{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 #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.