"see you on wednesday"

Hiya, you alright?

it's been a while since I started an email like that...or even heard that phrase. They don't really say it up here in good old Preston, England! When I first got out in England I was SO perplexed about how people ask you how you're doing and don't even stop to listen and now it doesn't even fade me. It is weird how we get used to things or stop to notice little things as we become accustomed to them. That can be really good or it can be really bad. I have noticed that throughout my life I have become accustomed to hearing and saying sarcastic comments and being "jokingly" rude to those whom I love that surround me. President Ulrich recently invited us to fast with the purpose of being able to better notice what makes the companionship of the Holy Ghost go away(when we are baptised we receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to be a companion and to guide us or comfort us throughout our lives as we are living worthy of His companionship). So as I fasted and prayed I felt that sarcasm was a big thing that drew me further from heavenly father and as I have been striving to not be sarcastic within the past few weeks I have seen a big difference in my relationships with others and my effectiveness as a missionary, especially in patience! My whole life I had become this sarcastic woman and as I've stripped myself of it I see life and others in a whole new way. I am less easily irritated and more long-suffering and people enjoy being around me even more! HOW GREAT IS THAT! 

So that is my invitation to you this week! Pray and fast for a day to know what you could work on in order to bring your life into closer harmony with Heavenly Father and then ACT! I promise that you will be happier as you do so and you will feel and improved sense of self-control and love for those who surround you!

This week we had an incredible mission Leadership Council where we learned all about who we are! We are all divine, special children of a Father in Heaven. We are sons and daughters of God!! He sacrificed His only Begotten Son so that we all can live and overcome our sins as well as death! We are special! We are unique! We are needed! As we are obedient and follow the counsel our loving Father has provided for us to get through this life we will see so much joy! That's a promise! He created us so of course He knows just what we need!

This week we have seen a lot of miracles! We went to go see a friend, Joseph, but he didn't end up answering. We felt sad at first but we knew there was a reason we had come all this way to get too this area. Right when we were about to go knock on some doors, this woman opened the door next to his and she had met missionaries before! She had just moved in the day before and she was interested in hearing more so we got to talk to her for a little while!

Then I was on the bus and this woman was sitting across from me. I told her I liked her shoes and then ten minutes later we were making an appointment to meet again to talk about Jesus Christ!

Yesterday we were supposed to bring our friend, Jane, to a mission fireside where many recent converts speak about their experiences with learning more about the teachings of Jesus Christ but she cancelled so instead we knocked on some doors and we were led to this blue door. The woman's name was Jeane and she has a very devout Mormon uncle in Florida who she really admires and she said we could come back on Wednesday. Later, as we were walking down the street she drove up in her car saying, "SEE YOU ON WEDNESDAY!!" How amazing is that!?! Boy that was a great feeling!!

Heavenly Father promises His missionaries He will prepare the way before them but first He needs to see He can trust us! He makes some things not work out so that He can fulfill His purposes and help his children. I feel so privileged to be a part of this work! To be able to share with others the truths I have been lucky enough to know about my entire life! I am so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ! I love Him! He is my Saviour. I know that through Him we an overcome any weakness  or challenge we may face. I know God lives. I know He hears and answers our prayers. I know that the truths Christ shared thousands of years ago have been fully restored to the earth today! I relish in truth and knowledge! I love this life. I love my family and I say all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

XOXO

Sister Cummins

stop worrying, just trust

Hello!! Hello!!!

I don't even know where to begin! This week...or past couple of weeks

has been a doozy("watch out for that first step, it's a

doozy!"-Groundhogs Day) sorry..I couldn't resist the temptation! :D

These past few weeks have been so wonderful!! I have been learning and

growing and life is just crazy!!

So, to start! I have my new companion! Her name is Sister Bellersen

and she is a power house! She is from Germany and she is teaching me

German....that is an interesting process(;  She is so kind, cute, yet

POWERFUL! She is focused, devoted, and I'm pretty sure she was a born

a missionary! It comes so naturally to her! This week as we have

worked together to simplify our teaching and have Christ on our lips

at all times and have Him be the center of our teaching we have seen

miracles happen! We have seen hearts softened on the spot. As we have

learned to rely upon our Saviour, Jesus Christ, we have seen curious

eyes wander and peoples lives changed.

To start we have two different friends named Ian and Jane. They are

both progressing and are overcoming many stumbling blocks in order to

learn more about Christ and as I get to work with them I am learning

hat love is the key. We must first observe and then serve and as we

let love be our motive and obedience be the means by which we do our

work we will see miracles occur! Miracles have not ceased. God still

lives. I am learning to stop focusing on what others believe to be

true and trust the eternal truths that Heavenly Father teaches. The

world strives to detract from Gods true, full love for us but we can

know the fullness of truth instead of the lies the world tries to

throw at us. This week the prophet and apostles of the Lord spoke to

us and gave us guidance and greater light and knowledge. They have

answered many of my questions and I know that they will answer many of

yours, if you open yourself for those answers.

We must be bold and trust in our Saviour for truth and understanding!

I know that if we pray with a sincere heart we will gain understanding

that we need. Heavenly Father knows us. He hears our prayers. He wants

to help us bear up our burdens and overcome our trials! He loves us.

He is our Father. Stop letting the world distract you from the fact

that you are loved. Rely on Him and you will overcome any barrier

placed in your path.

I have seen how as we increase in our faith things don't get easier,

but Satan works so much harder on us. We can win. God will win. There

is no doubt. I have a testimony that God lives. He is our Father. He

has provided a way for us to come back and to grow and become better

in the process.

These past few weeks have been so good! They have been ones of

stretching and growth! I love living in the growth zone. I love my

Saviour! I love that I can become more because He has made the way

possible!!

I can hardly remember my experiences this week, all I can remember at

this time is that I have a testimony. I have a testimony or my the

gospel of Jesus Christ and because that I feel strength, power, and

love. I know you can as well and that that comes through the words of

God and prayer. Speak to Him. Read His word.

I love you all and I have great desire for you to feel of Gods

redeeming love because it is what lights out path and sets us free!!

Have a great week! Go see miracles! Pray for strength, understanding,

and help. You will receive it.

Choose to trust.

XOXO

Sister Cummins

no time, no time

Hi! Sorry! Lame email again! I have two minutes to tell you I'm
staying in Preston as the Sister Training Leader and I'm training a
new missionary from Germany, Sister Bellersen!! She is great and life
is crazy!

Also, Jane was almost baptised this week! Next week will be her time!
I'm so excited for the many miracles we see!! Love you all loads!! I
will make up for this next week I swear!!

Xoxo
Sister Cummins

Hi! Hi!

Hello people whom I love so dear!!!!

It is your sister missionary here! All the way from England here to

say....."I LOVE YOU", I just thought you deserved a reminder!

So this week is wonderful and great but I really don't remember what

happened....I lost my planner...or it was stolen. I wouldn't blame

someone, it was a really nice planner! It had Jesus Christ on the

front! It had a great quote saying, "The great truth of all eternity

is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and

strength"! Sooooo I wouldn't blame them but now I don't know what I

did....sorry!

Next week is transfers so P-Day will be on Tuesday!! How it is already

the end of another transfer I do not understand!! I love being a

missionary! It truly is the greatest thing I have gotten to do with my

entire life! Every day answers of my soul are answered! I pray and the

Lord always expounds wisdom and knowledge to me! He even answers

questions I didn't know that I had, He always knows what I need even

if I don't! He loves us each so dear and wants to give us

understanding! He wants to help us because He truly loves each of us!

I really learned and felt this this week! I'm sorry for the lame email

but I just climbed up a beautiful mountain in Lancaster, England!! The

things this world has and the things we get to behold are so breath

taking! How could God not exist! I love this life! I love being a

child of God! I know that He has sent me here!

I want to invite each of you to pray to see and feel His love this

week. I know if you do this with a sincere heart then He will manifest

it unto you!! Even if you already know, just ask for to feel it extra

strong! We are His children and He will guide us the way He needs us

to go, the at that will bring us the most peace!

I love you all!! Have a great week!!

XOXO

Sister Cummins

PS: I almost caught a sheep!!!!

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