Monday, September 4, 2017

Hey everyone! 
Can you believe it, the final letter? I can't! My mission has just flown by and this week has just flown even faster. I am so excited to see you all. If you haven't heard my homecoming will be this Sunday at 9am. The address is 2976 W. 4270 S.  (Winchester Dr.) ,West Valley City

I know we will be talking soon so I will save my stories for when I get home. Just ask me about my last Sunday. It was incredible!! 

I love you all and will see you soon! 







Monday, August 28, 2017

8.28.17 Seven Days without God makes one WEAK !

Hi there Everyone!                                            

You know our time for these letters is coming to a close. I just want you all to know how grateful I am for EACH of you. Whether you are just reading my emails or someone I regularly talk to, I know you have played a huge part in my mission. 


Over this time, my love for so many things has grown but especially my love for the Savior has grown. Yesterday, in sacrament meeting the talks were on faith and putting our faith into action. I have found that the only way I have been able to grow my faith and love for the Savior has been as I put it into action. One of the speakers truly took the symbolism of baptism to a whole new level for me. He said that when we are baptized we don't fall forward, we don't dunk ourselves, we don't just spring ourselves. We completely immerse ourselves. We fall back, putting all our trust in the person baptizing us. But really we are showing that we are fully and completely putting all our trust in the Lord. We are letting go of the things in the past and looking forward to the things to come. I have been so honored to watch my dear friends let go of so much to receive so much more. 




I was excited to hear about our friend Ismael!  This is the guy we met in July saleing coconuts. HE GOT BAPTIZED the other day!! 



What an amazing reminder to me that we never can tell where we will find that person who is truly ready to let go and trust in the Lord. He has moved up to Richmond for school but has been driving all the way to Crystal City to go to church. I know he has truly given up so much to make this promise with the Lord. 

I am so grateful for this chance to witness these changes for myself. 

I love you all! See you soon! 

Love, Sister Goudy 

Happy Birthday!



Yummy!

Monday, August 21, 2017

8.21.17 Wrong Roads

8.21.17

Hey everyone! I hope you have had a blessed week. This week was AWESOME!!! Lots of great things happened. I think the biggest lesson I learned this week is that what we think might be a mistake might actually not be a mistake at all. I'm telling ya, the Lord works in amazing ways! 

It all started last Monday. We had just prayed about where we should go to finish the night. Now you have to know our car doesn't have a way to use our GPS so we drive solely by memory. I turned down the road I was certain would lead us to our friends house. As we were driving I remembered this house we had tried earlier in the week. We flipped the car around and went back. The people didn't answer but as we were walking away Sister Moore remembered how we had wanted to try the house across the street when we had come the time before. As we for closer I realized the lady was out there on her porch. Haha!   Not only was she on her porch but she was on her phone too. But a promptings a prompting so we walked up and said Hello. We awkwardly stood there and she finished the call. As we talked with her she told us how she had fallen away from going to church. She said it just wasn't for her. She said there was only one time she has really enjoyed going to church. She said it was when she went with her friend Margaret. She went on talking and expounding on the fact that she really felt at home in her friends church. It was just at that moment when our jaws almost fell to the floor. She said, "My friend Margaret goes to the Mormon Church" WHAT!!! That's crazy! As she said that I realized that we were there for her. She gladly accepted to come to church with us and said she would begin reading the Book of Mormon. As we got back to our car we were both shocked and amazed by how the Lord had truly lead us to this dear woman. We were even more shocked when we came to realize I had without a second thought taken the wrong road to get where we were going. Or was it really the wrong road? I truly believe that many times we feel as though we have made an insistent mistake. Maybe caused a few unnecessary problems. Satan wants us to feel as though we are the worst and that we have ruined everything. But our Heavenly Father knows us far better. In fact I know he gives us plenty of room to make some errors. He definitely does not expect us to be perfect. 

I remember when I started driving in the city. I felt like I had no idea what I was doing. I became an expert at U-turns and figured out the perfect timing to allow my GPS to recalculate. Something that in the moment seemed so time consuming and really frustrating to an awesome driver such as myself became a very humbling  experience. It taught me to look at what the Lord was trying to teach me. 

Well, needless to say, later on this week I yet again took a sort of wrong turn. As we drove down the road I saw a woman walking her dog. I thought maybe we should talk to her. I pulled over to figure out where to go and again the thought came. We got out and talked to her and turns out she is good friends with members as well! She said she would love to get baptized. It's definitely something she had been thinking a lot about. Wow! Again the Lord had taught me that my mistake wasn't going to ruin all the plans in fact maybe it was a part of the plans. I am learning that nothing we can do will frustrate the work of the Lord. 

My last experience happens just the other day. We were trying to get ahold of this guy we had met earlier this transfer named Angel. I pulled up the contacts in our phone and there was only one Angel so I called it. Before the person picked up the phone I realized it wasn't the right Angel. A woman answered and she was so excited to hear from us. She said she had moved away and lost contact with the missionaries but would love to have home stop by. What a miracle! 

I think of the scripture in doctrine and covenants that says, "That the fullness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers." D&C 1:23 
I know that I am very weak but with the Lord I am strong. I am so grateful for these amazing experiences that have reminded me of that. I really can't believe that my mission is coming to an end. I feel as though it just slipped through my fingers and flew away. I know I will always hold these amazing experiences near and dear to my heart. I love my mission and I love the Lord. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that this Gospel is true. I know that is has changed me and I hope it will continue to do so. I leave this testimony with you in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. 


Love, Sister Shelby Goudy


P.s. Sorry this is so long. One last thing to add! 
President and Sister Huntsman always take the missionaries to the temple for a session the day before they go home. This transfer will end the day the temple closes for cleaning so they took us this week. We met at the mission office and went to the temple. Got some pictures then went to the mission home for a delicious Mormon dinner (Cafe Rio!!!).  After dinner we had a testimony meeting. It was so incredible to hear how our missions have truly changed each of our lives. It was so sad to think that will be our last time in the mission home though. Our last day in the mission field, instead of doing all that stuff (temple and out to eat) we will get to go out and finish our missions strong. They will send us out in a trio for the rest of the night. It will be so fun!






I love you all so much! I hope you have such a blessed week! 








Monday, August 14, 2017

8.14.17 Skunk in the Courtyard!




Sorry Everyone!



I don't have to much time for a long email this week.  I did want to send some pictures though so you can see what a fun week we have had.

                                                           

 

I have never seen so many critters until my mission. Yes, that is
indeed a skunk, walking right through an apartment complex.

We have had a ton of rain the last couple of nights. People's basement
s have flooded because their pumps have stopped working. They all have
pumps in the ground so they can drain the water out.






We have been enjoying our view of the Potomac.


 We had lunch there today and have done studies there the last couple of days.







We got to visit our friend Felicia in the hospital.




Our friend, Thomina,  had her adorable baby. It was so weird not being able to hold him. She is very excited to get baptized and wants her sons to learn more as well.




I will definitely send something more spiritual uplifting next week but for now I want you all to know that I know this gospel is true. I have seen it bless my life as well as my family’s life. I know that through our Savior Jesus Christ, we all can change and become better. I know that God lives and He loves us. In the name of our avior,Jesus
Christ, Amen

Love, 


Sister Goudy

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

8.7.17 Bye, Bye, Bug Spray


Hey Everyone! 

I hope you have had a great time since the last time we talked. It hasn't been long but quite a bit has happened.  We had our car fast and we've put away our bug spray and pulled out our rain boats today. 






At the beginning of the year our mission started doing a car fast. The first Saturday of every month, we hang up our car keys and pull out our good old missionary walking shoes. I have always despised this day until now. Sister Moore is one spirit following Rockstar! She has taught me that it's okay to not put a ton of plans in the schedule because the Lord WILL place people in your path. As we went out we planned to talk with everyone we saw and it was incredible! Not everyone was interested but we were able to teach each person in some way. 

I might not have explained it very well last time I emailed. Our mission frequently sets goals for the week of how many new investigators we will find in that time. President wanted us to focus on the Book of Mormon and so we came up with the idea to find 531 new investigators in that week. Someone you have taught a lesson to, invited to do something and set up a time to met again.

As our mission has had a focus on the Book of Mormon this week we made sure to utilize a scripture in every contact, if we could. I came to understand that as it says in Preach My Gospel, "The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, is your most powerful resource in conversion." Not only were the people we talked to enlightened by the spirit but they then had physical evidence that they could study and apply for themselves. I know my testimony of the Book of Mormon definitely increased. I would stop myself from just handing out a pamphlet and try to think of a verse or a chapter that would teach the same principle. It was no longer me just teaching what I know and became God’s children learning from His word. 

It has been a fun couple of days! 

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week! 

Love, Sister Goudy 




Sister Moore


Thursday, August 3, 2017

8.3.17 Thursday Prep Day

8/3/17

Hey Everyone! You might have noticed the change in pday for the week. My new companion Sister Moore has a twin sister in the D.C. North mission so today we went to the temple. They were able to go with each other so that was really cool.



We had one of our Senior Couples take us out to lunch afterwards at their favorite place, 5 Guys. 






So you are probably wondering about my new companion. I've always been bad about introducing them to you so I'll try to improve this transfer.  Her name is Sister Moore. She is toward the end of her mission too. She is such a hard worker and loves sharing the gospel. Like I said before she has a twin sister and then 4 brothers back at home. Funny story I actually have met her before the mission. So she is from South Jordan, Utah. My good friend Jessi and I went to her house and her orchestra concert our SR. Year. Super funny. Sister Moore loves to talk to everyone! I'll tell you more things in the coming weeks about her. 

This week has been really fun! We went to missionary leadership council and president showed us this video. It was where they handed out all 531 pages of the Book of Mormon and invited people to look for the references to God in it. It was so cool to see that even though they weren't members of the church they absolutely loved reading the Book of Mormon. Many people we talk to think they have to be members to read it.

After watching the video President said he wants us to use the Book of Mormon more as our main recourse for teaching people. We have been working on using it in every finding approach and I am so impressed by the things it has brought about with it. President asked us what we thought would be a good finding goal to go with our Book of Mormon week and I said 531.  One for each page. He agreed so we are faithful looking for those 531 souls. Keep us in your prayers. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God I know that we will get nearer to Him as we read from its amazing 531 pages. I love you all and leave this with you in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Love,  Sister Goudy







Monday, July 31, 2017

Change in Preparation Day for this week


Looks like Sis. Goudy's letter writing day will be on Thursday so they can attend the temple!

Never fear, we'll post when we get a letter!




Monday, July 24, 2017

7.24.17 God's Hand in Our Work!

Okay! It seems like every week I say I have l learned so much about how Heavenly Father is so completely aware of us but it's because I never cease to be amazed by the many ways He truly shows His amazing hand in our lives. This was the last week of our transfer and so it seemed to be crunch time for us. 

At times I was very overwhelmed by everything going on. I think transfers have always been a hard thing for me. They are good but hard at the same time. At times when I was the most overwhelmed, it was incredible to see all the tender miracles Heavenly Father showed to me.   It was from something as small as a delicious dessert to as big as being able to see some of my amazing friends again. I know that Heavenly Father knew just what I needed. 

One of the most amazing blessings this week was getting to see both Robin and Andy speak at our missions fireside. They do it at the end of every transfer. Andy gave me a little shout out saying we sat down for dinner and I said, "So Andy, when are you getting baptized?" There was a lot of the story missing but it was sooo funny.  I’m pretty sure my face went red and the entire room got 10 degrees hotter. Ha,ha!  I think it was a good reminder to me that people definitely listen to and remember the things we say. So be careful what you say!

It's definitely good to be bold but as long as you are loving along with our boldness. We had a zone Conference once where they talked to us about BLT ( bold, loving, testify). If we match our boldness with equal parts L and T it all will be good. When Elder Bennett came to our mission, he said we can never be too bold as long as we are loving. I mean it even says in the scriptures  "whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth" - Hebrews 12:6 

Another amazing miracle and reminder to me this week was how much our Heavenly Father truly loves each one of us. There are times my family will send me something just when I need it and it just lifts my spirits even more. Our families know just what we need.

We had a lesson with one of our friends that we hadn't seen in a good month. He's a really busy guy but he said, "For some reason I was available that day."   We quickly learned the miraculous  reason as the member we brought with us walked in. We introduced them to each other. They both are from Ghana. They started talking about the things they remember from their country when all of a sudden the member looks over at us and says, "He is my brother!"  We thought she just meant her brother in Christ or that they had a lot in common but no! They are actually blood related. They are cousins! Turns out they had been looking for each other for over 20 years! How amazing is that. Our Heavenly Father will NEVER forget any of his children. 

"What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?  And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.  And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost."  - Luke 15:4-6

What a joy it is to be a part of this marvelous work. That we can help the Lord care for our brothers and sisters here on earth. I know that this gospel is true. I know the Lord rejoices in us. Our joy is His joy. He knows what we need and he will truly bless us as we turn to him. I love you all so much and leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen! 


Love, Sister Goudy

3 pics





Yummy dessert at member's home!





A member took us on a tour plus of the military base near here where he works.




Monday, July 17, 2017

7.17.17 Coconuts Anyone?


Wow! 7/17/17 This week was so miracles and eventful. It's getting to be the end of the transfer so in order to fit in 9 different exchanges with all of our sisters we went on 3 exchanges this week. We have such amazing sisters who bring so much excitement to our area. I learned from them that our Heavenly Father does hear and answer our prayers. I don't have too much time but I just want to share a couple examples of how I learned that. I have gone on several exchanges without a problem but for some reason this week I was so nervous for all of them. I have been praying a lot that they would go well and it turns out each of the sisters had been as well. The first exchange I went on was with the sisters from Crystal city. They are in an area that doesn't have a car so for the first half of the day Sister Richardson and I where on foot. I learned so much in that short amount of time. When I thought everything was falling apart, I learned that Heavenly Father was just rearranging it to what it really was supposed to be. As we walked, we talked with everyone. When it was time to stop for lunch we walked up to a store. It's kind of an interesting part of town so we weren't sure where to eat. We decided to go into one restaurant and just look at the menu. Come to find out we weren't there for the food we were there for our dear friend Hudan. She doesn't have a Christ background but she was so excited to meet us. Funny thing was, we really thought we were there for food. but when she kept helping us figure out where to find things we realized we needed to teach her. So we sat down and started getting to know her. Later that day I had found out that Sister Richardson had been praying to just be able to teach a lesson. She was so excited when, later that day, we had a lesson with such an amazing prepared family from Ghana. I know that both of us could not doubt that Heavenly Father was absolutely guiding our day. The next miracle came on our exchange with our brand new sister. This was her first exchange. She is currently serving in a young single adult ward. When she came she told me they had a ton of people that wanted to meet on the day we had exchanges scheduled for. She didn't know how it would happen but she know that the Lord would provide a way. Well he sure did! We saw this guy selling coconuts on the side of the road. We went and had our lesson and when we came back he was still there. We got one and then started talking to people to see if anyone was willing to listen. Our dear friend that was selling the coconuts really was interested. He listened and wanted to learn more. Well you will never guess. He is a young single adult that lives in the sisters area! Wow! It doesn't get more miraculous than that. I know that Heavenly Father is there. I know he hears and answers our prayers. He will never leave us alone. I know this Gospel is true. It is our steps to our Father in Heaven. I love you all and leave this with you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Sister Goudy

Tuesday, July 11, 2017

7.10.17 Andy's Baptism


Hey Everyone! I hope you all had such a great week! I have loved hearing about all your fun 4th of July celebrations. For our Fourth of July we got to go to the Presidents house for a barbecue and games. It's always so much fun! We had a finding goal the week before of 400 new investigators all invited to baptism as a mission. We were the lucky zone that got to film the video with President. I hope you enjoy it! On the actual 4th of July we got to go on exchanges with two amazing sisters. Ironically enough the sister I was with was actually from Canada. She loved getting to celebrate the 4th here. While we were together we got to go to her area and have a pass of lesson with..........? You guessed it! Sister Von Sayvoe!! It was so fun to see her teach. She is such an amazing missionary. I am so proud of her. She has done so well. I was even more excited to get to go to Andy's baptism this last Saturday! Yep, Andy got baptized! We are so excited for him. He is going to go to the temple for the first time to do baptisms tomorrow, too! That's pretty fast but he has friends that came into town from Georgia for the baptism and they really want to be there for these big events. It was so fun having them all there because we got to hear Andy's conversion story from another perspective. So, a couple of years ago, one of the young women invited her friend named Monica to girl’s camp. Monica had a great time but never came to another activity again. Flash forward a couple of years the missionaries were over at that young woman's house. They asked who they could teach and she instantly thought of Monica. She told them she had given her a copy of the Book of Mormon but hadn't heard anything since. The missionaries went over and were greeted by Monica's father, Andy who politely said they weren't interested. When Monica heard what was going on she ran to talk to the missionaries and told them she had been reading the Book of Mormon. She began meeting with the missionaries and got baptized. She is now serving a mission in California. As time went on some tragic unexpected life events lead Andy to begin on a soul searching journey. Though he wasn't a member of the church, the ward reached out to him in such love. It left a huge impact on Andy and he, as well, began to investigate. His daughter Monica was so excited to be able to Skype him for his special day. I am so grateful to have been a part of this amazing day. It is so incredible to see how one small act can make a huge impact on the rest of someone's life. I have truly seen that through my mission, there have been times where I might have felt someone wasn't interested but if we feel the prompting we just need to act on it. I can't imagine how the course of events would have changed if that young woman would have never invited Monica to girls camp. I know that Heavenly Father has an amazing plan and time table for each of us. I invite each of you to think of a friend you might have felt you should reach out to. Take the opportunity to invite them to something. I promise you it will change the life of generations. I know that the Lord will be with us and fill our mouths with the words to speak. Just as it says in D&C 84:85 ".....and it shall be given you in the very hour that portion that shall be meted unto every man." I absolutely know that this is the Lord's work. I am so grateful to be a part of it. I know that the gospel is true and that Jesus Christ truly is our Lord and Savior. I leave that with you in the name of our dear Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen Sincerely, Sister Goudy

Monday, July 3, 2017

7.3.17 Happy 4th of July!


Hey everyone! Happy 4th of July! Our ward covers the Fort Belvoir military base as part of our sacrament meeting yesterday, we all stood and sang the National Anthem. It was powerful! What a blessing it is to live in such an amazing country. I am so grateful to get this opportunity to serve along side such amazing men and woman who have so bravely fought for our freedom. It's such an amazing place to serve. I am still learning a lot about the area and the people here but things are going pretty well. I think a favorite part is how we get to spend a lot of time with the other sisters. I love getting to see Sister Von Savoye. She is doing incredible! I am so proud of her. We went on a mini-exchange and had a lesson with Tony. I was so excited to see him. He has been working on getting to the temple and hints were kind of slowing down so I got to go visit him and see how I could help. Everything turned out really well and on Saturday we all went and celebrated his big day at the temple! The only time there was bad weather that day was when we were in the temple which was a huge blessing because it was the day of our car fast. Heavenly Father truly has a perfect timing with everything. If we would have gone to the temple any earlier, we would have been driving in a heavy rain storm. I also got to spend time this week with Hermana Abad. She is from Herman,Utah and she knows some of my friends. She is in the Spanish program so she taught me a couple of phrases. On exchanges, I am pretty sure I learn so much more from each of our amazing sisters then they learn from me. Hermana Abad is so great at listening to what people say. We were only companions for 24 hours but every time I didn't know what to say she would jump right in. She is incredible! Another sister I had the privilege of learning from is Sister Cottam. She is currently training a sister in a singles ward. As we began driving for our short exchange, the car started making a weird nose. We pulled into a neighborhood and immediately felt like maybe we weren't there to fix our car but to find someone ready for the gospel. Sure enough, as we pulled over, we saw this house and felt like we should talk to the people there. Now missionary work tends to be really awkward 99% of the time, so we were trying to figure our approach. Just as we were going to walk up to the door, a man walked out and asked us if we needed help with our car. We were able to talk with him and let him know that missionaries could talk with him more where he was moving. I think so many times I have to come to realize that just because someone might have been placed in our paths and is ready for at least a little portion of the gospel doesn't mean we will be the missionaries teaching them. We were able to plant the seed and let our little plant grow. In reality, none of these people are our investigators. They are the Lord's. He watches over them and knows exactly what they need. I am so grateful for these amazing learning experiences I have had this week. I know that this gospel is true and I am so grateful for it. I am so grateful for the temple. I know that it truly is the house of God where we can go to make further promises with Him. I hope you all have a great week! Love, Sister Goudy 1. Wash. D.C. Temple 2. JR. is in the front and Tony is next to me 3. Sister Cottam and I made a new friend 4. The amazing Hermana Abad

Saturday, July 1, 2017

6-26-17 Sister Shelby Goudy's DC Mission

Sister Goudy did not get a letter out this week.  She is fine, just busy.  Mary Jean and Jeannette put together a picture show of Shelby's mission to the music, "Daughters of the Promise," .as performed by Nashville Tribute.  The link is listed below:

https://animoto.com/play/C73oBScuFQSxm46iY21gqg#

Monday, June 19, 2017

6.19.17 Small and Simple Things in Fort Belvoir



Well, Hey there everyone! 

I've got a good update for you on this new week, transfer, area and companion. Lots of new things happened this week. I am now serving in the Fort Belvoir ward. It's in Alexandria and Lorton Virginia right off the Potomac. There is such a great variety of cultures here in the area. My companion, Sister Millward told me people like to feed us food from all over the world here so get your maps ready.  This is Sister Millward’s last transfer. It's kind of cool actually, we have served in the same zone our entire missions and now we get to be companions. She is from Idaho and I hear she is an amazing dancer. She is the youngest in her family. I think the greatest thing I have learned from her, so far, is how great she is at literally making friends with everyone. I have to ask her sometimes if she already knows the people we are talking to because she seems like they are best buds. Ha-ha she is great. 

We are so excited to be sister training leaders together. We came up with a fun idea to kick off our Christ like attribute for this transfer, it's happiness and joy. One night after we got home we were joking around and one things snow balled into another and now we will be sending out a small and simple goal each day for the sisters. Last year President Huntsman would send out a small and simple video and would challenge us to do something that day to bring about our goal of 300 baptisms last year. I know it was by those small and simple things that brought about greatness then. It will definitely help each of the sisters and us have fun and bring about great things now. We are so excited! 

I love you all so much. I absolutely know that this gospel is true. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father. He reaches out with open arms to each of us.  I hope you each will see His hand in your life this week! 


Love, Sister Shelby Goudy 




 Displaying image1.JPG

My first day in the new area and they already had a baptism!





Our small and simple kick off video