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