Sister Gochnour: I Stand All Amazed...

Street contacting!!

HIIIIIIII -

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me

Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me

I tremble to know that for me he was crucified

That for me a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died

Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me enough

to die for me

Oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. I am amazed at how perfectly Christ loves each of us. I am so thankful that he is my friend.

Just want you to know that I love where I am and what I am doing. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father is willing to work through imperfect people because I LOVE being a missionary. I feel like I owe my life to my Savior so I am thankful that I get to bear testimony of him everyday and help other people come to know and love him too.

Zone Conference this week was amazing!!! It was so powerful and spiritual. President Leavitt spoke on the importance of being quiet and listening to the Holy Ghost. He said - think more, ponder more, feel more.

He invited us to recommit. He explained that the rest of our lives will be influenced by what we are learning and experiencing now!! Then at the end he invited us all to offer a silent prayer and ask Heavenly Father - what can I do to be a better missionary? - then to simply listen.

My answer came, simple and quiet but sure. It was an incredible experience. We then concluded the meeting by singing one of my favorite hymns - I Know That My Redeemer Lives. The sprit was strong and unmistakeable in that room. As we sang, tears rolled down my cheeks. I know that my Redeemer Lives. I know it. It was a good day.

So things have not progressed with Amanda but that is ok. Heavenly Father is still sending us more blessing than we can handle!!! This week we found three new investigators and all three of them are on date for baptism.

The first is Joanne, we met Joanne street contacting downtown. She was running to catch her bus so we kind of ran alongside her trying to get her information. A few minutes later she came back and found us..turns out she missed her bus and had 30 minutes for a lesson :) We went inside the nearby food court and started teaching her. She has had a troubled life but as we spoke and testified of our Savior and the truthfulness of this message - I saw a light in her eyes. Heavenly Father was truly preparing her and even she knew it. The spirit was strong. I felt so much love for her. We committed her to baptism and she agreed full heartedly. It was a little bit funny because she explained to us how she had been baptized before but that she felt like it didn't mean anything...SHE IS RIGHT! I can't wait to teach her more.

The second one is Cindy - Cindy is from Taiwan (YAY for Henry - so so excited for him) she is a student at UNB. She was a referral that we emailed who quickly replied telling us she wanted to meet! Her english is pretty good and she is so sweet. She asked a lot of great questions and even told us that we were an answer to her prayers. She said she felt good when we were talking and was so amazed and impressed that we had given up our time and schooling - and paid our own way to come on missions to teach people like her - so cute!!!

The third is Rubaina, also a student at UNB that we met street contacting. She is from India and wanted to learn more about Jesus Christ. Her questions were a little more difficult but she was sincere and truly wants to learn more.

I'm so thankful that we have a book - The Book of Mormon that can answer every question. We loved every minute of this crazy, busy, amazing week!!

Yesterday Bishop spoke in church - his talk meant a lot to me and I wanted to share a little bit with you. He said that we cannot serve two masters (a phrase we have heard before) - he then went on explaining that we cannot have one foot in and one foot out because both sides, God or Satan - require every part of us. God requires EVERYTHING of us. But in return he grants us Eternal Life, more than we could ever give him - however, we must choose him. We must serve him with full purpose of heart. Give him everything we can. Love him. We owe our lives to him.

Bishop said - NOW is the time to prepare to meet God. We need to hold true now. Do what is right now. So when difficult times come we will be prepared. God can fix anyone. He can save everyone - you just have to let him IN.

I love that.

I love that I have the honor of wearing the Lord's name above my heart everyday. And I thank Heavenly Father everyday for allowing me to be a missionary.

I love you all.

Happy Birthday tomorrow Ralph - I LOVE YOU and hope you have the best day. You are getting old.

Lucy have fun on tour and more importantly at Disneyland :)

Mom there are a few things I need so I will make a short list and send it to you next week. Thanks!!

My hair is getting longer. I can do a little braid!!!

The weather has been beautiful.

I am happy!

Love and miss you.

Love, Sister G