Saturday, October 11, 2014

The little things...moments that matter :)

WHAT UP.
LIFE HERE IN THE HOOD IS GOING GREAT.
First....questions: MOM- I DID GET THE PACKAGE.  IT WAS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING.  I HAVE USED EVERYTHING THAT WAS IN THE PACKAGE AND IT WAS SERIOUSLY A GREAT BLESSING FOR ME.  My companion loved the blue Mountain Dew...it was because he had never tried it and he wanted to know what it was like...(there is no mtn dew here....only in Sam's Club...so there is even less of other flavors)
Also....Conference was great...I will explain that a little bit later on....
This week, I learned and loved the little things.
We start with a Tuesday.  It was hot, the sun was shining, and we were sweating to death.  When, lo and behold, clouds come in from the East and a huge rain storms hits us from out of nowhere!  Well...we were left to run in the streets and take shelter under any little roof we could find.  That has happened a few times, but this time there was a blessing.  As we were waiting under a little shelter, a little woman opened her door and gestured us to run over to her house and enter... so we did.  It was with her little family,  everyone was there, and they just sat there like.."ok...we invited these crazy missionaries in....what should we say?"  Well we took the opprotunity of the rain to talk with them, in their house.  To teach about Jesus Christ and help them all feel His love.  As we finished up, the rain stopped, and we were able to leave.  But we were more happy they had accepted us into their home and we could work and help one more family get a little closer to Christ.
Later, our friend, J..., is progressing really great.  He has been touched by that fire of the Spirit and he is loving learning and recieving the lessons.  He loved conference and he loves the church.  It has been great to see those changes he has made over this last month or so.
Next...we come to lunch... we were eating in a restraunt of a sister and we heard some women talking.  One started to cry as she explained her distress about the death of her grandpa.  The Spirit told us to talk to her and to join them where they were sitting.  As we got to know them, and explained the plan that the Lord has for us, the lady slowly stopped crying.  She listened intently, asking questions and focusing on our message.  She then asked,  "Do you think this is all really true?"  It was like a movie, but the Lord let us do the easy part of testifying of truths and allowing the Spirit to testify to her....it is always humbling to be the Lord's instruments.
And then....after lunch....we went to an older sister who has been having problems with her family and the various things they were going through.  We had a plan to teach them, but when we got in the home, the sister started talking, and explaining a lot of things she was going through.  And really...she talked for a long time.  I have listened to many people but this woman really did like to talk!   I was a little antsy after awhile of what we should do, because our lesson didn't really apply to the need she was expressing. In the end, we decided to ask her a question. (It had been like an hour by now without any word from either of us) When she finally looked at us, we said,  "Sister, is there anything we can do right now to help you?"  And her answer struck me hard... "You have already helped, just by listening."  Maybe we hadn't taught anything. Maybe, the Spirit didn't even prompt us to teach something, but we had listened, and that is what the Lord had wanted.  It had opened my eyes.  After a year of people expecting you to have an answer, or to help in some way, it was touching to see this sister.  She didn't want answers.  She didn't want solutions.  She wanted somebody to care and to listen. And that is something I love to do:)  It really helped us out, as missionaries and I loved the blessings the Lord gives me here, the experiences I get to have:)
And of course....conference.  Conference was super bomb!  To tell you the truth, it was perfect.  It was perfect for us.  It was perfect for our investigators.  It was perfect for our missionaries and for our members.  We had gone the whole week passing out little flyers glued to pass along cards to anyone and everyone who would accept them, and to my suprise, many had an intrest of what went on in the Chruch.  As a result, not only investigators came, but new people came and others with questions. It was serioulsy wonderful to see the conference bless so many people and answer many of the questions I had.  I didn't have a favorite talk, but I loved the parts about revelation.  Maybe it is just me, but it is something different about this church.  That you can recieve answers straight from the Almighty Himself.  It is a priviledge and a beauty.  I loved the parts were they explained the process of revelation, and it is something I love to see EVERY week... EVERY DAY!   It is understanding and recieving those little messages from the Lord. That is just a quick explanation because not much time, but I did love it. 
And I liked that the people talked in their native language. :)
Love you guys tons. You never leave my prayers. May you all be protected and have a great week!
Love,
Elder Goodman!

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