Tuesday, January 31, 2017

January 30, 2017

Hey everyone, this week went really well. We had the worldwide
missionary broadcast, which was really good and they also changed the
missionary schedule. The main things that they did were make studies
more flexible, move planning to the morning, and extend P Day by 2
hours. I'll attach a picture to this with the official document they
sent out. It's awesome that they always look for improvement and ways
to make things more effective and productive for missionaries.

I did a lot of service this week as well as lessons. We helped one of
our recent converts put up a bunch of sheet rock and then
we had lunch with him. We've had a lot of lessons too and one of our
investigators is progressing a lot towards baptism. We are hoping to
have a baptism on March 4th. We have to work towards it throughout
this month though. The new people that came into our zone this
transfer are really awesome and things are going well. My companion
Elder Larsen is serving as a zone leader now and we have been getting
along really well. It's weird to think that I'm turning 20 this week..
Time goes fast! I love you all and miss you guys, thanks for all of
the birthday wishes.
-Elder Godwin



Monday, January 23, 2017

January 23, 2017

Hey everyone, this week went really well and we taught a lot of
lessons. Our members are the best too. I've also discovered even more
things over at Santana Row, it has a Cheesecake Factory, Brazilian
Restaurant, California Pizza Kitchen, and the shoe store thats
basically Flight Club is right next to it. And there's a Barnes and
Noble over there with a Starbucks. It's dangerous for my wallet lol.
It'll probably be a go to place for when I come back and visit here
someday. It's seriously the best shopping center I've ever seen.

Transfers are this week and I'm staying with Elder Larsen but he's
been called as a zone leader. Things have been going well for us and
honestly I'm glad that I'm staying in this area because we've been
improving it a lot and had a lot of progress. A few new people are
coming into our zone so we'll see how things go. Not a ton new has
happened, but overall things are good. I love you all and miss you
guys.

-Elder Godwin

Tuesday, January 17, 2017

January 16, 2017

Hey everyone, this week went really well. We have been getting a good amount of lessons and picking up some new investigators too which is exciting. Nothing too new has happened, just doing the work I guess. Transfer calls are this upcoming week tho which is weird, it went by pretty fast and I'll be done with training too. Which means that now I could potentially get a leadership call. But we shall see. Transfer week is always crazy so it should be interesting to see who gets shuffled around. 

We went shopping the other day at this shopping center called Santana Row and it's probably the nicest shopping center I've ever been to. They have an Oakley and a Gucci store and everything like that. They also have this Brazilian steakhouse there that I guess is one of the nicest restaurants in the San José area. We went around in Oakley for a little bit which was fun. I went by Levi's Stadium the other day too which was cool, we were on the way home from visiting somebody who lived right past it so we stopped and took a picture. I also got my new shoes that I ordered on Friday which was surprising because they weren't supposed to get here until today. But I'm not complaining lol. I'm glad I got them and it was a good thing to get for Christmas. I also discovered that my official release date is September 5th, 2018. So there's that for future reference lol. But anyways, things have been good and going well generally. I miss you guys and hope that everything is going well, I'm always happy to hear from you all. 

-Elder Godwin 




Tuesday, January 10, 2017


                                                       Brig translating! :)

January 9, 2017



Hey everyone, this week went pretty well and it went by really quick
too. We've gotten back to a pretty normal schedule now that the
holidays are over. It's been raining every day and people here in
California really aren't used to rain lol. It's somewhat of a foreign
concept to them to have it rain for a whole week or two. Things have
been going well though and we've been able to have some really great
lessons. The language has been coming along too, I translated for the
first time in church yesterday lol. When you translate you sit up on
the stand and have a headset and translate everything thats said
during the meeting. A few families have English speakers and they have
their own headsets to listen to me. It actually went pretty well but i
had a little bit of a stuffy nose which was irritating. I'm looking
forward to a lot of things this year, I know that there is a lot in
store. I've made a lot of personal goals and I know that this is a
good environment to work on them. It's crazy to think that 2017 is the
year where I'll be a missionary for the entire thing. I know that its
going to go by a lot faster than I think though, its kind of weird how
time works. I know that this time that I have to serve is very special
and that this year will be one that I'll never forget. It's amazing to
be able to do the Lords work each day and progress.

One of my favorite scriptures that I've been thinking about is Alma
37:6 where it says "by small and simple things are great things
brought to pass" which is definitely true when it comes to setting
goals and progressing. When we had our meeting with Elder Bednar, the
topic was on faith and we talked a little about how since faith is a
principle of action, faith is something that is not static. Meaning
that your faith is either increasing, or it is decreasing. And it all
happens with small, simple, daily actions. Elder Bednar said that a
lot of people think that to increase their faith they need these huge
spiritual experiences, but its actually the daily little things that
accumulate to great faith. Big experiences definitely happen and help
strengthen our faith, there is no doubt about that, but if that is all
that we rely on and all that we have, our faith will ultimately
suffer. It's awesome to have great spiritual experiences, but in
addition to the small, daily actions, that is when our faith can
continue to grow. And I've really been able to see that as I work on
taking small steps each day. Even throughout trials and big
challenges, each small step eventually gets you through a hard time.
And thats also the reason that it can be difficult to see progress
when It's in the moment. But in hindsight you can always more easily
see progress that you have made through doing the "small and simple
things" each day.

As I've been reflecting on things, I also remembered a quote the other
day that I heard from when I was in Brazil, I'm not sure who it was
by, but it was "If you feel far from God, guess who moved." Which is a
really blunt one but I like it. It helped me kind of recognize that
honestly, I felt kind of far from Him but he is always there. For the
short time that I was in Brazil, I worked on taking one more step
every day to feel closer to Him. And from that I was able to see
miracles that have changed my life completely. And the amount of
change that I've been able to see in myself over the past year of my
life from that principle is definitely a "great thing" that I've seen
come from the "small and simple" steps of progress. Going throughout
the past year, there were definitely times where it was difficult to
see any personal progress as I worked on things. But as I look back,
I'm really grateful for the experience that I was able to have and for
the Savior. Because all of that progress is only possible through
using the Atonement. There are times where things can be difficult and
its hard to see things, but there is another scripture that kind of
pairs with it that says "faith is things which are hoped for and not
seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no
witness until after the trial of your faith." (Ether 12:6). Which is
true as well, because it isn't always easy during the process. But as
you work on growing faith each day through small and simple things,
you can look back and see all of the faith that you have accumulated
throughout. And then you receive that witness and testimony of the
great things that have come to pass.

I wasn't quite expecting on typing all of that out, but its what I've
been thinking about and I guess that I want to leave that with you all
and share that part of my testimony with you. I love you all and hope
that things are going well for everybody, I love hearing from you all
and seeing how you are doing. And also while I was reflecting, I
wanted to thank you all for the support and help that you've given me
over the past year. I have definitely been able to feel everyone's
love, it means a lot to me. I love you guys and hope that you each
reach all of the goals that you have for this upcoming year.

-Elder Godwin