04.04.11

After I get back, I choose to follow the prophet's advice and get married! Put the date! That is on my mind after I get back from the mish. I thought that the prophet and the apostles dominated those who are done with the mission and have chosen not to have marriage as one of their priorities. I liked his counsel, "Don't worry so much about finding the right person so much as BEING the right person." Conference can be described by 2 words, "pure greatness." That was so sweet, wasn't it? They are always messages of hope, faith, and strength to press forward through any difficulty we may be facing or will face. I think that what Jeffrey R. Holland really is true, that we can receive very personal messages at each conference if we listen to them with the spirit. I really liked all the messages, particularly the ones about marriage! There were 3 or 4! That's what the next goal is going to be! The perspective we have on Gospel principles and the use of the agency God has given unto us can help us to face the future with faith, optimism, and hope. Knowing that "everything will work out for the best." Because that's how God sees it. We're His children, and He wants us to grow and learn and prepare to live with Him. And He is in charge and will place us where we need to be in order to do all of those things. But who chooses our level of faith, optimism, and hope? We do with our choices and confidence in God and His promises. Like what Thomas S. Monson said, "Our future is as bright as our faith." That was really neat. I really got out of it and felt how truly strong the desire of our Savior is that we choose to follow the teachings in His Gospel with faith and a willing heart. That is where the true peace will come. Nevertheless, He allows all of us to choose whether or not we will accept, believe, and live His Gospel and counsel that is given to us through His prophet and apostles both in ancient times as well as today in our days. On a sadder note, Elder Ellett has a change! They called us and told us of the changes and I was like NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Like Zeus when they steal Hercules in the Disney movie. I guess it will work out for the best. I know that whatever happens, the Lord is in control of this work. I'll trust in Him. This last week, we found another really cool family. The dad is already member. He was baptized when he was 15 but has been less-active for some time. His wife saw us at the Registro which is a government building and asked us when we were going to go back to her house. We had no idea who she was but she said she wanted to get married and baptized and told us where she lives. So that was definitely not by chance and the Lord directed us to be in that place at the same time she was. She has a daughter who is 15 and she wants to get baptized too. So we'd reactivate the dad, and baptize his wife and daughter if everything works out and if they choose to accept the teachings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They have already been to church before and they came to the Conference!!!! Boo-yah is what I say. We were blessed to be able to find another family. A little kid just came up to us and said, "Hey you. Yeah you. What's your name?" And we told him our name and then asked him to take us to his parents. He took us and he has a sweet family too! They go to no church but are willing to get to know our church and listen to us. The mom is married but her husband lives clear in Roatan, which is one of the islands in Honduras. She has 3 kids that are 8 and older and we are going to be working with them. We are continuing to teach another Family. That sweet family of 9. They are awesome! The daughter just barely got out of the hospital. They operated on her and surgically removed the baby. Scary! He was born weighing 4 pounds! But everything is developed and healthy. We left her with a Liahona of the last conference and she read a few of them in the hospital. We also left her with a BOM and she read a few chapters! The whole family is WAY cool! Yeah, Conference was sweet. Well, we were teaching a Catholic man last week and he said that no one is going to take him away from his church, but he'll listen to us. We asked him if God came down to earth and told him something simple like, "You need to exercise for an hour and a half." Would you choose to listen to Him and do it? "Yes," he said. "Now, what if He himself told you that the church we represent is true. Would you choose to listen to Him and go to it?" There is another teaching that we were inspired to give from the Lord last week per your request. Yeah I got all the ticks. Hmmmmm, I would say that my top 3 talks were Dallin H. Oakes talk about "desires," David A. Bednar's talk about "Revalation" (I really liked his analogy of night and day and the lightswitch) and that one guys talk about "To be or not to be." And Uchtdorf's talk in priesthood. What about you? I will have another comp. New, experienced, I don't know. But whatever will be will be. All I know is that we're going to work hard and choose to do things with a glad, willing heart. That's one thing I've really learned last week. I started thinking about it last week and realized that as we have faith in Jesus Christ and believe in Him (His infite love, His omnipotence, His desire to help us, etc) and his promises, our hope in receiving those promises grows and the desire we have to live up to the standards He has set forth grows. We see a brightness in the future. But it all starts with our perspective. I know for a fact that the prophet's job and the 12 apostles job isn't easy. But they are glad, happy people. That's a perspective/choice they've made. I know that we can make that same choice/perspective. And we can do it most effectively out of love for the Savior and a sincere desire to follow Him and believe Him. Why we do what we do really is a powerful factor. If we do it out of force, (which is the opposite of the Savior's version of the plan; He desires that we use our own God-given agency in order to choose to do things out of love and gentless) we miss so much. But when we change our own perspective and desire to do things out of love (for Him, instead of for ourselves or anything else), we have everything to gain. And the Savior is the center of it all. As we DO, what He would have us do for the right reasons and do it willingly, we BECOME more like Him. Well, I know that we can righteously exercise our agency and receive all the blessings our Father in Heaven has in store for us our choose to not exercise it righteously; if we so desire, but we forfeit blessings and growth at the same time we do. I liked the principle that was repeated in Conference several times, "Line upon line, precept on precept." I'm grateful for you all and for the love and support you've showed me! It's time to start the kick! Elder Goodwin