Saturday, April 23, 2011

To be? Or not to be?

  I think a lot about the choices I have made throughout my life, I think we all do.  More recently I have due to the end of this phase of my life, and the beginning of another.  I haven't always been who I am today.  I have become who I am through the choices I have made.  I am realizing more and more that I still have so much to work on.  I wont be done progressing just because I have fulfilled my mission and returned honorable.  Life is not a "to do list".  We should always think of our lives as a "to be list".  "To be or not to be that is surely a good question." (What manner of men ought ye to be? LYNN G. ROBBINS April 2011 General conference) 
   Since my mission is coming to an end, and I have so much I want to become I decided to make my own "To Be" list for my last mission newsletter article.  In the same talk Elder Robbins said, "Many of us create to do lists to remind us of things we want to accomplish. But people rarely have to be lists. Why? To do’s are activities or events that can be checked off the list when done. To be, however, is never done. You can’t earn checkmarks with to be’s. I can take my wife out for a lovely evening this Friday, which is a to do. But being a good husband is not an event; it needs to be part of my nature—my character, or who I am."  So this is my plan, to make these things part of my nature.
  My To Be List
Be the kind of man who honors his covenants.  Be who I am, but even better tomorrow.  Be a missionary.  Be someone who sets goals to accomplish them.  Be the man who isn't afraid of things that are tough.  Be humble, yet confident.  Be a prayerful man.  Be a man who feasts upon the scriptures daily.  Be a man who overcomes, and achieves.  Be a man who never forgets the things he's been taught.  Be an honorable priesthood holder.  Be a good man.  Be happy.  Be the kind of husband and father you know you should be.  Be energetic.  Be the man who remembers his roots.  Be the man who loves his family, no matter the decisions they make.  Be kind.  Be a man who does not judge.  Be a servant.  Be a man who works hard.  Be strong.  Be the man who remembers with fondness his mission.  Be a man who is in the world, but not of the world.  Be a man who gives what he can to help.  Be a man who keeps the sabbath day holy.  Be a man who goes to the temple regularly.  Be a man who is an example to the youth.  Be the man who always shares his testimony with others. Be Patient.  Be Diligent.  Be like Captain Moroni, and shake the very powers of hell.  Be like Ammon and glory in the Lord.  Be like the Brother of Jared and have great faith.  Be like Nephi and never question the commandments, but go and do.  Be like King Benjamin and serve to the end.  Be like Abinadi and never deny your testimony.  Be like Jesus Christ and be perfect.  To Be?  Or Not to Be?  That is surely a good question.  This is the kind of person I want to BE.
Hear, Remember, Understand, Apply and BECOME.

I hope I will be able to make these things part of my nature and less of a to do list.


Saturday, April 16, 2011

Leaving home to get home.

I am going home soon, and it is all very exciting.  However, I feel like I have to leave home to get home.  Montana and Wyoming have become home to me, and yet Bunkerville, NV will always be home.  I was taught by my trainer to stand in Fast and Testimony meeting in a new area and to introduce myself and also let the people know that I do have a testimony.  So that's what I have done. I stand and say, "I am Elder Goff, I am from Bunkerville, NV.
   Now as I go back to Bunkerville and stand before them to give a report on my mission;
 I will say,
" I am Elder Goff, I'm from Hardin, MT.
I'm Elder Goff, I'm from East Helena, MT.
I'm Elder Goff, I'm from Lander, WY.
I'm Elder Goff, I'm from Worland, WY.
I'm Elder Goff, I'm from Billings, Mt.

These Places have become home."

Saturday, April 9, 2011

"My Thoughts are Racing"

My thoughts are racing,
cause time has too.
Its hard for me,
to express to you.

The things I've learned,
and the things I've seen.
And the things I've felt,
because of these.
-Elder Austin Gene Goff

   I have felt so many feelings in the last couple three weeks.  I'm finding myself more and more trying to put into words the things I am feeling.  To me its as an old companion expressed before he left to go home, "In the last transfer of your mission you feel every emotion possible."  I have come to find out that is completely true.  I have felt so many things that I have such a hard time expressing to the people around me, or even to my family at home through my weekly e-mails. 
   I feel like Moroni in the Book of Ether from the Book of Mormon when he says, "Thou hast also made our words powerful and great, even that we cannot write them; wherefore, when we write we behold our weakness, and stumble because of the placing of our words; and I fear lest the Gentiles shall mock at our words.
   And when I had said this, the Lord spake unto me, saying: Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness."
   This verse of scripture fits the way I feel.  When I speak by the spirit as a missionary I feel powerful and great.  That I am going to miss.  The feelings I feel now are powerful and great, things that I cannot express.  That's why I am struggling to put my feelings that I feel into words that can truly express my thoughts and feelings.  I am convinced there are not words which could do such a thing.  It's impossible to come up with words or vocabulary that would help someone understand what a missionary feels at the end of their service.  So my humble poem will have to suffice.