It has been an incredibly long time since I posted anything new to Ridge's blog and I am now officially in repenting mode. He has been a Zone Leader for several months and his companion was Elder Mendoza from Nicaragua. They had changes last week, and here is the update, with pictures: the first picture of is Ridge and Elder Mendoza, and was taken before they were companions. The second picture is Ridge and Elder Adlard when they were in the CCM together at the beginning of their mission.
Dear Family,
We had changes on Wednesday instead of Monday and so this week went by really fast. We had Pday on Monday and spent all day Wednesday traveling to the capital and back. We are all settled into Zacapa now and getting used to the changes. We have some great plans that we are going to start up here in La Reforma, Zacapa.
So it was weird traveling to the capital with Elder Mendoza knowing that I probably won't see him again after this. He was like a brother to me. I learned so much from him about humility and love. . .the love that he has for the people is incomparable.
President Alvarado is coming home from the USA tonight and so he wasn't there for the changes. Elder Falabela was in charge and the changes were more organized and professional than ever! Usually, one of the assistants calls our names, we stand up, and he calls the names of our new companion. This time one of the assistants gave the announcements and then Elder Falabela announced changes with a slideshow with pictures of everyone. The people leaving the area faded out and the new companion's picture showed up. It was fun watching whose picture would pop up.
We have a new assistant to the President. His name is Elder Wood, my 2nd companion. It is fun that he is the assistant because we were really good friends in the mission and now we will be in communication a lot more. It is fun to have friends to be around a lot.
They called Zacapa 2nd or 3rd to the last again, and I was in suspense the whole time. Elder Mendoza's picture faded out and mine moved over. Who on earth will my companion be? Then the picture showed up and I about flipped. I couldn't believe how this could happen. (A note here: Ridge has his mom's ability to drag out a story for the most dramatic effect. Drives Elder Goodman's dad crazy. . .) It must be a joke. I just couldn't imagine in a million years that they would put Elder Adlard and I together. We were more excited than words can describe. That one day that we went on divisions together was one of the best days of my mission. Elder Adlard is really in tune with the Spirit and a really hard worker. It also helps that we already know each other. We were in the same district in the CCM and learned Spanish together. The best part is that I only have 3 months here in Zacapa so the chances are good that we will be together for 2 changes (3 months).
We have already started to put some great plans into action with the ward. The only thing is that we also have to be in charge of and help out the zone too. I had imagined that I would get a zone leader that had experience so that they could keep showing me what to do, but out of all the people to train to be zone leader, I would have picked Elder Adlard. The other thing is that it is hard to always be speaking Spanish and sometimes we slip. We are setting goals to keep that from happening too much.
We baptized quite a few with Elder Mendoza and now we only have about 3 promising investigators and 1 has been out of town all last week and we haven't been able to teach him. We started contacting door to door and realized that it is not as effective here in Zacapa, since almost everyone lets you in, but no one listens. We will always keep contacting, but now we have a plan to work with the members and take them out on divisions 3 or 4 times a week to visit inactive or part member families and we are going to focus on getting the attendance up in church and I know that as we find these part-member families and activate them, we will find people to baptize too. It is just different than either one of us have worked in the mission except for the 3 months that I was with Elder Mendoza.
It was a huge blessing getting Elder Adlard as my companion and now I not only feel free to work how I want, but I have someone at my side with the same vision and even better ideas. I sometimes still think that I am sleeping, but I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for every companion and every area that I have had in the mission so far. He has really spoiled me.
Well I just have to end with my testimony that this is the work of God. Prayer is real and God answers them. Personal revelation is essential to our salvation and daily scripture study is the way to do it. We are here to be tested and to learn and grow, and one day, if we are faithful, we will live with our families again.
Love,
Elder Goodman
