Catch up time!!!

1/14/2013: 

The lessons we had this week went really well. C----- and S------ are continuing to progress. We invited them to live the word of wisdom last night, so they are a bit grumpy today, but we hope that we can provide them with the support they need right now. We also had a lesson with G----- again, finally! We tried to encourage her to make the decision to want to come to church, but she isn't sure. Hopefully she will open back up to us as we continue to teach, she is really shy so it's hard to know what she is thinking. But, her parents tell us we can keep coming, so hopefully we are doing something good for them.

Also, at church there were a few non-members there that members had invited, so we hope to have some new investigators soon. We have also been focusing on the part-member families here. Looking for interest among those families. I feel like the potential in this area is beginning to really show forth.

It is amazing to see the change in people as they accept the gospel, or work on living it better. C------ and S------are really good examples to me in their willingness to listen to us and to change their habits and put their lives more in line with God's will. We also have a less-active who shared with us some of the ways she was blessed last week (how she was protected when driving), and I know that those blessings came from some changes she made in her life just the week before!
This gospel is necessary for each and everyone of us in our lives. Why prevent God from giving us blessings far greater than what we have right now? I am so grateful to be here right now. For the people who have touched my life far more than I could touch theirs. For Heavenly Father's trust in me to give me challenges that are hard, but He knows I can face. We don't always understand in the moment why some things happen, but there is always a reason.
Have a great week! I love you!
Sister Goodwin

P.S. I forgot to mention too that we got to go to a leadership training in Sparks on Thursday. That was pretty sweet! The Spirit was so strong and President H--------- talked about focusing on our purpose and really understanding why we are out here. Another thing we learned was that we are trying to implement, that I have failed to do before, is to take investigators on a church tour before they come to church so they are more familiar with the building. Because one of the hardest things to do is get investigators to come to church.

Love ya!

Sister Goodwin

1/21/2013:

This week was also good because Sister N----- who is one of the traveling sister missionaries now came with us on Wednesday and worked with us on every aspect of finding! And helped us set goals. And it was AWESOME!! We were going through the former investigators and trying to contact some of them and experienced a miracle!! Let me back up first. A week ago Sunday one of our ward missionaries invited a friend to church who is going through a rough time. But we didn't get a chance to meet him. Well, then Wednesday we were trying to find this former but the address didn't have an apartment number that matched the information we had. So we took a guess and knocked on a different apartment. AND GUESS WHAT? It was the same man who had come to church on Sunday, only we didn't know it at the time. He said we could come back and leave a blessing on his home in a couple days. We didn't find this out until that night because the ward missionary called us and asked if we had stopped at that man's home. As of yet we haven't started teaching him yet, but he came to church again yesterday and Sister B--------- and I happened to be teaching the lesson in gospel essentials. And to add to that, the Bishop invited a non-member friend to church yesterday and he came to our class as well and we have an appointment with him and his family tonight!! 
 

I hope you could follow all that! Back again to Wednesday- Sister N--- showed us how to tract, so I did that for the first time. And we set a goal to go tracting for 30 min a week. At first I thought that wasn't very much, but we have tried to do more and we keep having appointments and not having time to tract! I think I like this :)

We already have 10 lessons set up for this next week! That is the most lessons I've have set up in advanced. Our goal is to make it to 20 lessons, so we'll see. 

Things are still hard, but I am enjoying this work more and more everyday :)

I love you! Thanks again for the letter! I think that was the only letter I've gotten in the last couple of weeks... everyone is slackin'! haha! 

Love, 

Sister Goodwin 

Lori is Training!

Hello family!

How is the new year going for you all so far? This week has been a new experience for me! At transfers on Tuesday I met my trainee! Her name is Sister B---------, she is 26 and is from Salt Lake City. Not exactly what I was expecting, but that's what the mission is all about- expect the unexpected. Training is definitely a new experience and requires ALOT of patience. But, it is a rewarding experience.

We had some really good lessons this week. And a new investigator! Her name is S----- and her husband, C------, is a less active member. They were talking to C------'s brother (who is on a mission) and S----- became interested in learning more about the church! SWEET! So we had a really good lesson and are going back tonight to teach about the Restoration.

Also, the day of transfers, Sister G------and I went over to a member's home, she is a member but her husband is not. He has had some not so good experiences with pushy missionaries, I think. But we decided to invite him to read the Book of Mormon, to find out for himself if it is true. We told him that it was his decision and that we wanted him to sincerely read and pray bout it. And he said he would!! I'm not sure if we were more happy or his wife :)

Another experience this week, the Spanish sister missionaries phone stopped working so they had been using ours when we would run into each other. Well, one night the Zone Leaders had finally got a new phone from the mission office for them. So they texted us and said that if we could find the sisters then they could get the phone that night. So we said a prayer that we would be able to find them. I only knew where one Hispanic family lives that they visit, and I knew that they had just visited them a few days before. But, I felt like that was where we should go. So we stopped by the sister's apartment first because we were close and they weren't there. Then, we headed over to this family's home. And there the sisters were! They had just been talking about how they hoped that some way they could find us to use our phone, and right then was when we knocked on the door!! Whoa!

That's all for now! Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Goodwin

Happy New Years! 

 

This week has been kinda crazy! It was good to talk to you on Christmas, I was so happy to see y'all!

We went to the Mission Christmas Party in Reno after skyping and had a blast. Well we partied it up as much as missionaries can. It was fun seeing other missionaries, Sister V------ :) and other missionaries from my last zone.

Most of us from Carson ended up staying in Reno overnight because the roads home were too bad. But we made it safe, no worries :) 

 

On Thursday Sister G------ and I got a member ride and headed to Tahoe for B--'s baptism! YAY! I had set him for baptism back when I was in Tahoe, I was so happy to see him- how happy he was and his family!

So this upcoming week is TRANSFERS! AH! So, Sister G------ is being shipped out to Elko! SO far away, where it is even colder than it is here! I will be staying here in Carson for at least another 12 weeks. I am TRAINING a new missionary! There is only one new sister missionary coming in, and I feel very inadequate to be training already, but I know that this is what the Lord wants me to do, so I will.  

 

Yesterday we had a really good day! We contacted a less-active who has a non-member wife and she seems really interested in coming to church! SWEET! So, we are hoping to start teaching her in the near future. And then we went over to G-----'s because she is getting her tonsils out and her dad (less active) really wanted her to get a blessing. So their home teachers gave her the blessing, the best part was seeing how much her dad wanted this for her because he knows that the priesthood power is real! BECAUSE IT IS! I have felt that power in the priesthood blessings I have received since being out here, I have felt my Heavenly Father's love for me as I have listened to the words He says through those priesthood holders. 

 

I love you all! Thanks for your support!

Love, 

Sister Goodwin

Christmas is Coming!

Hello family!
Wow, another week has gone by! It's getting closer to Christmas!! Yay!
This week we had I--'s baptism and confirmation. The spirit is so strong at baptisms, it helps me to know that I am doing what's right and and following my Savior. I am so grateful to have been able to help I-- along that path to enter the gate of baptism and be one step closer to returning to live with Heavenly Father, Christ, and her family forever!

On Sunday Sister G------ and I were late getting into class after sacrament meeting because we had some people we needed to talk to. Brother B--- (our ward mission leader) told us later that I-- asked to bear her testimony in class. She told everyone that she had been searching and going to other churches, but always felt like something was missing, but here after being baptized and confirmed she feels that she has found what she was looking for! I know that is because we have the GOSPEL restored and in its FULLNESS. We are a part of the same church that Christ organized when He was on the earth. Just think about that, how amazing is that to know that the priesthood power that Christ has to teach and to heal and to perform all the miracles he did, is the same priesthood power on the earth today!?! I've known that all my life, and yet the thought of it still amazes me and reminds me of how blessed I am!

I love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Goodwin

Aren't People Just Amazing!

Hello family!

This week was great! We had our last couple of lessons with I--, she had her baptismal interview and is ready to go for the baptism on Saturday!! We are so excited for her and she is getting really excited. It is so great to see the change that has occurred in her life and in her brother's family- they are LDS and I-- is living with them right now. I am not sure how active her brother was before we came to Carson, but he is now and will be the one to baptize her!

We ran into an interesting lady this week while trying to find a less-active. The lady invited us into her apartment and told us about experiences that she's had of seeing visions, and how Christ is a big part of her life. She is also really caring about other people. She told us we could come back and visit with her again, so she is a potential right now. It's funny how you will see someone and picture them being a member of the church and how happy their lives can be. That is what I saw her when we were talking with her and I really hope she will be open about hearing the gospel, because it will make her life better than it is right now.

We also had a good visit with S-----, I can't remember what I've mentioned about her, she is less-active. We don't even have her records in the ward. But we went over yesterday and talked about hope, because part of her family won't talk to her or really have anything to do with her right now (her grown-up daughters) and her family means everything to her. It makes me so sad and I just want to be able to fix everything for her, but I can't. I think she is going through this right now so that she can re-grow her testimony in the gospel and not rely so much on it being centered around her family. She hasn't read the Book of Mormon for a couple years so we left a copy with her (hers is packed away somewhere still) and a chapter in Moroni to read. She said she would and I could just feel her willingness to learning about the gospel again. I really think she is ready to gain that testimony again. I'm not sure how long it will take but I am so excited to see her progress.

Aren't people just amazing! I am so privileged to be a part of these people's lives and the lives of others here in Carson. Here in Nevada! I know that the Lord is watching out for me each day and is giving me strength. I have to remind myself sometimes of how much I have felt the Lord's hand in my life these 4 months so far that I've been on my mission! I am so grateful and so honored to be a personal representative of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. I wear His name because I am doing His work. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have of my Savior. I know that He lived and died for each and every one of us! And that is birth is the most important thing we should remember during the Christmas season and also throughout the year.
I love you all! Thanks for your support! Have a great week!!!

Love,
Sister Goodwin

Remember Christ Everyday

 Change the "his" to "her" and it's perfect for Lori

 Lori in the church parking lot...in the pouring rain

Decorating the Zone Leaders car as a prank on P-Day

 Ward Christmas Party

Hello family!!
Can you believe it is December already!! Crazy! We got a ton of rain this last weekend which is very abnormal for Nevada! The church parking lot looked like a swimming pool!
So this week I had a new experience- we went to visit a less active member, and well he wouldn't shake our hands, he cussed us out, and threw us off of his property. Yes, very welcoming as you can see. The rest of the week was better than that! We had 2 lessons with I---, we have taught her pretty much everything and are now preparing for her baptism on the 15th! Yay!

We should have had a lesson with G---- yesterday, but she was with her grandma and her parents didn't know when she would be back. So, we visited with her parents- they really like having missionaries over, but I don't think they would admit it to us. So we shared with them the Christmas story out of the Book of Mormon. If you didn't know it was in there, read 1 Nephi 11.
And we have a new investigator!! Yay! Her name is P----, she is a friend of one of the families in our ward. We went to her apartment and watched the Christmas devotional. We asked her what she thought of it and she mentioned a few things that stuck out to her- about being willing to not only give but to receive also and I can't remember at the moment what else she said. Then we talked about how we can be together with our families forever, and how baptism washes away all our sins, even at her age (in her 60s probably) and she just had a look of such relief on her face when we told her that. And she told us herself that she thinks she is ready to listen! GOLDEN!! I am so excited to get to know her better and teach her the gospel! I am just amazed, my testimony is strengthened as I share with others the things that I have known all my life, that I have taken for granted.

I know that the gospel that I have to share with others is THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST! He is the center of everything that we teach, we would have no hope if it were not for his atoning sacrifice! I am so grateful for this Christmas season that we can remember the birth of our Savior even more and feel the "Christmas spirit." Remember the TRUE meaning of Christmas- remember Christ everyday, for the miracle He is for each and every one of us.
I love you all! Thank you for the support you are to me! Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Goodwin

What is Your Treasure?

Hello family! Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday. As missionaries we don't proselyte on Thanksgiving so the whole zone got together and played ultimate frisbee! SWEET! I had so much fun, but I was so sore afterwards. I haven't done much running in a while since my companion's foot is still healing. Since technically we aren't supposed to keep score we ended the game at a tie. It was Senior companions vs junior companions :)

With the new transfer we now have a total of 8 sister missionaries in our zone. And there were 6 of us at our Thanksgiving dinner. We ate with the some great families! I wasn't able to eat very much due to some stomach problems I've been having, but everyone else ate plenty :)

This week we did a lot of contacting less actives again, it breaks my heart every time we talk to another person who had the gospel and has turned away from it. They had the truth, but let other things get in the way of continuing on the straight and narrow path that leads to eternal life! "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" - Matt 6:21
I read this scripture this week and it reminded me that if God is our treasure, if Christ and His atonement are our treasure, then it doesn't matter if others offend us, if we don't get along with everyone who is at church. We will still feel the love that they have for us and for those around us and we will feel the need to be at church every Sunday, to partake of the sacrament to renew the covenants we have made. I hope that everyone who reads this will re-evaluate what it is YOUR treasure above all else. Putting our faith in Christ will set our hearts to where they should be and bring us the Joy and happiness in life that we all want.

I am so Thankful for the gospel in my life, that I have the knowledge that if I have faith in Christ and repent, and if my heart is turned to Him, I can and will always be happy. I know that is the same for each of us.
I love you all so much! Thank you for being the support that you are to me!

LOVE,
Sister Goodwin