Dear Family and Friends,

This week it got a lot colder than it has been so far this winter! It was around 12 degrees with quite a bit of wind for a couple days in a row but it was better than last year! We've really been blessed with good weather this year, it's a tender mercy of The Lord! 

   Cordis was feeling sick a lot this week so we only saw her once! But a member couple came with us and we taught about Eternal Families, it was a great lesson! She is so accepting of the truth, as a missionary you see people on polar opposite sides of the spectrum. Those whose hearts are very hard and unrepentant, and those who are so humble and ready to start living the Gospel as soon as you teach them. You see a lot in-between too! It's awesome to be able to see the parable of the sower come to life there for me, I know that the scriptures are true and we can apply them to every aspect of our lives, we just have to really understand what they are saying and look for examples of them in our lives. 

   Rao is doing great, he was able to prepare and pass the Sacrament this week! He should be going to the temple to do baptisms for his ancestors who didn't have the chance to be baptized in their lifetimes. William is doing the same thing, and so is Nze! Nze participated in blessing the Sacrament this week, he didn't actually say the prayer but he was at the Priest's table! He'll bless it next week I'm sure. 

   Not much else to say besides we had some bomb soul food this week! On tuesday we went to "Motor City Soul Food" in Detroit and got some Fried Chicken, Mac N' Cheese, and Candied Yams. It was some of the best Mac N' Cheese I've ever had in my life. Then on Wednesday we went to Slows, which is a famous Smokehouse BBQ, it was the best meat I've ever had in my life! And we met this family there who lives in one of my previous areas (North Shores), they came in after us and sat down at the table next to us and we just struck up a conversation with them talking about soul food! African Americans love their soul food everybody, and this family went hard in the paint when it came to cooking. Guess what they told us? That when we came back to Michigan to visit after our missions, we need to bring our families and call them up to set up a time for them to make soul food for all of us. They were serious too! So awesome, we will definitely take them up on that fam!! 

   Love you all! I hope you have a week of tender mercies and mighty miracles.

Love,

Elder Goff

Elder Whetzel at McDonald's in Detroit, notice the bullet proof glass that the cashiers 

are behind.There is a little turn about that they put your food in to get it to you.  Not the

 same as in Idaho!

Graffiti on trucks and vans!

Most delicious BBQ of my life!

At Slows restaurant with the family from North Shores area.

Last transfer with Elder Whetzel

Hello Everyone,

 I'm not counting down transfers don't worry, this is Elder Whetzel's last transfer now though so it prompted some thought and soul searching for how much time I have left in my mission. Home is a scary thought! Of course I want to see you all again and be reunited with my family, but a missionary's life is free of all the normal cares of the world. My only care for the past 17 months has been others' conversion and salvation. It'll be strange transition to come back home and be focused on my own life instead of my only focus being to help others. Good news is I've got a while until I come home :) Elder Whetzel however, only has 7 weeks!

   This next transfer will be 7 weeks long instead of 6 because the MTC has increased the amount of time missionaries will spend there by a week and a half, so Elder Whetzel actually gets to serve his mission for 2 years and 4 days from that small extension. Anyways, I'll get on with our week!

   We've seen Cordis (Nze's wife) frequently and she is progressing well! I've included a picture of their whole family at Church this Sunday :) She's understanding and trying to apply what she's reading in the Book of Mormon. Nze is such a rock to that family, his testimony is unwavering! It seems that whenever Cordis has a question or concern, he is able to answer it because he had the same problem, but he figured out the answer through study and faith. A less active Brother Garcia has been pumping out his missionary work, we've received a couple of referrals from him, one of them being his sister! And there are more on the way! He's doing great too, been to Church the past 8 weeks or so.

   Rao Olibiri is doing so great, he is participating in the administration of the Sacrament and is eager to come out teaching with us! We're getting him involved with Family History Work to go to the temple soon, we are so excited for him to start with that! He has a lot to do as the first member of the Church in his family. We taught Rao a lesson this last week and we read from 1 Nephi 16 with him, I received so many insights as we read verse 29 together. 29) "And there was also written upon them a new writing, which was plain to be read, which did give us understanding concerning the ways of the Lord; and it was written and changed from time to time, according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it. And thus we see that by small means the Lord can bring about great things." I drew tons of parallels between how the Liahona worked for them and how Heavenly Father gives us revelation through The Holy Ghost. The revelation, promptings, or inspiration we receive is "plain to be read" or understood, which helps us "understand the ways [or will] of The Lord" it was "changed from time to time" meaning that depending on what we're seeking, The Holy Ghost will help us with our CURRENT situation which will be different day to day. Also that the writing changed "according to the faith and diligence which we gave unto it" meaning The Holy Ghost will continue giving us more understanding and knowledge as we listen, and apply what he's told us. If we don't, He will often wait for us to come seeking again, sincere and repentant, for Him to give us more counsel. Anyways, it was a neat experience learning a lot of new things for myself as I read the Book of Mormon with our Recent Convert. 

  We had a really cool experience tracting the other day, we were walking down a neighborhood street and this guy pulled up into his driveway just as we passed his place. He got out and started to help his 2 boys out of the backseat and we started talking with him! He said he was too busy then to listen but that he wanted us to come back the next day. So we did! And he was still super busy but he gave us about 20 minutes to teach him. His name is Ethan! Living with his girlfriend, one of the sons is his and the other is from his girlfriend's previous relationship. He works in the audio business, he actually tours with bands to concerts all over the nation, it's pretty sweet!! He worked for this Non-Denominational Church in Florida for about a year and a half and something struck a chord within him there, he desires to learn more about God now and wants to live a better life! We taught him that God is his loving Heavenly Father, and wants to communicate with him through prayer. He was eager to pray himself and he committed himself do try it as a family as well! We are planning on seeing him this evening, we are excited to continue teaching him. Super open, humble, and ready to learn and apply The Gospel. 

   On Sunday we went to try by this former investigator named Mary Aliu, she's Nigerian like Nze and his family! She was taught by missionaries about a year ago but her family anti-ed her super hard and she needs to get at least her husband's permission for her to be baptized, but he wouldn't allow it! We brought Nze over there Sunday evening and we arrived just as she pulled up in her car. We introduced ourselves and she welcomed us in! We had a good lesson with her, we are planning on meeting with her relatively frequently again now. Her only thing holding her back from baptism is her husband not permitting her to be baptized and she gets discouraged with how much her family is opposed to her joining the Church! She's had mulitple confirmations that The Church and Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and that she needs to be a part of it. So we will be helping her family to become more accepting of the truth, we're planning on meeting with them sometime this week.

Love,

Elder Goff

An Instrument rather than a Hindrance

Dear Family and Friends! 

First of all I wanted to express my love to Mom, Dad, Courtney, Clarissa, and Isabel for being such great supports and examples to me. One night this week I was praying and had a prompting to pray for each one of you and specific reasons why I love each one of you flooded my mind. I'm so grateful for you Mom and Dad for making our home a sacred place, and living exemplary lives of Gospel service. You never realize how much your parents did for you and your siblings until you're on your own, especially on your mission.

   This week was pretty good, a little less time to proselyte with meetings and stuff but we still got some good work done. We found a few decently solid potentials that will hopefully pan out for us this next week. This week we had a miracle while walking down the street to try a potential investigator: We were still about a block away and we see this young adult get out of his car and start walking towards his house, we were just walking down the sidewalk. We called out to him and he came up to us to hear what we had to say. We asked him this question: "If you could have God help you with something right now, what would you want help with?" He answered by saying he wanted a greater purpose in life. He said he was sick of just working and sleeping! He's 22, very ready to receive the Gospel, super open too. Looking forward to teaching him in a couple days. An insight from my studies - the word instrument is used quite a few times in the Book of Mormon and I studied a few places where it uses it. Once Lehi is describing his son Nephi, a couple times about Alma the Elder, one about Gideon, and a few times about Ammon and the Sons of Mosiah. I concluded that Nephi was an able instrument in the hands of God because he relied on God instead of his own knowledge and abilities, he trusted God and His ability to help him, and he knew the right questions to ask in prayer. (Example: "Give me the strength to get out of these binding cords that my brothers tied me up in." vs. "get me out of here!" -OR- "Show me where I can find the ore to make tools so I can build this ship." vs. "Give me the tools!")

   Sometimes I think we pray for things to happen but we just ask the wrong questions! We might pray "Please give us somebody to share the Gospel with!" or you could ask, "Who in my life is ready to receive the Gospel?" or "Please help my know by The Holy Ghost who to talk with about the Gospel today, because I know that Thou wilt place people in my path." Then if we pay attention to the promptings we receive throughout the day, we will hear them! Sometimes Heavenly Father will give us answers right away, other times He will wait until the time is right, which may not be the time we expect it! We just need to be ready to listen and heed the answers when they come.

   When we narrow our minds to think that after praying, the outcome will only happen one certain way, we damper our ability to recognize and conform to the answer that God will give! Most often times I think the answer does NOT come the way that we think it will, or in the time we anticipate. If I go into a lesson with my own agenda, and am not willing to change my plan if God wants me too then I am acting as a hindrance rather than an instrument in His hands. It's like with Alma when he was commanded to go back to Ammonihah after he was kicked out of the city once already. He said something to the effect of "I was about to turn my back on this people forever." But The Lord commanded him to return and enter in another way and he was quick to obey! May we press forward with humble hearts, seeking the will of The Lord, and be an instrument in His hands instead of a hindrance. Love you all!

 

Elder Goff

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January 25th email-oops no email this week!

Hello Everyone,

This is Elder Goff's mom.  Elder Goff was sending all sorts of pics of the car show and then he ran out of time. When he went back later to finish his group email, it hadn't been saved!  He was soooo bummed because he had spent a lot of time writing it.  He only had time to finish it and send it, he could not rewrite the whole thing!  He said it was an amazing week and he will fill us all in next week!  So, this is what I know, Rao was baptized on Saturday and there are pictures attached of that and they were able to go to the Detroit Auto show last Monday and he sent a TON of pics of that!  I will only attach a few :)

He said" The car show was SICK!!!! I have more than 150 pictures of it and some of downtown Detroit, I'll send you as many as I can today! Yes we had another Baptism, Rao got baptized!  It was a great day, he is such an amazing man."

I also shared a little about my lesson on the Tree of Life, and he said this,"I love reading this chapter in the Book of Mormon with investigators and others that we are working with, it has so many amazing parallels to our lives. And when the investigator is able to be worked upon by the Spirit while we're there with them and they understand whether they are holding fast, clinging, or just wandering in the dark, The Holy Ghost always teaches them what they need to do to improve and get back on the straight and narrow. Elder Oaks talked about the love of money a couple of conferences ago, I'm so thankful for inspired leaders that teach us about these sneaky "wiles of the devil."

So, that is all we have for this week.  Thank you all for your prayers for him and all the missionaries serving around the world!  They feel your prayers!

<3 Liz

​

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