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Monday, April 16, 2012

General Conference! April 16, 2012

My dear lovely family!

Wow, this has been an interesting week!  We committed 3 people to baptism this week! and as of right now we have 2 baptismal dates!  One of the men has a way BIG problem with drinking!  If he's drunk we know because he always does these funny things, like sit on the steps waiting for us when we come up, etc.  He actually spent a lot of time in jail in his life.  He has a very quiet spirit though and loves us SO much! He had wanted to spend Easter dinner with us.  His sister is pretty much always home when we come, but she sticks to her room. We called her earlier and told her about having Easter dinner with them. When we got there she went into her room as usual, but this time she changed into a nice  outfit and said that we were going to have a special dinner!! it was SO awesome!  We had a good time with them and she opened up to us and talked with us! Her brother is really embarrassing to her, but she gave us a toast because we were such wonderful girls!!

Our investigator Sergei came to General Conference yesterday and really enjoyed Elder Christofferson's talk.  He said that he felt so good in his heart while Elder Christofferson was talking and that he enjoyed it. It was GREAT! he's a little different... kind of bounces around funny, has long greasy slicked back blond hair, but we feel like he is sincere and has a good heart.

Another Sergei has also been having a lot of questions about how the prophets communicate with God.  He's a less active in our branch.  He has been very troubled as he has read in the scriptures of the prophesies of the prophets.  He wants to know that God actually speaks to prophets with his voice as is recorded in the scriptures.  We promised him that if he would pray and sincerely prepare for conference he would recieve an answer to that question.  He told us that he wouldn't be able to come to Conference but that he would for sure read the messages later and be looking for his answer.  I know that we can receive answers to questions through Conference, but I was a little skeptical, as I felt like he wasn't very sincere and just being difficult.  However, through one of the talks at conference, as we sat their Elder Christofferson specifically said how the Lord communicates with His prophets!  The Lord does answer our prayers and concerns through General Conference.

We got transfer calls this week and they are sending me Sister Ivanova again.  I'm scared!!! I'm so sad to loose Sister Whitaker.  She is a wonderful missionary and has such power.  I love her sense of humor, love of life, and love of the Russian people.  I know I was put as her trainer... but I think, that she actually ended up training me in more ways than me her!  I love her so much and have found a friend for life!  She has helped to change my life and my mission and I'm going to miss her EVER SO MUCH!!

General Conference was AMAZING!! I especially liked the talk by President Eyring about climbing bigger mountains.  I've been feeling so weak, tired, and just wanting to have the strength to finish hard.  This next transfer is going to be one of those BIG MOUNTAINS for me to climb! But we should want these opportunities! God is giving us the chance to grow and stretch even more! I'm SO grateful for the opportunity to have living prophets and apostles on the earth today! The spirit is SO special as they speak and I know that their counsel is specifically for us in our lives RIGHT NOW!! for the next 6 months!  I loved Elder Anderson's talk about the 3 kids caught under the collapsed building.  The little boy knew that if he sang "i am a child of God" his dad would hear him and find him!  I couldn't hold back the tears as I felt that it's the same with our Father in Heaven! We are often caught in hard situations, but all we have to do is lift our voice to Him!  We can't just come to Him as we have a work here to do, but He can come to us! I had a tender moment also as a lady came up to me at church and asked me, "what is the most important thing in life?" stunned by the question I just kind of looked around and then said, "Family?" She said, "smiling, and you have learned how to do that!"  smiling doesn't rid us of our problems but enjoy the moments we have!!!

This next couple weeks will bring many more adventures and experiences! I hope I have the faith and endurance to make this climb. It's only after the effort and the steep climb that we can enjoy the exquisite views that the Lord wants us to reach!  I love you all SO much and am hoping to see many miracles in the next couple weeks! thanks for your prayers!
love
Cectpa Cunningham

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