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Good Morning!

So we have a fantastic couple Brother and Sister Packard. we had exchanges so another Elder and i were in my area! so i was acting senior comp but besides that we went to the packards for lunch! it was great but brother packard had served in the navy for 20 years or so and he's in bad health i believe he has cancer and the night before he said he wanted a blessing! after lunch 

Elder Kinderknecht(kinderconnect) annointed him with oil and i sealed that along with the Priesthood blessing!! it was tough becuas ethe spirit was gettin me to say things i wasnt comfortable saying but i was able to say some of it! it was touching and hard to do considering the circumstances! finny enough isabell decided she wanted a blessing so Elder Kimderknecht had an opportunity to give a blessing to sister packard!!

 

when exchanges were over we later that week had an appointment with Ed and he decided to get a Priesthood Blessing as well! so Elder Kennington gave that after the member we were with annointed the oil !1

 

 

three blessings in one week all of them being my first in the field!! a fantastic experience 

 

very envoious of this though Elder Kennington was given brother packards jumper from the navy its over 50 years old and is in mint condition! 

Missing You!

ts been busy even though it really hasnt our area covers 10 square miles and about 5 of them are inhabited the rest are fields and cowpoo. its a fun area though the fog here is intense ill show yeh some pics at the end!

weve been busy as far as planning an such. but we regularly meet with a woman named April. she herself has battled many drug addictions including her

oin and is on methadone and all that good stuff. but its increduible to see how much of a desire she has to quit and want to get baptized. its fun to meet with her this last week i think friday we met with her, we wanted to be bold. so i took the lesson by the reigns. i said "april i think iif you truly have this desire its time to take some big steps here, so lets make some serious goals but realistic ones. so she sadi okay i want to only smoke 4 cigarettes a day we said if you feel you can accomplish that then yes we will gett that one down(shes on chantix)". she also hasnt been reqading and praying everyday and i can say from experience that by not doing so the spirit is not your constant companion! without that its near impossible to get back on the straight and narrow so anyway we set those two more goals: read and pray daily. we havent ben able to meet with her since then but we look foward to doing so here tomorow . funny enough tho her husband needed help herding a couple pigs back in the pen so here we Elders come out in suits and dress shoes walking in pig...who knows what it is. so that was fun haha but we got em in. im sure they gotta kick outta watching us doin that though!

another interesting experience so last night we were headed to a house to check on this part member family and on the way there i looked at Elder Kennington an said yo these people are following us so i did some evasive driving!!! sure enough they absolutley were taailing us. we pulled over they came up to us rolled down their windows, we obliged. then upon seeing us they rolled their windows back up. so not liking that i began following them!!! pretty funny cus im sure they were creeped out! we caught up to them and found out they were lost and needed to get to their friends house. we decided we would tell them to follow us and get them there.

upon arriving at the house they got out to say thanks. i noticed a bible in the drivers hand and asked " are you LDS", no they replied so i said whats that? he showed me the HOLY BIBLE.  i said well hey Were Missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day saints and being slightly prepared i pulled out a mormon.org card with our number on it. gave it to them and said please give us acall!! unfortunatley we didnt have a book of mormon on hand or else they would have walked away with one!!!

jus funny how i was absolutley prompted to continue to foollow them it honestly wasnt me being my cynical self i promise~!!!!  

we met with an older lady Norma she lost her husband about 6 years ago and is "angry with God for taking her Charles"

i have to say i definitely cried during the lesson shed a couple tears shes jus so sorrowful! and misses her husband you cant help but feel her sadness!

Life wont get any easier but relying on the lord will bless your live beyond what you could dream of!!

speaking of dreams though since entering the MTC every night i have horrible nightmares and weird things happen i couldnt even describe its like Lucifer can only get me in my dreams he can only tempt me there cus he knows how steadfast and focused i am. its tough to wake uo and not be able to calm down  so i sometimes take extra long showers just to get my thoughts in order!

Love you Elder Binns

PICS

First Day In Boise Idaho  Mission

                                           

                                                            PICS FROM THE MTC

 

yo!

ive continued my successs with learning and thriving here but its nothing compared to what ill face in 5 days or so !

ill share a quick stroy with you! 

Soo back in Wyoming as the pioneers were in their last leg and literally on their last legs trying to reach zion they came to a river wich had jus started melting and the ice was broken up so the frigid waters were exposed. with absolutley no way to get over the river the men and women even children fell to the cold icy ground crying, weeping, in such deep sorrow knowing that if they crossed they would surely die. to their suprise Three 18 year old Boys part of a rescue party had come early! They three boys carried every single mother, child, father through the frigid water, in which hypothermia would defienitly take hold. upon getting everyone across safely you could imagine the state of the young men! shortly thereafter all they boys had passed away due to their immense act of service but really it was their FAITH.

they had the faith in their Father in heaven that was soo immense and unfathomable i can honestky say i dont know if i would be able to excercise it the way they did. all of they people they carried made it to Zion safely. if it wasnt for their faith and them laying down their lives for they people all the lives would have been lost! 

what faith i hope to possess!

how great were they missionaries!

i love this story because after my experience with that missionary who left i couldnt have felt more steadfast and selfess, and unselfishly committed to staying here and finishing the work God called me to do!

i can only hope to posess that amount ofim doing fine and just not thinking about myself.. thats the essence of missionary work!

i hope i shared with you the story about jesus fasting and being unselfish if i diidnt lemme know an ill write yeh! 

but thats what im doing jus being unselfish! love you loads faith that they boys had and even our Saviour had in us that we would one day realize his sacrifice!

Love ya loads!

First email

Alright Pops and Anyone else who gets to read this, the MTC is everything everyone says it's going to be.

Ridiculously hard, obviously challenging, but most of all a blessing to those who have the opportunity to serve a mission. I have had a rough transition and have not enjoyed it all. The MTC is a training centre though so do not be thinking it is all rough, as I said it is a blessing.

My companion is Elder Fitzhugh, he is amazing. Today we had our first legit teaching session with Troy. Troy is from Louisville, Kentucky. Troy believes in god but has trouble with his faith, in that Our Father in Heaven Answers his Prayers. We taught about how our Father in Heaven is our literal Father, we ARE his CHILDREN. We explained how much he loves us. I mean he gave his only begotten, Jesus Christ to come down and bear all trials and afflictions we may go through on this Earth. We shared scriptures like Alma CH 7. V.11- it reveals that Jesus Christ literally went through everything we might face on this Earth in detail. We invited him to pray with us that instant, we got on our knees and had a prayer. We prayed that Troy may feel the spirit and the love God has for us. After we asked him how he felt and he went on to say it was good but he still isnt sure. We later invited him to get baptized and he obliged, contingent that he read the book of mormon and prayed to know of its surety and even just simply praying to know that his Father loves him and wants him to communicate whatever his heart may desire.

 

Interestingly enough i received a calling last night in our meeting with the branch presidency. President Christensen called me to be District Leader. My responsiblities include conducting our study sessions by calling on an Elder to say an opening/closing prayer, and a hymn. I still do not yet know what it all entails but it definitley adss a whole lot of stress! For instance an Elder in our district had a couple items that are prohibited in the MTC and even in the field. The first night he told me about it and i brushed it off, but with my calling it is my responsibility to take care of the district an ensure we are all being as obedient as possible. i started our wee interview with that " I love you Elder .., and its our duty to be Jesus Christs' ambassadors not what we were at home. i told him that its all part of the sacracfice an encouraged him to get rid of the items ASAP! to my suprise he agreed and accepted what the Districts concerns are. I told him that im not trying to be difficult but again its a small sacrafice compared to our purpose as a missionary. I ended the interview by again saying i appreciate his service but dont expect him to disrepect me because of what my concerns are as District Leader, simply that its part of my responsibility and duty to our Sitrict and Branch Presidency.

I have learned alot but most of all that my purpose as a missionary isnt just to invite others to come unto christ but to love the people i serve, and invite the spirit in their homes so that they may feel that and i know they will want that in their lives just as much as i do.

i should mention our District include my Companion and I, along with three other companionships making that 8 Elders in my District being that i preside over 7 other elders. 

along with other interviews I conducted I spoke with other Elders in the District. It was basic, but consisted of me asking questions like, " How are you doing so far? Any issues or concerns with your companion? Do you need anything at all? and ended with some a little more companionship help between them and their comp.s. 

i know this email is dumb but its hard to sit down and know what to share considering everything is soooooooo structured and I really dont like it but I know it is for my benefit in the field so ill deal with it a wee while longer. 

One Experience i did have though (which was today) in class was awesome.... 

 Part of being a Missionary Of Jesus Christ is to be able to tap into the spirit and recognize when youre recieving revelation. We were asked to read the first six verses of the Book of mormon but even befor that write down some questions on what the lord can help us with or what the Lord might want us to know a few examples. " what can i do to be more effective? What do YOU want me to know before i leave the MTC? How can i love my district more? Ect..." in Verses 5 and 6 its great because Nephi is talking about when his father Lehi prayed unto the Lord an it wasnt until he prayed on behalf of his people (My District) that the Lord showed him a vision. In a way i recvieved revelation that very moment!!!! Its not about how i can figure out better ways to serve the district but to Pray for them! not me and what i can do but again Pray for them and their needs and rely completley on the Lord, i know ill be able to love my district more, Pray for the people whom im serving not for me and how i can serve them because the Lord will provide those answers! 

Until next week.... Elder Binns

Going into the MTC today!

Well Hello everyone! I made it here. Had a lot of things to get done but with mom and dads help it was accomplished.  Brother and Sister Holley were great we stayed in their home in Provo last night amazing people! I thank them so much for everything! We met the Kilmer family for breakfast and had a wonderful time before continuing to the MTC.  Then it was my final phone calls to my immediate family and my other set of parents.. Elaine and Stephen Broadley I adopted them years ago..lol.  I have to say I am now truly more focused than ever. We went to the Provo Temple to say our final farewell to my parents and and also to say farewell to my dear friend Abby. Immediately there I met another missionary Elder Sauni he was also saying his goodbyes to his family and we both appeared to be deep in thought. Soon thereafter on my way into the MTC I received my last Facebook text from someone living in Boise Idaho she Identified herself her name is Becky Miller. She wanted to talk with me but I had to go asked her to call my pops and talk to him. He would then get the message to me as soon as possible. Well my dad called her and she saw his post on Facebook about taking me to my mission. She said what she saw and read was so touching it brought her to tears. She then realized the person who posted it was related to her high school friend Chanel Ferrari, it was her Uncle Reggie. Anyway dad called her and they spoke briefly she said she was a convert to the church and she and her husband open their doors to all missionaries especially from California. She was so looking forward to meeting me and assured my parents they would assist in looking after me. How amazing!!! God is so great!!!!