Elder Bryant Goodman: Adventures of Elder BA

Hello! this is me (marcel the shell voice)

Ahh first off, Im glad that i actually have some time now to read and email. This week has been hectic and busy!!! But thats good I guess, the work is moving on! Thank you for all your lovely emails, and i will try my best to fill you in on the life of Elder Goodman.

Hmmm ok i'll start off with a mega good experience. So Elder Coleman and I were riding our bikes around wrexham, getting in as many contacts as possible (it was our goal for the week). One of our appointments fell through, so we were off to our back up plan, but didnt know the path we should take. I suggested we should take a certain road, because i was slightly prompted, but more so because the road was a crazy big and fun hill to ride down. So we did! after we bombed the hill, we were riding in the area and realized there was a former investigator who lived close by. Early last transfer, we tried by him millions of times, and he never answered so we kinda gave up on him. However, this time we were both prompted to try again one more time. We rang the door buzzer....and he opened up! His name is Terrance (Taz) and he is 20 and lives on his own, and holy cow, he has quite a coin collection. After talking to him and getting to know him a bit, he let us know that that day, he had strong feelings to go to church, so he could feel that 'empowering feeling' again. It was perfect!! We told him we were sent to guide him back and explained to him that the feeling he had was the Spirit. He was so enthusiastic and excited about it! He felt that God didnt give up on him.

So with our new friend Taz, we went to the ward activity last saturday night. Ba ba ba BA! It was STAR WARS night! The ward tranformed the cultural hall into a star wars themed, space station thing with a ton of lights and other junk. There was food, and people dressed up and Elder Coleman and I ran the flight simulator and watched both the little kids and adults shoot down tie-fighters and crash into asteroids. It was pretty fun. And oh yeah, in the 'Storm Trooper Shoot-Out' ( shooting targerts with nerf guns) I won the challenge and was welcomed into the 'Manly Club'. Thank you dad for the firearms training, i wouldnt be in the manly club without you.

So the Sunday after, we got one of the less active members to pick up Tez and both come to church. Bam! Two birds with one stone. The sunday service was very good and spiritual, and we were able to all go over to a members house after to have tea and have a lesson and carry on the spiritual vibes. After the lesson, Taz expressed a strong desire to get baptized and it was amazing! Pretty dang exciting, and I hope it all works out with him.

So after all that goodness, we all loaded into cars and the members, the Truby's, took us to see and walk along the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. Please, look it up on le internet, its incredible! Its one of the man-made wonders of the world, and I got to walk on top of it, view the beautiful river and valley below, and listen to Celtic jigs as the musicians performed and passed by on the canal boats. I'll post some pics, but i hope you all can see it someday for real.

Another fun thing, last wednesay our ward friend Alex took us out and we ate some mighty fine chinese noodles. It was so good. After, he took us around to a lot of the local shops in the town center, and yes....we went to a weapons shop....and yes i bought a knife. I just feel naked without one, but dont fret, i keep it in the flat and I love it. Alex is a pretty rad kid, and he came to the STAR WARS night in a full strom trooper suit. Party on. He reminds me a lot of Sam Greenhalgh, and we are trying really hard to keep him postive about serving a mission.

Lastly, we met up with John Thomas at his house, and oh my goodness....he has a crazy garden! Mom, you need to check it out in person. i'll post a pic. John is also a crazy historian, theologist, traveler and his house is full of his knick knacks, historical artifacts and an impressive music collection. I loved looking through all his vinyls and tapes. We talked for a long time about music and history, but he wasnt that interested in religion. It was very educational and very interesting, but it is going to be really hard to get him to soften his heart about the gospel. Time will tell!

So besides that, I have been really busy traveling to and fro on trains all around northern wales. We have had appointments and zone meetings and tea appointments... and its fun but exhausting at the same time. i love just crashing in the flat at night, totally exhausted from the day. However, I have been getting really bad sleep lately. My mind is always racing, but it has allowed me to get in some serious meditation practice. I can already feel the difference it is making, and my new goal is to become a master at it.

So that's all i have to say about that (Forrest Gump voice). I love you all, so much. I can feel your love and support all the way over here, and I look forward to hearing from you all every week. Oh ya, Skype this Sunday!! I am talking to Alex about it and it should all work out. Plan on connecting around 7p.m. my time....so 1 p.m. your time. Just send me an email for the username or whatever it is to find you, I dont really know how skype works. But im excited to see all your lovely faces!! Well, till next time, i love you all and wish you the best.

Elder Goodman

John's Garden: