The Christmas Season -- December 15, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Well we have had a solid week! I was pretty excited last night when we reported our numbers.  I didn't realize how much good we really did! This last week was really cold. . . And it just keeps getting colder! I have only seen two sunny days here; it’s been very overcast and dark since I got here. But the sun is out today! So there is a lot to be grateful for! It hasn't snowed here yet, it’s looking like it will not be a white Christmas in Virginia! 
    
I am starting to adjust to my new area here in Richlands. It is becoming home, I guess. It has been hard, but we have been staying really busy so time is flying by! This is a hard area--the people here are not as nice as they were in Radford. It’s hard to talk to people here; they are a little more stuck in there ways... But we are making progress! We’re trying our best to find, but we have some great investigators right now that have been such a great blessing to teach!

We were able to attend a Specialized Training this week with President and Sister Salisbury. It was a lot of fun; they taught us about how we need to not cling onto the “Rod of Iron” but we need to “Hold fast to it!” We also had a great Christmas program with all the other missionaries!  It was a fun time. :)

I think I mentioned Dennis last week, He is a middle aged man. He is the Father to the younger couple Chad and Amber, Amber's dad.  He used to be a preacher and very strong in the Baptist faith. Well we have been teaching him and he is making some rapid progress! I have never had an investigator like this where he will keep commitments and do his homework and practically teach himself.  It’s been great! He has put a lot of trust in us; he expressed a lot of sins and things he committed in his days and he just wants to change. He wants to feel better and be forgiven of his mistakes. We have taught hm a lot about repentance and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has really enjoyed it and is learning a lot. It was a cool thing when we asked him if he would be baptized and HE picked out his baptism date. It has been amazing to see the Atonement work through him. It’s a blessing to be teaching him! 

One more thing to celebrate! Sam and Tuesday picked out a baptism date! They want to get baptized on February 13th! They are really excited for that; they have a few things they need to take care of and then they will be on their way! I really enjoy going over to their home and teaching them! 

We held the branch Christmas social; It was fun, still a shocker by the lack of attendance though! It was a small party, but it was a fun one! I have seen my own family gatherings with more people than they had there, It was kind of sad. But I gave a talk about the “He is the Gift” initiative the church is putting on--that was fun! Then we ate some good food and everyone seemed to have a good time! 

This week we also helped out with a city project called Shop with a Cop! It was so fun! What they do is all the families that can’t afford Christmas and presents are allowed to bring their kids to this thing where the cops and volunteers take these kids by themselves and they get to go around the store and pick out gifts they want for Christmas. The Kids were so excited! It was a special day to see how happy it made these kids. It was great--something I will not forget for a long time!  I got to take a couple kids shopping.  It was really fun and kind of sad.  They were so happy.  This one cute little girl said she has never had a new toy before!  I almost cried, but it was fun to do and help them out.

Well my companion and I are getting along great!  We are really enjoying all the Christmas gifts our Mothers have sent us! :) I have always liked the Christmas season, but it is hard as a missionary! It is weird being away from home for all the holiday season, but I try to remind myself when I am feeling down about it that this is where the Lord needs me. You really feel the true meaning of Christmas when all you do is serve the Lord. It is hard, but it’s so comforting to know what your doing is what the Savior himself did. I Love this Gospel and lately have really been feeling the joy and peace that comes through learning of our Savior, Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is that we have this season to remember that He really is the Gift. I love you all and hope to hear from everyone soon!

Keep the Faith,

Elder Kaleb Bingham

Richlands and a very small branch--December 8. 2014

Hello Everyone,

Wow what a week it has been! It was really hard leaving Radford--I didn't realize how that place had become my home away from home! But I did it; transfers went well.  I only had to travel on the transfer train for about two and a half hours, But I got here and my new companion and the Branch President picked me up! My companion’s name is Elder Blaine! He is a cool guy; he has been out for three months, so I am greenie braking him! We graduated the same year, so it’s been fun.  He is from the Salt Lake area! The branch President’s name is President Donald Lines; He is from Arizona and a really nice guy.  I respect him a lot for what he has been doing and how hard I figured out it is to run a branch.

I guess I will try to describe the area a little better.  Richlands is pretty small itself, but has everything you need--all the fast food restaurants and a Walmart and all of that! It’s an old town and has a depressed look to it. It’s kind of sad to see all the poverty that is here. There are a lot of trailer parks and rundown neighborhoods. The big religions here are Baptist and Pentecostal, but the people are mostly friendly! The town used to support a lot of coal miners, but the coal industry isn't doing so good any more... People say the big thing and way to make money here is by way of making moonshine in the hills. So that was kind of funny! I really do like the mountains here. They are a lot bigger and they are more like the ones back home but still really different. I got up into my first hollers on the mission! They are crazy--some of these roads are insane! There are a lot of rivers too! It’s a cool landscape; it has just about everything! It has rained here the last 3 to 4 days, so it’s been really dark and wet. I'm still waiting for the sun to come out!

Well the branch here is like nothing I have ever experienced. My eyes were really opened yesterday when we went to church. They just got a new church, so that is really nice! But there was maybe 15 people there at church and one family was visiting. I have never blessed and passed the sacrament and only used one tray for water and one tray for bread. The members that are active are great, really nice and there are a lot of solid members that come every week, but there are over 100 inactive members. So I guess most of our work will be trying to get these less actives back to the church to re-strengthen it.  I haven't been fed by anyone from the ward. Like I said, there is a lot of welfare and stuff going on with the members. So that has been hard to not have dinners, but I'm getting used to it! Maybe my cooking skills will get better! 

There are some great investigators here! There are two young couples that we are working with that are amazing!  Chad and Amber Griffey are the first ones.  They are in their 20s and are really fun, Chad has actually been interviewed and passed for his baptism and is ready to go! The hold-up is that Amber is not okay with it, so he is waiting until he gets her approval. It’s a hard situation, but I think she will come around soon the more we work with her! It’s kind of funny, we went to her church last night to check it out. It was really funny! The preacher jumped on his electric guitar and spread the grace among the congregation. Haha - that's how he put it!  People do not know what the Holy Ghost really feels like! It is kind of sad. But we are going to keep working a lot with Amber to get her to come around!

Sam and Tuesday are the other couple! They are so solid. We have been working with and teaching them every single day since I have been here. They love us and the church! They want to get baptized, too, but are waiting on their divorcements from there last marriages before they can get married and baptized, but they are awesome. Sam is really into skateboarding and snowboarding so we connected pretty well! 

I'm getting used to it here, please keep sending the prayers this way! I really could use them! We watched the Christmas Devotional last night and it was really amazing. President Erying gave a really nice talk and it was really powerful! I missed not going to it with my family, though!  But I'm so grateful for a living prophet and his apostles! Being out here is really testing my faith and it is comforting to know that our church is true and that Heavenly Father still speaks to his children.

I love you all and hope everyone is getting into the Christmas spirit!

Keep the Faith!

-Elder Kaleb Bingham

New Address--December 5, 2014

Hey Ya'll! I am just sending home my new address so everyone has it.  I would love some letters!!! :)

171 Mill Ave
Raven, VA 24639

I can get mail directly to the house we are in but you can also send packages and letters to the mission office and they can forward mail to me also!

I love you all so much, can’t wait to email you on Monday! :)

Thanksgiving Week--December 3, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Wow, it’s been a while! I apologize that I have had so many problems the last couple weeks with emailing and sending pictures. These computers have been very rough! But I guess I can only be grateful that I can E-mail!

So much has happened in the last couple of days! I guess I will start with Thanksgiving! Well, I have definitely gained weight this week! Haha First off, my amazing mom and her awesome package was so great to get! I loved it; getting stuff in the mail and packages really does make missionaries so happy! My companions and I ate very well because of that one.  :)

We ended up getting invited to two different dinners on Thanksgiving Day! We first went to the Turpins, The Turpins are great; they always take us out to dinner or have us over. They are an older couple in their 60’s, so not too old, but they are as southern as it gets! Haha We had an amazing dinner. I have to say it--They put our Thanksgiving dinners out west to shame! The food was unreal super good and so much to eat! Just for example, they had five different kinds of smoked turkeys! It was too good and very fun!

We then went to the Bird’s house; they’re a couple from Utah with a few little kids and that was also fun! It was kind of sad; they are here for school, so brother Bird can go to  V-TECH, but they missed they’re family back home and so did we. . . But we still had a great time and their kids are too funny! It was a great day!

So one of our more promising Investigators, Kenny Harris’ brother was walking to the post office in front of our town home and got hit by a car. Really sad accident! His brother was kind of blind, so he shouldn't have been walking on the streets. We think he just didn't see the car... But the cool thing is that we were the first ones Kenny called. Kenny doesn't have a lot of family anymore and the Plan of Salvation has always been a big thing for Him.  It answered so many of his questions. But anyway, that night, he wanted to meet with us at the church, so we did. We went and I was really nervous. I didn't know what we were going to say to him or do. My companion and I just prayed in the car for a while and asked for help before he got there. He arrived and we got started and he broke down. It was rough and then I guess with all the trust we have, we put it in the Lord’s hands and we just told him with all of our hearts that we know he will see his brother again. It’s hard to explain these situations because they’re so powerful at the time they happen. We were able to give him a blessing. In the blessing, it told him that his brother is going to help him make covenants with Heavenly Father so they can be together again.  It was a very special experience.

I guess the next big news is that I am getting transferred! After six months in Radford, Virginia, I am getting transferred. My mission President called me the other day and talked to me for a while. He is such an amazing guy. He is so smart and intelligent! He released me from being a District leader and a trainer. I will now be a normal missionary for a while, but one of the reasons is because I'm going to a struggling area that needs a lot of work. I'm going to a small town called Richlands, Virginia! It is on the border of West Virginia and Virginia. It is a small town with a branch--not a ward, a branch. They say there are 15 to 20 members that are active and they have had big trouble with leaders such as bishops and branch presidents making bad decisions financially that caused a lot of people to leave the church. I'm really nervous. But I’m excited! My new companion is a young one; He just got done being trained. His name is Elder Blaine and that's all I know about him! Haha We will see how it goes!

I have been having a hard time leaving Radford. I had to say goodbye to what feels like my family now. All the awesome members that I have been so close with. The hardest people to say goodbye to was my convert Elias and his family; that was a tear jerker. It was hard to say goodbye to the Vaught family last night, as well. Sister Vaught was crying really hard, which made me tear up a little. She expressed so much thanks to me, for how she put it, rescuing her family. It was hard to say goodbye to them, but I can write them and I will be able to keep in touch with them the rest of my life, and continue to be a missionary to them. 

There is a Boy Scout saying that has always stuck with me.  Always leave your campground better than you found it. I am proud to say that I am leaving this amazing area better than I found it.  I sat back this morning and reflected on all the work my companions and I have done here and we did way more good than I realized. I have loved it here and I know that God puts us exactly where he needs us.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I love you all and Keep the Faith!

- Elder Kaleb Bingham

The Turpins

Sister Vaught

The Thornton's

Junior Stowers

The Mattsons



Richard and Melinda Fisher

(He is the bishop)

Brother Fisher (Bishop Fisher's Dad)

He is the Ward Mission Leader

The Blackburg District (Kaleb is the District Leader)

The Blackburg District (Kaleb is the District Leader)



Snow!

 

Computer Problems--November 24, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Well, we’re surviving the cold here...but barely! As a District leader, I’m supposed to go on exchanges with all the missionaries in my district, so because the transfer is winding down, I went on a few exchanges this week! 

I was in Blacksburg, VA, where V-Tech University is on both of my exchanges. V-Tech is a sweet place to be! It’s so big and there are people everywhere there! My first Exchange was with Elder Papenfuss. He is a new missionary being trained from Rexburg, Idaho. It’s pretty cool we have the same first name! But that doesn't really matter. haha  We had a great time; it was a super cold day and they have no cars in Blacksburg so. . .

***Our computers have been having stupid problems--my big email I typed for half an hour didn’t work for some reason. :(   I tried sending it and it had a problem, so I tried saving it and logging off but it erased most of it. And it is not letting me send pictures.  I can’t wait for I Pads!

We actually do have Thanksgiving plans now! We’re super excited! We’re going with the Turpins. They’re so great; they feed us like all of the time!  Mom, you are the best for sending me a package!! :) I’m going to miss family Thanksgiving dinner, but I will be back before you know it! :) Transfers are not until Dec. 4^th, so I can still send mail up to the 29^th. :) It was great to hear from everyone! I hope Alyssa had an awesome birthday!

Not giving up--November 17, 2014

Hello Everyone,

What a great week it was! Things are going great here in Radford!  We have been very blessed to see so many great things this week in our area. Even though it has gotten really cold here, things haven't slowed down too bad.

We had a great lesson this week with one of our Investigators, Kenny Harris. Kenny is a funny guy we have been working with for a few weeks now. He is coming along great and loves all the lessons we’re teaching him. The hardest thing is getting him to church! We’re still working on that, but while we were teaching the Plan of Salvation, Elder Williams and I had a great idea to use the church building in the lesson. We used all the big rooms of the church to teach about a different part of the plan, for example, we used one half of the gym to teach the pre earth life then used the big sliding curtain in the gym to describe the veil and coming down to earth. We even used the baptismal font to teach the basics of the gospel. We then moved from room to room until we got through the whole plan and then had a recap about everything we had taught him and left Him with a few commitments. This was so effective for us and we feel like he understood the plan of salvation really well and we taught him at his own pace so he could grasp all the important points. After it made me realize how lucky we are to have such an amazing plan that heavenly Father has given us!  

The baptism was incredible yesterday! It was one of the best experiences I have ever had. We had the Baptism after church; Josh is the eight year old son of the Vaught family. His mom, Alicia, is a member but when we had found her she was completely inactive and knew very little about the church. Her husband, Shane, is a nonmember and isn't religious at all.  He is an intimidating guy to teach, but he is a great man. And Josh’s younger brother is Zach and he is 7. Anyway, it was awesome! The bishop of the ward conducted the service and one of the family friends baptized Josh. We was so excited--it was fun to see. All went well with the ordinance and we were back in the Relief Society Room when they were giving the talks on receiving the Holy Ghost. The man that gave the Holy Ghost talk was their old bishop when Alicia got converted. The bishop that was conducting felt prompted to ask the old bishop to confirm Josh and he did after he was through giving his talk on the Holy Ghost. Without hesitation he confirmed him and it was one of the coolest blessings I have ever heard. In the blessing he said that Josh was called here at this time so that he could help his parents in this life to be converted to the gospel. And that Josh one day will serve a mission and be very successful because of what his family has and is going through. It was so special. 

It was so cool to see the difference Elder Williams and I made to this family. The mom stood up in the end and thanked us for everything we had done for them and being so patient and not giving up on their family. It brought me the most satisfaction I have ever felt. I could feel that God called me here at this time to help the Vaught Family and help them receive the gospel.

I have really come to know in my heart that I am supposed to be here and that despite all my weaknesses and imperfections, the Lord is working through me to help hasten His work. This church is so true.

Keep the Faith!  

Elder Kaleb Bingham

Short on Time -- November 10, 2014

Hey mom and dad,

Super short on time--some stuff came up so I won't have a really long e mail today. I'm sorry. But the Vaught son will be baptized this Sunday--we're excited! I'm doing good still-- kinda sick, it's annoying but staying SUPER busy with being a DL and a trainer and working so hard in our area. I have no time for anything, it's stressful. But really fun too!

Dad: Its starting to get cold here they are calling for snow this weekend and its really dropped down. I decided I don't like the cold as a missionary, it's pointless when I can't snowboard! That's awesome that you got the lights up!  Life as a DL has been actually pretty good but sometimes I do feel like that I have been humbled, that's for sure. It's hard sometimes but I wouldn't trade it for anything! Hopefully I can get a better grip of it soon! Im so sorry I haven't been able to write you a letter back, I have had no spare time on my p day--I feel really bad. But thank you for the letters; my favorite letters to get are from you and mom, they help more than you know! I love them and thanks so much for the gift card! We really enjoyed it! It was awesome and nice to get out. Thank you so much for the advice too, it's amazing to have a dad that knows what I'm going through and can give advice and help! I can't wait to Skype as well, I love you so much Dad. 

Mom: We went back and talked to Don. He was still kinda stubborn but we taught him about the B.O.M. and He told us he would read it through and then call us after, so it's a waiting game! Definitely planting a lot of seeds though! Good find on the table! Good luck at your relief society dinner, I bet you did a great job of planning it! I love you so much thanks for being such an incredible mom! You don't know how much I appreciate you and all you do for me:) I love you so much! I hope you have a amazing week:))

Five Months! -- November 3, 2014

Hello Everyone,

This week was a great one! We had a really busy one with a lot of meetings! We were able to listen to Elder Renlund and his wife from the seventy—they came and spoke to us. It was a very uplifting experience! I learned a lot from his talk. He talked on faith and true conversion. My favorite part of it was when he said that the Prophet personally asked Him to tell us that he is so thankful for our service and commitment and that He loves us more then we could know. That hit home for me! It was a great meeting! We did that on Halloween. Halloween as a missionary isn't very fun--we didn't really do anything but work. 

On Halloween night, I was lucky enough to interview an investigator in my district for baptism. It was a cool experience. I thought it went well and he passed! His name was Arthur Wang. He is from China. He had a cool story and a strong testimony of the church. He said that it only makes sense that God would still give us prophets and apostles! 

We have been doing a lot of knocking on doors lately. We have had a hard time finding new investigators, but we had a couple awesome experiences that came from all the door knocking! 

We found a lady, her name is Diana. We knocked her door, she answered and after giving her the whole spill about who we are, she said, yeah I know your church.  I am actually reading the Book Of Mormon right now! We were blown away! She has been reading it for a while. It turns out that her sister up north just got baptized and she went up there and the missionaries met her and challenged her to read the Book of Mormon. Pretty cool that Heavenly Father has prepared her for us! We have an appointment this week with her; we will see how it goes! 

Another cool experience we had this week was from tracting. We went up to a really rich part of town in Radford.  After about an hour into it, we knocked on a door and a super nice family answered and invited us in. They had eight kids and called us the Mormons and sat us down. They were being super nice and bringing us drinks and candy and homemade goodies, and then suddenly everyone pretty much disappeared. It was just Elder Williams and I and the father of the house, named Don. We were sitting at the table and the first thing he said was, “Listen, you’re not going to convert me, but I’m going to convert you.” Elder Williams and I looked at each other and started laughing and we said good luck! We went on and he is super Catholic. He just started firing off reasons why we were wrong and how our church isn't right. We did our best to keep it under control and we stuck to our testimonies and continued to bare them to him. After about an hour of this, we were getting nowhere, I thought. We were running out of time and we were all a little upset. I looked Don in the eyes and somehow, as bold as I could, told Him that I knew His church was not true. Then I told Him that Jesus Christ has restored the true church back to the earth and if he ever wanted to learn about it, he knows where to find us. We left after that and were pretty torn up. I felt bad that I may have been rude and judgmental. We went on with our day and shook it off. The very next morning we received a text from the church in SLC. It was a media referral from someone in our area that got online at Mormon.org and requested the missionaries to come visit. We got the text and it turned out to be Don, the guy we saw the day before. So we called the number from the media referral and I talked to him on the phone. He said, “I would like for you missionaries to come back by and give me a Book of Mormon so I can read it.” What a change of heart?!? We have an appointment to go back this weekend. I guess our testimonies hopefully got through to him! 

Marcus Cunningham is still in a coma; we’re waiting to hear more about his condition. Please keep praying for him! 

The Vaught Family is still doing awesome! Josh, one of the sons, is going to be baptized on the 16th of November. We’re still working on Sister Vaught's husband. I hope he will see his son get baptized soon and want the same for himself! 

It’s been exciting here! I have been having so much fun and learning so much still about the Gospel and about the work! I know this church is true!!! I love you all and Keep the Faith!! 

-Elder Bingham 

Big Changes in Radford -- October 27, 2014

Hello Everyone,

This week was a crazy one! We have made some big changes here in Radford. Our mission President put two more Elders in our area! Elder Hewlett and Elder Higgins are now our new roommates! President assigned them as official Radford University Elders and they are working through the singles ward. It’s pretty fun--we have had a good time and are learning a lot from each other! It was hard to hand over the university.  I was kind of bummed that we no longer get to work it. But the cool thing is that I have been working so hard and built up the university so much that now we were able to create a new area there for the mission. It’s rewarding to see the progress my companions and I made there at that university. Although it’s hard to hand over all our college investigators and all our potentials, I am also excited to get to spend more time finding families to teach. It’s going to be a lot harder, but I know Elder Williams and I are going to see some big miracles. 

This week something big and unexpected happened. Our investigator, Marcus Cunningham, is the one that has been waiting for months to get permission from the church to be able to be baptized. M. had a heart attack and was admitted to the hospital.  They caught it early and found out he had clogged arteries in his heart. He needed to have surgery and he did. He went in for a triple bypass and during the surgery his body had a hard time handling it and they had to stop the surgery and put him on life support and his body went into a coma. Now this is the crazy part, two years ago Marcus was in a coma from drug abuse and during his coma, he said the Lord came to him and told him he needed to change. From that experience, Marcus changed his life and came to our church. He told me that story at least three times. I knew it was a very special experience for him that did change his life. So now he has been waiting to receive this answer from the twelve for months and no one knew why it was taking so long. Even our mission president didn't know what was taking so long. This has really confused me and when we got the news that Marcus went into a coma last week, I was very confused and frustrated. So my comp and I did much prayer and we asked the Lord what was going on and why this was happening. We then talked to our Mission President about it and got permission to travel two hours to go see him and give his lifeless body a blessing. We did and the ward mission leader and his son, the Bishop (Richard Fisher), took us down there. We got there late and came into the room to minister to him. We agreed because Richard Fisher, the mission leader, has known him the longest, he would give the blessing. I stood in on it with Brother Fisher while he gave the blessing.  It was a very powerful blessing and I can hardly describe the spirit that was in the room--it was so strong. When the blessing was done we all looked at each other and then looked at Marcus as He laid in this bed hooked up to a handful of different machines. We all knew and we all felt the presence of his spirit there and the confirming answer from Heavenly Father that told us that He is there and that this is all part of His plan. We felt His love, confidence and peace that everything was going to work out fine, and that this is happening for a reason. I’m not sure what is going to happen from here, but what I do know is that it’s going to be okay and that Marcus Cunningham has changed my life from this experience. Heavenly Father knows us and He has a plan for us that is perfect. My testimony of the Plan of Salvation has grown so much. Like it says in the Book of Mormon, (once we die we will be brought back to the God that gave us life.) Whatever is going on with Marcus, I know he is with his Father in Heaven.  

I love you all and I want you to know that I love this Gospel and this church and I know with all my heart that Jesus Christ is our Savior. And Heaven is a lot closer than we think and realize. I hope everyone has a good week.  Keep us and Marcus in your prayers please.

Keep the Faith,

-Elder Kaleb Bingham

District Leader -- October 20, 2014

Hey Everyone!

So I will start off with the big news I guess! I got a call from my mission president yesterday and he told me I will be staying in Radford for one more transfer and I will finish training Elder Williams! But then He also called me to be a DISTRICT LEADER. I was pretty excited--I was also a little blown away, I wasn't expecting that one. But I will be over the Blacksburg District and it’s a pretty stacked district.  We’re going to see a lot of miracles! So I will be staying in the same place in Radford working the same area, and I am very excited about it! Just to let everyone know my address is still:

916 2nd Street
Radford, VA  24141

I feel like I have been on a mail fast lately. Haha I would love some letters! 

So just a little update on some of our investigators, 

Trendy is doing awesome!  She is still meeting up with us and she has told us she knows that this church is true.  She is still trying to decide if she wants to join it or not. I'm pretty sure she will, you can tell that the other side is working on her.  She even stood up for the church when some of her friends were giving her a hard time about deciding to be a Mormon.  Keep praying for her please; we’re excited to see what happens this week when we meet with her.

Jesse Huffman, Jesse is still in a nursing home and not doing well. We haven't been able to see him much because of how sick he has been. Currently they have been trying to transfer him to the nursing home where is wife is but I'm not sure that he will make it to that point. His family has somehow lost interest in learning about the church and they haven't been really supportive of him which is sad. I pray for him and I know the last time I saw Him last week I had the impression to bear my testimony to him and read him some scriptures in the Book of Mormon.  It was a powerful spiritual experience and that's what I left him with. I hope I see him again but we will have to play it by ear.

We went back and mowed Mrs. Maguire’s lawn this last week for the last time this year. I sure have grown to love that crazy lady! She never fails to put a smile on our faces. She isn't able to really have a normal conversation; she never comprehends what we are saying.  She usually just tells us about her life and gets mad because we don't come around enough to see her.  Haha She is very sweet and I am still trying to get a picture with her. And no, we don't know what ever happened to her cat, that is still a mystery....

The Vaught family is doing awesome! They came to church again! And we had them over at the bishop’s house last night for a family home evening. It was a good time. We taught about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and it was a fun lesson. We found some cool activities for them to do off of the church website. Alecia Vaught, the mom, has really loved getting back into the church and you can tell that she is so much happier now.  Her husband hasn't meet with us yet but we think he will turn around soon. The good news is that they have been praying as a family every night and reading the scriptures together. Their oldest boy, Josh, is going to be baptized on November 15^th.  We are pretty stoked for that-- it will be a cool one. They are awesome! It’s been such a blessing to be able to work with them!

I was a little disappointed that we were not able to baptize someone this last transfer. But I have come to a conclusion that even though we didn't get a baptism, we taught over 60 lessons to investigators and we invited 219 people to learn about the gospel. We planted many seeds in the Lord’s vineyard and I know we are going to continue to find, teach, and baptize. I love you all and hope to hear from more of you soon.  Have a great week and remember to Keep the Faith!  

Elder Kaleb Bingham

Grateful for this church -- October 13, 2014

Hey Everyone,

This week was a pretty good one! It had its ups and downs but for the most part it was great! We found some awesome investigators and we have seen some great progress in the investigators that we have! It has been such a blessing! 

Last P-day we went bowling with a bunch of other missionaries from our zone. It was a blast!  We have a fun bowling alley on the Radford Campus that we go too. I think my favorite part of it was the music that they play there.  Haha Music is one of the biggest things I miss! But the cool thing is that it will all be there when I get home! 

We were walking around campus one night this week and Elder Williams and I were talking about something pointless when we heard a girl yell behind us, "Hey are you guys Mormons?" It blew us away! We turned around and said Yes of course! And she then told us that she had met with the missionaries before she moved to school and that her boyfriend’s family were all members of the church. We talked with her for a while, then set up an appointment to meet up and teach her. We met with her twice last week and she is great. Her name is Shawna. We kind of went through some of the lessons to see how much she knew and the end result of everything was that she told us she wanted to get baptized but she just doesn't know when she wants to! We asked her if she knew that Joesph Smith was a prophet and she said, “Yes, I know He saw what he saw.” She also told us that she knew that the church is true. She is solid! I hope when we meet with her this week that we will be able to put her on date to be baptized! I will keep everyone posted on how it goes! :) 

Also this week we got a random phone call from a lady that wanted us to come visit her. We went over and it turns out she is a member that is really less active. Her name is Alecia Vaught. She is awesome, She has two little boys that she wants to get baptized and a husband who is not a member and she hopes that he will become interested as well. It’s a normal family which is great and kind of rare. Haha We were pretty excited! They came to church yesterday and the ward was really welcoming to them. The scary thing was that it was Fast and Testimony Meeting. Testimony meetings are the scariest thing as a missionary! They are great and all but some people... You always get the random weird people that go up and cry hysterically or tell pointless stories about their pets or try to relate the gospel to awkward topics. Haha For nonmembers that visit church for the first time, it is quiet the sight! I don't think I have ever prayed so hard outside of a testimony meeting. Haha But what do you do? Luckily, yesterday’s wasn't so bad--it actually went very well! And the Vaught Family loved it so all was good:) It was a true blessing to find such awesome people to teach. 

I love this church and I love the gospel. I have never known the joy that the truth of this church has until I came on this mission. This last week a guy invited us to come to a Sunday School Bible study at a Baptist church. I have actually done this a lot, at least 5 to 6 times on my mission.  People invite us all the time to attend different church events. This one was a little different. We walked in late (on purpose) to get some extra attention. The whole congregation turned and looked at us. . .  It’s quiet the sight to see Mormon missionaries walk into a Baptist church. Haha We sat down and listened to this pastor. The topic they were speaking on was the trinity. I hate the idea of the trinity that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are one person. But the conclusion of this preacher’s rant was that if we don't believe in the trinity we are not saved and dammed to hell. It was so wrong, in so many ways from the truth. I had to bite my tongue the whole time. After the meeting, an older man came up to me and told us that he was glad that we came to test our faith. We started smiling when he said that! We couldn't believe someone could actually believe that to be the truth! After a minute or so, we pointed out in the Bible how his preacher was wrong. Of course we did it in a respectful way. But it really does show me that we are the only church that has the fullness of Jesus Christ's gospel. All these other churches run in circles for gain and they rely on the wisdom of man instead of the wisdom of God.  We should all be grateful for this church because without it we would be so terribly lost.  I love you all and hope you have a great week! :)  

Keep the Faith, 

-Elder Bingham

Who am I? -- October 6, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Wow this last week flew by!! We had a lot of ups and downs, but we also had a lot of cool experiences as well! 

We are finally moving in to our new place today! It took them all week to clean the carpets and all that. . . so we had to spend a lot of time de junking our apartment and deciding what we wanted to take with us! It’s surprising how much junk Elders acquire over the years. Haha We found Ensign Magazines from the 80's! I was hoping we would find like a really old original copy of the Book of Mormon, but it didn't happen. ;) Haha But all is well; our new apartment is really cool! It’s so big! It’s a house and I think President is going to move two more Elders in with us next transfer so that should be fun! I did get my package and letter from dad, so don't worry.  I don't think I lost any mail--I hope! 

We have been spending more and more time on the Radford campus lately, for some reason that’s where we have been finding all of our new investigators.  And I am fine with that because I love teaching people my age.  It’s a blast!  

We had a very interesting lesson with a guy named Andre, We found him while walking around the campus and he looked really depressed so we decided to ITL him. He apparently was diagnosed with epilepsy when he was 14 years old. He is not talkative at all and you can tell he does not like life. Surprising enough, he was willing to meet up with us. We meet with him and we attempted to teach the restoration. We got through it and I knew that what we were teaching him wasn't what he needed. So I bore my testimony to him and told him how much God loves him and cares about him. Elder Williams did the same and we talked about the Godhead and why we are here. He didn't say much the whole time but when we were about to leave we asked him if he had any questions for us and he asked us, "What does the still small voice feel like?"  It was a golden question! We explained it to him and taught him how he could feel it for himself.  I hope we can meet with him again and I pray that we can help him come closer to heavenly Father. 

I think I am starting to really find my strengths as a missionary. I absolutely hate knocking on doors and tracting. We have a good system that Elder Williams and I have come up with. We have decided to not knock doors and focus on finding people when they are out of their homes and in more casual places. We spend a lot of time walking around parks and grocery stores and of course the college campus. They give us pass along cards to give to people--they usually have pictures of the Savior on them or pictures of temples. That’s usually how we open up conversations with people. We call it ITL'ing it stands for invite to learn. It’s really fun.  I used to be scared to start talking to random people but now I don't really have any hesitation! It’s a real treat to see my own testimony open up people’s eyes. Just a simple brief testimony of the restored Gospel can do wonders—it’s incredible. The Light of Christ is a real thing! And as a missionary, I have seen it in so many of God’s children that are coming closer and closer to the truth. I would say ITL’s are my favorite part of this work for that reason, to see “Pure Light” overcome darkness in people’s lives. 

We were able to watch all of conference including the priesthood session! It was so great! How lucky are we to have the restored church of Jesus Christ and have living Prophets and Apostles?! I have never enjoyed Conference so much in my life. To missionaries I guess it’s like watching the super Bowl haha! But really I learned soooo much in those two days. I took over 40 pages of notes from all of the talks.... After it was all over I thought to myself, Who am I??? I used to never even care about conference and sadly enough I never paid much attention.  It showed me that I really am changing in a good way! I loved all of the talks! I think my favorite one was the last talk by Elder Bednar. He really gave an amazing one about why we do so much missionary work. I loved how he said "To all nonmembers of the church, We as a church challenge you to bring all the truth you have and put it up against our gospel to try to prove it wrong." How true is it though? We do have the complete truth and I also loved how Elder Cook said "The Restoration of the Gospel completely shattered the myth that God no longer speaks to his children!" That was a really cool quote for me, I loved that one! 

I love this church and everything about it. I have really started to develop a true testimony of this gospel and I would never have been able to do it if it weren't for the hard times and trials that I have been through on this mission. I know our Savior Lives and that Heavenly Father knows us all by name and loves us. I know Joseph Smith was the first Prophet of the Restoration and He did the work his father needed him to do. I love this church and this Gospel and I would challenge everyone to really ponder the things we believe and in absolute faith Pray to have a complete conversion of our Savior’s church. I love you all and thank everyone for all the support and helping me get where I am at today.

Keep the Faith,

-Elder Kaleb Bingham. 

A grandmother's influence -- September 29, 2014

Hello Everyone,

This week was a great one! It was long and we worked hard but it was also very rewarding! We had a few really powerful lessons that strengthened my testimony and felt really good to teach.

On Monday last week, after preparation day was over, we got a call from one of our investigators named Jesse Huffman. We have been working with Jesse for a long time, ever since I got here. He has been battling cancer for the last year and I’m pretty sure he isn't going to last much longer. It’s sad to see but, it’s also really cool to see because even though he hasn't been able to get baptized yet, he has so much faith in the Lord and He has read the Book of Mormon and he knows it’s the truth. We were able to go give him a blessing in the hospital that night and you could feel the spirit so strongly with him. It’s comforting to see someone with so much hope and endurance. I don't know what will happen to him from here, but what I do know is that Heavenly Father loves him and He has much in store for him in this next life. Watching Him has made me so grateful for the Plan of Salvation. This gospel is amazing! 

After we left the hospital, one of our college investigators called us and told us she wanted to know more about what God has planned for her in this life. Her name is Liz Scott. We were able to meet up with her that night and she broke down and told us all of her life story. She has come from a rough back ground.  Her parents were drug abusers and she has been in and out of foster homes. She now is a Christian and is strong in the Baptist faith. When we meet with her, she worked us over with questions. But luckily the spirit was so strong we had no problem answering them! At the end of our lesson we invited her to be baptized and she accepted the invite! So hopefully now she will put in the effort and live all the commitments!  

We found a new investigator this week! This girl named Trendy came up to us on campus and she has a really cool story! She is from Africa  and moved to America with her family when she was really young. Her Grandma was a Mormon and took her to church with her for years when she was growing up. When she was eight or nine she wanted to get baptized but her parents told her that she had to wait until she was a little older. So a couple years passed, but her Grandma died of cancer. It was really hard for her, before she died, her grandma told her to keep going to our church. So Trendy did. She kept going to our church with a family she was close to until she was about 10 or 11. Her parents one morning told her that she needed to go to their Methodist church. She went and she met with the preacher and talked to him. This Preacher took her into his office and he freaked her out. He told her all of these lies about the Mormon church and basically showed her all of this terrible anti-Mormon videos to scare her out of continuing to go to the LDS church. So she was so scared that she completely stopped going to our church. Which is very sad... but she found us and told us she has realized that what she saw and the things they told her were not true. She wanted us to come re-teach her everything that she has forgotten. We had a great lesson with her about the restoration and the coolest part was that you could almost feel her grandma’s influence there. We have some high hopes for her and are really excited!  

We had a specialized training with President Salisbury last week! It was a really good one we learned a lot about how the spirit affects our missionary work and what we can do to improve our success and see more baptisms. He surprised us at the end and showed us the new church movie that will be coming out in theaters in a couple weeks called Meet The Mormons! It was a great movie and I would encourage everyone to go.  It had us all in tears. Haha

Well all is still going well here in Radford. We will be moving apartments tomorrow or Wednesday! Our new address is..... 

916 2nd Street Radford, VA 24141  

I hope everyone has an awesome week! Pray for our investigators so we can get some of them hopefully baptized soon! I love you all! Keep the faith! 

-Elder Kaleb Bingham. 

Trying to prove us wrong -- September 22, 2014

Hey Everyone!

This week was a long one! We had a challenging week for sure but it ended in a really rewarding way! 

We started the week off good.  We had a fun p-day; we went fishing and went and ate at Taco Bell. Unfortunately, we didn't catch any fish last week but it still felt great to just be fishing and throwing a line out there! We usually go and walk through part of the river where we catch the fish, but this time we stayed on the shore.  I love the New River, it’s the big river that surrounds Radford. It’s beautiful and one day I will come back and get to hopefully float it like all the people here do! 

We picked up two new investigators this last week. The first one we picked up is Lois Marsh.  She is a nice lady and is very Methodist. She is older but still has a lot of potential! We taught her the Restoration and she really enjoyed it. It’s hard for people to understand sometimes that we needed to have the restoration so we could have the priesthood back to the earth. But it was a great lesson and we committed her to be baptized on Oct 25th! We were pretty excited for that. 

The other investigator we picked up is Shyann. We are teaching her boyfriend.  They are both in high school but they ask some good deep questions and are excited to learn! We had a good lesson with her and with Josh, her boyfriend. Hopefully we can get them on date for baptism soon!  

We are teaching a young man, well a kid my age. haha He is going to school at RU and he is the son of a Lutheran Pastor. I found him and we have been working with him.  I think He let us teach him so he could try to prove us wrong. But amazingly enough, we were able to teach him the Restoration and we came back and watched the Joseph Smith movie with him. He said that his church always told lies about Joseph Smith growing up and all these years, he had a misconception of who he is and what he did. It was an incredible lesson and we put him on date to be baptized in the end of October. I hope he can hold in there; it’s going to be hard for his family to accept the fact he is taking lessons from Mormon missionaries and preparing for baptism. One thing I have learned is that if it’s meant to be, the Lord will always prepare a way for someone to follow Him.  

Well I took my boy Elder Williams tracting.  He hated it! Haha We went out two different days and knocked on doors. It was disappointing because we couldn't find anyone that is interested. We have been trying very hard to find a good solid normal family to teach and baptize and we have been praying for it, but so far we haven't found them.  In our area, we have a college and a family community.  It’s a fun mix. It is so easy to talk to kids in college and find ones that are interested. We have been very blessed to find a lot of people from RU. The only sad part is that the closest YSA ward is in Blacksburg where Virginia Tech is. It’s about 30 minutes away. So Hopefully we can start getting them to the family ward!  

We are going to have to move apartments this week. We share a house with a terrible family that lives in the basement. The house we live in is not meant to house two different families. The people we live with are not married and have two kids who have both been kicked out of school and the parents are not allowed on any school campuses in Radford. But the worst part is that we complained to the land lord about them and they got upset at us for it, so they have been spreading a lot of rumors to the ward members that they know saying we throw parties and all this bad stuff. So President Salisbury is coming down today to take us house shopping.  I will let you know if our address changes.  

Well that's just about all of the exciting stuff that has been going on here! I appreciate all of the support and encouragement. We have seen many miracles and are very excited to see what this next week brings us.  I love you all!  Keep the Faith!!

-Elder Kaleb Bingham