We Baptized!!!

This week was pretty great! I'm telling you, the weeks get faster and faster the further I get into my mission. Neto was baptized by her father Nze on Sunday, the Baptismal Service was great! I'll send you the program that we made for it as well as some pictures that I'll attach. 

We had a lot of menial things we had to do this week like a Doctor's Appt., Zone Meeting, Interviews, and setting up Neto's Baptsimal Service, but we were able to teach a lot as well so that was great. 

Rao Olibiri is doing great! We saw him quite a few times this last week, he should be baptized this Saturday at 11am. He's such a great guy, so ready to serve and grow in The Lord's Church. 

We went on exchange with the elders over the Bloomfield East Zone this week, that's Elder Roberts and Elder Ferguson! The same Elder Ferguson that was the District Leader in Ypsi when Elder Chandler and I were Zone Leaders there. He is such a stud, I love him so much! Friendships on the mission and that bond that comes from serving the Lord together will be perpetuated through the rest of our lives and into Eternity. 

Not much else to say about our week! I am happy with how well the Baptism went and I'm looking forward to next week! Hopefully we'll be able to find some new investigators next week who are really prepared and seeking the truth in their lives! Pray for us to find them! I love you all, have a great week.

Oh, and we're going to the Detroit International Auto Show today with the Gerbers, so you'll get TONS of cool pictures next week. You'll really enjoy those Isabel! :) 

Elder Goff

Neto and her father Nze

Elder Whetzel, Neto, Nze and Elder Goff

Another great week!!

Hey ya'll! We had a great week, very eventful! And I forgot to mention something that happened 2 weeks ago in my last email that I'll include here as well. So the night before transfers, President Gerber got a call that the New York Rochester Mission Missionaries were stranded at the Detroit Metro Airport and that they would need to stay a couple nights here in Michigan before their flight to New York would leave. So we ended up working with a set of Elders that weren't even a part of our mission for the day, it was pretty fun! We were both training again for a day. Then at transfer meeting the next day, we met the Sisters that were going to the Rochester Mission as well! All of them introduced themselves and where their home was, one Sister said, "I'm Sister Fuhriman, from Nampa Idaho!" I was like awhhh yeahh! Idaho represent! I said I was from Meridian and she asked if my sister was Courtney Goff? I said Yes?? How do you know her? And Sister Fuhriman said that she was in Courtney's BYS (Boise Youth Spectacular) group, so that was a pretty cool connection that we had there. 

   We witnessed a pretty sweet miracle this week! Actually just yesterday! We had a referral that came from Church Headquarters, she wanted a Bible. She included her name and address so we dropped by right after Church on Sunday to give her a Bible and to teach her about The Book of Mormon. She let us right in to her apartment and her husband was home as well. We had a really good discussion with them, he was raised with the Bible being read in his home very frequently, he has read it himself multiple times cover to cover! She on the other hand was just getting into things, and has a really strong desire to come closer to God in her life. As we taught and testified of the divinity of The Book of Mormon, they were intrigued! The husband literally said, "I'm so intrigued!" He had never considered that God may have spoken to his children in the Americas as well as His sheep in Jerusalem. They invited us to come back for dinner and a lesson on Wednesday evening this week, they are such an awesome couple!! Super excited to teach them.

   Rao Olibiri is progressing well! We taught him the Law of Chastity last night and he was already living it! The moral standards in India are very high and he has kept to them, it was good to find out he was free of those terrible addictions that damage so many in the world today. He came to Church as well, his Baptism is scheduled for January 23rd, we're so excited for him!

   Neto, Nze's 9 year old daughter should be getting Baptized this Sunday! That will be great as well.

   Our Recent Convert William Lomas is doing very well, we're helping him get some ancestors' names prepared so he can take them to the temple soon! 

   We had a great Ward Conference this week with additional instruction on Sabbath Day Observance. This is obviously at the forefront of The Lord's mind, we would be wise to analyze our Sabbath Day worship and determine if The Sabbath is truly a delight for us! If it's not, we've got some things to change! For myself, I will not be doing homework on Sundays ever again! I did that allllllll throughout High School, and I know I didn't receive the great blessings that are promised to those who keep The Sabbath Day Holy.

   One insight I had this week while reading Preach My Gospel. In the section entitled, "Repentance" it says-- "Bringing our lives in line with God’s will through repentance is a central purpose of our lives. We can return to live with God the Father only through Christ’s mercy, and we receive Christ’s mercy only on condition of repentance." It hit me really hard that if repentance is not the central purpose of our lives, then we limit ourselves in our progression and how much grace and mercy we can receive from Jesus Christ. It must be consistent, conscientious repentance. At the forefront of our minds should be how we are improving that day or that week. Our spiritual goals should be present in our minds all the time. This way although we are living in the world, we will not become part OF the world. We will be focused on our own improvement, and will seek to help others do the same along the way. 

   I love you all, I hope you enjoy all the pictures this week!! 

Elder Goff 

                                                          Graffiti pics: lots of them :)

Elder Goff and Elder Hatch-his first "son"

Elder Goff and Elder Fluckiger

First week of January

  Hello Everyone! I hope you enjoyed your Christmas and New Years. I don't have a lot of time to write today, here is my week.  Our week was pretty good! We saw Rao every day but one because he had to work, but he is doing so good!! He came to Church yesterday and participated in Gospel Principles and Elders Quorum. Cordis still didn't make it to Church, Nze wouldn't tell us why she didn't come, He said we'd have to find out from her when we see her on Tuesday! So that was a bummer she didn't show up. But Nze and his kids, Neto, Kumso, and Victorious were there! If all goes well we will have a Baptism on the 16th, the 23rd, and the 30th! 

   Some bad news, the Beauchamp family is moving! We love them so much, it'll be hard to see them go. 

   An insight I had this week: I was studying in the Ensign, and Elder Holland has a talk in there that he gave at the MTC a couple years back. It's about the Godhead, the importance of the Restoration of the true nature of God. It made me so grateful to know who God is, in His true character instead of who men think he could be... Elder Holland said that if an investigator has not had an experience with the Godhead, knowing who he was interacting with, he will not have a sure testimony. The knowledge of the Godhead that we have is fundamental, if we receive a testimony of that then many other Gospel Principles will fall right into place. No wonder "God is Our Loving Heavenly Father is the first principle in The Restoration. I will definitely teach about the Godhead more sincerely and with greater understanding now. 

   A miracle we saw this week: When I was on exchange with Elder Price and Elder Chen we labored with faith and diligence, knowing that we would be able to teach people. While we were waiting for a member to show up for a lesson they had scheduled we went finding around that street, as soon as we got out of the car this family pulled up in the driveway of the house across the street from the investigator's. I led the way over there and we started talking with this man who ended up being very interested in the Book of Mormon, those Elders will be able to go back there soon. After that we walked down the street a ways and we saw this man trying to jump start a family's car. He needed some help keeping a hood up because his prop broke, so we held it for him as we talked with him about what the Gospel of Jesus Christ has done for him in his life. He ended up telling us he was a minister at his Church and he was really into the Old Testament. I asked him if he was familiar with Ezekiel, he said, "Yes sir!" "Chapter 37?" I asked, "Yes! The valley of death with the bones and everything!" So I knew he was fairly acquainted with that book. We then started talking about the Stick of Joseph and The Stick of Judah, the Stick of Joseph being the Book of Mormon. He was intrigued, and set up a return appointment for us to come back and teach him about the Book of Mormon! It was great. We talked with everyone we could that day and The Lord did provide. 

   I love being in the service of My Savior. I've included the lyrics to a song that I wrote with the Elders that live with us, we performed it at the Christmas Celebration on Christmas Eve 2 weeks ago! May your new years resolutions include inviting people in your spheres of responsibility to learn about The Restored Gospel, for it is the greatest thing God has given us.

Elder Goff

MDM Christmas Celebration

Below: Song written by Elder Goff  and his companion 

and sung by him and three other Elder's at the Christmas Celebration

The Mission Changes You                        

Intro:                         The more I see the less I want to go home

Everyone I meet out here, struggles on their own

Searching for the answers, in this dark world

Doubting they will come --- For they know not---

---Of a Father in Heaven

Verse 1:               A truth that’s so simple, to me it’s second nature

That when I have a problem, I turn to my Creator

It’s clear the world’s forgotten God’s role in their lives

So everything appears just as they see it with their eyes 

Eternal perspective is fleeting as we speak

It’s all about the here and now just week after week

Simplicity not mysteries is what God has given

So we know how to grow and to be like him

Pre-Verse:                 The more I see the less I want to go home

Everyone I meet needs to hear what I know

I’ve taken it for granted, for all of my life

Now I’m here to testify, of Jesus Christ---

---Our Savior and Redeemer

Verse 2:             I’ve grown to love the people I meet on the street

I talk with them a moment and I see who they could be

A glimpse of Eternity fills my mind’s eye

I see them at the temple, with family dressed in white…

                                        -Bridge-          Dressed in White  X4

Verse 3:              The longer that I serve the people here in Detroit

I find myself loving those whom I used to avoid

The homeless man on the corner, begging for a dime

Has just the same potential as me in this life

I dearly love these people that I’ve found the past 2 years

I see them through God’s eyes and faith casts out all my fears

I think back to who I was two short years ago

Serving with the Savior has changed and made me whole

Outro:                                  I’m not sure how it happened

But I have grown into a man

I will never be the same

I’ll remain--- What God’s made me --- to be

Christ has saved my life

In His service I’ve found light

Truth has deepened my view

The mission changes you X3