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

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

June 27, 2016 The Hunt Was Successful!

Hey everyone!                                                                 6/27/16

This week has been awesome! As a mission we had a goal
to find 300 new investigators this week.  As a companionship we found 5; as a zone we found 48 and as a mission we found 278! How cool is that?

Every day we had a small and simple goal that would help us find new people. One of the days we were supposed to go out of our way to talk to 5 people that we normal would try to avoid like someone with headphones on or someone out mowing their lawn. 

That is the day that we found our cute little family. Their names are Bobby and Tiffany and they have 2 little kids. We were pulling into a parking spot and we didn't do too good of a job so we got out to fix it and that's when we started talking to them. They are so sweet and respectful. We taught
them about the Book of Mormon and when the kids started looking in it, they told them to be very careful because it is God’s words and we need to treat them nicely. Then on Saturday when we invited them to church they said they wouldn't be able to make it this week but they would
love to join us next Sunday. It was so awesome!

Another day we went to check on a bunch of potential investigators we had in our area book and we meet another really cool lady named Tiffany, too. She wasn't the person we were looking for but it was so awesome because she said that earlier in the week she had been praying to be able to come closer to Christ again. She told us how she has
talked with missionaries before with her brother who we had went there to see, she said that when she heard about Joseph smith and his experience that it just seems so familiar to her.

We were going down the Main Street in Warrenton the other day and we decided to stop at one of the really pretty old houses on the street. The lady that answered was so nice and she let us right in. She was the caretaker for the home owner and she said she loves to hear about Christ. She couldn't really talk but it was so cool we got to read a
chapter of the Book to Mormon to her. When we left another caretaker said we could come back anytime we are in the area because they both love hearing about things like that.

We heard form Cherokee this week and she is coming back tomorrow! We are so excited to see her!  It has almost been 3 weeks. She is doing really well though she said the wards in the town she was visiting are so much bigger than ours and that they all were so welcoming. She has
got her paper work ready for youth conference and she said if she can go she definitely will. They are going up to New York to see the Sacred Grove which would be such a cool experience for a recent convert. Hopefully she will be able to go before she heads out.

We got the chance to plant some plants with a member in her
garden the other day. They take such good care of it and most the food they cook is from their garden.

I know that the Lord is guiding us to those how are prepared for the message of the restored gospel and I am so grateful for this chance I have to strengthen my testimony. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God just as Bobby and Tiffany taught their kids and I know that it along with the Bible contain the fullness of the gospel.

I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Sister Goudy


These are pictures of our zone and all the sisters in our zone. One ofthe elders is from Wyoming and so he brings his lasso with him wherever he goes.Our sister training leaders are the ones roping us.

June 20, 2016 Stake Conference

Hey Everyone!                                                          6-20-16

 I hope you all had a great week and especially a happy Father's Day! I am so grateful for my dad for all he has taught me. He is one of my biggest supports. I am also so grateful for our Heavenly Father who has helped each of us reach our full potential. I know that these two fathers together truly can help us become incredibly people.

This week was a good week! We talked to a lot of people and saw so many blessings from it. There was a time we were driving down the road and sister Hyer said we should go talk to that guy! So we turned around. He was such a nice humble man and was so excited to learn more about Christ and his gospel. We taught him about the restoration and he was ready to keep learning. We set up a time to meet him again but we found out He didn't live in our mission so we sent his information off and I know he will be so happy as he learns more about this restored gospel. It has been so cool to see how talking to everyone can be such a blessing. It has helped me be more confident in my testimony and helped me see why this work is so important.

Yesterday, we got the chance to go to stake conference. It was so cool to see all the faithful members that drive up to an hour to get there. We got to hear from our Elder Clayton and Elder Palmar of the 70. Elder Clayton came up to us and talked with us for a little bit.  They both shared powerful testimonies of missionary work. Elder Palmar shared how sometimes we don't always see the full effect of the work we do.  He shared how one of the elders that baptized his father was sad that he didn't have the chance to baptize more people. Then Elder Palmar
talked about how that one baptism he did have lead to so many more baptisms because all of his family is still active today and many of them have served missions. At the beginning, they read off all the missionaries names for that stake and had all those who were supporting them stand up. It was so powerful to see how each missionary has people at home who love and pray for them. I am so grateful for everyone of you for all your love and support!  Our mission presidents wife said that in our mission currently we have 58 sisters and 128 elders.

I am so grateful for this chance I have to serve in this area and for all the people that are ready to hear he gospel. I hope you all have a great week.

Love, Sister Goudy

P.S.  We got to hold baby bunnies at a member’s house.  We went on a hunt in the woods for a member’s house. Turns out they had moved.

June 13, 2016 Blessings Coming One by One

Hi Everyone,

This week has been an incredible week of miracles and blessings with my new companion Sister Hyre!

I know that this is truly the Lord’s work and we can't do it without him. I know he has been preparing so many people in this area and we have seen those people placed right in our paths almost literally. Like on Monday we were walking out to our car and we met a girl named Bailey we started talking to her and turns out she had met with missionaries before years ago. She said that she had been looking for another church out here and she is so excited to meet with us.


We also got a message from one of our investigators,  Darius.   He said things have started going so much better in his life and he knows that it is from the prayers we have been saying with him!   It was so awesome to see him recognize how powerful prayer is. The first time we had met with him he was nervous about praying but now it sounds like he is much more comfortable with it.

   We have also seen so many blessing as we have worked with the ward members so many of them have lead us to people to teach or to opportunities to do service. I am so excited this week we are going to have a lot of chances to get to know the members better as we serve them.  The ward is awesome they are really helping further the work here. They are already doing so much by setting the example for all of their friends. We had a ward picnic the other day and one of our investigators came! The ward really did a great job reaching out to him and getting to know him. His name is Bobby and we have a lesson with him this Thursday.   Its going to be awesome! I know we have received so blessing in the work and I am so excited to see all that the Lord has in
store for this area.

                                                                                                   
Today we did an activity with the other sisters in our zone. It is so fun to have the chance to learn from them. They are all so incredible. I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Sister Goudy

June 06, 2016 Cherokee is Confirmed and Transfers are Here

Hi everyone!                                             6/6/16

 This week has been full of changes.  Our investigator, Cherokee, got confirmed yesterday!  She said she felt so warm. She seems so happy that she made this change in her life. The ward is really doing so great at reaching out to her. I am so excited to see where she goes. We were talking to one of the members who knew her grandma and they said she is probably doing cartwheels in the spirit world. Her grandma was the most amazing member who would bring Cherokee to church when she was younger. I can't wait for the day I can meet her grandma.

We have a new investigator, too! His name is Darius he has been making a ton of changes in his life. It was so awesome when we came over for the first lesson he had a table all set up with the things we had given him with pens and paper all ready to take lots of notes. It was the coolest thing ever!   He really is so ready for the restored gospel.  He's so prepared. It's going to be so cool to see him make these changes in his life. When we left we invited him to say the prayer.   He was pretty nervous but he did a great job. He said he just really wanted to mean everything he said.   He wanted it to come from the heart.  His prayer truly did come from the heart!   It was so cool and after he said,”I really felt that.”

The biggest change for the week was transfers. It has been a huge adjustment but I know it is important to have these changes. I am so grateful for the incredible opportunity I had to be companions with Sister Jones. She taught me so much. And I miss her a ton! The sister that trainers you is called your mom and she truly is a mom to me.  She taught me to love the ward and to do all you can to work with them. She taught me to love your companion and to be yourself, be happy and love your mission.  But most importantly she taught me that you are never alone. There was one time we knocked on a couple of doors and the people weren't the nicest and I was taking it really hard and then she said, “ Hey I'm with you, too. We are sent out 2 by 2 for a reason. Not only do we always have our companion  with us but we ALWAYS  have the Lord right along side with us.”   I heard this great quote today "We never need to feel alone in the Lords service because we never are"  I know that this is his work and he wants us to have success. I know that we are each in the area and with the companion we need to be with to continue to learn and grow. I know that we now have these new opportunities that are perfect for what we need.

My new companion is Sister Hyre. She is from Moses Lake Washington. I can already tell I am going to learn so much from her, too. She isn't afraid to talk to everyone, she is obedient and she fallows the spirit.

The other day we were driving down the country road and we passed one of the few houses on the road and she said we should go try that house. So we turned around and tried it. No one was home but guess what?   Someone was placed in our path her name is Georgie.   She lives right across the field from the house we stopped at. She was so nice we talked to her for a little bit and she said we could come back so we are going to go see her later this week.  I know the Lord has been preparing people in this area and I have seen the beginning of that in the past couple of months. Changes are so hard but I know that Heavenly Father wouldn't have us do it if it wasn't important.

I love you all so much! I am so grateful for this chance I have to become who the Lord wants me to be. It will be hard but it will definitely be worth it. It's hard to make changes but hey are just what we need. I hope you all have a great week.

Love, Sister Goudy

One of our favorite "member missionaries"

Cherokee was confirmed today!

My first companion, Sister Jones

My new companion, Sister Hyer from Oregon

(No relation to our Hyers from Stansbury Park)