Daily Schedule: October 30, 2012

15 October 2012 (received via USPS 30 October 2012)

The fam,

So here are some things that I didn’t put in my weekly email.  Like I said earlier, my next snail mail letter should have photos in it.  J  Yay!

I don’t worry about my wallet getting stolen because I don’t carry my wallet with me.  I taped two pass-along cards together and put my Brasil police ID with a few reals in it and that’s all I carry around in my shirt pocket!  J

You wanted to know my schedule for the field.  For a “normal” day (which doesn’t happen very often), it goes a little something like this:

6:30	wake up/work out/stretch
7:00	shower/iron shirt/get dressed/breakfast
8:00	personal study
9:00	study w/companion (in the first 12 weeks I have 2 hours of comp study instead of 1)
11:00	language study
12:00	almoço (lunch, hopefully at a member’s house); lunch is the biggest meal of the day here in Brasil)
1:00	hop on the bus
1:30	start proselyting; usually we don’t have a ton of lessons early in the day, just a lot of contacting and maybe a lesson or two
6:00	this is when we get booked with lessons all the way up until 8:15
8:15	sprint to catch the bus back; sometimes we get a little jantar (dinner) with a member but a lot of times not.  When we don’t get jantar, we eat something back at the apartment
9:00	get home, plan
9:30	(or 9:45) eat a quick, small snack, read a little bit, get ready for bed
10:30	bedtime!!

And that’s what I do pretty much every day!  It is really hard but goes by pretty quick, really.  It seems like the longest day of the week (thank goodness it feels long! J) is P-day, because we seem a little less busy and have some time to relax.

That’s all for this week.  I’m going to try and get a quick nap in today!  J

(first nap in the field)

(probably for only 15 minutes)

Lots of love! Y

Elder Eldon Ray Cummings 

 Picture from the CTM sent by Eldon's CTM companion, Elder S. (bottom right, with red tie).  Not sure who everyone is, exactly, but it is a great shot!

Another shot from the CTM courtesy of Elder S.

(and his sweet mother, who sent the pictures to me).

Getting in the Mood to Baptize: October 29, 2012

Hi Everyone!!

To answer your questions:

• Where do you meet for church?  We meet for church in this really big really new church building in the center of town. It is really nice!!
• How do you do your laundry?  Does your apartment have a washer and dryer, do you use a Laundromat, or do you hand-wash?  We have a laundry machine which is actually pretty nice and then we have lots of clothes lines to dry everything (no one in Brasil has a dryer, they just don´t exist here).
• What types of jobs are there in Apucarana?  Is it an agricultural town?  Industrial?  Apucarana itself is almost like Bellevue but smaller, and less tech, the people do a lot of construction and various other things. In Vila Reis, however, everyone either farms or does construction.  It is pretty agricultural here.

The packages you have sent/are sending sound perfect. I will be the envy of every missionary in Brasil!! J And the water bottles sound like a great idea! Thank you!

On the whole apartment thing, it actually isn't bad at all (it is a real eye opener though). We live in a really nice apartment but it is hard to explain.

Thanks for the sports update!! YAY!! Keep it coming please! Also let me know how the storms turn out and things like that. Thanks for keeping an eye on my account! Yeah, I took a little money out this past week.

There is a calendar sent around the ward every month but it is for lunch appointments since that is the big meal down here in Brasil. We have a lunch appointment for every day this month!! J Speaking of food you would be proud of me for buying healthy food and getting Elder W. to eat more and healthier as well. We bought things like yogurt and fruits and veggies and milk this past week! Fruit and veggies are super cheap here, 1R for a kilo of carrots and between 2 and 3R for a kilo of fruit depending on the fruit. And we have a goal of not drinking soda except on Sundays from now on which will help us be healthier as well.

The mission application news is CRAZY!!! Wow! (By the way I hit 3 months this week or 1/8 of the mission already! CRAZY!!!)

On an investigator note. For the third week in a row we had a baptism lined up but then it fell through. At least this time we are still teaching him, just he couldn't make it to church yesterday. But we did have 2 other investigators come with us and they loved church and are planning on being baptized this next week. So (I know I have said this every week so far) but we have 4 baptisms planned for this Sunday with really good potential, and these baptisms would open up the floodgates with family and friends that we could baptize too. So keep your fingers crossed for us this week.

We always find great families—for example we found 2 pretty big families where everyone except one person is over the age of 8—now comes the hard part of getting them to come to church. That is one of the hardest things to do because church starts at 9 in the morning, it is hard to get people to show up. Luckily our two investigators that went last week and want to get baptized this next week were ready and waiting by the time we got to their house, and normally we have to clap and bang to try and wake people up, so that is encouraging.

This past p-day we went to a lake which was really fun.  Today will probably be an arts and crafts day with a nap thrown in there for good measure!! Elder W. and I have been working so hard this past week with getting up early to get people to come to church and just in general doing work! It will be good to get a nap in.

 Some graffiti that means: Calm in the soul, it was pretty funny.

 4 roommates at the park next to the lake in our area. Elder D., Elder W., Elder S., and me.

Getting in the mood to baptize with Elder W., his face is priceless!

  

 Playing on the swing father-son style!

 Getting up close and personal with some capybaras.

My new tradition to always get a photo with my comp with Princess Leia towel hats!

In other news I had my first division/split (my first division longer than 1 hour, that is) this week with an elder from California named Elder D. (not the Elder D. in the picture above.) It was a blast! We worked in his area and got rained on A LOT (in 24 hours I got soaked 2 times all the way through). Waterproof shoes don’t help when you are walking through water past your ankles! But it was fun to finally get some real Brasil rain. Anyway for this division I worked with Elder D. all day in his area and then stayed at his apartment for the night. It was really good to be able to learn from someone else for a day, but it was also really great to be back in my own apartment the next day (our apartment is like the biggest, nicest, and cleanest apartment in the whole zone—maybe the whole mission). But, yeah, divisions are fun!

I think that is all for this week. The mission is already passing by so fast! I love learning every day! I love being able to speak Portuguese better all the time! I love my comp and the other elders in our apartment! I love your letters they are perfect, except for Jason not writing anything...Life is good! J

Love,

Elder Cummings

P.S. Jason BETTER write me this coming week!

P.P.S. We got a bunk bed today for me and Elder W. so now we don’t have to put our mattresses on the floor!! So pumped!

Mail Call from Apucarana: October 23, 2012

Written October 8, 2012

Received October 23, 2012

Dear Family!

So, this will include some things that I forgot to put in my email and what came to pass in the last 3 hours. 

We went shopping today.  Shopping on a missionary budget is definitely a good skill to have for when I get married.  I had 21R or about $13 USD to buy my laundry soap and food for the week.  (Thank goodness members give us food!!!)  Luckily food is pretty cheap if you get the off brand.  Also a good “skill” to have is learning to use anything for dishes and repurposing any item.  That will really help once I get back too.

Brasil is so different than the United States.  My first day here (in the field) I was in such shock that I wanted to go home.  I was thinking “how am I supposed to live in this apartment?” but now I find it quite luxurious and quite clean.  The houses in Vila Reis were a big shock too but again I have become accustomed to them (which will be good for apartment living in the US).

Some more info about my area of proselyting.  A lot of the roads are either dirt or cobblestone, with a few paved roads in the center of Vila Reis.  I love our area even though it has lots of hills!!

It is already getting hot and I am already seeing what the benefits of having a gahafa (water bottle with a filter) would have been.  Two days before we were supposed to get our bottles, the Church discontinued them, and are starting over from scratch.  So, I have to buy my own water (which adds up to about 7R more per week) and drink lots of juice at members’ houses.  But it is all good, luckily I have never been one to need a lot of water to stay hydrated (yes, I am staying plenty hydrated).

I love the photos, especially of Baby A!  Can I get a fancy photo of Baby I., too?  And a photo of Grandma and Grandpa would be excellent, too!!  (Maybe from our photo shoot at the botanical gardens.)  And, yes, the pictures of what I did back at the States are a hit!  A few more would be nice.  (Sorry for all the photo requests but I want to show you guys off to investigators and the other missionaries.) 

I am so lucky to have such an awesome trainer who really wants the best for me and always goes out of his way to serve me!  Elder W. is AWESOME!  Two nights ago, I couldn't sleep and the next day he told me that if I couldn't sleep, to wake him up and he would practice vocab with me or something!  He is that kind of guy!!  He is awesome.  (I wouldn't do that to him but it was a nice gesture.)  He always looks for ways to serve me.  I will always be grateful for him and his example of what an awesome missionary is like.

Well, I guess that is all for this week.  I love you guys so much!!  I am having the time of my life.  I love it!  The Church is so true!

So batizmo!!

Lots of love,

Elder Eldon Ray Cummings

Still Working Hard and Still Having Fun: October 22, 2012

For the Christmas box it might be a good idea to send a generic SD card to USB converter that will work with the computers here. And try to keep packages small of course. I don’t have a ton of room in my suitcases.

q&a time!!

• If we teach a group of 5 people that counts as 1 lesson. (we had 62 lessons this week!)
• Marriage is tough because to get a legal marriage it costs 250R which is a lot for the poor people and even a lot for those who are better off. Also almost everyone is baptized Catholic (which is a pain) but very few are practicing. 
• We get zero referrals from our branch and others (practically). We find everyone on the street or by knocking doors or on the bus.
• I have no idea how calling on Christmas will work. sorry

Jason—ROCK ON!!!!! I was thinking the same exact thing that a mission would help a lot for getting into a BYU school!! (Do you want to go to a BYU school?) I am so excited! Elder W. and I were talking about if you would do that or not!! I’m so excited! J

Me and Elder W. at a park

So yeah I’m getting tan again but I’m using my sunscreen and haven’t gotten burned yet. And, yeah, it is hot but there are some cold days as well. I’m already getting used to being sweaty all day. (And my deodorant is freaking AWESOME!!! All the other Americans are jealous of my deodorant because the deodorant here is terrible!!) And I do a good job of rotating my shoes pretty well. Even in the rain my shoes do really well and stay really dry. Amazingly everything dries really fast in my area, which is nice!

So weekly updates. We had 62 lessons, a new record for me and Elder W. Still zero baptisms. The mom (who is a member) of the girl who we were going to baptize for some reason doesn't want her to be baptized anymore (even though her daughter wants to, but we need the mother to sign the form), so she wasn't baptized this week).  We are seeing lots of conflicts with our investigators. We must be doing something right because Satan is working overtime against us. We have had investigators robbed, lots of Word of Wisdom problems with investigators drinking and a member who relapsed and drinks with one of our investigators. We have had a less active family lose a cousin to a gunfight, a husband who won’t let his wife go to church.  She had a dream of her baptism and told us about it in detail, perfectly describing an LDS baptism even though she has never seen one but her husband doesn't want us to come back anymore, and won’t let her go to church so we had to stop teaching her to help keep the peace at home, but I know that one day she will be baptized and receive these blessings either in this life or the life to come.

Another picture of me and Elder W. in the park.

Satan is working overtime for sure. Elder W. didn't get any money on our money day (actually he got 220R for his allowance and a reimbursement for previous purchases but the bank stole all of his money and the money from other missionaries in the mission and our zone, so we now have a new official mission rule to never use the Bank of Brasil but instead we have to use the other banks. Hopefully he will receive his money today. 

Yeah, lots of trials already but we are still working hard and still having fun! It is amazing the gifts of the Spirit that we receive for being faithful and following all of the mission rules! Hopefully the baptisms will come but I know that this period will prepare me for the rest of my mission and even if I don’t fully understand why things happen I know that our Heavenly Father does and that everything happens for a reason!

Daylight savings was killer here because we have to get up early on Sunday so we have gotten up at 4:30 for 2 Sundays in a row now. We are so exhausted because we always have something or another that bogs us down but we always have the spirit to help us out when we need it!! I’m making sure that Elder W. eats because sometimes he doesn't want to, but he always does and is getting a lot better about it and we are both healthy and happy even though we never have money for food (for example before going shopping today we have two packets of juice powder and some butter and that’s it). But we always get meals from members (and pretty much all the other missionaries only get lunch from members but it seems like we always get lunch and dinner as well).  We have a few members and even investigators that always feed us dinner or give us fruit or juice and even yesterday when we were not even working in our area, we had no food at home and no dinner and we ran into a member around 8 at night who made us sandwiches and gave us cookies and juice! It was truly a blessing and we are so truly blessed every day. The Lord really does look out for His missionaries!!

A coolish picture on a wall, kind of random.

Dad--Thank you for the quotes from the Al Smith fundraiser dinner, they are too funny!!! And the Diablo 3 updates are nice too. I love reading your part because I can hear your voice when I read your writing!

We keep finding great potential in our investigators and maybe found a baptism for the other elders in our apartment for this next week, which would be awesome to be able to help them out. They had a baptism this past week which was special!! Hopefully we can get our baptisms rolling here soon. (Dumb Satan!!) Time sure does fly out here in the field! I can’t believe I've already been here for 3 weeks Crazy!!!

Well that’s about it! I’ll put more in my snail mail letter of the week.

Portuguese to English translation fail!
(I am holding a Law of Chastity pamphlet in my hand)

Lots of Love,

Elder Cummings

56 Lessons: October 15, 2012

Dear Everyone,

OK, q-and-a time!

• One thing that the other elders and I would enjoy for a Christmas treat would be American snacks. Examples: cheez-its, fruit snacks, etc.
• Yes, Elder D. and Elder S. work in the area next to our apartment but are in the same branch as us, and, yes, Vila Reis is in our branch and does not have suitable missionary housing! But it is great having another set in the same apartment. It is like that for the whole zone.
• I didn’t get a garrafa (water bottle w/filter) but I only use water that I buy from the store or the juice/soda that members and investigators give us, and we eat plenty of beans and rice to get lots of protein.  We eat it every day! But I still love it!! 
• Our zone has 10 duplos (companionships) in it, so 20 missionaries total.
• I will include my normal schedule in my snail mail letter today.

I will be sure to write Grammie today.  I received a letter from Danny and Krista and the bunch this week as well!

So mission news... we taught 56 lessons this week!!! Which is a TON!!!  Our record high day was 16 lessons in one day. That was a record for Elder W. But all of our baptisms fell though! H. doesn't want anything to do with the Church anymore because of his mom and his friends and our other baptism fell through as well because she was out of town. We tried to get 20 investigators to church this week out of our 25 to 30 investigators and even got up at 4:30 to invite them all to come on Sunday... 3 came... so our goal of 10 baptisms next week doesn't look too promising.  L  It is amazing how many people are not married. We are teaching 3 families where the parents are not married...that makes things a lot harder. But we are having a lot of success at finding new people and making friends with almost everyone. You always have those few people that just don’t like missionaries, but we haven’t had any problems or anything. 

My letter will be a little bit shorter this week because of photos but I´ll try to get as much info as I can in.

So some info about 2 of our families in Vila Reis.

Family 1.  This is an awesome family. They fed us dinner this week after only teaching them one lesson. The mom is a member of 5 years but not active, the dad is Catholic but loved church this past Sunday. Daughter is 11 and was at her grandma’s house and that is why she was not baptized (she has gone to church a lot of times) and then the youngest daughter is 5. Hopefully we can fix the not-married bit in the next week, maybe 2 tops!!

Family 2. Another awesome family, 4 kids. Once again not married but mom is waiting for the divorce to her other husband to become finalized before they can get married. And the kids are awesome! We teach them a word or two in English every time. This family always takes time and stops whatever they are doing to hear our messages. They are almost like our second family down in that part of Vila Reis! They are awesome, and have such a great spirit in their house!

OK, so the photos here are:

1. Me and my district with Irmão R. (boss).

2. Me and President and Sister Degn (CTM president)

3. Me and Elder B. (Elder B's grandparents are good friends of Eldon's grandparents--Marie)

4. Me and Elder G. (I don’t remember his first name but he is one that I know really well, companions with Elder F.) (Elder G. is the son of our BYU Ballroom Dance friends; his twin brother was also in the CTM going to a different mission in Brazil--Marie)

5. My first view in person of Londrina!!

6. Elder W. and me with Elder P. (Elder S.'s trainer) and Elder S.

7. A view of Apucarana but not of our area (Vila Reis)

BTW my camera won’t work with the computers; luckily Elder W.'s camera does. I'll try to figure out a way to get my camera to work before transfers.  Speaking of which, we have transfers on Christmas Day this year!  I will try to get some more pictures taken this week, maybe with investigators and Vila Reis and I'll try and get a few more with Elder W., of course.  I have more photos than this especially of my last day at the CTM with some more of my friends, I will send more via snail mail probably next week so that way I can write info on the back of them and still have more info in my emails!

I don't know what else to put... I'll probably remember in 5 minutes when we leave but...Thanks for the package you are sending! And thanks for getting that message to M.G. I will try and get a letter out to her with the rest of the family snail mail letters this week!!

Love you guys a lot! I’ll be sure to add a lot of the things I forgot to write/didn't have time to write in my snail mail letter today!!  Love you guys so much! The mish is so hard!!! But I love it all the same!!!

Lots of Love!!

Elder Eldon Ray Cummings!! J

First Real P-Day in the Field: October 8, 2012

Dear Everyone:

First real P-day in the field! I will try and include everything!

Good call on having everyone else write via snail mail because even though it will be quite slow I have plenty of time each week to write letters, and my email time is once again packed with my weekly letter to Prez. Tavares in Portuguese (yikes)! The email you sent was perfect length! It left me about 30 minutes to respond to you after my letter to Prez.

  

We got to watch Conference and we even got to watch it in ENGLISH!!!! The elders that have been here longer than me were ecstatic!!!! So, the mission announcements!  Wow!  Jason, are you going to go on a mission at 18????? That is the big question here! I think it would be awesome and a really good experience for you to go on a mission before starting college (and might even help with BYU if that is where you want to go). But anyway I think it would be great if you went at 18!! It is such a blessing!! (On the subject of missions can you get me the address for a certain M.G. because I want to ask her whether or not she will serve now that the age has been lowered by 2 years. Please and thank you!)

My week was very tough! We live in the city of Apucarana and are in the Eldorado branch, but we proselyte out in a small city/village called Vila Reis (or Kings Village). I am really glad we don’t live out there because it is a much poorer area, but I love the people there. In order to get out to our area we have to take a 30 minute bus ride each way, which is fun because the buses are crazy!! You are always having to hold on tight and try not to fall over! And it is great place to chat people up (mostly Elder W. because I'm not very confident yet and it is hard to hear on the bus but this week I will be doing it more and more). But with that, we spend a lot of money. For every 15 days we get about 115R for food and whatever else we need such as cleaning supplies, and for the bus we spend 24R every week, which is half of our food money gone right there. Luckily food here is pretty cheap and luckily we don’t have to eat very often. For breakfast we usually have leftovers from food members give us or some bread and butter, lunch is either leftovers or bread and butter or food at a member’s house (the best!!) And then during the week we don’t have time to eat dinner, so sometimes we get an apple or an orange from someone on the street that we talk to or an investigator or recent convert will make us a little bit of rice and beans, and sometimes I buy a 1R big stack of cheap cookies when we get back if we don't get anything else. The people in Brazil are so charitable and giving! They have so little and yet they give and share so much with each other! It is truly inspiring! Some of the houses we go into are so small and humble, but yet the people are more than happy to share whatever they have! This is such a huge testimony-builder! Even though we don't eat very much and walk all day, I am never super hungry. We always get sufficient for what we need. I am so grateful for the spirit in helping us to keep working hard. Already I have had days where we were walking up a big hill or something and all the sudden it feels like my legs are just moving on their own, pulling me up the hill almost! It is truly amazing the spirit that we can feel.

The other elders in our apartment are Elder D. and Elder S. I knew Elder S. from the CTM and Elder D. is from the Tri Cities. Apparently about half of the North Americans in my zone are all from Washington and apparently all the members think that all missionaries are from Washington, which is weird because that usually only happens with people from Utah! But yeah they are really cool and when we eat at a member’s house for lunch it is the four of us who go, which is even larger of a testimony-builder that they would sacrifice to feed 4 hungry missionaries! The members here are amazing!

On the investigator front, we have one investigator who went to conference and didn't get an answer and so she doesn't want to get baptized right now even though she is completely ready!  We will go visit her more this week. And another investigator that came to conference felt the spirit so strong and will be getting baptized this next Sunday!!!! YES!!!! And, then we have a few other investigators with various issues. Also, we are teaching the rest of H.'s (our investigator getting baptized) family and hopefully at least his mom will get baptized. She has read in the Book of Mormon and really likes it. We haven't had a chance to teach his dad or sisters yet but we are confident that his example will help them have a desire to learn more and be baptized. Our zone baptism goal for this month is 50 baptisms! That’s a lot for 20 companionships!! I believe that we can do it, but we will have to pick up the pace and have the spirit more because as a zone we only had 6 baptisms this week.

I really like my area; it is beautiful and wonderful.  My companion is great. I love him! He is the perfect trainer and I am truly blessed to have a North American trainer who talks all in Portuguese but will speak a little English here and there when I really need it! And I feel truly blessed for our apartment and how nice and spacious it is. It never hurts to have a supermarket right next door and the bakery just down the street. We had the opportunity to help a family move earlier this week, and that was great! I enjoy giving service and then on Saturday night after conference they fed us an amazing dinner of rice and beans with steak and chicken and sausage! Service definitely pays off.

This is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, but I am learning more every day and loving it! I love this work! I love the Holy Ghost and am trying my hardest to always have it with me! I love being a missionary and seeing how the gospel can bless people and to see their eyes light up as we deliver our messages.

I probably forgot a lot so I will send a snail mail letter as well. I can’t get my camera to work and send you photos, sorry I will figure it out and send some to you next week.  L

Love you all lots!!

Elder Cummings

Greetings from Apucarana: October 3, 2012

Dear Everyone,

In the field I get one hour for email/computer on p-day!!!!  Just a heads up before I start talking about the field. Letters from the mission home get delivered to me once every three weeks to a month. Letters don't get sent directly to us at our apartment, at least not in the area that I am in.  For packages I would talk with Sister Tavares because I have no idea how that works,

Então....(so) it has been a crazy week with lots of photos taken (I’ll send some to you in my email next p-day when I remember my camera)!

Let’s start at the beginning.  We went proselyting one last time on Monday at the CTM but this time we took a city bus to downtown São Paulo and proselyted there! It was pretty sweet! One experience that was really touching was the first person that Elder S. and I talked with was this young man and after talking with him a bit he wanted to know some more so we taught him a mini super short 5‑minute version of the first lesson (First Vision and the Book of Mormon, etc.). By the way, the spirit helped us out a lot, I know, because we were speaking much better Portuguese than either of us knew and one of us always understood what he was saying! The spirit was really working overtime to make sure we didn´t screw this one up.  At the end he asked us if he could have a second copy of the Book of Mormon so he could share it with his friend as well!! It was really cool!

And now the part you have been waiting for the past 9 weeks!

Yesterday, Tuesday, (seems like a week ago) we woke up at 3:12 to get ready and head out for the airport by 4.  We had a one-hour plane ride and landed in Londrina at 7:30 in the morning with Pres. and Sister Tavares waiting for us with the APs and the secretaries! They are really awesome! I am really glad that I have Pres. and Sister Tavares!  So, next we went to their house/apartment and had some bread and jam and butter for breakfast (it was really good) and talked about the doctrine of Christ and had interviews with the president which was awesome. Then we had this really yummy lunch that they made for us with the missionaries who would be our future trainers but we didn't know who would be our trainers. Then we talked some more and FINALLY they told us who our trainers were going to be for the next 12 weeks! (It was so hard to listen to 12 hours of Portuguese after getting 4 hours of sleep so by the time they got to this point I was already so tired and dead it was not even funny. I am surprised that my brain did not ooze out my ears because it was so mushy!)

Anyway, my trainer for the next 12 weeks is: Elder W. He is really cool! He has been out 10 months and he is from Las Vegas!! Yeah I got an American trainer! I am his first American companion! I feel so lucky to be with him, he is such a great example to me already and he helps me a lot with learning the language and learning how to be a missionary as well. We are laboring in the Eldorado area of Apucarana about 2.5 hours from Londrina! Our first night there we got right to work, of course! We went to the branch president´s house and to various members and recent converts! I shared a quick spiritual thought with a recent convert. And after that we did some street contacting and got 3 addresses from people to come back and teach them later! Then I got to unpack for like 5 minutes, plan, and get ready for bed. There are a total of 4 elders in the apartment. I don't remember the other elders names but I´ll get that to you on p-day. One of them I knew from the CTM (he left my third week there) and is Brazilian. We have a good group.

I was so overwhelmed by yesterday but I am so thankful for my great companion who is helping me adapt and grow accustomed to my new lifestyle. Today we are teaching 7 or 8 lessons and our goal is to find 4 (I think) new investigators today as well. Talk about a little bit of a running start!

So a little info about where I live. We live above an auto repair shop and right across the street is a pretty big cemetery with this giant Jesus statue. The apartment is alright. I won't go into much detail and freak you out but it is clean and has plenty of space! I am already almost used to the change in living quarters! We eat a lot of bread and have a great view out of our kitchen window over the valley! It is pretty good! Our area is a more poor area that is for sure but it isn't too bad.

It isn't even that hot here, and not even summer yet but it sure feels that way! I am a little overwhelmed by the whole being in the field part and having my whole world change in the blink of an eye, but I have already felt the blessings from the Lord in my short time here in the field! And I know that this will be the hardest thing that I will ever do in my entire life but I also know that this will be the best thing that I will ever do in my life as well! I do love being a missionary and I already love the people in my area! This is going to be a great 12 weeks!

BTW, Elder S. also got an American companion who is really cool, Elder P. I believe but he is serving in the northernmost part of the mission, so he is pretty far away.

Lots of Love!

Elder Cummings

Arrival in Londrina: October 2, 2012

Today, Elder Cummings traveled from Sao Paulo to Londrina, and is spending the night at the mission home.  We received the following note and pictures from Sister Tavares, the mission president's wife.

Élder Cummings chegou muito bem!!!! Ele é ótimo. Estamos muito felizes com ele. Amanhã , ele dará mais notícias!!

google translate:

Elder Cummings arrived very well!! He's great. We are very happy with it. Tomorrow, he will give more news!

I assume that the Elder in the photo is his new companion.  Tune in tomorrow!

Elder Curumim: October 1, 2012

19 September 2012 (postmarked September 20, received October 1)

So here are this week’s pictures.  I hope you enjoy the pictures that I choose to send home.  I don’t really know what I missed in this week’s email.  It seemed pretty complete.

Say Hi to all the fam for me!  Once again, I will start writing/emailing other family members once I get into the field.  I am so excited to leave the CTM and start my mission.  I can already see how a mission can go by so fast!  I have already been on my mission for almost 1/12 of my mission!  WOW!!!  I am trying my best to not miss any experience.

I love you guys!

Love, Elder Cummings

Me and my Brazilian Homies!  These guys are SO cool.  It was very sad to see them go but they are going to be great missionaries.  Who’s in the picture?...well…

Back row: Elder A.S., Elder F., Elder A., Elder S., Elder B., Me

Front row:  Elder O., Elder W.S., Elder M.

This is one of my best friends!  Elder O.  He is so cool.  Right away we were good friends because I showed him how to tie the warrior knot and the double warrior and we were buds ever since.  I love this elder! 

When Elder O. left this past week, he didn’t have room for this (whatever it is—Marie).  I love his attempt to spell my name from memory!  Ha ha.  He is one of my very special friends.  I thought you would get a kick out of this!