Elder Goss---W:77- W:??? Long time, no see (Feb 23, 2021)

 Hi everyone. It's been super long. Gosh, I forget what week I'm on now. All I know is that by next week, I'll have passed 18 months. Isn't that crazy??? I don't know another year and a half of my life that has felt like an entire lifetime. Super bonkers.

The past few weeks have been good. We have had a lot more lessons, particularly with the members here in Loma Verde ward. Additionally, we're teaching English to a lot of people. Sometimes it is hard to keep track of them! We have not had a lot of new people we are teaching, but that's okay.

We did have an awesome Food bank service last Friday, which was fun to hand out food to people in their cars. Oh! We also had a super cool Devotional, where Garry E. Stevenson talked to the San Diego Mission, which was fun.

As a spiritual thought, here's something I've learned on the Mission: planning is important. While there are somethings you don't need to plan in life, there are others that you really should! For me, I like to wing things. I like to skip planning and just go for it. And sometimes they come out fine. But being a planner will make your life easier. You don't always have to plan out your entire day to the minute; but you should have a general plan. You don't have to plan out the week and month EXACTLY, but you should have a general plan. You don't need (and probably shouldn't) create a detailed plan for your entire life; but you probably SHOULD make goals. Planning alows you to evaluate yourself. You force yourself to come up with specific times you want to resolve certain problems, or complete certain projects. Without any planning, you'll never get anything worthwhile done. You'll take it day by day, without worrying about tomorrow. But someday tomorrow becomes today, and nothing about your life will have changed. To me, that's called insanity. And when that tomorrow comes, you'll ask, "what happened to yesterday? what have I done with all those years of living day by day?" And I can guarentee you, you will not be impressed with the results.

Live with no regrets! Make a plan, so tomorrow is BETTER than today. Don't waste your life. Squeeze every moment of it working hard, becoming better, and enjoying it (yes, all three). Think of your future. Don't worry TOO much about it, but be mindful and prepared. It WILL come.

I love you! bye!

--

Aaron Hyrum Goss

Sister Goss---W79: 18 months (Feb 23, 2021)

 Yes, I hit 18 months on Sunday! August 21st 2019 - February 21st 2021. Wow. I consider everyday now an added blessing to my life. :) You'll all get a sappy, reflective, deep email soon, don't worry. 

But wow what a phenomenal week it's been!! First and foremost, you might be wondering why I'm sending this on a Tuesday and not Monday. That's because our mission was incredibly blessed yesterday and all the unendowed missionaries were given the opportunity to go to the Newport Beach temple with their parents for the first time! My heart is so full for them!! I miss the temple more than I can tell and I'm so grateful they were all able to go. <3 So pday this week is Tuesday :) 

Some other highlights for this week was having a BBQ with the zone at President's house last pday (wooooowooooo!!), attending Zoom MLC even though I'm not a sister training leader anymore (we're training for zone conference yay!!), being able to communicate effectively during the Zoom ASL socials, having interviews with President, serving at Keep Riverside Clean again (throwback to last time I was here!), practicing for our ASL video "He Reigns," picking oranges with our zone and brushing up on my juggling skills, having our first dinner at a deaf member's with our district, and teaching all our friends. :)) Sounds like a great week, doesn't it? Yeah. It was. <3 

We're teaching Brooke, Ernesto, Kimberly and Alexandra, Samantha, Ricardo, the Roas, Sal, and more! I love having lessons with them; it's so special to help them see how much Jesus Christ means to us and to them. :) Last night we actually had an amazing lesson with a new friend named Taylor! She's deaf, and apparently she's met with some missionaries before. She's wanted to get baptized before but her mother wouldn't allow it, or something along those lines (I pick up on most of what she says, but not everything haha). The zone leaders met her first so we taught the lesson together about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It's so simple: all we need is to have faith, repent, follow Christ's example and be baptized, receive His Spirit, and endure to the end. :) We invited her to be baptized and she said yes! She's so sweet and genuine; you can tell she's wanted this for a while now! It was awesome!! I'm really excited for her. :) 

We are so blessed to be able to search for truth. We are so blessed to be able to read and pray to find answers. I'm so grateful for the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ that allows me to obey His commandments and allow His grace to work in my life. I'm so grateful for Jesus Christ! I know He lives! :)

Love you all so much! Hope your week has been fantastic and that this upcoming week is even better! :) 

Love, Sister Goss

Sister Goss---W78: VP + Equinox + everything tech (Feb 15, 2021)

 

Woah I feel like I wrote you all yesterday. Has it seriously already been a week? Wow!!

Well hello again! How was your Valentine's day? And wonderful mid-February week? Mine was amazing. Like every other incredible week here. :) 

We filmed not one, not two, but three ASL quality posts this week! Sister Noall and I made one that we're posting tonight or tomorrow. :) And the other two we made were QUITE the something. Hoh boy. Haha!! We made them with the ASL elders as episodes 5 and 6 of Missionaries Without Arms With Arms... :0 You can go watch episodes 1-4 on ASL Disciples of Jesus Christ in Riverside County FB page. Stay tuned for ours; you'll have a great laugh, we can promise... 

Other ASL news: we drove out of the mission up to Fontana to visit our branch president's wife! Woohoo! A *legal* leaving the mission boundaries. ;) It was pretty fun; I loved driving and seeing the valley from a different point of view. AND guess what!! For those of you who don't know much about deaf culture, they use video phones! I mean, it makes sense. They can't hear so... Video phones are really hard to get because you have to be deaf. So our mission only has two, but three sets of ASL missionaries. Sister Noall and I have just relied on Zoom since the beginning of the transfer, but due to some slight changes, the zone leaders moved in with the other ASL elders and gave us their VP! Yaaaay!!! It's so fun! I've loved getting familiar with the culture and VP; it feels way more official haha. :)) ASL is literally the coolest. 

Of course, none of this comes close to the HUGE miracle I witnessed on Saturday night. Literally witnessed. ;) Mary decided to be baptized!! YAAAY!!! Wow she blows me away. She was so excited to see me again and it filled my heart with so much joy!! She bore her testimony at the end and started sobbing as she expressed her gratitude for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When she testified of Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon, and President Nelson, I couldn't help but cry with her. It was the sweetest moment. She even sang a song about her conversion to finish and it was beautiful! I love her!!! (Plus going back to Murrieta and seeing my old friends was such a treat!! #Reddishs #Snells #Doolittles #zoneleaders #SisterHicken #othersisters #Maryherselfobviously). ;)) <3 So so so so so so so soooo good and blessed. Wow. 

I also got to see Michelle from Soles 4 Souls again! She found out when I was scheduled to volunteer there and showed up with snacks. :) We surprised Art too; he didn't know she was coming haha! It was a fun little reunion. Last but not least we swapped out our old little Corolla for a new car! Guess what kind? 2021 Chevy Equinox... :O It's insane getting into it every time. The next time I'm going to drive a 2021 will be in 30 years! Haha... :))  

We are teaching so many friends! Samantha Saldana is our deaf friend and she's so cute. We introduced her to the Book of Mormon and she loved it! She gave us sign names, but for our first names so we don't use them haha. :) We're also teaching the Roa family, Samantha Barnett, Ricardo, Rosie, and many others. The work never stops! <3 

Love you all! Have a super phenomenal day and week! :))

Love, Sister Goss

Sister Goss---W77: Downtown for the IG (Feb 8, 2021)

 Hello friends!!

It's been another fantastic week here in Riverside!! :D Including the weather, with some nice, sunny, 68-degree days... See pics below. ;)

I've had some pretty exciting meetings this week, including one not for my mission. :O Yep - for the Scotland/Ireland mission!! WHAT I know!! When Sister Henriod made it there, the advertising team of elders immediately asked her, "Sister Henriod, do you know a lot about FB ads?" She said, "no, but my companion in California does!" So I had a Zoom call with their mission and helped answer questions about advertising on Facebook hahaha!! The things you NEVER thought you'd do or learn! :D So fun!! We also had zone introductions and our amazing zone leaders bought us all pizza! Woohoo! They're the best. We ate dinner with some of my favorite people too. ;) On Saturday we went to Lynn's with the Canyon Crest elders! :D And on Sunday, President and Sister Watson invited us over! Wow!! Such a treat. :) It was so fun talking to all of them; they're amazing.

On Friday Sister Noall and I practically had the best afternoon EVER. I'm telling y'all; missionary work can be the most fun thing in the whole world and I can't believe how much I love it. :)) We spent a couple hours in downtown Riverside, prepping for Instagram work! We took all sorts of videos, pictures, and clips for Instagram posts, stories, and reels. If that's not the most entertaining way to do missionary work, I don't know what is! It was awesome!! :D We went to the courthouse, butterfly wall, Mission Inn, Tio's Tacos, and more. So stay tuned for our awesome Instagram work there @findjesus.inlandempire! ;)

Lastly, we had some amazing lessons with Samantha Saldana, Ricardo, Charlita, and so many others we're teaching! Woohoo!! Both ASL and English. :) And I'm understanding most of it, even if they only sign with one hand because they're holding their phone with the other hand lol. :) The gift of tongues is real. We are both so surprised how blessed we are this transfer, with lots of friends to teach (about 15!), friends coming to church, videos being made, and the work going forward! It's the best!!

Last but not least, I went on exchanges!! And I wasn't the STL!! Haha woohooo!! :)) I went with Hermana Neider (we lived together in Murrieta) It was a huge blessing because we got to have our exchange in my very first apartment here in the mission (the old Canyon Crest apartment!). :D Talk about nostalgia woah! I loved every second of it. My very first exchange was there, in that apartment, going to Spanish land, doing studies by the pool, and drinking Polar Pops with Hermana Weston. My last exchange was there, in that apartment, going to Spanish land, doing studies by the pool, and drinking Polar Pops with Hermana Neider. I couldn't have asked for anything better. <3 So so so SO many wonderful memories there. Wow.

I love you all so much; keep up the awesome things you're doing. Don't forget to do the little things - say your prayers. Read your scriptures. And go to church. It's important. CPR for a reason. ;) Miss you! See you next week!

Love, Sister Goss

Sister Goss---W76: ASL galore, viral IG reel, BoMs left and right (Feb 1, 2021)

HOLY MOLEY hey everyone!! :D How's it going?? Life is absolutely phenomenal right now for me!!! This week has been amazing!!

We've been totally packed with doubling in two areas, working on the social media team, and learning a new language haha!! :)) Our week was full of lessons, home visits with members, meetings, studies, service, and more. 

Language: ASL my friends! It's coming along!! I'm still very new, but I'm understanding (usually) more than I think I would've. On Tuesday we had about 5 straight hours of ASL, including district council, ASL class, an ASL Zoom social, and my first ASL lesson! Later on this week we had another ASL lesson with Ricardo that went for an entire hour and get this: I understood!! And communicated with him for an hour!! *yeeeeessss* I'm making it a priority each day to watch some sort of ASL video to understand comprehension better, and Sister Noall and I have a goal to use sim com (simultaneous communication: you speak and sign at the same time) from 8:30am-9pm unless we're 1) driving, 2) in a different room, or 3) planning an English lesson. It's NOT easy but I'm going to be so much better by the end of this haha. Huzzah for ASL!

Service: we went to my favorite service place EVER this week, and it may sound a little familiar... Remember Soles 4 Souls?? Yes!! We unloaded this massive semi-truck for several hours and it was so much fun!! I have about 10 bruises on my arms still, but 100% worth it. No biggie. :) We also served at Salvation Army, Billion Graves, etc. Sadly Valencia and Feeding America are closed for service because of covid, but maybe I'll see if I can visit. :)

Meetings: I gave my last trainer/trainee training on Tuesday! It was bittersweet. :) I tag-teamed the training with some other wonderful sisters so they can do it in the future. I have loved having the privilege of consistently sharing my testimony of the power of this work, especially through social media, to new missionaries and their trainers. I have felt so much power doing so. :)) <3 We also had zone accountability, social media council, and 5 straight hours of Zoom church on Sunday morning (that's what happens when you cover both a ward and a branch). But relatively less meetings than usual for me haha! More language study time ;)

Fun: some big time fun things this week included a birthday party for Elder Wolfert (the missionaries in our complex went to a central picnic table and ate cake together), working on ASL translations for songs on the ASL page with our district, making an Instagram reel that hit 5k people in about 0.2 seconds (go check it out!!! @findjesus.inlandempire), and enjoying some bee-au-tiful weather ;)) Woooowooo!!

People: We're actually teaching several people and I've already come to love them so much! Gabriel Roa is a father who has wanted to be baptized for a couple years now and is waiting for his wife. We met them yesterday and their whole family is so cute. :)) Ricardo is our ASL friend we have lessons with and he's so funny! And patient with me haha... Brooke is a sweet 11 year old who was recently baptized and she wants to introduce her other friend to the church! Let's gooooo Brooke!! <3 And there are several others too. Keep praying people's hearts will be open and they will be led to the church! There are so many miracles left and right - God really is involved in the details. :) We gave out four copies of the Book of Mormon and a Bible this week! Already!!

Miracles: 1) Albert, our apartment maintenance friend, fixed our heating and said as he was leaving, "can I have one of those books?" pointing to our bookshelf with the Book of Mormon copies! He said he wanted to read it with his daughter. 2) We were leaving a certain service that "happened" to cancel and ran into a man outside who waved us down named Romero. He said, "what's your tag mean?" After some discussion, he said "do you have a Spanish copy of the Book of Mormon I can read?" We just "happened" to have a Spanish copy in our trunk and swapped numbers. 3) Every person we tried to contact last night answered or allowed us to share more and introduce the Book of Mormon to them. This is AMAZING!! Oh and 4) our reel went crazy for a second!! Hooray for Instagram!!

Okay I know this email is super long already. Thanks for reading :)) and supporting :)) y'all are so so so awesome!! Keep shining Christ's light and be willing to ask the hard questions. Ask them and find answers through His Spirit; life is so much better that way! Have a FANTASTIC week!!!

Love, Sister Goss