Family,
This has been another terrific week full of exciting
experiences. First off I will tell you about a miracle in Bolton.
Whilst on an exchange with Elder Johnston (new
missionary from billings Montana), He and I had an appointment up in Bolton (my
first area). The appointment was confirmed but when we knocked on the door he
wasn’t in. I remembered a Hungarian family that I had previously taught at the
beginning of my mission, the Balogs. They were very close to baptism but needed
to go back to Hungary and get married.
Unfortunately, transfers came and they lost contact with
the missionaries. We knocked by and low and behold they were ecstatic to see
us. They informed us that they were now married and wanted to know why no
missionaries had come to see them. As we spoke they talked about the wonderful
spirit they felt in their home many months ago when Elder Sturt and I were
teaching them. They said it was the best and they wanted it back. After reading
some scriptures with them we helped them understand the spirit is what had been
missing. Elder Johnston committed them to baptism and they accepted. I am
really excited and look forward to seeing how things go. The best part is Eva
(the mom) doesn’t speak hardly any English but the one Hungarian missionary in
the mission is serving in Bolton. So many lessons to be learned from one
experience. First is never be discouraged (the original app. that we drove 30
min to and fell through) because we cannot always see the big picture. Second
is, always listen to prompting that you receive. Third never lose hope
sometimes people just need a little extra time. Lastly, there is no such thing
as coincidence. If the man was home and we taught him there is no way we would
have stopped by their home.
Another miracle is on our way to church we had little
extra time and tried by a former. When we knocked by the man who we originally
wanted to see wasn’t in but Henry who answered the door said, “I have 15min
would you like to come in.” He is from Lithuania and a converted
Christian and speaks over 5 languages and uses them for his work. His family
has no beliefs but he has always felt there is more out there. He knew a little
about Mormons and his impression was that they are hard working prosperous good
people. After we taught him he was really excited to read the book of Mormon
and also accepted baptism. His only concern was he wasn’t sure if our values
were conservative enough for him! Can you believe that? The best concern I have
ever had to resolve.
So over the next two weeks President and Sister Preston
are having each of the missionaries come over to their house divided into zones
(we have seven zones in the mission). We will have a specialized training and
on top of that sister Preston will cook a full Christmas dinner. I do not know
how she is going to do it because on top of making 7 full Christmas dinners she
has to make an 8th dinner
for the departing missionaries. Can you imagine the dishes let alone the work
that would take? It will be a really fun experience for everyone though I am
sure. She truly is one of the best cooks in all of England.
That is exciting to hear that you had 26 baptisms in the
stake! Do you know how much the Az mission baptizes in a year? What is the name
of the mission we live in? Hope all is well and I look forward to hearing from
you in a week.
Love, Elder Cunningham
Ps. we go into the office on Mondays and spend most of
the day compiling data and making reports and preparation for baptism in the
coming week emailing stake president reports etc. Also, I get to write this letter,
which is wonderful because these computers here are the best! We go
on lots of exchanges but less than the previous assistants because we have
to worry about our own area. This past week we went on three
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