September 27, 2015

Talofa lava friends and family!

This week has been great! We've been so flat out it's crazy, but it's great to be busy as a missionary!

Jemma is still doing pretty good. We stopped by this week and taught her and one of her daughters about faith. Last we heard a couple days ago it had almost been a week since she last smoked, which is really great progress!

We picked up a few new investigators this week as well. One is Tish, an Aussie lady Sister Rhodes and her last comp tracted into. She grew up Catholic, but thinks that church is really boring and also told us that she doesn't necessarily agree with everything the Bible says. Another one is Vin, a nine year old Sri Lankan boy. We tracted into their house and his mum answered the door. They are Hindu so she wasn't really interested, but Vin really wants to learn more about Jesus Christ so his mum told us we could come in and teach him. Another new investigator this week is Elisa. She is an Aussie lady who the Sisters tracted into almost a year ago. Her sister recently joined the church as well, but she told us that she doesn't really want to go anymore which is sad. Elisa is lovely though and really wants to learn more about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Our last new investigator this week is Trinice. On Tuesday night one of our appointments fell through so we went over to their house with the stake president's daughter who had gotten home from her mission in Sydney the same day. Trinice is from a less active Samoan family and is the oldest of the four kids. She is nine now and really wants to be baptized, but the parents haven't gotten around to it yet because they don't have a strong desire to go to our ward. Luckily her mum is willing to let us teach her and hopefully prepare her for baptism soon.

Last cool thing that happened this week. So one of the families in our ward called us up on Friday wanting us to come over for dinner on Saturday with them and their non-member neighbors who were getting ready to move soon. Everything ended up working out with our scheduling, so we went over for dinner and to share a message with the family and their neighbors. We were stressing out before because we didn't know what to share, but we ended up getting to share a good message about prophets and general conference. I know it was a good seed that we were able to plant and I really hope that they watch general conference. I am grateful for a living prophet on the earth today and I know that Heavenly Father continues to lead and guide the church.

Love yous!

Sister Bingham

1. We got permission to go to Felicity's baptism in Glenroy on Saturday!! So exciting!

September 20, 2015

Dear family and friends,

This week has had some interesting ups and downs. We had some really busy days, and some really slow days, but overall it hasn't been too bad.

For starters, we saw Jemma and taught her about the Holy Ghost. We really want to help her to be able to recognize and follow the Holy Ghost so she can have a stronger desire to quit smoking and to commit herself more to the gospel. We realized during her lesson, however, that we are going to have to go back to basics and teach everything a lot more simply.

The most interesting thing that happened this week was with a couple we met tracting last week. They are born again Christians and had invited us in to explain a little to them (mostly so they could explain their beliefs to us) but we went back on Tuesday and had a really great lesson with them. They were polite and nice and listened as we taught them about the restoration of the gospel through Joseph Smith. The spirit was really strong and we KNOW they felt it too. Then they had their go at trying to convince us why the Bible is the only word of God. After our lesson they still had heaps of questions for us about the Book of Mormon so they invited us to come back again on Thursday. We left them a commitment to read 2 Nephi 31-33 and then went back and taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ. This lesson was exactly the opposite of the one on Tuesday. We taught them and I could see in them as we were teaching that they were just listening to find fault. By the end they looked at the five steps that we had laid out for them (faith in Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end) and commented that they agreed with all of it except the fact that we didn't have a salvation prayer. They then proceeded to try to Bible bash with us and adamently come back to one scripture that they were so hung up on. Then they decided to completely turn on us and say things like the Book of Mormon is not true, Joseph Smith is not a prophet, our church is not true, etc etc. I got so frustrated and couldn't believe the difference in their attitudes. Not only that, but I was so frustrated because they weren't even listening to what we were saying anymore. They had made up their mind that we were wrong without even giving it a chance or a second thought. They were attacking everything that I hold dear to me and I couldn't handle it anymore. All I could do was bear one of the most powerful testimonies I have ever given in my life and then leave.

I know that the Book of Mormon is true! I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God! And I know that anyone who shuts the door before truly listening to us and honestly considering Moroni's promise is missing out on a multitude of blessings. The church is true, there is no doubt in my mind because I have pondered about the Book of Mormon myself and I know that God continues to affirm me that it is true.

Love yous!

Sister Bingham

September 13, 2015

Dear family and friends,

Talofa lava from Lynbrook! That's right... my sixth and hopefully final area is on the East side!! And it is mostly a Polynesian ward. I am loving it here on the east side so far. We get to do a lot of tracting (which I love) and we actually get the chance to speak a little about the gospel with many people. My new companion is so amazing!! Her name is Sister Rhodes and she is from Brigham City, Utah. She has been on her mission for one transfer SO that means that I am follow up training her! So exciting to have another daughter!! It's so crazy to me that she is my third American companion since being in Australia, the last two being my first transfer. She is so great and WAY ahead where I ever was my second transfer.

So a couple exciting things have happened this week. We have been so busy that I haven't even had time to unpack. We taught a Tongan investigator, Nana, this week. She has started reading the Book of Mormon and really likes it, but for whatever reason we couldn't get her to commit to a baptismal date yet. She kept saying that maybe after she finishes reading the entire Bible and Book of Mormon then she will think about it. Lol. But hopefully we will be able to help her see that she doesn't need to have a perfect knowledge before she gets baptized, just the faith and commitment to follow Jesus Christ.

We also taught an investigator Jemma this week. She has recently cut down on coffee, but still struggles with smoking. We taught her a lesson on the ten commandments this week and she was supposed to come to church, but she got busy.

I've been doing great recently. I feel like with this change of weather, I have also become a bit more sunny and bright myself. One thing I have started to do recently is to hold a Book of Mormon in my hand as I go tracting. I have always kept one in my bag, but I have noticed in the past few weeks as I have been doing this that it is easier to bring up the topic of the Book of Mormon and the restoration with people, and I have been able to give out more Books of Mormon. This in turn makes me more happy because it gives me the hope that these people will be able to enjoy the peace and blessings from the gospel that I have been able to enjoy in my own life. I love the Book of Mormon so much. I know that it is the true word of God and that it brings me closer to my Savior than by any other means.

I love all of you heaps!

Sister Bingham

1. me and my new comp today (at sand volleyball for zone p-day)

September 6, 2015

Dear family and friends,

First off, happy Australian father's day dad!! Hope you eat some cake or something from me to celebrate!

Crazy stuff happening this week... We FINALLY got a progressing investigator this week... Peta! We saw her and taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and then she accepted a baptismal date for September 26 and then she came to church! (just sacrament meeting, but that's okay because it was a really powerful testimony meeting)

Now the sad news for the week. Sister Zhang and I are both getting transfered out of Devonport. :( I am so sad that I have to leave after only one transfer, but I feel so blessed and grateful that I have had the opportunity to come back here to my home!! My heart will always be in Tasmania!

I have learned so much this last transfer, especially about patience and perserverance. We had quite a few days where we struggled to find productive things to do, but I learned to just keep moving and to be patient for the blessings to come. And they did! Finally during the last week of this transfer we were able to help Peta begin to progress again which is amazing! I can't wait to hear about how she does in the future.

Lucky me I received a bit of transfer news before transfer meeting tomorrow. I will be with an American Sister and I will be follow-up training!! Whoo hoo! Super excited to have another daughter! I hope it all goes well! Take care and I'll update yous more next week!

 

Love yous heaps!

Sister Bingham

 

1. tracting by the beach in Shearwater

2. guess who made spaghetti with kangaroo meatballs!