Joyeux Noel (Merry Christmas)

Monday, December 30, 2019  8:41 AM MST

This past week was Christmas!  And it did not feel like it at all.  Just felt like a regular old day from the start.  And it pretty much was, just talked to my family and that was pretty much it, but I'd honestly rather have it that way than to have it feel like a big occasion and then be homesick because of it.  But I am happy to get Christmas out of the way and be able to say I've only got 1 left!  It's felt quick.

This week we're expecting 2 baptisms this Saturday, and 1 more from the other companionship in our apartment, so it's a big week!  We're planning to baptize Marc, who's 23, and Espoir, who's 10.  It's kind of stressful trying to prepare them and get everything in place so everything will go smoothly.  We've got a lot to do this week!  But it's definitely a good stress, and will definitely pay off when we see them all prove their faith in Christ by making covenants with our Heavenly Father.  The importance of baptism has really hit me while teaching these 2, and it will be a special experience to watch them take this step in their life.

Other than that, we've fixed another baptism for the 25th with a man name Yovi.  He lives alone and doesn't speak French very well, but he's a happy guy and has received our message well.  We're excited to continue with him.  And there's a few others that we're working with that we're hoping to fix for the 25th as well.  This could be a big transfer for us!  We're excited!

We had zone conference this past week, and it was very good.  They asked us to write down questions we had so that the Spirit could testify to us and help us answer them.  I did it and definitely got some answers.  One lesson that I really liked a lot was about joy.  He taught that if we think only about ourselves, we'll only see things from that perspective and we won't find joy.  If I'm thinking just from my perspective, it doesn't seem very fun to wake up at 6:30 everyday and go walk around in the African sun for 8 hours.  But if I think outside of myself and think about my ami and the change I can bring to their life and the joy they can feel because of our message, it makes it seem a whole lot better.  So if you're having a hard time doing something in your life, try thinking about the others in your life and how that benefits them.  And then do it for them.  It's not fun doing stuff for ourselves.

Hope you all had a great Christmas and that you have a good start to 2020!  I love you all!

Elder Goddard

Togo zone conference December 27, 2019 

Elder Goddard and his district
Elder Goddard, Elder Mputu, Elder Dent and Elder Appam

This is Elder Goddard's buddy Saleem.  He was baptized just shortly before Elder Goddard got to Adidigome.  He has come 3 weeks in a row to come and talk to us.  He loves talking to Jonah and Jacob and have them dance for him.  He says Jonah looks like "little Mr Bean."  Haha!  Saleem goes out with the Elders to teach every Thursday.  At just 14 years old that is an amazing thing for him to do!!  We love Saleem!

The boy on the left is Espoir.  He is the 10 year old that is getting baptized on January 4th.  The other boy is his cousin.  He came to visit Elder Goddard and talk to us today too.  We LOVE seeing and being able to meet and talk with Elder Goddard's amis!! <3

:D

Monday, December 23, 2019 10:34 AM MST

This week we scheduled another baptism for the 4th of January!  We're baptizing Fr. Marc.  A few weeks ago he stopped us in the street and asked us who we were and what we do.  He said he was trying out many churches and looking for the right one.  We happily started teaching him and now he's getting baptized!  He was telling us he's seen some missionaries and people like us before, but he's never stopped them before.  But he told us that day he had a strong feeling to stop us.  I know God has been preparing this man.  We were teaching him the plan of salvation, and he was so happy to know that baptism will help him qualify for eternal life.  The mission is good!

We continue to find good new amis each week too.  I know God is working right along side with them and helping us with His work here.  We had 5 people come to church this Sunday, 3 for the first time and the 2 others are getting baptized.  I'm so happy to keep working with these people and to see them take the steps necessary to deepen their faith in Jesus Christ.  I know the Lord is blessing us and blessing these people.  And with the success we're seeing, it's just making me want to work harder and be more obedient to help more and more people.  It's an exciting time here in Adidigome.

There's a quote from the book The Other Side of Heaven that I really like a lot and has really changed my perspective on certain things.  It says, "I have learned that some of life's sweetest experiences come from doing things that may not seem logical but that by faith you know are right, and then over time watching the justifications and blessings come rolling in."  Sometimes I feel like faith is an abstract thing that can be hard to understand.  But this really simplifies it for me and helps me to use faith in my life.  Sometimes we can rationalize not doing something that we know we're supposed to do because of the circumstances that we're in.  We can rationalize not doing it because it doesn't make sense.  But if it always made sense to keep the commandments, would that require any faith?  

Sometimes it makes zero sense to keep a commandment, but I think that's so cool because it's an opportunity to show our faith.  And even it it makes no sense, everything will turn out alright, but God won't let us fall.  So have faith, even if it makes no sense, because that's the real faith.

I'm having lots of people worried about how I'm doing, being here for Christmas, and I just want to let you know I'm doing good.  I kept waiting for the homesickness to kick in but now Christmas is suddenly in 2 days and I'm still doing well so I think I'll be fine.  So don't anyone worry about me just let loose, enjoy the time with the family, and remember all the awesomeness stuff our Savior did for us.  Love you all and have a Merry Christmas!!

Elder Goddard

Je suis Tombe malade (I got sick)

Monday, December 16, 2019 9:58 AM MST

Last Monday I ate a bad batch of leftover potatoes and got sick!  We stayed in the house all of Tuesday, but then we went out into sector all the other days of the week.  But when we were at the house I was mostly bed ridden trying to calm my stomach down.  So just some Christmas time fun!  I was all better by Friday though and I'm going strong now so no worries, la sante va bien.  (health is fine)

This past week was the end of our shortened 5 week mutation, (transfer) and I'm going to stay here in Adidigome and continue the training of Elder Mputu.  But now Elder Dent, who left for the mission the same day as me, is going to start training a new missionary.  So we're going to have a very very young apartment next transfer.  And of this young bunch, I got the call to be district leader.  Should be a fun experience to lead this young group and help advance the work of our Savior here in our Adidogome district.

This week we have been teaching a lot of people who I want to help so much.  These are people who are saying there's something missing in their lives, they're searching for answers but they're not there.  Just the kind of people who we want to teach.  They need the knowledge of the gospel in their life!  And I feel such a desire to share that with them and I want them to have the knowledge that I have that this message can help them more than anything else on Earth!  I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can possibly be doing to help them know that this is true, to help them know their Savior and his church on Earth today.  It makes me want to be so obedient and do everything possible to have the Spirit with me.  It's a little stressful, but it's a good stress.  I love these people and this gospel, and the blessings that it brings.

We've been teaching the son of our ami Koffi after he said he wouldn't be baptized until his son was.  We don't know why he wants it like that, but we've been teaching his son since.  He's a cute little kid, he's 10 years old and he's become a good buddy of ours.  We walk with him to church and back again.  And this week we fixed his baptism for January 4th!  It's very cool and we're very excited for him to take this step towards his Savior;  And be an example to his father!  We're hope that he'll follow in the footsteps of his son and take the same step.

Good week, and good mutation; time just keeps flying by!  Thanks for all your support and love and prayers.  I love hearing from you all and I hope you're all enjoying this Christmas season and taking time to look outside yourself and serve others.  Have a good week!

Elder Goddard

Washing machine!!

La saison de Noel (et la saison seche) - Christmas season (and the dry season)

Monday, December 9, 2019 12:33 PM MST

This week we had our Christmas activity and we had a fun time.  I was in the choir and my friends sat right behind the Elder leading the choir and were trying to make me laugh, and boy were they good at it.  They pulled out a selfie stick at one point and started taking pictures.  They were making me smile, but something else that made me smile was that at the end our mission President told us every apartment was getting a washing machine for Christmas!  We got that right after and took it home with us.  I don't have to wash by hand anymore!!

We've been trying to really focus on building up our relationships with the members in our branch, so we've been trying to call them up and visit them and not just when we're asking them to teach with us.  We had a really good experience with that Saturday night.  We visited Fr Koffi who we baptized a couple months ago.  He didn't come to church so we wanted to pass by and see if he was okay.  He was so happy!  We went by pretty late and I think he was surprised to see us.  We were happy to pass by and make him happy.  Let people know you're thinking of them this Christmas season!  It makes a difference.

At our Christmas activity, President and Soeur Goury both talked about how the best gift that we can give this Christmas season is give up our will to our Heavenly Father.  Everything we have and own belongs to our Heavenly Father, except our will.  That's the only thing we have that belongs to us.  And if we give it up and become true disciples of Christ, that'll be the best gift that we can give.  Serve and love others, Light the World this Christmas!  Commit to do it and make a difference in people's lives and make a difference in your own as well.  There's nothing better than letting others know that they're loved.

I love you all and thank you for your support.  Have a good week!

Matthew 19:26

But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Elder Goddard

Elder Goddard and his buddy Elder Taylor.  They had to say goodbye as Elder Taylor is heading home.

Santa!

C'est deja decembre? (It's already December?)

Monday, December 2, 2019 8:39 AM MST

This week was Thanksgiving and we kind of forgot about it oops.  So we didn't eat anything or do anything special on Thursday, but Elder Dent got gravy and mashed potato packets in his package, so we had our Thanksgiving feast on Saturday.  We just cooked up some chicken legs and served it with mashed potatoes and gravy.  Boy did it feel good to taste mashed potatoes and gravy again, I sure was thankful for that.

This week we sat down and had lessons with a lot of our new contacts.  One of them is named Olivier.  We started out just getting to know him, and after started the lesson.  We taught him the Restoration.  The whole time he was engaged, but kind of just staying quiet.  After we had finished teaching him everything, he just stayed quiet for a minute and then said that our message really touched him.  He's a pastor, and he said he's always felt like what he said wasn't always everything.  But now he understands, and knows that his next step is to get a testimony of the Book of Mormon.  Lessons don't always to like that, but it's cool when there is one like that.  We're happy to keep working with him and where this can go.

Lessons like that are pretty nice too also because I'd say I had a bit of a harder week this past week.  There's just a lot of responsibility on my shoulders with being the trainer and having to juggle lots of amis right now.  And I really want to help these people any way that I can, so when a lesson doesn't go as well, or when an ami doesn't progress, I kind of take that as my responsibility.  Like I'm doing something wrong.  I was thinking about it a lot one night walking home, just thinking to myself.  I was pretty stressed out.  And I said to myself, "I don't know why it's like this, but I know I'm trying," and as soon as I said trying, I immediately felt peace.  I wasn't stressed out anymore.  I felt the love of my Heavenly Father.  He knows that I'm doing by best, and that was enough.  The rest would be okay.  I was very grateful for that.

To go with that, I was reading Elder Holland's talk from this last October conference.  He talks about all the different things going in the church, and it can seem like a lot, and we can get caught up in that.  But we need to remember that the focus should always be on Christ.  Everything going on in the church points to Christ, and is there to help us come closer to Him.  So I've been trying to apply that to the mission.  There's a lot of different things that we can be doing as missionaries, but if I always put my focus on Christ, and strive to have His Spirit with me, I'll do what I need to do, and what he wants me to do.  Everything will be okay if I put my focus on Him.

So that was my week.  I hope you all had a good one and were grateful for everything we're blessed with back home.  Thanks for your love and support, I'm grateful for you all!  Have a good week.

Elder Goddard

Elder Goddard and Elder Mputu

Elder Dent, Elder Goddard and Elder Mputu

Mashed potatoes yum!

Thanksgiving feast