Hello Everyone! We received a very nice email from Hillary this morning. She is in Manila and doing great! We just want to thank you all for your thoughts and prayers in Hillary's behalf. We surely have a lot to be grateful for! As we went to bed Friday night, we were discussing what we would do if we received bad news about Hillary. We didn't really know what we would do; It was a very hard conversation for us to have. Heavenly Father answers prayers, though, because about an hour later the phone rang and it was Elder Ardern, from the area seventy presidency in charge of the Philippines. Of all things, he apologized for waking us up, but wanted us to know that our daughter was safe. Complete relief and gratitude filled our hearts! I can't even express how that felt. And at the same time, we knew that many parents did not have the peace of mind that we had and that was really hard! I almost felt guilty knowing that they were still so panicked. I'm so grateful that all the missionaries were found safely. The church leaders did everything they could to find them all. I am so impressed with the great lengths that went to find them. They actually got in a helicopter and landed in the areas of missing missionaries to find them. We have been able to talk to Hillary four times. She truly is doing fine! We feel so blessed to have a missionary--it really is the best experience for her that we could ever hope for and we have been so blessed as a family for her service. Please keep praying for the people in the Philippines--they still need so much help!
With Love,
Kristy & Lance
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Dear Everyone,
First, I just want to say that I am so thankful for all of you, all of your prayers, all of your fasting, and all of your thoughts in my behalf and in behalf of the sweet people that I am serving with. I'm sure that you all have seen what happened to Tacloban last week, so I won't go into any of those details. I did want to share some of the miracles that have happened in our mission, and to me.
-First of all, all 200+ missionaries are alive, and almost all of them are safe in Manila.
-The storm didn't really effect my area, Maasin City, and we had cell phone and running water and were able to work like normally on Saturday and Sunday.
-There is a lot of relief going to the people of Tacloban, and they are planning on re-opening the mission as soon as they can.
-All the missionaries are going to be able to get re-assigned in the Philippines! And not just going home.
-We get to go to the Manila temple tomorrow!!! YAY!!!
-This calamity is uniting tons of people, all over the world in helping out the sweet people of the Philippines.
-I am 100% fine. Not even a scratch (Thanks to all your prayers!)
-I will probably get my luggage back next week! I couldn't bring it with me because it would have made traveling too difficult.
There are tons and tons more miracles than that. Too many to name. Most of the miracles are small, but really cool!
Today, we arrived at the Manila MTC. As we (the 60+ missionaries from Southern Leyte) pulled up to the front gate, everyone who was already there from our mission came out to meet us. I don't think that I've ever felt so much mercy and love from the Lord as when I stepped off the bus and everyone said, "Sister Bingham, Sister Bingham!" And everyone was hugging me, and I got to see all the missionaries that I'm really close too. It was such a sweet reunion. And I feel so much stronger as a missionary. Sometimes, I think it's easy to forget that the Lord listens to our prayers and knows us and knows our needs, but at that moment, when I stepped off the bus, I felt overwhelmed with blessings and love and mercy from my Father in Heaven. I felt His love for me. And despite all of my imperfections and all of my faults and weaknesses and all the times that I don't do what I should, or don't try as hard as I should, and don't work my very very very hardest, or be selfish, or don't pray sincerely... In spite of all of that, He answered all of your prayers. I didn't even know of the danger that I could have been in. But, He did. And He kept me very very safe. I know that he truly does love us more than we could ever comprehend, despite our shortcomings.
I don't know why there was a devastating typhoon in the Philippines, in my mission, amongst the people I love, and the people that have become my family, But I DO know that this experience will in some way do a lot of good for a lot of people. I know that the Lord is taking care of His children in Tacloban, even if we, as missionaries can't at the moment. I know that I never ever ever have anything to complain about ever again. I will always remember this day, and how the Lord kept me safe.
It's really cool how trials can bind people together. I feel so much closer to my missionaries here in the Tacloban Mission. And, even though I'm so far away from all of you, I feel closer to you as well.
I was reading in the Book of Mormon the other day, in Moroni Chapter 9. It is an epistle from Mormon to Moroni. In this Letter to his son, Mormon explains all of the terrible things that were happening to their people at that time. There were horrible horrible things happening. But, I like what Mormon says in verse 25: "My son, be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever." My people in Tacloban went through a horrible thing. And at first, when it was settling in, I was wondering why something so horrible could happen to such amazing people. But, as I was pondering, I realized that the miracle of His gospel is that even though bad things inevitably happen, He has a plan to make everything unfair right again. The plan of Salvation is His way to show us His love so that we can return. Death is not the end. This life was not the beginning. And even through our trials, we will always be able to overcome through His grace and Mercy. And because Christ paid for our sins, he set the price for us to return. That is to simply try a little harder every day to be a little better, and to do His will. And through His infinite mercy, everything will be made right.
I love all of you, so so much! Thank you for all your support!!
Weekly Challenge: Count your blessings and keep praying for the people of Tacloban.
Love,
Sister Bingham
During Typhoon in Maasin
Chapel in Ormoc City where we stayed the night.
Traveling in the "super cat ship" to Cebu
In the airport with my zone
In Manila
Manila Temple
A mountain of hygiene kits
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***Here is another letter from a zone leader in Hillary's group of 60 that traveled together. Nobody seems to know who wrote it, but it is a really great perspective of everything also. It reads as follows:
I don't know where to start this letter. It is 1:30 AM. We arrived in Cebu 4 hours ago and I'm going on naps. Let's start.
There was a typhoon. We first heard warning on Tuesday evening as we met in Tacloban as Zone Leaders to discuss mission stuff. Our President as well as most of the world that time didn't understand the magnitude of the storm. We were told to inform our zones, or missionaries that we are in charge of, and tell them to prepare. This included buying rope charging anything with a battery and buying extra phone batteries. The storm came. Friday at 6 am we got a call from the assistants in Tacloban asking how we were doing. We only had high winds at 6 am but found out that that wasn't even the storm. The assistants said Tacloban was already being beaten up and the storm would fall by 8am. We were told to call Tacloban if anything bad happened to our 16 missionaries in our zone. We called our areas, or tried, only to find that there was no cell service in their areas. We considered that a problem and tried to call back to Tacloban to let them know the problem.... but they too had no service. The winds and rain ended in our zone by 2 PM. Our area was not too bad. Fallen signs and some damage to homes. Broken glass and bald trees, but nothing too crazy in our area. On Saturday we rode around to check out the damage on our zone and see if our missionaries were ok. Reminder we had no cell service. We contacted everyone in our zone and went on just helping others in our area. We had to come home early to light all the candles in our apartment to cook and get water to wash dishes. Sunday's services were very humbling as we met in a shack with no electricity. Our Branch President made hand fans for everyone out of cardboard boxes. Monday came and we still had no way to contact anyone. By this time we had heard a bit of info about Tacloban and we were scared. Our mission president had no contact with us for 4 days. We had no idea what to do so we bought a new cell phone service card to try and contact others. Miracles happened and the Zone Leaders who neighbor us had service the whole time! They were able to contact Manila church headquarters. They relayed info to us to gather our missionaries and send them to Ormoc City with 2-3 days of clothes and stuff. More miracles happened that I wish I could explain but I'll leave out for time sake. we got ALL 60 missionaries in 3 zones to Ormoc in 24 hours with 4 cell phones. We booked a boat to Cebu as directed from Manila. It is honestly the craziest, most tiring, unbelievable, and spiritually uplifting experience to be apart of this mass evacuation. It blows my mind that four 20 year old young men with the unmistakable help of the Lord were able to coordinate such a drastic evacuation. We all made it here to Cebu. We were given undies (garments) and other things needed to get by. I've been misty eyed all day just feeling all the prayers from around the world. I'm also broken hearted. I want to go back to our mission and help but there is not much we can do. Our area, which was moderately affected, won't have electricity till March. Food is in short supply. Gas is being sold at ridiculous prices because of the shortage. We can't live there. We got word that at 8:30 we will be flying out to Manila. The amount of time we will be there is still indefinite. We will wait there as the church discusses possible re-assignments for Elders and Sisters and as more information unfolds. It's a very humbling feeling to not be in control of tomorrow or the next 9 months of my mission. Everything I've known as a missionary will change in a few days. I don't know what the Lord has in store but I know it will be good for me. "The winds and the waves shall obey thy will." He is in control, "Peace be still, peace be still."
I Love all of you! I'm fine as long as a tissue is near. I need to wake up in 3 hours so I shall go to sleep first. See you in Manila.
Keep Praying.
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