Familia!
First, let me just tell you how excited I am that I finally figured out how to type the #. Spanish keyboards are weird, and have three possible figures that you can type in one key. But I did it! I´m an international computer genious. Dad, you would be proud of me.
So wow, what a week you guys had. It sounds insane. I´m going to be praying so hard for all of you. Please keep your faith in Christ during this time. Know that our Heavenly Father loves you, and though He lets us struggle so that we can become stronger, He pains at each one of our pains. He wants to help you. This life will be worth it. I promise.
So I left Matheu. I´m kind of sad to have left. I honestly was expecting that I would stay, so I didn´t have a lot of time to say goodbye to the members and investigators other than a quick note that we dropped off to some of them on the way to mission headquarters, but I´m so freaking excited for this new area. Elder Valladolid was a great companion, and he´s going to continue with an incredible amount of success in that humble area.
This last week, Andrea who was baptized last week, was confirmed. Antonella refused to wake up even though we passed by to bring her to Church, and so wasn´t confirmed. We were heartbroken, and had a really serious lesson about the importance of the Holy Ghost in baptism, and I think that she really understands this time. She´ll be confirmed this next Sunday, and I´m praying my heart out that she does so.
Before I tell you about this new area, DO NOT LOOK UP ANYTHING ABOUT IT ON THE INTERNET!!! Because it´s all lies on there. You only need to know that it´s all sunshines, rainbows, and butterflies. But seriously, life as a missionary is a lot different than for an American tourist in a villa. The missionaries have been there so long that everyone knows that the missionaires don´t have anything valuable. The areas that I was in before were new villas where that lifestyle was relatively new. These are the experienced guys who know where the money is. And they know that it is definately not with us. :) I´m going to be fine.
So I´m in a place called Juncal in Retiro, Capital. Our pension is tiny, even though we are in the richest part of the mission. But we are going to work entirely in Villa 31, the most infamous of all the Villas. And I´m pumped out of my mind. A villa is basically an Argentine slum, where the people just build sketchy buildings several stories too high to be architecturally sound, and are insanely humble. Missionaries have unprecidented amounts of success there and come to love the people more than in any other area. I can´t stop smiling.
My new companion is Elder Critchlow from Ogden Utah, and we share a pension and area with Elder Zollinger who went to West Point with Elder Witter from the MTC, and Elder Molina from Chile. All three of them are the biggest studs I´ve ever met with an optimism like you wouldn´t believe. I can´t freaking wait for this transfer to start. (Also, ¨freaking¨ has become the only adjective that I know, because it´s the only thing latino missionaries say. Haha)
Father in Heaven has blessed me more than I even understand. A mission is the coolest thing I´ve ever done in my life. Thank you to every person who´s ever influenced me for good. I testify that the Celestial Kingdom will be the most incredible, indescribably transcendent reward that a God can give to one of His children. It is worth more than all of the effort we can put into our missionary efforts.
Hasta la próxima semana. ¡Hurrah para Israel!
-Elder Goff
P.S. I´m pretty sure that Locotorio in Savio stole my camera. :/ I have all of my pictures on that jump drive you gave me except for the 5 most recent, including that double baptism we had. So, no more pictures until I can buy a decent camera. :/ Sorry!
Elder Goff was called to serve as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Argentina Buenos Aires North Mission, from August 13, 2013 to July 30, 2015.
The following posts are his letters home, usually not posted the same day they were received. For convince, at the very end of each post, there is a link to all posts of the similar proselyting area.
Adam's brother in Peru: elderryangoff.blogspot.com
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Monday, March 3, 2014
Freaking Siesta
¡Familia!
So this week was awesome! But I don´t have any pictures. :/ My companion insisted for some reason that we go to another area to email, and in the middle of reading letters, the owner kicked us out to close for siesta, and I think I left my camera inside. We´ll go back to see if it´s still there later.
Like I said, this week was nuts. It seems like we´ve been telling investigators a lot lately about how Satan knows that he´s going to lose, so he tries confusing us by attacking right before and right after a spiritual experience. And that goes for us too. So this Sunday, we had three baptisms planned for our tiny branch. The man the hermana missionaries has been teaching told them that he moved across the country even though they saw him in the house, and we are praying that he returns to church later down the road.
Then one of our investigators suddenly got really embarrassed about being baptized in front of other people, and left the church, walking home. We chased her down, trying to remind her about how excited she was to be baptized earlier in the week. She agreed to be baptized if we closed the doors so that only the witnesses and her mom could see. She felt really happy afterwards, though still embarrassed in front of other people. At least she chose to follow Christ in this critical step.
The other girl, Andrea, was baptized and was really happy. She´s that capa that prayed for the missionaries to come to her house and already wants to serve a mission. She´s very happy, but confused about her family situation. We had a good talk on the Colectivo about how the fact that she was baptized means that she conquered Satan, and there´s nothing he can do to change that no matter how big of a fit he throws. I´m praying for her and her family. They´re really special.
I had an interesting experience Sunday night. I started watching some Mormon Messages before bed, and watched one of Christ being crucified and resurrected. I started thinking about His few friends He had here on earth and what they thought when they realized that they wouldn´t see Him until after this life. That´s a feeling that I have a lot of experience with, though to a lesser degree, having met so many awesome people in High school, on a mission, etc. and having to leave them to do a more important work. I got on my knees starting to express how much I love my Heavenly Father, and though I still don´t remember any details about my life with Him before here, I can´t help but know that it happened better than I can remember my life before my mission. I started to tear up as I expressed how much I miss my Heavenly Father, and promised that I would do everything I can to make Him proud so I can live with Him again.
I love you guys, and I can´t wait to see you again. Thanks for supporting me while I try to make my Father in Heaven proud.
¡Hurrah para Israel!
Élder Goff
P.S. Next week is transfers, and so P-day will be on Tuesday the 11th. So I won´t be sending a letter next week until then. Love you!
So this week was awesome! But I don´t have any pictures. :/ My companion insisted for some reason that we go to another area to email, and in the middle of reading letters, the owner kicked us out to close for siesta, and I think I left my camera inside. We´ll go back to see if it´s still there later.
Like I said, this week was nuts. It seems like we´ve been telling investigators a lot lately about how Satan knows that he´s going to lose, so he tries confusing us by attacking right before and right after a spiritual experience. And that goes for us too. So this Sunday, we had three baptisms planned for our tiny branch. The man the hermana missionaries has been teaching told them that he moved across the country even though they saw him in the house, and we are praying that he returns to church later down the road.
Then one of our investigators suddenly got really embarrassed about being baptized in front of other people, and left the church, walking home. We chased her down, trying to remind her about how excited she was to be baptized earlier in the week. She agreed to be baptized if we closed the doors so that only the witnesses and her mom could see. She felt really happy afterwards, though still embarrassed in front of other people. At least she chose to follow Christ in this critical step.
The other girl, Andrea, was baptized and was really happy. She´s that capa that prayed for the missionaries to come to her house and already wants to serve a mission. She´s very happy, but confused about her family situation. We had a good talk on the Colectivo about how the fact that she was baptized means that she conquered Satan, and there´s nothing he can do to change that no matter how big of a fit he throws. I´m praying for her and her family. They´re really special.
I had an interesting experience Sunday night. I started watching some Mormon Messages before bed, and watched one of Christ being crucified and resurrected. I started thinking about His few friends He had here on earth and what they thought when they realized that they wouldn´t see Him until after this life. That´s a feeling that I have a lot of experience with, though to a lesser degree, having met so many awesome people in High school, on a mission, etc. and having to leave them to do a more important work. I got on my knees starting to express how much I love my Heavenly Father, and though I still don´t remember any details about my life with Him before here, I can´t help but know that it happened better than I can remember my life before my mission. I started to tear up as I expressed how much I miss my Heavenly Father, and promised that I would do everything I can to make Him proud so I can live with Him again.
I love you guys, and I can´t wait to see you again. Thanks for supporting me while I try to make my Father in Heaven proud.
¡Hurrah para Israel!
Élder Goff
P.S. Next week is transfers, and so P-day will be on Tuesday the 11th. So I won´t be sending a letter next week until then. Love you!
From that kid down south. (Sent February 24, 2014)
¡Hola familia!
We had another awesome week. I don´t even know where to start. Matheu really is an incredible place to labor in the Lord´s work, and I´m so grateful for the experiences, trials, and miracles we´ve been privilged to take a part of.
I´ll start with the Chavarria family. They´re that family from Bolivia with the daughter that told us that she´s been praying for God to tell her where to go, and three days later we showed up. Herlan is 11 years old, and is a champion. He reads the Book of Mormon regularly, has been to church every week since we´ve met him, and was the first to be baptized in his family this past Sunday. Andrea, 17 years old, told us yesterday that she wanted to help us teach investigators even though she won´t be baptized for another week. We explained about sister missionaries that leave at 19 years old, and she became extremely excited, telling us that that´s what she wanted to do. The rest of the kids have a baptismal date for a little later, and are humble and willing to follow Jesus Christ. Their mother, Lucy, is an incredible woman, kind and humble, but hesitant by how fast everything is going. We explained about the blessing that the Gospel gives to families to provide a place of comfort, peace, and security for children to be raised as they learn of God´s truth. She agreed, and continues to support her children by going to their baptisms, and allowing us to teach her children. I´m so grateful to have known them, and admire their gentle desires to accept Christ in their lives.
I´m not really sure what else to write about. Sincerely, I just feel humbled by what my Heavenly Father is doing for me. It makes me feel incredibly guilty for all of the pride that I´ve had in the past. We´ve unconciously made a habit of testifying of the Atonement whenever someone talks about the problems in their lives, and it´s made me realize how much Jesus Christ has done for me, and constantly reminds me of my unpayable debt to Him. Compounded with all the miracles that I witness in the mission-field, I´m left in awe of God´s continual love and activity in my life. I testify that God lives and loves. Beyond the clichés, the occasionally scripted sayings, and the Pharisiacal testimonies, I know that God lives better than I know just about anything that I´ve learned up to this point in my life.
I beg for forgiveness of anyone that I´ve hurt, and beg them to repent also of their sins so that we can make God´s greatest wish come true: our shared, and permanent Eternal Exhaltation.
I love you all. ¡Hurrah para Israel!
-Elder Goff
P.S. We´re back in that racist internet cafe with the computers that don´t let yanquis or Peruvians upload pictures, so I´ll have to send the pictures next week. Sorry!
We had another awesome week. I don´t even know where to start. Matheu really is an incredible place to labor in the Lord´s work, and I´m so grateful for the experiences, trials, and miracles we´ve been privilged to take a part of.
I´ll start with the Chavarria family. They´re that family from Bolivia with the daughter that told us that she´s been praying for God to tell her where to go, and three days later we showed up. Herlan is 11 years old, and is a champion. He reads the Book of Mormon regularly, has been to church every week since we´ve met him, and was the first to be baptized in his family this past Sunday. Andrea, 17 years old, told us yesterday that she wanted to help us teach investigators even though she won´t be baptized for another week. We explained about sister missionaries that leave at 19 years old, and she became extremely excited, telling us that that´s what she wanted to do. The rest of the kids have a baptismal date for a little later, and are humble and willing to follow Jesus Christ. Their mother, Lucy, is an incredible woman, kind and humble, but hesitant by how fast everything is going. We explained about the blessing that the Gospel gives to families to provide a place of comfort, peace, and security for children to be raised as they learn of God´s truth. She agreed, and continues to support her children by going to their baptisms, and allowing us to teach her children. I´m so grateful to have known them, and admire their gentle desires to accept Christ in their lives.
I´m not really sure what else to write about. Sincerely, I just feel humbled by what my Heavenly Father is doing for me. It makes me feel incredibly guilty for all of the pride that I´ve had in the past. We´ve unconciously made a habit of testifying of the Atonement whenever someone talks about the problems in their lives, and it´s made me realize how much Jesus Christ has done for me, and constantly reminds me of my unpayable debt to Him. Compounded with all the miracles that I witness in the mission-field, I´m left in awe of God´s continual love and activity in my life. I testify that God lives and loves. Beyond the clichés, the occasionally scripted sayings, and the Pharisiacal testimonies, I know that God lives better than I know just about anything that I´ve learned up to this point in my life.
I beg for forgiveness of anyone that I´ve hurt, and beg them to repent also of their sins so that we can make God´s greatest wish come true: our shared, and permanent Eternal Exhaltation.
I love you all. ¡Hurrah para Israel!
-Elder Goff
P.S. We´re back in that racist internet cafe with the computers that don´t let yanquis or Peruvians upload pictures, so I´ll have to send the pictures next week. Sorry!
RYAN´S MISSION CALL IS ALL THAT I CAN THINK ABOUT! (Sent February 17, 2014)
Familia!
I forgot everything that I wanted to say, because RYAN´S GOING TO PERU!!! WOOOO! I can´t wait to speak gringo Spanish with that stud for the rest of our lives! My companion, who´s from Peru, is freaking out about how he has friends serving there. He´s going be an incredible instrument in the Lord´s hands, because he´s already shown Him that he´s ready and willing to do whatever He would have him do. Qué un freaking capo. I can´t wait to hear all about his experiences.
This week was nuts. So many good things happened. But before I get into the incredible miracles, I want to tell this quick story. It´s not about the work, but it was dang funny. We were talking to a less active member who was washing her van and blasting the radio. The song ¨Big girls, you are Beautiful¨ came on, and I was trying so hard not to laugh. Then lyric ¨take your girl and multiply her by four¨ came on, and I just lost it. I was the only one who spoke English there, so I couldn´t explain it to anyone, and it´s probably better that I couldn´t, but man it was hilarious. Okay, back to the more important things.
There´s a young lady named Leticia that we´ve been teaching. Her uncle was a less-active, who reactivated when he saw his niece was interested. She´s awesome. Really shy, and a little awkward, but very prepared. Other than her uncle, her family is pretty indifferent about her investigating the Church. But her aunt suddenly got really angry one day, and started yelling all sorts of things at us, informing us that her niece is underage, and no Mormons have come to *mess* around like we have. She´s media loca, (a little bit crazy) and Leticia told us that she was going to be baptized no matter what ¨any old lady tells her.¨ She was baptized on Saturday, and comfirmed yesterday in Sacrament Meeting. She´s really an inspiration, and I´m overjoyed that Heavenly Father prepared her so thouroughly for us to bring her the Gospel.
That stud Aarón was confirmed on Sunday as well. His Mom, who is recovering from a nasty leg injury, and older sister came to watch, which was really awesome. His mom, Gabrielle, thought that she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the past fifteen years. She was excited to return to the services, and was happy that her whole family was slowly accepting the Gospel also. We started talking about her baptism and she told us some odd details. She was tought by a man and a woman companionship, they drank wine at the Sacrament Meetings, she wore a turban to her baptism, where the young lady missionary baptized her. We called the office to check for her name on the Church records, and it turns out that we have no idea into what Church she was baptized. Haha, we were all laughing for a good 5 minutes, and she told us that she is so excited to be baptized again, but by the right authority, and into the true Church of Christ.
Last night I was thinking about all of the success that Heavenly Father is giving to us and I felt a little unworthy. My companion and I are obeying every mission rule, and working very hard, but personally I feel very inadequate to my calling as a representative of the only perfect Man to walk the Earth. I started to pray very earnestly seeking forgiveness and help to change, and later, laying in my bed, was just overwhelmed by love. I began to cry, being filled with the Spirit and Heavenly Father´s love for me. I really feel like I´ve come to know Him more personally than I ever have, or ever could have, back home. I´ve learned that if you want to understand the majesty of God, you just have to go out and try to do what He does everyday. Go try to save a human soul. It´s incredibly hard, but He assures me that it´s worth it. And I believe Him, because I´m witnessing the blessings.
I love you all. ¡Hurrah para Israel!
-Élder Goff
P.S. The pictures: One is of my past companion that I had for only a week, but became great friends with. We saw each other at the Temple last week, and it was so good to see him. I look up to that Elder so much. The other picture is of Leticia´s baptism.
I forgot everything that I wanted to say, because RYAN´S GOING TO PERU!!! WOOOO! I can´t wait to speak gringo Spanish with that stud for the rest of our lives! My companion, who´s from Peru, is freaking out about how he has friends serving there. He´s going be an incredible instrument in the Lord´s hands, because he´s already shown Him that he´s ready and willing to do whatever He would have him do. Qué un freaking capo. I can´t wait to hear all about his experiences.
This week was nuts. So many good things happened. But before I get into the incredible miracles, I want to tell this quick story. It´s not about the work, but it was dang funny. We were talking to a less active member who was washing her van and blasting the radio. The song ¨Big girls, you are Beautiful¨ came on, and I was trying so hard not to laugh. Then lyric ¨take your girl and multiply her by four¨ came on, and I just lost it. I was the only one who spoke English there, so I couldn´t explain it to anyone, and it´s probably better that I couldn´t, but man it was hilarious. Okay, back to the more important things.
There´s a young lady named Leticia that we´ve been teaching. Her uncle was a less-active, who reactivated when he saw his niece was interested. She´s awesome. Really shy, and a little awkward, but very prepared. Other than her uncle, her family is pretty indifferent about her investigating the Church. But her aunt suddenly got really angry one day, and started yelling all sorts of things at us, informing us that her niece is underage, and no Mormons have come to *mess* around like we have. She´s media loca, (a little bit crazy) and Leticia told us that she was going to be baptized no matter what ¨any old lady tells her.¨ She was baptized on Saturday, and comfirmed yesterday in Sacrament Meeting. She´s really an inspiration, and I´m overjoyed that Heavenly Father prepared her so thouroughly for us to bring her the Gospel.
That stud Aarón was confirmed on Sunday as well. His Mom, who is recovering from a nasty leg injury, and older sister came to watch, which was really awesome. His mom, Gabrielle, thought that she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for the past fifteen years. She was excited to return to the services, and was happy that her whole family was slowly accepting the Gospel also. We started talking about her baptism and she told us some odd details. She was tought by a man and a woman companionship, they drank wine at the Sacrament Meetings, she wore a turban to her baptism, where the young lady missionary baptized her. We called the office to check for her name on the Church records, and it turns out that we have no idea into what Church she was baptized. Haha, we were all laughing for a good 5 minutes, and she told us that she is so excited to be baptized again, but by the right authority, and into the true Church of Christ.
Last night I was thinking about all of the success that Heavenly Father is giving to us and I felt a little unworthy. My companion and I are obeying every mission rule, and working very hard, but personally I feel very inadequate to my calling as a representative of the only perfect Man to walk the Earth. I started to pray very earnestly seeking forgiveness and help to change, and later, laying in my bed, was just overwhelmed by love. I began to cry, being filled with the Spirit and Heavenly Father´s love for me. I really feel like I´ve come to know Him more personally than I ever have, or ever could have, back home. I´ve learned that if you want to understand the majesty of God, you just have to go out and try to do what He does everyday. Go try to save a human soul. It´s incredibly hard, but He assures me that it´s worth it. And I believe Him, because I´m witnessing the blessings.
I love you all. ¡Hurrah para Israel!
-Élder Goff
P.S. The pictures: One is of my past companion that I had for only a week, but became great friends with. We saw each other at the Temple last week, and it was so good to see him. I look up to that Elder so much. The other picture is of Leticia´s baptism.
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