Nuttier than a fruit cake!

(Sister Slade)

Last Monday a member had free tickets to Silver Dollar City and we got permission from President to go, so we went to an amusement park for our preparation day. That was exciting. On Tuesday an old man that we're teaching confessed his love to my companion. That was awkward (but not the first time it's happened). On Wednesday we had zone conference. That was spiritual. On Thursday we had exchanges. That was wild. On Friday we had lunch with someone who offered me a thousand dollar guitar. That was unexpected. On Saturday we found a lady who kept using the phrase, "Nuttier than a fruit cake," and she actually was nuttier than a fruit cake. That was entertaining. On Sunday I had to speak in sacrament meeting. That was terrifying. So in a nutshell my week exciting, awkward, spiritual, wild, unexpected, entertaining, and terrifying. Such is the life of a missionary.

It really was a great week though. At zone conference we talked about the Christlike attributes and how all of them are linked together. When we practice patience we gain charity. Humility takes faith to develop. Knowledge can't be gained without diligence. It reminded me of a quote that I've used a lot on my mission, "We become who we want to be by consistently being who we want to become." When we want to become like Jesus Christ we need to consistently work on those attributes that we know he has.

On exchanges a member took all four of us to Texas Road House for dinner and Sister Elkins and I were talking to the hostess and it turns out that she actually is searching for truth. So we found someone for the Southern Hills sisters to teach!

The lady who is "nuttier than a fruit cake" kept telling us that it is because of the hormones in the cows that the world is going to end and that the book of Revelations supports her claim. She also told us that it's okay to "lose our Jesus" when we're really mad. We talked to her for a good 2 hours because she wouldn't let us leave. She was very nutty.

God is good!

Sister Slade

pictures:
1. A fun hat
2. Another little kitten
3. Proof of the ER visit
4. Silver dollar city ticket
5. Random car picture
6. The rain when its sunny
7. The old guy that offered me the guitar

8. Sister Elkins found a kitty

9. Silver dollar city with the district

Revelation, Grace of God, Weaknesses

(Hermana Ellsworth)

Jacob 4:7-8 "The Lord God Showeth us our weaknesses that we may know it is by his Grace and his great condescension unto the Children of Men that we have power to do these things 8. Behold great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, how unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that a man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the Revelations of God"

This week I learned a lot about what it means to really rely on the revelations of the Lord. Prayer is a powerful thing and there are a lot of things that we do not know and will not know for a long time. But revelation is such a wonderful thing and I loved this quote from James E. Faust, Communion with the Holy Spirit, that says "If worthy, we are entitled to receive revelation for ourselves, parents for their children, and members of the church in their callings. But the right of Revelation for others does not extend beyond our own stewardship"  As a missionary I am able to receive the revelation as to how best teach the people I am teaching within the standards and principals of the gospel. I am entitled to that as a missionary. The hard part is doing my part and asking for it. This week I had to try really hard to pray for the revelation necessary to help the missionary work progress further in this area. Through the Grace of God he decided to show me a lot of my weaknesses instead and really let me know that I can't do anything without him and his power. And after he let me see how really bad of a teacher I really am then he helped us out a ton. We have three people on date to get baptized this month and one of them is named Miguel. I am really excited for him. He is the best friend of Talito who is a new convert that drives everyone we are teaching to church every sunday (Thank you Talito!!!!) This is Talito on the right and Miguel on the left. this is the night that Miguel accepted a baptismal date!!

And update on Miyito who was baptized last week and recieved the Gift of the Holy Ghost this week but he received a lot of support from the ward and from one member in specific that I want to give a shout out to. Hermano Toro went out of his way to buy Miyito new clothes to wear to church. Miyito is a little slow and does not have the best living conditions and I have never seen such love from a ward before. Miyito and Hermano Toro are amazing friends now and when the scriptures talk about not having any poor among you I am going to think about Hermano Toro now and how to went out of his way to go visit this new member and make sure he felt like he was apart of the ward and looks like it too.

We also found a Marcos Pizza in our city

Wilking

BAPTISM!

(Hermana Ellsworth)

I was transferred into Toa Baja and we had a baptism here! His name is Miyito :) He is about 40 years old but understands a little more on the level of a 12 year old. He is so pure of heart and the members help out a lot on getting him to church. One thing that I really do love about teaching Miyito is that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone. It does not matter if you are the smartest person in the world, if you are homeless on the street, if you have a pure heart and faith in Christ the gospel of Jesus Christ can be taught to you. Miyito is a wonderful example of being pure in heart. He is aware that he has a hard time understanding things and so he will call us every once in a while to read us the ingredients in the food he is going to eat in order to make sure he isnt breaking the word of wisdom. He is a wonderful child of God and it was amazing to see him enter into the waters of baptism. I love him so much. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. Have faith in Jesus Christ. Have faith that he is the Savior of the world and that he is here for each of his children no matter their circumstances. Compared to God we are all the same.

A little bit about my comp: She is from Peru and she is the most hard working person. Im exhausted. BUT! She is an angel :) I LOVE HER SO MUCH! She has been out for 7 months and I am pretty sure she is the best gospel teacher in the world. Sometimes I sit in the lessons and think, "I knew that... but the way you explained it makes me feel like I just learned it with so much more clarity" She is incredible. This is going to be an amazing transfer in Toa Baja :)

It has rained on us every single day here and I dont remember what it is like to be dry. I LOVE IT! We got stuck in a rain storm where I couldn't see my hand in front of me and we had to run into this house and we were able to teach the Restoration to this wonderful Joven. Once we finished the prayer the rain stopped.

IF people are wondering....The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints is the Church Christ established in preparation to the second coming.  God loves you. He loves ALL his children. Jesus Christ Lives.

Have a wonderful week :)

Our last Frappe (Just a smoothie) in Guayama with some amazing members (Jenny and Hermana Andujar)

Our first night together :)

Hermana Peredes

Miyito at his Baptism

Goodbye Guayama

Baseball with the Baptists

(Sister Slade)

This week was very interesting. I had three different titles in mind for this email. The one I chose is because we found someone to teach who invited us to join her Christian baseball team and her team happened to be Baptists. They were super excited to have us and it was a lot of fun. Were going to be a part of their team pretty regularly, so that's exciting. The other two titles I had were some what related: the bugs are back and return to the ER. I got some big bites that I had a severe allergic reaction to. My legs swelled up and the bites turned purple and blue. The biggest was the size of my hand. The mission nurse told us to go into the ER so we did and now the swelling is gone and the coloration is just sort of blotchy.

Something else that happened this week was we were caught in a giant storm. On our way back from district council a giant storm made us pull over on the side of the highway. We couldn't see a foot in front of our windshield and the trees beside us were being blown parallel to the ground.

This week I learned a lot about the Savior. There was someone that I know from my mission that was going through a really hard time and my heart hurt for them. I realized that that was what the Savior felt for us and he did it voluntarily. He loved us so much that he let his heart hurt for us. He loved us so much that He died of a broken heart for us. When we feel that pain for someone else, we're experiencing a portion of what the savior felt for us.

I love being a missionary! I've being able to tell people how much God loves them.

God is good!

Sister Slade

Pictures

2 Nephi 33:10

(Aldste Cummings)

Quote of the week:

"Det känns som hela Malmö är ett ghetto."

This week was really fun. The first half of it was rainy and chilly but now it's warming up! The Sun was out this morning and we didn't need to wear our jackets. But now it's raining again. Whoopie.

On Thursday I went on exchanges with Elder Norin, a Swedish missionary serving in Sweden. It was really fun to just speak Swedish together *almost* the whole time. For some reason, everything sounds so much funnier if a Swedish person says it in Swedish.

When Elder Norin and I were together, we went out to find a returning member who lived out by the beach. The sisters had the car that day and the buses didn't quite get us all the way out there so we spent about 25 minutes walking in the rain. And then we got to the address only to find that there were no buildings there! Every map application we had shows buildings there but apparently they had been taken down at some point because all that was left was large rectangular patches of dirt where buildings used to be. We don't need to be worried about her, however, because apparently her entire apartment complex was righteous enough to get taken up to heaven like the city of Enoch and we didn't make the cut.

On Sunday we were again swinging by another returning member whose building did still exist but it was locked with a code on the outside so we couldn't come in. Another woman stepped out and we asked her if she knew the woman we were trying to get in contact with. The conversation that ensued was probably the most Swedish thing ever:

Me: Does [name withheld] live in this building?

Her: I don't know. *looks back at list of all 8 residents living there* Yeah, apparently she does. But I don't think I dare let you guys in.

Me: Oh, well, can you at least give her this note from us?

Her: No, I don't know her.

Me: *confused look* ...

Her: She doesn't even live on my floor.

That conversation happened. In real life. Luckily, we were able to find a phone number to that woman and talk to her and invite her to our ward party.

This week we were able to teach a man about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through Joseph Smith. In pondering and studying about it in the days prior, I think I truly realized for the first time the joy that lies at the heart of the Restoration. Think about it. God loves us as much as He has ever loved His children. Knowing that questions and corruptions about doctrine of His nature, Christ's mission, and remission of sins and salvation would arise after the death of the apostles, He restored the truth through a prophet exactly as He had throughout the history of the Bible. We need not content ourselves with confusion and misdirection or a partial picture of the truth. He actively offers it to us!

As I was thinking about this, we drove by a man feverishly paging through a book while walking down the street. The thought came to me: "If that man truly understood the claim made by our message of the Restoration, he would be just as diligently be poring over the Book of Mormon to ascertain its truth."

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

1. This guy's house got me feeling like I'm knocking on Downton Abbey.

2. If you close your eyes you can imagine that her apartment building is there.

3. This is what it looks like outside at 10:30 PM

4. I went to Harvard.

5. Some beautiful flowers lining the highway.

D & C 64:34

(Aldste Cummings)

Tjabbatjabbadoooooo

The skies are continuing to hold back the warmth and sunshine that we hardworking Halmstad missionaries deserve. Last year, it didn't rain all throughout the months of May, June, and July and it was absolutely incredible but also extremely unusual for Sweden. So basically, my first Swedish summer wasn't Swedish at all and gave me abominably high expectations of what a Swedish summer is like. Talk about false advertising.

This week we officially said goodbye to Elder Seely. It was sad to see him go but 🅱ig 🅱oy is on to 🅱igger and 🅱etter things.

Elder Childs, my new companion is from Utah and has only been in Sweden for 3 months now. He loves cooking and he makes some good eats. He's training me to properly cook for myself in college. He's super creative with missionary work and always has ideas that I had never thought of. It's exciting to try the new ideas but also nerve-wracking sometimes. You know what they say "You []will have a difficult time of] teach[ing] an old [missionary] new [methods of proselyting and finding the elect]!"

I also got a haircut today. I haven't gone to an actual hairdresser for more than a year and I haven't cut the hair on top of my head since Elder Dumas and I executed President's Order 66 with the Great Buzz of '18.

Other than that, I have little to report about the work here in Halmstad. Things are moving, sometimes not the way that we would like it to, but we're diligently working to spread the joyful message of the Restoration of the Gospel with Heavenly Father's children in this lovely city.

A little food for thought before I close off: All of us are imperfect and sometimes may feel unable to do what the Lord requires of us. President Eyring put it this way: "If you told me that you feel perfectly capable of fulfilling your...duties, I might worry that you do not understand them"("Walk with Me," April 2017 General Conference). But lucky for us, God knows that we can't do it ourselves and He intended it to be that way. In the face of daunting tasks, we are made humble and turn to the Lord with all "[our] heart and a willing mind"(D&C 64:34), and that's all He requires to use us as His instruments to work miracles.

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

 1. This salt attributes this quote by Jesus Christ to "Someone you can rely on."

2. Last companionship selfie 😢

3. Last afro pic before the haircut.

4. After the big clip.

5. Throwback.

We're not in Central Park anymore!

(Sister Slade)

What a week!!! Transfers were this week and for the first time, I was leaving. I'm in Harrison Arkansas with Sister Elkins. She has been out for 6 months and is from Wisconsin. She is super sarcastic and witty and loves to have fun and work hard. We've had a blast the last couple of days!

My last couple of days in Central Park were kind of bitter sweet. I was very excited to see and experience something new, but I also really love the people and places I've come to know in the last nine months. But the three days that I've spent in Harrison have been absolutely amazing! It's hard to say, but I think I have a new favorite area! (Don't tell anyone in Central Park I said that).

The differences in my two areas are enormous. Central Park covered about 3 square miles; Harrison covers about an 8th of the mission. Central Park had 300 active members; Harrison has 400 members, 100 of which are active. Central Park was all city; Harrison is 80% dirt roads. I love it! Here are some reasons why:

First of all, we have a HOUSE! It's small but we live in a house by ourselves. It's super nice. :)

Second of all, we found 3 new people to teach! That's more people in 2 days than I've found in an entire transfer before! One of them, Alyssa, is a self referral and reached out to us. She invited us to join her in a christian softball team and to go hiking with her some time. We're super excited about her.

I also love the members. They are some of the most REAL people I've ever met. I've never felt more like I could be myself without being judged. In fact, I feel like I would be judged more if I wasn't myself. The people here are so humble and willing to do anything to help. Last night we had dinner with a family that had decided along with my companion to try to prank me into believing that they were a polygamist family. It didn't work, but it was really fun regardless. This same family has a competition going between the missionaries on most pancakes to be eaten. Sister Elkins broke their record and ate 16 pancakes last night. I stopped at 6. And by the way Sister Elkins looked afterwards, I think I made the right decision. :)

I love being a missionary and I'm so excited that I still have 9 months to serve the Lord!

God is Good!

Sister Slade

Pictures:

 1. I crocheted a Gryfindor scarf for sister Najera

2. We found some kittens!

3. We were contacting at a park and decided to take a picture

4 and 5. We found this cool mural

6. We saw this super weird limo truck

7 & 8. We found some kittens! cont.