What a week! I don’t think I have had so many disappointments in one week in a while! I have felt good all week knowing that we have done all we could. We worked hard all week and it didn't pan out like we were hoping, but we definitely still saw the Lord’s hand in all that we did.
Well this was pretty sweet! We were trying to contact someone we had met weeks ago and they were not home. So we were walking away and I had a simple impression to go knock a trailer that was nearby. So my companion and I went up to this trailer and tried to teach. A lady answered and of course told us she was Methodist and that was that. Before she shut the door I asked who she knew that we could try to teach. She then referred us to a trailer that was across the street. She said that man’s wife recently passed away. So we went over there and we knocked on the door and a man in his 50's answered. I started talking about what we do and he was not really having it; he was about to turn us away and I said, “Could I please just read you a scripture?” He said, “Yes, I never turn down a scripture.” So he let us in and we sat down and met his son that was also there. Well after making small talk we said a prayer and had a lesson. The scripture that I read was (Alma 40:11). We learned that this man recently lost his wife unexpectedly and he was pretty torn up by it. He told us he was not sure why he was here. He said he has been asking God to take him too because he was miserable. Nothing was working in his life and he was purely angry. After we let him vent we started to teach very simply little by little he started to listen and we were able to teach him about some of the plan of salvation. It was amazing from the start of the lesson to the end of the lesson. I saw his whole countenance change. He seemed brighter when we left, in-fact his dark home felt brighter. We were able to leave him with a prayer and a few commitments that he was determined to keep. It was pretty cool to kneel down and pray with Clyde and his son. The healing process started with him. Now the disappointing part of all of this, He texted this morning saying how he was done with God and no longer wanted to meet. I hope he is just a little discouraged and down. We sent him a few things but haven't heard back so we will have to see what happens. Keep him in your prayers!
So Elder Burgener and I got in touch with our inner man this week. There was a member of the branch whose wife has been in the hospital and he needed some help around the house. He asked us if we could do a "little" trim work and I was thinking oh yeah, we can trim around the house and what not. Well we got there and he showed us the project, he needed us to trim some massive steep hill sides! It was crazy; we got to use some pretty nice weed eaters though and we did work--it was fun. It feels good to serve!
So I had been praying and fasting for a miracle to finish off the mission. Well at church yesterday, we had a bad turnout-- no one came and we had like 14 members show up. . So I was a little discouraged but then a lady walked in that I had never seen before and she sat down and the only thing she had was a paper back copy of the Book of Mormon. So the branch President came over and told me she once almost got baptized and used to be taught by the missionaries. So we welcomed her and sat by her and everything. She even stayed all three hours and in Gospel Principles class she told us she wanted to be baptized! I was like wow, “Ask and ye shall receive!” So we set up an appointment to meet with her then she went to relief society and after that class came up to us and said, "I think I have changed my mind." I was like, “What happened?” And she expressed that she had quit smoking but was not completely sure if she wants to quit forever. I said, “Don’t give up that easy!” We talked for a minute; then she went home. We will still hopefully meet with her. I think there is still hope we will see what this week brings!
Amber Griffey lost her dad this last week. He passed away very young. When I was here last year I taught her father Dennis Tate and had a lot of good experiences. I remember he even come to church with us and bore his testimony of the Savior in sacrament meeting. It was sad to hear of his passing. These times really allow us to reflect on the plan of salvation. There are many things the Savior can only fix. I really hope Dennis is being worked on in the Spirit world. It is beautiful how merciful the Lord really is. Please keep Amber and Chad in your prayers.
Well that is the weeks recap! Things are going good--I know better than they seem. I love the Lord I am thankful to be a part of this work!
Keep the Faith!
- ELder L. Kaleb Bingham
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