Week 13

Hola,

So this week, I've been trying to be like Nephi.  In 1 Nephi, we read about Nephi's reaction to leaving Jerusalem.  Contrary to popular opinion, at this point in time he isn't in his I'll go and do phase.  In the beginning of his story, Nephi, like Lamen and Lemuel, he is skeptical.  This is why in 1 Nephi 2 we read: wherefore, I did cry mightily unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words that had been spoken by my father.  

I've felt a lot like Nephi.  At the start of this week, things were rough with my new companion; the language barrier has made things difficult, he only likes to talk about and read his scriptures (I never thought I'd meet another person that has studied the scriptures as much as I have this early in his life), and he's obsessed with cleaning.  At the same time, I really liked my last companion.  In a way, I feel like Nephi must have felt when his dad took him to the valley of Lemuel.  I've left the land of my inheritance, and all my dad wants to do is teach my brother's repentance.  

And so like Nephi I prayed.  And like Nephi I received comfort, and a reminder that I've received a promised blessing to learn my mission language and baptize converts.  At the current rate that I was going with an English companion, I wouldn't learn my language fast enough, and if I don't learn my mission language, I can't help converts.  

In other words, In order to receive my land of promise, I need to spend a little bit of time crossing through the wilderness.  And like Nephi, I will receive comfort and direction as I continue to progress.

That's all for now

Elder Gooden

. . . . . . . . . . .

Extra email to mom:

Hey mom,

Happy Birthday,

This have been an adjustment; Elder Sanchez and I don't speak much to each other unless we're in lessons.  He likes to clean though, so that has made things nice for me.  The sisters in our area had a baptism, so I got to attend that, but I've been yet to actually baptize.  Also, all of our progressing investigators, apparently have gone apostate and don't want to make their appointments anymore, so we've been doing a lot of contacting.  

My companion also likes to study a lot, so I've been able to make a lot of progress on my elder bednar library.  I don't know what else to write about though, and you've started chatting, so I'll finish this up.

Elder Gooden

Week 12

Hola,

So this week, I've been trying to be like Elder Bednar, but as always,more on that later.  

This week has been a rough week.  All of the appointments that we had fell.  Which is kind of sad considering that we had about fifty of them.  In addition to that,we had transfers today, and I lost my dad.  in addition to that, my new comp doesn't know a word of English.  I guess the Lord got tired of hearing me speak English so much.  On the bright side of things, I'm no longer the newest missionary in the mission.  I also learned that letters take about six weeks from the time they are sent out. 

Because, I don't want to depress to many people with the bad things that happened this week,I figured that I should just skip to the I'm trying to be like segment.  It's much more interesting than talking about how my investigators act while drunk.  As I mentioned, I've been trying to be like Elder Bednar.  I say this, because at the MTC we watched a devotional where he talked about his Book of Mormon Library.  In it,he explained how he likes to take a blue missionary copy of the book of Mormon and pick a doctrinal principle to study from it.  He then goes to the index and topical guide to read all of the scriptures related to that principle and mark them and take notes.  I'm now doing a similar thing, but rather than rely on the topical guide for help, I've decided to read through the Book of Mormon every time that I pick a new subject.  I started my second edition this week on faith.  

It's been fascinating to read through,because I've been able to see how much faith ties into obedience.  I've also grown to develop a greater love for the scriptures.  There is so much that I can learn from them. I invite everyone to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover, whether it be your first time or your hundredth.  There is always something more to learn

That's all for now

Elder Gooden

Week 11

Buenos,

This week I've been trying to be like Moroni again.  But first, I want to talk about how this week has gone.  

First of all, my companion and I have had a lot of cool personal miracles.  For example, we have a washing machine now!  Secondly, we have invested in a returnable bottle of coke.  And that truly is a gift from above.  We also have been able to find a lot of people to teach this week.  I've found that most people are willing to listen to us teach, but not everyone is willing to keep commitments.  So the good thing is that we've been able to find so many.  Maybe a few of them will be interested in getting baptized.  

If not, at least we know that we have been giving our best effort to invite them.  A lot of what I've learned this past week is that the physical numbers that we have to report in each week don't mean that much on a spiritual level.  To further explain this, I should explain that we need to report four numbers to our zone leaders each week: number of baptisms, number of members with a baptismal date that went to church that week, number of investigators that were in church, and the number of new investigators for that week.  We keep these numbers because experience has taught the church that the easiest way to see if an investigator is progressing in the church is if they are coming to sacrament meeting.  What these numbers don't show though are the other things that we do in the mission.

For example, we never mention how many less actives we've been able to help reactivate.  We don't talk about how we might of helped a bishop to hold ward council.  We don't talk about any of the ways that we've been able to strengthen the ward, or the way that less actives have been strengthened.  For example, we have this great family in the ward that is less active.  But even though they have been less active, they have been willing to feed the missionaries on a weekly basis.  Because of this, my companion knows that they hadn't been to church in at least three months.  But for the past two weeks they have gone and attended all three hours of church.  And the way things have been going, their reactivation will benefit their extended family.

It was just a good reminder for me that even if our reportable numbers seem down for a time, the Lord is still continuing to do his work through us.  The message of His gospel doesn't end with baptism or attending the temple.  Enduring to the end literally means to the end.  And the reward for such is exaltation.

As I said before, I've still been trying to be like Moroni.  I say this because of the things that here writes in Mormon 9.  To give it a brief summary, he writes about how God is a God of miracles, and I just love the way that he does it.  He starts by listing all of the miracles that have been recorded in the book of Mormon and the Old Testament, and asks us how we can believe that God is the same yesterday today and forever, and yet not continue to perform miracles.  and then to provide further evidence of this he talks about how we can tell who are messengers of God by the miracles that they work.  In it he says:

 in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover; (Mormon 9:24)

Here in Obregon, I have had the chance to perform each of these miracles in one form or another.  The exception is the one about taking up serpents.  I've still not found any snakes in Obregon.  I'm sure I'll find them eventually though.  

The point though that I want to get across, is that God is a God of miracles, which has been one of the most profound ways that I've been able to reach people.  As I said in my last email, everyone here worships Saint Judas, who I learned was the Saint of lost causes.  Everyone here is searching for a miracle from God in their lives, and I believe that the same thing happens in the states as well.  We are all looking for some sort of Divine assistance or bit of luck.  But often at times we forget the source of where that assistance comes from.  

If anything in our lives is good, it has to come from God.  And God, is our loving father in heaven.  He delights in blessing us and helping us.  But our ability to receive miracles is based on our faith.  This is why in the next verse of Mormon 9, Moroni writes:

And whosoever shall believe in my name, doubting nothing, unto him will I confirm all my words, even unto the ends of the earth.(Mormon 9:25)

For example, a few weeks ago, my companion and I decided to visit a part of our area called Quechaweca for the first time.  As I mentioned in previous letters, this is a small town that should technically be it's own area but it just ended up in our area.  On our first day, the branch president (Who is like a pastor for small congregations for my non member friends) offered to give us a ride before he went to work.  But we had to leave so early that neither I nor my companion had time to eat breakfast that morning, and we didn't have a lunch appointment there either on account of no one knowing us yet.  I was about to say a prayer and call that day a fast, when I decided instead to pray for breakfast.  It was a strange prompting, but I felt that it was inspired, and I knew that I had the faith for God to deliver on this promise is some manner.  So that's what I did.

When we got to Quechaweca, we started by visiting a few of the members there to ask for references and to get to know the town a little bit better.  When we went to the first house, the family invited us in and offered us breakfast.  Then after breakfast, they asked us if we wanted to join them for lunch.  I know that this sounds like a somewhat silly thing to pray for, but in that moment, that was what I felt I needed, and the Lord was able to provide.  

The same thing goes for any other type of miracle that is just, so long as we have sufficient faith.  One of the greatest tools that the adversary tries to use so as to keep us from receiving miracles, is to tell us that God either can't do something or is unwilling to help us.  and this is completely false.  If we eliminate our doubts, and put our trust in the Lord, all things are possible.

That's all for now

Elder Gooden

Week 10

Happy Belated Forth of July everyone,

This week I've been trying to be like Moroni.  

First though, I need to say that my mission knows how to have an awesome Fourth of July celebration.  So this past week, on P-day, our mission president put on this huge celebration for us with water games and Mexican hot dogs.  It was a welcome break from the heat.  I've also come to learn that Mexico is very superstitious.  As a result, everyone is awestruck whenever they hear that we have given a blessing (many people think that the power to do so died out with the apostles) and everyone likes to worship the Virgin Mary or Saint Jude.  By the way, if anyone knows what Saint Jude is the saint of, that could help me out because he apparently is the patron saint of Mexico and no one knows why.  Also, children have been our most receptive investigators so far this week.  That is at least when they don't believe that the second coming is when Jesus steals all of the children and then burns the earth.  It turns out that a lot of the work here is just expelling false beliefs that the gospel is something attainable to only a few chosen disciples, or that some great feat has to be performed.  The path to salvation is as Alma says, easy.  Through the principles of faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, the laying on of hands for the gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end everyone is eligible to obtain eternal life.

As I said, I've been trying to be like Moroni this week.  I say this for those who don't know, that Moroni was the last prophet of the book of Mormon and witnessed the entire destruction of his people.  He also was the narrator of the book of Ether.  In Ether Chapter 12, Moroni takes a break from his narration to talk about the importance of faith and the future of the Book of Mormon.  In it, he talks about how he and his father aren't very good writers, and how he fears that those who will read the book of Mormon will make fun of it, and on the basis of their terrible writing skills, think that it isn't the word of God.  But then he goes on to write:

26 And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

28 Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness.

29 And I, Moroni, having heard these words, was comforted, and said: O Lord, thy righteous will be done, for I know that thou workest unto the children of men according to their faith;

In a lot of ways, I can relate to Moroni in this sense.  Spanish has been a lot harder than I originally thought that it would be.  And while I can participate in the lessons, I only know the doctrinal points that I was taught at the MTC and a few other words that I've been able to pick up since getting here.  And when I do speak, my language is very slow and with very broken grammar.  But one thing that my companion pointed out to me is that because I speak with such rarity, and it requires effort on my part to say what I want to say, people tend to pay a bit more attention.

In a way, I guess that the Lord has been working the same promise.  I am a missionary of many weaknesses, especially when it comes to speaking.  But I have also seen that the gift of tongues is real.  The spirit has been guiding me as to what I need to say in the moment, and what I need to understand.  

I'm not the same missionary that I was before my mission, or even during the MTC.  I've found that all of my scriptural knowledge is practically useless here.  For one, not to many people read the Bible or Book of Mormon here, so they don't understand the scriptures half of the time when we read them.  Secondly, in the time it would take me to open my scriptures and point to a doctrinal point, my companion is able to explain it.  On the bright side, it's fun to be with a guy who is as well versed in the scriptures as I am.  

I've also come to see things that were written in the scriptures differently.  I've found that a lot of the stories that I thought were just parables or some other thing were more literal than I originally thought.  I've been able to learn so much from my mission, it's hard to fit it all into one weekly email.  If anyone has any specific questions, about my mission, or what I've learned about the doctrine of Christ since I've gotten here, feel free to email me.

Elder Gooden

Pictures from this week . . .

Week 9

Hola,

So I'm now officially two months and a day into my mission.  This past week I've been trying to be like Adam, but more on that later.  I've learned a lot this week.  Not all of it was stuff I wanted to know.  For example, cockroaches can fly and melt when you spray them with bleach.  I've also learned that Americans have been doing hot dogs wrong since forever.  Here in Obregon, they take the hot dogs, wrap them in bacon, stuff them with sausage, and then add a bunch of different toppings that everyone from the states hasn't even dreamt of adding before. 

 

As for the mission, things have been progressing well.  We have four investigators that are preparing to get baptized.  We have had a minor setback in church attendance this past weekend though; its the first week of the Mexican summer vacation and everyone is out of town.  I'd say that we could simply teach the tourists that come here, but Obregon is the type of place that literally rains dust, so I haven't seen any yet.  

Another interesting thing is that because I don't know too much Spanish yet, my companion has done most of the talking.  But he likes to start off every lesson with a hymn.  And all of them have been impressed so now all of my investigators have come to know me as the singing gringo that doesn't speak.  Hopefully I can change at least part of that title.

As I said earlier, I've been trying to be like Adam.  I say this because I recognize that my mission is a lot like the plan of salvation,and I'm right at the start of it.   First there is the MTC where everything is beautiful and perfect.  All of the food is well prepared for us every day; we hear from general authorities on a weekly basis; the parrots fly through the sky on the way to class and everything is just wonderful.  But never got the chance to actually fulfill my purpose as a missionary there.  Now I'm in the field, where I've been assigned a trainer, which all of the missionaries refer to as my dad.(for sister missionaries, their trainer is called mom).  We also get to choose for ourselves out here.  I don't have anyone writing out my daily schedule for me anymore; I can choose to follow the mission rules or not out here; I get to choose how to spend my money.  I can choose if I want two liters of coke or three!  But in all seriousness, I now have the opportunity to be like Adam, and make my sacrifices without question or explanation (because wearing khakis in 115 degree heat is a true sacrifice), or I can choose to do what I want.  I can choose to defile the sanctity of my calling, and like Cain, and lead generations of souls down to captivity and destruction.  It's my choice.

The same thing applies to other church callings and commandments.  Take the Word of Wisdom for example.  We know that it is supposed to be a health code designed to protect our bodies from harmful substances such as tobacco and alcohol.  But what about coffee and tea?  Science hasn't come out with a definitive answer for why to avoid either of these substances.  In many cases, science has come out to say that in moderation they can even be good for us.  Why should we try to avoid it if it's not harmful?

The answer simply is that God has commanded it.  Conventional arguments that it is bad for the caffeine doesn't make sense because energy drinks and soda aren't a part of the word of wisdom. We can't say either that there is a definitive health risk either because from what we understand so far about food is that both chemicals carry just as many benefits as there are risks.  And we can't say that it's simply because they are hot either, because every Mormon I know loves hot chocolate,and no one has ever tried to say that hot chocolate is against the Word of Wisdom.  In short, we don't have a reason.  We've just been commanded.

I get that this can make this commandment a little bit harder to follow at times, especially with the rising popularity of Starbucks.  But there comes a point when we have to ask ourselves who knows more, God or man?  If I've learned anything here on my mission it's that the answer is God.  

Take for example missionary work.  In Obregon, there is a high population of Jehovah's Witnesses, and their missionaries.  Their missionaries have years of biblical study and experience.  They are armed with a scripture to counter any concern or counter argument anyone could throw at them.  Ad yet, they don't see as much success as the Mormon missionaries.  If you look at it through the logic of man,it doesn't make sense.  How is it that the most immature and uneducated age group in the world that can legally live on their own (young adults ages 18-28) are able to do such a great work and have so much success.  After all, we aren't theologians; many of us didn't read the Book of Mormon all the way through until they gotten their mission; we aren't terribly mature; and half of us don't understand the language for the first several weeks or months of our mission.  And yet the church continues to grow faster than any other on the face of the earth.  It is as if God decided that he wanted the missionary work force to be as the army of Gideon; completely incapable of accomplishing it's intended purpose unless it was led by the hand of God.  And this here can stand as a witness to you that it is God's work.  Because if it was the work of man it would have failed a long time ago.  

I know that there are many of you on this email list that aren't members.  For those of you that aren't, I encourage you to find missionaries in your area.  nothing makes a missionary happier than to hear that someone has been looking for them.  For those of you that are members, I still invite you to have the missionaries over.  They can be great instruments to help increase your faith in the savior.  That's all for now

Elder Gooden