Elder Goss---W:47 it's my Birthday. Yay! (Jul 28, 2020)

First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone who made my Birthday so great! I love all of you. And all your letters are fantastic to read. For my Birthday, Elder Hopkin and myself made some pretty good bacon Hamburgers. They were delicious! We couldn't really go anywhere, because of restrictions, but it was a good Birthday. 

This past week, we had another lesson with Diego. It was a very good discussion. We simply talked about Faith. He told us, "I don't really know what to do. I don't know if I believe or not. I am interested, and I think I want to keep learning, but I don't want to lie to myself or you guys and pretend like I have faith." This is a very sincere statement. It happens to all of us. How many times have we ever questioned the rules, or principles, or doctrines of the church? We want to be honest, but we also want to be positive and hopeful. Elder Hopkin then asked Diego, "well, do you WANT to believe? Do you WANT to have faith? Is there a part of you that hopes the things we've talked about are true?" And he answered affirmatively. 

Brothers and Sisters, THIS is faith. Sometimes it is simply hoping that something can be true. If you feel that you've been shaken, and you don't know, ask yourself, "do I want to believe? Do I want the apostles and prophets to be right? Do I want a fresh start?" If you answer yes, to any of these questions, know that it will be okay. There are answers to your questions. As long as you WANT to believe, as long as you nourish the seed of possibility, it will grow. 

I love you. Have faith! 

Sister Goss---W49: Cameroon, Africa (Jul 27, 2020)

Hi guys!!

We have been B. L. E. S. S. E. D!!! This week was absolutely phenomenal because we got to teach more lessons than I have in a long, long time!! :D We had almost 2 lessons every single night and many other blessings like home visits, friends at church, more friends accepting dates to be baptized, etc. I have not felt this successful in a long time and the credit goes 100% to God because this is His work!! His children are ready at this time and we are simply the instruments carrying His message. :) That being said, I know success is not measured by what you see, but rather what you give. We are starting to see the fruits of our labors and it's exciting to exclaim, as Ammon, "And we have suffered all manner of afflictions, and all this, that perhaps we might be the means of saving some soul; and we supposed that our joy would be full if perhaps we could be the means of saving some. Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors; and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, and we can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towards their brethren and also towards us. Now have we not reason to rejoice? Yea, I say unto you, there never were men that had so great reason to rejoice as we, since the world began; yea, and my joy is carried away, even unto boasting in my God; for he has all power, all wisdom, and all understanding; he comprehendeth all things, and he is a merciful Being, even unto salvation, to those who will repent and believe on his name" (Alma 26:30-31, 35). God is so merciful and truly does bring salvation to those who repent and believe on His name.

We started teaching this guy from Cameroon, Africa this week and he is so cool!!! :) He requested to be Sister Copling's friend on Facebook, so we messaged him and started a conversation. We video-called him and his English was good enough that we could understand him! His name is Samuel and he said "When i read the passages you has wrote on your publications (meaning Facebook posts) i feel very different on my spirit it is so good that make me know the real way of God." We had a lesson and taught him about the Book of Mormon and he loved it! It was crazy; in the middle of our lesson I realized to myself, "we're literally teaching this guy in the middle of Africa." Baptizing nations has a whole new meaning to it, doesn't it?! ;) After our lesson he said "Here in africa some people don't know the existance of the Book of Mormon we only know the Holy Bible it is great for me to discovered it. I give you a lot of thanks 🙏🙏🙏" Wow!!! He also said (to Sister Copling's messages) "Did you greet sister Grâce for me ??" and I'm so okay with it. ;) Haha call me Sister Grace anytime!! :))

President Watson continues to inspire me. ;) We had a training on Saturday given by two elders and they did a really good job; President Watson gave some final remarks and said "in conclusion, Elder so-and-so is a hard swipe right." Oh my gosh President hahahaha... I couldn't stop laughing for a hot minute! Ahhh President is just too funny. :) He's very supportive and sends out encouragement some mornings in our group chats. He and his family are incredible!! 

Corona (the city, not the virus - just to further clear up any confusion) is just as beautiful as ever! The weather isn't that hot, to be completely honest. I've been pleasantly surprised! ;) Sister Copling's amazing, our zone is fantastic, and it's a good time. I'm so grateful to be here; there's no where else on earth I'd rather be. <3 The work is moving forward! The church is God's kingdom here on earth, organized under His authority! The Book of Mormon is true! And I love you! :) Have a super duper wuper great week!!

Love, Sister Mary Goss

Sister Goss---W48: M&Ms ;) (Jul 20, 2020)

Wowowowowow this week was so good!!!! I saw so many miracles and boy I'm blessed! :)) I miss y'all and hope you're doing well. <3

Service opportunities included putting together bags for a food drive, which we did outside at a park as half a zone. :) It was really nice to be out there in the good weather, talking with the other missionaries, stapling and stacking bags. Who would've thought that service could be so fun? ;) We also got to participate in a different food run on Saturday, and that was a blast!! We got all set up and I helped with setting the boxes of food in people's cars as they drove through. Pretty soon the policeman I was working with switched and I directed traffic. Ah it was so fun! The line of cars stretched for a while; we were putting food in cars for over 3 hours! My favorite part was telling people to have a great day as they drove off. :) Taking time to help people feel like they're cared about is well worth it. Service is the best. 

The work is progressing SO WELL here! Wednesday night, Sister Copling and I were feeling pretty discouraged because we hadn't had a single lesson the past three days. We had been praying and doing what we could, but nothing was happening from it. Right at the end of Wednesday night, after 8pm, one of the people I'd messaged on Facebook said he'd love to learn more and asked if we could video chat him that night! His name is Myke and we were able to teach a little bit about the Book of Mormon and share Alma 34:32 before his phone died. He messaged later and said (and I quote) "Sorry about that. My phone died. But I'm actually interested in the knowledge you have. To be quite honest I'm just interested." It made our night, to say the least!! Again and again I see that sometimes miracles don't come until the last moment, but they do come. If you're doing what you should be, the miracles will come. 

Friday night was a mic-drop kind of night when we had 2 lessons AND 2 home visits!!! The story worth telling here from that night is that of Marissa. We met her in person at the park with the two elders who were previously teaching her and had an amazing discussion! Marissa took extensive notes on the chapters she read and the things we told her and asked a lot of sincere questions. She soaked it all in and believes everything. She wants to be baptized and has a date set for August 8th!! Her father joined the church, and that's how Marissa became interested. She self-referred herself, asking for a Book of Mormon! We're meeting again with her on Tuesday and I can't wait. Her heart is so open and she is amazing!! 

This week's studies have also been a huge highlight for me. Everyone, if you haven't read the Book of Mormon or developed a love for it yet, you are missing out on one of the most amazing gifts our Heavenly Father has ever given us. That book has changed everything for me. For example, here's one thing I learned this week: Alma talked to the people about faith and how we experiment upon the word of God. Once we read and pray, we feel good, having the Spirit of God confirm what is true. Alma said "o then, is not this real? I say unto you, yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernable." Those words: real, light, good, and discernable... Are those not things we seek? The more real experiences we have with the scriptures, the more light we feel and see in ourselves and in the world. That light comes from Christ, who is the definition of goodness. And He is not mysterious, not confusing, and not misleading. He is clear, simple, and discernable. Life changes when we see this pattern take place in our own lives. That scripture is in Alma 32:35, The Book of Mormon. 

Last but not least, we threw a birthday party for Sister Frederick! It involved confetti, ice cream, lots of laughing, some yelling, and a little crying. All of which resulted in more laughing. It was a good time! ;) The sisters here in Corona are so awesome and I am blessed to be surrounded by so many good people.

Thank you all for your good example to me! I love and miss you SO MUCH. Have a fantastic week and keep on keepin' on! :)) 

Love, Sister Mary Goss

Sister Goss---W47: "Busy busy busy!" (Jul 13, 2020)

Gooooooood afternoon everyone! :) Happy Monday! This week has been SUPER busy for me! :) 

We had MLC on Tuesday, district council and exchanges on Wednesday, interviews on Thursday, exchanges on Friday, trained the mission on Saturday, spoke in YSA ward on Sunday, and here we are! So lots of meetings, trainings, and exchanges! That being said, it was a great week. :) We had some wonderful home visits and our trainings all went well. Yay!!!

Annnnnd I can't think of anything else to write about. So it'll be a short one this week! Hope you had a great one and make next week even greater! :) 

A fun scripture because scriptures are the beeeeeeeest: "And I, Enos, knew it would be according to the covenant which he had made; wherefore my soul did rest." My soul is at rest knowing I've made covenants with my Heavenly Father and He truly brings rest. Especially during super busy weeks. ;) Love you lots! 

Love, Sister Goss

Elder Goss---W-44 Short Week Letter (Jul 7, 2020)

Hi everyone! Short report this week. We had another lesson with Diego, and it went much better. We both have high hopes for him. We basically gave him all the pamphlets, and he said it'd be good reading material! 

We went biking again on Coronado Island today. It was fun, but traffic has been super bad, and it was scary sometimes. But it was fun to see the beach.

Also, we did a service pulling tall grass in a elderly Sister's back yard. That felt really good, doing lawn work again. 

Well, there you go. Here are some pictures of this week.

--

Aaron Hyrum Goss

Sister Goss---W46: It's Independence Week! (Jul 6, 2020)

Why hello there, everyone! Or in the words of my district leader every single night, "howdy!"

This week ranged with everything from meeting the Watson's, service, exchanges, 4th of July, and more! It's SO nice to have something to talk about each week now. Hahaha! Remember back in March and April? Yeah..... Phase one is such a blessing. ;)

The Watson's introduced themselves on Wednesday to the mission via Zoom, and we were able to meet them in person/introduce ourselves on Thursday! They are SO. COOL. Oh my goodness I love their family so much already!!! They have 5 kids, the three youngest are here with them (ages 15, 12, and 10!). They are funny, spiritually powerful, and inspiring! As soon as I met them, I wanted to be best friends. ;) Their family loves a lot of the same things I do, including performing (they've done Savior of the World and Nauvoo pageants), music, BYU 🤙💙, fist bumps, etc. If you know me, you know why I'm excited. ;) Hahaha! President Watson actually created the missionary referral system back when it was just starting! He's been the secretary for the Quorum of the 12 Apostles for many years and has sat in meetings with them frequently. He testified to all of us that none of what is happening has been a surprise to them. They knew it was coming and were well prepared for when it hit. He has incredible stories!! Anyway, he and his family are amazing and I'm so blessed to work under their leadership!! :)) Also stay tuned for some hilarious quotes.... I have quite a few but they need context so they wouldn't be that funny here. But man his sense of humor is right down my alley. 👌;) 

So! The work is going great!!! We've been blessed to have things to do, even though we've already contacted everyone in our areabook a week ago already! 'Tis the nature of YSA wards... Haha! But we're teaching a couple new people we found that are SO interested and I'm SO excited!! One is Marco, and we found him by calling a wrong number. He's been a little sick so we haven't had a second lesson yet but he wants to! So yaaaay! And the second one is Alex and OH BOY I can't wait!!!!

Alex started our conversation with "I've never really been into religion that much. I've just never felt a pull towards it." We testified of our calling, God's love for him, and the sacrifice Jesus Christ made on his behalf. Not only will it help him have a happier life, but the least he can do is learn about this gift he's been given. We asked again, "is this something you would want in your life?" He paused for a while, thought a bit, and then said confidently "yeah actually I do. I really want this." 🙌🎉🎊😁 YAAAAY Alex!!!! We now have weekly lessons scheduled with him, he's going to read the BoM app (downloaded it right there with us), and is excited to learn more! We taught him about the Restoration and Book of Mormon and asked why we need the Book of Mormon today. He said "well I don't really know the answer to that, but for me, it would be easier to understand what the Bible is saying when I read the Book of Mormon because it says the same stuff but is only 500 pages and was only translated once. Right?" Boy you couldn't be more right!!! Not only was he listening to what we were saying, but he understands and sees how it would benefit him. AH SO EXCITED. The work is so good. :))

I've been so blessed with so many things. I've been blessed to be on a mission right now, even during COVID. Or should I say, especially during COVID! I've been so blessed with an amazing companion and area. I've been so blessed with responsibilities and things to do to help others. I've been so blessed to live and be raised in America! I've been so blessed with rights, knowledge, freedom, happiness, and more! I'm so blessed to have the Book of Mormon in my life! I'm so blessed with WONDERFUL family members and friends (aka ALL of you!!)! I'm so blessed to be part of His church on earth today! I'm so blessed to have a Savior that makes every single one of these blessings possible. :)) In the words of many, many, many country songs (a few of which I heard today while shopping at Walmart), everything is alright because we are so blessed. With God, everything is alright.

Happy America day and week! I hope you have a FANTASTIC week next week and look for the incredible blessings God has given you. Miss and love you all. :) 

🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇲

Love, 

A super patriotic Sister Goss

Elder Goss---W-43 what a lesson! (Jun 30, 2020)

Well, we had a lesson with a new guy yesterday! He's a member referral who moved inside our area, and we just went on a walk with him and taught him a lesson. And boy, what a lesson. It turns out, when an ADHD Elder who's (just a little) rusty is teaching an ADHD friend of the church, there are NO boundaries where the lesson can go. We talked about ourselves, families, the Book of Mormon, Priesthood, the Word of Wisdom, the Premortal life, covenants, the three degrees of Glory, and more. It was literally EVERYWHERE. I tried to reign us into one topic, but then someone would get distracted and off we'd go. I probably had to cover for Elder Hopkin 5 different times. He was so excited to teach that he was adding unimportant details and leaving out big ones, to the point he was even confusing ME in his explanations. BUT, Diego (that's his name) was very nice and gracious, and although he probably only understood half of what we were trying to say, we left on good terms and we look forward to seeing him again. 

We get to talk with the Branch Elders Quorurm President tonight, and we hope that we can talk about the Branch. They continue to struggle, so please keep them in your prayers! 

We are going to go for a bike ride on Coronado island today, which is going to be fun. I'll send more pictures of that next week. 

I love you all!

1) our district in the elevator at a service 

2-3) Mount Soledad 

Sister Goss---W45: Goodbye, Hammons! 💔 (Jun 29, 2020)

Wow what a week!! :) I hope you all are doing well! Isn't it crazy how the weeks just go by? How have the last 45 weeks for you been? :)

I am still so super excited to be serving here in Corona, California!!! It's funny to serve in a city with such a popular name.... Hahaha. There are too many jokes about it lemme tell you. But this place is absolutely beautiful!! The streets all have palm trees lining the sides, clean roads, about every store you can think of, and mountains to go hiking on. Corona CA is a beautiful place!! I would say it's the ideal SoCal city. ;)

Sister Copling and I have been so blessed to meet people in person this week!! By invitation, and with masks on, we were able to meet our bishop and his wife, a recent concert and her friend, and some YSA members here for summer sales. Oh my goodness I am still so excited to be here in YSA. It's so so so much fun to teach people my age and work with them!! In some of the lessons we had this week, they taught us because they just returned from their missions a few months ago. It's so much fun. It's strange to only have 47 members in the ward, and only around 40 formers to call in our areabook, but I know God will give us opportunities to find and work with those we have! YSA members are full of life and have strong testimonies. I'm really looking forward to the next 6 weeks. :)

Everytime I get transferred to a new area, it's exciting and fun! I love change! But I've also noticed that I get a little more homesick than usual the first week or so because it's an adjusting period to a new place and new people. So I just wanted to let y'all know I thought about you this week and hope you're doing good! Love and miss you so much! :))

It's been challenging weekend too. President and Sister Hammon actually leave today in 3 minutes! We had our last devotional with them on Sunday, and they drove to each zone on Saturday to say goodbye one last time in person. I never expected how hard it would be to see your mission president go, that's for sure. I've served with a lot of people, and I've done a lot of things, but only President Hammon knows how I've felt through it all! These last 10 months, he's been the one to support, encourage, and stretch me. On the way home from saying goodbye (which included us singing God Be With You Till We Meet Again as they walked away), I was asked what my favorite memory was with them. My reply was how much they trusted me, even from the very beginning. In my very first interview, he told me "only leaders are sent to this mission." Even when I felt like I couldn't do it, he always knew I could. In that way, he knew the future and always believed in me. I dearly love the Hammons and will miss them more than I can say. ❤️

So here's to the next phase of my mission!! Keep on keepin' on; the church is true and God loves you! :) Till next week!

Love, 

Sister Mary Goss