Second Week in the Field

Let me start by saying that I am having so much fun out here. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas.  It is a little bit chilly and windy this week though. We have taught some really great lessons and had some awesome days since I last wrote to all y'all. We had the one baptism and it was so great and very memorable. We also got Marian's sister (Maria) and mom to commit to prepare for baptism on the 23rd of January, and we think the dad is not far behind. We are also teaching this other family named the Samaniego's who are so funny. They have four sons and one daughter. Their youngest kid Dylan made me laugh so hard he's hilarious, very adorable. We have taught them twice in person and their oldest kid Cesar gets along really well with us, he's about fifteen. Anyways we kinda spent most of our money haha. I know, I know but we will do better this week I promise. But yeah we went grocery shopping and all we got was a case of water because one, we really don't like Utah tap water and two, we have not been paid our grocery money yet this week. But we still have leftover food from last week and we got some gift cards from Elder Piñeres parents which was so awesome, #blessings so we will get by. Oh hey, I got a haircut today; I look so fresh and so clean. Somebody tell my dog I miss him, and I'm sorry for leaving him. But I am having just a dandy time. So I don't really have much more to say but everyone feel free to say hi or ask a question or something.

Spiritual thought: I have bore my Testimony so many times and I feel like it gets stronger each time. Tell other people what you believe in often. It is such a strengthening experience and it can really mean a lot to the people you share with.

Funny thought: Elder Piñeres did not bring an extra shirt for the baptism and said in Colombia the water in the fonts wasn't as high so he never needed one there. So he got out soaked and gestured to me, so I go in there and we spend ten minutes or so wringing out his shirt and then trying to towel him dry, it was really really funny.

Anyways take care everyone and stay safe.

-Elder Golden

Marian's Baptism

 

First Week in the Field

TODAY IS CHRISTMAS!!!

Elder Piñeres and I at Zone Leadership Counsel

Hello all sorry this week is irregular because of Christmas, so today is the day I am sending out emails.   I love it here by the way. My trainer is so awesome; he's also the District Leader, I know, he's big time. His name is Elder Piñeres and he's from the Bay Area of California. He served in Colombia for 8 months and then got reassigned here a few months back so his Spanish is really good. 

We have been so busy. From the very beginning of the day to the end we are trying to fit everything in. Also, the very first day I was here it was snowing when I got to the airport. And it has snowed a couple of times and is usually in the low thirties to high twenties, just lovely... Anyways I think I have eaten at least nine hamburgers and sixteen slices of pizza (not even exaggerating). BUT MOM DON'T WORRY the other day I got vegetables as a side for my lunch. And I eat salads and fruits at home. And I'm either super hungry, then we eat then I'm super full. 

Ok, now about the missionary work. So I have helped teach about 60 ish lessons so far, and luckily two or    three have been in English, the rest in Spanish. We      have quite a few progressing investigators, and a baptism set for tomorrow. The one baptism is a lady named Marian, whose 20 something and from a Venezuelan Family. We think her sister, Maria, is very close to getting baptized too. And they brought their dad to church on Sunday and we taught the mom and dad too. We also took the dad and two daughters to walk the Bountiful Temple grounds and it was so awesome, but very cold. We have been doing a lot of calling and zoom lessons. We have only had a couple of in person lessons or meetings. We are wearing masks a lot; we have to wear them every time we are with anyone we don't live with. 

Oh yeah, so I also live with this other companionship from our district Elder Evans from Alaska who served in Chile, and Elder Allen from Oregon who is also originally called to Layton like me. We have a ping pong table in our apartment but we don't have much time to play except for maybe five minutes here and five minutes there. But I think I'm getting pretty good. Also the members of our ward are so awesome. They love talking to us on the phone so we'll share messages a lot, and one time a guy ran 10 minutes from his house to one of our lessons cause we needed a member present. So they love helping us do missionary work. We aren't allowed to accept any food from them though. We have been offered so many meals, cash a couple times, people to pay for our food and other stuff but we have a rule to not accept anything from members or anything right now. So we're being obedient and politely turning them down. However some of the restaurants in the area give a nice missionary discount which really saves us cause we get short on money, haha. Well I hope you all have a really good Christmas, feel free to send me gifts and presents all year round or just a nice little email would be nice!

190 N. Country Lane
Fruit Heights, UT 84037
Or just a nice little email would be nice

Spiritual thought: Christ loves you and will love you no matter what. We can use the power of His Atonement to become better and to be clean.

Funny thought: we live in the basement apartment of a house of some nice people and there's a hill going down into their backyard to our door, and it gets snowy and icy. Well anyways my companion slipped and fell on his back and he just didn't care so he slid the rest of the way down and it really made me laugh. Very funny!

-Elder Golden

Bountiful Temple

The Gonzalez Family ~ Marian and Maria with their father

My District

Arrived!

Dear Parents,

The long-awaited picture of Elder Golden with President and Sister Call has finally arrived!  Hopefully, you have been able to hear from him directly that he is settling in.  We are looking forward to a wonderful Christmas with our missionaries and hope you and your family enjoy the special spirit of this season as well.

Merry Christmas,

Utah Layton Mission

President and Sister Call

Quick Note

Hey so today was technically half a P-day and Christmas is the other half. So I'm letting you know that I won't send out a weekly email today but on Christmas I will try. Also, download Google hangouts cause that's the only way I can call you on my phone, or that I'm allowed to anyways.

Love you all and I'm having a blast!

The Big Day!

Well today is the day that I say goodbye to Washington and hello to my new home in Utah.  My parents took me to the airport early so I could catch my 6:00 am flight. I'm excited to start serving!

Bye!

Last Week in the MTC

So I leave for my mission in Utah in less than one week. It's really crazy to look back and see how much has happened since starting the MTC and what a master of Spanish I am (not really). Also, IT HAPPENED!! I finished the Dog house, well all of the building, technically we're still going to stain it but it looks really great. But anyways, I have taught quite a few lessons in Spanish and there have been many times where I ask the person we are teaching a question and they answer and once they get past three words I have no clue what they were saying. So there is still some work to be done but I get a little bit better every day. Not a ton exciting happened this week but I did accidentally somehow unmute myself and cough really loud during a meeting and felt bad after I finally realized what had happened.

Here are some highlights for you though...

Spiritual Thought: We have been talking a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ this week and it is so important to know that each and every one of us can feel peace and repent and become clean from our sins because of the sacrifice that Christ made for us. Because of him we can return to the presence of our Heavenly Father.

Funny Thought: I don't really know... I can solve a Rubiks cube now. I learned how to do that; it's not super funny but I can do it.

Well I love you all and I hope each and every one of you is doing great, if you have any questions or just want to say what's up feel free to respond, have a great week.

-Elder Golden

All decked out for Christmas!

Home MTC - Week 4

WOW I have been quite busy. And sorry the dog house got put on hold but will be in progress again soon. I had some really deep and meaningful study this week and it was great to have that quiet and peace that the Spirit brings. I also gave some totally awesome lessons in Español (Spanish for you English speaking folk). My District and I have been having a lot of fun. I also played Kahoot in class and should have won but totally got robbed. So sad. And I yelled at the computer and my family heard me cause it was 7:30 am (oops). ALSO, I STARTED DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS!!! Even though I won't even be in my own home for Christmas, sad... But I am so excited because in two weeks I actually get to go to Utah and start serving, like big time. Another thing, my family and I went and dropped off some baby formula at a food bank that my Dad got from some sketchy lady in an alley. That is a joke he got it from a kind lady who was not in an alley, I don't actually know where they met, but yeah I helped carry it to these food banks. So also I may have gone on a few runs, I know that doesn't sound like me, but it's true. Anyways I hope you are all doing so great. God loves you, always remember that. Have a great week, talk to you soon, your favorite missionary

-Elder Golden 

Dropping off donations with my sister Gretchen