Alma 57:26

(Aldste Cummings)

Hey everybody!

This week was so fun! I can't even describe it. We just did so much and had a blast.

We started it off with playing innebandy (floor hockey I think it's called in English. Maybe floorball ?¿) with some of the young children and the bishop of the ward here and it was fantastic. We had so much fun and now we're so tight with all of them.

We also met this cool guy with cool hair named Björn (definition: bear. Such a cool name) on the street who turns out really needs God in his life right now and so he came to church on Sunday and thought it was fantastic and is going to come back next week so that's a pretty cool miracle.

We also went out and got dinner with Anders which was delicious. It was also really good for helping him in his spiritual progression as well. We encouraged him to develop a personal relationship to God. We talked about the uncanny coincidences concerning how we ended up on the same street at the same time and the door to the building that we would have gone in was locked and all that and testified that it was evidence that God was aware of him and wanted us to be there to talk to him. He thought about it a little and then added a bit of the story that we didn't know: he wasn't even supposed to be there on that street that day. He was going to go to lunch with his friend the day before but something came up and they pushed up the lunch to the day after.

It was so cool to see how the wheels were turning in his head and how he began to see how God has been preparing to receive His gospel. That seemed to hit him pretty hard because since then, his desire to build a relationship with his heavenly father has increased so much and he is making fantastic progress.

God is aware of us and really does do miracles in our lives whether or not we're aware of him. Open your hearts to His tender mercies and let His light in your life.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

RIP Sister Slade b July 30, 1999 - d.September 1, 2018

(Sister Slade)

Hello everyone!

I'm not kidding with that subject line. On Friday night, I started to feel really sick with a stomach ache, headache, and a fever. On Saturday I so feverish, dizzy, and weak that our teacher Brother Eaton sent Sister Allison and I to the health clinic on the other side of the MTC campus. Unfortunately, we all forgot that the clinic is not open on Saturdays. So we walked back to class where Brother Eaton told us me to go back to my room to lay down. By the time we actually got back to our room, we had probably walked a mile, which did NOT help how I felt. The next day was fast Sunday, and at the MTC, it's a mandatory fast, mostly because the cafeteria was closed. This also didn't help how I felt. The purpose of telling all of you this is not so you can feel sorry for me. I had some amazing experiences because of this. On Sunday, President Dyck authorized my district leader, Elder Corbridge, to give me a blessing. My whole district participated in the blessing. It was the first time any of these Elders had the opportunity to give a blessing. Having 8 Elders surround me with the purpose of blessing me reminded me of a scripture; "And mine angels [are] round about you, to bear you up." Sister Allison even participated by holding open the missionary handbook for Elder Corbridge to make sure he said the right thing. Another thing I learned from this is how grateful I am for Sister Allison. I seriously don't think I could have made it through the weekend without her. She never complained about walking extremely slow because that's all the energy I could give, or missing class because I had no more energy to give, or even that I couldn't really hold a conversation with her because I was delirious with fever. Instead she just loved and served me. I love her even more after this weekend. Also, on Saturday for the part of class that I attended, we were talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It hit me full force then that Jesus Christ knows exactly how awful I feel and He is there for me in the same way that Sister Allison was there for me, I just can't see Him.

Now that my mom thinks I was dying, I can assure her that I didn't die. I just felt like I was. ;) The good news is that my fever finally broke on Sunday night, and I regained most of my energy yesterday. My stomach still hurts a little today, but I'm not dying anymore.

Like I mentioned, this last Sunday was fast Sunday, which meant we had a fast and testimony meeting. During sacrament meeting, even though I felt awful, I kept thinking that if I can't even bear my testimony in a sacrament meeting, then I'm going to be in for a long 18 months. What else do missionaries do but bear their testimony? So I got up and bore my testimony. I don't remember a thing I said, but later all three members of the Branch Presidency came up to thank me for my testimony and they told me that my words were very powerful. So maybe what I was feeling in that meeting wasn't my fever, but the Holy Ghost guiding my words. :)

The MTC branches are kind of crazy. We get and lose missionaries every week, and no one knows who is teaching a lesson or talking in sacrament meetings. We're told that we should just prepare a talk on a certain topic and with our companion prepare a lesson on another topic each week. Then on Sunday morning our Zone leaders tell us who is teaching the lesson for relief society or Sunday school. During sacrament meeting, President Dyck will just get up and announce then and there who we will hear from each week. Giving a talk this week wasn't a big deal because of fast and testimony meeting, but Sister Allison and I were called on to teach Relief Society. We had spent maybe 15 minutes the day before preparing the lesson. The topic was recognizing the spirit, and it was incredible how powerful the spirit was in that lesson. The Lord really does take whatever we have to give and makes it more. It's the parable of the loaves and fishes again.

On Sunday night, we watched a devotional that Elder Holland gave at the MTC in 2004 called "Missions are Forever." In it, Elder Holland shared a poem:

 Come to the edge, He said

 No, I said, I'll fall

 Come to the edge, He said

 No, I said, I'll fall

 Come to the edge, He said

 So I came to the edge

 He pushed me, and I flew.

It was very powerful the way he shared it, and I think it can be applied to every aspect of life, not just a mission. The Lord gives us trials- he pushes us- so that we can fly. We just have to make it to the edge of our ability.

We got our travel itineraries on Friday Night! Sister Allison and I leave the MTC on the 12th, so next Wednesday. The only downside is that we have to get up at 3 in the morning to check out of the MTC on time. It's going to be a long day. Our flight doesn't leave until 8:30, but we have a layover in Georgia. We won't get to Arkansas until 4:30 in the afternoon. Sister Allison is assigned to be the travel leader for the 14 of us who will be on that flight, and so every time we see someone going to Arkansas they say, "Hi mom!" It's kind of funny because Sister Allison hates it. Because I'm leaving on a Wednesday, I will have one more P-day next Tuesday.

God is Good!

Love,

Sister Slade

Pictures

1. Our temple trip on Friday

2. I was in the middle of talking to the teacher when Sister Allison took this picture. Also Elder Horne in the background is shooting a rubber band at Sister Allison.

3. Proof that I'm alive and well. This picture was taken yesterday. 

Timothy 4:12

(Aldste Cummings)

Hey everyone!

This week was so fun. We did a ton of stuff and most of it I can't really remember because my brain is just so fried from doing so many different things.

We've been working hard on building trust and developing relationships with ward members to help strengthen them and increase their participation in our work as missionaries. It's been going really well. On Tuesday we played soccer with the young men in the ward and we've had like 6 meals with members this week including with our bishop. He and his wife even coordinated with other parents in the ward to set up a weekly floor hockey night with the missionaries so all the primary kids and spend more time with us! I'm so excited.

Going to church here is so fun. I've never been a very outgoing person--especially not when I'm speaking Swedish--but I've been making a concerted effort to reach out and try to make every member I talk to feel like their my best friend and I definitely feel like the Lord has blessed me with so much more social confidence as well as love for others than I've ever had. I love these people!

We had a formal lesson with the man we met a couple weeks ago who we later had lunch with. He then came to church on Sunday and L O V E D it. He's never really had a faith before so he's progressing slowly as far as a personal testimony is concerned, but he absolutely loves what he sees in the church and its members. He couldn't stop talking about how nice and warm and friendly everyone was and how happy he felt. It was unlike any experience he had ever had growing up as your average Swede does. Simply because of the goodness of the members and the love he feels in the congregation here, he is very seriously considering becoming a member himself.

This was just a perfect example of how covenant-keeping members of the church have a light and power in them that really does get noticed by other people. It's hard to put your finger on what it is, but it's there. As we strive to live the Gospel and "be an example of the believers," our joy and the light of the gospel in us makes an impact on those around us searching for the same joy and light.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. Needless to say, Elder Dumas was NOT feeling well this day.

2. Ella Enchanted på svenska.

3. "I'm the Statue of Liberty"

4. Our boy.

5.  Long story. Jag orkar inte förklara.

MTC Really Stands For Marine Training Center

(Sister Slade)

Hello family and friends!

Holy cow! This week has been crazy. It's been the longest and shortest, best and craziest week of my life. I can't believe that I've been in the MTC for a full 10 days, but at the same time it feels like I've been here for a life time. I feel so ready to actually be out in the mission field. Before I start on my week, a couple of house keeping items. :) First of all, because my mission is a device mission, I can receive and read emails any time of the week, I just can't respond. So feel free to email me at any time. It makes my day to hear from everyone. Also, I guess there was still some problems with the pictures from last week. Was everyone able to view them? If not, just email me anytime today before 6 and I will try to fix that. Another thing is that the MTC is changing my P-day to Tuesday next week, so I'll have another P-day in 4 days, but I probably won't have another one until I'm actually in the field. Last thing, to my family (siblings and parents) how are you doing on my challenge? If you've forgotten about it, that's okay because you still have 3 more days to work on it! But I do expect an email on Monday night from each of you with an update!

Here at the MTC, we have this thing called TRC where we contact people who agree to come and be taught by the missionaries. Some of them are non members who want to learn more about the gospel. Basically, we go and contact them on the "street" and then we set up an appointment to meet with them again. Then we teach them 2 or 3 times. Sister Allison and I talked to a guy named Ethan. He's from the UK and had an amazing accent. We only got to teach him twice, because the third time would have been today, but it's our P-day. Both times we've taught him, I've felt the spirit guiding my words and help me to teach him and not the lesson we had prepared. We're 94.7% sure that he is a member of the church, but who knows? Tomorrow, we'll have another contacting activity, where we will meet a new person to teach next week.

I love my district! I feel like I gained 8 brothers (some of which are older brothers, and some are younger) and a sister. The lord knew that I can't handle immature people, and so he placed me with people that (for the most part) aren't immature. Seriously though, it's very obvious that some of the Elders here are 18 years old, but with my district, they all act older than their age.

For the first 5 days that I was here, I was looking for Sister Marks, because I knew she was leaving on Monday, and I was terrified that I would miss her. She's was the only person that I knew was in the MTC. I was feeling discouraged that I wouldn't see a familiar face for another 18 months, so I said a prayer that I would be able to fine Sister Marks. Not 10 minutes later, we quite literally ran into each other. This was Saturday night. Then on Sunday, we ran into each other 5 more times. It was a testimony to me that Heavenly Father really does hear and answer prayers. 

I had a life changing moment on Sunday Night. We watched a devotional that Elder Bednar gave to the Provo MTC in 2012 called the Character of Christ. Supposedly you can only find it in the MTC, but I would encourage each of you to at least look for it. If you can't find it, read Elder Bednar's book One by One, it sort of touches on the same thing. It was absolutely incredible though! I can't even describe how powerful his words though. He talked about becoming converted unto the lord, and the way we do that is to develop the character of Christ, which is to turn outwards when the natural man in each of us would turn inwards. I can't begin to express how deeply his words touched me. He mentioned specifically that this mission is not about me, but I think that was to general. This life is not about me. We should not be asking "What can I get out of this life?" but "What can I give?"

I decided to be a part of the MTC which turned out to be the best decision ever. We practice on Sunday and Tuesday nights, and then perform for the devotional on Tuesday night. This week, we were singing an incredible arrangement of I Know That My Redeemer Lives by T. Chemain Evans called Testimony. I would encourage all of you to look up a performance of it, preferably by the missionary choir. Before you do that, look up the story of Samuel Medley (the person that originally wrote the song). When we sang this on Tuesday, the words were my testimony. "Oh, sweet the joy this sentence gives! I know that my Redeemer Lives!"

Also at the devotional, the opening hymn was Called to Serve. I will never forget that experience. There is something incredibly powerful about 2000 missionaries all singing "Called to serve our king!" The whole time, I felt like I was on angel's wings.

Now for the fun/funny things that have happened. On Monday night's, the MTC is catered to by a local food place. This week it was Subway. It was quite possibly the worst meal I've had since being here at the MTC, which is saying a lot because the food here is not the best. Working at Subway for 3 years kind of ruins my appetite for their food. Also on Monday, Sister Allison started to trot up the stairs to our room and she yelled, "I'm a horse!" We laughed so hard, mostly because we were so exhausted. Last night, our entire district was very slap happy. I felt bad for our teacher, because we would laugh at something really stupid every 5 minutes or so. We were all ready for P-day today. The subject for this email can't really be explained because there's a lot to it. But the joke started, because one day our entire district was falling asleep in class, so our teacher made us do jumping jacks, wall sits, and a lap around the floor to wake us up. If you can picture 10 missionaries doing all of this in suits and dresses, then you are beginning to understand why I chose that as the subject line.

Final thought. 2 days ago, Sister Allison and I were talking about our lesson plan for Ethan, and she said, "We did the best that we could with the time that I had." This hit me really hard, because that's what I want to be able to say at the end of my mission, or even my life. "I did the best that I could with the time that I had." So now that is my goal for my mission.

I love all of you!

--

Sister Slade

pictures

1. See mom, I am eating healthy ; )

2. Sister Marks and I

3. Emma, this one's for you

4. Funny picture because why not?

5. My district. From left to right, Elder Cahoon, Elder Spilsburry, Sister Allison and I, Elder Walters, Elder Corbridge, Elder Felt and Elder Oxenden. In the front are Elder Horne and Elder

Helser

6. Sister Allison and I during study time  

Moroni 10:8

(Aldste Cummings)

Hey everyone!

Sorry, it's probably a little weird that I'm sending this late but we had to do some regular missionary things on P-day and didn't get enough time to email so had to move around the time a little.

Anyway, we had a great week. It went by so fast I can't even remember everything. It's all going by like a blur. It's crazy.

It's just as well that I can't remember everything because I don't have a lot of time to write anyway, but basically, it's been a great week and I love Västra Frölunda! This place is amazing.

We had a cool experience where we came back to swing-by a young guy who seemed rather lukewarm concerning our message at first but said we could come back. We started talking to him at the door again and learned that he does a some sleight of hand tricks. We, of course, asked him to show us and it was pretty cool. We started talking about what he was studying in school and he invited us in to check out some of his latin textbooks and we got talking about my interest in studying artificial intelligence in college and he asked about how I rationalize it with my faith and I gave my personal feelings about how my love for science supports my faith. He thought it was super cool. He shared how he had his own preconceptions of missionaries as fundamentalists who don't support anything other than what is said in the Bible and he thought it was really inspiring that I could also have such a passion for something that apparently seems contradictory to some. We're coming back to teach him for real on Friday!

We all have gifts that will touch people in different ways. There are people in your path that you can uniquely help. However, it may require that you bring your talents to bear and be willing to make yourself a tool in the Lord's hands. Give yourself to Him, and He will lead you those who need the spiritual gifts only you have.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. A friend of ours gave us a big ol' Swedish bible. See 2 Nephi 29:3

2. When your comp thinks you're studying the scriptures but you actually knitting

3. I knit that.

8000002 Alarm Clocks

(Sister Slade)

Hello Friends!

I can hardly believe it! I'm a missionary! I decided that I wanted to serve a mission when I was 13, and now here I am 6 years later! It still hasn't hit me full force yet. It's kind of hard for me to believe. I apologize in advance for how disorganized this email may seem. So much has happened that I don't really know where this letter is going to go. To explain the subject, every morning everyone's alarm goes off at 6:30. because the walls are thin, we can hear pretty much every single person's alarm clock go off every morning. It is quite the wake up call.

Anyway, the last two days have been absolutely crazy! On my flight to Utah, there were 4 other missionaries headed to the Missionary Training Center. I sat next to an Elder Oxenden who is assigned to labor in Washington. When I checked into the MTC later that day, we were both surprised  to learn that we would be in the same district.

When I emailed all of you on Wednesday to let you know that I had made it here safely, I had met my companion Sister Allison literally 2 minutes before. At that point, I hadn't even been in the MTC for half an hour. I absolutely love Sister Allison!!! She's from Arizona and is also headed to Bentonville Arkansas. In our district there are 5 companionships, but Sister Allison and I are the only set of sisters. All of the elders in our district are going to either Washington or Oregon, and then there are Sister Allison and I. We know of 4 others headed to Arkansas, but they're basically in a different world from us because they're not in our district or zone.

Wednesday was exhausting! So much happened, and there was so much new information to take in that I barely remember anything that happened. A couple things that I do remember though are the MTC presidency teaching us and the rain. When the MTC presidency welcomed us, they taught us about the 5 loaves and the 2 fishes. They said that even though our efforts may seem small, like the 5 loaves and 2 fishes seemed to the 5000, if we bring our all, then the lord will bless our efforts and it will fill all that need to partake of our efforts. Also on Wednesday, it decided to rain. Because none of the new missionaries had unpacked yet, none of us had umbrellas. The rain wasn't just a light sprinkle. It was pouring. At least it was pouring whenever we had to go outside. We would watch the rain, and whenever we were in class, it would stop raining, but as soon as we went outside, it decided to pick up again. So as a result, we appeared to every meal and class with dripping hair and shoulders.

In one of our classes yesterday, we talked about our missionary purpose which is to "invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." The teacher told us that we can't really fulfill our purpose unless we love the people. He then said that that was the purpose of a missionary, but the best part of being a missionary is having a front row seat for watching the lord do his work.

I've decided that one of my favorite parts of having a companion is companionship study. Yesterday, Sister Allison and I decided to study Doctrine and Covenants section 4, specifically the line, "If ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work." We talked about the word desire and looked it up in the topical guide. something that we learned was that in the scriptures, the word desire is synonym to purpose. Because we spend so much time talking about our purpose, and how to magnify it, this struck both of us really hard. So now, instead of saying, "My purpose is to invite..." we say, "My desire is to invite..." It makes the whole thing mean so much more to me now. Later that night, our branch presidency was teaching us more about our purpose. At the same time, Sister Allison and I turned to each other and whispered, "No, our desire." It was so unexpected and completely unplanned, that both of us started to laugh right there in the front row while our branch president was teaching. I don't think it would have been so funny if we weren't both so exhausted.

In the MTC, our branches and Zones are the same thing. Yesterday we had our first zone meeting where the presidency called missionaries to different callings in our branch. Sister Allison and I were called to be the branch music directors. Almost as soon as the calling was extended, I thought about the multiple blessings I've had that tell me that my musical gifts will bless others and help them come unto Christ no matter where I am. I think it's interesting that I am here in the MTC  for only three weeks, but I have the opportunity to share my testimony of the gospel through music.

Also last night in the zone meeting, President Dyck interviewed each of us separately. In my interview, he told me that he was prompted to tell me that I was one of the lord's miracle missionaries. He said that the lord loves all of his missionaries, but He can only trust a few and I was one of those. He said it was because I had an obedient spirit. This was amazing to me, because at this point, we had talked for a full 2 minutes, and he could tell that about me. I've never seen a need to rebel against rules or God's commandments. I like being obedient because it makes other choices so much easier because you don't have to deal with bad consequences from bad decisions before. He told me that obedience brings blessings, but exact obedience brings miracles. Then he told me again that I was one of the Lord's miracle missionaries and also that when I smile, it lights up the room. It basically made my day to be told that that's what the lord thinks of me.

Our district is going to the temple later this afternoon, and I'll be sure to get a picture of all of us so you can put faces to names in the following weeks as I mention everyone. I love all of you!

God is Good!

            Love,

                 Sister Slade

P.S. the chocolate milk here is the BEST.

Hebrews 12:9

(Aldste Cummings)

Hällå!

This week was great. Looking back on it, everything just feels like it was a blur. I can't even remember everything we did and when I can remember something, I don't know which day it was on. This whole week was wild.

We had our transfer-ly interviews with President Youngberg which was really good. He is so wise and very clearly inspired. The way he thinks and the logic he uses seems literally superhuman. The Lord definitely supports us in our callings and consecrates magnifies our efforts when we use them in His service.

We did tons of other fun things I promise but I can't remember anything.

We had a great lesson with the man I wrote about last week. We talked about how our love for God and understanding of our relationship to Him has filled our lives with so much happiness and meaning. He cut us off at one point and said, "I've never felt that. No one here even TALKS about that. How can I feel that?"

That was a little bit of an eye-opener. Having always been taught that God is my heavenly father has always given me a perspective on life that other's may not have even when I wasn't sure if I believed it or really felt it in my life. It's difficult to imagine what it must be like to not know that or have even heard that. This man expressed that his life had felt so empty and meaningless and he could recognize something in us that he had never felt. It was a testimony to me that God's love really is a living, edifying power in our lives. When we truly understand who He is and how we can strengthen our relationship to Him, it will change our lives forever.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. I'm knitting and he's sewing. Companionship unity.

2. Playing with our boy Benjamin.

3. They see me rollin'.

4. Sent it.

Hällå!

This week was great. Looking back on it, everything just feels like it was a blur. I can't even remember everything we did and when I can remember something, I don't know which day it was on. This whole week was wild.

We had our transfer-ly interviews with President Youngberg which was really good. He is so wise and very clearly inspired. The way he thinks and the logic he uses seems literally superhuman. The Lord definitely supports us in our callings and consecrates magnifies our efforts when we use them in His service.

We did tons of other fun things I promise but I can't remember anything.

We had a great lesson with the man I wrote about last week. We talked about how our love for God and understanding of our relationship to Him has filled our lives with so much happiness and meaning. He cut us off at one point and said, "I've never felt that. No one here even TALKS about that. How can I feel that?"

That was a little bit of an eye-opener. Having always been taught that God is my heavenly father has always given me a perspective on life that other's may not have even when I wasn't sure if I believed it or really felt it in my life. It's difficult to imagine what it must be like to not know that or have even heard that. This man expressed that his life had felt so empty and meaningless and he could recognize something in us that he had never felt. It was a testimony to me that God's love really is a living, edifying power in our lives. When we truly understand who He is and how we can strengthen our relationship to Him, it will change our lives forever.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. Sent it.

2. They see me rollin'.

3. I'm knitting and he's sewing. Companionship unity.

4. Playing with our boy Benjamin.