Hey, Hi, Hello, Hola, Bonjour, Shalom, Bonjourno, Kon'nichiwa(yes I made one of the elders use Google translate), and everything else under the sun!
It is Sister Cummins here! Reporting for duty!! Here I am on a rainy Monday and I feel edified and excited for a beautiful week! This past week the sun has been out and about making my job SO much more fun! Don't get me wrong. I love a good puddle jump but there is something so sweet about walking in sunshine that is so enlightening....literally! HA....(;
SO people of the world! The craziest thing happened this week.....35 BYU-I students came to visit Europe and stopped for church here in good old Preston! But thats not all!! In that group was my very first University roomie!! NICOLE BRUNNER!!! SAY WHAT!?!?! My mind= BLOWN! How does that even happen?!?! Seriously! She came out of the crowd as I entered the church building and it was just the best meeting! It was amazing having such strong, young saints come and visit with such strong testimonies....and lets not forget that potent American accent! BOY that was weird! It was SO thick! I haven't heard anything like it for a while! One Liverpudlian spoke and then one of the Americans got up and spoke and boy oh boy there was a STARK difference! It was seriously amazing to have them here and all of their fun, American words!
Another fun story: This week Sister Barlow and I were having real talk and this little girl asked if we wanted her to chuck this massive board at us....she was 11....Sister Barlow is big eyed and knows how to use them and apparently this little girl didn't like it. Our response was, "*Crickets...crickets...*....
ANYWAYS
This week has been one of learning and growth: MY FAVOURITE! I wouldn't have it any other way! I love living in the growth zone! The comfort zone is nice and all but boy does it get boring! This week me and my testimony grew extensively in striving to remain in the growth zone and LEARN!
This week I saw the power of prayer! FOR REALLL! Prayer is real and it changes our lives! As I read in our missions new letter last week, I felt prompted that when I pray I need to not just tell Heavenly Father about what I did each day but to also share with Him how I felt about the day and the activities it held! If I felt that it was effective or if I felt odd about it as well as how it brought miracles or subtracted from them. I felt so much more accountable when I not only told him what I did but also the way that I felt when I did it! As I did this and applied this I felt AMAZING! I truly could feel God listening to my prayers and I saw many answers come!
This week I got sick of people asking, "Why do bad things happen to good people". I have heard this questions at least once a day, every single day of my mission(...I am probably being dramatic...buttttt...am I? I don't think so) ANYWHO, I have spent my whole mission thinking, "I'll never have a sufficient answer to that! It's because of our ability to choose! Some people are just bad at it!" or "Why are these people being so self-pitying?" ...So, I prayed about it. I asked Heavenly Father to reveal to me why bad things happen to good people and this is what I found:
*Note: I would ask that you actually read the scriptures and search it because it was way good...and even if it's not just do it because you love me or something.
PS: If you don't have a Book of Mormon you can get a free copy on mormon.org*
HERE IT IS:
* 2 Nephi 2: 27 (page 59)
* 2 Nephi: 26: 32-33 (page 103)
* Alma 4: 15 (page 216-217)
* Jacob 5: 41(page 129)
* 2 Nephi 10: 23 (page 80)
* Mosiah 2: 22, 41 (page 149, 151)
And what I realised is that we as people have the ability to choose but it is so much more than that! God, He loves us! He doesn't want to us to suffer, but He also isn't going to take control of our lives because then we will never learn. Just like any good parent. He shows this love for us by giving us His Only Begotten, trusting us with the ability to choose, as well as sending Jesus Christ to show us the way(AKA Commandments). The path is clear, and He has shown us what will bring us lasting joy and peace but it is our choice to follow. God sorrows. He wants us to be happy and when we make poor decisions that bring us sadness, He sorrows too. SO we need to get up and choose! The promised blessing if we make good choices is that He will prosper us and we will have happiness.....so the answer to all this is, KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS. I probably shouldn't say it with such vigour...but seriously people! Get it together! Stop blaming God for YOUR poor choices.
Okay, my tangent is now over.
It was amazing though!! I learned so much!
This morning I prayed the Lord would guide my fingers as I studied and half way through I was looking for a specific passage but I could remember where it was. I knew it talked about witnesses or something so I looked in the Topical Guide and to no avail...I couldn't find it. THEN I flipped the Bible to another random page and BOOM in highlighted letters there it was! 2 Corinthians 13: 1! I had been searching and searching and then it just plopped open! It was the only highlighted verse on the page! The Lord brings miracles to pass when we not only believe that He can do it, but also that He will!!
God truly has faith in us. He shows it everyday and all he asks is that we do our very best!
I love this gospel and I love the truth! I relish in it!
This week I memorised:
Moroni 10: 4-5 (page 529)
1 Nephi 19: 9 (page 44)
2 Nephi 25: 26 (page 100)
2 Nephi 26: 33 (page 103)
I truly know the Book of Mormon works hand in hand with the Bible. they testify of each other. They teach us of the Lord's divinity and I know that it is by Him we are saved. HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK PEOPLE! Make good choices! be excited! Love each other! Apologise! And be the best you that you can! You are wonderful, always remember that! I miss you and love you loads!!
XOXO
Sister Cummins
England Manchester Mission
Spring Wood Suite G5
Booths Park
Knutsford
WA16 8GS
No comments:
Post a Comment