A December summer (7 decembre 2009)

Dear Family,
Thanks for your patience with my email last week; I know it was a little cut short. First of all, last night Soeur Seiko and I went down to Rivière Salée for one of our final rehearsals for the Christmas fireside next week. Elder Mautz told me to go look by his chair in the Relief Society room (where we practice) and lo and behold there was that lovely package that took nearly and month and half to get to here. Merci beaucoup! I was full of joy opening it last night. Soeur Seiko and I enjoyed all the American candy and plan to share it with our amis. I hope that is okay; I feel the need to share the sweet delights of America with those who are not as blessed.
The highlight of this past week was our zone conference where Elder Callister from the 70 came and spoke to us and taught us. It was the most incredible conference I have yet been to, and the Spirit was strong. Elder Callister started out the conference with this amazing presentation on the apostasty, the evidences that the great apostasy would happen (using the Bible) and the evidences that an apostasy did occur. He spoke about the Apostles and the essentiality of having an organization in the Church of Christ, and how that was eliminated once they were killed off. The apostles had the impossible task of making sure that the doctrine of Christ’s church stayed pure in all the churches in the surrounding continents, and even when the apostles were there that was an overwhelming responsibility. Then, with the loss of the apostles and the persecution of those who professed Christianity? The Church was doomed to apostasy. There were other evidences as well: The fact that the Bible ended – if the Church continued then there would have been a continuing need for the apostles to write letters (aka: epistles) to the different branches to continue to rectify their practice of the doctrine. Another evidence: The fact that history passed through the Dark Ages – if the light of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ was still on the earth than why was there an age of spiritual darkness and ignorance? There were other facts too – the fact that the priesthood was lost, the simple manner of prayer changed, ordinances that were corrupted and/or lost entirely, etc. Clearly, this is not something that we are going to cram into our investigators’ minds on our first visit because the most convincing proof is the witness of the Holy Spirit, but it amazing to see that the need for a Restoration before Christ’s second coming was overwhelming. Truly, Heavenly Father’s will and ways are perfect and loving. I hope you understand when I say that I love the apostasy. It is the reason that our message is true – that the Church was restored. If it hadn’t been lost in the first place, then why the heck would I be here in New Caledonia? If you are desirous to read a little bit more into this fascinating topic, I would suggest you read one of my favorite portions of Jesus the Christ: chapter 40.
After our conference, Elder Callister had one-on-one interviews with all the missionaries. I was asked to be the translator for the francophone sisters. It was amazing to see how Elder Callister would ask different questions to each sister during their interviews that would help extract a problem or a personal concern. Yes, there is indeed power in the priesthood. After my interview he asked me if I would like a blessing and I said yes. It was a beautiful blessing; it was something I so needed to hear and gave me good counsel. The Gospel is true and God inspires men today. We had someone tell us yesterday (while we were knocking doors) that all the gifts of the Spirit and inspirations of men ended with the apostles of Christ. I couldn’t help but bear my testimony that God doesn’t change and that He inspires men in all ages of time because He loves us and wants us to know He is there.
The rest of the week was a bit of a test of diligence. Soeur Seiko and I chose this Christian virtue together as a companionship to work on, and we prayed for it. It’s funny how the moment you start to pray to have a specific trait that Heavenly Father will place certain obstacles and situations in your way to test your capacities in that area and help you grow. On Saturday and Sunday after church all of our plans and backup plans fell through. None of our amis were at home and none of our follow-ups were at home or wanted to see us (it is SO obvious when people hide from us). We knock doors and drove around looking for people. Thank goodness that we have that little air-conditioned Berlingo car - it was SO hot these past few days. Welcome to summer. Welcome to skin cancer. Speaking of hot weather, the other morning we tried to visit one of our new amies. She was busy so we knocked just above her house and talked to this really kind woman named Gina. We stood outside on her porch talking to her in the sun for a while. She and I were having a good conversation about the importance of family, genealogy and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I noticed that I was the only one doing the talking and next thing I know I look over and Soeur Seiko passes out onto the ground with her backpack on and everything. We panicked for a moment and helped her up and into the woman’s house. She told us that she hadn’t eaten breakfast so the woman gave her a banana and some Tang (yes: Tang). We then walked back to the car and came home. Soeur Seiko rested for about an hour, was feeling better and then we went back out into the warm world. We are going to go back to Gina’s house to thank her. Don’t worry I haven’t passed out quite yet – but it is sure getting warm here and I am 99 percent sure that next week I am going to be transferred to Magenta – a walking sector! That will help with the Paita growth though, so I am glad.
On Saturday night we had a nice Christmas fireside at the branch building that maybe 15 people came to. There weren’t very many of us, but the narration and the music was very inspiring and sweet.
I am so thankful for this mission of mine. I love every day here, even the difficult ones. The joy I feel when I teach and when I am with the members and the kind people is incredible. I am blessed with such a kind family. I love you all greatly and I desire your happiness. I know that happiness is truly found in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Every experience I have here testifies to the truthfulness of that. The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God and, like Elder Holland said, provides safety for the soul. We may not understand all the mysteries of God, but we have all the tools to ensure salvation for ourselves and our families at our hands. Heavenly Father just asks that we make efforts everyday – small and simple things truly bring great things to pass.
I love you all.
Love,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. Mom, I had a dream the other night and in my dream I gave Grandma in England’s address to a missionary friend of mine who is serving in the Manchester, England Mission and she then gave it to the missionaries in Grandma’s area. Would you please send me Grandma in England’s home address so I can send it to my friend serving there?
P.S.S. Dad, thanks for the package! I am wearing the watch. I ate the Sour Patch kids. I listen to Handel’s Messiah in the car, and I will soon be properly hair sprayed and deodorized. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to get that, open it and know that you had lovingly put it together for me. Oh, but next time, Elder Matuz said that you probably shouldn’t put the Caledonia flag on there because that isn’t actually the official flag for the country; it’s the flag that represents rebellion against French government. He just doesn’t want our packages becoming political statements. Kinda ridiculous, I know. Just go for a French flag next time. And, I know you didn’t know (and I never thought of it like that either), and I actually thought you did a very nice job of drawing that Kanaky flag. I thought it was a nice touch. Merci.

it's letchi season. you peel off these hard red skins to find a "fruit most desirable" whose flesh is whiter and purer than any other fruit. hmm, thinking that Lehi might have eaten these.

Zone conference and faux turkey (30 novembre 2009)

Dearest Family,
It has been another wonderful week on the island land of Calédonie. On Tuesday of this week we had our reunion de district up in Tontouta and the Matuz's gave us a ride up there. They came with a cake for Elder Winget and I since it was both of our birthdays this week. Elder Winget, our district leader, gave a great formation on how to become a Christlike missionary. We aren't supposed to be missionaries that just do missionary things, like talking to people and knocking on doors and sharing the Gospel; we need to be missionaries and people that ARE Christlike. We cannot just strive not only to do Christlike things but be Christlike in our lives. But, I suppose similarly that as we strive to do what is right on the outside that it can change our inside – like smiling, for example. There are days that smiling is no simple task, but the more we smile (the exterior action) the more that it renders positive our attitude (the interior effect). Yes, we must perfect the inner man, but our actions become the means to that perfection of the interior. Right?
On the way home from our meeting the Mautz's played the new Andrea Boccelli Christmas CD. I nearly died with spasms of musical joy. My heart soared with those Christmas tunes. I thought of home and our Christmas tree all lovely and sparkling. I love Christmas.
My birthday was excellent. I woke up early and made a huge omelette for my companion and myself. We had some good lessons that day, and a wacky one with a certain Lorenza who has crazy dreams that she goes into unnecessary detail. She sees the virgin Mary all the time, but she did have an interesting one about progressing from a dimly lighted rim into a room of great light. Kingdoms of glory? Well, I did my best to tie all those dreams back into Gospel principles. She has one more chance, but if she recounts her unceasingly recounts her dreams again next time, ça y est. We ate Magnum bars for lunch (I insisted), and the Teguisiale's made cake. The elders in our district called me and sang as well as the assistants. Soeur Leavitt also called, with a purpose but with the ulterior motive to wish me a happy birthday. It was the most bizarre birthday because it just felt like any other day. For that very reason, I loved it more than any other birthday in years past. The more we focus on ourselves the more disappointed we will be when things do not live up to our astronomical expectations. I had no real expectations and was able to serve others, and it ended being a great day.
Thanksgiving lacked turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, but we did eat Shepard's pie at the Li-Khau's, and we found a new investigator! I gave thanks for that. She is this lovely Tahitian woman who was thrilled about having a Book of Mormon. Speaking of that, we have an investigator who teaches catechism to a bunch of young adults, and we had two lessons with her and gave her a Book of Mormon. We came back a few weeks later, and she told us that she was at page 605 (there are only about 660 pages in the French one). We are excited to meet with her and answer her questions.
Bah, peer pressure - the others are waiting for me. Gotta go. Zone conference tomorrow! It has been 6 weeks already.
I love you all! Have a merry week, and be on the lookout: I sent a package home. It was expensive, and it was the first and hopefully last time I take money out of my personal account. I refuse to spend personal money here when we have enough for everything in the first place. But, bof, it is for Christmas, and you're worth every 7,500 pacific franc of it.
Love,
Soeur Cummins

birthday breakfast

birthday lunch

an extremely talented ami playing yves duteil. i tried hard not to sing along. that failed.

A daily thanksgiving in New Caledonia (23 novembre 2009)

Dear Familyyyyyy,
What a week here in New Caledonia ! Sorry I am writing this a little later in the day than usual. Soeur Seiko and I had some lessons planned for this morning; we worked this morning and do the rest of the necessary P-day things later in the evening. We were supposed to meet with a Fijian woman who is a less-active (I have been here nearly six months and I have never met her) this morning and it was well, when we called to see if we could visit with her because she spoke to me in English. English is foreign. I had a hard time speaking with her on the phone, but it was nice to be able to understand everything she said to me instead of just laughing because I didn’t understand (which was a frequent occurrence for me at the beginning – I would laugh or just hand Soeur Spencer the phone; many fervent prayers have been offered before doing the phone calls for the day). We couldn’t find her house off some backroad in the tropical forest she led us to believe she lived on. Next time. Afterwards we had the most amazing lesson with Ismaella. Alicia came with us and we taught the next principle in the Gospel of Jesus Christ after repentance which is, baptism! She read Mosiah 18 this last week, and she told us that every time we give her something to read that it ends up answering one of the questions she or that her husband has (that we haven’t been able to teach yet – though she teaches him everything we teach her). She has an firm testimony of the Book of Mormon, and although there were some Jehovah’s Witnesses that came by during the week to try to convince her otherwise, she explained to them that “too late” she already knew it was true. There is opposition in all things, but that is why Heavenly Father has given us the gift of the Holy Ghost - that we might receive a testimony of truth, which is much more powerful than anything Satan can throw our way. It is for us to rely on that testimony and put our confidence in Heavenly Father.
At the end of our lesson I desired to ask her if she would be baptized, but I felt hesitant and gave her, instead, the chapter in 3 Nephi that we wanted her to read about Christ’s visit to ancient America. Then I felt that push again. True to the nudging of the Spirit, I asked her if she wanted to be baptized. She said yes. She had been thinking about that for a while. It is something she wants to be prepared for because she understands that it is a sacred covenant, binding and eternal, that she will make with God; not something to take lightly. We explained our excitement for her, God’s content for her decision and that we were glad that she understood its importance. We told her that we are going to be with her all along the way to help and teach her more. Is this not the joy that Alma the younger spoke of in Alma 26? Missions are indeed a bit of a rough time, but how marvelous and satisfying they are. They stretch the soul to new heights and to greater joys and expand the heart to contain more love than ever before. I understand a little more every day the love that God and Christ have for us. Each and every person is a gem, precious beyond all worth.
I can’t believe that it is nearly December. How strange. I was writing in my journal last night and thinking about how time on a mission passes by as though we were in some sort of space continuum. It is day to day work, measured by our weekly planning and then by our every six week zone conference. We have zone conference next week! Time is flying, and I am loving every moment – only wishing I could catch it in a bottle for memory’s sake.
I can’t write much more but one good experience (of many) that I had this week: I spent Wednesday on a split with Soeur Richards in Rivere Salee (a walking sector) and Soeur Leavitt came up here to Paita. It was GREAT to walk around all day although I became sweaty and got a little sunburnt. We had some wonderful lessons and contacts. The children here are amusing in how they, once they know we speak English, will start yelling random phrases like “I love you” and “hullo” and “ow air you” at us. We laugh good-heartedly.
Well, I have to run. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. The Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion. I am thankful for the testimony that I have gained of this marvelous book, which is truly the word of God. We are working hard here in Paita. Every day we contact all sorts of people and have all sorts of experiences.
I love you all! Happy Thanksgiving! I will be at the Li-Khau’s house Thursday night and we eat as though it is Thanksgiving every week, so I won’t be too miserable – although I miss turkey and cranberry sauce. The benefits of a mission though are greater than those of turkey and cranberry sauce.
I love my mission. I love you.
Love,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. A Christmas package is soon on its way to the US of A.

i have a lovely companion.

our district

Week 1765346.86 in Nouvelle-Calédonie, or something like that (16 novembre 2009)

Dear Family,
This week has been interesting. I think I always start my emails off like that, with a “this week has been interesting.” The truth is that the weeks here really are always interesting, and each day is filled with experiences that are joyful, painful, surprising, inspiring, disappointing – the whole spectrum of emotion. Perhaps I should look around in the thesaurus for a better word, but for now I think the word “interesting” does a decent job of summarizing the moments that fill 7 days here in the mission field.
Before I tell you what events have taken place each day this week, I am going to spoil you with the dessert of my week - the best moment of this week: On Saturday morning Soeur Seiko and I were having our companionship study when the assistants came by our apartment on the way to the airport to pick up a new elder coming in from Tahiti. They gave us a bunch of letters that we had received, and I wanted to share one letter in particular that I received from a lady in North Carolina named Helen Duncan. At the MTC they have a place called the Call Center where missionaries call people who have placed online requests for free Book of Mormons or other free items that the Church offers (DVDs and other media). The missionaries call them to see if they have received the item they requested and it is also an opportunity to share the message of the restored Gospel. One missionary, before she left to go to Switzerland gave me the number of a lady she had been talking to at the Call Center and wanted me to continue contact with her. Her name is Helen and she was the sweetest lady, but she was in a bit of a difficult situation financially and health-wise. We talked a number of times about the Gospel and her life and before I left the MTC I made sure to give her the number of the leadership in the wards in her area (because she needed some major help) and sent her contact information to the missionaries there as well, but after I left I never knew how she was. Well, I received a letter from her the other day saying that she was able to get help from the local branch president and that the missionaries came over, taught her and that on June 27th of this year she was baptized into the Church! I felt such profound JOY when I read that, and to know that I was a small part in her conversion made me understand more fully the significance behind Doctrine and Covenants 18. It made me think of some things that were promised to me in my patriarchal blessing, and I am just even more (if that is possible) thankful for the message of the restored Gospel. Oh, how God loves His children.
We had another good lesson with Estelle and Steve this week, and I enjoy teaching them. They definitely keep us on our toes with their questions. I enjoy teaching people that are interested in our message and ask questions and have a healthy curiosity when it comes to the things of eternity. Sometimes we don’t have all the answers (or all the words, for me, to give a concise answer), but that is why we have our personal study time. There are some people that zone out during our lessons and I just want to start dancing in front of them (to get their attention) and ask if they understand truly how important our message is. I will probably do that the next time.
On Saturday we had to have the worst kind of meetings with one of our amis, Michel Ciani: We had to tell him that we had to let him go for awhile. He isn’t progressing. He doesn’t read, he doesn’t pray, and, though at the beginning he showed great interest in the church and was near baptism, he has let his problems strangle the testimony. I studied the parable of the sower last night (Matthieu 13) and saw its direct application to this situation. We were very disappointed to let him go, but the Lord is working His ways and for the moment Michel just isn’t ready. It is for the best, and things will work out the way they are supposed to.
On Sunday our branch had its Primary Program during Sacrament meeting. I was so touched with the innocence of the children and the songs they sang. The Gospel is true at all ages and in all tongues and at all levels of understanding. The Spirit was so strong, and I just loved being taught by the Primary children, who are still perfect in Christ.
I don’t have time to write down everything, but I am still keeping a good journal (more or less – sometimes I just fall into bed after planning in my skirt without a thought for scribing the tales of the day). I think of you often and I cannot wait until Christmas when we can chat on the phone. I am not sure the schematics of that situation quite yet, but I will let you know who will be calling who and when and where by the time Noël rolls around.
The Gospel is still true.
Love,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. There are some cyclones forecasted for New Caledonia in the coming months, so today we are going to buy some food storage and then take a hike in the nearby hills where we hear there are some hieroglyphs.

The good and the interesting (9 novembre 2009)

Dearest Family and those who dare read these emails,
What a week! It has sure been packed with memories for future reflection – good and, well, some interesting ones.
On Tuesday we had our district meeting and afterwards we all drove up to an area in the Tontouta sector named Tomo. We helped an older woman named Germaine clean up her garden. She had ALL sorts of plants: manioc, taro, coconut trees, letchi trees, wild strawberries, wild tomatoes (so good, by the way – don’t worry, we told her afterwards that we had eaten a few ), and all sorts of flowers. Dad, you would have loved walking around her grounds. Afterwards we had two really good lessons with one of the members, Alicia Toyon. We taught Ismaella, who is just a superb investigator. She tells us how much she loves reading the Book of Mormon, and she already knows how to recognize the Spirit. She told us at the end of our lesson on the Gospel of Jesus Christ that she felt the Spirit so strongly and that she had faith and wanted to know how to repent. Our next lesson was with a couple who are living together and the monsieur had a question about the resurrection. He talks to the Jehovah’s Witnesses and the Seventh Day Adventist that come by and he said he was confused by the different descriptions and ideas of what they believe the resurrection will be. We pulled out the Book of Mormon and went to Alma 40 and read from there. Then we bore our testimonies of the Book of Mormon and described the history of it. He said he felt something different about our presence in his home than he did when the others came over. We invited them to begin reading the Book of Mormon. It was powerful.
On Wednesday we went and visited our older investigator Aimee, and during our opening prayer her 40 or something year old son came in and started talking to her and then went to a back room. All this during our prayer. Afterwards we started our lesson and he came out and I asked how he was and if he worked in Paita. Just a nice question, right? Well, I had the surprise of my life when he started yelling at us to keep to ourselves and not talk to him. Then he sat there in a sulk. Aimee told us that he didn’t like us coming over, and Soeur Seiko said we would come back another day and we left. That was the first time I have ever been treated like that – but it wasn’t the last time during the week. We were doing a follow-up on a man we had met on our P-day. His wife came out, we asked to see him and she said that she would find him. Soon enough he came out and we said hello. Then all of a sudden his wife came out with a broom and yelled at us to leave. I thought she was going to hit us with the broom. She started yelling in extremely rapid French that I didn’t understand (not only because it was rapid but also because it was full of words that I am not familiar with as a missionary). We left quickly, and Soeur Seiko said it was good that I didn’t understand. I don’t think that man told his wife that he had met two young sister missionaries. Hmmmm, oops.
We slept outside on our lawn next to our house the other night. The moon was so full and lovely, so we laid out a big mat and slept under the stars.
Our investigator Georgette gave us some shell fossils and a huge squash the other day after our lesson. A bit random, but our life is full of random occurrences. I love the contact that we make with people. Everyday we meet all these people with these interesting life stories and crazy personalities and characteristics (sometimes characteristics induced by the influences of various illicit substances). I think our lives become more interesting and faceted the more we become interested and acquainted with others.
Last night we had a choir practice at Rivière Salée with the members and the other missionaries. I love singing with the other members and seeing the other missionaries. Christmas is going to be strange here – the weather being hot and humid, but I am sure that for someone from here that a Christmas with snow and chilly weather would be bizarre.
Today we are going on a hike with the other missionaries. I promise not to get lost like the two missionaries did last time.
I love you all! Have a wonderful week and keep living the Gospel and bettering yourselves.
Love,
Soeur Cummins

so, we didn't end up taking that hike. but, we still had fun.

November beginnings (2 novembre 2009)

Dearest Family,
This week was an interesting one in Paita. First of all, the Mautz’s wanted the family members of missionaries to know that they were asked by our mission President to change their blog to invite only, so I am sorry that you will all be cut off from that little window into New Caledonian mission life. I know my view is limited to first-person, but I hope that will be sufficient. I am feeling the pressure.
Anyway, for a cultural note, I am sad to announce (much to my chagrin) that they do not have a widespread celebration of Halloween here. There are pockets of people here and there who dress up and give out candy, but in our little town of Paita there were only a lot of people at the cemetery cleaning up familial graves for the day after Halloween, All Saints Day, or “Tous Saints.” I shared a mini-sized Heath bar and a Take 5 with my companion that our district leader gave us on Tuesday, and I put some sad-looking jack-o-lanterns on orange post-its on the fridge. It was my measly effort to give reverence to a day of joy, candy, things-that-go-bump-in-the-night, candy, costumes, candy, tricks, and yes, candy. There was a lack of all of the above, except joy; we always have joy – that’s not just a once-a-year thing. However, I must admit that I missed the candy part – you know, running around in the neighborhood with all the children with pillow case in hand, demanding chocolate. I doubt I will ever be too old for that, even if everyone else thinks I am. Just wait, next year I am taking all the kiddies in the family around trick-or-treating in the neighborhood.
This week was a pretty good one (though lacking, on Saturday, in American spirit – haha, spirit, get it?). The weather has been strange here though. It feels like fall. Some days are raining and chilly, and some days are terribly warm. I don’t know what to think or whether to put on sunblock. Don’t worry, I do anyways, despite the day’s prognosis. We had some very good lessons this week with our progressing investigators, especially our friend Michel Tuigana. He is a very large Futunian man who, when we first met him, seemed to lack comprehension, but now whenever we see him it is as though he has a new light in him. He reads the verses that we give him, and sometimes he even memorizes them! That makes our day. We move slowly with him, but he says that he wants to be baptized and that he knows that the Book of Mormon is true. I am not sure he quite understands, at this point, the ramifications of all of that, but in time we will help him understand with the help of the Spirit and our members. We have been doing a lot of work with the members here in Paita. Our biggest help is Alicia Toyon. She is preparing to serve a mission, and we eat at her family’s house every Friday night. Frere Toyon and Dad would get along great since he is an avid reader and has intelligent insight about Gospel principles. I love listening to him. He and his wife have been members for about 12 years, but his knowledge of the Gospel and its breadth is incredible. He always says one phrase when we come over to their house for dinner (because somehow the conversation always leads to food, eating and weight gain), “Casse pas le tete, casse le croute.” Translated it means, “Don’t worry, just eat!”
On Tuesday we did some door to door contacting and got chastised by a wizened Melanesian woman, but the next house we knocked there was this lovely Tahitian woman who we found out knew many of the branch members here and had a lot of family in the church in Tahiti. Later that day we also met a man who was very willing to listen to us and later, his girlfriend came home and she told us that her mother was a member but had died a year ago. His name is Steve and her’s, Estelle. She said she had prayed about the Book of Mormon and the Church when her mother was baptized, but that she had never received an answer. We talked about the principle of prayer and how Heavenly Father answers in His own timetable and when we are ready to accept His will. We are excited to visit them again soon – there is hope! There is always hope.
On Thursday we worked a little with our one American-loving member, Soeur Pene. She is a little nutty, and when we took her home she went skipping along down the path to her house. She is about 70 years old, but with a spry spirit like hers you would think she was still 12.
On Thursday night I became pretty sick. I am okay now, but I think I ate something Thursday that did not settle well and I was up all night in the bathroom. On Friday I was too weak and dizzy to go out so I slept until 12, and then we tried to do weekly planning but I only lasted about 2 hours before I had to go lay down again. I don’t think it was food poisoning, but it was something. Two brothers in the branch came over to give me a blessing in the afternoon. Frère Ahuroa said that sometimes missionaries fake being sick because the work is too hard for them. He also said that he would bring over some of his wife’s Tahitian salad, convinced that it would cure me of whatever I had. He saved himself with that Tahitian salad promise because I was not faking the illness. The next morning I felt good as new and was hungry. Thank goodness we had that Tahitian salad in the fridge.
There is much to do today and so little time. I can’t believe that it is already November. I am two months from being halfway through my mission. That is bizarre.
Thanks for all your love and support. I am glad that all is well on the homefront (knock on wood!), and that you are enjoying the cooler weather. I hope you all had a happy Halloween. I hope you enjoy eating stew from a pumpkin, Mom, Dad, and family. I hope next year you will make me stew in a pumpkin when I come home. That is all I ask for.
Have a lovely week. Share the Gospel with someone! Treat the missionaries nicely and encourage them! Ask them who they are teaching! Read the Book of Mormon! Say your prayers! Live the Gospel.
Love,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. Mom, one lady we teach told us about this birthing process where they birth their children in the river, completely in the water. Have you ever heard of that?
P.S.S. A small request: one of our members asked if I could ask someone from home to send a Deseret Book magazine that has a selection of CTR rings. She wants to purchase a CTR ring and doesn’t know any other way to do so but through the magazine.

Le travail continue! (26 octobre 2009)

Dear Family,
Thanks so much for your support and letters! It has been such a great week here in Paita and in the mission in general. We had our zone conference on Tuesday with all the other missionaries, and the talks that our leaders gave were inspiring and lead by the Spirit. Our zone leaders gave an amazing interpretation of the parable of the Good Samaritan and how it relates to missionary work and the Plan of Salvation. I am constantly impressed by the spirit, knowledge, and capabilities of the other missionaries and of our President. At the end of our conference two of the elders who are leaving soon to go back home to Tahiti bore their testimonies and our entire assembly was in tears.
On Wednesday we had a wonderful lesson with our progressing investigator Ismaella. She loves reading the Book of Mormon, and she is trying to be a good example to her husband. She asked about a girl who had come to our lesson before and we told her that it was Alicia, who was a member. She then asked “How can I become a member of your church?” I nearly burst out of my chair with joy this question. I contained myself and we explained baptism. We are excited about our upcoming lessons with her.
Later that night we had an English lesson with Messina and Sephora – Sephora is going to write Heather a letter with the English she is learning. That will be sent in a few weeks. Later that night once we arrived home, I fell asleep in my outfit for the day after our nightly planning. I was just a little bit tired. I woke up the next morning a bit confused as to my attire: “Why am I still in my skirt?”
On Thursday we did some service at our friend, Josephine’s house. We are de-weeding her yard – which is quite a task since the weeds are not exactly the type that we find in California. But it was good work, and she fed us rice and soup afterwards.
On Saturday there was a ward activity at the branch building – well, I guess you would call it a branch activity – and there was a LOT of food, but I wasn’t feeling too well so I just ate some po’e. That is a must. Even if I was on my deathbed I know I would still force myself to eat lovely, delicious po’e. We had a lesson with Michel Ciani later on that day and I became inwardly frustrated with him. It is distressing to see your investigator who knows the truth, who is saying all the right things, to not act upon that knowledge, and to not have any desire to read the Book of Mormon or do, well, anything. Thank goodness that our Heavenly Father has infinite patience because sometimes I am in need of so much more. On Sunday we had branch conference and the formations (the talks) that were given were good. I didn’t get as much from them as I would have liked because I was doing the translation for Sister Mautz, but that’s always a fun challenge for me. Soeur Seiko and I taught in Gospel Principles about the responsibilities of the family, and after church Sour Pene came with us to one of our lessons. Soeur Pene is the member in our ward who loves bursting out in English song to the American missionaries. She is helpful and enjoys giving us early morning telephone calls. She has this big American flag sticker on her church bag and she tells me that she may be Tahitian but she knows that in her heart that she is an American. Then she rattles off the flag salute and “God Bless America” in her falsetto voice.
! I am so thankful to be here, and I hope that I can continue to work hard and serve Heavenly Father well. He has done everything for me, and He asks me to do so little for Him.
I love you all so much. That is great that Kristina was accepted into her desired program of study, Way to go Alex and his awesome school accomplishments. I hope everyone had good birthdays, and I am glad that my package arrived home safely.
Love,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. It is getting hot here – but the one consolation is that the mango trees are teeming; soon it will be a mango feast.

the biggest marmite of rice i have ever seen.

service at in josephine's jungle

Still in Paita (19 octobre 2009)

Chère Famille,
Je me trouve toujours à Paita! I am still in Paita - no transfers; you can stop holding your breath. No, for some reason missionaries get excited about transfers and who's going where and what companionships will be. In fact, we play the "transfer game" - each person deciding who they think will go where. I don’t like playing it when the sisters get moved around; it’s only fun to do it for the elders. We are a funny brand, we missionaries. I thought, for example that I was going to go to Magenta (a walking sector) where I would hopefully walk off all this extra baggage. The gossipy elders (who are worse than girls, I tell you - haha, that's was in Ann Dibb's talk:"I tell you") made me think that I would be transferred, but alas, President has seen it fit to keep me in Paita for a time. I am glad. We have gained the confidence of the members and are working more and more with them - which, if you didn't know, is très important to the work. I would like to invite you (because good missionaries always give commitments and "invite" others to do things) to go work with the missionaries. Do you do that? Have you asked the elders if you could help them?
On Monday of last week, Soeur Seiko and I went to do our shopping in Tontouta and on the way home we took a shortcut. We came over this one hill and BAM, there was the most gorgeous Pacific island ocean view anyone could ask for. On top of that, we found a man with a beachfront location and he said we could take his road down to the ocean front. He then came down and talked to us. We found out that he lives in Paita and that he is family with some of our amis. We gave his a brochure.
On Tuesday at our district meeting we heard the testimony of a Tahitian elder, Elder Aiho, who is going home this Wednesday. He is a great missionary.
On Wednesday we went to an amie’s house, and she had left us a note outside on her porch that said she didn't want to meet with us anymore. We wondered what we had done and felt pretty depressed. However, I know that it was her decision and we left her a note of encouragement and told her that we were always there if she wanted to talk. There are the highest of highs and the lowest of lows on the mission. That was a low.
On Saturday we had a good English lesson with our friend Janne. It wasn't even really an English lesson. We didn't have any books in English besides the Gospel library so we gave her a copy of Our Search for Happiness and kept one for us to follow along with. She read one of the pages for this week where E. Ballard talks about his convictions for Jesus Christ, and she said she was touched by that and she had a bizarre, but wonderful feeling come over her. We talked about Christ for a while and other Gospel topics. We then went into our English conversation topic for the week: Our favorite book. I began and I pulled out a copy of, what else but my favorite book, the Book of Mormon. I bore my testimony in English (the first time on my mission) and Soeur Seiko bore hers testimony too. Then we gave her the book and expressed our hopes that it would become her favorite book. The Spirit was SO strong in our lesson. She is a humble, sweet person and I am excited to do a follow-up on her reading at our next "English" lesson.
Anyway, the rest of Saturday was spent trying to visit Michel, who was apparently having some major problems with his renters and had to call the police. The renters haven't paid for over six months and he had to kick them out, and there was a bit of a commotion (that is a euphemism for the situation, by the way) and we had to leave. We went and visited our amie Aimée who was celebrating her 75th birthday! When we found that out we ran to the patisserie and bought these heavenly French cake things with fruit on top and brought Soeur Toyon to teach with us. It was a happy afternoon.
On Sunday we had district conference with all the branches, and later that night we had a missionary fireside on the Restoration. It was the usual - singing, visuals, and a narration. The narrator had the most amazing French accent ever - I fell in love. With his accent, of course. Not Frère Leau himself. We had invited Mikaele and Helene and their girls and they came. Imagine that.
Today we are having a FHE with President Ostler and tomorrow is Zone Conference. I had a good interview with President today and played volleyball with the elders. The mission is the best place on earth. I appreciate every minute, even the hard ones.
Let me not forget a HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Alex and Glen. I love you both!
Love,
Soeur Cummins

la famille teugaisiale

Glorious general conference and other island happenings (12 octobre 2009)

Dear Family,
First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HEATHY SHEA! I love you, petite soeur. 13 years old. I showed your picture to my companion and she said she thought you were 15 or 16. I felt better saying, now, that you’re 13 and not 12.
There just isn’t enough time in my short hour of Internet usage to explain to you how much I love this mission of mine and how much I love the Gospel and how I wish only to live and breathe the Gospel all the days of my life here on earth. I, like Paul, am not ashamed of this glorious work.
General Conference was good. So good, so good! We watched it this past weekend at the Rivière Salée building, and thankfully they had a room set up for the missionaries to watch it in English. I am not sure I would have gotten as much out of it had I seen it in French as I did in English. I was just blown away by the inspiration that went into every talk given, and the Spirit was so strong throughout the four sessions. I loved Elder Scott’s talk on the Spirit, the talk on why we are given burden’s to bear, and Elder Holland’s talk was a powerhouse of Book of Mormon goodness! The Spirit was SO strong, and I felt even a little irreverent saying amen at the end because I didn’t want the feeling to end and the silence to break. How could anyone deny the testimony that he gave of the divinity of the Book of Mormon? I never saw it in that perspective before, and he was full of the Spirit of prophesy when he testified! One of the Rivière Salée sisters’ investigators said that he wanted to be baptized after watching the conferences (I was there with Sister Leavitt when he said that he wanted to be baptized), and I wished so much that our investigators would have and could have come and seen that. I only wished that Elder Holland could be another one of our companions and bear that testimony to all of our amis. Then there was President Monson’s touching talk about service and “warm fuzzies”. He remains so spry and humorous in his age. His talk reminded me of this one lady, Madame DeGrellon, who lives just two houses above us. She lives all alone and is lonely, and we are able to go by once a week and visit. We called her on Friday and asked if we could eat lunch with her. We prepared a salad and went over and she had made us soup, pasta and crepes! She seemed very happy to have the company even if all she could talk about was her sadness. I hope we were able to brighten her day a little, and I am thankful that Heavenly Father led us to her even if she wants nothing to do with religion. But we know, at least, that pure religion is taking care of her (James 1:27).
I also loved the songs. Oh, the chorale prayers that the Tabernacle offered! The veil becomes thin when the air is full of such praising chorus. I feel that I was truly sanctified by the Spirit in listening to conference, and like the people of King Benjamin after his address, I have no desire to do evil but good continually.
I hope you all enjoyed conference as well. If someone could send me an Ensign with the conference addresses in English next month that would be superb! We get the Liahona in the addresses in French, but I would like an English copy as well. Merci!
So, just a little recap on the week: On Thursday there was a tsunami warning due to some earthquakes in the Vanuatu islands. The weather was very foreshadowing that morning and had a weird charge to it – then we heard about the warning. We kept teaching though and later when we came home at lunch our district leader called and told us to stay in. Then 10 minutes later the warning was lifted and we were back on missionary schedule. These natural disasters have been prophesized already; we live in the last days.
I can’t write much more because I have been gabbing to you all about General Conference, but I want you all to know that I love you. I hope that doesn’t come as a surprise to you (like it did to that one family Elder Bednar talked about – oops! I would have hated to have been that Dad), and I hope I can show my love for you in the work I do here. I love the Lord. I am so grateful to be serving Him as I serve his children here. I think I am going to be transferred from this sector next week. I will tell you next week if my suspicions are fulfilled. I have loved serving in Paita. When I think of leaving Soeur Seiko I want to cry – she has been an amazing support and quiet, firm example to me. I love her so much. But, I am glad to serve where I am called, and change means progression and how I so desire to progress and become better. Thanks to Christ, I know that is possible for me.
I hope you all know that I have a testimony of the Gospel and of our Savior Jesus Christ. I want you to know that I love God, and I am trying to be obedient in all the things He has commanded of me. I hope you are striving to love Him as well through your obedience.
Be wise and have a good week.
Love you all,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. We are going fishing today for my first time– Soeur Seiko is teaching me.

Miles to go (5 octobre 2009)

Dearest Family,
I can just imagine Dad cooking General Conference breakfast for you all (yum! where am I?), and you have no idea how jealous I am that you all got to watch conference this past weekend. We are to see the transmission of it next weekend all together down at the Rivière Salée building, and it will be translated into French (well, clearly). I have never been quite as thrilled at the idea of General Conference as I find that I am now at this moment in my life. How VERY blessed we are to know that there is a prophet who leads us, loves us and has been chosen by the very God of all mankind. I am also glad to hear that the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang my favorite song (yes, that one is my favorite song, Mommers). I am sure that my Monday email will be bursting with expression of Gospel joy. I do not feel like I can even contain or express all the love and joy that fills my spirit when it comes to the Gospel. I just want to dance and smile and never let the feeling go – imagine what joy will be like in the celestial realms, when even here on earth we have times of joy beyond our capacity to comprehend. I feel like it is at those moments that the veil becomes thin and our spirits anticipate that which awaits us in the life to come.
This week on Tuesday we had a big zone conference for the north zone up at the Tontouta branch building. My companion and I gave a formation (a talk) on how to maintain the fruits of our labors, or better said, how to help our investigators who are progressing to continue progressing. It went well and the whole day was enlightening. I adore this work we do. I am so content in reading and studying the scriptures, and every month when we receive the Liahona (the translated version of the Ensign, New Era and the Friend combined) it is like Christmas. I think I would love to work for the Church magazines someday. That would be a dream.
Soeur Carter, a sister who I actually knew before the mission when she and I were in the CS Lewis Society together (imagine that!), did a split with me here in Paita on Wednesday. We had a very good time together. She is a humble, unassuming sister who does thorough work and has a heart full of pure diligence and love for Christ.
Thursday was my 6 month mark on the mission. I only have a year left. I ask myself, “what have I done so far?” Have I done any good in the world? Am I any different? Where have I progressed? Who have I helped? I hope that these last 6 months have seen a markable change in me. I feel as though my very heart has changed and that my desires as a missionary and in life have become purer and clearer. How wonderfully the Gospel can illuminate our life. I still have a lifetime of work in self-purification, but I feel that I am progressing, which is the very purpose of our lives and, in fact, of eternity.
Yesterday one of our amis, Petelo, came to church with his cousin. We had a lesson with him later that afternoon and he told us that he was a disappointed with the meetings. Sacrament was not as reverent as it should have been, and many testimonies were not of true testimony quality. One of the members chastised the congregation, in fact. Gotta love the Tontouta branch. We explained to Petelo that perhaps there were members that just didn’t fully understand the true importance of that meeting, but that we were glad that he understood and were thankful for his example of reverence. I am not sure, but I think it should maybe be the members that set the example for outsiders???? Maybe that’s just me. But, with all sarcasm aside, Petelo did say that he wanted to bear his testimony and that he would come back so he could do so. That was good. He is progressing. I just wish and pray that our branch will as well – people get too comfortable with the fact that they have the Gospel and that they don’t need to do anything. They have the knowledge, but they simply forget or don’t care to act on it.
Yesterday we also met with another amie, Malia Feleu (who if you remember me talking about her, did not actually move but will after Christmas), who exclaimed that she LOVES Joseph Smith and his story.
For the most part, it has been another good week. There are always some pitfalls – like Michel who just doesn’t progress despite his testimony of the truth, or the Wallisians who still persist in talking about the details of the death of Michael Jackson with us. But, pray and fast are good remedies for such. I am trying to improve my prayers, and I seek for more ways to be obedient – like, following the speed limit with exactness. You have no idea how hard it is to resist accelerating when you are going 20 mph and you have a queue of 7 cars behind you. I now avoid looking in the rearview mirror when such occurrences happen. Just face the tree of life and don’t look around at the people in the large and spacious building – or the large and spacious Peugeot behind you. That’s a good scripture application.
Speaking of running, I must go! My hour is nearly up and “I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep. And miles to go before I sleep.” Thank you, Robert Frost.
Love,
Soeur Cummins

Why, hello! (28 septembre 2009)

Dearest Family,
Yes, it has been another week in this ever growing warmer paradise. I drink water, and sunscreen is a daily skin ritual. No worries. My tan lines grow ever clearer against the white skin that is perpetually protected.
So, you are all doing well? I hope so. Oh, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Kari dearest – it is her birthday here today, but I hope the day today for her tomorrow (if that makes an ounce of sense) is glorious. I am posting a small package home today filled with some birthday cards, the camera card and some pictures. You should get it sometime in the next two to three weeks, although one of the elders told me that his mom just received a letter that he sent to her in April. I hope my package doesn’t experience the same voyage time.
This week was great! I just love this mission – so much! It has been 6 months in three days! Wow. Last night we were down at the Rivière Salée building practicing some songs with the district for a Christmas concert. Afterwards Soeur Seiko saw her older sister (Soeur Seiko sees her family a lot of the time here, since they’re on the same island). Her sister served in Fiji and one of her old companions, Sister Crow, from Canada came to visit her. Soeur Leavitt and I talked to her for a while since she didn’t speak much French. I asked if she knew an Elder Shaw from her mission in Fiji (it was 4 years ago for her) and she said yes. Once again, what a small, Mormon world. She commenced in telling us how she still thought of her mission and missed it every day. She said that for two years after coming home that she would just burst into tears weekly because she missed it so much. Foreshadowing? I hope not.
This week many experiences were, well, experienced. On Tuesday I had to teach a lesson at our district meeting – I am such a fan at applying the scripture stories to life right now. There are so many things we can learn through the Book of Mormon and I try to ask myself every time I read a chapter, “why was this included?” “Why is this story here and what do I need to understand from it?” I hope you do the same.
On Tuesday afternoon we had a lesson with our progressing investigator Lorenza. We watched the Restoration DVD and though she was distracted by her baby at the beginning she was into the second half. It was an enriching experience. I cannot stymie the tears that come to my eyes when I watched that DVD and think of the humble boy Joseph, called to be the prophet of the restoration of the eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is so clear and true to me.
We ate at the famille Ahuroa's that night. Soeur Ahuroa has the strongest character of anyone I have ever met. I cannot explain her justly in the written word, but I assure you that I will have many a story to recount featuring the one and only Soeur Mohia Ahuroa when I come home.
On Thursday we taught a Madame Sejo with a member and we watched the Restoration DVD again. It didn’t have quite the same effect as it did the time with Lorenza. Madame Sejo is very Protestant, and afterward she told us that the Jehovah’s Witnesses have the same film and asked which church it really belonged to. Then she talked to us about false prophets and asked us to go home and reflect about what she was telling us. Soeur Seiko and I bore our testimonies of the reality of Joseph Smith as a prophet called by God and of Jesus Christ as our Savior. I knew she was trying to rattle us and shake our faith and beliefs, but does she really think that someone who has travelled across the world to spend 24/7 doing this work is weak in faith and testimony? Not in this case. It made me think of Jacob and Sherem - how Jacob’s faith could not be shaken despite the cunning and clever words of Sherem; how he bore powerful testimony of Jesus Christ and let that be his final stance.
On Thursday we cleaned the home of a neighbor of ours (Mamie DeGrellon) who is very old and very, very alone. Her’s is a sad story, but I don’t have time to tell it at present. She is entirely uninterested with our Gospel message, but she is sick and alone and in need of some smiling faces and listening ears. We were able, at one visit, to find out the birth and death dates of her husband, her birthdate, and their marriage date. This will be put to good use at a future time. Anyway, just know that when we started cleaning her house that we were nearly attacked by all the cockroaches and insects that emerged from the nooks and crannies. It wasn’t pleasant. Something must truly be dirty if you have to clean fungus off a bar of soap.
The rest of the week was filled with other events: It rained on Friday which cleared away a bit of the heat, there was a baptism and a fireside at our branch building on Saturday (with refreshments, of course), and Sunday was a calm Sabbath.
I love you all very much! Have a good week and don’t forget to put prayer and scripture study first in your lives. Just follow the counsel of Jacob: “O be wise, what more can I say.”
Love,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. General Conference is soon! Oui!

happy birthday, soeur Ahuroa

Me revoici - another week in Calédonie! (21 septembre 2009)

Dearest Familia – oh, that’s Spanish not French…
I have had an amazing week and the missionary work here is progressing well, especially thanks to the help of the members and their presence at our lessons. They give provide a lot of necessary validity to the truths we are sharing, and they give such needed common ground to our investigators. I feel like an average human being, but to our investigators, missionaries are like extraordinary humans (or just extraterrestrial) and the members we bring are people that they, on the more part, have more trust and confidence in.
On Tuesday this week we had a super lesson (I have been saying super a lot lately because it translates well, but I think I need to find a more refined word…) with Lorenza and we brought Alicia Toyon along with us. We taught the Plan of Salvation and it just went super! There’s that word again. Anyway, it’s amazing the joy that an investigator who actually KEEPS their commitments (reading the brochures/ Livre de Mormon, praying, studying certain topics) can bring to the missionaries that teach them. There are few things that compare to the simple joy that comes when an investigator says the three simple words, “Oui, j’ai lu” or “Yes, I read.” Later that evening we also taught another investigator, Michel Tuigana, a lesson on the same topic. He was responsive and attentive. He is usually slow at understanding the things we teach and his progression is slow, but that night it was like he was quickened, like the scriptures say, by the Spirit. He understood the plan of Heavenly Father.
On Wednesday we did a bit of “pàp” (porte-à-porte / door-to-door) in the lotissement of Gadji where our investigator Yori and his dad live. We met a Melanesian woman with the most fantastic purple red fro hair named Georgette. We had a lesson next door with her Wallisian neighbor, Malia Hélèna. Wallisians are an interesting contradiction; they are open, warm people and will invite you in, discuss readily any Gospel subject. Yet, at the same time, they are very closed minded. They are Catholic. They will stay Catholic. They will not budge. I can’t criticize them too much, because they are the most giving people I have ever met (and I am no judge). You walk up their driveway without any notice and they drop everything, offer you something to drink, something to eat, and then they will talk with you for the next hour or so. I can’t say that that would happen all too often in America, but when I return home I hope to stay true to the sweet way I have been treated, doing the same for others.
That night we ate at Mikael and Hélène’s, like we do every week. I walked around their garden with their daughters and taught them English nature vocabulary before dinner. Mikael came home with McDonalds for us.
Summer is going to be a haven here in regards to fruit. All the trees are flowering – you would simply be amazed by all the mango, papaya, and lechi trees here. I doubt I will even need to spend money on food during the summer with all the abundance that the earth is going to spill into our pantry.
Thursday we painted a house of an investigator of the elders up in Tontouta, next to the branch building. The wife chose a nice key lime green for the exterior paint. How lovely, eh? Not my first choice of exterior paint colors, but, to each their own, right? At one of our afternoon lesson, Soeur Pene came to teach with us and she showed us an article that was from an American newspaper. She said that her uncle’s son was in the article and it was saying how he had received his mission call to Tahiti. I looked at the article and the boy is from Hesperia. Small world.
On Sunday there was a sweet spirit in our sacrament meeting and a calming reverence. I hope it continues to be like that. Soeur Seiko spoke in that meeting. She was incredible. I admire her so much.
La fin. Love you.
Love,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. I wrote this to Mom, but I want to write this to all: please please please find the recent CES Fireside talk by Elder Bednar from May 2009! It's on lds.org - just put "Things as They Really Are" into the search box. I just read it and I thought of the family and my dear friends. It talks about how we abuse our physical bodies by spending too much time doing virtual things - it was interesting and made me reflect on how I want to manage my time on the Internet when I get back from my mission. It would be edifying for you to read it. Okay, that’s all for now from this little sliver of French paradise!

soeur seiko and I

soeur seiko et yori

Le 14 septembre (14 septembre 2009)

Bonjour... en fait, bonsoir chère famille,
Vous allez bien? I am writing a little later in the day today because the Internet place in Paita was closed and we had to come down to Nouméa for a dance practice (explanation later) at the Magenta building, and well, voilà, we finished a few mintues ago. We were practicing a Tahitian dance that the sisters will be doing for our Christmas missionary talent night. We will definitely be filming the dance so you can see how terribly these poor hips of mine bounce around.
I hope you are well! I heard that there are some major fires going on in California, and I fear that you won't tell me if you all have been evacuated or not. I hope they aren't affecting us, but knowing Southern California I can't be too sure.
It was a wonderful week here in the field. We had our zone conference on Tuesday where we were edified by the talks that our leaders gave. Mostly just on avoiding pride, being bolder in talking to people, and counsel on how to be better missionaries. I am seeing more and more how much we need to lean on the Lord in this work, how important it is to be clean on the inner vessel and the strength that comes from being fully consecrated. Zone conference is always fortifying; surrounded by a bunch of missionaries who are striving to be their best selves. I am always a little overwhelmed after zone conference though because I see all the things that I need to work on and better in my missionary life. I am trying to take everything day by day though; trying to be the best I can be, the best that the Lord can make me.
On Wednesday we had an appointment with our new investigator Santony, a 19 year young man. He is interested in our message because, although he is Catholique, he doesn't have a very good scriptural base and we perceive that he has the desire to know more and develop his spiritual side. He asked what the 10 commandments were and when we opened to Exodus he asked, "The 10 commandments are in the Bible?" We taught him the message of the Restoration, which I just love sharing. He was very accepting of what we shared with him and he kept asking questions. At the end we found out that his father passed away three years ago and so next time we are going to teach the Plan of Salvation. I know it sounds awful, but when I find out that our investigators have lost a love one I get so excited because then we get to teach them the Plan and give them the hope that they will see their loved ones again and live with them, in joy, for all eternity. That is, of course, if we accomplish the “after all we can do” part.
On Thursday we had to take the Berlingo down to Nouméa to get some repairs, and Elder Mautz and the elders of Kuotio drove us back to our sector. It was pouring rain when they dropped us off at our appointment, and since our car was down in the city all day we were going to be on foot. But, providentially, after our lesson with Madame Baille the rain stopped but the clouds stayed - thus it was just a mild, cloudy day. No sunburn! We walked for about an hour to get to our next appointment, only to find out that she wasn't there. We did some knocking in the area and then ate lunch. There were some workers sitting in the same area as us in the town square when we ate lunch, and they beckoned us over. What a surprise it must have been when we came over and shared the message of the Restoration with them. One of the men actually seemed interested after we talked. We’ll see how that pans out.
On Friday we had our grande planification for next week and ate at the Toyon's for dinner. Their oldest daughter Alicia came back from her studies in France to prepare for her mission - she is awaiting her call. We are excited to have her work with us in Paita while she is home.
On Saturday we had another meeting with Lorenza, who had read her chapter in the Book of Mormon. We taught about the Holy Spirit and how He works and what His function in the Godhead is. She prayed for us at the end. It was heartfelt and since.
On Sunday we had church. Yeah, we thought we’d do something a little different and go to church. J Sacrament meeting was good and it was quieter than usual - a good thing considering our rambunctious branch. Soeur Seiko and I taught about missionary work in gospel principles class, and I shared the story of how Mom was taught by the missionaries at age 17 in England. How very thankful I am for missionary work for that very reason. There was a nice spirit in our class since many of the people in there were found and were taught by missionaries. It is important for each one of us to be missionaries in every way we can.
Just a side note: Mom, thanks for accepting the Gospel and following the Spirit’s promptings. Look where it has brought your family.
After church we taught a lesson, ate, and had a song practice at the Rivière Salée building for our Christmas fireside. I know, it's only September. Then we came home and studied for the night. I was feeling a discourgaed last night - one of the first times since being out here. I am not sure why I was feeling like that. I suppose I see that I need to be more fully consecrated to the work and more single-minded on the glory of God. I know I can be doing more and doing better. I’ll set some goals to help me attain a higher level of dedication.
Before I go, can I just describe a moment I had today? We drove down to the Magenta building, which is right by Magenta plage (the beach). We walked to a store, bought some sandwiches for lunch and walked over and sat under some palm trees/oak trees in the grass on the outskirts of the sand. We sat there in the shade facing the ocean grandness and the wind was blowing gracefully - just enough to push all your hair back. We sat there for a good while, enjoying the ocean scene. I am going to miss this place immensely when the time comes to leave. I still have a year and a little bit left though, so no need to get too sentimental.
I love it here so much. I am eternally grateful for this experience.
I love you all dearly, dearly, dearly. I hope you have a good week, et jusqu'au lundi prochain je vous laisse
Avec tout mon amour,
Soeur Cummins
P.S. Maybe some more exciting stories in the week to come - but maybe it's better if avoid the things that create exciting stories. Hmm...

So little time, so much to tell (7 septembre 2009)

Dearest Famille,
I am glad to hear that the school year has started off with a bang. There is such opportunity and potential at the beginning of a school year.
I am glad everyone is doing well in school (and seminary). One of the sisters here, Soeur Li-Khau teaches early morning as well and she wanted to tell you, Mom, that she empathizes. I always enjoyed seminary, though the 5:30 hour was not ideal. I am glad you are back at the church with seminary. You sound really happy for the fact that you get to hang things up and leave them there.
Alex would like Mr. Arner - I am sure they get along well, knowing their personalities. I just hope Alex has more success in that class than I did; that dreadful B! And, I am glad Keeks and Heather are finding joy in their friends and in the things they are doing at school. I always liked being busy with clubs, groups band, etc. I have to admit that I miss playing my French horn, locked so forlornly away in that closet at home. And, actually having time to play the piano? Soeur Seiko and I imagined what it would be like if we had a piano in our apartment, and we decided that we would probably play the piano and sing all day, and no missionary work would be accomplished whatsoever.
This week: It is slowly but surely getting hot here, and it’s only September.
We had a lesson with our amie, Lorenza, who is progressing so well! Soeur Li-Khau came to our lesson and Lorenza surprised us by saying that she had found the Book of Mormon (that we actually gave to her father) and started reading it. She understands the story well already and continues to read. Later that day (Tuesday), we were walking along the side of a road to go visit a less-active and we ran into a Vanuatu girl walking home from school. Soeur Seiko stopped her and we talked a little about the church and who we were. We asked if we could teach her a little about the message we had. We crossed the street to an open field in front of an abandoned house and sat down in the grass and had the first lesson with her. Her name is Christine and she is studying at the high school (lycée) here, but she is from Vanuatu and her family still lives there. She was nice – we’ll see what happens next.
On Tuesday night we ate at the Ahuroa’s house, and of course, Soeur Ahuroa served us way too much and, of course, we had to eat it all. Sometimes I wonder if my stomach is going to just give up. After dinner we went next door where another member, Valerie, lives. Valerie was practicing a Tahitian dance for a wedding reception and she taught us a little bit of the dance. Soeur Ahuroa thought that my dancing and hip shaking was funny and keep laughing and laughing and laughing. It was that bad.
On Wednesday we taught Yori and he had two of his soccer friends there with him. We kicked the ball around at first and played a little get to know you game called “oui, non” (where you try to get someone to say “yes” or “no”), and then we had a lesson from the Book of Mormon children’s reader on Enos and prayer. We also taught a little bit about Joseph Smith and his prayer and the effects of that simple prayer. I love teaching kids. I feel like I am more at ease with them. Sometimes talking to adults is difficult, especially when you are a foreigner. I dislike being different, but not only do I look different, but I have an accent which I am working on ridding myself of. On a few rare occasions, I have had people ask if I am from France and they immediately become my best friends. Most of the time though I get funny looks for the way I say things. It is a daily change – some days I can speak, and others I do not succeed. It just goes to show how dependant I am on the Lord for help.
On Thursday, Soeur Seiko and I de-weeded the backyard of a friend named Josephine. She is old. Shecan’t really do much weeding herself. She gave us machetes, a rake and we were off. I love weeding with the machete. Hiyah! Soeur Seiko discovered a huge millipede and called me over to kill it. I screamed and then hiyah, hiyah! Au revoir millepatte! Then Soeur Seiko looked down at my feet and gasped and I screamed because I thought it was another millepatte. Then Soeur Seiko laughed because she wanted to spook me. Not funny.
On Friday Soeur Seiko and I went down into the big city for our Sister’s night that we have each time President and his wife come to the island for our zone conferences. We picked up the soeurs of Rivière Salée and went to McDonalds for dinner – which is ALWAYS packed. They have some interesting items at McDo’s specifique to French tastes – like the McCroque.
At our “soiree des soeurs” we ate brownies, talked and the President’s wife talked to us about different principles to work on and think about for the next few weeks. It was a nice time to be with all the sisters. There are not many missionaries on the islands so we are all close with one another. I just love my mission – have I expressed that thought recently?
On Friday we had our interviews with President, which went well and we went to the tiny, tiny church distribution center next to the chapel in Magenta and bought Jesus the Christ in French. I came to the sixth word in the preface and had to pull out the dictionary.
On Saturday night there was another fireside at our branch building (we had so many activities planned for the next two months – I think we are going to get burned out soon) where all the ex-missionary members bore their testimony and shared some stories from their missions. Afterwards we had dinner – lots of good Tahitians salads, rice and Po’e! President Li-Khau prepared a Tahitian specialty called fafarou that not many people can stomach. It is raw fish that has been cooked in putrid seawater – the smell of it is liquid sewer that is putrid beyond all putridity. I was offered a piece and ate it just so I could say that I did. Elder Aiho (a Tahitian elder) took a picture of me eating another piece and Elder Wilcox tried a piece as well. Soeur Seiko did not eat any. She nearly threw up. Elder Aiho (who will finish his mission in a month) said that we were the only two Americans he knew on his mission that had eaten it. I felt queasy afterwards, but all is well. For now.
Anyway, church went well yesterday. After church we had a few musical practices. I am directing the Young Woman in a few songs they will be singing in two Sundays, and we also sang (Soeur Seiko toujours at the piano) the Army of Helaman/Sisters in Zion melody with a bunch of members who are singing next week. :) We meet a young man last night here in the village named Miguel, whom we have talked to a little before and who is very poor and begs for money on the side of the stores. We spoke to him about God and His love for each of us. I could just see and feel that this was truly a beloved son of God and I could see something change about him as we spoke to him of truth and of the light that Christ brings to our lives. We gave him a Book of Mormon and I just felt the Spirit so strongly.
Life is so wonderful. It is hard here at time, but the difficulty only lines the joy and blessed days that we spend here. It seems that at the times of greatest difficulty and sadness that we can experience the greatest joy and see great blessings. I wonder how such opposites can fill the same moments of time, but I do not doubt that it is truly Heavenly Father’s loving hand.
I wish you all a lovely Labor day where you will actually rest from your labors. I love you all so much, and pray continually for your well-being in all aspects of life. I cherish you all immensely.
Love,
Soeur Cummins

September starts his engines (31 août 2009)

Dearest Family,
What a glorious week it has been here in New Caledonia, and do note that it is New Caledonia and not Fiji here. I think many people are still under the impression due to the deceptive name of the mission here that I am serving in Fiji, but lo and behold, that is not the case; just some clarification.
This week Soeur Seiko and I had some good and bad experiences in our area. We had this investigator named Malia Feleu, whom I might have mentioned previously, who was progressing so well! We gave her a Book of Mormon and she showed the picture of Joseph Smith, in the front of the book, to her family and told them that he was a prophet of God. She told us that she feels so good when we come by, and we have really become close to her thanks to the spirit that abides during our lessons. Then, this week she told us that her husband’s work is changing and that had to move that weekend up to Koné, which is way north where the church is inexistent (there were missionaries there before but it was unproductive). We were very sad! She said they would be moving back possibly in two years, and I nearly cried. We wrote on her progression sheet later that the missionaries in the area should try to contact her again in 2011. Totally depressing. Before she left though, we loaded her down with Liahona’s (the church’s magazine outside of the USA) and brochures and Church literature. Sad, but there is definite hope for the future.
We had another lesson with Ismaella this week who just absorbs all we teach her. She said that she feels the same way as Joseph Smith did about James 1:5 (that it touched him profoundly – beyond anything he had read before) about the Book of Mormon. We taught her husband this week and he was a bit skeptical (naturally) and asked a lot of questions. We hope that he continues to meet with us and follow the example of his humble, faithful wife.
Yes, the French is coming along nicely, although there are still many moments where I need the help of Larousse. Oh, Larousse is a dear friend of mine now – coaxing me, like a gentle mother, to “use my words”. The other day I decided to say a prayer outloud in English after a companionship study (requested by my companion), and it was bizarre and will not be habitual. It was the first time in five months that I prayed in English. I felt like I was translating from French to English and I didn’t feel close to the Spirit. Interesting how that has changed. I feel like my greatest spiritual moments in my life so far have been in French, on my mission.
Have I told you what my favorite word in the French language at this point is? Quincaillerie – it means hardware store. I sing it out whenever we passed the local quincaillerie. Soeur Seiko knows I am a bordering on nuts so she laughs kindly at such outbursts. You know, I am thankful for my companion. We have the most edifying studies together, and she is so patient, loving and constant. She keeps going, and she keeps me going.
On Saturday we had a big service day down in Nouméa with the entire district (all the members on the island). We went to Mont Dore and did some major litter picking-up in the community. Soeur Seiko and I labored in the hot sun for nearly 3 hours picking up an absurd number of beer cans on the side of the road. There is a major Word of Wisdom problem here as we realized more fully Saturday bending over for each can of yuck. We were nearly attacked during our service 3 times by the dogs that people leave unchained. Oh, unchained dogs – they must not sell chains here. I had my bag of beer cans ready to whip at them had they taken a bite. At least the cans were good for something, right?
It is getting sweltering here. I am imagining the months ahead and the constant state of sweat and itchy legs (from the mosquito bites) I will be in.
Saturday night there was a fireside at our branch building, and afterwards there was a barbeque. They sure know how to cook and eat here. My favorite dessert item is Tahitian po’e, pumpkin flavored.
There was a Bislama choir at the fireside as well. Since many of the in-actives in our branch are Vanuatuans, they were invited to be a part of the program.
On Sunday the Mautz’s came to our church meetings and Soeur Seiko and I taught about Honesty in Gospel Principles. Elder Mautz’s gave me a kind compliment about my progression as a missionary after church. We are very thankful and lucky to have this couple on the island with us.
Yesterday afternoon Soeur Seiko and I went on splits with some of the sisters in our branch who wanted to teach the less active sisters in our area. I went with Soeur Li-Khau (who is the most amazing mother in Zion – I am impressed by her faith and desire to serve) and Soeur Aru. I thought I was just going along to meet some of the in-actives with them and add my testimony, but during our first lesson Soeur Aru declared, “And now Soeur Cummins will be giving our lesson!” Merci. I was able to quickly choose a subject, faith, and began talking about it I had no idea that I would be the lesson-giver, but I learned my lesson and had something prepared in my mind for the next sister we met with.
I will make an end. Good luck with school and work and all of that daily goodness. Keep having family home evening and praying together each night. Oh, one of the little boys that we taught how to pray last week with his mom is really excited to meet with us tonight and show us how he prays. What simple joys the Gospel emanates.
Love,
Soeur Cummins

creature feature (24 août 2009)

Dearest Family of Mine,
Oh, it is so nice to hear from you and to know about the comings and goings and growings of the Cummins family. I cannot believe that the summer is passed and that school is starting once again. I wish you all the best first day and week of school, and soon, seminary! Oh, there is a very special feeling that comes every fall semester for me – lots of opportunity and hope for success and new adventures! Good luck with work and school and church and all that you do – but also, the missionary in me must say, make sure that you keep doing the simple yet ESSENTIAL daily things: reading your scriptures, saying your prayers, and praying as a family. If only we would do those things every day, how happy we would be and how much easier it would be to face life’s challenges. Our one investigator here, Vincent, was explaining to us how important the family really is and how we should be grateful for righteous parents who lead and guide us. It is true. I feel daily how blessed I was/am to have you, Mom and Dad, as my parents. I can see the eternal impression that you have marked upon my life and the life of my posterity and the lives of all your children and their posterity. What joy you will know after this life for what you have and continue to do. Merci infiniement!
I can also see the difference here when there have been unrighteous, neglectful parents – it is mars entire lives. There are children in middle school who we see smoking and passed out on the side of the roads from their drinking binges. If only they had been taught and principled as children perhaps such would not be their present state. It all goes back to the parents. I am learning, even as a missionary, what kind of parent I hope to be and what kind I never want to be. There is an epidemic in the world of maltreated and spiritually unnourished children, who become adults and parents themselves who passed along evil traditions. Oh, I could go on…
On the brighter side, it has been a tremendous week. Spirits are high and faces still smile. We had many good lessons and adventures along with the inevitable funny experiences. The other day we were looking for a certain man named Luciano Muliloto, and when we thought we found him I asked if he was Muliloto, but I pronounced his last name wrong (I didn’t know how to pronounce it).He gave me a droll look. Later he told me that the way I had pronounced his name was a “gros mot” or a bad word in Wallisian. Oops. That’s a good way to begin a conversation with a stranger…
On Saturday we decided to walk over to a inactive woman’s house for a lesson since it was only a kilometer or so from our house. About halfway there, after walking a little on the main highway, where quite a few peopled passed by in their cars, I noticed that my skirt was funny in the back and then I realized that a good half of my skirt was tucked into the top of my bottoms, exposing a considerate length of my leg in the back for all to see. Hmmm. Soeur Seiko and I had a good laugh over that, and I felt silly wondering how many people had passed and seen. Not exactly the message we are trying to share with the world.
Yesterday, another funny experience (before I move on to the more important experiences): Sr. Seiko was fasting and we went to one of our investigator’s home (Petelo Savena). During our lesson he went inside to get some Oro juice and poured us both a nice big glass. I could tell that Soeur Seiko didn’t want to be impolite but I knew she didn’t want to drink her juice so she set it down next to her and continued talking. Then I had a brilliant idea. I took her glass when I thought Petelo wasn’t looking and I drank her juice quickly, then caasually took mine and started sipping as though I hadn’t just downed the other glass. When I looked up, Petelo gave me a funny look and Sr. Seiko looked over, understood what I had done and why and nearly lost it. We finished our lesson without anything being said about the juice, but afterwards Petelo insisted that we take the bottle of Oro juice with us. I think he thought I was thirsty. Soeur Seiko did not stop laughing in the car for quite a while afterwards. You make sacrifices for your companion, right?
This week we met with Valerie and her husband James. We had the first lesson with Valerie a week ago, and when we arrived for another lesson she said she was really sick and couldn’t let us in. I asked if we could just leave her with a prayer so she invited us in. We ended spending the next hour or so there talking; her husband had a lot of questions for us and we gave them a Book of Mormon, which they seemed eager enough to begin.
We also had a very good lesson with Malia Feleu as well as with Ismaella. Ismaella had the table (set with her Book of Mormon and the brochure we had given her) all ready when we had arrived. We taught her the Plan de Salvation and she really responded well to what was taught and summarized it at the end. She wants us to come back next week and teach her husband the same lesson again. She said that she feels like this is the right path.
We have had other good lessons this week, but with some of our visits the people talk and talk and TALK without much being taught. Then we end up being late to our next appointment, and I usually have a French headache because of how fast and how much they are telling us. With all that is said, we seem to know more about our amis than their immediate family do.
On Saturday night our amie Manu invited us to go the Catholic mass here in town and hear her play the guitar. The Mass was very interesting. You can see how at the core there are some solid, good truths, but that a whole lot of superfluous ceremony and embellishments and corruption and change have been slathered on the truth. It’s like the Princess and the Pea, the being the truth that has just been overwhelmed by the mountain of besmirched mattresses. The thing I liked though is the reverence that was maintained in the hall. Not even the babies made noise, and you could see how sincere and good-intentioned the priests and the people were. The priest shook our hands afterwards and asked who we were. When they found out we were LDS they were cordial and asked how we had liked the Mass, if we had been touched by the message, etc. I felt, when I shook the priests’ hands, that they were beloved sons of God – maybe batting unknowingly for the wrong team, but still loved and cherished.
On Saturday there was another branch activity – a sports day at the branch building and we spent our lunch hour there playing and eating. Tahitians know how to make good food.
As for the creatures of the island, I encountered the biggest spider I have ever seen in my life while I was brushing my teeth the other night. Soeur Seiko killed it. Another reason I love her.
It has been cold here recently – the nights and the mornings are CHILLY. I even got out my socks.
I am well. I love studying the scriptures every day, and I find myself daily wondering what gospel treat I will extract from my studies. The Church is TRUE!
I love you all!
Love,
Soeur Cummins

The days are getting warmer (17 août 2009)

Family, family, family !
How are you ? What wonderful lives you are leading. Thanks for writing me, keeping me updated on all the news and gossip and the like. It probably isn’t very missionary-like to enjoy the gossip bit, but keep sending it and I’ll just have to try and not like it.
I can’t believe that everyone is going back to school! Has summer really passed that quickly? Keeks will be continuing the BYU path and Alex will be a senior. That is strange to me. I know it’ll be a great year for him. Sounds like Keeks is doing well; The FLSR and BYUSA and all her enthusiasm - I love it. Send Heathy Shea my love.
This week was splendid. On Tuesday Soeur Seiko and I decided to leave the car (our little Berlingo – a real sloppy piece of French automotive) at home and walk around our sector, the roundabouts of our house. We ended up findng (or better yet, being led to) two new investigators who have real potential - Manu and Valerie. Manu is a Futunian women (who I honestly thought was a man for a few days after until Soeur Seiko read what I wrote on Manu’s progression sheet and told me that she wasn’t an “il” but an “elle” – oops!) who has never really questioned her religion before. When we asked her if she had ever prayed to know whether the Catholic church was true she said she had never even thought about it, and then we explained the Joseph Smith story. At the end of our second lesson with her we gave her a Book of Mormon and she said that she desired to know its truthfulness, that she wanted to have effective prayers and gain greater faith. I hope for the best with her progression, and I hope she doesn’t end up like the one person in the parable of the sower who accepts the word/truth with joy and then when the going gets tough gives up on it. We’ll pray, and we’ll see.
We found two other new investigators this week when we did the same thing; when we parked the car and walked around. Doing this allows us greater contact with people and more opportunities to knock on doors.
I care for the people here and their culture. There are some exceptions of how we are received, but when it comes to the Wallisian people here, oh my, they are so nice. They are open to discussion and invite us in to drink a Milo (it’s a kind of watered-down, more savory than sweet hot chocolate). They LOVE to talk and talk and talk, and we find ourselves just getting out of their door to run to our next appointment. Though, thanks to “the traditions of their fathers,” if you will, they proclaim Catholicism (though it seems to be more a statement of nationality than of conviction) and they have never known anything else. They happen to all have the same name: Malia, Soané, or Petelo. This makes our planning session confusing: “We have a lesson with Malia tomorrow. Malia? Which Malia? You know, the Wallisian one who lives over in Bernard. Which one? Ummmm…”
The days are just zooming by. I can’t believe that the month of August is halfway over! We are starting to exercise every morning with one of our investigators, Katalina. She has some health problems due to a long-term smoking and coffee habit. That’s the story with everyone here. If the French government really wanted to do some damage they would stop importing cigarettes, coffee and alcohol – the three staples of life for the vast majority. Anyway, Katalina was told that she needed to start walking in the mornings. She didn’t want to do it alone so we told her that we have time in the morning for our exercises and that we could come over every (except the Sabbath) and walk with her. We can teach her some new gospel principle every morning!
Yesterday, Sunday, I gave my second talk in Sacrament meeting. It was our “objectif de missionnaire” – missionary purpose. It went well. I used Elder Perry’s conference talk and the hymn “Dear to the Heart of the Shepard” – a hymn that I think you should look up sometime and read.
Today we are having a north zone activity here in our sector at the Baie de Toros, which is an inlet on the ocean front. It’s beautiful there. I will take pictures and send them home. I am excited to see the other missionaries. I love being around them and laughing with them all. I just love this mission! I am surrounded by motivated people who are wonderful examples to me.
I hope that the missionaries in our ward are doing well, and I hope that our family can be a good support to them. The Li-Khau family here, especially Soeur Li-Khau, is such a support and strength to us missionaries. Every Thursday we have dinner at their house and you know that they care about who we are and what we are doing.
I am doing well. It is getter warmer and I hear that summer here is unbearable. Great. I am getting a nice tan on my feet from my sandals. The elders are having transfers this week so a lot of people are moving around and getting new companions. I am staying in Paita, which I am glad for. We are working hard. Thanks so much for your support.
I hope all continues in paths of joy at home, although the fact that all those plums we scavenged by a certain company of workers is obnoxious.
Happy Birthday to little Riley! 1 year old! Please take a picture of the cake you make, Mom, and send it my way.
Sorry if this letter was a big jumble of news. We all know that my brain works in a ricocheting fashion - bouncing from one thought to the next.
Love,
Soeur Cummins