Week 16

Hola,

Summer here has ended and everyone is going back to school.  This is great news for us in regards to teaching families with small children, but is terrible for trying to teach our young adult investigators.  This week I've been trying to be like the Prophet Mormon.  I'll explain that though in a little bit as always.  

This week we had Stake conference, which was pretty cool.  The speakers here focused on how parents can help teach their children correct gospel principles so that they can gain a strong testimony of the truths of the Gospel.  The cool part though was that I got to direct the stake choir and congregation.  

Speaking of this, I've learned that planning doesn't mean the same thing here as it does in the states.  This choir that I directed was made entirely of the missionaries in the stake, and we were asked two weeks before.  We didn't know what songs we were going to sing though until one week before, and given the missionary schedule, we only got to practice twice.  Also, during our second/last practice, we were asked to perform an additional number.  Long story short, I learned that the Lord's work does extend to choir rehearsals, when in doubt about how to make a song sound cooler, just repeat the last phrase with a retardando, and tone deafness is a chronic illness that is running rampant in Mexico.  The important thing to focus on though is my first point in that the Lord's hand is in all parts of his gospel, including missionary choirs.  I say this because I really don't have any other idea how we were able to pull this off in such a short time.  

As I said earlier, I've been trying to be like Mormon.  I say its because I just finished my faith edition to my Elder Bednar Library, and have recently been studying his epistle in Moroni 7, which talks about faith, hope and charity.  I've found in my personal experience that many people find this to be a confusing part of the Book of Mormon, given that when trying to analyze all three of these points, people often think that they are all interdependent upon the other, and that one can't have one of these traits without the other two. This assumption of course makes it difficult to utilize this scripture to teach about either three of these traits without leading some one to believe that their faith is inadequate due to a lack of charity - or some other similar problem.  By studying only faith though, it is easy to tell that this isn't the case at all.  Rather, the confusion lies in Moroni's presentation of the epistle.  

In Mormon 7, nearly all of the chapter is dedicated to the topic of faith.  He only briefly mentions hope, more specifically what to hope for, and then talks about the blessings of charity.  Based on this structure, it is easy to see that the main focus of Mormon's epistle is to talk abut faith, and how faith leads us to receive the gift of charity.  

To better explain this, I'll use an example and follow the same train of thought used by Mormon.

Let's say that someone is about to receive a priesthood blessing to be healed from an illness. We all know that for this to work, the recipient must have faith in the healing power of Christ.  This faith is expressed by actions, which could just simply mean to ask for a blessing.  If we have faith, and our faith is properly placed in Christ, then we must have a hope for the power of his resurrection, and the power of his atonement.  After all, Christ has the power to forgive sin and heal infirmities through the power of his infinite atonement, which without we would all be a lost and fallen race, subject to the whims of the devil for all eternity.  But through the power of Christ, we can have a hope for a better life, free from sin in the presence of God.  

Now, what Mormon fails to talk about in this chapter is that our faith in Christ, and hope for his atonement will lead us to repentance and baptism to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  However, this part of the doctrine could be explained in his need to be meek.  Or in other words, to rely wholly on the merits of Christ as taught by Paul.  

The power of repentance, will eventually change us from a carnal and devilish person, the natural man, into someone that seeks after the things of righteousness, or in other words, a disciple of Christ.  In other words, what Mormon is stressing here is that true discipleship will lead to a change of heart and charity, which is the pure love of Christ.

In other words, to call ourselves disciples of Christ, we must have faith in his power and hope in his atonement.  These will lead to a true conversion in Christ which will lead to the development of Christ like attributes including charity, which is the greatest of all.  If we aren't exercising our faith unto hope and repentance so as to develop Christ like attributes, we can't call ourselves by His name.

That's all for now

Elder Gooden

Week 15

Hola

So this week I've been trying to be like Jesus as always though, I'll cover that in the later end of my email.  

This week has been amazing!  I had my first baptism on Saturday which was awesome.  It was a nine year old kid named Rayez.  It was awesome to be able to do such a cool thing like that, and I learned a lot about the nature of the ordinance from having to memorize it for a second time in Spanish.

In other news, the ward that I'm in has nearly doubled its attendance since I arrived here (though this isn't hard to do when membership is as low as fifty people)!  The people here have been so friendly and welcoming that it's been easy to talk to less active members here about the importance of attending church.  It's also been interesting to see how my companion and I work together.  In a lot of ways, we are very similar.  We both like to study and read the Book of Mormon, and have each read it several times.  We both tend to lose track of small things that end up being important further down the road.  So it's been an interesting learning experience to basically see myself through a mirror.

As for why I've been trying to be like Jesus, I've been thinking a lot about why I'm here on my mission.  One of the things that I've learned here is that my mission is about the last place that Satan wants me to be.  And because of that, I've learned a lot about how he tries to tempt missionaries.  One of the most common things that he likes to do, at least with me, is when it's been a rough day with the language or when all of our appointment fall, he likes to ask the question, why are you here?  If you are truly a missionary, why don't you have the gift of tongues; why don't your investigators keep their appointments; one of your investigators is sick, if you have the priesthood, why don't you heal them?  In other words, he tries to get us to believe that there is no power in our calling, and challenges the legitimacy of the message of the gospel.  

But I also remember a talk that Jeffery R Holland gave at an MTC devotional, when he asked the same question of why isn't salvation easy.  His response was: salvation doesn't come easy.  It was never easy for him [Jesus Christ] why should it be easy for you?  and then I remembered a scripture in Mosiah 14: He is despised and rejected of men.  A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  And we hid as if it were our faces from him, he was despised and we esteemed him not.  Surely he hath born our griefs, and carried our sorrows.  But we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.

I also remembered that it's his name that I am wearing on my chest, and that I've been called to be his representative while here on the earth.  And so, this scripture has a very true message for missionaries as well.

We are despised and rejected of men; more often than not, people don't want anything to do with our message, some people even have anti-Mormon feelings.  We are men of sorrows and acquainted with grief; it's always sad when an investigator decides to stop progressing, because we know how much this message can help them.  And they hide as if it were, their faces from us; it's always a little annoying whenever we can hear the TV on inside a house but no one wants to answer the door.  We are despised and they esteem us not.  

Surely we have bore the griefs our our investigators and carried their sorrows; we have spent countless hours in fasting and prayer over the well being of our investigators.  

And so, I've learned that being a representative of Christ means taking the good and the bad.  But just like the bad parts are rough, the good parts are really great.  Take for example the ordinance of baptism.  One of the things that makes baptism so unique, is that it is the only ordinance that I can think of that is done in the name of God and Christ.  All of the other ordinances that are performed in the Church are done in the name of only Christ.  Everything from prayer to priesthood blessing, to temple ordinances is done in the name of Christ.  But baptism is done in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  The only other time within all of the scriptures that this is done, is when Christ atoned for all of our sins and died on the cross.  And just like the atonement makes of free from sin, baptism symbolically cleanses us from sin.  And so I thought that that was a pretty neat comparison.

The last thing that I want to talk about is the Abrahamic covenant.  For those of you who don't know or remember, we read in the Bible that God covenanted with Abraham, and that one of the signs of the last days is that this covenant will be fulfilled through the restoring of the lost tribes.  But we often forget, just exactly what that covenant is, and that it is the purpose of the church to fulfill this covenant.  as for what this covenant in tales, we need to go to the book of Abraham.  In there, we read that Abraham was baptized, received the priesthood, and was sealed in celestial marriage, as explained in the bible dictionary, the covenant that God made with Abraham was that all of his posterity would have the opportunity to receive these covenant blessings and the possibility of exaltation.  Through baptism, all of us are adopted into this covenant, and have the responsibility to bring others into this covenant so as to restore the house of Israel.  If we aren't striving to make and keep the covenants in the Abrahamic covenant, we are apostatizing.

That's all the time that I have for now.  

Elder Gooden

Pictures from this week . . .

Week 14

Hola,

This week, I've been trying to be like one of the warriors in the army of Helaman, But more on that later.  

For starters, I want to say that the statement: it only rains in Obregon about five times a year is an alternative fact.  It has rained here almost everyday for the past two weeks and rain here is the worst.  The humidity goes up, there is no irrigation, and no one wants to talk with us when it rains.  Also, it's very hard to dry laundry without a dryer.

On the bright side, Mexican food continues to amaze me.  I can buy a fried chicken pizza, which is better than it sounds.  It's pizza, but instead of being cooked on pizza dough, it's cooked on fried chicken.  America, you need to step up your game.  Right now I'm able to eat foods that should give me instant diabetes and I'm still losing weight!!

As I also said, I've been trying to be like a warrior in the army of Helaman.  Firstly to explain this(because there are many reasons for why I've been trying to be like one of them) I want to explain the difference between a warrior and a solder.  In my mind, a solder is someone that is paid to fight in an army.  He is obedient, gets the job done, but at the end of the day returns home to his life away from the fight.  In other words, a solder has invested his mind into his fight, but his heart is not in it.  On the other hand, a warrior is fighting for a cause he believes in.  His whole being is invested in the reason for his fight, and because of this, he always goes the extra mile.  In other words, a solder is fighting for money or another tangible object that can be subject to change.  A warrior is fighting for a cause directly related to the conflict.

Here in the mission I have the choice to be a solder or a warrior for God.  I can choose to serve my mission with the intent of making family proud, or doing what looks good on a college application, and come home at the end of two years feeling accomplished.  Or I can choose to invest my heart into the work.  I can focus on how what I'm doing is saving people from the jaws of death and damnation.  I can choose to consecrate myself to the Lord.  I can choose to follow the advice of President Hinkley and forget myself and go to work.  The difference is that if I choose the latter option- to choose to be a warrior- the work isn't going to end after two years.

Another thing I want to talk about is the power of prayer and worthiness.  To start this story, I first want to thank my parents and everyone else that has been praying for me since I left for my mission.  This story happened on Thursday, when all of the missionaries were invited to a cultural celebration.  At the end of the celebration, I and about five other missionaries crammed into a taxi, which here means ten year old Cadillac, and started the half hour trip home.  About five minutes into the ride home it started to pour down rain.  And about five minutes after that, the car broke down.  as the driver got out to check the engine, some of the missionaries behind me(because I was riding shotgun) jokingly said that I should bless the car.  As they said that, I felt a prompting that I should do just that.  So I laid my hand on the dash of the car and started to offer a silent prayer.  As soon as I thought the words start the car, the engine started up again.  The reason for why I want to share this story is that at the time that I offered that blessing, I didn't feel worthy enough to perform such a miracle.  We hadn't had much success that day, and I was silently complaining for most of the afternoon to God.  As a result, my heart wasn't really invested in the work at that point in time.  And so I prayed afterwords for better understanding.  The response that I received was a big wake up call.

I was told that  I wasn't able to bless that car of myself.  Rather, God knew that we needed a way home that night, and that the prayers of our families, and the promises that he had made with them were what allowed that miracle to take place.  SO the moral of this story is, keep praying for me when I'm on my bad days.

That's all for now

Elder Gooden

Pictures from this week . . .

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

Week 8

Hola 

So this week I've been trying to be like a lot of people.  As always, I'll go into further detail later in my email.  It's crazy tho think that I've already completed two months of my mission.  Part of me was wishing that I'd be fluent in Spanish by now, and have at least one baptism.  But I guess that since it's only been two weeks in the field, I can't get to upset.  My area is still probably the coolest area ever.  The people here have so little, but give so much of their time and talents to the Lord.  The small town in my area, or area 2 as I've started calling it, quechaweca, is an amazing example of this.  We had an activity there, and I was just expecting to see a few members and investigators that we had invited because we had been there only two times before.  In reality the entire branch of about 30 people showed up and brought five investigators with them.  These members knew that if they went to that activity they would hear the word of the Lord through two of his divinely called servants.  And what makes the story even more amazing is that before I got there, they hadn't had missionaries there for nearly five months.  The faith in that branch is amazing to me.

Being in Mexico is actually a really neat experience.  Just an idea about what life looks like hear, each missionary is given an allowance of about 1800 pesos a month. This translates roughly into $100.  By American standards this may seam like very little, but in Mexico it is the same salary that a medical intern gets paid.  It's part of the reason that buying things in Mexico has been so strange.  I've gotten used to the idea somewhat of what expensive looks like here, and have been trying to be frugal with the money that I've been given.  But every so often I step back and realize that by American standards, the price has been raised by two cents.  

Fast food is actually considered an expensive commodity here.  All of the McDonald's and KFC's here are really nice and only wealthy people go there.  With the exception of missionaries who have been saving all month to go to Carl's Junior.

As I said, I've been trying to be like a lot of people.  With regards to the language, I am trying to trust in the Lord like Enoch did so that he will open my mouth and I will be able to speak with enough power to cause all nature to follow my voice.  Or at the very least to open my mouth to speak confidently in Spanish.  I've been trying to be like Ammon in that I have been trying to learn a new culture and way of doing things so that the people will understand that I am here to serve them.  I've been trying to be like Jesus in my fasting and prayer so that I can perform the miracles God has foreordained me to perform to this people.  I've been trying to be like Alma, so as to be guided by the spirit to find the people that will be able to help me the most in my mission.  And I've been trying to be like Nephi in documenting as much of my mission as I can so that I will remember all of it.  

Sorry if that seems like a lot.  Things in the field are a bit different in that I'm no longer here to learn; I'm here to teach.  And through my teaching, I have been able to learn so much in bits and pieces, so that I can't focus on just one example from the standard works at a time. 

One ting though that I have learned is the sacrifice that fasting is supposed to be.  One of my investigators has been seriously ill for some time.  To help her, my companion and I decided to fast.  Fasting is a bit different when you are in a walking mission in Mexico than it is in Pennsylvania.  For one, air conditioning is a happy thought.  for another thing, it is so dry here that you can get dehydrated really fast.  What I learned though, is that  because the sacrifice of the fast is hard, the thing that you are fasting for should be of equal or greater importance.  I remember thinking back to all of the times before my mission that I would fast for: blessings that I didn't know I needed.  This experience changed my perspective on that.  Had it not been for the fact that what I was fasting for was important, I would have given up before my fast was through.  Or in other words, fasting for things I don't know I need is not a strong enough source of motivation to continue fasting.  The health of this investigator was. And so this might sound like a strange lesson to share, but the take away is that the power of the fast is real.  The blessings that come from it are assured.  If we have this ability to draw so close to God, and gain so great blessings from it, shouldn't we use this ability to invoke the help of the Lord for our greatest struggles first?  

Another example from my own life to give greater clarity:  I already mentioned that I would fast for blessings that I didn't know I needed.  During this time though, I was in the middle of high school.  I could have chosen to fast for help with the SATs, or getting accepted to the right college, or even mission prep.  I knew about the struggles of others that I could have chosen to fast for.  Instead, because I thought: well it's fast Sunday, I guess that it's time to go with out food for a while, I was robbed of so many potential blessings.  We should never forget the meaning of a commandment just because we have read the letter of the commandment.  I invite everyone that is reading this email to never punt away your fasts.  There are so many people that could benefit form your fasts, and so many blessings you receive from a sincere fast.  Just as we should spend time each week preparing for the sacrament, or time beforehand preparing for the temple, we should take the time to recognize the greatest need we have found in our lives, whether it be our own or someone else's, and prepare to fast for that purpose.

That's all for this week,

Elder Gooden

Week 7

Hola otra vez

This week, I've been trying to be like Paul, more on that later though.   

I've officially completed my first week in the field. Just to  give everyone an idea about what Mexico is like, I'll start by describing my area.  

My  area covers an area in Ciudad Obregon about the size of Palmyra. I walk everywhere, dirt is everywhere, The sun never truly sets, and cockroaches think that the bathroom is the greatest place to be. I've loved every minute of it.

In  all seriousness though, my area has a lot of potential. We have a lot of awesome investigators that could get baptized soon if they kept their commitments.  

As for how I've been trying to be like Paul, I've been thinking a lot about his missions lately, and the trials that he went through.  I get that In my mission I haven't been stoned, or cast into prison, or flogged (yet), but my mission has come with it's own unique set of trials.  And like Paul, I can choose to either fold under them, or rise above them.  I hope to do the later.  

One thing that is unique about my first area is that it technically is my first two areas. I'm working in Ciudad Obregon in a neighborhood named Valles, but I've also got an area that is about 20 minutes outside the city called quechuweica.  Don't ask me to spell it twice, it is just pronounced "catch-u-way-ca".  It only has about 15 members in the entire town, and hasn't had any missionaries in about five months. I{m really excited to open it up to the work.  

One other thing that I learned this week is to never take for granted the value of a priesthood member in the home.  I went to church twice yesterday, and only saw at most 15 priesthood age men. And this includes the less active member we committed to come yesterday. Holding the priesthood is a privilege that should never be taken lightly.  

That's all  for this week. Remember to email me if you have questions

Elder Gooden