Hello hello hello! Holy cow, it sounds like everyone is having fun. Live it up! I love you and miss you all to bits, and happy birthday my father! You have no idea how grateful I am to be your son. We have been working our butts off here in Stafford, and we have been seeing amazing things happen. I am super drained, but its good to finally start seeing the results of hard work. So here's the deets!
On monday we had a really powerful lesson with Tony, and I think that I'm actually learning more than him at this point. But the whole man cave (the shed he lives in) was filled with a beautiful spirit, and Tony is definitely now a life-long friend. He wants to come to my wedding, and I'm going to try my best to go to his! After the lesson, we walked all the way to the train station to pick up Elders Schiona and Greaves, because they were to spend the night with us, PARTY ON! The night was way fun, and we didnt get a lot of sleep, but it was refreshing to just relax and tell jokes late into the night. In the morning, Elder Schiona and I woke up really early and caught a bright and early train up to Manchester for the all-day District Leaders Council Meeting. All the district leaders all showed up, and I finally got to see my dear friend Elder Caleira again! It seriously feel like I was reunited with my brother.
So the meeting was crazy good. I learned so much, and a huge emphasis was "what you learn here, and what you learn as you lead your fellow missionaries, will stick with you for the rest of your life.You are all chosen leaders, not just for the mission, but for life." It really struck me hard, so I opened up my ear holes extra big to hear and learn and feel and grow as much as I possibly could. However, the thing that remains the same throughout all the training is, the best leaders are the ones who are themselves and are real. Amen. No more evil robots.
So on wednesday....I lead my first district meeting!! I was nervous as flip at first, especially because President Preston sat in on it, but it all eased once I got started and just flowed on in a very Bryant Goodman style meeting. The theme of my meeting was "Serving from our Strengths". I thought it went really well, and funny, and there was beautiful spirit that could be felt as well, especially after singing the closing hymn. Side note: I absolutely love singing now, and I think singing everyday has given me good practice and I no longer completely sound like a dying racoon. After the meeting, President Preston came up and gave me a juicy man-hug and congratulated me on the meeting, and I felt the love, big time. After the meeting, me and the district chilled in the chapel and ate lunch together and quoted moonrise kingdom, fantastic mr fox and nacho libre. Good times. I love my district!!!!!
For the rest of the week, we worked and worked and worked. We have been hitting the streets hard, and have been tracting down a lot of the lost sheep. Many of them have chosen to remain lost, which is a bit sad, but along the way, we have found others who are prepared to hear the truth! We are now teaching a big black woman named Pauline, Sharon, Alfred Badger (rad name), random people near the skate park (I love skatepark contacting), and our newest miracle, Paul!!
About halfway through our Elders quoram lesson, Paul walked into the chapel and began browsing around. We went out and talked to him, and we found out he is just looking around for a good church to go to. So we invited him into the rest of the lesson, and we could really tell he felt a spirit and power and unity that he has never felt before. So after that, we got his details, and he is totally stoked to learn more from us and he even said he wanted to join our church!! It was amazing, and I have such a strong hope that he is going to go far. Our little branch could really use him.
So other than that, nothing too crazy has happened! We are still teaching a lot of our members, and I have especially fallen in love with one family in particular, the Sherrards. They have four little beautiful children and they all cling to me: Ellaiyna, Ismai, Jarom and Rowan. Just playing with them all and sharing their joy and love makes me so excited to be a father some day and have children of my own. One day. But for now, the work is moving on, and I love you all, and I'll keep you updated on the life and adventures of Elder Bryant Goodman next week! Peace out home skillets!
Elder Goodman
BA
p.s. I would love some new tunes.
p.s.s. Elder Hatch has been converted to making blow-guns, and we have competitions at night.
Secret pond we found
I have to pretend.
Blue Tie.
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