{Letter #105} Rejoice in Christ

 Hi everyone! This has been another amazing week! Miracles come when we continue faithful!

I head home on Wednesday, so this will be the last email of my mission, as such  I will keep it short and sweet this week!

It is my testimony that Christ is the source of all lasting joy! Like Moroni said, I know that "every good gift cometh of Christ".

Christ lives and speaks today. He has once again restored His gospel to the earth, or in other words the good news of Christ is on the earth again!

Joseph Smith was called of God to be the first prophet of the Restoration and to translate The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ.

The Book of Mormon combined with the Spirit will help any person who sincerely studies it to see God's power in their life!

Nephi taught:

"We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi, 25:26)

Look to Christ and find that joy!

If you have any questions about my mission or the church please reach out to me and tune in to my homecoming talk this Sunday (see details in attachement)! I'd love to talk to any and all of you!

Love,
Elder Goold

{Letter #103} Grace for Grace

Hi everyone! I hope you all have had a great week! What is something exciting that happened this week? This has been another remarkable one here in Gresham!

We had the temple, interviews with President Botchway, lots of exchanges, cool referrals, and even received a plant from a random man!

First off, we went to the temple today! The temple was closed for a while and it's been 4-5 months since I last went and I was missing it! If you haven't gone yet, or haven't gone recently, please go! It will help you feel more of God's peace in your life!

 Between some amazing teaching experiences we've had and  some cool referrals, this past week has been awesome! We had a few great first lessons with people who have committed to read the Book of Mormon and seem very interested in learning more! We also received a referral for a guy from Texas! He is up here in Oregon about 50% of the time and wanted a church to go to. We called him, gave him the address, and shared a little verse with him. Then this Sunday he actually came to church! That doesn't happen too often (not here anyways) with people who refer themselves. It was cool! He loved it and we loved it!

We got to go on some exchanges this past week also--both with Elders I have served around for at least 6 months now. It's been awesome to see how much they have grown in that time! Missions are awesome for growth and learning! It's a  great time to dedicate yourself to growing closer to Christ and helping others to do so as well!

On Saturday night we were biking to visit a friend of ours when a random guy shouted at us to stop from inside his garage. He was super nice, not too interested in talking more about the gospel though. He had been trying to sell a plant called "Love Lies Bleeding" all day and only had one customer. He wanted to give us one for free to thank us for what we were out doing. Kinda a funny interaction, but it's a pretty plant!

Lastly, we had interviews yesterday. This was my last one with President Botchway before I go home. It was really good! He gave a lot of great life advice on a lot of different topics, but mostly on how to remain a disciple of Jesus Christ when I get home from my mission!

For my spiritual thought for this week I wanted to share a couple verses that have been on my mind. In Luke 2:52 it teaches:

"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."

Then in Doctrine & Covenants 93:11-13

"I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.
And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;
And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness"

And lastly in Doctrine & Covenants 93:19

"For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace."

I love these sequence of verses! Jesus himself learned and grew. He did not start out as all that He was destined to become and in that same way, we too can and must grow!

As we are obedient and seek to follow Christ we can grow grace for grace just as He did!

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

Love,
Elder Goold

A glimpse at our family phone call this week: (Dad, Mom, and Ellie at home, me in Mount Hood)   

{letter #102} Rain in Portland? Unbelievable.

Hi everyone! I hope all of you are doing great! What is something cool that's happened lately?

It's been a great week here in Mt. Hood! Not a lot in the way of eventful things but here's what happened: some lessons, we got rain!, more time in Damascus, and some fun kids!

First off, we had some awesome lessons with our friends this week! Several of our friends are preparing to be baptized soon and are working hard to get to that point. They could all use some extra prayers right now. So if you could keep Lori, Wendy, Ashley, Jen, and Edgar in your prayers that would be great!

We had several instances this last week where we had little kids ask us what we were doing (while knocking at someone's door), after we told them we were missionaries and talk about Jesus they then point us to several houses to visit! All of which invited us back! That is crazy! God works in many ways to lead us to the people who He has prepared, we just need to be willing to be lead.

I got to spend some more time in my first area again. Saw another couple people that I had worked with early on in my mission. It's a really special experience to see how people have continued to learn and grow in the last 18 months.

We got rained on yesterday! It's quite an experience getting rained on while on a bike, but it was actually a lot of fun! For as much rain as we get during certain times of the year, it weirdly doesn't often rain this time of year here in Portland, so it was a fun change.

My spiritual thought for this week is going to be from Moroni's teachings in Ether 12 in The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Moroni taught:

"And again, I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men. And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father."

I love how simply this teaches about Christ's love! He loves you enough to lay down His own life for you!

We must have the pure love of Christ in our lives to return to our Father! It's a lifelong process that is made possible through Jesus Christ! As we strive to follow Him we will be filled with that love!

I hope you all have a great week! I am praying for you!

Love,
Elder Goold

Pics from this week: 

Hiked to Latourell Falls today 

Got to ride in a Cybertruck this week!  

A glimpse at our family call this week (me in Mount Hood, Mom, Dad, Ellie, and Denali in Saint George, Spence at home, Cami and Lucie in the car in Birmingham, Emma in Provo) :  

{Letter #101} Creator of All Things

 Hi everyone! I hope that you all have had a great week! What is something you're looking forward to? It's been a pretty good one here! We had zone conference, some exchanges, awesome lessons, and fun training things!

First of all, zone conference was awesome!

President Botchway talked a lot about the importance of becoming converted to Jesus Christ and the importance of focusing on him in everything we do! It was awesome!

What are some ways that you all focus on Christ every day?

On exchanges I got to go back to my very first area.... Boring, Oregon! It was awesome! I didn't see too many people that I knew while I was here, but it was still cool to be back. Kinda a full circle moment!

The people that we are working with here are awesome! There are a good number of people that are really close to accepting a baptismal date. If you could be praying for the Montiel family, Ashley, Blessing, Viola, and Wendy that would be great! The members in this ward are really great at connecting with our friends and being a part of their lives so it's always great to bring them along and see them become friends!

This week in training we have had all sorts of fun things. It's still a work in progress helping Elder Guymon, but he has already grown a lot! Working with new missionaries is awesome because they always give such simple and powerful testimonies! It's been awesome!

My spiritual thought for this week is going to be from Alma's teachings to his son Helaman in The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Alma taught:

"I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise."

I love this principle! The Lord can do great things in our life but it often comes by small and simple means. This also applies to our own efforts! When we put forth small but consistent efforts, we will be able to make big changes!

I hope you all have a great week! I am praying for all of you!

Love,
Elder Goold 

Here are some photos from this week:

A cute duck family

P-day trip to Costco after a trip to the doctor for his comp earlier.  Rotisserie chickens were purchased...

Departing missionaries from my zone, along with President and Sister Botchway.

  I've been comps with three of them (Nielson, Moore, and Crum)

Another departing missionary shot...

A glimpse at our family phone call this week: (me in Gresham/Mount Hood, Mom at home, Spence at home--Dad was driving to Saint George, Emma, Cami, and Garrett were at work, Ellie is in the middle of finals week)

{Letter #100} Back in Mount Hood

Hey everyone! How have you all been this last week? Anything fun happen? Have you felt God's love for you this week?  It has been crazy week here in Mount Hood, but pretty awesome!

Here's a few things that happened: transfers, new missionary, training meetings, service, mission leadership council (MLC),  biking, and lots of finding!

So at transfers we all got to meet our new missionaries that we're training. My new companion is named Elder Guymon! He's from Huntington, Utah and is a very good hard working missionary. This was the last time I will be at transfers and see all those missionaries, but it was really good to be there one last time.

The next day we got to make the 1.5 hour drive back to the mission office (the furthest possible drive in our mission) for training meetings! Those were fun! There were 24 new missionaries that came in so it was a pretty big turnover. But it happens almost every summertime, and it's a good opportunity to help the incoming generation of missionaries start on a right track. Training is a lot of fun!

The next day we had MLC--the second to last one of my mission. It was another 1.5 hour drive back to the mission office for this. We got to talk a lot about how we will help other missionaries develop their skills and spiritual strength this transfer. It's always good to counsel with others and make specific plans!

In this area I get to bike everywhere! It's actually so much fun! It's only the second time on my mission that I've been on a bike. It creates a lot of opportunities to talk to people and invite them to talk more with us! It's cool to see how God works with our individual efforts and circumstances when we give it our all!

We have found a few really awesome people this week! One of the coolest is a woman named Ashley. She had just taken a step back from her church and was looking for a new one to go to with her family. She was super excited to read from the Book of Mormon and said she will come to church this Sunday!

My spiritual thought for this week is going to be very simple but something that I've been thinking a lot about. In The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ the prophet Moroni teaches:

"And Christ hath said: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me" (Moroni, 7:33).

I know that this is true! When we put our faith in Christ we will have power to do all things that He has asked us to! I invite you all to do one thing to increase your faith this week! You will feel Christ's power acting in your life!

I hope you have a great week! I am praying for you!

Love,
Elder Goold

More pics from this week:

Bailie (from my last area) just got baptized this past weekend!  I was sad not to be able to attend, but I was thrilled that she was so well-supported by the ward and was baptized by one of the young men. 

Look at that baptism attendance! 

 

 

 
A glimpse at our family phone call this week:   I only had time for a quick call with Mom and Dad.