July 28, 2013
Maupay nga aga!
Well, this week I have seen more miracles and have had a ton of success. We have... ready for this?... 16 new investigators. And at least 7 of them speak English. And at least half of them are from referrals. Referrals change my life. We have 2 people with a baptismal date for next month, and we are teaching 3 really golden families. I'm super excited!!! We're going to commit all of them to a date next week! Hopefully they all come to church this week! Feel free to pray that all of my investigators come to church, you can even fast for it if you want!
I accidently volunteered to be the choir director a few weeks ago... I thought they were just asking me to be in it.... But, actually, it's going way great! I have a ton of people come every week! Yesterday there were 30 people there. That's more than any choir I was in at church in Utah....
It's so cool! Our choir is for district conference coming up next month, and a general authority will be there. They sound good, so I'm really looking forward to it! It's super fun, and we have investigators that are in it as well, so It's a super cool way to do some fellowshipping, and get them involved!
So, something else really cool happened these past few weeks. Last transfer, our Branch mission leader wouldn't really work with us. He had it in his head that sister missionaries were kind of useless. But, based on the evidence of the past sisters, I can see why he thought that. But recently, I've really been trying my best to have daily contact with him, and keep him updated, and schedule meetings and such, and now, he works with us a ton! And he gives us referrals!!!! All of these referrals are professionals, and really prepared for the gospel! It's great!
Brother Nikki is his name, and he's kind of an interesting character. He was baptized by my MTC teacher a year and a half ago, and he has a super socal (fancy) job. So, he knows a lot of high up people. Anyway, he is also kind of a perfectionist. And he likes to point out people's flaws. That's not really rude in the Philippines like it is in America. Anyway, last week He commented on how because I laugh so much and smile all the time, I have premature laugh lines and wrinkles. I then told him that Jesus said, "Be of good cheer." So, being happy is a commandment. Then I told him that if you don't have laugh lines, you can't get into the celestial kingdom. He thought that was the greatest thing he has ever heard. Since then, he always says, "Oh, Sister Bingham, Good for you! Working on your celestial mansion!" whenever I laugh.... which is a lot...
But, I used to be really annoyed with brother Nikki. He has said some really rude things to me in the past. But, I decided one day to love him. I decided that that was one of my challenges for this area. Now, I recognize the good in him, like he just does his best everyday.
Yesterday, after some appointments, he told me that he saw me in Catbalogan and how much enthusiasm I had, so he prayed that I would get transferred to Calbayog. This is a quote. "God is so merciful, because two weeks later, you got transferred. I know that God answers my prayers because now I can refer all of my friends to the missionaries because you are here."
It's really good that we get along now. The work is progressing so much faster, and so many more people are coming closer to Christ. I never thought that I could have such an influence on people just because I love life. Someone else told me that they love coming to choir because of how excited I am about it, and they don't want to make me sad. hahaha
Funny things:
1. We found this new family, and taught them the first lesson. I committed them to baptism( which they said yes!) And then Sister Stoehr asked if they would go to church yesterday. This is what the mom said, "hmmm we really want to, but I'm probably giving birth that day... But if that doesn't happen, we'll be there!" I didn't notice that she was pregnant because she was sitting down the whole time and her kids were all sitting in front of her, but I almost died laughing right there. It took everything I had to not laugh.
2. We taught the plan of salvation to one of our favorite families, and Sister Stoehr was talking about the Celestial kingdom. there are two words. Ginpatay= to kill, matay=dead. She said that even though her grandpa was a killer, they could all be together in the celestial kingdom. I corrected her, because they all had very horrified looks. hahahahahahahaha classic. I really love training, and I really love Sister Stoehr. We have a lot of fun together, and we are pretty unified already. That's good! Yay for missionary work!
Thanks for all of your prayers, and love.
Mahal kit,
Sister Bingham
No comments:
Post a Comment