Week 98 Final Testimonies! ALREADY?!?!

August 26, 2017

This tittle has two meanings! The first is kind of funny. Both the other Elders that we live with will be going home very soon, 15 days to be exact. And the bishop came up to them and told them we have stake conference their last Sunday so they have to give their farewell talk a week early!

But I was attending the young single adult class this week and their teacher didn’t show up, so they looked at me and said "how long do you have left?" and I said 8 weeks, and they said "alright well today Elder Goon will share his last testimony with us!"

With no time to prepare I got up and gave a very short testimony/ lesson. It went something like this;

On my mission I have heard a lot of excuses, from people I have taught to members, to other missionaries. There are so many excuses, "I can’t because___" "I don’t have time" "it’s too hard" "it’s just Korean culture" "I’m too busy" "I know God is important but right now___" blah blah blah blah blah. And I have been doing some reflecting on this subject because I run into a lame excuse almost daily, and sometimes find myself making similar excuses, "I won’t talk to this person because ___" "I’m tired" "it’s hot" it’s cold"

And every time I hear or make an excuse the spirit reminds me of this verse and confirms in my heart that it is true,

But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

I have seen the effects in people's lives when they either follow, or do not follow this promise. I have seen the faithful members who are liking testimonies of this promise from God, people that truly put God first and are rewarded 10 fold. I know that our lives will be blessed if we put God first and trust him!

I also know that once you decide to put God first and seek his kingdom and righteousness that life will get harder. But the trails and test we pass through with only be for our benefit and will help us become stronger and better people. For me, once I decided to put God first no matter what, life got a lot harder, trails came more often and seemed much more severe, test were harder, and temptations were stronger, but it is so worth it.

Anyways, that it just one of the great things I have learned on my mission, put God first no matter what, and he will bless you for it.

This week was quite busy and next week will be even more so. Monday almost the whole mission met in Gangnam and had games (board and card) and sports (foot volleyball, ping pong, badminton, volleyball) and talking. It was really fun and I taught a friend how to play 2 handed pinochle and I enjoy being able to play that game again!

Tuesday we had a few appointments and our service activity that kept us busy! Wednesday we had to take a long trip out to Icheon, which meant we couldn’t do anything besides studies, district meeting and English class. Thursday we knocked out weekly planning, Friday was exchanges and we had a zone activity. Saturday we had a lunch appointment and English class then went out to visit a referral and less active, both of which we were not able to contact. And yesterday we had church and two appointments. Over all a busy week and not really much free time!

I am loving Bundang and am really trying to enjoy what’s left!

Elder Goon

Week 97

August 19, 2018

Hello Everyone!

This week was pretty busy and the Highlight was for sure Elder Gary E Stevenson visiting our mission! It was pretty awesome

So Monday we had a zone pday with President and Sister Turner! We played jokgu, or foot volleyball. It was pretty fun! Then we went to eat together... unfortunately on the bus ride my wallet fell out of my pocket so I lost some cards and coupons but luckily only 22$ in cash! It was unfortunate, but there was a big miracle associated with it! Just before losing it I was going to withdraw 600$ cash for my birthday money that I had received and for just other personal spending. Well when I got to the ATM I for some reason couldn't remember my PIN, so I said "ah whatever ill withdraw later." then a few hours later I lost my wallet! There is always something positive you can find when something goes bad!

But I learned an important lesson that day. I had tapped off of the bus at a red light and sat back down. When I got up to get off the bus I had the distinct impression to tap off again. And I ignored it I thought to myself "that’s stupid I already tapped off" well if I would have tapped of again I would have reached into my pocket and realized my wallet wasn’t there and would have grabbed it off my seat... I learned don’t ignore spiritual promptings no matter how "stupid" they may seem

Tuesday I went on exchanged with a member of our district. We spent most of the morning figuring things out with my wallet and getting cards canceled, renewed etc. The afternoon we had service and a dinner appointment with a member. Him and his wife are having a hard time having children and asked for us to pray for them. They were a sweet family that believed in missionary power!

Wednesday we had a busy day! I met with 윤세준 for my birthday! I was the person baptized the first time I was in Bundang! I love him a lot and he bought me a cupcake and we had a good time. Then we had district meeting and afterwards a zone proselyting activity! Then I got to choose where we ate and it was a meat buffet of course! It was super awesome day!

Thursday We had the mission conference with Elder Stevenson! It was in the Seoul mission and so i got to see my best friend who is up in the Seoul mission! Elder Stevenson was powerful. He trained on how to be better teachers! He talked about teaching repentance and promising blessings. My favorite part was for sure when he bore testimony. He talked about how Real God is, how much he loves us, and how much he is mindful of us. As he said those words I just knew it was true. I know he was telling the truth and i could feel through his words that he was an Apostle of the Lord.

Friday was busy with planning and getting trained on the new English program that our mission is getting!

Saturday we had a busy morning with appointments and English class, ping pong meeting, and then studies. At night we met with a potential investigator who is very kind! He is very good at English and has some gospel potential, he took us out to dinner that night, and we met him the next day on Sunday!

Sunday we had church and it was really good! We had two investigators there! And one of them is a longtime friend! I met him when I first came to Bundang and he has kept in touch with missionaries ever since! He stayed all three hours and it was really awesome!

After church we had a meal as a ward and then we came home and did some studies then had some appointments then we had dinner and did stats!

It was a really good week! Had ups and downs. But I am excited for the next week... starting next week I am in the single digits for weeks left, I remember when I had triple digits!

Elder Goon

Week 96

August 12, 2018

Hello everyone!

This week was really really really busy!

And I’m not really sure what happened haha.

Monday we had a good day spent with friends. We have good food and went to a spa!

Tuesday we went to service! This is the only area that has a weekly service activity! We go and teach free English to handicapped people and then help them fold and make shopping bags.

Wednesday we had interviews and district meeting with president as well as a dinner with him! i love my mission president and he is such an amazing man! and I love his wife!

Thursday we had a few appointments and weekly planning! We met with our bishop! i love that man and it was good to meet him again!

Friday we had to go to Songpa to change Elder Kims address and phone and stuff like that, then we had a fun activity in the city of Ichean. We had a proselyting activity with our zone and it was really fun!

Saturday we had a jammed packed morning and spend the night doing our studies!

Sunday we had church and a nice meal with the Taylor family and we had haystacks! I am super happy I get to meet with this family weekly!

We have been seeing some miracles this week! We had a companionship study where we talked about finding and the different ways we can find new investigators. I finished by bearing testimony to Elder Kim that is we try our best and talk to everyone we will find through many different methods. Well I am really good at talking to people on the street! I am very comfortable with that! But on a bus and subway not so much... but recently I have been really really trying hard to talk to someone on every bus ride every subway ride. I have been getting nudged that I would normally ignore, but I have been following them. i have been setting aside fear. And because of that the lord send us 2 prepared people. We got a call from a less active member. He said I want to refer my son, he needs the church and he needs religion. We met him and he has very high potential! Then we got a self-referral and he is very interested as well!

I learned that the Lord wants effort and he wants our best, but he will answer our prayers and give us blessings through different means!

Have a good week everyone!

Elder Goon

Week 95 BACK IN HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

August 5, 2018

Wow. Welcome home. Sunday was awesome. Man it was so awesome to see everyone again. And it was super funny to see how the members reacted. Lots of them would just shake all our hands going through the motions and just say hello hello hello, and when they came to me they would say hello, then double check, then triple check and be like "AHHHHHHHHH Elder GOON!!!!" haha and lots of people would high five me before they saw my face, and then they would just gasp and stand there. Every one kept asking "how did you convince president to send you back?" or "what did you do to get sent back" I had to push some of the relief society sisters back because they were like "GOON!?!?! give me a hug!" but I couldn’t haha so they just shook my hand for a very long time. It was just so awesome. I’m sure I will remember this Sunday more than my actually homecoming! This sure did feel like a homecoming.

Wow this week was so fast! My new companion is named Elder Kim. He is super super dope and I love him a lot! We got together on Wednesday and got right to work! He is super super fun and a hard worker. The other elders we live with are super awesome! And we all get a long really well. Our area is really doing well, but I am ready to work really hard and get a lot more investigators and work with a lot more members and less actives.

We didn’t get outside a lot this week, but we met with some investigators and they are all pretty good people.

This Saturday I got to go back to my old area for the baptism. It was good to see everyone one last time, many of the members paid such great compliments and really expressed their thanks for my hard work. I really love these people.

This upcoming week we have less meeting and we are going to hit the ground running and I’m not going to stop for 11 weeks. The desire I have to work hard right now is HUGE!

I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Elder Goon

Week 94 AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 29, 2018

I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO HAPPY IN MY WHOLE LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I CANNOT BELIEVE WHAT IS HAPPENING I AM SOOOOOOOOO SOOOOOO SOOOOOO OUT OF MY MIND EXCITED RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haha I guess I should explain.

We got transfer calls.

These past two transfers have been very tough. And I was not finding Joy and really losing my motivation to work. And I pleaded with God this week for help. That through transfer calls I would be happy and regain motivation. I even told God where I WANT to go, and who I WANT to be with.

We'll I am so grateful that God gives us what we NEED, and not what we want.

I am going to go back to Bundang. My first area. My favorite area. The best area in the mission!!!!!!!!!!!

The excitement, the joy, the motivation, the energy, the desire for worthiness, desire to work hard, the desire to be the Best missionary I can be that filled my soul is INDESCRIBABLE. I love the Bundang members more than anything in Korea. And when I was a new missionary, I didn't give them the effort they deserved. And ever since I have left Bundang and learned how to be a missionary, I have wanted to go back and redeem myself. I have wanted to go back and give them what they deserve. And I am getting the chance. I know realize this is the ONLY thing that could have motivated me. And this is the first time on my mission that I think I will be motivated out of charity. I love not just the members in Bundang, but everyone. When I was in Bundang 2 years ago I met some of the nicest most amazing people ever. And I can't wait to serve them.

This was a huge miracle. After the call came I was SO excited I couldn't sleep. So I stayed up writing in my journal and pondering. I said so many prayers. Thank you prayers. Help me prayers. I'm so excited prayers. Help me prayers. I'm so scared. Thank you. I love you prayers.

And maybe for the first time in my life, I had an experience of "hearing the voice of the Lord." I never really expressed over emails but like I said above the last two transfers have been really really hard. I had so so so many trails and there were many times where I told God, I can't do this anymore, or why me? Where are you? The last two transfers were hard. But I tried to do my best to be happy. I tried my best to be grateful. I tried my best to be patient. I tried my best to "endure well."

As I prayed late into the night I was overwhelmed with peace and joy. And I actually heard someone speak, I looked behind me to see if it was my house mates talking in their sleep.... It wasn't.

I heard "My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

    And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high"

I tried my best to endure well, and though my adversity did NOT seem like a small moment, eventually I was "exalted on high" or in simple word "lifted"

Lifted out of my trails. Lifted from the adversity and afflictions. I know that God has the power to lift us. When we feel we are in too much trouble that we can't even stand, God will lift us. But I also know He lets us suffer for a little bit. But if we trust in him. Try our best. And be patient and "wait" on the Lord, he will truly lift us. He can "exalt us on high"

Another great experience I had this week was yesterday night. I got into a conversation with a member from the Shinchonji church. They are a church that really focuses on revelations and all that Apocalypse stuff. They love to fight and they always start with "had Jesus already come? Is he coming? How will he come? How do you know?" it’s a little annoying and they always like to pull the most confusing things out of revelations.

Well, I could just feel that as I talked with this man the spirit of the Lord was upon me. First, my Korean was elevated. I was able to understand him, and when I couldn’t understand, I was able to know exactly how I should answer. And I didn’t fight or argue, though that is what he wanted, I BOLDLY testified of truth. I really felt like I was a defender of truth. I felt like I was standing as a witness of God. It was awesome!

Monday we played volleyball... probably our missions last volleyball pday.... 3 of our few remaining good players are going home. It was sad to say goodbye.

That night we had Brother Park from the Bundang ward come speak to the zone. He moves all the way across the country tomorrow and wanted to say good bye to Seoul and its missionaries. He gave a killer talk and it touched me so so much. One thing he talked about that i needed to hear was that life is supposed to be hard. If we really want to go to the celestial kingdom, if we really want to be exalted, if we really want to become like God, do you think we can just live life with no trials? With no worries or cares? No. it is supposed to be hard, and when it’s hard, know that God is doing something wonderful with you.

This week we had a big scare. Our recent convert told his mom that he joined our church...and she did not like that. She told him our church is the biggest Cult and that we preach heresy. She threw all sorts of anti-Mormon stuff at him. She told him that we worship Joseph Smith and that our purpose in Korea is to bring people to church so we can steal all their money. She told him he can never go to church, see us again, and to block us on all platforms. She really hates us.

And that makes me sad, so many people hate our church, especially in Korea. How can a church that teaches nothing but charity, service, and becoming more Christ like be so hated? How can a church that is centered on the savior be so hated? It does not necessarily make me mad, just sad.

Thankfully our recent convert knew that those were lies. He know that we weren’t evil. He knew we didn’t worship joseph smith. He knew we don’t steal from people. So he met us and talked about all his worries. And we were able to testify with the spirit and it was able to touch his heart and he was able to know the truth. He said, "Everyone says you are evil, and I can understand why they think you are evil. But you’re not evil. I know you are good people." It was a huge miracle. We had fasted and prayed for him, and he is doing much better.

Well.... that’s about all I have to write about. This week was CRAZY. We will have another baptism this weekend or next depending on how scheduling works out. So I will get to come back to this ward in a week or two and see everyone. I will never forget the Gukbanjeong ward. The people I was able to see their baptisms, the many less actives I was able to help come back to the fold. The past 3 transfers were tremendous and I will never forget them.

Elder Goon

Week 93 Stop Worrying!

July 22, 2018

No more need to worry everyone. I am better. Still not 100% and I can still feel slight pain and swelling. But really I am much better and I don’t think there is any reason to worry!

That being said... being sick TOTALLY wore me out and i was so beyond tired this week! But still managed to get some cool things done!

Monday I just relaxed. My best friend came down to my area to play some card games at the church. It was relaxing and fun! That night we had a phone lesson with one of our investigators and our bishop! This investigator is getting baptized the first weekend in August. He is really progressing fast and doing super super awesome!

Tuesday I was feeling really good and could eat with minimal pain... so what better way to celebrate then go to a buffet with a recent convert! We went to a pizza buffet and I ate my heart out! Man it was so so good! And we taught him about the priesthood. He said he will get an interview with bishop in 2 weeks to get the priesthood then prepare to go to the temple! He is doing so so good and is really a huge miracle!

Wednesday we went down to my old area in Pyeongtaek to visit their district and see how they are doing! It was really really really good to see the senior couples there. I got really close to them and they are really good friends of mine and it is always awesome to see them!

Thursday we had interviews with our president. We had a big lunch with him and our whole district and two wonderful members. It was a good day and more about interviews later.

Friday was so fun. We had weekly planning and studies which takes up a lot of your day. But that night we had a proselyting activity and it was fun! We had a busking (street performance) (singing) and a sticker board. I had some REALLY good conversations and it was a fun night.

Saturday was funny. Oh man it was a good laugh. We got a "heat warning" text from our AP's. It went something like this;

 Due to the extreme heat (93`) we are advised to stay in side and not leave the house if at all possible.

I laughed. Meanwhile it feels like a cool spring day in Vegas to me! Anyways so we spent most of the day inside and doing work online and contacting. It was time well spent.

Sunday was amazing! We had ward conference and the meeting was crazy! There was so many people there! and lots of visiting people from the stake so i got to see lots of old friends! and made some new ones! haha we talked about the upcoming transfer calls and I expressed that I will probably be leaving. There were many members who were devastated. One actually might have cried. I have really come to love this ward. The Korean Members are so faithful and I love them SO much. They are true examples to me and I have really found pure joy through them!

So I will close with what me and president discussed during interviews! He asked us to come with a question or concern. Those of you who know me know I am sort of a perfectionist and really really hard on myself. I have been trying to change that by being nicer to myself and more positive. But when I do I feel bad and I am struggling to balance being positive and kind to myself and not caring and being light minded… When I sin or mess up or make a mistake, I have a hard time saying "its ok you can do better next time." and then next time saying "its ok you can do better next time." and then next time and so on and so on. So I asked president how can I just keep saying "its ok you can do better next time," and not feel like I am not trying or don’t care.

He talked to me about failing and stumbling.

He said if you are out running a race and you trip and fall, what do you do?

 I said get back up and run faster to catch up.

He said so since you fell did you fail?

And I said no.

He said you just stumbled, but you get back up and keep going forward, you’re not a failure, it’s not the end.

He shared a scripture, Alma 13:28 watch and pray always. He said the trick in life is to actually watch for those pebbles and cracks in our lives that make us stumble. Then get better at not tripping over them. But when we stumble, we haven’t failed, we aren’t lost, just get back up and watch for the pebbles and try to not stumble as much.

This conversation really helped me and maybe it will help one of you!

Don’t give up! Life is hard and we all make mistakes and stumble, but we never fail. Just get back up and run in the right direction!

Elder Goon  

Week 92 이독제독

July 15, 2018

Sorry for the Korean Title this week but I found it fitting... It won't come up in Google translate, but it means "fight poison with poison" similar to what we say in English "fight fire with fire."

This week was the longest week of my life. Who could have thought that in one week you could have the best day of your life and the worst day? And this is not an exaggeration, let me explain.

Monday morning was awesome. I woke up with a little sore throat but not too serious. We went as a mission to a huge park in Seoul and played soccer. I was actually good! And had a lot of fun. I played defense and took home defensive MVP, mainly because all of the good people played forward or midfield. But I got two see two of my very best friends Elder Packer and Morazan. I also saw a lot of other people too! It was raining the whole time but we just kept playing. And we had minimum injuries this time. Regardless very fun day and my team went undefeated going 3-0-1!

Tuesday was great! I woke up a little sore, and my throat hurt a little more...

But I shook it off and when on exchanges with our AP's! I went to the mission office for a third time! Haha and one of my best friend is serving as the office elder right now so it was good to see him. Anyways we got to teach 3 lessons. And one of the people I had taught on a previous exchange. We caught up and it was good to see him again. He will be baptized next Saturday! It was awesome to see he progressed and accepted the gospel. The first time I met him we taught the plan of salvation and now we were prepping him for baptism! Anyways their house was infested with mosquitoes... So that night we got out the electric fly swatted and had some fun hunting them down... That night though... Well it wasn't as bad as what was to come...

Wednesday I woke up and my soar thought was about the same if not a little worse. We did our morning stuff and got outside for a bit. We met a guy that wanted to donate a bunch of suits to our church! It was very kind of him. Well we had district meeting and then headed home to reexchange then had English class and ward mission coordination meeting.

Thursday I woke up. And hated my life. My throat hurt so bad. But the show must go on right? So I got up and we had a pretty good day Thursday. We had weekly planning and a couple appointments. The funnest part of the day was for sure our sports activity. We recently found another basketball on the side of the street so now we can play knockout! So we played first to 5 games and it was a blast! I ended up winning 5-4-4-1. It sure was exhausting though. That night we went and visited a less active and had dinner with him and played badminton with him. I must say eating was not easy and I was really tired.

We'll hear it comes. Friday morning I woke up. Then went back to bed. I woke up in probably some of the worst pain of my life. Not the worst, but bad. My thought hurt so bad. So I went and looked in the mirror. I don't know much about anatomy but there was this huge bump with white dots all over it that I assumed was a tonsil. Well I called our mission president’s wife and she sent me to the hospital. Well the soonest they could get me in was next Friday. So I went to a local clinic. The only problem is since it's not an international hospital they don't speak English. But that was probably the second biggest miracle this week! I understood everything the doctor said. The gift of tongues was definitely felt! Well luckily he used 3 English words. Serious. Infection. And tonsillitis. So anyone who was listening who didn't know Korean would have heard: Korean Korean Korean serious infection Korean Korean Korean serious Korean Korean Korean tonsillitis Korean Korean Korean serious. Well they gave me medicine and told me if it doesn't get better by Tuesday to come back. And then it might be more serious and I might have to get them removed... Which means going home early... That is scary!

We'll after that we went down to a proselyting activity in Pyeongtaek. And then back up to Suwon for an Elders Quorum activity. Then I went home took some medicine and went to bed. Well. Tried at least.

The reason for my title was because the medication fights fire with fire. Intensifies the pain. And boy did it hurt! I stayed up till 1a.m. basically crying to God for the pain to go away. I finally got to fall asleep at 1 and woke right back up at 3. This time I had to get up and drink some honey tea. And it didn't really help. But I managed to fall back asleep for a little over an hour. Well I woke up and just decided to stay up. I cooked some noodles for breakfast and ate 3 bites, enough to count as a meal and then took my medication. I then went in and out of sleep all day. Slept till 12. Ate lunch. Slept till 3:30. Then went over to the church. Then came home and slept.

Sunday I woke up in a little less pain. But still uncomfortable. Well we had church and it was awesome! We had 3 investigators there and a few less active as well. In Sunday school we made cupcakes and the lesson was great! Then we had ward choir. I barely sang haha. Then came home and had lunch and a proselyting activity. Well that drained all of what little energy I had. So we come home and I laid down.

This morning I feel better. From what I can see the swelling had gone down and the pain is significantly less. I don't think I need to go home, but prayers are still nice.

So Saturday was the worst day of my life. But also the best because we had a baptism for Brother Park! And I got to baptize him! It was so special. Brother Park has been awesome and I love him. And a little miracle. My throat was relieved for 5 seconds. Just enough to clearly and loudly say the baptism prayer. It was a great feeling that I will never forget and I am grateful to God for sending us Brother Park and helping us teach him. It was special to see him confirmed on Sunday and the bright shine in his eyes! He is truly a miracle!!!

So I learned that in our darkest most painful moments, there can be pure joy and the light of heaven! I hope you all had a great week and have a good one.

Elder Goon  

Week 91

July 8, 2018

This week had some really high high's and some pretty low low's. I’ll try to take you guys through it with me.

First Monday was an AWESOME Pday! And let me just apologize now mom... I only took one picture this week.... sorry

On Pday we had a 4th of July Football game! It was way fun! It was a miracle though… it was 90% rain all day, and all day there were black clouds surrounding us and we could hear the rain falling, but not a drop fell over the place where our field was! Then the minute after our game ended.... it started pouring! God really wanted to let us play football, it was so fun and a really good stress reliever for me!

Tuesday we had zone conference. It was super awesome! And the trainings were so great! Also for the first time on my mission zone conference went on extra hour. President trained on revelation and he deemed it important enough to go a whole hour over time! It was so so good! I never want zone conferences to end and this time it didn’t! haha

Wednesday we were able to meet with Brother Park. He is a miracle. We found him a few weeks ago and he will be baptized on Saturday. He right off the bat accepted the gospel. And Wednesday we ate with him. He expressed that he wanted to push his baptism back 2 weeks. We asked why and he just said because. Well we persisted in asking and he said that he has a camping trip planned for the weekend after his baptism. He told us he has to endure to the end and keep the Sabbath day holy so he can’t get baptized before. That just increased my confidence in his sincerity. Well we talked and he will still get baptized this Saturday and he will come to church every day after his camping trip.

Thursday we had a great zone activity. We met at Suwon station and had a delicious meal! A meat buffet! Then we sticker boarded. It was a blast… then I started an Exchange with a young missionary in our zone. He is super super super super super super super super super super super awesome and we had a really fun time! We taught a lot and had a super great exchange.

One miracle is a less active mother in our ward with a nonmember husband called and asked for our help with translating. She asked us to leave 2 hours for her and come to their house. Well we got there and man even our AP couldn't have translated that thing! It was SO hard! Words I didn't even know in English. So she just said teach my husband about our church. They had been married nearly 20 years and he had never read the book of Mormon or taken a discussion. He had been to church 4 times. When his kids were baptized and when they received the Holy Ghost. Well we taught the restoration and bore testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith. The first thing he said is, I’m going to read that book now. It was so awesome! A huge miracle and a great spiritual lesson!

Well after that great exchange we met with our investigator Brother Park and finished the lessons. The next day we had a practice interview for baptism and on Saturday he passed! I am very excited for him!

Now some of the lows that happened this week. There is only really one... the investigator that was going to get baptized Saturday fell through. He hadn’t told his parents that he was going to our church for the past 7 months and that he was going to get baptized until Saturday morning. And they said wait what??? So they said he can’t right now and they want to look at what church he is joining first. So that was really hard and sad... but maybe now his parents will get baptized too!

I want to finish with Sunday morning. I decided to watch Joseph Smith Prophet of the Restoration. And I just was overcome with the spirit. As I watched and reflected on the life of Joseph Smith, I couldn’t help but feel inspired to be a better man, a better disciple of Christ. And after the film I was again left with an indescribable feeling. I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God. I know that he saw God and Jesus Christ. I know that he translated the Book of Mormon and that he started the restoration. I know

I hope you all have a good week!

I’ll take more pictures sorry mom

Elder Goon 

Week 90 First Baptism!

July 1, 2018

Well, as you can read from the title, we had a baptism this weekend! She is a cute little girl. Her parents are not members, but her grandfather is. The sisters had taught her, but when the sisters closed a few weeks ago, we took over. We finished up the lessons, prepared her for her interview, and planned her service. It was a beautiful service and there were some AMAZING testimonies shared. Seriously so good. We also had two other investigators attend. One has a date for the 14th of July and the other one is hoping to be ready by the last weekend of July if not August. They enjoyed the service and got to talk with some members and create some good relationships! We had a meal and some cake and it was a great day!

Another crazy miracle that happened this week is a less active came to church. I had called him and reached out to him at the request of some members that asked about him. And we talked, and he said "yeah yeah if I have time, or my situation gets better ill call." (You hear that often.... they never call back.) Well I got a call few days later and it is this man. He says, lets meet now. So we met him. The Miracle of this is that my old companion Elder Jenkins was able to create such a great relationship with that he called him and told him to meet with me. And this man had such a love for Elder Jenkins that he wanted to meet me. SO we met. And talked and got to know each other and had a good time.

But then the time came for us to share a message. And I was bold. I mean REALLY bold. And I said hard things, and felt a lot like old prophets "calling people repentance." I didn't sugar coat it at all. There was no "we need you back, or we miss you, or please come." I flat out told him you are making excuses and you need to come to church.

Well I get a text Sunday morning "I’m here in your church." I couldn't believe it. I immediately got up and sat in the back with him, he was reading the Book of Mormon. I put my hand on his shoulder and looked into his eyes, he looked happy. As I sat down he said "I came back because of you."

It was a great blessing and such a sweet miracle to see!

The rainy season has begun in Korea. Which makes missionary work really not fun. But we are still getting things done. It hasn't stopped raining since Thursday and according to the weather forecast it won’t stop this week.

I hope you all have a great week and survive the heat (mainly to the people in Vegas)

Elder Goon

Week 89

June 24, 2018

There isn’t much to talk about this week.... It was very plain and nothing really special happened. We started a new transfer and our zone got 2 of the 4 new missionaries. And we got some new young missionaries! That puts our zone at one of the youngest in our mission! And I am excited for us to work together!

Our new district is great. Our new district leader will do good things and our two new Koreans will add much goodness!

So we spent the week making new goals and preparing for the transfer and getting ready to work hard!

On Saturday we had a great ward activity. We had our youth and a few investigators come to the church for games! We played football and basketball and some card games! It was a really good chance for our investigators to get close with our members! That same day we had an awesome talk with our Bishop. He talked about the wonderful work we are doing and all the good things to come! He is such an amazing guy and our ward is super super super super super super super super super super super super awesome! I love them all!

We have some really good investigators right now! One will be baptized this weekend and another in the coming weeks! We also have 3 more that show some SUPER high potential!

Nothing else really happened this week.... yesterday we had a meeting with our stake leaders and they are amazing men! They really really work hard, and care about the stake, the missionaries and the work. I am so grateful for all the people who work to serve the kingdom of God! Your sacrifice has meant so much and I look up to all of your examples!

Sorry for the short email! Hopefully more things happen next week!

Elder Goon

Week 88 Transfers~!

June 17, 2018

This week we got transfer calls! I will be staying with my companion. No change. No new excitement. BUT my house mate is going to my old area and it was fun to tell him all of the things that will happen and all of the cool things about Gangnam!

SO this week we had a few adventures. The first was Tuesday. I went on exchanges and we had an activity down south! The farthest our mission goes! We had a proselyting activity in Anseong and it was lots of fun! There are some arcade punching bag things and they measure how hard you punch. So after sticker boarding, we did a friendly bet and loser bought ice cream. We had five people take turns punching the back and the weakest punch lost. I definitely didn’t buy haha.

Another cool thing that happened this week was with our investigators. We have been seeing really big miracles the past two weeks with investigators! They are progressing so well and accepting the gospel! It is really amazing to see them and to teach them. They come to church and enjoy it! It has been super super great!

One cool adventure was we have a sports activity that we do at our church every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday and the third Saturday of the month. Our ward leaders were inspired to have the missionaries stay at the church and just invite people in off the streets. We threw out the idea of sports and they liked it. At first it was not effective and not many people would come. We would just go and sit at the church for 2 hours a day and do nothing. But as kept at it with faith that it would get better, it has. And recently the Lord has been sending a lot of people our way! One of the people that came was a professionally rapper and really likes sports! We played with him both Thursday and Friday! And he came to church on Sunday! This activity is doing really really good!

The mosquitoes are out and I am getting eaten alive! Luckily we will have AC so we can close the windows and maybe I’ll survive this summer!

I want to finish by talking about a training I gave on Wednesday. Our district leader asked me to train on member relationships because he felt that I am good at it. I don’t know what he sees but I accepted. As I tried to collect my thoughts on building good relationships with members, one thing kept coming to my mind. No matter what you can’t make someone love you. Memorizing their name, asking about their family, eating their food, giving gifts, all of this is nice, but you can’t buy someone’s love. You can’t make anyone love you. And many many missionaries try to make members love them. And I trained on loving people first. And if they can feel your love they will love you back. A member from my first area and I were able to see each other again in Gangnam. He talked about how after I left Bundang the members and missionary relationship became weaker. And I asked why? What happened? What changed? and he told me that the members could tell that I loved them. Though I couldn’t really talk to them, or understand them, they could see and feel my love. He told me how one day as he and his family drove home his dad just talked and talked about how much I love the people in Bundang.

Unfortunately I am not worthy of those compliments and I still need to work on loving those who aren’t so easy to love, but I can promise that loving people will go a long way. AND people can feel if your love is genuine or not. I have felt when my companions genuinely loved me. Elder Jenkins, Elder Lydon, Elder Packer, Elder Perry. And I love them.

Charity is a hard thing to possess, but it is worth it!

Elder Goon

Week 87 Funnest day of my mission?!?!?!

June 10, 2018

This week we had one of the funnest activities that I have ever attended. On Wednesday (Korean Memorial Day) our stake rented out a big university and we had a huge sports activity. We divided the stake into two teams, white team and Blue team. I was on white team and the funny thing was that all of the wards on white team were my previous areas! It was awesome to see everyone and to catch up. I love all the members I have met and am so glad that I have opportunities to see them again!

Anyways we had many sports and each ward was to select representatives for each activity. We had; soccer, kickball, badminton, ping pong, volleyball, dodge ball, tug of war, and a relay race. The Members really really got into it and it was awesome! WHITE team killed it by the way! We destroyed in soccer and our bishop annihilated everyone in ping pong. And I was selected to be the representative for volleyball.... we killed everyone. It was so so so fun and really like the best day ever. Our ward prepared a picnic and had cheerleaders and fans and chants and it was so so fun! I’ll try to send some videos if I can… it really was a great experience! My favorite part was the tug of war! It was so intense!!

Also everyone and there dog came and talked to me after the big volleyball match. No one could believe that I was good. They would all come up to me and say "but you’re so short?!" and one member from my first ward said "I hate you, why are you so good?"

So that was extremely fun and a crazy good stress reliever!

This Monday we had a great Pday. Elder Roylance came back to Korea for a trip and we went to lunch with him then went to a big basketball pday. I played for a bit… but I’m not so good so I just played card games with some of my good friends. That night we had a special fireside. A member from my first area who is Canadian came and gave a devotional to our zone. There was lots of problems in our zone and I felt he would help us out a lot so I called him and got him to come speak to us. He is awesome and my very favorite person ever!

Tuesday we had our district meeting and we had a really great meeting with an investigator. He talked about his need for the Atonement in his life. He opened up to us about how the effects of sin are weighing down on him and he is seeking forgiveness. We talked about baptism and he happily and excitedly accepted the invitation to be baptized! I cannot wait! 

Thursday I was on exchanges with Elder Manning. He is serving in my old area and I was able to give him some advice and help him out. He is a great guy and we had a fun time together.

On Friday I went on exchanged with the AP's. One of my very best friends is AP and he and I had a long talk about some things I am struggling with. He was able to help me and listen to me and give me some good advice. And we were able to work really hard and he added some fuel to my fire to work hard till the end!

This week was very busy and very fun!

We saw a miracle yesterday. The past 6 weeks we have prayed every night for new investigators and for investigators to come to church. And after 6 weeks of no new investigators and no investigators at church. In the span of 24 hours we got 2 new investigators and they both came to church. It was a tender mercy.

I know the Lord lives. I have felt him. It’s not even a question of if I believe. I know. He is really guiding us. God loves us and He has a plan for us! Trust him and "all things will work out for those that love God."

Elder Goon

Week 86

June 3, 2018

Well, this week was long and busy. But we had some fun adventures! I’ll try my best to recap them in the limited time I have.

On Monday we had a big get together for a missionary going home in the next couple of weeks! We had fried pork cutlet together and then played screen baseball! There were 30 of us so we filled up 3 rooms! and it was fun. My room was full of the good players so we actually had a good game. It was neck and neck because I and one of the other Elders on the other team kept hitting homerun after homerun after homerun. But eventually my team came out on top!

Then Tuesday we went to the top of Namhansanseung. It is the same ancient wall we went to last year. It is a mission tradition to always have a zone conference at the top of the mountain. We had a really really good time! I got to see Elder Lam! He is from my MTC district and we haven't seen each other in a long time so it was good to catch up! We got trained on obedience and revelation and building a strong foundation. Our mission has themed the summer "the summer of revelation" I am really excited about this summer and to build a stronger relationship with God!

I went on exchanges with a member of our zone who had served in my area the precious year. So we were able to meet with some recent converts and old Investigators that used to know him! It was really fun and I and he are really close friends. He really helped relieve a lot of stress that I have been having over the past few days.

After that our week was pretty bland. We got to meet with a few people and had a few meetings and district activities, but other than that if was slow.

Something a little interesting I had pig’s feet for the first time in my mission. It wasn't very good... But hey I tried it!

Yesterday in church we learned a lot about trials. Our 2nd councilor in the bishopric taught us a great lesson. He talked about three things we should do when we get trails.

1 endure

2 overcome

3 progress.

He then talked about how we can do that. He talked about faith. Effort. Hope. Help from others. It was a fantastic lesson. I have had some trials in my life, and I am sure you have too. I do know that they help us. I am going through a trail right now that I really don't want to go through and I really want God to take it away... But he won't. And I will be grateful for that one day. I promise you that with faith in God, we can overcome everything in our path and grow into better people because of it, no matter how painful that growth is.

Elder Goon

week 85! the AMAZING GOON!!!!!!!!!!!

May 27, 2018

Haha the highlight of this week was me performing a magic show. Saturday was Korea's national day of service. Our church has the helping hands organization so our stake had about 300 volunteers that went around an ancient fortress and cleaned up trash and cleaned up the trees and bushes and streets. After wards we had a big meal together and then a big musical performance. We had about 20 musical numbers and they were AMAZING! But the guy in charge wanted me to do some magic. Well he said "if we had some magic that would be perfect!" then everyone proceeded to point to me and said "Elder Goon knows magic!" so I was volunteered and the big day was yesterday. I did three tricks. 2 of them were really hard and I was pretty nervous, but I did everything flawlessly. I think it was just a little hard for so many people to see because we didn’t have a camera or a screen or anything. But overall it was really really good! If you want to see all of the performances our mission president posted it on Facebook. He is KMMS Turner.

So this week was crazy crazy busy! On Monday we went to the zoo. Tuesday was pday. Wednesday we had district meeting. Thursday we had a meeting for the Saturday helping hands activity. And Friday we had to meet and plan for our upcoming zone conference. Then Saturday we had the whole day filled with service and performance then yesterday we had another meeting with stake leaders about missionary work in our zones.

It was a CRAZY busy week and I am so tired. There was one thing that really saved me this week. Recently I have been struggling with a few missionaries in our area. Our personality’s just don’t mix well at all and it had been a little rough. Well I called a member from my first area who is Canadian and a close friend and asked him for advice. He served a killer mission and he is the person that would actually help. Most others would just tell me "you just gotta love em" or "just pray hard" something that I already know and that doesn’t really help. But this member gave me real advice and offered to help in many ways. But he said something that made me so happy and felt much better.

This member is a millionaire, he is very busy at work and is currently in the process of moving all the way across the country and super out of his mind busy. But at the end of our call he said "Elder Goon we go way back, and I love you man. You set it up, give me a time and a place, and I will do anything for you. I will do everything in my power to be there. I’m here for you man. Anything for you Elder Goon I love you."

How grateful I am for friends. For people that love me. So today I want to thank all of my friends, family, and ward family. That should include about everyone who reads this. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for loving others. You truly make a difference in others’ lives.

Elder Goon

Week 84

May 25, 2018

What a long week! I’m so tired!

We had two big activities this week which were very fun but very tiring. On Sunday we had a ward sports activities! It was for investigators, but no investigators came, but it was still a great time! We had ramen and played basketball, ultimate Frisbee, football, ping pong, and card games. I escaped with only a scrapped knee and bruised hip. Playing sports on asphalt is fun!

Then yesterday, in order to reward us for our hard work in the month of April our mission president paid for us all to go to the Zoo! It was awesome to be with everyone and to see some cool animals. And everyone should be proud… I walked through the snake exhibit. Only minimal tears and fingernail prints in my hands.

We were able to meet some investigators and people we haven’t met in a long time. We really are teaching great people, who, to quote one of them, are "spiritually hungry." I have been out here for over a year and a half, and haven’t seen success in the eyes of the world. I still have no baptisms or anyone who has even got close, BUT I have seen the light that the gospel brings. And I have brought a portion of that to people. And I am happy. I am happy with my efforts and commitment to try my best. For you all, just remember that the world’s definition of success, may not always be Gods definition.

We also got to go to a conference this week. We learned a lot about the spirit. We also learned a lot about revelation and inspiration. We have themed the month of June inspiration and revelation.

Last week when Elder Renlund came, he delivered two messages. He said #1, thank you for serving. #2 that you have been called of God and have the privilege and obligation to get that revelation if you don’t have it, and when you get it, write it down, it changes things. I have always believed I was called of God to serve here and now, but I have never sought for the confirmation and sure knowledge that i have been called. So I have been seeking that. And I will let you know when I get the confirmation.

Well we have another extremely busy week ahead of us, hope you all have a good week and talk to you later!

Elder Goon

Week 83 Most spiritual week! EVER

May 13, 2018

This week we went to the temple and saw Elder Renlund. Wow that was special.

I love to see the temple. Pretty soon I’ll be able to go inside more than twice a year.

Elder Renlund is now my 2nd favorite Apostle. Sorry no one beats Elder Holland.

Also I got to skype this week so that’s why I’m not really emailing. But I will share one thing that I loved from Elder Renlund.

-------------------->

Attitude             .  +

                            E

       4          1       F

                            F

                            O

       3           2      R

                            T

                             -

That dot in the top right corner is where Miracles happen. That is where progress happens. That is where we need to be if we want to become the people God wants us to be.

If you are like me or Elder Renlund we are naturally in corner 4. And that is ok. But we choose what corner we want to live in, and we choose whether or now we will migrate every day to corner number 1. Something Elder Renlund committed us to do was plead every morning for God to help you move to corner 1.

I have recently been living in Corner 1 and it is amazing. I love life right now. But almost every morning I have to get up and plead and beg for help to get to corner 1. Some days it is easier, some days it is very hard. Very hard, but I promise corner 1 is where we want to be.

Elder Goon

Week 82 new transfer, new companion, new goals

May 6, 2018

I had to say goodbye to Elder Morazan. One of the harder companions I have had to let go. I miss him like crazy.

My new companion is Elder Price. He is from Utah. He is a great guy and very kind and always happy. Other than that not much changed. We got one new sister in the district.

I don’t really know what else to say. Nothing too crazy happened this week. I will tell you one adventure we had. It’s not really an adventure, but our church leaders requested the missionaries stay at the church every weekday from 3-5 just in case someone walks by with interest. Well not many people walk by and it is pretty much a waste of time. So I negotiated it down to only 3 times a week. Well this week we were sitting at the church planning on how to make this very pointless activity turn into something well, productive. As we were prayerfully talking a couple walked up and started playing with our volleyball, I thought "this is what I was born for this is the moment of my whole life and ran over and started playing volleyball with them. We had a great talk and it was the first time since we started this activity 4 weeks ago that anyone has come! It was very exciting!

This week I had an amazing personal study. Well recently with my new desire to wake up and get my day started my studies have been so much better. I studied a bit about the atonement this week. And I have been thinking a ton about forgiveness. And there was something I read that truly struck me. It was from the book the continuous atonement. The author wrote something along the lines of "The atonement is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable. I know those words are true. I have been on both sides of the atonement. Where the pain I have felt because of my choices and the joy that I have felt because of forgiveness.

I love our savior Jesus Christ and his atonement, I am grateful for the JOY that it has brought to my life. The peace and the second chances. I have and continue to make countless mistakes every day. I am grateful that those mistakes do not dig me deeper into a pit, but raise me higher towards heaven as i learn from them, move on, improve and become better. I testify that each of you can have this power in your lives! The atonement is for everyone, member or not, vilest of sinners or saints trying to be better!

Elder Goon

Week 81 6 months to sexy!

April 29, 2018

I started my 6 months to sexy this week. I have been exercising so so hard! And because of that I have been getting up on time much better and staying awake in the morning. I am also more productive at night because I want to spend 10-10:30 exercising. I feel super energetic because this is probably the first time on my mission I have actually been exercising hard and keeping pretty much the same pace as before my mission. I feel great!

Not only have I started working out harder but I have made other great goals! For more diligent studies and working harder in my proselyting efforts! I feel so so great right now and am so so excited for the next 6 months. I have a little long time left and I am going to hit it hard!

Unfortunately this week we got transfer calls and my companion is leaving. I am so sad. He was for sure one of my favorite companions! And my new companion is elder Price. It should be exciting and we should be together for a while.

This week we saw 2 great miracles. This was the final week of our month of consecration and we were supposed to really focus on baptismal dates. And we were able to get 2. Two of our investigators are young guys and super super good people. They are young and a little rebellious, but I can see in their eyes they are searching for the gospel. They really need the light and I think they are making some great decisions and some good progression.

We were also able to visit and meet with a couple members. I really love the members and they have always been my biggest joy in missionary work. We has a really good time this week and we worked pretty dang hard. I have made some more goals and will make more tonight.

There has been a huge change in me since starting my mission. I really hated and did not believe in goals before my mission. I thought if you really want something you would achieve it. You don’t need goals or plans. And in a lot of cases I think that this is true. But since I have started making goals and plans and having a vision for my mission or my life I have found amazing motivation and strength. I am living my life with more zeal. And it has been so much more enjoyable. I really feel like I am progressing and loving life right now!

Elder Goon

Week 80 So glad to be home!

April 22, 2018

This week I had to go on three exchanges! So that means a super fun fast EXHAUSTING week!

On Monday I went down to An-song which is about 2 and a half hours travel.

Then Wednesday I went to my old area Pyoeng-taek which is an hour and a half away, then I went to Song-pa on Friday which is 2 hours away!

With all that traveling and night away from home, it SURE is good to be home again!

So on Monday we had the best activity of all time!!!! We headed to the bottom of our mission and our whole zone played Fugitive! We had 9 teams and 4 were cops and 5 were robbers. We played two rounds and it was so fun! When me and my comp were cops we caught 2 people and when we were fugitives we almost made it but we couldn't split up because we were missionaries which sucks so we got caught haha

Then that night our whole zone served the An-song elders. There are only 2 down here with about 3 active members and a thousand less actives. So we gave each team about 6 families and had them visit all night. President gave special permission to stay out till 10:30 and our whole zone was willing and happy to help!

We saw some great miracles that night and it was so awesome!

Tuesday we came home and get back to work then left again Wednesday. I got to see some of my old friends and members in Pyeong-taek. I miss them so much! I saw an old investigator that is scheduled to get baptized this weekend!~ The light in his eye, the joy in his step, and the peace around him was amazing! From when I was teaching him till now he has come so far and it is so SO awesome!!! I am so happy for him! I know the gospel really can change lives!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday we came home and got back to work. Here is something pretty fun, our bishop wants us to stay at the church every day from 3-5 and wait for the middle school to get out and invite them to play basketball and Ping-Pong and eat ramen. Well it isn’t really working so we are going to announce it over Facebook so we started filming trick shots and cool videos and it was really fun! Hopefully you will see them soon!

Friday I was off again to Songpa and I got to see Elder Packer my old comp and we went to Gangnam for a zone activity so I got to see my old area and I was paired with my old housemate! I love him and we had a great great time together. He is struggling a lot and he opened up to me and we were able to talk and I was able to offer my advice which was great!

Then yesterday we had a great time baking cookies for members and delivering them! This week our mission really wanted to focus on visiting members so we had a fun week! I really REALLY love the Korean People and especially the Members! I have received a promise in my patriarchal blessing that I would find the most joy in members. That is SO true! I love their testimonies and their faith and their love and care!

This week I want to share something that has been on my mind a ton recently! We are having some issues with one of our members because of some missionaries in the past. Without going in to detail I will just said they lied and did something not very integrity like. These recent converts are having a really tough time letting go and forgiving. As we visited with them this week and listened to them express their anger and frustration and disappointment I was lost in my own thoughts!

I thought of the millions of times I have made a dumb mistake or an intentional mistake. All the times I have screwed up and needed forgiveness. And the millions of times that i have received that forgiveness. It broke my heart to see how these members are denying someone that forgiveness, but made my heart joy in a perfect God and a loving and merciful and forgiving God! i felt so strongly Gods love for me, and so THANKFUL for His endless mercy and forgiveness!

I know God loves us all! I am grateful for repentance and forgiveness. I think this was a great theme in conference and something God is trying to tell me and everyone else.

29 Therefore I say unto you, Go; and whosoever transgresseth against me, him shall ye judge according to the sins which he has committed; and if he confess his sins before thee and me, and repenteth in the sincerity of his heart, him shall ye forgive, and I will forgive him also.

30 Yea, and as often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.

31 And ye shall also forgive one another your trespasses;

Elder Goon!

Week 79 Whats cookin good lookin!

April 15, 2018

This week our lives were changed. Elder Morazan (my awesome companion) bought a cook book. And we have been going crazy! Our food has jumped to the next level and we have been having some fun working hard in the kitchen! I think I am going to buy one soon!

This week was crazy busy! We had a proselyting activity every day except for Wednesday and Friday! Our mission had a goal to get 5000 meaning full contacts this week so we really worked hard to get that goal! Sadly our mission fell just a couple 100 short but we really worked hard and it was awesome to see the miracles that came through faith and hard work!

When I came to this area the investigator number was very low and shortly after my arrival that dropped to about 0. So this week we couldn’t meet anyone. We had a few canceled appointments but other than that we are starting over from ground zero. Which is fun and something every Korean missionary is familiar with!

I am really loving my companion and area. This transfer is short. Only 5 weeks and I am a little mad that I only get to spend 5 with Elder Morazan. We get along amazing.

This week I had an interview with my President and he said something that I want to talk briefly about.

He asked me "Do you like Elder Morazan? Do you get along?"

I said "I love him!"

He asked "do you think we are working hard?"

I said "YES!"

Then our President did something I didn't appreciate all that much. He said a little surprised "really? Well let’s take a look at the stats."  

He proceeded to compare me and Elder Morazan's stats to the previous transfer. He expressed his disappointment in me. And encouraged me to work harder. Well this made me mad. Really mad. And I am still a little mad. But that motivated me to prove President wrong. And I did.

But after the week is over and our stats improved, I started to remember my high school days. I hated HATED hated stats in Volleyball. Or I guess in general I just hate stats!

I was not statistically the best player on my volleyball team. I was actually one of the lower players. Because the more shots you take or balls you set or serves you make, the lower your stats go. If I have a 100% stat for hitting, but have only hit one ball in my life, does that make me better than someone who has say a 60% hitting average, but has scored 2000 points and missed 600 times?

I realized that God doesn’t measure our stats. He cares about our desires and our efforts. Everyone is in different situations and has different trails and struggles. I think we should all avoid the mistake of comparing, especially when it comes to stats.

God knows you and understands you. Work your hardest. Do your best and Christ will help you along the way and make up the rest. And try not to compare yourself along the way. It doesn’t do any good.

I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Week 78 Conference week!

April 8, 2018

This week was full of conferences! We had our zone conference and general conference this week end and man it was awesome!!!! So so uplifting and spiritual!

The beginning of the week we had to prepare for zone conference! Our mission has this awesome goal for April. We are calling it the week of consecration. And the first week was themed "preparation" prepare for this month and prepare to give all you got and prepare for zone and general conference! so the front half of the week we did a lot of preparing for zone conference. And then when the conferences came it was so spiritual!

I learned so much of course but the thing that stood out to me most this time around was the feeling in my heart. I just loved it! It was so warm and peaceful and I never wanted the week end to end! The prophet and apostles word are so so powerful and this conference I really felt the power! And of course learned a ton! 

We were very busy because of our conferences and preparing for them, but this week was a blast! We saw some miracles specifically after zone conference. We had been trained on faith to find, finding, and teaching with power and authority, so we made a big goal to get 45 meaningful contacts on a 40 minutes subway ride to dinner as a zone! The way the church measures meaningful contacts is if we teach, testify, or get to know them personally, then invite them to church, meet missionaries, or another church activity. Or in other words a meaningful conversation. These sound easy to get, but they are quite hard and our zone has been really struggling. But we set a goal with faith and put in the effort and were able to get 47 meaningful contacts! It was awesome to see our zone unified and working hard!

Also this week I got to see one of my favorite members. She is going to BYU Idaho in a few days and came to my ward. She had grew up in this ward and wanted to say goodbye! So it was so awesome to see here!

I realized how real the gift of charity is from yesterday. Before my mission, I hated everyone. I have said this before in emails, but if you weren’t my 5 best friends or in my Sunday school class, I didn’t like you. I was not very loving before my mission, at least I don’t think. But as I have served and sought the gift of charity I realize how big my heart has grown and how much I love these people. Seeing this member was like seeing my family or best friends at home. I have truly come to love these people here!

I testify of charity. And I testify how hard it is to get charity. It is not something we can passively attain. We need to seek it, pray for it, and labor for it. Sometimes it comes fast, sometimes it takes years. But I promise this gift does come and it makes life so much more worth living!

I truly LOVE you all and hope you have a good week!

Elder Goon