El fin del año

¿Qué tal, famila?

It was so awesome talking to you guys on Skype, even though the power outage was rude enough to interrupt. But that happens a lot here. Haha, thanks for being good sports.

Even though I just talked to you guys, I have a lot to say. For those who don´t know, I´m in a new area again. There was a flash transfer on Christmas Eve, which happens every now and then. My stud of a companion Elder Bobadilla is back in Pablo Nogués still, and I´m now in Matheu with my new companion Elder Valladolid from Peru. I miss Pablo Nogués because I made such fast friends there, but Matheu is pretty awesome too. It´s hard to feel uncomfortable when you´re doing what the Lord wants.

This Sunday was a lot of fun. We have a tiny little branch in a tiny little chapel, and while I was sitting in the humble Sacrament Meeting, I could feel the Spirit so strong. Something about the small group sitting quietly in the heat with several fans going, waiting to take the blessed bread and water just as Christ directed touched my heart. I said a quiet prayer of thanks to experience something so tender.

My companion and I are really trying to talk with everyone. We´ve decided to challenge practically everyone to baptism if they talk to us. We passed by the chapel while walking to lunch, and greeted a lady and her two daughters sitting nearby. They greeted us back, so we decided to turn around and talk to them. We introduced ourselves, and gave a really short lesson about the Restoration, and asked if they would like to come to church the next day. They accepted, and we challenged them to baptism. They accepted, and I thought ¨Really? Holy Cow, their escogidas!¨ They came to Church, and we taught them the full lesson of the Restoration Sunday Afternoon. It was incredible, but they told us that they were only visiting Argentina, and have to go back to Bolivia next week. My companion felt impressed to ask them to be baptized earlier, and they still accepted. We talked to the mission president afterward, and he encouraged us to go with it if they can attend church and be confirmed on Sunday. It has been one of the most incredible experiences that I´ve witnessed on a mission. I know that there really are people that have been prepared, and are just waiting for the formalities of missionary lessons to accept the Gospel.

Another time, we were teaching a lesson about the Plan of Salvation to a group of seven people. It was incredibly spiritual, as they asked sincere questions, and shared real concerns. As we began challenging people for baptism, one girl shared that she had taken the lessons previously and felt like things got worse in her life. When my companion started to explain the opposition of Satan to the Gospel, she rolled her eyes. I felt impressed to bear my testimony of the reality of the Devil, and told her that I have no idea why he is so filled with hate. I bore testimony that though I don´t know why, he is real, and has a real power to fight against all of us. Then I told her that the love of Christ is always more powerful than the hate of Satan. By that time I was crying too hard to continue. It was the first time that I cried in a lesson, so I was a bit embarrassed :P but it was a powerful experience to me.

I realized just how important it is to cling to the Gospel, and the reality of divine hope in Christ. In our spiritual progress, there really isn´t any such thing as a ¨plateau¨. If we´re not coming closer to Christ, Satan is pulling us away from him. Because there is a very real struggle for our soul. But I also learned something else. Though the scriptures testify that there is an opposition, it never says an equal opposition. I know for a fact that the power of Christ was, is, and always will be more powerful than that of Satan. The powers of heaven are infinite, boundless, and ever-expanding, while the power of the Adversary is limited by that which we yield to him. It´s not an even struggle. Not even close. Heaven has the advantage, and is guaranteed the victory. Heavenly Father invites, even pleads for us to share in that victory.

Hurrah for Israel!

Talk to you next week.

Élder Goff