Short Letter to End the Year: December 30, 2013

1. How did you do on baptisms this week? How did the zone do? None of the baptisms worked out for us, and the zone only baptized 2 this week, we are starting a zone purification process to start off the new year.
2. Are you allowed to take pictures of your big, beautiful, new house? If so, send us some next week! I’ll try and take some house pictures. It is 158 square meters (1,700 square feet) so it is pretty darn big!!

There isn’t really all the much to share with you that I didn’t already share with you during the video chat. Everything is fine and hot here in Apucarana, it is a little difficult right now but we are still working hard. It is a lot of stress to be zone leader, and I think I am going the way of Elder S. and am losing a little hair (hopefully it only looks that way because I got a haircut, but you never know)!

Yeah, that is about it!! Sorry it is so short today!!

love you guys!!!

Elder Cummings

P.S. I got your video today in an email!!! Ha ha it was kind of--a lot--a bit--dorky but I still liked it!!!

Feliz Natal 2013

(Elder Cummings is second from the right on the bottom row.)

Christmas Conference: December 23, 2013

Dear Everyone,

1. Tell us about your new companion! Is he American or Brazilian? Is he also a zone leader? My companion is Elder P. from São Paulo. He is the other zone leader (the zone leaders are always companions. I am the only American in the entire zone! (Elder S. [CTM companion], if you haven’t already heard, is the new Assistant to the President!!!!!)
2. How many companionships are in your zone? There are 7 companionships in the zone 6 sets of elders and 1 set of sisters. We have a lot of work to do with the zone, we baptized 0 people this week in the entire zone!!! But, we have lots of possibilidades (possibilities) for this week, so pray for everyone and that we can light a fire in some of these missionaries!!

I’m going to be at the members’ house to Skype 4 o clock my time. I hope that works for you guys!

Here are the photos of me and my new comp, me and my “son,” (Elder Iglesias, who he trained in Cascavel), me and President and Sister Genaro and me and the new AP big man boss sauce himself!!

Yeah, way to go little bro on the lunch date!!! ;-)

We walked a ton this week trying to find a new area to work. We have to start over from zero because they don’t have any investigators, so that was a little frustrating but we had a family at church on Sunday so this week we should have at least 4 baptisms, so pray a lot for us here!!! Also, the area of the zone leaders moved, it used to be the Apucarana branch which meets in the center with the Eldorado branch (my old branch when I was in Apucarana before) but now we are in the America branch which is a different building, but I will go to Eldorado on Tuesday to do a division so that will be neat to be back in my old area again!! 

It is super hot here but it doesn’t even feel as hot because of all the wind. I’m not even sweating at all even though it is like 95 to 100 every day. But there are no trees, and even though it doesn’t feel hot and I am using sunscreen twice a day, still my nose is super burnt!! HAHA but it is good to be back in Apucarana o rei do batismo (King of Baptisms)!!

Our house is huge and new and clean and awesome!!! It is super chique!!! (fancy!!!)

love you guys!!

Elder Cummings

P.S. Here’s a picture of my zone in Maringá with Elder Costa!

Returning to Apucarana: December 16, 2013

Dear everyone,

1. Of course the big question is whether you or Elder B. are being transferred?? I don´t know anything about Skype, because I am being transferred to APUCARANA (AGAIN!!!) AND I will be zone leader there!! So I will get you the Christmas call info next week. Elder B. is going to train and he will stay here in Mandacaru B.
2. What has been something particularly memorable from this transfer? Something memorable from the transfer was... just the whole thing. It was great. Elder B. was great. 3 baptisms here in Maringá was excellent!! It was the most of anyone in the zone this transfer, so that was good. All in all it was pretty normal, and it is weird leaving after only one transfer here.
3.  How did your district do on baptisms this week? The district only had one baptism this week, the zone leaders baptized a pastor who has 3 churches, so that was cool. (I wonder if his congregations will follow suit and join the Church?)

Are the Ravens in playoff contention? Wild card? They have the second Hobbit movie out already????!!!

Elder B. said that the trip from Provo would not be too fun for you to get to work!! But, what is it that you do there at your job? What does the company do?

Here are the photos of the week. For the first one, I found the smoke monster from LOST this week. The second is me and Elder B. taken just this this morning!!!

My thoughts about Apucarana, of all the zones that I served in it is the only one that I didn’t necessarily want to repeat because of the hills and the fact that we have to live so far outside of our area, but I’m super excited to be zone leader, so it is all good!! I will live in a different house and be assigned to a different area but it will be the same chapel!! So, I will still see all of the members from my old branch. I don’t know who will be my companion so that will be sent out next week. I may go to my new area tomorrow, I am not sure. We have a Christmas conference in Londrina on the 18th.VAMO QUE VAMO!!!

amo vocês (Love you),

Elder Cummings

A Very Short Letter: December 9, 2013

Dear Everyone,

1. Can you get scripture covers like that for Dad? He really thinks they are cool. Yes, I can get scripture cases for dad, too. He just needs to send me the dimensions of his scriptures and the photos that he wants to use and I can even have her send it to Utah for him!!! She can do cases for just about anything you want and you can even use family photos if you like and she will design the people, just that you can’t have more than 3 people in the photo or otherwise the quality is not very good. You can also choose scriptures that you want on them, etc.
2. How did you get chosen to have your one-on-one with Elder Costa? It was President Genaro that chose the people who would get to talk with Elder Costa.
3. Did you get the package from Aunt Paula yet? Will there be another opportunity for you to receive mail before Christmas? No, I haven’t gotten the package from Paula yet but next week is transfers, so I should get it then.
4. What does “kkkkkk” mean? I see that a lot in Brazilian FB messages, sort of where we might use “ha ha” or “LOL.” Is that about right? Yes, kkkkk is the Brasilian laugh...

How are the Ravens doing???

It was a pretty normal week for me here. We had L.’s baptism, which was awesome of course, but really nothing else different happened. We are going to have lots of baptisms in the district this coming week, which is good because no one else in the district besides me and Elder B. has had a baptism this transfer.

This week, I took a bunch of photos, but here are just a couple from the baptism of L. We had to break into the Relief Society activity room, because they were using all the chairs from the rest of the church!!

Love you guys, I’m excited to hear more family and Utah news!!

Elder Cummings

Meeting with Elder Costa: December 2, 2013

Dear Everyone,

1. Did you get the Christmas package? If so, have you opened it up yet? Everything wrapped should wait for Christmas, but all else is fair game. Yes, I got the package, yes I have opened it, yes I saved the wrapped items, and yes I already started eating the food!! J
2. Do you know plans yet for Skyping on Christmas? You probably don’t just yet, but just to put it in your mind. Remember you are 6 hours ahead, so we probably can’t do it much before 3 p.m. your time. No, I don’t have Christmas Skype plans yet but I will keep the time restrictions in mind.

Oh—I got my scripture cases this week, and they turned out SICK!!!

Yeah, I have recovered from the shock of the news, last Monday was hard for me, it was just really hard to breathe the whole day but by bedtime it was all good, I know that it is the best thing for the family. It has the Elder Cummings stamp of approval!!! And, it was probably better to just tell me how you did. Otherwise I would have been worried, so thanks!! And, about picking me up after the mission I have been thinking for like a year that I didn’t really want you guys to pick me up so that worked out great!

The Mission Tour (Elder Costa touring all the missions in Brazil) with Elder Costa was amazing!!! We got such amazing instructions and of course everyone got to shake his hand!! But, i think the coolest part, at least for me and Elder S., was that afterwards there were 11 of the 182 missionaries who were selected to have a one-on-one chat with him and we were both selected!!! So, that was super cool!!! It was also really good to see every elder in the mission and see that I am getting old because there are so many new elders that I have never seen in my life!!

The night before we left to go to Londrina, we had 10 elders staying in our house one, of whom was my former Greenie, Elder I.!!! It was great to see him. But with 10 elders, it was really interesting trying to get everyone showered and ready to go to catch the 5 a.m. bus!! We started the process at 2:45 a.m., but I think we still go off a lot easier that the 10 sisters who all had to use one bathroom! The meeting with Elder Costa was truly a once in a lifetime experience and a great alternative way to pass Thanksgiving!!

On Sunday we had this young man at church with us who is 13, he bore his testimony that he knows that the church is true in sacrament meeting (it was his first time attending church, by the way). He is going to the Young Men’s activity on Saturday and his baptism will be right before the activity!! He already has a friend in the ward, and they asked to go proselyting with us after church. Here is a photo of the two of them trying to find the right street for us!! Already, one of his goals in life is to be a missionary!!!!

I think that is about it for this week.

Love you guys!

Elder Cummings

P.S. One more picture, this half-way built house that we explored rapidão (quickly) one day!

A Pretty Normal Week: November 25, 2013

25 November 2013

Dear Everyone:

1. Why is the ward moving into the warehouse while a new chapel is being built? Are they unable to stay in the current building? Currently we don’t have our own chapel we have to take a 30 minute bus ride to get to church so they are renting this warehouse while they are looking for and building a nice new chapel here in our area.
2. Did you find a new place to live? No, we didn’t get a new house yet (I’ll explain later) but it is all good. The house is a lot cleaner now. The only problem is that the abandoned house out back got new renters who smoke a lot so our study room has a smoky smell every now and then

I didn’t know what photos to send home so I sent practically all of them from this week.

We helped a member with a small move, hence the couch in the middle of the street!

We made these really sweet tacos one day for lunch!!

Waiting for lunch to finish cooking on Sunday we got to play with their little kid for 5 minutes and I got to refresh my Lego and modeling skills.

Me and Elder D.

Quick question: can you send me the family Christmas cookie recipe??!! Thank you!!

This week was a pretty normal week. We didn’t have a baptism but we did have 2 confirmations and we found a lot of great people!! I did a baptismal interview for one of the sisters in my district and it went good, it was a really spiritual interview I was crying at the end, and when I came out the sister said that I was literally glowing!! So, that was cool!!

This week we have a very special event (oh, I did not make it to the giant cathedral but I will before the end of the transfer). This special event is why the secretaries didn’t have time to put offers on houses for us. On Wednesday night there will be the Cascavel and Londrina zones sleeping here in Maringá because Thursday morning we leave at 0 dark 30 to go to Londrina, we are going to have a special mission tour. The whole mission will be gathered in Londrina and we will get to hear from Elder Costa of the First Quorum of the 70 and the current Area President of Brasil!!!! That will be AWESOME!!!

I think that is about it!!

lots of love!!

Elder Cummings

Who Says Maringá Doesn't Baptize? November 18, 2013

18 November 2013

Dear Everyone,

1. Did you actually get to see Elder W. on his last night, or were you already on your way to Maringá? I got to see and talk with Elder W. on my last night in Londrina, Monday night, and I saw him Tuesday afternoon just before getting on the bus!! How is he doing with civilian life??
2. Did your former companion Elder S. stay in Ouro Branco, or has he moved elsewhere also? Elder S. is here in Maringá as well, but he is in the other district.
3. Who else is living in your house? In our house is me, Elder B. (my companion), Elder D. (I was his district leader when he was a secretary and now he is my zone leader), and Elder B2, who I met at the CTM. He was in the group just after me. Our house is the worst house in Maringá. I think it is better than where we lived in Ouro Branco because it is cleaner, but it is really old. Two times this week I woke up with a cockroach walking on my arm and Elder B2 woke up 2 or 3 times with them on his legs. Let’s just say that Sister Genaro has asked us to look for a new house, and we are searching diligently.
4.  Are you in a branch or a ward? We are a ward, but our ward meets way far away in the center of the city. However, they have rented this warehouse really close to our house and on the 1st of December we will start to have meetings there while we are searching for a lot to buy and build a new chapel.

So on to Maringá news:

Who says that Maringá doesn't baptize???? We had 2 baptisms this week. L. is 16 and with a priesthood blessing he stopped smoking, drinking, and using coffee in one day!!! The other is A.C. She is a neighbor of L. and we are going to baptize her mom this next week. So, we should have at least one baptism this next Sunday (we always are hoping for more), which will give us the opportunity to invite tons of people to church for the baptism, and hopefully that will translate to us having tons of baptisms the following week.

It is very hot here in Maringá, just like all of the areas in the mission, but the streets are covered in trees so most of the time you walk in the shade. That is nice while we are doing the 45-minute walk to our area!! 

Today after we finish emailing we are going to go to the post office so I can get my CPF which is like the Brasilian social security number. It will make getting things like bus passes a lot easier, and you get this SWEET-looking card!! We are also going to visit the cathedral in the center so that should be some good pictures for you guys next week!!

I think that is about it! 

love you guys a lot!!

Elder Cummings

Next Stop, Maringá: November 11, 2013

11 November 2013

Dear Everyone:

Yes, it will be a 5-week transfer because of Natal (Christmas).

I am being transferred this week to Maringá to the area Mandacaru B. I will be leader de districto still...yeah... but I will be companions with... ELDER B.!!!! Yeah, we are going to baptize the pants off of everyone!!! Yeah!!

CONGRATULATIONS JASON ON THE EAGLE!!!

YEAH DYLAN!!! PARABENS ON THE MISSION CALL!!!

WHOA, DAD SELLING LEGOS....... I’m pretty sure that is one of the signs of the Second Coming!!! Speaking of the Second Coming, here is a photo of what one of the scripture cases that I bought is looking like, I should get it here in a few weeks along with one for my Book of Mormon!!

Lots of photos this week to make up for a shorter letter, one as I said is my scripture case. The others are our big barbecue from last week (1), the death of my shoes (2, 3, 4) now that I decided to finally retire them from active duty, my new sweater and modeling skills (5), and my last division with the secretaries (6)!!

Mom, did you change the chain on the necklace that I gave you all those years ago? I’ve never seen the necklace reach so far down, I guess that’s what happens with a skinny neck!! (Sidebar: when Eldon was 4, he gave me this necklace for Christmas. It was TOTALLY unexpected and something that he told his Dad he wanted to do, not something Dad suggested. I cried, and have worn it almost daily ever since. Summer 2012, the chain broke when I was changing into my swimsuit at the pool, and the chain I replaced it with is about 1” longer.)

Other than that, it was a pretty normal week, no baptisms unfortunately. Next week should have lots of information about my new area! (Also, Elder W. will sleep here in Ouro Branco tonight before he heads HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Love you guys!!

Elder Cummings

From Londrina (old area) to Maringá (new area)

All his areas so far, in order from A to E.

Happy, Healthy, and Baptizing: November 4, 2013

4 November 2013

Dear Everyone,

1. Will you get to say goodbye to the departing missionaries next week? I am guessing there will be tons of transfers and changes with so many going home. I don´t know if I will get a chance to say goodbye to the departing missionaries next week, because ever since President Genaro got here, the departing missionaries go straight to the hotel, whereas in the past they would sleep one night in the missionaries’ houses and one night in the hotel. There are 17 missionaries leaving and only 9 arriving (visa problems), so a lot of B areas (for example, Cascavel 3B, Ouro Branco B) might get closed down. Pretty much any ward with 4 missionaries might get dropped down to just 2, but I don´t know any details as to which area will get cut down. President Genaro also wants to open up cities where the church doesn’t exist and where missionaries have never gone in his next 2 1/2 years so that will be cool.
2. Did the package you sent that never made it to us ever get back to you? No, the package never got back to me, I think it was just completely lost!

As far as the Ravens are concerned rapidinho (quickly), they can’t win every year, that would take the fun out of the sport!

So here we go with the news of the week!!

This week we only had one baptism, but we are aiming and have a great possibility for 4 more next week!!! The zone leaders had 2 baptisms, their baptisms are the ones that Elder S. baptized, and our baptism is the one where I am in my baptismal clothes!!

She is amazing!! She is always posting on Facebook stuff about the church, always calling us to ask if she can bring friends or family members to church!! We are aiming to baptize her friend and her 2 brothers this next week!! She is really cool!!

Also, D. (who we baptized last week and confirmed last week), this week he read the whole Gospel Principles book, and he received the Aaronic priesthood yesterday!! He is amazing. He studies at the university and works the night shift at the bus station so when he went to work on Saturday he brought his church clothes with him and left work to go straight to the chapel to be there in time to change before church starts!! He is a CHEFÃO (chief)!!!

I think that is about it for this week! Today we will have a giant barbecue for Elder M.’s last P-day, so there should be some good pictures next week!!

I am really happy!

I’m healthy!

I’m BAPTIZING!!!!!

lots of love!!!

Elder Cummings

3 Baptisms and 8 Pictures!

Dear Everyone,

1.  How did your week go this week? Did your investigators get baptized? One of them was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! It was awesome. We had 2 more baptisms on Sunday (they are the two closest to me, the ones on either side of Elder S.). The zone leaders had 3 baptisms this week, too!! And, we already have a good possibilidade (possibility) to baptize 3 more this next coming Sunday! The work is progressing in Ouro Blanco!
2. What have you been studying lately in the Book of Mormon or Preach My Gospel? In my studies I am studying stuff that helps my current investigators and marking up my new scriptures that I bought and studying topics in Preach My Gospel to help out my district. (I was hoping to get a little more detail. Well, I tried at least!—Marie)
3. Tell us more about why you were in the “mountains” in your pictures last week? Is that part of your area? Yes, the mountains are part of my area and we passed by coming back from lunch and took some quick pics!

 

Can you send me a photo of my baptism in a letter? It would be cool to be able to show to investigators. Thank you!!

I didn’t even get to attend my ward this week because of returning from Cornélio Procópio Sunday morning and preparing for the baptisms, so I didn’t play piano this week. I was practicing a little bit here and there, but now I am just going to wing it on the piano, it is coming really well, at least the right hand, that is!

So, for the rest of my letter I will give some comments on my photos. Yes, lots of photos this week, so feel lucky! I don’t know if I can send so many every week!!

The pizza was for Elder S.’s birthday, which was Friday!!

Last P-day we had a barbeque, but it was really hot so we used an umbrella when we were at the grill!!

This photo shows a little bit of my tie alterations work, which I learned how to do from Elder S. They all started off the same size as the piano tie!

It rained A TON on Thursday!!! A few minutes before the bus passed by, an old lady was walking by when a truck passed there...let’s just say she got SOAKED!!!

The elders in Cornélio Procópio have this funny noise-making rubber chicken in their house. I traveled there Saturday night to do two baptismal interviews for the zone leaders because Elder R. forgot his ID, so I went there in his place with Elder G. (a greenie). That was fun. We traveled back early Sunday morning (luckily it is only 1.5-hour bus ride) but we didn´t bring any extra clothes because it was last minute and we didn’t even have time to shower on Sunday morning before I had to do 2 more baptismal interviews and then we had our baptisms!! (The Elder Cummings Show continues!!)

I think that is about it for this week!! Enjoy the photos!

com amor,

Elder Cummings

The Elder Cummings Show: October 21, 2013

Dear Everyone,

1. How many lessons were you able to teach this week? Is this about average? Better? Worse? This week we taught 3 lessons with members and 17 lessons without members present, which is a good number, but the lessons-with-members number was way low!! We should have 3 baptisms this weekend, one is the investigator I mentioned earlier, he is 27 and he already has his interview marked and everything. (As you know, before the baptism everyone needs to pass an interview with the district leader, or in my case since I am a district leader, with the zone leaders!)
2. Do you get fed by members on Sunday? Yes, every Sunday we have lunch at members’ homes, it is pretty much the only guaranteed day to eat lunch with the members, as a lot of them are not home for lunch during the week, and it is always a really good lunch!!
3. What are some of the best new foods you’ve tried lately? New foods...um...every day I eat rice and beans and meat and salad. Sometimes we get stroganoff or lasagna (I now know how to make these Brasilian-style) or a barbecue (of course), so new foods are kind of a rarity at the moment, though I did get to eat Japanese food this week and that was really tasty!

Now I have some questions for you: How many people live in Bellevue? How many in Seattle? And, how many in the greater Seattle area? Thank you!!

I did get a few more ideas for the Christmas package:  Stride gum (spearmint), and a tiny sunscreen bottle to carry with me in my tiny bag. THANK YOU!!

This Sunday (yesterday) was the Elder Cummings show at church!! I arrived a little bit late because we were bringing everyone to church (we picked up our investigators and then most of the zone leaders’ investigators as well) Luckily sacrament meeting is at the end of church here during the third hour because I got there 2 minutes before the meeting started!! We had 3 investigators attend church who are all planning to be baptized this coming week (and like I said, one has already passed his interview and is ready to go)!!! I played piano, and they had changed the hymns on me and they were not hymns that are included in the simplified hymnbook, but I still did ok. I also gave a talk. It was my third talk of the mission, the third time I was the second speaker, and the third time that the concluding speaker who spoke after me was the stake president!!! Lucky me! To wrap up my big day, I conducted the baptismal service directly after church for the baptisms of the zone leaders. And then it was time for lunch. J

Oh, we sprung forward Saturday night!!

The district is doing great here, my companion and I are getting along great!! I have had great sorte (luck) with companions so far on the mission. I have enjoyed each of them. They have been great!!

To finish, here are some photos of our mountain expedition from this week!!

Com amor

Lots of love

Elder Cummings

P.S. Our mission came in third in all of Brazil for baptisms in September!!

Ward Pianist: October 14, 2013

Dear Everyone,

1. Does Elder R. live in your house? How many sets of elders are serving in your ward? Yes, Elder R. lives with me, there are 2 sets of elders in the ward and the 4 of us all live in the same house
2. As I was helping Dad clean up his neckline when he gave himself a haircut on Friday, we both wondered if you are still cutting your own hair? Cutting anyone else’s hair? Yes, I still use the hair cutting kit, mostly for my own hair (I still have never gone to a Brazilian barber).
3. I know it’s early, but do you have any ideas on things you need/want for Christmas? I don’t see any necessity for any items right now, so I guess food, and saving money up for when I get back would be the best options!!
4. Got any fun stories to share from Zone Conference? Sister Genaro posted a bunch of pictures, and it was fun to play “Where’s Waldo” as we looked for you in them. This was the first time you have appeared in any of her photos. Zone conference was good, not really any cool stories to report, but we did earn pizza and we got to watch “17 Miracles” as a prize for breaking the mission baptism record last month!! And at the zone conference, I got to see two former companions, Elder R. and Elder F., so that was good!! Also in the zone conference it was announced that the backpack has died for missionary service (I am pretty sure that this is for the whole world), only shoulder bags (? I don’t entirely get why, but it is what it is) and handheld bags like my super-slick, stylish, state-of-the-art, height-of-fashion Primary bag!

 Elder R. (companions for ONE WEEK in Apucarana), Elder Cummings, and Elder F. (companions for one transfer in Cascavel)

 Lovely, height-of-fashion Primary bag

In other news, guess who is the new ward pianist here in the Ouro Branco ward? Yep, that’s right!! I am the new ward pianist. (Yes, you read that sentence correctly: I, Elder Cummings, am the new ward pianist!!) Right now, using the simplified hymnbook, I am only using the right hand and I can almost do the right and left hand together now. The trickiest part was learning bass clef, but now I can play the left hand just fine, and the right hand really well, it is just when I put them together that I have troubles, but it is always getting better!! (Elder Cummings took piano lessons in 3rd grade. He then played trumpet and French horn from 5th grade through 12th grade.)

This month, as a mission, we are passing through problems to baptize people. The adversary has really put his evil reinforcements here, because we have been doing so well lately. We are still pressing on!! Along those lines, pray for our investigator, D., so that he can go to church this Sunday and be baptized on the 27th, he is an amazing dude!!

When I was in Cascavel, I dreamed about this bridge and these steps. The rest of my dream didn’t make any sense, and the bridge was in a different setting, but it was the same bridge with the same graffiti. It was so cool to find these and see that I really am supposed to be serving here in Ouro Branco!!

Sorry it is kind of short for this week, it is really getting harder and harder to come up with e-mail topics. I’m going to go now and buy 4$ of ice cream for my weekly groceries!!

love you guys a lot!!!

com amor,

Elder Cummings

P.S. How are the Ravens doing?? J

General Conference was Awesome!: October 7, 2013

7 October 2013

Dear Everyone,

1. What language did you watch Conference in? Where did you go to watch it? I watched Conference at the stake center in English!!!
2. How’s it going with your Mega-District? How many Elders and how many Sisters? They split up the district again, which is good, because it would have been a little much for me!! I would have been more than a zone leader basically with the number of people I would have needed to accompany and do interviews for, so I am glad to have my old district back!!! My mega-district would have been 10 elders and 6 sisters with 4 people training... but now it is back to 8 elders and 2 sisters with only one sister training!

In five weeks 7 zone leaders will go home and in 6 more weeks 6 more zone leaders will go home!!!! Big changes in the mission between now and the end of 2013.

General Conference was AMAZING but it went by way too fast. I loved all the talks but in particular I loved:

•  David A. Bednar and President Uchtdorf from Saturday morning
• D. Todd Christofferson, Elder Nelson, and Elder Dyches from Saturday Afternoon 
• President Monson from the Priesthood session
• Elder Eyring, Elder Oaks, and Elder Scott from Sunday morning
• Elder Vinson from Sunday afternoon

... yeah, I know, that’s almost all of them!! It was definitely a great Conference!!

Of course Conference talked about a lot of things but I felt that it really emphasized the following points a number of times:

• Freedom of choice
• Read the scriptures a lot!
• Marriage
• REPENTANCE
• The sin in the world
• You cannot change the doctrines of Christ
• Tough and trying times are coming and persecutions will once again rise up against the church like times of old and in our own church history!

So this week was great, we brought 3 people to Conference so hopefully we will have some baptisms here pretty soon. Here is the picture of last week’s “surprise” baptism.

Elder R., the new elder in the ward, is way cool, he is from just outside of Sacramento.

Way to go cleaning up Grandma’s house, eagle scout application, SAT, and getting a ´date´ to homecoming!!

Sorry this is so short, but I think that is about it.

love you guys a lot!!

com amor,

Elder Cummings

Staying Put in Londrina: September 30, 2013

Hey everyone!!

1. How are your shoes holding up? I have seen lots of pictures on Facebook of friends’ missionary sons’ hole-y shoes, which made me wonder. My shoes are holding up fine, I have one pair that is still almost brand new and the other has holes in it, but they are still perfect as long as it does not rain!!!
2. Transfer news? Staying? Going? New companion? The transfer news is that I am staying here with the same companion... but ELDER S. (CTM companion) WAS CALLED AS A ZONE LEADER!!! I’m so used to always getting a new companion at transfer time that it was a little disappointing not to have a change this time around. Also I found out right now that my district doubled in size!! (My district is bigger than some zones!!!) CRAZY!! Pray a lot for me this week, I am motivated because of the baptism that we had yesterday but I am really discouraged about staying the same... this will be a rough transfer...

Since I happened to be online when his email came in, I emailed back quickly and asked if it was the area or his companion that he was not happy about: It is both that have me discouraged!! Also no matter what I do, no matter how much I clean, the house is always a pigsty!! So I have stopped cleaning anything, I only clean the stuff that I use now!!

I wrote back, and said: “I'm so sorry this is a challenging area and companionship for you. Love and serve your companion as much as you can and good things will happen. Praying, praying, praying,” to which he responded:  I’m all better now, sorry for the freak out, I was thinking about all the bad things but now I am focusing on all the good blessings I am receiving!!! I still think the transfer will be difficult, but it will be really good as well!!

This is my district, minus the zone leaders who are also part of my district, but they were visiting another district when we took the picture.

I got the senior pictures this week. They turned out great! Jason has changed so much in his facial structure! And the tie is pretty darn amazing!!

This week I did another division with the secretaries and I was with Elder B. this time, it was good, a nice normal division. It was pretty torturous, though, because he knew all the information about transfers and would not tell me, but also I didn’t ask much because I know how much they get pestered by everyone!

Yesterday we went to the sister missionaries’ baptismal service to help them out and at the baptism was this 8 year old named C., whose parents are inactive but the mom is starting to be reactivated. C. wanted his dad (who is not currently worthy) to baptize him so he had originally said he was going to wait (I don’t know if his dad will ever actually be worthy again...) but while we were there he came up to me, even though I had never even said a word to him before, and asked me to baptize him! So I put on a jumpsuit and we went to work!! It was so good to get back in the water again! Photos will come later, I didn´t have my camera since I wasn’t planning on baptizing anyone.  I will get them from another missionary.

sorry it´s short, lots to do!!

love you all,

Elder Cummings