July 16, 2012 - It's Broken!
Bom dia!
Well, sounds like Jasmine had an awesome and exciting week. I laughed reading her email, I really liked the pen story.
Anyway, I'd just like to clear up one thing. There will never be any reason where you will need to call President Klein. I know when I need to call Sister Klein when I'm not feeling right, I'm not going to die. With that being said, I went to the hospital last Tuesday for my finger. Only because Sister Klein called Tuesday morning to know how my trip went to the hospital....She originally told me to go on Friday, but we didn't have time. Saturday was also a very busy day and by Monday I didn't feel like going. I told my companion it was probably better to go, but he didn't want to go either, so we didn't go. I told him if Sister Klein called he would have to answer and tell her why we didn't go. He agreed and when she called on Tuesday, he refused to answer the phone. I answered the phone and had to listen to Sister Klein get all mad. It would have been fine, but I didn't have an excuse for not going last Monday. My main reason for not going is because my visa and federal police identification is expired, and I have to show that ID to them. I told that to Sister Klein and apparently that's my fault too. I'm suppose to call staff and tell them that, but nobody told me that. Anyway I went to the hospital. The doctor told me I needed and X-ray. After the x-ray I went back to the doctor. He pointed at my thumb and said this is normal, this finger is also normal, and the next, and the next, and this one is broken. So, then I had to go to the hand specialist doctor. He said that after 4 weeks there was really nothing more they could do. Luckily for me my bone was in the right place when it starting healing. He said because my finger wasn't immobilized my body created and excess of bone at the break because of the movement and because of that my pinky is fat. He said over time my body will take away the excess bone and it will be normal. He wants me to go back to have a therapy session to get movement back in my pinky. But he told me things I could do to get movement back and I've already gotten most of it back. In a couple of weeks it should be normal. It wasn't even really necessary to go to the hospital, my finger would have healed normally either way.
When I left on my mission 2 years seemed so far away that I honestly kind of felt like the mission would never end. Lately I've been seeing that there is an end. It's really hard imagining being released and taking off your tag though. I haven't gotten the ballot yet, that's going to be weird filling that out here. I don't know how I'm going to send it home? I haven't had a post office near me since my first area. I know Thayrinne Passos. She is a member in my ward.
I think I have lost a little weight here, I was 162 I think when I came here, and I'm 148 right now. I think it's mostly because of a healthier diet. I don't eat potato chips, cookies, and all that unhealthy American food. I mainly eat rice, beans and chicken and sometimes salad, but I don't care for the salad here. I just remember I have those fiber pills still, I think ill take some. I have an upset stomach again.
July 8,2012 - this and that
Well, sounds like a lot of stuff is going on for everybody right now. The goats are cute now, but they will be big, ugly, and dirty by the time I get home. Should name one of them Bilbo. I'm positive that whole Adrian Peterson thing was a HUGE misunderstanding, I'm sure he didn't do anything wrong.
The 4th of July was kind of funny for me. I remembered thinking on July 1st that I would be kind of trunky on the 4th of July, but I completely forgot on the 4th of July. On July 5th I remembered about July 4th. Then I remembered last 4th of July one year ago in the MTC. I remember eating tons of ice cream..... that was sooo long ago.
We had Zone conference this last week. It was a pretty good Zone Conference. Usually they have zone conferences with several zones, but they just did it with our zone this time. We had interviews with President after. It was probably my best interview with president. He seemed really happy with me, and I saw him write down in his notes, "speaks portuguese very well." Then right after the interview I got the box you sent to Elder Freire. I don't know how I'm going to give the stuff to him, he's not even in my zone. The candy isn't going to make it to him, I already made sure of that.
I don't know if you remember, but a few weeks back I wrote about hurting my pinky playing soccer. Well, it's still very swollen and I can't move it very well. It's also very hard to write and do anything. Some members told me it's probably dislocated. My companion told me to show it to Sister Klein after the zone conference and she chewed me out big time for waiting 3 weeks to say anything. She told me to go to the doctors, but we finally had the wedding of Ney and Helena last saturday (same day as the zone conference) and I didn't have time. I think I might go today. I know it's not broken because I can move the tip of my pinky. Some other member said it could be a fracture, maybe they will x-ray it at the doctors or something..??
The 4th of July was kind of funny for me. I remembered thinking on July 1st that I would be kind of trunky on the 4th of July, but I completely forgot on the 4th of July. On July 5th I remembered about July 4th. Then I remembered last 4th of July one year ago in the MTC. I remember eating tons of ice cream..... that was sooo long ago.
We had Zone conference this last week. It was a pretty good Zone Conference. Usually they have zone conferences with several zones, but they just did it with our zone this time. We had interviews with President after. It was probably my best interview with president. He seemed really happy with me, and I saw him write down in his notes, "speaks portuguese very well." Then right after the interview I got the box you sent to Elder Freire. I don't know how I'm going to give the stuff to him, he's not even in my zone. The candy isn't going to make it to him, I already made sure of that.
I don't know if you remember, but a few weeks back I wrote about hurting my pinky playing soccer. Well, it's still very swollen and I can't move it very well. It's also very hard to write and do anything. Some members told me it's probably dislocated. My companion told me to show it to Sister Klein after the zone conference and she chewed me out big time for waiting 3 weeks to say anything. She told me to go to the doctors, but we finally had the wedding of Ney and Helena last saturday (same day as the zone conference) and I didn't have time. I think I might go today. I know it's not broken because I can move the tip of my pinky. Some other member said it could be a fracture, maybe they will x-ray it at the doctors or something..??
Temple Dedication, getting sick and Baptisms! June 11, 2012
Last Monday night I was really hungry, and my comp and I decided to buy pizza. While we were waiting for the pizza I started realizing that I wasn't feeling good, but the pizza showed up and after paying for it I decided I would eat as much as I could. I got sick and threw up in the middle of the night and I've been sick ever since. I haven't been throwing up, but I've been hurting pretty much everywhere else and I've hardly eaten anything this week. I think I'm starting to get better though.
The Manaus Temple dedication was awesome. Saturday Morning was the cultural celebration. The Missionaries got to be a part of it. They recorded the celebration, I don't know if they are going to sell it or anything though. It was broadcasted to all of Brazil. The missionaries marched in singing no other than "Called to Serve". President Uchtdorf was there and Elder Quentin L. Cook. There were three sessions to the dedication of the temple on Sunday. All the sessions were different and I watched all three. President Uchtdorf I think, was the one who talked most about the history of the church and missionary work in Manaus. It was all very interesting. Brazil only had two missions back in the day, Brazil North and Brazil South. Brazil North was Rio De Janeiro all the up until the Northern borders of Brazil and Brazil South was São Paulo and below. He talked about how Leaders in Manaus kept asking for missionaries, and finally the mission president at the time and the area seventies said Manaus would receive 2 Elders on three conditions;
1. They had to have people ready to be taught by the missionaries.
2. They needed to provide the airplane tickets.
3. The missionaries would only stay for 4 months.
The missionaries had so much success that after 4 months they added more missionaries and the rest became history. There was a lot of interesting things said, I took notes on all of it. I don't recognize any of the names of the elders you mentioned.
This week we weren't able to baptize Ney or Helena because the bishop didn't have time. He had interviews almost non stop until the temple dedication. There was also some holiday this week and Nilza and Valdo went on vacation. Maria accepted a baptismal date for this saturday with Ney and Helena, Raphael, and Paulo Henrique. It should be a party.
I'm sure Jasmine is having a blast. I hear at Provo they only speak your language mission your first few days and everyone just sits there really confused. In São Paulo we didn't do anything the first day, just talked in english with our instructors to get to know them. I read that Jared said to keep a good journal, I can say that I diligently wrote in my journal in the MTC, and I've looked back and read it a few times.
I think i'll send some pictures now....
The Manaus Temple dedication was awesome. Saturday Morning was the cultural celebration. The Missionaries got to be a part of it. They recorded the celebration, I don't know if they are going to sell it or anything though. It was broadcasted to all of Brazil. The missionaries marched in singing no other than "Called to Serve". President Uchtdorf was there and Elder Quentin L. Cook. There were three sessions to the dedication of the temple on Sunday. All the sessions were different and I watched all three. President Uchtdorf I think, was the one who talked most about the history of the church and missionary work in Manaus. It was all very interesting. Brazil only had two missions back in the day, Brazil North and Brazil South. Brazil North was Rio De Janeiro all the up until the Northern borders of Brazil and Brazil South was São Paulo and below. He talked about how Leaders in Manaus kept asking for missionaries, and finally the mission president at the time and the area seventies said Manaus would receive 2 Elders on three conditions;
1. They had to have people ready to be taught by the missionaries.
2. They needed to provide the airplane tickets.
3. The missionaries would only stay for 4 months.
The missionaries had so much success that after 4 months they added more missionaries and the rest became history. There was a lot of interesting things said, I took notes on all of it. I don't recognize any of the names of the elders you mentioned.
This week we weren't able to baptize Ney or Helena because the bishop didn't have time. He had interviews almost non stop until the temple dedication. There was also some holiday this week and Nilza and Valdo went on vacation. Maria accepted a baptismal date for this saturday with Ney and Helena, Raphael, and Paulo Henrique. It should be a party.
I'm sure Jasmine is having a blast. I hear at Provo they only speak your language mission your first few days and everyone just sits there really confused. In São Paulo we didn't do anything the first day, just talked in english with our instructors to get to know them. I read that Jared said to keep a good journal, I can say that I diligently wrote in my journal in the MTC, and I've looked back and read it a few times.
I think i'll send some pictures now....
Transfers 5/7/12
Elder Bingham was transferred this week! Here is a blip from his email he sent today :)
"I had to do a lot of reading just now lol. Anyway so the transfers came in last Sunday, it was actually a suprise. I'm getting transferred to "Zona Leste" or the east zone where only the strong survive. I've heard more about zona leste than any other zone in the mission. Zona leste is the poorest zone in the mission, the most baptizing zone, and the zone with the most hills. Manaus is not a planned city. Roads arent planned, they pave up hills so steep that no cars or motorcycles can even drive up them. people seem to just put random numbers on their houses for addresses. We were looking for a house on a road that was number 27, we found 3 houses on the same road with the number 27 and the house we needed was the last one. Zona leste is the most natorious for being unplanned and having crazy hills. I dont remember my new companions name....Elder Do Vale was kind of bummed, he has been here since November.
Thats cool that Jared(our cousin serving in Florida) has a Brazilian companion. His name is funny, Elder Do Vale didnt believe me when i said his name, it means "good death". Maybe Jared can pick up on some portuguese. We had an activity for investigators and new members with our ward and 2 other wards that was kind of like a talent show and a competition. For my part I had to go up with Adilson and we had to have a conversation using different portuguese accents. He had to speak like someone from southern Brazil, they roll their R's, and i had to speak like someone from northeastern Brazil. I really didnt know very well how to speak like a northeastern Brazilian, not to mention i already have an American accent. Everyone laughed though so it was good. Someone told me if it wasnt for my accent i would be just like a brazilian. Elder Do Vale says i sometimes sound just like a Brazilian....from São Paulo because of how heavy I am with the R's. In northern Brazilian the R hardly exists. I read Jared's email, he talked about how hard it is to get rid of an accent, its almost impossible to completely get rid of it. You can meet Mexicans who have lived in the US for almost 20 years and they still have an accent.
If church is in the morning in my next area i'll call probably 2 my time, i'll probably shoot a quick email this week to let you know.
Talk to you guys next week
Love,
Elder Bingham
PS, I have some pics to send :D "
And send some pictures he did!! I will post them when I get them uploaded. And we get to skype with Elder Bingham this Sunday! We are so excited to see his face! I can't believe that it has been 5 months already since we last skyped him at Christmas. Time really does sneak by...
"I had to do a lot of reading just now lol. Anyway so the transfers came in last Sunday, it was actually a suprise. I'm getting transferred to "Zona Leste" or the east zone where only the strong survive. I've heard more about zona leste than any other zone in the mission. Zona leste is the poorest zone in the mission, the most baptizing zone, and the zone with the most hills. Manaus is not a planned city. Roads arent planned, they pave up hills so steep that no cars or motorcycles can even drive up them. people seem to just put random numbers on their houses for addresses. We were looking for a house on a road that was number 27, we found 3 houses on the same road with the number 27 and the house we needed was the last one. Zona leste is the most natorious for being unplanned and having crazy hills. I dont remember my new companions name....Elder Do Vale was kind of bummed, he has been here since November.
Thats cool that Jared(our cousin serving in Florida) has a Brazilian companion. His name is funny, Elder Do Vale didnt believe me when i said his name, it means "good death". Maybe Jared can pick up on some portuguese. We had an activity for investigators and new members with our ward and 2 other wards that was kind of like a talent show and a competition. For my part I had to go up with Adilson and we had to have a conversation using different portuguese accents. He had to speak like someone from southern Brazil, they roll their R's, and i had to speak like someone from northeastern Brazil. I really didnt know very well how to speak like a northeastern Brazilian, not to mention i already have an American accent. Everyone laughed though so it was good. Someone told me if it wasnt for my accent i would be just like a brazilian. Elder Do Vale says i sometimes sound just like a Brazilian....from São Paulo because of how heavy I am with the R's. In northern Brazilian the R hardly exists. I read Jared's email, he talked about how hard it is to get rid of an accent, its almost impossible to completely get rid of it. You can meet Mexicans who have lived in the US for almost 20 years and they still have an accent.
If church is in the morning in my next area i'll call probably 2 my time, i'll probably shoot a quick email this week to let you know.
Talk to you guys next week
Love,
Elder Bingham
PS, I have some pics to send :D "
And send some pictures he did!! I will post them when I get them uploaded. And we get to skype with Elder Bingham this Sunday! We are so excited to see his face! I can't believe that it has been 5 months already since we last skyped him at Christmas. Time really does sneak by...
Manaus Brazil Mission 5/2011 - 5/2013
Alright, so in two short months, Elder Bingham will have been gone a year. Where in the world does the time go?! Honestly, it is mind boggling to me. It is crazy to think how fast this past year has gone and what is going to stop this next year from going by JUST as fast??
I guess I will start off the week before Shay's report date which was May 25, 2011.
I was given the amazing blessing of being able to fly home and spend the week before Shay left home with my family. It was a very happy time for all of us. Granted, it had its sad moments but my wonderful brother was about to embark on this amazing journey. A journey of selfless sacrifice and love. Shay was giving up 2 YEARS of his life to answer the call to serve as a missionary and to bring light and truth to Heavenly Father's children. We have been so blessed as a family to have the light of Christ in our lives which has brought us SO much happiness. With all of this in mind, it was bitter sweet as we made those final preparations as Shay packed and organized his things. I remember just sitting in his room, watching him attempt to organize his things haha. Oh these wonderful boys ;) It was a week full of excitement, anticipation, happiness, sadness, and a host of other emotions. For my parents, they would have 2 of their 4 kids out of the house. Talk about WEIRD! Shay and I discussed how Nevan (our little brother) would be 16 and driving when he came home...WHAT?! And Kaylin, our little sister, would be 13 and in Young Womens!! What the STINK! All of sudden, we seemed old...haha, jk! And of course, I would be 22 when he came home and possibly *cough married cough*(which now we don't have to worry about ;)
Anyway, so the rest of that week flew by. I think one of my favorite moments that week was when Shay and I went outside late one night and started a fire in the backyard in our firepit. It was probably around ten or eleven and the night sky was gorgeous. We just sat there in the soft glow of the fire in silence and listened to the fire crackle. It was very surreal. We talked about some of our favorite memories growing up. We laughed about SO many old memories! It was fabulous. We also talked about fears and apprehensions about the future. We talked about our blessings. By the time we cleaned up and headed back to the house, I kept thinking how hard it was going to be to say goodbye to this brother of mine for TWO YEARS.
But you know what?! It has been SUCH an amazing blessing for me and my family to have Elder Bingham out serving the Lord as a full time missionary.
I guess I will start off the week before Shay's report date which was May 25, 2011.
I was given the amazing blessing of being able to fly home and spend the week before Shay left home with my family. It was a very happy time for all of us. Granted, it had its sad moments but my wonderful brother was about to embark on this amazing journey. A journey of selfless sacrifice and love. Shay was giving up 2 YEARS of his life to answer the call to serve as a missionary and to bring light and truth to Heavenly Father's children. We have been so blessed as a family to have the light of Christ in our lives which has brought us SO much happiness. With all of this in mind, it was bitter sweet as we made those final preparations as Shay packed and organized his things. I remember just sitting in his room, watching him attempt to organize his things haha. Oh these wonderful boys ;) It was a week full of excitement, anticipation, happiness, sadness, and a host of other emotions. For my parents, they would have 2 of their 4 kids out of the house. Talk about WEIRD! Shay and I discussed how Nevan (our little brother) would be 16 and driving when he came home...WHAT?! And Kaylin, our little sister, would be 13 and in Young Womens!! What the STINK! All of sudden, we seemed old...haha, jk! And of course, I would be 22 when he came home and possibly *cough married cough*(which now we don't have to worry about ;)
Anyway, so the rest of that week flew by. I think one of my favorite moments that week was when Shay and I went outside late one night and started a fire in the backyard in our firepit. It was probably around ten or eleven and the night sky was gorgeous. We just sat there in the soft glow of the fire in silence and listened to the fire crackle. It was very surreal. We talked about some of our favorite memories growing up. We laughed about SO many old memories! It was fabulous. We also talked about fears and apprehensions about the future. We talked about our blessings. By the time we cleaned up and headed back to the house, I kept thinking how hard it was going to be to say goodbye to this brother of mine for TWO YEARS.
But you know what?! It has been SUCH an amazing blessing for me and my family to have Elder Bingham out serving the Lord as a full time missionary.
Sao Paulo Missionary Training Center
So, most missionaries report to the Missionary Training Center in Provo, UT which is the only MTC in the United States. However, missionaries called to foreign lands that have their own MTCs, will often just report there. Shay received instructions to report to the MTC in Sao Paulo, Brazil instead of the MTC in Provo.
When the long anticipated day arrived, we all piled into our respective cars and began the hour and a half drive to the Portland airport (Both sets of grandparents, our Aunt Karla, and then all of us Bingham kids :).
Shay and I were both flying out that morning-Me back to Provo and Shay to Texas where he would catch a connecting flight down to Brazil with a bunch of other missionaries heading down. Our Grandparents (Gma Nancy and Gpa Jon) were also flying out that morning back to California but were on the other side of the airport. However, lucky for Shay and me, we were on the same side and got to go through security together :D Yay! So after some tearful goodbyes to my parents, we got in line and were on our way!
Once we made it through security, Shay walked with me to my gate first. His plane wasn't set to depart till an hour after mine which was perfect because it gave us time to just sit and enjoy our last little bit of time together. I don't really remember what we talked about to be honest haha but I am pretty sure we were being nostalgic and reminiscing. We did that a lot that week before he left. Anyway, but all too soon, they called for boarding and we said our final goodbye. I remember just standing there in line and watching him walk away till he walked around the corner and I could see him no more. And then BAM. In a couple months, that will have been a year ago. Crazy.
So, for right now, I posted some pictures below that Shay has sent us. I will write another entry soon (when I have another break between tests and homework and yes...I have had the HARDEST time concentrating on school...) kind of attempting to recap some highlights from his mission thus far. I will say this though, he is LOVING it down in Brazil. His Portuguese sounds amazing (well, it sounds good to me at least) and he has had some incredible experiences! So, to be continued...
When the long anticipated day arrived, we all piled into our respective cars and began the hour and a half drive to the Portland airport (Both sets of grandparents, our Aunt Karla, and then all of us Bingham kids :).
Shay and I were both flying out that morning-Me back to Provo and Shay to Texas where he would catch a connecting flight down to Brazil with a bunch of other missionaries heading down. Our Grandparents (Gma Nancy and Gpa Jon) were also flying out that morning back to California but were on the other side of the airport. However, lucky for Shay and me, we were on the same side and got to go through security together :D Yay! So after some tearful goodbyes to my parents, we got in line and were on our way!
Once we made it through security, Shay walked with me to my gate first. His plane wasn't set to depart till an hour after mine which was perfect because it gave us time to just sit and enjoy our last little bit of time together. I don't really remember what we talked about to be honest haha but I am pretty sure we were being nostalgic and reminiscing. We did that a lot that week before he left. Anyway, but all too soon, they called for boarding and we said our final goodbye. I remember just standing there in line and watching him walk away till he walked around the corner and I could see him no more. And then BAM. In a couple months, that will have been a year ago. Crazy.
So, for right now, I posted some pictures below that Shay has sent us. I will write another entry soon (when I have another break between tests and homework and yes...I have had the HARDEST time concentrating on school...) kind of attempting to recap some highlights from his mission thus far. I will say this though, he is LOVING it down in Brazil. His Portuguese sounds amazing (well, it sounds good to me at least) and he has had some incredible experiences! So, to be continued...