Caitlin's Chronicles (Sister Bingham in the Philippines)

Happy New Year!!!!! I blinked and now 2018 is over! This week was lots of fun. It was a great end to the year of 2018. Here's a summary: Christmas Eve: full of Christmas hymn music and Christmas Spirit. We had a lovely Christmas dinner of meat and gravy and mashed potatoes. We read the Christmas story about the old shoemaker by Leo Tolstoy. And ate lots of candy :D Christmas Day: Skyped the fam, it was so quick I blinked and it was time to go. Not enough time to feel sad because we had a full day planned. District Council: We acted out the nativity while reading Luke 2 and singing the Christmas Hymns in the story. We all got treats to share and ate and talked about family Christmas traditions. Los Trez Amigos: We all went to Los Trez for the Christmas celebration! Almost everyone we invited came! They were served food, we sang Christmas songs, all the children got a watch with a matching toy character. I can't explain the joy in the restaurant. Especially, as the owner ha...

Merrry Christmas/ Malipayong Paskwa!!! This week we handed out invitations (creds to Sister Clarke for making them) for the Christmas Sacrament Meeting and the Ward Christmas Party. We got a list of prospective elders (meaning they are able to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood but haven't yet, usually because they are less active or a new member) and set to work. It was like a scavenger hunt :) and we were so happy to see lots of these less active families at church on Sunday and were warmly welcomed by the members. We had our Mission Christmas Devotional and wow what a blast it was. Sister Clarke and I gave a training that was festive, fun, and educational. We led 2 games (Do you love your neighbor? and we sang 12 days of Christmas while doing actions) that were a HIT, everyone was laughing so hard, even President and Sister Sumagpao joined in! And we performed in 2 musical numbers, one with our zone and the other a piano/violin duet (see videos). It was so sadjya gid ...

Maayong udto sa inyo tanan! This week was okay. Lots of walking. Lots of teaching. Not a lot of results but we are doing our best :) We also had Mission Leader Conference this week and President told us some new changes so that we can better establish the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in the Philippines Bacolod Mission area. I'm grateful for our mission president who receives revelation from God to help us better help others to come unto Christ and to help each other in His church. Tuesday, we gave a training at the Willis couple's house and it was weird cause they have air con and fed us sandwiches and chips. Almost all of the missionaries were American. Very American. They also gave us a ride in the back of their pickup truck to the mission office where we signed our immigration papers. Terrifying We're really excited for Christmas! Lots of plans that you'll hear about in the following weeks. This  Friday  we have a zone conference/Christmas ...

Maayong aga!!!! This week started with another training and exchanges in Bacolod North Zone. It was fun working with Sister Saure and Sister Ferreria in a tri companionship. It was fun to be in an area that was 100% city, I miss seeing all the sugar cane fields and the fresh air in the mountains.  When I came back, I was super excited to hear that one of our people being taught just had her baby! Ella and Lehi are proud to have their first child. His name is Skyler. We always joked about naming her child Joseph Smith because the father's name is Lehi, literally straight from the Book of Mormon. And he has a twin, you know what his name is? Nephi :D their mom is one of the pioneer members of the church and her sons are members but Ella, Lehi's soon to be wife, is not. Such a great experience helping families to grow and be founded on the gospel of Jesus Christ! Spyke and Kira got baptized! Their parents are both members of the church but were inactive. The father...

Maayong aga sa inyo tanan! This week FLEW! Sister Clarke and I, as Sister Training Leaders, conduct exchanges where we switch with other companionships to see how they are doing in their companionship and in the missionary work. Last transfer, we did one for one week, but this last week we did 3 in a row. Very exhausting but lots of fun too. I got to work with Sister Bergman (3 months in the field), Sister Christensen (4 months in the field), and Sister Bise (1 week in the field). I enjoyed seeing how their different strengths and talents contribute to the work. Here's a couple thing that happened: One of our people being taught loves to speak English, and he's pretty good at it but not always 100% correct. He kept telling Sister Bergman to speak English cause she's kind of newish but she spoke in Ilonggo :) His 7 year old daughter walked in and sat down and he patted her on the head and introduced her saying, "this is my son." It was pretty funny. When I wor...

Maayong aga! Saturday morning, Brother Allan was baptized! We met Allan because his wife is a member. They were married and she was baptized in 2016. He is 23 years old. They have a 3-year-old named Sky. When we taught he was already so prepared. He stopped smoking and came to church with his family. We are excited and they are excited for the temple next year. He was the one who accidentally read Ether 13 and told us "sister, I read it but it was very far from what we discussed last time." Super great day! Also shoutout to Mil who was baptized in October and on Sunday he received the Aaronic Priesthood. He is a perfect example of Luke 22:32, "when thou art converted strengthen thy brethren." We taught him yesterday and he had lots of family members and friends to refer to us! His cousin was there in the lesson and Mil said he'll take his cousin with him to church next Sunday and maybe she'll get baptized. I loved seeing his enthusiasm to share the g...

Maayong aga sa inyo tanan! So today is indeed transfer day.  The good news is we are not transferring! The ultimate duo gets another transfer in the land of Bacolod 2nd ward! I'm grateful for our companionship that is exactly obedient, diligent in the work, and still able to have fun along the way! The APs gave us a scare though because they called last night AND this morning to freak us out but it's okay, it was all just a joke. They scared us good though. When they said Sister Clarke won't transfer she hugged me and pressed all the air out of me but we were overflowing with relief and joy :)  Lots happened this week: MLC (Missionary Leadership Council): It was my first time and we received lots of good training from President and the APs. And I got to see some of my old companions!  Zone Conference: Sister Clarke and I had to do a demonstration of talking to and teaching the Restoration to people on a Ceres bus. Which is funny cause Sister Clarke has only been...