4.24.17 Technology at Work!

Hey everyone!                                                   4.24.17

The mission is going great. We are having such a great time here in the Potomac mid-singles ward. We got to work with a lot of members this week. They are incredible! They think about so many things that I never would have thought of. They have a page on Facebook and I guess someone reached out to one of the members about coming to church. We quickly modified our Facebooks so we could reach out to her about meeting. We really feel like Facebook will be so helpful for this area because many people live in lock out buildings. It really takes the quote quite literally that says," technology is unlocking doors to gated communities that missionaries would not have access to otherwise" I know it will open so many doors for us to share the gospel not only with the incredible people here but also back at home. We won't be able to message over Facebook but we hope you will enjoy the posted we make. If you think of any good ideas of how we can utilize it just let me know. 

This week we had an incredible lesson with our Friend Tony. It had been a week since we had seen him. He was very open and honest with us and we had a great lesson. The spirit was very strong. He told us how excited he is for baptism. We gave him a framed copy of the Living Christ. He loved it! He has a big week ahead of him so if you can keep him in your prayers I know it will help so much. 

We have our friend Robin getting baptized this Sunday! She is so excited!! She has been investigating for 3 years now and knows that it is absolutely what she wants to do. She couldn't be more sure. She is so excited to be able to go out and share the gospel with other people. When we come over for lessons it is more to prepare her to teach it then to actually help her understand it herself. She is amazing. People from all over are coming to her baptism. It is going to be incredible. 

Our miracle for this week was after exchanges with our sister training leaders. They were so good at talking with EVERYONE so we wanted to follow their example. We were talking to this lady and as she was walking away directly behind her there was a guy walking home from work. There is a saying in missionary work that the more awkward the experience, the more promising it is. That was so true for this experience. We immediately said “Hi” to him while the lady was not even 2 feet way from us. We are so glad we did because he was so excited to talk to us. He understood everyone so well. We invited him to baptism and he said well when you come back for your next lesson we could just do it then. Haha !  We said you might want some more preparation then that and he agreed to be baptized on June 3rd. That was my first time ever inviting someone to be baptized on a specific date in the very first contact. He is awesome. He just had a little baby so we are working on passing him to the family ward. We are so excited for him.

I know that God’s children are being prepared all around us to receive this incredible gospel. I know that it is true. I am so grateful for all who have gone before who sacrificed so much so I can be here on my mission. I am so grateful to be here! 

I love you all! 

Love, Sister Goudy 

Sister Hymas after exchanges

                                          Yummy Cookies!

4.17.17 We Got to Shake Elder Rasband's Hand and Look him straight in the eyes!

Hey everyone!!                                                                         4/17/17

We had one great week! President Huntsman’s  daughter got married and all of his family came to visit. Not only did his family but many close friends.   One of them being Elder Rasband. We had a special fireside on Saturday night before Easter Sunday for all of the missionaries. They wanted us to for sure bring a friend so we would be able to come. President and Sister Huntsman both spoke along with president’s parents Jon and Karen Huntsman and the concluding speakers were Elder and Sister Rasband. 

When Elder Rasband came in, he came through the very back doors very quietly and began shaking everyone's hands. We were on one of the back rows and so we were able to meet him and shake his hand. It was incredible to look into his eyes and feel the power of his testimony. As he spoke, I felt it was perfect for our friend Andy who had joined us. He spoke on the power in the Resurrection. He talked about how when our loved ones pass on their spirit’s live on awaiting the resurrection. I know at each of us we're able to receive so much inspiration that night. 

My favorite talk was given by Sister Rasband. She spoke about their chance to serve as Mission president and wife in the New York mission. She spoke of one Elder who always dreamed of getting his shoes shined at one of the fancy shoe stations. He had always served in the Bronx and never got close to one of them. But one day he heard a man calling out "Shoe shine! Shoe shine! Anyone want a shoe shine!"  The Elder rushed over and was met by a man who once again asked if if he wanted a shoe shine. The Elder was so excited and then asked "how much will it cost me?" The man said "as much as you are willing to pay" and then began shinning the Elders shoe. The Elder soon realized that this shoe shine was much different then all of the rest. 

This man did not have all of the fancy equipment or even a fancy chair. All he had was his spotted shirt and his arm which he used to finish off the polish. He used a small baby food jar filled with black polish to create a beautiful shine. She told us of how the Elder quickly related this to Christ and his remarkable gift to us. He happily goes around saying "soul shine! Soul shine! Anyone want a soul shine!" As we ask what it will cost us he asks us to give all that we can. 

What an amazing gift that we are all waiting for and wishing  we could have just like that Elder. I know that through Christ's Atonement we ALL will be able to shine again. No matter where we have come from. He only cares where we are going. It has been so maxing to see that same change in all the people we work with. As we see them as Children of God with an amazing potential to Shine I know they will become such incredible lights to all the world. I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

4.10.17 Palm Sunday

Hey everyone!                                               4/10/17

I hope you had a great Palm Sunday yesterday. I never really understood what that meant until today. I was so amazed when I went to study that I was in the exact chapter of my reading in the Bible where it happened. In Matthew Ch. 20 Christ speaks to his followers and then shares with them the fact that He will be entering Jerusalem to face His death. One of the most amazing things to me of the whole experience is that as Christ begins to travel he meets a blind man who calls out to him to be healed.

 I think in a time where we all could have been caught up in our self-pity Christ reaches out and heals the man. One of my favorite talks from the MTC is called the Character of Christ by Elder Bednar. He explains that when we all would turn inward Christ turns out ward and looks at how he can help others. So as we celebrate Christ triumphant return to Jerusalem we can think of this amazing Love that has never been seen before. I think Easter is the greatest time to be a missionary because many people truly celebrate the remarkable gift Christ gave us. The Church has put out a new Easter video called the Prince of Peace. It is a beautiful video that reminds us of the great gift we have been given. 

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/collection/easter-videos/princeofpeace

Two of our friends are preparing for baptism this month. Tony's baptism will be the week after Easter. He is so excited! He has been telling all of his family and friends about it and they plan to join us for it.

Then the following week Robin will be getting baptized. She has been investigating off and on with the missionaries for 3 years now. The whole time she has been doing studies on her own even if she hasn't been meeting with the missionaries. She already has a visiting teaching companion and she sings in the ward choir. She loves being a part of the ward.

Our Friend Andy has a daughter on a mission and has been meeting with us for a little while now too. He is hoping to get baptized soon as well. He has come a long way. 

                                                                       

This Sunday we had our friend Pin and her husband come to church for our Easter program. We had just met her for the first time on Friday when we felt like we should stop at her house.  It was so cute all of a sudden the mail slot on the door opens and Pin, in a very thick accent asked who was there. We talked with her through the door and then she said she would be back. She came back and answered the door with a big fluffy cat in her hands. She invited us right in and said she is very excited to learn about Christ. She understood everything so well. As we were leaving She asked us what our nicknames are and I said, " well my Dad calls me cookie" she said okay I'll call you cookie and then sister Von Savoye said well if she's cookie then I'm brownie. We went back the very next day for our next lesson she said she told her husband to stay and meet with cookie and brownie. She is so excited to meet with us and learn about Christ. 

It was a great week! We had lots of rain and even a tornado we didn't know about until after. After we heard about it we realized we were inside for a lesson and studies when it happened.

Today we got to go on an adventure in old town Alexandria. We got lost on the metro twice which is super funny because we were only one stop away from where we needed to be.  Haha!  It was a good adventure. We ran into some members visiting for spring break and they took us to get ice cream. It was so sweet of them. They are from Alaska and North Carolina. 

I hope you all have a great week! 

Love, 
Sister Goudy

4.3.17 April Conference Weekend

Hey there Neighbor!                                           4/3/17

It's Blossom Time!!!

I would have to say this General Conference was definitely my favorite. I felt like every talk had just what I needed to hear in it. It could not have come at a more perfect time for our investigator Tony who we have been teaching for a while now.  He is preparing for baptism and we recently talked about gaining a testimony of the Prophet. He had the chance to watch two of the sessions this weekend. He really loved it. He has really been enjoying the Book of Mormon, too. When we followed up with him, he could practically lay out all of the story line. I was very impressed. We are so excited for him. He is making so many changes. 

This weekend we also had our car fast and it was incredible to see all of the little miracles along the way. We weren't even a few feet from our apartment when we ran into a man walking his dog. I had been looking through the area book that morning and when he introduced himself as Brother Bold I said Hey you have been working with some friends to get them to church right? He said yes there is a man I work with that might be interested. We talked with him some more and he ended up called the friend and leaving a message. Brother Bold excited called us last night and told us his friend would love to meet with us this week. He is preparing to get married and would love to learn about eternal marriage. After that incredible experience we set out on foot up the road four miles to our lessons.

We ran into a man named Josh. Having been given the challenge from Sister Huntsman to go out of our way to talk to 10 people a day, we rushed over to talk with him. He was such a nice guy and was interested in learning more.

We then set out on our journey up the road. As we walked we tried to talk with everyone and even got the chance to eat some lunch on the go. Haha, the best way for a missionary. We didn't quite calculate the time very well and so maybe only a mile or two into our journey we felt like we should text the friends we were meeting with. I really gained a testimony of the Lord’s work at this time when both of them told us they had other things come up and were able to reschedule with us.

Now with time not being so much of a worry we were able to stop and help a lady fix her bike. Sister Von Savoye was incredibly prepared when she was able to give the woman a Spanish plan of salvation pamphlet. I am so grateful for her willingness to follow the spirit and bring one. I am sad to say that earlier that morning I was not as wise and decided we wouldn't need one. So I left them all at home. When we heard the talk to follow the first prompting we receive I know that was Heavenly Father talking right to me. I will commit to you all that I will now be following every prompting the first time. I won't always have a companion by my side to help me out. 

It has been such a great week. I know that the Lord is mindful of each of us and this great work. General conference has given me a renewed desire to get to know the Savior better especially by studying the scriptures and reading the Living Christ. So then when hard times come we too can "stand up on the inside". I sure love you all! 

Love, Sister Goudy