"That guy ran a red light like a champ...."

Heyloo!! I hope everyone is doing swell wherever you are reading this, whether on a bus or a couch or any other sitting device. It's been a good last few days, lots of fun stories and cool people!

So we got to teach Tom again last Thursday, which was great! He really has a desire to know the truth, but we've got to work with him to act on that desire. He's really busy, especially as a foreign exchange student, but we read from the Book of Mormon with him and I think it really helped him get excited to read it! The Book of Mormon truly is the word of God and someone can know the truth of God's existence and His love by reading that Book, I know it! 

We got to teach another guy named Jeff last night. He is a college student here doing BioChem and he's really nice. We had a really good lesson with him and I really think he felt the Spirit! We are going to go and see him on Friday this week! We still haven't got to see the B family again, Bro. B has been really sick, but he's getting better, so keep them in your prayers!!

We're organizing a fireside here for the 25th all about conversion! We're focusing on getting answers to our prayers, so that's pretty exciting!! We're really pumped for all of the participation and we are hoping it goes well. We have a lot of great members here, it's just getting things rolling with them, that's what needs to happen. We had ward conference this last week as well which was sweet. President Cox is awesome, he gave a really good talk about the Atonement and justice/mercy. Super good!! And it's kinda funny, the way he holds his hand reminds me of the Cat in the Hat:) Haha, but he's awesome. 

Okay, so to explain my email title: Elder Webb and I were driving down 5th Avenue and I was turning right. Then two cops roll up behind me. (Note: it was warm and so we had the windows down) After the light turned green, I make my turn and one of the cops flies up beside me and yells "Hey, hey!!!!" at me through the window. So I stopped the music and slowed down and replied "Yeah?" Then he said back "So that car in front of you, yeah, that guy ran a red light like a champ, so could I just sneak in front of you and pull him over really quick?" 😐 "Uh, yeah, go for it" So then he pulled the guy over. It was pretty darn funny. Not to mention I almost died when I cop started yelling at me while I was driving. Oh, we also came around a corner the other day to find some guy OD on some drug in the middle of the street. So that was lovely:)

Something I really liked from this last week actually came from our District meeting. We discussed recognizing the Spirit and Elder Tunell had a really cool visual. He wrote the word "SPIRIT" up on the board and then asked us some things that we liked that could possibly distract us from the Spirit. Then each thing we came up with, he wrote that word over "SPIRIT" and after just 3 or 4 things, you can't even tell the Spirit is there or recognize it. That really left an impression on me, especially since I get really easily distracted (no surprise there). I want to challenge each of you to think of something you can take out of your life that is just a distraction!! Or even just set a short time away from distractions for feeling the Holy Ghost. He's a lot more willing to be with us than we are willing to have Him! 

Anyways, it hasn't been super long since we emailed last, so that's about all the exciting news for now. Hope you're all doing well and staying safe!! Keep up the good stuff!

Take Luck

Elder Goold 😬

“Love is really so key in everything we do.”

This last week and a day has been something that's for sure!! I'll give you some highlights! 

First, it's been really warm the last few days, which has been really nice. It's been changing back and forth like crazy from warm to cold. But the warm just gets me excited to be able to walk more than drive. I really like walking, haha!

Someone that we got to teach this last week was Tom! So Tom is from Thailand originally. He's been in WV for about a year. Elder Kropushek and Elder Curtis originally met him last semester and he was really into the gospel! He's Buddhist but he really wants to know if God is there and if Christ is the Savior. He read a lot of the Book of Mormon and came to church once, but after Thanksgiving break last semester, we lost contact with him, right before I got here. But we got to see him last Thursday and it went really well. He has so many good questions, especially about repentance and baptism. He is really sincere and even offered to pray (in Thai ) at the end of the lesson! We are really excited for him!!! 

Basically that was the most exciting thing, or at least the best things to email about!  We haven't been able to see Kennedy. We'll see him and have a really good lesson but then he is pretty uncommitted for return appointments, so we go a few weeks without ever hearing from him, but I think he'll come along eventually! 

The B Family came to church this last week!! We didn't get to visit them last week because Bro. B has been out of town, but we're going to see them tomorrow. We'll likely have to move their daughter's baptism back a little but she'll be ready. She really loves church! 

Something else that is exciting, we are starting to roll out a Self-Reliance initiative throughout the stake. The idea is pretty self-explanatory. It's going to help anyone who comes improve in a variety of ways, whether it's a personal business or budgeting or how to get a job or read or anything. It's a really good project for this area and, as a benefit, we as missionaries may have a way of helping out in the program! It will be nice because it shows the gospel from a different perspective and I really feel it's the perspective this tri-state area needs. 

The rest of the time, it's been a lot of finding, which isn't really a bad thing, I really like it and it's definitely entertaining.  We talk to a lot of the students here and we are going to be doing presentations to student associations soon so that will be pretty awesome! 

I really like this quote from President Thomas S. Monson, so I wanted to just include it in my email. Love is really so key in everything we do. If we have pure love for what we do or for those around us, life is so much easier!! 

The Martin Ward (where I previously served) has had 2 baptisms the last two weekends - I love that place.  Transfers are tomorrow and there are 4 new missionaries coming to our Zone - it’s going to be fun!  Oh and Elder Burgerner and Elder Baggett are both going to be Zone Leaders!

                

I have pictures this week (and not just one!!) so I'll put those on and you can enjoy:) Hope y'all have a great week and stay safe!!! 

Take luck and take good care of it!

Elder Goold!🙃

Huntington District:  Elder Hanson, Elder Webb, Elder Wasden, Elder Tunell, Sister Van Tassell, Sister Wheatley,
Elder Christensen and I

We went to an art museum last week

A really sweet hand-made glass sculpture

The smallest gun I have ever seen

I FINALLY got to see a Cashew Fruit Tree!!!!!!
Did you know that Cashews come from a fruit? 

"He's a magic wizard"

Well this last week has been considerably colder than usual, but it's not the end of the world, that's why we invented clothes! It also snowed a ton on Sunday, but now it's already all gone, sadly before I got a picture. Also, I'm emailing today because we had interviews with President Salisbury yesterday. Sorry for any confusion! Well, now for all of the adventures:

Last week we got to teach the B family!!! It was so good to actually sit down with their family and share the gospel! Sister B is awesome and even though she'd been away from the church for a while, she understands it and has a solid testimony. Brother B is really cool, he's an ex-bull rider and for a good reason! He's had a ton of broken bones and concussions throughout his life, so now he's retired from that and is on disability. But he is one of the nicest people ever and they are just a great family. The Spirit was soft but strong.

We had a missionary broadcast last week, which was exciting! We had another change, which was completely unexpected, which involves the 4 key indicators as a way to report our progress.

Since I've been here in Huntington, we've had a hard time finding members who are less-active and are open to returning to the church, but in the last week we've gotten to meet 4 who are all really receptive and have a desire to come back, so that's pretty darn awesome, definitely an answer to prayers. We got to visit with Sister K and it went really well. She doesn't have a car, which is stinky, but we've got other members nearby, so we're trying to get her to church again. 

We got to see Bro. R again! We taught him about the Plan of Salvation and he brought up that he's trying to quit smoking so tomorrow we get to do the Stop Smoking Workshop with him! I haven't done it in a while and neither has Elder Webb, so it will be pretty exciting.

Friday we had Zone Meeting and it went really well. We talked a lot about how we can better teach the people, not just the lessons. I think it helped me have a real understanding of how each of us is a child of God and everyone is really unique in their circumstances, and so the only way we can understand the needs of others is to rely on the Holy Ghost. None of us understand others perfectly, but Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do, and it's by the Spirit we can know what they know. 

Yesterday we had interviews with President Salisbury, which was sweet. President Salisbury is awesome. I really appreciate him and the direction he gave me. It will be real sad to see him leave in a few months. He also showed us a sweet magic trick. I swear he's a magic wizard - haha. 

Anyways, nothing else happened that was terribly exciting so I'll share something before I end. I really, really, really like this video from Elder Holland called "The Savior Understands Me". We've watched it with some members recently and have gotten them to share it with others. It's an amazing video and I testify of the truthfulness of what Elder Holland says. So watch it here:) 

 https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2016-03-0021-the-savior-understands-me?category=unity-in-diversity&lang=eng

Hope all of y'all have a great week and stay safe!

Take Luck,

Elder Goold

Sunny in Huntington after the snow and super windy!

Elder Webb and I with President Salisbury