Week 7

November 30, 2016

Hello all! I hope you all had a great week and a fun thanksgiving!

This week was pretty darn awesome for me! A lot of stuff happened.

First and most importantly it was thanksgiving. Thursday was a very special day. We had choir practice in the morning and we performed for the morning devotional. The song was Come, Thou Fount From Every Blessing. It was very touching and I felt the spirit as I sang the song. 

Elder Neil L Andersen of The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and spoke to us. It was very touching and I learned a lot. What I want to relay to you guys is this. Life is hard. And often life sucks. But if we can learn to be thankful in those times, our good time will be even better. That may be confusing, so ill try to be more simple. We always need to be thankful, not just for out blessings. It is often easier to be thankful when our lives are going great and we are blessed. But almost more important is to be thankful in times of trouble, and when the last thing we want to do is be thankful. Everything happens for a reason and when we truly understand that and are thankful always, our lives will be more joyful.

Then we had a Thanksgiving lunch which was the usual turkey, potatoes, and stuffing. It was different being away from home but being with my district would probably be the next best thing. 

Then we had some free time and then were off to do service. We made meals for the homeless and put together 359,000 meals that are going to the homeless in the Provo area. it was hard work, but a lot of fun and worth it. 

 Then we watched a movie called Ephriam's rescue. It was about the early saints of the church and it made me realize how good I have it and that I should always be grateful and never complain. Funny side note all 1,000 of us broke out cheering when two people kissed. It was just a little peck, but I guess when your a missionary you can't even think about smoochies so it was pretty funny.

Then Friday and Saturday were normal, regular days and nothing much happened. My lessons are going really well and it is crazy to think how far I have progressed in 7 weeks. We had planned to teach about the commandments Saturday, but instead when we got in to the lesson our investigator was struggling to understand why the Book of Mormon was so important. With out any preparing or planning we taught a 40 minute lesson on the Book of Mormon. We talked about how important it is to read it everyday and ask God if it is true. We talked about how if you know the Book of Mormon is true you know Joseph Smith was a prophet and really say God and Jesus Christ and that this church is truly Christ restored church on the earth. It was amazing how much I could say and how much Heavenly Father helped me.

When I was talking at one point I remember thinking, "how in the world and am I thinking, talking and understanding Korean right now?!" I truly know that the Lord will help us and he will fill our mouths with what we should say if we have the faith and trust to open them. 

Then Sunday was probably the worst day of my life. Specifically Sunday night. The older senior district left Monday morning to I had to say goodbye Sunday night. We had been together for 6 and a half weeks and I have gotten very close with some Elders, specifically Elder Heap, Liethead, and Cho. I will miss them very much and it was pretty emotional saying goodbye. Each of them did or said things that made me cry. Elder Liethead gave me his favorite tie because he wanted me to always remember him. Elder Cho gave me a huge hug and cried and in his broken English said" I love you Goon, I will never forget you for my whole life." And then Elder Heap promised me he would visit me in Vegas and gave me all his left over snacks. It was hard to say goodbye and I wish them the best of luck!

Then Monday is snowed HARD!!! It was like a blizzard and there is still probably 5 inches of snow. On Monday during our breaks we would go outside and play in the snow. It was a lot of fun and that day flew by. When we got back to residence, me Elder Boren, Packer, and Hunsaker went out and build a snowman. I didn't have gloves so my hands were dying!!!!!!

Then yesterday we had a great devotional about how important the Holy Ghost is and how much we need it. I realized a lot of things from the devotional. The first is that there is no point of me being here if the Spirit didn't exist. That is the most important thing in this work. I have seen just here in the MTC that I am guided on what to study, what to plan, what to teach, and what to say. I have become completely reliant on Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. They help me more than imaginable and it is amazing. I also learned from this devotional about who I am. The speaker, Elder Zeballos, made me realize something very important. I represent Christ. I literally have his name on my name tag. I need to act, think, and do as He would. I realized how huge of a responsibility that is. I made a goal to always strive to be the best I can, and do the best I can.

I know Jesus Christ is our savior. I am beyond grateful for his sacrifice. I seldom can think of the atonement without breaking out in tears. I truly stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me. I know that he loves me and i love him. I know he loves us all, even if we dont love him or do what he wants. His love is unconditional. It is always there no matter how bad we are or how far from him we think we are. I have found that when I am farthest from my savior, he is closest to me. He loves us all and wants us all to be happy. Please believe in him and seek Him. He loves us so much and through Him we can be happier than you can imagine. I can't wait to meet Jesus Christ. it will truly be a glorious day and I am forever grateful for all that he has done, is doing, and will do for me! I know He lives. I know he loves us.

I hope you all have a good week. I only have one more P-day until I am in Korea! I am so excited. A lot of missionaries are nervous because they can't speak very well, or they are going to have some culture shock. But I have already accepted that I know nothing. I have already accepted

that it is going to be super hard, and I will be super tired because of the 14 hour jet lag, and that I won't be able to understand even 5 year olds! but i am so excited and decided I am just going to be positive and never complain or have a bad attitude and enjoy every moment of these short two years.

I love you all!

Elder Goon