Sunday, March 11, 2018

March 4, 2018

Night approaches

Well folks this is just about it. My last week on the mission begins now. It honestly doesn't even feel real. All the preparations are being made but it still feels like it's not actually happening. Man oh man. Words can't really express how I feel, I'm looking forward to moving on at home but at the same time I want to keep staying on my mission. I don't believe this'll be my last email, I'll try to get one out on Saturday, a couple days before my departure, just to go through my last week. 
Week 5 of the transfer was last week. Grabbed some lunch at the only Taco Bell in Australia on Monday. Tuesday was mission leadership council. We went to the kangaroo point chapel a little before 9 to set all the tables and technology up. It was my last MLC and that's just how it is, you can't help thinking "this my last this" or "this is my last that." I got really stressed out for a bit because the Wi-Fi kept dropping so the ZLs and STLs on Skype kept getting kicked out of the call but then Sister McSwain let us use her iPhone as a hotspot for the computer. No problems after that. Apple to the rescue! I gave a departing testimony along with all the other ZLs and STLs going home at the end of the meeting. It was funny because I was trying to figure out how I was going to put it, but I said "Don't be exactly obedient and don't work hard because you expect a reward or you expect miracles out of it. Do it because you love the Lord and do it because it's your duty, and it's what you agreed to do when you accepted your call." But I paused after "don't be exactly obedient and don't work hard because..." since I was thinking of how to put it, and I could see President's eyebrows go up and people afterwards were telling me they were wondering where the heck I was going during that pause. Oh well haha. Wednesday was heaps of driving around, picking up a senior couple from the airport, going to my companion's doctors appointment, getting some stuff at the store, etc. In the afternoon we had a couple lessons. One was with a guy named Patrick, he had concerns about the Trinity and polygamy and stuff but we just kept telling him to save his questions and to read the Book of Mormon because it's can only be of God. Unfortunately he's convinced Joseph Smith could have just been an unnaturally intelligent person. Our next lesson was with the Stokes family, a single mom and two girls who want to come back to church after the mom being less active for over ten years. Her teenage daughters are unbaptized as well but they're the ones who actually asked if they could go to church and they are super ready to be baptized. I don't think there'll be enough time before I go home for them to get baptized but that's okay, I know they'll get to it soon. 
Thursday was a lot more driving around. We set up some stuff for the semi annual Senior missionary conference for the mission. We went to ward council that night too. On Friday, since all the seniors were going to be at the conference instead of the office, my companions held down the fort all day at the office while I was at the conference handling the technology for slideshows and mics and stuff. Seniors are so funny. You never know what they're gonna say. I enjoyed it a lot, plus it was cool because on the record President was my companion for the day. What missionary gets that opportunity? That night was had dinner at some cool members, the Scofields.
Saturday the seniors had a final devotional at the mission home in the morning. We went to set up for that as well and had breakfast with all the seniors. My companions and the APs got to be there for that as well, but the APs left soon after for baptisms. But me and my comps were there for the devotional part. Well, I was, but my comps conked out on the couches upstairs from all the running around and go go go action the last couple days. After the senior conference officially ended we did office work and later had dinner at Curry Heaven because Elder Sharma was craving some indian.
Sunday was good, the Stokes came to church, I bore my last testimony in sacrament meeting as a missionary but I still have one more Sunday on the mission. We got a call in the afternoon as we were proselyting that I was going to have my departing interview with President that night. Usually they're not as early as a week before departure but there's so many missionaries going home this transfer they've gotta spread them out around transfer deliberations. That night we showed up at the mission home and President talked to me about my goals and stuff. He gave me a blessing as well and it helped me a lot because it made me feel that although I wasn't a perfect missionary, I had a perfect mission. That's it for this week. One last email to come later. Cheers!
Elder Cummings





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