West Virginia Charleston Mission

West Virginia Charleston Mission

Monday, June 26, 2017

“June is almost gone!!!”

Hello everyone!! This week has gone by fast!! It was a good week! It's crazy June is almost over! This next week will be pretty crazy! President and Sister Salisbury leave on Friday and President and Sister Lindhardt arrive the same day. It's crazy that they are leaving so soon, time flies!! 

So this last week was pretty good! 

Tuesday we were able to see Tim again! We talked with him in his backyard and taught him more about prayer. That was something he hadn't been doing consistently and so we taught him more about it. He admitted he forgot that he could pray anytime and say anything, so he actually prayed at the end of our lesson! It went pretty well! We didn't get to see him anymore the rest of the week because Friday he got caught out of town during the crazy rainstorm that came through. 

Wednesday we were able to start teaching someone new who is pretty awesome! His name is Dan. He is the NICEST guy. He had been taught by missionaries in the past, Elder Vai actually, and we stopped by to try and meet him. He ended up in a divorce last year and so that's why he stopped meeting, he just got busy and things were crazy. But we went by and he let us right in and he was really happy to see us. He's been going through some rough times and he said it himself, he thinks God sent us back to him! He wants to come to church really bad as well! He would have come yesterday but something about the paper work with the divorce he wasn't allowed to bring his kids yet. But he said he would be there next week! We are going to go and see him again this evening. 

We haven't been able to see David this last week. He's been pretty busy with doctor appointments recently. I think his family may be a little apposed to the church as well, so that's probably making it hard for him. Keep him in your prayers!!! 

We got to have dinner with John out in Ravenswood on Friday. He's been reading a lot of the Book of Mormon, it's awesome. Elder Scott and I were on exchanges and we taught him and his wife more about the restoration. She was more interested this time and so that was cool, she was asking us a lot of questions. 

Our Family History class in Ravenswood went really well this last week! We had 4 people, other than us, come! It was great! We had a good time helping everyone get started learning about how to use the website, the family tree tool and how to find their ancestors! The only downside was the library’s wifi was pretty slow and so that made it harder. Next time our plan is to change it to the church building.

We also saw Joanne on Thursday with Brother Angus. It went pretty well, she still just asks a lot of questions about the Plan of Salvation. She's definitely heard a lot of crazy teachings from all sorts of different religions haha, but it was pretty good. She was pretty happy to learn about proxy baptisms for the dead and she actually asked us to do the baptism for her daughter if she isn't able to! 

Elder Bailey and I went on a hike this morning over at cedar lakes! It was a good time, super pretty! There were tons of spider webs everywhere!! Half of the hike was a game of dodge the spiderwebs, but it was a good time. Pics below! 

Something I really liked from this last week was from sacrament meeting. We had one of the Stake Presidency members come and speak. Something he said really made an impression on me. In Doctrine and Covenants we read: "Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven,  and I, the Lord, remember them no more."

His message focused on how we can receive strength as well as forgiveness through and because of Jesus Christ. Repentance is to confess our mistakes and shortcomings and then forsake them. The Lord in His goodness promises to forgive all of our sins as we meet these conditions! So, on the other hand, if we meet these conditions, we ARE forgiven! No tricks about it. One of the tools of Satan is he tries to convince us we haven't been forgiven, but if we believe that, we are denying ourselves the power of Christ in our lives. We can be forgiven, I testify of that!!

Hope y'all have a great upcoming week! We've got our last Zone Conference with President Salisbury tomorrow!! 

Take luck!!!


Elder Goold

Our living room and kitchen




Our church building in Ravenswood, WV


Pretty backwoods of WV





Monday, June 19, 2017

“It's been a good last few days”

Hey y'all! Hope you're all doing well! It's been a good last few days. Things are going well and are going by real fast!! Not a whole lot has actually happened these last few days though. Here's a recap:

Wednesday we got to see the “M” family! They are doing well. We were able to teach them about the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. They got some sad news about their baby, it turns out that as of now, she has no hearing. 😥 It's super sad, but there is a chance she can regain it since it's caused by her premature birth. Please keep praying for them!! They weren't able to make it to church, but we are hoping to see them on a weekly basis because they're schedule is better now. So we are excited for them!

We were also able to see Tim again! We taught him more about the Plan of Salvation. It went really well as we discussed more about the Fall and baptism with him. We were able to commit him to baptism in July! We also made a plan for him to read from the Book of Mormon everyday and he was really committed to it.

We were also able to have a lesson with the Mullins family! Not sure how much I've talked about them before, but they are a less active family here in Ripley. We talked with them about their conversion story and a lot about prayer. They committed to pray everyday together and on their own. Brother Mullins and their son Kyle also came to church yesterday! It was cool to have them there! We are really excited for them and are praying that they are able to start coming back to church regularly!

We didn't get to see David any more, but we are seeing him again this week and he is doing well. We also haven't been able to see the Earl and Justine recently, but we're still trying. It's hard when they don't have a phone for us to call, but it's okay. We also had to reschedule with Sister Meadows too this week because everyone and their dog was at a family reunion in Charleston and we couldn't have anyone with us. We're hoping to have a good upcoming week and an awesome transfer.

I've got a lot of pictures this week because last week I didn't get to send all the ones I wanted to. We also went up to Spencer last week and played frisbee golf again. It was super fun and way better with actual disks instead of lame Walmart frisbees.

Something I wanted to share something from my Book of Mormon reading I started back in March, just about 3 months ago. I decided to highlight the promised blessings of the Lord that are conditioned on our repentance and faith in Him. As I have done so, I have been able to feel the Spirit testify to me of the Lords desire to bless us. He asks so simple of commandments yet rewards us so fully. I know for myself, that the Lord loves us. I testify that His promised blessings are readily available to ALL!! There is nothing that holds you back from God's blessings, but you. So make the choice to learn about Him and see the blessings that come from it.

Hope all of you are doing well and I want to encourage each of you to be good and do good!!

Take Luck,

Elder Goold









Wednesday, June 14, 2017

“Busy and exciting week!”

Hello!! So this last week and a half went by crazy fast! First things first: Elder Bailey and I are both staying in Ripley another transfer! So we are pretty pumped! Elder Scott and Elder Webb are also both staying in Spencer.

So someone we've seen a lot over the last week and a half is David! He is awesome. We knocked on his door a few weeks ago but didn't get to teach him until last Tuesday. But he had found some church history documentary on PBS and watched it and really enjoyed it. So we were able to teach him about the Restoration, the Plan of Happiness and the Gospel of Jesus Christ! We've seen him a good number of times over the last week. He even came to church this last week!!! He loved it! He is super- awesome though and he's preparing to be baptized in July! We're pretty stoked about it:) Keep him in your prayers!

Tim is doing well, he's been reading in his Book of Mormon, but we didn't get to see him this week. He's the nicest guy and so he let someone he knew having family problems live with him for a little bit, but he had troubles with that guy, so he wasn't able to make it to church. But he is doing well and we are going to see him again tonight and Friday.

The “M’s” are doing well. Sister M is having trouble with her job again so that's been causing her a lot of stress. They also just got a new dog, which I totally love. I just love dogs. Ask Elder Bailey, I pet every dog here 😂😂 But anyways, they've been able to read a little in the Book of Mormon and she's listened to a ton of it on her phone! So that's pretty great and we are going to see them again tonight!

We were finally able to see Sister Meadows again yesterday! We weren't able to teach her but we set up a time to see her on Saturday, so that was good. She's been going through a lot lately, but she said she's been able to read in the Book of Mormon and it helped her! She also read some of it to her pentacostal friend over the phone without telling her what it was and her friend loved it! Then once she told her it was the Book of Mormon her friend said it was wrong 😂 Apparently Joanne called her out, saying she didn't make any sense haha!

We haven't been able to see Earl & Justine in a little while, they've had some family members having health problems over in Ohio, so they've been gone a lot.

We're starting to plan for a booth at Wal-mart next month, which will be pretty exciting! We aren't sure what we are going to do for the theme of it, but we've got a lot of good ideas, so it's going to be legit!!!

Other randomly exciting things: We put googly eyes on a lot of things, we built a castle out of cans at the food pantry because things were really slow and I got a nice slice off of my finger with a potato peeler!! We're headed over to Spencer today for some more disk golf, so that will be fun!

This last week at church there was a talk all about following the Spirit and it's promptings. He shared something that was really cool called the 5- second rule. No, this has nothing to do with picking up food off of the ground. The rule is that whenever you feel a prompting to do something, start counting down from 5 and then DO IT. It will help you do good things and follow the Spirit more. Obviously, don't do this for rash and angry behavior, because that would just make things worse. 😂 It works because giving yourself a time limit stops you from rationalizing away the thoughts or impressions you have and helps you act!! It's pretty cool, so I urge each of you to try and use it!


Much love and wish you all the best!!!

Take luck!!


Elder Goold

PS: Our fridge is working,  it's all good!





Monday, June 5, 2017

“Last official interviews with President Salisbury”

Well, this week will have to be short because we only have a few computers open at the library today and we're having to take turns. Transfers is already next week again!!! It's crazy how fast times flies!!! So next email will be next Wednesday.

We got to see this older guy we started teaching named Paul. He's a pretty old man in Ravenswood, not super interested but willing to learn and talk! He's met missionaries many times throughout his life and he actually had some really cool book about the Book of Mormon and the ancient America's, so that was cool. We're going to stop by again later this week.

Our exchanges with the Spencer Elders again was fun! Elder Webb and I had an appointment with a family that fell through sadly:( We worked more in the area around their house and ended up finding a house where being a Baptist preacher was the family tradition, so we were surrounded talking to them on their porch for a good bit. That was entertaining as usual, but nothing came from it. 

We had interviews down in Charleston and that was awesome! It was our last official interviews with President Salisbury!! It was sad and it will be weird to have him gone within a month from now!!!! 

We got to teach Tim again on Saturday! We talked more about the Restoration with him and it went really well. It had been a while so we were able to help him connect more of the dots and he understood it really well. He's awesome! Sadly, he couldn't make it to church, he had something break down on his car and he was stuck fixing it ðŸ˜£ 

Also saw the Moore family again this week! They have been reading some of the Book of Mormon, but not as much as they were hoping so we committed them to make a more thorough plan for reading together and we're seeing them again this next Friday! 

I'm trying to remember anything else crazy that happened, nothing terribly exciting. We got to stop in to the "M" family again and talk a little bit. They're doing good, but Sister M has been getting thrown around with her work schedule since she's the new one there. 

So I have been reading through the Doctrine and Covenants lately and I read one scripture there that I have really come to love. It's in section 101 verse 16:

“Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion;  for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am  God.”

I just love the comforting words "all flesh is in mine hands". I have a testimony that everything that happens in your life is absolutely known by the Lord. He has felt your pains and your joys and you are never alone no matter what you go through!

Hope you all have a great week and stay safe!!! PEACE!!

Take Luck,


Elder Goold


Last interviews with President Salisbury along with Elder Bailey, Elder White and Elder Wasden

West Virginia Roadblock

Hollow Kittens Wrestling!!