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