Time is Slipping By

Well... where to start? I am running out of time! Everyday I am like oh we need to go and see this person and this person and we just run out of time! But we had a great week :)

Started off in Little Rock because my comp. was at the temple so I got to spend the day with hna. dube which was SO FUN! I miss her! There is a chiropracter there so we got to go and get adjusted for free and then guess what was sitting right outside? It was like a taco stand but it sold INDIAN FOOD!!!!!!!!! I have not had indian food for 17 months and it looked so good so sis. reed and I gave in and went and bought some tikka masala with rice and naan and a mango lassie. SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!! now dont get me wrong the homemade mexican food we get fed is delicious but I really enjoyed that indian food. we dont have indian places here in little old russellville. Okay its not even that little but still. then we went and hung out out the church with all the missionaries in the area. we played some hackey sack which is SO FUN and I won e. meyers and hes pro at it! Okay so it was probably just luck but it was real fun. then we played signs and we also have a good time doing that.

On our way home the smiths stopped at chick fil a which i love (wow I feel like more than half my emails are about food-guess it just goes to show how much I love food ;)) and while we were there we got a text on sis. smiths phone (SOMEONE accidentally left their phone on the desk in russellville and had to go 2 days without a phone. way to go sis. goudie. believe me. it was stressful. but it all worked out just fine. the elders went and got our phone from our apt. and were keeping us updating on anything that came through.) anyways back to the story. the elders texted us and said that daniela had texted our phone and asked if we were busy today and asked if we could come over. I was a bit worried. shes never really asked us to come over. Usually when that happens its either real bad info like they dont want to keep being taught or it could be really good. Well I was expecting the worse cause I have never really had a good experience like that and we showed up and Jaime was there which was a surprise. So we got talking and they were saying anything good or bad so then I really started to worry that they were just holding off till the right moment to tell us the bad news. But then something caught my attention. DANIELA HAD A RING ON HER FINGER!!!!!!!!!!! this is happening for reals. She is getting married. HE PROPOSED!!!!!! Yay :) So we figured out thats why she wanted us to come over! I love good news :) Jaime also told me that if we are allowed to go to the buffalo river he will get baptized on the 5th, and if not, he will wait a couple weeks until I will be able to come back. Yay! He is getting baptized! And daniela will too someday. I know it! It will be so hard leaving them. I love them so much! They are like my family away from family. 

Can I just say I love mormon messages. We have been using those a lot and thats why Ipads are going to be so useful. So glad at least my comp. will be able to be here when the ACTUALLY come. haha ;) 

At our zone meeting e. fiso told me I could pick the song to sing for the closing. Of course had to play a joke and picked 309. He didnt have the time to ask what it was. So I went up to start playing it and all the missionaries started laughing and finally he was like, OKAY! We are not singing this! Haha got to love "as sisters in zion." he made me change the song. Went on my last exchange so that was weird. met this lady Roseann and my testimony that Joseph Smith did see the Father and the Son was strengthened. 

Got to see ben this week! That kid is doing awesome! And chino. wish I could say the same ;) Haha no hes good. Just got to get him to church ;) He really does have good intentions though. Had my last sports night. So sad but so fun! 

At church daniela and carolina were there. Daniela showed up with a stuffed Dory and I guess while they were in Little Rock looking for a wedding dress they found this and it reminded her and Jaime of me because I never remember what I am going to say just like Dory. #shorttermmemorylossisreal. Veronica y su esposo and sis. lewis and I sang in sacrament meeting. Had a carne asada with the members after church. Knocked on a door with a Utah license plate. Hes not from Utah but was legit. Him and his girlfriend are awesome and I am so excited to start teaching them! 

Well things are going good. Time is flying. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to see my testimony grow so much. I know this is the true church. I know we have a living prophet who leads and guides us. I know the book of mormon is true. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. Testimonies come over time! Be patient! But also be diligent.

Love yall!

Hermana Goudie

The new family that just moved in from El Salvador have an ostrich or emu. Not sure what but it's pretty legit.

SPRING TIME!!!

Playing with light sabers!

INDIAN FOOD!!!

Look whose getting married!

Always wanted a pic with this!

I love this little boy. CESAR!!! COCO!!!

DORY!!!!

Exciting News!

So... time is still flying by way to fast! However, we had a great week! Monday evenings sometimes dont usually go very well as a missionary. Atleast with my experience. But we had a great Monday evening last week. We decided to head down to Dardenelle and stop by the Panaderia (bread store) where Carolina works. Well after I bought a delicious pan (bread-I had to! They are so good!) she said she wasnt to busy so she wanted to sit down with us and chat for a bit. So we sat down at the table and talked for about 3 minutes about having faith in Christ and how she wants to increase her faith in Christ but she feels like its hard because shes going through so much right now and thats why we told her its so important that she does that now because her faith in Christ will help her through the hard things shes going through and then someone walked in the shop so she had to go back up to the front of the store (also can I just say I feel like I am in Mexico when I am in her store. I love it :)) so after he leaves she comes back and sits down with us and then we get on another subject, prophets. Then someone walks in and she has to get back up and then after they leave she comes and sits back down and then we start talking about the Book of Mormon. And then another person, okay I think you get the point. But we were there for over an hour teaching her like this because she is always so busy at her panaderia and is there from like 9 am to 9 pm so it is really hard to find time to teach her, but I have learned that the Lord provides a way and makes it possible for us to teach her! Anyways we got on the subject of baptism of course and she said she still wants to be baptized and would like to change religion. She said its just hard because shes always so busy and we told her that we could come and teach her there or when she gets back at her house at 9 and leave by 930 and she seemed really excited and was glad to see that we werent giving up on her because she told us she really wants this :) She is probably the sweetest lady I know. We have been trying to work with her for some months now, but I think this time it will really work. We asked more about baptism and said that she is wanting to do it this time. So we said, "We will be having a baptismal service on March 28th. Will you prepare to be baptized on that day?" in spanish of course and then she said, oh really? who will be getting baptized? and we said "Usted!" ;) haha gotta love PMG. she agreed and was able to come to church this week and she is doing real good! 

Also, we got some GREAT news from Jaime and Daniela! They are going to get married on April 4th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! wahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! One step in the right direction to them being baptized :) That will be my last Sunday and I am so grateful that I got to stay here and help them prepare to get married and help them prepare for baptism. Although I dont know if I will be here for the baptism  :( Because Jaime has to get baptized in the Buffalo River because he had a dream in Mexico where he got baptized in that river and when he arrived here in Arkansas and saw the Buffalo River he said it was the exact same river that he had in his dream. And the Buffalo River is like an hour away and not in the mission :( so that will be sad. He couldve maybe done it on April 5th (my last sun.) if it werent for the fact that we have general conference that day so we wouldnt even get to the river until like 6ish... but I will come back for sure when they get baptized! I love them so much :) 

E. Meyers got everyone to do the huggle that the Petersons used to have us do at the end of specialized again for our last one. That was fun :) and may have brought some tears to my eyes #throwback

It was beautiful temperature these last few days. Like in the 70's! Love spring time! :) and crazy story. There was this old man that came up to us in walmart a few weeks ago and starting bashing with us hard core and guess who was on the national geographic tv show at one of our investigators houses. THE SAME GUY!!!!!!!!!!! he was crazy! Bro. Smith our 70 year old ward mission leader in our correlation meeting starts it off with "first off, let me get my calender out so I can write it down. sis. goudie. when do you go home?" haha gotta love it when the members start marking their calenders ;) 

On Sunday we had lots of success! We were actually able to have a gospel principles class! There were 9 of us in there! Wahoo!!!!!!! okay thats including 4 missionaries and one member but still. dont think that has happened since the whole time ive been here. 

Also, one of the missionaries rules is that whenever the car is backing up, your comp. has to be behind you to back you. Well, I pulled into this trailer park to see if there were any hispanics and it didnt look like it so I was trying to turn around and make it so my comp. didnt have to back me because it was kinda raining so I tried to turn around at the dead end in just a little bit of where the grass was and little did I know that it was like a swamp that I was turning around in! yep. we got stuck for like an hour. The elders had to come and get us unstuck. The owner was not a very happy camper... she was like "why didnt you just back out?" well... because we are missionaries and we do everything we can do avoid backing! haha ;) oops... this same day we knocked on this mansion that looks like the tower of terror and they didnt answer so we dropped a restoration pamphlet in their door #yolo and got fed pupusas again this week. we walked into a families house that were making them and I go, "my comp. wants to learn how!" haha well they were more than welcome to show us and of course were so glad to have company to enjoy them with! ;) i love pupusas! 

well... just enjoying myself here and seeing lots of miracles! Love yall! 

Sister Goudie

PUPUSAS!!!!!!

Getting stuck in the mud

At a fhe with the branch, Daniela and Elizabeth!

We are in LR for the day and we drove down last night because sis. lewis got to go to the temple (for her bday) and they left for memphis at like 630 in the am so I am chilling in LR until she gets back. So this was the crew last night when we arrived. the elders wanted to say hi to isabel and oswaldo (who were so kind to drive us!)

Reunited once again! Dont worry... we didnt actually sleep together ;)

Another Week Down!!

Can I just say that I just love being a missionary? However, I also sometimes never know what to write about anymore because everything is just so normal now. But there were some exciting things that happened! 

We were able to meet with amber a few times this week and she is doing real good. Also, hna. lewis keeps making fun of me for saying "real." I picked it up from hna. dube. Its so interesting how every single one of my companions has had an impact on me and its like they left a little part of them with me. Whether it be how I talk or how I act or how I teach. By the end of the mission especially when you teach you can totally tell that almost everything you say is a combination of all the companions you had. So thats pretty cool :) Sis. Lewis said, "Thats so neat that youve pick up your favorite things from each companion so now at the end of your mission you are a pro teacher." Now definately know that the pro teacher part is not true but it is fun to see what things youve picked up from each companion. Its really funny too being able to see missionaries and knowing people well enough that you can tell who they have been companions with. I really do believe that I have needed to meet and be with everyone that I have on my mission for a reason and that I learned so much from them. 

Also something cool. We went over to see Jaime and Daniela before he took of to Missouri again and we have just been waiting and praying and praying and waiting for the news on his sister being able to get her visa soon so that these 2 can get married already! Well... of course we asked them if they had heard anything and they said that she has not got her visa yet and they are thinking that they are just going to get married without her coming. So they said they think the wedding will be onApril 4th which is my last Saturday here!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost cried!!!!!!!!! I love Jaime and Daniela SO much and I think I will be here for their wedding!!!!!!!!!!! AH!!!!!!!!!!! And then guess what that means? They will be one step closer to being baptized!!!!!!!!!!! So heres what hna. leal proposed to us. We still have to propose it to them. They get married on the 4th, sat. of general conference, and then on the 5th, sunday of general conference (after the sessions of course) they can get baptized! They would have to wait a week to get the Holy Ghost but I dont think it will be a problem from Jaime and Daniela. They are pretty solid :) So that is what we are going to pray hard for and propose to them as soon as Jaime gets back from Missouri that they can get married and then baptized. I have been working with them for 6 months and they are the most solid people I've ever taught. I feel like I knew them before, like we are legit family. Jaime told me he wants me to be the godmother of his daughter Elizabeth. Goodness, this family just cant get any cuter. I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to find this family, teach them, and still be here for when they get married. Obviously dont want to get my hopes up incase it doesnt happen, but I have faith that it will! And I keep asking myself why I am still in Russellville, but who knows, maybe its for them! :)

We taught the D&C class this last Saturday and we didnt really end up teaching much mostly because hna. sorto is a real good teacher and she was helping us out a lot but by the end of the class pretty sure every hna. cried. I bawled like a little baby. Man, it sure is going to be hard leaving this place. I feel so close to everyone. I guess thats one thing that makes it difficult about staying in an area for 10 months is the fact that when you leave, its like you are leaving family behind. Also, I just love something pres. wakolo always says: "when you get transferred, you dont get transferred to the area, but you get transferred to the people." I am so grateful that I am able to meet the amazing people and get to know them so well here in Russellville.

On sunday I was asked to speak in the spanish sacrament and I talked about the plan of salvation. It went really well. Something thats kind of nice about speaking in a branch is that fact that I dont get too nervous because it is pretty small. And its weird how normal it is for me to give talks and teach in spanish now. We also had a Family Home Evening in Conway with the branch and that was so fun to have all the members together and enjoy some delicious mexican food (man am I going to miss that) and games (sharades) and a testimony meeting. Its times like these when you just feel so loved and know that you are where you are supposed to be. I also realized just how blessed I have been in my life to always be surrounded by loving family and friends. I know that each and everyone of you have taught me so much! 

Well... thanks for reading my feelings in a nutshell about what went down this last week. Love yall so much! Please keep reading your scriptures, saying your prayers, and going to church! The church is true! 

Hermana Goudie

This was from last week when we decided to knock all doors with windchimes

 awkward moment when david puts this on me after district meeting because hes says im getting married soon... oh gosh. #lasttransferprobs

Playing mormon trivia with the elders!

our zls told us we couldnt drive the car all day this day and we had to stay inside... WHY???????????? no snow!!!!!!!!!

This was from the FHE with the members in Conway

Goudie face!

7th Transfer in Russellville! Let's Make This The Best!

Mi familia! Como estan? So, my trainee, or hija as they call it here in the mission is so AWESOME!!!!!!! I love her so much! She has so much energy about doing missionary work. Her name is Hna. Lewis and she is so dang cute! She is from Sandy Utah so she lives real close to me! 

So this week has been real good. Its funny how things that I am so used to are like a foreign language to new missionaries. But training has been going awesome. She is going to teach me so much! This week we were on bike week and it was FRIGID!!!!!!!! But we survived :) At the very beginning of this week back when sis. dube was here on Monday night we got trapped in Katies all day ;) We went over to Katies to play games with her and the Elders at like 4:30 and right when we got in we got a text from ZL's saying that we had to get in and stay where we were until further notice. Well, we didnt find out that we could leave until like 8ish so we played some games with Katie and it was real fun but kinda weird that we werent able to go out and do missionary work. I felt so weird just 'hanging out' and felt like I wasnt doing anything good or worthwhile. Although it was a lot of fun. But thats what I am going to have to do pretty soon and its just going to be weird! I just feel like Im a missionary and thats all I know how to do ;)

On Thursday, so sis. lewis 2nd day in the mission, we had dinner with a member and then this member wanted to help us out for a bit since we didnt have a car and I decided to try this member that sis. dube found in the area book the other day. She was a member referral from like last year and I have never really taught her but I knew who she was. Well she was on my mind so we stopped by and she let us in and she kept asking questions like "I just dont understand why there are so many churches and how I can know which one to go to." it was perfect! So we taught the restoration and she said that it made a lot of sense and we committed her to baptism and she agreed and we set a date for March 21st. It was awesome! I really learned that when we are being dilligent and talking to everyone (even though they might be kind of weird and not everyone we talk to will want to listen to us) the Lord will bless us and we will be able to meet those that are prepared. But after the lesson we got out and as soon as she shut the door and we were close to the car sis. lewis just starts screaming and jumping and comes up and and hugs me and it was so cute! It brought me back to the time when I first set a date with someone and I was that exact same way! She was SO excited! And I was too dont get me wrong but I guess after being a missionary for a 17 months I guess you are just kinda used to it ;) but she really helps me remember that what we do as missionaries is so special. We help bring souls unto Christ!This transfer is going to be AWESOME!!!!!!

Other things this week. We got stuck in hna. barreras car in the snow for like an hour. Her car broke down and we were waiting for people to come and fix it ;) also sis. lewis wanted to knock every house with a wind chime on the porch. Such a great idea ;) although almost every single house that we saw had wind chimes. We got to meet a lot of new people this week! 

And can I just say I cannot believe it is March????? Holy cow!!!! Time is just flying by! 

Well I love yall! 

Hermana Goudie

these kids just wanted to ride their bikes with us! It was hilarious!

PDAY SNOW!!!!

Getting stuck at Katies

at the panaderia! I feel like I am in Mexico when I am here

Oswaldo gave us these lovely hats :) 

SIS. LEWIS!!!!!!!!!! Isnt she beautiful? It was definately snowing at transfers.

Ramirez drove through Russellville and he wanted to meet Katie. So that was fun :)

7 Transfers In Russellville!!

So... we got transfer calls this morning. I really thought I would be getting transferred. I have been here for 9 months and it has been an amazing 9 months! But that is quite a long time to stay in an area as a missionary... so I was kind of thinking I would be transferred to Little Rock which wouldve been SO fun because that is where I was born and I would love to see the members there because I miss them, but I guess I have more to do here. I am excited to stay its just I really wasnt expecting it. By the end of this transfer I will have been in Russellville for 10 months! Woohoo! haha ;) More than half my mission. I love it here though. I really am blessed to have stayed here for this long. The members keep making jokes like, you are practically a permanent resident, you should vote, we have just adopted you into the ward, etc. I think its pretty funny. I will have 5 companions here (I AM TRAINING!!!!!!!) and I think its funny how every time at church after transfers the members are like, "You are still here?" Haha I hope they arent sick of me yet ;) Because theyve got 6 more weeks with me ;) I cant believe that is all I have left on my mission. I had a little moment this morning in companion study because I realized how short the time is. It hadnt really hit me until I started my last planner today :( I have been so blessed on my mission, seen so many miracles, and have grown SO much! Well, at least I think so ;) I guess yall will have to tell me if thats true or not when I get home. and that means grown spiritually and physically ;) Isabel and Oswaldo took us out to get protein shakes today and we got our weight and body fat measured... haha lets just say I have a bit of work to do before I get home ;) But its all good :) I am so excited to grow even more this transfer (hopefully not physically) oh! But I think I did grow a little bit in height :) I cant wait to meet my new companion! Im going to have a hija!

Okay enough of that. So this week there was lots of snow! We had a lot of meetings, and not as much missionary work happened as I wouldve wanted to happen. We had to go in early 2 nights in a row :( but I got my journal mostly caught up so that was nice! We got to sleep over with Conway sisters on Thursday because we had a trainers meeting really early Thursday morning in Little Rock and we also slept over Saturday night with the Hermanas in little rock because of stake conference. So that was a lot of fun :)

In our zone conference which had to get postponed because of the snow, President said something that really hit me. He heard it from Elder Bednar. He said, "In the last days, our testimonies alone wont save us, it is our continual conversion!" How neat is that! I know that all of us have testimonies but that alone wont mean anything unless we are continually striving each and EVERYDAY to be converted. And guess what? It is just those simple things that keep us on the path to continual conversion which is reading our scriptures and saying our prayers "everyday, everyday, everyday" like my mission president says. Man I love him. He has taught me SO much! and going to church is included in that too! But its not that hard! Its not rocket science here people ;) The gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. And sometimes I think that we are the ones that think that because it is so simple, we can just skip over it that day. But dont think that way! Alma 37:46-dont be slothful because of the easiness of the way. Please keep reading your scriptures every day and praying everyday! We had a meeting the other day and it was a member telling us that if we go home from our missions and start putting our scriptures down, we are on the path to spiritual death. That was pretty bold but it is so true! I hope I will always be able to read from the scriptures like I can on my mission. Someone else told me something interesting the other day and it was that when people say "I dont have time" it just means that they are choosing to spend their time somewhere else. So please, choose to use your time wisely and study the scriptures daily! I know it has blessed my life :)

We had an investigator that I love dearly drop us :( It was really hard. But that is part of being a missionary. Not everyone we teach will choose to accept. But we just have to keep praying and fasting. Maybe it is just not her time yet. That is probably the hardest thing about being on a mission when those you love choose not to try to find out if it is true. 

On saturday night after stake conference when we were with the hermanas we found out that Luis nephew Orlando who sis. Dube and I had both taught got baptized! It was so cool :) I love seeing how one person accepting the gospel brings so many others! We also had a surprise visit from E. Ramirez although that is not his name anymore. It is just weird to call him Javi ;) He sat by us stake conference. It was good to catch up on mission experiences. 

Well... I love yall! Last transfer here I come :)

Hermana Goudie

Mug shot with Bro. Bruce (ward mission leader)

 My companion wanted a pic of her being 'red-neck' at Katies house

We were playing dress up with Katies clothes ;) She just moved in close to us! So exciting!

I love this family :) la familia martinez

sleepover in conway!

the spanish crew!!!!!!! or whats left of us ;)

The EASTMANS!!!!!!! we started taking pictures with everyone because we didnt know who would be leaving. I love this family! 

 our investigators Carolyn and Lee! I love them! they have the cutest house. they have a grandson on a mission! 

we had a surprise visit from these awesome people at Stake conference! I miss little rock :(

Orlanda got baptized! 

stake conference!!!!!