The weekly struggle - I mean email.

(Sister Slade)

You guys seriously don't know how hard it is to write a weekly email. First you have to think about what happened in the last week. Then you can't remember what happened last week. Then after you do remember what happened last week, you have to decide what you want to share from last week. And then you actually have to write the email all the while trying to make it entertaining for the people you send it to because you know they're just going to look at the pictures anyway. and then you wonder why am I writing the email. This is the weekly struggle.

I seriously don't even know what happened this week. We did a lot of service at thrift stores, food pantry's, and soup kitchens. We talked to a lot of people. District council was on Wednesday. Even the 4th of July was kind of boring. We went to the square to talk to people during the activities and ceremonies they have down there that morning and then we got caught in the rain. Unfortunately we had walked down to the square so we were a little bit stuck. It was a good memory though.

Other than that it was a fairly standard busy missionary week. Sorry I don't have more to give you.

God is Good!

Sister Slade

Pictures:

1. We have some capes and masks at our house so we had to model them

2. We sat in the back of our truck to watch some fireworks on the 4th

3. We got ice cream and I drew a self portrait in it

4. An awesome rainbow we saw

5. Area book had a glitch

Transfers! :)

(Hermana Ellsworth)

First a Congratulations to by dear mother who got married this week :) She is wonderful :) Thank you for being an example in my life.

We also had transfers this week and I will be staying in Toa Baja with Hermana Paredes from Peru :) She has been an amazing companion and we have been through some good ups and downs together and I cannot wait to continue working with her. :)

I wanted to write about President Russell M. Nelson's talk from the 2018 October woman's conference and the role of women in the Gathering of Israel. President Nelson said "My dear sisters, you have special spiritual gifts and propensities. Tonight I urge you, with all the hope of my heart, to pray to understand your spiritual gifts—to cultivate, use, and expand them, even more than you ever have. You will change the world as you do so."

As women we have a responsibility to share the gospel just as much as the men in the church do. We can touch hearts in different ways and we have a power to use this gifts that we have been given to support priesthood leaders and to move the work of the Lord forward.

In 2015 President Russell M. Nelson gave a talk called "A plea to women" he said "Thirty-six years ago, in 1979, President Spencer W. Kimball made a profound prophecy about the impact that covenant-keeping women would have on the future of the Lord’s Church. He prophesied: “Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days will come because many of the good women of the world … will be drawn to the Church in large numbers. This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen as distinct and different—in happy ways—from the women of the world.”

My dear sisters, you who are our vital associates during this winding-up scene, the day that President Kimball foresaw is today. You are the women he foresaw! Your virtue, light, love, knowledge, courage, character, faith, and righteous lives will draw good women of the world, along with their families, to the Church in unprecedented numbers!"  

I know that the women of the church have a large responsibility to share the gospel and move the work forward. For the young women in my ward and my young cousins who read my emails, I ask that you prepare to do your part now to serve a mission. To prepare by reading the Book of Mormon and living in accordance to the covenants that you have made at baptism and the ones you will make one day in the House of the Lord. I am so grateful for the covenant living women in my life who have fulfilled prophecy and lived in a way that is not of this world but of the world to come. I am so grateful to be serving a mission and to be using my talents to move the work of the Lord forward. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ and I am grateful to have had this gospel in my hands my whole life.

My companion Hermana Paredes is a wonderful example to me of a woman of faith, knowledge, and a covenant living woman. She does not use "buts" or tries to find a right way to do the wrong thing. She is a strong woman and will always be an example to me.

SHAWN WAS BAPTIZED!

(Hermana Ellsworth)

Hello friends, family, the young, and the old (looking at you Grandpa Bert 😉) I hope that all is well in your lives. This week was once again full of miracles. The largest one was that Shawn was baptized! He is 20 years old and has been doing so much to change his life. He faced a lot of opposition the week before his baptism and at one point we were going to postpone the baptism for another week. BUT SHAWN HAS MADE IT TO THE WATERS OF BAPTISM! This is something with eternal benefits and I could not be happier for him. He really pushed through some of the hard times and held true to the things that he did know. He knows the Book of Mormon is true and that this was a promise that he knew was needed and that he wanted. This is Shawn after his interview. It isnt the best picture but I like how happy he looks in it.

This is Shawn at his baptism he was baptized by Cesar who has been an amazing member to help Shawn get to where he is now. Being a missionary has helped me to realize the importance of members in the missionary work. There is so much that we need to do as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I encourage each of you  to fast for your own personal missionary opportunity and then to ACT on that opportunity. Ask yourself what you can do to move the work of the Lord Forward. (and how you can use the Book of Mormon to help you ((Thats why we have it)) )

A little more about Miguel and how he is doing. He received the Gift of the Holy Ghost this last Sunday and the blessing after was so pure and beautiful. The spirit was so strong and he sat in the chair and cried for a little bit afterwards. He is the most pure and humble man. MEEK he is a meek person. When we told him he couldn't drink coffee he said, "Is that a commandment?" we said "yes" and he said "Tambien I'll do it!" he has always been ready to keep the commandments but just wasn't sure what all of them were. He was really one of the people who were kept from the truth because they knew not where to find it. It is an honor to teach him and to see him grow as a child of God and to have his own spiritual moments.

MIYITO!!!!!!!!!!!! Miyito is doing as well as always he has been loving reading/watching the videos of the children’s Book of Mormon on the app and has been a wonderful member missionary. He comes and walks with us still and has introduced us to probably 20 of his cousins that live near him and is helping one of his cousins come to church next Sunday. The Gospel and Jesus Christ has really changed him and he is one of the happiest people I know now. It is again an honor to have him in this area. He is a really good missionary and calls us sometimes to remind us that we have appointments with some of his cousins for later that day.

Thank you for all your love and support and I hope that your lives are well. Keep on serving the Lord in your area of the world. Have a wonderful week and GO FIGHT WIN! The Church is still true, everywhere you go. I hope that you are able to find a way to share the gospel with your family and friends. GO TO THE TEMPLE! I really miss the temple and I am so excited that we will have one in Puerto Rico soon.

Reading Material for this week. Go read Recognizing the Spirit in Preach my Gospel. Article Link

Flippin', Arkansas!

(Sister Slade)

This week we went out to the far reaches of our area to have dinner with some members in our ward. They are both bus drivers for the Flippin Arkansas schools. They were telling us about the Flippin sheriff's office and the Flippin gas stations, and the Flippin church of God. It was really funny (and kind of unfortunate)!

I met my new companion this week. Her name is Sister Brown. She is from West Jordan Utah and is super sweet. Like I said last week, she is brand new and straight off the plane! It's kind of intimidating knowing that I need to teach her everything... like how to talk to people. It reminds me a lot of when I was training and then I feel bad for my trainer. Sorry Sister Mueller! I must have been horrible to train.

Gene came to church again! We didn't think he would come back because some family told him they didn't like that he was meeting with us. But when we saw him on Saturday, he told us that he would see us at church. Then when he was leaving on Sunday, he said he would be back next week. It was really cool to see how just the spirit of the Sacrament meeting can turn someone's heart.

I love being a missionary!

God is Good!

Sister Slade

P.S. Happy 4th of July!!!

pictures:

1. A goat in the middle of the road

2. Last picture with sister Elkins

3. A pretty creek

4. First picture with sister Brown

Hello!

(Hermana Ellsworth)

I do not have a lot of time this week to write out a lot but we did have a baptism this week for a man named Miguel. :) He is the one next to me. He is so amazing and has gone through so much. He was only held back from the truth because he knew not where to find it. We met him 3 weeks ago and now he is baptized :) I cannot explain the spirit that was in that room even though there were children crying and in was SO HOT and humid. But the spirit can triumph over all.

The invitation for this week is to fast or pray for your own missionary experience and to look and find how you can move forward the work of the Lord. I love you all :) I am also looking for some good conference talks so if you all have some please send me your favorite talks :) We went on a hike this morning and here are some pictures. And a picture of my current zone :)

Alma 29:3

(Aldste Cummings)

Tjena tjena!

This week was really fun. We went to Malmö for zone conference and I got to see a ton of good buds. A lot of my former companions were there and it was so fun to see them all and catch up and say goodbye before I go. I also had the opportunity to bear my testimony at my last zone conference which was special. I didn't really think about what I was going to say at all until I actually went up and just said what was on my heart.

I have often imagined how it would feel to be so close to going back home and honestly nothing feels like I imagined it would. It's such a strange feeling.

This week was also Midsommar which is when Swedes celebrate the longest day of the year. Very pagan and very Swedish and very fun. Swedes are o-b-s-e-s-s-e-d with the weather and especially with good weather. As soon as the sun comes out, everyone sunbathes all day. Especially older people. I can't tell you how many half-naked old Swedish people with dark, leathery skin I've seen this summer alone.

To celebrate Midsommar one:

1. Sets up a big pole in the shape of a pagan fertility symbol.

2. Dances around said pole while singing goofy Swedish folk songs.

3. Eats potatoes and pickled herring.

4. (Optional) Parties all night and gets absolutely wasted.

Big fun.

The potatoes at Midsommar are unbelievably good, though. I have no idea why. You can buy them really really cheap the week of (like, 80-90% off of the original price) and they taste so much better. They're incredibly soft and creamy. People down here call them "nypotatis" which translates to "new potatoes" so maybe they're the first fruits of the harvest or something, I don't really know. But they're really really good.

Swedish people eat potatoes at nearly every single meal. It's probably the most defining characteristic of Swedish cuisine. I have asked multiple people what Swedes used to eat before potatoes were first discovered by the Europeans on the American continents and I have not ever gotten an answer. It seems to confuse them. As if they had never questioned that potatoes were not Swedish to begin with.

This week I was also able to have my "exit interview" with President Youngberg before going home. Something he said really struck me. He said "If the Savior came into this room right now He would hug you and thank you for the service you have given. He would likely then apologize for the suffering you experienced as His representative. He would never, not once, say anything about what you could have done better or differently. It's not in His character. He would not discuss the past, just the present and the future."

That calmed a lot of my apprehensions about going home and helped me feel at peace knowing that He is thankful for the service I have provided--despite my shortcomings. Also this week, I read some notes I took directly after I was set apart as a missionary and it was incredibly fulfilling and spiritual to see how each and every one of the blessings I was blessed with then came to fruition in my mission.

I still have one week left, but I now know that the Lord is happy with my mission and that I have accomplished what He sent me here to accomplish and I have become the person He sent me here to become. I'm far from perfect, but that's okay. I have my life ahead of me to grow even more. To use the words of Alma, I feel "content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me"(Alma 29:3).

Have a great week!

Love,

Äldste Cummings

(Sorry, no pictures this week 😢)

Introverts & Missionary Work

(Sister Slade)

For the first few months of my mission I thought I was a terrible missionary. Not because I was disobedient, didn't know the doctrine, or had low key indicator numbers, but because I was an introvert. I hated talking to people. People would comment about how I am "so quiet." And then later in my mission when I'd built up an extrovert facade, they would remark with pride how much I'd "come out of my shell." And that made me feel like I couldn't be who I really was because in their eyes an introvert doesn't make a good missionary.

But, one day I read a scripture that we’re all familiar with with the question "Are introverts good missionaries?" in mind:

"And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them."

And what stood out to me was not that our weaknesses will magically become our strengths, but that our "weak things will become strong." In other words, our weaknesses become strengths. Now before I’m sent home for teaching false doctrine, here’s an example: as an introvert, I am not a good public speaker or teacher, and I am not good at approaching and talking to strangers. But because of these things that I consider my weaknesses in missionary work, I have strengths that come from them. I am not a good public speaker but I am great at one on one personal conversations; I am not good at talking to strangers, but I form deep relationships; I am not a good teacher, but I am a good listener; because of my weaknesses, I have strengths. Sometimes we think that we have to fit in this box to be a good missionary, but what if what the people in your area need is not a good speaker, but a good listener? What if they need your weaknesses?

There are many examples in the scriptures of introverts being powerful missionaries. Moses hated public speaking and being the center of attention. So he had his brother Aaron do the talking. Paul would much rather be in the background. Why do you think that most of the words we have from him are from letters he wrote and not sermons he gave? Sam was the silent saint beside his extrovert brother Nephi. And what about Lehi, Nephi’s brother in the book of 3rd Nephi. Esther and Ruth are more great examples of quiet resilience and strength. I don’t think either of them cared to be in the spotlight, but when it was required of them, they rose up and did amazing things. These scripture heroes did amazing things because of their nature, not in spite of it.

If you’re an extrovert with an introvert companion, be aware of them. If they have something to say, don’t keep talking and bulldoze them because it takes a lot of effort for them to speak up. Be patient. You get energy from talking to and being around people all day, but it exhausts your companion. Please don’t get angry at your companion for not talking enough or for seeming reserved. Instead use their gifts that come from the things you see as their weaknesses.

If you’re an introvert, be proud of who you are. It’s okay to be quiet and to not feel comfortable talking. Sometimes you will have to go out of your comfort zone like Esther did when she came before king Ahasuerus. Don’t make your extrovert companion do all of the teaching or socializing though. Being willing to to do as much as you can will improve your relationship with your companion and boost your confidence in yourself. And most importantly, know that you are a good missionary even when you aren’t the first to talk. We all have unique gifts and talents to offer because that’s how Heavenly Father made us. There is a power in introverts in a world that can’t stop talking.