elder leimer

HELLO, HELLO!

It is Monday and boy am I glad to return and report back to all of you that....

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!

Oh boy it is such a wonderful experience!!

This work is seriously so much fun! 

So this week we had one of the Quorum of the Seventy, Elder Leimer, come and teach us!! We had an INCREDIBLE mission tour that taught us all about love, service and how to just really love our callings and fulfill them with JOY! It was such an edifying experience! we then got to have a wonderful Mission Leadership Council(MLC) where he attended and he taught us all about how to develop unity in our friendships! He really focused on helping us to reach our full potential and to be the best we can! What i really got out of it though was that in order for us to do anything or be effective in what the Lord has asked me to do I must first love my companion. Love her with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength! If I can UNconditionally love her then nothing can get in our way. I've learned that this is done by focusing on her strengths, apologising, and just making my love known to her! Everything gets better as I do these things! Whenever I focus on building her and serving others my happiness and effectiveness shoots through the roof! When I focus on myself and my needs I start to have my thoughts wander and it is really hard to be motivated. The moral of the story is what? Focus on others! As we focus on others and helping them to be successful and feel good THEN we feel good!! ISN'T THAT WONDERFUL! As we stop judging and start loving nothing can truly go wrong and we can deal with our trials and troubles because God understands us perfectly and he will take care of us as we are His hands and take care of others!

Our friend Ian came to church yesterday! He is amazing!! He is an old British Air Engineer and he has such a strong love for God and for Heavenly Father!! 

He has such a strong desire to do what is right. he is meek and kind and we found him as we were walking right outside the chapel! His mother was a member and he had met missionaries 5 years prior to meeting us in the exact same spot! He is a very loving and kind man and we are excited to see where this goes!!

I have to go...this email has been kind of everywhere...sorry about that! But I just want to close with a quote by a modern day Apostle of the Lord, Jeffery R. Holland:

"the first great commandment of all eternity is to love God with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—that’s the first great commandment. But the first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength. That love is the foundation stone of eternity, and it should be the foundation stone of our daily life." 

Let us remember God's love for us everyday and let that be our motivation to act with love. I know he lives. I know the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints is the lord's kingdom restored to the earth and for that I am so grateful! I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen!

XOXO

Sister Cummins

BYU-I, Boards, and Brunner

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...*....uhhh...no, thanks though". Oh the British kids, they sure have a lot of charm(;

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

birds, bread, and boys

Hello the people of the world!! There are people from all over the
world reading this email right now! Well maybe that is a little
presumptuous....let me try again. There are people from all over the
world receiving my email right now! How crazy is that! This email is
being sent to Trinidad, Denmark, England, and America! That is pretty
neat!

This week has been one amazing week!! But aren't they all in reality??

This week has been a whirlwind of wonderful! I felt so very inspired
by many things President Ulrich told us in our last weekly letter!
Like: HOW TO HAVE A QUALITY GOSPEL CONVERSATION! Teach, testify,
promise blessings, and get a return appointment!! That has changed my
mission and life!!! This week we saw SO many miracles because we put
this into action immediately! I think the best part is sharing a
promised blessing! That takes a conversation to an entire new level of
spiritual and it has helped us to find a lot of new friends!

This week was....EXCHANGES WITH THE LANCASTER SISTERS: Sisters Wang
and Du!!! IT WAS THE BEST EXCHANGE OF MY LIFE! Sister Du came into
Preston with me and it was the best exchange I have ever experienced!
Right when we got going the first person we met, Rosy, was really
interested! We shared a Book of Mormon and she invited us for
tea(dinner) at her new house! Then we walked two steps and met a step
son of a member of South Ribble Ward and he was really interested as
well! We got to go see a recently baptised friend, Pritti, who is
doing really well, and it was just full of excitement! Sister Du's
love for the work shines and she truly desires to speak and edifying
eve one she comes in contact with!

Something I've realised whilst being on a mission is that when we do
kind acts for praise or to receive in return our hearts get harder and
easily angered but when we serve because we truly love others and want
to build them THAT is when we feel the most peace and happiness enter
into our hearts and lives!

This week I really felt the Lord teaching me that when people feel the
love of Christ, that is when they become converted. I realised
recently that I need to implement this more in my teaching. I asked
myself, "Am I always seeking the spirit?" "Am I relying on the arm of
flesh or the arm of my Saviour?" And that has been my real
motivation/theme for this week. When I felt tired on the bus or like I
had talked to enough people, I decided to talk to just one more person
and push my limits. I'm a forever finder of FOREVER FRIENDS! These
aren't just people! These are spiritual beings whom I made promises
with that I would come and help!! As I've done this I have learnt SO
much! I have been striving to focus on not what I think, but what the
Lord thinks! What is the Lord telling me? Because in reality what I
think really doesn't matter and I feel on fire!

This week was full of funny! You are probably wondering about my
caption...and if you weren't before, now you are looking at my
caption....BIRDS, BREAD, AND BOYS! So, this week we were in Blackpool!
We were meeting lots of people and I was talking to this lovely woman
when all of a sudden I feel something hitting my legs. At first I just
ignore it but I continually have little weird feelings on my legs. I
look down and this boy was throwing bread at my legs and the birds
were attacking me! Ha! It was too funny!!! #experienceofalifetime The
weirdest things happen to you as a missionary...like this week Sister
Barlow really needed a restroom, every house denied us access except
for a lovely couple, Barrel and Richard! They were lovely and we got
to have a great discussion with them! Who knew needing a toilet was a
great missionary finding method!

I had to play piano in church....for those of you who really know me
know that I don't play piano or I don't play well....so that was
fun....hahahaha oh and the bus driver let us both on the bus for just
a pound....because we were pitiful and were running late home.
#missionmiracles

Anywho! I am so grateful for this mission experience! We have a friend
named Jane who is preparing for baptism this Saturday so keep her in
your prayers!!

I love being a missionary! I love sharing what makes me happiest with
others. I truly have found myself whilst being a missionary! I love
this work! I love being alive!

Have a wonderful week! Keep workin hard and being happy! Live after
the manner of happiness and pray before you choose!! Love you all!!

XOXO
Sister Cummins

deLIGHTful

HELLOOOOOOO MY BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE WHOM I LOVE AND ADORE!!!

It is me!! Once again! On a beautiful rainy day here in Preston,

England! Don't worry, I will not go on a tangent about serving in my

mum's home town once again...but I will say that it brings me heaps of

joy!!! OH BABY do I love it!!!

This week has been full of tips and turns and excitement and joy and

boy has it been wonderful!!!

So this week I got to go to my second Mission Leadership Conference!!!

Boy oh boy was it enlightening and inspiring! We found out that in the

month of June we were able to help 35 beautiful souls to follow Jesus

Christ's example! We were the top baptising mission in Europe!p for

the month of July! That doesn't really matter but it was just really

exciting to hear! It shows that Heavenly Father is strengthening His

army and preparing us to have greater strength and allowing us to see

many mighty miracles!! At this meeting I learned a lot about gathering

light and how to do so! We gather light by praying for experience that

will give us greater understanding and joy! We gather light by praying

for charity! We gather light by serving and loving all those whom we

come in contact with! We gather light by following Heavenly Father's

example and heeding to His word! We gather light by speaking with Him

and reading His word! He loves us!! He truly loves us!! It is amazing

to me how much He cares about us!

This week our friend Sophie decided that she would not be baptised

this Saturday. It was heart wrenching BUT the best part is that I know

she will do it when God has planned for her! So often I get so focused

on the path that I see when in reality God knows when is best. God has

a plan for all of us! If something goes awry in our eyes He is sitting

there thinking, "oh stop worrying, everything will be alright." My

testimony really grew in this this week. I cannot see the full

picture. I can't see every person or path that contributes to mine or

the people's around me. As I trust in Heavenly Father, that He can do

all things, and that the things He has set out will bring the greatest

happiness for everyone I will be able to accomplish anything! This

life is all about learning to trust our loving and gracious Heavenly

Father and following His plan!

I am so grateful for the light that I am collecting and for the

experiences I am having! I truly love being a missionary! I love

teaching people and being taught! I love learning, stretching,

growing, and I love being able to come closer to my Heavenly Father!

Do you?!? If you do then....DO SOMETHING CRAZY THIS WEEK! Ask someone

to go to church, invite yourself to church, read the scriptures, say

your prayers, and just live after the manner of happiness! Choose the

right! Who knows it might make you smile!!! I love you people!! I hope

you know it!!

Go out and gain some light in your life!

Can't wait to meet you all next week with an increase of sunshine in

mine and your souls!!

XOXO

Sister Cummins

transfers and emergencies

OH BABY! What a week has it been! It is good to be back at this weekly email grind! How I got here I'm not really sure but BOOM here we are!

So, sorry for not emailing last week...I WAS IN BLACKPOOL and well.....thats my excuse! There was a neat airshow going on at Pleasure Beach in Blackpool not too far from where my mum used to live! You are all probably sick of hearing that but...I CANT HELP IT! It blows me away every single time that I say it! I am serving where my mum found the church! Okay....okay...so anyways! This week has been a blast! last week we got to take a train ride up to Blackpool and play football on some tiny plot of grass by the beach. I kicked Elder Thorpes brand new balls up on top of a building...ha..haha...ha...he wasn't too pleased. But don't worry we scaled the building and victoriously found it! HUZZAH! 

So this week I got to go on exchange with the one....the ONLY SISTER WANG!!! She is from Taiwan who then moved to Canada and is now here in the UK! Oh boy, you better believe we had a phenomenal time! She is such a meek, calm person yet fiery like a lion....minus the lion and add in a lamb and BOOM that is the perfect description! She is a wonderful woman! We met this miracle woman named Sheila on the bus! We didn't think much of anything would come from Sheila but the next day we called by her and she invited us to come in and we had the most spiritual first lesson of my life! Then we met up with our friend Laurie! The lesson is going really well and then....she looks at us a little funny, says her chest is really hurting, gets light headed and falls back....uhhhhhhh what? SO she tells us we better not call 999(the emergency number here). "I will NOT go to the hospital! Ace Gurl (That's what she calls me)...don't do it" and after a moment of doubt...I....DID IT! Can't stop me! It was pretty scary and she did not look so good but just so you all aren't terrified she is fine! She made breakfast for her whole family the other day so she is doing well! :D

Today is transfers and I am staying in the wonderful land of Preston and Sister Barlow is staying with me!! YIPEE!! We are excited! Our friend Sophie is getting baptised THIS Saturday and her boyfriend, Mike, will be following her footsteps in just a week! We are FLOORED! To the moon! It should be pretty wonderful and we are excited to see them make such wonderful commitment with their loving Father!

I LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you for reading my updates and what not, it is appreciated! I can feel the love and the prayers that you send my way! 

I love this gospel! I know that this church is Heavenly Father's church restored to the earth! I just do! I know it because I have asked God! I know that if we have a sincere question and we ask our loving father in heaven that he will give us the answers that we need! He hears our prayers! he wants to help! He is waiting with His arms wide open! This week I challenge each of you to pray! Don't say any set prayer but tell your loving Father the things that you truly feel. Go into a quiet room and start off by addressing your Heavenly Father. Thank Him for the things you are glad to have, ask Him for the things that you need whether they be physically, spiritually, or emotionally, or questions you have, and close in the name of Jesus Christ! I know that if you do this and you ask Him those things you truly desire to know that He will give it to you. He loves you! Prayer is when we get to align our will with God's! What a privilege it is! 

Have a wonderful week and expect miracles!

XOXO

Sister Cummins

the berry bush

Hi! Hiya! Hello!
HELLO PEOPLE OF EVERYWHERE! Yes, I realise I start every email like this but I just cannot help it!! I AM SO EXCITED TO BE ALIVE!! is that so wrong?! I think not!
So you might be wondering about my caption...no there is nothing truly exciting about this berry bush BUT WE FOUND ONE! And it produces really delicious berries RIGHT behind our flat! I was pretty excited about it at the time and you know what...I STILL AM! Who knows maybe we will meet someone at this berry bush who is super prepared and wants to be baptised....THEN that'll be a pretty remarkable berry bush...good thing we know where it is! :D It produces blackberries and boy oh boy do I love it. Sister Barlow wont touch it but she always shows me where the good ones are! Shes got a berry-licious eye!(; hehe...not amused? Oh well, I tried(:
ANYWHO! This week has been TOP NOTCH! I forgot to email about this last week but I went on my first companion exchange as a Sister Training Leader and boy oh boy was it a jolly good delight! People! It has been SO warm and then the one day I go stay overnight in Lancaster without a jacket it decides to rain! HA! It was seriously hilarious! here I am walking around in my flats, no jacket or tights, with this dorky smile on my face. Priceless. The greatest part of the exchange was that we met an amazing girl named Aurora right at the very end who loves learning about religion and really wanted to know more and she said if she knew what we taught about was true that she would follow Christ's example and be baptised! MIRACLES HAPPEN ON EXCHANGE! and ALWAYS! :D
SO this week has been fantastic! Preston gets better and better with EVERY passing day! Sister Barlow is a proper nutter like myself so we just have a party! Yesterday we were role playing and I decided to hide from her and be a creepy bird lady....it was pretty fantastic...I sound like a complete weirdo as I type this out but I'm okay with it.... :D
As we were talking to people on our way home yesterday we saw this girl across the street and I felt like we needed to talk to her so I accidentally ditched Sister Barlow, crossed the street without looking, and almost got ran over by a car! Don't worry mom! I'm okay! It was exhilarating! Sister Barlow is staring at me baffled and this girl, Jade, was having a really hard day! We got to comfort her in her time of sadness! HOW AMAZING IS THAT! She accepted us to come back and talk to her more! It was amazing! I am so excited to go visit her! So the moral is....if you feel like you should do something...JUST DO IT! Miracles will happen!
Our friend, Laurie, cannot read the Book of Mormon's tiny print for the life of her and we FINALLY got her a HUGE Book of Mormon so she can now read! She is planning on being baptised on August 13th! We are SO SO SO excited for her and now she can partake of the amazing words of the prophets of long ago and really find out for herself if Jesus Christ restored His church to the earth today! How brilliant is that!! Oh I will keep you all up to date with her!
We have been trying to visit this friend named Jane who was taught by missionaries before us for a while but could never get her to really be interested but this week some really hard things happened for her and we were the first people she rang! She was feeling so sad and she said that she just really needed a friend! So we ran down to Longridge as fast as we possibly could and we got to teach her about heavenly Father's immense love for her and His plan! She is SO excited to learn more that she wants to meet with us about 3-4 more times this week!
Whilst being a missionary I have had some amazing(both good and bad) experiences that have changed me. It is my prayer that throughout this next year that I transform completely into a woman who God can trust to accomplish anything he puts in front of me. I am learning taht we are not just mere human beings but that we are SPIRITUAL beings having an earthly, human experience. We need this experience to truly learn and grow but we don't have to go through it alone! in fact, God doesnt want us to! He gives us commandments as well as Jesus Christ's example so that we can see how we can have the greatest, most long-lasting happiness! I have seen how obedience brings so much joy and that I truly get answers from heavenly father as I pray and listen. He wants to direct us and give us the strength that we need! All we have to do is open ourselves up and try it out! I really want to challenge each of you to say a prayer for guidance this week. Just ask God what you should change or what you should do next! Ask Him what you should major in, who you should talk to or any question that is on your mind and before you say Amen I want you to sit and listen. I want you to truly listen to the thoughts and feelings you have! I know that if we believe he can, that He will answer us! James 5:1 tells us that if we lack wisdom then we can ask God and if we trust Him and will act on His words then he WILL tell us! What an incredible promise that is!
I love you all so much! I love my Heavenly Father and I know that He loves ALL of us individually ENDLESSLY! It is my prayer that you will feel His love in your life!
Have a wonderful week and do something crazy! Get out of your comfort zone! There is no comfort in the growth zone and there is no growth in the comfort zone! I love all of you crazy people LOADS!
XOXOSister Cummins

sunshine and miracles

HELLO! HELLO! There is sunshine in my soul and everywhere today!...Okay it is actually raining today but BOY has it been summery this week! I am roasting away here in good old England! Boy do I love this country! But don't you worry I will always be loyal to America! "Cause Im proud to be an American! Where at least I know I'm free!"...that is literally the only line I know from that song...sorry bout it...but you get the point! :D

First of all I just want to start off by saying I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! What a privilege it is! LIKE SERIOUSLY!! TThis week I learned an important lesson...and you will all probably laugh at me for my lameness but here it is. Are you ready for it? Are you sure?!

 "You don't have to be perfect in everything" 

SAY WHAAAAAAT!? It is so simple yet so true! We don't have to be! Nor are we expected to be perfect in everything. Instead I'm being perfect in NOTHING! And I've just YOLOed my whole mission.....just kidding...I don't think I could ever bring myself to do that....Don't worry I'm not going out doing whatever I want now but since I realised this guess what... I am less stressed!!! I had been stressing out about doing this and that perfectly when in reality I just need to perfectly try. That is literally all that is asked of us and then the Lord will make up the difference! Everyday I still need to give my best effort, but that is it! How beautiful is that!? I am so grateful for that! It is SUCH a relief! HA! I am grateful for the time that I have spent thinking I had to be perfect though because it has made me increase in my patience. Patience is handling delay or unexpected circumstances without getting frustrated or angry and I really have learnt how to be more patient with myself but also with those around me! Many prophets in the Book of Mormon and Bible talk all about patience and how we can acquire it and why it is necessary and it is just SO good! These scriptures are so full of knowledge and wisdom and strength that can really speak to our souls! I have been especially loving the Book of Mormon! I am just really devouring it's pages..literally...we ran out of food this week...JUST KIDDING MOM, I had TOO much food this week and I'm not actually eating the Book of Mormon...this joke isn't as funny as I planned....oh well. As I have been reading and applying these ancient prophets words and recognising how they apply to my life at this time I have receieved so much strength and comfort! Something I really loved reading this past week was in 2 Nephi 9 verse 43(page 76) when Jacob talks about how happiness is prepared for the saints. When I read this I thought, "well then why are so many people so sad if happiness is prepared for them?" but then it hit me that it is prepared for the saints and the saints are not just the baptised but those who are striving to keep the commandments and do the basics of the Christ's gospel. That is what makes a saint! "A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying" -Dale G. Renlund! That is why obedience and reading the scriptures, coming to church, and praying bring us so much happiness because we are becoming saints and the Lord PROMISES that happiness is prepared for them! How great is that!? We don't have to be sad or in despair! The only way to overcome our sadness is through CHOOSING joy(through our actions!)

So this week we met a lot of really amazing people! I talked to this woman, June, who is already been to church like 50 years ago when she was 7, she knows Joseph Smith is a prophet, she believes Jesus Christ restored His church via Joseph Smith but when I asked her to be baptised she said that she feels she is, "too old to change"! That is her only hang up...that I know of at this point! So we shared a Book of Mormon, set up an appointment, and I assume we will see her being baptised soon! THEN we met an amazing couple named Charlene and David!! They have two little girls, Holly and Lily! Sister Barlow commented on their lovely wellies(rain boots) and then BOOM we were talking away! David said, "I can see something different in you, you seem so genuinely happy" and "I really believe the things you are saying! I can see how happy they make you"! And then a few minutes later we finished teaching about how Jesus Christ restored His church to the earth today through a prophet and how this makes us feel so loved and happy! Then we shared a Book of Mormon and they said that if they knew this was true "how could they not be baptised!?" -Their words, not mine! HOW CRAZY!?!? THEN yesterday we were headed to a tea appointment and I said hello to this woman on the bus with two little girls who were just so cute and she immediately recognised me as a servant of the Lord! It seriously blew me away!! She said that she had been praying and praying for her calling and some guidance, she told us her entire life story, and then she said, "I am a really nervous person and I am unsure if I should do this but here is my address" and then asked us to come visit her! We see her tonight and she took a Book of Mormon and is so excited to meet with us! She just felt different when she met us! BOOM! MIND BLOWN! I don't know why the Lord trusts us so much but I am SO very grateful for such amazing opportunities to meet such amazing people!!

The biggest news of this week is that Sister Paul(an investigator of 6 months) accepted baptism! SHE ACCEPTED BAPTISM! Last night when we taught her how to pray she said, "You mean that we can literally speak with God? How do you know when you get your answer?" and when we told her that it comes through listening to her thoughts and paying attention to her feelings she was absolutely determined to find out for herself! She is amazing and watching her eyes was even more amazing because I could see the concepts click in her brain! It was just magnificent!

This week at a tea appointment I found out one of the members here in Preston remembers my mom from when she first joined the church! I said that her last name was Higginbottom and he said, "Your mom is Denise!?" IT WAS CRAZY! The feeling was kind of eerie but of just such excitement!! IT WAS AMAZING! I LOVE IT HERE! I love serving where Gordon B. Hinckley and many other amazing prohpets and apostles of the Lord served but I especially love serving where my mom is from, it is SO special!

I love you all DEARLY! Thank you for loving me and reading my emails! I am so grateful for just the many amazing experiences I get to have here and I am so grateful for your love, strength, prayers, and diligence!! There is sunshine in my soul today, tomorrow and forever because "Heaven is cheering us all on today, tomorrow and forever" and that is magic!

Have a lovely week!

LOVE YOU!!

Go see some miracles or something!!

XOXO

Sister Cummins