The. Very. Last. Letter.

Dear loved ones,






I will see you soon.

K bye and stuff






Love,
Elder Goodman




To mom:

Wow....I am at such peace with everything. Words are inadequate to
describe how I feel though.
Just know, I love you
and I can't wait to see you soon!

Love,
BA


To Dad:

Hey dad, I love you! Once again, thanks for the advice. Haha the
members here have really taken it to heart to leave me with all the
advice they could dish out, and these are my top 3 favorite=

Don't rush it.....don't rush it.


You don't know what you are going to do? Why should you know what
you're going to do?!?! You will never know till it happens, but be
ready for anything. Just study what you love, and you can't go wrong.


Be good....and have lots of babies

Not much to say.... ready to come home.

Second to last email, last full week in the mission, 10 days till reunion, and a lifetime of good times ahead. 

Life is good!

I really don't have much to say, other than I am beyond excited to see all your faces once again, and...I'm absolutely shattered haha. We had to wake up extra early to help one of the ward families empty and move their entire house because they were shortly being evicted. Rough times, but it was amazing to see everyone flock together and help at such short notice. So, I am going to cut the jibber jabber short, and talk to each of you individually instead. Sound good? Cool beans.

I love you all!

See ya soon

Peace

Elder BA

p.s. I was majorly impressed by your throw in yo face pictures. They made me laugh out loud in the quiet library like an idiot

Hey dad!

Responses:

Work is slow but good. I'm just soaking in all the moments right now, mostly working with past investigators and less actives. And then trying to do as much service as I can. This week I have my final temple trip, with all of the others in my returning home group. It should be a pretty special session with all 26 of us.

I am so excited for life. My ideas and career paths and lifestyle day dreams change almost daily, but I like it that way. I hope I get to live through multiple paths and experience more...you know, keep things fresh. I am actually really excited to start studying at university again. Oh yeah, and learning to surf. 

After helping out the evicted family this morning, it has made me extra determined to get a solid education and financial plan. My plan is to become self-reliant as soon as possible, having all debts paid off and being able to grow my own food n' such in an area with great outdoors...with a focus on very simple lifestyle. Easier said than done, but that's my dream.

Next Tuesday I have my final interview with President Ulrich, then on Wednesday will be my last transfer meeting. Following that I will go to the mission home for a final fireside, then we will all go spend the night in the AP's flat. Then....in the morning i'm off to London!!! 3 hour layover, then direct flight to Phoenix. Then boom....AZ lovin. 

Elder Moote and I are super tight. It's been a good and chill transfer. I have loved the experience of helping him fine tune and expand his English. 

And yeah, I would love to explore the rest of Europe. Hawaii earned it's way to the top of my travel list, but I hope I get to back pack/longboard across Europe at one point in my life. Within Europe, my top three places I want to explore are Sweden, Prague and Florence.

Ta for now,

your son,

BA

One Door Closing, Another Door Opening....

With this door closing in England, and a new one opening in Hawaii...all I can think is...

Life is awesome. Enough said.

I love you all, and all that you do. 

Thank you mum for your young energy.

Thank you dad for your pragmatic wisdom.

Thank you Randi for your free-spirited example.

Thank you Tanner for your increasing character.

Thank you Tallin for your continual questions.

Thank you Tate for your pure spirit. 

Thank you Heather for your love and friendship.

And thank you to everyone else for your support!!! 

This mission has become the cornerstone that I want to build the rest of my life on. This week, I was able to hear so much real-life advice and profound wisdom from the good members here, and for many many reasons, I know that I am suppose to be here for my last area in England. I love the people here, and all the connections that have been made.

2 weeks left....it blows my mind...but I am so excited and inspired and energized to start the new chapter in my life!

I don't know much else to say...other than...check out our "throw in yo face!!!!!!!!" pictures!!! and remember....keep it fresh

​

I love you all.

See you in 2!!!!

Peace

Elder BA

p.s. I have a challenge for anyone who wishes to accept. 

The challenge is to send me your best "throw in yo face picture!" by next week. 

The goal is to make yourself look as unattractive as possible with no shame.

I will judge the winner.

Game on!

​
**In his letter to Mike:

There are definitely people here in this area that I needed to meet, and it's humbling to see that everything I have learned in my mission was what they needed. God's timetable is brilliant. 

Chelsey, the blond girl on the right in the picture I sent, was totally inactive...now she is active and just received a calling and is strong

David Walshe, an intellectual man and brilliant bible scholar who knows everything about Mormon doctrines and anti-mormon-material, and shook many missionaries testimonies.....was truly overcome with the spirit as him and I had an hour long discussion and he dropped all his conflicts. It was a powerful moment.

And there are so many others that I have come to love, and have helped me out. 

I will miss this mission for sure.​

Emotional goodbyes.

This is a bit surreal right now, and I'm feeling a perfect balance of excitement, anxiety, happiness and peace. Crazy to think I will be home in just about 3 more weeks...

This week kinda shook me in a way I wasn't expecting. When I first got into this area, I was so stoked to go home. My thoughts were back in sunny AZ, definitely not snowy England. Last night though, I went to my final missionary fireside in Manchester, and pure emotion gut-punched me. At the fireside, I saw so many of my true friends that I met over my entire mission. James "Donkey Kong" Williams from Wrexham, the Hills from Stafford, Gary and Ronny from Southport, the crew from Crosby, and the Bluncks, Siti, Yuki, the rest of the YSA gang from Preston, the Rossendale punks and all of my dear missionary friends and families that I met along the way. It was like...I could see my two years of work in front of me, and it was incredibly humbling to see how many lives I was able to be a part of. My eyes were on the verge of being sweaty as I realized how much I truly love and will miss these people and this land. 

Ok, enough being sentimental. Here are the rest of the week's deets:

Celebrated hard on my birthday. Treated myself and bought a new suit, and had a lovely mini party at Irish Palmer's house. Then, we had a combined YM/YW nerf war at the chapel. Forts were made. Rivalries were made. Fun was made. Injuries were made. I was shot dead in the eye, and lost my vision for the rest of the night. Freaked me out, but then God healed me in the morning. Cool. We then had an adventure in Bolton, stayed at Elder Candland's flat, we reminisced about Preston, made our way to Chorley in the morning for a zone conference and interviews, good times. Then on the way home, I was stuck on a bus for 3 hours, slowly plowing our way through the snow. I now hate buses and never want to be on one ever again. When I got home, I re-pinched the nerve in my neck. My body needs some serious recovery, aka swimming in the ocean. We were also able to see a little miracles, through testifying and destroying the anti-mormon material that was corrupting our solid investigator Doreen, and also giving a much needed blessing to one of the members. I will miss having sacred events happen so frequently. 

But with all that said, I miss you all more and I can't wait to see you so soon. 

I love you all, and I am craving jam sessions, mexican food, chilling with the family, and many good times to come. 

3 more weeks.

Till then...

PEACE OUT!!!

Elder BA

One month to go......

Alright...I think my heart is about to explode from all the birthday lovin' and awesomeness!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, I love you all. I want to reply to all of you individually, nice n' juicy, so here are some quick pics to describe my week:

Queen Elsa Farted and blew snow all over the town.

​

My week pretty much consisted of walking in the snow all day (quite epically), getting to know members, having an adventure up in Burnley and having tea with a non-member family from Kiribati, hiking up a mountain, getting lost, teaching an old, spunky lady named Doreen who is close to baptism, learning more knife fighting from Elder Moote, helping a member move house all Saturday, and soaking in the fact that I only have one more month on this adventure.

Words can't describe how grateful I am for this experience and all of you.

Hopefully I will be able to show you instead.

But until then, keep up the steeze, 

and peace out!

Elder BA

​

Rossendale and Snow.

Heyo everyone! Greetings from the land of Rossendale Valley. I will just go straight to the deets!

Rossendale Valley=

Rural farm town, nestled in a beautiful valley.

Very poor and deprived, but well kept.

People speak a very "common" (equivalent of our "hick") accent. 

The ward is surprisingly very strong, and they love missionaries,

80-90 strong, with a lot of young families.

Covered in snow.

​

Companion=

Elder Moote

From the Pacific island of Kiribati (pronounced "keird-a-biss")

Very chill, very islander

recent convert of 1 year

gangster past, scars to prove it

loves teaching me knife fighting and nunchackus

loves Bob Marley

has a rough time speaking and understanding English, but we have learned to communicate through facial impressions and bird signals

never seen snow before, until now

​

Our week has been pretty chill, just exploring and getting to know the area and members and getting lost several times and relaxing to Marley at night. The ward warmly welcomed us, and it feels so good to be back in a ward that befriends missionaries again. We have 6 tea appointments this week! This sets the record for my entire mission. 

They have a well established Book of Mormon class and games night, and the YSA are awesome. Not too many, but good characters. Oh yeah, Bishop Masser is my favorite so far. Young, beautiful family of 5 young kids, friendly, athletic, amazing dad, and is already becoming one of the examples that I want to follow. 

This is a really good area, and with the added bonus of snowing for the past few days straight, it's an awesome adventure to end off on. My companion and the vibe of the ward is making it a perfect transition for me.

I am happy and well, and I am so stoked to see you all in about 5 weeks!

I love you all, and may your adventures continue

Peace!

Elder BA

​

p.s. my investigator Matt from Preston is getting baptized this week! happy flappy

LE suit Burning.

Chillin with Elder Moote

These were used for real.

Snowy view from the flat.

The chapel.

The last Transfer!!!!

Ladies and gentlemen....the last transfer has come. The Majestic Preston Squadron has been dissolved, and I have been called to die in the land of Rossendale Valley. I shall be whitewashing it with Elder Moote from the Pacific island of Kiribati, and I am stoked for this last adventure!!! The energy is high, and I am loving life. 6 more weeks of English awesomeness.

This week has been a mixture of happy adventures and sad goodbyes, as I have really grown to love the people here. The saddest one, was to say goodbye to my dear friend Saroosh, who gave us a departing arabic feast. (schofield, Mo "stay fresh", Saroosh, BA)

For the adventure side, Schofield and I found the three major, mormon historical sites in this area. Here is me, assassin creeding over the River Ribble. We also found President Hinckley's first flat, and also Heber C. Kimbals first flat where he was attacked by legions fo demons.

​

I love you all, and I am beyond excited to see you in 6 short weeks. This has been the greatest adventure of my life so far, and I have grown and learned and loved more than I ever thought I could. I will keep you updated on the deets when I get into my new area, but until then, peace out, stay fresh, and...k bye and stuff.

Elder BA

Schofield, BA, Mongie and Frenchie

 Andrei 3000

 Ottenhoffs

 Yuki and Mona

 Sanj Cat, newest addition to the flat.

 Hinkleys Flat

 Midieval battle happening right over there.

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