February 22, 2015

Dear family and friends,

We had a good week here in the bush! We've met a few good potentials who we will follow up with soon, but other than that not a whole lot has happened, just the usual missionary life and getting to know everyone in the branch here. We have some really good members here who love to feed the missionaries and have us over so that is good for us. :)

Our most progressing investigator is still Michael. We taught him again this week about the Restoration and he said it all makes sense. He is already in 2 Nephi in his Book of Mormon reading and said that it says in the scriptures multiple times as he has read that you have to repent and be baptised so that is what he wants to do. His only obstacle is that he has to go to court in the next couple weeks so we have to wait until after that to see what happens and when he will be able to be baptised.

I'm really excited for this week. I got some really amazing news a couple days ago that Bishop Jury's (Glen Huon bishop) daughter Amber who is going on her mission in March to Hamilton is going through the temple on Friday night and I get to drive down after exchanges with Sister Maughan and our comps to see them! AND the next day, Saturday, will be Elder Bednar!!!!! This week will be great!

Keep 'feasting' on the words of Christ and remember that the church is true!

Love yous!

Sister Bingham

p.s. sorry no new pics this week. More to come next week though!

February 15, 2015

Dear family and friends,

Greetings from the New South Wales bush!!! So much has happened this last week! Tuesday we had transfers and I found out that I was being transferred to Griffith, a small town in New South Wales with a small branch of about 90 active members. I am also still training which I am happy about as well! My new companion is Sister Dere (sounds like Derek without the K) and she is from Fiji. She came out with Sister Tuhod so I am follow up training her. So because it takes six hours to drive from Melbourne to Griffith (and only five from Griffith to Sydney) we drove a couple hours Tuesday night to Wangaratta to stay with a Senior couple and then drove the rest of the four hours home the next day. Then on Friday we had zone conference in Shepparton, which is four hours south of Griffith, so we made the four hour drive there and back that day. So basically I'm really tired from driving over fourteen hours this week!

I don't really know heaps about my area so far. It's a fairly small town with heaps of Polynesian members, so don't worry I won't be losing any weight this transfer! We have two Elders here as well, a Samoan and a Canadian. The people here are nice and we have some good investigators we are working with right now. So far I have met two of them, Michael and Wade. Michael is a 20 or so man who is progressing really well right now. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying for a baptism date. He came to a fireside we did last night at the chapel on the Plan of Salvation and really liked it. Wade is a 20 or so man with ADHD and Asperger's, but he is really high functioning. His main concern is just that he feels like God doesn't hear him and show himself to him.

I am really excited to be back in the bush. There's something about small towns that I just love! I have felt really calm this whole transition time and I am really excited to get heaps of work done in Griffith! One more exciting thing. I found out that we still get to go to Elder Bednar in two weeks so I am super stoked for that! Enjoy your cold winter weather and I hope yous all have an awesome week and remember how much God loves each one of yous!

Love ya heaps!

Sister Bingham

1. saying goodbye to mum #2

2. daughter #2

February 8, 2015

Dear family and friends,

First thing's first: TRANSFER NEWS!!!!! So sadly my time in Melton has come to an end after three transfers here and I will be moving on to the next adventure in my mission tomorrow. When I first got here I honestly never thought I would say this, but I think I might actually miss Melton. It really is crazy how Heavenly Father tries to prepare me for every transfer. Sometime in the last week or so I was reflecting on what I have accomplished/learned in Melton and the thought came to me that I had learned what I needed to learn here and it was time for me to move on to have new experiences. I ignored the prompting a bit, still thinking that there was a big chance I would stay one more transfer to finish training Sister Tuhod, but clearly that is not where I am meant to be right now. When we got the callout on Saturday night confirming that I was leaving Melton I got on my knees and prayed and asked Heavenly Father if this is really the right thing for me and if I really have accomplished all I needed to here in Melton. I felt the Spirit really clearly confirming my question, so I am really peaceful about this move and excited for the adventures that lie ahead of me.

Sister Tuhod and I did have a good week. The work here is really finally starting to pick back up again. We had to postpone Mary's baptism for a couple weeks to help her understand everything a little better, but we set a new date for her for February 21. I am hoping that my new area won't be too far so I can get permission to attend her baptism. We had a lesson with Graham, the blind man Sister Stoker and I found on exchanges. He already has the Book of Mormon on audio and he went to the Perth temple open house. We were hoping to set a solid baptism date next week when we see him again. We also saw Rick, another potential Sister Stoker and I found. We had a good lesson with him and discussed some of the Plan of Salvation, specifically life after death. We read Alma 40:11, which is a really good scripture about that. We also saw Kiana this week, a granddaughter of a less active member. Sister Lee and I had given her a Book of Mormon, so we explained more about that and gave her a chapter to read and pray about.

Yesterday at church the topic for the sacrament meeting talks was the Restoration. There was one speaker who recited Joseph Smith's first vision and bore his testimony of the prophet Joseph Smith. I love how much I am able to feel the Spirit every single time I hear those words. I know this church is true with all my heart!

Love yous heaps!

Sister Bingham

1. apparently this means demon baby in Tagolog

2. I feel SO big next to Sister Tuhod and Sister Delos Reyes!

3. I had to take a pic of the wall next to my study desk before I had to take it all down

February 1, 2015

Dear family and friends,

This week was SO amazing! On Wednesday we got to go to the temple and then we had exchanges. I was in Melton with Sister Stoker, which I was really excited about, but it was also really bittersweet because she goes home in just a week now. Our exchange brought miracles, as always! We were able to find a Kiwi (New Zealand) family who has a brother in the Dandenong ward, a blind man named Graham, and an Aussie father named Rick. We had the most new contacts this week than we've had this whole transfer!

We also met a friend of a recent convert at church yesterday named Nashra and we are going to see her as well this week.

Everything is coming together for (little) Mary's baptism this Saturday. I'm really excited for Sister Tuhod to have her first baptism as a missionary.

I love how mindful Heavenly Father is of each of us. When I went to the zone conference with Elder Pearson I had questions answered and last night I had more questions of mine answered when we went to the Mission President Fireside. I set my goal for this week to have more meaningful prayers and when we got to the fireside, President Maxwell addressed his comments on the topic of prayer.

The work is really good here in Melton right now. We've been flat out this last week and we will be flat out this next week as well, but I love it! Today marks seven months for me on my mission and it is so crazy to me how fast the time flies! I don't ever want to leave the mission field, life is so amazing here and I have been able to grow in so many ways that I would have otherwise never been able to. I know without a doubt that this gospel is true and there is no greater joy than sharing it with others!

Love yous heaps!

Sister Bingham

1. Our mission christmas pictures up in the office

2. It's official! Elder Bednar is coming to my stake's conference next month.