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