{Letter #76} No, We Do Not Play Basketball.

Hi! I hope you all are doing well! This last week has been  full of mixed emotions, sad but also so good. Elder Shaw's two years was up and he  finished his mission on Thursday.  It was hard to say goodbye, but I am happy he is off to new adventures now. 

 After we dropped Elder Shaw off at the mission office I just went with my roommates (Elder Britt and Elder Spence) into their area for about 1 day. That was fun! We did some service, visited a couple people that we're teaching and just had a good time! all around a solid day. it felt just like an exchange.

My new companion is Elder Nielson! He is awesome! He came out one transfer after me and is a super solid missionary!

Oh yeah, he is also 6'10", so I'm feeling kind of short these days.  

The most common first question we get asked is "how tall are you?"  Usually followed by "do you play basketball?" (neither one of us does)

On Sunday our friend Jim came to church for the third time. He is super cool! We met with him yesterday and he loved church! He said he is going to continue coming, and he decided yesterday that he is finally going to start reading the Book of Mormon too!

Due to some health challenges that he has, these are massive steps of faith!

Right now he is literally demonstrating this principle that Christ taught:

"Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me." (3 Nephi, 9:13-14)

I have seen Christ healing him--little by little.   He is changing and growing. It is awesome!

We also went on a temple tour with our friend Hunter the other day! He is actually just visiting from Tacoma for a couple weeks, but he is ready to get baptized up there this weekend!

This is the Lord's work. This is Jesus Christ's church. If it wasn't, it simply just wouldn't happen. No humans could ever organize this and see as many miracles as there are EVERY DAY!!


One last little spiritual thought this week is going to be the words of the prophet Jacob. He taught:

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts." (Jacob, 6:5)

Turn to God! His arm of mercy is extended towards you! He is quite literally trying to reach you, love you, comfort you, and lift you up!

If you find a way to focus on God a little more this week you will feel that love!

I love you all! I hope you have a great week! Let me know if I can do anything for you all!

Love,
Elder Goold

We made caramel corn with a member on p-day...

I made Crazy Craisin cookies this week...

A glimpse at our family phone call this week:  (me in Tualatin, Mom in Saint George, Dad at work in SG, Ellie in Arizona, Cami and Lucie in Alabama (last week before having a new baby), and Spence in Alpine)   Emma was at work and couldn't join.  

{Letter #75} Til We Meet Again

Hi everyone! It's been a great week here! We weren't allowed to leave our apartment until Friday due to the snow and ice on the road.

After that things have just been absolutely crazy!

We went to the temple today. It was Elder Shaw's departing temple trip. He completes his mission this Friday.

The temple is amazing! It is the house of the Lord! No place is as holy or sacred as the temple.

If you haven't been or haven't been recently, go! At least just visit the grounds. You will feel peace!

We also had Stake Conference (a congregation from a larger area) for church this Sunday! That was awesome! A couple specific reasons why:

-we got recruited to sing in the choir last minute
-we had 3 of our friends come on Sunday
-Elder McKay from the Quorum of the Seventy was there

The biggest takeaway from this church was the importance of the Sabbath day. The Sabbath day is as holy and sacred as the temple.

We cannot let our activities on the Sabbath become commonplace. They should be sacred activities! As we do this we will know Jesus Christ in a newer and more personal way!

My spiritual thought for today is going to come from Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"The beauty of the gospel is that we can be forgiven as we repent—and the Lord wants us to repent without delay. If you make a mistake,... repent in that moment and keep trying to live His law. This is part of being a disciple of Christ."

I love this! Repentance is not God's backup plan for if we mess up. Repentance is God's plan.

Always has been. Always will be.

If we were all perfect always that would be Satan's plan.

So follow Christ! Turn to Him! Repent! Discover the joy of repenting daily! Discover the joy of Jesus Christ!

I love you all! Have a great week! Let me know if I can do anything for you all!

Love,
Elder Goold

 PS  P-day included a temple trip, bowling, shopping for the first time in a couple weeks, and some board games.

A close up of some of the ice...

Elder Shaw's final District Council

Damage on the temple grounds from the ice storm...

A glimpse at our family phone call today (me in Tualatin, Mom making dinner, Ellie in Arizona, Spence just finishing up at the gym) 

 

{Letter #74} Let it Snow

Hi everyone! I hope you have had a great week! Things have been great here! It snowed a few inches here on Saturday, which may not sound too bad, but Portland does not know how to handle snow and it's stayed cold.  

That means all that snow is still there from Saturday and it is snowing more right now, so that's exciting!  The roads aren't great and the mission has advised us against driving until it melts away, so missionary work has been a challenge.  

We have been doing all sorts of phone calls, texts, and Facebook finding, which is great, but I miss being out and busy. Something that has been remarkable about all this, though,  is that we are still allowed to go out and walk around to visit with people nearby.

  And the biggest miracle of this whole situation is that every time we step out of our apartment to visit and talk to people, we have found someone to teach!

As missionaries we have been promised by a living prophet of God that "As you serve with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, the Lord will lead you to those who will hear His message."

This means that we have been promised this by God!

"What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." (Doctrine & Covenants, 1:38)

Besides all this we had interviews with President Botchway again. Those were amazing as always! He is very good at teaching what matters most in every situation. I had two main takeaways:

1. Lead by your example. Not just your words
2. Correct when necessary! it will benefit all people involved in the long run

Being stuck inside can honestly be tough. It is a bit of a challenge to be around 5 other people, who all have different opinions, constantly almost for 5 days straight.

But it has also taught me so much about love, service, and patience!

All things are for our benefit! To help us know Jesus Christ!

"Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth... For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings." (Hosea, 6:3-6)

All things that are given to us, trials, joys, commandments, laws, liberties, or literally anything, is to help us know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.

My invitation to you all is to find Jesus Christ in your every day life! Look for what God is trying to teach you about Him!

He will bring you joy!

I love you all! I hope you all are doing great! Let me know if I can do anything for you all!

Love,
Elder Goold

PS from Mom:  Elder Goold mentioned that one day while they were trapped at home, he decided to do 35 pushups every 10 minutes for 5 hours.  He ended up doing almost 1200 push-ups!  😂

A doordashed meal from Mama G while we couldn't leave the house

 

Exchanges

A pre-snowstorm meal out

It's been very cold this week

Mealtime at the Botchways:  they fed us traditional Ghanaian food

Beautiful sunset view from our apartment

A glimpse at our family phone call this week:   (Me stuck in the apartment in Tualatin, Mom at the church in Alpine waiting for Ellie, Cami in Birmingham, Spence at home, Emma walking home from campus, Dad in Saint George:  NOT PICTURED:   Ellie having an interview at church, Garrett at home but not in the picture, Lucie sleeping)

 

{Letter #73} Exchanges x3

 Hi everyone! Super short email this week! It has been a great week though! I got to go on 3 exchanges. We also have been able to find quite a few new people to teach! All in all pretty awesome!

One exchange was with Elder Spence, another with Elder Crum, my old companion,

and the last was with Elder Nober. It was a lot of fun! All very solid Elders and good examples to me!

We got to eat at President Botchway's house for lunch today. He made fufu and peanut butter soup. Very good.

Also, as my spiritual thought, and something an invitation, BE OBEDIENT!

Doctrine & Covenants 130:20-21:

"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated."

Mosiah 2:41

"And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

There was some troubles with several companionships in the zone. Being obedient makes you happier. You will be blessed of God.

So please, if there is something that you need to change to be more obedient to God's commands, do so! You will be blessed in all things!

I love you all! Have a great week! Let me know if there is anything I can do for you!

Love,
Elder Goold

Here's a glimpse at our family phone call tonight:
(Ellie and Lucie in Birmingham, Mom in the car on her way to a RS activity in Alpine, Dad in Saint George, Me in Tualatin, Garrett in Birmingham, and Spence in Alpine.   Emma and Cami were at work and couldn't be a part of the phone call)