Emotional Trauma

Hey Family!!!

How's everything going? It sounds like you had a great week, which is awesome to hear. It makes me happy! 

First off, I have a couple more favor's to ask.. man by the time I get home I will have asked for so many favor's that you'll never want another missionary to come home every again!! Sorry Bryce... haha just kidding. First: My eyes seem to be getting a tad bit worse, especially at night. Can you set up an eye appointment for me before I go to school? And a dentist appointment? It's been 18 months.. I'm long overdue. Thanks, you're the best!!!

Also, has Julia had her baby yet? And how's Taylor doing? He's been on my mind a lot lately.

So I'm going to start off this letter with my bad news. Last Monday after I emailed and everything we were driving back home and I went to change lanes, and apparently didn't check my blind spots as good as a thought I did because when I changed I swiped another car... Now before you get all worried, no one was hurt, I was just really shaken up. Because um, hello, when you hit another car it kind of rattles you. I just made a scrape on the side of the other car, and a little dent and a couple scratches (not bad at all) on the front of our car by the left tire. But we just exchanged info with the other car and then I got to call our vehicle coordinator and work everything out. I also had to call President, and he took away my driving privileges... because on the mission when you get in an accident, your privledges get yanked. So thus began our crazy week. I was an EMOTIONAL WRECK!! and super depressed for a couple days because I did something super dumb, and my companion was stressed because now she has to learn to drive on CA roads, and she does't have a ton of experience... but now we're doing good. We're going to have to bike for a couple days when our car goes in to get fixed, but other than that we're good. The church insurance is taking care of everything and my brain is a lot more calm. But it was really rough. Needless to say, I cried... a lot. And I still feel bad. But I've learned my lesson, and next time I drive, I'll be checking my blind spots WAY better than I ever have in my life. 

In other news, I got my trunky papers (flight plans) on Saturday!! Looks like I'll be leaving here at 10:15 am and getting to SLC at 1:09. Get ready Utah, I'm coming home! But not for 3 weeks, so don't get ready too fast. :) You should be so proud, I didn't even cry when I looked at them. :)

Even amidst the crazy we still saw a ton of miracles this week. We found 4 new investigators (not nearly as high as Bryce's 21, but good for us!) and taught 20 lessons this week. WE HIT STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We were so excited. We busted our butts though. It was so much fun. We also have started sharing a Thanksgiving message with everyone, and it has made me realize how much I have to be grateful for. We've been watching "In the Spirit of Thanksgiving" the mormon message, and it just reminds me of all the good in this world. I have so much. I have a family that loves me, I have amazing friends, I have a roof over my head and clothes to keep me warm. I have a great companion, I have so much! But most important, is that I have the gospel. I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me more than I can comprehend. I know I have a brother, Jesus Christ, who suffered and died for me so that I can be clean, and gain eternal life. And there are SO many people that don't know that. So this Thanksgiving, I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to share my knowledge with all those around me, and help others come unto Christ. 

I love you all so much. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. Just know that you're always in my prayers, and that I'm grateful for each and every one of you. I love you!

Love,

Hermana Bingham

Sister Buys, first day on the road. This is what she was really feeling. :)

This is where we filled up Saturday night. If gas prices look like this in the CA bay area,
what are they like in Utah?!?! haha

Hey Family!

HOLY COW, IT SNOWED!?!?!?!? I'm going to die!!! It's been like 60 degrees here and I"m already freezing to death. What is wrong with me? As I type this my hands feel like ice cubes, as well as my toes. I think I"m going to die. Literally. Bring something to keep me warm to the airport okay?

First off, to answer some questions, Hermana Boyd is going to go to UVU, but she did before the mission too, and she's fine with driving. In fact I think she wanted to live at the south end of BYU if I"m not mistaken. She has a plan. No worries. :)

Second, thanks dad for all your hard work with my classes!!! I just dropped one, so now I have all the classes I want, and a near perfect schedule! The one problem is that night class, but there isn't another option for that one, so I'll just deal with it. haha. But thanks so much. I really appreciate it. 

So this week was incredible! Different for sure, because we went from having 4 sisters in our apartment to just 2. Hermana Buys and me. Alone. So it's weird, a little empty, but it's fun. But I really miss Hermana Boyd and Hermana Fuentes. Good news is, we'll all be in Utah together! We just have to go to temple square to see Hermana Fuentes. But now there are elders in the Sister's old area. Elder Rich, who goes home to Las Vegas at the same time as me, Elder Prince, and their trainee, Elder Wilson. So we have 7 missionaries in the ward now, which is NUTS! But it's super fun. Also, Elder Magana's new companion (other elders in our ward) is Elder Barlow, who just happens to know Alex Minson, because Alex served in his ward at the beginning of his mission! Small world right?!?

But the reason that this week was so great, was that on Saturday we got to go up to the Tri-stake center next to the Oakland temple to have a combined meeting with our entire mission and the entire Oakland/San Francisco mission to listen to Elder Bednar. He came to do a fireside for the 50 year anniversary of the Oakland temple. And holy cow, that missionary meeting was so incredible. 550 full time missionaries, our mission presidents, Elder Packer, our area 70 and his wife, and Elder and Sister Bednar. It was incredible. But he didn't just speak to us. WE had a giant discussion. He asked us to study 3 talks before hand, and we just talked about them all. Then he gave us time to ask him questions, and it was so incredible. But it was so much information! He told us we weren't allowed to write down anything that was said, only what we felt. And after looking over my notes serveral times, I have come to the conclusion that what I learned most was about being an agent, not an object. 

Now let me explain what I mean by that. We have all been given the gift of agency. That is the freedom to ACT. Well, duh Hermana Bingham, we've all known that since we were 3. But here's the catch. How man times to we go into a meeting, learn lots of good stuff, but then not do anything about it. How many times do we actually act on what we've learned. Or when we pray for blessings, do we actually go out an act so that we receive those blessings? It's really cool. I realized that most of my life, I've been an object. I've been acted upon. I'll go to meetings, and people will say things.. I'm being acted upon. But until I do something about it, I'll still be an object, not an agent. I don't know if that makes any sense. But something that helps clarify it are "Ask in Faith," "Seek Learning by Faith," "Converted unto the Lord" all by E. Bednar, and "Free Forever, to Act for Themselves," By E. Christofferson from this last conference. Read them or listen to them, they are all incredible talks on how we can be agents, rather than objects. 

I love you all. I hope you have a fantastic week! You're always in my prayers! Love you!

Love,

Hermana Bingham

 Google bikes! Doing service on google campus. :)

The new elders, eating the Chilean food that our member made for the Chilean... but she got transferred. :(

Hermana Buys and I with the view of the SF bay from the visitors center at the temple

Us and the temple

Isn't it beautiful?

Expectations

**This actually arrived on November 4th. I was just delinquent in posting it. Sorry!

Hello family!!! 

Wow, Bryce is on his way to Argentina! Or is he already there now? Who knows! That's so cool! I'm so excited for him. I hope you made it there safely kid, and let us know how you're doing! Write me! 

Charlie is also home now, as you've probably all noticed. It's weird. For me, it just kind of tells me how close my time is. I've only got 6 weeks. It's crazy! I promise I'm not trunky or anything, but with Hermana Boyd headed home, and Charlie just got home, and Bryce on his way to Argentina, time is just a very real thing for me. 

Thanks for helping me with classes everyone! It looks like a great schedule. I emailed dad with a fix suggestion he asked for. I would do it, but if he can get me the best professor available at that time, I would appreciate it. Hopefully I can get into the classes I'm on the waitlist for... That would make class life awesome! If I only had one class on Tuesday, and one class on Thursday I would die. It would be so great! But anyways, thanks for your help! I appreciate it a lot. 

I didn't email yesterday because we went to Santa Cruz! It was a blast. It was a much needed p-day, and a much needed trip to the beach because this week was a little stressful. We found out that our Bishop doesn't think we're working hard because we honestly haven't been hitting standards of excellence lately. We've be getting lower numbers, but the quality has been great, and we're working our rear ends off. so that was frustrating. And our WML (Ward mission leader) wants us to shoot to get 30 lessons (not realistic at all right now) and keeps trying to get us to go tracting. Which we will get sent home if we do. It's really hard to work with, but we're trying. It's just been a little bit stressful. But one thing I've learned it that we are accountable to the Lord, and He is the only one that matters. If we're doing good in His eyes, then we're okay. I'm really grateful for that. Over the course of my mission I've really learned the importance of accountability. It's so important to be accountable to the Lord for what we do each day. And I know that as I apply that more and more, I see more and more how proud He is of what I"m doing. It's incredible. 

Thanks so much for all your love and support. I hope you have a great week. I love you all!

Love,

Hermana Bingham

Roomies

Pizza My Heart for lunch! Yum!!

Santa Cruz!

Halloween lunch

Me and Hermana Buys

Hermanas Fuentes and Boyd

Roomies with scary teeth

Halloween lunch with Sister Haight!! (Bishop's wife)

Hermanas Fuentes and Boyd

Last p-day. Picnic at a part. That water is the edge or the San Francisco Bay. :)

Cute old fence