Caitlin's Chronicles (Sister Bingham in the Philippines)

MAAYONG AGA SA INYO TANAN! (Good morning to you all!) So this week was full as always. Here are some quick highlights: SORE EYES: We gave the training again in Bata District and it went well except I had very sore eyes that day so I was half blind and looked like I was crying the whole time. Sister Clarke had "sore eyes" last week and then passed to me. My eyes were very red and very swollen and it felt like I had been crying for a whole day. We went to the doctor who gave me eye drops and didn't charge a copay because the "LDS" (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) had helped him. He told us to convert all the "bad" Catholics but not the good Catholics. And then talked about China and America having a trade war. It was an interesting trip. But, missionaries that we are, we left him a pamphlet about the Restoration of the Gospel :) We tried to work despite my eyes, and this kid, who's part of a family we are teaching, he's 11...

Maayong aga! This week Sister Clarke and I gave our first training! It was about handling stress and especially directed to the new missionaries who just got here because almost our whole zone is trainers&trainees. It went SO well and they loved the training! We even got to play Do you love your neighbor? Which is like my favorite game ever. We talked about how great our calling is as missionaries! And about how we can't avoid being stressed but we do have lots of resources to help us. I talked about how mastercraftsmen make plans, cut, shape, and polish a diamond so that it can be purer and reach a higher value. I compared that to how our Savior Jesus Christ as well as Heavenly Father are our Mastercraftsmen. They have a plan for each of us and they shape us to reach our full potential. That doesn't mean it's easy. We go through the refiner's fire, we have to face hard things, we have to face problems so that we can become that pure and clear and eventually perfe...

Maayong aga sa inyo tanan! So I have now spent my first week in the center of Bacolod City. It is quite different from the bukid. Not to mention that this area is maybe like 1/10 the size of my last area. GENERAL CONFERENCE: So here we are a little behind on that whole wagon but IT WAS SO UPLIFTING. I wish I could just share everything I learned and felt but you can just go see it here :) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/10?lang=eng October 2018 General Conference Talks - lds.org General conferences are the semiannual worldwide gatherings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Church members gather to receive guidance and encouragement from Church leaders about gospel living based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. www.lds.org Saturday Morning Session was probably my favorite. I loved the talk of Elder Rasband about fear and how we can overcome that fear by standing in holy places, being not troubled by finding peace in Christ, and trusting the Lord in H...

MAAYONG HAPON!!!! BREAKING NEWS!!!! I have been transferred to Bacolod 2nd ward. I went from straight bukid (farms and mountains/very rural) to straight center of Bacolod City. It'll be a wild ride but I'm so excited for what God has in store for me and how I can help the people here to come closer to Christ. My companion is GUESS WHO?! Sister Clarke?!?! From my district in the MTC! When they announced the transfer we ran and hugged each other and are so excited to rock this transfer!!!! I, of course, am sad to leave Cauayan because of all the people I loved and served there. There were and are a lot of people who I've seen change their lives because of the things we taught them and the things they learned at church about the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's been so amazing and I'm glad Sister Campbell will take care of them with her new companion. I told her she has to send me pictures of when they get baptized :D I will miss them dearly but I am so grateful ...