Caitlin's Chronicles (Sister Bingham in the Philippines)

Maayong aga! My voice almost disappeared this week. Never thought I'd talk so much my throat would go hoarse. But it's happened. That doesn't stop us though :) the message is too important.  We got a microwave this week! Every time we use it, I just have to sit in front of it and watch in amazement because it is just so fascinating! Technology is such a cool thing. Brother Eriberto, the one who would not pray no matter how we tried to help him, gave the closing prayer in one of our lessons this week! I almost cried while he was praying because I just felt the Spirit. I've seen how this good man has changed his life because of the teachings of Jesus Christ. He used to smoke. Then started reading the Book of Mormon and his smoking just went away. He would drink sometimes but we told him to read the Book of Mormon every day and he did and he stopped drinking. We taught him about how keeping our appearance clean and that the men don't wear earrings and, afte...

MAAYONG AGAAAAAA! Can I just take a moment and tell you all that I LOVE being a missionary? I LOVE the Gospel of Jesus Christ and I LOVE the people I'm serving right here in Cauayan. You can ask my companion how many times I said I LOVE missionary work this week haha. I hope all of you who are able to serve will do so because this week I really saw how I have changed and how my testimony has grown. I can honestly say that I have NO doubts about this Church. NOT EVEN ONE. I still have questions and wonder things but none of those things affect the knowledge I have that this is truly Christ's church upon the earth. I know there is a God who loves us and has a plan for us and is trying to get us to do the right thing by sending us things like prophets and scriptures and leaders and people who teach us the gospel and then there's the Holy Ghost to help guide us and I just can't even list all the things He has sent to help us. The most important is His Only Begotten Son wh...

Maayong aga sa inyo tanan! I can't believe I've been out for a year already! It seems like not that long ago I was struggling to learn Hiligaynon in the MTC and trying to figure out how to talk to people in my first area. I'm still in my second area, Cauayan, and with my 5th companion (not including my MTC companion), Sister Campbell.  Yesterday was probably the BEST SUNDAY I've ever had. It was Cauayan Branch Conference and so the senior missionary couples attended and it's always a blast with them. They also help some of our investigators get to church. I'm so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed our efforts and 14 people we are teaching came to church. AND THEY LOVED IT. One of them told Elder and Sister Willis that they felt they had been missing the spiritual side to their life and they've been praying about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and they believe it to be true. I love this sister who has found something she didn't quite know s...

MAAYONG AGA So this week was a great week full of me seeing the hand of God in my life and I felt the support of angels and your prayers so thank you thank you gid! There have been many times where I talked to people on the tricycle or I just know what questions to ask people or I don't have to search for words in conversation or teaching and I look back and ask myself how that's even possible that I did that? I know that it isn't me, but God is working through me. I'm just the instrument, just the pencil, and I'm so glad for the opportunity to be used to help the people in Cauayan. I have been doing lots of cooking this week :) I hope I can cook things in America but how to find the ingredients? Lots happened but like always, I don't have enough time to tell all that happened so just here's a small story that struck me: We were teaching Sister Aileen and Brother Andy about the law of tithing because they are very poor and we were trying to figure out...

MAAYONG AGA SA INYO TANAN! AND MERRY CHRISTMAS! Yeah so here in the Philippines, we celebrate Christmas starting in September and all the way to December it's just a Christmas party so. So this week was kinda crazy cause we were traveling all over the place to prepare our areas for our trainees and then actually meeting our trainees. Sister De Leon and I were temporary companions and we stayed in Bacolod for one night where I got to shower WITH A REAL SHOWERHEAD it was so weird (see pictures). Then we went to Sipalay and checked in on her baptismal candidate then the next day we worked in Cauayan to help prepare our baptismal candidate. It was lots of fun and everything worked out all right. Then the next day we got up early and went to Bacolod to meet our trainees! Our stomachs were full of butterflies and we were so nervous!!!! I remember being nervous as a trainee, I never thought the trainers might be nervous too. My new companion is Sister Campbell from Pleasant Grove Ut...