Monday, July 25, 2016

July 25, 2016 Ward Mission Plan

This week we have had a big focus on sharing the ward mission plan with all of the members. As we have done this it has been so cool to hear about all of the chances people have had to share the gospel. The ward mission plan really focuses on the first step of being willing to open our mouth and share the gospel.

Our bishop talked about how he has seen many opportunities to share the gospel come through the week and that when he was more missionary minded he was able to take advantage of those chances. It has been hard because we meet so  many people who we feel are so ready for the gospel but sometimes they just need that little seed planted. I have seen that as we have met so many people but haven't yet had the chance to meet with them again. It can be really hard but I know Heavenly Father has a plan for each of them and he will not let them lose the chance to accept the gospel.

We have been meeting with an incredible mom named Kate and she is a great example of one of the seeds that was planted a while ago. We were going through our area book at the start of last transfer and we called several of the people. We weren't too far in when Kate answered.  She was so nice and said she would love to meet. When we looked through the information we had for her it said she was a referral from the bishop almost 3 years ago. It has been so cool to see how that one little referral so long ago has turned into something so much more. This week we had a lesson with her about the Book of Mormon and we brought an awesome member with us. I was so grateful to have her here because she was able to answer her questions in a way that she could better relate to. When we were leaving the member invited Kate and her family over to her farm!  I really saw the power of having members at lessons with us.

I know that this gospel is true and I know that our Heavenly
Father loves each of us. I know that he has a plan and he knows what we can become.

Yesterday, in Relief Society, one of the sisters shared an
awesome analogy. She said that our Heavenly Father gives us trials just like a butterfly needs to get out of its cocoon to be strong enough to serve. We need to go through trials to help us learn and grown into the strong butterflies our Heavenly Father knows we can become. 

I am so grateful for the knowledge of the restored gospel
that we have on the earth today. That we have been trusted with the priesthood power once again. I've been thinking a lot about how in 3 Nephi 11 when Christ comes to the Americas one of the first things he does is gives the priesthood to Nephi. It reminds me how important it is and that all of us, as members of the church, act under that authority. I am so grateful for all the sacrifices that have been made for us to
have that authority her on the earth today. I am also so grateful for the Book of Mormon that we have to help us through our lives it truly is a road map. I love this gospel and I love you all.

I hope you have a great week!


Love,
Sister Goudy



President Dieter F. Uchtdorf retells the story of the ugly duckling and urges us to reflect on who we really are--sons and daughters of a glorious Heavenly Father.




Our True Identity (3:39)     https://www.lds.org/youth/video/our-true-identity?lang=eng









July 18, 2016 Teaching Lots of People

Hey everyone!                                                         July 18, 2016

I hope you all had a great week! It sounds like it is
staring to heat up all over there... It has been in the mid 90's all week and we have gotten a good taste of the humidity.  I thought I would notice it a lot more but it actually isn't too bad. I hear it gets a lot worse in August though. 

The weather is so interesting here. We just had a crazy thunder storm so this email might come a little bit late. Our power is out right now.  It is so amazing all of the rain here especially coming from Utah; I love it when it rains really hard. After dinner so we went and saw they were really welcoming and we got to share a message with them. They told us they were leaving the next day to go out of town. Then when we were leaving we asked if they know of anyone that we should try. They told us about their neighbor who had been going through a really hard time. That's when we met our friend Brian he is the son of the referral and he is awesome! He truly has a sincere desire to learn more. After we shared the restoration with him we asked him if he felt that is something that really happened and he said, YES! 


It is so awesome to see people recognize the truth of the gospel so quickly. We went by on Sunday for another lesson and he said sorry I wasn't able to make it to church. He is so excited to come next week. We talked to him about the Book of Mormon and why the Lord has blessed us with it in our day. I am so excited to see his testimony grow as he learns more about the restored gospel.

We also had a great lesson this week with an awesome lady named Linda. She is the grandma of one of our other investigators. It's a really interesting story we had been going by to see her granddaughter but she was never home so we would talk to Linda for a little bit. One day we decided to ask her if she would be interested in learning more she said she would love to do that so we set up a time to come back and we had such a powerful lesson with her. She was so excited to read from the Book of Mormon when we told her how the Book of Mormon and bible go hand and hand with each other she said that is how she will plan to study it by using the foot notes.

 I am so grateful for the incredible experience we had this
week. I know that the Lord is always watching over us. I

left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels
round about you, to bear you up."  I know that this is truly his work and that we cannot do it without him. I know that this is His church, here on the earth today and that He has given us the gospel to help us return to our Father in Heaven. 

I hope you all have a great week. Thank you so much for all
your love, support and prayers.

Love, Sister Goudy







Monday, July 11, 2016

July 11, 2016 Fireside Before Transfers

Hey everyone;                                                                          7/11/16


 I hope you all had a great week!

This week I really felt Heavenly Fathers love for each of us. At the start of the week we went on exchanges with our sister training leaders. I got to work with Sister Squires  who is one of the best example of Christ like love. I learned so much from her in the short time I was with her. She reminded me of how important it is to fallow the council in D&C 11:21 that talks about first obtaining his word and then declaring it. It made me think of the little things I can do to strengthen my testimony.

Yesterday we got the chance to go to a fireside the mission puts on at the end of each transfer where new and returning members share there testimonies. It was so cool to see how each of them had come to know that the gospel is true through the spirit. I know that our conversion is based on if we feel the spirit. That is one of the biggest tools we have here on earth.  The spirit was so strong the entire time. 

It was a great experience for the sister we brought with us to remember her testimony and how she came to know it was true.  On our drive home, we had the chance to sing some of her favorite church songs that really xpressed her testimony. It was such a cool experience to hear her share what she truly believes.

I am so grateful for all the tender mercies that help us see our Heavenly Fathers love and I am so grateful for his hand in this work. I know that he loves each and everyone of us and that he will never leave us alone.

Many of the people testified that they knew the Lord was just waiting for them to reach out and grab his hand to pull them back to safety. I am so grateful for this restored gospel and the incredible gift it is in our lives. I hope you all have a great week.

Love,

Sister Goudy