Bats, Pink Eye, and France (Letter #5)

Bonjour tout le monde!
This week has been CRAZY from the beginning.

But first:
#Mishspiration

This week I've been reading in the Bible a lot during personal study and I'm completely falling in love with the story of Jesus Christ's life. For some reason I've always turned to the Book of Mormon to learn about Christ (which is incredible as well), but it's been so cool to read about his life as written by his disciples. Something that has stuck out to me is how often the Savior says DON'T FEAR and HAVE FAITH. Through all his teachings it seems like every single time the message comes back to these two simple truths.

At one point a man is asking the Savior to come and heal his daughter. Suddenly a group of people comes to tell the man "Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the master any further?"

But, "As soon as Jesus heard(this), he said: Be not afraid, only believe" (Mark 5:35-36)

He proceeds to go to the house of the man and raise his daughter from the dead. I love this story so much because it is such a stark example of how with Christ we can literally overcome everything. Whether it be rejection, chemistry tests, sadness, or even death; with Christ we can overcome (surmonter) our trials and find peace and happiness. There will always be that voice (whether from ourselves or others) saying: "Why do you bother the Master? You are beyond hope, give up." But the words of the Savior ring true: "Be not afraid. ONLY believe."

Going to France in 10 days when I have yet to successfully converse with a French person in their language is scary. But I have faith that the message I am going to share is one of Hope and Joy,and one that the people in France need to hear. I have faith that He will somehow make my words mean something. I have Faith that is stronger than my fear.

I love the words of the primary song: "You do need to have  great courage, faith to conquer fear."

Now onto the very exciting events of the week:

Last Saturday I woke up and my eye was crusted shut and really pink. For some weird reason I'm really paranoid about going blind, so when it didn't go away by that evening Soeur Jones and I went to the MTC clinic to get it checked out. Turns out the doctor had already left for the day so next thing we know SJ and I are in a car leaving the MTC to go to the BYU health clinic. It's just down the road and I've passed it a million times but it was so SURREAL going into the real world. Crazy to think that in just 10 days we'll be leaving the MTC for good and getting on a plane to fly to FRANCE.

After the doc looked at it he wrote a prescription and we got to go to Rite Aid to pick it up. So weird being out and about in Provo because it's such a familiar place, but suddenly I'm here as a missionary!! We randomly met a woman in line who was from France and told us to think of her when we land in Lyon (aka a week from TUESDAY)! We again attempted to speak French with her and it did not go super well lol. I think I picked up one word she said. I guess I'll just have to have Faith to conquer Fear and to conquer French hahah.

Then Sunday on our temple walk,  who is there?! ASHLEY BOURNE and Janessa and Karly and MK and Sister Caroline Drasbek (also in the MTC). It was like a mini Oakton Stake reunion. So fun, so glad they happened to be there at the same time as me! (Literally we had no clue we would see each other).

Impromptu Oakton Stake party at the Provo temple 

Between leaving the MTC on Saturday and seeing high school friends on Sunday, all my worlds (MTC, High School and BYU) were feeling incredibly mixed. Gave me a new perspective on exactly how different mission life is, but also how much my experiences in High School and at BYU are the reason I am who I am today. Sometimes being a missionary feels like a completely different life, but I need to remember it's just one chapter in my same life. And I'm so grateful this chapter is starting now!

WARNING: BAT INFESTATION!!

On Thursday they had an emergency meeting with all the Sisters to inform us that the bat infestation in our building (remember the single bat from a couple weeks ago?) was out of control and we were being emergency transferred to a different building. We went and packed up all our things....

Saying goodbye to the room

and the Elders in our district kindly helped us drag them to the opposite end of the MTC.  Kind of a fun change of scenery and now we get to live in the outskirts of the MTC. Rest assured I remembered to move the picture of Jesus so he can continue to watch over me while I sleep.  ;)

Moving rooms

We received our official travel plans today!! We leave at 6:30am a week from Monday to fly to Lyon!! So excited to start this new chapter (and never eat BYU dining food again).

Je vous aime!

Soeur Cami Goold

Homemade bread and fresh peach jam from home!    

Ay! Ay!   Pirate Cami is ready to take over France!  

SG and SJ at the temple 

 Apparently they're quite the rule breakers there at the MTC. 

SJ's dad sends vitamins for the whole district.  Cam says that he works for a company that  sells them.    

{Who knows?   Maybe Cami's dad can get them all hooked with weather and water level monitoring devices for their next package.   Haha!}   

Getting in Touch with Soeur Goold in France

Soeur Goold has received her official travel plans and will be  heading to France on September 12!!!  

Since Cami will no longer be in the MTC starting in a week-and-a-half,  you should start using this new snail mail address for the remainder of her mission.  

Sister Camille Rose Goold
Mission Francaise de Lyon
Lyon Business Center
59 Rue de L'Abondance
69003 Lyon
FRANCE

For letters, you will need to use an international postage stamp ($1.15) or 3 regular postage stamps (but that will mean that you are overpaying):   

Fun Fact #1:   For the last several years, they have made US international postage stamps round to distinguish them from other stamps.  They release a new international stamp every year.   The Moon is the 2016 version, my favorite are the earth stamps from 2013.

Fun Fact #2:   I am somewhat of a postage stamp/postcard/mail aficionado and at any given time have quite a collection of unique stamps, postcards, and cards.      

Her email address will stay the same, however please note that she will still only have limited time to check it and respond (only on Mondays, once she is in France) :  

camille.goold@myldsmail.net

Also, please note that mission office has let us know that Christmas mail needs to be received no later than November 7 in order to ensure that she receives  it before Christmas.  

As always, please feel free to get in touch with me if you have any questions.  

Thank you for your love, prayers,  and support of Cami.  It means the world to us!

A Bat, a Doughnut, and a Painting (Letter #3)

This upcoming week marks our THIRD week in the MTC which also means we have three weeks left. CRAZY. Our time here is going by sooo fast and it's simultaneously exciting and scary. Exciting because, obviously: FRANCE!!! But terrifying because: FRENCH, aka I know so little and we're already halfway done with our French learning experience.

#Mishspiration

The initial shock of entering the MTC has officially passed, leaving us face to face with the very real task of learning how to speak French.

Elder Holland did not come for Tuesday devotional, but Bonnie L. Oscarson did!!!!! (YW general president) I think I needed her message more than anything Holland could have said.

Her talk was all about trusting in God and His plan for me and for the people I will teach. Often I'll find myself thinking "I would be such a good missionary if I could only speak English" (humble, I know...) But, NO! If I would be a better missionary speaking English than French, then God would have called me English speaking! He knows what I need and I just need to put my Faith in Him and remember that His way is better than mine.

During her talk, a missionary going to Russia said something that stuck with me. In Russia they are no longer allowed to wear nametags and are called "volunteers" instead of missionaries because #government. He said: "They can take away our nametags, but they can't take away the light in our eyes. The way we act is a testament of Christ." AMEN! I love wearing Christ's name on my heart, but having him IN my heart is far more important. And it doesn't take being a full time missionary to have Christ in our hearts. When we act as he would have us act and love as he loved, we will be another testament of the goodness of Jesus Christ.

This week has been SO GOOD! Everyday is like a mini adventure and it's so fun to find the little things that keep us going.

Jesus is EVERYWHERE. Literally and figuratively hahaha. There's three pictures of Jesus in the lobby, one in my closet, one on the door, at least 72.4 in every hallway, and even one on the bottom of Soeur Jones' bed (aka staring at me while I sleep because I'm on the bottom bunk. (pic attached) At first I thought it was kinda creepy but I've come to appreciate the symbolism. When I was 12 I had a picture of Taylor Lautner on my ceiling, now I have a picture of Jesus... I'd say that's a step in the right direction ;)

On our weekly Sunday walk to the temple we ran into a girl going to our mission this week!! (She already speaks French so she only goes to the Spain MTC for 3 weeks) She's going to arrive in Lyon at the same time as us!!

We also met the cutest missionary FROM Lyon who is going to serve in Temple Square. She promised to help us with our French and had all good things to say about France. Soeur Jones and I are getting SO PUMPED!

Oh yeah! BAT in the building!!

One night we came home to a bat tucked away in our hall.

They had to evacuate the whole hall for like 30 minutes (only after we took pics, of course). Thankfully we found some sisters on another floor who shared their chips with us while everyone else was stuck in the stairwell #tendermercy

Elder Sorenson and Elder Amison had a drawing contest the subject of which was my face. Elder Amison unfortunately erased his before I could get a picture so I guess Elder Sorenson won by default (looks just like me, right?). Some much needed entertainment at the end of the day hahah.

I LOVE our district, between the many spiritual experiences we have and the funny little moments it's so fun. And the coolest part is watching everyone change and grow as we learn together (especially the young elders right out of high school).

In our building (right outside the bathroom) I found this painting that is a copy of the huge mural in the DC Temple. It's one of my favorite paintings of all time, such a #tendermercy that I get to look at it everytime Soeur Jones is in the bathroom.

Speaking of, Soeur Jones is seriously the best!! She makes everyday more fun and makes being a missionary so much easier. Her spirit is so strong and I feel like I learn so much from her every day. Funny thing she said yesterday: "It's so weird to think that in our whole lives we just keep going, like we literally never die. We're like a living plant or something for 60 years." HAHAHA what?! I laughed so hard.

Je l'aime. One spiritual thought of her's that I loved this week (though there were many to chose from) was:

" And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things."  1 Nephi 11:17

I think we shared this scripture with every single ami we taught this week. Because that is the central idea of the church. There is so much I don't know and so much I wonder about, but I know without a shadow of a doubt that God loves His children. And because He loves us He gives us the beautiful world, families, friends, and little tender mercies every day to help us be happy. And if that's the only thing I ever remember, that's enough to bring me joy every single day.

Thank you so much for your letters, prayers, and support!! They all mean so much to me!

Je vous aime!

Love,
Soeur Cami Goold

Elders Pistole, Perry, Thompson, Jacobson, Sorenson, Amison, Soeurs Jones, Huntsman, Goold, and Allen 

Cami LOVES packages! Thanks to those of you who have sent them!

Death and Love (Letter #2)

Hello everyone!

#Mishspiration for the week:

In all honesty the MTC is not all roses and feeling the spirit. It's amazing and continues to be full of tender mercies, but it's hard. At first I was confused why it was so difficult then I realized it's because I felt like I was losing myself. The first few days here you give up your means of communication (phone), friends, clothes, school, hobbies. Everything that used to define you. But it's worth it to give all that up because now the only things that define me are the names on my name tag: Goold and Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for the chance to wear Christ's name (literally) on my heart for 18 months, but that doesn't change the fact that it's hard to feel like I'm losing myself.

Two things have brought me comfort:

1) God called ME to France. We've met so many people who speak French fluently who are going spanish or chinese or english speaking. But for some reason I was called with France even though I don't know the language at all. "God does not work in convenience" (soeur Jones). Someone in France needs my personality and I can lose myself in the work of Jesus Christ, without losing WHO I am. Because God called me. We aren't meant to become clones of Jesus Christ, we are meant to become the most Christ-like version of OURSELVES.

2) 1 Nephi 7:12 "How is it that ye have forgotten that the Lord is able to do all things according to His will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him? Wherefore, let us be faithful to him." That scripture hit me like a ton of bricks. I feel like God was saying. "Cami, how is it that you have forgotten? This is my plan for you, and if you only have faith and hope in me, all things are possible." Every day I am praying to have faith not only that God CAN use me as an instrument for His work, but that He WILL.

There are definitely highs and lows, but it has been an AMAZING week. And I can already see that my time in the MTC is going to fly by!

We are teaching an ami de l'eglise (investigator, who is actually our teacher acting), It's going as well as it can with the little French Soeur Jones and I know, but the Holy Ghost is always with us in our lessons and I think that is significant for us and our ami. Funny happenings: I said "Grace a l'amour de Dieu, nous pouvons trouver le bonheur" (thanks to the LOVE OF GOD we can find happiness). Apparently I said it like an American and not like a French person and it sounded like "Grace a la mort de Dieu" (Thanks to the DEATH of God). That one took some explaining hahaha. Good thing our ami is very patient with me and good thing we start in the MTC and not in France.

Soeur Jones is HILARIOUS. She adds so much joy to everyday. Below is a picture of her hair after taking it out of a bun. She proceeded to walk around our residence casually with me so we could see people's reactions. I think I almost died laughing. It's the little things.

Getting letters is the absolute BEST. We can't get them until 9 PM so it's something little to look forward to everyday. And I LOVE hearing and seeing updates from the outside world.

Matthew Holland came to talk to us about Joseph Smith on Sunday and it was SO good. Soeur Jones and I sing in the choir (even though I'm completely tone deaf) so we can get good seats to the devotional, and because music is much needed here.

Not gonna lie at first when they said Elder Holland I thought Jeffrey Holland, so I was slightly let down. But the talk was no disappointment! AND Neil L. Anderson spoke to us on Sunday!! AAAANNND, according to the schedule the older Elder Holland is ACTUALLY COMING on Tuesday. So pumped!! Hopefully that's real...   {We believe that Neil L. Andersen and Jeffrey R. Holland are modern-day apostles}

I'll just end with the quote from our sister mission president: "There is not much growth in a comfort zone and not much comfort in a growth zone." Amen! The MTC is not the most comfortable I've ever been, but it's definitely a growth zone. And, that being said, the tender mercies and little blessings of each day make this place incredible. It took a couple days to get used to, but I'm genuinely happy to be here and I'm so excited for this journey to have officially begun!

All my love,
Soeur Cami Goold

A different perspective 

The beautiful Provo temple 

On the lawn of the Provo temple 

Cami and her district 

Someone sent them treats and they are all enjoying them!

Cami wanted to make sure I included the one of her "escaping" over the fence. Haha!

*********************************

First Couple of Days at the MTC (Letter #1)

Hello Everyone!!

First: #mishspiration for the week (Missionary inspiration):

 "Be strong and of a good courage, be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou goest."   Joshua 1:9

The last two days more than ever I have felt Christ's presence in my life as I strive to make his purpose my purpose. I know that He died for each of us and that because of Him we can find happiness in our lives, regardless of our circumstances. That is the message we're sharing with our investigator (actor) tomorrow and I'm so pumped (even though it will be in French and it'll be way rough...)

When you arrive at the MTC the first thing you do is get your name tag with a big orange dot on it signifying that it's your first day (aka that you have no idea what you're doing and that everyone should help you haha). There's this weird phenomenon that I like to call orange dot syndrome, that when anyone who has been here more than a week sees the aforementioned orange dot they lose all control of their vocal chords and have to yell "WELCOME TO THE MTC!!" as loud as they can. We heard that phrase probably 587 times in our short first day.

"Welcome to the MTC" orange dots apparently were removed for the picture.

And that weird phenomenon is just one small peek into the weird dynamics of the MTC. Put thousands of 18-21 year olds in an enclosed space, tell them they're missionaries and can't flirt with each other, then put them in groups to learn a foreign language for hours a day, have them teach fake investigators in said foreign language they don't know, THEN ask them to do it all while they are overcoming technology withdrawal and you have one interesting place. But I am honestly loving every second of it. The spirit is so strong here. It may feel like a weird social experiment at times, but it's amazing. In the words of our branch president "the six weeks you will spend here will be quite unlike any other six weeks in your entire life." I can see already that that is 100% true. I figure I can either take that to mean it's going to be super weird and I can't wait to leave (and there may be a tiiiiiny bit of that), but I'm mostly taking it to mean that these are six weeks to learn and feel the spirit in a way that I never have and (thankfully) never will again, so I may as well fully embrace it. Let's do this.

Soeur Goold and her roomies (in background, Soeur Jones, Allen, Huntsman)

If you know me, you know I'm all about weird word puns so I love that MTC backwards is CTM: Concentration of Tender Mercies (yes it's silly and totally something I would come up with...sorry, it's just too accurate). In the last 48 hours (CRAZY, feels like I've been here forever!!) there have been so many little tender mercies!

TM=Tender Mercy

TM #1: SOEUR JONES IS MY COMPANION!!! For those of you who don't know, we were in the same ward at BYU, are both majoring in nursing, and somehow got lucky enough to be MTC companions. Soeur Jones is seriously so kind, easy-going, spiritual, hard working, and determined to be a good missionary and "Inviter les gens a venir au Christ" (Invite others to come unto Christ). Also, Soeur Allen and Soeur Huntsman, the two other sisters in our district and our roommates are awesome and so easy to get along with! We know it won't always be this easy, but I'm so grateful my first companion was a home run. We keep joking that hopefully this isn't the high point ;)

TM #2: They let us e-mail home the first night here so my mom could know I was alive!

TM #3: the food is not nearly as bad as I thought it would be (although I am definitely looking forward to French food in a few weeks)

TM #4: our p-day is FRIDAY!! That means a) we have the best p-day of the week, and b) we got to go to the temple and wear normal clothes and e-mail just 2-days after arriving! Everyone says "just make it to Sunday," but we only had to make it to Friday :)

P-day clothes!

TM #5: I can already feel the spirit guiding me in random thoughts and helping me know what I should share in what situations. It's such a cool feeling and so incredible to experience the love God has for his missionaries first hand.

at the temple 

TM #6: Soeur Jones and I were SO HUNGRY after the first day (dinner was at like 4) and the vending machines weren't taking any cards and we only had big bills. We were soooo desperate when Soeur Allen let us borrow $2 to get an apple. HALLELUJAH.

TM #7: There is a british elder in our district and he let me try out my accent on him. Said I sounded like a British person from the 1800s (thanks Downton Abbey). Anyway, it made my day.

These are just a couple of sooo many tender mercies we've experienced since being here and I know as we begin to really learn French there will be so many more. I love the scripture:

"But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those  whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance." 

1 Nephi 1:20

I know that if I put my faith in Him he will help me through all the challenges I will face. With Him I can become great, without Him I am nothing. #tendermercies

Just resting

Things I'm working on:
-Exact obedience. I'm trying to get over my "spirit of the law" mentality and just obey all the little rules that I don't understand. "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles"

-Loving EVERYONE here. It is so easy to love Soeur Jones, investigators, and the elusive "people of France." But I've been struggling to always love all of the other missionaries here. Most of them are easy to love, but when some go about teaching in a way that I never would I find it harder to keep the perspective that we're all in this together. But I'm praying that God will help me see them as His children and that I will remember that they are here to share the gospel just like me, that we all love God, that God loves them just as much as He loves me, and especially that each of them can teach me something about how to be a better missionary if I can just be open to learn from them.

Cami's MTC district

I love you all, please write!! I don't have a ton of e-mail time but I have enough and I want to hear all about your lives (and see pics!!)

Love,
Soeur Cami Goold

All the tags

Her roomies: Soeur Huntsman, Soeur Allen, Soeur Jones (her companion), and Soeur Goold

Hanging out in the room

At the temple