Thanksgiving message from Sister Bingham

 November 24, 2023

Thanksgiving in the Philippines.  We are planning on having a turkey dinner with all of the senior couples on Sunday.  That will be really nice.  I know that many of our family and friends back home are worried about us being homesick and sad.  Honestly, I have never loved our family as much as I do right now.  I think of each of you so often.  I have all of your pictures up on a bulletin board here in our bedroom and I often take time just to look at each of the faces of the people I love most in the world.  Sometimes it brings tears to my eyes and a lump to my throat.  I feel that way because you are mine.  Your personalities shine right through the photos into my heart.  It’s the best feeling ever. I adore all 29 of our descendants. (wow is that true?)  I love seeing photos of each of your lives back at home.  Michael and I both feel such love for each of you and from each of you.  Thank you for your love, your prayers and for your support. It is real and it is amazing. I know these feelings are truly a blessing from the Lord.

We often leave the house early in the morning.  I like the mornings where we have time to walk or ride a bike before making breakfast and then packing a lunch to take with us.  No matter when we leave, those last few minutes are always a rush as we have to make sure we have what we need for the day.  I miss my automatic ice maker, but I am so grateful that I have a freezer and can make ice!  I usually have a pitcher of cucumber lemonade mixed up in the fridge to pour in a water bottle to take with us.   We eat a lot of sandwiches, sliced apples, carrots, cucumbers, and chips - pretty boring.  But it’s always good to have lunch with us just in case we get stuck somewhere.  We do eat at Jollibee, Chicken Inasal, and Chow King a fair amount as well.  Plus, I have a couple of favorite places to eat - Cafe Beni, Asuk, and Contes just to name a few.  Oh, and the Korean BBQ is pretty tasty.  The Army Navy has a burrito salad that is good when we need some Mexican food.

Thursday we had follow-up training with all of the new missionaries and their trainers.  It was such a great group of missionaries!  Both the trainers and the new missionaries seem like an exceptional group.  I guess that is good as we are losing 18 really great missionaries in two weeks.   The six-week transfer cycle keeps us on our toes!  There is train the trainers, arrivals of new missionaries, Mission Leadership Council, training the District Leaders, Short training on every Friday that we don’t have anything major going on, Zone conferences, Medical meetings, housing meetings, transfers to figure out and announce, transfer days, Departing missionary testimony meetings and so the cycle continues.  Plus there are baptisms to attend, as well as stake conferences.  Sometimes when I start thinking about it all it makes me feel a bit anxious.  I think Zone Conference week is hard, just because it is so busy.  And the transfer week - that also makes me a bit nervous because I know there are expectations of missionaries and sometimes we just can’t quite meet them all.  

Because it is Thanksgiving - or it was.  I want to count a few blessings.

This beautiful world!  The sunsets are spectacular.  We have a great view from our upstairs windows of the clouds and sky.  Oh Wow! I love seeing the green hills, the rice fields and the mountains far away.

I am grateful for a body that allows me to do all of the things I need to do. Some days we do so much sitting - that my back starts to hurt.  I’d like to exercise more, but it’s ok.  I have also had somewhat of a cough or cold on and off for weeks.  I think I need to shake less hands… but how do I not shake peoples hands???  Especially our dear Elders.  Sometimes I feel like my brain just doesn’t quite think straight, but I am thankful for what I am learning - grateful that my mind is as good as it is.  I wish I was a little brighter so that the Tagalog would start flowing. 

I am grateful for good music!  We have some incredibly talented missionaries in this mission.  Plus I am grateful for the church music app.  Music brings the spirit.  I have youth songs playing in my head most of the time.  “I am a Disciple of Christ.”  Such a great new song!  We have a piano at the mission home and sometimes I even sit down and play a little.

What a blessing it is to repent, start over, make amends and try again.  What a blessing partaking of the sacrament is.  Elder Bednar quote: Our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son do not intend for us to experience a feeling of spiritual renewal, refreshment, and restoration just once in our lives as we are baptized. The blessings of obtaining and always retaining a remission of our sins through gospel ordinances help us understand that baptism is a point of departure in our mortal spiritual journey; it is not a destination we should yearn to revisit over and over again.

I am MOST grateful for family, friends and loved ones!

I am grateful for a Heavenly Father who trusts me.  And for His Son, Jesus Christ.  And for the Holy Ghost.  They are real and I have felt them close.

It’s hard to say that I am grateful for trials.  Maybe someday I will be able to say that.  But I can say that I am grateful for the fruits of trials, and things I now know.  When I think of the passing of Sister Maw - I can say that I am grateful for my new friends, the Maw family.  I am grateful for the eternal relationship I will have with Sister Taylor Maw. I think of her often. I am grateful for my Savior, who has been close to me and carried me through situations that I can’t believe I would ever experience.  

The power of the priesthood is real and because of that power I have trust in the covenants that I have made that bind me to my Savior.  The Gift of the Holy Ghost is my greatest gift. 

I am grateful for Joseph Smith and President Nelson and so many others that have truly inspired me.

I am grateful for Michael.  He still makes me laugh and I love that we are experiencing this mission together.  

Happy Thanksgiving.

• MOM