December 22, 2014- We'll talk more on Skype. :P

¡FAMILIA!

Hey! Before I forget, next week, I'll have P-day on Tuesday because of transfers, (NNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! DON'T YOU DARE TAKE MY SON AWAY FROM ME!!!!) *ahem* so I won't be sending anything until then.

It was kind of a slow, bummer of a week in Chacarita on the part of our investigators. We were going nuts trying to find people, but when they reject the Gospel, even if it is Christmas, there's just not anything that you can do about it. Unless you're in the States, then I guess you could throw a snowball at them, but that's not very missionary like. There's no snow here anyway. But it's all good, we'll drop our pride, and just keep moving forward. We got one more week together as a father-son companionship, and we're gonna make it count.

I've been doing a lot of pondering and praying about something, and combined with a talk that I gave to the ward on Sunday, I realized something. I don't like to recieve excessive recognition for things that I do. Dieter F. Uchtdorf mentioned something interesting James E. Faust once told him when he was a new General Authority in his talk "Pride and the Priesthood" He said, “[the Church members] will treat you very kindly. They will say nice things about you.” He laughed a little and then said, “Dieter, be thankful for this. But don’t you ever inhale it.” This past week in a district meeting, the other missionaries in my district kept saying really nice things about me, and though I was smiling on the outside, on the inside I was silently rejecting the compliments, thinking "Stop. Stop. Stop. Don't make this awkward, let's just move on." But talking to my companion, I realized something. It's extremely important, especially when you're trusted with a leadership position, to strive your hardest to serve others, accept all the gracious compliments people give you, but NEVER inhale it or let it go to your head. I hope that sounds as cool as it did when the Spirit told it to me.

Anyways, I know I never told you that I was District Leader. Sorry. I just didn't think it was that cool as being a Dad. :) (I like serving others in leadership responsabilities, but I hate the idea of a "missionary ladder", so I don't like telling people.)

Pictures

1784: I can just imagine the conversation between a cashier and the person who wrote the 100 on this "No sir, just because you write "100" on a 2 peso bill doesn't change it's value."

1785-1786 We did exchanges with the Elders in Villa Crespo, and look what Elder Moffit left for me! What a stud. :)

December 15, 2014- Mom, It's You're Favorite Sunday of the Year!

¡FAMILIA!

As Elder Christofferson said this last General Conference: "¡Muy buenos días!"

Mom, this last Sunday was your favorite of the entire week! The Primary Program. If you thought little squeeky English voices was adorable, just wait until you've heard it in Spanish. But man, it was powerful, too. They sang an incredible song at the end called La familia es de Dios that I hadn't heard before. The Spirit hit me so hard. I love the Gospel, and I love you guys too! I think I'll keep you.

Quick little funny story. We read the Mission Manual every morning as a part of Companionship Study right? Right. So there's little scriptures after every section right? Right. Well Elder Rogers starts reading DyC 4:2 "O vosotros que os embarcáis en el servicio de Dios." But slipped up the word "embarcáis" (embark) for "embarazáis" (get pregnant). "O ye that get pregnant in the service of God..." *the three of us die laughing* No! *puff* No, no no no! *laughing* Try that again, Elder! *laughing* That's one for the quote book.

I wish I had something to report on Alonzo and the Daix family, but Alonzo's been buried alive in work all week, and then in his sheets Sunday morning. Keep praying for the Daix family too. I think their Dad got to them, and now the mom doesn't want to see us, though all the little kids yell out "Elder Goff! Elder Rogers!" when they see us. Stupid Satan. Stupid Sandman. Leave my investigators alone! Yanet moved to Perú. :/ Really suddenly, but she assured us that she's going to get married with her boyfriend, or dump him, and we're sending her records up there.

But on the flip-side, the other Elders in Chacarita are exploding. They had two baptisms this past week with ridiculously prepared people, and several more in the next few weeks. One man named Sandro came to the Chapel on Tuesday when Elder Rogers and I just so happened to be there. He said that Elder Viera invited him to Church, and he got confused what day it was. The poor guy was hung over, hadn't eaten in 3 days (other than the sandwich E' Viera and E' Zollinger gave him), lost his job, and lost his family, but wanted to change his life. We had a powerful lesson with him about the Book of Mormon, and about baptism, but to be perfectly honest, I wasn't expecting a lot from it. It's really common to have drunks beg for help, one day, and continue as if nothing happened the next. But he came to Church Sunday, eyes clear of alcohol, he got a job, he was weeping for joy, shouting "I'm going to get my family back, and bring them all to this Church!" It's only been a week, but I'm astonished by the changes this guy's made. He'll be baptized the 28th of December. The Gospel is true, and it changes lives.

Remember Louis? We saw him in the street the other day. He's doing awesome! He got the Priesthood and blessed the sacrament yesterday. He's living proof that Sandro can make the same changes. The Atonement is incredible. I know that we can change through Repentance, but it takes an entire dedication to drop anything that even has "the appearance of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:22)

I love you guys. I can't wait to Skype. Hasta la próxima semana. ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

P.S.

 1780- Birthday lunch in the Epiphania Family's house. And that usually means mini food fight.

1781- This is an incredible Cemetary in Chacarita. We weren't aloud to take pictures, but it's a city in here, with buildings, streets, cars, air conditioned tombs, churches, and everything. I'm convinced that the dead come to life at night and just keep on living like normal.

1773 Elder Zollinger and Elder Viera in his new Boca jersey we got him for his birthday.

December 8, 2014-

¡FAMILIA!

I love you all so much! Thanks for you letters. Remember that Skype thing? (Of course you do. That´s all any of you guys talked about. Hahaha) Talk together and let me know when the best times would be to call home. I sent you the letter that has the mission approved times that I can call.

Last P-day, we went to check out the Buenos Aires Mosque. We almost met some of our 1,000,000th cousins 1,000 times removed. (Muslims trace their ancestory from Abraham through Ishmael, while we do through Isaac, so I guess we´re really distant cousins.) It was closed, but we took some cool pictures anyway. Then we headed off to see the U.S. embassy, but we couldn´t take any pictures, because apparently 3 gringo missionaries screaming excitedly like little kids at the American Flag with a confused Peruvian off to the side is a terrorist threat or something. So the security guard asked us to put our cameras away. Oh well.

This week was incredible. Really hard, but I´m so impressed with all of the miracles that God put into our path. Check this out: We got a referral from some sister missionaries with a house number that didn´t exist. (The sisters later said they don´t know why they sent the referral. They had no idea where this person lived. They practically just made up an address and sent it.) We were kind of bummed about it, but we decided to talk with the family next door, and invite them to the ward Christmas party. Elias, Lucas, and Carlos all came, and dominated soccer. Like for real. Remember the World Cup semi finals? Well they were Germany, and the young men of the ward were Brazil. Ouch. But they had a ton of fun, and now the family´s interested in the Church. (Except the Dad, Gustavo. He´s got a beef with Joseph Smith, but is cool if we come by to talk to the family. Pray for him please.)

After the lesson, the daughter of the family had a lot of doubts like her Dad, and I heard Margarita (her mom) explaining to her that "the Catholics say one thing about God, the Evangelists something else, the Jehovah´s Witnesses another, and the Mormons another. All they´re saying is that we have to ask God Himself." What a capa! Props to our Investigator-missionary.

Alonzo´s boss gave him a new work schedule, and then punched him in the face (figuratively, don´t worry). He had to work a minimum of 12 hours a day, often more, for the week. He was exhausted, but still tried everything he could to make time for our lessons and reading the Book of Mormon, but Sunday he died and couldn´t wake up. Poor little guy. He felt so bad that he missed church. I hope that the Sandman gets hit by a truck next Sunday morning.

I love you guys so much! If you haven´t already, check out the He is the Gift video on Christmas.mormon.org and share it with everyone. Flood my Facebook with it just like the Church did to YouTube. (The Church is the only advertiser on YouTube from now until Christmas. Woo!) I know that Jesus Christ is the first and most important reason that we have Christmas, and I´m so happy to declare that in a world that´s forgotten that.

¡Hurra por Israel!

-Elder Goff

P.S. Pictures! 

1723- Us and the soccer studs/golden investigators: Elias, Lucas, and Carlos

1715 and 1716- Not as cool as the temple, but they did their best. :)

1722- Elder Zollinger and Elder Viera with their REDICULOUSLY golden investigator family. They practically begged to get baptized as soon as they can. Here they are enjoying the ward Christmas dinner.

December 1, 2014- The closest thing to a Roller-coaster on a mission

¡Familia!

A couple of days ago we rode the coolest bus ever. It´s not that exciting, but I loved it. It was two colectivos put together, and was longer than a freaking semi truck. (Remember my obsession over double decker buses when I was younger? I think I just re-kindled that, but with these things.) I wish I would have taken a picture... but man, every time that thing went over a bridge, I had to update my top 10 funnest moments on the mission.

Okay, *exaggeration mode off*. Hey! I´m glad you all had a good Thanksgiving! Send me some left over pie. And don´t you dare complain about all the Pumpkin Pie like everyone does every year. You won´t know how much you miss it until you live two or more years in a country that doesn´t celebrate Turkey Day.

Yanet was confirmed yesterday! The Bishop gave an awesome blessing that had a lot to do with the other blessings she will some day gain in the Temple. It was very inspired!

The coolest miracle happened this week! Apparently there´s a mom in Peru who emailed the mission asking for missionaries to visit her wayward son that lives in Buenos Aires with an evil spirit. She and her other son (who´s now serving a mission in Chile) joined the church a few years ago, but Alonzo (our awesome new investigator) was never really interested. Lately he´s been getting creepy feelings in his apartment and decided that he needed to get closer to God. He had no idea how to do it, so he downloaded exorcism prayers on the internet. Hahaha, nice try. They didn´t do the trick, so he asked his mom to contact us. I feel like a Ghost-buster. Except with the Gospel. (That was probably the most immature thing I´ve ever said as a missionary.) Anyways, we did a dedicatory prayer for his apartment, and then had a powerful lesson about how the closer we get to Christ, the further away that Satan and his angels run from us. He´s excited to change his life and accepted a baptismal date. What a stud.

Also, his view of Buenos Aires is stunning. Expect a breathtaking picture next week.

I love you so much family! I know with all of my heart that Jesus Christ is the reason for all of our happiness. May we all remember that it is thanks to Him that we will rise again, we can be cleansed from sin, and that we can live together in Celestial Glory forever. How great is the plan of our Heavenly Father! Happy December! ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Elder Goff

P.S. Pictures!

1. These pants have been slowly ripping up the sides. But it´s all good. I used my super sewing skills, and now they´re good as new.

...

Hahaha! Just kidding, I don´t know how to sew. Para. Nada. So Elder Viera fixed ´em up real nice.

2 and 3. This l´il Chincilla is the second cutest thing I´ve seen in the mission. (The first being Elder Rogers on his first day. ;) )

4. We helped out in a little Stake primary activity where they were pretending to be missionaries. We saw the letters ¨C C M¨ and we all turned into the little immature greenies we were way back when. I have to say, I´m very proud of the face I pulled off. Just try and look like a bigger dork. I dare you.

November 24, 2014 Baptisms Make Satan Angry

¡FAMILIA!

Guesswhat! guesswhat! guesswhat!! Yanet was baptized yesterday! It was so awesome, and lemme tell ya, some one down under did not want it to happen. I think I explained it best in my journal:

"Yanet was baptized yesterday! The Holy Ghost played such an incredible role that day as so many things thried to impede the baptism. Some cockroaches in the furniture had followed the family from the pasillo in Villa Crespo as they moved to the Villa Fraga, and they had been up all night killing as many as they could with homemade flame throwers (spray deodorant and a lighter) before the new landlord of the apartment found out. We had to inexplicably wait for 30 minutes outside her door while the drunkard listening to Brazilian music full-blast in front of us tried to convince us to leave. We arrived to Sacrament Meeting halfway through, and scrambled to get the font filling up. In Priesthood Meeting, I shot up as I realized that we hadn{t turned off the water just as Villa Crespo frantically ran up to me to tell us that the font was flooding downstairs. As we cleaned up the water we noticed that the water in the font was a greenish-gold color as if someone poured grease and apple juice in the font. Something was wrong with the tank, but there was no time to change it, and there was not way we were postponing the baptism. So with a prayer in my heart, and support from the capo Bishop Millioto, we cleaned Yanet spiritually, though not so much physically. Hey, if Christ was baptized in the Jordan river, I consider this just one more reason that he baptism was in the same manner as Christs. :P But Yanet was a great sport, and left the font beaming. Her sister, Berta, said that her heart jumped as she watched her sister be submerged to be baptized, and she said that without knowing why, she felt as though she wanted to cry. We were able to capitalize on that later, teaching that the Holy Ghost was testifying of the truthfulness of the ordinance. During the closing words of the Ward Mission Leader, I suddenly felt the Spirit come over me in one of those sacred moments that I have felt while serving a mission, assuring me that despite the craziness, Heavenly Father had accepted Yanets sincere covenant."

Whew. So yeah. Take that Satan.

So how are you guys? This week was an interesting one. Other than Yanet, Berta, and Oscar, we're still on the search for investigators. I wish I had more to report on, but there was quite a bit of rejection. But we're still happy!

If you could say a quick prayer for Nicolas, I would appreciate it. It's kinda a long story, but lets just say he's the most closed-minded, self proclaimed "open minded" person that I've ever met. His rejection really bothered me for some reason, and he's unwilling to let his son who's interested in the Church have anything to do with religion, just because of his own prejudices.

Well that's all for me family. If all goes well, I'm about to go play Ultimate Frisbee for the first time in well over a year for P-day today. I'M SO EXCITED!!! Have an awesome week. ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Elder Goff

P.S. Pictures:

1-3. Yanet's baptism. Tell me what happened to the font. No, actually don't, I don't want to know. Just close your eyes and dunk.

4. Elder Zollinger makes fun of my studies in the morning. He says it looks like my desk just threw up a bunch of knowledge. He might be right, I do get a little too into it....

-Élder Goff

Alma 36:24

November 18, 2014- No subject

¡FAMILIA!

How are you all!? This week was absolutely in-SANE! Mom, you don't have to worry about your scrapbooks having too little of pictures, because I took more than a 16-year old girl who just discovered Instagram. (That's still a thing, right?)

First off, remember that stud I talked about from the MTC who went to West Point for two years with Elder Zollinger, and was my district leader? Yeah, him. Elder Witter. Guess what happened. He freaking slept in our apartment for a day! He and a like 6 other missionaries had to do some kind of paperwork for the army that they can only do in Buenos Aires, so he had to fly from Rosario to do it. He's more studly than ever, but keep him in your prayers, please. Some crazy stuff's happening in his mission. For now, let's just after a few problems with some missionaries, he has to be a companionless zone leader/district leader. The Lord and his mission president must trust him so much.

Transfers came and went. They didn't take my kid away from me, so I'm happy. But we had to say chau to E' Castillo who's going to re-open the most dangerous area in the mission. E' Viera from Perú came to join the party in Chacarita.

Ry-guy, this next part's for you. I GOT YOUR LETTER!!! I was so happy, you have no idea. I'm so impressed with your trilingual fluency (English, Spanish, and our Brother Language. I laughed my head off at all your YouTube quotes. How in the world do we remember all those?) Although, I have to say, that I did not appreciate you calling me "tú". (See the picture attached for an explanation why.) ALSO! One of the Peruvian families in the ward invited us over for FHE with some of their nonmember friends. And then they gave us 3 foot Super-mega-hot dogs. They were delicious.

Okay. Let's get down to spiritual business. Elder Christofferson of the 12 came with Elder Walter L. Gonzalez (Area President), Elder Craig C. Christensen (President of the 70) and two other area 70s to talk to our mission and Buenos Aires West. (Got to see Elder Tavyn Woodall, capo.) It was incredible. He served in the Argentina North Mission with one of the senior missionaries here, and still speaks fluently (as does Elder Christensen). I was impressed by his confidence that he has in the missionaires, as he joked that as we all sing "We thank Thee, Oh God, for a prophet," that the prophets sing "We thank Thee, Oh God, for the missionaries." That was the hardest pat on the back I've ever recieved.

Yanet, Berta, and her boyfriend, Oscar all came to church! Yanet is excited for her baptism this next week, and we had an awesome lesson with Oscar, who wasn't all that interested at first. Elder Rogers and I were astounded by all his golden questions. I felt like it was staged, and we were filming something for the Church, because his questions came just at the right moment so that we could flow to the next point thatPreach My Gospel has us teach. After like 4 or 5 seconds after every question, I heard Elder Rogers excitedly go "ooooooohhhhh!" under his breath as he realized what Oscar just asked. Haha! My son makes me laugh so hard. Anyways, we helped them out of the pasillo, and now they're safe and sound in Villa Fraga. If you can help me pray for them, they're looking for a good place where Oscar can live too, because the place that they're in doesn't allow dads. (It doesn't make absolutely any sense, I know. But neither does Satan's opposition to their progress towards baptism.)

Whew! I couldn't fit a few things in here, but I'm alive and well in Chacarita. In fact, I'm excited to work a few more knots into my back because I love the Lord's work so much. (My back is turning into a gravel pit.) I love you all so much! I know that this Church is true, and that it holds the only Preisthood of God so necessary to our salvation, and Eternal welfare of our families! Thanks for all that you're doing, and keep striving to improve and become more like Jesus Christ!

Hasta la proxima semana. ¡Hurra por Israel!

P.S. Pictures

1. Elder Witter!!!

2. Mom, remember when you told me that we should clean the apartment, and I said "Hey, we don't have cockroaches yet..."? Well that's officially not true anymore. We found this little guy dead after a long struggle. We cleaned the heck outta here though, so it's all good again.

3. My Agenda for this transfer

4. Check this baby out.

5. This doesn't make a whole lot of sense unless you speak spanish, but in Argentina, there are three forms of the word "you". To latinos, they're practically interchangeable, and the rules to use them have almost been lost, but for us missionaries, they're like this: Usted is what you use to refer to everyone, because it's formal and respectful towards adults. Tú is what you use towards little kids who don't understand the wayusted works. Vos is the Argentine form of tú, but a LOT less formal. We're only allowed to use it when talking to dogs.

6. This stud came to the Despedida this transfer. William lives in Matheu, my old area. His family was sealed in the temple recently, and that news made me the happiest I have ever been. Our Heavenly Father's Plan is truely great!

November 10, 2014- I can't think of a catchy title. Just know that I love you guys!

¡Hola familia!

Thanks for your letters this week! They were really positive, and something that lifted my spirits pretty high. This week was pretty interesting. Up and down like normal, but we were kinda left on Sunday not really knowing what to think.

I did divisions with an incredible Elder that I look up to a lot: Elder Bamgartner from Heber. He's in an area even rougher than Chacarita, but his faith and work ethic is not suffering in the slightest. Our plans fell through like crazy, but we saw a few small miracles as well. We also had a good chat with an inactive member from Paraguay, and I even got to invite him back to Church in a little Guarani I've picked up (the national indian language from Paraguay). Vai shupá? She hae misionero. Ya'ha tupãope! (How are you? I'm a missionary. Let's go to Church!)

Did I ever tell you guys about Yanet and Bertha? I don't remember. They're sisters from Perú (shout out, Ry-guy) who've moved here a few months ago. In order to tell their story I'm going to have to explain the basic types of slums here in the big city. You've already heard about the Villas. Those are pretty open, and obviously slums. And they're awesome. I'm moving to Villa 31 for a year or two after the mission. ;) Acasa tomada is like an indoor villa in disguise. It's typically a giant building that looks like all the rest, but nobody owns it, and so it gets claimed by who ever gets there first. Finally, the kind where Yanet and Bertha live: the pasillo which is basically a tiny villa wedged into the giant buildings in the city. They're really weird, because the streets of Capital seem so nice and elegant sometimes, and the only thing blocking the sin-filled poverty of the pasillos is a little door. It's another world in there.

Well we've been teaching them usually in the plaza that I sent a picture of, and they're progressing pretty well. Yanet has strong desires to be baptized, and as a young single mother, needs to gosepl in her life to help her raise her family. They were excited all week to go to Church, and already have a few friends from the ward. We were excited too, until we got a call from the member that was going to pick them up. They said that some drunks were hung-over and threatening to burn the house down, so it would probably be better to stay home. I was really down about that, but they'll be hopefully "upgrading" to Villa Fraga this next week, where there are still drunks, but they at least don't try to burn down the whole freaking pasillo.

President has been trying to pump up the whole mission so that we can end the year with a ton of miracles. His vision is incredible, and he inspires us to reach the level of success that the Lord wants for His children in the Buenos Aires North Mission to bring to Him as many souls as possible. We have the incredible blessing of hearing, in several conferences, from the Area Presidency, a member of the Seventy, and a member of the Quorum of the Twelve! I'm excited for that, and I can't wait to get back to do everything I can as a representative of the only True and Living God!

I love you all. ¡Hurra por Israel! 

-Élder Goff

P.S. Pictures

1. Zona Belgrano

2. The "mountain" of the mission as president described it. Don't you dare tell me where I'm at. I'm in denial. :P

3. Buenos Aires' rip off of Central Park. It's actually pretty cool. :)

4. Elder Bamgartner and I after divisions.

November 3, 2014

¡FAMILIA!

Remember when I was complaining about how hot it was? Well someone heard me. Because now it's dumping rain. I think a dam broke in the clouds or something. On the news in member's houses it has stories of the Río de la Plata overflowing in some parts of the mission. It's not anything extremely drastic or dangerous, but it's enough to make me sorry for complaining as I sit here wet, humbled, and shriveled up like a raisin. :P

So anyway, it was a crazy week. A little rough on the teaching side as proselyting was a little slow, but the Lord still poured out the blessings. Louis was baptized this weekend after a series of miracles. This last Sunday, I heard from the hermana missionaires in Urquiza, where Louis lives, that he came to Church reeking of smoke. Later in the day, they said that they talked to him and while he was moving the day before, all of his neighbors were out smoking as if Satan was trying one more time to throw him into a relapse before his baptism. But Louis continued moving, and just ignored them like a champion! All his clothes have the smell of tobacco, but his body is clean, and after his baptism, so is his spirit! I wasn't there to watch it, but it was incredible to hear about it.

On Sunday, we threw on our wet rain jackets and went to contact the miracle investigator that showed up to Church. Yanet lives in the area of the other Elders, but she's moving to Villa Fraga in a week or two, so we're going to take over teaching her. We talked a little about her friend's baptism, shared a few scriptures, and then when the Spirit gave us the green light, made the invitation. She sat there for 2 or 3 minutes staring at nothing while we just waited. A few times she asked a few more questions which we quickly answered, then kept waiting trying not to let the subject change. Finally she nodded her head and said "Bueno, entonces sí." She's got a date for the 16 of November!

I'm very humbled by how much God did for us in His holy work, and He left me wondering what exactly it is that I did this week. We were working everyday, but He did all the work. I love being a missionary, and I love all of you. Thanks for all of your love, support, and prayers.

Hasta la próxima semana. ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

P.S. It was too wet to take out the camera, and the awesome videos of the thunderstorms that I took are too big to send. But here's some lame pictures Elder Zollinger took of me talking on the phone after a long day.

October 27, 2014 I just played soccer in an oven.

FAMILIA!

Me estoy derritiendo. I'm melting. For real. Bleh. We just went to play soccer in an indoor court that a member let us use, and ugh. It's a freaking oven in that thing. But it was fun. I got smacked in the face by the ball pretty hard, so I'm humbled and ready to go back to work. :P

This week was better! Still slow, but we saw our numbers slowly crawl upwards. We went to a meeting with President Ayre and all the rest of the new missionaries, which was great. President Ayre is so hilarious. He drew the mission as a metophorical mountain on a chalkboard with several parts. It started out with a "Country Club" at the bottom (the MTC) a ridiculously steep climb right after, a resting point, the summit, and a decent that resembled more like a cliff, with rocks at the bottom. Then he put a little X at the bottom, and told the newbies "you're all right here" right in front of the gigantic climb. Poor little guys have no idea what's about to hit 'em. But then he spent the rest of the time encouraging everyone lovingly, and the assistants gave a little pump up talk. It was awesome.

There was an experience that was pretty interesting this week. So last week in Urquiza, (the ward next to Chacarita) a little girl named Yanet was baptized. Her dad has had a crazy hard life; he wants to change it by being baptized, but is having a hard time quitting smoking. When he met me at Yanet's baptismal interview, he told the Sister missionaries that he wanted me to prepare him for baptism. Since he lives right on the border of both the areas, I got permission to start teaching him. The first time we come into his little apartment, he has alcohol on his breath, and an unlit cigarrette dangling in his fingers. He looks at me like a little kid who just broke Mom's vase and shyly greets me. After talking a little bit, his shame caught up to him, and began to cry. This humble man wants to change, but Satan just keeps throwing more trials in his face: another death in the family, losing his job, etc. I gave him a hug as our member that was accompanying us was in tears. He kept telling me that he wanted me to help him change. I kept assuring him that I'll do everything that I can to help him, but everything was up to him, and Jesus Christ.

Louis's experience applies to us too. We've all got something to give up. There are church leaders who can reach out and try to help us, but it all depends on us and Him. He did His part in Gethsemanae and the cross, but is willing to help us do our part as well. All we've got to do is do what Louis is trying to do. Fall on our knees, turn to the scriptures, and never give up attending Church. Jesus Christ not only re-established His church again to make the redeeming power of His atoning sacrifice more widely available, but it is the only place where it is available. Thanks to Priesthood power and revelation through God's chosen prophets, we have the way back to Christ clearly marked. I testify that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true Church on the face of the Earth, and it is the only organization established by God Himself to provide the saving ordinances necessary to bring us to our Eternal Home. I pray that Louis and many more can do what is possible to be a part of God's Kingdom, and I will do all that I can to help them come to the knowledge of the Restoration of God's Priesthood Authority.

I love you all. I hope you have a great week! ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

P.S. I hope I can figure out this computer to send pictures. Stay tuned....

1. Elder Valerdi and I smothering Elder Rogers with love at Interview with President.

2. Feliz Día de la Madre, Barrio Chacarita!

3. We went bowling with the zone for P-day last Monday.

4. The score for the first round. How is it possible to win the entire game with 8 gutter balls? Ask Elder Rogers.

October 20, 2014- ¡Feliz día, Mamá!

¡Familia!

You might remember that Argentina is the only country in the world that celebrates Mother´s Day in October. Well that´s what we were doing yesterday. Except without the Skype. :/ Which is really the only reason why a missionary gets excited about Mother´s Day, because nobody else wants to talk to missionaires.

Anyway, Happy Mother´s Day, Mom. I love you!  (You like that little kissing smiley face guy? I forgot about those things.)

So, this week was a little better than last week. Training´s an interesting thing, because you can go at it two ways. You can think ¨alright, kid, watch how it´s done.¨ And just plow through all the missionary work, dragging your hijo along, and hoping that he learns from your example (Shout out to my Dad, Elder Pirez. :) Just kidding, he doesn´t speak a word of English); or you can make him start working even when it´s uncomfortable and he doesn´t know the language. That´s what I´ve been trying to do more this week. We may be in a difficult area, but I feel like Elder Rogers is improving so much in his speaking ability. I like being a trainer. It´s insanely hard, but I´ve grown so much love for my companion, and I´ve learned a lot about myself.

This week was interesting, because we found ourselves teaching a lot more little kids than normal. I started to use the Gospel Art Book that the Church published a few years ago, and it was fun to see how something so simple like that got their attention. I was impressed by the innocence and willingness of these kids to follow Jesus, but was a little disheartened at times by the hipocrisy of their parents. While teaching the commandments to two recent converts, brother and sister, they excitedly shouted out the commandments, until they got to the fourth. ¨Keep the Sabbath Day Holy! We have to go to church, and not work or buy things. But I think we´re going to be breaking a commandment tomorrow for Mother´s Day, because Mom wants to go buyceviche since she´s Peruvian.¨ Are you kidding me? Peruvians may have awesome food, but that doesn´t mean God makes exceptions.

Please remember this: there is no excuse to not go to Church. Not even deliciousceviche, or asado. Nothing is more important than following God´s commandments- especially the one that renews our covenants that we break everyday by sinning and restore the eternal blessings that we lose by breaking them. Partake weekly of the Sacrament. Do. Not. Miss. It.

I love you guys. I hope that everything is going okay. I´ll be praying for you guys until my knees leave marks on the floor.

Hasta la próxima semana. ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

P.S. I forgot the camera adapter. :P Expect pictures next week.

October 13,2014- More rantings from the old man with the tie in Argentina

¡Familia!

*pant*, *pant*, *stretch*, *sound of old man cracking his back*, *groan*. I made it through the first week as a dad. Still as excited, but a lot more exhausted. Training combined with a few more assignments that President´s asked me to take on really just smacked me in the face with responsibility. My journal is really whining for some TLC. Poor little thing. When I get the time.

*splash some water in the face* Okay. HEY! I´m so glad that you´re weeks were good for the most part! Thanks for the letters of support, and good experiences. Chacarita´s just as stubborn as ever, but I´m gonna keep pushing. It kinda seems like the more I push, the more it slows down. No one came to Church, and Miguel, our only progressing investigator, went to Formosa to look for his family and bring them here. But we had a good chat with some member families who are really excited to help us put on a ward activity to jump start the excitement in the members and try to milk out a few references and reactivate a few menos activos. That´s given me the boost I needed to keep on trucking.

I haven´t even introduced you to my new companion yet. The stud´s name is Elder Rogers, he´s 18 years old, from Bountiful, and the poor guy´s eyes are as wide as mine were when I arrived in San Ignacio. Welcome to Argentina, Elder! Let´s go contact drunk people in the villa. Hahaha! We have a good time together, and the Zone Leaders are being good uncles and helping me out.

After Sunday, I was trying to put on my best trainer ¨its all good¨ smile, but inwardly I was feeling kinda down that once again nobody came to Church. I couldn´t stop thinking about all the people that said yes, and didn´t come, and even the kid I begged to come to church through the closing door as he stared at me from his bed in the corner. It seems like all week we´re inviting people to come to church, we make plans, and they whimp out. Suddenly I felt the Spirit whisper ¨You see? It hurts when people let you down, doesn´t it?¨ Then I started thinking of all the prayers I´ve said kneeled down in the dark, promising that tomorrow I´ll talk with everyone on the street, follow every Spiritual prompting, and when game time comes, I stare at my Agenda while walking to our next plan, and ignore the guy plainly staring at our nametags. Come on, Elder Goff. What are you doing?

The Lord´s hearing all your prayers and all my prayers for Chacarita. Thanks for praying. Please forgive me for being the biggest obstacle for the progression here. I´ve recommited, and I hope for more interesting spiritual experiences in the week to come.

I love you guys. Hasta la próxima semana. ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

P.S. Pictures

1. I don´t think I´m ever going to be able to give myself a good haircut. :P

2. Elder McRory and I in the back of Villa Fraga

3. Two weeks ago the Zone Leaders and I raced to the Temple as they went in Subway and we went on the bus. We got there like an hour before everyone. So we fist bumped and took this cool picture with the sunrise.

4. Elder Rogers and I on his first day in the field.

5. His first Alfajor. Aww, he´s gonna eat so many of those for the next two years. 

October 7, 2014- I´m a new, and proud father!

¡Famila!

Okay, I´m ashamed by how sketchy that sounds when you´re not a missionary. Rest assured, that I´m talking about that missionary slang again. Yep! I´m a dad. There was some confusion about whether the American missionaries were going to get their Visas in time for this transfer, and they told us all that there wouldn´t be any Americans coming this time around. Sunday night, the Zone Leaders told us that Salt Lake gave the green light that they were coming, and Monday night in a bunch of confusion, I was called by President, and the Assistants twice to inform me of my incoming Hijito. I still haven´t met him, but I know that he´s gonna see some miracles here in Chacarita.

Elder McRory´s headed of to Villa Ballester in the same zone where I was when I was in Pablo Nogués. Godspeed, Elder! You´re one of my best friends now.

What a week. General Conference was prime. Especially the talks in native languages. I thought that President Eyring was kidding when he said ¨Elder Hong will be giving his talk in his native language of Cantonese.¨ Elder Zollinger leaned over and whispered ¨what if someone just walked in late for conference right now?¨ Hahaha, it´s incredible how much the Church has grown, and I´m so glad that it truely is a gathering of Israel as the Restored Gospel reaches to every nation, kindred, and tongue.

Satan paid off the weather to rain so that none of our investigators wanted to come to the conference. Jerk. I wish I had more to report, but I guess it´s just time to re-analyze again and find the elect. I´m feeling really good about this next transfer. Here we go!

Thank you so much for your letters. The mission´s turned me into a big softy, so I teared up at your tender experiences you shared. I just want you to know how much I love you. I know that Heavenly Father has us in His immediate consious at all times. There isn´t a thing that He does that isn´t calculated for our Eternal welfare. We´re going to be a family for eternity, and there isn´t anything that I pray for more than that. I love you all.

Hasta la próxima semana. ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

The pictures didn´t work, because this computer´s super lame. :/ The´re were a couple of good ones too. Bummer. Sorry! Maybe next week.

September 29,2014- My dad died, and I wasn't even there to see it. :/

¡FAMILIA!

I have terrible news. As you may remember, all the missionaries here refer to their missions as if they were their lives. When you start you're "born" and when you end you "die". My "dad" (first companion out in the field) Elder Pirez, that Uruguayan that I didn't understand a word of, died by giving his farewell testimony in the mission despedida, and I wasn't even there. :/ Que descanse en paz, Élder Pirez.

Anyways, Hey! I'm glad you're all doing well. Shout out to Kyle Johnson. Way to finish like a stud. Remember when you left on your mission, I said that I would write you? Sorry. *Ahem* I guess I'm what the Argentines would call a "chavonaso" which would basically mean a big ol' punk. Again, sorry, bro. Let's go running later, but first I've got some work to do.

Elder McRory and I are panting to catch our breath. We tried to work hard this week, and walked more miles that I ran in summer XC. But no one came to church. Stupid rain. Chacarita's been rough on me, but I'm not gonna have any of it. I'm going to work until my shoes off until either the ward has so many baptisms it's translated like Zion, or I die trying. Mark my words. I'm not giving up.

We saw Miguel at the end of yesterday, Sunday night. We entered his building and started walking up the stairs with the intention of dropping him because he hadn't been keeping his commitments, wasn't there for the past few appointments, and missed church two weeks in a row. We saw his cousin who had long ago given up, walking down the stairs with another cigarette lit and his buddy with a bottle of Quilmes. We said hi to them, and continued on. Then a couple seconds later, Miguel comes down shyly with a smile on his face, and eyes clear of interference of tobacco or alcohol; He's keeping the word of wisdom. He asked us for a Bible because a few of the scriptures in "that blue book we gave him" had references to scriptures he couldn't find in there and he wants to look them up. The member we were with invited him to General Conference, and he got super excited, saying that it will be good to hear from modern-day prophets. Dang it man, make up your mind! Are you going to progress or not?

I love that guy, and I know he'll accept the Gospel. I'm grateful that the Spirit's helping us hang on to the Lord's elect that are ready to be baptized, but are just struggling in their situations. It's incredible to see the struggles that these people have to make, but act in faith and are blessed for it. Miguel's not the only one who showed miracles right when we were about to drop them. We have two or three other investigators like that, and though I'd love to just throw 'em in the water within three weeks like the mission expects, sometimes their Agency doesn't allow for that. I know that the Holy Ghost is the most active missionary in this work, and I'm so thankful that He's helping us out to know where we can most efficiently and effectively use our time.

I love you guys. Sorry the week wasn't too interesting picture-wise. I'll try to convince Chacarita to be a little more photogenic.

Les amo con toda mi vida. Hasta la próxima semana. ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

September 22, 2014- Please wait for the train is fully stopped.

¡FAMILIA!

My favorite part about being in Capital is the rich people who think they´re super fancy if they speak English, and it just comes out in a poorly translated miss-fire. The subject line is what the new fancy train that goes through our area tells us before stopping at every station. Good job, Buenos Aires.

I gotta tell a story that has nothing to do with anything just for the kicks. Elder McRory and I walked past the car dealership today that has already tried to sell me a car twice. Right when we walk by, the glass door jumps off of its hinges and slams on to the ground, shattering into a million pieces like it just became water. I´m not kidding, no one touched it, or was even near it. It was the weirdest thing ever. We just look at each other and yell out the first Brian Regan quote that comes to our minds about the little kids trying to fix something broken before the Mom finds out: ¨Get some leaves!¨ Hahaha, that kid´s become one of my best friends.

This week was rough again, but I think it´s like one of those jars that I would struggle with, and then hand to Mom, who pops the lid right off and tells me ¨you just gotta be smarter than the lid.¨ We´ve been fasting and praying for the Spirit to help us out with that, and I think this sucker´s about to come off. Miguel didn´t come to church, but still wants to get baptized. We´re just getting worried that the job that he was blessed with last week is getting in the way of us teaching him during the week.

On the bright side, when we were walking out of Villa Fraga, guess who I saw in the streets? Gladys the capa-recent-convert-missionary! I almost tackled her, but I kept myself under control and gave her the most loving handshake I could muster. She had a work meeting in Chacarita, and is doing great. Her best friend Crispina got baptized, and they´re both still active and happy in the Church. I´m so happy for them. Elder Rosazza also emailed me this week, telling me that all of the people we saw become converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Liniers are doing well. I´m so grateful for their faithfulness, and continue to pray for them.

Ry-guy, you´re a stud. Congrats on the baptism! DyC 18:15-16.

I´ve started a new in-depth study. My MTC teacher suggested this a long time ago, and it´s been in the back of my mind ever since then. I´m going to find a scripture for every statement in Preach My Gospel chapter 3. It´s incredible even after just barely starting to see how scripturally sound the missionary lessons are, and how absolutely inspired it is. But above all, I´m so grateful for the knowledge that what I´m teaching is directly inline with God´s revealed word. I know that this is His Church upon the Earth, and I will be forever grateful for Jesus Christ´s sacrifice and living prophets that testify that God still speaks.

Love you all, ¡hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

P.S. Pictures:

1. We went to a restaraunt to celebrate Elder Zollinger´s and my birthday (we share birthdays). It was funny when Elder Castillo asked President if we could leave the zone for P-day. President feels strongly about all the Latinos learning English, so Elder Castillo asks ¨President, we want to go to follow the cow.¨ It´s just silent for a while, and then President Ayre realizes he was talking about Siga la Vaca the restaurant. Haha, what a stud.

2. Elder McRory, Elder Zollinger, Elder Adcock, Elder Castillo, Elder Jewett, and me following the cow.

3. A pigeon finally pooped on me. I´ve been expecting it for a while, but I was disturbed by how refreshing it felt running down my arm. Bleh. :P

September 15, 2014- We hablamos too much Spanglish

I hate rain.

Okay, I got out the negative, and I can focus again. ¡FAMILIA! How are you? This week was a little better than the last. We're slowly being blessed with more success, and I can see the pattern. If we keep working hard, I know that this area is gonna explode. Because that's how the Lord rolls.

The city's awesome, but sometimes, it's just rough, man. There's a lot of people who go "oh hey! You're Mormons? That's so cool! Yeah, I'd love to learn some more. You know what? I'm going to church. Give me the address of the church. No don't worry about coming to teach me, or contacting my friends, I'll give you all that info when I come to church." Then Sunday comes around and you're left wondering whether they got lost, they died, or they just downright lied to your face. Sometimes it's a bit hard to find the line between having faith and assuming the best in people, and just getting your hopes up. Anyway, we're going to work harder on being more bold with people, and keep looking for those elect that the Lord has promised are in our area.

I sure hope Miguel's one of them. He's this stud that was the only one who came to Church out of the hundreds of people that we invited to come to church / committed to coming with a careful respect for their agency  / passed by their house to drag them out of bed. Miguel's this humble guy from Paraguay who's living with his cousins in a room even smaller than my apartment. I love him so much, and I pray that he'll start progressing even more, because I know that the blessings are going to flood out of heaven as he keeps his commitments.

Dad, I told you that I'd take a picture of my study notes about the way the scriptures use the word "fear"... but I forgot. Dang it. Sorry. But while I was studying this morning I read Moses 7, which talks about Enoc's conversations with the Lord. It's really cool to note the difference in the success of Zion, and the enemies of God, as Zion feared God out of respect, humbled themselves, and repented; while it's enemies feared God out of seeing His power destroying the wicked. It makes me think of all the people I've met who wail about all the bad that happens in the world, throwing all the blame upon God, thus acknowledging His power, or "fearing" Him, but not repenting, and therefore just suffering more. But in reality, as Moses 7 continues, Heavenly Father shows so much sorrow for the destruction of even the worst of sinners, and Jesus Christ even begged to sacrifice Himself so that they didn't have to suffer (v. 39). All the while, Zion is prospering and slowly progressing to perfection until it was literally raised up off the earth and translated.

It's interesting how fear that develops faith and repentance brings you closer to God by keeping you humble, while fear sent from the devil does the exact opposite, alienating you from God.

Les amo un montonaso. ¡Que tengan una buena semana! ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

P.S. I don't remember. Is it normal to see old ladies in the street waving a machete around? We couldn't remember, so we just casually crossed the street and kept on walking. Hahaha yeah for South America.

Pictures!!!:

1. I celebrated my birthday with Mario, the security guard in our building. He's super quiet, but gives us a hug and kisses us on the cheek everytime he sees us. We gave him some birthday cake, and the next day asked him how he liked it, and he said, "it was good, but there wasn't a whole lot." Hahaha, what a stud.

2. This is Elder Castillo's idea of a good birthday present. A face full of shaving cream while I'm trying to practice teaching.

3. Elder Zollinger and I got him back, don't worry. :)

4. This dog's name is Cano, but the Elder's call him Pokemon, because apparently he looks like a pokemon. I don't know, I guess I didn't play Pokemon enough. But he's clean and soft like an American dog, so I like him.

5. We didn't feel like proselyting, so we just explored Buenos Aires in normal clothes. Just kidding we were doing service.

6. From the top of my apartment building, if you look out on the horizon, you just see buildings forever. It's ridiculous, especially for a Utah boy like me. I took a video of it, but in case I can't send it, here's a picture of a little fraction of what I'm talking about.

September 8, 2014- As of right now, I am 19 years and 364 days old.

¡Familia!

Thank you for all the Birthday wishes! Except you Ry-guy. What happened? Haha, just kidding. I was talking to a Peruvian the other day, and they said that it's bad luck in Peru to celebrate a birthday early. So you're just more cultured than the rest of the family I guess. :)

I want to give a HUGE shoutout and thankyou-thankyou-thankyou!!! to my incredible mother, first of all for giving me life, and second of all, giving me the coolest birthday present that a missionary can get. My four generation family history, complete with pictures, important dates, full names, and even a few stories. Now I can fill out that new family history pamphlet, and let the Spirit of Elijah convert some hearts. I'm so pumped, you have no idea. I love you Mom!

This week was a little like last week, but on the positive side, a little better! We squeeked out a few more lessons Sunday night with our capo member that was a accompanying us. Here's the biggest challenge of Chacarita: we're in the middle of Capital with two tiny villas. Villas are the most powerful magnets for missionaries because people actually like to listen and they're super cool, and for four years, the Elders in both Chacarita 1 and 2 pretended that the rest of the area didn't exist, and focused on these two villas. They baptized a ton, but now there are two active families from the Villa Fraga (my area) and nobody from Villa Paternal. The second most incredible bishop in the world (second to you Bishop Davis! :) ) Bishop Milioto recently and patiently asked the Elders to branch out of the villa right before I got here. We're doing all that we can to work with members and talk with people on the streets, but porteños are rough. You know what can help? The Spirit. If you could help me pray that it will soften their hearts more, I'd be really grateful.

I hope that didn't sound like complaining. I love my mission. Chacarita's still awesome. To repent, here's a cool story: First of all, I just barely realized why we keep getting random texts in English with referrals from unknown numbers. That means they're from Church Headquarters. So I smacked myself in the face and we headed off to contact the one that we had recently received. We rang the timbre (what are those called in English. They're like doorbells, but for apartment buildings, and you can talk through them? Man, I must be from Utah.) and Luis let us in. He's a Peruvian who was baptized 20 years ago, but has been menos activo for more than 10. He recently moved to Prague in the Czeck Republic for 22 days where he met the missionaries again, and who got him excited to come back to Church. He smells like marijuana, but he's incredibly humble and really wants to change his life. He has a handicapped 16 year old son who is such a stud, and an 11 year old daughter who we haven't met yet. I'm excited to keep working with them. I have a strong testimony that this Gospel can bless us, even when we abandon it for years on end. Jesus Christ is the most patient Person to have ever lived, and will gladly welcome Luis back. 

I love you all. Hasta la semana que viene. ¡Hurra por Israel!

-Élder Goff

P.S. Pictures

1. The terribly translated instructions from the box of some worthless toy. English is worst.

2. I decorated my bus pass.

3. Elder Castillo got this from I don't know where. You're looking at the only product in existence in Argentina that wasn't made in Argentina.

4-5. Elder Zollinger has a thing of Silly Putty that we use for when we get stressed. I don't know how we didn't see it coming, but my companion got it stuck in his hair. Needless to say, Elder Zollinger wasn't happy. Hahaha, poor guy. Happy 22nd birthday, E' Zollinger, here's a childhood memory with a blond hairball.