Dear Family,I am feeling good today. This morning we had some interesting companionship studies which varied from the complexities of time and why we have time though God doesn't live within such bounds to the audacity of the men in ages passed who have taken the word of God and skewed it. Thus what a tender mercy it truly is of the Lord to have given us the Book of Mormon. Once any truth is taken from the scriptures (such as that from the Bible - which contained all of the Gospel of Christ in its fullness and plainness before it was debated apart by the creeds of men) indeed it still helps us grow closer to Christ, but there are gaps in which Satan can move in and blind us and cause us to stumble. We also discussed how God allows us to suffer, much of the time, in order to incite us to believe, trust in, and turn to Him. Much of our suffering is self-inflicted, but what mercy Christ has on us when we allow him to pull us out of the pits we have tossed ourselves into. It was a good study this morning. A perk of being in a tripanionship is that our studies are never boring; there is always much to be said and three perspectives shaping our insights. The threesome is to be ending soon though with the arrival of two new sisters from Tahiti, and Soeur Seiko (my beloved companion of past) is ending her mission in the next few weeks. So, it will be au revoir to our incredible companionship studies. Threesomes are very bittersweet experiences - very high highs and very low lows. All I know is that eternal marriage is for two people for a reason.
This week we saw the answer to prayers of missionaries and members alike in the fact that the work is moving forward in a potentially exciting way. We took time this week to see some members that we haven't had much contact with. We talked to them about their conversion stories (since most of them are first generation members of the church) and watched the Restoration film with them or shared a scripture. We then invited to think about how much light and goodness the Gospel has brought into their lives and what they might have been had the missionaries not come by or had their friend not shared the Gospel with them. Then we asked them to think about the people around them right now that are not blessed with this light. Already we have some members thinking about who they can invite. Micheline (who is the best member missionary) asked her brother Didier and he is willing to take the lessons. We talked to Soeur Bull's neighbor and now have a rendez-vous with him, and she is going to come. The Parau's are inviting their granddaughters over next Saturday to watch the film with us. Things are picking up.
We taught Anysse again this week. She just began reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning, and we talked about Nephi and his actions in the first four chapters of the Book of Mormon. It says in the first verse of the first chapter that he had a great knowledge, and we talked about how we gain a spiritual knowledge of something and what our responsibility is once we have that knowledge. It says in chapter 2 that Nephi had a desire to know so he prayed, and because of his faith he was granted the knowledge that if he kept the commandments of God that he would prosper. In chapter 3 it says that Lehi received a commandment for his sons to go back to Jerusalem and get the plates. Nephi had the knowledge that he needed to keep the commandments if he wished to be blessed by the Lord. He even said "I will go and I will do," but even saying that or being desirous to be obedient to our knowledge is not enough. We must act and accomplish the Lord's will - even if it is hard. In chapter four Nephi is constrained by the Spirit to kill Laban and it was something extremely difficult for him (he even said that it would be impossible), but he was obedient and he acquired the plates. This is applicable to us all. We all start with a desire and that leads, by prayer and study, to faith and that leads to knowledge. But, knowledge only serves to our condemnation if we are not obedient to its exigencies, even if we have a desire to be obedient. Faith and works is key, and with the knowledge that faith gives us we have two options: obedience or disobedience. For Anysse we showed her how she was just like Nephi - she had a desire to be taught by the missionaries, she prayed and searched with faith and now knows the Church is true and she has the desire to be baptized (thus putting acts behind her faith) but her desire is not enough. She has to accomplish the will of God and actually BE baptized, even though right now it might seem impossible, but Nephi did it and so can she. I think it gave her perspective on her situation and also she can now see how applicable the scriptures are to her.
We met this girl yesterday at Church (Gabrielle) who was taught in Paris by a recently returned missionary in our branch (Marie Huzu). She came to church since her parents live in Nouméa (but she lives in Paris, and is originally from Los Angeles; she is bilingual) and is staying heer during the summer. She was just baptized last month in France after having investigated the Gospel for a while. She wrote a book on the Fundamentalist LDS church and she wanted to know if the mother church (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) was really a culte or not, so one Sunday she decided to go and see. She loved it and was convinced by the truth and the Spirit. It's amazing to see that there are people like her, intelligent and curious, who are truly seeking the truth. She is here for two months so she said she would like to go out and work with us. What a blessing!
The only sad point of the week was that one of Pako's dogs, Hoki, was hit by a car and killed the other night. He is very distraught. He has no children that live with him (or that care about him), so much of his overflowing love goes to those dogs. We are going to go see him today and sing some songs with him.
All in all we had a very good week with lots of walking and talking and sharing and finding. I love the Gospel, and I am amazed at all the things that I experience and the privilege it is to teach the people here and to be surrounded by excellent missionaries and members.
Hoping you have a good week!
Love,
Soeur Cummins
Translation: "To whoever stole my plant: Watch out!"
