Hello there!
How is my lovely family doing?? I hope you are all doing well, even though it sounds like you are being boiled alive by the heat. A lot of people here have been telling me about the heatwave, and they just cant believe that it gets that hot. I cant even imagine doing missionary work in the Arizona streets at this time, and even though we have plenty of hard times here, it makes me thankful to have decent weather! Its been a lovely short-sleeve, misty sunshine week!
So first off, the temple trip was amazing. It was really good to see all my missionary comrades again, and its crazy to see how fast these kids have changed. So on tuesday, we woke up early and luckily snagged a ride with "donkey kong" James Williams to chorley. I love him to bits, because if it wasnt for him, we would have had to catch a train at 5:00 to make it there by 8. But instead, he drove us and we picked up some McDonalds on the way! After an hour and a half of driving and seeing all the sights of western england, we arrived at the temple site and were welcomed by the endless missionary hugs. I have never been hugged by so many men in my life, and it kind of weirds me out, especially when the French elders get invovled. French. Thats all that i have to say. Haha but we started off with a really good devotional in the nearby stake center, and listened to President Preston and the assistants. It was powerful to feel the spirit so strongly and powerful to see the entire chapel filled with missionaries.
We then broke into 2 groups, and while the first session went on, I waited with Elder Caleira the other Elders and sisters in the second group. we checked out the distribution centre and walked around the MTC grounds. It was way weird, and it feels like ages since i've been there. Oh yeah, its still really weird to have a bunch of younger, especially the new 18 year old, missionaries with us. There is just a radical difference in maturity. But anyways, eventually it was our time to go through the temple, and it was probably the best session i have ever been to. I learned so much, and felt consumed by the spirit. I felt like I could spend all day in there, and Elder Caleira and I were the last ones out. The temple is truly the house of the Lord.
After the sesh, we all ate lunch in the cafeteria, mega good roast, and then headed back to the chapel for final words. The opening hymn was sung by Elder Macmeikan, from Essex England, and he had an incredible indie-folk voice and he sang If you Could Hie to Kolob. Music is an amazing ally of the spirit. After that we heard all of the farewell testimonies of the Elders and Sisters going home. The one that stuck out to me most was Elder Ostler, probably since he is most like me. The main point was "decide the kind of missionary you want to be, and be it". It just seems so crazy far away that one day i will be the one to give a farewell testimony, but every single one of them said it went by so fast, so I'm going to take their word for it and enjoy every moment I can here. After the meeting we had to literally sprint to catch our train home, but we caught it and that pretty much took the rest of the day. I actually love train travel and talking to people along the way. Good day.
The rest of the week was pretty ok. The highlights were playing cage football (soccer for you americans) in the pouring rain with one of our investigators, giving service to Brother Haskins, finding new potential investigators Collin Kelso (rad name), Ann, Steven and Janet. Also, we finally convinced oldman Tony to get a dog to help his lonliess, and he got a beautiful little sheep dog puppy! His name is Benji, and this is probably the happiest that I've ever seen Tony. Puppies=happiness. hint hint mom and dad.
Haha so this week, we have had a bit of trials. But trials are good right? So we have been severely suffering from hay fever, and the medicine we take barely works and makes us even extra drowsy. Lousy stuff. But its kinda funny, we walk around the streets with tears in our eyes and runny noses, We look like emotional wrecks. Luckily yesterday it started to ease up but....then the salmon happened. Ruby, an older lady in the ward, prepared a meal for us to eat after church. The "fresh scottish salmon" looked a bit questionable, but we went for it anyway. Bad idea. It hit us later when we were talking to a less active in her home. It was horrible, but luckily we made it back to the flat after 30 long minutes of walking, and got some relief. Lets just say, the rest of the day we spent in the nearby areas of our flat. Moral of the story= never trust obnoxious old ladies that offer free salmon, unless you want a party in your belly.
Overall, I am doing really well. Lately I have been having some home-sickness and "im tired of this area" moments, but all that really helps is just to stop focusing on myself and love and serve others. I have been really praying lately to "help me to love people", and its been a huge help in the work. All of your love and support have been a huge help as well, and im so grateful to have such amazing family and friends back at home. I love you all!
Peace out for now
Elder Goodman
BA
Pictures below:
Tony's pup
80's night. brother Haskins
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