AHHHHH!!!!!

Holy crap so I have a total of 5 minutes to write you!!! Because now we have to write our mission president on the computer, and it took forever to figure out how to do it!!!

Well I am sure that you all want to know where I am, but I am going to start off by saying that I am far away and will not be going to Machu Pichuu, but they did return my money so I have that now.

I AM IN PUERTO MALDONADO!!!!!!! So my sector is ALL jungle, I live in the freaking jungle and it is awesome!! Just picture Jurassic Park and that’s my sector. So the heat is horrible!!!! I have never sweated so much in my life!!! But that is okay, because I wanted to come here, so we have 3 people have emergency transfers, so now the four missionaries in our branch, 3 of us are new here and we all have 5 or 6 months in the mission. So this is my first time to be in a branch in my entire life!! It is so weird! A lot smaller and we don’t have a chapel, we have a chapel house, and it’s the bottom floor of where we live. So because I live in the jungle we sleep with nets over our beds and that is pretty interesting, there are a lot of bugs!! Haha I am learning how to deal with it, but my comp does not like bugs at all!!!! Haha my companions Elder Torres, he is from Arequipa Peru, and has 6 months in the mission, he is really cool! We get along extremely well, but it is being kind of a baby about the heat here and he told me he wants a transfer... haha we will see what happens. But we are working well, the elders before us didn’t leave any information on how to find there investigators, so we have been startimg from the beginning!!! I am sending some pictures of the view from our room, and on that is one at night time that is when we were going into the jungle to visit a member. So I really don’t have a lot of time to write.

I am happy that you got my letters; I was worried they wouldn’t get there before Justin left. But they did!!

Don’t worry I am going to keep grandma in my prayers, I always do. I hope that she does better!! well I just looked and only two of the pictures are going to work out today, I will send more the next time and I hope that all is going well back at home, sorry I didn’t have time to write, but know that I love you all so much and I can’t wait to hear from you soon!!!!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!!

LOVE ELDER GOASLIND!!!!!

 

Hello there in Salt Lake City, Utah!!!!

So this email is going to be filled with all sorts of things!!! And sorry I don’t have any pictures, I didn’t take any this week. First I want to say happy birthday to Ashley and dad this month of April!!!

So I finally received the Easter package/party package from my friends. Thank you so much! Mom I love the tie, and the scripture quote it has on the back. so this week was interesting, I was bitten by my first dog, but luckily he bit my pants, so it didn’t break the skin because there was something blocking his teeth, and he was just a little guy so it was okay!!

Last Monday I sent home an envelope with letters for the brothers, Justin, and Josh Degraw. Sorry no other friends yet, I am working on those for later, but I wanted to send one for Justin and Josh to get it to them before they leave.

So I am sorry this isn’t anything new for you guys, but I was sick again this week. I could only eat about 1 meal a day, I had a fever, chills, migraines, stomach problems, but I am feeling a little better now.

So about general conference. I actually got to watch it all in English except for priesthood but I could understand. Me and another North American elder streamed it in on the bishop’s computer on the internet, so we watched it in his office! It was awesome! I loved every single talk!! Especially Elder Holland and President Monson. They are so inspiring, and it always makes me want to be a better person!!! I wish I could watch conference every day!!! Now we have to wait until October to watch it, and by that time I will have about 11 months in the mission! Holy crap!!! But conference was good, I really enjoyed it, it truly was inspiring and you can tell that these men and women are inspired from God, to guide us through this troubled world with their counsel. I now have a huge desire to help everyone understand this!!! This world needs the gospel; there is no way we will find absolute peace in the world without it. And for that we have missionaries now 65,000 around the world teaching and bringing more people to Christ!!!! What things did you all learn from conference that you want or need to apply in your lives, don’t tell me because it’s something personal, but think about it and how you can change your lives to draw more near to the Savior, I know that through our Savior all things are possible, and we can only progress in this life through him. I am so grateful to be his servant here in Peru, and I can’t believe all the blessings I have seen poured into my life as I serve diligently!!!
 

So I want to share this funny poem I wrote with you guys, I don’t know why I wrote it, I guess I was tired one day. haha it says...

Well the first week of April is over....

I’m starting to feel old,

But don’t worry I am not growing mold.

Cusco is cool,

But I want to take a dip in the pool.

With all this walking,

My feet are squawking.

All this rice is pretty bland,

I guess you could say it kind of tastes like sand.

But I can’t complain, because I’m a missionary.

A servant of the lord!

And with that role, who can be bored!!!!!
 

Haha that is my wonderful and weird thought for the week, hahahaaha!!!
 

So now for the big announcement. So the transfers are in 2 weeks on the 23rd. But I got a call last night at 10 pm from the zone leaders and I have an emergency transfer. Because they need to bring another missionary to Cusco, so I have no clue where I am going yet, all I know is that I travel tonight to my new sector. and the zone leaders told me that they are going to try and make it so I can still go to Macchu Picchu, but they aren’t sure, because normally you have to be in Cusco to go, so they are going to try, but now I might not be able to go until later in the mission if I return to Cusco, and if I never return I have to wait to the end of my mission. So that’s my exciting news, I am leaving for a new sector tonight. I was actually really mad about it, but I got thinking about the scripture that says, I will go and do what the lord hath commanded. And then about the hymn, I will go where you want me to go dear lord... I now the lord has a reason for his change, and that in the other zone there are people who I can help. So I am going to keep a good attitude because I know I am an instrument in the hands of the lord here in Peru.

Well nothing more, sorry if I didn’t answer your questions, I really have a hard time remembering after reading the emails. But I love you all so much, and I love talking with you every week!

I hope to hear from you next week! I love you!!
 

 

LOVE ELDER GOASLNID!!!

BAPTISMAL COUNT...6

Hey, so first, I am so happy to hear that Ashley had her baby!!! That is so cool!!! He is so cute, and I can’t wait to meet him next year!!! Haha, so sounds like you guys had a pretty tiring weekend with the trip to St. George, but it was for a good cause!!!

I am sorry that I have to start out with some bad news......so I fractured my ankle playing soccer last Monday......and now I am in a cast and on crutches for about a month or a little less.....pray for me!!!!! I really hope that it heals enough before Macchu Picchu!!!!

Haha April fools!!!!! That really didn’t happen!!!

So dad, my favorite Peruvian snack, isn’t even food. It’s a soda called Inca cola!!! They only have it in Peru and it is amazing!!!!!

So mom I was not able to do my notary, because I don’t have a license to do it!! I haven’t received my card saying I’m foreign yet, so I don’t have any license and I don’t have a passport because the mission keeps them until the end of your mission!

Umm... for Mother’s Day, at times we have the time to use Skype, I can’t remember my Skype account, so mom I hope that you have it on the paper of all my passwords that I left with you, and if not can you set me up a new one to use and give me all the details please haha.

About general conference this next weekend I am so freaking excited!!! basically it is just everything is an hour after you guys, we have from 11 to 1 3 to 5 and 7 to 9 so not bad, but we aren’t going to be working those days really because all of it is confre3rene!!! And it will be interesting to listen in Spanish!!

So now for some stories, so our shower broke this week and for 2 or 3 days we only had freezing cold water like ice!! It was horrible!!! I would jump in an about die!!

Plus, like Tyler had in his mission! We had ants in our fridge!!"! We took out some apple pie to eat and there were ants everywhere! But I couldn´t help but laugh because I thought about Tyler’s experiences in the mission with ants in the fridge!!!

So on Saturday I had my 6th baptism!!! her parents are members but they were very inactive, and so we started working with them to activate them, and found out that the daughter wasn’t baptized and so we put a date, and she got baptized on Saturday!!" and her dad had the opportunity to baptize her!!! It was so awesome! And now the family comes to church all of them every Sunday!!!! Plus we have 3 other inactive families that are starting to come!! It is awesome!!

My comp and I chose to fast the other week and ever since we have seen nonstop blessing from that!! It is amazing!!!

So I read this article in the Liahona of April 2012, and it is by David A Bednar, called THE ATONEMENT. You guys should look it up and read it, it is amazing!!! About how we can use the atonement in all aspects of our lives!! And maybe you could print a copy from the internet and send it to the Nielsen family; maybe it could help them feel some comfort!!!

I am out of time now, and it was so good to hear from you all of!!! I hope that you have a fantastic week, and I hope you are very receptive to the messages in general conference this weekend... and that you had a good Easter yesterday!!!

I love you all and I am so happy to call you my family and friends!!

LOVE ELDER GOASLIND!!!!!

HEY!

(This post is from his email dated March 25, 2013...Sorry I'm a little behind)

Hey this is going to be really fast and really fast because I need time to put pictures on a USB drive to print them.

So I got the package with pop tarts and all that, my comp is so grateful for the beef jerky he already ate it all!!! The missionary video doesn’t work in the mini DVD that we have and tampoco (neither) in the regular TV.

I also got like 8 dear elders and a letter from dad that he sent a while ago I think,

We will be going to Machu Picchu on the 22nd of April. I am so freaking excited to go!! But it is a Monday and I don’t know if I will get to email that day, but we will see. So I have a question, I want to know what day is Easter, and what day is Mother’s Day, I never remember dates like that, so please tell me!!!

Oh I have some news for you! So we all have to choose if we are going to leave the field 3 weeks before or 3 weeks after the date we began the mission, so I choose 3 before because I need to get everything settled for school, but guess what, that means I leave in 2014 on October 21st!!!!! I leave my mission, on my birthday, but it is like 2 days travel, which means I will probably arrive on Annie’s birthday!

This week Elder Brey called me with the cell phone of the zone leaders,  I hope that I get to see him in April for the transfers, but when we were talking he told me that is was so much help to be able to talk to me, and hear a familiar voice!!!

Also I was reading a Liahona the other day that was pretty old, and I found a picture of Grandpa Jack, and I freaked out and ripped it out of the Liahona and put it in my journal, and I’m pretty sure my comp thought I was crazy!!!

So mom one of my converts is 14 years old and she wants to add you as a friend on Facebook, her name is Bony Ananis Aragon, or something like that! Add her as a friend! She is awesome!!!!

The rain is finally starting to pass, this past week we had 4 straight days of sun! It was amazing! It was kind of like St. George weather, I think, but I loved it! I hope I go someone warm in the next transfer like Puerto Maldonado!!!

So this past Tuesday we had Elder Nash a member of the Seventy come and talk to the 2 stakes in Cusco, it was such a good talk, and the members here were basically in heaven to have a general authority here talking to them!!!

We are teaching a few people, but not many are progressing, we have like 3 people that want to get baptized, but they have to get married first, that is the biggest problem that we have here, is that people aren’t married!!!!!!

But we are working hard with them so they can have the blessing of baptism!

we are also working with this 9 year old who isn’t baptized but her parents are member inactive, and she wants to get baptized, so we have a goal for this Saturday,. And we are activating her parents and her dad wants to baptize her!!!

 Well I am so sorry that this email was so fast  but I really have to print these pictures, so I am so sorry!!!

I love you all so much, and I look forward to getting pictures of the new baby! I hope everyone that is sick gets better soon; you are all in my prayers every day!! I love you, and I am so grateful to have every single one of you in my life!

Have a fantastic week, and I will talk to you again next Monday!!!

LOVE ELDER GOASLIND!!!!!

I WILL TRY AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS...

So I am so happy to hear that Paula’s farewell went well! That is so good! I wish I could have heard it, but it’s a little difficult to do that while living in a foreign country! Ha-ha I can´t believe that she leaves on Wednesday, and then Justin in May!!! Oh my heck that is so weird! And Cooper Richins got his call!! That’s awesome!!! I think it is so cool how many people are going on missions!!!!

So to answer the question about the weather here.... from about November to April is the rainy season. But the main part is in febrero. But after this until the end of junio is the ice season where at night it is extremely cold!!! So I am not looking forward to that! But we will see how it is! Haha.

So the living conditions here vary, in part of my area we have some pretty nice houses with tiled floors and nice things, but in the other part we have mud adobes with dirt floors, it just varies from part to part, but I actually like the adobes more, the people are nicer haha.

So in my ward we do have a ward building, and we have about 500 members in my ward, but only about 200 are active and attend in Sundays, so we have a lot of rescuing to do. As for the animals, there are a lot of stray dogs, you can´t walk anywhere without seeing one. I can´t even count how many times I have almost been bitten, and how many times I have defended myself by throwing rocks at the dogs, because that is the only way to get rid of them.

We do have on about every corner of the street is a little store where we can buy just about anything we need, and we have a big convenience store about 5 minutes from our room, so we buy a lot of soda and junk food. Haha!!

So I have not received my last package yet with the papers and all that, but I should get it this week.

And since I will have the new card I will need you to put some money on it for me,
I need to be able to withdraw at least 150 dollars, because I am going to Macchu Picchu on April 15. So that I can go before the new president. And about half my zone is going that day also! Haha every one is scared that with the new president we won´t be able to go!

So I am so excited that Ashley is going to have her baby soon! I can´t wait to see pictures of him!!! I love babies, and the babies here in Peru are so cute and chubby!!!  For some reason the kids when we are at someone’s house, they always come to me, so I am always the child entertainer during the lesson haha; it is quite interesting to teach and babysit all at the same time! Its preparation for when I am a parent, haha the mission prepares you for everything!!!

So this week we did have our reunion de cambios, and I did not have a change, but guess what! My zone leader from the MTC Elder Aiono a big Tongan, he is in my zone now! Freaking he is the best!

So this week also we had to drop 2 of our investigators because they weren´t progressing, and that is like the worst feeling in the world!!! I know it was necessary so we could work with others, but it was so hard to do because I have been working with them since I got into the field!

What else happened.....so every single person we talk to that I have known since I arrived has been telling me that my Spanish now is excellent, they say that I sound like I have been speaking Spanish for a lot longer than 4 months, so that is a good confidence booster, and it makes the work more fun when you can talk with people, because you can participate and it helps the time to pass by!!

But I read the poem Paula sent me like every night, and it helps me realize why I am a missionary, and it truly helps me to understand that Christ did go through everything that we are going to go through. I know that siempre; we can rely on our savior!!! He can help us with everything if only we have faith!

Well I love you all so much! And I miss you, but guess what; I know I am in the right place right now in my life!

I can´t wait to hear from all of you soon! Have a great week, and don´t forget to read your scriptures and say your prayers, because only when we do those things and keep the commandments can our heavenly father help us!!!!

I LOVE YOU!!

LOVE ELDER GOASLIND

P.S. don´t forget the 150 dollars so that I can go to Macchu Picchu!!

I love you!!!!!!

 

BAPTISM COUNT...5

Hey everybody!!! How is everything going??

So I am soooooo sorry to hear about everything that is going on back at home right now, those are some extremely difficult situations to deal with, but thankfully we have the happiness and influence of the gospel in our lives to help us through these things that we go through!!! But we need to remember that everything we go through is for a reason, and that God has a plan for every single one of us!

I think this quote will help a little bit:

¨God has saved for the final inning some of his strongest and most valiant children...make no mistake about it-you are a marked generation. There has never been more expected of the faithful in such a short period of time than there is of us...the final outcome is certain-the forces of righteousness will finally win. But what remains to be seen is where each of us personally, now and in the future will stand in this battle-and how tall we will stand. Will we be true to our foreordained mission? ¨

President Ezra Taft Benson

I hope that quote helps, I found it during my personal study the other day and I loved it!! We all have a foreordained mission in life, and everyone is different. But in one aspect we are the same, we are all sons and daughters of god, and each of our plans was created by god. As we rely in the lord he will help us to feel comfort and overcome the things we are going through. But I know that as we remain faithful and prayerful we can know the will of the lord for our lives.

So I have not received my package yet, but I think I will tomorrow en la reunion de cambios (at the change meeting). And don’t worry I don’t have a change yet. But my district leader told me today that for the next change he is going to recommend me to be a trainer, so we will see what happens, who knows, maybe in 6 weeks I could be a trainer!

So yesterday we had 7 investigators in sacrament!!!!!! Plus my convert received the Aaronic Priesthood!!! How cool is that!!!

Also on Saturday my investigator Flabio was baptized so now in total I have 5 baptisms in the mission so far!!

So I am not really sure what else to talk about! This week was good, we have some really good logros (achievements), and we have 15 new investigators, so we are working with them now! I hope that at least some of them can progress! We found this one lady and taught her the restoration, and the spirit was absolutely incredible!!! She told us that she is going to pray and if she receives and answer that this is right, then she is going to get baptized. Also we committed a 9 year old to baptism for the 30th of March, we are activating her family right now and they are so cool!!! I am sorry that this email isn’t very long or informative, but I felt the need to write some other people to, so I did that,

But how are things going in the family? I hope everything is good. I can´t believe how close Ashley is getting to having her baby!!!

So this week I have been watching youth videos, and I have felt like crap, I realized that as youth there is so much you can do in the church! The youth are so important!!! Mom and dad, I am sorry that I wasn’t the best son, and that church wasn´t always my favorite thing. I wish now that I had been better, but I promise that I am going to work so hard on my mission and after to make up for that!!! I realize now how much of an influence the church has in our lives as youth! And I want to be the best person I can be to live up to our Heavenly Fathers standards!

I want to share my testimony with all of you.

I know that we are in the truth. This church has been restored by Joseph Smith, and he suffered much to restore it for us!!! I know that missions are so important in our lives, and that we can bring others unto Christ through the mission!!! I know that families are eternal, and that I can live with my family for time and all eternity because of the temple ordinances that we have made!! I am so grateful for our Savior Jesus Christ, and I know that he lives!!! We need to walk in the light of our Savior and we will understand what things we need to accomplish in our lives. I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for all of your love and support!! Remain faithful and prayerful, and the lord will bless you because he loves us!

LOVE ELDER GOASLIND!

PS give all my love to the Nielsen family and the Gilbert family please!! They are in my prayers!

 

ARANAS!! (Spiders)

Hey how are things going!!!

I love reading your letters and your testimonies mom and dad!!! And right now it sounds like everything’s going well back in Utah!!!!! Things are going really well in Peru, the work is moving along. We set a goal this morning to have 31 baptisms in the month of Marzo (March) with todo la zona (around the area). I hope that we can do it because that is a very high number. So this is the last week of the transfer and then we are going to get 23 new elders y 7 hermanas. It’s going to be very interesting!!!

Not much happened this week, but president lifted the rule, so now we are able to contact, and be out until 9:30.

So I am really excited because now we can work more.

I have been sick for the past couple days, but it is nothing more than a bad cold, hopefully it will be gone soon, but it’s hard because it rains freaking every day here!!!

So I am starting to get a tan line on my neck where my shirt collar is, so it looks really funny when I where t-shirts.

Also this week we helped a family move on Saturday, and another one yesterday. So no I am really good at moving big furniture with just 2 people because for the most part it was just me and my comp.

Yesterday was fast Sunday and I really enjoyed the fast, I felt the spirit very strong and we saw the lords hand in the work. Also during the sacrament I was thinking and I came up with a list on how to fast.

1. Did you start with a prayer?

2. Do you remember your questions in your prayer?

3. Are you watching for answers to your questions?

4. Are you watching for the blessings?

5. Did you attend sacrament meeting and take the sacrament?

6. Have you paid your tithe?

7. Did you finish with a prayer?

8. Did you remember the lord during your fast?

I thought of those during the sacrament, and I think it is a very good guide when we are fasting. In the next fast Sunday try those steps and siempre remember the spirit.

Also during my studies I found some quotes I want to share. .....when we understand why we serve, we will not worry about where we serve..... Pres. Howard W. Hunter...

also.....give me a young man who has kept himself morally clean and has faithfully attended his church meetings. Give me a young man who has magnified his preisthood and has earned the duty to god award and is an eagle scout. Give me a young man who is a seminary graduate and has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon. Give me such young man, and I will give you a young man who can perform miracles for the lord in the mission field and throughout his life.....Pres. Ezra Taft Benson.....

I found that last quote and I was very proud to say that I have completed all of those requirements that an apostle of the lord has asked. when we do what the lord asks he can perform miracles through us!!!!

So this Saturday the sisters that we share a sector with have a baptism and I got to baptize him. It was so cool, and he has such a strong testimony. I love seeing people’s lives change in the mission, and I am so proud to be a servant of the lord here in Peru!!!

Well I don´t have much else to say, but I will let you know when I get the package, and the debit cards.

I am so happy to hear that you are going to go to the temple as a family! I truly have a testimony of the power of the temple and I know that when we make time to do things of the lord he will bless us more than we can receive!!! Let me know your experiences in the temple!

Well not much else. Let me know how Paula’s farewell goes when it comes around!!!

I can´t believe that that this week on the 7th I will already have 4 months in the mission, the time is flying by and I can´t even believe it!

I love all of you so very much and can´t wait to hear from you!!!

Sorry if I didn´t answer all the questions, it’s hard to read and remember!

have a good week!

LOVE ELDER GOASLIND (tù hijo favorito)

PS we had a HUGE spider in our room this week!!! ahhhhh!!!!!