Monday, February 27, 2017

2.27.17 Lots of Good Things Coming Our Way!



Hey everyone!    

I'm really sorry I didn't get an email to you all out last week. We went to Mt. Vernon for Presidents' Day with our friend Jamie. It was a lot of fun but it was really crazy too. We didn't realize how far away it was from us. This area has been such a cool place to serve but such a big adjustment especially with the roads. Most the time I end up going the wrong way so I've decided it isn't a good day until Sister Goudy gets lost.

The other night we were on our way home and turns out I put in the wrong address. We started driving up a road I recognized and that's when I realized I had put in the wrong address. We hurried back home and in the process we got rerouted three times. Ha-ha, very humbling. I think I was a pretty good driver back at home but here I'm pretty sure I would be a close second for worst driver, ha-ha. It makes for a very interesting car ride.
 
The other day we were driving past the Pentagon and the GPS took us right up to the front gates. Knowing my driving my companion started getting nervous thinking I had taken us the wrong way and we were going to get in big trouble. But have no fear it wasn't the wrong way we made it out safe and were able to go for our scheduled trip to the Pentagon today.

We don't have any pictures to prove it so you'll just have to take our word for it. Our member was so nice to take us on a personally guided tour of some of the places it is such a big building. She said it is the biggest non-skyscraper office building in the WORLD.  I'm pretty sure we only saw a very very small portion of it. 

This week we had some really cool experiences. We were driving down the road before an appointment and we felt like we should stop and talk with this guy who was walking his dog. We turned around and yes after a couple of detours, we found a good spot and went up to talk to him. His name is Pedro and he has read from the Book of Mormon and knows it is true. He couldn't understand too much of what we were saying and so we set up a time to come back with a member that could talk to him because we weren't sure if he was a member or not. When we went back, he was ready at the door with his pamphlet. He said he had already read it and knows it's true. He said he wants to be baptized so we quickly passed him to the Spanish sisters. They went over on Saturday and said he is awesome!!!  

Oh also! Do you remember our friend Joe? He is a YSA we gave a pass along to in the gas station. He is on date for baptism!!!! The sisters have been working with them and he is doing great. This Saturday, I will have the chance to go back to Goose Creek and see the baptism of my friend Judith. She is getting baptized the day after her daughter’s birthday.  It is going to be such an amazing step for their family and I am so grateful to have been a part of it.

Another cool experience that happened this week was three of our friends came to church! Not only that but a mother and a daughter looked up a church only and came to visit for the first time. They said they go to the temple lights every year and wanted to come check it out. We will get to put them in touch with some great missionaries. We found out that next march the D.C. temple will be closing for a year and a half. The incredible part is that at the end of that time they will re-dedicate it and allow the public to enter. There is not doubt in my mind that this is going to be one of the BIGGEST missionary opportunities ever! People always want to go inside and now they can. 

We got the chance to be a part of a mini-MTC this weekend. It seems like a common theme in a lot of the areas I have served in to do a mini-MTC which is super cool. The youth seem to really enjoy it. We had a 16 year old girl come out with us. She sure loved it and said she has been trying to decide whether or not to serve. It was cool to see how she has already been thinking about it. I am so grateful for the chance to serve a mission. I know I will never regret it. I am so grateful for all the people that we have been so blessed to work with. I can't wait to see who else is out there. I know that this gospel is true and I sure love it. I hope you all have a great week! 

Love, Sister Goudy 

P.s. We got a new ward mission leader. His name is Mark and he is a rock star. We all got a picture on Sunday for our kickoff meeting. Even before Mark was called he would call us up and ask us what appointments he could come to. He is awesome! 





Monday, February 20, 2017

2-20-17 President's Day at Mt. Vernon



(Excerpts from letter to Mom and Dad)
Mt. Vernon With Sister Von
I'm so sorry I've been bad at emailing lately. Today we went to Mt. Vernon George Washington's house for Presidents' Day because it was free. The traffic was crazy though. We had to park on the side of the road in the woods kind of. We went with our friend Jamie. He took us to some cool things really quick but he said usually it's an all day trip so we will have to come back another time. 





Speaking of parking I'm the driver and so I've had the chance to parallel park a couple of times. I always pray before and the Lord helps me. I remembered a tip my Drivers Ed. teacher taught me. He said he back up for 3 seconds then you turn hard right for three then hard left for three. That and a good prayer have helped me get in -- in one shot!

It's been fun being a trainer but there is a lot of pressure too. Usually you have someone else who knows what they are doing as well. So sometimes I'm like should we do it this way or should we not. I think the new motto is do what you feel is best. If it doesn't feel right don't do it. We had a lesson with the same friend we went to Mt. Vernon with and he's kind of a talker. So everyone got talking and 10 min in we still hadn't said an opening prayer. I felt really bad. I mean it's not a make or break it kind of thing but I should have just said something. I'm trying to work on standing up for what is right because it is so hard when others around you might not be doing the things you should. 

Sister Von and I have had fun though. She is starting to get out of her shell and we have been laughing so that is good. I was really goofy the other day and we had so much fun. We had dinner with our friend J.R. that just got baptized and we got to see him teach his friend about the gospel it was such a cool experience.  We are working on getting all of our recent converts to the temple. I think one of the hard things about training has just been the slower pace. I want to work super fast but sometimes that doesn't work out too well. I've had to slow it down a little. I think Heavenly Father is really teaching me to work with others because there is a lot I could do on my own but that is not how it works. We have to work as a team. 


This area is a cool place to be in. I'm still adjusting to the ward and people. It's definitely different. Some areas I feel like I can see why I am there but here I am kind of still trying to figure that out. There is a lot of historical stuff here. We are going with a member to the Pentagon next Monday


There is this great Mormon message called good things to come and I wanted to invite you guys to watch it. I kind of felt that way a little bit because I've been a little trunkie with being out a year. It's so weird to think I haven't seen you guys in that long. I am trying my best to stay focused. I loved that video because it talks about how we have come so far. We have huh? 




I sure love you guys 
& loved the Valentine's Day box!











Tuesday, February 14, 2017

2-13-17 New Companion From California



Hey everyone, this has been one eventful week. Sister Willes went home on Tuesday and the adventure began. I got called to be a trainer for a new sister and the MTC had arranged it so the new missionaries weren't coming out until Thursday. When I met with president he said he wasn't sure who I would be going with until then and the even funnier part is that when we got to the stake center to send sister Willes home. President came up to me and said so are your new companions here? We then figured out that they had forgot to get a hold of the sisters I was going with so president said well it looks like you are flashing solo. Ha-ha he talked to with assistants and they went on a mad scramble to get a hold of the sisters I was going to be with for a couple of days. Ha-ha it was a great start for the week. We had a lot of fun adjusting our schedules to fit both of our lessons in and everything turned out really well. On Thursday we went to the Train The Trainers meeting and that is when it hit me that I was going to have to lead and teach someone 24/7 for twelve weeks. President talked about how we set the standard for these new missionaries. It's really cool because I am almost training at the exact same time that I was in training a year ago. It reminds me a lot of when I was in training. 

My new companion is Sister Von Savoye. She is Awesome!! She definitely has greenie fire and she is such a quick learner. She is from the Bay Area of California. She went to BYU Idaho before she came out and she is a twin. I am so excited to get the chance to work with her. It has already been a great experience. She has incredible faith that has already brought so many miracles. We have been blessed with a good group of people in our age group to work with. I am so excited to see the growth in this area this transfer. We have kept really busy and I think that has helped us both so much. I'm really excited for this opportunity to serve. 

Some cool things that happened this week: 

Our friend Pam came to church for the first time. I was kind of worried because we hadn't heard anything from her and we hadn't seen her. But when we went to our class she was there!! We were so excited to see her. 

J.R. (The friend that got baptized a couple of weeks ago) got to pass the sacrament!! He did such a great job. We are working on getting him to the temple this transfer. 

Our friend Mike said he was willing to keep the Sabbath day holy and said he would move his schedule so he wouldn't have to work at all on Sunday. He is doing so great. 

Judith, the friend from Goose Creek is getting baptized on March 4th!!! I'm so excited to have the chance to go back and see her and her cute little girls. 

Sister Von Savoey has been doing so awesome at just jumping in and talking to people. The other day she went up to this guy without me even saying anything. She is a rock star. 

I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week. I know that this gospel is true and that it will bring us so much happiness as we fully apply it in our lives. 

Love, Sister Goudy 









Monday, February 6, 2017

2.6.17 Fast from Use of our Car!


  

Hey everyone!                                                        2.6.17     

        It's only been a few days since I last emailed but it feels like so much has happened. We are at the end of one incredible transfer. From day one we had so many amazing miracles. I am so grateful for all of the many blessings we have received.  I can't remember if I told you all about this one but it's one of my many favorites so I'll tell you anyway.

        A couple, of weeks ago we had stopped for the night to get gas. We have to keep the copy of the receipt but this time the pump wasn't printing it so we had to run in. When we went in, there was a worker sitting behind the counter who helped us and then as we were leaving we felt we should give him a pass along card. We had done this so many times before so we thought nothing of it until we got a call from a random number two hours later. It was Joe!! Our friend from the gas station! He was calling because he wouldn't be able to meet for church on Sunday but he wanted to meet another day. We started meeting with him and he is incredible!!!

        We were meeting with him one day and he said I want to be just like you two, meaning he wants to leave everything behind and go on a mission. The cool thing is that he isn't quite passed the age limit so when he gets baptized he can definitely go. Because he is younger though we passed him to the YSA sisters and they will take good care of him. I know it was by no coincidence we were there at that time so we could meet Joe. 

        Our mission has started this thing where the first of every month we all fast from using our cars. We go an entire 24 hours without our cars. This gave us a lot of time to talk to people on the side of the roads. We met this guy who didn't have a home he was very kind and we got a good conversation going. Afterwards it was so incredible, Sister Willes pulled out her bag and gave him a gift card so he could get himself dinner. It was so amazing to see all of the incredible things that we had happen as we were walking into the area so close to where we live. 


It's been such a great week! 


Wednesday, February 1, 2017

2.1.17 Attended a World-Wide Missionary Broadcast

Hey Everyone!

We had another great week in the books. We had a World-Wide Missionary Broadcast that went to all the missionaries around the world. In the broadcast they talked about some great things and as you've probably heard, they adjusted our missionary schedule. I will send a picture because it might get complicated to explain. The really nice thing about it is we will have more time to get things ready and be prepared for our days. It will give us a lot more flexibility. At the same time it is definitely an adjustment. President Huntsman told us the other day to definitely allow time to get used to it because over half of our mission, we have been doing it the other way. I know it is truly inspired and came at the perfect time. Also with the change they have given us more time in our p-day. It used to start at 10 but now it begins at 8. They have shortened some things to make it all fit.

            Today was our first day with the new p-day schedule, it's definitely different but I think after we adjust to it, it will be really good.  Our p-day will still be on Monday's, we just moved today so we could go to the temple. It was such a great experience. We got to go with a sister who goes quite often and had really cool things to show us and teach us about the temple. One of the coolest things I thought of while I was there, was getting our families to the temple.

 This weekend our Friend J.R. Johnson got baptized and it was so cool!   Even before the baptism, he was so excited to talk about getting to the temple. He bore a powerful testimony on how the gospel truly changed his life and how he is so grateful for his friend who invited him to church.

          I know that this gospel is filled with so much hope and happiness. It is incredible to see how it truly changes hearts. I was reading in Alma 5 the other day and it really stuck out to me how the people felt the spirit and were changed. I know that is the power of the gospel. It truly changes lives. We saw that a couple times this week as we met new people and we worked with our other friends.

          We had such an incredible lesson with our friend Pam who had a night-to-day change since the last time we saw her. I know as we put the gospel first it truly changes lives.

          Last night we had a really great lesson with our friend Joe. We found him when we gave him a pass along card at the gas station and he called us a couple of days later. He really desires to embrace the atonement in his life and wants to do anything possible to make that happen. It has been incredible! 

          Another cool thing that happened this week was when we got to go to D.C. for a lesson with our friend Rob. He was a referral from a member and we asked him about meeting and he said yes! So our mission president gave us permission to go and meet with him. Funny story about being in a singles ward, the member we brought with us had totally gone on a date with him before. It was pretty funny. The lesson went well and he said we could meet with him again! 

          I know that the Lord is preparing people all around us. They are waiting to receive this gospel. I know that this is the Lord’s work and he will help us every step of the way. I hope you all have a great week and know that I Love you! 

Love, Sister Goudy 










1.23.17 Our Mission Picture


Here we are!  50 Sisters  118 Elders and 22 Seniors
Pres & Sis. Huntsman and 3 children
AND SIX GENERAL AUTHORITIES