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

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) 

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

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

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