Rough week this week, not gonna lie!!

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was kind of rough I'm not going to lie! A lot of the people
we have been teaching have been difficult to get ahold of so that was
frustrating. But we just pushed through and went to work.  

On Wednesday we went on exchange after District Meeting and that
was good, I went to the North area with Elder Ross and Elder Harker
came down here to the South area with Elder Stubblefield. Our
apartment is nicer than theirs so I am grateful for that! Haha :)
Elder Ross is a great guy and missionary, I look forward to serving in
this ward with him more!
Friday we tracted a lot because all of our appointments fell
through and we didn't get to teach any lessons so that was kind of
disappointing! But a member bought us Jet's Pizza for dinner so that
was a great way to end our day.
 Saturday morning we had an Easter Brunch in the ward and we were
able to show the new Easter video the Church just came out with at it
so that was awesome! If you haven't seen it yet, check it out on:
http://www.mormon.org/eastercid=99115405&gclid=CO3rjfu70MQCFU07gQodYTcABA
Also on that website this week it goes through the events during the
last week of Christ's mortal ministry, lots of things to learn and see
there! :)
 Sunday was wonderful, I loved it! All of the meetings were edifying
and uplifting. Third hour was especially great. Since it was 5th
Sunday  it was a combined meeting and we were taught by the Stake
Public Affairs Specialists. They gave a great presentation and showed
the awesome videos the Church has come out with for Easter these past
2 years. They also showed clips of Elder Bednar's talk entitled, "To
Sweep The Earth As With A Flood." He talks a lot about what we can do
to flood the Earth with good, uplifting messages, which will directly
combat and eventually overcome the evils that dominate the internet. I
know that we are led my Apostles and Prophets today and I am SO
grateful for the opportunity we have to hear from them every 6 Months.
It's interesting how General Conference falls on Easter this year, and
it is always around the time when we are celebrating Christ's
Resurrection, because we are reminded that He Lives, and he speaks to
us through his servants. If we think of Conference that way, that we
are literally hearing the words Christ would share with us, I think we
will get a lot more out of it. Anyways, I hope you all have a
wonderful Easter Week! Remember what it is all really about! Christ
Lives. He leads, guides, and directs His Church on the Earth today,
and we can all be a part of it. I love you! Have a great week :)

-Elder Goff

Long but fun week!!!

 Dear Family and Friends,

This week was great!! It feels like it was super long but we had
fun too.  On Wedensday we had Zone Conference and it was amazing. The
Bloomfield Hills Stake President spoke to us first and talked about
being able to recognize The Holy Ghost and how it is a lifelong
process. He's a surgeon, a really accomplished man! But he puts God
first in his life, you can see it in his countenance and when he
speaks. We were then instructed by the Assistants, the Sister Training
Leaders, and our Zone Leaders. It was a great boost for the week and
we went out and worked hard after that!
On Thursday we went tracting in the morning in this neighborhood
where a member lives. We knocked a whole street and not a single
person answered, that made us question whether we should be spending
our time there or not. So we prayed to ask if we should go somewhere
else and we felt like we should, so we left and went to this Town Home
Complex we had in mind. We were able to teach 3 lessons that day, and
then have a member present lesson later that evening, so it was a
great day, mainly because we were tracting in the place the Lord would
have us be.
   We continued to tract in this complex throughout the rest of our
week and we ended up finding 3 new people to teach and they seem to be
progressing well, one of them promised he would be at Church this next
Sunday! And all of these people are black, it is wonderful. Tyrone,
Tyrell, LaTasha, you name it, it is great!  
Sunday evening we went to our Ward Mission Leaders home and
shared a meal with them. Their names are the Leindeckers, they are
awesome! He is a great ward mission leader, we will definitely be able
to work well with him to coordinate the work in the ward.
   I love you all, thank you so much for the love and support from
you! I am doing great here in the North Shores South area. Have a
blessed week!

-Elder Goff

I asked Nick to send some pics of his new apartment, here is what he sent!

Desk

Kitchen

Bedroom

Closet

Had to laugh at this one, but it sure looks clean!! 

North Shores Ward-Clinton Township, Michigan

Hello family and friends,

Well, I got transferred to the North Shores South area! We share the ward
with another set of Elders. My new companion is Elder Stubblefield! He
is from Liberia, I love him already! I don't have a lot of time today
but I'll make up for it next week.
   I am doing well in the new area, it's kind of stressful not knowing
where anything is and stuff but I am adjusting well! We have a few
people we are teaching who are progressing so that is good. We have
been doing a lot of tracting.
   Here's an experience we had while tracting this week:
   We knock on this door and there is music just blasting super loud
so we don't even think they will hear the knock or the doorbell, but
then the second story window opened and a black guy was like,
"Whatup!?" We started to tell him that we were missionaries and he was
like, "I'm in da studio! We ON TAPE!"  Elder Stubblefield then
gestured to him with a card in hand and the guy yelled, "Leave it in
da mailbox brothah!" Hahaha It was great.
 Sunday was really good, I love the North Shores ward! The members
here are great. I hope that you all had a good week, I did! It's just
all jumbled up in my head because of all the new experiences I am
having and stuff. I will be more collected next week!
   Here is my new address if you want to write me: 36571 Holiday
Circle West Apt #1 Clinton Township, MI 48035. Love you all!

-Elder Goff

First day in North Shores ward with Elder Stubblefield

Elder Stubblefield and Elder Goff

My last week in Brighton!!

Hello Family and Friends,

We got transfer calls Saturday evening! Elder Hatch is staying here
in Brighton and I am leaving and will be District Leader in my next
area, and will finish training another Elder. I am excited for change
but sad because I love the people here in Brighton so much! The ward
is wonderful and our investigators are great! I will miss it for sure.
But it is the Lord's will for me to leave so I know it's all in my
best interest!
   This week was great! We taught quite a few lessons and found one
more person to teach as well. Axel Lichtenberg (the RM from Ukraine)
took us to lunch with two of his friends from highschool and they are
somewhat interested in the Gospel now so that is wonderful! I love
righteous returned missionaries, they are the best. If every member
gave referrals like Axel does, the work would progress so much faster!
   We got the cops called on us this week so that was fun haha. The
cop told us that people were freaking out about 2 guys dressed in all
black in the neighborhood, but then he said he knew that we were
sharing the Gospel so he was proud of us, so that was pretty cool.
   We had a lesson with our investigator Joe this week. He had read
through 1 Nephi 4! He said that he is really searching for truth and
he thinks this might be it. He is a great guy, I really hope he
continues to progress with Elder Hatch and his new companion!
   District Meeting this week was really great, we focused on
Christlike Attributes. I learned a lot from the instructions that
members of our District gave. Those attributes are gifts from God, and
take a lot of hard work and determination to obtain them! I am going
to focus on a select few of them this next transfer, I'm looking
forward to learning and becoming more like Christ!
   We helped Bishop Cook and his family finish moving on Thursday, I
love the Cooks! They are such an awesome family.
   This weekend was Stake Conference so we attended the Adult Session
Saturday Evening and the general session on Sunday at 10:00! The
theme seemed to be ministering to others, and how that is what Christ
did. He did not sit in an office and wait for people to come to Him!
He went out and was among the people serving them! It was so great, I
love being able to hear the words of inspired leaders. Elder Perkins
and Elder Lansing of the Seventy came to represent the First
Presidency and they called a new Stake President! Brother Aeschbacher,
a member of the Brighton ward whom we love, is the 2nd Counselor in
the Stake Presidency now so that's pretty cool! I definitely felt the
love that our Prophet Thomas S. Monson has for us through the words of
the general authorites. It was a great conference.
   It is a bittersweet time right now as I am about to leave my first
area of my mission! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have
had to serve here among these wonderful saints in Brighton, Michigan.
May we all choose to minister a little more in the areas in which we
live! It will make our families, Church families, Communities, and
ultimately the world a better place to live in if we but serve one
another with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. I love you all
so much! Have a fantastic week :)

-Elder Goff

This is Elder Goff with the Cook family.  Brother Cook is the Bishop of the Brighton Ward! 

Elder Goff will miss this wonderful family!!

First of all, TODAY is my Mom's birthday!! She is awesome, I love her
so much :) <3 

My first son Elder Hatch is almost all grown up now!  Only 1 more week to go and he should
 be ready to train someone else.
This week was great, I'll share a few experiences.
 On Tuesday we went on exchange, Elder Stubbs who is serving in
Howell came down to Brighton with me and Elder Hatch went up to Howell
with Elder Woolf! It was great, Elder Stubbs is a fantastic
missionary. It was a good exchange, we met one young woman who said we
could come back in the evening and then her dad would be home so we
could come in and share a message with them. So in the evening we went
back with a returned missionary named Axel, and we taught a great
lesson. Axel's faith was so strong, I want to be a great member
missionary like that when I get home.
   This week we tracted A LOT. Like almost 14 hours, but we saw that
our sacrifice brought us blessings. Our District is really picking up
speed, we all have someone who is on baptismal date and progressing so
that is wonderful! The work is hastening, I KNOW IT! I am in the midst
of it and am grateful to witness it firsthand.
   We had a great lesson with a less-active member who's father is the
Stake Executive Secretary. Axel came with us and we discussed the
Restoration. She expressed how she has felt the Spirit before strongly
when her father laid his hands upon her head to give her priesthood
blessings, it was really awesome! Hopefully she'll be coming back to
Church soon.
   I know that the work I'm doing is worthwhile and I am being used by
Heavenly Father to bless the lives of individuals here in the Brighton
area! I love you all, thank you for all of your support! If you're
going to send me anything, send it to the mission office which is
33505 State St #101 Farmington, MI 48335 because transfers are coming
up on March 10th and I don't know what will happen! I've been in
Brighton 6 months now so we'll see :) Have a great week!

-Elder Goff