Proselyting in São Paulo: September 26, 2012

Dear Everyone,

When we travel to Londrina, we will be flying since it would be an almost 10-hour bus ride.  And, yes we are having the pizza party today. Another member of our district got one, too, so we are going to feast! Thank you again!!! Elder S. and I are going to save some cookies and cinnamon rolls for our departure day because when you leave (and on every temple trip) we get some stale bread and cheese and some cough syrup juice with a tiny apple and a piece of chocolate. So, instead we will feast on our stash of goodies next Tuesday when we leave!!!

Cookies for the pizza party!

American-style food!   Yum!

Perfect idea on getting the audio book version of the Book of Mormon in Portuguese in order to hear the pronunciation!! And, I'm glad you’re playing ping pong with the neighbors, Dad. That will be some good exercise and hopefully a good missionary opportunity!!

This is the third strike postal strike this year, so they are pretty often but they still deliver mail??? (which is weird.)  But I'm not complaining!!

A few tidbits in response to your letter:

• To answer your question, the version of I Need Thee Every Hour that we sang at the devotional was with a piano accompaniment.
• Tell Sister M. congratulations on her marriage from me!!!!! That is so awesome!!
• I am excited for a letter from M.G.!! That is going to be awesome!!! J
• And, Jason, keep rocking those grades!! It is a lot easier to keep your grades at A's and B's than it is to try and raise them back up to A’s and B's!!
• Yes, I enjoy the news from my BYU friends.  Keep it coming.

Now on to new events from this past week. So my taste buds have already matured quite a bit while out here on the mish.  Now I love pineapple, onions, and avocados, which were not my favorite foods not too long ago.

Things are getting a little hectic here in preparation for the field, so I will write back to Grandma and the rest of the fam who have written me once I get into the field and have some cool stories to share.

We heard that the US ambassador to Libya was killed in a suicide bombing??? If you could send some info (just a little bit) and some other brief, brief current event news would be good! Thank you! :)

It has actually been getting pretty cold here this week.  I wore my BYU hoodie to bed all this week and have worn a sweater vest 3 times during the day including today. We won't have any cold problems once we get to Londrina that is for sure. We also got our first real rain last night which is nice, because the smog and pollution were getting pretty bad!

I know that I am going to do so well out in the field, I just know it! I make friends here so fast. This past week I made some really good Chilean and Paraguayan friends! I love making friends!! Also we went out proselyting around São Paulo on Monday! This was amazing!!! Elder S. and I handed out 5 Books of Mormon in around 2ish hours. Way different than what happens in the States, that's for sure!! We had this really powerful experience with this man at a bus stop. He was just sitting down on the ground, and there were 3 or 4 other people waiting around him for the same bus, but we decided to go and talk to this man. We introduced ourselves as representatives of Jesus Christ and got to know him a little bit, and as soon as Elder S. started to talk about how God has called a prophet again in this day, the man's eyes lit up like someone had just turned on the light in a dark room! By the end of our 3- or 4-minute talk with him he practically snatched the Book of Mormon out of my hands and when we were no more than 10 feet away after saying our goodbyes we (quite stealthily) turned back to see what he was doing, and he was completely buried in the book already. The spirit was so strong with him and we did a concealed fist bump to celebrate! It was such an amazing experience. I know that this man was ready and prepared to hear about the gospel. I just wish we had more time that we could follow up with him and teach him. Luckily we will be able to do just that out in the field. Speaking of the field, we got a letter from the mish pres. and the mission goal for the month of October is 200 baptisms!!! Yowza! That will be really cool!!

A scripture really hit me this week (I don't have time to type it out but if you could put it up on the blog that would be great). The scripture is 2nd Nephi chapter 4 verses 16-25.

16 Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually upon the things which I have seen and heard.
17 Nevertheless, notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.
18 I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so easily beset me.
19 And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my sins; nevertheless, I know in whom I have trusted.
20 My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep.
21 He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh.
22 He hath confounded mine enemies, unto the causing of them to quake before me.
23 Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time.
24 And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.
25 And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.

This is such a great scripture and got me thinking a lot and doing a lot of self-reflection. It is one of my new favorites!!

So, Christmas ideas.  I tried to ask for inexpensive things that are light and hard to find/unavailable/way over-priced in Brasil. (make sure to put lots of Virgin Mary stickers on the package).  These are just suggestions of course:

• 6 pairs of black socks (gold toe)
• 2 pairs of white socks
• 4 sticks of Old Spice deodorant
• q-tips
• conference Ensign in English and another Ensign or 2
• shoe odor eater balls (2 pairs)
• 6 packs of trident gum
• my vial of consecrated oil that I left in the fridge
• photos
• special Christmas letters
• small amount of hand sanitizer
• 1 pair of foam ear plugs (just in case)
• 2-5 pens
• post it notes
• clear post it note tabs
• small amount of plasti-tac
• small amount of clear scotch tape

That’s all I can think of at the moment that I really can't get here for a reasonable price. Thanks!!  (I did not edit this out of the letter before posting because I thought it was interesting what he would ask for as Christmas presents!--Marie)

Almost out of time (story of my email life here at the CTM).  Just wanted to say that I love you guys and since p-day in the field is on Monday you may not get an email from me next week. Just a heads up. I love being a missionary and I can't wait for the field!! I just hope I get a great trainer! I will be fasting for that this coming Sunday!!!

Lots of love,

Elder Cummings!

Insomniac Dogs and Brazilian Toilet Paper: September 5, 2012

Dear Family,

Great photos in the email message! Keep them coming!!! Thank you for the letters and photos from you and Debra; they were great, and brightened up my day! Thank you for the addresses as well. I already have 100 envelopes so I am fine on those and I just buy stamps as I need them so I don't need you to buy me any.

As far as learning the culture is concerned, it is not part of the curriculum at the CTM to learn about the culture, but my teachers both like to teach culture around the 9th week which is good! One of my teachers served in Londrina when it was a different mission and served in Foz de Iguacu, which is great because he will be able to tell us stuff about our mission specifically!! For water they give every missionary a filter water bottle that we drink out of so it is either that or bottled water or soda, so for me it will be bottled water and the water that I filter with the bottle they gave me. They don't talk at all about cooking and stuff here but I should be fine. I feel pretty prepared for that and my trainer will be great! I definitely feel more prepared in that regard than a lot of other missionaries here.

I am soooo glad that Izzy loves the water! I can't wait to see how good of a swimmer and how big she will be when I get back!!

Here in São Paulo, we have not had rain for over 2 months (I'm pretty sure it is a record) so it is really nice here actually. It will probably rain super hard my first day out in the field haha!

By the way, Elder S.’s grandfather said the opening prayer at the Republican National Convention last Thursday night. His family knows the Romneys pretty well.

We had a really inspirational talk this past week given by Sister Degn, the CTM president's wife, on the eyes of faith.  One part that really stood out to me and has helped me this past week was when she talked about how when we look at ourselves we see all of our faults and shortcomings but when Christ looks on us with eyes of faith he sees only our potential. I have really been trying to see everyone with spiritual eyes this past week to see their potential instead of their shortcomings.

I have been snail mailing you letters pretty much every week with photos and stuff in them. I hope you are starting to get those. If you could let me know if you are getting these or not that would be great! J

This past Saturday was Halfway Tie Day for our halfway point in the CTM (I will send more info on what this is when I send you photos).

There is this dog outside of the CTM that we have "lovingly" named Stan. All night, Stan barks and barks and barks. If he could speak English he would probably be saying: "I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!!,” and then the other dogs pipe in and tell him to shut up but he just keeps saying “I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!! I can't sleep!!” It is really annoying, but we love him all the same... not really.

I'm going to try and add one fun fact about Brazil to each of my letters, so this week it is that in Brazil you cannot buy toilet paper in rolls. It ONLY comes in sheets like napkins. This is so people don't T-P people's houses, which with all the graffiti that is in Brazil doesn't surprise me. You would be hard-pressed to find a single building in São Paulo besides the CTM that doesn't have graffiti on it!!! Serious!

Oh, before I forget, tell Grammie thanks for the letter with the info from the Las Vegas bunch!! Keep it coming please!! I love getting info about how all of you guys are doing!! J

So I have been thinking, and I think it would be great and fun for when I get back to do a musical number in church with you, Mom. I was thinking you on the piano and me singing a solo of a hymn in Portuguese. How does that sound?? The hymn that I would want to do is number 202 in the Portuguese hymnbook (335 in the English hymnbook). The title in English is "Brightly Beams My Father's Mercy." So, I'm giving you an almost 2-year heads-up in order to find some good music for this and to practice. Let me know if this is something you would like to do and if it is possible for you to get music and everything. Thanks! J

(note from Marie:  I’ll need 2 years to learn to play a hymn on the piano well enough to accompany him!)

We had a great activity this week that I think would be a great activity for the Young Men in the ward to do. How it goes is everyone writes down on a piece of paper a doctrine and an analogy that helps to teach that doctrine. Then they mix them up and randomly pass them back out so no one has their own sheet of paper and then you go around in a circle and a person says what doctrine they have on their sheet and the next person has to explain that doctrine with the analogy that is on their sheet. Once they are done they give their doctrine to the person who is next and they have to explain your doctrine with their analogy. It was really fun and really makes you think and be able to apply anything to any principle of doctrine!!

So, this week we had more of our friends leave, including Elder A. who I knew from BYU. At a language workshop, he gave me some great advice that really made a difference for me. He said that the big secret of the CTM that hardly any missionary understands is that most missionaries when they get enough Portuguese to skate by stop studying and stop putting in that extra effort. They get too comfortable and they leave the CTM knowing very little Portuguese, but those elders that apply themselves and try to learn extra concepts and really try to talk with Brazilians, are the missionaries that are going to know a lot of Portuguese when they leave!! And this is so true. There are missionaries here that I knew as much Portuguese as them when they were on week 9 and I was on week 3 or 4. And it was because they were slackers (or fubeckas in Portuguese) when it came to studying Portuguese and using it every day. Since then, I have been talking with my new Brazilian roommates and the new Brazilians across the hall so much my head hurts every night when I go to bed. But, it really helps! I am even starting to think in Portuguese now a little bit!!!

I'm out of time; I'm sending some more photos today with a letter that tells more.

Love you guys!!!

Set Apart

Tonight, Eldon was officially set apart as a missionary by our stake president, Greg Mackay.  Eldon was counseled to focus on the joy of bringing others to the gospel as the main reason he is serving.  In the blessing he received as he was set apart, he was blessed to be able to share the joy of the gospel through his smile and his inviting personality as well as his testimony, that people will see him and want to know why he is so happy.  He was also promised safety as he followed the mission rules with precision.  Precision.  I liked that word.

Return with honor, Elder Cummings!  We love you!!

Got the Goods!

The FedEx truck made a stop at our house today!

Now to wait two more weeks to use it.

Temple Day

Today, Eldon went to the Seattle Temple to receive his own endowment.  When we went in to the temple, it was cold, dark, and rainy, but when we emerged it was sunny and the skies were virtually clear.  Talk about the perfect metaphor for what happens inside that sacred building!

Visa Ready for Collection!

Note:   This post was originally published on our family blog.

Eldon's visa is Ready for Collection!  We don't know if there's a chance that he could be asked to report earlier than August 1 now that all the Brazil missionary visas are seeming to arrive more quickly, but you never know!

Visa Paperwork Arrives and Chaos Ensues

Note:  This post was originally published on our family blog.

The other big news item this week is that Eldon's travel plans and visa application packet arrived on Thursday.  WOW, talk about overwhelming!!  Upon the advice of Marie's many new friends from the LDS Moms of Missionaries Serving in Londrina Brazil Facebook page, and the LDS Missionary Moms Brazil Central e-mail group (both of which will be her electronic lifelines the next 2+ years), we are flying Eldon home next weekend to take care of all the paperwork--which has to be notarized and then authenticated--here in his home state so we can apply for the visa through the Brazilian consulate in San Francisco, instead of the one in Los Angeles (where applications from Utah must be sent).  It's a long story--and an even longer list of documents that need to be provided.  This is what he sends to the missionary travel office which is then forwarded to the consulate:

• Signed passport
• Notarized & authenticated photocopy of every page of the passport
• 2 passport-type photos
• 3 signed electronic visa application forms
• Notarized & authenticated photocopy of driver's license
• Travisa permission letter (giving the Travisa agency permission to submit the application in his behalf)
• Certified birth certificate (an original, no less)
• Notarized & authenticated police clearance letter (proving he is not a criminal)
• 2 notarized & authenticated seminary transcripts
• 2 notarized & authenticated certificates of priesthood ordination
• 2 notarized & authenticated curriculum vitaes (essentially a resume listing both his secular and education and religious education)
• Contact information sheet.

Whew!  Eldon has to appear in person to have the passport, driver's license, and curriculum vitae notarized, then everything that is notarized has to be sent to Washington's Secretary of State to have the notary seals authenticated.  Who knows how long that will take??  Hopefully not too long, as everything has to be submitted to the missionary travel office by March 27.  Tune in next week to hear about everything we accomplish during Eldon's whirlwind trip.