tender mercies!

Oh boy! Oh boy! Oh boy!!

What a truly incredible week it has been! 

I feel like it was just yesterday I was writing to all of you wonderful people!!! How crazy is that!? Missions done right are a BLUR! I have been looking in past planners and have been baffled at how long ago some of these things occurred! Most of these experiences feel like they happened just yesterday!? I realized today I have almost been out for four months...and I started crying....I know four months is barely anything but it has just gone by so fast I cannot imagine how fast it will continue to go and I just really don't like it. 

So this week was brilliant! I learned SO much! This week we had a Multi-Zone Conference where missionaries from the south side of the mission convene and learn together! Being there literally answered every question I had about life whether I knew I had them or not! Going into Multi-Zone Sister Cannon and I were working hard and were trying to talk to lots of people but after Multi-Zone Conference let me tell you! We have reinstated stopping everyone we see and working our hardest possible! We started feeling clearer on what we should talk to people about and how we should speak to them! And it's obvious...just focus on what makes us different..THE BOOK OF MORMON, duh! From after conference to Sunday night we had shared 8 copies of the Book of Mormon! That's 8 more people with a book all about the tender mercies of God and how they can better see God's tender mercies in their lives as well! I have taken on a challenge to re-read the Book of Mormon and as I have done, this the same verses I have read hundreds of times now makes so much more sense and I can feel in a whole new light in my life! Even though Lehi was persecuted and hated he continued to preach the word of God, so why should I fear?! If I have Heavenly Father on my side, it honestly doesn't matter what other people think! How great shall be my joy when I die to tell Heavenly Father that I tried my very best and that I persevered even when people scourged me or ignored me! How blessed I am! I also realized that the Book of Mormon was created to better help people see the tender mercies of the Lord and when stopping people I want to more often share 1 Nephi 1:20(LOOK IT UP!!) and have them see that the reason we want to share this book is so that they can know if God is really there and to see the tender mercies He gives them for themselves! 

Okay! So on Friday I got on the bus and looked at this woman and I sat down next her. Right when I sat down I thought, "You were meant to sit by her" so we started chatting and she talked and talked and talked and we had an incredible conversation about her family of 12 and her 89 nieces and nephews! But I had to get off the bus and I didn't really talk to her about anything... but when I asked her for her phone number she gave me her address!(MIRACLE!) So we called by yesterday and well, to make a long story short, she is a person that I feel like I am specifically here for! She opened the door and she was so happy to see us! She couldn't meet with us right then but she asked us to come back on Thursday and after a little bit she asked me why we were so gentle! After being shocked at being called gentle I tried to explain to her that it was because of the book of Mormon but when I tried to answer her granddaughter came up and she had to go find a bandaid(AKA a plaster) for her bleeding thumb. So as we were walking away, I felt really strongly that I should share a Book of Mormon with her so BOOM we went back! She answered the door with a bit of confusion and when we told her that the answer to her question was the Book of Mormon. That this Book has changed our lives and helped us to see Heavenly Father and His great love for us more clearly she gladly took it! When we asked if we could talk more about it on Thursday she gladly accepted the book, asked if there was anything we wanted her to read and then when we asked her to read the introduction she told us she would take notes and write down her questions if that was okay with us! Our jaws dropped! Before we left she said that she was raised Catholic but that she didn't agree with a lot of their beliefs and she was excited to learn more! Her name is Madline and she is INCREDIBLE! Peple! The miracles that we see everyday is unreal! I love being in this super prepared town of Wrekin!!

Okay so funny story....so just to start this off...I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to dairy (and for those of you who know me well know I love me some cheese but I have had to give it up cold turkey...) ANYWHO, the other day we were knocking on people's doors and this man walks out and tells us that he is a Jehovah's Witness! So we get chatting and we are having a super spiritual moment and right when Sister Cannon drops this amazing and inspired question my body decides to let out some majorly unplanned gas, and people this isn't just your average toot...it was seriously loud. All three of us look at each other and just start busting up! It was horrible and fantastic all at the same time and the moral of the story is, dairy is bad.

I am grateful to know how much Heavenly Father and the Lord trust me! The other night, my district leader, Elder Searcy, told us that there are about 100,000 people in this area and the Lord has trusted the four of us(just the FOUR of us!!) to help them! HOW AMAZING and MOTIVATING is that!?! I feel so privileged! I love being stretched and changed! I know that the only way I can become the person Heavenly Father NEEDS me to be is by being here. By serving the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. By giving it my all for the short 18 months I have! By being obedient! By talking to everyone in eye sight, even if they are across the street! By standing firm in what I know to be true and how I should act! I have really learned that when our confidence is in the Lord and not in ourselves, He helps us to feel that confidence that is necessary to get His work done! 

I would like to invite each of you to read or re-read the Book of Mormon! It is a seriously incredible book! If you are a doubter just try it out! What do you really have to lose?(; If you happen to love it and grow closer to Heavenly Father how jovial will you be!?!!? I think it is definitely worth the risks! So give it a try! I can promise that if you really read it with an open mind and then pray to ask Heavenly Father if it is true that you will come closer to God! You will know who you are, which is a son or daughter of God(AKA ROYALTY!)! And you will be able to see how He greatly blesses your life on a continual basis! I love the teachings of Jesus Christ! I love getting to share then with all of the wonderful people around me!! I love you people so much!! I hope you know how blessed we truly are to be alive, to have bodies, and to be able to have one another in our lives! keep pushing forward! Keep believing! Keep being the best that you can be! I love you so dearly! I know that this church is Jesus Christ's restored church to the earth today! I know that we have the Priesthood(AKA the power of god) on the earth today and I know that God loves each of us DEARLY! he knows you, He loves you! Go unto Him and Allow yourself to feel of His unbridled love for you!

YOU ALL ROCK!! :D

Loads of LOVE!

Sister Cummins

PS: Sorry this is so long....missionary work is just so exciting! :D