Third Week with Elder Godfrey

Hello Everybody,

  I'm doing pretty good, I'm on the upswing right now! The first 2 1/2 weeks here were a little bit different adjusting back to being a Zone Leader and the responsibilities that come with that. I'm actually pretty excited to be a Zone Leader for the last parts of my mission though, so much more ministering to the one it seems. Being AP is tight because you're with the Mission President a lot and you get other privileges but I've rediscovered that ministering to the Elders and Sisters needs in my Zone who are struggling or could be working more effectively brings me the most joy as a leader.  

  It was a successful week for us here in Detroit! Our area is doing great, many people to teach, a couple of them preparing for their Baptismal Date and others who have some potential! This week we had a pretty cool experience, we were able to teach this lady that Elder Godfrey had found a while back with his last companion and hadn't been able to see again. We taught The Restoration and she explained to us some experiences she had as a young woman, about 14 or 15 years old trying to figure out how to get the most out of her Church growing up, but coming up with nothing. The Restoration really clicked with her and she's super excited to learn more! 

   I went on 3 exchanges this week! With Elder Hatch, Elder Jeffcoat, and Elder Bennett. Elder Hatch is my "firstborn in the wilderness" or in other words, the first missionary I trained, so it was neat to work with him for a day. I came out with Elder Bennett and he's been in leadership for a long time so I've worked with him a lot though we've never been companions. He replaced me in Livonia so it was great to talk with him about how my old area is doing.

   We prayed in faith that The Lord would provide us with someone to take to a Devotional that was happening in Livonia on Thursday, and He did! We ended up taking our investigator Brianna, and she felt the Spirit there, really great experience. Rao Olibiri spoke at the Devotional!! Elder Whetzel & I baptized him. It was great to see him there speaking about his conversion and the positive changes that have come into his life as a result of having the Holy Ghost as his constant companion. I love that guy to death! 

   On Sunday night around 8:50pm we were walking back to our apartment (we just walked and worked around our apartment that day because we don't have very many miles left this month to drive) and we came across these 3 guys around our age leaning up against their car just chillin'. They were looking at us funny and then one of 'em was like "Hey! You guys are famous! You're all over Facebook. There's a picture of two of you that says 'If you ain't seen these guys, you ain't from Detroit!' Can I get a picture with you??" Hahaha so we say yes and they got their picture, I didn't sign anything for them though, the picture should suffice. Anyways we get down to talking with them and of course they have no idea what we actually do as missionaries! So we start teaching from the scriptures about how our decisions now in life determine our destiny (2 Nephi 2:27). And how even though we may be caught in sin right now in our lives, The Savior has felt all we can feel and overcome all that may beset us in life (Alma 7:11-13). They were all smoking weed at this point of the lesson so we were being pretty clear on what they needed The Savior's help with! They couldn't have been too high yet because they were comprehending what we were teaching. One of them started to insist that smoking weed was fine but then his friend was like "No, they right!! It ain't good bro!" We discussed how our decisions to follow Christ today determine the trajectory of our entire lives, and it would be much better to set that trajectory towards The Savior today rather than do whatever we want now, and try to change our ways and break bad habits that have become deeply entrenched into our natures by the end of our lives. They actually caught on! And they understood, and want to be taught more about how the Savior can help them. Pretty cool experience we had there at the end of the night.

   I love participating in The Lord's work! We are preparing the Earth for His Second Coming, and all of us have a responsibility in this preparation. May we listen to and obey God's commandment to share The Gospel with those around us at all times, in all things, and in all places. As we say in Detroit, "Have a blessed week!"

Elder Goff

Pics are the notorious Michigan "No turn on Red sign" and then Elder Hatch & I reunited :D

The last pic is of the Devotional on Thursday night with Sister Sylvester and Brianna, investigator

Elder Godfrey and Elder Goff

A Fantastic, Interesting Week - The Prayer of Faith & Miracles

Hello Everyone,

 It's been an amazing week!! Every day full of great blessings to us and those we are teaching. The Lord led us to 6 individuals who were searching for the truth this week, I'll tell ya about a few of them! 

Hello Everyone,

    Wednesday morning Elder Stubbs and I were on exchange together in my area. We went tracting and we came upon this brother who was working on something on his car so we started talking with him and ended up having a really good lesson with him teaching him the Restoration, it was awesome!! He was sincerely seeking for the truth, it's so rewarding to teach people who actually want to learn and have real intent.

  We were invited as a mission to put together a choir and compete in a Baptist Church for a "Battle of the Choirs" competition on Saturday and we actually won the thing! No big deal. :) All the other choirs were loud with "hallelujah's" and "amen's" but the difference in the Spirit as we sang was tangible. We sang "The Spirit of God" and "God Be With You Till We Meet Again". Sister Gerber was actually invited to be one of the judges of the competition, I'd like to think she wasn't the only reason we won though! :)

This is from the Gerber's to all of us who performed: 

   "Thanks so much for all the work you went to in preparing for this event! You sang with the voices of angels:) Some of you might not have heard what the lady who was one of the judges that was sitting by the aisle said to me; but she leaned over at the end of the song, (The Spirit of God) put her hand to her chest and said "you could feel that right here". If you touched no one else but her, it was worth all of the time and effort you put in!
   We hope all of you noticed the difference in the audience as you sang, compared to when the other choirs sang. They were so quiet and everyone could feel the difference! So many people think you worship through loud singing, praising the Lord and such. But what truly touches the heart is the Spirit,  which they felt as you sang. We hope you will teach church attendance differently, now that you have experienced what their worship service is like.
   We sure love all of you!! We wanted to cry as we hear  you sing. (But we had to hold back the tears:) We can tell you our hearts were sure filled with joy as we listened to you, and we were so proud of "our kids"!! The church is true and what a great opportunity to share your testimony through song!!"

   I found out that Rao Olibiri, the man from India whom Elder Whetzel & I baptized is speaking at a Devotional this Thursday down in Livonia! In order to go we need to have an investigator or recent convert come with us. So we prayed in faith Saturday evening at about 8:30pm that Heavenly Father would lead us to one of His children who has been prepared to receive the Gospel and who would come to the Devotional with us on Thursday! We found a New Investigator that night but they could not come to the Devotional. Then on Sunday (yesterday) afternoon after Church we went to an appointment we had set up with a young mother named Catrice who had been referred to us by her Mom who is a member! We get there, and Catrice isn't there but her Mom and one of Catrice's good friends was! So we end up teaching her friend whose name is Dicey (Die-SEE, annunciation on the "S"), and she is so solid!! She even accepted the invitation to come to the Devotional this Thursday!!! :) :) :) God hears and answers prayers!! Even though it wasn't on Saturday night that He did, He surely heard and answered us in His own time :) 

   I love being a full-time missionary! Being led by the Spirit every day and having my only focus being on others and their salvation. I know the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth today and that I and many others have the sacred opportunity and privilege to stand as witnesses of this "marvelous work and wonder." I hope we all treasure our knowledge that this is Christ's Church and share it with all whom we come in contact with. Not for any selfish reason, or personal gain, but because we love our brothers and sisters, and they need what we have. Love you all! My new address is 11611 Morang Ave.#1  Detroit, MI 48224 if you want to write me! I love getting letters, but I can't promise you'll get one back promptly in return! :) 

Elder Goff

These are some pics at the competition, there's only a few of them that are good, sorry!! :)

and some pics of the "D"

Detroit better be ready-1st week in Roseville

Dear Family and Friends,

Elder Godfrey is my new companion here in my new area of Roseville South! It's the East side of Detroit if any of you wanted to know :) Elder Godfrey is great, I've loved serving with him the past week, very competent and sharp Elder, we're getting to work here in this area! The apartment is nice, but we live in the hood! Hahaha we met these 3 G's in their driveway and they were like "You don't live in da hood?!" We responded "Yeah we do! It's great!" One of them holds out this plastic cup with some concoction of who knows what in it and is like, "Here, take a swig bro!" I'm like "Nahhhh" then another guy pulls out this joint and takes a drag and holds it out to us and is like, "You can't tell me you've never smoked a joint befo!" Hahaha anyways we ended up teaching two of them and they want to improve their lives. They've grown up in the hood and they know that, they were using it as an excuse saying that "You didn't grow up in the hood, we different! Ya'll keep da 10 Commandments an' dat's cool ya know, we try too! But sometimes we've gotta break some of 'em to survive out here!" It's interesting how the adversary blinds peoples' eyes sometimes and tries to get them to think they cannot change how they react to certain situations in their lives.There will be lots of good stories to come! It's an adventure every day, something out of the ordinary always happens. 

   Met the Bishop here in Roseville on Tuesday and he's got a great vision for missionary work in the ward, I'm excited to be here to assist him with his work. The North Shores Ward actually shares a Chapel with Roseville so I got to see a few families I knew a whole year ago in my mission when I was there in North Shores, that was pretty neat! Cool to see them again.

  It's been an interesting week adjusting back to being a Zone Leader! We went on an exchange on Friday down in Belle Isle, the East side of downtown Detroit and we were on bike! But then the other Elder's bike that I was riding broke and so we just walked. Talked to soooo many people on the streets, lots of them drunk or high so we weren't able to teach too many of them. But we did find a few solid people and were able to teach them, it was a good exchange down there in Belle Isle.

   Elder Godfrey and I are doing all we can to help our Zone improve and progress, I'm looking forward to our workload this transfer! It's going to be good, I can feel it! :) 

   We had some pretty sweet miracles this week. The first one we knocked on a door and this gangster walks out, hoodie, hat, sweats, the whole shabang. We start talking with him and it turns out he has 7 kids, AND he is married!! He just got out of prison last September (don't know how long he was in but it was a while) and now he's getting his life back together. He's withdrawn himself from the street life by choice, he knows it's not conducive to family life and it won't get him anywhere. He's already turned a new leaf and he wants to involve God more in that change! After the first lesson we had with him we came back in a couple of days and taught him about the nature of the Godhead, being God our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. He was blown away about them being separate beings, all working for one common goal: our salvation. Taught him how to pray, and he's starting to recognize that he feels the Holy Ghost when we come over. He wants us to come over every single day to see him and help him understand more, solid guy! It'll be a long road to Baptism but we're determined to get him there.

   Another one happened just last night. We had an appointment fall through at 8pm so Elder Godfrey and I prayed about where we should go and we drove to a certain street. As soon as we got out of the car I looked at a house across the street and felt the smallest prompting to go try it. So we get to it and a lady named Vicky answers the door, we start talking with her about if she believed families could be together forever and she said "No, I think family relationships are only for this life." We talked a little bit about some things there and about how Christ bestowed upon Peter the power to bind on Earth and in Heaven family relationships, and that God does not intend for our beautiful families to end at death!! She invited us in and we taught her The Restoration. She revealed to us that she has been praying to know which Church was teaching the truth, since she had lost confidence in the words of the Bible because of it being translated so much. We helped her understand that God has restored His truth to the Earth and that He's provided evidence of that, being the Book of Mormon. Seeing her again on Tuesday!

   I know God sends us to those He has prepared to receive His Gospel! We knocked doors for a while before we went to Vicky's street with no success, but Heavenly Father let our 8pm appt. fall through so we could meet Vicky instead. How good is that!?? I love being the Lord's instrument every day. It's incredible to see how He orchestrates situations for us to be in just the right place at just the right time to give His children the opportunity to accept the restored Gospel. I'm grateful to be serving a mission! I love The Lord and His work, we're sprinting here in Roseville! No time to mess around. We've got moves to make! Souls to save! People to love and serve. God bless us to magnify our callings wherever we are in the world and in each capacity that we serve Him in.

Elder Goff

Saying goodbye in Livonia-Pictures below

Last week with Elder Ferguson

Hello Family and Friends,

  I love my family!! :) :) Had a great Skype  on Sunday with them. So grateful for the wonderful examples of Gospel centered living they set for me. It's been a busy week!! Bittersweet news near the end, President Gerber pulled me aside after a meeting and told me I'd be getting moved in preparation for President Cleveland coming in next transfer. So I'm heading off to Roseville South, actually the area that Elder Ferguson just came from last transfer! It covers a lot of Detroit, most of our area is in the ghetto! So we should have some pretty great stories these next few transfers! :) 

Some highlights from this week:

   On Friday evening we went to see Kevin & Sami with a brother from the ward. Kevin wasn't home so we ended up teaching Sami! We taught about the Book of Mormon, she really caught on and was able to liken it unto herself as we read the first verse in 1 Nephi 1. The key to reading the scriptures is not just to read them like a story, but to be seeking for "precepts" or principles to then go and apply in our life. Once you do that, the promise Joseph Smith gave to some brethren in the early Church is fulfilled in our lives as well: "A man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book." Sami wants a lot of things in her life to improve and the key for her will be to apply what she reads in the Book of Mormon! We promised her those blessings of getting nearer to God as she did so.

   One of my favorite members of the ward here in Livonia Brother Taylor, was hospitalized this past Friday because of some sudden health challenges. He is a very consecrated member, which you will see evidence of in what he does in this story. SO a chaplain at the hospital comes into his room and asks if she can do anything to help him. He says, "Yes, I would love for you to read from the scriptures to me." She picks up the Bible on the bedside table and asks "Where would you like me to read from?" He replies, "Actually, I'd like to to read from the Book of Mormon, in 3 Nephi 11." She picks up the Book of Mormon and reads a good portion of it to him. Now he's asked us for about 6 copies of the Book of Mormon, and some For Strength of Youth pamphlets, for the individuals who are caring for him in the hospital. What a great example of someone who knows what is most important in life. If we build our foundation in Christ, "We cannot fall." EVEN if we have a sudden, traumatic experience that we were not expecting. "We cannot fall" if we are grounded in Jesus Christ and His glorious Gospel. 

   I'm grateful for the opportunity I've had to serve here in Livonia and I'm looking forward to blessing the lives of others in Roseville! I know that as we take each assignment we receive in the mission or just in the Church seriously and strive to magnify it, the Lord will magnify our efforts. He will be my rearward as I embark in this next part of my mission. Know that I pray for all of you often, and am so grateful for the friendships and associations I have with you! I hope you all had a great Mother's Day, mine was wonderful. I love my Mom, she is a great example to me and I'm so glad I can call her mine! :) Love you all.

Elder Goff

My new address will be  11611 Morang Ave Apt#1 Detroit, MI 48224.

Write to me if you get a chance!

5th Week with Elder Ferguson

Hello to all you wonderful family and friends,

This week was full of great experiences! I love serving with Elder Ferguson! He's the man! There's something about that last name, Kirby and Tanner Ferguson are great as well, I guess it's just something to do with the name! ;) Elder Ferguson and I are doing well together, we love serving here in Livonia!

   On Tuesday we had New Missionary Training, lots of sharp Elders and Sisters just 5 Weeks into their missions! It was great to be with them for a whole day.

   On Wednesday we went to District Meeting down in Detroit! It was actually Elder Tyler Haven's District Meeting so that was neat. It was a good one too, I was glad to see that Elder Haven was doing well.

   Thursday we had a Devotional up in Rochester (about 45 minutes North of us) that Rao and William came to with us, it was great! Recent Converts have such strong faith, it's always refreshing to spend time with them and discuss how their conversion is going. 

   We had a really good lesson with Kevin & Sami, an unmarried couple with a little girl, on Friday evening. They haven't been keeping their commitment to pray with each other once a day, and therefore aren't seeing the blessings we've promised! But they like having us over because they feel the Spirit while we're there. We discussed the principle of Repentance, and that we are there to help them Repent to ultimately prepare for Baptism! They understood better than before and are now looking forward to being baptized on June 25th! So we're pretty excited about that :) Kevin doesn't want to commit to ANYTHING which is why he and Sami haven't gotten married yet! We know as he keeps these small commitments such as daily prayer and scripture study they will prepare him to make covenants with God in the future. 

   On Saturday morning I went on exchange with Elder Josh Thompson! We saw some great miracles and tender mercies as we went out and labored in faith. Found a really sweet Romanian family in Elder Thompson's area the first door we knocked after a prayer of faith. I know God hears and answers us when we pray!

   Then on Sunday evening we had a great lesson with a less active family. We had previously studied 1 Nephi 8, Lehi's Dream with them and we were planning to discuss the Restoration this night, but as we started discussing their faith and their struggles we discovered that they didn't know how to STUDY the scriptures. When the read them as a family they just read, didn't really talk about it or liken it to themselves. So we had invited them to "hold to the rod" last time but they didn't really know how to do that! So we were able to help them out with that and the Spirit was there testifying to them that learning how to really STUDY the scriptures was their next step and would protect them against temptation.

   I hope you all have an amazing week! Shoutout to my Mother whom I love so much! :) Looking forward to Skyping with her and the family next Sunday :) Love you all!

Elder Goff

My friend from Boise went to Michigan to visit her daughter who lives in the Livonia Ward where Elder Goff is serving.  She took this pic and sent it to me.  Elder Goff, Rao and Elder Ferguson.  Sunday May 1, 2016