February 4, 2013
Dear Family,
WOO I made it to Sunday!! It is really true about what they say. The first few days were really hard for me, but the 4 pounds of chocolate really gave me some comfort!! haha And some new friends! I shared with my district! They all say Salamat!!(thank you) And I'm really grateful for all of the dear elders and letters!! Those definitely gave me a boost!
Wow, that's a cool Bishopric! I remember last time they switched bishoprics, and we were all worried that no one could be better than bishop what's-his-name, but the Lord really knows better than we do about what we need, and who we need, and when we need them. I'm sure that this Bishopric will suprise you in great ways! I'm having a hard time thinking that anyone could be as good as Bishop Saunders, but maybe someone needs Bishop Scott!
So, I love my kaubans!! And I love my other roomies! We are all of the girls in our district, and we are all going to Tacloban. They are all soooooo sweet!! I feel like I've known them a TON longer than 5 days. I love my friends from home, but I can tell that I'm going to be friends with these sweet sweet sisters for a really really really really long time.
Sundays are the best!!! We get an extra half hour to get ready, then we have sacrament meeting, and then because it was fast sunday, we had mission confrence (2 hours), then we had some study time in our classroom, branch president interviews, a temple walk! (where I ran into an elder that Aaron taught I can't remember his name, but he is white, and blonde and tall, and it wasn't Londyn) And then we had some more study time, Dinner (It was just Ice cream from the creamery, it was good.... it wasn't like SUPER AWESOME AMAZING or anything though... But they had hot fudge/caramel/and marshmallow cream and whipped cream) And then we had a fireside, and then we watched a movie, and then we went back to the rooms for free time. That sounds like such a busy day, but it was actually super super relaxed!!
I learn sooooo much everyday. I thought college was hard? HA! well, at least I'm actually interested in what I'm learning! That really makes a difference! We usually study language about 6 of the 16 hour days we have! We're already teaching an "investigator." It's really cool though, because our investigator is actually one of our teachers we will have in a few weeks. But he is taking on the personality/testimony of a non-member that he actually knows. Oh, and the discussions are all in Cebauno. Talk about crazy!! So, our first discussion went ok, because we brought in our translation books to help us out when we got stuck. We made a goal for our second discussion to have all of our simple phrases from the lesson memorized so that we could bring the spirit more into our discussion. We planned to teach about the restoration and the book of mormon, but he ended up changing the topic to baptism. It was crazy. All we could do was bear our simple sun-beam level testimonies about the Savior and how much the Lord loves us. And then I remembered that the first day I was here, I looked up some scriptures about baptism and marked them in my Cebauno scriptures! And my scripture marker was totally in the page with all of the scriptures!! It definitely testified to me how much the Lord is looking out for his investigators.
Another really sweet testimony booster happened to me the other night. I sleep on the bottom bunk under Sister Schaap, and I heard her crying. I could tell that she was trying to stay quiet so she wouldn't draw attention to herself. I didn't know if I should talk to her, or pretend like I didn't notice... I then got the prompting to give her a hug. I thought it would be super awkward, because I didn't know her very well, but the spirit pretty much made my legs climb up the ladder. Her back was turned towards me, and she was curled up into a ball, so I just decided to scratch her back until she stopped crying. The next day, we were jogging together in the gym (one of my favorite things to do!!!) and she told me that she was praying to the Lord for some comfort shortly before I started scratching her back. It felt really good to be able to be an instrument for the Lord, even though it was something super simple.
Cebauno is really called Bisaya because they don't have the letter "c" in the alphabet. They call it Cebuano, because of Cebu city. I kind of understand what you're saying, dad, but not exactly what we're learning in the compound! I'm almost out of time, but I want to bear my testimony to you! Nasayud ko nga manluluwas ug manunubus si Jesukristo. Nasayud Ko nga gihigugma ka Dios. Nasayud ko nga tinuod ni Basahon ni Mormon. Ngalan si Jesukristo, amen!!
I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!! And I'm so grateful for all of the prayers I have been getting!!! Tell people to Dear Elder me, so I can get some addresses!!! You make me a better person!! Thank you for preparing me for this!!!
Until next P-day,
Sister Bingham!!
AyoAyo! Amping!
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