December 9th, 2013

Hi mum!

 Within a day of writing this email I found out some amazing news. First of all is that we're being driven (Elder Gunnell and I) to the London Temple by the Zone Leaders, meaning that we won't have to carry our stuff around everywhere. Next is that you got my letter! I am so happy you did. I didn't mean to withold an email to you last week (I never do) but I am so glad that my letter made it, I was relying on that. Technical problems. I thought you'd like the photo as well I sent in the post. Besides that, we just got a Christmas tree from some members to put up in our flat. We'll be decking the halls after all! What other good news...well, it's great to hear the packages are at the temple now! I'll be picking them up tomorrow!

   Drum roll please....................I literally found out 10 minutes ago that MBALU WAS BAPTISED!!! Remember the woman in Reading who has a million miracles behind her? She's a member now!!!! In the words of Ammon in the book of Alma "my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy". I never knew I could be so happy about that news. So that's something I'll have to write about.

    So the Secret Santa is already up? Did you go to North Star this time for, let's be honest, cookies? I especially enjoy those gingerbread boys. I know what I'll be sending home for Christmas already.

    Ok so last night there was this musical fireside called "Faith: the musical". It was in the chapel and was an attempt to condense the experience of the play into more of an oratorio format. Anyways, it was below my expectations. Elder Gunnell and I laughed a bit afterwards (which is terrible, I know) at the way it was done. The singers, excellent. The composer and director, not so much. It was as if he wanted to make his own musical so he used the story of the Martin handcart company along with Wilford Woodruff's mission to England and put them with some albeit interesting and forgettable songs. We had an investigator there who still enjoyed it. It must have been the Spirit. We'll be seeing her at the Christmas party this weekend.

    Now here's a great story that happened this week. It was cold and dark when we returned from a long day of knocking in Clevedon to Portishead. With the night already upon us, yet it only being 6:30, we still had work to do in sorting out our potential investigators. We knocked on one's door and she said "Hi guys, won't you come in?".

    She had been contacted in the past by the previous comapnionship; once to introduce themselves and another time in the pouring rain, to which she could only give them some hot chocolate. When the Elders first knocked on her door, she'd assumed that they were the infamous Jehovah's Witnesses and thus told them "you wouldn't like me. I'm a nurse. I give blood transfusions." That was funny.

    This time, though, she was available. We went in (seeing that her husband was home) and were led into the living room. She offered us something to drink and we got to introducing myself a little more. After a few minutes she started asking the right questions. We started on the nature of God; who He is, what He's like and such. Being from a Catholic background herself, she had a decent knowledge of the Bible compared to many others in England. Then she asked an inspired question "So, what makes your church different?". That led us right into a conversation about the restoration of the true church of Christ. Then we introduced the Book of Mormon to her and went over some of it's contents. Meanwhile her atheist husband was sitting around, seemingly disinterested yet in reality must have been listening to everything of which we spoke.

    Then came the millionaire question. "If you don't mind me asking such a personal question, how did you find out that this was true?". I then talked about my experience with the Book of Mormon and sincerely told her how I felt the Holy Ghost. And the best 3 words you can ever hear from an investigator, the same words I heard from Mbalu, Linda and others, were said "I believe you". That means that the Spirit was present. I was on cloud nine that evening. She'll be coming to the Christmas party as well on Saturday along with her children. It turns out she was prepared by her oldest daughter who two years ago started talking about God (at age 4) and sparked an interest in her mother once again!

    There are miracles every week. It just takes some more time to reach them in some areas! Love you mum!

Elder Cooper

November 25, 2013

Dear Mum, 

    What a week. It was a testing one for me, that's for sure. They come every now and then. Finding, finding, finding! I was sure shattered (in British that means exhausted) by the end of it. 

     But I'm so thrilled to hear from President that we will be going to the temple this Christmas! Finally we'll be able to see the new temple video!  This will be my first Christmas away from family (not from home though, I remember spending it in Denmark!). I won't open the packages I shouldn't before Christmas though! 

      This last week was Stake Conference in Bristol with a very excited atmosphere, a new stake president was called! That also means that general authorities were present. We had some presidency of the area seventy there who spoke incredible well! One talk by Elder Donaldson went like this: 

     

     "Ok we've got 20 minutes to do a miracle, and I need your help. Will you two elders in the front bring the whiteboard over here? Ok this is what I'm going to do; I'm going to read some passages and ask some questions, and when the Spirit prompts you I want you to get up and write the initials of the person you will reach out to." 

      

       He then proceeded to read various scriptures from 1 Nephi 8 on the tree of life vision. After each group of people was described, he would ask "who do you know that is...?". People started to flood the board. It was REALLY interactive. At the end he said in essence that we would be condemned for not acting on those impressions. 

       

        Elder Dykes spoke afterwards and called up all the missionaries to the front. President Millar was there with us. He told the audience:

     "Look at all these missionaries and find the companionship in your ward. They are YOUR missionaries. Now, I have two elders here who haven't been told of this, but they are going to do this for me. This is the message that your missionaries will tell your nonmember friends. Then a humble french Elder who'd been speaking English for one month total and his St. Louis farm boy companion proceeded in testifying of God, of family, of the Lord's servants, of apostasy, of restoration, and of the Book of Mormon and prayer." It was touching. 

      It softened my heart, I was stiffening from the opposition of the week until that moment. It's amazing to look back on the experiences. At the time some of them one could barely recognise until it had already  happened. 

    This week is zone conference, which means that we'll be traveling down to Poole for a day or two. We might have a thanksgiving there! President Texiera of the area Presidency will be speaking to us. Last time I saw him was on the right hand of the apostle M. Russell Ballard. It was a really great event then! 

   I will be writing a letter this week to you. Probably on the train! Until then, I'll be continuing to find those around us in Clevedon and Portishead. Fun fact Heather: Elder Patrick Kearon (the British seventy who spoke about scorpions in a general conference talk) came from Clevedon. Also, Stanley Thomas, a member here in Portishead, was baptised by Brother Ajax in our ward! Small mormon world! 

     Love you all!

         Elder Cooper

P.S. Watch out for Stan's email to you mother. He's 84 and crazy! As for Heather, I found a British elder about to go home. He's totally awesome. If you want me to do anything let me know. However, he's 20. Your call. 

November 18, 2013

Hi Mum!

    We have seen small miracles this week in Portishead. Certainly finding is the key focus of all our efforts. We have had to talk to everyone! But because of this, we were able to meet a young man named Lewis on the street and have a good lesson with him. Upon scheduling to meet him this last Sunday, we parted ways until then. The miracle was on Saturday. Apparently Lewis is the friend of another street contact named James. Lewis had told James that he had met two American religious guys and was meeting them on Sunday, and James was interested. In his words, "he likes to keep an open mind". So James called us up, asked if he could join on Sunday, and was present for our first lesson. We brought along a member (Brother Harvey) and it seemed as though James was more interested than Lewis! He asked more and more questions, then said he would need to read the Book of Mormon before he could make any conclusions. This gift from God offset most of my disappointment in the long hours of knocking. Elder Gunnell is a good companion to have. We just have to do our shopping separate; we have different tastes! He's from a farm in northern Utah and has been out for 6 months now. 

     Portishead is a beautiful seaside town growing at a breakneck pace! It must be the fastest growing town in England. We live in a very nice flat on the marina (I'll send photos) and still walk and bus everywhere. It is like a suburb of Bristol. I'm currently in a Mac store in Bristol. What a place! 

     It's terrible to hear what has happened in the Philippines. People at church were talking about it. The ward we attend is the Weston-Super-Mare 1st Ward (there are 2). It has a little problem with unity but isn't as bad as Brighton haha. I'm getting to know everyone's names now. Also, I've been keeping in contact with the investigator Blake and recent convert family the Aka's. I've got to keep them going!

    I've got my British Driver's license now! You should have seen the look on my trainer's face (Elder Ormsby) when I drove up in Staines for transfers. He was astonished (in a good way)! 

   Ok for Christmas if you send anything over $40 it will go through customs and will have  a %20 charge added on my side. Just declare it under $40! 

    

    Love you!

       Elder Cooper

 The coast on Portishead with Wales in the background.

Me and my companion

The Marina

Cathedral in Bristol

November 11, 2013

Dear Mum,

     On Saturday the zone leadership was buzzing as all of the missionary leaders were hearing news of moves. While in the car on an exchange with my zone leader (Elder La Mazza) calls were coming in from others on top, but it seemed as though Elder Poulino and I would be together for another 6 weeks to carry on the work here.

     I was playing the piano in the chapel after church yesterday, waiting for Bishop Pine to finish his meetings when something unexpected happened. Elder Poulino heard the cell phone ring and walked towards the other side of the chapel, returning soon after to hand me the phone. Yet again, that familiar (and feared) voice had called me saying "Elder Cooper, this is President Millar. I need you to...".

      Well, in short, I'm moving to Weston-super-mare to be a district leader there! The seafront resort town is south of Bristol in north Somerset country. In the call I was told that I was being sent there to uplift the missionaries  and make friends with the members. The district is a bit of a tough one. My new companion was named to me, but I have no idea who he is. A fresh start! 

       So this Wednesday I will be taking everything and heading off to the west. I'll likely be spending Christmas there! 

       On Tuesday is something that possibly rivals this change in my nervousness about it. I'm taking the British Driving Test at 8 am, something that another elder just failed today. I've been passing all of my "mock tests", but wow this will be intense. I'll likely be having Elder Poulino give me a blessing just before I have to take it. Pray for me! 

        I got my hair cut today in the classic missionary look. Seems like the rest of the day will be spent meeting some of our recent converts (like Linda, Ellie and Stephane who will be so sad)and investigators for the last time. Then I'll be packing and practising for the driving test tomorrow.

       Looks like I will have to pray really hard in this new area! But God has called me to succeed, not to fail. I can't wait to tell you what it is like there.  

     Hey Heather, way to go on the comic! One of the Elders here really liked the way you drew it. I laughed at the "The End" segment (Should we go back?). It just captures our family! 

     Hey Doug, fun fact, I had Kruidnoten today. It's a dutch treat my companion got from home. It's kind of like mild, mini gingerbread cookies. Really good stuff. The whole zone is addicted to another dutch specialty: stroop waffles. Addicting. Probably against the word of wisdom. 

Love the Lot of you!

    Elder Cooper on the move.

October 21, 2013

Dear Family,
    This Saturday was a day that will effect generations to come! I baptised, as Elder Poulino witnessed, Linda, her son Stephan, and little Elianna. This is the miracle of conversion! I would have hardly believed this would happen when I called up one rainy Friday in August, but God prepares people.
    When the service began that evening there were a good number in attendance, but we did not have our speaker! So Elder Poulino was called up to bear his testimony of sacrifice and the journey we had all taken together. With a little time still to go before the main speaker would come with an investigator of ours, I was invited up and stumbled a few words that hadn't already been spoken. Fortunately, our investigator and her driver, "Auntie Emma", arrived while I was concluding my remarks. She proceeded to give her talk on the ordinance of baptism in relation to the Gospel of Christ. 
    After the talk we went on to the actual baptism. I went into the water to perform my first baptism ever, raised my arm to the square, stated the authority by which I did the baptism and immersed Linda completely. Her smile afterwards was one I won't forget! She then went up the staircase and watched as her son, then her daughter, followed in the way of Christ. 
    Our investigator present there afterwards told us that she will be baptised as well. It was powerful.
    The next day we confirmed all three into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and conferred upon them the Gift of the Holy Ghost. It's as if they have always belonged! I hope that I can always be there for them especially as they start their journey as a family. 
    We are teaching some new faces as well, helping out some old ones, and continually looking for those who've been lost!
    Sean is settling in well in the Church! Most recently we've been teaching him the Old Testament background on the Aaronic Priesthood and we'll be going into the background of temples next. He keeps on joking with me that  I don't have to be pulled back to America now because the financial crisis has been settled. Some of the British people have taken a spot fun with that, saying that the Queen now formally declares the Declaration of Independence null and void and claims the United States as part of the British commonwealth once more. He also jokes and says I'll be a future prophet or something. That feeds my pride! It's been great to teach him and see how quickly he's been blessed. Honestly, miracles happen to him and many of the investigators we teach.
     So things are going well! Keep an eye out for the letter I've sent you mum and and also the comic that I've sent Heather (in a separate letter of course). You're gonna like the way this looks Heather! I guarantee it. haha! Love you!
   Elder Cooper 

October 14, 2013

Dear Mum,

   The weather chilled so much in one day! The wind shifted to bring in the Scandinavian frigid air from the north and it dropped the temperature by 10 degrees Celsius in one day. The season is changing. But its beautiful too, I'll send a photo with this. 

   We're teaching more than ever, finding a lot of people to teach and progressing with Linda, her daughter, and now even her son who will all be baptised on Saturday! I haven't given her the talk yet but I will. 

   Heather got the comic! Ok oddly enough the part I laughed hardest at when drawing it was in the background on the river, especially the woman shouting "eureka" and then catching on fire in the next slide. I'm kinda weird like that. 

 I have a flood of more ideas as well. I don't want to spoil my next one! 

  Happy 65th to grandma and grandpa! What an achievement! It's quite rare to see that in England! Then again, old british people are among some of the best and funniest people to be around! Maybe they get on each other's nerves too much haha. 

 I got your package! It was excellent, I'm a sucker for those sour sweets! I think it would be better if, perhaps, UPS was used to send the packages. I think Royal Mail gets a hold of packages sent through any other carrier and charges us for their service as well! The temple holds money against my account because they pay the difference. I know that UPS is used in both countries though. Otherwise we are paying double! 

  I'm doing well though, Elder Poulino and I are having fun with the work and now are in an unspoken competition with the zone leaders who are also in our district. Anything to spice things up! Tonight we will be having a cottage meeting/ FHE with president Hawkins (Do you know brother Dudley in the other ward? He was my seminary teacher and has a heart of gold. Now imagine a British version of him). Linda and her family will be there as well as Christiana and Arthur hopefully. 

  Want to hear an incredible miracle in our area (other areas are having such miracles as well!) ? We were looking for a less active member just after finishing an appointment and we did not have a ward list. That means we have to rely on my memory which is pretty good but not brilliant. Elder Poulino remembered a number, 26, which he firmly believed was the one to go to. I directed us to the correct street after a few tries and we approach this home, number 26, which has Caribbean looking figures in the window (a good sign, seeing that this less active was from Jamaica-mon). We knock on the door and the guy who opens the door is completely unfamiliar to me. He's white british and has two boys scampering around with toys by his feet. I'm caught off guard, but because I've done it a thousand times I introduce myself, Elder Poulino introduces himself and we get talking. Long story short, missionaries had passed by his door several times before (turns out we were looking for his neighbour) and this time he accepted a Book of Mormon and we will be dropping by on Saturday to answer his questions. One of the morals of the story: it often takes more than one try for someone to accept the gospel message, and our Heavenly Father guides us to those he prepares. Not every time (probably to keep us humble), but He sure does a lot! 

   Love you Mum!

         Elder Cooper

October 7, 2013

Dear Mum, 

    What a powerful experience conference was! We had many of our less-actives and investigators attend. That only comes through diligence and the good grace of God. Saturday morning session was especially good; elder Dube (the african) was an enthusiastic speaker wasn't he? A lot of the missionaries wanted to stand up during his talk and shout "hallelujah!". When he talked about the field work he did with his mother: "Edward, don't look back, see what we still have to do!". 

   President Uchtdorf's talk in Saturday session was even better! The man going down the hall of religions and asking what our church requires of its members. I laughed along with everyone else at the comment "now I'm confused...why would anyone do all of that?" to which the reply was "I thought you'd never ask!"

   Jeffrey R. Holland probably saved someone from taking their own life with his words on depression. I hadn't expected him to speak on that! Interestingly enough, although it was so different the same message of endurance came across. After that session Elder Poulino and I talked about it with a member over dinner. Apparently depression is becoming a plague among the YSA in the church! 

   Of course, the most powerful talk I heard was the one I needed most. I haven't seen the Sunday afternoon session yet. Our prophet Thomas S. Monson spoke his heart and the Spirit touched me. It was in His closing testimony, when he said something like "I know beyond any shadow of a doubt that God lives..." that a warm shock hit me from my crown down. Immediately after I received further witness and more conviction that, yes, My Heavenly Father is there, He has been watching over me. Just after that I gained more testimony that President Thomas S. Monson is the Lord's Prophet and has been appointed by Him to lead us. The mantle rests on him. I wrote it down in my journal last night to be a reminder that at one point I felt a firm witness of this truth.

   This week we saw many miracles and met many with plenty of miracle stories. I could write a book with all of the people I meet, stories they have and things I experience. The only big wish I have right now is to be able to attend the temple! I could ponder the things spoken even better there. i guess life is another way to learn it all firsthand. Here's a quote from an investigator that was inspiring: "trials before testimony". 

    Great job with the family history work! That's the work of salvation right there as well! It's all one work. You'll probably get my letter today, hope you enjoy it! Oh I got a new camera charger, so you'll now be able to get more pictures (the last one disappeared!). 

    Heather I hope you like the comic! I'm practising to become an artist. No, actually Elder Poulino and I are practising singing "Oh Divine Redeemer" (wasn't it awesome? We just need to get the words, none of us know what they are singing between the choruses). I'm forming a scheme to get into the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. 

   Love you both! I'll write more this week (this last week I did the comic and wrote some other friends, so that's why I was bogged down in responding, it's amazing to find the time!).

 The American Brit Boy,  

     Elder Cooper

P.S. Have fun on the date Heather!