Leaving Maringa (Alvorada) Better Than I Found It: June 2, 2014

Dear Everyone,

1.  How did your investigators fare this week? Was the family able to be baptized? Answers below.
2. Where will you be spending your final transfer? Answers below.

It is transfer week!!!  And there are lots of updates!!! First off, Elder I. (my “son”) will be ZONE LEADER!!!!! He will be here in (Maringá) Alvorada in my place!! So he can baptize these 4 families that I found here. No one went to church yet because there was always complications and it never worked out for us to stop by there on Saturday and confirm everything "certinho" but I know that Elder I. will baptize all of them!!! And I will train a new missionary!!! I think it will be an American because that is what I asked for but I don’t know for sure, I don’t even know where I will be going yet! I will only find out tomorrow at the mission home. The only thing that I know is that I will leave the zone! I will be taking the 6:20 bus to Londrina tonight and I will sleep once again in Ouro Branco!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE BRO!!! You are now legal!! You can now go to big boy prison!! Ha ha!! And in Brasil you can legally smoke and drink at 18!!! (Dad´s birthday was last week right? Is it the 28th? I always forget!! But happy 51, Dad!!) And, way to go on the driving test!!! If you remember, I only got an 84 on my test...but wow, that is so nice to not take the test at the DMV!!!

So, updates from the week that ended:

The zone once again had 3 baptisms and we found out that in the month of May we broke the all-time zone baptism record with the all-time high of men baptized!! And it was only a 4-week month as far as baptisms are concerned!! I hope they can break the record without me in June with 5 Sundays!!

So, for 4 days this week I was in division and Elder B. traveled to another city to help out the missionaries there so I didn´t even work at all in May area this week so our 4 complete families did not progress that much this week, but soon they will baptize!!

So on Sunday during the first block the bishop of another ward called me asking if we could fill the font because their water heater was broken, so we spent the whole church time filling the font with hot water and with a hose and running buckets because the font fills super slow!!! The whole time the members were complaining about the noise and the water the whole time and to top it all off, when the font was full I called the bishop of the other ward and he said: "ohhhh.... I forgot to inform you but the lady that will baptize decided that she wants to be baptized in cold water after all so we will baptize her here in our own ward..." I almost yelled at him but it is all good since I will be leaving the city! I am a little bit sad that I am leaving now that the area is finally catching fire, and the ward likes me now. but at least I am leaving the house, area, ward, and zone way better than I found them!!!

But, yeah I think that is about it. I’m excited, anxious, animated, shell shocked, nervous, ecstatic, all at the same time!!! This will be a wild last transfer full of baptisms!! (and full of the World Cup!!)

love you guys a lot!!

see you in 6ish!

Elder Cummings

Rainy Days and "Cold" Weather: May 26, 2014

Dear Everyone,

1. Was the family you mentioned last week baptized? How are they doing? They were supposed to go to church yesterday but didn´t because of colds and the rain (as a matter of fact no-one of our investigators went to church because of the rain)... but they made us dinner Sunday night (he also gave us a ride home during the giant rainstorm last night, we passed 3 accidents in the roads, 2 of them were a car and a motorcycle... yikes!) They also always make cake when we come over, and one day the dad gave us 6 fish that he personally fished in the river this week!! We are going to keep teaching them and hopefully some of the family can come to church next Sunday (the dad will have a surgery this Thursday...)
2. How did the ward activity go? Our activity was a non-activity. It was a joint 2-ward activity and the only people who showed up were the 6 missionaries and one member... yeah it was not great!!! And the next day the ward had another activity where the ward did ribs and tons of people showed up, but it went long and we had to leave before eating anything…maybe we should have combined our activities?! (see photos of our activity turned hotdog-eating contest).

I have heard zero news about new missionaries that are going to show up. I am completely in the dark, I will only know next Monday when there are transfers! 

Wow, the man cave is looking pretty darn MANLY!!!! SWEET! Also, mom, your computer looks super cool too!!

It’s been raining a lot here lately and getting "cold"--60 degrees--but it will heat up again to the 70s this week!

On Thursday we went to Cianorte, a neighboring city, to do baptismal interviews of a mom and her son, they both passed but for other reasons ended up not baptizing (the zone baptized 4 again this week and confirmed 5 more).

I think that is about it for this week! It will be interesting this last week of the transfer!! vamos para cima do povo!!! (literally translated, “let’s up the people…”)

love you guys a lot!!

Elder Cummings

Birthday Week: May 19, 2014

Dear Everyone,

1. When is the next transfer? Is this the 5-week transfer? Yes this is a five week transfer. The next transfer day is June 1.
2. Did your zone have any changes because of the new American missionaries who came out of the CTM? My zone had one change because of the "mini transfers" there were 20 missionaries in the mission who were transferred!!! But the only change was that one elder left and Elder I. (my “son” who I trained) came to the zone now!!! (We had interviews with President G. on the 16th and I told him that if it were at all possible and in harmony with the Lord´s will of course, that I would like to have the opportunity to train an American missionary in my last transfer. so we will have to just wait and see what will happen in this next transfer!
3. What did you do to celebrate your actual birthday? I hope you got lots of birthday wishes. To celebrate my actual birthday my companion and housemates bought pizza for me at night!! But it was a regular day of work during the day, the member that made us lunch that day put a candle in the Jell-o dessert, so that was cool!! Also, I got to perform a baptismal interview on my birthday and the young man of 21 years was baptized on that same day, so that was cool (he is studying software engineering!)

The cake (mix), frosting (in a can), noisemakers, napkins, and plates were part of Elder Cummings' birthday package!

 Birthday candle in the Jell-O.

This week had 4 more baptisms in the zone, Elder I. baptized one, we also confirmed A. who we baptized 2 weeks ago!!

Can you send photos of the new roof and your new laptop please!!?? :-)

Jason: what lead you to decide to study criminal justice? Was there a job fair or something?

This week was really cool, we had an OK ward activity this Saturday, it was a joint activity with the other ward and in total there were 20 people who came... and we will be doing another activity on Friday so I will let you guys know how that one goes!!

Also, we found this really great family that we had marked with the daughter to pass by there Sunday afternoon to teach the whole family and when we got there they had cake waiting for us (food is always a good sign of the possibility for baptism!!) and the whole family of mother, father and 2 kids (the son is 21 and the daughter is 17) were all really receptive and are excited to learn more and to go to church on Sunday!! The dad was telling the mom this past week that they needed to find a church to attend because they have stopped going to any church pretty much!! So, that was cool. Pray for this family please!!

On a side note, a member who lived in England for 10 years made imitation Kentucky Fried Chicken for us on Sunday for lunch!!! It was pretty darn good!!

And I think that is about it for this week!!!

love you guys a lot!

Elder Cummings

Post-Skype Letter: May 12, 2014

Dear Everyone,

There is a corn field close to our house and they harvested the corn this week, so that night we went to pick up the corn that was left over and we got a lot of corn, but upon our return to our house we found out that all the corn was bad, it was the type of corn they use for animal feed, so it was already dry and hard and not suitable for eating. L 

That’s about all that I have to say after our Skype date yesterday. I kind of said everything already. 

See you guys later! J

Lots of love,

Elder Cummings

P.S. My opinion as to whether to get me a car in Washington or in Utah, is the sooner the better!!! J

We did have a wonderful Skype with Elder Cummings on Mother’s Day, our last Skype until he comes home. Because it is his birthday later this week (May 15), he had a little birthday gathering with some other missionaries at the home of the members where they were able to Skype. I love that the members take care of the missionaries in Brazil just like we try to do for our missionaries here! Happy 21st Birthday, Elder Cummings!!

A Baptism: May 5, 2014

5 May 2014

Dear Everyone, 

Yeah, we are rebuilding trust with the ward members! So that is going well, and the baptisms are picking up here a little bit too!! We baptized a man named A. this week and if his sister stops smoking, she will be baptized too!! The zone baptized 3 again this week, so we are baptizing above the mission average still, which is really good!! This weekend we had stake conference and President and the assistentes (assistants) were there, it was good. President G. watched our baptism Saturday night and because it was late, he drove us home!! It was good to see Elder S., he is such a bro. Also, every member of the zone gave us a ton of GH with the assistants and with President G.!! (GH menas gloria dos homens, or in other words, they said lots of good stuff about us, so that always makes you feel good when you are liked by those that you lead, everyone in the zone seems so much happier now!!)

Here is A., the mirror photo is us waiting for the baptismal clothes because there was not enough for everyone, so the ladies went first with dry clothes, than changed and then it was the men’s turn!!!

So last week I forgot to mention, but we had barbeque 4 days in a row, Sunday, Monday, (our ritual p-day barbeque--today we started slow cooking ribs at 6:29 in the morning, see the picture!!) Tuesday, and Wednesday and on Friday we had barbeque salmon with rice!!!! YEAH!!!! I am jumping a lot of rope and doing a lot of exercises in the morning and on p-day to try and not get too fat!! Ha ha.

Yeah, way to go Jason!!! good luck with the 8:00 classes, I thought that they would be super easy since I was used to 6:00 seminary but after staying up until 12:00 or 1:00 every night my first year at BYU I changed my mind and don’t take classes before 9. But good luck, and at least you get done with school early every day!! How many credits is that? Criminal Justice... interesting!! Have you decided on a major?

Other than that it was a normal week of work. Tomorrow is leadership conference so we will be catching a bus at 6:10 tonight to go to Londrina! It will be good to see S. because it has been sooooo long since I last saw him!! Ha ha!

One last photo, here we have some weird "grapes" they are apparently called Japanese grapes, and they have a mixed flavor of grapes and apples. They are actually kind of tasty... when you are really hungry, ha ha!! They are a little starchy but yummy-ish.

Wow, my letter was actually kind of long-ish this week!! I hope I will have more things to share on Sunday when we chat!! We already have a member´s house lined up to chat so everything is a go on our end to talk at 19:00 my time!!!!

love you guys a lot!!

Elder Cummings

More Time in Morangueira: April 28, 2014

Dear Everyone,

1.  Did your two investigators make progress toward baptism this week? Are you staying or leaving Morangueira zone? I’ll answer your two questions together: Still no baptisms this week but Elder B. and I are both staying here. There were only 4 people in the whole zone who were transferred (a lot of the missionaries in the zone were hoping and praying to be transferred because they have been here a long time, but they almost all stayed. By a “long time,” some have been here for 3 transfers with the same companion. I hope that this does not affect the work here in Morangueira. The zone managed to baptize 3 more people this week and I hope that we can continue to baptize every week!!

I think that the next transfer here in 5 WEEKS, people will move around a lot...

Yes, let’s Skype 3 o clock your time, 7 my time on the 11th!!

So the pictures are just of an accounting company in town that is LZ, which is also the abbreviation for Zone Leader in Portuguese.

Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for the birthday present, that will help out a lot when I get back to school!!!!! You are the best!!! I love you!!

I’m glad to know that my driver’s license renewal finally got there, I was going to ask about that this week!!

Hey, Jason, What is your UVU schedule?? Way to go at MoPro little bro!!! Ohhhhh. How’s it going with C? (Parabéns [congratulations]!!! she is the cutest in the group, you’ve done well!!)? Hey, when are you going to get your driver’s license?? You need to be able to drive the girls around, not them driving you around... ha ha…it’s all good, just kidding. But seriously, when are you going to get your license? You have some sweet ties by the way, i am jealous!! I’ll have to give you some old ugly ties to take on your mission! 

So the work is going a little slow here this past week. It is always a little slow the week before transfers, but we are going to catch fire this week!! It seemed as though Elder B. really wanted to leave the area, and a tiny part of me wanted to go too, but our relationship is still good and we are both ready and excited to work!!! We have a lady that has gone to church 2 times now, and the only thing that is impeding her to be baptized is that she smokes, so pray that she can stop and that we can baptize her and her older brother too!! I made a giant baptismal card so we are going to catch "fogo do batismo" (fire of baptisms) this week!!

By the way, now there are 11 zones here in the mission, they divided some zones and made a zone in Tupã.

That’s it for this week!!!

Love you guys a lot!!

Elder Cummings

Tired but Trekking Onward: April 21, 2014

Dear Everyone,

1. Do you want to sub for swim lessons from July 28-August 8. I know you said you weren’t interested in teaching but that was before you knew your return date, and M. really is having a hard time finding anyone to do it. It would be 90 minutes a day and you could stop by and see Grandpa & Grandma when you are done each day if you wanted to (I know they would be glad to see you). I really don´t have any desire to teach lessons at all. I’ll still visit Grandma and Grandpa, but I have other more fun/ religious plans for my morning hours of the day, so I’ll still pass on the teaching lessons gig.
2. You said transfers are next week, do you think you will be getting transferred, or staying in Maringá? Ah, with my track record either me or Elder B. will be transferred because I have 14 transfers and 14 companions... I think there are two options for me, one that I am transferred here in one week, or I will die here. I kinda hope I don’t finish my mission here, but if I do, it’s fine with me too. The house is good, the area is goodish (just really far away), the only problem of the area is that I don’t know any members here still, none here like the missionaries because the other missionaries before fought with the members... but all is well. I’m tired but happy and working até o pó! (until the powder??—must  not translate exactly)
3. How did the mission do on the goal of a White Easter? How did your zone do?? White Easter was "legalzinho" (kinda cool), our zone baptized 4 which is good for our zone, our zone is not well known for baptizing "até o pó." 

I’ll try and call you around 7 Brazil time on Mother's Day, which will be 3 o clock you time. Is that ok? (Remember the time difference is 4 hours)

So here are some photos from Easter (my first ever Easter egg Brasilian style!!! it was/is super good!!!) and me running 31 Km an hour!! But all in all the week was pretty normal, we are going to have a big barbeque today for p-day to celebrate Tiradentes Day, another holiday here in Brasil. 

 (the blur is apparently him running...)

We had 2 investigators at church Sunday that came all by themselves, so maybe we will have more baptisms this coming Sunday! We are working really hard, walking a lot, talking with a ton of people, doing our best. The mission is great, and I love it but there is a reason why it is only 2 years. But don´t worry about me, I’m still working great, I’m still happy, I still get along great with Elder B., I’m healthy, just a little bit tired, but I hope that our barbeque today can fix that!!! J

love you guys alot!!!!

Elder Cummings (BATIZADOR {BAPTIZER}!!!)

"New" Furniture: April 14, 2014

Dear Everyone:

1.  Are you OK with what I came up with for classes for September? Yes, the class list is fine! Thank you!!
2. Did you get your birthday package when you were in Londrina for zone leader training? I got notice that it was delivered on April 8. Yeah, my package arrived on the day of the training so I got it already!! Lucky me!!! Oh, I already opened it, thanks for the great goodies!!! The Brasilians fell in love with the Girl Scout cookies!!! haha!
3. What did you do/learn in zone leader training? Zone leader training was not very productive, sadly. They gave us three questions to think about the week leading up to the conference so that we could discuss them in a group, just that we were the only zone leaders who actually prepared in advance.

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Riviera, so that sounds great. Also, the area where Elder S. is serving right now is called Riviera!! Coincidence?? I think not!!

 

(we had a little email exchange this morning, like we do most Mondays, and this is what he wrote about the apartment) I hope that apartment price is $279+$39 divided between everyone, or is that per person?? (when I told him it was per person, this is what he said:) That is super expensive!!! maybe I’m used to cheap Brasilian prices. For example, our GIANT house for 3 pairs of missionaries is really expensive by Brasilian standards and it is about 800 reais a month or 400 dollars a month for a 1,500 square foot house with barbecue, 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms.... but also they make a whole lot less money... I think the average income is about 2000 reias a month or about 12,000 dollars a year... the "rich-ish" people here make about 60,000 reais a year or 30,000 dollars a year... yeah I guess when I think about it, Riviera is cheap, I just think I am used to Brasilian prices.

On a trunky note, I think I will let you buy a new computer for yourself and I will use my old laptop. I have a sentimental attachment to it and also all of my preferences are saved there, so that will help me get rolling faster! J

Also one more trunky question: how will it work out for transportation so that way Jason and I can visit you guys on Sunday nights to have Sunday dinner together? Will I have a car????!! :)

The week was pretty normal for us, lots of walking lots of teaching. I guess the only things different were the leaders counsel which I already mentioned, and that last night we found a couch on the side of the road in good condition, just a little dirty, and we called the other companionship and the 4 of us carried the couch the 1 hour walk back to the house!!! I cleaned it this morning with an absurd amount of soap and hopefully the sun will come out now so it can dry off!!

Vamo Pra Cima!!!

Love you guys a ton!!

Elder Cummings!!

P.S. Thanks for everything, the packages, the help with BYU, the great letters and the support that you have always given me on my mission!! I couldn´t have done it without you guys!!

P.P.S. So the transfer ends on the 27th if you are curious and I think that the next transfer is only 5 weeks...

Thoughts on General Conference: April 7, 2014

7 April 2014

Dear Everyone,

1. Dad wants to know if your house has more than one bathroom, and if not, how have you been showering while you have been fixing the shower?  There are 3 bathrooms and it only took about 2 hours to fix the shower, all the pipes here are PVC so it was a really easy swap out job.
2. Were you able to watch any of conference? I watched all but the Priesthood session due to the time difference.
3. Were any of your investigators able to watch conference? We had one lady that said she would come but it turned out that she couldn´t make it (her friend who was going to drive here there didn´t let her go.)
4.  Are any sister missionaries going home the same time as you, or will it only be you and Elder S. departing together? There is one sister going home the same time, Sister F.

This week was good!!!  It was a good week of work. We have leadership counsel tomorrow so I will be getting on a bus at 4 today to go to Londrina!! I´ll be able to see the “Wark” once again which will be great!!!

So conference was super good, I felt as though the first session on Saturday was all about whirlwinds and trials and they used Helaman 5:12 in almost every talk. I felt the theme of the second Saturday session was obedience!! The first on Sunday was all about that we are not alone, God is always with us and the concluding section was all about gaining a testimony of the church and James 1:5 and the First Vision. I felt as though it was maybe a farewell address for Elder Packer and maybe Elder Hales, they don´t seem too strong lately! It is hard to believe that my last General Conference as a missionary has officially ended. I am sad about that because as a missionary you give much more value to conference, I never in my life waited as anxiously for conference as I have as a missionary, neither have I felt such a strong spirit and received as much personal revelation from conference as I have as a missionary. I will miss conference with my nametag on, I hope that I can keep these same feelings about conference as I have right now!!

Here are some pictures for this week.

We tried the jackfruit but it has a really slimy consistency. Let’s just say I didn´t like it very much...

Here we are eating McDonald’s and drinking Guaraná Jesus in between conference sessions on Saturday.

And finally, here are some of the photos from the zone conference from a few weeks ago!!!

So that´s about it for this week!! Love you guys a lot!! Thanks for the help mom, you da best!!!

Elder Cummings

One of the Happiest Times: March 31, 2014

Dear Everyone,

1. Where is your companion from? Elder B. is from São Paulo, from the same stake as Elder P. (companion in Apucarana)
2. Who else lives in your house? In addition to Elder B. and myself, we have Elder M.S., Elder E.P., Elder B., and Elder T. We are in a group of 6.
3. How was zone conference? Zone conference was good. The mission is going through some really hard times because we are getting so few missionaries and the ones that show up need to learn how to work so President and the assistants are “burning” everyone (as they should). To me it just doesn't feel like we have the same camaraderie that we had in the past. So many of the missionaries that I know have already gone home, and I don’t know very many of the newest guys.
4. Do you have any good investigators? We have some good investigators and one of them was baptized on Saturday!!!

Here’s a look at all the fruit that we get off of fruit trees in our area, we get avocado (we made sweet avocado smoothies with them!!) acerola, which are the little red ones, they have the same amount of Vitamin C in each little tiny fruit as 1 orange!!! (I don’t think we have it in the US) and jaca (jackfruit) which is the giant one that I am holding, that I know don’t exist in the States.

The third photo is the bathroom remodel that I am doing, I am replacing a pipe and putting in a new shower head, and I also fixed the toilet this week!!

Oh—I got my valentine’s package at the zone conference this past week, along with the cards from the B. family in AZ!! They are awesome—thanks so much.

Elder S. asked me at zone conference when you would be looking at apartments so that good that you will do that this week. Also he said that his date for picking classes is today. Do you know when my day is??? When the time comes can you sign me up for classes??? With preference of not starting before 9 and not going past 3! J I am thinking/decided on majoring in computer science, so if you could put me in the introductory computer science class again, that would be great so that I can learn all the stuff that I didn’t learn the first time. Also, if you could put me in Old Testament, Dance 280, and other classes that are required for that major, it would be nice to have 14 to 15 credit hours!!! Thanks, you are the best!!! I don´t know what I would do without you!!!

Also because Elder S. is the AP, he gave me some inside news about my return, I should be landing at SeaTac on the 17th of July at 11:00 in the morning!!! I’ll give you a confirmation when I have the official paper. It would be nice to get released as soon as possible after I land, and then have a pool party up at Woodridge on my first day back!! But enough trunky talk for now!!!

This week we got to travel to Cianorte, a city here close by, it is 2 hours and 20R to get there and another 2 hours and 20R to come back. Unfortunately, the interviews didn’t work out and no one was able to be baptized. We missed the Saturday night bus so we had to come home Sunday morning so we didn’t manage to bring anyone to church... L (oh the joys of being a zone leader!!!)

Right now is one of the happiest times on my mission!! I have a great companion, we are in a great area, good house, good bishop, good housemates. I’m happy and healthy and BAPTIZING!!!!

love all you guys!!!

Elder Cummings

Short on Time but Long on Pictures: March 24, 2014

Dear Everyone:

1. Do you want to teach swim lessons for a session or two when you get home? M. is really stuck for people to teach. I told her that we didn’t know how many sessions you’d be available for, but she still wants to know if you would be willing. You do not need to have current lifeguard certifications to teach. I’m not really excited about teaching swimming lessons, I will have a ton of stuff to do in order to help the move, and get ready for school. I´m going to have to pass on that offer, unfortunately!!!
2. Do you need any toiletries (deodorant, toothpaste, sunscreen) in your birthday package?? This will be the last package I send to you in the field! WOW! I´m fine on toiletries. Food is fine in the birthday box!!

I have very little time today, but here are a bunch of photos from the end of my time in Apucarana with Elder P. and some photos of me and Elder B., our little man cave that is in the back yard of the house (we live in the largest house in the mission there are 3 duplas (companionships) that live there and there is tons of space and of our barbeque preparations. The photo of me on the road shows a little bit of the distance that we have to go to get to and from our area, so the end of those lights on the road is about 1/3 of the way home!!!

Before I forget, what areas did Uncle Cliff serve in on his mission, there is an elder from Bolivia in my zone who would like to know. And do we have any relative that served a mission in Paraguay, because there is a sister here whose family was converted a long time ago by a Sister Cummings???

And, yeah, I’m out of time (only got 30 minutes this week), but this week is zone conference so I should have a good amount of news for you guys next week!!!

love you guys!!

Elder Cummings

Returning to Maringa: March 17, 2014

Dear Everyone,

The big news of the day is I am being transferred back to Maringá, to the Moranguera zone, which is different from the zone I was in when I was in Maringá before. My area is Alvorada A and my new companion is Elder B. (a new Elder B. who Elder C. has not served with before—Marie) I was totally shocked by the transfer! I thought that I was going to stay, but so here we go!!! Elder B. (housemate) will take my spot as zone leader here in Apucarana and Elder S. my former comp will finish the other Elder B.’s training (confused yet?). Those were the only moves in the whole zone, a lot different from last transfer when I was the only one who was not transferred!!!

1. How many transfers are left after this one? If you count the transfer that started today, I have 3 transfers, this one and 2 more. Unfortunately, it is coming down to the end. At the end of this transfer, if you want to you can send me a list of some Brazilian souvenirs that you want me to get and I can start picking that stuff up.
2. Did you ever get your Valentine package? Some of the moms on the Missionary Moms email list were talking about postal strikes in other parts of Brazil, so I did not know if you had a strike going on in your area or not. I might get my package this week or the next one with the transfers and maybe if we have zone conference??? So I’ll let you know when I get it.

I sent my drivers’ license extension to you this week. There is no postal strike here in Apuca, at least not yet.

In my last week in Apucarana, we ALMOST baptized this week. We found this 67 year old man who was an ELECT!!! But, his daughter showed up on Saturday and took him away to live with her in Sarandi (a different city) so it was a bummer to not baptize with Elder P., but I am leaving the area way better than I found it and I did manage to help the zone become one of the best baptizing zones in the mission so that was good!!! Elder P. is a good friend. I’ll be sure to keep in touch with him!!

So here are a bunch of photos!! First off are the two Elder B.’s after sprinting home one night because an appointment ran long. Also we found some puppies abandoned in the street and we took them over to a member who will take care of them so that was cool, also here are some other random photos from the week!!

I don’t know if you already translated the message that you forwarded from P.S., but the last part was for you, Mom:

eu e minha familia somos gratos por seu filho ter nos ensinado sobre a igreja, porque agora eu realmente sei que a igreja é verdadeira. Obrigada novamente

My family and I are grateful for your son teaching us about the Church because now I really know that the church is true. Thank you again!

So that’s pretty much it, I don’t have much news from this week other than I’m going to baptize até o pó in Maringá de novo (until the powder in Maringá again???) so, next week’s letter should be full of events from opening the area!!!!

Love you guys a lot!!!

Elder Cummings

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