The Presidents' Corner is a page dedicated to the spiritual and not-so-spiritual experiences of our mission presidents.   Many thanks to our presidents and their wives who willing shared a part of their lives with us.

A letter from President & Sister Bingham
submitted February 1998.

Keith Hall has been trying to get us to write something regarding our mission in Honduras. As you know, we were there from July of 1982 until the end of June 1985. I was the mission president during that time. We are now living in Mesa, Arizona. Our address is 4361 Catalina Circle Mesa, AZ 85206 Tel: 602-641-8516 Our E-mail is uservab@juno.com

Probably the one most significant thing that happened during our mission was the dedication of the Guatemala Temple and the effort that was made on April 5, 1985, to take people from Honduras to the temple. Two buses left from Tegucigalpa on that date. The leaders of the twelve districts and their families filled the seats that were not taken by the stake. The district leaders received their endowments and were more qualified to teach the members of their districts and prepare them for the time when a stake could be organized from the district.

Warmest personal regards, VerNon & Bernice Bingham


A letter from President & Sister Bingham
submitted March 1998.

The day after we arrived in Honduras, July 2, 1982, we experienced an electrical blackout in Tegucigalpa that lasted several days Four bombs set off within a thirty minute period of time, blackened the entire city. A few days later there was a armed skirmish just over the hill from the mission home with casualties on both sides. Nicaragua had fallen to the Sandinistas and an attempt was being made to include Honduras. That is how we began our mission in Honduras. Over the next three years, we watched the development in Nicaragua and even visited that country one time, since it was part of our mission. Sister Bingham and I had been to Costa Rica for a seminar. We brought back a box of family home evening manuals to drop off in Nicaragua. We could not get the manuals through customs because the customs officials in the airport couldn't understand the intent of the manuals. Our visit was just an overnight stop and we were under surveillance at all times. The stake leaders met with us and we talked about how they might continue the missionary effort. We were told by the General Authorities that we should not put ourselves in danger going Nicaragua again until they felt it safe. However, our missionaries in Honduras, met many refugees who had left Nicaragua. The Honduran missionaries were successful in baptizing excellent families with great leadership ability. We feel that because of the ideological conflict in Nicaragua, the church in Honduras was greatly strengthened.

Early one Sunday morning, I was returning from meetings in Costa Rica. The plane landed in Managua, Nicaragua, and a young couple came aboard. As the plane took off for Honduras, the two young people began to cry. They were actually sobbing, almost uncontrollably. A short time later, in the airport in Honduras, I was impressed to find out about the young couple. I knew that the next plane that left Honduras was an afternoon flight to Guatemala. They told me that they were brother and sister, fleeing their home in Nicaragua. The young man would soon be eighteen which was the age when all males had to enter the army. The family had spent all their money to send these two young people to Guatemala so he wouldn't have to serve in the army. That is the reason for the tears. They felt there was a good possibility that they would never see their parents again. I took the young couple with me to the mission home for the day. Sister Bingham prepared breakfast for us after which we took them to church. They were very warmly received by the ward members, one of which was a returned missionary who had served in Guatemala. He gave them some names and information that might help them in Guatemala. They ate with us and spent the afternoon getting acquainted with missionary work. When we took them back to the airport, they cried again but this time with joy for having been so kindly received. Their comment was that they had left Nicaragua feeling totally alone and were leaving Honduras feeling totally accepted. I wish it were possible to report that they wrote to tell us they had joined the church but we never heard from them. One thing is certain, they will never forget that day as long as they live and perhaps they are now faithful Latter Day Saints. Our love of freedom was made stronger that day. We felt the guiding influence of the Holy Ghost as we tried to help two young people in need. This experience changed our lives with a lasting impression that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a message of love.

Sincerely, VerNon & Bernice Bingham