Exchanges, Exchanges!--February 9, 2014

February 9, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Well, I haven't much to complain about this week. We have been living in a hotel for the past week! That's been nice! We have aircon! Woo!

We finally found a new apartment, so we will be moving into that this week once the owners fix some things. And we also need to clean out our old one this week... that should be super fun. haha

We went on our first exchanges this week! They were so great! It's really fun to work in other people's areas! It's super cool because I'm learning SO much from these sweet sisters! And it's really cool to see all of their different strengths, and learn from them. I am seeing so much of my mission that I never would have seen before, either! Leyte is soooo beautiful!

We were coming back from exchanges the other day, and we were on a bus for nearly 6 hours. It was super long, but super cool, the people around me were asking  me so many questions about our beliefs, and we had sooooooo much time to answer their questions. It was super cool! We got a really cool investigator named Mary Chao out of the ride, and we got lots of referrals for other missionaries.

Today we went back to Monkey Caves as a zone activity. It was so cool! There were monkeys... but also super scarey because they started attacking us. Usually when people go up there, they take bananas up with them. The place was out of bananas...awkward. And it turns out, hungry monkeys are mean monkeys. But... we are all ok! No worries!

We went to our ward yesterday, and the members gave us like 7 referrals. It's sooooo great!! I love the members here! We explained how we don't have a lot of time to go tracting at mcm, and they were like, "Oh! my friends have questions!" "Oh! My cousin wants to be taught!" "Oh! I have a neighbor who I talked about Joseph Smith to, and she said you could visit her!"

It's like a Flash Flood Miracle! Yay!

Sorry, I don't have a lot of time to write today, but my testimony has been strengthened this week of how much the Lord really does love us. Everything has just been falling into place this week, and we are starting to get things figured out on how we can work our area the most effective way we can with what time we have.

Weekly Challenge:Invite your friends that you invited to your FHE to be taught by the missionaries. Don't worry, If you didn't do the FHE one, you still have time to repent and do it this week! haha

Love you all! Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I really appreciate all the support! Hope you all enjoy the pictures!

Love,

Sister Bingham

 

 

 Monkey Caves!

Sister Woodruff & Sister Bingham

 

 Sister Schaap & Sister Bingham

 

 Trying not to get attacked!

 

...Welcome Back to Tacloban! -- February 2, 2014

February 2, 2014

Hello Everyone!

This week has probably been the most weird week of my entire life. Actually, just the past few days. 

So, There was another Typhoon... actually my mission president was telling me that about 10 years ago, all the typhoons headed north, but now, they all come towards Tacloban. Interesting. 

We had a great first 2 days of work! We did some planning, and then we planned for the splits we would go on, and then we had a p-day. So, Friday, we went to MLC (missionary leaders council) and talked with president about how we want to get the mission back up and running. It was good. We talked about our new goals for the mission, and how this is a really unique opportunity to re-establish the mission culture, and strive for exact obedience more effectively. 

When we finished the meeting, we were outside and it had started to rain. We went back to our apartment to drop our extra books off, and then we got a text from the Zone Leaders saying that we weren't allowed to work the rest of the day, just in case the typhoon surprised us. They normally turn the power out during typhoons in Maasin, especially since Yolanda. And, our phone battery was basically dead. We didn't have a charger, so we decided to go out and buy a new one, just in case we would need our phone that night. 

We went to 3 or 4 different stores, and all of them were out of the phone charger that we needed, so I ended up just buying a universal charger. Then, as soon as we stepped out of the Metro store, the power went out. We were thinking, "Oh no!" 

Miraculously, when we got home, the power came back, so we charged our battery. We decided to plan really quick for the next day while we still had light left, so we made and ate dinner, and then we knelt down to open our planning. As soon as my companion said, "Amen," the power went out again. I was thinking, "Of course it did." Haha 

So, we started planning, using a flashlight (our emergency light was also dead.... from the last typhoon...). It was a good planning session. By the time we had finished, it was raining ridiculously hard outside. We were worried about the other sisters, because there are a couple who were assigned in Tacloban during Yolanda. We decided to call them and follow up and see how they were doing. By the time we were done with those calls, our battery was back to low. We then decided to just turn it off and save it for when we needed it. We figured that the power would be back on the next day. 

Suddenly, our roof started leaking... like a lot. We put out some rugs and some pots to try to catch the water. Then, there was A LOT of water on the floor. So, naturally, I hopped on a chair. My companion ran to the middle room where all of our clothes and luggage were and started throwing important things on top of the dressers. After like 30 seconds, the water was about 1 foot high. I was still on the chair. I like froze. I didn't know what to do, and my mind was just a blank. I was like, "Sister, there's water in the house!"

 

"Sister! I think our apartment is flooding!"

 

"Sister! ah!" 

 

That's basically all I did. My companion said that we should go to the roof. Our roof is like a balcony thing that everyone in the apartment complex has access to, so we can all hang our clothes and stuff. I was like, "No, we should just stay and wait." She quickly convinced me that we actually really needed to get on the roof. My companion opened the door and got pushed back because of all the water. When I stepped off the chair to follow her, the water was up past my knees. There was a man climbing on our gate, yelling at us to get to the roof. So we did. We both were in like sweats and T-shirts (luckily we still had our tags on), no shoes. The only thing we took with us was our phone. As we were leaving the apartment, I heard a crash. I thought it was the window behind our desks busting open or something. We scrambled up the stairs to the roof.

We live in like a valley pass kind of thing. So, the road is an incline. When we got to the roof, there were just a bunch of people freaking out. People were crying and yelling. We were laughing. We were probably still in shock... We had no idea what was going on. I was like, "Sister, we got evacuated because of a Typhoon... Then we get back, and two days later is a flash flood! Hahahahaha" 

After we calmed down, we looked in the street. The water was up to some really low houses' roofs. We were going through a flash flood! What the heck?! We decided to use our phone battery to call President Andaya and tell him our situation. Good idea, right? Haha 

After I hung up, I looked around me and I saw all of the families and all of the kids crying. I thought, "How can I help these people?" A thought came to my mind that we should just pray with them. So, that's what we did. We went around family to family, group by group, and prayed with all the people. 

Me and my companion took turns saying the prayers. I said the first prayer. I prayed that the water would start going down, and it wouldn't get any higher. And right after that, it did. About our 4th or 5th prayer, my companion was praying, and she prayed that the rain would stop, and then it did. We met this girl who told us that she felt really calm after we had finished praying. We were able to bear our testimonies to a lot of people who really needed it. By the time we were finished praying with all the people, no one was crying or freaking out anymore. I felt the spirit so strongly on top of that roof, in the middle of a typhoon/flash flood. It really really really strengthened my testimony of how much the Lord really does protect and watch over his people. 

After about an hour or so, the roads were clear, and there were rescue trucks and things. Then, President Andaya and an office elder came up the stairs and found us. It was a little funny because they had on head lamps and they were carrying ropes. I think I might of exaggerated the situation when I was talking to him on the phone. Ooops! We went back in our apartment. Miraculously, the things on my study desk didn't get touched! The crash I heard was the fridge falling over.  My journal, scriptures, and camera were ok! We grabbed those, and we grabbed what few dry clothes we had and then we went to the mission home. We spent the night there.

Saturday we went back to the apartment to get what we could salvage from our stuff. We didn't really have any hangers, so most of our clothes and books and stuff had still been in our suitcases on the floor. All of my books and letters and clothes got a little destroyed... 

I'm really happy that we are ok. This experience was really interesting. The next day, Sister Andaya took us to buy a few more clothes, and she gave us some of her clothes that were long enough for us (we are a lot taller than her... haha) And then they took us with them to Tacloban for a district conference here. I think they just wanted us with them to make sure we were ok. 

At the district conference, the people were really happy to see sister missionaries. One lady was telling me that seeing us made her feel like there was hope for Tacloban again. 

Elder Teh of the 70 was there, too. He remembered me from when we met last June in Catbalogan. We also got a call from Elder Neilson of the 70 (who is the area president of the Philippines).  He told us of his concern and asked if we wanted to go back to our other missions or go home. I told him I just really really wanted to stay in Tacloban where I was called. I've been getting to know quite a few general authorities on my mission! That's been pretty cool! 

We drove around Tacloban today with president Andaya. It's amazing to me how much the town has been re-built. The schools and lots of stores are re-opened now. Life is sort of back to normal in Tacloban. I think that's a miracle! I think there are more foreigners here than natives. It's so neat to see all the people who have come to help out here. It's amazing to me that people would just give up a few months of their lives to go to a destroyed city in a third world country to make other peoples' lives better. 

I know that the gospel is true. I know that we have the power to still be positive in the most difficult situations of our lives, and I also know that our trials really do help us become better people. I don't think I've ever really looked at trials as a good thing before my mission, but going through a flash flood has changed my outlook on life. It really has helped me see how temporary our "stuff" is. This one guy on the roof was saying, "Sisters, when it started to flood, I didn't grab anything. I just grab my son." and then he started to weep as he expressed how grateful he was that his little 4 year old son was safe.

I love being a representative of Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father put us on that roof, so we could help other people feel His love for them. I know that Christ lives and is our Savior. I also know that the righteous get spared. I was reading in D&C today. I can't remember where it was, but it was a scripture that said, "Let not your hearts be troubled...Rejoice, and give thanks in all things." No matter how hard our lives are, we ALWAYS have something to be grateful for.  

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

 

Sister Bingham

P.S. Don't tell my mission president I went swimming.... Hahaha
 

Apartment after the flood!

 

 

Leaving Cebu, Arriving back to Tacloban Mission--January 29, 2014

January 29, 2014

Saying goodbye!

 

 

 

 

 Cute girls!

 

 Going home to Tacloban!

 

New companion/best friend!

 

 Another Ex-Companion/Best Friend!

 

 Tacloban Airport!

 

Tacloban Forever -- January 29, 2014

January 29, 2014

Maajong Buntag!

I hope everyone had a good week! This isn't my usual p-day, but we have a temporary p-day today!

I had a bitter-sweet week. I was sad to leave Cebu, but I'm super super super happy to be back in my mission. I'm really thankful for all of the great things that I learned in Cebu. I learned how to have a lot better personal studies, how to do better finding, and lots lots lots more good things.

My new companion is Sister Woodruff! She's so great! She's basically like my best friend. And we are the STLs for Tacloban mission! STL stands for Sisters Training Leaders. We go on splits and do trainings... and go to a lot of meetings. Haha I'm really excited! I always loved going on splits with the STLs because it was usually just what the investigator or Less active member needed to progress. I really hope I can be that for the other sisters. I'm really excited to start working!

I'm in the same apartment and same branch I was in before I left. But, we are the only missionaries at this time in Maasin, so we have a HUGE area. An entire town, and we will be on splits 3-4 days out of every week, so we have a lot of work to do. Which I'm really happy about!

Today is my 1 year as a missionary anniversary. It' s so weird! Every 6 months on my mission, I write a letter to myself. I list my goals that I want to accomplish in the next 6 months, and I tell myself what I would like to become, what kind of missionary I need to be, and I give my self advice (I know, I'm a weirdo). I always forget what the letters say by the time I read them. I read my letter this morning in my personal study. One of my goals was to work hard enough to be an STL, and to have a certain number of baptisms, and be good at following up with my investigators, and a number of other things I needed to improve 6 months ago. I accomplished all the goals on my list. That was such a cool feeling! I've never really been like into goals at all before my mission, but it's really cool to look back and see that you've accomplished something that, at the time, you thought would never happen or change.

I wrote my new letter to myself today. I will open it on the plane ride back to the states. I imagined what that day would be like an entire year ago as I was walking inside the MTC. It's so cool to see how much I've changed in just that short amount of time. I really really really love the scriptures. I've never really cared about them before my mission, but now, I learn cool things that blow my mind basically everyday. I didn't know I could do that, or learn that much. I'm so happy that Heavenly Father is teaching me so many things about His amazing gospel. He's teaching me things that I know will help my family, and my children, and with my future callings, and eventually these things will help me return to live with Him someday.

I included a scripture reference in my letter to myself today. It's 2 Tim 4:6-8. This scripture says, "For  I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but all them also that love his appearing."

I intend to finish strong. And I intend to not slow down when I have to take my tag off. There is such a misconception amongst members of the church concerning RMs. I'm not an RM yet, so I can't like speak from experience or anything, but people always say like, "It will take a little time to adjust back," or "You will never be that close to the spirit again," or "You're going back to the normal world."

I don't think that we're supposed to go back to how we were before the mission. If the mission is the foundation for the rest of our lives, why would go back to being the same make any sense? I'm so excited to go back and continue to do missionary work back home!

The areas of the mission have been affected differently by the Typhoon. As we drove through Tacloban (of course my camera battery decided to be exhausted as soon as we got off the plane) there were lines of children clapping and cheering that we were back. Tacloban now consists of a whole lot of garbage, and a whole lot of tents. It was like driving through one of those zombie video games. It was surreal.

There is a zone that has 30 baptisms prepared by the members. In that same branch, the attendance went from 100 people to 500 people attending church. Some of the stories we are hearing about the members here are incredible! It's super inspiring to me. I think the members were really dependent on the missionaries before we left, but they have realized that the missionary work really is most successful when the members are involved.

Maasin isn't really one of those areas. The attendance here has decreased dramatically since we left. Hopefully we can get it back up again, and find people who are prepared to hear our message and be baptized. We are really optimistic that Maasin is about to change.

Well, that's all for this week.

Keep the faith,

Sister Bingham

Saying goodbye to her family in Toledo!

 

 

 

 

Makigbalik Ko Na‏--January 21, 2014

January 21, 2014

Hello Everyone!

This week has been interesting...pretty boring actually. I've been in bed for 4 days due to a jenky leg infection... it's basically better now! yay! I updated my journal, read a very large chunk of Jesus The Christ, and read the Visayas Book of Mormon picture book thing for kids, to help me learn Cebuano! I also had 3 different members stay with me while my companion worked our area. So... not much exciting news there...

Wanna hear some exciting news???

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I'm getting transfered back to Tacloban next week! I'm going back to my old area, Maasin! They are bringing back 28 missionaries, and I'm one of the first ones to go back! They are restoring 2 zones and are planning to eventually take everyone back.

Honestly, I have some mixed feelings about this. My mission president called me this morning and told me the news. I'm sad because I've really really really come to love Toledo and the Cebu mission. I'm happy because I kind of feel like I'm going home. I'm excited because I will be companions with Sister Woodruff, who is one of my best friends! I'm sad because of all the wonderful friends and family that I have made here. The people of Toledo will always have a place in my heart. 

I took some time this morning during my personal study and this whole week to contemplate and ponder my mission thus far. I was reading some old journal enteries, and I love the experiences I've had on my mission. I think it's so cool how much the Lord micromanages our lives. I know that I was always meant to come to Toledo. My knowledge, and my understanding about the gospel has increased so much in my short time here. I've learned some really great things from President Schmutz, and I am now the most effective missionary I've ever been. 

I'm really really excited to go back and help re-build these broken people. I feel a great responsibility has been placed on my shoulders (well.... slightly greater than usual.) And I'm really excited to start this next part of my mission....

-Stay tuned next week for part 3 of sister Bingham's missionary adventures! Part 3: Return to Tacloban (dum dum dum)-

Since this is a really, really, really, not so filled with experiences e-mail, I wanted to share just a small one I had this week.

We were teaching Sister Sharon last Thursday for the third time, and she was talking about how she can't find a way to make her job not be on Sundays. We happened to be talking about the Book Of Mormon. We briefly introduced it, and gave her the introduction as homework. When we got there, she sat us down, excited to start the lesson, and was like, "Sisters. What is the Urim and Thummim?" 

Our lesson took a little different path as we talked about the sacrifices Joseph Smith and the early saints made to get the church running. After our lesson, she thought of a way that she could come to church. She figured out how she could switch her days off. It was so so cool! She was so amazed at the dedication of the early saints. It's cool to talk about pioneers with people who have never heard about them! I think that they have set such a high bar of dedication so that not a single one of us can say that this gospel "asks too much." When was the last time the prophet asked you to walk across America? Hahaha 

I love Sharon. She was talking about how the missionaries that were here before us never even paid attention to her. How they just walked past her.  That made me so grateful that I initially talked to this woman. Because I just said hi to her, she's going to get baptized on the 22nd of March. It's so amazing what we can do when we just open our mouths! 

Anyway, I hope that all of you are having a great break! I love all of you, and am so grateful for your prayers! 

I don't know if any of you actually do the weekly challenges that I leave sometimes or not. I haven't gotten feedback from really anyone about it, but I leave them because I know they will bless your life. I know this, because sharing the Gospel has brought me SO much peace and happiness. Anyway, this week's challenge is super fun!! ready?! 

Weekly Challenge: Invite at least one person or family who is not a member of this Incredibly amazing church to your FHE this Monday. Easy? Super! Who doesn't love FHE?! :D I know you can do it! 

All my love,

 

Sister Bingham

 

 

 Jenky Leg!

 

An Indian woman gave her this beautiful dress.

 

 Her and her cute companion!

 

More pictures--view from her apartment.

 

 

Normal People -- January 14, 2014

January 14, 2014

Maayong gabii tanan!

Hello everyone! This week has been really interesting! We have been doing lots and lots of finding to try to find those people who are ready for the gospel. It's kind of hard to get referrals from members, because no members really live in our area, but, I really love our area!

It's been raining ALL week. So so muddy! Haha But, it's really fun! 

Last Wednesday night, we went to an inactive members' house to teach. His name is Cedric. He used to be a branch president. Now he doesn't come to church. Anyway, when we got there, he was okay with us teaching him. The problem was that there wasn't a girl over the age of 18 at his house, so, we had to go find one so we could teach him. We came back about 5 min later with his daughter who was at her neighbor's house. When we got back, he was watching the news. 

 

He let us back in, and we were kind of just sitting there, waiting for him to turn off the TV. We sat there for an awkward 2 min, then I asked him if we could turn it off so the spirit could be in the lesson. He then turned down the volume a little, "in case anything important," happened. He is a joker joker so we thought he was kind of just like trying to be funny or something. We all lightly joked around about the news for a couple minutes, trying to gently persuade him to turn it off. In the midst of the jokey atmosphere, I asked him this question.

 

"Brother, do you know who made your TV?"

 

"Um, I don't know Sister Bingham, I think maybe it's a Toshiba..."

 

"No, Satan made your TV brother!"

 

And then he kind of snapped... Yes, I realize that this sounds really really bad out of context. But, in the moment, we were all joking around. But, I shouldn't have said it anyway. 

 

He yelled at us and wouldn't really let us say anything for like 10 min. He talked about how he was just a "normal person" and how his family was just "normal people." And that we were interrupting his privacy by visiting him every week. He told us that after work he just likes to come home and watch TV and relax, because he is busy. He told us he likes to watch the news and basketball and there was nothing wrong with that. He said that even though he doesn't go to church, he isn't doing anything wrong because of Article of Faith number 11. He made us look it up.  He then told us that no one really wants the missionaries over at their house. 

 

The visit ended with him asking us when our curfew was. We told him 8:30 for sisters. He then said that the only time he would entertain missionaries was at least after 8:30, after he was done watching TV every day. 

 

After I apologized for offending him, all we could really do was bear our testimony and pray before we left.

He said something to me that made me think. He said that they were just normal people. I was thinking really hard about what normal people do, and what they don't do. As I was thinking about this,  a thought came to my mind from the spirit. It was this: "Normal people don't go to the Celestial Kingdom."

 

I believe that this is true. The Bible says somewhere (confession: no idea where) that we are a peculiar people. That's true. Normal people don't go to church every Sunday. Normal people don't read and love the Book of Mormon every single day. Normal people don't love God with all of their hearts. Normal people don't want to serve and love other people. Normal people don't care about the salvation of their neighbors and friends. Normal people don't give referrals to the missionaries. Peculiar people do. 

I don't know English very well anymore. And I don't know what the actual definition of the word 'peculiar' is. But, I am pretty sure that it doesn't mean weird. I think it means different... hopefully that's right. 

I think before my mission I would call myself a normal person. I went to church mostly every Sunday... that's about all. I don't think I was reading my scriptures everyday after I got my call. I know that it's really easy for me to forget what having a life other than being a missionary is. And I know that sometimes I might be too bold with the people I teach. But I'm not sorry for that. I would do anything for these people to see how important living the gospel is, so that they can stop being 'normal,' as well. 

I'm proud of being a peculiar person. And I'm so grateful that I have now come to know how important the gospel really is. And not just say that in the occasional fast and testimony with no real meaning behind it, but to really really mean it, and really really build my testimony every day by doing. 

 

The reward that peculiar people get is found in D&C 78. Verse 15 says, "That you may come up unto the crown prepared for you, and be made rulers over many kingdoms, saith the Lord God..." 

I like this wording. Notice that it doesn't say something like, "that you can magically end up through your effortlessness at the crown prepared for you." 

We had an amazing lesson yesterday with a woman named Sharon. Sharon lives by the Intanes family. She is super poor, her husband is in jail, and she washes other peoples' clothes on weekends to feed her family. We had a lesson with her last week and just shared about how much Heavenly Father loves her and gave her a restoration pamphlet. When we got to her house yesterday, she was waiting at the window for us. She was like, "Sisters! Sisters! Come inside! Sit down! Let's start the lesson! hurry!" 

When we sat down she said, "Okay, I have 5 questions. What is this scripture talking about, Who is Joseph Smith, What the heck is apostasy, What is priesthood, and Why are Prophets important?!"

We then had the most powerful and intense lesson I have ever been in in my entire life. She was clinging on every single word. We talked about the whole first lesson. We talked about prophets, Joseph Smith, The great apostasy, everything. And at the end, we committed her to baptism. This is how the conversation went (well, a rough translation).

 

".....And after you know if this is true, will you be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority from God?" I said.

 

"Sisters, I'm sorry I can't promise because I can't come to church. I wash clothes on weekends, and I can't stop because I have to feed my kids, I'm so sorry." She said.

 

"Do you believe that God is powerful, sister?" I asked.

 

"Of, course sister, He is God." She said.

 

"Then do you have enough faith to believe that he has enough power that he can help you come to church, even if that means quitting your job and finding a new one?" I asked.

 

"Hmmm, I know He does, sisters." she said

 

"Then, will you come to church this Sunday?" asked Sister Garner.

 

"Yes!" she exclaimed.

 

" And will you start getting prepared to get baptized on the 22 of February?" asked sister Garner.

 

"Yeah! I will!" She said.

 

We gave her a Book of Mormon. She told us she would read every single day, and that she knew that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that God loved her. As she gave the closing prayer, she was in tears. The spirit was so strong in that small 1 room bamboo house.  I felt like she knew it was true before we even got to her house that afternoon. I love Sharon. She is so prepared. Her faith inspires me. And lessons like this is why I left everything behind to serve my Redeemer. I would not have traded anything for that lesson. I'm so grateful to be in this amazing place, so I could meet this amazingly strong woman. 

I know that Sharon isn't a normal person, and I'm really happy about that.

I love you! Thanks for your love and support! May we all do a little better this week at being a peculiar people. 

 

I type these things, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

Love,

 

Sister Bingham

Letting go of Offenses--January 7, 2014

January 7, 2014

People of America,

Hello! I'm so happy to be e-mailing you this fine sunny day in Filly. Actually, there is a slight tropical sea breeze which makes the palm trees look absolutely beautiful as they sway. And It has been sort of rainy this week, which is really nice because it gives us a break from the extreme heat which is the norm. We just got a sweeeeet new apartment right off the beach, so When I'm brushing my teeth or writing in my journal, I can stare off into the Ocean and think about life, which I love! ........ hahahahahahaha sorry. I'm probably only escaping the extreme polar wasteland once in my life... so... have to take advantage of it, right?? Don't worry, summer always comes way later than you wish it would... but it always comes...hang in there!

This week has been the coolest/weirdest week in my mission! Maybe not... But it was cool! We had like no investigators in our new boundary area so we have done a lot of tracting this week! One day, it was raining like crazy and we were just walking around. We pretended like we didn't have umbrellas so people would let us into their house! Ok, only my companion pretended... I actually didn't have one. This tactic was SUPER effective! We met this lady who lived in Ogden for 16 years! Crazy, right?! Her name is Hazel, and she used to live in Riverdale. She was like, "Yeah, I liked Ogden... but... too many Mormons there. I've never actually talked to the missionaries, so you should come back!" It was amazing! And we found this family who is SUPER ready for the Gospel. They were taught by missionaries like ten years ago, but the missionaries only went to their house like 2 times. But they are a super cute family and I can tell that cool things are going to happen there!

A bummer is that Sister Intanes moved two hours away because she got a new job in a restaurant. The good thing is that she has Sundays off so she can go to church in her new ward. Brother Intanes is at home, taking care of the kids. He also came with us to some lessons yesterday. He is sooooo cool! He is such a cool example of how the gospel can change people. During a lesson he shared that before the missionaries came he was doing marijuana and drinking and smoking and all sorts of other stuff. He bore testimony of how Christ changed him. It was cool! So cool! 

 

I also witnessed the saddest thing of my entire mission this week. There is a man in our area who used to be a district president (stake president). He is Filipino (obviously) and he took out his endowments in the Jordan River Temple. His family was sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, and he is a high priest. Now, he's a pastor for the Calvary church. His congregation has 15 members. He asked that his name be removed from the records. He said that he wrote a letter to the first presidency 5 years ago resigning from, "the church of latter day saints..." but it was never acted upon.

All of his sons are returned missionaries. The youngest one, returned early because he had a mental breakdown on his mission. This was about 6 years ago. Now, his son has manic bipolar disorder and lives at home. 

 

We went to his house with the senior couple in our area, the Halls. Elder Hall is a counselor in the district presidency and needed to talk to him about making sure he understood what it means to get his name removed from the records. I wanted to know where he lived so we could visit him later on, so they came with us. We shared a scripture with him. He told us that he doesn't believe the Book of Mormon is true anymore. He still interestingly has his copy though.

 

All we could really do was bear our testimonies. I personally felt like I have never spoken more powerfully in my life. I testified that the church was true, that Christ lives and loves us, that he has a plan for us that brings true happiness, and that I loved him because he is my brother. When I told this poor man that I loved him, I meant it. I felt soooo much brotherly love for this man I had never before met. My hear ached for him because of the weight his actions will have on his eternal destination. My spirit hurt when he said that the Book of Mormon wasn't true. I felt the hate he had and expressed for us. After I told him I loved him, He told me I was a liar, and that all Mormons were liars. He said when his son had his mental breakdown, no one visited him. No one cared. 

 

He went inside after our lesson to get something and while he was inside, his son came up to us and started saying things like, "I still believe in the Book of Mormon, I want to go to church, my dad won't let me, I need to get out of here..." Stuff like that. 

 

I cried a little when we were headed back to our apartment. I don't think the plan of salvation has ever been so real to me before. I'm so sad that this man, because of some offence, has thrown away his salvation. 

 

I'm not judging this man. I'm not judging these members. I've no right to really judge the situation because I don't know all the facts and I wasn't there.... and most importantly, I'm not Christ. I'm just the missionary. But I learned so much from this experience! And I'm really grateful for this experience. I learned that Satan really will use anything that he has against us. He really does use our weaknesses to destroy our spirituality. And about an hour or so before this happened, my companion said something to me that "offended" me a little bit. My feelings got a little hurt and I started thinking about it too much and became a little annoyed. After we left this man's house, I had a thought like, hmmm, I bet this is how all this started for this man, too. 

All of our actions have eternal consequences. I repented that night for the anger I had against my cute companion. I know that the atonement is real, and I know that there are few situations in life that we can actually control. One of them is our reactions. Another one of them is our capacity to love our neighbors. I learned that I need to be quicker to forgive, after all, this world is filled with imperfect people who are stumbling along, trying to get to the celestial kingdom, just like the rest of us. The sad thing is that some people don't even know where they are going, or that they even have a really cool place to go!

One of my resolutions is to Love everyone, more than I do now. If I really loved these people, I would feel this same sadness over everyone that rejects the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

I love all of you, and I hope that you have a great week! I'm so so so grateful for the lessons I'm learning on my mission. When I left, I never thought that I would actually need the Philippines way way way more than they needed me. 

Pag-amping,

 

Sister Bingham

 Happy New Year!