Place of Origin

Burma (Myanmar)

Date of Composition

1851-1856

Description

Between 1851 and 1856, missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conducted a mission to many of the major cities of India, Burma, and Siam (Thailand), all then part of Britain's Indian empire. Born on the Isle of Man in 1811, Matthew McCune was a sergeant major in Britain's Indian Army. He became one of the earliest LDS converts in India and was ordained a church elder in 1852. After being sent to Burma in the summer of 1852, he traveled widely with his unit, preaching the message of his church along the way, baptizing a number of British military men, and establishing a church office in Rangoon. Ultimately, the entire East Asia mission was deemed unsuccessful and was closed in 1856. Matthew, his wife Sarah, and their four children emigrated to Utah in 1857. He married three other women subsequently and had many more children before dying in 1879.

Matthew McCune's journal records baptisms of converts to the LDS Church in Burma and his various activities there, including his missionary work. It includes numerous recipes.