11.28.16 THANKSGIVING!

Happy Thanksgiving  Everyone!

                     

We had a really great Thanksgiving! We had a lunch giving with one of the members. I forgot how good Thanksgiving food is. Then we went over to our friend Mark's house.  When we planned it, we didn't expect it to turn out that we went directly to the next meal but that's how it worked out. It was the full missionary experience.

Mark was so excited to have us over he had been inviting us for a month. He invited his brother and his friend from work and both of their wives. It was the missionaries dream come true! Two missionaries and 5 non-members all hanging out for an hour and a half. Mark is really impressed with us so we kind of felt like the stars of the show.

At the end of dinner, we all sat down for a lesson. We watched the "Because of Him" video the church has put out and then we talked about some of the questions they had for us. It was kind of intimidating but it went really well. We would not have been able to do it without the Spirit because it truly brought to remembrance the things we know to be true. It was awesome!

To top our Thanksgiving off,  that morning we had a great lesson with our friend Judith.  She has twin daughters and she is really committed to learning about the gospel and applying it in her life. She has even been sharing it with her boyfriend who we have now started teaching. All four of them came to church on Sunday and she seems like she was already a member. She even signed up to feed us. She is such a sweetheart.

Keep your eyes pealed for her baptismal announcement! We've been really blessed with awesome investigators in the coolest ways!

This week the Church's Christmas video came out! It is really good. It talks about how Christ is the light of the world and how we are the light of the world. I love how it reminds us that we work along side the Lord. At the end it invites us to take a challenge to light the world. We are going to do it and I want to invite you all to take the challenge.

Check out the video at Mormon.org. This Sunday we will get to go help at the temple Visitors Center while they have the lights up for Christmas.  It's been a fun way to invite the members to light the world!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve and to be here on my mission. I truly love it!

Love, Sister Goudy

11.21.16 Our Fourth Floor, Last Door Experience

Hey Everyone!

This week has been quite the adventure. The weather got really cold all of a sudden and the Potomac chill is a real thing. The cold air really does go right to your bones. It was pretty good at first for riding bikes and the members have really helped us so much! Some days, I would be so worried about getting to our appointments and stuff but then we would find an awesome member that would be willing to take us to where we need to go. It was incredible!

Some days we would have 4-5 members coming with us to lessons. One night a member came out with us. We had started knocking some doors with no luck. We decided we were going to have a fourth floor last door experience. So we kept going up. As we got to the third floor a girl let us right in!  We had an incredible lesson with her but she wasn't available to meet again.

We went up to the fourth floor and the first door we knocked no one answered so we kept going. As we went to the next door the first door opened. We meet Beth! She is incredible and was very open. She was so excited to learn about the priesthood  and truly believed that this message is true. She's incredible!

Another night we riding our bikes through an neighborhood and it was so cold. Our fingers were frozen. It was almost time to go home but we really didn't want to go home early. We didn't know how much longer we could take it. So We both prayed. A thought popped in my mind about the pioneers and how much they pushed through and how we really don't have it bad at all.

Then I thought about how they would sing as they walked so I started singing. It truly cheered up our spirits and we made it through. I'm so grateful for this experience because we truly have learned so much!

We had transfers this week and our trio go split up. Sister Roberts went to another area. We finished our transfer together off with a fun service project at Mark’s house. We learned that Sister Roberts is really good with an ax, Sister Nenneman is good with a pick ax and I'm really good with a hatchet.  All together we make a really good tree chopping team. It was a lot of fun!  Mark has progressed so much! On Saturday Sister Nenneman and I had an actual lesson with him and he started reading the Book of Mormon. When we called him the other day the first thing he said is “Are you calling to see if I prayed?”  Ha ha, then he asked us to share a message with him! It was a lot of progression for him.

It's been a great week! We had a great lesson with a part member family we found a couple of weeks ago and they want to meet with us again. I truly know this gospel blesses our families and I know that it is true.

Love, Sister Goudy

11.14.16 Week on Bikes

Hey there everyone! 

So this week the sisters and I made up a biker gang.  We took our car in the shop to get the bumper fixed and they weren't sure how long it would take.  So we asked the office elders if we could get some bikes thinking it would only be a couple of days.  We are still on bikes to this day.  It's been a lot of fun though. I don't think there's any greater way to strengthen a companionship then to stick them on bikes.  We've even got some great parables we have created from the whole experience.

We've been blessed in lots of ways from this awesome learning experience.  Like we had pizza four nights in a row which gave us lots of fuel to ride. We had a built in air conditioner because it's been kind of chilly and we've had some really supportive members come with us to lessons.  We've learned that Virginia is full of lots of hills but we've gotten really good at climbing them!

I think one of the biggest things we've accomplished while on bikes is being able to plan out our days more effectively. Usually our days would be from one end of our area to the other but that would be really hard on our bikes so we tried to focus on one specific area. It brought a ton of blessings! 

One day we were in this neighborhood and everyone we had put in our schedule to see we ran into one way or another.  We met a less active family who was super nice they invited us over for lunch this coming weekend. Also by being on bike, we were able to meet some really cool people that we wouldn’t have talked to being in our car. We didn't meet any new investigators but we planted a lot of seeds and made some really good friendships.   

By Saturday we were kind of sad we hadn't found anyone to teach so we stepped up our game and prayed really hard that we would be in the right place to find the one person who was truly prepared. That day we went to a lesson and she wasn't home but her husband was and so we started talking to him. One of the many things I love in Preach My Gospel is how it says, "Teach when you find and find when you teach.”  By doing that I have seen so many miracles and we have found some of the coolest people.  Her husband had many questions and truly desired to learn more.  It will be so cool because now we will have the chance to teach the whole family! 

One big thing I have learned from my mission can now be related in an experience we had on our bikes the other night. We were riding home on the blacktop side walk. When we got to a point in the hill all of the cars ahead had there lights shining so we could not see where we were going.  All we could see was the end destination.  We had to trust that if we looked forward we would end up where we needed to go.  As we kept pushing forward the coolest thing happened, the light turned green and the cars came closer to us lighting our path for just a short moment before it was dark again.  As we all got to the corner we related to each other what we had learned from that.  Each having a slightly different experience, we each learned something different.  It reminded me of our missions so much.

 We are each called to a different mission. Right where we need to be.  Yet each missionary in a mission will have a tailored experience just for what they need. That night I was reminded of how I have been trying to trust in the Lord.  Many times we can't exactly see what is right in front of us or what he intends for us.  But we can see the end goal which is exaltation and eternal happiness.  That is something I definitely want and I want that for everyone! The journey will be hard but the reward will be so great in the end.

I know that the message we share is one of hope and happiness that people truly want to understand more.  On Saturday we got the chance to go to mass with our friends Matt and Mary.  It was a really a symbolic experience that has truly shaped them into the people they are today.   One of my favorite things about being a missionary is that we are never here to take away from anyone's faith.  We just want to help them partake in the extraordinary gifts and blessings the Lord has in store for them. 

I know that this gospel is true.  I know that we truly can live with our Heavenly Father again.  I know that this life is to prepare us to live with our Heavenly Father.  He sent the most perfect guide into the world and he will never lead us astray!  I am so grateful for the Savior Jesus Christ.  I know that through him we can overcome anything!  

I love you all.

Sister Goudy 

The Awesome Threesome

Elders and Sisters

11-7-16 J.C.'s Baptism

Hi there everyone!

 The mission is treating  us well and we are learning lots! We've been working really hard to find people to work with. In this area we meet lots of people but a lot of the people here are super busy so we've been trying to get in with them again. We have some pretty unique lessons on people's door steps or over dinner. The other day we did a church tour with our friends Mark and Tommy. Tommy is Autistic he loves trains and is really good at sports. We get the chance to be his friend and think of creative ways to teach them the gospel.  On Saturday we did a church tour with them. To,my was really excited to lead us from room to room. I think his favorite room was the chapel. When I was in Warrenton one of the members said that the chapel is considered an ordinance room and for that reason I truly believe the sprite is always very strong there. As we sat in the chapel Tommy happily walked around while the awesome member that came with us played some hymns on the piano. It was really cool to hear Mark say that he feels we came at just the right time and that he has been looking for a good place for Tommy to find friends. After the church tour we got to go to the park and play softball with them. We made up a really good team.

Later that Saturday sister Hyer and I got to go back to Warrenton for our friend JCs baptism. It was so cool to be back there and remember all the cool experiences and Miracles we saw. We found JC the week that our mission had a goal to find 300 new investigators and at the same time the ward was having a 40 day fast. It was incredible one of the members that was moving out gave us a referral  for one of their friends. We went over and they were super nice but not interested. We asked them if anyone had moved in recently  and they sent us over to Lindsay and Denie. The awesome mom and daughter who love reading The Book of Mormon together. We asked them the same thing and they sent us over to JC.  It was so incredible to see how receptive he was from the beginning.  At the baptism his two kids sang amazing grace with the sisters.  It was an all around awesome experience.

On Wednesday will sister Nenneman was on exchanges with the sisters.  Sister Roberts and I got to go teach the achievement day girls how to do hair. They were so excited to see us and we had a ton of fun learning with them. As we were leaving we talked to one of the members and he was telling us about his neighbor who he felt would be really open to learning more. Turns out it was the same person sister Roberts had been looking at in our area book and wanted to go try her. I know that we are truly being guided in the work and that we truly could not do it alone. It's really interesting to see the days when we are just following the schedule and the other days when we are following the spirit. It makes a huge difference.

I am so grateful for this chance I have to serve here and to learn new things it's been a great experience. I am so grateful for the restored gospel and the happiness it brings. I know that this gospel is true. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Sister Goudy

P.S.: Presidents birthday was this week so we made a rap for him.