Be "The Fourth Missionary"

Hi everyone!

This has been an awesome week!

This week I read the talk 'The Fourth Missionary'.  It's a great read- changed my life. The main idea is to consecrate yourself to the Lord. To follow the commandments and do everything you're supposed to- because you want to. Not because you have to. Once you learn to take joy in the work you'll be able to let the Lord work through you, and change you.

I took that to heart this week, and had some cool experiences. I started speaking Spanish as much as I could, I started interrupting my companion during the lessons, and I started talking to people on my own. Coincidentally this is also the first week that I've been able to a) understand almost everything being said, b) carry a conversation on my own. And c) get exactly what I ordered for lunch!

Before this week my companion would give the lessons, and I would bear my testimony. This week I started teaching and trying to converse with the investigators.

My companion hates contacting. Before this week if he didn't want to contact, we didn't contact. This week I started going up to people and just talking- I came up with a short elevator speech about the church. And I would just give it to everyone!  I also started knocking doors. They don't do that down here. My companion had never heard of people doing it down here. The rule is that we can't enter a house if there isn't a man at home. This week I realized that we can still talk to people on their doorstep though! I just started knocking doors and talking to people. We found a really positive family this week from door knocking!

I also remembered Dad's story about knocking on doors and looking for 'Maria del Carmen'.  I started doing that! I would knock on a door- or stop  someone in the street asking them if they knew Johanna.(Johanna is a contact I was looking for who lived close) none of them did. But that gave me a chance to say something about the gospel as well! I actually found a women named Maria del Carmen doing that!

In short:
This was the week that I decided I wanted to BE a missionary.
This was the week that I decided to take responsibility for my learning and teaching.
This was the week when I started to enjoy being a missionary.
This was the week that made all the difference.

I'm excited for the next two years!

I love you!
-Elder Goodman