The Bingham6 Missionaries: Agents that Act -- April 13, 2014

April 13, 2014

Hello everyone!

Wow! I was so happy when I got on and saw sooo many birthday wishes! It was like having a Facebook! Thanks so much everyone!

This week was General Conference, which was the best birthday present ever! I really loved the talks. I think my favorite one was Gary E. Stevens, who talked about the Olympic medalist, and how her event is only four minutes long. I think more than anything, it reminded me how little time I have left on my mission. My companion, Sister Campbell, goes home at the same time as me. We really just want to do some awesome things before we go home. We are working to get involved with the community to really find some professionals to teach, through service projects that can help build the church.

A General Conference Miracle happened! We had eight new investigators this week, and six of them came to conference!! Woooo!! And most of them are really professional. We are teaching a brother, his name is Jimmy, which is a lawyer (so our lessons are in English). We just knocked on his door the other day and got to know him. I am super excited about him! He is such a good person. He helps so many people. Since he doesn’t have a family, he lets lots of people stay in his house. On our first lesson with him, there happened to be a lady and her family there. The lady, Cheryl, had just moved to Catarman a few months ago. As we were teaching the lesson, we found out that she is actually a member who was baptized when she was a child, and had never really come back to church since then. Her husband isn't a member, so he is our new investigator as well. It was soooo cool! The whole lesson she was crying and just saying how she wants the gospel back in her life.

We are teaching a woman, named Regina, who has been an investigator for over a year now. Actually, she was in the former investigators pile until the last sisters that were here decided to contact her again. She is best friends with the relief society secretary. Me and my companion were on splits the day we found her. My lesson was just about trusting God, and I was prompted to use an Isaiah verse from the Book of Mormon that I had studied that morning. I was a little bit afraid to use it, because I didn't even really understand it the first time I read it.

It is 2 Nephi 7: 10-11 It says:

"10 Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?

11 Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled, This shall ye have of mine hand- ye shall lie down in sorrow."

Sister Regina lives right on the side of a basketball court. To explain what this scripture meant, I had her imagine that there was a black out, and no one could see anything on the court. Some people would use lighters or matches or sparks to try to find their way around. Others wouldn't even try to make their own light, they would just follow the voice of the Lord guiding them through. At this point of the discussion, she said, "I get it Sister Bingham. I need to just follow what God wants me to do."

Then I told her that I knew that she knew that the church was true. I knew that she knew that the Book of Mormon was true. And I knew that she knew that she needed to be baptized. She told me I was right. And she is going to get baptized in May. She also came to General Conference! She said she loved it. She speaks English because she's a teacher, so she really understood the talks.

I just want to share about one more family, the Palo Family! They are so great! The mom is related to someone on the stake presidency. She was taught by the missionaries a long time ago. We didn't know that until we started our first lesson with her. She shared with us that she has 4 kids (2 of which walked to church with us last week) and one died last November. He was a baby, and was only 3 days old when he passed away. She told us that she knows the church is true; she just didn't want to be baptized before because her husband wasn't interested in the church. She thought it wasn't a good idea to be baptized if they couldn't all be baptized. We shared about Lehi's dream. We read it together, and we focused on how Lehi first went to the tree and said to his family, "Come to me!" and not, "oh! Go there!" We helped her realize that she needed to set the example for her husband. And once he sees that she is serious about the church, he will want to join as well. It was a really powerful lesson. We set a date for their family to get baptized in May, as well. We haven't had the opportunity to teach her husband yet, but hopefully today!

This week has been full of miracles. And full of amazing spiritual experiences. I learned this week that we can no longer afford to stay still. We need to trust the Lord, go to work, and then the miracles happen. As President Monson said, "We need to become an agent that acts! Not an object that gets acted upon."

I know that as we take little steps of faith, get rid of little disobediences, and start acting, our Savior will empower us to accomplish our goals. I love that the spirit won’t push us. Sometimes I'm walking on the street, feeling a little shy, and the spirit will prompt me super softly to do something. Then it's my choice to act on it. Sometimes I think, "hmmm if I feel that again, then I'll know it's important, and I'll do it." Which is ridiculous. I am trying to work on following all promptings that I receive as soon as I receive them. I pray that we can all learn to do the same, and become examples for the people in our lives who may be struggling.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen

Love,

Sister Bingham

This was while we were on exchanges in Leyte. A girl's records got lost, so she had to be rebaptized. It was super cool! The bamboo bridge lasted about a five minute walk to get to this super beautiful beach!

This is Sister Rhea. She works with us. She always calls us Barbies, so that is why we are acting like Barbies. Haha

Catarman! Yeah, the little boys are playing with crabs they found. That is what a lot of the kids here use for toys. . . they find spiders, crabs, and large bugs and tie strings to them and make them fight. Haha