Dear Family,
I have no idea where to start. There is so much happening and then again, so little is happening; just small progressions and, with some, digressions occurring on a daily basis.
We had another lesson with our friend Fred (in English, mind you) on Saturday evening and finished the Plan of Salvation. The Spirit was very strong during the lesson. It's quite a different thing teaching in English compared to French, but I can't say that either one is better than the other, just different. It's interesting.
We have very few investigators as of current in our sector and much of our work is based on reactivating the returning less-active members. It is a little disappointing however when those less-actives that we are putting our hearts into teaching and encouraging and helping do not come to church and decide that they are too weak to resist temptation's knock at the door. I suppose this is a slight sip of what Heavenly Father takes in all the time with each of his children. I feel like much of my mission thus far has been a test of my perseverance: Will I keep contacting on the road though all our rendez-vous have fallen through? Will I continue to keep all the rules of the mission? The success that I experience everyday is that doing those things and of having worked my hardest. I have come to realize and understand that I cannot based my personal success and my worth as an instrument in God's hands off the numbers of people that are brought into His fold. I see that success comes from diligent perseverance - patient continuance in well-doing and hard work. President Ostler once shared a story where he recounted how when he was a boy he went to a day-camp for one week during the summer. A task that he and his little group of other day-campers were given was to build a tent and keep it for the whole week. On Monday he worked so hard with his team to build a tent only to come back the next day to see that it had been blown over by the wind. They rebuilt it once again, putting every effort into making it the best tent possible. However the same thing had occurred when he arrived back at camp the next day - the tent was blown over. He said that this kept going on all week: rebuilding and rebuilding every day. He said that by Friday he was an absolute basket case. On the last day of camp there was an award ceremony. They announced the camper of the week, and he was named. Because his tent had fallen over every day he had thus assumed that his day-camp experience had been a failure, but the person who awarded him told him that he was named camper of the week because of the efforts that he had put in every day. I hope that we will see more of God's children come into and return and be strengthen in His fold in the areas that I work and will work in because there is no other feeling than knowing that you have been used as a tool in God's hands in the blessing of His children. However, I will build my tent up every day and do my very best even if I cannot see the results of my efforts at present. I know that it is quality that counts in the Kingdom.
We met with a recent convert this week named Edwidge Bailly. She was baptized in October, but due to her busy schedule she has never been available to meet with the missionaries since her conversion. She assists church each week but has to run off after sacrament meeting to go and care for her dying mother. She was explaining to us how when she was a child she would sit in Catholic mass and wonder why things were done in that church the way they were done. She wondered why there were no prophets on the earth. She knew that there would be a day when Christ's true church would be on the earth and unite all of God's children. When she first met the missionaries she was too busy to speak with them and said she wasn't interested, however many years later her friend invited her to take the lessons and three months later she was baptized. It was incredible to listen to her story, to see how very guided and prepared she was by Heavenly Father. It goes to show that Heavenly Father does have people prepared for his restored Gospel. There are people looking for the truth, but as it says in Doctrine and Covenants "they know not where to find it."
On Saturday we were supposed to have our interviews with President Ostler, however he cancelled so we found ourselves with two empty hours. We decided to do some follow-ups and street contacting but there was one point where we couldn't go up one street (because of some drunk men that we didn't particularly want to go by again - it was 2 in the afternoon, by the way), and weren't sure what to do. I said a prayer in my heart and at that moment we show a girl coming up the street and contacted her. She wanted to listen to us so we shared some of the first lesson with her. I explained the story of Joseph Smith to her and told her of his vision. There was such a nice spirit there, even on that street corner in the middle of Rivière Salée, and she said that the story touched her. We have had many street contacts and have shared the story with many people, but that one was special. The Spirit was strong. One sister here said once that the moment we share the Joseph Smith story that the heavens open. I agree.
I am so thankful to be here. Here is to a good week for you all.
Love,
Soeur Cummins
