Hangin with the Blues! (Update #14)

Bonjour tout le monde!

As per usual, I don't have lot of time, but this week has been SO COOL!

This week, we had "Bounce Back" conference, where all the bleus (new missionaries) and their trainers came back to Lyon for a conference with President and Sister Brown.    That means that our awesome MTC district was reunited and I got to have another sleepover with Soeur Jones.  Sooooooo fun!


Our MTC district re-united at Bleus Conference.


It was so nice to see Sister Jones again!


Crazy there are this many "new" missionaries in the Lyon mission!

Love living in Lyon (close to the mission home), because when all  the other missionaries come for conferences, it's like they're all coming to my home!

It's so cool to see how far everyone has come since the MTC.  Something about spending time with Soeur Jones just reminds me that everything is going to be okay.  Literally love her so much.  It's just so cool to see how we're both struggling with some of the same things and having such similarly funny experiences with French and missionary life, but we're both going to be okay!   Soeur Jones is seriously such an inspiration to me on how to always be improving and working, but also to just live in the moment be present.  She really knows how to just appreciate what's happening in every given moment and that's one of my goals; to enjoy every day, every conversation, every experience of my mission.    Because France is amazing and the French people are even more amazing, my heart is so content to be here amongst these incredible people in this beautiful country.

Miracle:  
On Saturday, one of the other sisters said they met someone on the bus in our sector that knew the missionaries.  We had never heard of him before.  Later that night we got a call from someone asking where stake conference will be the next day because he wants to come.   Unfortunately he got lost and  kept texting us for directions during the conference.   An hour after the conference started, he was still completely lost in Lyon and he was ready to "laissez tomber" (let it drop), for today.    In that moment, I just said a prayer with all the faith I could muster that he would somehow find his way there.   10 minutes later, Cani Rwagasana walks into stake conference!!!



Afterward, we went and talked to him and he told us about how  he had met the missionaries a long time ago, but his spirit "wasn't ready."   He also told us how he is ready to change his life now.    (Cool side note:   A lot of the talks at stake conference were about how the gospel can change us! )    We asked him to start praying that his heart will be ready to receive the truth of our message and he said he would asked for us to pray for him too.    We're meeting with him again tomorrow to start the lessons with him.

Crazy, that in the last seven weeks we've done sooo many hours of finding people to teach through door-to-door and street contacting, talking to hundreds of people in the process, and the ONE who is ready and want to learn more literally came to us.   God definitely works in mysterious way, but it's also pretty clear that His way works better than ours.  So grateful we aren't expected to do this work alone.  I'm just His hands.

Other Miracles:
Luzia and Alexandre came to stake conference! She's been to church two weeks in a row and I really think she's starting to change.   From that first miracle encounter in the elevator six weeks ago, to the strong relationship we have with her today, it's so cool to see that God sees the full picture!   He knows what needs to happen today so that six weeks, six months, six years own the road, something incredible will happen.

Other Happenings: 
The Macedonians:   We had a cool lesson with a group of students from Macedonia (in English) on Sunday!  Then we randomly ran into them in Lyon today on p-day!   So fun!



Cool French experience:   Someone at stake conference gave  talk in Portuguese which was then translated into French.  The juxtaposition between a language where I could understand nothing and then French, where I could understand almost everything, brought tears to my eyes.  I hadn't realized until then just how much I've learned and how much God is clearly helping me in this process.   Just 12 weeks ago, listening to French would have been like listening to the talk in Portuguese and I wouldn't have understood a thing.    And now I can somehow understand.    And I promise you that it has very little to do with me and a whole lot to do with the fact that God is helping me communicate with His children that He called to serve.

Je vous aime!!!   Merci pour tout ce que vous faites et bon continuation!
Love,
Soeur Cami Goold

 

 

 

 

                                  Me and Soeur Kelley with Soeur Jones and Soeur Holmgren.

 

 

 

                                                         Cool wall mural we passed.

Still Kicking Down Doors in Lyon (Update #13)

Bonjour tout le monde!!
This week we received our first transfer calls along with the EXCITING
news that Soeur Kelley and I will be staying together in Lyon (Val de Saône area)!
So exciting. And to express how exciting this is, let me tell you a
little more about Soeur Kelley (something I realize I've totally
neglected to do).

Soeurs Goold and Kelley will stay companions!   

I forget you don't know anything about my life unless I tell you.
Anyway, Soeur Kelley is AMAZING! 

Exactly what I needed in a trainer.

She's sooo laid back and gets along with everyone but also works so
hard. We've really been focusing on building relationships with
members and porting prayerfully and we've seen so many miracles
together. Also have had lots of laughs along the way (usually about me
doing something stupid hahah). Soeur Kelley has such a powerful
testimony and has really learned how to teach simply but with power.
I've already learned so much from her and I'm excited to have another
transfer to keep learning :) She's been on her mission since January
and has had 7 companions in 7 transfers. Yes, you've done the math
correctly, that means I'm the first companion of Soeur Kelley's entire
mission that she has stayed with for more than one transfer. (This
says nothing about me and everything about how easy Soeur Kelley is to
get along with). I can't believe I've been so blessed that my first 2
companions have quickly become lifelong friends.

We've decided that our relationship is like that of a mom and toddler.
She can understand everything I say and often has to translate for me,
just like a toddler speaks in absolute jubberish but somehow their mom
knows exactly what they want. We have a really good system worked out
where we meal plan together, I cook and she does the dishes. Thus far
it's been perfect :)

Cookies she baked for ice cream sandwiches for  Soeur Burton's birthday

So Saturday morning while Soeur Kelley was in the other room the phone
rings with an unknown number. Usually I always let Soeur Kelley answer
but I figured I had no choice so I picked up and said "oui, bonjour?"
Well, turns out the call was for me. It was our bishop asking if I
could give a talk in sacrament meeting...TOMORROW. Of course I had to
say yes. With 9:30 church, one day to prepare, lots of porting to do,
and a 10:30 bedtime, I was a little stressed. Beforehand I just prayed
that God would help me communicate in spite of the language barrier.
That the Holy Ghost would shar my message. Well, my prayer was
answered. My talk may not have been beautiful, but everyone said they
understood perfectly. And as I always say: "si vous pouvez comprendre,
je suis contente."

READ HER TALK HERE.

Some funny Comments on my talk:
- Your French is good but your accent is terrible! You talk with your
mouth instead of your nose. Proceeds to imitate my speaking by widely
opening and closing his mouth. (Old French man visiting from Paris,
his daughter proceeded to tell me that this was a huge compliment
coming from him).

- You sounded like an apostle. (Diogen, YSA, about 20, from the Congo,
baptized about 2 years ago)

- instead of saying we knock on doors I accidentally said we kick down
people's doors the whole time hahahah. One of the members pulled me
aside after and made this very clear. Frapper dans Le port means to
kick down the door, frapper à le port means knock on the door. Good to
know.

Other laughs:
--This week we were out driving to a less active's house when suddenly
someone honks at us. We had no clue why so I said "maybe he was trying
to pass you" except instead I said "maybe he was trying to baptize
you." Didn't even realize what had happened until I looked over and
Soeur Kelley was dying of laughter. Well.... sounds like I'm
officially a missionary ;)

--The same day while porting someone told us the usual "j'ai pas
beaucoup de temps et ça m'intéresse pas de tout" (I don't have time
and I'm not at all interested). We always just smile and tell them:
thank you and have a nice day, except this time I said loud and clear
"aujourd'hui" instead of "au revoir" (I shouted at her "today!"
Instead of "goodbye") hahahah.

--We were at our lesson with Jeremy walking back to the car (he always
likes to walk around when we have lessons) when suddenly our phone
rings. Soeur Kelley takes a couple steps away to answer and Jeremy and
I are just standing there when suddenly I look down and see a HUGE
bright green bug on my leg. I thought it was a praying mantis. It was
just a grasshopper. But I shrieked and started hopping around in
circles and Jeremy was just dying of laughter and Soeur Kelley was
sooo confused on the phone. Then Jeremy killed the bug... I felt a
little bad, but not too bad. Hopefully it goes to bug heaven. (Is bug
heaven a real thing? If it is I hope it's really far away from human
heaven, that would be A LOT of creepy crawly flying insects)

Soeur Kelley, Cam, and Jeremy the bug killer

Cool things:
Porting miracle, we only had an hour to go porting before we wanted to
stop by and visit a member (Soeur Simonet, awesome, forte member.
Reminds me a lot of my mom in her personality and dedication to her
calling. She visit teaches 15 people. 15. Because there are 139 women
on the ward list and only 31 are (mostly) active. She visits 7 every
month and writes handwritten letters to the other 8. Wow. She says
magnifying our callings and loving our neighbors selflessly is how we
show God our gratitude. And man does she live by that statement. Also
Soeur Simonet went to BYU and speaks perfect English. We always speak
French though so she can help me.) anyway, we went porting and really
tried to follow the spirit, one step at a time. We drove to a
neighborhood then felt like we needed to drive to the other side of
the ville, drove there, did a couple laps around the roundabout then
chose the rue to go down. Turned into a little cartier and started
porting. As we started knocking on doors the image of a rue we passed
driving into the neighborhood came into my mind. I told Soeur Kelley I
didn't know why but I wanted to go there... So we did. The first door
we knocked on was a young girl (maybe 17) who has never believed in
God, but was really interested in why we believe. You could tell she
saw something different about us and is looking for something more in
her life. She doesn't want to keep meeting with us now, but she
promised us she would start seeking God through prayer and scriptures.

SK, SG, Ana Sophia, and Soeur Carvalho

#mishspiration
God doesn't always tell us the exact neighborhood or house we need to
go to, but if we let him, he will guide us, one little direction at a
time. Sometimes that means blindly taking the first step so He can
show us the next one. Like the blind man in the New Testament who
hears that Christ is coming and immediately stands up and runs toward
Christ while "Christ stood still in the way." We cannot sit still, we
need to stand up and take those first steps (sometimes blindly) to
meet Christ in the way. And the promise is that if we come to him as
he comes to us, through faith we can be healed.

Je vous aime!!!
Soeur Cami Goold

Saying goodbye to the Sweeney's in the mission office.  They are neighbor's of my grandparents.  

Sacrament Meeting Talk 10/23/2016 (in English and French)

Good morning everyone! I am so grateful for this opportunity to be
with you in this incredible ward and especially to be able to speak to
you today. I admire each of you for your testimonies and faith in
Christ. You inspire me to become a better missionary. My name is Soeur
Goold, I'm from the US (as I'm sure you noticed in my accent),
Washington DC. I have two brothers, two sisters and a dog (I'm the
second oldest). I have been here in France for 6 weeks now and I
absolutely love it. I think you have the most beautiful country in the
world. Also the most delicious bread. And the most beautiful language
(even if I can't really speak it). Please forgive my poor language,
but I pray that the spirit will be here during my talk, despite my
French. In the MTC (place where we go for 6 weeks to learn how to
speak French/ be a missionary before our mission) they throw you right
into teaching Amis de l'eglise. Neither me or my companion spoke any
French so we walked into our first "lesson" with notes of exactly what
we needed to say. As the ami started asking questions our notes
quickly failed us and we were left with nothing but the scriptures,
our limited French vocabulary, and the Holy Ghost. The only thing we
could remember how to say was: "Dieu vous aime." And the only
scripture I knew in French was Josué 1:9 "Ne t'ai Je pas donné cet
ordre? Fortifie-toi et prends courage: ne t'effraie point et ne
t'épouvante point, car le Seigneur, ton Dieu est avec toi dans tout ce
que tu entreprendras." Since that comical experience in the MTC, I've
learned to speak a little bit more French, but the most important
message of the gospel remains the same. That the God of all the
universe is literally our father, and he loves us more than we can
possibly imagine. if you can understand nothing else of my talk, I
hope to leave you with that same simple message that we taught in the
MTC. You are literally a child of God. He knows you perfectly. He has
a plan for you. I can feel His love for you as I look around this room
today. All we have to do to access the power of His love is turn
towards Him in our hearts and minds. Brothers and sisters, Dieu vous
aime.Now, I will attempt to share a story.As missionaries we do a lot
of porting. Sometimes the people we meet are really kind and other
times they are a little less than pleasant. One of these less
enjoyable experiences was a man who responded: "who do you think you
are knocking on people's doors to talk about God? How old are you
anyway? What do you think you know that we don't know? If we want to
go to church we go to the church right there. I know you're American,
but in France we just don't do this." At first I just brushed it off,
but then I really started to think, maybe he asked some valid
questions. what is my purpose here? I am only 19 years old, what do I
know that can help these people? What is my motivation to go knocking
on strangers doors just so that we can talk about God with them? Why
do we knock on hundreds of doors every week in hopes that maybe 1 of
them will listen?  After meditating on these questions for a while I
found my answer in a talk by Elder Jeffrey R Holland. He told a story
of Mother Teresa who worked in a city to combat poverty and serve the
poor. One man confronted her and demanded why she was wasting her
time. He said that statistically speaking, she was accomplishing
absolutely nothing. I will take her response directly from elder
Hollands talk because he can say it much better than me."This
remarkable little woman shot back that her work was about love, not
statistics."Notwithstanding the staggering number beyond her reach,
she said she could keep the commandment to love God and her neighbor
by serving those within her reach with whatever resources she had.
“What we do is nothing but a drop in the ocean,” she would say on
another occasion. “But if we didn’t do it, the ocean would be one drop
less [than it is].” "Christianity is obviously not a statistical
endeavor... if there would be more joy in heaven over one sinner who
repents than over the ninety and nine who need no repentance, then
apparently God is not overly preoccupied with percentages."I may only
be 19 years old, I certainly do not know everything, I barely even
speak French, and yet, I'm here to simply do the most that I can. I'm
here because I know without a shadow of a doubt that Jesus Christ is
our savior. That he died on the cross so that we may live again, so
that he could feel everything we feel, so that we don't have to walk
this path of life alone. I'm here because the gospel of Jesus Christ
has changed my life. I may not speak French, our work may just be a
drop in the ocean, but this is a work of love, not statistics.
Whenever I'm feeling small or inadequate I find comfort in the thought
that our entire church, the true church of Jesus Christ, that blesses
so many lives, is on the earth today thanks to the great faith of an
uneducated, 14 year old boy.  By small and simple things are great
things brought to pass.  I love the children's movie the BFG. it the
story of a big friendly giant who blows happy dreams into the windows
of sleeping children at night. There are nine other giants who go out
and snatch children out of their beds and eat them.When a little girl
discovers the BFG and asks what he is going to do, he says: “I be
going dream blowing. It be as good as I can do.”The BFG is living in a
world where he was forced to watch helplessly as nine other giants go
off and ate children. He could do nothing to stop them. But instead of
just watching, he blew dreams, because it was “as good as he could
do.” to combat the evil in the world at the time. We aren't able to
and don't need to fight all the Giants in the world by ourselves, we
just all need to do the most good we can in every moment.The small and
simple things we each do will be different in every stage of life. For
me, sharing the joy of the atonement of Jesus Christ includes a little
more knocking on doors. God doesn't expect us all to dedicate 24/7 to
preaching the gospel, but he does expect us to do what we can in each
stage of life. A mission is not something you do, it is something you
become. In the words of Elder Bednar: Plenty of people go on missions,
but never become missionaries. Becoming a missionary doesn’t mean
serving a full time mission, it means simply doing “the most good you
can” in whatever stage of life you are in. For very few of us, that
means going on full-time missions. But a mission only lasts 2 years.
Our real mission lasts our whole life, our real mission is to "do what
we can," one drop at a time, to share the love and joy we have with
other people.A quote I love is "live your life in such a way that when
people get to know you, they get to know Christ." That is the most we
can do. We can try to live the way Christ would have us live. When we
live joyfully and lovingly, in a little way, we help those around us
better understand the savior. Thank you for your examples to me of how
to live more like the savior. When we visit your homes, when we see
your faces at church each week, I feel the Savior's love in you. I
leave you with my testimony that Jesus Christ lives.

**************************************************

En Francais:
Bonjour à tous! Je suis très reconnaissante d'être là avec vous dans
cette paroisse et spécifiquement pour l'occasion de partager mon
témoignage aujourd'hui. J'admire chacun de vous pour votre grande foi
et vos témoignages de Jésus Christ.
Je m'appelle Soeur Goold, je viens des États Unis à Washington DC
(comme vous pouvez voir dans mon accentJ'ai deux frères et deux sœurs
et un chien. Je suis le deuxième dans ma famille. Ça fait cinq semaine
de puis je suis venue ici et je l'aime. Je pense vous avez le plus
beau pays dans le monde... Et aussi le meilleure pain. S'il vous plaît
pardonnez mon accent, je pris que l'esprit soit ici en dépit de mon
français. Quand j'étais au MTC, on commence à enseigner des amis de
l'église dès qu'on arrive. Ni ma collègue ni moi parlait français. De
tout. Donc, pour notre premier rendez-vous avec un ami on a apporté
des notes avec chaque phrase dont on avait besoin de dire. Lorsque
l'ami commençait à poser des questions on s'est rendue compte que nos
notes ne nous suffisaient pas. On avait que les écritures, l'esprit,
et notre vocabulaire limitée. La seule phrase dont nous pouvions nous
souvenir était: "Dieu vous aime". La seule écriture que je connaissais
était Josué 1:9 "Ne t'ai Je pas donné cet ordre? Fortifie-toi et
prends courage: ne t'effraie point et ne t'épouvante point, car le
Seigneur, ton Dieu est avec toi dans tout ce que tu entreprendras."De
puis cet expérience rigolo, j'ai appris un peu plus de français, mais
le plus important message de l'évangile est toujours le même. Que le
Dieu de tout l'univers est littéralement notre père, et il nous aime
plus que nous pouvions imaginer. Et il est vraiment avec nous
toujours. Si vous pouvez comprendre rien de mon discours, j'espère je
peux vous laisser avec le message simple que j'ai enseigné au MTC.
Vous êtes les enfants de Dieu. Il vous connaît parfaitement. Il a un
plan pour vous. Je peux voir l'amour de Dieu pour chacun de vous.
Frères et sœurs, Dieu vous aime. Maintenant, je vais essayer de
partager un petit histoire. A tant que missionnaires, nous faisons
beaucoup de port à port. Quelques fois les gens que nous rencontrons
sont gentil et quelques fois c'est pas vraiment un plaisir. L'un des
moins agréable expériences était un homme qui a dit: "Pourquoi est-ce
que vous frappez dans les ports pour parler de Dieu? Quel âge avez
vous? Qu'est-ce que vous connaissez que je ne connais pas? Si je veux
aller à l'église, je vais à l'église juste là. Je sais que vous êtes
américain, mais en France nous simplement ne le faisons pas."À la
début je juste l'ignorais, mais après temps j'ai pensé plus de ses
commentaires et j'ai réalisé que peut être il avait raison. Quel est
mon objectif ici? J'ai seulement dix neuf ans, qu'est-ce que je
connais de vie que les gens ici ne connaissent pas? Quel sont mes
motivations pour aller et frapper dans les ports des inconnus?
Pourquoi est-ce que nous frappons dans plus que cent ports chaque
semaine avec l'espoir que juste un va écouter? Quand j'étais en train
de méditer sur ces questions, j'ai trouvé mon réponse dans un discours
d'Elder Holland. Il a partagé l'histoire de Mère Teresa qui
travaillait dans un ville de secours des indigents là. Un homme a lui
confronté et demandé pourquoi est-ce qu'elle continue dans cette perte
de temps? Il a dit que, statistiquement parlant, elle n’accomplissait
absolument rien.Je vais prendre les mots d'Elder Holland d'exprimer
son réponse.Cette petite femme remarquable a rétorqué que son œuvre
était une œuvre d’amour et non de statistiques."En dépit du nombre
incommensurable de gens qui se trouvaient hors de sa portée, elle a
dit qu’elle pouvait obéir au commandement d’aimer Dieu et son prochain
en servant les personnes qui se trouvaient à sa portée, avec les
moyens dont elle disposait. En une autre occasion, elle a dit : « Ce
que nous faisons n’est qu’une goutte d’eau dans l’océan, mais, si nous
ne le faisions pas, l’océan aurait une goutte de moins. » De toute
évidence, le christianisme ne se soucie pas des statistiques. s’il y a
plus de joie dans les cieux pour un seul pécheur qui se repent que
pour quatre-vingt-dix-neuf qui n’ont pas besoin de repentir, c’est
qu’apparemment Dieu ne se préoccupe pas trop des pourcentages."J'aime
le film pour les enfants "le bon gros géant" c'est l'histoire d'un bon
géant qui donne les rêves bons à les enfants chaque nuit. Mais, il y a
aussi neuf géants méchant qui mange les enfants chaque nuit. Une nuit,
une petite fille demande à le géant: "qu'est-ce que vous allez faire"
et il répond, simplement, "je vais partager les rêves. C'est le mieux
je peux faire."Le bon gros géant était dans un monde ou il était forcé
de regarder lorsque neuf géants vont et manger les enfants chaque
nuit. Il ne peut pas les changer, mais chaque nuit, il a partagé les
rêves bons, parce que c'était le mieux chose il a pu faire dans ce
moment là. Nous pouvons pas combattre tout les géants méchants dans le
monde tout seul. Nous avons besoin de faire juste le plus qu'on peut
faire dans chaque moment. Et les choses petits et simple vont être
différent pour chacun de nous. Maintenant, pour moi, la Mission de
partager la joie de l'expiation de Jésus-Christ inclus plus frappant
dans les ports. Mais Dieu ne s'attends pas que nous tous donnons tout
notre temps pour partager l'évangile, il s'attends que nous fassions
tout ce qu'on pourra faire dans chaque situation.Peut être j'ai
seulement dix neuf ans, et je ne connais pas beaucoup, et je ne peut
pas parler français, mais quand même je suis ici à faire le plus que
je peux. Je suis ici parce que je sais que Jésus-Christ est notre
sauver. Qu'il est mort pour nous sur la croix, pour que nous puissions
vivre encore. Afin qu'il puisse ressentir tout ce que nous ressentons.
Pour que nous n'avons pas besoin de marcher le chemin de vie tout
seul. Je suis ici parce que l'évangile de Jésus-Christ a changé ma
vie. Notre œuvre peut être juste une goutte d’eau dans l’océan, mais
c'est un œuvre d'amour et pas des statistiques. Quand je me sens
petit ou insuffisante je trouve le confort dans le pensée que notre
église, le vrai église de Jesus-Christ, est sur la terre aujourd'hui
grâce à la grand foi d'un garçon qui avait seulement quatorze ans, qui
n'avais pas l'éducation. C'est Par des choses petit et simple, que de
grandes choses sont réalisées. Un Mission est pas quelque chose vous
faites, mais c'est quelque chose vous devinez. Dans les mots d'Elder
Bednar: "beaucoup du monde vont en missions, mais ne deviennent jamais
missionnaires." Devenir un missionnaire ne veut pas dire "servir une
Mission," mais devenir un missionnaire est faire le mieux que vous
pouvez dans ce moment là. Un Mission est seulement pendant deux ans.
Notre vrai mission est pendant tout nos vies. C'est de faire le plus
que nous pouvons faire, une goutte d'eau par une goutte d'eau, et
partager la joie et l'amour dont nous avons avec les gens parmi nous.
Un citation j'aime bien est: "vivez votre vie de telle maniere que
quand les gens vous connaissent, ils connaîtront Christ aussi." Ça
c'est le plus qu'on peut faire. Nous pouvons essayer de vivre comme
Jésus-Christ voudrait que nous vivrions. Quand nous vivons avec amour
et avec joie, dans un petit façon, nous aidons les gens parmi nous
connaître le sauver. Merci beaucoup pour votre bon exemples à moi.
Quand je visite vos maisons, quand je vois vos visages à l'église, je
peux vraiment ressentir l'amour de le sauver dans vous. Je vous laisse
avec mon témoignage que Jésus Christ vie. Et grâce à lui on peut
surmonter tout nos épreuves. Grâce à lui nous pouvons trouver le
bonheur en dépit de tout les choses mal parmi nous. Grâce à lui nous
pouvons devenir le personne qui Dieu veut que nous soyons. Comme il
dit dans le doctrine et alliances "demandez et vous recevrez, frappez
et l'on vous ouvrira." Le seul port dont nous avons besoin de frapper
est le port de notre sauver, Jésus-Christ. Je sais que cette église
est l'église de Jesus-Christ. Je dis ces choses au nom de
Jesus-Christ, amen.

Je Suis En France (Update #12)

This week the reality of being in France has really started to sink in and it's so cool. I love this country so much!! The people here are so kind, maybe not as outwardly open as Americans, but when you get them talking they are the kindest, most caring people. It's really neat to see. (And just like everywhere in the world there are the mean ones and the kind ones.  )

So this weeks email is going to be really short because today we had p-day at President and Soeur Brown's house (SO FUN!!)

#mishpiration 

This week I've been thinking a lot about what Hermana Katy Harrison said a couple weeks ago about contacting as if the Savior is
standing beside me:     

"Spiritual thought: I was thinking about the primary song "If the Savior stood beside me" and the part "would I do the things I do, would I say?" In one sense you can think about it as being accountable to the Lord and wanting to make Him proud. If the Savior was walking with us I would talk to every single person on the street becasue the Savior was watching. But I read 2 Nephi 22:2 (Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song;he also has become my salvation) and it made me think of the song as a source of strength. If the Savior was walking with us I wouldn't have any fear of opening my mouth because He would be there to help me. I truly believe the Lord is with His missionaries and we can trust Him and the Spirit to help us in talking to people, in serving them, in extending bold committments, etc. Be not afraid to stand up for what's right or to take big steps. He is your strength and your song and He stands with you!"   Hermana Katy Harrison

Having confidence as if he is there to validate everything I say. It's very applicable as a missionary knocking on a lot of doors, but also applicable in normal life. When we act and speak with the confidence that the Savior is there to back us up (when we're saying things that are worthy of Christ's  help), it becomes easier to be lovingly bold.

Miracle: 

We were porting when we met a practicing Catholic. He told us he didn't understand why we go knocking on people's doors, and that everyone has their own way of worshipping and we should respect that. I opened my mouth and the Holy Ghost put words there. I said something like: "franchement (frankly), we knock on people's doors because we have the knowledge of God, that knowledge has changed our lives, and we know that it can help everyone here." Afterwards Soeur Kelley said my French was better in that moment than ever before. Those weren't my words. I've been praying and studying how I can be lovingly bold, in that moment (and so many others) God answered my prayer. Becoming a lovingly bold missionary is going to take a lot of effort, studying, opening my mouth and going out of my comfort zone, but there is comfort in the fact that God always adds His power to our efforts.

Highlight: 

After church Soeur Kelley and I drove to an outer ville we've been planning on visiting for a couple weeks. On the way I felt like we needed to turn around and head somewhere near home. We were
already half an hour away so I decided to ignore the prompting. We arrive in the ville and start porting. After about 15 minutes Soeur Kelley turns to me and says "I feel like there's somewhere else we need to be right now." We got back in the car and (a little bit guiltily) drove most of the way back home to go porting in the ville I felt like we needed to go to 2 hours earlier. We didn't find a new ami, but we had 5 miracle lessons, one of which really needed to hear about God's plan for us. She didn't want to fix a rendezvous today, but she said she might come to church. I really feel that God sent us
to her. God WANTS to send us where were needed, sometimes I'm just too stubborn to listen. My goal going forward is never to ignore a prompting again, whether it's a real prompting or maybe just a thought in my head. Action is how I will learn how to discern when it's the spirit.

I SAW SOEUR JONES  (my MTC companion) THIS WEEK!!! She had to come up from Nice for legality in Lyon. SUPER FUN. Had a sleepover at the Ecully STLs house all together. I've missed her so much.

"We have both learned so much and realized how different the field was from the MTC. Our testimonies have both deepened so much and we've become more tough. I didn't even realize how much I loved Soeur Goold until I saw her again. She is an amazing person and I am so lucky to have her as my first companion and friend. It was so fun to talk with her because we are both going through very similar situations right now with being new. We talked about feeling so out of french conversations, fear of contacting, both sharing 1 Nephi 11:17 with every ami, how much we love the French people and want so badly to communicate with them, becoming more obedient, etc. Just such a joy to catch up with that lovely girl."      Quote from Soeur Jones on seeing Cami again

Je vous aime beaucoup!!!

Love,
Soeur Cami Goold

Soeurs Bright, Burton, Goold, and Kelley
Have no idea what the faces are for! 

Ripped Jacket, Stubbed Toe, and the Best Week Yet

Bonjour!!
Je vais commencer par un histoire de cette semaine.

Wednesday I woke up at 6:30 thinking it was any other normal day as a
missionary. Little did I know that my day was about to go tragically,
comically downhill from there. We started porting and within the first
few seconds I could tell something was horribly wrong. I had forgotten
how to speak French. Maybe I'm being a little melodramatic, but it was
seriously bad. I couldn't say anything I wanted, even the things I had
said a million times before. But, c'est la vie a tant que
missionnaire, so we just continued to port. After telling someone "I
sweat you the best" and other such fun things I started to fear that I
wasn't just forgetting French, I was simply realizing the tragic
reality of how little French I actually know. Then, as we were leaving
a man's house, his car was parked veeery close to his fence so I turned
sideways to get through. Luckily, I completely avoided touching his
car at the price of my jacket. My only jacket caught on his fence and
now there is a sizable hole smack dab in the middle. Fast forward a
couple hours and we were searching for the house of a member whom we
didn't have the full address for. Our GPS couldn't find the street so
we decided to find a local store to ask for help. The best bet was the
bakery, and of course we had to buy something to be nice (aka we just
wanted to buy something), so we pick out a milfoils to share. YUM.
but, as we go to pay the lady informs us we have to spend a minimum of
€7 to use our card. So we end up buying a box full of pastries.

This could be a blessing or a curse, but I just thought it was funny that
everything that could've had glitches, did. The baker ended up
helping us find the member's house and we had a great lesson with them
(#miracles). On the way out of their building I swung open the door in
triumph (that we found their building and had a good lesson). You bet
I opened the door directly into my toe and it started bleeding
everywhere and I limped for the rest of the day :)

Ripped jacket, an injured foot, and box of pastries...it was worth it! 

SO the lesson I learned from this comical day was really just that
life is going to happen and we can either embrace it or we can fight
it. Soeur Kelley and I were laughing the whole day through, and
honestly, sometimes that's all you can do.

#mishspiration
As we drove home I exhaustedly took in our box of pastries, my
shoeless, bleeding foot, and my ripped jacket and realized 2 huge
miracles of the day.
1. Despite feeling like I didn't speak French, somehow, every single
time I opened my mouth to testify of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly
Father, words came out. They may not have been pretty, but the people
understood. Opening our mouths is a scary thing, but God will always
fill it with words.
2. At the end of the day I was mentally, physically and emotionally
exhausted, but I was happy. Happy because there is no way I would
rather spend my days than walking for Christ, speaking of Christ,
stubbing my toe for Christ, and buying €7 of pastries for Christ. Okay
so that was semi a joke. But in all seriousness, it was incredible to
realize the enabling power of our Savior Jesus Christ. We had a lesson
with one of the other ward's Amies this week and we were telling her
how cool it was that she walked all the way to church with a baby on
her back every week. Her simple response was so powerful: "Jesus
Christ helps me do it." When we rely wholly upon him, when we turn to
him, he ALWAYS helps us with what we need. Whether it's a math
problem, the strength to take another step, or the ability to laugh on
a terrible day. He is here to walk this path of life with us.

The BEST thing that happened this week was that Soeur Kelley and I
found our first, real, progressing ami. We felt really guided to go
porting in a specific area and we ended up finding 2 new people to
start teaching.

Jeremy: 20 year old, raised in an atheist family. Believes in a life
after this because of his grandpa, but doesn't really believe in God.
Had our first real lesson with him today and it was one of the coolest
experiences of my life. We really just talked about God and faith and
how the first step is to HOPE to believe and nourish our faith and
then we can grandeur our foi. At one point in the lesson I asked him
if he thinks his grandpa wants him to know about God. I used a word
in French that I promise you I have no idea how to use. It was in my
brain somewhere, but it was not me who thought to use that word, the
spirit put the question: "si il y q un dieu, est-ce que vous pensez
que votre grand père voudrait pour vous de savoir ça?" Even now as I
write those words, I don't know if they're right, all I know is that
the spirit prompted me to ask a question, I opened my mouth, he put
words there, and somehow Jeremy understood. He went on to tell a
really cool experience of how he felt his grandpa watching over him
and likes to think that his grandpa wants him to be happy and know the
truth now. Soeur Kelley went on to tell him that we felt inspired
through prayer to come to his neighborhood and that we believe his
grandpa helped lead us to him. It was soooo cool. Excited to keep
teaching him. Even if he doesn't accept the full gospel now, I think
his life will forever be changed. He went from believing absolutely
nothing about God to knowing that there is a life after this and at
least hoping that there is a God.

Delilah: cute, young mom. Believes in God but isn't practicing, loves
the idea that God can help her family be together forever. Haven't had
a real sit down lesson with her yet, but we're going to visit her on
Wednesday.

After 4 weeks of loooots of finding, it's been cool to really start to
meet people and see our work making a difference, regardless of how
small that difference may seem today.

I love France, I love being a missionary, and I love you. Passez un
Bon semaine!!
Tout mon amour,
Soeur Cami Goold

Trying out  some real deal French cooking

Study time! 

Mom found an online American Market in France  and got us some brown sugar!

We unknowingly parked outside of a prison to do some work.  We're pretty sure there was a riot going on in there.  

Some cool succulents we saw 

Two Months Today (Update # 10)

Note from Soeur Goold's Mom:    Pictures have been added to last week's post, so check those out if you have a chance.   :) 

Some terms to know from today's email:   
Ami:  literally a "friend" of the church.   Someone who is not a member, but has a relationship with the missionaries and is somewhere in the process of learning more about it.  

General Conference: A twice yearly gathering of our church, where our prophet, apostles, and other worldwide leaders speak to us via televised broadcasts and give us guidance and direction for this day and time.   It is a time to seek guidance and be inspired.  Click here to learn more about what it is and here to read summaries of what was spoken. 

Fourviere:   A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Fourviere is a  large hill in Lyon that was the center of the ancient Roman city, Lugdunum (founded in 43BC).  It is referred to as the  "praying hill" and  is home to the Basilica de Notre Dame de Fourviere (where the blog header photo was taken), partially intact ruins of an ancient Roman theater (pictured below), and La Tour Metallique.  

To get in touch with Soeur Goold:    camille.goold@myldsmail.net  

**********************************

So it's officially been 2 MONTHS since I anxiously wheeled my 50 pound
suitcases into the gates of the MTC. What a journey it's been already
and what a journey the next 16 months will be!!

Soeurs Bright and Burton (serving in a nearby ward) and Soeurs Kelley and Goold in a random concrete bowl in Lyon

#mishspiration
General Conference* (see definition above) this week was SO GOOD and really an answer to my
prayers. I went into it with the question: How can I find, develop,
and use the spiritual gifts I've been given to be a better missionary?
The answer came in Elder Nelson's talk about joy. Before my mission I
received a blessing that said because of your joyful attitude, you
have been called to serve as a full time missionary. I'd never given
too much thought to those words before, but during Elder Nelson's talk
they stood out to me. The whole reason God called ME to come to France
is because I have the ability to feel and share joy. Not because I can
speak French (I can't), not because I've memorized all the missionary
lessons (I haven't), and not because I'm going to baptize all of
southern France (I'm not). He called me to serve here because "in all
the words that could have been used to describe the goal of mortality,
God chose joy." And in some small, seemingly insignificant at times
way, I'm here to try and help people find the true joy that can only
come from our Savior, Jesus Christ.

It made me really think that amongst all the language study and lesson
planning, my main focus needs to be on coming closer to the Savior and
finding joy in my life as a missionary. Because how could I ever help
someone else be happier if I'm not putting it into practice every
single day in my own life?

The question I'm asking myself is: "Am I living up to my spiritual
potential to feel joy?"   Right now the answer is definitely no. My goal
for this week but really my whole mission and life is to really become
more joyful. And I know the only way to do that is through Christ and
his teachings and atonement. Aka love, service, charity, and so forth.
Lots of work to do.

That was kind of a long, rambling thought, sorry if none of that made
any sense :)

Highlights this week: last pday we went to Fourviere with a group of
missionaries, so fun!!!

The missionaries from Soeur Goold's area at some Roman ruins in Lyon (see info about Fourviere above)

The elevator miracle less active, Lucia came to General Conference at
the church!!! I don't know how long it's been since she's been to
church, but let's just say it was a huge miracle!!

Soeur Kelley and I have really been working on finding by faith. This
last week has been a lot of prep work, hopefully soon we'll start to
actually find the people God has prepared to receive this message!

Love you all, thank you for all your prayers, love, and support!

Love,
Soeur Cami

At the Basilica de Notre Dame de Fourviere
(its location on top of Fourviere Hill is stunning and boasts beautiful views overlooking the city of Lyon)

Roman ruins at Fourviere

Even ice cream looks better on the beautiful streets of France!

 

I sent Soeur Goold the ingredients for her favorite cookies before she left the MTC.  This week she got to make some  to share with some amis*.  

Apparently, in France you can't buy peanut butter, chocolate chips, or brown sugar, so her ability to bake will be altered a bit for the next 1-1/2 years!