Elder Daniel Goold: Ripley - believe it or not!

Hey everyone!

Before I left Huntington, Elder Webb and I got to see the “B” Family and wow. We honestly were pretty discouraged about not being able to see them for so long, but now we know Bro. B had a seizure (which is kinda normal for him) but then he cracked his skull pretty bad and it required staples. Then, he got bit by a flippin' brown recluse spider!!!! It didn't kill him obviously, but he got a pretty nasty hole in his shoulder and then got infected with Staph infection (spell check?), which then spread to Sis. B. So yeah, we understood much better after that. But everything is better and calm now so hopefully they move forward!

I got to see a lot of people at transfers! Elder Norman was there getting transferred somewhere else within in Charleston Zone, Elder Palmer was there training a new missonary and Elder Vai, who was going home. He was pretty sad to go, but he'll do well!

Saying goodbye to Elder Vai as he has completed his mission!

So now I am here in Ripley! We live in Ripley, but the branch is the Ravenswood. Similar to Martin, we live in the town over from the church building. We don't live too far from Charleston, only about 45 mins. It's a pretty small town feel here, but it's great. I'm excited to be here!! Our address here is:

455 Charleston Drive Apt D7

Ripley, WV 25271

It's great here so far! We are in the Charleston zone, so I'll get to see a lot of missionaries at our meetings (Charleston is the biggest zone). We have a family we are teaching, I haven't gotten to meet them yet, but the wife is on date for baptism on Easter! So that's really exciting! Elder Strunk is my new companion and he's pretty cool. He's from around Salt Lake Utah and has been on his mission just one transfer more than me. We're getting along well so far. He likes to talk a lot more than my last 2 companions, so that's something to get used to, but it's good not to be the one talking all the time!

The branch here is awesome, super tiny! It's about 15-20 active members, so it's like Morgantown during the summer, but that's normal. Pretty exciting, I enjoy it, especially how different the layout is for tiny buildings! Ravenswood is a town known for how many churches it has. Apparently it used to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most churches per capita!

So we got to teach a new guy last Friday, Tim! He's a really awesome guy! We got to teach him about the Restoration and it was cool when we talked about prayer and receiving answers on our own. He said he's been drawn recently to seeking truth and he had never really thought about seeking a spiritual answer in prayer for such spiritual things, he said he was always thinking about it logically. But we are going to follow up with him soon and hopefully things go well!

Elder Strunk and I spoke in church yesterday and something I found while prepping my talk came from 1^st Nephi. Nephi, when commanded to build a ship, didn't doubt the Lord had prepared the supply of ore, but simply asked where to find it. Ore takes a long time to form, but the Lord had a plan and Nephi had faith that there was a plan. The Spirit really taught me at that moment about how the Lord is constantly preparing blessings for us in different ways, but we have to be humble and willing to ask and seek. He won't just give us everything, but often the principle of work is required!

Hope all of you are doing well, stay safe and don't do anything crazy!

Take Luck,

Elder Goold