful words that cut directly to the point. He is the beginning and the end. He tortured and killed to for the sins of the world. He resurrected on the third day and stands today on God's right hand. He lives and because He lives, we will too and we can be reconciled to our Father. He, too, is divine.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. Yummm

2. Da boys

3. Pizza night with Björn

4. You can take the dog out of Connecticut but you can't take Connecticut out of the dog.

Alma 5:14

(Aldste Cummings)

Tjenare!

This week was great! Sorry I don't have a lot of time, so I'll have to keep this kinda short.

We had so much fun this week working hard finding and teaching. The weather is incredible and makes you almost forget that you're working at all when half your day is spent outside walking around!

We're seeing some really good success in our area and with our investigators. I'm really excited to see how it plays out! Let me tell you, coming to a knowledge of Christ's gospel and learning to "see Him as He is"(1 John 3:2) changes people. The more we work with people and teach them the gospel and the more contact they have with the Holy Ghost, the bigger that change is.

It is God's gift to us that we can be spiritually reborn and receive a "mighty change in [our] hearts" when we turn to Him and humbly lay our burdens at His feet. Happiness, comfort, and even life itself begin with a desire to follow Jesus Christ.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. God is alive and well in Karlskrona.

2. Classic elevator pic.

3. Elder Bjornn, get out of the way.

4. Thank you.

Alma 56:48

(Aldste Cummings)

Hejsan!

This week was fantastic! Summer has come early and it is GORGEOUS here in Karlskrona. I wish I could show you guys what it's really like just to walk around out here but I guess I'll just have to send pictures and brag about it incessantly instead. Maybe then you'll understand how truly beautiful it is.

We had the opportunity to teach our investigator Kristoffer a couple times this week. On Tuesday he taught us how to make some absolutely incredible vegetarian food. Pictures are attached.

I also got to call my family and talk with them! It was so great to see them. It's been a fat stund since I had the opportunity to really be with them and I'm thankful for even just the small opportunity I had to talk to them on Sunday.

In light of Mothers' Day, I thought I would share a few words about my own mother.

For all of you who know my mom, you already know that she is an incredibly hard-working, diligent, and faithful woman who touches and blesses the lives of everyone she meets. She has taught me so much not only through word, but by example.

I am eternally grateful for who my mom is and the sacrifices she has made to raise me and my siblings. I wish words could express my gratitude and love. She truly is a woman of God.

I love you, Mom.

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. Mhmm

2. Kristoffer and us at our little brunch

3. pt 2. Would not recommend.

4. That's right, I live here (pt 3).

Luke 11: 11-13

(Aldste Cummings)

Hejsan!

This week was great! We were able to see some good progress in some of our investigators as well as had time to do some classic finding work. I love being a missionary and love talking with people about Christ's restored gospel! It brings so much joy.

This week, all the Swedish high school students in their last year celebrated graduation by putting on white caps and parading through town while screaming and whistling. That was a sight to see. I definitely didn't get to do that when I graduated high school.

This week was the last week of the transfer, but because I'm training Elder Burns, we'll be staying together for at least 6 weeks more while we finish up training. I'm looking forward to spending some more time in this beautiful city as summertime comes around!

I've thought about this scripture a lot this week. The Savior teaches us here that the Lord will always answer our prayers by using the analogy that any rational, loving father would never give his son a stone when he asks for bread. What I've learned in my admittedly short life is that God does really answer our prayers and would never give us a stone if we needed bread.

However, sometimes we ask for cake when the Lord knows that what we need is the nourishment that comes from a loaf of bread. We may not receive what we ask for, but if we ask in faith, the God will surely bless us with what we need. The question is then, how do we react when we receive the bread we need instead of the cake we wanted?

I know that our Heavenly Father is conscious of us--our wants and our needs. I know that an active faith in Him will lead to the joy, comfort, and confidence that we need in this life.

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. The parade

2. Our boy was a little late to the party

3. This Persian guy was rocking the rollerskates

4. This was super fun

Alma 32:21

(Aldste Cummings)

Tjena!

This week was great! As usual, we worked hard. But it wouldn't be a great week if we didn't! We were able to spend a lot of time finding, teaching, and serving this week. And it feels great to be able to work as the Lord's servant in this little corner of His vineyard.

One of the people we met on the street this week showed up at church on Sunday! He loved it and is excited to have us come over and teach him more an we're more than excited to come over and teach him more.

This week was also the Swedish holiday called Valborg. To celebrate, one builds a giant pile of wood and then burns it. It symbolizes burning away winter and welcoming the spring. It's so raw, primeval, and Scandinavian. I love it.

Elder Renlund, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles--one of the highest governing bodies of the church--came to Sweden this week to speak to the members and the missionaries. It was fantastic. He's Swedish too so he gave his talk in Swedish! The members were so happy and proud, it was adorable. He spoke a lot about faith and what it means to hold on and act in faith. It was a very inspiring and inspired message tailored for the people of Sweden.

Again, I cite Alma 32. One of the best discourses ever written and perhaps my favorite chapter in all of scripture. Faith does not mean we know everything and it never will. That's made clear by this verse. But something else we learn by this verse that I think is very meaningful is that faith is a hope. Belief without hope is not and cannot be true faith. Faith is inspiring and motivating. The hope our faith brings us motivates us to act and it is then that our faith grows and testimony as well as blessings are received.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

Alma 18:24-28

(Aldste Cummings)

Hey all!

This week was tons of fun! Unfortunately, nearly all of our appointments we had scheduled were all REscheduled and we weren't able to meet very many people this week, but we saw tons of small miracles as we patiently pressed forward!

For example, after an appointment was canceled rather unexpectedly, Elder Burns and I filled up the vacant time by going downtown to talk to people on the street. While we were there, we ran into a girl Elder Harris and I had talked to over a month ago who was very interested in learning more but that we couldn't get in contact with. After a short conversation with her, she expressed her strong desire to learn more about the Book of Mormon and we set up a lesson with her for this week! We rescheduled with the person we were going to meet and now we will have lessons with both! It's incredible how the Lord leads us to where we need to be even if we thought something or someone else was more important as long as we patiently follow His plan and His timing.

This week, I chose the scripture where Ammon teaches the King about the nature of God by first helping him realize that he already believed in God. I chose this because of an experience Elder Burns and I had last night while we were tracting. We talked to this man and after a short, casual conversation, we asked him if he believed in God.

He responded that didn't, but that he might believe in some impersonal higher power (classic Swede). We then--following the direction of our mission president to ask inspired, probing questions--asked him if he believed there is a life after death, if the higher power he believes in is directly involved in that life after death, if he believes the higher power can actively make choices, if the higher power cares about him personally, and if the higher power is all knowing and knows what is best for him, and if he would trust the higher power if it commanded him to do something. To all of these questions, he answered affirmatively.

I then felt prompted by the Spirit to be a little bolder than I usually would be comfortable with and, with this scripture in mind, said to him: "This higher power you believe in sounds a lot like the god we believe in. My friend, you believe in God." We then invited him to learn more about the things that God has commanded him to do to be happy in this life and he graciously accepted.

This experience was evidence to me that most--if not all--people have an innate knowledge that God is there and that He loves them. Sometimes that knowledge is hidden in a dark corner of the heart that is intentionally ignored or overlooked; but it's there nonetheless.

I witness that God lives and loves us. He waits for us to turn to Him and is never turned away from us.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. Majestic.

2. Your boys.

3. That's right. I live here.

4.That's right. I live here part 2.