Chère Famille!Bonjour to another Monday on the island of New Caledonia. This morning my companion and I woke up early once again and watched the rising of the eastern sun. It is incredible here. I was contemplating over the fact that as the sun was still behind the mountains of Mt. Dore across the bay that the outlines of the mountains and hills could be seen, but that no detail in those slopes could be detected. As the sun's rays grew stronger and shot out of the clouds over the mountain the distant hills lost their shadows and took on detail and the flora and crevasses within them became evident. It wasn't that the foliage and the various aspects of those hills changed or were created by the sun, but that in the light those facets became seen and added beauty to the eye of the beholder. Isn't that how the Gospel acts in our lives? The lives of those who have not the Gospel or light of Christ in them remain as shapes or dark outlines, and it is as that light burst forth into our life that we see who we truly are and the detail and the flora and the crevasses that create our eternal souls. The Gospel light brings us the joy of knowing who were are and what we are made of, and if we wish for that light to never leave and do what it necessary to preserve it, the sun of the everlasting Gospel will never set into the western horizon of our lives but will, as the scripture says, grow brighter and brighter until that perfect day. These are the thoughts I had this morning as I sat on a bench with my companion at Magenta plage. I prayed that I would know what to share with you all today, and I feel that I must testify to you that I know the Gospel is true and that Christ is our eternal Savior and Brother. He is the Son of God and the light of the world. It is by His life and sacrifice that we come to know who we are, where we are going and the ultimate goal of this mortal existence. I am grateful for Him, and I want you to know that I am not ashamed to testify to all, though for most of the time it is in broken French, that I know that His Gospel is on the earth to bring light into the lives of all the children of God –all those who are humble and willing to accept Him.
This week we had two incredible lessons with Aurélie. We taught her how to use the scriptures with the cross references and the scripture guide in the back, and then we gave her the commitment to teach us a principle at our next lesson. Her topic was patience. We arrived at Marie's house on Friday night, and Aurélie came in and we began the lesson. She had a bunch of note cards filled with her lesson, all color-coded and what not. She taught us the most incredible lesson on patience, using scriptures from nearly every book in the canon and explaining their meaning. At the end she talked about how we could apply these scriptures and this principle in our lives, and I think Soeur Chugg and I nearly passed out with joy. I was hurriedly taking notes from her lesson in my planner, and I told her at the end that I was telling the President of the branch to call her to give this talk on Sunday. We laughed. It was amazing. I love being the Lord's instrument. Soeur Chugg and I float home from those lessons in a jolly glaze, telling each other that it isn't us. The Lord has prepared her heart; it is just through our mouths that His truths are being proclaimed. But, oh, what superb joy being that little open mouth brings me! I have never felt this way before. I never want this joy and happiness to end. Forgive me for the gaiety of this entry, but I cannot express to you what feelings fill my being when I think of the miracles that we see on a daily basis. Indeed, there are days (like last Saturday) that make us want to crawl under our beds and never come out, but the moments that the Spirit is present are moments that are like the sunrise this morning, banishing out all shadow and darkness.
I have spent way too much time trying to figure out this new myldsmail and my time is up. All is well. It is cooling down (comparatively) and the time is flying.
I love that the Lord has given me this mission!
Love,
Soeur Cummins
this is aurelie, daughter nolwenn, and ex-boyfriend
breakfast of "spiritual" champions
