Hello people I love in America,
There is some great news!! Our investigator with mild autism is getting baptized this week!! Woooooooo! We were a little scared because he didn't pass the first interview, but the same day my zone leaders interviewed him again, and everything worked out ok. We were reviewing with him before his interview, and we asked him what the word of wisdom was. He said, "drugs are not allowed. Alcohol is not allowed... etc. Tattoos aren't allowed either! I don't have any! See!" he then proceeded to flash us and show us that he didn't have any chest tattoos. Funniest thing of my life! hahaha And it's more funny because my companion didn't understand what he was saying so she was like, "what?! what?? why?!?!?! " It was very funny!
On a super sad note, our investigator, Jason, decided not to be baptized. Everything was going perfectly. After every lesson we could see his faith and testimony growing. He knows the Book of Mormon and the gospel is true. He has a ton of family here in Calbayog that are members to help him stay active. He wanted to serve a mission, and he would turn 18 the day before the baptism, so he didn't really need his parents' consent. But, he called them and told them that he was getting baptized. His family lives in Manila, and he lives here for school. When he talked to his parents, they told him that if he got baptized, they would stop supporting his schooling, and he would not be allowed to go back to their home ever again. Now, I can see how this would be a hard decision. It's hard to sacrifice things for the church. But, worth it. We talked about it with him for a few lessons, but now, he's changed back to how he was. Before, he wasn't happy. There was this darkness in his eyes. It changed as he was gaining a testimony. Now, it's gone again. It broke my heart. I don't know if I've ever been that sad in my entire life. After me and my companion got home after that appointment, we just sang hymns and cried for like an hour and a half. I read something in 2 Peter 2:1-4. It talks about being strong while suffering for the church and being a good solider of Christ. I learned that always, when something good is about to happen, we have trials of our faith. Something bad will happen, something that we weren't going to expect, something difficult. The trick is to choose the best option. If we make the sacrifice, even if it is super hard, every thing will always work out, because, unlike the devil, God ALWAYS supports His children.
His family doesn't want him to be baptized because they want to be, "unified as a family." The sad thing is that they would never be unified unless they were unified by the gospel. They had already been taught by the missionaries a few years ago, and they believe that they need to die Catholic. We are seeing him again tomorrow, so please pray that he will see how much more important the gospel is.
I heard a talk recently about the celestial kingdom and grace by Brad Wilcox. He gave an example about a kid, with a lot of vices being forced by his parents to go to EFY. His parents were hoping that it would increase his testimony and change his life, and bring him happiness.
After one day, he called his parents and begged to go home.
A lot of times, we think of us begging Heavenly Father and Christ to let us in to the Celestial kingdom. In reality, It's them who are begging us to live worthy enough to enter. We wouldn't be happy there if Celestial laws don't make us happy. I thought that was really interesting. It changed my perspective about obedience and following the commandments of God.
Our area finally got split, so this week should be great! We can focus on people now! yay! The weird thing is, is that the sisters' bunk bed can't fit up our narrow stairs... our apt is kind of tiny. So, there is a huge bunk bed in the middle of our kitchen for the rest of this week until their apartment gets finished. hahahaha it's interesting. We ate on the top bunk yesterday. It was an adventure!
Thank you for being such a great family/friends! I love all of you, and am so thankful for all of your prayers!
Love forever,
Sister Bingham
Mac & Cheese never tasted so good!
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