Well, eventually, every one has to leave their first area, and my time has come. We were out door knocking on Saturday when we got a call from the zone leaders saying I'm getting transferred up north to a small town called Atherton, in a region called the Tablelands. I guess I'm not too surprised I'm getting transferred, most of the surprise is that I'm going far up north, because most people don't get sent up until much later in their missions. But I've spent the average amount of time to be in an area in Bracken Ridge, so it makes sense that I would get transferred. But anyways, this week was a good last week in the area.
8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.
9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.
10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.
11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.
Thursday (since last I emailed was Wednesday) we had weekly planning, which is always pretty draining but we got back into it because we taught that guy who told us he's died thousands of times. Remember that guy? Anyways he randomly called us up and wanted us to come by again. He has a lot of good questions but at the same time he's claimed to have had some pretty crazy experiences that dont make much sense at all. Just about being in two places at once, and yet be the same thing in both places-----anyways, suffice to say he's pretty confused about stuff. We had a baptismal interview for the zone leaders and that night we visited a girl named Katrina who me and Elder Smith door knocked into ages ago, she invited us back but it was only this week that we were able to catch up with her. Her mom invited us in and Katrina, her dad, and a couple family friends were there as well. Apparently they do Bible study Thursday nights and we happened to come by at the right time.
They were a really nice Sudanese family that have been living in Australia for a while and they were pretty amused that I knew a little bit of Arabic, which is what they speak. It was a challenging lesson though because Katrina's dad is a pastor of a Sudanese church on the south side, so they were pretty staunch in their Roman Catholic beliefs. Katrina was pretty open to what everyone was saying because she's in year 12 but we were trying to explain to her parents why the Book of Mormon was necessary. We tried showing them prophecies about the Book of Mormon, but they were convinced the Bible was all that was necessary in knowing how to gain eternal life. Apparently he had tried reading the BoM in Arabic in the past but a lot of it confused him. Plus he was saying that if we read the Book of Mormon we would start to put aside the Bible in preference to the Book of Mormon. He also was convinced that the Book of Mormon was Mormon's book, not God's. We explained the purpose of the book of Mormon, the origin, the prophecies, and all about how it's not meant to compete with the Bible, but support it and expound on it. We tried everything and the Spirit was easily present, through testimony and the scriptures, but the adults in the room weren't budging. Finally Elder Banks shared 2 Nephi 29:7-11, which states:
7 Know ye not that there are more nations than one? Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea; and that I rule in the heavens above and in the earth beneath; and I bring forth my word unto the children of men, yea, even upon all the nations of the earth?8 Wherefore murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another? Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall run together also.
9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.
10 Wherefore, because that ye have a Bible ye need not suppose that it contains all my words; neither need ye suppose that I have not caused more to be written.
11 For I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north, and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them; for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to their works, according to that which is written.
Then everything was silent. The presence of the Spirit was undeniable. After several seconds of silence I bore my testimony that the Book of Mormon was not brought forth by men, but by God, and God can't be cut short, that he's the same God who spoke to ancient prophets, and speaks to prophets today and other stuff I can't exactly remember. We invited them to try reading the Book of Mormon, but the mom again repeated that they were perfectly happy with the Bible. I should say that they were never rude or contentious but were super friendly and nice, but they politely set their beliefs in stone. We left with no hard feelings but for the rest of the night Katrina's dad didn't say a word. We'll have to hope the Spirit works in him.
Friday we deep cleaned the flat. Found a less active couple who's been endowed and sealed but haven't been to church in years because they got offended by some things the bishop said. He was pretty cool though because he's a funeral organizer and a reconstructive surgeon so he's spend lots of time around dead bodies so he had some cool stories.
Saturday we spent most of the day door knocking and taught a couple really nice people. That night we actually had more than just the Ward mission leader show up to splits night, so we were able to visit a lot more people.
Sunday I knew I was getting transferred so I had to say goodbye to the good members of the Bracken Ridge ward, including Matt, Sister Popata, Anthony, and a few others that I got to know quite well. We spent the rest of the day visiting people. Jude and his family came to church so Jude's still on track to get baptized! We went to their house and played a Word of Wisdom game I made for them a while ago and shared a scripture. Then we went to Josh Henry the ward mission leader's house and said goodbye to him. We also dropped by the Keys, a really nice family, Nephi, the kid we just baptized a couple weeks ago, Karen and Jason, a less active family that I met the first night I got in the field, the Puhotaus, and Shantell, the lady we baptized a couple months ago. Pretty sad but I'm really excited to go up north. Brisbane city, Gold Coast, and Sunshine coast are where most of the missionaries are centered and "up north" is basically far north Queensland. One of the farthest north areas is a city called Cairns, and the place I got called, Atherton, is about 100 km away from Cairns, and has a population of like 7,000 people. So basically up north is "the place" to be on the mission because since the most obedient and trusted missionaries are up there they have some extra privileges. My new companion I haven't met yet, but Elder Banks has. His name is Elder Housia, and he's from Tonga, so this time next week a lot of things will have changed!
Love,
Elder Cummings
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