Lost in the work!

HEY FAM.
 OK.... THIS week I am afraid will be short. But new years resolution: write more. hahahahahahaa! First, we had the baptism of our dear investigator Rebecca and it was FREAKING BEAUTIFUL. I love love love the Gospel and I want you to know that! Rebecca was very ready when we first met her. She was a reference from our stake mission leader (sml) . When we contacted her, she shared her story... our sml had told her she was living a bad life, and she needed to repent. Let me explain... they aren't even good friends, our sml is a bread seller who just passes buy every once in a while by her work - hahahahahahaa! So, he says that, (you need to repent) and she thinks "who is this guy? he doesn't know me!" And when she said this to him, he said she was the Grinch. hahahahaha:) He then told her, "I have a way to change your life. Try it out. It starts with this book (Book of Mormon.)" She started reading and one day, she went to church. We found her, and she explained her story, and we passed by her house later that week. She had read to ALMA and was reading every day! IT WAS SO AMAZING. We were able to teach and explain how the gospel can bless her life. She had a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, and so many amazing expeiriences in the middle. It was wonderful. But that is the basic story. She got baptized January 4th and I will send pics. I did a musical number that she wanted, playing cuando me bautice on the guitar and singing! (she asked me to) and she loved the whole thing. I loved it and I have a stronger and perfectly sure testimony of how the Gospel can bless lives. If you thought I had fire to teach before, you should see me now:) Those blessings, of seeing a sister of mine entering the waters of baptism was a wonderful blessing in my life. I know that we really are forgiven of all of our sins. That really, we are blessed, and that through Jesus Christ and the Gospel, we can return to live with Him again.:) My area is great. We have many more for the future and I love seeing the changes every week. All the days of contacting, knocking doors, or getting shut down, are worth one baptism. I hope you understand my testimony of this Church. I know that it is true and it is the only place we can recieve all the happiness and blessings we need. I know, as a missionary, that I have a message, that I want to share with every person. No matter how bad my Spanish is, no matter how bad of a teacher I am, no matter my lack of experience, the Lord blesses. And I love being able to be his servant every day. I love all you. And I am thankful for all!!!!! Hope everything is well. And sorry again this is a little short. More next week. The family is planning to go to the temple in February, and oh boy am I so happy. My heart is filled with Joy for the work. Continue missionary work there! Kill it! It can start with just a book:)

Love,

Elder Lincoln Ellis Goodman:)

The Streets... 

 This Jesus and this Monica! 

                                     

This is us.... Rebecca is the super short :) Her brother is the baldy in regular clothes and her friend (missionary work by her!)  The Stake Mission Leader (sml) at the end:)

  Less active famiily we got to come finally!!!!!

RAIN.  FOUND NARNIA. (it leads to a different part of our area)

He thinks he is funny!!

A Missionary's Testimony....

(Same letter as the previous post...love the sweet words of this missionary and his Faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.)

....But the best was your testimonies! I loved them. And so I wanted to share my testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ with you!

I want you to know, what I know about my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that He is my Savior. That He is my loving brother, and a person that is always there for me. I know that He knows every pain, sickness, and affliction we have gone through. That He cheers us on in the good times, and carries us through the bad times. That He is the Reedemer of the World, and He is the ONLY way we can return to live with our Father in Heaven. He was and is a prophet, a perfect example, and the Son of God. And that as the Son of God, He was the only person who could have satisfied the laws of justice and mercy in a perfect way. I testify that through Him, literally all of your sins can be washed away. That if you repent, and you are doing your best, He makes up the rest. Jesus Christ, is my friend. A person, that in the worst times, is literally there to help us every step of the way. He rejoices with us when we succeed. And He is there to take our burdens away. Through Jesus Christ, we can be cleansed. We can become white as snow. And we can become pure. I testify, that as a representative of Him, He loves every single one of us more than we could imagine. That He really would give everything so that just one of us could be saved. He showed us that! He suffered every sin, every dirty thing of the world, so that we could have the CHANCE to repent. Can you imagine that? That a perfect person who had been clean, perfect, and never deserved to go through any of that, did so for you? I testify of the purifying power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and that He is my example, my friend, and my counselor, every day of my life. I love Him with all my heart. I want  to be the best example of Him I can here on a mission. I owe Him my life, and I would give it willingingly. I have a testimony of repentance and the atonement, and I know that He will continue to help me. I'm not close to perfect right now. But I hope to get closer every day. It is my goal as a human being! To get to know Christ and become more like Him! I love this gospel. I know that it is true. That Jesus Christ is my Savior, Reedemer, and big brother. I love Him,  and I hope to show that every day here in Mexico! I love you! 

Love, Elder Lincoln Goodman:)

What do we stand for??

Happy Holidays!!

Although the holidays were different without our Elder here to keep us smiling...we love where he is at and love all the experiences he is having in Mexico!!

FAM BAM. 

First of all, I sent the package. Should get to you. But I sent stamps with it for all of the other letters for friends and things. It was cheaper to send one package...hope it isn't too much trouble! Also, next time we talk...lets have some organization. Sorry if I talked forever! I felt like I didn't get to hear about your lives!!!!

Anyway, this week was amazing! I loved it! From talking to you guys, to finding new people, we had a lot of fun and the Spirit of Christmas was amazing this week!!!!!!  First, we found a man named Oscar. He is chill! He is like 50 years old, and teaches Montessori School (it is big here) to kids that the government doesn't let attend regular school...hope that makes sense. He teaches kids with problems in speaking and things. Anyway, we talked to him in the park and later passed by his house. The next time we passed by, he said that he had read the Book of Mormon... liked the last chapter of Jacob. He had read the whole pamphlet, but wanted us to explain a little bit more. After talking for awhile, he said, "This is what I have been looking for. The Light." WOW!  IT WAS AMAZING! He is awesome and he has a baptismal date! We also got to teach Saul, our teenager, about Enos and receiving  answers. Saul decided to do the same thing. After praying for hours, he says he finally received an answer from God. And our prayers (my comp and I) were answered! We were so relieved. He found us walking in the street and says " Hermanos! I received an answer. God exists." It was a powerful testimony to me.

These are just some of the amazing things that happen every week. I love it out here, and I want you to know that. The crazy stories are really cool, but the others things that happen every day, I can't explain... It is amazing!

Well, this part, I wanted to respond to the package. I AM SO THANKFUL FOR EVERYTHING. The photos were wonderful. The tree so cute! The hug from Lizzie I straight almost cried. From her growing so much, from missing hugs, or from me being so much skinnier, I'm not sure. But the best was your testimonies! I loved them. And so I wanted to share my testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ with you! (I will include Lincoln's testimony in a separate post to follow!)

Love,

Elder Lincoln Ellis Goodman

I love email!!

(A Little Q&A from Elder Goodman… I absolutely LOVE seeing pictures and his amazing smile!!)

Are you going to 'skype' us on Christmas Day? YES! I WANT TO WE ARE FIGURING OUT DETAILS.  When do you think you will be able to call/skype? I think I can at like 5 or 6 here...depending...hope that works?:/   How long will you get to talk/skype? 1 hour!  What do you need us to do to be ready? Just need your skype address!  Also, did you get the Christmas package I sent about a month ago?No.  (So sad!) But I am sending one to you guys. I am saying sorry in advance that it doesn't have presents...I couldn't save enough money to send one with objects...you should get it this week!  
How are your families this week? Families are soooooooo good! We have a new Family, the Family Valdez, who are listening and interested. They were the ones who we found hitch-hiking! They are wonderful, and really fun! Also, Rebecca, has gone to church 4 Sundays and is close to baptism. She loves the gospel and she has recieved so many blessings.  Are they feeding you well? They feed me well! In Mexico, you eat only a little in the morning, huge meal at like 2pm, and then a little at night....I eat! No worries! Have you stopped losing weight? It isn't bad! I just can't work out long enough to keep up with everything. I do like 200 push ups and 300 situps and what not (dad) but I dont have enought protein to gain....so I lose...haha! Also, My claves are tiny because I can't run, but my thighs are big because we are speed walking all day...hahahaha! That is why I needed pants! 
Thank you so much for everything!  This week has been wonderful. The biggest blessing was people coming to Church. We were able to focus on the people more this week, and it helped! We had like 12 people! Not as much as before, but we are out of the slump! We are going to be killing it  this next week. We are really excited for the baptisms coming up. Saul and the family Valdez and Rebecca….so yeah! 
So awesome story... before church, we went to go talk to Saul to remind him.  After we entered, there was a knock at the door. This man was there.  Saul said, "What's up?" And the man said, "Is it ok if I talk with them?" We went outside and he talked to us about all kinds of things.  He said how when we had passed, he knew he had to talk to us. He had been praying and when he looked up we were crossing the street. He followed us for like 2 blocks and saw us enter the house..haha! But he then talked about how he needed to talk to us. My comp was speechless, and so was I! We were like...uh....sure! As I and my comp testified of the atonement and how he could be clean, we all felt really good. It was soooooooo sick! To know that the Lord trust us with his children is a really wonderful feeling. It is something special to know that He trusts us even when we are not missionaries. So maybe that is a challenge I have for you... Somebody is in your life who needs the Gospel. Be bold. Find them. Pray for help and go for it! I love the Gospel. I love it out here:)

Love you allll!So excited to see you on Christmas!

Love,

Elder Lincoln Ellis Goodman:)

"And this is my friend the iguana named Kid Cudi. I caught it when walking to a members house. It wasn't really happy...but it is all good!:)"

"And sometimes, we ride in the back of fruit trucks for fun. So I took pics with the avocados. hahahaha! Love you!!"

 "I found a McDonalds. -worthit-"

 "This is Betty. The Cocodrilo. She is a beautiful Crocodile that I tried to touch and almost bit my arm off. That is a duck. in the picture for comparison. She is quite large. about 10 ft long. And she likes to eat people. She lives behind walmart, in a place that is like the scout park. hahahahahahaha"

 "This is me killing it beach style."

"Merry Christmas!!!!! from Mexico! (This is a different area...really rich and has a mall):)"

"Anxiously Engaged"

I thought I would include this personal letter to Lincoln's Little sister Lizzie…to cute to pass up!  I can tell how excited this Elder is about his mission and ALL the experiences he is having, just by all the exclamation marks!  Love 'reading' his enthusiasm for sharing and teaching the gospel…AMAZING!

LIZZZZZZZZZZZIE!

This letter is JUST FOR YOU. I wanted to say Happy Birthday! I hope it was soooooooo wonderful:) I heard you ate chicken at Chick-fil-a and played tons! Is that true?! You are 5! Oh my goodness! Basically a woman, like Faye and Ashley! I want you to know I showed everyone my picture of you on your birthday and like 100 people in Mexico say happy birthday to you! I hope you are so awesome! We will go on a date when I get home ok?:) I love you! I miss you Beautiful! And hope you are safe:) 

Love,

Elder Lincoln Ellis Goodman:)

Fam!

Mama! I love you! Hahahahahahaha! Thanks for the letter! And Dad! And Faye! And Ash! D! I miss you bud! I hope you are doing well and kicking butt! How is your friend with the Book of Mormon?! How are your Girlfriends?! I hope you are killing it stud:)

This week was sick…. in both ways!!!!!! The bummer stuff first. hahahahahahaha:) Just that we haven't been able to teach Jesus and his wife in a while. That is why I haven't talked about them. They are a little busy and have been in Guadalajara. But we will teach them soon:) Yeah....that is it for the bummer stuff!

The Romero FAmily has a date to go to the Temple! We helped them figure out their budget and they will be sealed in February! If I am still in this area I will be able to go with them! I AM SO STOKED. They are amazing!!!!!!!!!  We have also, a investigator named Rebecca. SHE IS SOOOOOO SICK. She works nights:) Just like Mom!  She has gone to church 3 times and has a baptismal date for the 4th of January! So sick!  She is so cool. We recieved a reference from a member and just asked her what she had heard. She said, "Oh....well my friend gave me this book (Libro de Mormon) and said I should read it.... I am in the book of Alma!  I feel like this Book is true." WE FLIPPED BISCUITS MAN!  It was so cool! She testified how it always brought peace and helped her relax before she went to sleep. I wanted to freaking cry! It was so awesome! We also have a sister named Ramona, who is straight up separating with her husband so she can get baptized. (Talk about conversion) And we are excited for her too!!!!! Anyway, That is what is up with our investigators. 

We have lots of fun here. Today, we went to the main town. We are about an hour away so the pics are a little different, but super cool! I ate a McDickens. It was like 70 pesos but so worth it. Also, I have letters for the fam! And I am sending them! We only have a UPS, and it is crazy expensive, so I have been saving up for the last couple months!  It should be coming... like a package of a bunch of letters! Haha! 

Also, the Christmas Devotional was amazing! I hope you guys watched it! It was so awesome. I realized I've gone real soft when I start crying at just that. hahahahahahaha! But it is all good! I love the Gospel so much and really, I love being a missionary. -storyofmylife-. 

I hope all is well with all of the family! How is the Christmas tree?! And I hope Christmas music is playing all day every day!

I believe Ashley jinxed me this week. I did get attacked by a dog. Well.....like 6. But one in particular was a little nasty. We were in a part of my area that is a little bit rougher than the other parts...and two dogs watched as we passed to a house at a dead end.  After we contacted the house, the man shut the door. Then the dogs booked it towards us! My comp straight up shoved me forward and flipped out! Hilarious!!  I kicked the one of the dogs in the face (sorry dog) and the other just kept barking. My comp is freaking! I just stood there, and the other dog did too. Then it just walked away. It was hilarious! And wonderful... and straight mexico. I loved it! Reminded me of the German sheppard I used to walk by every day on Dolphin Ave. and ran away the first 3 days.  Then just got mad and yelled at it the 4th day and never had problems after that. The things you learn as a kid:) That is it! Hope that is ok! Sorry if things are a little short, but it was wonderful! Love you!!!! Tell Sister G. I hope she is ok!!:)

Love you tons.

Elder Lincoln Ellis Goodman.)

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I am thankful for missionaries!!

Another Q&A with me…I think Lincoln wants to make sure he answers my questions- or think of something to write!! haha  Love that some of his answers are so descriptive! (Totally being sarcastic here!)

So questions for this week…How was your week?(mom)

Really good! This week, we had Zone Confrence and it was SOOOOOOO sick. I love it and I wanted to go share the Gospel with everyone and their dog after!! hahahahahaha! We have a new investigator named Silvia, and she is so awesome! Also Rebecca is new and Saul will probably be baptized next week!!!!!! It is awesome!!!!  How is your companion?(mom) My comp without fail always comes home tired:) It is all good!!!!!!  How are you losing weight, yet need pants that are bigger in the leg?(mom) I have no idea.   Do you have a bug of some sort…not surprising if you are eating raw chicken!(mom)   Let's hope not. How is the work?(mom) So good!   So Rebecca is a reference. A member called her a 'sinner', and she wanted to know why. hahahahahaha! That member actually helped out and gave her a Book of Mormon. We have only known her a week but she has already read to Alma... SOOOOOO AMAZING!! And Silvia hated the church. She had some problems with people in it, but wanted to hear about how that applied to the actual teachings of the chruch. After the first lessons, she commited to baptism. THE SPIRIT IS MY FAVORITE.  How did the in-actives do this week?(mom) They were a little harder. The family Romero has a date to go to the Temple in February... SO STOKED. But the other families are having problems understanding why it is important. We are going to be teaching and working with them, because they are having a hard time! Did more people come to church?(mom) No.. less- it was really sad.  What was your favorite moment of the week?(mom) Contacting a whole soccer game. hahahaha! Or... being able to talk with a new family!!!!! It is a really cool story. 

So it was close to us needing to be in the house, but we needed one more contact. Me and my companion decided to pray. We prayed, and right after, I felt like we needed another Book of Mormon...  I had given them all away. So we ran to the house. After, we walked out of our house, turned the corner and there was family. Literally they were just standing there and looking around, like they weren't sure what to do. WELL THAT WAS A SIGN! We contacted them and they were really accepting, and we will be teaching them this next week. It was sooooooo awesome. If we hadn't gone to get a Book of Mormon, they wouldn't have been there. They would have been walking, and way far away. The Spirit works in so many ways. It was so awesome!!!!  What was the hardest or most challenging?(mom) I wanted to give Faye a hug this week. It was what I missed. And also the less actives. They sometimes don't understand how important church is... or getting our members to understand how important member missionary work is. They have a way of getting in a rut and thinking that the missionaries should just have baptisms every week. And they think we aren't working if we don't. It is hard to help them realize it is up to them! How are the missionaries in our stake?! How is the missionary work?! I hope all is well. I love you all! And was really thankful for a lot of things this Thanksgiving (I remembered that night at like 6pm) hahahahaha! I love you all and miss you tons! And when I get back, I'll hug you all 100 times:)

Elder Lincoln Ellis Goodman

Zone Conference!!  At least he got some pumpkin pie!!

Elder Goodman's Zone…he is on the far left :)

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Week of Thanksgiving…a little late :)

So at the beginning of the letter, Lincoln is simply answering the questions I asked in my letter. A little Q&A if you will :)

How was your week?(mom)

Week was sooooooooooooooooo good! So,  I have lost about 24 lbs! Whoooooooo Hooooooo! My legs are becoming that of a chicken and it is sad. But I can only work out 30 min every day….and my companion hates running. hahahaaha-- but yeah!   How is Jesus and his family?(mom) Jesus and his wife are wonderful. She was sick with her baby, which is due in January (for you mom) and he worked all week, but he is reading and really wants a lesson... tonight I think!  How are the Romero's?(mom) They are doing well, they are going to everything, and they are one of the best family missionaries in our ward! And they love calling me bad man instead of 'goodman.'   How is the couple with the husband that prefers English and wife that speaks Spanish?(mom) The hermana doesn't like it much… In the beginning, I was on changes when my comp taught her. He kind of taught her about babies and baptism...don't know how well that went...hahahahahaaha!  How is your newest little convert and his family?(mom) He is so good! Primary Program was this week....so awesome!  Ok…now for a different type of question…what was your favorite moment/moments of the past week?(mom) Favorite moment was finding a family after these people called me the bad word....and teaching Saul!  What has been your favorite thing to eat? I love everything here. But the wierdest is raw chicken legs, or raw pig skin, or cow eyeballs....whatever you think!    Next week I go to Guadalajara, so don't know if I can write. 

This week...the interesting stories, I went on Divisions and I decided to really try and be like Jesus Christ (picture), I almost got in a fight with one of our contacts. And then the Jehovah Witnesses decided to go into all out war against us. I will explain...  First, the man I contacted was looking for something and well I asked if he needed help. He said "No," so we went to talk to his friend. But during that he yelled, "Do you have my phone?!" I said..."uhh....no, you need help finding it?"  Then he came really nice and close grabbed my tie and said "If you don't have my phone, you need to leave." Well....that wasn't very nice. So I kicked him where it hurts and ran… NOT! No, I said, "We just wanted to share a message of joy and happiness....seems like you need something like that in your life!" (No, I wasn't sarcastic, they don't get that here) And he said, "Would you like to fight?" Then I said, "If you really want, but that probably wouldn't be a good idea. We are representatives of Jesus Christ and we don't want to hurt people. We want to help with peace." Well....he just let go. I gave him our number....but I don't think he will call.....haha! The Jehovah witnesses...so during personal study, they knocked on our door...There was about 20 of them with one leader.  In the end, I gave him a pamphlet....therefore we have been called many names by the congregation as they drive by in cars...haha! One of these times was with a contact. Some of the Jehovah Witnesses (just a guess) drove by calling us choice names, while I was hitchhiking...but then the car after gave us a ride. It was a family, and when we talked to them, they wanted to hear more! They were so awesome and we are so excited to teach them! The Lord blesses us a ton:) Primary program this week was so cool! I loved it, and it was so simple and sweet. I loved hearing everything! And lesson with Saul....Well with him he has been having a problem with knowing if God really exists. We started unsure and not having a plan. (We had been trying to have one all day) Well...I just turned to 2 Nephi 31 and we started reading... then he asked, "Well...how do I know?" We were like... BRO. YOU PRAY. THAT IS HOW YOU KNOW! hahahaha! We had told him this before but it finally clicked as we shared Alma 32 about the seed of faith, and working with an experiment. It was wonderful! And then he prayed. He prayed perfectly really wanting to know, and I felt so good. That is why I am here! It really doesn't matter about the Jehovah Witnesses, or fights, or contacts that reject. People like Saul, who are humble enough to pray and figure it out. It was worth it. Valle le pena. I loved every minute. I love it out here. Although I miss you guys, I really love it. I know that God does love everyone. No matter how hippie that sounds. I love that so much. I know the Gospel is true, and that we have a companion, the Spirit, who is there every step of the way. It is beautiful! Well, I will try to send pics. Love ya!

Elder Lincoln Ellis Goodman

Best picture so far!  This Elder knows why he is there and is willing to make his stand as a witness of Jesus Christ! Something for us all to remember…to share the gospel with our other brothers and sisters, showing them the way home.