Caitlin's Chronicles (Sister Bingham in the Philippines)

Maayong hapon! So today was transfer day. And yesterday we received a call that Sister Soriano would be transferred. She is now going to Sagay, the very northern part of our mission. I am going to miss her so so much but I know that other people need her more now. We got up at 4 this morning to travel to Bacolod. My new companion is Sister Ronquillio. I'm excited to work with her, and sad about Sister Soriano leaving, and a little scared about leading the area. I at least know how to get places so that's good.  I got to see all of my batch INCLUDING Sister Hostetter! I was so so happy to see them and we took a picture but Elder Yancey left before we took it. (It's okay I forgive him). Sister Burkhardt got transferred to the same zone as Sister Hostetter. And Sister Hostetter's trainer also got transferred. Lots of emotions today but we know this is the Lord's work and He's at the helm. As long as we put our trust in Him, I know without a doubt that every...

Maayong aga sa tanan! Exciting news! Brother Eman, 14 years old, has finally come to the simbahan and received the gift of the Holy Ghost! He was baptized the last week of December and he wasn't confirmed the following Sunday because he waited an entire hour at the market for us, 7-8am, but we had told him to go there at 8:30am. The following Sundays he was either gone or refused to even speak to us and we could not figure out what had happened! We were a little frustrated and distressed but we never gave up. We continued to have hope and pray for Eman and yesterday he was excited to come to church and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, so I am very happy for him! The youth invited him to youth conference in March and he really wants to go. I hope this enthusiasm sticks and that he continues to be strong.  Breaking news! On Thursday, President pulled a wild card and transferred a bunch of missionaries, including our District Leader and Zone Leader (who had been in our zone...

Maayong aga! Hope you all are doing well! We found lots of new investigators this week and 3 of them even came to church on Sunday so I'm super excited for them! It's really difficult to get people to come to church because either they're busy or shy or it's too far or too long. Every Sunday we fetch our investigators so that they won't be alone arriving at church.  I learned how to change lightbulbs this week because two of our lights went out at the same time. In the pictures, there's one of me and Sister Soriano with Rolen, Hannah, and Pearl. Hannah and Rolen are so bakod (strong) in their faith. They love going to church and both want to be baptized. The only issue is Hannah's parents don't want her to be baptized. Her birthday is in February and she said that she doesn't want a tablet or candy or clothes, instead she wants to ask to be baptized. How awesome is she?  Something funny that happened this week was when we were tea...

Kamusta kamo?!  Sister Soriano had another meeting this week so we traveled to Bacolod on Monday.  It was also transfer day so there were lots of missionaries in Bacolod. Unfortunately, I still haven't seen my MTC companion Sister Hostetter! I miss her so much! I did get to see Sister Burkhardt, Elder Keller, and Elder Yancey and have a quick catch up with them. They're doing well and I was so happy to see them!! Our district leader and fellow elder in Binalbagan Ward (in this ward we have sisters and elders), Elder Heywood, was transferred to the other end of the island, where it's basically just mountains. From that transfer day (Monday), he would not actually get to his area until Thursday because in order to attend district meeting he has to stay with other elders in his district because of the lack of transportation in the mountains. Also, on P day they have to get up at 3:00AM in order to catch transportation down to where the market and stores are. Crazy righ...

Malipayon bag-o nga tuig!  I wish I had more time to explain all the cool stuff that happened these past two weeks! I didn't write last week because, syempre, I was skyping my family :D It was super awesome to see their goofy faces (Love you guys!) and hear them laughing!  We traveled to Bacolod on the 26th for our Christmas devotional on the 27th. What an experience! We played games outside (egg toss, sharks and minnows, relay version of tic tac toe). President Barredo's quote of the day: "I am on your team, if you win" We ate lots of food. We played some games in the church gym like musical chairs (I played Christmas hymns at the piano as the music) and then in our separate tables we sang Twelve Days of Christmas and each table made up an action for their day. They asked me to play the music for that on the spot! Grabbe na! We received training from our mission president's elder brother and nephew. President Barredo's brother has a really good mind f...