"Happy Halloween from Elder Ghoul'd"

Well, this last week was totally awesome. Highlights to follow:

We had a really good lesson with this guy named Jarv, we taught his wife the other week. He is a really cool dude. He had a lot of questions but our lesson went really well and he actually has a granddaughter, who just had major surgery, that he wants us to see! So hopefully that leads to some family business going on! Not sure, but he may be related to the Laffertys.

Speaking of the Laffertys, we were able to see them this week! We talked to them last Saturday and Brother Lafferty was just barely getting to the point he could move after his cancer treatment! But they are still super nice and open to us! We were worried because about 2 weeks ago we called and the person who answered said we had the wrong number and hung up! But it turns out it was his brother and his brother thought we were a telemarketer, so we were relieved to see them still open and nice!

Thomas is doing really well. He's come to church for 3 weeks in a row now and is reading a lot of the Book of Mormon! He's a little behind our Book of Mormon reading, but he is doing a lot of reading, so it's good.

Cathy will be getting baptized this Saturday and we will be exchanging back with the Elders in Hazard at the baptism because I get to do my first baptismal interview! That will be an exciting weekend for sure! She has been doing really well and is super excited to get baptized. She tells us all the time how excited she is and that if we don't pull her up out of the water fast enough, she'll pull us in after her! She's a funny lady:)

Sean and April are doing good. They didn't come to church, but they did read the chapter in the Book of Mormon and prayed and answered the question they had! They are doing really well. They’re progressing slower but we are excited for them. They'll get to church sometime soon, we know it!!!

The ward had a good festival for Halloween on Saturday. We helped run one of the games and got to meet a lot of non-members. One of which we are really excited to talk to is Tim. He and his son are a part of scouts here and he is super cool. It was really funny actually. So the food pantry we work at gave us a whole tub of skittles the other week and so we were handing them out of our trunk to everyone who came by. Tim and his family walked by and then Elder Baggett made a joke about handing out copies of the Book of Mormon and he said "Yeah, I'll take one for sure!" and then HE GRABBED ONE FROM OUR CAR!! It was funny and then we got to talk to him a little yesterday at his house and he said he'd be cool with having us back over! Elder Baggett is a pro, it's pretty funny how many times he's been able to just really casually and easily give people copies of the Book of Mormon.

So yeah, that's most of what happened this week, it was a good time. Oh, I also went on exchanges with Elder Willie here in Martin and that went pretty well. He's super cool. He is from Idaho and played Rugby and wrestled. He's a super funny enthusiastic missionary so I look forward to seeing him grow during his first part of the mission!

This week, I just want to talk about my Book of Mormon reading. As I have been doing this, I have seen just how often the Book of Mormon is really talking about Jesus Christ, and especially His power. Just how much power and influence He has to work miracles and do good in our lives. I know that as we study from the scriptures, they truly testify of Jesus Christ. It's not just some book to read, but its purpose is to point us to the source, even Jesus Christ, that we may look to for a remission of our sins. That's why I like the phrase Elder Stevenson used in conference, "look to the Book, look to the Lord". It's true and I know it.

Hope y'all have a great week! Keep close to the Lord and don't catch anything on "far" (fire with a southern Kentucky accent)

Take Luck

Elder "Ghoul"d

"Zion isn't built on sermons. It's built by people who show up and put their shoulder to the wheel"

Well. I'm drawing a blank of what happened for a majority of this week. Here goes nothing.

Monday no one ended up coming to basketball (I was devastated, as you could probably guess - insert sarcasm) so Elder Baggett and I had some extra fun. We decided to go bug-hunting and we caught, notably, a giant praying-mantis, a grasshopper, a huge hairy spider unidentified in species, and a stinkbug. Then we threw them all in the same container with the assassin bug. It was a massacre and to save a long story, the giant praying-mantis ended up literally ripping every other bug in half and eating them. Got it on video:) But other than that, we tried to see the Laffertys, who weren't home and then we had a good family home evening with the Plummers.

Tuesday we had another crazy day in Allen and Dwale. Brother Sloan came with us to a ton of lessons and it was awesome. We had some good lessons and then it capped off with an old guy we were teaching getting upset and throwing the Book of Mormon. So that was a bit unfortunate. But overall it was a good day. We found out that Cathy is finally divorced while at dinner with Sister Taylor and Brother Sloan.  She's really close to baptism!!! She's also hilarious.

I went on exchanges with Elder Johnson, which I forgot to get a picture of. He's actually from Elder Normans home ward as well as being his cousin. He's a super cool missionary. We had a bunch of appointments fall through though. But we did get to see Thomas and we taught him about tithing and fast offering. He's doing really well.

We had district meeting on Friday all about planning and goal setting. It went really well and to be honest, it really showed me how planning goes even beyond just missionary work. Planning really just maximizes everything we do, as long as we actually follow the plans we make. Then I got to go on exchanges with Elder Burgener again! I normally would have gone with Elder Hill, but he was in Martin when Brother King was found and since we had a few lessons to which Brother King was coming to, I had Elder Hill go and see him again. Elder Burgener and I had a good time over in Hazard.

We had stake conference as well this weekend. We were supposed to see Sean and April Saturday night but they had to reschedule. We'll be seeing them on Thursday this next week. They've started reading the Book of Mormon more, which is awesome. The lame thing is that our Stake Center is almost 2 hours away and they didn't have a broadcast, so it was hard for any of the people we are teaching to get there. But we are looking to see a lot of people there this weekend.

Stake Conference was pretty awesome. Thomas, Elder Baggett and I all rode in the car with the Bentleys on the way there and back. It was a long ride, haha. My favorite quote from conference was  "Zion isn't built on sermons. It's built by people who show up and put their shoulder to the wheel". That was really cool to me, because just like anything else in life, the Kingdom of God, our testimonies and anything else Gospel related are only going to move forward if we actually work at it. Nothing happens until work is put in. President Salisbury was also there, so that was sweet to get to see him.

Something I just read in our mission Book of Mormon reading is Mosiah 16. I really like the verse that says Jesus Christ "is the light and the life of the world. Yea, a light that is endless that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life that is endless, that there can be no more death" It is just such a strong testimony to me of the Savior and how like an ever-burning light, He is always there. He, like the ground we walk on and the air we breathe, is always there, regardless of whether or not we notice His constant care. He IS there!

Hope y'all have a great week and stay safe.

Take Luck

Elder Goldilocks

Praying Mantis

Elder Bergener and I

"Assassin-Saris Rex and lots of other stuff"

Hello everyone!! This last week has been so kick butt, and I can't even put it into words. We have been so blessed here in Martin and I know that these same blessings are spreading over our whole mission. With the unified Book of Mormon reading we are doing as a mission, there are amazing blessings showing up all over our mission. So I will try to recap some of the awesomeness that has happened.

Monday we had FHE with the Bentleys and talked all about faith. It was sweet because their nephew, who has been less active with the rest of his family was there and he was really participating. We are hoping to get him and his family back soon after the dad has surgery for cancer.

Tuesday we taught a lot of awesome lessons and it was sweet. We saw Cathy, who should be baptized before the next transfer! She is doing really well with remembering the commandments and how to pray! It's been really good progress for her. We saw a lot of our investigators in Allen and then we got to teach some new people. We taught Jordon, who Sis. Bentley found at the Jenny Willey Festival, that night and then Kristen, who is a girl Elder Baggett gave a Book of Mormon to. Both of them are awesome!

Wednesday we went out and worked in McDowell, which is a farther away town, so we can’t get there as often, but it's good workin' out there! We found this new guy to teach, Wally (like the Disney movie) and he is hilarious. He is huge into his family and connects with the fact that families can be together forever.  Then we got to teach another man named Robert in Dwale (da-whale). He is a student in Prestonsburg and he loves looking into all different religions and really was into the Restoration, so we are pretty happy!

Thursday we went on an adventure in the backwoods of our area to find some random people no one in our ward knew. So that was quite exciting and we were successful in our journey. We also had a super-duper awesome lesson with Sean and April. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and it was such a powerful lesson. They really are accepting of it and they committed to come to church!!!

Friday, we had district meeting all about the scriptures and it went really. We did it outside in sweater-weather because they were cleaning the building. Then I went on exchanges with the Elders in Paintsville. I went with Elder Perkins to Painstville and Elder Willie went to Martin for the day with Elder Baggett. It was a good exchange and we got to find a cool family who invited us back. OH, and even though we didn't get to go, Brother King and Jonathon got to go to the temple in Louisville!!!!!!!!

Saturday was busy but fun. We had more appointments fall through, but it was a good day. We saw Thomas Flannery, the 2nd time that week, and it went really well. He's been reading a lot and was already in Jacob after a week and a half! He is doing well and we are pumped for him!  Nothing else really happened, but a good day regardless. We had another good meeting with the Bishop too, so that's good.

Sunday was really a good day. We had Thomas and Cathy both come to church. Sean and April were going to come, but he was called into work before they got ready, so they couldn't come. We had a good service and then we went and visited more less-active members with Bishop Spurlock. Later Sunday afternoon was when it got fun. So we talked with this lady who invited us back on Tuesday and when we talked, I noticed a strange bug on her house. Not sure if any of you remember this story from almost a year ago, but there was an assassin bug on her house!!! Only the second one I have ever seen, but still awesome. This time I knew not to hold my face right next to it, but what we did do might not have been better. We decided to catch it in a little plastic container and take it with us. So now we have it in a little box and we are trying to get it to cage fight a spider. We named it "Assassin-saurus Rex" so that explains my email title:) It's quite entertaining as far a missionary stuff goes, haha!

Overall it was a really good week and it was filled with all sorts of funny stories and amazing lessons. I really am having the best time and Heavenly Father has done so much for this area and it's all coming together right now. I'm not sure what I've ever done to get to be here, but I love it.

I wanted to end, since I am almost out of time, with my testimony of the Lords work. I have been able to see how preaching the Gospel to all the world really is preparing the world for the Savior’s return. I testify that it all started nearly 200 years ago when God called a young boy by name, and that through that Prophet Joseph, the fullness of God's Plan of Salvation and Christ's Atonement is known by man today. It is a perfect plan and I know it is true more and more as I share it with those I meet. I hope all of you continually testify and share the truth of the restored gospel with all those you can. And if you are too freaked out to try, read 2 Timothy 1:7 :)

Take Luck,

Elder Goold

Austin and Jonathan at the Louisville Temple

Where I Live

Our Church Building in Martin

My District

Elder Perkins and I

Spider vs Assassin Bug

"In the middle of the 3rd verse, we all heard a splash"

Hello everyone!!! These last few days have been awesome! I'll try and recap as much as I can.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday was the Jenny Willey Festival where our ward had a family history booth, so lots of people, very busy and very fun.

Wednesday night we went to McDowell and talked with some potential people we have in this huge apartment sub-division.

Thursday wasn't too exciting: Weekly planning session for our awesome week this week. We got to read from the Book of Mormon with Thomas, which was really good. He's doing pretty well, and the Bentleys are doing a good job of befriending him more. Then we had some appointments and we got to have dinner with the Carroway family. Then we walked around and talked with some people at the festival.

Friday was a good day! We had a meeting with our new Bishop as of two weeks, which was really effective, so we are excited for good things with the ward. Then we were at the Jenny Willey festival the rest of the day. We worked at the family history booth and talked with a lot of awesome families and individuals. We've got a few awesome people to go and see this next week now, which is really exciting. I also bought a giant turkey leg for dinner:)

Saturday we went and met with our investigator Brother Church in Auxier. It is kind of sad, his pizza place he works at is closing so he is losing his job and may be moving to WV. Hopefully not, of course, but if he does he'd move to where Elder Vai is serving in WV, so he's be in good hands. We taught him about prayer and it went really well. He's a super awesome man, he really is. Then we went back to the booth and worked at the festival. Then once the festival was turning into the parade, we dipped and went to set up the church for the baptism. The baptismal font takes 3 hours to fill up... and the drain easily comes out so we have to sit guard for the whole time and make sure it is all good. But it was all worth it:)

So we had Jonathan’s baptism that night!!!! It was so awesome:) Brother K (his older brother) got to baptize him! It went really well except one part…I was leading the music and right in the middle of the 3rd verse, we all heard a splash right behind the doors to the font.... There was a little 7-year old boy there and he was wandering around and decided he wanted to test his luck by balancing on the steps of the font. Well, he clearly isn't the best at balancing, because he totally fell in, but it's all okay, he was fine and we didn't loose any of the water:) It was quite an exciting event all around. But in the end, all worked out!

Sunday was great too, lots of people at. Jonathan was confirmed a member of the church by Elder Baggett!! It was awesome. Sadly we didn't have too many visitors at church, we were really hoping Sean and April made it, but they didn't. We had a good lesson after church with Tina with Bishop Spurlock there. She's doing well and a lot of her questions from conference are being answered for her and she's definitely growing her testimony. We are excited for her! Then after our adventure around to different people with the Bishop, we realized we lost our phone somewhere and had to scramble to find it, which we did at Tina’s house. Then we got to go and teach Sean and April, which went really well. April is very committed to coming to church and even wanted to come Saturday night to the baptism, but Sean works a lot and so he says he is too tired whenever those things actually come. We read 2 Nephi 32 with them and it was really good. When we read verse 8 and talked about it, April asked us "So, if there is some excuse to not do what God wants, like being too tired to come to church, that is just Satan tempting us?" And then she looked intensely at Sean. It was really funny and so we are hoping we can get them out to church next week! They are really awesome though, so once they get to church, it will be an awesome step for them.

Oh, and for all of you who have put up with reading all of my emails, you'll remember Cody, our investigator up in Morgantown. Well, he was just baptized this last weekend!!!!! I am so pumped for him. I'll include a picture of Elder Roberts, Elder Gurke and Cody at the baptism.

I want to tell you what I am studying during our unified mission reading of the Book of Mormon ~  I decided I wanted to work hard to increase my faith in the Lord. To "believe him" more like Elder Bednar spoke about. So when I was reading Faith in the Bible dictionary it lists a bunch of attributes the Lord has in their "fullness". I decided I was going to annotate anything in the Book of Mormon that directly upholds the Lord having these characteristics and let me tell you...there is sooooo much more than I thought!! The Book of Mormon truly does testify of Christ as the Son of God and the perfect Savior of us all.

Anyways, for a spiritual thought this week I want to talk about how we can make the best of every opportunity God gives us. The most key things we can look at are our attitude and our effort. If you make a little punnet square of the two, you want to have a good attitude and a good effort about everything you do. This goes for anything, whether it is a church calling, a hobby or a job. As we look at the positive of everything and put forth our best efforts, we can see blessing everywhere, I know it. So look at the things you do and see whether an attitude change or a behavioral change would benefit you and then do it!

I hope all is well for you all. Stay safe out chair!!! *("chair" is how people here pronounce the word "there", quite funny)

Take Luck

Elder Goold