Splash Zone

Well, it was another fantastic week under the sun in paradise! I officially have given up keeping a journal for right now so not really sure what happened but I DO REMEMBER it being fantastic!

On Wednesday we had a chance to meet with President and Sister Lewis during our interviews. My whole mission I have struggled with finding a balance between having so much fun and joking around, while still keeping in mind the importance of my calling and the magnitude of the work. Obviously, there is a very fine line, but I have just always struggled to find a way to walk that line. 

Anyway I voiced my concern to President and he referenced a general conference talk where a new apostle was called and felt very overwhelmed with his calling. The prophet at that time (forgot who it was sorry) told him to not worry about it and to just BE YOURSELF! You were called for a reason. That was exactly the advice I needed to hear. I think we all just need to be ourselves in our life.      We often worry about trying to be too much like someone else, or envying (which is something else I studied this week. Go read "The Other Prodigal Son" by Elder Holland. You will thank me later) others that we forget about all the amazing gifts that God gave to us individually! Of course, I must do everything I can to be perfectly obedient, and we must all push ourselves to be the best us that we can, but at the end of the day, I don't have to change to be some other certain type of missionary, or try to be someone I am not. President closed by saying, "This mission needs an Elder Gochnour." Now I don't say that to praise myself, but it just really showed me that this world all needs one of each of us, individually. We were sent to this Earth by a loving and powerful God who knows us and created us for a reason. The reason is to help and bless the lives of others. Don't have envy and don't try to be someone you aren't.   Just let your OWN personal light shine.

I also had a chance to go on an exchange with the AP's this week! It was a way fun time and Elder St. Clair is a good guy. Lot's of kinda funny, but weird stuff happened. We saw some random white guy who was just walking along some random road in Cambodia with his wife, who happened to be a member in Hawaii!!!  He came to do Visa work with his wife. It was way fun to talk to him and to see how God prepares our path. It was a cool experience to do exchanges but it also helped me realize that being AP truly is not more important than any other missionary. We are all called here to do the work. 

We also had SO SO many miracles in finding people to teach this week. I don't have time to talk about them all, but I can testify that the Lord prepares our path to find those in need of the gospel.

To close, my boy Vuen was baptized this week!!!!!!! It was amazing. I love that guy so much. About two weeks ago we asked if he believed in God and he responded that he probably believed about 50%. Well after conference he said that his faith increased to 70% and by the time his interview came, he felt completely ready to go. He said, "I thought about it and I don't know why I would keep doing all these things if I didn't believe." He is probably one of the most humble people I have ever met. His childhood was filled with a father who always drank a little too much and couldn't control himself, leaving him with scars both physically and mentally. His current life is filled with paying for his younger brother and sisters schooling, to help them have a better future than he does. He cares so much about what the beggars on the street eat and doesn't worry enough that he lives off of $50 a month. He epitomizes Christ-like charity and would give anything just to make others happy. He may not be the most educated guy, but shows to me that the world doesn't bring us happiness, the gospel does. Elder Chytraus had the chance to baptize him and it was a very special day!

All is well in the kingdom of Cambodia. I know that God lives and loves us. Every single one of us. Don't forget that! And I love you all too.

Elder Gochnour

Conference Cookies

This week was awesome! I love being a missionary

So obviously the highlight of the week was General Conference. No questions asked. Nothing better than watching the servants of the Lord just preach elegant words of hope and happiness! Not a better feeling in the world knowing that as we listen to these amazing men and woman it is like we are listening to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ speaking directly to us. Pretty powerful stuff. If I were to talk about all the things I learned, all the talks I liked and the spirit that I felt as I watched that historic General Conference, then I would spend the whole week typing and not doing any missionary work so I will have to pass. I will say that my favorite talk has to be from the man Elder Uchtdorf (like my good friend Elder McDougal). BELIEVE, LOVE AND DO MY FRIENDS!!!!!!! That is all that matters! If we do those three things all the problems in our life will be swallowed up in the service of others and in that hope that the Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us! Don't complicate it. Simply believe, love and do.

We also had two cool experiences that happened this week with our investigators:

One guy that we just randomly met on the street and didn't seem very hopeful changed his entire countenance. We went over there on a hot, stuffy morning with a plan to teach the restoration. As we started talking to him he revealed that his father had died and that he felt pretty hopeless in life because he didn't have any money and his wife had left him. One thing that I really need to work on is not getting impatient when people complain to me haha, and I tried to just really listen to the spirit. We felt instead of the story of the restoration, that we should share about the Plan of Salvation and it was one of the most powerful lessons ever. All his concerns and his desire for worldly possessions from a Christian church faded away and he simply wanted to live with his father again, as he heard about God's wonderful Plan of Happiness. Our doubtful investigator went to conference and seems ready to try to follow Jesus Christ in his life.

The second story I want to share was conference inspired. It comes from a story about a temple experience with President Hinckley that the speaker had (forgot his name sorry). I love how he said that like a temple built by the Church, we must build a foundation that can withstand anything.  Most houses in Cambodia are simply built with cement and bricks and if there was an earthquake here, I believe the whole country would come crashing down haha. But not the temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. We build on a foundation that is sturdy and able to withstand whatever comes our way. My companion and I felt that in an impromptu spiritual thought after English class we should share that temple story and then shared this scripture from 3rd Nephi 14:

24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, 

I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock—

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,

 and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them 

not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand—

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, 

and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

One of the men in our class really related with what we said and felt that it was time to build his life on a firm foundation that will never let us fall. We told him about his Heavenly Father and hopefully, he can continue to build a firm foundation!

Other things:

• AC went out during general conference and I almost tossed in the towel. Couldn't focus for about 2 straight talks haha

• Saw a lady in a moto accident and her leg destroyed. Her flesh was everywhere on the road and she definitely was not walking it off. I am glad the Lord protects me here or else I would be a little more worried.

Anyway, that is all I got. GO, TITANS! WE GOT THE ROCK BOYYYYY! Also, go Utes and Jazz too. 

Love you all and Joy in the Journey. Believe, Love, Do!

Elder Gochnour

Brownies made with no pan!

    

TEMPLE TIME!

69 of the 97 missionaries in Cambodia in front of the potential Temple Site. Giving a Hurrah for Israel!

A peek inside the gate at the possible Temple Site.

So if you haven't heard, President Russell M. Nelson announced a temple coming to the Kingdom. No not a temple of Angkor Wat, a temple of salvation!!!!!!!! Let's GO!!!!!!

This week was pure chaos and our area suffered because of it. I guess chaos isn't the right word, because it was all positive, but we just haven't had much time to do regular missionary work in our area. We still got my boys Vuan and Samuel L. Jackson who are both amazing and are progressing toward their dates very nicely. Cool quick story: Vuan told us that before he met the Elders his life was so lonely and bleak. He had no friends. He would go to work, go home, and sleep. He felt like he didn't really have much purpose in life, but now he has friends and it is difficult to catch him without a smile on his face. The gospel does change people. Another funny story: we taught Samuel L. the Law of Chastity and now whenever he sees any members or meets with us he always just repeats the Law of Chastity and all the points in it haha. At least he remembers though!

Tuesday we had a one day exchange! I went with Elder Shurtz who is a way cool guy and can play literally every instrument so that was a fun day. Wednesday taught English class.  Thursday & Friday we had Missionary Leadership Conference & new missionary training.  Saturday was a ward activity and then Monday we had a tri-zone, zone conference. Long story short LOTS of meetings and good, free food from the mission. Lots of time with all the mission friends and lots of spirit felt. Not enough time to talk about everything that happened, but I am grateful for leadership from President and the inspiration he receives to guide our mission. There have been some major changes made in the schedule that will give us more time to proselyte which I am SUPER excited about! Fun stuff. 

Also funny story: We slept down in the city the night of the new missionary training and we all planned to play basketball, but when we got to the church the power was out. We weren't going to lose this one opportunity to ball so we just went outside and played on the baskets that didn't have hoops. You can imagine how that went. Only in Cambodia my friends.

Anyway, the main thing that I wanted to talk about was the temple that will be built in the beautiful city of Phnom Penh in these upcoming years. It was Monday (yesterday) morning at about 5:40AM when I received the text that a temple would be built in our country of Cambodia. Honestly, at first I didn't believe it. The church has only been here for about 20 years and still is a young organization. Wards and branches are strong relatively, but still have a lot of work to do. However, towards the end of the text, I realized that the vision that we had set for the mission only two zone conferences before had just become a reality. And since learning of the Temple announcement I have had a feeling of pure joy. Sure there is still a lot of work that needs to be done, a lot of people to be reactivated, and a lot of new people to be found. But the Lord is hastening His work in this beautiful country and I am so blessed to be a part of that. I know that this announcement came from a true prophet of God, who knows these people and knows what the future holds in store. He knows the help and healing and especially the HOPE that comes from the temple. He knows the peace that will be given to these people. I know that the temple is the house of the Lord. I know that every temple is a place of peace and I can't wait to be apart of laying the groundwork for this amazing building. I love this gospel. 

Last night we went around and had the opportunity to tell some members that didn't know yet about this glorious news. We shared with them D&C 97:15-16

15 And inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord, and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my glory shall rest upon it;

16 Yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God.

I just want to bear my testimony that the Lord is hastening His work and how grateful I am to be a part of it.

Anyway, I love you all and the church is true!! I can't wait to watch conference and I hope you all did too!

Love,

Elder Gochnour 

A Crab on a String

Well, this week was an adventure. Here are a few things that happened:

• We visited a member and her son (who is named Hollywood haha). The son was playing with a crab on a string and I decided to give it a belly rub and the thing pinched my finger hard and I flung the crab across the room. Normal.

• We went fishing with one of our recent convert but didn't get any bites. Actually, I guess that isn't completely true. The only thing that was biting was a bunch of mosquitos.

Other than that we are just slowly and surely trying to get a little more established in our brand new area. We are visit members, find new investigators, and teach the ones that we have and it just seems like everything just goes by in a blur.

 Honestly, it doesn't feel like I have that many crazy cool experiences anymore. I have them all right, but now it is just life. It is just part of the work that we do every day as a servant of the Lord. It doesn't feel new anymore, but it just feels like every single day is enjoyable and consistent and effective. Kinda hard to explain, but I just really love being a missionary. It just is flat out fun. 

We found two old guys that were willing to listen to us, and one of them even prayed, but we will see... The big news is our man Vuen is an absolute baller! Not much time to explain about him, but people like him are the reason why I have hope in this work and in this life. The Lord is moving his work forward, it may be one soul at a time, but the work is rolling forward and nothing can stop it. How glorious to be a part of it. He came to church and will be baptized pretty soon. Our other investigators (my boy Samuel L) are doing really well, but it is a holiday and so kind of chaotic to get them to church, but hopefully, once everything settles down it will go back to normal.

Other than that life is super good out here! I love being a missionary and I love my companion Elder Chytraus. It is so easy to relate to him and to understand where he is coming from. It kinda just feels like hanging out with one of my friends back home! So yes long story short, life is good.

Not much for a spiritual thought this week, except that I have still been studying revelation and I know that revelation and the Holy Ghost can change our lives. Take this scripture for example in Mosiah 5:2, 2

 “And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.”

The spirit will change our lives and we are going to need to be receiving revelation as this aal Conference approaches!

I love you all! The church is true and Jesus is the Christ. Go titans! Keep working and go jazz with the new throwbacks and Grayson balling out! Also, don't sleep on Duke football....

Love, 

Elder Gochnour

A Child is Born

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!

I have a whole lot to talk about so we will see how this goes.

On Monday I was able to say goodbye to a few people and then I was hoping to do the same thing, but my comp got sick so I sadly wasn't able to say goodbye to a lot of the beloved members in Pochentong.  I will just have to meet them another day or in the spirit world haha! I love Pochentong and those amazing people. 

Then came transfers on Wednesday! But because our "kids" (new missionaries) didn't get in until Thursday morning I was able to spend about 3 hours to try to become familiar with every member's house and ever investigators house in our new area. Which really just wasn't enough time haha. We were just biking around hauling trying to see them all haha with Elder Orton who was here before. It was a very rushed three hours!

Then I received my "son", Elder Chytraus!!!!!!! I got the skyline eagle! All I am saying is the boys at Oly better keep the streak going and get the rock because I can't be training an eagle without the rock! Good luck boys. Anyway, Elder Chytraus is an absolute baller. It has been so fun to be with him and help him experience this crazy country for the first time. He has seen a couple of his first naked children and super poor houses! It is so fun to see how new and exciting it is and I really reminisce about my first days in this crazy country.

The days following were pretty chaotic. I had to figure out all the zone leader stuff, use a dinky map to find where in the world I am going, and also I am English class leader so we had to print out all the papers and stuff. Not to mention we had no food and the house was just a mess so it has been a whirlwind of a few days, but things have settled down now. On our first day here though we taught a cool guy and gave him a baptismal date which was so awesome. This area has about five good investigators that are all doing way well and have a lot of potentials and so things are definitely looking up! One of which is an old guy who looks exactly like Samuel L. Jackson, just a little bit skinnier so we just call him Elder Jackson or Samuel L. hahaha and he is an absolute legend! I will keep you updated on him. I already LOVE the members in this area. They are so fun and I can't wait for these transfers ahead.

I am sorry for the scattered email, but I want to share one more thing. One night after I prayed I just laid down at night and felt pure joy. It was one of the weirdest, but best feelings. I realized that the reason I felt that joy is because for the space of about 3 whole days I hadn't thought about myself once. Even though on your mission you come to forget yourself and get lost in the work, often times your mind slips back to things of home, or concerns for the future, and you start to think about yourself. Those things are natural, but as the busy three days came and went I didn't think about any of those things and in return, I just felt pure peace and joy in my own life. I know that Jesus Christ lived his whole life this way. He lived for others and in return He was perfect. May we all forget about ourselves a little bit more and focus on others this week!!!

I will give you some better stories next week, but for now, just know that I love you all. 

Even though we are all weak, imperfect servants of the Lord, God can work miracles through us. 

Go, Titans.

Love,

Elder Gochnour

Bye-Bye Pochentong

  

Sadly because of transfer calls last night I will be leaving this beloved area of mine. I am gonna miss this place and this amazing ward that meets every Sunday within the walls of an old mansion. 
I am excited though because I will have the opportunity to train a newcomer to the mission and we will be going to Chbarm Pov and white washing the area. They say that you really come to notice your weaknesses on your mission, and I can't wait to truly come to understand the meaning of that sentence these next two transfers as the leader of this area! 

I am really gonna miss the amazing people here and especially Elder Pov who I have really come to love these last couple of transfers.

This week we had another baptism! He is only 10 years old and is a member of an active family who goes every week, that for some reason did not get him baptized when he turned 8 (that happens WAY too often here haha). He is actually a really cool guy and it was fun to see him enter the waters of baptism. He kept the testimony very short, but he said that he is grateful for the Savior. I think we can all be a little more grateful for the Savior in our lives.

I thought rainy season was over, but I guess I was wrong because it rained every single day this week. We had interviews with President and it went pretty well! I love the Lewis's and know that they are receiving revelation to guide this mission. Also, one of the missionaries had bad blood clots and almost passed away and so we went and visited at the hospital and he is a trooper. Just chilling in the middle of Cambodia after surgery reading the Book of Mormon. You gotta love the mission life. Other than that just kinda a lot of biking, teaching, studying and everything else that you do as a missionary.

Most importantly I want to share something that I learned in personal study. I have recently noticed that President Nelson has been making a BIG PUSH to have us focus on receiving personal revelation. He gave a talk in conference and studied to find this to be his overarching theme. 
I decided that in order to follow the spokesman of God on the Earth today, I better find out a little bit more about receiving personal revelation. 

I can't even begin to explain how much I have learned and how important receiving this revelation for ourselves is. I invite all of you to read his talk and really think about how you can better receive personal revelation in your own life. 

One thing that I found in True to The Faith says, "Quiet spiritual promptings may not seem as spectacular as visions or angelic visitations, but they are more powerful and lasting and life changing. The witness of the Holy Ghost makes an impression on the soul that is more significant than anything you can see or hear. Through such revelations, you will receive lasting strength to stay true to the gospel and help others do the same." 

There are so many examples of people who have had miracles in their lives and have been changed by the gospel, but because they weren't able to do the work necessary to continue to follow God and continue to receive personal revelation the effect of that miracle wasn't enough to carry them. We have seen this in recent converts that go less active, return missionaries that fall away from the church, in witnesses of the Book of Mormon that went apostate and so many other times. WE NEED TO CONSTANTLY RECEIVE THE WHISPERING OF THE SPIRIT IN OUR LIFE IN ORDER TO STAY ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW! It is essential! If you don't believe me then just go ask the prophet! I would like to close by another bomb that the Bible Dictionary drops about God, 
"God can be known only by revelation. He must be revealed or remain forever unknown"

Take that as a little food for thought and find the spirit in your life!

I love you all! GO UTES! Happy birthday Eli and good luck to Oly against Lehi!

Elder Gochnour

The Miracle Man got Baptized

Well, I spend all of my email time looking at pictures of my niece and nephew so #sorrynotsorry

To start things out I would just like to give a personal shoutout to Elder Michael Cunningham who sent me a Donovan Mitchel jersey that is now my new favorite item of clothing. Somebody let my boy Donny know that he has fans repping him all the way out in Cambodia!!!!!! Also, shout out to the Titans for just balling out! TTTE!

This week I had the chance to go to Sen Sok again for the fourth time. Honestly, when I first went there I thought boy I would never want to serve in this area, and I felt pity for the missionaries there, but now I am actually jealous. I love that place, and it came to show me the importance that attitude is everything.

Our investigators are doing good and we are working hard to find new ones! I won't go into detail, but the work is really moving forward here.

2 highlights of the week:

• There is a recent convert family that is very poor and some of the most faithful people I have ever met. His name is Pu Rat and he always feeds us once a week even though they hardly have enough money for their own food. I have learned to love that about these amazing people. They give you everything they have, even if that is nothing. Anyway we were teaching about enduring to the end and I told a story about how I had worked so hard to cook this delicious food called Kha and I did everything right, but then because I didn't watch it while it was cooking on the stove I burnt it. Just like in our lives. Even though we may have all the saving ordinances and have everything done right and followed the gospel our whole life, if we aren't careful we might burn our delicious meal and make all the hard work worthless. Anyway, this guy just got into it and he was so pumped. He was talking about how the salt was like reading the scriptures and the garlic was fasting haha and as I sat there I just felt happy. This gospel truly is for everyone. I feel so blessed to see the joy that comes from these people following the gospel of Jesus Christ and how pumped up he was. 

• The miracle man Setha got baptized this week! If I typed everything that happened from the time that we met him while walking on the side of the ghetto railroad tracks, till the time that he entered the waters of baptism, then you would be reading a novel. I will have to save the stories until I get back. The baptism went super smooth and then the coolest thing happened. He got up and bore his testimony about his family. Because he had lived a life full of sin and satisfying himself. His family had all become separated. He lost communication with his mother and that broke his heart. As he accepted the gospel of Jesus Christ he came to slowly but surely and it changed his life. At his baptism, he testified of his love for his Savior and his hope of connection with his family again now that he has got his life in order. The gospel really does blesses us temporally and spiritually. Then the member of our bishopric and got up and bore his testimony. Most of his kids are less active which I think is very hard on him and he talked about the importance of our relationship with our earthly parents and the love that they have for us no matter what happens. He also talked about the love that our Heavenly Father has for us and both him and Setha were letting the tears flow. Pretty cool to be a part of such a monumental and life-changing work. I love this gospel.

I am out of time, but all of you scrubs better go read Mosiah 24. Love you all! Go Utes and Titans! Joy in the Journey!

Elder Gochnour

Lord, I would follow thee.

September 3, 2018

I would just like to start out by saying that I love you all and hope everything is going well back home.

Nothing too crazy has happened in the last two weeks! Just lots of little miracles and funny stories and cool experiences that would take way to long to describe the background situation. I guess I could sum up my last two weeks by saying: I love being a missionary and getting out there every day and doing the work of the Lord. 

We are a little low in the investigator pool right now, so I decided to focus all my studies and efforts on finding new people. I really gained a testimony of the Hand of God in this work. In Cambodia sometimes you just have to go out and walk under the hot sun and try to talk to people that usually have no interest in learning about the gospel. Hardly ever do those efforts result in a baptism. However, I know that as we show our faith, God rewards us in ways that we wouldn't have expected and don't quite understand. We were able to find three new people who wanted to learn this week, just from random situations and I know that God truly does reward us for our labors.

Guntia got baptized! She was an investigator that we taught up to lesson 5 and then handed her over to the Sisters when they moved into our area. I bore my testimony in Sacrament meeting about one of the biggest truths that I have learned so far in this country. On one of my first Sundays in Cambodia there was a guy that was a member from Africa who lives in Cambodia, but super new to the church. He came up to the missionaries and asked, "How can you tell people, and promise them that by following the Gospel of Jesus Christ their lives can be better?" At that time I didn't know how to answer that question. I wasn't sure if I could tell them and know that it was true. I had seen the power of the gospel in my life, but could it really help everyone? Well today, I know. I know that the gospel can help everyone. It truly can change every single person's life. Guntia is an awesome example of that.

I would like to close by sharing a hymn that has really come to mean a lot to me out here on the mission. Give it a read and think about how you can better follow the Lord in your life.

1. Savior, may I learn to love thee,

Walk the path that thou hast shown,

Pause to help and lift another,

Finding strength beyond my own.

Savior, may I learn to love thee--

1. Lord, I would follow thee.
2. 2. Who am I to judge another
   When I walk imperfectly?
   In the quiet heart is hidden
   Sorrow that the eye can't see.
   Who am I to judge another?
3. Lord, I would follow thee. 
4. 3. I would be my brother's keeper;
5. I would learn the healer's art.
6. To the wounded and the weary
7. I would show a gentle heart.
8. I would be my brother's keeper--

1. Lord, I would follow thee. 
2. 4. Savior, may I love my brother
   As I know thou lovest me,
   Find in thee my strength, my beacon,
   For thy servant I would be.
   Savior, may I love my brother--
3. Lord, I would follow thee.

Thanks for all the support and love. 

Choose to be happy this week! 

I feel so blessed every day to be a missionary of the Lord. 

Shout out to Grace for the big birthday this week! 

Love,

Elder Gochnour