Monday, May 30, 2016

May 30, 2016 FIRST Baptism This Week




Hi everyone!                                                May 30, 2016


This week was so great! It was super busy but that's the best way to have it. Our investigator got baptized on Tuesday! 




Newest member:  Cherokee 


The traffic was bad so she got there a little late so we got nervous. It all worked out though. She would come with her grandma when she was younger and so her primary teacher spoke. It was so cool to see how much each of the ward members love her. They have been so great to reach out to her. Most of the youth came it was a huge crowd all there to support her in this life changing day. Guess who else came?!  Her step mom! She is a less active but she came and stayed the whole time! It was so awesome! Our president’s wife came, too. It was so
awesome to see all those who came to support her. She wasn't able to make it this Sunday, so we will have her confirmed this coming Sunday.  We are so excited for her.  Sister Jones' brother put together a beautiful picture for her of the temple and Christ.



The weather has been so beautiful this week!  We did our studies outside on Sunday. We also went tracting with the sister Training Leaders! We found 2 new investigators! We are so excited! It was pretty funny when we went tracting, we went to one house and the lady comes to the door and I recognized her. The other sister I was with wasn't my companion and so I said "Hi sister...... But I couldn't remember her last name hahah. Turns out we tracked into a member. It gets better though. She was a member we had tried to see a couple of weeks ago but she didn't want us to come by but when we came that day she let us right in! It was so cool! We had an awesome chance to get to know her better. She went to school at BYU and that is how she came in contact with the church. She said she had truly felt the spirit and there was no way she could say it wasn't true.  She is such an incredible lady.






On Sunday, we were going to go see a referral but she wasn't home so we felt like we should go see a member we had been working with. I truly know we were guided by the spirit to go see her because she was so happy to see us. Cool thing too, she had taken the challenge we gave her to read the scriptures when she feels down. She was so much happier and I know it is because the gospel brings so much happiness In our lives. I have seen how the Book of Mormon blesses our lives and brings us closer to Heavenly Father. I feel so much happier as I come to more fully understand his plan for each of us.

It has been a great week and I am so grateful for this chance to serve the Lord, to strengthen my testimony, and to meet some incredible people! I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Sister Goudy







A little R & R at the park!





With our Sister Leader Trainers






Monday, May 23, 2016

May 23, 2016 Baptism Tomorrow! Say a Little Prayer



Hi everyone:                                                                        May 23, 2016

This week has been great and crazy! Our investigator is all set to get baptized tomorrow May 24h and it has been so incredible to see her change. We have really seen the faith and desire she truly has. We had the awesome chance to go over to a member’s house and watch the restoration video with them.

The ward has been incredible about bringing her in. We didn't even have to ask the members they just did it on their own which has truly been an answer to our prayers. They made this really good vegetarian meal that was so good. It was cool to see how much our investigator connected with them through cooking!  

We are so excited for her baptism everything is almost ready. It is so awesome to see each of the members step up to help with everything.  Tomorrow is going to be a great day!

We got the chance this week to talk to an awesome lady.   We had talked with her before and really thought she wanted to learn more but a couple weeks went by and we could not get a hold of her. So one day, we went over and the coolest thing happened. Turns out she had a lot of concerns about things she had heard about the church. We had the coolest chance to answer her questions and help her feel so much more comfortable.

The spirit was definitely there and by the end she said “You two are so sweet!”   She said there was something different about us and I know that is because of the spirit. I have seen how important it is to work together with your companion because it strengthens the testimony you bear.

I love this gospel so much!

Love,  Sister Goudy

P.S.  Here are some pictures from DC where we got to go today.






Driving towards Washington D.C.


Air and Space Museum




Moon Lander Behind








Fun gifts from a sister member in their ward.!







Our investigator, Cherokee and a member family that is fellowshipping her.


May 23, 2016 Letter to Grandpa and Grandma



Hi Grandma and Grandpa:                                                 5/23/16

Thank you for your emails. It is so fun to hear about your trip. I didn't know you have been to Hawaii that is so cool. From being on a mission I definitely want to explore new places but I think for the most part I really want to live in Utah. I love Utah. I think a fun place to travel would be Alaska.  I think it would be so fun to go on a church history tour too. Some of the sisters I have talked to have done that and they really loved it. I think I will for sure put that one on my list of places to go in the future. The youth in our ward are going to Palmyra, New York for youth conference. It sounds like everyone is so excited. They have planned it so well it is going to be a great opportunity for all of them to strengthen their testimony.  Are there any places you have traveled where you would
love to live?

That's so crazy that Anna is going to get a goat (ha ha). We talked with a member this week who has all sorts of animals. It sounded like goats are mostly for pets or for milk.  She said they actually don't like eating the grass too much. I can't remember what she said they like to eat but she said if you want a lawn mower you should get seep.
Living out here in the country has really made me want to live off the land more. I think that is so cool the ward is doing a class on how to raise chickens. I would totally go to that class.  We have been eating fresh eggs from the members the past couple of weeks it has been so cool.

Yesterday, we had the chance to go to a member’s house with our investigator. They invited her over for lunch and then we watched the Joseph Smith video with her. It was so cool. I always love what the members cook. She cooks a lot of really healthy foods with little to no meat. I remember the first time we went over I thought for sure it wouldn't taste very good but it was so good. You can't even tell it is all vegetables. That is something I want to be better at in the future, eating less meat and more veggies. I have seen a lot of good things from taking care of your body. We have been going running in the morning and I know it has been helping me so much.  Those are something I really want to keep up for all my life because I know that our body is a temple for our spirit and so if we want to have the fullness of the happiness the gospel brings we should definitely live the Word of Wisdom.


I am glad to hear you all are doing good. Tell everyone I say “Hi” andthat I love them.

Love Ya Lots, Sister Goudy

Sent from my iPad

Letter while on Vacation 5.16.16


Tuesday, May 10, 2016

May 9 After Her Skype Visit On Mother's Dsy




Hi everyone!                                                                              5/9/16

This week was so great! Our goal was to stay really busy so we wouldn't think to much about calling home. It worked out great and we had a really good week. I really saw our unity as a companionship grow so much. Being united is so important when we are teaching and I saw how it invited the spirit to testify of the things we were saying. We were able to teach a bunch of really prepared people about the Book of Mormon! It was so awesome.

We were going to check up on a less active family when low and behold they have a non-member living with them! The members weren't home and this trumped into a great opportunity! The Lord has truly prepared people for this message and this man is one of them. We had a great time talking to him and teaching him about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon and invited him to contact us if he had any questions. This week was full of some really awesome experiences like
that.

We saw some really awesome things this week. We saw an old plane landing at the airport. We saw a cool cat statue that I'm going to get a good picture of to send. We got some really cute colored eggs from a member. We also got to help plant almost 20 bushes in her yard. It was so much fun!  We had zone conference and got to sit by President and Sister Huntsman.

We had a really cool Sisters Activity today. We went on a Virginia style hike, ha-hah.  Up some rolling hills. On our way to the trail we got stopped by a train. It took a while to pass but it was so cool to see. We saw this really cool Civil War building. It was an old mill and then we saw this really cool water fall. The best part though was when we got to go back and have a devotional with all the sisters from our zone. I feel so much love for each of them as they bore their testimonies.

It reminded of how important it is to get to know people.
There are so many great people in the world and we are all God's children!   Sometimes, I forget and just decide if I like someone based on my first experience with them, but if I take the time to get to know them I see their true identity as Children of God.

I want you all to know at I am so happy that I am serving a mission at this time. I know this is where I need to be. I know that this gospel is true. I know that we are all children of God each and every one of us no matter what. I know that this gospel has helped me in everything I do and I am so grateful for all the little miracles we saw this week.

I hope you have a great week!

Love, Sister Goudy


Tuesday, May 3, 2016

May 2, 2016 Happy Mother's Day Wishes




                                                                                   5/2/16
Hi guys!

This week has been a pretty great week! We got the chance to visit with a lot of less active members. It is so awesome to hear all the cool things each of them are doing. There was a lady who has bee hives in her back yard and she was telling us all the cool natural plants she has.

We met another lady who has gotten really involved in family history. She was able to find the home that one of her great
grandparents owned. It was for sale so she got to see pictures of the inside too! How cool is that?! We have felt like family history would be a great approach to finding people to teach so tomorrow night we are going out to the family history center to learn about the program and how people get started. 


I am reading in Alma 5.  Alma the younger is trying to help the people remember the things their fathers taught.  Just like Alma was teaching then we use family history to remember our past. Like Isaiah says to turn the hearts of the children's to their fathers. I love to see how everything connects. I have really been enjoying studying the scriptures it really is an awesome spiritual feast.

It has been pretty rainy here this week and all the plants are
becoming so green and beautiful. We were going to a members house the other day and we saw this beautiful view of all the trees.



With Mother's Day coming up, I have been thinking a lot about the talk by Elder Holland "Behold thy Mother" it is such an incredible talk. He says that,  “ No love in mortality comes closer to approximating the pure love of Jesus Christ than the selfless love a devoted mother has for her child". Wow! He is right! When I think about love I think about my Mom; all that she has done for me and  all the selfless things she continues to do for me. I don't think I will ever fully be able to understand how much my Mom has done for me but I am so very grateful to have her as my mother. I am grateful for my grandma who raised my Mom to become who she is today. I know that "When you save a girl you save generations!". 

Each of us have the chance to influence the next generation. This talk truly expressed how much I love my Mom. I hope you all get the chance to read it. 😃  I hope you all have a happy Mother's Day! Thank you for all that you do.

Love, Sister Goudy

Sent from my iPad