S2 E5: Season Finale: Bookend YoYo's

 (Elder Cummings)

大家好！

Transfers were this week! And....

I'll be staying in the West Bank! #blessedbank #bestbank

Unfortunately that means that Elder Christensen is leaving but we knew one of us was gone cause he's finished training me. He's off to Denham Springs to be an office Elder over the cars and housing so that's exciting!

This week seemed a little slow honestly, a good 80% of our lessons cancelled which makes it hard but that's how it is sometimes. But...Fernando got baptized this weekend!! I dont know if I mentioned him but he's an awesome, committed guy. He's my brother Jesse's friend from college and started teaching him over zoom a couple weeks ago. We got in contact with the missionaries in Orlando and they finished teaching and preparing him for baptism. We were able to zoom into the baptism on Saturday! It was beautiful and not a few tears of gratitude were shed...

Anyway, bookend Yoyo's. Yoyo is a member who we've been trying to contact since I've been here. The man has a crazy inspiring story. Basically he grew up in a small village in a valley in Southeat Asia area. The village is made up of only Christians and other non-Christian militias and armed groups have been going at them for years now because they believe in Christ. Some really crazy and scary civil war. So these guys have been trying to bomb and wipe out Yoyo's town for decades now and he grew up fighting in the war since he was a child. This village has been able to fight off these guys for so long and it's nothing short of a miracle, because Yoyo says they just destroy all the Non-Christians whenever they come at them. Super crazy, that's not even half of it.

So, anyway my second night in the field we met with him and his wife...my second to last night with Elder Christensen we finally met with him again. This time he brought a friend and we showed them all the Christ Child video. Afterwards, they just talked to eachother for like 5 minutes in Burmese or Kachin, we don't really know, they all speak both but only Yoyo speaks English. Then Yoyo looks to us and offers one of the deepest analysis I've ever heard. He just goes off on how Christ's birth was revealed to both the poorest of poor and the richest if richest, the unlearned and the learned, those that were near Bethlehem and those that were far. Then he smiles and says "Christ is for everyone". Amen Yoyo, Christ is for EVERYONE.

Long story short Yoyo's wife and his friend Hkun want to meet with the missionaries and So we got on contact with an elder that speaks Burmese and we're(he is) gonna teach them!! Miracles are real y'all

Elder Cummings

Photo: us at Fernando's baptism!!!! In all seriousness we are so grateful for the Elders in Orlando, who's faces we are covering with our own. And we are SO grateful for Fernando's willingness and faith to get baptized!!

Attachments area

I live in a hotel?!

 (Sister Putnam)

Hey guys!

 

Wow, so much has happened! On Saturday, Sunday, & Monday, mom and I finished packing up the house. Monday I had my last class with my district. I'm gonna miss them all so much but they're gonna do great!

So on Tuesday we went to the airport and my mom, grandma, and friend Meagan came to drop me off, and that was awesome!

I arrived at the airport and was picked up by my mission president and his wife, along with several other missionaries from another flight. I was the only missionary on my flight though so that was weird. Anyway we all went to take pictures together, then we stopped at the temple to get a picture in front of the temple, then we drove to the stake center to eat dinner & then our trainers picked us up, my trainer is Sister Madsen, she's awesome! She introduced me to some other sisters as her daughter (apparently its a thing for trainers to call their trainees their sons or daughters in the mission) she also got me a pineapple for me as a welcome gift which was super sweet! And we live in a hotel!!

On Wednesday we did the whole wake up, exercise thing, and we have the whole gym to ourselves! After that we unpacked my suitcases to get me all moved in, and then we had institute, where we talked about Christmas, and then we had lunch with the other sisters in our area, and made brownies, and then went to district council and discussed the talk he'd assigned everyone to listen to, which was Love Your Enemies by Dallin H. Oaks, and also there was a companionship of two elders there, one wore a black suit & the other wore a navy blue suit and they looked like the Bible & the Book of Mormon lol. Then we went grocery shopping since I didn't have anything in the fridge for me yet, and then we got home & gave a lesson to a lady in our ward named Sister Akers, she's really fun, she LOVES the Seahawks, and so we talked about the Seahawks for a bit & then talked about Light the World. Then after comp study we went & had a lesson at Bishop's house, & we just chatted before getting to the lesson, he's pretty cool!

On Thursday, we had a typical morning, at lunch we cut into the pineapple Sister Madsen got me, so that was fun, & then because I'm a greenie, we had to take a driver certification class, and it was supposed to only last 30min, but it went on for an hour and a half, but afterwards I finished unpacking, and then we gave a lesson to Sister Madsen's parents, and then when we did a video chat with our district we found out that there were some changes made and now we can only call home on pday, no more mealtime calls or lessons to families. But maybe it means more areas are opening up for mission service around the world!

Friday we had a 2 hour long mission devotional over zoom and some guys showed up in Santa hats and when they took the big mission picture some guys were doing all sorts of poses and stuff, it was great!  We were scheduled to teach a lesson during that time and we had to reschedule which was frustrating, especially considering getting a lesson with them is difficult since they never answer our texts, but they actually answered our this time, and we have a lesson with them tomorrow! We had lunch with the harbour pointe sisters again and went on a walk together, they’re super fun! and I found cute tiny pinecones

On Saturday we went to the Bishops Storehouse, and it was super fun, we filled orders that people had placed and then brought them out to them, and that was great! Some Spanish speakers showed up and Hermana Barker (one of the harbour pointe sisters) and I got to practice Spanish, so that was great! One of the ladies volunteering there let us use her phone to text our moms which was really nice of her, and then that evening she called us and was like "hey I'm going to Costco do you guys want anything" and we were like "oh my gosh that's so nice but were okay" and she was like "okay I'm getting you stuff" and what the heck that was so nice!

On Sunday we had church, and then we had  a mission tour or something that lasted like 2 hours, and then we had come follow me with our district, I was so tired, I almost fell asleep, and then a nice lady in the ward brought us dinner which was 3 different types of pastas which was amazing!

Love you and miss you all! Until next Pday!

Pictures! (There are more coming in a second email)

1: Meagan and I prior to going in the airport,

2 & 3: mom and I

4 & 5: 😊

6: me in the Seattle airport coming out to the busses

7: some Sister Missionary legos aunt Becky gave me! 🥰

8: Sister Madsen and I

9: us outside the airport

10: Aaron, the guy who asked to pray with us outside the airport

11: us outside the temple

12: some tiny pinecones I found

13 & 14: the sunset on a day we had sunshine!!

15: presents that arrived in a package my mom sent to me!

16: the 12 days of christmas presents, also from the fam!

17: christmas stickers!

18: I called my family this morning!

19: 😊

S2 E4: Zone Conference

 (Elder Cummings)

Hey y'all!

Another super busy week! Everything flies by. You hear all these missionaries talk about how you blink and the missions over and all I can think about is by Christmas I'll be 5 months in already, roughly 1/5 done. That's crazy. Gotta step it up.

We had zone conference this weekend too, that was awesome. Talked a lot about how we can better involve members in missionary work because that's what it's all about. I love the idea that we are all laboring in the Lord's Vineyard. He works with us, we do what He asks of us and the most work gets done.

Not a lot of time today, we gotta get a lot done this evening, it's honestly a miracle that we'll be able to fit it in with the other elders. We gotta drive like 30 minutes to the legit Bayou area to give a super sweet lady we're working with a Book of Mormon and Bible, then we'll get on zoom in the car for another lesson, and then drive a little farther away to a member dinner and then call someone on the way back for another lesson. And that's just what we have tonight, not even what the Spanish Elders have planned and we're driving with them.

Anyway, remember Mosiah 24:14 where the Lord says, "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions". Let God Prevail! He won't necessarily take our burdens but strengthens us to bear the burdens we have because He knows it will do us more good!

Photos!

1.All the cool Elders at the Christmas Zone Conference💪...

2. Made some nice tacos one night😋

Hello..and goodbye. I hope you get bed bugs!

 (Elder Slade)

To the best friends and family a person could hope for!

Last week was pretty crazy! On Monday Elder Nabrotzky had a doctor's appointment. They told us we had to go to the emergency room. Long story short, they told us that he was sick and had to go home to get it treated. So his parents drove up from Provo that evening and took him home. I was really sad to see him go, we had a lot of fun together. For the next two days I was companions with new missionaries that needed housing, Elder Hill and Elder Romig! One of their first lessons they taught in the field, was one of the most awkward lessons I've had. We walked into a person's house we were teaching, named Robert, only to find him with very minimal clothes sitting on his recliner. He proceeded to insist that we share a message. So we shared a message, trying to avert our eyes as much as we could. And then we left. I will forever remember that lesson.

But then transfers were Thursday, and I got my new companion, Elder Maunana (rhymes with banana). He is from the small island of Tarawa of the country Kiribati (pronounced Ki-ri-bas on the island). Is an island in the middle of the Pacific ocean. He's been out almost a year. He is super funny! It was his birthday on Sunday, and I embarrassed him by going up to bear my testimony and announcing to the entire ward that it was his birthday. By the end of the day members had dropped by brownies, cookies, cupcakes, and an entire cake. Pretty epic.

With Christmas coming up, we've been sharing a video about the church initiative of Light The World. It talks about how even though this year has been one of the hardest years or our lives, we can end the year great by following Christ's example of loving and serving others. Thus making this year the best year ever, through the peace and joy that comes into our life and those that we touch! I hope all of you can also find peace and joy in this year.

This weeks title came from a call we made to an old lady. That's the only thing she said, and then she hung up. The struggles of missionary life. Let me tell you.

Love you all!

Pictures:

1-4. Celebrating Elder Maunana's birthday!

5-6. Elder Maunana, Elder Hill, Elder Romig and I infront of Bishop Bennett's house. He has the best Christmas lights

7-8. Saying goodbye to Elder Nabrotzky 😥

8. Apartment picture

Thanksgiving!

 (Sister Putnam)

This week has been so interesting! First of all, my nametags still haven't shown up, & I fly out to Washington on Tuesday, so I’m praying that the nametags come by then, otherwise I'll have to go without a name tag or I'll borrow my comps in the field until they show up in the field 😬

On Sunday I attended Church with my grandparent's ward, & the main ideas that I noticed seemed to parallel each talk was the importance of continuous spiritual "working out" like physical working out, because if we just stop altogether, we lose what we gained & have to earn it back. Then we went to my grandparents for an early Sunday dinner, & that was fun. I, being unfamiliar with the Dark Side of the Phones, aka Samsung, got help from my uncle Dave, who tried to convince me that Samsung is better than Apple, but I know that apple is the way :) Then after that we went to my other aunt & uncle's house, Paul & Katy's, & we had an early thanksgiving dinner, so that was awesome.

On Monday, Sister Israelsen & I had a TRC with a girl named Aubrie, who we taught last week & I forgot to write about. We felt like it went really well. She asked for some advice this lesson about remembering to trust God, because she's a very independent person, & so often she forgets to remember to trust Him. I thought, "hey, that sounds like me!" so I suggested that she pray to the Lord to ask him to help her to remember to trust him, & she said she felt that really applied to her, & that was awesome!

On Tuesday, we had a TRC with a girl named Malory, & we also taught her last week & I forgot to write about it. But she's awesome, she's trying to find a stronger connection with God, so last week we challenged her to ask the Lord to help her see his hand in her life, & she said this week she's felt closer to God & one of the ways she's felt closer to God is when she bought food for a homeless man, & that was amazing! Also, in class we were talking about thanksgiving traditions that we have, & one tradition in my family is to eat pie for breakfast the next day. One guy said he really liked eating tur-duck, and we were all like "what the heck is that?" and my brain was like "turtle ducks?" and apparently tur-duck is stuffing a duck and also a turkey or something. Never heard of that but sounds great! Also, after watching the devotional on Tuesday my district got together on zoom & we talked & got to know each other, & we've all just become so close as a district, & I'm really gonna miss them! They're all just amazing people!

Wednesday was the 2-week mark of me being a missionary. Now I've been a missionary for 2 1/2 weeks!

  In class on Wednesday, we were talking about safeguards for using technology, & an insight came to mind. The safeguards rules said that when you're feeling vulnerable or susceptible, to speak with your companion & to turn to God. Well, one of the ways Satan tries to make us more vulnerable or susceptible is through putting thoughts in our minds that we don't want there. AKA intrusive thoughts. So, with intrusive thoughts, we can always turn to God for help, and doing so is so helpful!.

In a video I'd watched in a particular series I followed closely (I was a theorist in the fandom before the mission) a guy also talked about how to deal with intrusive thoughts. Now, when he talked about how to deal with intrusive thoughts, he said to just keep doing whatever you were doing, with no mention of turning to God whatsoever. And noting that contrast helps us to see how subtle Satan can be. I'm not calling the guy who made this video Satan by any means whatsoever. In fact, learning what intrusive thoughts are is very important, especially because so many people have them, so this guy making that video was very validating and important. I understand he's trying to be inclusive to everyone regardless of whether or not they're religious, so in order to not offend anyone, he didn't make any mention of turning to God. But God is exactly who Satan wants us to forget to turn to. Why? Well, the devil knows that God can help us to deal with intrusive thoughts better, and Satan wants us to be miserable, so naturally, Satan would find a way to avoid having us turn to God to better handle our intrusive thoughts, and one of the ways he does so is by telling people "you'll offend someone with talk of religion," & influences them to just leave any mention of God out of the conversation. And the subtlety of Satan's tricks is so scary because, sometimes it just goes right underneath our noses. I'm a theorist, I notice things, but that went under my nose, and that's terrifying! And also, we need to be sooo careful to retain the truths that we know, because so often we're focused on looking for the falsehoods Satan throws at us that we don't notice the truths he subtly leaves out! I'm probably not making much sense but I guess what I’m saying is that it's really important that we be listening to the holy ghost because Satan can be so subtle it's scary!

Thursday! Thanksgiving! Food! Oh, also, family too! My mom & I prepared mashed potatoes & French silk pie, & custard pie, & orange rolls! And then we went over to some family's house, my aunt Becky’s house (wow I have a lot of aunts & uncles) for dinner, & i got to hang out with them & with my cousins, & at some point it came up that "hamburgers are made out of hamsters" so that was interesting. I love my family to death though, I'm gonna miss them! And I can't believe how privileged I am. If it weren't for home MTC I wouldn't've had thanksgiving with my family. It was good.

Friday! On Friday, we had a workshop on transitioning from home MTC to the field & because it was on zoom we had a zoom group chat, & so for some reason one elder would not stop talking about whales the whole time. And there were some elders debating on whether ramen should be baked, or deep fried, or soaked in mayonnaise, or eaten dry & then the powder by itself, etc. I finally was like "okay, ignoring the chat now."

Notes from class & other stuff!

- as children of God, we should not demean or vilify ourselves. (elder holland, be ye therefore perfect, eventually)

- my mission is an opportunity to focus on the gospel 24/7 likely won't happen again. If my focus is on the savior, it will be a sacred, treasured time!

- god is anxious to speak with you!

I love you all!

~Sister Putnam

Transfers

 (Elder Petersen)

So as a brief rundown of this last week we had Thanksgiving in which we as missionaries spent the day working and in meetings, but the fun part about the day way we got a turkey dinner that our mission gave us because we could not meet up or go to people's homes like we would do before COVID-19. After dinner though we got to watch as a mission the movie 'The Fighting Preacher' I really enjoyed the movie and would completely recommend yall watching it if you have the chance. The other biggish thing that happened this week was we got Transfer news last night and although alot happened in our mission nothing changed with me so I still have Elder Quiton as my companion in Richmond Utah!

And that's my week hope y'all have been doing well!

Sincerely

Elder Petersen

S2 E3: Spanish Speaking on Kamino?

 (Elder Cummings)

Hola!

I know I know my Spanish is getting pretty good...

But actually though this week I could've sworn I became a Spanish speaking missionary; not a missionary capable of speaking Spanish, but a missionary assigned to speak Spanish. This week I had 4 different meals with Spanish speaking member, and I just got to sit there eating the delicious food while the other 3 elders who knew Spanish did all the small talk. The little spanish I do know they made me show off though...bad idea. I said my usual phrases I know like "I testify of the words of my companion...I know Jesus Christ lives...why are they over there?...please pass me your plate...why didn't you answer me?...take a seat right now, etc etc". Then I was really bold and tried to say "Heavenly Father" and ended up saying "Heavenly Potato". That was a big laugh🤣🤣good times.

Oh right, Kamino, gotta explain. In case yall don't know Kamino is the planet in star wars where they had all the clones with the creepy looking long neck guys. That's not why though. It rains all the time on Kamino. Starting Thanksgiving evening until this morning, it's been raining here in NOLA. Awesome. What was better is that we don't have any more miles for our car this month so we had to bike everywhere. SO much fun, I havent needed to shower the past 4 days! (That's a joke guys I've only had to shower once) but man has it gotten colder this week, if it keeps going I'll be on Hoth(i won't say how cold or you'll make fun of me for it not being cold, it feels cold that is all)

Today we went to the national WW2 museum here in New Orleans. So awesome, so much learning. The whole district got "We can do it!" Rosie the Riveter sweatshirts. Again, so awesome. I'm so so grateful for those brave enough to make the ultimate sacrifice of their lives in sake of preserving liberty. I could never go through what so many soldiers and civilians went through.

Both Elder Christensen and I gave a talk this week in church! That was so awesome! We had 6 people we're working with attend the meeting too! My spiritual thought comes from my talk, which is based off of Matthew S Holland's talk from last October General Conference:

"Holland then talks a little bit about the purpose of sufferings and trials. Paul taught in Hebrews that “For it became [Christ], for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, to [be made] the captain of their salvation perfect(or complete) through sufferings.” Holland then admonishes, “Brothers and sisters, suffering in righteousness helps qualify you for, rather than distinguishes you from, God’s elect.” This makes me remember a saying that has just stuck with me. The grammar is terrible so bear with me but it’s “Satan don’t kick no dead dogs”. When you are doing what is right, when you are striving to draw closer to him and still face suffering and obstacles, rejoice that you’re still worth Satan’s time and find comfort in the fact that “If God be for us, who can be against us?”

Y'all are doing great, keep up the good work, and remember "Satan don't kick no dead dogs"

Yours truly,

Elder Cummings

Tons of pics sorry!

-Some from the museum (Btw the ignitable tank is actually something used in WW2, search up "WW2 Ghost armies" absolutely crazy!)

-some from the Chalmette battlefield where a big portion of the war of 1812 took place

-some selfies with some cool people, etc etc

-us squading up in our new awesome sweatshirts