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.

January 26, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

What a crazy week! We have been so busy this transfer with various activities! Last week we had interviews with President Maxwell and Golden review for Sister Tuhod in Wantirna. Yesterday we had a really fun sister's p-day at the Werribee mansion and today we went there again for zone meeting. Tomorrow we will travel to Wantirna again to go to the temple and then we will have exchanges after. So much traveling but it is great! I am most excited for the temple! I love it there because it is so peaceful and easy to feel the spirit there.

This week was pretty exciting because Mary's mum finally came back from England so we set a new baptismal date with her for February 7.

We also got a referral this week for a less active member named Leila who lives in a small town about 11 K's outside of Melton. We went and visited her on Sunday and she told us that when she ran into the Elders in Sunshine she decided that she is ready to start going back to church. She recently separated from her partner and is working on settling custody of her kids. She told us that she was basically homeless for a few months until she finally decided to pray to Heavenly Father and ask Him to help her find a house and He did! She also just started a new job so everything is starting to work out for her. Heavenly Father answers prayers, all we have to do is ask Him.

I taught my first ever lesson to a Muslim lady and her daughter with Sister Tuhod on Sunday. Melbourne is really SO multi-cultural!

Last thing from this week, I gave a talk in sacrament meeting on Sunday. Despite the fact that I should be pro at talking in front of people now I was still a little nervous. I kept telling Sister Tuhod leading up to it that I wish they would've just asked me the day of and i would've whipped up something on the spot, but I also know that inspiration flows more readily if you are prepared so I am glad that I was given time to prepare for it.

Melton is still great and I am really enjoying the work here. I am hoping that when we get transfer calls in a couple weeks now that I will be able to stay here a little longer. There is still so much more work to be done here that I want to be a part of. I know this gospel is true!

Love ya heaps!

Sister Bingham

1. Australia cake for Australia Day

 

2. Sister Tuhod and I at the rose garden

3. the Werribee mansion

4. the bus back to the train station took us to the beach! :)

5. beach selfie

January 18, 2015

Dear family and friends,

First off, Happy birthday to my wonderful mother!!! I hope you have an exciting day!

Second, shout out to my sister Hilary who is leaving on her mission this week, headed for Madrid, Spain!!! You are going to make an amazing missionary and I can't wait to exchange awesome missionary stories with you! See you on Christmas over skype!

Third, this week was SO amazing! Elder and Sister Pearson did a mission tour and visited each of us. They gave amazing advice to us and it was so inspiring! One thing I learned from them is that master planning is a Godly characteristic that we should all do our best to embrace and develop. Heavenly Father has a goal for each one of us "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man". Another thing I learned is that obedience feeds faith. When our faith is getting low, the best thing for us to do to counteract it and build our faith is to be exactly obedient and nourish our souls with scripture study and prayer. They gave us heaps of other great advice, I wish I could write it all down for yous.

Sister Tuhod and I are continuing to do our best to work hard and stay busy here in Melton. We are doing well and the time is going by really fast for both of us.

I hope yous have a great week! I won't be able to email next Monday because of public holiday (Australia Day), but I will talk to you on Tuesday most likely.

Love you heaps,

Sister Bingham

1. I made tacos! :D

January 11, 2015

Dearest Family and Friends,

Sorry this letter will probably be pretty short, but we didn't have a super eventful week. Sister Tuhod an I have been keeping busy trying to get ahold of investigators and build our teaching pool while also visiting lots of members and recent converts. The ward is doing really well right now and there is heaps of potential for growth at the moment, so we will be working real hard to keep our escalator effect going. :)

The weather here has been really bipolar. Earlier in the week it got hot as and then the other half of the week it was cold and rainy for a few days in a row. There was one day when we tracted in the rain for two hours. It was definitely a nice relief from the 40 degree heat we had earlier.

We have a busy month planned for the rest of January with heaps of events that will be happening. This week we will go to a multi-zone conference where Elder Pearson, the area Seventy will speak to us. AND we found out this week that Elder Bednar is coming to our mission in February!!!!!!!!!! I am SO stoked! I really hope I don't get transferred somewhere far away so that I can go to that!

I hope you all have a wonderful week and enjoy the nice weather back home! Remember that I love yous and that the church is true!

Love ya heaps!

Sister Bingham

1. Sorry this is sorta the only picture I took this week, but it's a good quote :)