08.12.13

 

Oh ya, I forgot to tell you something last week. Every Zone Leader companionship in the mission will be training a new missionary together because there are soo many new missionaries. Pretty crazy stuff So, I am now serving in a trio with Elder Andrus and our son is named Elder Wahlquist. He's been here for 5 days now. 

Serving in a trio is awesome. We already had to establish who is going to be the mother and who is going to be the father of Elder Wahlquist, because we can't be raising him in a 2 father home. We decided that I am the father. haha. It's pretty hard to stay focused in a trio though because everything is way more funny when there's another person around. We're all loving life right now. 

Elder Andrus and Elder Wahlquist are both from Utah and they are both WAY skinny and small. So I just look like some massive freak of nature most of the time. ha! Some people ask if I am Elder Wahlquists father. ERR. I will attach a picture of us all so you can see what I'm talking about. Elder Wahlquist is a really good missionary already. Every since the age change, all the missionaries have been coming out with a much more solid understanding of missionary work, PMG and the scriptures. 

We had to go out and buy a new wardrobe and mattress because our flat wasn't meant to have 3 people in it, but we are making it work. The rooms are pretty dang packed now though. It's a good thing they are both small or we would be struggling ha. 

We have been doing tons of finding lately and we have found loads of potential investigators. Next week many of those will turn into new investigators, so that will be a very welcome fresh teaching pool. 

So, that's the way the cookie crumbles this week. I love you all! 

Elder Goodwin

08.05.13

 

 

 

If you were wondering if Natasha got baptized on Saturday I have an answer for you. YOU BETTER BELIEVE SHE DID!! Here's how it went. 

So, to start out, I again have to say that Natasha is the best investigator I've ever taught. The whole time teaching her, she never had a single concern come up. We feel like we would just show up and teach her a lesson that she had already known about through her own research and then when we would invite her to live something or pray about something, she would readily accept. She received very clear answers to every one of her prayers, which is amazing in itself. She is extremely talented in many different things, but gets embarrassed whenever we bring up those things because she is soo humble. Ballet is her favorite thing, but she's also been in some different tv shows and movies. She is very shy, and she is one of the most kind people I have ever met. 

So, on Friday, we finally found out what she wanted on the program for her baptism. She had already asked me to play the piano, so I thought that I wouldn't have to do anything else, but then I was really taken back and surprised when she asked me to baptize her as well. The last baptism I did was in a river, and it was pretty hectic, so when I found out I was going to be doing another one I got pretty dang nervous. I even made other missionaries practice with me. Ha! I was mostly nervous because she is terrified of water, so I really wanted to do it right the first time. 

So, Saturday morning rolled around and after our Saturday morning Stake Football game, we went to the church and started filling up the font. While it was filling up, I was practicing the piano so that I would be able to play the hymns she chose. Luckily they were pretty easy. Oh my Father and Families can be together forever. Elder Topp and the Springboig Elders made some nice programs and set up the chairs. Since Natasha lives at the ballet school in Oban, they (her and her friends and family) had to drive a couple hours to get here. Traffic was pretty bad, so they were like 30 minutes late to the baptism. When she got there we could tell that she was VERY nervous about it. She tried to act casual, but she was shaking a little bit. So, after some really good talks, the Spirit was soo strong and it was time to do the baptism. I went into the font and reached out my hand to help her in, but she started getting scared and she was crying really quietly. I told her that she would never regret this for the rest of her life and some other things, and then she came down. She was shaking the whole time, but it went very well and she was soo happy when she came out of the water. I've never heard someone  a more sincere thank you than the one she said to me. I am soo humbled to be a part of sacred things like this. Later on, she was telling us all how clean she feels. Let's just say, baptizing someone in a font is far better than baptizing someone in a cold river with drop offs and bad currents. 

Family is the most important thing to her, and it's obvious that she learned many of her great values from her family. Her Mom and Sister both came for the baptism and confirmation. Her Mom lives in Falkirk and her Sister came down from Oxford. By the way, her sister has the best grades in Oxford because she is literally a genius. Anyway, they were both crying during the baptism and really felt the Spirit. I think they are also so prepared for the Gospel. 

Her family took us out to eat at a really nice Italian restaurant after the baptism, which was really nice. 

Elder Topp did a great job confirming her on Sunday. The Spirit was really strong again. She was so happy that all she has to do is sit there for the confirmation and not go near any water. So when she walked in the building on Sunday, I said, "You know that you have to sit in a huge pool of water while they confirm you right?" hahah. She had the funniest look come across her face until I told her I was joking.   

In other news, Elder Topp is moving to Edinburgh ZL and I am staying here. I will be getting a companion named Elder Andrus who has been serving as a Zone Leader 2 moves longer than me. I think we will get a long really well. 

I love you all and hope you are loving your lives! My testimony has again been strengthened this past week! Stay strong and be loyal to those you love. 

Elder Goodwin

07.29.13

Natasha passed her baptismal interview yesterday and is so excited to baptised this Saturday. It's unreal how prepared she really is. I feel like we didn't really have to do anything because she already knows about everything we teach her before the lessons. AND she already believes that everything is true because she receives such specific and clear answers to her prayers. She must be living right because she is sooo in tune with the Spirit. We are soo excited for the baptism though. She asked me to play the piano and she thinks it's hilarious because I messed up so bad at the last baptism she saw. ha! She we will be such a loyal member and kingdom builder. 

We've really been focusing our finding efforts in some posh neighbourhoods because our Bishop and Ward  Mission Leader feel that there are many prepared people there. People who are very well off are usually not very interested in religion, because I guess only the sick need a doctor. So, obviously to tract in these posh neighbourhoods we've had to use some different approaches. We found out that almost everyone will talk to us about Family History, and we recently got some nice new family history cards, so it works out nicely. We also found people very receptive when we just tell them that we are out in the community looking for ways to help out and then ask them if they know of any opportunities. Then after a bit of conversation they decide they like us and then they will talk about other stuff as well. Pretty good!

We had an all of Scotland conference last Thursday and we were blessed to have Elder Teixeira (member of the 70 and area President) and his wife there to speak to us. He pretty much kindly rebuked us and told us that the missionary work needs change. His focus of the talk was about changing enough so that your investigators or friends will want to change as well. It was really good and I think a lot of missionaries will improve from it. We learned from another general authority a few months ago, that a good meeting should make everyone feel rebuked, but in a way where they want to do better. That's definitely what he did. Ha! 

Last Saturday, we got invited to Saturday morning football. All the people in the stake who want to get together at a really nice football pitch and play a game. There were about 20 people there, and I'm pretty sure that I've never played a game of soccer on a full sized field in my life. For some reason, everyone seemed to think that I was going to be an unstoppable goalie or something, and they were sorely disappointed when the game started. Haha. I can stop the ball, but then I have no idea where to kick it or how to throw it or anything. So they kicked me out after a bit and then put me on defence. Yet again, I had no idea what to do or who to guard. They were all yelling plays and things to do and they probably thought I was a fool. I felt like I was back to the good 'ol days of little kids soccer when I played for the Green Leprachauns and got my thumb stuck in the goal net while I was supposed to be playing goalie. It wasn't actually that bad, but I'm definitely going to practice up on my soccer skills. haha It was pretty humbling to be the one who has no idea how to play. It's a way good finding activity though. I think we are going to have some huge successes from it. 

So, ya I don't have much more time to write. Not too much else happened. We are having a baptism on Saturday and I suck at soccer. That's pretty much the point of this email. And I love you all! 

07.22.13

Enchiladas that I made.

Seagulls aim their poo.

Shed that I painted and Sister Adam trying to take my apple out of my hand.

Well, not too much to report, but here it is. 

I went on a pretty fun exchange with a missionary from China. Elder Luo. He is hilarious and acts like a classic chinese person. He say's "sick!" to describe everything - good or bad -  because he heard his American companions say it a lot. ha He actually has pretty good English though. 

A guy from our ward was on Holiday in Utah and Vegas the last couple weeks and he said it was roasting over there. He kept telling everyone that he got to shoot guns and ride quad bikes (fourwheelers) and all the other stuff you only do in America. Everyone was amazed haha. 

We decided to treat Sister M out for a dinner because she always feeds us so much. We called and asked her what her favourite food is and she told us sweet 'n sour chicken so we took her out to a Chinese buffet in city centre. We paid for the whole thing. Haha She was lovin life. She is a legend of the Scotland/Ireland Mission. 

Sister Adam is another funny old lady in the ward, and we usually do some service for her every couple weeks. Last week, we went to her house and I painted her shed while everyone else did some gardening. It was way fun cause it was a really sunny/warm day. She is soo small. ha I will send a picture. 

We taught a less active girl in McDonalds again because that's the only place she wants to meet. We kept telling her we were going to stand up on the table and pray like Elijah. Ha She gets soo bugged by it and tells us that there are other people in there she knows. Then, when we were leaving, we sang Onward Christian Soldiers really loud as we drove away. ha!

Natasha is still planning on getting baptised on the 3rd. She didn't get to come down to Glasgow for church yesterday, because the guy who takes her had to stay in Oban for some dance school stuff. She went to church in Oban though so it's all good. We will probably end up teaching her over skype this week.  Not a lot of things happened in our area this week because we went on a few exchanges and that took loads of time. 

Well, I'm making things short today cause we are going to go out and look at suits. I heard there is a place where you can buy a good European tailored suit for £30 and my suits are just about done for. I bought a couple slim fit shirts last week as well cause all my shirts are too big around the neck now. Slim fit European shirts rule. They are classic missionary attire over here. 

I love you all! Have a good week! 

Elder Goodwin

07.15.13

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

Highlands



Preaching to some sheep.



Highlight of the week starts now. 

We went to Oban yesterday and it was amazing. It took us about 2 and half hours to get there cause we stopped off at Loch Lomond to take some pictures for about 10 minutes. The highlands of Scotland are pretty dang amazing. You should all look up pictures of Oban on google or something cause it's one of the prettiest towns I've ever seen. They are actually going to be putting missionaries there next move, which is one of the reasons why we got permission to go. We got lost for awhile on the way, so I preached to some sheep on top of the highlands until we could get someone on the phone to give us directions. ha I will send a picture.  

So, to start off, we had our church services in a classroom at the local high school cause they don't have a building. We were asking about the average attendance and the Branch President said the average attendance is 2 to 20. haha That's a pretty random average. Oh ya, the Branch President's last name is Frost and he does a lot of work on Pine Valley Mountain and Pinto. He knows quite a few people from Cedar and spends about half the year there. So maybe someone knows him? He spends a lot of time with the Wood family as well. 

The biggest miracle of our day in Oban was definitely the lesson with Natasha. During church, the Sunday school lesson was about the role of the relief society from the Lorenzo Snow manual. She got asked to read the part about how the relief society helps the poor and the fatherless and she couldn't finish it because she started to cry. The spirit was soo strong. She is one of the most kind people I've ever met and she's really shy, so it was obvious that this must have deeply affected her. 

We taught her an actual missionary lesson later on in the day. In their huge mansion house on top of the mountains. The only concern that we've ever had with her was getting parental permission, so we were planning on talking to her about that yesterday, but by pure coincidence, her Mom showed up to visit. Which is a huge miracle  because her Mom lives over 2 hours drive away. Her Mom was soo happy that she had found God and even sat in on our lesson. We talked a lot about baptism and asked her if she had prayed about a date. She is going to get baptised on August 3!!!!! Her Mom was so supportive and excited about it. She is so so so prepared. I've never seen anything like it. 

Well, that's what's on my mind these days. The weather has been pretty warm and the people here don't know how to handle it. haha. They don't have Air conditioners or anything, so they are mind boggled by the warm weather. All the guys just walk around without shirts on whether they are fat or not. ha! It's pretty funny. 

One more funny thing. We had interviews with President Brown last week, and after he interviewed me, I walked out with him and it was really quiet, then I just announced to everyone that I had been called to be the new mission president. ha President Brown thought it was hilarious. He is the man. Sister Brown is soooo cool too. 

I love you all soo much! 

Elder Goodwin

07.08.13

This is me and my English companion (Elder Topp) on the 4th. 

Listen up! This is how the week went down. 

The 4th of July was epic. Not really because nobody celebrated it and my English companion was annoyed by it. haha! That didn't stop me from doing a bit of celebration though. I put up some decorations that Shennie sent me and we were gonna have a barbecue. But, in the end, we just went to pizza hut buffet with some other missionaries cause we couldn't be bothered cooking anything and we only have an hour for lunch. I took a really funny picture with Elder Topp that I will attach to this email. 

We had a mission leadership council last week and for the first time ever, there was sister leadership there. It was pretty cool and they helped a lot. They are called Sister Training leaders. There are only 2 of them in the mission right now, but there will be a couple more soon. I think it's a good thing, but it means that sisters will aspire more now. There are so many Elders who aspire for leadership a ton and it annoys the heck out of me. That is one of the things that annoys me the most in fact. People brown nosing with the hope that they will get leadership. I will stop ranting about that now. 

We are teaching an African man named Lambert right now. He has two young kids and a wife. He has been getting taught for awhile, but in our last lesson, he really opened up. He said he has been offered jobs as a pastor in some African churches recently. Just so you all know, in African culture, being a religious leader is like the most sought after thing for them. He said he prayed about whether he should take the jobs, but he keeps getting strong impressions and dreams that the only place he will find peace for him and his family is in this church. The only problem now is that his wife doesn't want to listen very much. We are looking for a good fellow shipper for her, so hopefully that will get her more interested. 

We taught Natasha again yesterday, and again, she received a very strong answer to her prayer about whether or not she should be baptised. She feels very strongly that she should. Now all that is left is for her to pick a date for the baptism. We are going to church where she lives next week (Oban) so that should help. It's like a 2 hour drive up into the highlands. I'm pretty excited. 

Other than that, not too much. I've been attacked by the insane young children of many less active members, but that's nothing new. I love you all so much! 

Elder Goodwin



07.01.13

Well, it sounds like the funeral went very well and I'm happy to hear that. The program looks really nice and it even had a classic piano solo from Dad. I hope everyone is doing ok now. 

Did you all hear the big news yet?! We are going to be allowed to use internet for proselyting now. They announced it publicly during the mission presidents seminar thing. This means that we can use facebook and blogs and other things like that. No right away, because we have to receive the ok from the area presidency, but the official announcement has been made. That is so crazy! We kept telling everyone that we were getting facebook soon, because we thought it was absurd and funny, but now we really are. Weird. It's a pretty good idea though, because these days, many people don't have time to talk in the streets, but they spend hours on the computer. 

I played the piano for a baptism on Saturday and let me just tell you, I got completely deceived by the primary hymn book. I played like a 2 year old or something. Haha it was seriously probably the worst I've ever played in public. I can play most of the normal hymns now, so I thought primary hymns would be no problem, but then I went to practice before the baptism and I realized that is not the case. I had to stop playing for like 3 measures because it got so bad. errrr! ha!

A good thing came out of that awful piano performance though. Our investigator, Natasha, was at the baptism and she thought my piano playing was hilarious. I was talking to her after the service, making fun of myself and stuff, and then she said, "You can play at my baptism." Which means that she is fully planning on being baptised. That is pretty dang exciting. We haven't given her a baptismal date yet, because she had to leave right after to make the drive home, but she should be at church on Sunday. 

In other news, we were doing service at a members house by cleaning out their attic for them and we found an old stretch armstrong. They gave it to us and it's a pretty hilarious toy. Pretty weird too. Right now, it's hanging by it's arm from the light fixture in our flat. I might just send a picture.  

I attached a picture of me doing service at Sister Adam's house, me and Elder Topp with Sister M (McCulloch) and stretch armstrong. 

Sister M is a complete legend. I don't know if I've ever told you about her, but she is seriously a missionary legend. She gives us dinner appointments a ton because she loves missionaries so much. She's been known to travel to America just to go to a former missionaries wedding. She takes us out to TGI's a bunch too. Anyway, she somehow got our house number, so if you get a call from a crazy old Scottish lady, then don't be alarmed. Just tell her to say this phrase, "Murder all the squirrels in the world." It sounds really cool with a scottish accent. 

I love you all and hope you're all doing ok. Have a great week. 

Elder Goodwin