{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 #94} I Will Walk with Jesus

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great week! It has been busy busy here! We had transfers, interviews (3 days after transfers!), exchanges, and lots of fun lessons!

First off, transfers! Elder Cherry and I are both staying here in Canby! This is the first transfer of my whole mission that I haven't attended for some reason. It was nice not to have to worry about going to Beaverton! We just got to keep working in Canby!

Just yesterday we had interviews with President Botchway! That was far earlier in the transfer than normal. We got to talk a bit about what's happening with zone conference in a couple weeks. We also talked a lot about continuing to point others to Christ to change their nature. It was a cool topic of discussion!

In one of our lessons this week our friend Bailie decided on a date to be baptized! She has such an amazing testimony of the gospel already and is so prepared! She bore her testimony at church of how the gospel has changed her in the past year since she started coming to church.

The gospel truly changes lives! It is not meant to just make us happy for a little or be a once a week thing. As we truly look to Christ we will have lasting joy! We will become more Christlike!

My spiritual thought this week is from 1 Nephi 19:23. Nephi taught:

"And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning."

The scriptures are for us to learn about Christ! They will only truly bless our lives as we seek to apply them to our circumstances though! As we do it allows Christ into our life to change and lift us!

I would love to hear what things you have been applying from the scriptures recently!

I love you all! I hope you all are doing great! I am praying for you!

Love,
Elder Goold

P.S.
The new hymns came out. You should go listen to them. They're awesome.

Exchanges with Elder Willardson:

P-day fun.  We played ultimate frisbee:

A glimpse at our family phone call today:  (Ellie in Rexburg, Mom at home, Me in Canby, Garrett and Cami in the car on the way home from Chicago, Spence on his way home from the gym)

{Letter #92} Seek and Ye Shall Find

Hi everyone! I hope y'all have had a great week! What was something fun that happened?  When was a time you felt God's presence in your life this week?   

It's been a pretty good week here! Pretty uneventful, just lots of normal missionary work activities. Mission Leadership Council (MLC) again, exchanges, and some good lessons!

At MLC we got to talk a lot about how we can help other missionaries develop their skills and conversion to Christ! It was really good!

I went on exchanges with Elder Beyer. It was my first time serving with him--he is an awesome Elder. We got to talk a lot about how we can help others and also how we can effectively do the Lord's work! It was awesome!

We found a few people to teach, all of whom were super excited about the Book of Mormon! Mike has already read a good amount since we first talked to him on Wednesday!  We also had 6 friends come to church this week.  

I want to just go to my spiritual thought this week. I recently read these verses from Nephi in The Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ. Nephi taught:

"For he is the same yesterday, today, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto him.

For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round."

I love this! God still speaks today! He is aware of everyone and is willing to answer prayers!

Turn to Him! He will bless you forever!

I love you all! I hope you all are doing great! I am praying for you!

Love,
Elder Goold


Some photos from this week:  

An arrowhead I found at a service project...

I love spring...

A glimpse at our family phone call this week (me in Canby, Mom at home, Emma in Provo, Dad in Saint George, Ellie in Rexburg, Cami (and Garrett, Lucie, and Oliver) in the car in Alabama).  

{Letter #91} Shine Brighter

 Hi everyone! I hope you have had a great week! It's been pretty good here! Definitely been keeping busy. Here's a few things that happened: northern lights, interviews, exchanges, missionary breakfast and lots of fun!

First off, we saw the northern lights here in Oregon! It was awesome! Very very pretty! It's been on my bucket list for a long time, and I definitely want to see them again. Super cool!

We had interviews on Wednesday. That went really well. Sister Botchway was late so she asked Elder Cherry and I to take over for about 15 minutes until she got there. She didn't arrive for about 50 minutes after the start. So it was a lot of winging it! It all turned out alright though! The Spirit definitely guided that!

We had some fun exchanges with a couple Elders close by. It was really good! Unity and communication are important in every relationship! So always communicate well!

This Saturday the Oregon City stake had a breakfast for all the missionaries and the people that we work with. It was awesome! We also got to give a training there on using technology to record how the work is progressing. It went reasonably well! We had some more notice for that one, so that's always a plus!

Pday today we all played kickball as a zone at someone's house. It was awesome! They had a kid just finish his mission to the Philippines yesterday. It was very interesting to talk to him and hear some of his experiences!

My spiritual thought for this week comes from something President Botchway told me in my interview. He counseled me to let my light shine even brighter and hold it even tighter. He also referenced what Christ taught in 3 Nephi 18:24. Jesus said:

"Therefore, hold up your light that it may shine unto the world. Behold I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do. Behold ye see that I have prayed unto the Father, and ye all have witnessed."

We must all learn to hold tighter to Christ and let His light shine brighter through us! What are some thoughts you have about how to do that?

I love you all! Have a great week! I'm praying for you!

Love,
Elder Goold 

By  request of Elder Partridge...

{Letter #90} Testify of What You Know and Feel

Hi everyone! I hope you've had a great week! What was one thing that you learned? Something exciting that happened?

This has been a good week here in the OPM! Here are a couple highlights: Kasey got baptized!!, testimony meeting ×2, and zone conference!

First of all! Kasey got baptized! This was awesome! She has had so many amazing experiences with the Spirit and confirming witness to her. She has hard a hard life, but she was very ready to dive in and make a covenant with God! She will forever be an example to me of what it means to have faith in Christ!

In zone conference we thankfully did not have to give any training this time (as much fun as they are...😬). We got to hear a lot about temple covenants and how they bless our life now and forever!

"The happiest moments on your mission (or in your life) probably came because you were being obedient"

I loved that! It's also very thought provoking. I invite you all to ponder on that and how that relates to your life!

Lastly this Sunday we had 2 testimony meetings! In each one of them we had a friend we are teaching get up and give their testimony that they know that this is Christ's true church! It is super awesome that so many people are being prepared and are open to receiving the gospel!

My spiritual thought from this week is going to come from 1 Nephi 8, which is a vision about the Tree of Life, which represents the love of God! Lehi said:

"And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.
And it came to pass that I did go forth and partake of the fruit thereof; and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea, and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I had ever seen.  And as I partook of the fruit thereof it filled my soul with exceedingly great joy; wherefore, I began to be desirous that my family should partake of it also; for I knew that it was desirable above all other fruit."

As you seek out the love of God it will fill your whole life with joy! God has power to do that beyond anything else!

I invite you to read that chapter to learn more about how you can have the love of God in your life! I'd love to hear any thought you have also!

I hope you all are doing great! I am praying for you! Have a fantastic week!

Love,
Elder Goold

Some pics from this week:  

Elder Cherry being goofy...

Some beautiful sunsets...

A dog named Bougie...

A glimpse at our very short phone call today:   (me in Canby, Mom at home, Spence driving to the gym, Emma in Provo, Cam and Lucie in Alabama, Dad on a walk in Saint George, Ellie at BYU-Idaho)  

{Letter #89} Hail on a Tin Roof

 

Hi everyone! I hope this week has been great! What is the most exciting thing that happened to you? What are you looking forward to?

It has been a good week here! We had a pretty low-key week filled with lessons, service, nine friends that came to church, and lots of rain like normal!

In one of our lessons with our friend Kasey we were sitting outside on her back porch with a tin roof like we usually do. It was particularly rainy day out, so it was pretty noisy with the tin roof. (Going inside wasn't an option). We were practically yelling at each other even though we were sitting about 5 feet away from her and someone from the local church.

After we prayed, it started to hail. We could hear literally nothing. I couldn't even tell what I was saying. It was insane! It continued like that for about 5-10 minutes. we thought we were going to have to cancel and reschedule.

After a little while it just switched back to pouring rain so if we were yelling we could hear each other. That's when our friend Kasey started telling us that she had been praying all the previous day and most of the night asking God to help her know if Joseph Smith was a prophet and if the church was true. She said that she never really felt anything in that moment, and she was asking God to tell her "loud and clear" that these things were true.

She the said that she was pretty sure what we just heard was the loudest thing that she had ever heard in her life. She said that God spoke to her through the rainstorm and told her that it was all true!

After that, the rain stopped and the sun came out and we had a great lesson with her!

It was awesome the she was able to recognize the voice of God speaking to her. Although she didn't literally hear His voice, she was able to trust that that was the answer to her prayers. Which goes along with my spiritual thought this week.

In a couple verses Nephi teaches us these principles. Nephi said:

"the Lord God giveth light unto the understanding; for he speaketh unto men according to their language, unto their understanding." (2 Nephi, 31:3)

"for when a man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men" (2 Nephi, 33:1)

God does hear prayers and He does answer them! He will speak to each of you to your understanding by the Holy Ghost. It is our choice to choose to recognize it as God speaking and answering our prayers! It can be hard though to recognize His voice at times!

I invite you all to listen to this talk from General Conference. It helped me understand how to recognize God's voice better! I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Pillars and Rays

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2024/04/15dushku?lang=eng

I love you all! I'm praying for you! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Goold

Some very random photos from this week: 

A glimpse at our family phone call this week:   Ellie in Rexburg, Mom, Emma, and Spence at the Copper Onion in SLC eating Spence's birthday dinner, Dad in Saint George, Me in Canby.