From Elder S. Goff - "Last week of the change"

Mosquito Bites

  So today we are starting week 6 of the change last week of the change the one that would have been my last one but ill be sticking around here a little longer. I'm really excited for that but it’ll be weird saying bye to my gen this next week when they all take off. I've had Elder Teahan with me here in Mante this change my 2nd comp from the MTC and its been cool to see him but I sure will miss him. Ill be the oldest in the mish this next Thursday when they take off.

  This week went really good. Yesterday I gave the best talk that I think I have ever given in my life. I talked on a few things that I enjoyed in the liahona from this months and I felt really comfortable up there and felt like I did really good I invited all the members to repent and god out of the old habits that they are in. when I was done a lot of people told me I did a great job and that they enjoyed it so I asked them what they are going to do to not let it go to waist what the learned from my talk. It was really net though and I was really happy.

  This week we went and visited a lady that we were teaching awhile back but stopped because she wasn’t keeping her compromisos. when we got there she was super happy to see us and told us that she had a dream that an angle went and told her that during that day there would be other angles that would go by her house to visit her well she didn’t understand that but when she saw us walking down the street to her house she knew the dream was about us. It was a really cool experience.

  another hna this week gave us food from her taco stand when we went by one day and she said that the rest of the night people didn’t stop coming to buy and that for the first time ever that they ran out of food to sell so they told us that we can go by for free tacos when ever we want :)stocked for that haha.

  Things are going good this week we have planned a zone baptism and just about every companionship has 2 baptisms planned so we are really excited and think it will help our stake out here to get excited.

  Well have a great week I love you all

Love ELDER GOFF

"LAS VEGAS"

"Fighting with the ward secretary cause he was talking crap :)"

Current Area: Mante, Mexico

Current Companion: Elder Dominguez

From Elder S. Goff - "No Mucho"

  Well the work is going pretty slow these days it makes me pretty sad because I want to work as hard as I can till the last day. It’s been raining off and on which really sucks cause it makes everything muddy and even more humid than it usually is. I think that I'll be out of this area at the end of this change which is in 2 weeks and that is when my gen goes home and I'll become the missionary with the most time in the whole mission. I want to leave this area doing better than when I got here. We really aren’t getting any support right now from the members which is sad but we really are working super hard. The people have gotten to be even less receptive. They will answer the door and look at us and we will start to talk and they will just close it on us as we are talking. We are doing well though. We are always having a good time no matter what me and elder Dominguez.

  This week one of the recent converts that we baptized last change had her baby. That was pretty exciting. Me and my comp are the god fathers of the baby too. It’s her 4th kid and she is only a day younger than me.  She had twins when she was 16 and another little girl a couple years later and now her last baby and she is only 21. It’s pretty crazy but she is a really great person. We are trying to get her mom to get in the water but she is living with a guy and doesn’t want to get married but we were able to put a baptism date with the brother of her for the end of this month so that should be pretty fun. Other than him we don’t have much going on. We have another couple we are teaching and that come to church but aren’t married so they can’t get wet yet and well they don’t want to get married either so that’s a problem. Our program that we are doing with the members is going alright.  We haven’t had it work out yet but I know it will hit one of the members in a good way and get them excited to work with us.

  Well I love you all. Say your prayers and read the good books.

Love Elder Sawyer Goff

Current Area: Mante, Mexico

Current Companion: Elder Dominguez

From Elder S. Goff - "Hey Fam"

"Elder Dominguez and me on the bike of a member"

This week went really well. Things have been pretty slow here in our zone but we are doing all we can to get things up and going once again. We have a stake baptism planned for the last week of this change and are hoping that everything works out, that every missionary is in white that day. We are pretty excited for that. Elder Dominguez and I decided to drop all the INV that we have found recently that weren’t doing anything and start over once again. It hasn’t been easy but we think it will turn out pretty good later. We have been working with the members that we have and are only finding new INV through the members. We have created an activity here in our ward and it seems to be working well and getting people excited but we will see if we start to see the fruits in a couple weeks.

This week a kid from my ward came home from his mission after having served 11 months. He returned home due to health problems. His name is Carlos and he was in Culiacan Sinaloa here in México but the other side of the country. He was having a hard time in the mission due to depression and nerves and different things. I got to meet him the day he got home and well the second time I got to talk to him, I shared with him that I as well returned home from the mission early and now I’m about to finish up. He didn’t believe me at first but I told him that after a couple of months in the MTC, I went home but returned to the mission field after a month of being home. I was telling him that he can do the same, that he just has to focus on getting better and he will be able to head back out and finish up what he started. He is a way good kid and I get along with him well. He even ended up working with us in the afternoon after church yesterday. I talked to him about how he felt in church and he said it wasn’t as bad as what he thought it was going to be. I told him that that was the worst thing for me, when I entered church the first Sunday being home. I told him not to worry about what anyone says because there is always gossip but to focus on what he really wants and everything will be alright and he will be out on the mission in no time.

I always say that I think everything that happens, happens for a reason and I think me being here at this time is a great opportunity for me to help Carlos out and get him back out on the mission. I’m grateful for the challenges in my life because they have truly helped me grow and become stronger. Just like one of my favorite scriptures says in Ether - that we have to become humble and ask God for help and he will make those things that were once our weakness, our strength.

I love you all and hope things are going well back home.

A shout out to mama Russo. I don’t know your son but from what I have heard about him from other elders is that he is a great missionary so you should be proud of him :) I know he is in Victoria right now, where I was before here so I might not get to know him before I go home but just so you know, he is in the best mission in the world.

Take care everyone

LOVES Elder Goff

"Doing service with a member in our ward"

"Me with my rubics cubes which I have mastered"

Current Area: Mante, Mexico

Current Companion: Elder Dominguez

From Elder S. Goff - "enjoy the fotos :-D"

"The river that used to not move or have anything in it grew"

Hey peeps

  So this week was filled with all kinds of exciting things but not too much missionary work. If anyone has been watching the news lately, there was a tropical storm that was forming in the gulf and it was heading right for Tampico. The news was saying that it was looking to form into a hurricane. We got a call from the assistants on Wednesday morning telling us to let all the elders in our district know and that everyone needed to have a least 3 days worth of food in their houses. Well I don’t think I have ever had  3 days worth of food in my house in the mission, so me and my comp notified all the elders and we went out and bought a bunch of things just in case as well. In the afternoon when we were out working, the water started to come down and the wind started to pick up a little. We kept working and got home at night super wet and wrinkly. The next day on Thursday it was still raining but not so bad and me and Elder Dominguez had to take a trip down to Tampico for our meeting with pres and the other zone leaders. The ride went well but there were a lot of places flooded that we saw on our way there. Also in Tampico, the water was still coming down but nothing too bad. We left Friday in the afternoon back up here to Mante and it wasn’t raining in Tampico when we left but when we got here it was coming down super hard and everything was flooded. We got home later so Saturday in the morning we went out to look for people that needed help due to water damage and things like that. We went looking for members that we thought that their house would have problems but didn’t find anyone who really was affected to bad. There were a couple families in the ward that had water in their houses up to the knees but when we got there, they had already taken off to somewhere else. It continued to rain all day Saturday and Sunday morning as well but when we got out of church, the sun had come out as well. There sure was a lot of rain and a lot of people were affected by it but everything seems to be getting better.

  In the midst of all the excitement this week, my camera ended up breaking. I was very angry but oh well I guess. It didn’t get wet or anything, it just doesn't want to work, like turn on even though the battery is fine but oh well I guess.

  Sunday at church there were a couple of people that showed up and I wasn’t sure who they were. I was waiting at the door and a man and a kid like my age walked in wearing normal clothes and were like, what’s up elders!!! They stayed the whole three hours and after we got to talking and they had been over here working and the rain had trapped them so they stayed the night in a hotel and went church searching and found our ward. They are from another state here in México over by México City. The kid is a x missionary and they have like 6 years as members. We got talking a little more and come to find out, they sell dead man boxes for a living. I got excited and was like, you know what I've always wanted to take a picture inside one of those things and he was like well we got some in the back of the truck, if you want we can take one out and take your picture in it. I was like really let’s do it. So we went to his hotel and took one out of the truck put it on the ground outside the hotel and I climbed in it :) there was this lady that saw and started to freak out but I thought it was awesome. It was a great experience. They shut the door on me for a minute and I was there just thinking like wow it would suck if I died right now but I guess it would be easy cause they would just have to ship my body home and put me in the hole and yeah easy!! Haha it was super cool but my comp got scared and didn’t want to get in but I enjoyed it. The member was way cool to let us do that as well.

  Well for this week that’s pretty much all that went down. This coming week we have interviews with pres and a lot of work to do to catch up on the days that we couldn’t do anything this week.

  I love you all and hope you guys are staying safe oh and by the way HAPPY 4TH OF JULY... blow something up for me alright

LOVE

Elder Sawyer Goff

"Me and my comp walking through a soccer field"

"Walking down the street like any other normal day"

"The river behind a recent convert’s house"

"Me and my broken camera :("

"I'll tell you how I was able to take this picture in my letter"

"One of my biggest dreams came true - to take a picture inside a dead man box"

"Picture from President Call's wife from our meeting this past week"

Current Area: Mante, Mexico

Current Companion: Elder Dominguez