Brother Gunn's Baptism -- February 22, 2016

Hello Everyone,

This week was great! It was a challenging week, but a rewarding week. We were able to help Brother Gunn get baptized and confirmed! He is so solid--it was so cool to see. We had the baptism on Saturday and we had it all planned out, a lot of the branch showed up to support him! It blew me away and they even had a small lunch after the service. It was so cool to get so many members involved to help with the baptism. We had musical numbers, talks and testimonies. It was a powerful meeting. Brother Gunn even bore his testimony and conversion story after he was baptized. He told us how his whole life he had been searching and looking for the truth. He had faced many trials and whenever he found himself in a trial or challenge, he would pray for God to lead him somewhere. Well every time he did this, missionaries always would show up at the door. This happened several times throughout his life and he would never listen to them. Then he met a member of the branch who helped him through some things and she had the missionaries over and he finally had the chance to listen and be taught. It solved everything and he testified that this was the truth! That he had found it. In tears, he thanked the Lord and expressed the comfort and gratitude he has developed. It was amazing to see true conversion. He came to know that this was the Lord’s church with the fullness of the Gospel. 

He was confirmed by the Branch President in sacrament meeting and the spirit lit him up. He seemed to be glowing after the confirmation and receiving the Holy Ghost. He went back to his seat in tears and I was on the stand and could see him looking up with pure joy and thanking our Heavenly Father. It melted me with the spirit. You could physically see his conversion. How amazing is our Lord and how sweet is his spirit! We are going to be working fast to get him to the temple to be able to do baptisms for the dead and especially his own loved ones that have passed away. Brother Jim Gunn is on fire! 

I have been feeling a lot better, thanks for all the prayers. This week we found a sweet lady! She had been on Facebook and read a testimony of someone somewhere she didn't know that found the missionaries and read the Book of Mormon and converted. So she wanted to learn more and found our website and ordered a free copy. SO, we went over and taught her and gave her a Book of Mormon. She was full of great questions. We noticed her mail box was broken so we came back the next day and dug a hole and fixed it for her family; it was a blast! So good things are happening with this great friend! It goes to show how powerful a testimony is--even on Facebook!

A funny story last night--we were in the sticks, looking for someone’s house. We ended up getting lost on some dirt road in the fog and in the dark of the night so we had to flip around and Elder Mickelsen had to get out and back me in a really creepy place. So I said if you hear banjos start running! As soon as he got out I rolled down the windows and blasted a song we somehow had on our CD (a bunch of revised hymns) with banjo music. Haha It was really funny! We had a good laugh.

I love the Gospel! I love being one of the Lord’s missionaries and being here to represent him. I found a quote that says:

“Repentance is the plan of happiness.” I thought that was gold!

I hope we can all stay close to the Lord by repentance.  I love you all!

Keep the Faith!

- Elder L. Kaleb Bingham

Hospital Trips & Snow Storms -- February 16, 2016

Hello Everyone,

Wow what a week in good ole Richlands! So this week was challenging in some ways! I had a little bit of an awkward medical scare and had to go to the emergency room Tuesday night. We were even on exchanges and caught in a blizzard but we went in late Tuesday night and got out very early that morning. It was not fun; basically I have an infection where you do not want an infection. I got the drugs I needed and life has been a lot less painful but I am still recovering. Because of this and my companion has a stress fracture in his leg, we have been taking it a little easier. We still saw great miracles this last week! 

So Brother Jim Gunn is doing great! He passed his baptismal interview on Tuesday and is super ready to get baptized. He has grown so much and the lessons we have had have been powerful. He is even inviting friends and family to his baptism. It is going to be a good finding tool. I love it when he testifies that this is what he has been looking for his whole life and he has come to know it is true for himself! It will be exciting for the Richlands Branch!  

We taught a great Word of Wisdom lesson to a  couple this last week. This couple both smokes and they want to quit eventually so we thought the lesson would do a lot of good. Well the boyfriend in the couple received it great, the girlfriend did not receive it very well. She commented that when people push her to do something it makes her not want to do it. Things were getting tough and I was praying hard in my head on what to say. Then clear as day, the spirit told me exactly why she smokes and how she feels about it. I then called her out from the impression I had and said, “I know that you smoke because of the great trials you have been through in your life. It has been a crutch for you since you lost your children, but we want you to know that God loves you and if you live by his commandments you will get to be with your children again.” After I said that the spirit lit up the room and things got a lot better. It was a very neat thing for me; I was overwhelmed by the spirit during that lesson. The spirit will tell you all things what you should do!  

So we went to see a less active couple, Tina and Fonzie. They are a little different. I did not think they would remember me from last year so we went and taught them. They ended up remembering me--it was suprising! Well for the lesson, I had a copy of Tina’s testimony that she had written me a year ago so I pulled it out and started reading it to them without any notice. When I got done, they were ecstatic! They lit up and were so thrilled I had held on to this testimony they sent me. It was a fun time. It brought me a lot of joy to see how happy they were when reading that and reconnecting that to them. 

I have been so thankful for the restored gospel. I did a comparison in my studies. I compared the restored gospel and the things we know because of the restoration to a protestant belief or church. Wow, I was blown away! It made me so grateful for the knowledge that has been revealed to us by a loving Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for the Gospel! Keep us in your prayers! I love you all have a good week!

Keep the Faith! 

- Elder L. Kaleb Bingham

Week Two of the "Return to Richlands"‏ -- February 8, 2016

Hello Everyone,

Well it was a good week like always here in Richlands. I really do love this place! Whenever it gets kind of tough, I just take a step back and realize how much I am going to miss this little town when I am gone. My companion is doing awesome. Elder Mickelsen is such a great missionary. He is so humble and so willing to work hard. I love him! He is teaching me to be more like my Savior. So funny story, we met a lady here in Richlands.  Well it was a rough lesson, she was not ready to feel the spirit and learn. After the lesson my companion said the best quote I have heard in a while. He said, and I quote, "Her eyes yelled woman but her chin screamed man!" haha I died it was pretty funny. 

So our good friend Brother Gunn is getting really close to baptism. He has his interview this Tuesday and his baptism is on the 20th. He is doing great! He has really made great changes in his life that has brought him closer to Jesus Christ. We had a killer lesson on the importance of the temple and what goes on in the temple. He was so excited about it. He has always been concerned about loved ones that have passed away and you could really tell that he gained real peace from our message. Exciting things are to happen with this man! 

Two of my favorites, Sam and Tuesday had some awesome things happen to them after attending church last week. We had been talking about the blessings of attending church and how we can gain revelation for ourselves at church. Well they came and brought their kids and really enjoyed the meeting. Then throughout the week, they had three major blessings happen. First, Sam got some things resolved at work that had been bothering him. Tuesday had her x-husband get back to her about her divorce papers and they both felt the prompting on their own that they needed to quit smoking. It was so cool to see Heavenly Father work miracles for a little sacrifice and a little faith. 

I really hope our fire side works out this week. Keep it in your prayers. It might snow and if it does everything gets closed down and it will have to be canceled so we are really praying it works out! 

Well I will end on a funny story from yesterday. We found ourselves at a top of a mountain staring up a crazy dirt road that was so steep our car couldn't attempt to get up it. So we walked up this road to try to contact someone and we got to the top and there was a giant Boxer with puppies wanting to tear our faces off. I decided my companion is like Sampson (minus the hair) when it comes to dogs. Elder Mickelsen kept walking closer to the house and was way brave about it. I was holding back thinking how I would explain to my mission president that I let my trainee get eaten by a dog. Right when I thought it was going to attack, it ran away and went in the house and a very nice girl came out and talked to us for a while. Missionaries are protected! 

I love this work so much. Being a missionary is the best thing anyone could do. Talk to you next week. Love you all!!

Keep the Faith,

-- Elder L. Kaleb Bingham 

Week One of "The Return to Richlands" -- February 1, 2016

Hello Everyone,

Wow it has been a great half of a week! It was a blast to come back and see so many people I was so close to when I was serving here a year ago! It has been fun picking up where I left off. I really missed the Southern hospitality! We have been fed so much in the last few days than I think I ever had been in Roanoke--it has been super fun. Adjusting to the area has been different as well, I was in the biggest city in the mission and now I am in a pretty small town but it is still really fun. It has also been different being released from a Zone Leader to a trainer. That has been a different change; I have a lot more time on my hands that is for sure. It has been great to see Chad and Amber and Sam and Tuesday though, some of my favorite people!   

We were able to have four of our friends come to church with us yesterday. It was very neat, we tried our best to get people there and it worked out well! It was a powerful sacrament meeting with high attendance there was a little over forty people in the branch! A lot more than I saw at church when I was here a year ago. We are teaching an awesome man named Jimm Gunn. He is going to be getting baptized this month. He had a very notable experience as we were teaching Gospel Principals class. As we were teaching and discussing about how Heavenly Father answers prayers, he lit up and was very excited. He raised His hand and explained that HE had just received a very big answer to His prayers, He said throughout his life he had been searching for the truth and every time he had been searching, Missionaries always ended up knocking on the door, but he never listened. He said that is how God has worked in His life and He is super excited that He has now come to the truth. It was neat to see the Holy Ghost work on him in a Sunday school class. That is why we all need to be at church, to receive answers to our questions.  

The first night I got here we were praying before we went to bed and as I was praying for those in the area we have been teaching, I got a very distinct impression that we needed to throw a fire side in the branch. So I jumped up after the prayer and wrote the prompting I received down. I really think this will help get more of our friends to church and create a fun activity for the branch.  We are planning and looking forward to it next week!  

I have been learning a lot about myself lately. I think it is pretty amazing how well the Lord knows us. He truly has a way of getting us out of our comfort zone and teaching us how to become better. It reminds me of the refiners fire, The Lord is the Refiner and he will kick the heat up a few notches to help you grow. I am feeling that, but I trust Him and I know He will always help me become better. How grateful I am for a loving and caring Heavenly Father! I hope you all have a great week!

My new address is the same as it was last year:

Elder Kaleb Bingham
171 Mill Ave.
Ravens, VA 24639

I love and miss you all!

Keep the Faith! 

- Elder L. Kaleb Bingham 

P.S. The pictures are from Roanoke--The Huffman family~a family I will miss! 

Last transfer the Roanoke 1st ward missionaries after a game of basketball. 

Last transfer the Roanoke 1st ward missionaries after a game of basketball. 

Back to Richlands -- January 27, 2016

Hello Everyone,

What a great week it has been. We got hit with a mega snow storm, We spent seven hours digging people out that were not able to do it themselves. It was great service, but the next day we could hardly move! We over worked ourselves, but it was worth it.

I got the word that I am getting transferred and I have a few new assignments. Preparing to leave the area is always tough, but it is a great time to reflect and see the progress the Lord has helped you make. There are many families that I am going to miss here in Roanoke. I will miss the zone as well; it sure has progressed a lot since I started out here. It has been a blessing to serve here, I will miss it dearly.  

So my new area is Richlands, Virginia! Wow, it was a surprise. I got released from being a Zone Leader--it has been a full year, and in our mission that is a big chunk of time to be in one leadership position. Man did I learn a lot! It gave me a whole new perspective on leading, teaching, and learning to have patience and love. But because of that assignment, I now know of more talents that I have that will help me in future careers.
 
I am now getting doubled in to Richlands and I am training! I get to train a new missionary. I am so excited about it! It is going to be so much fun. I cannot wait! Many new adventures are ahead of me.  
  
So last night was wild! We got a phone call last minute that said the new missionaries that were coming into the mission got diverted to Roanoke because of some fog and they were now at the Roanoke Airport. Luckily we were close to the airport, so we drove over and had to devise a plan to house ten new missionaries with us overnight! We got everything figured out and placed missionaries in different apartments. It was so fun, we even had to chase down luggage and feed them and all of the above. It was crazy, but we pulled it off! All the missionaries had a good time. We even had to come up with training segments this morning-- I lead them out and luckily it went smoothly!

This last week we went to see a lady named Benita. She is a less active member and when we got there she was happy to see us and let us in. She sat us down and started to cry and apologize because she had started drinking not more than five minutes before we got there. She said she felt like no one was there and her life was just tough so she asked God to show her a sign and we showed up right away. She was astonished and felt so bad for deciding to drink; it was a good lesson on repentance! I'm glad we listened and went there on the fly.

I had to say goodbye to the Vogel Family this week. That was tough! I am really going to miss them. I love them very much and know they were a big reason why I was sent to Roanoke. They have made big progress and it has been really neat to see. There is nothing harder than leaving a family you have grown to love and leaving them with your testimony and a prayer. It was tough, but it is part of the game! 

We also had an awesome lesson with Charity and her two boys. I made them swords out of cardboard and we went over the story about Nephi killing Laban and how we need to keep the commandments. Then we had them color their own swords of  Laban and write how they could better keep the commandments.  It was a great FHE!

Well that was the eventful week I had. I love being a missionary I really will miss this area. I will end on one thing I heard that I loved from a missionary broadcast. This week was by Elder Anderson. 

“I know you talk to everyone who will listen to you,” he said. “Wherever you are—in a bus, on the street, in a teaching situation, or in a home with a member, if you are ever unsure of what to say, speak of the Savior. Testify of Him. Speak of His doctrine, of faith in Him and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. This is your purpose. This is your charge.” 

Love you all and Keep the Faith,

-Elder L. Kaleb Bingham

What a Great Week and Birthday -- January 19, 2016

Hello Everyone,

Thank you so much for all the Birthday wishes! It was a great Birthday and I do feel a lot older~I guess I need to start acting a lot more mature now that I’ve hit the twenties! We had a good day yesterday. One I will not forget! 

What a great week it was here in Roanoke! I was able to go on a great exchange with an awesome missionary, Elder MacDonald. We had a great time spending the day working in Cave Spring. We were on our way to a lesson that was scheduled with a non-member that they had not officially been teaching. I asked the Elder to review the lesson plan they had set with me and he did, they knew this sweet lady wanted to quit smoking to come closer to God. The plan for the lesson was to introduce her to the twelve step program ran by the church that meets each week. My thoughts were that is not a bad thing to do, but have you ever taught her the principles and the simple doctoring of Christ? (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, Enduring to the End.) The missionary responded that they had not. So we revised the lesson plan and I said Elder we are going to put her on date to be baptized, what date should we try to put her on? This young missionary was so excited! We went in and taught this lady and it was powerful. We followed the plan we had laid out and invited her to make that step and set some goals. She gladly accepted and we left the appointment with her wanting to hear more, a lot more! It was a great experience and a very affective exchange. It was a training opportunity and a miracle we had been praying for!   

This week I was also able to exchange with some YSA Elders in the zone. I was with Elder Wilkinson. We had a good day; we worked very hard and it was very cold! We taught a few lessons and were enjoying the exchange. It was a round eight pm and we were on our way to contact a potential investigator and we knocked on her door and she answered for the first time and it was freezing, so she said step in. We stepped in and I was really looking for a male that lived there because we cannot be alone with someone of the opposite sex. She was excited to see us, but I knew it wouldn't be right to stay--we needed to be obedient. So we shared a brief testimony on the Book of Mormon and set up a return appointment and we were out very quickly. When we got in the car I was thinking man, I wish we could have had a lesson, but I used the opportunity to train the missionary I was with. Now last night we went back to teach Sheena and it went awesome. We had a member there and we taught the full restoration and she loved it! She even accepted an invite to be baptized. It was a very powerful lesson. It showed me when we are obedient to the commandments we have, even the missionary handbook, the Lord will provide a way for us to prosper.  (Alma 36:1)  

We finally got someone to church! Our friend Steve came. He had to go to his church as well. He had some kind of commitment but after he was done, he called us in the tail end of sacrament. So we walked out and talked to him. He couldn't find the church, so we drove down the road and met up with him, then he followed us there. We sat through Gospel Principles with him and he loved it. He said he wants to come next week for the full block. It felt so good to get him there! 

I love the mission so much. It is so fun to just go preach the gospel to everyone, Our message is made to identify who we are and where we came from. It truly helps us gain a knowledge of how we return to live with God. I wish time would slow down a little, it is going too fast. I love you all!  I hope you have a good week.

Keep the Faith! 

- Elder L. Kaleb Bingham

Sad but Happy News -- January 11, 2016

Hello Everyone,

So at the start of this week my Mission President called us and informed me that one of my converts from Radford passed away. Marcus Cunningham, a man I love and will miss terribly. Marcus got baptized this last summer, a year to the date that I was able to meet him and start working with him. His health has been rough for years and his story is incredible. The miracle of it is we never thought he would live to get baptized, but he did and it was amazing. He passed away at the beginning of this last week. He had a heart attack that he couldn't recover from. Marcus Cunningham is one of those people, as a missionary, that you know you were sent to help and lift up. I have no doubt in my mind that I knew Marcus before this life and I was given so much so that I could come help him find the way after much trial and error. I will never forget that man, I couldn't forget Marcus! He was the Miracle of my mission. In my last letter I wrote him, I told him how much he changed my life and I advised him to set aside all his trials and strive for a perfect hope for the life to come. Before he passed, he made it back to church after missing for weeks of being sick. He was able to partake of the Sacrament and he also received the Priesthood that very Sunday. How cool is that? I know he was ready to return to our Heavenly Father. I will miss him, but I will see him again. I cannot wait till that day. 

D&C 18:15- 
15 And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! 

This last week was good though, we had to put a lot of work into our zone. We had our monthly Zone meeting and that went great. I then went on an exchange with a missionary named Elder Maxfield. We had a great lesson with a brother from the ward that is returning back into activity. We are trying so hard to get their whole family back to church and living the gospel. This man was faced with many challenges and trials so we read some sections out of Doctrine and Covenants 121 and 122, some sections I have known for a long time thanks to my young men's leaders. We read it together and were all in tears and this younger missionary I was with bore such a strong testimony. It almost caught me off guard. It was powerful. It is so amazing to know you cannot descend below what the Savior has. We are definitely not greater than He. This man came to church and was so happy while he was there, despite all his trials. 

Our finding efforts were a little rough last week. We did manage to start teaching an investigator’s husband and it was really neat. This man’s name is Donald and we asked him if he had a strong faith in Jesus Christ. He replied he did not and was not ready for that. We were a little shocked because we never hear that. We dug a little deeper and he said that he does things in his life that he didn't feel like he could overcome and because of that, he couldn't call himself a Christian. So I said there is a way out! We taught him the Atonement and then told him that he is going to prepare to get baptized and leave his old life behind. He was pretty excited, he committed to reading a page of the Book of Mormon a day to get started. Helping people discover that they can be forgiven, what a gift!  

At church yesterday, there was a man standing at the door looking at all the missionary maps and photos. I felt a prompting to go talk to him so I did. The man had been invited by a friend to come to church and the member that invited him was not there yet. So we talked and he had questions so we pretty much taught him the restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. He was astonished that the Book of Mormon came from the people in the Americas, because he is from Mexico and thought that was awesome. He joined us for church and seemed to really love it. I am so excited to see him there next week! 

I love this gospel so much. I am so thankful for it. I am so thankful to be able to declare it all day every day. This week, thinking about Marcus and his passing, I have really felt the knowledge that Virginia is exactly where the Lord has need for me. How thankful I am! 

Keep the Faith! 

- Elder L. Kaleb Bingham.