1 Week, 2 General Authorities

Missionary Conference May 2018

WHAT A WEEK!

To start off I just want to give a few very special shout outs. First to my boy Elder Ference just dominating in Thailand with the big Bday on Saturday! South East Asia repping! And of course, SHOUT OUT to the one and only Mary Anne Tidwell turning 19 on Sunday! Everyone send her some love because she deserves it. One year older and wiser too! Happy birthday MARY!

This week was pretty amazing and filled with a lot of meetings. 

On Tuesday, we were lucky enough to have Elder Bednar and Elder Evans come to our mission. 

We had a mission conference with every single missionary and it was so fun to see everyone and to feel that we all have for each other in a small chapel room in Cambodia. It was pretty amazing to hear from Elder Bednar. He is brilliant and knows how to teach and testify by the spirit. I was amazed at the doctrine that came out of his mouth and the things that we learned in only a short 3 hours. He also didn't just give a talk, but we had a discussion and it really was just an amazing experience. I learned so much and I don't know if I will ever have the opportunity to be in a room with two general authorities of the Lord with less than 100 people. Pretty fantastic. I can personally testify that my testimony of the organization and the elect calling of Elder Bednar was strengthened in only three short hours. He truly is a chosen servant of the Lord. 

That night we had the chance to take two investigators to hear him and Elder Evans speak again, this time to the Cambodian people. It was again amazing to hear their words of wisdom. They talked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, paying tithing and preparing to be the people that will be able to maintain a temple years after it has been built. I love one thing he mentioned, "The Lord hasn't given us a list of do's and don'ts for what we can and cannot do on Sunday. He trusts us to use our agency for good. If we are ever questioning whether we are keeping the Sabbath day holy we need only ask ourselves, "Would Jesus Christ be proud of me doing this?"" 

I really loved what they shared. We also had a chance to have Stake conference with all of the North Stake in Cambodia! It was awesome and we again got to hear from another general authority, but I forgot his name. I especially loved hearing the testimonies of my mission president and his wife, and the love they have for the Cambodian people. I love them too! We somehow managed to get ten investigators at the meeting which was a miracle because it was at the stake building (sometimes difficult to get the word out and explain directions), but thankfully it all worked out. On top of all that I had my last interview with President and Sister Christensen before they go home. They are amazing people and have positively impacted my life in so many ways. I learn so much when I talk to them. They will be missed! I loved hearing their words of wisdom and life advice that hopefully I can apply and become a better missionary and person!

Well other than all the big meetings it was a pretty regular week! Here are some funny things about the week: 

Because it was my companion's one year mark, me and Elder Shumway (homie) decided to make him the best breakfast in the world. Elder Shumway tossed together a delicious pancake and I made some eggs, toast, and brown sugar oatmeal for him. He was gonna eat like a king. However, halfway through his breakfast he just felt way sick and was pretty much out for the whole day. Luckily it was weekly planning so we didn't miss any proselyting, but I think I almost killed my companion. Sometimes serving doesn't always end up how you thought it would..... (we think he got sick because he ate pizza and he is allergic to dairy, but it was a funny coincidence)

We went golfing for an Elder's birthday and it was way dope! I felt like Tiger just getting my stroke back! I was actually just kinda terrible, but it was a very fun time. The funny part about this story was that one of the guys accidentally threw his club into the water we were hitting into... Great!!!

Well other than that things are great! Golfing was a blast and we played soccer today and I was basically just Hope Solo protecting the goal out there! We have a lot of awesome investigators that can always go to church, but they can only meet Saturday and Sunday, so sometimes things feel slow, but they are actually very good. Because it is hamburger day there is a deal for 5 burgers for 5 dollars at Carls Jr.!!!!!!!! You know where I am eating for the next three days. Also, because they are splitting the ward we have 6 Elders in just one ward haha. Imagine that. I hardly ever saw ANY elders back home and now there are 6 of us in one ward.

To end the letter I just want to share an amazing scripture that Elder Evans talked about. 

Ether 3:11: 'And the Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I SHALL speak?'

What an interesting question. The Lord asked the brother of Jared if he believed what the Lord was going to speak. Do we have that same faith as the brother of Jared? Are we willing to perfectly adhere to the words of our beloved prophet and apostles? Some might think that doing whatever is asked of us by President Nelson is ignorance or blind faith, rather I believe that it is faith enough to trust the Lord and all that He does for us. All that he will reveal for us. Do we believe the words that the Lord will speak? I sure hope I can strengthen my faith adequately enough to be able to trust the voice of our Heavenly no matter what the circumstance is. No matter what storms or trials come! 

WE MUST BELIEVE THE WORDS WHICH HE SHALL SPEAK!

That is all I got. Lebron is a legend. I love my mission, my family, and my Savior.

Love,

Elder Gochnour

 

An Elect Convict

What a week, what a week! No pink eye or disease this week so things are great! 

We had an awesome week: nothing too exciting except some raw missionary work which is better anyway. 

Story of the week: 

There was a man who had been in jail for ten years, which truthfully his sentence was fifteen, but because of good behavior this man got let out five years early. Three stolen motorcycles and five years for each one. He went into jail with a wife and two kids, and a pretty regular life. Fast forward ten years. This same man lost his wife who went and married someone else and lost contact with his two children. He lives in his little sister's house, but he is unwelcome there, and yet this man is happy. 

He is happy because while in prison he was able to find hope through our Savior, Jesus Christ. He became sufficiently humble to seek after a loving Heavenly Father and find peace in Him. This man is named Lina and was let out of prison two Thursdays ago. That Sunday he found a church and entered, finally able to worship after so many longs years in a desolate Cambodian prison. The Elders there referred him to us because he lives in our area. Lina is an amazing man and has such a desire to learn more about the Savior. On top of all that it has been incredible to teach him because he is extremely knowledgeable in the Bible, but now he has an even better chance through another testament of Jesus Christ, The Book Of Mormon. He attended all three hours of church on Sunday and he truly is elect. He has been such a blessing in our lives and I really have come to know the meaning of the scripture, "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 

This man has made mistakes and so has had to suffer in prison for 10 years and lose all that he had.  He has become poor in spirit, sufficient enough to accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ in his life. Blessed are the poor in spirit because the Kingdom of Heaven is happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

Other than that we had a pretty regular week! We had two baptisms for an 8-year-old named Raymond, whose parent are not members, but his grandmother is, however it still is a convert baptism because his Grandma lives in America now. We also had a baptism for a 17-year-old girl named Srey Pin. I really have seen the blessings that have come in her life from following the gospel because before she said she always felt so lonely and now she feels like she has so many friends. 

Living according to Christ's gospel can make you happy! I know that without a doubt in my mind. 

It was awesome to see those two enter the waters of baptism. 

I got to see everyone at transfers which was pretty awesome because there are so many amazing missionaries here that I have become such good friends with. Also funny story: We are teaching another 17-year-old girl named Cing Choan who really has a desire to change her life, but she was devastated when we taught her the word of wisdom. She said that she would try her best, but I have never seen someone take it so hard, she was almost crying. In the end, she said she was willing to follow the Word of Wisdom even though it would be hard. 

I don't know when the rainy season actually starts because everyone says something different here, but I am pretty sure it is the rainy season because it just POURS every day and leaves the streets flooded. I have submerged my feet into a flooded street while biking probably five times in the last week! 

Fun adventures though.

Lastly, Elder Bednar comes tomorrow which is gonna be legit! I am so pumped. I have been studying his talks and trying to prepare spiritually for him. LET'S GO! 

Also, I was taking the sacrament and I realized the significance of Jesus Christ's eternal sacrifice. Everyone in the whole world could partake of the sacrament every week if they believed. These blessings are available to EVERYONE because the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ are limitless. Pretty cool realization. JOY IN THE JOURNEY! I love my mission and the Cambodian people and my Savior and all of you! Shout out to all the people preparing to go on a mission. Read the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of it

Also, the Jazz picking up another Dukie, you betcha! 

Elder Gochnour

Missionary Work On The Other Side

Spent all my time talking to my fam which was way better than writing out a poorly composed email so here is a brief summary. 

It felt like I was literally stuck under the waterfall part in Grizzly Rapids in Disneyland for two straight hours because that is how hard it rained on Tuesday. The rain caused the streets to flood, which caused me and Elder Taylor (Exchange) to bike through three feet of chocolate brown water. That water, therefore, caused me to have pink eye. 

Since then I have recovered. 

You gotta love it baby. 

Great week and the work is progressing well. We got transfer calls and nothing changed so I will still just be working with Elder Tuft in Pochentong as the English class leader. LET'S GO!!

My investigator from KC died on Monday. Not enough time to explain the details (maybe my mom can help) but I know that he is doing work on the other side of the veil. I think he was one of the, if not the, happiest people I have ever met. I know he is teaching the gospel to his ancestors and fulfilling the vision that President Smith saw of the spirit world. 

In Doctrine &Covenants section 138

 "30 But behold, from among the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.

31 And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.

32 Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.

33 These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands,"

Life is fragile, but it is worth it. I am grateful for the gospel and the hope that we have of life after death. 

I love my mother. She is my sunshine. Please, everyone, give your mother a hug today. 

The church is true. 

Elder Gochnour

Snails from a member and
we figured out a way to eat them

bees and bugs salad - not my favorite look at the up close if
you have a strong stomach!

I Love My Mom

HELLO, HELLO, HELLO!

2 quick shout outs. First to Coulson Rich for the dope package! I love you man. Second to my sister in law Abby! Hope you had the best birthday ever!!

Well, to start I woke up this morning and felt like someone put my stomach in a blender and turned it on for the whole night. The number of times I went to the bathroom was in the double digits.... but other than that things are pretty amazing here!!

The weirdest thing that I saw this week:  A guy driving a moto with probably about 30 geese just tied on, quaking all the while. On top of the fact that this dude literally just tied geese on to his moto, there was a dog going at one of the gooses, legit just biting its face. All the other geese were trying to protect him, but they were tied up so it was to no avail. That was a very strange site. 

• This week was completely amazing and so full of miracles. The guy Seta that just kept having miracles happen left and right finally came to church. He along with nine other of our investigators and four potential investigators somehow all found a way to go to church. It was a pretty amazing sacrament meeting, and it feels like we are doing nothing to make it happen, but rather the Lord is just blessing us. 

• On top of that, we had Mongkul and David get baptized this week! It was a pretty awesome experience. I love the joy and excitement that they wear on their shoulders as they put on those special white jumpsuits. Mongkul is a 15-year-old who already is a great member help in all of our lessons, and has a strong desire to serve a mission. David is a 10-year-old that has gone to church his whole life but was never baptized because his parents aren't members. It was a very wonderful Sunday! 

• On top of all that, we had been trying to visit and encourage some less actives to come to church and all of them showed up. It was amazing! I saw some of them and couldn't believe my eyes. It really was a miracle from the Lord. 

We had two exchanges this week which made things pretty chaotic, but very fun. I was able to spend time with a guy named Elder Richards who is from Maryland and is in his training. It is so fun being around people who are new to the mission because they have so much excitement. We were contacting and huge rain storm hit us out of nowhere. We had to ask a lady for a poncho, but it was hard to put on because we were already so wet, so some random lady just helped us put on our poncho and put our arms through the holes and stuff. I love this country. I had another exchange with Elder Selman who is from Corner Canyon and very close to going home. He was called to speak Vietnamese, but he learned Khmer so well that now he can proselyte in both languages pretty impressive. 

Another funny thing that happened was that people moved into our house haha and it was not good. We own the third, fourth, and fifth floors and they moved into the second and first, but there was no barrier between the stairs so you could literally just see them as you walked by the stairwell. On top of that they have two very young kids that just yell and cry all day haha so we were a little worried, but our landlord put up a divider and a cover so things are good now. That was pretty funny though. 

We taught a lesson to a recent convert last night that was pretty powerful. They are one of the poorest families I have met, but they always sacrifice to go to church and feed the missionaries, and they won't say no. We decided that we wanted to teach them about heaven because they deserve it. When preparing, I learned that in order to achieve heaven we must do everything we can do. We must do as Nephi did in 1 Nephi 3:7 to completely and wholeheartedly follow the commandments of the Lord. If we do that then we will be able to have a shot at heaven. But like my basketball shooting, we will always miss that shot if it weren't for the Savior. We learn in 2 Nephi 25:23  "for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." So even after we try our hardest we will still fall short? That is disheartening. What must we hope for then? We learn in Moroni 7: 41 "And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." We can have hope through JESUS CHRIST. Through Him all of our wrongs will be made right. Through Jesus Christ we can make it to heaven. The lesson was amazing and that man is one of the most humble and yet the happiest person I have ever met. If anyone deserves heaven it is him. 

This week I have been studying a lot about mothers. Man oh man am I lucky to have the best one. I love you Jeni B Gochnour! I love studying the amazing stories of mothers in the scriptures because a mother's love is one thing that can't be compared. One of the missionaries called me mama's boy and I wasn't even mad! One of my favorite quotes is "Be the type of missionary your mom thinks you are" SHOUT OUT TO MY MOTHER! I love you. 

Hope everyone had a fantastic week! I love you all. Thanks for the love and support. Joy in the Journey! And like Elder McDougal said, TAKE NOTE!!!!! YUP!

Elder Gochnour 

"CRY" unto God!

SHOUT OUT to the Jazz baby!!! Super teams have nothing on the boys! Jazz N ation till I die!

This week absolutely flew by. It felt like I blinked and it was over. There were some pretty amazing experiences and miracles that happened this week so I will just jump right in.

Remember the guy that didn't have any food and then his friend just miraculously brought food over to his house. Well, he didn't end up going to church last Sunday which was a bummer, but he told us that this Saturday he was going to change his life. We weren't quite sure what that meant, but we went to meet him on Saturday and he was a new man. He had gotten a nice looking haircut and cleaned up his house. He really was making an effort to change his life. After some small talk and discussing what we had eaten that day, we invited him to say the opening prayer. Not long into his prayer, he started crying (also we were teaching one of his friends and he had no shame). He was balling and I just felt so touched by the spirit. As he poured out his heart to God, you could feel how strong the spirit resided in that humble abode. I had to open my eyes as he spoke directly from his heart to see if God was standing right there in the room. After he closed his prayer and wiped his streaming tears off of his face, we all just sat there without moving, but yet so spiritually moved. We all took a moment to soak up that experience. Someone who had truly just cried unto God and was heard by his Maker. Powerful. The lesson was amazing and the spirit was as evident as the humidity that hung in the air. At the close of the lesson, it was decided that Elder Tuft would offer the closing prayer. Again, when we opened our eyes we saw those same familiar tears falling down this man's face. I was so incredibly touched by that experience. I know that God answers our prayers and he is just waiting for us to pour our heart out to Him so He can help us feel that perfect love. 

I won't go into much detail, but the work here is moving along briskly. As Elder Ference always says, it is an exciting time to be a missionary in this part of the world. We should have two baptisms coming up this Sunday and then a few more in the following weeks. It seems like all the success we are having just comes as blessings from the Lord. I just feel so lucky to be along for the ride. 

I am especially grateful for the ward that we have here in Pochentong. We have amazing leaders and members, which is a huge reason that things are going well. We had ward conference and it was one of the best meetings that I have been a part of. Our bishop and stake president spoke, and it was amazing. We sang a special musical number with some members in our ward at ward conference and it may have been the worst musical number of all time. Not kidding. Just straight brutal. I know that Reece Harper and the Holladay 18th ward choir could have really bumped up our game. They are splitting our ward which is pretty exciting. I feel really blessed to be in this area at this time. Although, it kinda seems like all the referrals we get are like 20 to 30-year-old girls which are a little harder because we always have to have male member help but you do what you gotta do!

I went to Sen Sok again for an exchange with Elder Killburn and it was a fun time! In that area you don't teach English class so you just end up doing a lot of contacting. It is always fun to see other missionaries styles of teaching and how I can be better.

• Funny stories We have an unbaptized child that is an investigator because he is 10yrs old and in a member family, but never was baptized. We are teaching him and his siblings who are all pretty young children. In the lesson of the law of chastity, it was very hard to get through anything without them laughing. Things really fell apart when the youngest kid named Ryan asked if it was against the Law of Chastity to fart. Long story short not the most spiritually touching lesson, but a very funny one too. 

•  Everyone's excuse in Cambodia for not being able to walk, remember anything or just being sick is that they have high blood pressure. I may have met the funniest man in my life that was a victim of the high blood pressure disease and he was repping a huge green cowboy hat. I wish I could have gotten a picture. 

We also had zone conference with Elder Meurs. I won't go into much detail, but he is over the Asia area presidency and he did a mission tour. It was a fun time and there were some pretty great things that were said. I learned a lot and really felt the spirit. The best news about it all was the Elder Bednar is coming to the BODI to meet with everyone here and all the missionaries to next month! YUP!! SO pumped. 

Spiritual thought for the day is the importance of prayer. I have always kinda lacked at prayer throughout my life, but I am really trying to just not go through the motions anymore. One thing that really helps me is after I pray I usually just sit there for awhile and try to listen to the still small voice. I would invite you to do the same. It really makes your prayers so much more meaningful. 

Alma 37:37

37 Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day

Say a prayer and make it meaningful and then act on it!!

I love you all! Thanks for the support and love. I love being a missionary. It makes me happy. The gospel makes me happy.

GO JAZZ! The beard has nothing on us.

Love,

Elder Gochnour

$10 Week!

Hello!

This week may have quite possibly been the most interesting of the mission. Here are some bullet points to things that happened:

• I didn't budget very well this month and enjoyed myself a little too much at Domino's and other American restaurants. The result of that was being a little behind on mission funds for the rest of the month. In order to combat this issue Elder Tuft and I decided that we would take the challenge to live a whole week off of ten dollars. Let me tell you, it was a very interesting week. I had some of the worst food of all time haha including ground beef that had been in the freezer for around 6 months and mystery soup that a member gave to us... BUT WE DID IT. We accomplished the amazing feat of a whole week only costing us $10. There honestly were some miracles to help us out on the way. Although I faced some of my lowest lows, I am now in the green! Shooters gonna shoot baby!

• We gave 6 assisted investigators to other sisters and elders in our area and officially decided that we are going to be John Stockton this transfer. One of those assisted investigators was an old man that was very interested in the church but could also be quite creepy. He took us to dinner, but he also told me that I have very strong legs and he even winked at me a few times. He also found out our first names and kept calling me Jacob. We will leave it at that.

• I was able to go on an exchange to SenSok with my trainer Elder Herrera! It was fun to spend a day with him and remember all the good times we had together. I got drenched by some girls on the street who celebrated Khmer New Year two days after it had ended. (During the New Years celebration people squirt water at people passing by)

• Srey Touch (spelling?) it got baptized this week! It was a blast and she is one of the strongest people spiritually I have ever met in my life. She invites everyone she knows to learn about the gospel and always bears her testimony of the importance of the Book of Mormon. She also is just happy. She laughs at everything. It was amazing to see her enter the waters of baptism and know how much it meant to her. It was so rewarding to see that she understood the covenant she was making with God and is willing and prepared for her part. She is amazing. It was also fun because I and Elder Tuft went to a Japanese thrift store and bought matching suit jackets so we could be styling out for the occasion! YUP! We also had to clean out the font and just got soaked haha because all we had was a hose but it was a fun time.

• We yelled America the Beautiful as loud as we could to open our comp study one day. I sure do miss the USA. No place like the land of the free 

• We have an idioms book that we started to use at every hour of the day in our house. Not the most productive thing, but what can I say? A spade is a spade. 

• There is a pig slaughterhouse in our area that is devastating to hear the cries as you ride by. I also saw a guy with a dead pig just chilling on the back of the moto. 

• Our area is doing amazing! We had five at church and the members here are so amazing and so helpful! I love it here. 

•  I had another bike crash and rallied my bike! I am a clutz

• I finished The Doctrine & Covenants! FIRE!

There were many more things that happened, but I will just cut it short for the sake of time (idiom). 

The coolest miracle that happened this week was with a guy named Seta. We found him contacting one day and I felt the spirit strongly that we needed to talk to him. He was born as a Christian which is very rare, but he told us that he had lost his faith. However, he also said that he wanted to believe in God again and come back. We went back and shared the story of the Prodigal Son with him, and it was one of the most powerful spiritual experiences I have ever had in my life. The spirit in the small shack on the railroad was almost tangible. He understood that he was the lost son that needed to come back and find God again in his life. Before we left he said an amazingly powerful prayer. The next day he called us and soberly said that he had nothing to eat and no money to buy food. 
We encouraged him to pray and trust in the Lord because that was relatively all we could do. That night we went and visited him. He said that a friend that he hadn't seen in forever had gone to his house and brought him a meal of food and left him with some rice. I know that because he prayed and trusted in God, through his faith, a miracle occurred. 

There are too many times in my life where I have realized experiences like that just can't be coincidences. They are miracles. God is a God of miracles. He works through our faith. If we trust him and do according to his will then we will be able to work marvelous wonders. I am so grateful for the chance that I have to be a missionary. There are hard days, but I still feel happy even when everything goes wrong. I am grateful that God loves all of us and manifests miracles in all of our lives. We simply must look for them and have adequate faith. 2 Nephi 26:13 And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.

CONGRATS TO WILL AND OLIVIA ON PENNY!!!! I CAN'T WAIT TO MEET HER AND GIVE HER THE BIGGEST HUG IN THE WORLD!!! 

ALSO, GO JAZZ! Don't sleep on Rubio!

Love,

Elder Gochnour

HOTTER THAN BACKPACKING ON THE SUN!

The title of my email is a reference from football when my coach said that last time that he was this hot he was backpacking on the sun. Although a slight exaggeration, I would say that it kinda felt like I was backpacking on the sun this week.  So yeah it was HOT!!!!! I literally have never sweat so much in my life. Hot, hot, hot. But things are good and I am loving it out here! 

This Saturday, Sunday, and Monday are Khmer New Year! In the past, they have just let missionaries watch movies and take off proselyting because there isn't much work to be done, but they always see a lack of productivity following the break, so this year we just worked through the pain! Today to celebrate Khmer New Year we got together with our zone and had a huge water fight which was very fun!

In celebrations of the New Year, everyone and their dog (literally) goes back to the place where they were born which is usually outside the city. There were just empty streets and nothing going on haha. We had 0 students in our English class. Long story short it was pretty rough to try to keep ourselves busy and entertained. We found a guy with a monkey that had only one leg in the middle of the city which was pretty interesting. We also did a lot of contacting and found some pretty cool people! The Lord is truly a God of Miracles. AND our landlords are the BEST!!! They aren't members but they own the house downstairs and they always invite us over for dinner. They make literally the best (most expensive food) and it is amazing. They also love to sing karaoke which is pretty funny. 

One of our contacting experiences this week was of us handing out Word of Wisdom pamphlets to all the drunk people on the street haha. Good times! Also had an interview with President and Sister C and they are awesome. I love them and really am gonna miss their leadership in the mission.

Our way good investigator is one of the best people I have ever met. She diligent reads the scriptures and she has such a good heart! Hopefully, everything will go as planned and she will get baptized this week!  

I want to end by just bearing my testimony about the Book of Mormon. I really do love the Book of Mormon and in fact all scriptures for that matter. I hate when personally study ends every day because I just want to keep reading. I can feel the power as I flip through those pages. Honestly every day I flip through the pages and just regret that I didn't indulge in them more before my mission. THE BOOK OF MORMON IS THE WORD OF GOD! Don't miss out on the chance that you have to read it every day! If someone told you that God sent them a message with the ways to find happiness in this life and in eternity would you read it?? DUH! So we must get reading it because that message is called the Book of Mormon. 

That's all for now! Till next week! I love you all! Shout out to all the young guns getting their calls: Henry, Harry, Spencer, Cole B, and everyone else! Prepare now before it is too late, and go kill it.

Elder Gochnour

City Life

Elder Tuft 

Pochentong Chapel!

I have 0 time because we are going to play basketball for the fourth time in my whole mission and ball is life so sorry for this terrible email.

MY NEW AREA IS DOPE! I love Pochentong already. For starters, we only have one ward in our building and our building is quite a church. It is an old mansion that they changed into a church which is actually way sweet. Our Bishop has a shower in his office that has more settings than my phone did back at home. Also, the font is outside which is way fun! I will send some pictures of it and hopefully, we can be filling that font real soon! 

We have some awesome investigators. Because there are no sisters in our area we can teach girls if there is another male there. We have this investigator named Srey Toic (it works better in ភាសាខ្មែរ but I am too lazy to figure out how to type). She is an absolute BALLER! She has already read to Enos in the Book of Mormon and has one of the strongest testimonies. She told us a pretty amazing experience about how she read in Jacob 5 (the olive tree) and she wasn't able to understand it at all, but she put her trust in God. She prayed with faith and read the chapter again and understood it perfectly! She also highlights and marks her scriptures better than me and went to a few sessions of general conference. Other than that we have some good things going on. We are teaching the guard at the church who is close to being baptized too and things are definitely looking good missionary work wise. I feel so grateful for the Lord's hand in our work. 

This week has been pretty crazy. I said my goodbyes in KC which was sad, but I am grateful for all the amazing people and the great impact they have had on my life. I also said goodbye to Elder Cunningham which was super sad. I love that man! We then went down for transfers and made it to our new area and then on Saturday and Sunday we were just booked with General Conference (not mad at all). The city is a pretty fun experience. There is traffic and it usually smells pretty bad. There are a ton more people here and they even had gator-aide at the superstore!! Too bad it was too expensive.... I already love being in the city though.

General Conference was so sweet!!! I won't go into too much depth, but it was pretty amazing to be apart of the solemn assembly and sustain our new prophet. I loved the focus on recognizing the Holy Ghost and receiving personal revelation. My favorite talks were:

Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf- Our perfect savior. WE MUST BEHOLD HIM

Elder David A. Bednar- BE MEEK

President Dallin H. Oaks- BY SMALL AND SIMPLE THINGS ARE GREAT THINGS BROUGHT TO PASS

In closing, I really have already come to love my new companion, Elder Tuft. he is an amazing missionary and an even better guy. He is so easy to talk to and yet he pushes me to be my best self as a missionary. 

One thing that we are really trying to work on that the Presiding Bishop Causse talked about in his talk. We need to make it about the people. Sometimes I care too much about the numbers. How good my area looks on the whiteboard. I compare myself to other missionaries based on the numerical success. This transfer all we want to do is get out of the house and help people. To try to help everyone. To brighten peoples day with a smile. To serve people whether they are going to accept the gospel or not. To actually help people and try to resolve their concerns rather than just teaching another lesson. It already has made such a bigger impact on our work. We feel happier and more accomplished. We are here to help, and hopefully, like the Savior, we can "Go about doing good." You don't have to be a missionary to do that though. I invite all of you to go about doing good as well! Make this world I better place. I love being a missionary! Read the Book of Mormon

Love,

Elder Gochnour

P.S. Got in another Bible bash with a random Khmer guy. Makes me have empathy for Elder Hoggan in North Carolina and Elder McDougal in France

ONE AND DONE!

 I had to borrow a sisters tag because I forgot mine

Well, I have A LOT to write about this week so I will just cut right to the chase. 

First things first, I got transferred. I thought for sure I would stay here in KC because it has only been 6 short weeks, however, I got the call that I am going to  ពោធ៍ចិនតុង (Pochentong) with a guy named Elder Tuft! I am finally going to the city!! I am very sad to be leaving this area after just getting here because it is very beautiful. I am especially sad to be leaving Elder Cunningham, I will miss talking sports with him all day every day and having 3 point shooting contests on our makeshift hoop at home, but I am also very excited to meet new people and live life in the city! Elder Tuft is only two transfers ahead of me, and he seems like a super good guy. Two fairly young missionaries doing the work! I can't wait.

ALSO SHOUT OUT TO JIM MCMUFFIN MCDOUGAL! I LOVE THAT MAN AND IT IS HIS BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK! GIVE HIM SOME LOVE! SHOOTERS GONNA SHOOT

Here are some things that happened this week:

• We tried to go visit a less active member in our ward. He is a way cool guy. We wanted to show him that we love him and support him, so we decided to go visit him at his work. He works at Pizza Company which is like a super nice, expensive restaurant here. We went in and sat down and ordered an appetizer haha expecting him to be working, but when we asked the waitress she said it was his one day off.... great. The appetizer was tasty though!

• We got three new investigators this week which was big time! We have been struggling finding and it was nice to finally have some success. We found this guy named Roat who is an absolute baller. He was a miracle. We talked to him and he was like yeah sure you can come back and then when we come back he just wanted to learn so badly and asked all the right questions. It felt right to teach him about the Book of Mormon and I felt the spirit so strongly in that lesson. Roat has a bright future ahead of him.

• We were visiting a less active and there were some guys playing volleyball by the riverside. We decided to join in and the two tall white guys put in work on those dudes! They weren't ready for what hit them... literally!

• Pu Lee Meng, our golden investigator, maybe one of the most elect people I have ever me, dropped off the face of the earth. When we scheduled his interview he told us he was busy this time of year and he won't meet with us. Really heartbreaking actually. We think it has something to do with a lack of support from his wife. He was already planning a trip to go to the SLC Temple, and now he is gone.

• A guy, RC Chantuu had us over to his house, even though there was a huge funeral going on right outside. As we got there we found out that we were intruding so we just chatted and then tried to leave, but he made sure we prayed first. It was a good testimony to me that we should be proud of this church that we believe in no matter where we are. He is proud to show his devotion to the Lord even if his neighbors think he is different from them. 

Lots of other stuff happened, but we will just leave it at that! 

One thing I realized this week is the difference between The Church of Jesus Christ and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. The branch that we serve in has struggled to get consistent members there and the branch president is very young and new to all of it. Many solid members have been offended in the past. There are some difficulties that must be resolved and don't really have any good solutions. I was pretty hung up on all of it. The thing that I realized is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect even if the Church sometimes isn't. The church is the means to access His perfect gospel. We must live our lives based on the foundation of His Gospel and the church is necessary to help us do that. However, we are all humans, and all humans make mistakes, therefore there will always be some issues. We must remember that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has no imperfections. It allows all of us a chance at happiness and exaltation. 

I forgot today was Easter! I know that Jesus Christ suffered for the sins of all of us here on this Earth and that he died for us. However, that isn't the end of the story, because Jesus Christ rose again. He conquered all. He suffered every pain so that we can overcome every trial. I have so much gratitude for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We must take up our cross and follow him.

EVERYONE GO READ ALMA 34! STRAIGHT FIRE CHAPTER!

Joy in the journey! Sorry for the long email.

Love,

Elder Gochnour

VOLLEY BALL GAME!  

Our rap album cover 

This Water Buffalo almost touched me !

ALL YOU CAN EAT!

This week was an absolute grind, but a good one!! 

Elder Cunningham had to go down to the city again, but this time with the other zone leader because they had exchanges with the AP's. Keeping the streak running. Every week down to the city. Things were good though! I went on another exchange with Elder Everett and it was a fun time. It was kinda distressing though because even though we were supposed to be working in both of our areas, we spent almost the whole time in his. I had a little bit of, "a what the heck am I doing here?" moment, but you just gotta keep plugging along! I have the same desire as Alma to declare repentance with the sound of a trump like in Alma 29:1-4, but most of the time it doesn't work out that way.  We had some success at the end of the week so that was a blessing. 

On the exchange, we were biking from deep in my area, all the way to the opposite side of his area. I was caught in my thoughts and we were just hauling on this busy road. This moto couldn't see the main road because there was a semi truck parked on a corner and he just tried to shoot the gap and turn left onto the main road. Of course, he just shot out right in front of me and I literally had no time to react so I just T-boned him. I went full Olympics and did a front flip over the handlebars, but somehow I literally had one scratch on my body. The Lord really does protect his servants. I just told the guy it was all good and we shook hands and went on our way. It was a pretty funny experience just to help me laugh at myself for a little bit. My bike kinda got wrecked, but all good! Also, Elder Cunningham and I made a basketball hoop out of a garbage can and a plastic bag, and we play ball every night. 

As far as the work goes, things are good! Lee Meng is on track to be baptized this Saturday. The golden ticket is BACK (haha an earlier guy we found)! We visited him again and is going to start learning with us! We have lots of hope for him. We also found a new baller named Newt and he came to church even though we had only met him once. Things are looking up! 

The best thing that I heard this week was a quote from Elder Everett while I was on an exchange with him. He said that his grandpa always told him, 

"Life is like a buffet. If you leave hungry, 

that is your fault!" 

How true is that! Often times we go throughout life just trying to hold on, thinking that things will get better in the future. Sometimes I wish that I could be back home watching March Madness, but that is just me selling myself short. Whatever phase of life or situation we are in we must make the most of it. We must indulge ourselves in the joys and the people that surround us. We must feast upon the tender mercies that the Lord gives us in our lives, every single day. We must savor the hard times and make the most of them. We must swallow our pride and try to live humbly. If we do all of those things then we can taste the fruits of our labors and live happily. Life truly is a buffet. We have the choice to enjoy all the experiences, whether they be difficult or easy, sour or sweet, and make the most of them. 

Don't leave hungry!!!!

I could go on and on with the puns but I think you get the point. Life is like a buffet. I am trying every day to make sure I go home full!

We had interviews this week with President and it was pretty amazing. He helped answer my questions and lit the fire under me to keep working hard and doing my best.

Love,

Elder Gochnour

P.S. BLUE DEVILS TILL I DIE! GO LOYOLA CHICAGO! 

P.P.S  my favorite kid in KC we call hug kid. We went and visited him and his family and he will always give us hugs if he sees us. Unfortunately, when we visited him he was naked. It definitely didn't stop him from giving us hugs and sitting on our laps haha. What a baller!