Missionary Zeal: June 24, 2013

Hey there everyone!!!

Super sorry, I forgot my camera today when I left to go to the LAN house but at the same time I don´t have any photos from this week. It rained all week and was pretty darn cold, the only photo worth sending home is the photo from our baptism this week!!

This week we baptized R., the sister of P., our baptism from last week. Last week was her first time going to church and she watched her sister get baptized. When we stopped by their house Sunday night, we asked her how she liked church and she said that she liked it a lot and wanted to be baptized too...after a pause (we were a little bit slow because this normally doesn’t happen) we signed the form and that Thursday she was baptized during the ward activity!!! This week will be the parents’ turn, we hope. Pray for them that they can stop drinking coffee and not be afraid to be baptized!! They are really great!!

Elder F. and I are good, we are friends but we have our rough spots, like any companionship. One moment he can be super animated and singing hymns in the street, and the next minute he is mad at me and walks on the other side of the street. But, the important thing is that we are able to work together, and we are baptizing a lot, so it is all good!!! I have 17 baptisms now, the average number of baptisms for a missionary serving in Brasil is 18 (this is in 2 years), and the mission average for my mission is 22 in 2 years so I am being truly blessed by the Lord!! I do not say this to brag, I know that without Him and without being obedient to the rules of missionary service, I would not have been blessed to have already found these 17 souls. Like Ammon in the book of Alma, “Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever.” (Alma 26:12)

Yes I saw the worldwide missionary broadcast it was super good, the only thing I am worried about is the use of computers and Facebook. I am glad that they will start it off in phases and I hope it will probably take a while to reach Brasil, which is good. I hope it doesn’t cause lots of problems with pornography and flirting with investigators and recent converts, unfortunately this (flirting) is already a problem with some missionaries. I just hope that this doesn’t hurt the work, but it is coming from the prophet so it is coming from God, so it will all work out!! J About the guided tours of our buildings, this will be an excellent tool to help people get to know the church!! Elder S.’s brother (in another mission in Brasil) is already doing the guided tours and with a little more than a year on the mission, he has 150 baptisms and is the record holder for his mission already!!

There has been some protesting here in Cascavel, but it is really far from my area so it is all good. Elder W. and Elder S. got separated for half an hour because of the protestors when they were coming back from doing a baptismal interview (by the way, I did 2 more interviews this week!!!).

Way to go, Ed! Two-time Ironman is so cool! Maybe he will have his third Ironman by the time I get home.

Dad, work with these inactive prospective elders!!! This is a gold mine!! Also, work with the list of members not baptized!!! (This means families that have become inactive that have kids of baptismal age!!) Correr atrais de todo mundo!! Run behind everyone!! Which means, contact everyone on the list go there with the missionaries, have the missionaries teach them in our home!! Seriously, the missionaries with a well-organized list of these 40 prospective elders and inactive families with kids of baptismal age don’t need to proselyte!! Seriously, I promise you, that if you contact everyone, go there with the elders and have them teach in our house, that the ward will gain many new families in these coming WEEKS!!!!!

Two of my baptisms in Geisel (Bauru) were kids of an inactive mother if you remember. We baptized them and reactivated her!!! This is a great tool!! Use it!! I expect to hear news of at least one new family that was baptized here in two weeks—that means bringing at least one family to church this Sunday and baptizing/re-activating a family the next week!!) I can’t stress this enough, our ward can baptize so many people and reactivate so many people just by bringing back the lost sheep. I promise that through prayer and fasting you will be able to choose the people who are ready to come back and here in a few weeks you will no longer have problems filling callings. A lot of times less-active or inactive members are willing to accept callings, don’t be afraid to call a less-active member to a position. This is another way to bring FAMILIES back to the Lord!!! You’re the man!! Fill the missionaries’ planners!!! SO BATIZA!!! Just baptize!! 

lots of love!!!

Com amor,

Elder Cummings