Elder Goff-Final email

Dear Family and Friends,

The mission is an interesting thing. It feels that time has flown by, and it surely has!! But then when I think back to the beginning of my mission and try to remember the experiences that I had then it feels like a whole different life! I wish I could trade someone time and spend more time here in Michigan serving these good people - I really would if I could. I'm very grateful to my Father in Heaven for the experiences that I've had and all I have learned the last two years, it's incredible to think that He entrusts HIS WORK in the hands of 18-25 year old young men and women! He knows that we will become valiant disciples of Christ as we strive to understand and apply the principles of the Gospel and teach them to others, every single day, for two years straight. Who would want to miss that opportunity?? I've seen so much growth in myself and others and I know I will reference back to my mission for the rest of my life! The Lord has helped me to lay the foundations of Eternity on my mission and I'm so blessed to have served here in Detroit.

   Tuesday we had Zone Conference where we were instructed by President Cleveland and the Assistants, it was so inspiring!! All of the questions and concerns that I had were answered. Whether it was pertaining to our current work in the mission field or something I would have to deal with back home, the Spirit guided those teaching and myself as the student and Heavenly Father answered my prayers. He asked me to bear my testimony at the conclusion of the meeting and it was a powerful experience for me. I am filled with humility towards my Heavenly Father for all I have learned and become the past couple of years. I'm so grateful for the purity of Christ's restored Gospel. It is on the Earth today. It was gone - Absolutely gone for many centuries, but because of our Father's love for us, he has provided it again through a living Prophet. And it is the only thing in this life that we can build our foundations upon, and never fall. It doesn't mean we won't have trials and challenges! But we will have the answers and the clarity of mind and soul to endure through anything that comes our way. I know this is the Savior's Church on the Earth! Anyone who wants to know for themselves will be blessed with that spiritual knowledge, only after putting in the effort, truly intending to act on the answer God gives them.

   I came across a scripture in my personal studies this week that describes many of the people whom I have talked with on my mission - "And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be." I have also met many individuals who are ready to receive the Gospel! Those with humble hearts, who are seeking to know the will of God, who are willing to do anything it takes to know it for themselves. These scriptures describe them: D&C 29:7 "And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts;"
and D&C 33:7 "And even so will I gather mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, even as many as will believe in me, and hearken unto my voice."  

   I have had so much joy as I have found those whom the Lord truly has prepared. Roger Bacon, Adrian Velasquez, William Lomas, Rao Olibiri, the Osuagwu family are some of those that the Lord sent us to, or sent them to us, who have made covenants with God and are now living as true disciples of Jesus Christ. And there are many that are still investigating for themselves, who will make it there eventually!

   We're teaching this lady named April whom I told you a little bit about last week I believe. SUPER PREPARED. She has some serious health issues that cause her to be in pain all of the time, every single day. But she has turned to the Lord this last year and she prayed for God to teach her more about Him and to show her a way to get closer to him. When we showed up at her house, she immediately recognized us as the Lord's servants, and she's preparing for Baptism now on October 1st!! I'm so excited for her and her family! They are in good hands, Elder Yorgason and Elder Shumway will take good care of them.

   I love the Lord and I love this work! It is his! A release as a full-time missionary is a lifetime call as a member missionary! And I promise the Lord I will continue faithful in that great responsibility. I'm so grateful for all of you who have showed your love and support for me these last two years, I hope to see you all soon! :)

Elder Goff

A couple of pictures of our District!

Fantastic Week-Again!!

Dear Family and Friends,

First, I want to say that I am so sad to hear about the passing of Sister McCuen.  I love the McCuen family so much!   My condolences to Dave and his family. I look up to them in so many ways and even more now as they are "looking to Christ" and living. Great examples of stalwart Saints who are converted unto the Lord. I love you all!

Now for our week here in Michigan, what great week we've had! I'm so grateful for the time Elder Shumway, Elder Yorgason and I have been able to spend together in the Lord's service. This is truly HIS work! We've been witnesses and participants in many miracles this week that have helped me understand greater how much God loves ALL of His children. He does not intend on saving just a few of his children, He will give all of them multiple opportunities to learn the Restored Gospel. I'm grateful to be one of the instruments through whom Heavenly Father can offer that opportunity to His children!! It' humbling to think of it in that way. This is no work of my own, it is the Lord's! We are simply vessels through whom He and the Holy Ghost can work. And when we do His work HIS way, in addition to blessing the lives of his children by helping them receive the Gospel, we are blessed so much in the process. I love it! I love His perfect plan for our happiness.

   On Tuesday evening we went out with our Ward Mission Leader Brother Malcolm to find some people in the Ward whom we hadn't seen in a while. We came to Brother Smart's house. None of us had ever met him or seen him at Church so we knew it had been a while since he'd been there. He opened the door and stepped outside! Brother Malcolm handed him some treats he and his wife had made and we got to know each other a little bit. We find out that he was raised in the Church but he fell away when he was in his late teenage years. He now has a family with a few children who are college aged, and none of them are very strong in any religious beliefs at all. It was an interesting discussion with him. We asked him about his testimony, if he felt he knew that God chose Joseph Smith to be a Prophet and he said no. So we ask if he had ever read, pondered, and prayed to know if the Book of Mormon was true. He again said that he had not. In his countenance we could see the doubt and skepticism racing through his mind. The adversary has been working on him in that way his whole life!! As we testified of the truthfulness of both those things, he asked "How!? How could you ever know that those things are true?" And even though that sounds like he was just doubting it and leaving no room for the Spirit to touch him we could hear the sincerity in that plea, as if his pure Spirit inside of him, blanketed with doubt and disbelief was just crying for some evidence of the reality of God! We read from the Book of Mormon with him in Alma 32:27, 28. About what he needed to do to come to know if it was true and also how he can start to recognize that answer when it comes. He was grateful for us coming by and we exchanged info so we could come back again. Then on Sunday evening we happened to be in the area and we called him to follow up with his study of the Book of Mormon. He said that he had looked for his copy he thought he had but couldn't find it! So we asked if we could bring one to him since we were in the area and he agreed. Brother Malcolm came with us again, and we ended up having another lengthy discussion about how the Spirit will feel as he receives his answer for himself. He asked, "So you really don't think that is just your brain telling you those things?? I just don't know about that." I know that as he takes small steps of faith, he will receive light to his understanding and the path will be clear before him! As we met with him the scripture kept ringing in my mind in Alma 30:16 where Korihor, and anti-Christ is trying to deceive the Saints.

   "Ye look forward and say that ye see a remission of your sins. But behold, it is the effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so."

   Later in the chapter Korihor explains that he knew that he was deceived by the devil into thinking there was no God. The adversary will never stop trying to confuse and lie to us! And he uses similar tactics today as he did thousands of years ago. I can't wait to go follow up with Brother Smart and see his countenance full of light and being thankful for the knowledge he received that there is a God, and that He loves him.

   On Friday we contacted someone who had requested a Bible from us online! Her name is April. She's 35, has two kids ages 17 and 12, and she has such a huge desire to learn the truth. As we gave her the Bible and taught the Restoration along with it she felt the Spirit and she said, "I believe it!! I feel that this is true." She agreed to work towards Baptism for October 1st! I'm sad I won't be hear but so happy she was sent to us! The Lord has prepared her to receive the Gospel at this time in her life. She has some health issues which have led her to reach out to God. So she's started going to a local Church, started reading the Bible, and she downloaded this daily bible verse app on her phone. On that app, an advertisement came up for a "Free Bible". She thought why not?? And that's how we got her info and came into contact with her. As we've gone out and tried to find people to teach through our own efforts, God has sent his children who are ready for the Gospel to us. 

   There's so many more things I wish I could fit into this email but I don't have time!! I love you all and am so grateful for you. I hope you know that our Father in Heaven loves and cares for you. No matter what the trial or tragedy you may be experiencing, He is there to help you. All it takes is simple steps of faith. Sometimes they are painful and difficult! But through that process He enlightens our understanding and gives us glimpses of His Eternal Plan for our happiness. This is my last full week in Michigan! I know that the Lord will continue to bless us with miracles here as we labor with all our hearts, mights, minds, and strengths. Till next week!

Elder Goff

The Lord Prepares His Children

Hello Everyone,

What a fantastic week!! Ya'll are probably sick of me saying that but it is true!! Every week in our Savior's service is the new best week of the mission.

   We were able to meet some amazing people this week. We've really been focusing on talking with everybody that we see, and the Lord has shown us that He trusts us this week. I'll share a couple of the many miracles we had:

   We had a Zone Activity where we contacted this lady named Natalie while she was out on her smoke break. She said, "It's so crazy that you are here right now! I have had this feeling that I need to go back to Church and then you come along!" We testified that we knew God led us to her and that the message we share would bring peace, happiness, and direction to her and her family. She lives in a different area than ours but we sent her info to the Elders over there!

   We were out tracting, about 7:45pm on Saturday evening and we feel prompted to knock a certain house. So we do that, and a big burly guy with pretty full facial hair opens the door and we start talking with him. Find out his name is Jeremy, he was raised going to a Church but the older he got and the more he matured, the less need he saw to attend Church. Instead, he felt a pressing need to live more like the Savior every day of his life. Becoming more humble and kind each day. Another spiritual insight that he shared with us which was pretty neat was this, he said: "I talked at God for quite a while. It took me a long time to learn to talk WITH Him. But now that I know the difference I talk with Him every morning, throughout the day, and at night." We were just like WOW!!! This guy is SO READY for the restored Gospel!! So we share the message of the Restoration with him. That Christ actually established a Church when He was here, that it was lost for centuries, but has been restored to the Earth through a living Prophet. As we used Jospeh Smith's own words to describe the First Vision, we all felt the Spirit bear witness of this marvelous experience that happened in the spring of 1820. His words are as follows: 

“I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. … When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” 

After reading and hearing that, Jeremy said, shaking his head in awe, - "Wow". We asked him about what he felt and he said he believed that this could have happened and he was so happy that we came to his house!! We shared the Book of Mormon with him as well, explaining that if he really wanted to know if this Restoration had taken place, then the Book of Mormon is the key to that knowledge. He committed to reading, pondering, and praying about it and we'll be seeing him again this week. 

I love the Lord and His work. Being in His service full time has been so rewarding, I love it!! I cringe at the fact that it will be over soon, but I will give my all to Him these last couple of weeks! Thank you for all of your prayers and encouragement for me! I love you all so much and am grateful for your love. Have a blessed week because I know we will!

Elder Goff

Zone Activity

Week 2 with Elder's Shumway and Yorgason

   Hello everyone! Something happened to our car on Monday and it messed up our schedule for the day so we're emailing today. Sorry about that Mom! :) 

   This week we were led to 2 people in particular who I'd like to tell you about. The first one is Ana La Rouche. We knocked on her door and she answered, we talked for a bit and she invited us into her home to share a message centered in Jesus Christ with her. She told us a little bit about herself and she shared that she grew up in Brazil, her parents didn't have much, and they never went to Church. So she didn't really have a religious background in her childhood. Then as she became an adult she felt that something was missing, and that she needed God in her life! So she and her children have started going to a certain Church fairly recently and they have been loving what they are learning. We shared the message of the Restoration, that Christ's Church was lost for hundreds of years, but that God has restored it back to the Earth today and that the evidence of this Restoration is the Book of Mormon. She told us afterwards - "You don't know how hard this is, this is big for me! I don't want to seem wishy-washy to my children just going from Church to Church, but I will read this book!" She recognized that it would be a difficult change, but a change that would be well worth it if our message is true. AND she and her family are super good friends with some members of the congregation here in Clarkston! Awesome stuff, we're going to see her againtonight!

   The other person is Dan Boes. He's got a family of 4, a wife and 2 kids ages 13 and 9. When he answered the door he asked, "What do you need?" and we started to teach him the Restoration of the Gospel! As we started to explain that Christ's Church had been restored to the Earth through a Prophet, he asked us, "So what are the main differences between your Church and the ___ Church??" As we continued to teach his countenance became brighter and he continued to be engaged in the discussion. By the end he was so happy we had knocked on his door and shared this message with him. He's come to a point in his life where he does not feel that the Church he grew up in is teaching what Christ taught, and he wants to have a place where he and his family can go to learn the absolute truth about God and his Gospel. He wants joy, peace and direction in his life. Is that not ALL that we have to offer??? What do living prophets and Christ's restored Gospel give us in our lives?? All of the above, and so much more. Hopefully we'll be seeing him soon again, he committed to come to Church in a few weeks with his family, he just switched jobs and is doing a lot of training there so he's super busy but he was definitely prepared to  hear the message of the Restoration. Super happy we were able to meet him! 

   On Saturday afternoon Elders Yorgason, Shumway and I had the awesome opportunity to be taught for 5 HOURS STRAIGHT by Elder Randall K. Bennett of the Seventy. He taught so much about the gathering of the house of Israel that is happening now before the Savior comes again. He taught about each member and missionary's responsibility to open our mouths to share the gospel with others. He said and I'm paraphrasing here: "What did Lucifer do to try to stop the Restoration from occurring?? He tried to bind Joseph Smith's tongue. What does he do to try to stop us from sharing the Gospel and the message of the Restoration with others?? He binds our tongue with fear!" Heavenly Father knows we can overcome our fear to open our mouths to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ with all those around us, and He will help us do that! I'm not perfect at it, but I sure am striving to be. I don't want to be the one to pass one of my brothers or sisters up, who would have accepted the gospel, if only they had the opportunity to hear it.

  

   That puts a great deal of responsibility on our shoulders, especially as missionaries! That is what I envision these last 3 weeks of my mission to be though: Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ to absolutely everybody that I can. Everybody needs the chance to learn and accept it. If we don't speak up, who will? Who will help save our brothers and sisters from the darkness and confusion of this world? We have to! I pray that we all will step out of our comfort zones and overcome some of our fears we may have to preach the Gospel wherever we go, standing as witnesses of God at all times, in all things, and in all places! I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week :) 

Elder Goff 

Attachments area

Week 1 With Elder Shumway & my boy Elder Yorgason!!

Hello Family and Friends,

What an amazing week!! Full of surprises and blessings from Heavenly Father. First I'll update you all with the news that I am in a trio for my last transfer, AND Elder Yorgason, my good 'ole Idahomie it one of my companions! My other companion is brand new and I'm training him, his name is Elder Shumway, from Orem Utah. Great Elders that I'm serving with, I'm excited to end my mission with them. It's been a while since I've been a District Leader, and a Trainer, and I've never been in a trio so it's making me stretch but it's great, I've loved it this week and know I will the rest of the transfer.

   We'll start out with some unfortunate news, Ed, our super solid investigator who was supposed to be baptized on the 20th dropped us! We taught him the Word of Wisdom and he wasn't willing to accept that it was a commandment from God! It was really surprising and disappointing at the same time but we didn't let it discourage us! Everyone has their agency to choose to accept or reject the Gospel. Because of our continued faith and trust in the Lord despite this disappointment, He blessed us with a great rest of our week!

   On Friday afternoon as we tracted we met a woman named Kristy who actually knew a member of the Church in our Ward! We talked with her a bit about the Restoration and she was interested in learning more. It was really neat how we were led right to her street to find her and give her the opportunity to learn more about the Gospel. 

   Later Friday evening while we were out tracting we met a family of 3, a lady named Yvonne and her two daughters Malena and Bella (14 and 10). Bella reminds me so much of my Sister Isabel it's crazy!!! I'll take a picture with them the next time I can. Anyways we knock on the door and Yvonne answers and asks what we're doing. We explain to her that we wanted to share a message centered in Jesus Christ with them. She responds, "Well you came to the right house today!! One minute!" She goes and gets her daughter Malena who is especially interested in learning more about God and going to Church and we have a lesson with them. Then, they came to Church on Sunday!! A member invited them to sit with their family and they enjoyed it. They only stayed for Sacrament Meeting but they said they would be back next Sunday too! Amazing miracle!! They are such a great family, they desire to choose the right! Yvonne doesn't have much of a religious background, she was raised going to all different Churches, but she wants a strong foundation now for herself and for her children. It was so great to see them at Church, hopefully we'll meet with them again soon this week :)

   Then on Saturday our mission surprised us with a huge service project down in Detroit! It was actually right in my old area Roseville South. But we went down there from 11am-5pm and cleared the blight around a ton of abandoned houses, it was hard work! The organization running the whole thing is called Life Remodeled, they provided a bunch of weed whackers, lawn mowers, and many other tools for volunteers to use. It was great! A lot of people ended up wanting to learn what we were all about and so a lot of missionaries will be teaching people from there in the coming weeks! Just an overall great experience, it was awesome to see the difference we were able to make in the community as we all worked together. 

   Also on Sunday one of the Church members here brought one of their friends whom we are teaching to Church as well so there were quite a few investigators at Church this week! 

   Another miracle, on Sunday night we went tracting and the second house we knocked we met this agnostic 23 year old kid who was confused by all the different opinions people have about God and how to worship him. As we taught the Restoration and emphasized the Apostasy that happened after the Savior and His Apostles were rejected things started clicking for him! He said, "It's like the teacher left the classroom! And now the kids are just trying to teach what the teacher taught and so there's lots of confusion." We're like "Exactly!" And we moved into the Restoration of Christ's Church and His Gospel to the Earth. He said, "I'd like to believe this, but I don't know how I'd know if this was true." Then we taught about prayer and receiving answers through it and about the Book of Mormon, being evidence of this Restoration. He was really excited about it and we're bringing him a copy of the Book of Mormon tonight!

   I'm grateful for all the blessings that have attended us this week and I'm looking forward to the blessings the Lord will shower us with this week! I love being a missionary, I don't want to think about it coming to an end! It is a great privilege to devote all of my time, talents, energy, and means to the Lord and His work. I'm grateful for His Church that He has restored to the Earth through a modern Prophet, and I know that the peace and direction we seek in this life for our own lives and the lives of our families will only come as we hearken to the words of the Lord's Prophets and Apostles on the Earth today. Think about the amazing message that that is - That God is actually speaking through men on the Earth today, just as The Savior did through the Apostles of old. Do we really believe what we know?? I know if we do we will share it with all who will listen! :) I love you all and sure hope you have a wonderful week! 

Elder Goff

Service Project Photos

Week 6 with Elder Chandler

  This week went incredibly fast!! I seriously can't believe it's my last transfer! We got transfer calls on Saturday night and I'll be staying here in Clarkston and I'll be training a new missionary. Elder Yorgason might also be joining me to make us a trio companionship but I never heard that from President or the AP's, Elder Yorgason just told me President told him something about it! So if that's the case it will be an eventful last transfer, learning how to teach with two other missionaries and training one of them from the start, should be a period of learning and growth for all of us!

   Ed Rall is doing so well!! He's the man we are teaching who lives in our apartment complex. He moved his Baptismal date up to August 20th instead of the 27th! His desire is so strong to become a member of the Savior's Church on the Earth and continue to turn his life around. He went to JCPenny to buy a suit last week, he's gotten some white shirts, he ordered a triple combination of scriptures from the lds bookstore online, and he has loved the last two Sundays at Church. I love to see my fellow brothers and sisters learning and progressing in the Gospel. As the people who are ready to receive the Gospel learn it, they apply it and their desire continues to increase and they flourish spiritually! I have seen it happen to many people on my mission, unfortunately there are many more people who are not ready to receive the Gospel yet but it hasn't ever discouraged me from going out to find the few who are!

   Ed came to a Devotional that was down in Livonia on Thursday evening, it was amazing!! Two converts spoke about how they joined the Church and the process by which they gained their testimonies, it was powerful! One lady was in her mid 60's, grew up in another religion but drifted from it in her later years because she felt something important was missing in her life. Then she requested a Book of Mormon online and the missionaries came to see her. Elder Chandler was serving where she lived at the time and they started teaching her! Then she investigated the Church for over a year, and finally got to the point where she could say with confidence from God that she knew the Book of Mormon and the Church which espouses it was true, and she felt that missing piece in her life be filled by the fulness of the Gospel as restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. The other lady who spoke was in her early 30's, she had become super skeptical about religion throughout college and other life experiences. She started dating this LDS guy and they had some good discussions about religion, but it ended up not working out and over the next 2 years she said she could just never got the thought out of her mind that she just needed to go to Church and see for herself. So she did one day finally! And she started to seek out the truthfulness of the Gospel for herself - She bore powerful testimony that she had found would she had been searching for! All of the questions which she had about life, about Church, about God and His plan, were answered and continue to be answered through the restored Gospel and the Savior's Church on the Earth.

   It's amazing this gift that many of us have, to be raised up with the fulness of the Gospel, to have the answers to all of life's greatest questions from our youth!! Many individuals go throughout their entire lives without such answers. I am grateful for how the Lord has blessed me in my life, and I testify that if we will simply reach out to those around us, we will find those who have sought the truth, but know not where to find it. It's amazing that the Lord trusts us with that responsibility!

   I know God has a plan for each of us and that no matter what life throws at us if we humble ourselves in prayer before Him, He will reach out in perfect love and mercy and see us through whatever it may be. I know He will bless me with the righteous desires of my heart this last transfer! I will sprint to the finish! No time to waste! Love you all and God bless you in every aspect of your lives.

   

Week 5 with Elder Chandler

Hello Everyone,

This was a week of miracles! Awesome experiences this week. I'll tell ya about a couple of them.

   So we're teaching this guy named Ed Rall, who lives in our apartment complex. He gave us a ride to Church yesterday! He loved his experience there, he is so prepared. He's one of those investigators who had been "seeking the truth, but knew not where to find it", he almost instantaneously accepts the doctrines we teach as he feels they are true himself. Wonderful guy, we contacted him in the parking lot one day and the next we're teaching him and the next he's at Church on Sunday and progressing towards his Baptism on August 27th! I know the Lord leads us to those He has prepared, I have seen it over and over again in my mission. We had another experience just last night that really demonstrates that truth of that as well:

   On Sunday evening we prayed to know where we should go to find someone the Lord had prepared to receive the Gospel. We felt impressed to go to a certain street, so we go there. We pray in faith again and then get out of the car. We see a woman detailing her car in her driveway and interestingly enough satan tries to tell me "she's busy, she probably won't wanna talk with you" so I shove him out of my life and we go talk with her. She says, "You're gonna be sorry you stopped to talk with me! Around 8 Years ago I met 2 young guys just like you in Lake Orion (a neighboring city) and some of the things we talked about really struck some of my nerves, not in a bad way, like it was interesting. They gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon and wrote their phone # in it." We continue to talk and teach very simply the Restoration of Christ's original Church to the Earth. She was intrigued by the possibility of living Apostles and Prophets on the Earth today. She had so much sincerity as we discussed what it would mean for her family if it was true and what she needed to do to find out if it were true! Which is to read, ponder and pray about the truthfulness and divinity of the Book of Mormon. She was honest with us, she said that she just recently got remarried (she's in her late 40's probably) and has a few kids all around 18-20 years old, and that she just changed from being Catholic to being Lutheran for her husband because he didn't want to join the Catholic Church, he just wanted to stay the way he was. So now they share the same religious beliefs, and so she expressed that if this were true, she knew he would need to know it as well because she wasn't about to ruin this brand new relationship. We agreed and she committed to study the Restoration and ask God if it was true. She wouldn't commit to meet with us again because of what her husband may have thought about it but she will call us this week. She was such an amazing lady!! And we literally were led right to her. We parked almost right in front of her house. God knows his children! And He wants us to find them.

   After these wonderful miracles I feel as Ammon did in the Book of Mormon. He rejoiced after his long years of missionary service and large harvest of souls to Christ saying,

" Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name. Now if this is boasting, even so will I boast; for this is my life and my light, my joy and my salvation, and my redemption from everlasting wo. Yea, blessed is the name of my God, who has been mindful of this people, who are a branch of the tree of Israel, and has been lost from its body in a strange land; yea, I say, blessed be the name of my God, who has been mindful of us, wanderers in a strange land.
 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen."
   I love this work and I am sprinting! No time to waste. We don't want to be left behind as the Lord hastens His work. Have a great week everyone!

Elder Goff

Week 4 with Elder Chandler

Hello Everyone,

We had a busy week! We had an exchange with the Assistants and then another one with a District Leader in our Zone, weeks with more than one exchange always seem jam packed.

   Had a few disappointments this week, one of the main ones Dave told us that he wants to stop meeting with us and just study the Book of Mormon on his own. I know if he diligently seeks, he will discover the truthfulness of that book for himself, but I've found that when people decide to do things their own way, it usually ends in them coming to false conclusions or their own interpretations of the truth, so we are praying that Dave will be able to find the truth on his own without being deceived! When we met with him a couple of times a week and a half ago he said he wanted to come to Church as well, pray with me that he'll actually take those steps of faith! :)

    I went on exchange in Grand Blanc with a missionary who is struggling a little bit, we were able to see some awesome miracles together though! We were in a Walmart parking lot at the end of the night heading back to our car when we saw this kid, about 18 years old sitting in his car with the door open, just chilling there so we decided to go talk with him. We find out his name is Abraham, he just got kicked out of his parent's house (we didn't ask why), he's super stressed out because he doesn't have a job and doesn't know where his next meals will come from, and he's looking to change his life for the better. We prayed with him, for him, and he felt the Spirit strongly afterwards, he was so grateful for that prayer! We set up a time to meet the next morning at the Church building for a Church tour. I half expected him to not show up, but he did! He came and we taught the Restoration and showed him around the Chapel. We even got an 18 year old member to come to befriend him, and this member is hooking Abraham up with a job as well. He's on date for baptism now for August 20th! Pretty awesome experience we had with him there, he's super humble now because he's been compelled to be, but I hope he makes all the decisions and life changes necessary to be baptized and remain a faithful member of the Savior's Church for the rest of his life! Really cool kid, I'll keep you updated on what I hear about him.

   On Friday Elder Chandler and I taught this guy named Ed, he lives in our apartment complex! It's funny how the most solid people we've found this transfer have been right in our own apartment complex. Oftentimes we don't need to venture far and wide to find the people God has prepared to receive the Gospel. Anyways Ed is a super solid guy. Taught him the Restoration and his comments were: "This is so simple!" "I already know that this is true, this is what I have been looking for for so long!" It's so refreshing to find someone who is sincerely searching and will diligently seek the truth.

   We are praying and working hard to find people to teach and Baptize here in Clarkston, I'm sure the Lord will provide as we do our best :) Everyone have a wonderful week!

Elder Goff

Great Week with Elder Chandler

Dear Family and Friends,

 Great week, such a great week! So many good experiences to share with such little time! It's been brought to my attention that you don't know anything about President & Sister Cleveland! That makes sense because I neglected to tell you about them. Sorry about that! Here's a little bit about the Cleveland's: They met each other in high school and Sister Cleveland wasn't a member of the Church! She attended high school seminary a full year before was baptized. Then when President Cleveland got back from his mission, they got married and raised their family in Fresno California. He was the Stake President there for 9.5 years before this call to Detroit! He's a CPA by trade and Sister Cleveland is a stay at home Mom and an AMAZING baker (I testify, she's good!). If you have any other questions about them let me know, I'll see what I can do haha!

   On Wednesday morning we had Zone Meeting, and it was all about finding people to teach. Especially the principle of talking with and inviting everyone we meet to learn more about the Gospel. We have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people we've had to teach and that our Zone is teaching since the meeting and we know it will continue to as we exercise our faith.

   On Thursday morning we prayed that we would be able to find someone to teach as we went to a store to contact people. We walked into this store and we wandered over to a certain aisle where there was a worker stacking and organizing things and we just struck up a conversation with her. We taught the Restoration right there in the store and she ended up being really interested! I had never really done that in my mission before, it was a big testimony to me that God hears and answers our prayers, and that if we pray in faith, go and act in trust that The Lord will bless you with what you asked for, He always answers our prayers. Sometimes we pray for miracles, but forget that we can be the miracle! We can do miracles according to our faith, and if it's within the Lord's will for us at this given time. If we would've just prayed for someone to teach and walked around the store but not talked with anyone, would we have found this worker who is really interested? No, we would not! But because we acted in faith and trust, The Lord provided. I love that principle!

   On Saturday afternoon we walked across our apartment complex to go try this lady whom we had taught a little bit ago but had lost contact with for a week. On the way we saw this man working on the taillights of his Jeep, and we started talking with him. Turns out he just retired earlier this year, and he has had a super huge turnaround in his life! Used to party a lot, struggled with addictions to cigarettes and alcohol, but he was guided to Church, where he learned to really pray and rely on the Savior to help him. As we taught him the Restoration the Spirit bore witness to Him that we were The Lord's servants and that he needed to hear more of what we had to teach. We set up an appointment with him for Sunday afternoon to bring him a copy of the Book of Mormon. We saw him on Sunday and had another great lesson with him! He is sincerely seeking the truth, and I know he will find it. He already has a pretty firm understanding of the Bible and what the doctrines therein really mean, rather than just man's own private interpretations of the scriptures. He's excited to study the Book of Mormon and knows what it means if it is true! Such a prepared man. His wife has cancer and they've been struggling with that the past few years, they are just the nicest people though, I love them!

   I am grateful for my testimony of the Book of Mormon, being another testament of Jesus Christ. He is my Savior and Redeemer, and I love Him! I'm so happy I have the opportunity every single day to invite others to come to know of these same glorious truths, and that Christ has restored His Church to the Earth today, giving us His Gospel anew. I love all of you and hope you have a fantastic week! Let me know of your own missionary experiences you are having in your lives.

Elder Goff

Week 2 in Clarkston with Elder Chandler!

Elder Goff's new mailing address is: 11010 Highland Road #12
                                                     WhiteLake, MI 48386

His email is: nicholas.goff@myldsmail.net

Dear Family and friends,

What a great week we had here in Clarkston! Many good things happened as we worked hard. The Lord answers our prayers according to our faith that we exercise in Him! I have a strong testimony of that, I know it is true.

   Such a busy week! We met the Cleveland's a week ago last Tuesday, went on exchange with some Elders serving in Flint that afternoon, then Thursday we had MLCM,and then on Sunday we had a meeting with President & Sister Cleveland, and President Cook, the Stake President of the Grand Blanc Stake. We still managed to spend a lot of time proselyting amidst all the other stuff that went on this week so we are pretty happy about that.

   On Tuesday night, Elder Wolfe and I prayed about where we should go finding and then prayed again before we went down this street. The first door we knocked on we met this guy named Brett. Super sincere 30 year old guy who wants to turn his life around. Gotten into some trouble his late teenage years but really desires to do what is right in God's eyes now. We taught him The Restoration and it resonated with him, he prayed at the end and felt the Spirit as he pondered what we had taught! We should be seeing him again soon this week, really neat guy!

   We've met 5 individuals in our apartment complex the past week who we've been able to teach and have appts. with. A couple of them we found tracting but for the other 3 there's this grassy courtyard in our complex in-between buildings and near the end of the night two nights this week we've been coming in for the night but we've seen people there just walking their dog or yesterday lighting off a few fireworks and watching them as a family. As we've taken the opportunity to talk with them and show them how the Restored Gospel is relevant to THEIR lives and will bless THEM if the learn and live it, they have become interested! One lady we taught there has felt the Spirit in her life more now as she's read and pondered the Family Proclamation and desires now to unite her split family as she learns more about the Gospel.

   I don't have much time left but I want to let everyone know that My parents have been married happily for 24 years as of July 3rd! Congratulate them when you get the chance! I know the Gospel is true and that this is Christ's living Church on the Earth. Have a fantastic week everyone!

Elder Goff 

****Challenge from Elder Goff to all LDS family and friends who read his emails***

Take a little bit of time this week to study Preach My Gospel pages 160-162 "The Importance of Members". Then determine prayerfully what you must do as a member to take your next step in member missionary work! I know that if we all would do a simple act of missionary work each day we would impact the lives of many, and we would be able to bring many of their souls unto our Savior. If you're able to do this, write me back and tell me about it!

Elder Goff

Pics below:  Elder Goff and Elder Chandler with the new MP and his wife, President Cleveland;

Elder Goff and Elder Wolf on exchange and the Michigan LDS Temple

Hello Family and Friends,

So Elder Godfrey and I got to transfers and we pulled into our parking spot and I saw that I was going to be transferred to Clarkston West in the Grand Blanc Zone, and my companion would be Elder Chandler!! I trained him to be a Zone Leader 9 months ago in Ypsilanti. Doesn't happen very often in the mission that missionaries are paired up with previous companions but I must've missed something when I was with him the first time and I've gotta learn it now! :) He's a great Elder, I'm happy to be serving with him again. 

   HUGE culture shock this first week. This is NOT the hood hahaha about 50% of the people here in this area live on or right next to lakes, most everyone is pretty well off. So just that in itself is way different, and with that comes a completely different culture that I'm not used to anymore! I call it, "white people culture" hahaha no I'm kidding but for real, teaching people in Detroit and then people out here is way different. 

Detroit=People who have been compelled to be humble, not very committal 

Clarkston=People who are getting by just fine, very content. But if you find someone who has been searching for truth, they are much more committed than the average person I've found in Detroit.

So there's the lowdown of our area. Our Zone is really big, it's about half of the mission (in land mass) or a little more if that helps put it into perspective. Lots of hardworking missionaries here, 14 companionships and we got 13 different missionaries transferred here at the same time as me so we've got a lot of new missionaries to work with. I'm excited for the work that lies ahead.

   The Lord blessed us as we went to work this week. The 1st week in an area is always a little funny since you're adjusting to all the new things and the people there, so there was that and a lot of miracles this week! On Wednesday we had a great one: This young man named Carson from a ward in our stake spent the whole day with us today. He's going to Brazil on his mission this next Tuesday and he wanted to get a taste of the missionary life so we gave it to him! Rather the Lord gave it to him. Being guided by the Spirit He picked a place for us to go knock some doors. We got to this place and there were just HUGE houses on this big hilly street. We got rejected a couple of times but we pressed forward! Then we got to this one house and it was the biggest one we had seen yet, and I felt that we should knock it! As we walked up to the house we saw through a garage door that was cracked open that someone was working in there. So we called out to him and he came out! He had paint splatters all over his shirt, obviously not the homeowner but just a worker. We started talking with him though and he was a super sincere guy! Just divorced about a year ago and had struggled a lot in a lot of aspects of his life with that. But He learned about Jesus Christ in that time of trial and found strength through Him and from studying the Bible. We taught him The Restoration of The Savior's Gospel and His Church to the Earth today and this guy was ecstatic!! He prayed at the end and received a quiet confirmation that we had taught was true. The bad news of this story, he doesn't live in our area!! Haha he lives in one of my old areas though, in Ypsi South in the city of Belleville. So we sent his info on over to those Elders and they should start teaching him shortly. Such a neat experience that shows you that you NEVER KNOW who The Lord might be leading you to or where they may be. If we talk with everyone we can and don't judge for ourselves who we should try to help, The Lord will be able to work through us at ALL TIMES, and His work will be unhindered by us. 

   I love this work!! This week will be a busy one, next week should be a good email! Have a wonderful week ya'll, I love ya!

Elder Goff

Bad picture but it'll have to do! This is of Elder Chandler, Carson and I.

Elder Goff and Elder Godfrey sporting their "Detroit Wear"

(above)

Pics of The Detroit Foliage

Pics of the new apartment, kitchen

Living Room

We sleep on the couches because it is a 3rd floor apartment and it is very hot!!  The fans work better in the Living Area.

Elder Goff's Detroit Hat Collection

Bedroom

The Elder before left his guitar!  Elder Goff is enjoying playing it as it is much like his back home.