So at the start of this week my Mission President called us and informed me that one of my converts from Radford passed away. Marcus Cunningham, a man I love and will miss terribly. Marcus got baptized this last summer, a year to the date that I was able to meet him and start working with him. His health has been rough for years and his story is incredible. The miracle of it is we never thought he would live to get baptized, but he did and it was amazing. He passed away at the beginning of this last week. He had a heart attack that he couldn't recover from. Marcus Cunningham is one of those people, as a missionary, that you know you were sent to help and lift up. I have no doubt in my mind that I knew Marcus before this life and I was given so much so that I could come help him find the way after much trial and error. I will never forget that man, I couldn't forget Marcus! He was the Miracle of my mission. In my last letter I wrote him, I told him how much he changed my life and I advised him to set aside all his trials and strive for a perfect hope for the life to come. Before he passed, he made it back to church after missing for weeks of being sick. He was able to partake of the Sacrament and he also received the Priesthood that very Sunday. How cool is that? I know he was ready to return to our Heavenly Father. I will miss him, but I will see him again. I cannot wait till that day.
D&C 18:15-
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!
This last week was good though, we had to put a lot of work into our zone. We had our monthly Zone meeting and that went great. I then went on an exchange with a missionary named Elder Maxfield. We had a great lesson with a brother from the ward that is returning back into activity. We are trying so hard to get their whole family back to church and living the gospel. This man was faced with many challenges and trials so we read some sections out of Doctrine and Covenants 121 and 122, some sections I have known for a long time thanks to my young men's leaders. We read it together and were all in tears and this younger missionary I was with bore such a strong testimony. It almost caught me off guard. It was powerful. It is so amazing to know you cannot descend below what the Savior has. We are definitely not greater than He. This man came to church and was so happy while he was there, despite all his trials.
Our finding efforts were a little rough last week. We did manage to start teaching an investigator’s husband and it was really neat. This man’s name is Donald and we asked him if he had a strong faith in Jesus Christ. He replied he did not and was not ready for that. We were a little shocked because we never hear that. We dug a little deeper and he said that he does things in his life that he didn't feel like he could overcome and because of that, he couldn't call himself a Christian. So I said there is a way out! We taught him the Atonement and then told him that he is going to prepare to get baptized and leave his old life behind. He was pretty excited, he committed to reading a page of the Book of Mormon a day to get started. Helping people discover that they can be forgiven, what a gift!
At church yesterday, there was a man standing at the door looking at all the missionary maps and photos. I felt a prompting to go talk to him so I did. The man had been invited by a friend to come to church and the member that invited him was not there yet. So we talked and he had questions so we pretty much taught him the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. He was astonished that the Book of Mormon came from the people in the Americas, because he is from Mexico and thought that was awesome. He joined us for church and seemed to really love it. I am so excited to see him there next week!
I love this gospel so much. I am so thankful for it. I am so thankful to be able to declare it all day every day. This week, thinking about Marcus and his passing, I have really felt the knowledge that Virginia is exactly where the Lord has need for me. How thankful I am!
Keep the Faith!
- Elder L. Kaleb Bingham.
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