Dear friends and family,
This came from my cousin in Virginia, and I feel it is worth sending and reading. Hope you enjoy it too. Happy New Year.
Love, the Goffs
The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.
My confession:
I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.
It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.
I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.
In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.
Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Hurricane Katrina).. Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'
In light of recent events.... Terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.
Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.
Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'
Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace..
Are you laughing yet?
Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.
Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us.
Pass it on if you think it has merit.
If not, then just discard it.... No one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in.
My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully,
Ben Stein
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Monday, December 28, 2009
Christmas in Cape Verde
Dear Family and Friends,
This is just an update on our Christmas activities here in Cape Verde. This is also written by Elder Goff so please forgive the grammatical errors that might occur. (Sister Goff proofread it for me.)
We had two of the Sisters from a near-by island stay overnight at our place so they helped us prepare some of the things before the rest of the missionaries arrived. Two of the local Sisters arrived about 9:30 to help prepare a big bowl of fruit. They cut up tangerines, canned peaches, apples, canned pineapple and bananas. They filled two bowls. We also had two other Sisters bake 15 potatoes for us while we baked 20. Sister Goff also prepared a huge pot of chili for our potato bar. We had grated cheese, grated carrots, chopped green onions for toppings to put on top of the chili. Then the missionaries also brought cookies, and drinks to round out the meal. We also had coconut macaroons made for dessert along with cupcakes. There was even enough food for all 26 of us.
After the missionaries all arrived, our bus finally arrived which took us to the local orphanage where we sang three Christmas carols to about 8 youth. There are usually over a hundred kids there, but most were visiting relatives for Christmas. We wished them Merry Christmas and then took the bus to a Home for the Aged. There were 9 people living here so we sang to them and then presented them with personal hygiene kits and several quilts for the home. The quilts and kits were made and assembled by members of the church probably in Utah and shipped over here. After this visit, we went to another home for the aged and repeated for them what we had done at the other branch of the organization for the aged.
Then we returned to our apartment, gathered the missionaries in the living room and had several of them read parts of the Christmas story in Portuguese from the scriptures. After that came the food. We were pleased that we had enough for everyone with a little to spare. After eating, each of the 2 districts presented a skit for our enjoyment. The first was about Elder Scrooge who after a year in the mission field was getting "trunkey" and didn't really want to continue doing missionary work. He was visited by the ghost of Christmas past and relived some of his good memories from the beginning of his mission. He was then visited by the Spirit of Christmas yet to come. He was at home listening to "rock" music and being lazy. His "mother" came and asked him to do something worthwhile with his life. Then Elder Scrooge asked if this would really be his life in the future if he continued the way he was. The spirit assured him that that would be his lot in life. He decided to repent and change his current life from trunkey to active missionary.
The second skit depicted Samuel the Lamanite preaching to the Nephites(See Helaman 14 in the Book of Mormon). The people were living very worldly livesand rejected his words. When he came the second time, a few believed him. Then when the day and a night and a day happened as prophesied by Samuel, the rest believed. This was fun to watch.
After the skits, most of the missionaries left to be able to talk with their families at home. A few stayed here and one even had to receive calls on our phone since his was not accepting incoming long distance calls. We were blessed to be able to talk with Matt on Skype. We would keep losing the audio portion on the computer, so we would hang up and call again. Later in the day he called back since Joe and his family went over to our house where Matt was and we got to talk with all of them, grandchildren as well. It was nice to see them and talk with them. Skype is really nice to have since it has audio and video capabilities.
In the evening, we went to our chapel and the district choir put on a fireside of music and words for the members of the church. The missionaries sang the first number which I directed. I also got to direct the last number sung by the choir, "I Believe in Christ". Sister Goff accompanied the choir and the missionaries, and the young man accompanist also played some of the numbers and a beautiful postlude which he had arranged of "Silent Night". If was a reverent program with Christmas carols and narration about Christ.
That covers our Christmas celebration here in Cape Verde. We had fun but it took us about 2 days to come down from the "high" and decide to get back to work.
Elder and Sister Goff
This is just an update on our Christmas activities here in Cape Verde. This is also written by Elder Goff so please forgive the grammatical errors that might occur. (Sister Goff proofread it for me.)
We had two of the Sisters from a near-by island stay overnight at our place so they helped us prepare some of the things before the rest of the missionaries arrived. Two of the local Sisters arrived about 9:30 to help prepare a big bowl of fruit. They cut up tangerines, canned peaches, apples, canned pineapple and bananas. They filled two bowls. We also had two other Sisters bake 15 potatoes for us while we baked 20. Sister Goff also prepared a huge pot of chili for our potato bar. We had grated cheese, grated carrots, chopped green onions for toppings to put on top of the chili. Then the missionaries also brought cookies, and drinks to round out the meal. We also had coconut macaroons made for dessert along with cupcakes. There was even enough food for all 26 of us.
After the missionaries all arrived, our bus finally arrived which took us to the local orphanage where we sang three Christmas carols to about 8 youth. There are usually over a hundred kids there, but most were visiting relatives for Christmas. We wished them Merry Christmas and then took the bus to a Home for the Aged. There were 9 people living here so we sang to them and then presented them with personal hygiene kits and several quilts for the home. The quilts and kits were made and assembled by members of the church probably in Utah and shipped over here. After this visit, we went to another home for the aged and repeated for them what we had done at the other branch of the organization for the aged.
Then we returned to our apartment, gathered the missionaries in the living room and had several of them read parts of the Christmas story in Portuguese from the scriptures. After that came the food. We were pleased that we had enough for everyone with a little to spare. After eating, each of the 2 districts presented a skit for our enjoyment. The first was about Elder Scrooge who after a year in the mission field was getting "trunkey" and didn't really want to continue doing missionary work. He was visited by the ghost of Christmas past and relived some of his good memories from the beginning of his mission. He was then visited by the Spirit of Christmas yet to come. He was at home listening to "rock" music and being lazy. His "mother" came and asked him to do something worthwhile with his life. Then Elder Scrooge asked if this would really be his life in the future if he continued the way he was. The spirit assured him that that would be his lot in life. He decided to repent and change his current life from trunkey to active missionary.
The second skit depicted Samuel the Lamanite preaching to the Nephites(See Helaman 14 in the Book of Mormon). The people were living very worldly livesand rejected his words. When he came the second time, a few believed him. Then when the day and a night and a day happened as prophesied by Samuel, the rest believed. This was fun to watch.
After the skits, most of the missionaries left to be able to talk with their families at home. A few stayed here and one even had to receive calls on our phone since his was not accepting incoming long distance calls. We were blessed to be able to talk with Matt on Skype. We would keep losing the audio portion on the computer, so we would hang up and call again. Later in the day he called back since Joe and his family went over to our house where Matt was and we got to talk with all of them, grandchildren as well. It was nice to see them and talk with them. Skype is really nice to have since it has audio and video capabilities.
In the evening, we went to our chapel and the district choir put on a fireside of music and words for the members of the church. The missionaries sang the first number which I directed. I also got to direct the last number sung by the choir, "I Believe in Christ". Sister Goff accompanied the choir and the missionaries, and the young man accompanist also played some of the numbers and a beautiful postlude which he had arranged of "Silent Night". If was a reverent program with Christmas carols and narration about Christ.
That covers our Christmas celebration here in Cape Verde. We had fun but it took us about 2 days to come down from the "high" and decide to get back to work.
Elder and Sister Goff
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Christmas Cards Returned
Dear friends and family,
If you have tried to send us a Christmas card via pouch mail, it likely has been returned. We are very sorry to have caused you such inconvenience. We found out what the problem is: unbeknownst to us as of the start of our mission, the pouch mail only accepts letters of one page, 8-1/2 x 11, folded in thirds and taped, no envelope, and address written on the paper. No cards. The booklet that we received from the Salt Lake Mission office listed the pouch address and said it was for letters and cards, but that ruling has been changed. Again, we are very sorry not to receive your cards. You could mail them to our home in Orem and we'll get them when we return in 2011-our son Matt will keep them for us (I would like to see them then), or you can just email us. Have a very merry Christmas!
Love, Elder and Sister Goff
If you have tried to send us a Christmas card via pouch mail, it likely has been returned. We are very sorry to have caused you such inconvenience. We found out what the problem is: unbeknownst to us as of the start of our mission, the pouch mail only accepts letters of one page, 8-1/2 x 11, folded in thirds and taped, no envelope, and address written on the paper. No cards. The booklet that we received from the Salt Lake Mission office listed the pouch address and said it was for letters and cards, but that ruling has been changed. Again, we are very sorry not to receive your cards. You could mail them to our home in Orem and we'll get them when we return in 2011-our son Matt will keep them for us (I would like to see them then), or you can just email us. Have a very merry Christmas!
Love, Elder and Sister Goff
Saturday, December 19, 2009
A Sewing Machine Christmas
Hello dear family!
Hoping that these days close to Christmas are fun for you all. We have been busy this past week with 2 days of Zone Conference (a day for each of the two districts, and we are part of both) and 3 nights of house guests--the sister missionaries from the nearby island of Santo Antao, and the mission nurse, my good friend, who came from the island where the mission home is. President and Sister Neves also came for the two days. The sister missionaries come on the ferry boat that goes between our island and theirs, so they came on Monday night and stayed till Thursday morning. We had a full house but it was lots of fun, and late nights!
I finally got a sewing machine from the church district for my own use, so I made a white skirt today to wear for the choir Christmas concert on Christmas night. The machine will mostly be used for the Clothing For Jobs program, which is a "store" like DI where they receive shipments of clothing from Salt Lake, sort through it for the single mothers without jobs to take and sell. Some of the clothing is not sellable but the fabric is still good, so the ladies and I decide other items that can be made from it for sale, and do it. Larry is the financial advisor and also helps them be more efficient in their sorting and selling. This job is for probably two afternoons a week.
We are also buying the school supplies for the school kits, and will enlist the help of the Young Single Adults to help us assemble the kits and deliver them. The Church wants to have a ceremony whenever a project of this sort is completed, and have the newspaper, TV, etc. coverage so that the Church gets known for being helpful in this country.
We also have some 300 "Mormon Helping Hands" yellow vests for 4 clean-up projects in 2010--clean up a school yard, a beach, parks etc. on four holidays during the coming year. This project is for all of Cape Verde, and we are in charge of the 4 northern islands.
The Dengue Fever plague has almost ended entirely. The Church in SLC sent mosquito repellent and spray, since we could not buy any here. Right at the start of the plague, people bought out all the repellent, and there was none left, not enough to go around, so the Church sent some more.
This city is beautiful with all the Christmas lights, on buildings and streets. We spent an evening just walking around to see it all.
When the mission nurse came, she brought me some baking things from Praia where the mission home is, that I could not get here: molasses (actually black treacle), ginger, and cream of tartar. So we made gingerbread cookies--it was great to have that smell and taste at this time of year. We also had made my Christmas bread, "Stollen", a few weeks ago. Here is a photo of our little tree, and we also have lights around the front window inside. We are reading a Christmas story every night that we got from the Church magazines on the Internet, and we also got the text of the three talks given in the First Presidency Christmas Devotional which we will be reading also. The young people really enjoyed Larry's teaching them to cut fancy paper snowflakes, and they made over 100 to decorate the Cultural Hall for the district Primary party today. Some of them are exceptionally artistic, very beautiful.
Our 2 packages are still in the Mission Home, but they said they would put them on a plane to send here before Christmas. We hope also to get the shipment of Gospel Art books which the mission president ordered for each missionary as a Christmas gift. He used our idea, so we came up with another as our gift to the missionaries--a lighter to light the stove and oven so you don't burn your fingers on the teeny short matches they have here.
Tonight we are going to take the city bus to the other chapel about 5 miles away and attend the Young Women's Night of Excellence. They have made some beautiful things, like cross-stitch, fancy crepe paper flowers, yarn toys, and other really neat things.
Guess that's enough rambling. We miss you all extremely, and hope to hear from each of you in an email for Christmas. We cannot call internationally on our phone, so any phone call would have to be from your end. Our number is 238- 993-2444. We wish you all a very happy Christmas. Please let us know some things about the grandchildren especially. Hope Matt delivered your gifts from us.
Love, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister Goff
Hoping that these days close to Christmas are fun for you all. We have been busy this past week with 2 days of Zone Conference (a day for each of the two districts, and we are part of both) and 3 nights of house guests--the sister missionaries from the nearby island of Santo Antao, and the mission nurse, my good friend, who came from the island where the mission home is. President and Sister Neves also came for the two days. The sister missionaries come on the ferry boat that goes between our island and theirs, so they came on Monday night and stayed till Thursday morning. We had a full house but it was lots of fun, and late nights!
I finally got a sewing machine from the church district for my own use, so I made a white skirt today to wear for the choir Christmas concert on Christmas night. The machine will mostly be used for the Clothing For Jobs program, which is a "store" like DI where they receive shipments of clothing from Salt Lake, sort through it for the single mothers without jobs to take and sell. Some of the clothing is not sellable but the fabric is still good, so the ladies and I decide other items that can be made from it for sale, and do it. Larry is the financial advisor and also helps them be more efficient in their sorting and selling. This job is for probably two afternoons a week.
We are also buying the school supplies for the school kits, and will enlist the help of the Young Single Adults to help us assemble the kits and deliver them. The Church wants to have a ceremony whenever a project of this sort is completed, and have the newspaper, TV, etc. coverage so that the Church gets known for being helpful in this country.
We also have some 300 "Mormon Helping Hands" yellow vests for 4 clean-up projects in 2010--clean up a school yard, a beach, parks etc. on four holidays during the coming year. This project is for all of Cape Verde, and we are in charge of the 4 northern islands.
The Dengue Fever plague has almost ended entirely. The Church in SLC sent mosquito repellent and spray, since we could not buy any here. Right at the start of the plague, people bought out all the repellent, and there was none left, not enough to go around, so the Church sent some more.
This city is beautiful with all the Christmas lights, on buildings and streets. We spent an evening just walking around to see it all.
When the mission nurse came, she brought me some baking things from Praia where the mission home is, that I could not get here: molasses (actually black treacle), ginger, and cream of tartar. So we made gingerbread cookies--it was great to have that smell and taste at this time of year. We also had made my Christmas bread, "Stollen", a few weeks ago. Here is a photo of our little tree, and we also have lights around the front window inside. We are reading a Christmas story every night that we got from the Church magazines on the Internet, and we also got the text of the three talks given in the First Presidency Christmas Devotional which we will be reading also. The young people really enjoyed Larry's teaching them to cut fancy paper snowflakes, and they made over 100 to decorate the Cultural Hall for the district Primary party today. Some of them are exceptionally artistic, very beautiful.
Our 2 packages are still in the Mission Home, but they said they would put them on a plane to send here before Christmas. We hope also to get the shipment of Gospel Art books which the mission president ordered for each missionary as a Christmas gift. He used our idea, so we came up with another as our gift to the missionaries--a lighter to light the stove and oven so you don't burn your fingers on the teeny short matches they have here.
Tonight we are going to take the city bus to the other chapel about 5 miles away and attend the Young Women's Night of Excellence. They have made some beautiful things, like cross-stitch, fancy crepe paper flowers, yarn toys, and other really neat things.
Guess that's enough rambling. We miss you all extremely, and hope to hear from each of you in an email for Christmas. We cannot call internationally on our phone, so any phone call would have to be from your end. Our number is 238- 993-2444. We wish you all a very happy Christmas. Please let us know some things about the grandchildren especially. Hope Matt delivered your gifts from us.
Love, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister Goff
Christmas Schedule
Greetings Family,
We would like the opportunity of talking with you over the holidays but as you all know, international calling is expensive. Therefore, if you would like to call us, we have a cell phone here that we use. Since it is part of the regular missionary account, we cannot call long distance, but we can receive calls. Our number is (country code) 238 993 2444.
However, Matt registered us on SKYPE before we left so we also have this option, but everyone would need to register on skype as well for us to communicate with you.
On Christmas day, we will have all 24 missionaries from our northern zone at our house for dinner. We plan a potato bar with chile and other toppings. We have scheduled for the missionaries to call their parents from 3:00 to 5:00 our time. Therefore, they will be using their own phones, not ours and will probably return to their own apartments or a phone center to make the calls.
This means that we will be free at the same time to talk with our families. Since we are 6 hours different, that would mean about 9:00 in the morning your time. We could also schedule other times during the holidays if you would like. We are usually home between noon and 3:00 for lunch and rest, etc our time.
We love to hear from you and all the many things you are involved with as well as what our grandchildren are doing.
We wish you a very merry Christmas and we send a big hug for everyone,
Love, Dad and Mom
We would like the opportunity of talking with you over the holidays but as you all know, international calling is expensive. Therefore, if you would like to call us, we have a cell phone here that we use. Since it is part of the regular missionary account, we cannot call long distance, but we can receive calls. Our number is (country code) 238 993 2444.
However, Matt registered us on SKYPE before we left so we also have this option, but everyone would need to register on skype as well for us to communicate with you.
On Christmas day, we will have all 24 missionaries from our northern zone at our house for dinner. We plan a potato bar with chile and other toppings. We have scheduled for the missionaries to call their parents from 3:00 to 5:00 our time. Therefore, they will be using their own phones, not ours and will probably return to their own apartments or a phone center to make the calls.
This means that we will be free at the same time to talk with our families. Since we are 6 hours different, that would mean about 9:00 in the morning your time. We could also schedule other times during the holidays if you would like. We are usually home between noon and 3:00 for lunch and rest, etc our time.
We love to hear from you and all the many things you are involved with as well as what our grandchildren are doing.
We wish you a very merry Christmas and we send a big hug for everyone,
Love, Dad and Mom
Friday, December 18, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving Wedding
Dear families,
Hope each of you had a good Thanksgiving, and those of you in school are getting a much-needed break, at least a little bit!
We had 18 missionaries here for Thanksgiving dinner, and there were NO leftovers except for gravy. So on Friday we made some Thanksgiving food and ate it for leftovers! Hopefully, the store will receive sewing machines this week so we can begin our project with the prison sewing. Then we can really get going here. We are buying items for customized school kits for grades 1-3 and the young adults at church will assemble the kits and help us deliver them. The school district superintendent lady is so helpful; she made us a list of grades and what materials they use, and how many kids are in need of help. The school kits assembled in Utah are good for older grades, but the younger ones use different sizes and items.
Today was the Primary Sacrament meeting program in the 2 branches that use our chapel. I was playing the piano for our branch Primary practice this morning when a lady from the other branch came in all flustered and said that their pianist could not come for their program and they were ready to start in Sacrament meeting. So I left our practice and went to play for their program. This was immediately followed by our branch's program.
Friday there was a wedding of two branch people, a middle-aged couple who had never married but had been together for 30 years. Their son is in the branch leadership and has served a mission, but the parents had never been baptized because they were not married (it costs a lot here to live as a married couple, so people often do not do it, even though they are faithful to their partner.) But this couple were good "members" and wanted to be baptized, so they got married on Friday, had a reception given by the branch, and then their son baptized them on Saturday and confirmed them today. What a beautiful happening!
It is slightly cooler here now but still warm. We are looking forward to Christmas. We hope to hear from each of you in honor of that day.
We would especially like to hear about Christian, Jessica, Annabelle, Ryan, Nicole and Shaylee.
We love you all and pray for you each day.
Love, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister Goff
Hope each of you had a good Thanksgiving, and those of you in school are getting a much-needed break, at least a little bit!
We had 18 missionaries here for Thanksgiving dinner, and there were NO leftovers except for gravy. So on Friday we made some Thanksgiving food and ate it for leftovers! Hopefully, the store will receive sewing machines this week so we can begin our project with the prison sewing. Then we can really get going here. We are buying items for customized school kits for grades 1-3 and the young adults at church will assemble the kits and help us deliver them. The school district superintendent lady is so helpful; she made us a list of grades and what materials they use, and how many kids are in need of help. The school kits assembled in Utah are good for older grades, but the younger ones use different sizes and items.
Today was the Primary Sacrament meeting program in the 2 branches that use our chapel. I was playing the piano for our branch Primary practice this morning when a lady from the other branch came in all flustered and said that their pianist could not come for their program and they were ready to start in Sacrament meeting. So I left our practice and went to play for their program. This was immediately followed by our branch's program.
Friday there was a wedding of two branch people, a middle-aged couple who had never married but had been together for 30 years. Their son is in the branch leadership and has served a mission, but the parents had never been baptized because they were not married (it costs a lot here to live as a married couple, so people often do not do it, even though they are faithful to their partner.) But this couple were good "members" and wanted to be baptized, so they got married on Friday, had a reception given by the branch, and then their son baptized them on Saturday and confirmed them today. What a beautiful happening!
It is slightly cooler here now but still warm. We are looking forward to Christmas. We hope to hear from each of you in honor of that day.
We would especially like to hear about Christian, Jessica, Annabelle, Ryan, Nicole and Shaylee.
We love you all and pray for you each day.
Love, Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa, Elder and Sister Goff
Saturday, November 28, 2009
A Day of Fasting and Prayer
A good friend of ours shared this with us.
I think this is something that we need to be doing on a regular basis. Our country certainly does need some intervention.
Dear Family and Friends,
I was very grateful to receive this e-mail and want to share it with you in hopes that you might join us in this very important petition to God to help our nation at this very difficult time. We face problems abroad. We have many very serious challenges within. It seems that this may be the greatest way to resolve them --- to receive divine help --- to humbly petition God for help. I hope you will share this message so we can have thousands, and perhaps tens of thousands, of good people uniting their faith and prayers in behalf of our Nation.
May you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving ---- one where we will both count our blessings and give geniune thanks to the Giver of all blessings!
DAY OF FASTING AND PRAYER FOR AMERICA
We, my wife and I, are firmly convinced that our elected politicians are incapable of representing the will of the American people – and incapable of adhering to the Constitution of the United States of America which they took a solemn oath to uphold and defend.
We are among the millions of U.S. Citizens who are at our wits end sending e-mails, faxes, telephoning, meeting with elected officials, demonstrating, rallying – and hoping – that those representatives will do the will of the people. They have failed. Have we, as well?
The United States of America is a choice land, a nation that was founded by our forefathers who were divinely inspired by God the Father Almighty.
This choice nation has been the defender of freedom throughout its relatively short history. We have led in the fight for freedom against many tyrants and dictators who have plundered and pilfered their citizens and have subjected them to great sufferings through blood and horror.
The people of those nations who suffered these great injustices knew that they could always depend upon the goodness, power and righteousness of the United States of America to extract them from their plights, and it was done – many times over. It was not done without expense – the expense of the blood and sacrifice of the members of our armed forces – and the suffering of their families.
As the year 2009 soon comes to a close, we the citizens of the United States of America find ourselves facing many of the challenges – which those nations suffered at the hands of their political leaders. We are being attacked from within!
Who do we turn to? To which great nation can we turn to help us keep and maintain our freedom? We do not have the same hope of those nations to whom we were benefactors.
We MUST turn to our Savior. If we are a righteous people, we will be deserving of, and receive of His blessings as He has promised. He suffered and died for us – He atoned for our sins; each one of us - individually.
We know that - as a nation – we can once again be the choicest of lands. However, we cannot achieve that blessing without our willingness to please our Lord and Savior.
We are asking that all who read this message that have faith in Christ designate Sunday December 6, 2009 as a day of fasting and prayer for America .
You do not have to march on the nation’s Capitol nor go to a tea bag rally. From the comfort of your home, you can get on bended knee and with a broken heart and contrite spirit, petition the Lord to bless this nation generously according to His will. Then, keep the fast for that day. Make that Christ-like commitment to our Heavenly Father. He will listen, He will answer. That has been promised.
"And all things,whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.” (Matthew 21:22)
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Christmas Letter
MERRY CHRISTMAS -- FELICE NATAL!
Christmas 2009
Dear family and friends,
We send you Christmas greetings in Portuguese from Cape Verde in the Atlantic Ocean! Larry and I are serving a mission for 18 months for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and are living on an island off the western coast of Africa, west of Senegal and Mauritania. Our work is humanitarian projects to aid schools, associations for the care of elderly and disabled, hospitals, etc., and to be leaders of the young people at the church here. Our city is Mindelo on the northern island of Sao Vicente.
We arrived on October 1 in this hot and humid land which is also very beautiful and tropical. The “winter” months are January and February when it “cools” down to 60 degrees from a normal high of 80-85. Our house is modern, much like you would find in southern Europe, and since most of the food is imported from Europe or Brazil, we eat many of the same things as in the US. However, one of our favorite foods here is not available in the US, and that is fresh-caught tuna fillet—it looks and tastes like a pork steak.
If you wish to send us a Christmas card or letter, may we give you an easy-to-mail address:
Elder and Sister Goff
c/o Cape Verde Praia Mission
PO Box 30150
Salt Lake City, Utah 84130
This address receives only letters and cards, no photos or money (sorry about that), but it is fast delivery since it is hand-carried by someone travelling over here (which Church leaders do frequently).
We would love to hear from each of you!
Our Christmas will be spent making Christmas happy and memorable for the 30 young adult missionaries on the three northern islands, who will travel to our city for the special day. We will host a dinner and organize a program of music and skits, etc., then go caroling around the city. The young men and women will most likely be homesick on this day, and so will we, so the more we can do to bring the Christmas spirit, the better it will be. The church choir here is very enjoyable because they learn and perform challenging numbers. The native people have natural music and rhythm within themselves and are very good singers. All are of African descent, some blended with Portugal also. The entire city puts on a Christmas “Sing” in the park with each church’s choir presenting a few numbers. Sounds like fun! We are working on traditional carols and some popular songs like “Carol of the Bells” and one from “The Forgotten Carols.”
Have a wonderful celebration of our Savior’s birth!
Love, Larry and Pat Goff
Friday, November 13, 2009
Photos...Finally!
Dear family,
At long last we have figured out Kodak Easy Share photos ("easy share" is an oxymoron!) and how to attach them to juno email. The Vista on our computer makes it very difficult and round-about. Hope you enjoy these few.
Love,
Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa (Elder and Sister)
Photos are:
Missionaries in Praia our first day
Us with President Neves and wife on our first day- Praia
Our house in Mindelo
Market place in Mindelo where we buy produce
Us with young single adults, 11-7-09, on mosquito campaign
At long last we have figured out Kodak Easy Share photos ("easy share" is an oxymoron!) and how to attach them to juno email. The Vista on our computer makes it very difficult and round-about. Hope you enjoy these few.
Love,
Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa (Elder and Sister)
Photos are:
Missionaries in Praia our first day
Us with President Neves and wife on our first day- Praia
Our house in Mindelo
Market place in Mindelo where we buy produce
Us with young single adults, 11-7-09, on mosquito campaign
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Um Abraco Grande
Dear family,
We think of you often with love. Everyone who visits us loves the family photo that we had taken after our farewell.
It has been an unusual week--I am so glad we live in Mindelo on the northern islands, instead of in Praia on the southern islands. They are in the midst of an outbreak, epidemic of Dengye fever, similar to malaria, spread by mosquitoes. There has been an unusual amount of rain in Cape Verde the last 2 months and the mosquito population is heavy, at least in Praia, the capital city and where the mission home is. 1000 new cases a day, and several deaths! Yesterday the president of the country (who lives next door to us when he is in town)called for a national holiday for everyone to clean up any weeds, standing water, etc. where mosquitoes could breed. The whole city took part. We went around informing people about it with the young single adult group with whom we associate in Outreach at the church. The military academy at the top of our street was also out in full form helping clean up.
So far no sickness has been reported on our island, but we are asking for your prayers that it may not come here, and also for the people of Praia who are sick.
We met with doctors from Utah and with the hospital here to begin the training in Neonatal Resuscitation for babies who are born but not breathing. It is so exciting to realize that such a simple technique as a bag and mask can save a life in the first few minutes after birth. The doctors then train those who are birth attendants and midwives who live in remote areas.
We enjoy association with the young elders and sisters in weekly district meetings at our chapel and in going teaching with them. We went last Sunday evening with the sisters to teach three people, all different places, and since it gets dark here at 6:30 each night, we were hiking up dirt hills in the dark to find the homes. It was scary because we could not see where we were stepping, and we did not bring a flashlight (we should have!) "Faith in every footstep"!
Hope you will get together for a Thanksgiving dinner--I will try to cook one here for a family with whom we are very good friends--and tell them about the American holiday. With no turkeys and no pumpkin or cranberries, it should be an interesting meal. I'll let you know what we come up with!
We hope you are all well and doing fine in work or school, and that your families are happy. We pray for you every day. Please continue to pray for us too.
Um abraco grande (a big hug),
Mom and Dad, Elder and Sister Goff
Special hugs for the grandchildren: Ryan, Christian, Nicole, Jessica, Shaylee, and Annabelle
We think of you often with love. Everyone who visits us loves the family photo that we had taken after our farewell.
It has been an unusual week--I am so glad we live in Mindelo on the northern islands, instead of in Praia on the southern islands. They are in the midst of an outbreak, epidemic of Dengye fever, similar to malaria, spread by mosquitoes. There has been an unusual amount of rain in Cape Verde the last 2 months and the mosquito population is heavy, at least in Praia, the capital city and where the mission home is. 1000 new cases a day, and several deaths! Yesterday the president of the country (who lives next door to us when he is in town)called for a national holiday for everyone to clean up any weeds, standing water, etc. where mosquitoes could breed. The whole city took part. We went around informing people about it with the young single adult group with whom we associate in Outreach at the church. The military academy at the top of our street was also out in full form helping clean up.
So far no sickness has been reported on our island, but we are asking for your prayers that it may not come here, and also for the people of Praia who are sick.
We met with doctors from Utah and with the hospital here to begin the training in Neonatal Resuscitation for babies who are born but not breathing. It is so exciting to realize that such a simple technique as a bag and mask can save a life in the first few minutes after birth. The doctors then train those who are birth attendants and midwives who live in remote areas.
We enjoy association with the young elders and sisters in weekly district meetings at our chapel and in going teaching with them. We went last Sunday evening with the sisters to teach three people, all different places, and since it gets dark here at 6:30 each night, we were hiking up dirt hills in the dark to find the homes. It was scary because we could not see where we were stepping, and we did not bring a flashlight (we should have!) "Faith in every footstep"!
Hope you will get together for a Thanksgiving dinner--I will try to cook one here for a family with whom we are very good friends--and tell them about the American holiday. With no turkeys and no pumpkin or cranberries, it should be an interesting meal. I'll let you know what we come up with!
We hope you are all well and doing fine in work or school, and that your families are happy. We pray for you every day. Please continue to pray for us too.
Um abraco grande (a big hug),
Mom and Dad, Elder and Sister Goff
Special hugs for the grandchildren: Ryan, Christian, Nicole, Jessica, Shaylee, and Annabelle
Thursday, October 29, 2009
All Saints Day
Dear families,
We'd like to know by this Saturday what you and/or your kids are being for Halloween! It is not a holiday here, although the people do know about it. The big holiday here is the next day, "All Saints Day". I guess Ryan, Nicole and Christian have school Harvest parties? Does Jessica go to preschool? Does she have a party also? We will be "celebrating" by inviting 2 of the elders over for lunch on Sat. Lunch is actually a dinner since it is our main meal, and everyone stops working from 1-3 p.m. and eats the main meal.
Matt, have you mailed the latest package yet? Just let us know when you do.
Hope you are all well and happy. We are.
Love,
Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa
We'd like to know by this Saturday what you and/or your kids are being for Halloween! It is not a holiday here, although the people do know about it. The big holiday here is the next day, "All Saints Day". I guess Ryan, Nicole and Christian have school Harvest parties? Does Jessica go to preschool? Does she have a party also? We will be "celebrating" by inviting 2 of the elders over for lunch on Sat. Lunch is actually a dinner since it is our main meal, and everyone stops working from 1-3 p.m. and eats the main meal.
Matt, have you mailed the latest package yet? Just let us know when you do.
Hope you are all well and happy. We are.
Love,
Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa
Monday, October 19, 2009
Internet and Prison
Dear family,
The man got things fixed so now we have our own internet at home. As I was saying before, we will be flying to Praia, the capital city, on yet another island. This is where we originally came. We will be doing a home gardening project for 2 days. With all this travelling I have had to cancel piano lessons for a while. I have a super student, Eddy, who is 16 and plays like Jon Schmidt. He transposes, plays like a dream! He is the district choir pianist and we love choir because theyare doing such wonderful songs. Started Christmas music yesterday; we'll be singing "Carol of the Bells" (the Ukranian carol that Matt likes) in Portuguese (of course). At Christmas all the churches gather in the Praca(town park) and sing together, There was a band concert there last night.
We are missing all of you and pray for you every day. Please pray for us too. (I'm sure you are). Special hellos to the grandchildren!
We will write again after a week and a half when we get back home from Praia.
We are going to the prison today to meet with the director to see how we can help there. Our branch president is taking us around to these places and he knows everyone. He also speaks good English. Larry's Portuguese is a great help--he gave a talk on the 10 virgins yesterday. I am using the language at every opportunity, studying every day. Only one of my nine piano students knows English, so I teach them entirely in Portuguese--a good way to learn.
Love,
Elder and Sister Goff
The man got things fixed so now we have our own internet at home. As I was saying before, we will be flying to Praia, the capital city, on yet another island. This is where we originally came. We will be doing a home gardening project for 2 days. With all this travelling I have had to cancel piano lessons for a while. I have a super student, Eddy, who is 16 and plays like Jon Schmidt. He transposes, plays like a dream! He is the district choir pianist and we love choir because theyare doing such wonderful songs. Started Christmas music yesterday; we'll be singing "Carol of the Bells" (the Ukranian carol that Matt likes) in Portuguese (of course). At Christmas all the churches gather in the Praca(town park) and sing together, There was a band concert there last night.
We are missing all of you and pray for you every day. Please pray for us too. (I'm sure you are). Special hellos to the grandchildren!
We will write again after a week and a half when we get back home from Praia.
We are going to the prison today to meet with the director to see how we can help there. Our branch president is taking us around to these places and he knows everyone. He also speaks good English. Larry's Portuguese is a great help--he gave a talk on the 10 virgins yesterday. I am using the language at every opportunity, studying every day. Only one of my nine piano students knows English, so I teach them entirely in Portuguese--a good way to learn.
Love,
Elder and Sister Goff
Wheelchair Project
Dear Family,
I´m sorry to interrupt the earlier email. We needed to go right away with the man who is helping us set up internet. Still no luck, but the problem is Vista on our computer, it blocks Windows XP so we cannot set it up here. Need to get rid of Vista and replace with the other. The man knows what to do, he was sent over her by the mission president to get us set up with internet. So we are at the church using the internet.
We are really enjoying being with the people here. Elder Texeira of the 70 is coming tomorrow for the zone conference, our welfare area director from Germany is arriving tonight, Sister Julie Beck, the general RS president will be here in our city on Nov. 13 and 14. Wow!
Wed. morning we are flying to another two islands, Sal and San Nicolao. At San Nic. we will distribute wheelchairs for those who need them. Earlier this year there was such a project here in Mindelo--the chairs are for members and non-members alike. On the back of each chair is the name of the church--it´s funny to see the wheelchair entering the door of the Catholic Church with our church´s name on it!
We will be in San Nicolao until Sat. night, then fly back here, then on Sunday night, fly to Praia till Tuesday. More later, have to leave again.
Love,
us
I´m sorry to interrupt the earlier email. We needed to go right away with the man who is helping us set up internet. Still no luck, but the problem is Vista on our computer, it blocks Windows XP so we cannot set it up here. Need to get rid of Vista and replace with the other. The man knows what to do, he was sent over her by the mission president to get us set up with internet. So we are at the church using the internet.
We are really enjoying being with the people here. Elder Texeira of the 70 is coming tomorrow for the zone conference, our welfare area director from Germany is arriving tonight, Sister Julie Beck, the general RS president will be here in our city on Nov. 13 and 14. Wow!
Wed. morning we are flying to another two islands, Sal and San Nicolao. At San Nic. we will distribute wheelchairs for those who need them. Earlier this year there was such a project here in Mindelo--the chairs are for members and non-members alike. On the back of each chair is the name of the church--it´s funny to see the wheelchair entering the door of the Catholic Church with our church´s name on it!
We will be in San Nicolao until Sat. night, then fly back here, then on Sunday night, fly to Praia till Tuesday. More later, have to leave again.
Love,
us
Seven Baptisms
Dear family,
We are enjoying our mission here and working very hard. We have several exciting things happening: Seven baptisms already via the elders and sisters, all teenagers and young single adults. Tomorrow we will have a zone conference all day, and Elder Texeira of the 70 will be the guest speaker. He is from Brazil. Our area director of welfare and humanitarian services is arriving here today from Germany (he is from Florida). More later.
Bye,
Mom and Dad, Elder and Sister Goff
We are enjoying our mission here and working very hard. We have several exciting things happening: Seven baptisms already via the elders and sisters, all teenagers and young single adults. Tomorrow we will have a zone conference all day, and Elder Texeira of the 70 will be the guest speaker. He is from Brazil. Our area director of welfare and humanitarian services is arriving here today from Germany (he is from Florida). More later.
Bye,
Mom and Dad, Elder and Sister Goff
Monday, October 12, 2009
No Internet Yet...
Dear family and friends,
We are fine. We just do not have internet in our house yet because we need permission to change from the previous owner to us, and that has not come yet.
We are at an internet cafe on the island of Sao Antao, next to where we live on Sao Vicente. We live in a beautiful home in Mindelo on Sao Vicente and today we went with the elders and sisters in our district on a boat to the nearby island of Sao Antao to hike and see the beautiful black sand beaches and the high, high green mountains. We will be catching the return boat in about an hour, but wanted to let you know we are doing fine and loving the work here. We are the overseers of the Outreach Center at our chapel, we got to see and hear internet live broadcasts of all 4 sessions of General Conference, and we saw Cheri Hancock on the TV of the Sunday sessions. We will of course write more when we have our own setup.
Hope you are all fine, and the kids are well and enjoying school or being at home. We miss you and love each one of you very much. Kisses and hugs. We will write soon.
Love, Elder and Sister Goff (Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa)
We mailed Christian´s Flat Christian package last week. Tell him to show the pictures to other teachers at school and all the folks at home.
We are fine. We just do not have internet in our house yet because we need permission to change from the previous owner to us, and that has not come yet.
We are at an internet cafe on the island of Sao Antao, next to where we live on Sao Vicente. We live in a beautiful home in Mindelo on Sao Vicente and today we went with the elders and sisters in our district on a boat to the nearby island of Sao Antao to hike and see the beautiful black sand beaches and the high, high green mountains. We will be catching the return boat in about an hour, but wanted to let you know we are doing fine and loving the work here. We are the overseers of the Outreach Center at our chapel, we got to see and hear internet live broadcasts of all 4 sessions of General Conference, and we saw Cheri Hancock on the TV of the Sunday sessions. We will of course write more when we have our own setup.
Hope you are all fine, and the kids are well and enjoying school or being at home. We miss you and love each one of you very much. Kisses and hugs. We will write soon.
Love, Elder and Sister Goff (Mom and Dad, Grandma and Grandpa)
We mailed Christian´s Flat Christian package last week. Tell him to show the pictures to other teachers at school and all the folks at home.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Hello
Hello, dear family!
We are here in Praia, Cape Verde at the mission home, arrived about 10 a.m. War, beautiful and sunny, right on the ocean. We had two wonderful meals, lunch and dinner with the mission president and his family, he is very neat, young, native to CV, and a real hard worker and very spiritual. We like him and his family a lot. I am using the office internet today, but we'll get our own soon. Probably will write every week at least.
Love always, Mom and Dad Elder and Sister Goff
We are here in Praia, Cape Verde at the mission home, arrived about 10 a.m. War, beautiful and sunny, right on the ocean. We had two wonderful meals, lunch and dinner with the mission president and his family, he is very neat, young, native to CV, and a real hard worker and very spiritual. We like him and his family a lot. I am using the office internet today, but we'll get our own soon. Probably will write every week at least.
Love always, Mom and Dad Elder and Sister Goff
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)