{Letter #57} Another One Gone...

Well, It has been another week and this transfer is almost over. It's been busy and good!  Here's what happened: interviews, social media training, baptisms, and a fun district council!

First off, we had interviews with President Botchway this Thursday! Those were awesome! He said that lot of missionaries are completing their missions and about 30 new missionaries are coming in, so there are going to be a lot of changes. We will see what happens, I suppose. He also made some Ghanaian food for the zone. It was really good. I would definitely recommend you try some if you ever get the chance.

During the interviews we also had a training done by the social media leaders in the mission! It is really cool to see work that is being done over social media and also ways that we can improve. Phones and social media are tools that have been given to share the gospel! It's important that we use them the way that they were designed. Share the gospel over social media--it will help hasten the work!

This Saturday 3 people in close-by areas got baptized! Elder Thatcher and I got to attend one of them and give the intermission message right after the baptism was performed! It was awesome!  It was the first time that Elder Thatcher had done that and he did a great job.

Here are the scriptures we used:
John 3:16-17
3 Nephi 9:17, 20
Moroni 8:25-26
2 Nephi 31:20

Yesterday we had a fun district council! We did a little object lesson for listening to people. We had a missionary blindfold themselves to make their way through a maze of chairs, while Elder Thatcher played the piano, someone gave them verbal directions, 2 missionaries were shouting scriptures, and someone else was expressing their concerns.   Basically, at the end of the maze we asked the blindfolded missionary what the other missionary's concerns were. They had no idea!

We need to listen with charity. Not think of the next scripture to say, not thinking of some song from home, or just going strictly with what you have planned out. If we listen to people with true charity we will understand their concerns! We will be able to love them even more and help them increase their faith in Christ!

Which leads me to my spiritual thought for the week. Mormon, the prophet historian who compiled the Book of Mormon-Another Testament of Jesus Christ, wrote a letter to his son Moroni. In this letter Mormon taught:

"But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."

We must always be praying to be filled with the pure love of Christ! When we do we will receive so many blessings!

Love you all! have a fantastic week! Let me know if I can do anything for you all!

Love,
Elder Goold

-Picture after district council with the STLs and Murrayhill elders


-district council set up

-a zone call to pray together

-a chicken on a leash in someone's front yard

-a cool tree

-a cool sunset

More on the saga of horses:
Horse parking only (again)

No trespassing horses (its funnier to read that way)

And some horses


Also a hummingbird I managed to snap a picture of

A glimpse at our family phone call this week (Elder Goold in Portland, Mom at home, Ellie in Rexburg, Emma in Provo, Dad at work, Cami, Spence, and Garrett were all at work and unable to join): 

{Letter #56} Finding, Serving, Teaching, and Not Swimming

 Hi Everyone! I hope this week has been a great one for all of you! Nothing too crazy has been going on here. A quick summary of what happened: service, teaching, and a lot of finding.

Our service this week was helping a member of the ward set up a pool. It was extremely muddy, so it was dirty work, but it went pretty quickly and cleaned up well. It was a lot of fun. We also found a little frog while we were doing it.

Teaching this week was pretty slow. Meaning we, unfortunately, did not have a lot of lessons. The lessons we did have were pretty good! We were able to bring members with us and the Spirit was very strong!

Another cool thing that's happened this week is we had a missionary farewell talk at church! That's 2 in the last 3 weeks now! It's awesome to hear the testimonies of these people as they are leaving on their own missions for the next two years.

Because we haven't had many lessons we have been putting in a lot of effort to find new people to teach! We haven't seen a ton happen yet, but we will keep on trying new things!

My spiritual thought for this week is Alma 5:28. In which Alma says:

"Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life."

Pride is at the root of pretty much everything that goes contrary to God! We must be humble to feel God's power acting in our life in a greater capacity. I invite all of you to listen to the talk "Beware of Pride" by Ezra Taft Benson and think of how you can improve this coming week!

Love you all! Let me know if there's anything I can do for you!

Love,
Elder Goold

PS  Here's a glimpse at our family phone call this week (Dad in Saint George, Mom at home, Spence at Walmart, Cami and Lucie at home in Alabama, Emma at her apartment in Provo, me here in Oregon, and Ellie at her apartment in Rexburg.  We were just missing Garrett!)

{Letter #55} Serving in the Rain!

 Hi Everyone! I hope all of you are doing great! This last week has absolutely flown by. Training is a blast and makes things always pretty interesting. Some of what happened: service, service, service, and also an awesome lesson.   We always had something going on this week!

As I just mentioned, we had so much service this week, which is awesome! We helped 2 people move, did a wood-chopping service in the pouring rain, cleaned the church, and also helped someone set up a pool in their back yard.  Sometimes I miss teaching the Gospel when we are immersed in a service project, but then I remember that Jesus spent His days teaching AND serving.   This is part of God's work too. 

Elder Thatcher doesn't have a rain jacket yet, so he just got absolutely soaked while we were chopping and stacking wood. We're going to work on getting him one. He will definitely be needing it in a couple months when rainy season arrives.

We also had a couple meetings for new missionaries this week! It's been really cool to see all the ways that Elder Thatcher has grown, even in just the first half of the transfer. We currently are talking a lot about setting goals and plans and also developing Christ-like attributes. When we seek to turn outwards and love others, we will begin to become more Christ-like.

The awesome lesson we had this week was with our friends Chris, Pam, and their two kids. They have a few really close friends that are members of the ward that I'm serving in. We invited one of them to join us for the lesson and it was seriously awesome!

We read through the Introduction to The Book of Mormon with them and we got to this phrase describing what is in The Book of Mormon:

"It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come"

When we read this, the member bore testimony of the peace and the power that The Book of Mormon has had in their life. Pam just sat there for a second and said "WOW, THIS IS WHAT I NEED!"

It was amazing. The Spirit was very strong. They committed to come to church and were very excited to read from The Book of Mormon and pray about it also.

I have a testimony of this phrase from Preach My Gospel chapter 13:

"(The Lord) will magnify your efforts to the degree that you work in unity with local leaders and members"

My Spiritual thought from this week will be something I read in personal studies recently. The ancient prophet Alma taught his son Helaman about prayer. Alma taught:

"Yea, and cry unto God for all thy support; yea, let all thy doings be unto the Lord, and whithersoever thou goest let it be in the Lord; yea, let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord; yea, let the affections of thy heart be placed upon the Lord forever. Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good"

When we turn our mind and heart to the Lord regularly in prayer we will be blessed! We will be guided!

God loves you all! He will guide and direct you when you turn to Him!

I hope you all have a fantastic week! Let me know if I can do anything or all of you!

Love,
Elder Goold

Photos from this week:

Some really really tall sunflowers we saw

The ward I'm serving in is very generous and gives us so much food, we've hardly had to buy any recently.  Here is one of the more interesting items we've been given. 

A district lunch together after district council

P-day activity

 Here's a glimpse at our family phone call this week (in 2 parts, which meant we got everyone but Cami, who was at work):  

{Update #54} Busy, Busy, Busy

Hello dear friends and family!  
This is another update written by Mama Goold, since Adam just experienced what he called the craziest p-day of his mission.     Among other things, his p-day excitement included a temple trip, helping a ward member move, and dinner with his mission president.  By the time he had a minute, p-day was almost over, so this letter will have to do!    

This past week included MLC (Mission Leadership Council), which, as always, was a highlight for him.   His mission president taught about the Christlike attribute of DILIGENCE, which is an attribute that will take you far in life...both spiritually and in your daily life.   The Preach My Gospel manual says this about diligence:  

"Diligence is steady, consistent, earnest, and energetic effort in doing the Lord’s work. The Lord expects you to work diligently—persistently and with great effort and care. A diligent missionary works effectively and efficiently. Diligence in missionary work is an expression of your love for the Lord and His work. When you are diligent, you find joy and satisfaction in your work."

Based on our conversation today, it sounds like  Elder Goold and his missionary colleagues are doing a great job at being diligent at bringing people unto Christ!  Speaking of Christ, here's a quote I read recently that reminded me of the peace and hope that having a relationship with Christ can bring to each of us. 

"Because of Him, we do not have to deal with our frailties, sins, and fears alone. Because of Him, death is not the end. Resurrection will come to all who have ever lived. Because of Him, families can be together forever. Because of Him, guilt becomes peace, regret becomes relief, and despair becomes hope. We are given second chances, clean slates, and new beginnings. "   "This Easter, Find Peace in Jesus Christ," Russell M Nelson, March 2021  

A few more highlights for the week: 

Exchanges with Elder Endemano (or something like that).  He's awesome.
Helped shovel gravel for a few hours
Met a cat named Doug, that acts like a dog.

Met a frog that acts like a frog

I have no idea why these pictures were taken, but #missionaryhumor

This is a picture from last p-day's zone activity: 

Alright, that's about it.  He's crazy busy, but also happy.    I'm sure he'd love to hear from you, so send him an email or a letter and make his day!  

He loves you and we all appreciate your support!  Have an amazing week!

Love,
Mama Goold  (for Elder Goold)

PS  We only had a few minutes for a phone call today, so only a couple of us could get on.    Ellie and I were in a parking lot in Provo, Dad was at home in Saint George, Spence was unavailable while he was climbing at the gym, Cami was putting Lucie to bed, Garrett and Emma were working.   That's all folks!  

{Letter #53} Diligence!

Hi everyone! I hope everything is going well for all of you! This week was pretty busy, like most weeks it seems. We did a lot of missionary work, had zone conference, went on exchanges, and a bunch of other meetings.

It was a bit of a slower week in terms of the missionary work to be completely honest. It's really interesting to be training, it has required me to take things a lot slower than normal and also be really deliberate about what we are doing. It has been good to regularly be asking "does this activity help people to come closer to Christ?"

When all your thoughts and efforts are focused on Christ you are so much more able to see the Lord's hand in your life!

"And neither at any time hath any wrought miracles until after their faith; wherefore they first believed in the Son of God." (Ether 12:18)

At zone conference we talked a lot about diligence! Being a diligent disciple of Jesus Christ and diligently seeking to learn about Him. When we are diligent in our own efforts to learn, we will begin to see those miracle that are talked about by Moroni in Ether 12. We will increase our faith in the Son of God and we will be lead by it!

We also had exchanges yesterday! That was a lot of fun! I got to stay in my area and work with Elder Gurr. He is usually on bike, so it was a good break for him I think. We talked a lot about that focus on Christ and how we can be more diligent in our efforts to serve Him. We also talked about the BYU talk "Be 100 Percent Responsible". You should go listen to it sometime. It's very good and teaches a lot about taking responsibility for our life!

My spiritual thought for this week will be Doctrine & Covenants 11:20. In which, the Lord taught:

"Behold, this is your work, to keep my commandments, yea, with all your might, mind and strength"

It is our responsibility to keep the commandments of God! When we do we will be happier, and blessed in all things! The Prophet King Benjamin taught:

"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."

Love you all! Let me know if I can pray for you or help you in any way! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Goold

Some pics: Here I am with Elder Stone (my trainer) and Elder Thatcher (who I'm training)

 

 

 Exchanges and a Saint Bernard puppy:

Zone conference: 

 

 

The air is smoky: 

 

 

 

A glimpse at our family phone call today:  (Cami and Spence were at work)

{Letter #52} The Sky is Falling, The Sky is Falling!

 Okay, okay.  The sky isn't actually falling, but it has just been a crazy crazy week. A lot has happened, and the sky falling is kinda what it feels like currently. Here's a summary of all the stuff: Elder Dahl finished his mission, serving with Hazeldale Elders, training(!!!!), transfers, temple, and lots of interviews/meetings.

I'll start with the temple. President & Sister Botchway gave us some Tongan ancestor's names to take through the temple. That was awesome. The temple is an amazing place! You should go. It is a house of peace, learning, and the House of the Lord!

My previous companion, Elder Dahl, completed his mission! He had to pack a bunch, so Wednesday and Thursday were pretty full of that. We dropped him off at the mission office Thursday afternoon, then I went with the Hazeldale Elders until transfers the next day.

I have lived with one of those Elders {Elder Partridge} for 6/9 transfers on my mission, but those ~24 hours were the first time that I've been his companion *technically*. We had a total of 3 lessons during that time, all were pretty good. Teaching in a trio is definitely a unique experience.

On Friday night I got to pick up my brand new missionary! His name is Elder Thatcher! He's awesome. He's going through a lot of things that new missionaries often do with the adjustment period. He's a very solid teacher and has a strong testimony of Jesus Christ! I'm looking forward to the next few weeks of this transfer.  In the picture below, Elder Thatcher is the one right behind me in the blue suit.

There have been so many interviews and meetings since the transfer began. We have driven to the mission office almost every day. They have all been good, a collection of meetings to help trainers, trainees, and also just interviews with President Botchway.

In addition to all this, as of today it has been 1 year since I began my mission! Time has flown by. It has been a great year! Lots of amazing people, both missionaries, members, and friends that have made my mission what it is to me today!

Also, it has been about 105 degrees out the last couple days and the houses here don't have central air conditioning, so that's fun.

My spiritual thought for this week is going to come from Chapter 5 of "Preach My Gospel: A Guide to Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ"

In preparation for district council on Monday, we all read the section: The Book of Mormon Testifies of Christ. after we had studied that section we answered these questions at the end of the section:


-What have you learned about Jesus Christ from your study of the Book of Mormon?


-How has your study of the Book of Mormon influenced your testimony of Jesus Christ?


I invite all of you to ponder on those questions! Write them down somewhere! I testify that the Book of Mormon is the greatest witness we have of Jesus Christ as our living Savior! If you don't have a testimony of that, I invite you to study ponder and pray about the Book of Mormon.

It will change your life! It will make Christ a part of your every day life! You will be happier! You will have peace!

Love y'all (my mom was right about this part). Let me know if there's anything I can do for you! I'm praying for all of you!

Love,
Elder Goold

A glimpse at our family phone call this week:  (Emma, Garrett, and Spence were at work)

And another little tidbit he shared with me this week...his current ward gives the missionaries a lot of food, which means he's had very little to buy since he's been here.