Great Week!!!!

This was a week full of Miracles I tell you! Great things happened. I love the Christmas
season so much :)

We are still teaching Rao Olibiri, our indian investigator. He's such a great man!! So
 ready to receive the Gospel. He is preparing for baptism in January! There is  a Less
Active family, a father and a son, who were baptized about a year ago who we're working
 with. They're the Garcia's, I love them to death! Man they are good, humble people. They
 came to Church for the first time in months yesterday, they loved it.On Thursday we had
 an I'm a Mormon Devotional where some recent converts speak about their conversion,
and how they gained their testimony of the truth. It was really powerful! Nze Osuagwu,
one of our recent converts here in Livonia is from Nigeria, and his conviction is so powerful!
He would be a great Gospel Principles teacher. The only problem is that people may not be
able to understand him super well because his accent is SUPER thick!! He is so great though. 

   On Thursday we went to go contact this referral who wanted a bible. Chris Street was the
name given with the referral. We knock on the door and this kid comes to the door. We ask if a
 "Chris" is home and he's like "Yes I'm right here!" we said, "is your dad named Chris??" He
says, "No!" Hahaha anyways this 10 year old kid requested a Bible and so we gave it to him.
 His Mom was in the background and we started to talk with her about the restored Gospel.
She opened up and explained how she had just gotten her kids out of foster care, and she didn't
 know how she was going to pay for Christmas. We set up a return appointment with their family
 shortly after Christmas. We then went to Ward Council on Sunday morning and told everyone
about the need of the Street family. Everyone jumped on it. 5 families of the ward wanted to
provide Christmas for them, and we are the instrument through which the Street family will
 receive this help. They gave us more than $300 to give to this family... we are planning on
 delivering that to them this evening after we carol to them with a member family. I know
they will be so grateful... It will be such an amazing experience!

   On Saturday Elder Whetzel and I had a prayer of faith before we went out tracting. We knew
 we were on the right street, where people had been prepared to receive the Gospel. One of the
 first doors we knocked this super nice african-american guy stepped out and we taught him the
 Restoration right there. He loved it, and was intrigued that God has a prophet on the Earth today
 to help him lead and guide his family in the right direction. We asked him if he knew anyone on
 his street who is in need this Christmas Season, or anyone we could go uplift. He pointed us to
 a home across the street. We knocked it and this man came out to talk with us. He expressed
how his wife has this rare disease where she has multiple seizures per day, and he can't go work
because of that, and they are struggling severely to raise 6 kids in those conditions. Also he 
mentioned how  he is a recovering alcoholic, he had been clean for 5 years and then relapsed 
this last August, has been clean since then though. We testified of the Atonement of Jesus 
Christ being infinite. Covering all, for He knows from experience, how to help us. He and his
family are about to be taught how thy can find true and lasting happiness in there lives!!! What
could be better than that?? Tell me! Nothing!
 The mission life is where it's at. We knocked 6 doors. 5/6 answered, 2 of them are investigators
now and 1 is a potential. God is looking out for his children! :)

   There are more but I don't have time to tell you about them! Just know I love you all so much
and am so grateful for the Savior! Without Him, there would be no Christmas. So lift your
neighbor, your friend, the cashier at the grocery store, the fellow in the parking lot, or the 
stranger at the gas station with this good news that the Savior lives today, and has suffered
all things so he knows how
to succor us.

 MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM DETROIT!

Elder Goff

Click here to Reply, Reply to all, or Forward

A Fast Week!!!

Hello everyone! Yesterday we had high temperatures, 67 degrees!! Felt like I was in Phoenix for Christmas break again or something. Apparently the weather broke a record that was set back in 1891 or something like that! I hope you're excited for Christmas because I am! It is truly the most wonderful time of the year. Why? Because it is the time we remember the birth of Christ most unitedly as a whole world. Don't be afraid to talk with people about why you love Christmas and what is most important to you about it! You have the potential to bring someone to a knowledge of the truth this Christmas season. 

   I've had a lot of random streaks of inspiration this week. One that stuck out to me during Sacrament Meeting yesterday is that we "witness" to do 'our part' of the Lord's work that next week. We are promised if we are willing to take upon us His name, remember Him, and keep his commandments, that His Spirit will be with us always. I struggle sometimes with understanding how I can truly repent of all that I've done wrong in a whole week, but I understood during the Sacrament that I am responsible for the things I KNOW that I did wrong. Over time, other things that I could be doing better on will be exposed to me as I sincerely study the scriptures and ponder about my life. But we "witness" unto God that we will do our absolute best to live up to the light we've received and be a witness of Him the next week.

   Neto Osuagwu is doing very well, she is preparing for Baptism for the 26th of December! Her father Nze is such a stud, so centered in the Gospel. He will be speaking at this recent convert devotional that we are having this Thursday, we are looking forward to that, his talks are so good. And his accent is the best! Straight outta Nigeria.

   We met this guy named Narasimheh Rao Olibiri this week, he goes by Rao for short. Such a humble guy. He was definitely our miracle for the week. President and Sister Gerber contacted him at the Subway he manages and sent us his address and phone number.  That was at the beginning of the transfer, we weren't able to contact him until this week though. He has a Hindu background so we are starting from square one with him about who God and Jesus Christ are. He has really good desires to come to know God, we are so happy to be working with him. He said he will be coming to Church this next Sunday. President and Sister Gerber are great examples of the principle of talking with everybody everywhere! We can all do that, member or missionary! God will place people in our paths who have been prepared to receive the restored Gospel. 

   Have a good week in Idaho, Arizona, or wherever else this email finds you!  

Love, 

Elder Goff

Everlasting Zone Conferences

November 30, 2015

Dear Family and Friends,

We had such a busy week! With balancing laboring diligently in our area, MLCM, Thanksgiving, District Meeting, and Zone Conference planning, the week goes by really fast! We have Zone Conference this next week so we will be going around the whole mission to all 5 Zones doing teaching and training, Elder Whetzel and I will give the same instruction about 25 times in all this week, we should be pros by the end. 

   We are teaching a Recent Convert named Nze's daughter, her name is Neto. She is on date for the 26th of December. When we saw her this week Nze's wife came home in the middle of the lesson and she said that she had a request to make... that SHE WANTED TO BE BAPTIZED WITH NETO!!! :))) That was a great surprise, we will be working hard to prepare them both for Baptism later this month :) We had the great opportunity to exercise the Priesthood this week: This Less Active member of our ward called us and asked us to go to the hospital and give his mother-in-law, who is not a member of the Church, a blessing. She must've been in a car wreck or something, she was in pretty bad shape, really fragile. As I laid my hands upon her head I knew in my heart and mind without a doubt that I was acting for God right at that moment for this precious daughter. She had a couple of family members there with her who felt the Spirit during the blessing, it was a good experience. 

   A miracle we saw this week was when we felt inspired to knock on this one door. The drunk Irishman (bald but big red beard) said he didn't believe in God or Jesus Christ (although he had a cross tattooed on his chest... i thought that was really funny) but he referred us to his friend Dustin just down the street who just lost his job and was going through a hard time! He turned out to be very willing to listen to the gospel! Another one: After a few hours of tracting, we were walking back to our car and this woman went flying into her driveway. Decided to talk to her and she was open to the restoration! Believed our words and was excited about the truth.

   The Lord has "Hastened His Work in His time," and a HUGE part of that is sharing the Gospel on the web. He has inspired the leaders of His Church to do another Christmas initiative this year, much like "He is the Gift" from last year! This year it is called, "A Savior Is Born." The message to share along with the video is "Discover Why." I invite you to watch it once for yourself, then say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father who YOU should share it with. A name or face will come to mind as you watch it again with faith. Then go and do what the Lord inspired you too, and help someone in your sphere of responsibility discover why a Savior is Born.

   I love you all, I know that we all have the power to help others come to a knowledge of the truth. All we must do is Ask, Receive Inspiration, then Go and Do what God tells you to. Imagine what a great gift to Jesus Christ this would be this Christmas season if each person that sees this video would do that. Let us all participate in missionary work this Christmas season, our efforts will be a sign unto God of how we feel towards Him and His Son, and His atoning sacrifice He made for us. 

Elder Goff

December 7, 2015

Dear Family and Friends, 

This week was super busy!! We went all over the mission with the Gerbers for Zone Conferences. We had one on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and the last one is tomorrow. They're each about 8 hours long, plus the travel time to get to them all. It was draining to instruct for that long and that consistently but it was good! We feel it was a great success. We trained on Teaching Skills, how we can be more effective in our teaching. We gave practical ways to do that and all of the missionaries thought they were great ideas and said they would start applying them immediately!

   On December 4th, President and Sister Gerber took us to this live nativity called "One Night in Bethlehem" that the Grand Blanc Stake in our mission puts on every year. It was a great spiritual experience, I felt the Holy Ghost strongly when the shepherds in the field were testifying that they had seen the sign of the Savior's birth. I know that He was born more than two-millennia ago, and that at that very moment, the history of mankind changed forever. After the great nativity they took us out for dinner to Chinese! It was an early birthday present. Then on my birthday the 5th, Elder Whetzel took me to Texas Roadhouse for dinner. I got spoiled! Sister Gerber called my Mom and got the recipe to my favorite dessert and then she made it for me, I was super surprised! It was great.

   We contacted a referral on Sunday, it was a pretty neat experience. We met this guy at the library named Zach. The referral said that he wanted a Book of Mormon! We were excited to give it to him. We met him there and got to know him a little bit. He came in contact with the Church in a very unique way, he plays an online game called "League of Legends" I don't know anything about it, but apparently this girl that he was playing online with told him about prayer and how much peace and comfort it has brought her in her own life. She taught him about The Holy Ghost, and how to listen to the promptings He gives us. Before all of this, this guy was basically agnostic, not believing anything, but he tried praying! And he felt The Holy Ghost! She then told him that he needed to read the Book of Mormon and talk with the missionaries. So we are teaching him now and he is super open!! That is my miracle for the week. What a great testimony that WE CAN SHARE THE GOSPEL ANYTIME AND IN ANYPLACE. That's what God would have us do! We promise to be a witness at all times and in all things and in all places right?? EVEN online! What a great story, I love it!

   I LOVE all of the resources our Heavenly Father has provided for us to use to share His Gospel. The internet is one of the easiest ways to do that. If you haven't watched "A Savior Is Born" yet, you should! Do it before you forget! It'll only be a lift in your day :) In addition to watching that, if you scroll down after the video is done you'll come across another video entitled, "Imagine a World Without a Savior." As you watch both of those videos together you'll see that the latter helps you fulfill the invitation the first one poses: 'Discover why we need a Savior.' I know that without our Savior Jesus Christ, all would be lost. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said,

   "What a plight! The entire human race in free fall—every man, woman, and child in it physically tumbling toward permanent death, spiritually plunging toward eternal anguish. Is that what life was meant to be? Is this the grand finale of the human experience? Are we all just hanging in a cold canyon somewhere in an indifferent universe, each of us searching for a toehold, each of us seeking for something to grip—with nothing but the feeling of sand sliding under our fingers, nothing to save us, nothing to hold on to, much less anything to hold on to us? Is our only purpose in life an empty existential exercise—simply to leap as high as we can, hang on for our prescribed three score years and ten, then fail and fall, and keep falling forever? The answer to those questions is an unequivocal and eternal no!"

   But WITHOUT The Savior, the answer to all of those questions would be an unequivocal and eternal YES! That's why He is our Savior, in every sense of the word. From death, from pain, from eternal and never-ending goodbyes. He is the reason for the season, and I feel so grateful to be able to proclaim this good news this Christmas to these great Michiganders.

  I hope you all have a great week and remember why we celebrate! I love you!

Elder Goff

Elder Whetzel and Elder Goff

Sister Gerber made Elder Goff's favorite pie for his birthday!!

Elder Whetzel and Elder Goff at the live Nativity

Elder Whetzel took Elder Goff to Texas Road House on his birthday!!  

Yummy Rolls!!!

Elder Goff and Sister Beauchamp who is headed to Boise, Idaho on her mission!!

First week with Elder Whetzel-Livonia

Hi Everyone!!

 My new companion is Elder Whetzel, he's a great guy! We get along well and we are pretty unified in our teaching which is great. He's from Lehi, Utah. My second Utah companion in a row, what a surprise! Even though he's from Utah he's a good companion. We are similar in a lot of ways, it's cool because he served with Elder Hidie too so we have both picked up a few of his African mannerisms haha. We are doing well.

   This last week we didn't get to spend a lot of time working in our area, we drove around the mission for about 6 hours after Transfers on Tuesday and then on Wednesday I drove all the way up to Rochester for Zone Meeting only to find out that they weren't holding Zone Meeting at that chapel! So I drove to the Grand Blanc Chapel which is the stake center, and no one was there either. Then I finally arrived at the Lapeer Chapel about halfway into Zone Meeting since these Chapels are spread so far apart. So that was a long day in the car as well. 

   I received an insight from the Stake President's talk at the adult session of stake conference. It was sparked by this quote from him: "Don't assume that others and their thoughts/ideas are irrational, assume that they are rational from their perspective." It made me think of God and how he sees us, He sees everything about us, not just one irrational thought or idea that we have. Therefore he is able to see us as his children with divine potential rather than someone who is a lost cause because of their mistakes. We should strive to be like Him in that aspect, to understand others and their point of view instead of condemning them for what we see or hear on the outside! It reminds me of a line from Spencer W. Kimball's speech: "Jesus the Perfect Leader" 'Jesus was able to condemn the sin without condemning the individual... He saw the sin as a result of unmet needs of the sinner.' I think we could all strive to be better in this aspect of our lives. As we do this we can pray for Charity, and we will truly be able to see people through God's eyes, rather than our own. 

   Here's a neat miracle we saw this week: We went over to Patriarch Day 's home this week for a member finding visit and we had a pretty cool experience. We asked him about his missionary efforts and He said that he had received a random phone call a few days ago from this woman that was actually looking for Patriarch Day's son, who is the Bishop of one of the wards in the mission. But she said she wanted to learn about the Church! So Patriarch Day said that he would call her the next day and invite her over for dinner sometime next week. Then at stake conference he came up to us and said that he had called her and she was excited to come over and learn about the Church over a meal with us and him! It's a testimony that God is preparing people at their own pace and in His good timing. Some people will come seeking for the truth, and others will wait for it to be brought to them! But those who will receive it will embrace the restored gospel as we teach them. 

   Let us be grateful this week for all the little things in our lives! I'm planning on saying prayers of gratitude at least once a day this week, prayers where I don't ask for anything, but just thank God for the blessings in my life. In whatever way you can this week, try to show your thankfulness to God and those around you! I know that as we do we will radiate the Light of Christ to others, and we will be happy in our lives. I love you all so much! Have a great Thanksgiving.

Elder Goff

Transfer Week Already!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This transfer has gone by quickly! We have kept busy and have been diligent in our finding and teaching efforts. We got a pretty big surprise Sunday morning after ward council: We walked out of Ward Council and President and Sister Gerber were in the foyer talking with people. They almost NEVER make it to the Livonia Ward because the have to speak in other wards and take care of other responsibilities elsewhere. So we knew they were here for something, we just didn't know what. Then President pulled Elder Fluckiger aside and talked with him for a minute. When he left, Sister Gerber came up to me and told me that Elder Fluckiger is going to be a Zone Leader next transfer and I will be getting a new companion! That was so surprising! We were banking on being together for at least 6 more months. But The Lord needs him to be a Zone Leader to strengthen our mission. My new companion will be Elder Whetzel, he's a great guy, I get along with him well. He was actually companions with Elder Hidie prior to me being with Elder Hidie so that's a good connection too. 

   This last week was pretty good, we taught a few people who we found tracting, and found a new investigator named Kevin, he's a 23 year old who is pretty involved in his Church but he wanted to learn more. He was just sitting in his car in the street and we walked up and started talking with him, super cool guy! We'll see how solid he is though when we get to teach him this week. 

   We met this lady named GG (Jee-Jee) while tracting and we had a really good Restoration lesson with her as well. We couldn't set up another time to come see her but she said she would "Call us before the snow hits the ground" and the weather's getting colder so that should be pretty soon! 

   William Lomas was Confirmed yesterday and he received the Aaronic Priesthood, I am so happy for him!! He is so great. He has gotten pretty well integrated into the Ward and everyone loves him. I'm so grateful to have been able to teach him this transfer. 

   So here's something that I want each and every one of you that receives my emails to do okay?? I want you to promise that before you even read what it is! It's not difficult, so don't fret :) It's a way that you can become a missionary in just a few minutes. 

Here are some quotes from Prophets and Apostles of these latter days concerning missionary work. Read them carefully and ponder how what they are saying applies to you today in your missionary efforts.

President Spencer W. Kimball (1973–1985) “Now is the moment in the timetable of the Lord to carry the gospel farther than it has ever been carried before. . . . Many a person in this world is crying, knowingly and unknowingly, ‘Come over . . . and help us.’ He might be your neighbor. She might be your friend. He might be a relative. She might be someone you met only yesterday. But we have what they need. Let us take new courage from our studies and pray, as did Peter, ‘And now, Lord, . . . grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word’ (Acts 4:29)”

President Gordon B. Hinckley (1995– ) “We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory, ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’ (Moses 1:39). Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere” (in Conference Report, Apr. 1995, 94; or Ensign, May 1995, 71). “Let there be cultivated an awareness in every member’s heart of his own potential for bringing others to a knowledge of the truth. Let him work at it. Let him pray with great earnestness about it” 

   “Now is the time for members and missionaries to come together, to work together, to labor in the Lord’s vineyard to bring souls unto Him. He has prepared the means for us to share the gospel in a multitude of ways,and He will assist us in our labors if we will act in faith to fulfill His work.”

 -President Monson

 “Fear will be replaced with faith and confidence when members and the full-time missionaries kneel in prayer and ask the Lord to bless them with missionary opportunities. Then, we must demonstrate our faith and watch for opportunities to introduce the gospel of Jesus Christ to our Heavenly Father’s children, and surely those opportunities will come…It is impossible for us to fail when we do our best when we are on the Lord’s errand…Trust the Lord. He is the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep, and His sheep know His voice”

 -Elder M. Russell Ballard

After you've read these, watch this Mormon Message:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-07-006-the-hope-of-gods-light?lang=eng

As you watch it, pay close attention to the people or names that come to your mind of who YOU should share the Gospel with. God WILL assist you if you watch this video, having faith that you will receive. 

After you've watched it and received the prompting, share this video with that person whom the Lord inspired you to reach out to. Write a short note with the video saying something to the effect of: "I was watching this video and your name came to mind. I feel that you would enjoy this message. Let me know how you like it!"

As we receive inspiration for who we should share The Gospel with, there will be power behind our words. Our friends will have a fair opportunity to learn more about the Restored Gospel, and you will be made an instrument in God's hands. I know that if we couple our efforts with those of the full-time missionaries in our wards then we will see miracles! Souls will be brought to Christ, and joy will be had. Let me know about the tender mercies and inspiration that you receive from doing this quick challenge! I love you all so much and am grateful for the support of loving family and friends. May we all be grateful enough for the Gospel in our lives that we share it with others. Have a fantastic week.

Elder Goff

Elder Fluckiger and Elder Goff at the Old Detroit Burger Bar-Yum!!!

Murals like this are all over Detroit!

Lots of people like to argue and say that Jesus was black, this is a mighty expression of that opinion.

Baptism and a great week!!

Hello Everyone,

  William's Baptism was Sunday!! I'll send pictures of it so you can see him, he's a great man, I was honored to Baptize him. It was a different experience actually being in the font with the person being Baptized! It went well, only took one try and afterwards William said "I feel clean!" It was a great experience.

   On Tuesday we instructed the New Missionaries that were finishing up their first transfer in the mission field. It went well, Elder Fluckiger and I feel that they understood what was taught and we enjoyed being with them for the day. We have so many great missionaries in the MDM! I can't complain about any of them. 

   We went on a lot of exchanges this week, we worked with 3 different companionships, for one exchange I actually got to go down to Ypsi South, one of my previous areas! I was with Elder Ferguson there for a day. 

   On Thursday we had MLCM, we talked a lot about Member Missionary Work, it was great! We watched a talk that Elder M. Russell Ballard gave a few years ago about 'The Hastening of The Work'. I would encourage all of you to watch that and determine what YOUR responsibility is in this great cause we have been enlisted in. Here's the link:

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2013-06-1030-elder-l-tom-perry?category=hasten-the-work/special-broadcast-the-work-of-salvation&lang=eng

   

   Sunday there was a pretty big surprise that neither Elder Fluckiger nor I was expecting! We got to Church and at about 10 till the whole Stake Presidency walked in and we knew it wasn't Stake or Ward Conference... I was wondering why they were there. It's funny because the same exact thing happened to me in the Ypsilanti Ward only a few months prior to this, but what happened is the Bishopric got reorganized! The new Bishop is Bishop Ordaz, he's from Mexico but he speaks really good English, he is a good man. SUPER humble, it was an emotional Sacrament Meeting, the Stake President President Medley talked about how he received the distinct impression that Brother Ordaz should be the next Bishop multiple times. He said, "It took a lot of faith for me to extend this call to Brother Ordaz. I know that sounds weird but let me explain..." Then he went on to talk about how Brother Ordaz has an insane work schedule right now, working 14 hour days. He has 4 boys, all Deacon aged or younger, and one of them is disabled, in a wheelchair all the time. President Medley said "I can't even look at Brother Ordaz without crying right now Brothers and Sisters, but I know he is to be your Bishop." He also went on to talk about how when he received his call as a Stake President, his schedule was crazy, being called into work at the worst hours having to miss important things with family/Church callings but in his 8 Years of being Stake President, he has only had to miss 3 important meetings related to his Church calling. The Lord performs His perfect work through imperfect servants, and He strengthens them in ways that we wouldn't even imagine sometimes! The previous Bishop bore his testimony of Bishop Ordaz's call as well, it was powerful! We are looking forward to working closely with him with the little time that he has to move the work of salvation forward in his area of stewardship. 

I love you all so much! Thanks for all of your support of myself and many of my friends who are privileged to call ourselves full time servants of the Lord. We couldn't do it without you! This is The Lord's work, and he will place people in our paths who are ready for the Gospel in small or large measures. We just need to be ready to share it at all times, and in all places. Being an example of the believers as President Monson exhorted us to do this last conference. Have a great week, and talk with somebody about who the restored Gospel and the Church of Jesus Christ has improved your life :)

-Elder

Week 4 in Livonia

Hey everyone!! We saw a few miracles this week while tracting. We call the process that we go through to determine where we will go tracting "Revelation through the GPS." We pray to be sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and ask to be led exactly where God would have us be to find people who are ready to receive His Gospel. We met 4 super great people this way this week, they were all prepared to hear our message. One of them in particular was pretty amazing, I'll share the experience with you: 

   As you could imagine, knocking on peoples' doors to talk to them about The Gospel does not always go well, most of the people we talk with don't want to talk with us. But I've found that if you can talk WITH them, and not AT them, the hard heart that you first see when they open the door softens and it turns into a great Gospel conversation. That's exactly what happened with this lady named Michelle this week. Knocked on the door and she opened it, and you could tell she did NOT want to talk to anyone haha, but I asked her, "How was your day?" mind you this is at about 8:15pm and it gets dark here at 5:30pm. Anyways, she replies and says that she's actually been having a terrible day! Getting divorced, but still living with her husband until it was finalized so lots of contention, credit cards maxed, her landlord was going to kick her out soon, she struggles with smoking, and there were other things too. The weight of the world was upon her shoulders, or so she felt. The Spirit whispered to me, "Teach her about the Atonement." Alma 7:11-13 came to mind. I expounded those scriptures to her about the intense suffering of Our Savior, and what that means for us each day. She was edified and uplifted, and desired to learn more about the Book of Mormon. We are actually meeting with her tonight at the Church building to teach her about it. When people see our sincere interest and love for them, and feel our faith in the converting power of the Gospel, they will be much more receptive to learning more. I know that Jesus Christ will lift us up as we seek his strength! With his Apostles on the Earth today I testify that He lives. And because He lives, if we will reach out to Him, he will respond. I love you all, sorry for the short letter today! Have a fantastic week :)

-Elder Goff

Week 3 in Livonia

Dear Family and Family,

This week we tried to get to know the members of the Livonia Ward as much as we could, we had some great dinners in their homes! Mom you don't have to worry about me not being fed. Also yesterday for lunch I made a stir fry in this giant frying pan that we have in our apartment, Red, Green, and Yellow Bell Peppers, Onions, Carrots, Stir Fry Beef, some Eggs, Sweet Spicy Chili and a homemade Orange Sauce were all the ingredients. Needless to say we had a fantastic meal :D It was like having Mongo's Grill right there in our apartment!

   I like our area a lot, there's a lot of diversity! From the Ghettos of Detroit to the wealthy areas of Farmington Hills there's a large span of lifestyles in the Livonia Ward. Elder Fluckiger and I have been getting along well, he's a great guy. We've gotten closer as we've discussed our weaknesses and make plans for the goals we've set of how to improve. There's a LOT to work on as a missionary, but as we attack one weakness at a time I know that Christ will strengthen us through the "power of His deliverance." I've noticed that that phrase is found a lot in the scriptures, reminding me that Christ has the power to deliver us out of anything we may go through in this life. 

    I have been pondering about Baptism this week. In D&C 20:37 (my ponderizing scripture for the week) it says "All who DESIRE to be Baptized..." then The Lord goes on to explain the requirements for Baptism into His Church. The bottom line is, in order for the ordinance of Baptism to do it's job and have the proper cleansing effect on a person, that individual must sincerely want it. If we sincerely want the Lord's help in any aspect of our lives we can receive it. I know that that is true! The sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us, from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Cross and concluding with His Resurrection is infinite. In EVERY sense of the word. Covering all forms of life, the most grievous of sins, and the most heartbreaking of tragedies.

   But that is not all! His sacrifice offers us the gift of Grace. Grace is not the allowance of sin or mistakes because God loves us. It is the power that enables us to become what God wants us to be. We ALL have divine potential as sons and daughters of Heavenly Father, and we will mess that up on our own! But with the enabling power of grace that lifts us beyond our own abilities to be good and do better each day, we are capable of overcoming our sins and weaknesses to stand blameless before our Father and His Son at the last day.

   Before my mission I don't really know how strong my testimony of Jesus Christ was. Ever since I was a child I sang songs about Him, knew that my Church had His name in it, and when I heard his Name or stories associated with Him I had a sense of reverence and respect for them. But on my mission, I have felt of His Love for me as an individual. I have overcome some of my weaknesses and felt His loving reassurance that Repentance and Forgiveness is a real thing, as Elder Allen Haynie testified at General Conference. 

   In third hour on Sunday we discussed Elder Holland's talk "Where Justice, Love, and Mercy Meet" by Elder Holland in April 2015 Conference. I listened to His talk again afterwards and I also listened to President Uchtdorf's talk from this last Conference entitled, "It Works Wonderfully!" I testify with both of these Apostles that The Gospel does work. The Atonement is real and Christ's "power of deliverance" is infinite. Will you all look up these talks on LDS.org and read them?? Then ponder about your relationship with God and your experiences with Him? I know it will be a help and inspiration to you if you do. Ask yourself: Are you where you want to be? Is your path of discipleship bright and cheerful? If not we're doing something wrong! I know as you do these things you'll be able to find the next step in your conversion to Christ, no matter what that may be.

   This Sunday was the primary program, and I felt the Spirit testify of the reality of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer as they sang these simple words: 

"I know He lives! I will follow faithfully. My love I give to Him. I know that my Savior loves me." 

I love you all, have a wonderful week. :D

-Elder Goff <-----MDM----->

2nd Week in Livonia

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was pretty good, we had a lot of exchanges and that made it go by really quickly. Elder Fluckiger and I get along really well! He's a great guy, we're tearing it up here in the Livonia Ward. 

   A miracle we saw this week: We asked this lady we met who wasn't very interested for a referral and she referred her neighbor who has a drinking problem to us. We didn't think it was a very solid referral but we contacted it in the next couple of days and when we did we met this man's wife, who then told us that her son was a member of our Church in Westland! And that she would like to learn more. We set up another appointment and we went to see her and we met her son, he was there for a halloween party at his Mom's house. Turns out he's NOT a member, but he investigated for a LONG TIME in Canton and he loves The Church!! Him and his wife are super interested! If we had never asked the first lady who wasn't interested for referrals we never would've met these people! Crazy how The Lord works sometimes. 

   We are really focusing on member missionary work, and I found in Preach My Gospel a lot of quotes concerning that, I'd like to share a few with you:

“We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory, ‘to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man’ (Moses 1:39). Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere. Let there be cultivated an awareness in every member’s heart of his own potential for bringing others to a knowledge of the truth. Let him work at it. Let him pray with great earnestness about it” -Gordon B. Hinckley

“We have heard that we are all missionaries. Every member … is or ought to be a missionary; … as members of the Church, having pledged ourselves to the advancement of the gospel of Jesus Christ we become missionaries. That is part of the responsibility of every member of the Church”

-Joseph Fielding Smith

There are many more quotes from the modern Prophets The Lord has called in these Latter Days. I add my testimony to theirs that if the members of Christ's Church will labor side by side, hand in hand with the missionary force, this Gospel truly will be taken to all the world, and it will be taken with convincing power unto the children of God. Have a great week ya'll!

-Elder Goff

First week in Livonia!!

Hello Everyone,

   My new area is Livonia North, I've loved it so far! Part of our area is in Detroit so I can officially say I have served in Detroit now :) We drive a minivan so that's pretty fun, it's a Dodge Caravan. Whenever we pull up to an appointment I feel kinda weird getting out of a van, I wonder what our investigators think? I'm sure I'll get used to it.

   As Assistants we have to do a lot of administrative stuff that is pretty menial sometimes, it is a privilege to be able to have my own personal studies now and have time to proselyte in my own area! I like it though, I'm looking forward to working closely with President Gerber, he is a great man!! I love him so much. I'm trying to be the best example I can to the mission by working hard and being exactly obedient.

   My new companion is Elder Fluckiger! He's from Highland, Utah and he's a stud! Played the trumpet back home, he can sing pretty well, we get along. I know we'll be able to move the work forward here in the Michigan Detroit Mission as we seek Heavens help together.

   I'll start off talking about the day of transfers! We ended up driving all over the mission to deliver bikes and other things to missionaries that they needed  nearly the entire day, I felt super unproductive because of that! We were able to go out and work that night though so that helped out a lot. 

   We are teaching a lot of people here! We are working with 4 individuals who are planning on being baptized within the next month. I talked to Elder Chandler today and he said the Helena, our Chinese Investigator back in Ypsi North, came to Church on Sunday!! That was great to hear. He said that she borrowed his Gospel Principles book and said she would read it. 

   I want to close by talking about thise experience we had last night while tracting at about 8:45pm.

We talked with this guy who had lost all of his faith that God even existed, and he kept asking us to prove to him that there is a God. You could tell by conversing with him the hole that was in his life. So much negativity lingered off of each word he said. The light in his eyes was dim, and we tried our best to help him gain a correct understanding of faith but he ended up just closing the door on us. I likened it to Lehi's dream of the Tree of Life. The mists of darkness obviously dominated this man's vision. He was blinded and deceived so he could not see clearly, even when truth was presented to him. Satan can't just desensitize us like that very quickly, but over time as we give into temptation, we allow the darkness more and more into our lives until we can't even see what really matters in life. So what is the prevention and solution to this problem?? The iron rod Nephi described. If we hold fast to the word of God, we never will fall away because our sights will be clear and we will exercise prudence in our decisions. I know that if we study our scriptures consistently, the adversary will have a much harder time entering our lives.

   Have a good week everyone!

-Elder Goff

New Companions-Elder Fluckiger and Elder Goff

Elder Hidie and Elder Goff, dropping off at the airport.

Elder Goff will sure miss Elder Hidie

Elder Price and Elder Goff

Conference Weekend

Dear Family and Friends,

  I was able to go to the temple this week for my year mark! It was
awesome, I hadn't been in over 7 months so it was very refreshing. At
the end of my year mark trip President Gerber pulled me aside and
asked me if I would be his next Assistant! That was pretty unexpected,
but I accepted so I will be getting transferred tomorrow to Livonia.
 Well this week was great, and it was topped off with the voice of
Jesus Christ speaking through his Apostles and Prophet. I had a few
complex questions and concerns that I was seeking answers to and I
received all of them! Now all that is left to do as Elder David A.
Bednar implored is not only to "hear" the words of the Prophets, but
to "heed" them as well.
   General Conference gives us our revelation from God for the next
6-Months. Each of these 6-Month periods is the time to apply what
we've learned and been invited to do. It is a time of Spiritual Growth
and Maturation, and as we unify ourselves with the Prophets and
therefore the Lord's heart and mind, we will be blessed more than any
other way. Christ said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." If we
love Him, we will do what He asks. He has declared, "Whether by mine
own voice, or by the voice of my servants, it is the same."
   The world's values are ever-changing. As we hold fast to Ancient
and Modern Scripture we will find that we are not swayed by the winds
of doctrine blown by the world. As we center our lives in the restored
Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will discover true purpose, peace, and
direction in life. How grateful I am for the gift of living
mouthpieces of our Savior Jesus Christ.
   How are you going to follow the counsel of the living Prophets in
the next few weeks? I'm making a plan for myself to follow to adapt to
what I have learned. I'm going to be doing a ton of ponderizing with
my new companion! I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love His
Church, and all the truth found therein. I hope you all have a
wonderful week of change!

-Elder Goff

A great ropin' week in Ypsilanti

Hello Everyone,

Shoutout to Elder Mason Rankin in the Mississippi Jackson Mission! He
hit his year mark this last week. Love ya Elder Rankin!

   Elder Chandler and I are doing great! Bossing it up in Ypsilanti.
He taught me how to rope steers, so that has been pretty fun, watch
the video if you want to see that in action.
The sisters in our district had a baptism last weekend so that was
great, they are working hard! Elder Cooper and Elder Ferguson have an
investigator who they brought to the Baptism and he felt the Spirit
super strongly, he's on date now for October 18th, Clarissa's
Birthday! He is an old biker dude, he's super cool, it'll be awesome
to see him enter the waters of baptism.
   We have been finding and teaching a lot of people, the struggle now
is finding someone who will work towards baptism and actually get
there! We have found a few pretty solid individuals this last week, we
hope we can help them be baptized.
   We found a Chinese couple this week, the wife was super interested
and the husband was pretty neutral, with a lot of doubts. We brought
some members of the ward who served their missions in China over so
they could communicate, turns out the members learned Cantanese on
their missions though, and these people speak Mandarin. Sooo we may be
out of luck for the time being, we may have to snag Elder Song up from
Ann Arbor on exchange for our lessons with them!
   We had 2 experiences this week where on the first door of the day
we knocked we were able to teach the people and make appointments for
later! Those were big blessings we saw this week. We also found 2
really solid people who actually live in different areas of the
mission so we sent their info as a referral to those missionaries.
   I love my mission and the MDM!! We'll keep working in faith and I
know we will receive. I appreciate all of your prayers and concern for
me and my work, I love you all so much! Have a great week.

-Elder Goff