Elder Nicholas Goff - Michigan Detroit Mission : October 2014

Friday, October 31, 2014

Missionaries Are Called by God

This is a great clip from a talk about the mission call process--only 6 minutes but very powerful!

Monday October 27, 2014

October 21st, 2014

Today was okay, we went tracting for about 3 hours in pretty cold weather. We planted some seeds, no lessons though. Then we went to a Book of Mormon class at the Church. I didn't know we weren't supposed to go unless we had an investigator attending but I found that out when one of the AP's Elder Kunzler told me over the phone... Elder Redd should have known that! I knew we should've been doing something more productive! Tomorrow is District Meeting, the Zone Leaders and Assistants to the President are going to be there so the pressure is going to be on the District Leader, my comp, Elder Redd!

October 22nd, 2014

Today was AWESOME!!! We had District Meeting which was great, the ZL's and AP's were there, (Elder Redd says they were there to see if I am ready to take over the area) hahaha, it was a great meeting about Desire. And how that applies to Missionary Work. Then we went on Exchanges with the ZL's and it turns out that the Elder I went with is from Sugar City, ID and is also named Elder Redd! So that was really cool. He taught me a lot of great things. The last house we stopped by, we talked to a Catholic lady about the Book of Mormon. It was great, we got to answer a lot of her questions and we have a return appointment for her next week. We also went to the Gonzalez's, a less active family. Then we exchanged back at like 7pm, and we went over to Mark and Susan's house with Brother Quenneville (our ward mission leader) for dinner and a lesson. it was INCREDIBLE. We taught and discussed the Priesthood that has been restored on the Earth today, and the importance of baptism under that proper authority. We read 3 Nephi 11 all the way through, and then discussed those things. They had TONS of questions as I expected them to have and we were able to answer them all. Then near the end of the lesson, I felt prompted to ask Mark to offer a kneeling prayer and ask Heavenly Father the questions that were on his mind. As I extended that invitation, I felt the Holy Ghost confirm to me so strongly that that was exactly what I was being prompted to do. He offered a kneeling prayer after I offered the teary-eyed invitation. My heart is so full from today! I know that if Mark continues to pray and to study the Book of Mormon he will be able to find answers to his questions. After the lesson Elder Redd told me that he felt the same prompting to ask Mark to pray, so that confirmed to me even further the reality of the Holy Ghost's witness. What an amazing day full of miracles! I can truly see God's hand in my life, and I know ANYONE can know for themselves these things to be true.

October 23rd, 2014

Today we went and mowed this old lady's lawn in the morning, it was about an Acre and a hlaf. Then we got back, ate lunch, and I went to go get my first haircut in the mission field! I went to Great Clips because I procured a coupon to there earlier in the week. Then we went tracting for about 3.5 hours and we talked to a LOT of people. We're trying a new door approach using a 10 Question survey about family and religion. That has been a more successful approach than others so we are doing it a lot. We don't have many investigators right now so our days will be full of finding activities until we receive more people into our teaching pool.

October 24th, 2014

We went tracting for 4 hours today! I've got the fruits of our labors to show for it too! We have about 4 Potential Investigators now and 1 New Investigator. The NI is named Tony, he was really sincere and we gave him a Book of Mormon and a Restoration pamphlet to read and study through. We're going back to his house in 2 weeks. Then for dinner we went over to the Corder's home, whose son John just got back from his mission in Fiji! That was way cool to talk to him about his mission. We got our halloween packages from my mom today! Thanks so much mom! :)

October 25th, 2014

We went to the Galbraith's for dinner tonight and we had a roast with potatoes and bread! It reminded me of dinners back home! We also received 2 member referrals today! Neither of them were in our area but it testified to us that the members here are definitely doing missionary work!

October 26th, 2014

Today was awesome! We used a ton of miles though. Since my companion is the District Leader, he conducts the Baptismal Interviews for investigators that are being taught in our District. So we had to drive to Chelsea which is about 27 miles away from our apartment. Then we went to church, went to dinner at the Lichtenberg's house, came home, and we ender up with about 80 miles driven in one day which is a lot, especially considering the fact that we were already low on miles... so we will definitely be pulling out the bikes this week! The Lichtenberg's are such a great family! They fed us grilled chicken salad, pizza, smoothies, and chocolate ice cream malts... I am so full right now! They are such a missionary oriented family, I love it. Their son, a newlywed who is living with his parents is going to start coming tracting/or on splits with us at least twice a week! My heart is definitely full today, I can't wait to see what this next week brings!

I know that if we all read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true, Heavenly Father will answer our prayers through the Holy Ghost. We will feel a peace inside, or a "burning of the bosom" and with our whole heart and soul we will KNOW, not just feel or believe, that those things are true. We have something so amazing to offer people who do not know about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, what is holding us back? Let us find that, eliminate it, and get the ball rolling with missionary work. 2 Nephi 2: 6-8. If you read that scripture, there will be no denying in your heart that you have a duty to share the gospel! It is a wonderful and true message, I love it, and live it.

I love you guys, thanks for so much support that you offer me! I feel the strength of you out here in Michigan.

-Elder Goff

Monday, October 20, 2014

Monday, October 20, 2014 It's always sunny in Brighton! Unless it's not...

Haha it's been pretty cold and gloomy here, the whole first week I was here it was sunny and not a cloud was in the sky... But it's been rainy and cold for the past couple weeks so I've busted out that brand new trench coat from Petersons! Anyways, here's my week:

October 13th, 2014

Today was P-Day! The Howell Elders (Elder Beckstrom and Elder Dorsey) came over to our apartment and we played Risk. Then we went to the Wellings for dinner and it was a crazy atmosphere!! Hahaha kids running everywhere and stuff while we ate our food. They stuffed us with food and then kicked us out because they were taking one of their kids (Jesse) out to a movie. So we got back and I did my laundry, and then Elder Redd and I reviewed the lesson we are teaching at institute tomorrow night! I'm obsessed with the song "Glorious" by David Archuleta that was in the "Meet The Mormons" soundtrack. It's so dang good.

October 14th, 2014

Today was New Missionary Orientation! So all of the Elders and Sisters that came in at the same time as me were there. President Gerber gave us a TON of great thoughts and insights. He also clarified some of the rules a few Missionaries are struggling with. Then the two Assistants to the President (AP's) gave a lesson of some sort, and then opened it up for questions. I learned a lot, it was a really great day! I also am really glad I got to see all of my MTC District there, it was so cool to see them again. Then tonight we got to teach institute! The topic was Faith in Jesus Christ. All in all today was great. I feel invigorated moreso than ever before to just get out there and do missionary work. Tomorrow is our Zone Meeting, and then right after that we're going on exchanges! So from 1:00pm tomorrow, until 1:00pm on Thursday, I will be with a different companion! That should be pretty cool.

October 15th, 2014

Today we had Zone Meeting and it was amazing! I learned so much. Then afterwards we started our exchanges! Elder Beckstrom came to Brighton and so I was in charge for the day. Elder Redd went to Howell. Elder Beckstrom and I get along really well. We went tracting for 2 and a half hours, and then after dinner we went street contacting for 1 hour. We taught the Restoration on 1 doorstep! Haha, quite a few people asked if we could come back another day so we will! Elder Beckstrom is a stud. We're going to kill it tomorrow too! I feel that my testimony has grown a lot just from my experiences today at Zone Meeting and with Elder Beckstrom. Especially about the importance of our message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We take it for granted sometimes, but it is literally priceless. That is why we must share it with anyone and everyone we meet, just like Elder Bednar talked about in conference.

October 16th, 2014

Elder Beckstrom went back to Howell today at 1:00pm and Elder Redd came back as well. We knocked on quite a few doors but no one answered! At about 10:45am Elder Beckstrom and I went to Jamie Phillip's apartment (a Less Active in our ward) and read Alma 2 with her because that's where she was in her personal study! It was really awesome! Exchanges are the bomb, I want to have more of them! Susan called us this morning and told us that she had energy without drinking her coffee and that she felt amazing, and that Mark was having the same experience! It truly is amazing what faith in the Lord allows HIM to do.

October 17th, 2014

Today we tracted for about 2 hours all together with not much success. Mark called us around lunchtime though and told us that he is doing well with no coffee too which is awesome!! Later this evening we stopped by a less-actives home and talked with her and got to know her a little bit, she is really cool! I am finally gaining my sense of direction here in Michigan! I can tell if we are going North, South, East or West now, without any Mountains for a reference point! Haha, it's harder than it sounds! And the sky is SO BIG because of the lack of mountains here.

October 18th, 2014

Today was super awesome! And it is my sister Clarissa's birthday! I hope you had a great day Claire! You will be receiving a letter from me with a small gift in the mail soon, I'm sending it out on Monday, so don't freak out and think I have forgotten about you. Don't go crazy with the boys, you can only start dating when I get back home. Same goes for you Courtney!! Haha anyways, today was the Adult session of Stake Conference at 7:00pm, and I was definitely edified and uplifted there. It's pretty cool being here where ward boundaries cover a population of at LEAST 60,000 people. Since there are much fewer LDS people here, the ones who are LDS have a lot more work to do and they recognize that, and take action. The people are so willing to share the Gospel here with their friends and neighbors. It's awesome!! It's so great! We need more of that back home in Meridian and Boise, members taking action and sharing the Gospel regularly. It would make such a big impact! Anyways, the Stake President called all of the full time Missionaries up to the stand, so we all walked up the aisles and stood in the choir seats, then President announced that we would be singing "Called to Serve," so we did, all 31 of us, and it was so cool! The Spirit was so strong, it testified to me that this is where I am supposed to be, and the work that I am doing is more than worthwhile.

October 19th, 2014

Today was Stake Conference! it wasn't nearly as great as the Adult Session last night, but it was still good! We went over to the Yockey's afterwards for lunch and that was super good. Then for dinner we went to the Shamoon's! Brother Shamoon is an Entrepreneur who used to own a large business, sold it, and now flips homes! So I got to talk to him about my Dad's work and stuff so that was neat to have that in common!

I'm doing great guys, thank you for all of your support! I love you all so much. I want you all to know that I have a testimony of how real the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. The same exact church that Jesus Christ established during His mortal ministry on the Earth has been restored, and along with it the Priesthood keys necessary to perform saving ordinances, and direct His Church. I have gained a stronger testimony of Family History work, and how the Spirit of Elijah can influence us in great ways if we diligently seek out our ancestors. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord for 2 years!! I will serve with all of my heart, might, mind and strength, and I know the Lord will bless me in my endeavors and my family and friends for my efforts. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love,

-Elder Goff

Roger Bacon's baptism

Elder Beckstrom and Elder Goff

A few pics of the apartment.

Monday, October 13, 2014

Monday October 13, 2014

Hello everyone,

I'm so pumped for Daylon!! And Tyler holy cow!! Hahaha it's not likely, but it's possible that I could be his trainer! Yeah, all of the missionaries in my district got to see Meet the Mormons like 4 days before it came out in theaters! I liked it a lot. So you don't have to buy me boots, because I'm buying some here today, they are like $110-$120 with this coupon I got in the mail. I can't wait to get the packages! Packages are the best out here haha.

October 6th, 2014

Today was a pretty relaxing P-Day. We went over to the Howell Elder's apartment and played games, and then grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. It was sweet! Then we came back, did laundry, and deep cleaned the whole apartment (To 'Liz Standard'). Used bleach and vinegar. Then we played a game of Chess. I have won 3 games so far, and Elder Redd has won 2. Those were just stupid mistakes I made though, I doubt he'll win again.

October 7th, 2014

Today we went to Mission President interviews. When we weren't getting interviewed, Meet The Mormons was playing in the Relief Society room so I got to watch it before it actually came out! I was really good. At the end I really felt the Holy Ghost testify to me that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and true happiness comes from living it and reaping the rewards. I also gave President Gerber the tie his cousin asked me to give him! President liked it so that's good. Anyways, through the rest of this week, I'm going to focus on being a productive and effective missionary, in my studies, finding, and teaching efforts.

October 8th, 2014

First today we went to Jim and Thelma's house, we gave Jim a Book of Mormon las week and he seemed really grateful and he said he would read it. When we got there today he said he was busy and that we should come back another day, but that he had read like 26 pages of it! That was awesome to hear! Then we went tracting in this really nice neighborhood. The first house we went to they said no, but the second house we knocked on they let us in and we taught them The Restoration! It was awesome. Then we sang 'Come Thou Fount for them and they loved it and definitely felt the Spirit!! We're going to help them with some fall cleanup in a week or so, and after that hopefully we can teach them The Plan of Salvation! Their names are Paul and Kay, they are Methodist. They are such nice people, I love them! Then we continued to tract for about an hour and offered a lot of service to people.

October 9th, 2014

Tonight we had our weekly dinner/lesson with Mark and Susan! We taught them the Word of Wisdom. Susan was really against the no coffee standard but after the lesson she and Mark accepted the challenge to refrain from drinking coffee for 10 days. Mark is going on a 10 day hunting trip on saturday, and he said it will be really hard for him not to drink coffee but he said in the closing prayer of the lesson: "God, I know that I am weak in this, and I know I can do it with your help, but I need your help." After that sincere and humble prayer I turned us to a scripture that came to my mind during the prayer. Ether 12:27. It's a great scripture, and Mark's prayer followed the exact outline found there! We are promised that if we humble ourselves before God and know that we are weak and have faith in Him, He will make or weaknesses become strengths. I know that if Mark and Susan put their faith in God, and test the Word of Wisdom out for these next 10 days, then they will feel the promised blessings that this scripture offers us.

October 10th, 2014

Today was pretty boring to be honest haha! We only got to talk with one person, an inactive woman. And we didn't get to teach a lesson or anything because she didn't want to hear it. Fridays are always tough especially in the evening because people are out on dates so no one is home. But today we found out that we are going to be singing "Listen" by Colton Avery on the 26th in sacrament meeting. We invited Mark and Susan to come to that so we hope they will be able to make it!

October 11th, 2014

Today was pretty uneventful too! We had 2 service projects lined up but they both fell through, we tracted for about 3 hours and only like 5 people answered the door, and we didn't get to teach a lesson. That's alright though! The Gospel is still true, no matter how many people reject it or won't hear it. And as long as Elder Redd and I study and work diligently, having faith that we will be blessed, we will be. Tomorrow is my first Fast Sunday in the field!

October 12th, 2014

Today Roger Bacon shared his testimony in Fast and Testimony meeting, and it was really powerful. It was about how he knows that God has an individual plan for each of us, and that everything happens for a reason. Then in Elder's Quorum we got to help ordain Roger to the office of Priest, and confer upon him the Aaronic Priesthood. Then the Elder's Quorum President gave a lesson on Elder Uchtdorf's talk from the Priesthood Session called, "Lord, is it I?" That was a really great talk!! I want to work really hard this week and focus solely on the work and be productive.

That was my week! I'm having a blast, thank you for all of the support! I know that if people will just take a few minutes to let the Missionaries come into their homes and share a lesson with them, that they will be able to feel the Holy Ghost confirm to them that what is being taught is true. If they are seekers of truth, they shall find. I love you!

-Elder Goff

The nice neighborhood we tracted in

Stir Frys I am making with my awesome Mongo's skills!!

The gas here is $3.07!!!

Monday, October 6, 2014

Monday October 6, 2014

September 29th, 2014

Today was my first P-Day out in Michigan! Time is moving pretty fast. Tonight I was like drumming with two of these pens that a kid gave me at the MTC and one of them exploded all over my white shirt... so there are brown ink stains all over it, hopefully I can get them out next P-Day with some bleach. It was a short sleeve though so I won't be missing it too much in the Winter and Spring!!

September 30th, 2014

Today we went over to Brenda Ellen's house at 11:00am and we mowed her 8-ACRE LAWN. Yeah SHAN RODGERS 8-ACRES hahaha I'm givin' ya a run for your money. It took 2 hours straight of mowing on this crazy 3-bladed 0 degree turn lawn mower. I felt so accomplished when I finished it. Holy cow. Other than that though, I felt like today was a waste of time. I want to get out into the area and just TALK to people! But we didn't spend our time very wisely today. We got a referral for the Howell Elders (a small city next-door to Brighton) but that's it. I'm ready to start working hard and opening my mouth wherever I go!

October 1st, 2014

Today we went over to Sister Price's and mowed her lawn which was about 2 acres, again, throughout my mission I think I will have mowed more lawns than Shan has in his life! Haha. Then after that we had District meeting at 11:am. Then we made a delicious stir fry dinner with my fantastic Mongo's skills, and went to the church at 7:00pm for correlation with the ward mission leader, church tour for Mark and Susan at 8:00pm, and Roger Bacon's baptism at 8:30pm. Our investigators Mark and Susan came to Roger's baptism and they loved it!! Then guess what... MARK INVITED US TO HIS HOUSE ON SATURDAY TO WATCH THE AFTERNOON SESSION OF CONFERENCE!! Hahaha it was awesome, we are pretty pumped about that. Anyways, we forgot to turn off the water to the font so when the baptism was about to start we had to hurry and turn it off, drain a lot of the water (it was like half and inch from overflowing), and hurry back into the room. All went well though with the baptism, but then Roger forgot a towel, so it took him like 20 minutes to get ready for the confirmation since we had it on the same day due to conference the next sunday. It all worked out, but was pretty stressful at the time. It was an amazing experience though. Mark and Susan felt the Spirit for sure, and they were so happy.

October 2nd, 2014

Today we tracted a bit, not much success though. HAHAHAHA we went to this one apartment and this guy probably in his later 50's answered the door. We told him who we were and he just looks SO PEEVED at us and he says, "Yeah I know who you are." I said, sensing he really didn't want us to be there, "Could we leave a card with..." He interrupts, "I understand when you come around in the day time but it's 8:30 at night. This is MY TIME." He walks back into his apartment and says audibly, "Jack A's!" Haha that was a funny experience. We have like 3 hours of tracting planned for tomorrow, I hope we can be productive and see some success, little or small!

Octobder 3rd, 2014

Today we went tracting for about an hour, and we did that until about 5:00pm because we had an appointment with a lady named Tina and her family. We taught them the Restoration, and left them with a few pamphlets to read in detail and pray about. They said they are looking for a church to go to so that's awesome!! We are going back to their house on the 12th to help them move, and we might be able to teach the Plan of Salvation to them. At night we went to the Wellings and we gave them some cookies, and helped them assemble a huge kitchen table. The Wellings are SO AWESOME!! Hahaha Mom you would love Sister Welling.

October 4th, 2014

Wow, conference was amazing today. We went to Mark's house and watched the afternoon session with him. He told us that he turned on the TV and started to watch the morning session, and couldn't turn it off because it was so good. He told us that he knows that the Apostles are men of God, and that he can feel the truth of what they are saying. It's so awesome!! We hope he watches Sunday too, he said he would!

October 5th, 2014

Today we watched the morning session in the Jone's home, and the evening session in the Aeschbacher's. They both fed us great meals as well. Because of the time change here, conference starts at 12-2, and then from 4-6, and the Priesthood session went way late last night! Today Mark watched conference at his house and this is what he said about it: "I watched both sessions, it sure was a blessing for me to watch those great men speck." After conference (about 6:45pm) we went out tracting down this road that neither of us had seen before or been on. We were going to go to this apartment commplex right next to it but then we decided to just go down this road. Coincidence? Nope. We hit every house and we came up on the last one, and I had this distinct feeling that we weren't going to get bluntly rejected at the doorstep like we were at most all of the other doors. Sure enough, this guy answers the door and invites us in before we really have a chance to say anything. Turns out he is a preacher for the Brighton Christian Church, and he told us that if he ever has people/missionaries come to his door, he invites them in because he respects what they're doing even though he might not believe personally all that they are teaching, he knows that they have faith in their message. So we talked with him for about an hour and a half about certain doctrines of our Church and The Gospel that he had questions about. He was completely respectful and sincerely wanted to know our beliefs, it was way cool! I left a Book of Mormon with him and he said he would read it, skeptically of course, but he said he would read it! Elder Holland and Elder Bednar's talks in conference were my favorites. No surprise because they are my favorite speakers.

I love you all and thank you so much for supporting me! I know through confirmation by the Holy Ghost that The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to obtain true happiness. I'm so glad that I have the opportunity to share it with everyone that I come in contact with here in Michigan. I testify that I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten of the Father, suffered for our sins, and infirmities in the Garden of Gethsamane. That He died on the cross, and overcame death so we could also. I know these things to be true, and I know that anyone who truly wants to know for themselves can find out through the power of prayer as well. I love you all so much. I say this things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

-Elder Goff

Thursday, October 2, 2014

Monday September 29, 2014

September 29, 2014 First P-day in the field!!

President Gerber and his wife picked us up from the airport! It was like a 40 minute drive to the Mission Home. Hahaha yeah that Leonardi guy came up to me and was like: "I need to take a picture of/with you because your mom is worried sick" hahaha so he did. My companion is from Mesa Arizona! His name is Elder Redd! He's cool. My first area is Brighton! It's the best area apparently so I am pretty lucky/unlucky depending on the way you want to look at it. It's downhill from here! Haha we get fed by members or even investigators sometimes EVERY DAY. I've made a few stir frys for lunch though! All of the families in the Brighton Ward are really cool, and EVERYONE is a super good Member Misisonary. Like these people are pumped up about missionary work. The thing is, Brighton is a pretty wealthy place, people are well off here. So it's really hard to get new investigators. The ward boundaries cover a population of about 60,000 people. So when we go to a member's house, they are usually the only member in the neighborhood since the LDS population is so spread out. I'm at the library right now, and I forgot my journal at the apartment so this letter won't be very detailed... My apartment's address is: 615 Flint Rd Apt #1 Brighton, MI 48116. So if you want to sent me any mail or packages, send it there until I find out the next place I'll be transferred, which will be in like 11 weeks or more. Some cool stuff that happened this week: We went to Sister Ml's home (a pregnant woman whose husband is out of town) and helped her clean her garage and organize stuff, and I found out that she is from Boise! She used to live in Hobble Creek!!! So that's cool. Then like I said before, my comp is from Mesa. There's a kid in the Brighton Ward leaving on his mission in a week and a half, can you guess where he's going......................................... New Mexico, Farmington Mission!! Exactly where Davis went. I told him to prepare for some crazy sights hahahaha. Anyways, the Brighton Ward is really cool! I'm just concerned that I'm being spoiled now and I'll probably be transferred down to the dumps of Detroit after this. Oh well. We have a baptism in our ward this week, his name is Roger B! We aren't baptizing him, his future father in-law is, but he's been coming to church since january so my companion and the whole ward already knows him really well. We have 2 main investigators named Mark and Susan. They are married, and go to a Nazarene Church up here. Mark is much more receptive to our message. He told us that he believes God sent the missionaries to him for a reason, and he feels the Spirit when we're there so he wants to learn more and more every time we are there. Susan is like on the Nazarene "High Council" or whatever so she feels like she belongs there but she listens to our messages and agrees with most of it. They are both coming to the Church on Wednesday and we're giving them a tour of it at 8:00pm and then they are staying for Roger B's baptism at 8:30 so we're hoping that will be a really neat experience for them. We're teaching them the Word of Wisdom next week and the both drink coffee religiously so we'll see would happens there. That's all I've got without my journal, we'll see if I can write again in a little bit. I love you all! Thanks for all of the support.

-Elder Goff

Elder Goff and Elder Redd

Ann Arbor and Westland Zone of the Detroit Michigan Mission

(I think this is about half of the missionaries in the Detroit Mission)

This is a Ferrari I saw parked in downtown Brighton. Super sick!!!!

Tuesday September 23, 2014

We thought we would have to wait until next Monday to find out where his first area is and who his trainer is, but luckily someone we know was at the transfer meeting and was able to get a picture with Elder Goff and his companion Elder Redd. This was very exciting for mom especially! I wasn't sure if I could make it until Monday to find out!!

Monday September 22, 2014

September 22, 2014 Today is travel day! Elder Goff called from the airport at 5:30 am He had to be at the travel office at the MTC by 3:30 in the morning! That I very early for him! They then loaded buses and were transported to the Salt Lake City airport. It was wonderful to talk to him! He was full of excitement! The MTC experience was only 12 days, but it had a strong impact on him and he is so excited to get to Detroit!!

We first received an email from the Mission President's wife.

Dear parents,

We just wanted to let you know that your missionary arrived safely to the mission field. They are excited and ready to go to work! We are so blessed to have each of them in our mission and are so grateful that we have the opportunity to work alongside them in this great work!

We hope that you will share your missionary experiences with them as they will be sharing their experiences with you! What a great thing to be involved in the Hastening of the Work, as we all work to do our part.

Thank you for the things you have done to help them prepare for this great time in their lives.

Love,

Sister Gerber

Later that evening we received a short email from Elder Goff!

I have safely arrived in Detroit!! We (16 brand new missionaries) are living in the mission home for tonight, and then tomorrow we get assigned to our areas and companions. I'm so pumped! It'll be great. It really is like Idaho here, except EVERYWHERE you go it is like the landscaping of Banbury. And it's all crazy overgrown like you can barely even see the sky hahaha. I love you guys, I don't have much time to email tonight, we were only given 2 minutes! I love you, I'll get a full P-Day next week so email me lots! Love you,

- Elder Goff

Monday September 15, 2014

September 15, 2014 First Email from Elder Goff

Wow this week has been awesome! Stressful but awesome! Haha I can't remember everything that happened because our days are so jam packed, so I'm just going to write exactly what I wrote in my journal:

Wednesday: Today's the first day! My MTC companion is Elder Walker from Jordan, Utah. He's pretty chill, we get along really well!! I really like it here. I want to be able to know which questions to ask, and exactly when to ask them when teaching an investigator. The other Elders in my District are Elder Bennett and Elder Eisenstat. All of us get along well, and I feel like we will get really close over these next 12 days! I saw Jordan Hurd and Adam Saurey at dinner today and it was the best!! Oh yeah Mom, I found out I leave for Detroit on the 22nd! Our flight is at 7:30am which means we have to be at the Travel Center at the MTC at 3:30am... Yeah, it's gonna suck. But I'll live!

Thursday: Today we had TONS of class time. We are definitely growing closer to each other as a district. 2 sisters in our District aren't doing so well , so us Elders are going to be as nice as we can be and make sure everyone is included in all that we do. I got called as District Leader today by our Branch President! Elder Eisenstat and Elder Bennet were called as Zone Leaders, which covers 3 Districts, and my companion Elder Walker got called as the Sacrament Coordinator! I got a letter from Katie Hall today! That was cool. It's weird because I kept having this distinct impression that I was going to get called as the District Leader, but I was saying to myself "you've gotta be humble, sometimes you aren't gonna be in a leadership position," but I got called anyway haha. The food here is SUPER GOOD! I never go hungry. In class, our teacher has time set aside so companionships can go one by one and role play with the teacher. Our teacher Brother Mullen took the role of a kid named Tyler, and that's who we're calling our first investigator. We're teaching him tomorrow! It seems kinda weird at first to pray, listen to the Spirit, and pretend it's a real situation but if you just go with it you really learn a lot. I saw Trevan Reese today! That was awesome.

Friday: We got like 6 hours of sleep last night because we had a service project early in the morning! We just collected the trash out of a whole 3 story building on campus and there was a tonnnn. I saw Adam Saurey and Trevan Reese again today and talked to each of them for a while. They are both heading out on Monday!!! It's so crazy. My companion and I taught Tyler today! It went pretty well, he said maybe to baptism, and we'll continue to meet with him each day at the MTC as long as our teacher is there. We also taught an Aethiest (another teacher was role playing an aethiest) today as a whole class. Everyone was stumped and the discussion wasn't going anywhere but then I pulled through with Ether 12:6 saying how "your witness will not come until after the trial of your faith," and his heart softened! Got props from my district for that. We had our first gym time today and the Elders of my district played Basketball! I'm looking forward to Sunday and Monday because I want to write my family and friends! We're supposed to teach Tyler The Restoration tomorrow and my companion and I need to prepare our lesson, it's gotta be good!

Saturday: Today went by super fast!! In the morning we gave 1 minuts lessons on the Plan of Salvation and that was way tough. Then we had Brother Martin's class (another teacher of ours), and my companion and I wrote our whole lesson on the REstoration for Tyler and we got super pumped about it. Then we came back for our afternoon classes and Brother Mullen wasn't there so we couldn't teach Tyler :/ We had a sub named Brother Metcalf. He role played as a guy named William that just got out of jail, disn't have a job, and was looking to start his life over again. My comp and I had about 15-20 minutes to prepare to teach him and we came up with 3 scriptures:
2 Nephi 9:23 about Baptism

Moroni 8:25, 26 about the role of the Holy Ghost

Alma 38:8 about the peace prayer and the Holy Ghost can bring into our lives

In our lesson, a PERFECT opportunity presented itself for us to share each of those scriptures, and it was powerful. We invited him to be baptized and he said he really wants to work towards it! Even though it is role playing, prayer and inspired preparation really does work. In the role playing scene you say opening and closing prayers just like you would in a real situation. I believe God makes it so powerful in the MTC so we can have a real idea of what teaching is like before we go out. We had gym time again today and we played 4 Square and Frisbee! This one sister in our district named Sister Woodruff (her great great great Grandpa is Wilford, way cool huh!?) is a pro 4 Square player... She kicked out butts! Anyways, today was a great day, I felt the Spirit a lot.

Sunday: Wow. Today was incredible. My life has been changed forever, I will never be the same. Tad R. Callister came and gave us our Sunday Evening Devotional. He gave us an extremely detailed walkthrough of the Plan of Salvation. I learned things that I never knew before, even though I thought I knew most everthing about it. But even MORE amazing, was film time. Every Sunday night from 8:15-9:15pm we have the option to watch 1 of 4 films; The Character of Christ talk by Elder Bednar, a Joseph Smith movie, and 2 others. We were told by some other Elders in our zone that The Character of Christ would change our life, and they weren't lying. They couldn't have said anything more perfectly descriptive about it. It was absolutely phenomenal. Mom, Dad, and anyone else who wants to understand more fully, or just BEGIN to understand the Character of Christ should get this talk and watch as soon as you can. I'm telling you now, it will change your life. Here's one thing that stuck out to me in the talk: In Matthew 4:2-12, Satan tries to tempt the Savior by first, turning the rocks into bread, second, he tries to get Jesus to throw Himself off the pinnacle of a temple and get Angels to catch Him since He is the Son of God. Third, he tempts Christ with the kingdoms of the world. Elder Bednar explains that all of these temptations were just Secondary to the Primary temptation. The Devil was trying to get Christ to look inward, and take interest in Himself, as the natural man would. But Christ did not give in. We all know the story right? After He withstood those temptations, Angels came and strengthened Him. But no. In verse 11, on the word "and" there is a footnote, that informs us that this verse was not translated correctly, and that in the midst of Christ's own distress and exhaustion, He prayed that his friend John, who was in prison, would be ministered unto by Angels. This is the Character of Christ. To look outward. To turn out from ourselves, even in times of distress where the natural man would instantly turn inward to selfish desires and actions. Elder Bednar then explains that this type of character is not possible to achieve, except it be "through the Atonement of Christ" Mosiah 3:19 Which not only covers sins, infirmities, sickness, and anything that is unfair in life, but also strengthens us beyond our own capacities to learn and perform. Bringing the Character of Christ into our lives and having it become a part of us is not a quick, easy process. It will take a whole lifetim of study and prayer. And it is ONLY available through Christ's Atonement, which is also the only way by which we can gain true happiness in this life. May we strive to adopt the long-term goal of applying the Character of Christ into our own lives.

I love you guys and I miss you a lot! But I'm focused on the work!

Provo Temple with the District!

These are those new Elders in our MTC zone that are awesome!!

Wednesday September 10, 2014

Drop off day has arrived! It was time to drop Elder Goff off at the MTC. We went to the Provo Temple grounds and walked around, took pictures and spent our last hour together!