Heyoo! This is a little later than
usual because the library’s internet decided to give up the ghost for an hour
or so. We had to adjust some plans, but it's all good now. This past week has
been amazing, lots of great stuff.
Still playing basketball every week.
I'm getting better slower than grass grows, but better nontheless.
We didn't get to see the “L” family
this week sadly, they left early to go to Louisville (pronounced looville by
Kentuckians) for his surgery. Bro. L has had a lot of problems with cancer, but
we have Brother Parsons (a member that works with him) keeping updated on how
he is doing. The doctors said he has a 2% chance that it will ever come back,
so that's really exciting and he and his family should be back this week
sometime. We really are hoping they got to go and look at the temple while they
were there.
Jonathan is doing well, we went and
read some of the Book of Mormon (best book ever btw) with him and he is doing
well! He should be baptized on the 8th of next month! We are really excited for
all of the people here just so prepared to hear the gospel, next month will be
epic:)
Thomas is doing awesome. He wasn't able
to come to church sadly, but other than that, he is doing great. He's been
reading a good bit and has been working to change his life to be better. He's
had rough family problems growing up and so we talked a lot last time about
mending ties with his family and he said it's going better and he really is
feeling better because of it. He also kicked a bunch of his roomate’s friends
out of the house because all they ever do is smoke and drink, and he doesn't
want to be around any of that anymore, so that is pretty awesome. One of them
also tried to rant about the church and Thomas basically shut him down and bore
his testimony. He is so funny too, definitely one of my favorite people:)
We have been working with Cathy, not
sure if I have mentioned her before. She is a non-member that lives with Sister
Taylor, she was a part of our "group-tracting" adventure. She has a
hard time talking with a slight speech impediment and a dog that bit half of
her lip off, but she is a great person, super nice. I actually had an awesome
experience with her on Tuesday. Elder Hepworth (on exchanges with me from
Pikeville) and I were teaching her about praying and studying the scriptures
and like usual, it was difficult to understand her. But as soon as we were done
with the opening prayer, and throughout the whole lesson, I had a portion of
the gift of tongues given to me, because I could understand every word that she
spoke. It was honestly amazing and we had a great lesson. Then as soon as we
had a closing prayer, I couldn't understand her very well again. So that was
pretty awesome.
Tuesday we had Specialized Training
with President and Sister Salisbury. It was awesome! We talked a lot about the
Book of Mormon and why it is sooo key in everything we do as members of the
church. It truly is the keystone of our religion. Fun fact we all learned from
one of the missionary broadcast videos; Elder Holland and Elder Cook (both in
the 12 apostles) were COMPANIONS AS MISSIONARIES!!!!! That is so flippin crazy,
it's awesome. It was a really good meeting though, and then afterward was when
Elder Hepworth and I exchanged. He came out in the same group I did, so that's
cool, first person I've served around really that came to the mission the same
time. He's a really good missionary. It was a good day!
Saturday, we had an awesome experience
I've got to share. Heavenly Father must have a sense of humor, and a plan in
mind, when it comes to missionaries using a GPS. We were trying to find a
family that had been taught previously that hadn't been seen in a little while,
so we plugged in their address and followed suit. Well, we followed it right to
where it told us to go, but it didn't seem to be the right place, so we were
very confused. But Heavenly Father really had a purpose for us being there. We
decided to knock on the door it took us to and no one was home. Right after we
left the porch, the residents drove up and waved at us as they drove. We
figured it must be them and so we waited for them to get out and we talked.
Turns out it wasn't the family we were looking for and they hadn't even heard
of the people we were in search of, BUT they were happy to INVITE us into their
home to meet!! It was such an amazing blessing and to think that if we hadn't
have been working hard trying new places and new people, we wouldn't have ever
been placed in their path. They are Sean and April. They told us they both
believe in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father, but don't go to a church. They
have 3 kids, soon to be 4 after April gets custody over her other son. We
taught them the Restoration and they committed to reading the Book of Mormon
and praying about it!! WE are soooo pumped for them, they have such enthusiasm
about learning about the Gospel, it's great. We celebrated by taking a really
weird selfie (sorry Mom😜) and getting barbecue for dinner.
So my thought for this week is all
about sacrifice. President Salisbury gave us all a talk to study called
"the consecrated missionary". It is super good. It talks a lot about
the idea of being a disciple of Jesus Christ and how that required more than
just belief. It requires sacrifice and consecration. It's not just the minimum
of keeping the commandments and reading the scriptures and such, but the more
things we sacrifice and the more time we consecrate in the things of eternal
significance, the more power and light that comes into our lives (D&C
88:67-68). I've especially seen this to be true in the last week. President
Salisbury wants to start reading the Book of Mormon as a mission starting next
month. So when he said that I determined I was going to finish the Book of
Mormon reading I was currently doing (I was in Alma 28) before the end of the
month. So I have been spending basically every free moment I've had reading the
Book of Mormon and I've really seen a difference. The Spirit that is felt from
reading the Book of Mormon is just uplifting and amazing. I personally know it
is the word of God and I love it.
Anyways, I hope everyone has a good
week! I tried to fulfill my mom’s request for "normal" pictures, so
we did the best we could;) Stay safe!
Take Luck,
Elder Goold
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