A Baptism in the works.

Hello again my family! It was sooooo good to see you all on Wednesday. I missed all your faces and voices. It made Christmas in this distant, beautiful and soggy land so much better. And thank you mom for the groceries today! Thank you thank you thank you. It was seriously one of the best presents that you could ever give us. I love you!

Well this email might be a bit short because we are on some members computers because all the libraries are shut down today. Lame sauce.

So even though this week was full of Christmas-ness and my brain turned to holiday mode, some really good things still happened.

First off, our investigator Connie (78 year old, funny old lady from Birmingham, full of attitude)...is dated for baptism!!!!! If she passes her baptismal interview tomorrow, which we believe she totally will, she will be baptized on the 18 of January. She has been being taught for about 2 years, but finally something clicked with her, and we could tell that she is finally tuning into the spirit. We are so happy for her, and it will be good to pump some new-member enthusiasm back into this dying ward. Only 23 people showed up to church yesterday...which was way sad...so hopefully Connie's baptism gets the ball rolling. We were also able to meet with Peter (Irishman), and he is also making more progress towards baptism. Good things are happening! and Barrow definitely needs it.

Other than that, not too much went on. This week was pretty chill, and our brains are pretty much still on holiday mode with New Years around the corner. I cant believe its almost 2014....that's flippin crazy. Anyway's, thank you all so much for all the lovin you gave to me. I am especially grateful for the short notes and CD that came in my post on Saturday morning. I was so stoked to hear that bodacious tuneage. Thank you thank you thank you!!! I love you all so much.

Well anyways, I got to go soon. Transfer calls are on Saturday, but I will keep you updated. Talk to you again on monday. Peace out!

Elder Goodman

BA

HotTuna

Christmas party, crazy wind, freezing rain, good attitude.

Hello my beautiful family! Greetings from the land of wind and cold, Fox's Biscuits and hardcore Liverpool football fans. First off, I love you all. I am super mega thankful for all your love and your long distance Christmas gifts and lovin. Its weird not being home for Christmas, but I still feel close to all of you. Thank you Randi for that brilliant family film. My eyes may or may not have gotten a little sweaty from watching it and hearing from all of you. All the kids look so much older...but mom and dad...you look the same. Except for the mustache. I dig it. I am so thankful for this amazing family. It made me decide that even though my future will be full of travel and exploring...I never want to be away too long from you all. Family is where the happiness is. And yes....I did open all the packages you sent. Do you really think that a 19 year old boy on a mission would wait for christmas to open up his gifts? Lets be real here...not a chance. But thank you for everything! It meant a lot, and my feet feel like they are being hugged by a koala when I wear those slippers. Thank you, I love you all!

 

So my week was pretty good. Haha I'm glad that you got to see a picture of me as Ron Burgandy. The Christmas party was way fun, especially being able to be around some of my really good friends. We have a pretty tight group here. Sister Preston made an incredible Christmas turkey dinner which resulted in a major food baby. Elder Diederich and I gave a training on Charity, which I feel turned out very well. Everyone participated and the invitation was "to on monday, write a sincere letter to your family and SHOW THEM YOUR LOVE!" So watch out, one is coming. After food, we did our skits, and they were all suprisingly really funny. I think my favorite one was when a group did "the day in the life of a missionary", but elders impersonated sisters, and sisters impersonated elders. It was spot on. My newsteam did pretty well as well. It got in some laughs, which got the job done. After that, we chilled and watched Ephraims Rescue =really good. Then we did a white elephant exchange. I put in a funky weird Tiger claw thing with a box of Cadbury Chocolate fingers. Elder Diederich brought a Hollywood Hunks calender. I ended up with a stuffable outdoor rainjacket from Elder Clarke, while Elder Diederich ended up with a One Direction picture book. Haha "it sucks to be you right now" (nacho voice). After all that and some singing, we got to get all of our gifts and lovin from our family. Good times.

 

After all day in Machester, instead of going all the way back to Barrow cause it was getting late, we hooked up with our good friends the Bolton Elders and slept over at their flat. We got hardly any sleep, and lived life (as much as you can on a mission without being super dodgy), but it was way fun. Elder Sargent is flippin crazy. But anyways...by the time my companion and I got back into Barrow Thursday afternoon, we were absolutley dead, zombie tired. Major power nap for lunch.

 

Working in Barrow has been absolutely suckish this whole week. It has been crazy windy and freezing and raining and hailing the whole second junk of the week, and I had to bust out the HotTuna jacket big time. We are told in the mission that "Christmas time is the best time to work because everyone is with their families and want to come to church". Yeah.....more like everyone is crazy busy shopping, taking shelter within their homes and not being bothered with anyone else because they have their families over. I have never had more appointments fall through in my entire mission. But on the bright side, Elder Diederich and I are partying on and are not letting anyone stop us from enjoying this Christmas holiday.

 

Well, I am super stoked to see and hear you all on wednesday!!!!!!! I am so excited. The plan is: I will be spending Christmas with the Kent family, and I will hook up on Skype at 4:00pm...which will be 9:00am your time? Elder Diederich and I will be on two seperate devices at the same time, so we should have longer times to talk to you! I dont know the Kent's skype username thing, but I have yours, so I should be able to contact you to start this shindig. I hope everything works out!

 

I.cant.wait.to.see.all.your.faces.

 

I love you all, and peace out till wednesday

 

Elder Goodman

BA

HotTuna

 

 

Adventures in Kendal.

Hello my loved ones! I love monday's. I love hearing your words and all about your adventures, and I'm thankful for all the love that is flowing from this screen right now. I truly miss all of you, especially as the days are creeping towards Christmas. But hey, life is still good here. I wish more than ever that I could be with you all for Christmas, but I am embracing this experience. I am learning how to bond with people from all cultures and all backgrounds, so it is definitely worth it being away for these two short years.

This week...was yet another adventure!!! Here's the deets:

On Tuesday, I had a district meeting in Kendal with the Kendal Elders (its really wierd yet chill only having two others in my district). It was all about Charity! We decided that since we have some of the hardest "number" areas in the mission, we decided to be known as the most "charitable district". So, we got creative and instituted the "Hour of Faith". Basically, its a way to spice up the day, wear normal clothes and get our hands dirty. The idea is to put on service clothes, call the other elders in the district to let them know you started the hour of faith, then you go out for one hour.....and spontaneously serve as much as possible. After that hour, you report back to the other elders about any miracles or good people you met along the way. I am stoked to get it started!

After that, we had a pulled-pork BBQ all together in the flat. It was the bomb. We then started our exchange and seperated on our ways. I stayed in Kendal with Elder Hotchkiss. He is from Utah, but way rad. We both have the same free-adventurous-polymath spirit, and all we talked about was future adventure ideas and paragliding and hiking and backpacking and roaming the world. It was way good, especially when we got to have an adventure of our own. We traveled down to Milnthorpe (the place of John Taylor) and worked all around there. After teaching some good people and teaching a whole group of young kids in the street how to pray, we decided to use our tea break to go hike in the scenic hills and eat our dinner at the top of the highest one near town. It was absolutely beautiful!!! We both felt like we were in the Shire as we hiked up the hills amongst the herds of deer and sheep. Along the way, we met and talked to a fellow trekker, and had a really good converation with her, and she totally softened her heart against the church and mormons in general. We then ate our meal of fruit and sandwiches on the top of the hill and just soaked in the scenery and the whole experience. I will attach some pictures, but I swear they dont do it any justice.

Eventually I had to make my way back from beautiful Kendal to "beautiful Barrow"(the joke throughout the mission). The middle of the week was rough with rain and fatigue, but altogether, I say we had an amazing week.

We found 3 new solid investigators!!

We taught our highest number of lessons in Barrow

We escaped from a bunch of wasted party girls, aka chavettes, aka female chavs

Both Elder Diederich and I gave talks in church about the Saviour. Mine was all about "Turning outwards rather than inwards".

We had tea at Michael Cunningham's home. He has been taught for over 15 years, we are pretty sure he is gay, but he made an incredible meal and apple pie

We finished planning our Christmas training

And we finished our week off by teaching lovely crazy Elizabeth from Malta.

Overall, the week was really good. Elder Diederich is my favorite companion so far. We just chill and mesh together pretty well, and we always have a Will Ferrel or SNL quote to respond to eachother with. Even though we feel banished out here in Barrow, we are loving life and are making the best of it. I never knew how many good friends I would meet on the mish. And its not even half over. Party on Wayne....party on Garth

Well everyone, I hope you are having a bodacious Christmas. It sounds like you are having lovely weather, so enjoy it for me! Just know that I miss you all, and I pray for you all everynight. Peace out ladies and gentlemen, have a good one

Elder Goodman

BA

HotTuna

p.s. For our Christmas party/training on tuesday, every district has to do a 10 min skit. So...with me as Ron Burgandy and with a mustache....we are doing an Anchorman parody...England Machester Mission News style. Hopefully it works out. Stay classy

sneaking up on deer

 

this is our land

 

preach to every creature

The barrow tribe

 

Kendal

 

thug life

Milnthorpe

 

Brochacho's starting our journey

 

The view

Wandering around the Lake District

Hello everyone! I love you and miss you all, and I'm not just saying that. I have been asked to give a 35 minute training at our mission christmas training/party, and my subject is Charity. So...for the past week or so, every personal study has been on that subject, and I have been reflecting a lot. It is my favorite subject and attribute, one that I have gained the strongest testimony of on my mission. I just want all of you to know, I love you with all my heart, and I am truly grateful to be on this earth, at this time, with all of you. Love conquers all.

 

Alright alright enough of the mushy stuff.....here's what's up in the life of Elder Goodman!

 

I had an incredible exchange with my new German friend, ELder Werner, in the beautiful land of Kendal. The work is very hard there, since it is a small area and has been hit hard with a lot of missionaries in the past. I get the vibe that everyone already knows who we are and what we do, so all we can really do is just be there for them when they are prepared and ready! But anyways, it was way rad. We traveled to the beautiful area of Windemere, the scenic, hilly town bordering the great lake. I seriously wish that I had my longboard and could chill there all day. But sadly, that's frowned upon in this establishment. So we traveled around, knocked on dozens of doors and tried our best street contacting. No major success, other than making a few people smile. So to lighten up our spirits, we took our lunch break down on the shore of Lake Windemere, with a view of the Lake District Valley off in the distance. Elder Werner has only been out for a couple months and his main concern is that "he will forget how to relax after the mission". Haha so I taught him a lesson about balance, and then we chilled and relaxed and ate sandwiches and meditated and just took in the beauty of the lake for almost an hour. It is now a memory that will be in my brain for forever. I love this earth, and I love the Lake District!

 

After our 3 day exchange, I got back into Barrow...only to hit the worst weather that I have ever experienced on my mission this far. Haha it was such a welcome back. Powerful coastal winds, icy rain and rubbish being blown everyone. It was an adventure. One of the roads closed down due to flooding, and we heard Blackpool was totally shut down. It was a bit sketchy, but still we worked and something amazing happened! We taught a man named Peter, a rough chracter who was caught up in the IRA back in Ireland, but he was so prepared and desperatley needed the gospel. We taught him the Restoration...and he accepted the bold invitation to be baptized! Peter is going to need a lot of work, but both Elder Diederich and I feel like he is going to make it. Peter already prays for both of our families, aka all of you, so please pray for our friend Peter!

 

On Saturday, Elder Diederich and I felt inspired to go work in the small village of Cartmel. It was a beautiful disaster. We got off the train, only to find out that we had to walk several miles to get to the actual town. So we did, and even though the walk was long, the view and scenerey were incredible. It turns out Cartmel is a tourist village, which was super cool for my adventure brain, but not so good for missionary work. We knocked on the few doors that were there and tried to talk to as many people as we could, but no major luck. We met a new friend, an older lady named Heather who we might teach sometime in the future, and the views were beautiful, so overall it was a good experience.

 

I ate some way good fish n' chips from the award winning chippy in Barrow on Bath Street! It tasted really good, but then it gave me an award winning bathroom experience later that night. Chippy's and my stomach dont mix too well.

 

Well, other than that, life has been good. I am getting to meet more of the ward families, even though there are very few of them, we had 29, including kids, show up to church yesterday. This is even smaller than my branch in Stafford. But they are all really good people...and there are definitely many characters. We are probably going to skype from George's, our ward mission leader, home, but I will let you know the deets as soon as I can. I am so excited to see all of your faces and hear all your lovely voices, especially you Tate.

 

I love you all. Till next time, Stay classy Arizona.

 

Elder Goodman

BA

HotTuna

windemere

 

lakeside sandwich

trail to the lake

 

no troll

 

dont slip

elder werner aka german

 

news team....assemble

 

train station ocean view

road to cartmel

 

sheeeeeeeeeep

 

this horse walked all the way across the field for us.....to feed him grass

Trains, trains and more trains.

Hello my loved ones! Greetings from the land of Scottish accents, chavs, the ocean, and the smell of smoke. Not gonna lie....these past few days have been an adventure. I am doing really well, and my new companion is way rad.  We get along, and I'm just so thankful he is not some bubble sheltered Utah kid. We are already way good friends! I love our flat, even though the whole upstairs smells like a hardcore smoker has been chillin up there eating bacon all day. But massive flat is roomy, and I hooked up the sound system and have been blasting the new CD that I just got. Thank you Randi! The music has given me back some soul. All is well here in Barrow.

So, my week was absolutely hectic and full of travel, and I feel like I have just barely settled here in my flat, let alone Barrow. After all of the transfer travel, before I could even get settled in, we had to wake up mega early for a Mission Leadership Meeting on Friday. This is how it went:

1.Wake up, walk to the train station and ride the train for 2 hours to Preston

2.Get to Preston, find out the Zone Leaders were not there to pick me up and already left for Manchester. Dang nabbit

3.Find the next train, which leaves an hour later

4.Get on train with the other district leader from Workington, who was also abandoned. Hour and a half of standing up like sardines on the train

5.Get to Picadilli, make the walk to the bus station

6.Hour bus ride to Machester Chapel for the meeting. Barely made in in time

After the nearly day-long meeting (which was really good by the way), I got a lift back with the Zone Leaders to Preston

7. 3 hours stuck in traffic, but made it back to the flat in Preston

8. Too late to train back to Barrow

9. Super spontaneous, instead of sleeping over with the Zone leaders cause Elder Diederich and I were fed up with them, we trained and bussed with the Lancaster Elders back to their flat in Morecombe. Beautiful area, beautiful city

10. Super rad sleepover, even though I slept on the floor and I had a towel for a blanket and I had literally nothing with me except my suit and scriptures. It was a bit rough

11. Wake up, journey to the Lancaster chapel with the Lancaster district leader (way cool english elder who likes to surf), and joined the District Leaders Council Meeting.

12. After the meeting, we bailed and met up with my companion and the other elders in the town at a pub for a £2 burger and bowl of chips, which was suprisingly really good.

13. After chilling a bit, Elder Diedrich and I made our way back to the train station, hopped on and rode about 2 hours back to Barrow.

14. Totally shattered, we unloaded our stuff and went off to do some work. That's how we roll.

So those were the rough deets of my half week in my new area. Haha I luckily got the chance to go to church yesterday and meet the very few members there, so now I am not totally lost here. The ward is dying, which is a bit sad with only 27 that showed up, including kids, but...there is one amazing family that we had tea with. The Kents!! I love them. Sheldon and Abbi are a really young couple, with 4 little kids, and they are super fun and real and just good to hang out with. Sheldon, from Essex, served his mission here in the EMM (thats were he met Abbi haha), so we talked with him for a long time about how everything has changed and how some things have stayed the same. We are going to spend most of our Christmas time with them! Movies and games and chillin all day.

I am really excited that I get to see most of your faces and voices for Christmas! I miss you all so much. I love being on this mission (I feel like its a part of me now), but I cant wait for the day that I can come back and join you all in the family get-togethers and parties and adventures. Family=love

I love you all, and I hope everyone has a rad week. This week I will be traveling again to Preston for a zone meeting, and I will also be able to travel over to Kendal for a couple days for an exchange with the Elders in my district! I'm stoked to see more of the lake district! The city of barrow itself is a total rough ghetto area, but the surrounding countryside and coast are beautiful. I'll keep you updated next week but for now, peace out.

Elder Goodman

BA

HotTuna

The new flat and comp:

New Address:

2 St. Lukes Street

Barrow-in-Furness

Cumbria

LA13 9RR

Barrow-in-Furness.

Hello everyone!!! First off, I love you all. Secondly, I am dead tired. I got transferred from my home in Stafford, to none other than Barrow-in-Furness! The beautiful  ghetto by the sea. Along with the transfer meeting in Manchester, it meant almost an entire day traveling. I am dead, but its good to be here. I dont know too much about this place, and I have heard very mixed reviews from the other missionaries who served here, but I am up for whatever the adventure. I got in last night at 7:30 or so, scrapped together some food, then went to teach a lovely but crazy recent convert named Elizabeth. She already has given me gifts...a book about Winston Churchill, a sketchy chinese sweater, and a bar of soap. God bless her. Haha good old Barrow.

 

My best mission friend Elder Caleira served here just before me, so all transfer meeting we talked and laughed for hours and he gave me all the deets. Basically...I will be in for an adventure. My new companion is Elder Diederich from Alaska! He has only been out 4 months or so, and is pretty chill, so it should be a good transfer. Our flat is gigantic compared to the tiny little box in Stafford. It has two levels, and it could really be a 4 man flat if it needed to be. I'll send some pics on monday if i can! But this morning, a bit unexpectedly, the plumbers came and started fixing our water heater and other junk, and will be working all day...so I wont really be able to unpack and settle for a while. Luckily the only other missionaries in my district are the two elders in Kendall (a beautiful area in the lake district), so call-ins are going to be mega easy. And I'll actually be able to go on exhanges this transfer other than the Zone Leaders! I'm stoked.

 

I'm already in love with the Cumbrian accents here. Its a varitation of a scottish and northern english accent, and I dig it. Haha maybe I'll pick up a little cumbrian accent for the christmas skype! Probably not, but who knows. We will see how my voice box handles it.

 

Other than that...I dont have too much to share at the moment. The good byes in Stafford were a bit emotional, I never knew that I would grow so close and attatched to people in such a short bit of time, but its time to move on and I'm ready to start this next chapter in my life. I am in love with this mission, and I am in love with these people, cultures and lands and the gospel. More adventures await, and i'll get back to on monday, but for now...Peace out!

 

Elder Goodman

BA

HotTuna

 

p.s. Happy Thanksgiving!

Mark's Baptism, Zone conference, loving life.

Hello hello hello everyone! Holy cow, this was a good day of emails. Everyone sounds so happy and is so full of love, and its contagious. I even laughed out loud a couple times in this dead quiet library. Awkward, but worth it. I blame dad's mustache. And its so good that grandma and grandpa have finally moved down!!! I'm so stoked to get in on the family parties when I get back, and yes, I am even still excited having to deal with Jeff's death farts. Bring it on. Ha so anyways, I am doing really well. I will try to answer everyone's separate questions, so this email might be a speed round. But yes it is true.....I am HotTuna (nacho voice), and I love England!

So this week has been really really good. Why? Well for several reasons.

My district meeting with the Zone Leaders and my district sisters went really well! After the 3 legged race/nerf shoot out/drawing relay, we discussed the importance and power of companionship unity in finding and teaching. Everything that was said by everyone was really inspired! And we are already seeing big changes.

After the meeting, I had an exchange with my Swedish Zone Leader, Elder Wirtala! We had the car, so we got to explore and teach people all over Newcastle-under-Lyme. It is a beautiful, hilly city, and I love the Jordy accents. I met so many amazing people, and it was amazing how fast and how easily it was to fall in love with them all, even the crazy ones. Even the kid who tried to through a towel across the dinner table, covered in curry sauce, which ended up hitting my tie and utterly destroying it, and even Josef, the crazy alcoholic but tender-hearted Polish man who insisted that we eat some dodgy polish sausages. Don't worry, i'm not dead. But it was a really good exchange, and I learned so much from my new swedish friend, who almost convinced me to move to Sweden. I am going there someday, and that is a promise. Jag alsker dig! (Yag alsker day) (I love you!)

We found a new investigator named Barry! He knows martial arts. Party on.

We had a powerful lesson with Sister White, who is probably facing every single trial possible at the moment. She is such a strong member, but everything in her life is tearing her down at the minute...death in the family, poor work, family drama, and terrible health and stress. Luckily though...there is the priesthood, and by the power of the priesthood, people can be healed, and that's what happened to her the next day. Even though it was only temporary, the blessing of peace and healing has helped her in a way that she gained enough confidence and energy to face her challenges with a new "do your worst" attitude. I love her spirit.

Spontaneous adventure in Uttoxeter! We were trying to track down a less active member who just came up on the records, but after traveling all morning we realized...it was going to be impossible to find this little barn in the middle of the huge countryside without a car. So, we had to abandon our plans, but we found another less-active family from Hungary in the process! Good times.

We had another lesson with Jagtar! I love him to death, and we have long and deep discussions about faith and god and humanity and anything else that comes up. He is such a hippie, and I dig it. We also got to know his Russian wife, and she is super intense but bubbly at the same time, I have no clue how that works. She's russian, that's all I can say. But she taught us some Russian even though its super difficult, but here is what i got! (English pronunciation)

Preeviet- hello

Spaciba- thank you

Doe Svindania- good bye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (its fun to say it hardcore russian style)

I love learning other languages and phrases. I use some Polish nearly everyday! Its a new passion, and I feel it spices up life. I just cant decide what will be the first language I will learn for real when I get back. And mom, I don't think i really have an English accent, or at least a proper one. There are too many Americans around. But who know's, you will hear me soon! Christmas skype-time rules.

Ah yes, Mark's baptism!!! It was so good. Words don't do it justice, but it was just a really happy day. Mark was way nervous but happy, even though the water boiler didn't work and the water was absolutely freezing. Our investigator Paul showed up! and I know that he really felt the spirit. President Preston showed up so it was good to see his face and get a warm British bear hug from him again. Tony was totally stoked that he got to baptize Mark, even though he was just baptized a handful of months ago. Ah, it was just a good day.We are happy to have Mark here in the Stafford Branch. Miracles happen, and he is proof of that.

Well my loved ones, I hope you continue on having happy times with each other, and I can't wait to chill and party on with you all when I get back. I miss you, and I love you all. Next week is transfers, so I wont be able to email till next Thursday, but till then, Peace out home skillets!

Elder Goodman

aka BA

aka HotTuna

Good things are happening here in Stafford!

Hey everyone! Greetings from the land of rain, gravy and fireworks. I love you all. Even though its cloudy and drizzly and cold nearly everyday, I'm loving life. Good things are happening here in Stafford!

So tuesday was none other than "remember remember the 5th of November", Guy Fawkes night (V for Vendetta). Basically, everyone just launches off a butt ton of fireworks. I was never a super fan of watching fireworks, but this celebration made it special. Sadly though, because of mission policy and safey reasons, Elder Hatch and I had to be in our flat by 5 pm, lame sauce. But we made the most of it, found a huge box of christmas decorations, and made our flat into christmas headquarters. Our tree is amazing. Mom, you would be proud.

So the rest of the week was pretty good! We were able to teach our investigator Paul who we havent seen in quite some time, and we were also able to meet with a newly returning member Paul Mcmanus (or Paul McWonderful as Sister Barney calls him). Things are going good with them both, and we are seeing the mighty changes that the spirit is having on their lives.

We had another adventure in Penkridge! It was really cold and there were some major McShivers going on, but we met some amazing people. First off, as we were hiking down a really long country road, we met a woman, who was actually baptized by Elder Hatch's uncle! Small world, small world. After that we had a very lovely but very loud evening with the Johnsons. The mother's name is Kay, and she is basically the best missionary mom ever. She takes care of us, and she makes killer hot chocolate. She might take us to some sights soon, and i'm really excited to see and learn more about the deep culture here. There is so much story for every little place here, and I love it.

So on Saturday morning, we got a random call from ours and the sisters investigator Mark. He is in the process of reconstructing his hectic life, and he said he needed our help. About an hour's walk later, we finally found his new flat, and he told us that he needed our help to move a washing machine from another members home into his flat. The problem is...he thought that we had a car. Nope. And we couldnt find anyone with a car big enough to transport the washing machine. So...we ended up putting our muscles on and the three of us carried a heavy washing machine across town, and back up his narrow stairs into his flat, all the while in our suits. It must have looked a bit odd, but hey, we did work. Spontaneous acts of service are so good, not only for our joy, but it also opens up the eyes of those recieving the service. Afterwards, we had a simple but powerful lesson with him, and I was filled with the spirit and he ended with his very humble, but very sincere prayer. We love Mark, and guess what...he is getting baptized this coming Saturday!! His story and conversion is really one big miracle, and all of us here in Stafford are stoked to welcome him into the branch.

On Sunday, we had a Rememberance service for all the soldiers who fought in the Great War with a moment of silence. It was a unique and very reverant experience, especially seeing everyone wear their red poppys on their coats. Afterwards though was really lame.....the heating system failed, so the chapel got pretty chilly and all the rest of the meetings were cancelled. At home, I probably would have been happy with church being cancelled, but here....it was a major bummer. Very lame indeed. But anyways, Elder Hatch and I headed over to Tony Chapman's house and we made really good, cheeseless pizzas and chilled and had a good lesson. Tony is baptizing Mark, so we got him all prepared and stoked for that. Its amazing because he is such a new member himself, but he has a powerful and reverant testimony. I cant wait for Saturday! I love being a missionary and being on the front lines of all of this.

So other than being persecuted pretty hard in the gun/knife shop right before this, nothing else too crazy happened this week. Oh yeah I forgot, Sister Nemec in our district got head-butted in the nose really hard by a young woman in her ward. That was pretty funny. Its interesting to have a distict of all sisters. There is minor drama, and two of them have health problems, and Sister Barney might be sent home soon because of hers. I still love being a district leader to be able to look out and help and teach everyone...haha but sometimes I wish I could just....chill. Oh well, I will just hibernate hardcore when I get home.

I cant believe its been about 8 months!!! Time, for the most part, is starting to fly by. I will see you all before we know it. I love you all, and thank you for all the love that you show to me. Till next time, Peace out!

Elder Goodman

aka BA

p.s. my shoes officially have holes in the souls

Some cool guys hanging out in the town square. I want to take them home:

I buried him while sleeping:

Ward Halloween party:

Elder Hatch in my suit:

Our awesome Christmas tree:

My new adventure coat:

The Priesthood is Real.

Hello hello hello! Its me. It's good to hear that everyone had a rad halloween! Rock on Tate ninja. Halloween in Stafford was pretty good, even though a lot of people do not like to celebrate it here. My Halloween basically consisted of going to our branch party, which was the classic food, music and Brother Campbelll dressing up and acting as a hardcore zombie and scaring everyone. He nibbled my arm. Haha it was a pretty fun night, and we got to bring some less actives and got to know a lot of the non-members that the members brought along. Haha oh yeah, I also got to be the judge for the Halloween costume competition. The little boy dressed up as a werewolf kid won by far. Party on.

So this week...got mega cold. Winter is definitely in the air now, and my voice is pretty much gone (I sound like marcel the shell) and there is a cold battling on in my body right now, but life is still good! This week was really really good.

First off, Jagtar showed up to Ellaiyna's baptism! It was a mega suprise, but he showed, and I know that he felt the spirit. He is such a nice man, and I could see the little curiosity cogs working in his heart and brain. We are praying that we can keep on seeing and teaching him!

This week, I got to do something that I really really love....travel!! I love trains and train stations. They just pump adventure energy back into me! So we had specialized training up in Crewe which pretty much lasted all day, and we had to wake up at 5 in the morning to make it there on time. We were a bit zombiefied when we first got there, but all the trainings and hanging out with all the other missionaries pumped us back up. Its a bit weird to be one of the older missionaries now. There are so many new missionaries from the age change, so now the average age of the missionaries in this mission changed from 14 months...to 8 months...aka me! There is definitely a different vibe in the mission now, and I dig it. Down with the robots. But anyways, I learned a lot and bonded with a lot of the other missionaries and the ones in my district and of course all the missionaries from my MTC group. Elders Robinson, Hatch, Hill and sister Nemec. I love them all!

Then later on in the week, I got to travel up there again for a district leaders council meeting. It was way good to be able to input and help out this Newcastle Zone as much as possible. Our Zone leaders are Elder Walker (really black, recent convert who trained David Graham in BYU for track) and Elder Wirtula (100% Swedish). They make a good team, and I love serving with them. Together we set a goal of 18 baptisms this month...which is huge....but it is inspired. Miracles are about to happen.

In Stafford, miracles are happening. The sister's investigator Mark is going to be baptised in two weeks, and it is amazing to teach and help him all along the way. Its been a rocky road. I have had yet more opportunities to exercise the priesthood, and all I can say is...the priesthood is real. A less active lady named Dee Ivers desperately needed help, and we were able to help her mentally and spiritually overcome a recent tragedy in her life. The blessing's effect was powerful and direct. God truly loves and watches out for all of his children, and many times he works through his other children, us, to help those in need. I love this gospel, and to basically sum up my testimony that I bore on Sunday...I believe in second chances, and the priesthood, and the power of fasting is real. It was a miracle that Dee was able to attend church and partake of the sacrament due to her work and other circumstances, and it was a mircale to see the atonement work so quickly in her life.

Other miracles have been happening, such as Leon Ford having a change of heart after a very bold lesson, and meeting certain people on the street at the exact right time, after changing our plans right beforehand. It just all fits into place perfectly. Amazing things are going to happen here in Stafford, which is why I'm excited that I might get the chance to stay here for a third Transfer with Elder Hatch. Usually that doesnt happen, staying three transfers with the same companion, but it will be the Christmas transfer, so it would totally blow to move to a random new area and not know anyone. Woah...its almost christmas??? Woah

Well everyone, I love you all! I miss you all, especially during the holiday season, but I am where I need to be....

 

Haha random note, just now I was able to talk to a man in this library. He was harrassing us a bit, but now we are cool, he learned the truth about us, and he just walked out saying "hey I'll go spread the word that you are way cooler than the amish kids". haha nice

 

...but anyways. Thank you for all your words and your love. Enjoy the family around you! As you know, that's where the most happiness can be found. I love you and stuff, k bye!

 

Elder Goodman

aka BA

 

 

 

Lessons and Blessings.

Whats up everyone! Greetings from the land of constant drizzling and stumbling drunk people. I love you all. Thanks for all the lovin! This week has been pretty alright. It seems like 99% of our plans fell through, but we rolled with it and saw some mini miracles that came along with it. It just proves that as long as we are doing whats right...we'll be alright.

We were able to have another meeting with Jagtar, and it was way cool. He showed us all of his pictures from India and his other world travels and his mega huge house that he built for himself back in his home town. This man is crazy wealthy and brilliant. Anyways, we had a good discussion again on religion, and he opened up even more to the Book of Mormon. That book is powerful. Enough said. We challenged him again to read it, and we even invited him to Elaiyna's baptism this tuesday. I hope he shows!

One night, after our plans fell through and we had literally nothing going on, we got a random call from Sis White. She asked us if we could come over as soon as we could, because her daughter Emma (non-member) was haveing crazy anxiety attacks, so that we could give her a priesthood blessing. Our total lack of plans made it perfect for us, so we rushed on over. After getting to know her and her husband Jason and their cute little baby Luna, I was able to give her a priesthood blessing. It was a bit emotional. I am amazed at how many chances I have been getting to exercise my priesthood lately, and its been a huge blessing to the people on the other end, but especially towards me. I know, now more that ever, that priesthood is purely, unselfish service. It is real, and it is powerful.

Other than that, we were able to give a lot of service to Alfred Badger by helping him with his huge garden for a couple hours. It felt really good to get dirty and hack stuff up. We also have had good lessons with our newly active member Paul Mcmanus, our Bulgarian friend Sarov who speaks very little english, and the Johnsons down in Penkridge. Yeah, that was an adventure in itself. Our train home was delayed, so we caught a late one home which was almost overflowing with drunken, Saturday night partiers. "God Squad GOD SQUAD!!!!"....and the rest of it I dont feel comfortable repeating. Party on drunk people. I'm just glad that none of them got violent like the ones over in Wales. Persecution puts hair on our chest.

Haha oh yeah, we had another drunk event. We were walking home late last night and we say this man stumbling down the rode, almost into traffic. So we caught up to him, and escorted him all the way across town to safety. Along the way, we got to know him a bit better, and even set up a future lesson with him! It probably was just the beer talking, but he said he was interested. Hey, we will take what we can get. We will see how that goes!! Just dont get run over Mick.

Well everyone, I love you all. I miss you, but I hope you all have a bodacious Halloween. Rock on Tate Ninja!!!!

Till next time, peace out!

 

Elder Goodman

aka BA

 

p.s. I get to dress up as a missionary for Halloween, beat that!!! best costume ever

A Flippin Tank...Rain and more Rain....

Hello everyone! My heart is crazy full from reading all your words and love....thank you. I love you all, and miss you like crazy. Its raining really hard outside, and the lighting is warm and I'm on the third story balcony, overlooking the entire library...so the vibe is pretty dang cool. I dig it.

Well, its only been a few days since I wrote last, but some good things have happened! The cool before the spiritual:

We went with a member to go hometeaching a man called Peter Davis, and he lives way out in the country side! It was beautiful. We pulled into his lot, only to find that his house is right next to a Landrover graveyard and workshop. Words cant describe it really well, but it was way rad. He rigged up his workshops with traps and tripwires and shotgun shells so that people wouldnt steal from him again. It was really misty outside, which only added to the whole "zombie apocolypse vibe" and guess what I found in his shed........A FLIPPIN TANK! Why does he need a tank? Because its flippin awesome, thats why. And he has a huge white, American pitbull named Benson. I love brother Davis, but throughout thelesson while sitting next to a fire, I kinda felt like I was in the Walking Dead or something. Good times.

Ok so the more spiritual....I got to witness a total change of heart. Paul Mcmanus, a member who was way less active, wanted to get back in touch with the church. He was going through a financial crisis, which made him rethink his life a bit. After talking with the Branch President, he wanted us, the missionaries to come over. So we did! In the depths of humility, he asked us to help him get his life back on track. We then taught him an in depth lesson about the Atonement and power of the scriptures, and the spirit was so strong. We could literally see light coming back into his soul. After the lesson, Paul got up and without even being asked to, he started cramming all of his smoking supplies into a plastic bag. With all of it packed up, he told us to "get rid of it". With pleasure (throwing away cigs and ash trays and pipes is one of my favorite perks of being a missionary). Now Paul is back at church, and with joy he kept telling us that he's back for good, and it feels good.

On top of all that, the rest of the weekend was really good. The primary kids performed a super funny, but really spiritual primary program, i got to talk to the whole primary about serving a mission and getting them stoked about it, and I was also able to give Sister Barney a blessing that i will never forget. Without going into details, this was the first real time that I could literally feel the spirit taking over, and only really serving as the mouthpiece. My testimony is growing stronger everyday, especially with experiences like these. I love this gospel and I love this church. It is true.

Well, thats about it for the past few days, other than walking a lot in the rain! I actually and strangely enjoy it. I love you all, and thank you again for all your love and lovely emails. Till next time, peace out!

 

Elder Goodman

aka BA

 

p.s. Favorite district anti-joke at the moment:

 

Why did Susy fall off the swing?

-Why?

She didnt have any arms.

Knock knock

-Who's there?

Not Susy 

A cool pond

The misty Rain

  The Flippin Tank

Land Rovers

  Cool Teddy Bear

Not a Meth Lab