President Kupu asked each companionship to give a gift to the Savior. He extended the challenge to have each companionship baptize on Christmas day so we will have a mission-wide baptism! So awesome right? Sister Reid and I have been praying and working diligently to find teach and prepare someone to make the sacred convent by entering the waters of baptism on that special day. We were able to put a lot of people on date for Christmas but unfortunately they weren’t able to come to church yesterday. We did have 2 of our new investigators come to Church though and we still have plenty of time to accomplish our goal and show our gratitude for the Savior. But I was getting a little bit worried until a miracle happened…..so flashback to Blantyre a couple weeks ago. I was kneeling in prayer one day and I felt the prompting to begin praying for whatever area I would be serving in for my last 6 weeks. I started to consistently pray that the Lord would prepare hearts for me to find and invite to come unto Christ. Within a few days the call came that I would be transferred. Ok now flash forward to this week. I continue to pray as an individual and as a companionship that we will be guide to those who are prepared for the gospel.
Family Home Evening!!!
Sorry its blurring and sort of crooked...it was probably the first picture Bana Geni has ever taken:)
Monday night we come home and our night guard Joseph was holding the back cover of a Liahona that was torn out and had been thrown away earlier that day. I asked him if he would like a copy of a complete Liahona and he said yes. I went inside and sort of forgot…oops. Well then I was reading the October 2016 Liahona and it has a story about a man who finds a Liahona with a picture of king Benjamin on the front and after reading it and meeting the missionaries he ends up being baptized. When I read the story I hurried into closet and looked through the stack of old Liahona’s. GUESS WHAT I FOUND??? The same Liahona that the man in the story found in the old flat!!!!! I quickly grabbed it and ran it outside for Joseph. Next morning I go out to run my morning laps around the parking lot (it seriously isn’t even as big as a basketball court) and Joseph tells me he has read 5 talks and loves it! That night we gave him a Book of Mormon and as of yesterday he was in 2 Nephi 10. He actually stays in the Elders area so they were finally able to teach him on Saturday and he is on date to be baptized on Christmas!!!! It was a huge tender mercy as I realized that he was prepared by the Lord and through us missionaries, he is now able to learn of the restored gospel. Mission is just incredible and filled with so many moments like these!
Ndola District!
Gift and Vincent Nkhole were confirmed last week and we were able come teaching with us a couple times this past week. Gift is 11 years old and is the spunkiest girl I have ever met. We went and taught an investigator who didn’t come to church. He assured us that he would come this next week and before we could say anything Gift goes “You better come to church or else I will punch you!!” Lol she is adorable. We finally were able to teach her father this past week and it was incredible to watch her testify and teach him. Most families that I have taught in both Zambia and Malawi are very reserved with each other. Especially when we ask a child to teach their father, they get very quiet. I think it is a part of their culture and how they show respect but not with Gift. She went right ahead and was telling him about how much she loves the gospel! We had shown him the picture of his family’s baptism and it softened his heart so much! We could sense a longing in him to also be dressed in white like his wife and children. He asked a lot of questions about baptism but had a concern about being baptized twice. Before Sister Reid or I could even respond Gift goes, “You can be baptized twice but Heavenly father only counts one baptism. The one that is done by the priesthood power of God.” She continues to amaze me. I am in 3 Nephi now and I couldn’t help but think of her as I read the account of the Savior blessing the children one by one.
Teaching with our recent converts!!!
We got a referral from the other sisters and were surprised to discover that when we met him he was the driver of a taxi that Sister Reid “bumped” into 2 weeks ago. Hahah I saw him and asked, “wait how do I know you??” hahah but he is so great!!! We saw him twice this week and he came to church. The best part of teaching him was when we followed up on his prayer about Joseph Smith. He said he still hasn’t felt a sure confirmation yet but he said that he is so grateful he now knows how to pray. He continue to explain to us that before when he would pray he never would listen. He would just say his prayer and then chapwa…that’s it. But he said that he began to listen and it has made his prayers more meaningful and he feels the Spirit. He thanked us for teaching him how to pray. We don’t know what will happen with Andrew. So far he is progressing really well and even stayed for our baptism on Sundaybut as we left the lesson with him on Friday I felt so much JOY to know that we helped him know how to communicate with his Father in Heaven. We helped him to understand better and strengthen the most important relationship that he will ever develop in his life. My heart was overwhelmed once again to be a missionary and to get to experience such miraculous events in other’s lives.
I gained a testimony of visiting teaching this week. Remember last week when I talked about Sister Lunia and not knowing how to help her but then she came to church?? Well this week when we went to see her it was a complete 180 from last week! She couldn’t stop smiling and when we asked her about the concerns she had last time, she said they weren’t even a problem anymore. Another tender mercy for me as I learned that we may be inadequate, we may not know what words to share, but if we humbly follow the Savior’s call to find his lost sheep, we will rescue and save them.
There was one day this week where things were just not going as planned and I was SO tired. I have been blessed my whole mission with an incredible amount of energy and health! But on Friday I was dragging….I started to doubt why exactly I was sent back to this area. But I received a lot of answers to my questions as to why I need to be here. One reason is to learn once again from the members. I will share with you one story. Sister Chalwe lost her husband last year. She has 3 children and doesn’t work. Ok well she sells charcoal but she buys a big bag for 70 kwacha and she makes a profit of 8 kwacha, 10 if she is lucky, which is equal to loaf of bread. Anyways during a lesson we asked her to share to the investigator how she is able to sacrifice to come to church. She shared how she walks over an hour to get to church each week with her kids, whether they have eaten or not. Hearing her testimony moved me to tears because never once have I heard her complain or not smile. She is one of the happiest saints I know! I am grateful that the Lord called me back to Ndola so I can be reminded of the faith and obedience of the members here and so that I can build my own testimony to be like theirs. I was asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting and as I sat in front, I loved looking at each of the members. Then as we sang “How great the wisdom and the love” I thought of how great the wisdom of the Lord to allow me to be here. How great his love he gives to me in allowing me to serve in Ndola. And how great His plan is! How great it has been to serve in Lilongwe and Blantyre! How great is my calling!!!
Bernard's Baptism!
The week was great!!! Since I only have 4 weeks left I feel a lot of temptations to think about home which is frustrating because I know how precious my time is and i want to serve with all my heart, might, mind and strength. but at the exact same time I don't feel like i am leaving at all. I feel like it is all I have ever done and all I ever will do. We did a super fun service project and the whole time i wished you could have been with us. I worked really hard and have blisters and my back has been so sore but I loved it!!! it made me miss working in the yard so much. One of the elders was sweating so bad from his head and it made me think of you - Dad!
Service Project
We helped move dirt and rocks and the new meetinghouse in Masala...I'm still sore!
We tried to get youth activities started in the branch so i got them to play games. We only havd about 5 youth so not as great as Ndirande but we are laying a foundation. I am happy it is getting colder in Eagle!! its getting hotter here and the rains are finally starting. we couldn't teach a couple lessons this week because it rains so hard on the iron sheet roofs that you can't hear anything!! mid lesson this week a roof came flying off and hit the house we were teaching in. i thought we were going to die!!! hahah funny thing was that we were teaching about the spirit world when it happened.
The work continues to move forward. We taught with a member of the district presidency yesterday and he wants to work with us in creating a group in our area so that the members don’t have to travel so far to get to church. I am sooooooooo excited!!! It is going to take a Lot of hard work and planning and I probably won’t be able to see the results but it is amazing to see the work of our Savior hasten onward. Thank you for your prayers, love and support. I couldn’t do it without you!!!!
Nalikutemwa Sana,
Sister Bingham
Missionary Outfits
Sister Arok used to roast me on my outfits cause they never matched....things get boring after 17 months of serving so i took this picture just for her but i thought you'd enjoy. Especially Dad since he always makes fun of my mismatching outfits.
Sister Asemnyinah
This is Sister Asemnyinah (try saying that one) and she likes to do cute poses!
Helen...she doesn't like the camera
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