Elder Goss---W17: New Years Eve!! (Dec 31, 2019)

Hi everyone! Happy New Year! 

What a crazy week! I don't even know if anything unique happened, but it's been absolutely crazy trying to just operate right now. Temple Shift was good, we got one more look at the Temple Christmas lights. They're very pretty. 

We went on Exchanges this week! It was pretty good. I felt bad, because I tried planning some activities for us to do, but a lot of them fell through. Elder Baker was good, though. We watched some videos, and did some tracting. And then we had a dinner appointment with a member (yes, 100% spanish), and no, Elder Baker speaks 0 spanish, so we went and it was great! I was able to understand basically everything he said, and what I didn't understand I was about until I understood. 

We did an escape room today! It was an absolute blast. We finished with over 17 minutes remaining. It was scary/clown themed, and at first I was iffy about it because I don't like scares a whole lot, but it turned out really fun. (And it wasn't scary at all) 

And, with the New Years tomorrow, I thought I'd share about goal setting and that stuff. As a missionary, setting goals is an underrated activity, in my humble opinion. Without goals, you kinda just float along. There is no reason to improve, there is no motive to progress. Or even if you WANT to grow, you don't, because there is no action to back your passion, you won't get anywhere. 

So, when you set goals, here's what I suggest from my experience: A) make a few goals that are spiritual, physical, and fun. You can include intellectual or emotional if you want. But make goals that cover different aspects of life. You'll feel more productive and experienced greater growth. 

B) make each goal have a constant check-up. I mean, how many of us have made goals and then forget about them? Do something or plan something with a consistent follow-up (with another person is best) on a monthly, weekly, or perhaps daily schedule. 

I promise if you set goals in life to become better individuals, you will be glad you did. Amen.

See you soon!

Elder Goss

Sister Goss---W19: Happy New Year 2020!! (Dec 30, 2019)

Hello everybody!!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! :) I miss you more than you can know. <3

Christmas Eve on Tuesday was so much fun! We wrapped presents for the retirement home in the morning and we went caroling that evening as a zone. Our zone has a lot of really good singers and it was impressive!! We even sang songs in Spanish and the listeners, after talking to the Hermanas later, didn't know we didn't speak Spanish fluently. Woohoo! News flash: I'm learning Spanish on Duolingo and it's actually so fun. :) I'm getting better and want to make sure my brother, mother, and sister can't have secret conversations in Spanish when he gets home! I'm determined! ;) We ended caroling by singing in all four languages represented by our zone (English, ASL, Spanish, and Chinese) at our mission president's home. He and his wife loved it. 

Christmas was amazing!! We opened up our presents as a four-man in the morning and then went to the Senior couples home for breakfast. We caroled a little more and then headed to another couple's home from our ward for brunch. Afterwards we called our families and visited Tony, Amy, and Suzie for dinner. They decorated their home for us and it was a fantastic visit! They were so happy to have us and we really strengthened their faith in Christ. As soon as that was over we had a zone activity at the church building where we played volleyball and had a white elephant exchange. Overall, it was so much fun and I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas away from family and you all. 

The rest of this week has been interesting. We had to pause both Harminder and Nilda, both of whom we're not progressing even after giving them many opportunities. It hurt more than I expected! But I know that's what's best for them right now. I will miss them. :( Last night was especially difficult. Sister Gugelman and I had over 20 specific people to visit/contact, a mixture of less-active members, formers, people we're currently teaching, etc. A solid 0 let us in. Many people never answered the door, many said they were not interested or were sick (for the fiftieth time), and several slammed the door in our face and told us to not come by anymore. It was not an easy night, but I can tell you I climbed in bed satisfied with our work. Although it was the least successful night of my mission so far, I felt God's approval and pleasure for our dedication and commitment. We are not the only ones to be repeatedly rejected; there was One far greater. I'm so grateful to know that no matter what happens, if we give our all, we can have the confidence we are doing God's work and gathering Israel. He is proud of us whether we have "success" or "no success." We walk in His footsteps.

On a side note, I found a free pair of brand new shoes that would probably make you all laugh. And I couldn't be more excited about them. ;) They are the coolest, shiny, silver, light-up shoes I've ever seen. Hahahaha!! I'll attach a picture of them when I have one. Don't worry -I guarantee you will all be so jealous! ;) 

God's work is moving forward!! I know that 2020 is a special year. It marks the 200th anniversary of the First Vision and the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 2020 is not only a technical term for perfect vision, but a goal we can set to more perfectly align our vision with God's. Be willing to learn, be willing to grow, be willing to consecrate yourself, be willing to be humble, be willing to serve, and be willing to testify. Let Him change you this year! This year will be unlike any year we've known before!!

Miss you all! HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
Love, Sister Mary Goss

Mosiah 4:21

Our Christmas tree!

The 4 man at Suzie, Amy, and Tony's

Christmas evening

Face mask with Hermana Longshore

Hermanas Longshore and Thompson making a chocolate house with me

Street clean up service!

Baptism I played the piano for again

 

Elder Goss---W16: It's CHRISTMAS EVE!!! (Dec 24, 2019)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! It's CHRISTMAS TOMORROW!!! woohoo! This week has been pretty sweet and really challenging. But mostly sweet. Ana got Baptized on Wednesday, and you could just see the happiness radiating from her face. It was actually her Birthday, too! Which was pretty grand (coincidence? I think NOT!). 

Then, on Thursday, we dropped off Elder Rhodes at the airport. Honestly, that feels like MONTHS ago. This week has probably been the longest week of my life. Elder Smith has never trained before, or even been senior companion, so we are, um, learning a lot. I am his first companion who has less time in the field than him. This week has been a bit stressful, especially because it's Christmas, and a lot of service, and a lot of trying to schedule everything. Without Rhodes. Oof. Big oof. 

But, Christmas is tomorrow, and at noon today we're going to Costco to buy a bunch of stuff. Then, tomorrow on Christmas, we're going to compile said stuff into gift bags for the homeless. I am pretty excited. 

Hey, I wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who has been a part of my life. You all have been so good to me, especially my family, so thank you so much. You are all fantastic. This Christmas season has been an excellent time for me to practice finding joy in any circumstance, because this Christmas will be very different than all my other experiences, and a lot of things are not the same. But I testify that joy is not in the circumstance, but in the focus, the work, and the perspective. 

I love you so much. Merry Christmas. 

Elder Goss
--
Aaron Hyrum Goss

Sister Goss---W18: Merry Christmas!! 🎄♥️⭐ (Dec 23, 2019)

Merry Christmas everyone!! I love you all so so so much! 😊 Can you believe I've been out for 4 months!??!? Wowza!! 

I'll start with the best news: Lynn was baptized on Saturday!! 💙 It was such a wonderful service and the spirit was so strong. I'm so proud of her! She is so happy and you can tell a difference in her. 😊 In fact, that night she called us and asked how many members there are in the ward because she wants to get them all goody-bags for Christmas. She proceeded to buy enough stuff for over 200 bags and handed them out with us! She is so selfless and Christlike and I am so blessed to know her. She's amazing!!!

I have some other crazy news: we low-key went viral!! Many of you probably saw, but the 4-man filmed Silent Night a capella and posted it on Facebook. Within 48 hours it had 10,965 views and 244 shares. 😲 Here's the best part! A member here who is very involved with missionary work on Facebook let us know that she sent 5 referrals across the world because they watched our video! People in New York, Georgia, Las Vegas, Canada, and Pakistan were interested and got in contact with missionaries where they lived. The man in Pakistan went to church today! YAYYY!! If you haven't already seen the video, go watch and share it! 😊 It's sparking people's interest and bringing them closer to Christ! #LighttheWorld

I have a neat miracle story to tell (as if I haven't already shared a million!). We were invited to carol at a rehab center as a zone so we sang several songs. At one point the ASL Elders said, "why don't we go to the back and sign a song so the rest of you can copy us?" Of course we loved that and started signing and singing Angels We Have Heard On High. In the middle of the song a caretaker rolled a woman out in her wheelchair and explained that she can't hear so she uses ASL! We continued to sign and sing songs until it was time to go. As we were walking out, Sister Gugelman told me what the caretaker told her. Apparently this woman has been petitioning for an interpreter because she is very lonely and doesn't understand anything. She doesn't know what operations are being done to her and she can't communicate her fears. This caretaker was in the middle of a meeting asking again for an interpreter when an employee ran in and said, "there's a bunch of kids signing Christmas songs right now!" God is so aware of us and there are no such things as coincidences. The ASL Elders are now able to visit this woman and although they can't interpret for her all the time, she has someone to talk to and they are teaching her the gospel. I can only imagine this woman's reaction to hearing and seeing 20+ missionaries signing about Christ in a moment she needed to see someone use her language. ❤️

Zone conference was this week. It was with the whole North half of the mission! It was an incredibly uplifting meeting; I felt the Spirit strongly. A question President Hammon posed for us was this: (follow along haha!): why do we do what we do when we know what we know? I ask you all the same question? Why do YOU do what you do when you know what you know? We sang our Silent Night quartette for the closing song and it was very quiet; there were a lot of tears. Oh, and guess what? Sister Gugelman and I won cleanest car award again. 😉 Woohoo!!

I miss you all more than you know, especially this Christmas time. Thank you so much for your love and support and gifts and notes; it means the world! From the very bottom of my heart I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! I can't wait to see you again! May Christ be at the center of your life this season and 2020. 😊❤️

Merry, Mary, Merry Christmas!!! ;) 

Love, Sister Mary Goss

1) Feeding America service 

2) 4 man!! 

3) Zone conference sisters

4) Lynn, Julian, and Jeremiah

5) Lynn and Brother Poulsen, our ward mission leader

6) Riverside zone with President Hammon

7) Lynn took us to IHOP this morning!

Elder Goss---W15: Baptism Tomorrow!! (Dec 17, 2019)

Okay, sorry if I've confused anyone; this IS week 15. I'm really good at getting them out of order. I just calculated that just a few days ago, I passed the 100 day mark. That's crazy! It feels like I've been out a lot longer. 

This week has been pretty fantastic. I got to give a blessing in Spanish, which was extremely broken but I really felt the Spirit there, and that was awesome. 

Yesterday at the Temple was very sweet. We talked to this one Muslim gentleman, who was very nice and intrigued by the temple. It was cool to talk with him. 

Guess what?! Ana is getting baptized tomorrow! CRAZY! The date has been jumping around a bit, and she wanted to do it before Rhodes left (which is in TWO days!). We haven't seen Armando in a while; we don't really know what to think of him. He really enjoys our teachings, and talks about how much he wants to get closer to God, but he is rarely there whenever we've come by recently. I don't think that he's trying to avoid us, but we can't help him if we can't teach him. 

Anyhow, I was asked to spontaneously share a spiritual thought, at the temple, and I thought I'd share it with you. If you want to be happy, you've got to BE happy. You have to do things that a happy person would do. You have to think like a happy person. Talk like one. A big lie that the world likes to say is "just be happy." But you will never be happy if you aren't living happy. In my opinion, happiness is less a choice and more a habit. But it starts with the choice to change the way you live. The way you see the world. 

Thanks so much!

See you soon!

-Elder Goss

Sister Goss---W17: Best Christmas Present EVER (Dec 16, 2019)

Hello everyone!!!! I have a lot to be grateful for and have so little time, so it will be a short one this week. ;)

Christmas is in full swing here! We bought a 6'5" Christmas tree and I love walking into the room everyday and seeing it. It brings me so much joy haha!! This week has been wonderful and full of service, lessons, and contacting! Everyone is very kind and you can just tell that Christmas time creates a change within people. Have you seen The Christ Child nativity video? GO WATCH IT because it's incredible!!  18-minute video

Last night we had an interfaith Christmas concert with a special guest: Clay Christensen!! He played Hark, the Herald Angels Sing on the organ for us and I've never heard the organ played so well in my entire life. WOW. Clay Christensen is the organist for the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square (Mormon Tabernacle Choir) for the past 32 years. It was sooooo cool!!!

To explain the title of this email, Sister Gugelman and I got an exciting phone call this week. We've been emailing the Mission President about Lynn's situation, and he said he'd call us. Well, a few nights ago we heard the phone buzzing and saw that it was President Hammon! After checking in with each other, he asked how Lynn was doing. We again explained the situation and emphasized how ready and excited she is to be baptized. Despite her situation, President then said, "well, let's get her baptized." Hermana Thompson and Longshore were listening in and broke down in tears, and I was overcome. After a year of waiting, it's finally time!!! So a couple days ago we met with Lynn in person and told her we had an exciting announcement. I was so honored to tell her that she can now be baptized. She first screamed, "REALLY?!?" And then was speechless; she just stared into my face with tears streaming down. She held her youngest son tightly in her lap and couldn't speak. Finally she quietly said through tears, "I never thought this day would come." Of course, if you know me, I was also crying and it will be a moment I'll never forget. She asked to be baptized immediately so she will be baptized this Saturday!!! In fact, her son Julian was baptized the same Saturday exactly one year ago. Sister Gugelman and I and everyone else are more than thrilled; Lynn has been waiting for so long. I have been so blessed to meet with her every week for the past three months and teach/strengthen her faith in Christ. To watch and act as a witness for her baptism is the best Christmas present I could've ever asked for. Additionally, Saturday is my 4 month mark exactly! God is so good and I can't express my excitement and love enough!

I love Jesus Christ and His gospel. I know He lives and that He loves and is aware of each and every one of us!! I sincerely wish you all a Merry Christmas and encourage you all to #LighttheWorld! :)

Merry Christmas!!!

Love, Sister Mary Goss

Elder Goss---W:14 Short Letter

This week has been pretty good. We have been having a lot of fun in a trio, and today we went window shopping. I bought a harmonica! So now I'll fill the apartment with the sounds of piano, guitar, AND the shrilling, ear-bleeding screeches of a harmonica! Yay for my companions!! 

Spanish really has been improving. Prepositions are still hard, but I'm beginning to conjugate naturally. I've decided to "up" my Spanish studies, because the faster I get Spanish, the faster I'll be ready to do the things missionaries do. Who knows? One day, I may be called upon to say or do something, and I want to be ready. Because how disappointing would that be if there was a moment where I could have touched someone, but I didn't, and couldn't, because I had not studied as I should have. The Lord will be with us if we show the Lord that we want his help. It will be a while before I speak Spanish naturally, but I can do something about it. I can accelerate my impact in the lives of others. And so I will! 

I guess that was my spiritual thought. "Prepare yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you."

Have a good one!

--

Aaron Hyrum Goss

Sister Goss---W16: Trainer's Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! 😊🎄❤

The first three days of this week were a little different for me. Monday, transfer pday, Sister Preator and Hermana Weston left for home. It was super hard to say goodbye and I cried a lot more than I wanted to haha! They are incredible. But that left me with no companion!! The next days I was with Hermana Thompson and Hermana Longshore, the STLs. We had a fun surprise, however: two of the Hermanas from the Mexico MTC (CCM) came to stay with us! It was so fun to meet them and introduce them a little bit to the mission. :) I went with Hermana Giles in the evening and it gave me a little training practice, as well as a fun on-the-spot exchange. Her and Hermana Jolley are awesome! I hope I get to serve around them again sometime. 

Finally on Wednesday we had the trainer-trainee meeting!! It was strange going through that meeting on the other side as trainer, having just gone through it two transfers ago on the one side as trainee. I was so terrified then. Now I feel a lot more confident! Yay!! My new companion/trainee/daughter is Sister Gugelman! You say her name "Google-mun." She is from Aberdeen, ID. She is also the oldest of 5 and we are getting along well! :) The days have been really routine which I think is good. It's helping the both of us understand what is expected of us and accomplishing everything we need to do! And we are finding lots of times to laugh in the middle. Hooray!

Saturday we had our ward Christmas party! I LOVE ward Christmas parties: Warrenton's, BYU ward, etc. So fun!!! They decorated the cultural hall so much it was like Christmas threw up. If you know me, I loved it. ;) Here's a riddle they gave! What is this Christmas song title?: Omnipotent Supreme Being Elicit Respite to Ecstatic Distinguished Males. Reply to me if you think you figured it out! I have a whole list. ;) We got to introduce Sister Gugelman to the ward and it was awesome. 

We had a lesson with Tony and Suzie right after the party and started the lesson by showing the new video, The Christ Child. It's only 18 minutes long and so wonderful!! Go watch this nativity at ChurchofJesusChrist.org!! It gave me a lot of new insights about Christ's birth. The video brought the Spirit very strongly and we all shared what Christmas meant to us. Then we started explaining how God gives us gifts and how He's given us the gift of prophets again. We shared the Restoration of the Gospel with Suzie and she loved it! We invited them all to come to church and they said they would try.

Well we are so blessed because 4 people came to church yesterday!!! 😄 Lynn, Tony, Suzie, and Harminder! Harminder even came 30 minutes early, greeted people with us, and sat with us for sacrament. I'm not sure I've even been able to have 3 people at church before! So 4 is definitely a miracle. We are sooo excited!!! Coming to church is so important because when we stop partaking of the sacrament we lose the blessings of the full power of the Atonement. We are also not around others who help build us up and we stop remembering what really matters. The Book of Mormon constantly reminds us that remembering what God has done for us and remembering the spiritual confirmations we have had is essential! Especially this Christmas season, we need to remember Christ and His sacrifice for us by sacrificing and coming to church. When you think about it, Christ does everything for us all year long! The least we can do is CPR: attend church every week, pray, and read the scriptures. It's the least we can do for our Savior. 

So I invite you to watch The Christ Child and come to church! It will bless your life! I hope you all have a FANTASTIC week and I miss you so so much! #LighttheWorld

Love you lots, 

Sister Mary Goss

Sister Goss---W15: 'Tis the season

'Tis the season for Thanksgiving, Christmas, transfers, leadership calls, rain, and more! Honestly I feel like I'm on cloud nine; I'm SO EXCITED for this next transfer!!! But I'll get to that...

Almost everyday this week the weather has been cold and rainy and I LOVE it!! I step outside and I feel like it's definitely Christmastime. :) If it's not raining, it's overcast and cold. Woooohoooo!! Thanksgiving was super duper wonderful! Our zone got together and played 6-base kickball and chair soccer inside because it was pouring outside. If we were keeping score, our team totally won. ;) But then we all decided, "so what if it's raining? What's Thanksgiving without a turkey bowl?" So we all drove to the nearest park and played some good ol' football (elders could only tag elders and sisters only sisters) in the rain!! Oh my gosh, it was sooo funny. It was incredibly muddy and soggy and we were slipping everywhere!! I could've done it for hours; I was having such a great time. I love my zone- Riverside is the best!!

The work has been a little slower this week due to everyone being out of town for Thanksgiving. We were able to meet with Harminder, Jackie, Tony, Elizabeth and Lynn though! They are all progressing in their own ways. I am really starting to feel genuine love for all of them and I want them to have those promises God wants to give them!! They are amazing people; they are children of our Heavenly Father. 

So Sister Preator is leaving today!! Crazy!! Hermana Weston is also finished and is going home. I will probably cry my eyes out because I've lived with her since I first got here. They are both so unique and are going to change lives. It's hard to watch close friends go back home and leave. We ended the transfer by going to the Christmas lights at Mission Inn last night and it was beautiful! All four of us went: Hermana Weston, Hermana Thompson, Sister Preator, and I.

I was SO nervous for transfer calls this Saturday!! I have grown to love everyone here in Riverside and in my area: the people I'm teaching, the ward members, my zone, my district, etc. Riverside is incredible and I wanted to spend Christmas here sooo badly. I asked in prayer, "me dream would be to stay here and train!! But of course, Thy will be done." :) Well Saturday morning we're out there cleaning the street for service and I feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. I pull it out and see "President Hammon" calling and immediately my hands start shaking. I call for Sister Preator and all the other sisters in my zone huddled around the phone. He said, "Sister Goss, I want to change your life a little bit. Will you accept the assignment of trainer?" WOOHOOO!! Yes!!!! I was soooooo excited!! I AM so excited!! And then that night it was confirmed that I'll stay in my area! Not only that, but most of the zone is staying and my district is pretty much the same. I'll get to stay in the 4-man with Hermana Thompson and spend Christmas with some of the best missionaries. YAAAY!!! I'm so grateful that my wants aligned with God's will and I couldn't be more excited for this upcoming transfer. It will be so good to have a brand new missionary who has the greenie fire and we will both get to work so hard! I feel so blessed!! I can't wait to meet her on Wednesday. <3

So that's the update. Transfer 2 has been incredible and I'm going to miss Sister Preator and Hermana Weston SO MUCH. But God is looking out for me and has great things in store for transfer 3! I know that God is always aware of us and what we need and want. When what we need and what we want align, it strengthens testimony. I've also seen numerous times in my life that when what we need is the exact opposite of what we want, it strengthens testimony (usually even more so)! Trust Him. Over and over again I've had to learn this lesson. If you want something really badly, ask God. Ask God in faith and ask to align your will with His. Know that if that is part of what you need, it will be given to you! And if not, it means that wasn't the best thing for you. We can have COMPLETE confidence that whatever God gives us is the best thing for us. I know it's easy for me to say this right now, but I've experienced this both ways through my sister's journey, college, tests, relationships, moving across the country, moving wards, and even auditions. Trust God. He is so good and knows us better than we know ourselves. 

Merry early Christmas everyone! I love you lots and lots! Go #lighttheworld on LighttheWorld.org and serve those around you. You are AMAZING!!

Love and hugs, 

Sister Mary Goss

1) Mission Inn lights!

 

 2) Soles 4 Souls zone service

 

 3) 4 man at Mission Inn

 

 

 4) Driving on to work...

 

 

 5) Turkey bowl!!

 

6) Weston and our lovely dishwasher...

 

 7) La Michoacana

 

 8) 4 man turkey bowl

 

 9) Andersen, Coronel, Bassett, and me

 

 10 and 11) More awesome turkey bowl

Elder Goss---W12: Transfers today!

This week has been pretty wacky. Some of the days, Elder Rhodes and I have been rather idle, and then other days we have activities lined up back to back. Last.... Friday?.... Elder Rhodes went to Departures (a day-long activity for leaving missionaries), so I basically got to go on Exchanges with Elder Phelps. He is really fun, and we had a good time. We had a dinner appointment in the evening, and we were going to teach the Plan of Salvation. During the entire day, Elder Phelps and I role-played the heck out of the Plan of Salvation. We probably spent a total of 2 1/2 hours role-playing. But it was good, and the the lesson went really really well. It was awesome. And Dinner was awesome, too! Tacos. Authentic tacos. Authentic BEEF tacos. Yum. 

Today, Elder Rhodes and I get a new companion! Due to the fact that Elder Rhodes leaves on the 18, it became expedient that the Linda Vista 3rd Spansih Elders receive an additional member; for behold, the most senior companion departs in time not far off, and behold, without a companion, the Junior companion, namely Elder Goss, would be left desolate. (For those who speak English, we need another companion, so when Elder Rhodes goes home, I'll still have one). So today, we go to the Stake Center to pick up Elder Vaca, or Elder Smith. We're still not sure which. But soon, time will tell!

Well, this week we tried several times to arrange for Ana to visit the Mormon Battalion, which is sweet, but it hasn't worked out. Which is sad, but hopefully she'll get the chance this week. 

Something that I leaned a lot about from being Elder Rhodes' companion, is that God has a plan for each of us. So we don't need to worry when life gets hard. In fantasy tales, the words "happily ever after" don't come until the very end. And yet, when we're reading, we don't worry if the good-guy will win, or if things turn out alright. We know that it all turns out OK. And when the hero makes an honorable and valiant attempt, we cheer him on. Many other characters in the story may not like our hero. They may not be bad people, but rarely does the hero receive praise and recognition from jubilant throngs as he walks though Hogwarts Academy, or Murkwood Forest. And yet, WE cheer him on, because we know the hero's heart. So my invitation to YOU is to be the hero in YOUR story. It will be hard, and you'll receive much opposition. People will mock you, and stand against you. But when the words "happily ever after" finally do come, you will be filled with such joy, for you did it! And when life tried to tear you down, and Satan and his whirlwinds, and your natural man all combined to destroy you, how great shall be your joy when you can say, "I did it. With the Sword of the Spirit I slew my dragons; in the strength of the Lord I vanquished my enemies." And you will stand next to Nephi and Maroni and Moses. And all will be right. 

Have a good one! 

Elder Goss

Sister Goss---W14: Piano embarrassment, Super Smash, "Golden Plunger" award

Hello everyone!!

This week I hit my three months! Woohoo!! Only 15 more to go! ;) Among the many things we did this week, we: packed a full semi-truck of shoes in boxes, visited UCR's Botanical Gardens, taped boxes for Feeding America, talked with our Russian neighbors, ate some of Sister Shirley's amazing chocolate chip cookies, attended zone conference (and won cleanest apartment "golden plunger" award), and more! It has been quite the week and a great one overall. :)

On Thursday night Elder Abraham, an elder in my zone, called and asked if I would play the piano at a baptism the next day. Of course I said yes! What I DIDN'T know was that the baptism was for the Spanish ward, so no one spoke English. The opening song went well so I sat down for the rest of the baptism. While we were waiting for the baptized person to return, they were saying something in Spanish and the next thing I know everyone is looking at me! Finally Elder McLaughlin explained they wanted me to play hymn #73, "I Believe In Christ" while we waited. First off, the hymn book numbers are different for English and Spanish and second off, #73 in either book is not "I Believe In Christ." So I just flipped to "I Believe In Christ" and attempted to play. I've never practiced this song before and I was messing up SO BAD. I got through the intro and started playing the first verse and no one was singing!! I kind of awkwardly stopped playing and faded out, and then Elder McLaughlin said "sorry, I meant 'I Know That My Redeemer Lives.'" NOW you tell me!! Hahaha whoops. One of many embarrassing experiences I've had on my mission... But Hermana Grant said "you have an English name tag so all is forgiven." ;)

We were able to build better relationships with Tony and put him back on date for February 29th (yes, leap year!). We were at Lynn's this week and we could tell she was very tired. So we showed her sons, Julian and Jeremiah, some Inspirational Messages and then played two rounds of Super Smash Bros. To everyone's surprise (including my own), yours truly won both rounds. ;) That's pretty good for someone who never grew up with video games! Hahaha... We've also had lots of referrals from others and we're excited to meet them!

If you'd like to hear a quick inspirational thought, read on! :) 1) For zone conference they quoted Elder Uchtdorf: "We gain spiritual self-reliance as we center our lives on Jesus Christ and understand it must be an eternal focus. Do things intentionally." How are you spiritually self-reliant? How can you increase your self-reliance? 2) "God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, He will increase our capability." -Neal A Maxwell. I don't know who needs that quote, but I know it can apply to all of us in one way or another. 3) We are all working on discipleship. As we work towards this goal, our persona will literally change. We will exude more light! People will notice you are brighter and happier.

Thank you all for your support! It means the world. :) I didn't realize what a sacrifice it is to go on a mission until I'm on one, but I would happily give up this time to my Savior who's given up all His time for me. It is a privilege and an honor to serve Him this way! I only get 15 more months to be His set-apart witness! I am so blessed!! 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING and check out LighttheWorld.org! Let's light the world this season!!

Y'all are amazing! Love you so much!!

Sister Mary Goss

The 4-man winning both golden plunger and cleanest car 👌

 

Our clean Corolla

Riverside sisters

Riverside zone (the best!!)

Cafe Rio after zone conference

 

Soles 4 Souls: loading the whole truck!

Elder Goss---W11: Let it Go (no, not from Frozen)

Hola amigos y familia! 

This week, Elder Rhodes and I went to temple shift, where we stand at an information booth outside and talk to people or take pictures for them from 10-3. Because it was a Monday, the Temple was closed, and not very many people  were here. I am excited for Christmas time, when all the lights are up and there are so many people to talk to. That sounds like fun. 

We also had a Mission President Devotional this week, which was pretty cool. A lot of recent converts talked about how much the gospel blessed them. It was pretty awesome, and there were a lot of super cool songs. I was actually able to be in the choir. It was fun to sing. 

This week has been slightly more difficult for teaching. We missed Armando a couple times, Ana is going through some trials, and some appointments fell through. But, two years is a long time to expect everything to go perfect. And all rough times will end with time. I like to say, if it is outside your sphere of influence, don't worry about it. Somethings we can't control. It is surprising how much we CAN influence our circumstances, but after you've done all you can, let go. Do your best, and then sit back. Whatever happens, God knows, and is his plan. Whatever situation you are in, it is the one that God knows you will grow fastest in. 

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy your lives, endure your trials, and embrace the Gospel.  Keep your chins up. The battle isn't over yet! When life gets hard, stare it back in the eye. 

Love you all! See you later!

Sister Goss---W13: Birthday blessings

I want to start my email with a huge THANK YOU for all your birthday wishes and support!! You are so wonderful and I honestly had an incredible birthday!! :) Thank you for being so selfless and thoughtful! Love you all!!

This week was fantastic! We had a lot of solid lessons, found new people to teach, and saw many little miracles! Our lesson with Harminder went well; our ward mission leader was there and we showed Harminder that by exercising a particle of faith, we will see the results just like any scientific experiment (Alma 32). We are involving Lynn with the ward more and she is starting to have some great conversations with others too! We are now teaching Kim and she is enjoying reading the Book of Mormon with us, especially 3 Nephi 11. We're also meeting with Elizabeth and helping explain a lot of the stuff she's heard. Her experience has further shown me how important it is to have accurate sources! If you have questions about the church, go to the church website or ask a trusted church member. They will give you the correct information. :) 

Friday we had exchanges and I went with Hermana Weston to the Spanish area. The entire night was full of lessons with people that spoke zero English and I speak zero Spanish. Haha! Poor Hermana Weston, she had to talk the whole night. She did wonderful and I was surprised how well I was able to follow along. It was a really neat experience to have three full Spanish lessons and listen to them talk! :) My goal is to understand it well enough so when Hyrum gets home from his mission he won't be able to secretly communicate with my Mom and Rachel... ;) Hahaha

Last night I had two neat experiences (#birthdayblessings)! :) 1) We were going to stop by Zach, a high schooler Sister Miles and I found a while ago. As we were pulling up, I started to feel really scared and nervous about my ability. I paused, wanting to listen to the Spirit in case He was telling me not to go. He had warned me in the past. But immediately after pausing and contemplating, these thoughts ran through my head: 

"What are you feeling?" My answer? Fear. 

"Do I ever make people feel fearful?" No- God warns, but God doesn't bring fear. 

"Who wants people to feel fear?" Satan! 

It suddenly occurred to me that the feelings of nervousness I was having was different than when the Spirit warns me. They were feelings of inadequacy, like "maybe we shouldn't go because I'M not good enough tonight." Knowing that, I realized Satan was probably using one of his tactics to try to dissuade me from the work that I needed to do. If anything, Satan was fearful of the results God was willing to provide! So we knocked on the door and Zach answered (after 5 previous times of not answering), and we are meeting with him again! I am so grateful I have the Spirit to help me discern what I should and should not do, even with Satan's attempts. 

2) We had a lesson with Tony and brought our ward mission leader. When we walked in, he walked into the kitchen and started talking to Tony's mother, Suzie. He invited her to listen in and she accepted! We had an amazing lesson and Tony wanted to reschedule his baptismal date to Leap Year Day. And then Suzie started sharing her story and said she'd been wanting to come back to Jesus again. She'd stopped going to her church when her husband died and didn't feel comfortable in any church since then. She said, "the only church I've felt true peace in has been yours, and I want to feel that again." We invited her to be baptized and she said yes!! She promised to pray about it and read the Book of Mormon. I was so thrilled; what a way to end my birthday!! A new person, a baptismal invite, and and accepted invite all at the same time!! God truly prepares us for where we need to be and what we need to say at the right times. I am so excited for Suzie and her willingness to learn more. 

Every day I am more and more convinced of God's love for me and for His children. He loves us so much He's given us more scripture. He leads us with a prophet. He sends missionaries out to declare His truth. He is with us and turns our lows into highs. :) I have seen this firsthand and I know that God attends us. The Spirit is present and miracles abound. Because God is with us, that further confirms to me that our message is true. I'm so grateful God answers prayers! And God knows when we are ready! 

I wish I could keep writing and share all the insights I've learned in my studies, how amazing my roommates are, and everything else, but all in due time. :) Thank you again for the birthday wishes (it's CRAZY BEING 20!!!?!!!?!!)!! I love you all so so so much!!

Love, Sister Mary Goss

Hermanas Weston, Thompson, and Sister Preator made this awesome cake!! (I know it looks like I'm turning 2. The Oreo is the 0. 20, get it? ... Who am I kidding?? I feel like I'm 2... 😂)

Botanical Gardens photo shoot :))

Birthday picture!!

Sister Preator and I pretending to be in Singing In the Rain with no rain

Botanical Gardens again

A gem I don't think I've shared yet (Afters ice cream!)