Sister Cambria Goettsche

Well hello there! Greetings from NEW YORK!

So, I’m serving in Watertown, and my trainer’s name is Sister Livermore. She’s from CA (long beach area) and she’s 29. Pretty crazy. She’s way awesome though and we’re getting along pretty well. She definately likes to work and I’m for sure ok with that. SO, yeah- I’m in Watertown and I guess of most of the areas, this place has the record for THE coldest weather and absolute most snow. But honestly, it really hasn’t been that bad. Everyone we keep talking to says that it’s warm compared to other winters they’ve had in the past. So, that’s a relief. And we’re in the duplex apt with a washer and dryer too!!!!!! MAN- I’m super lucky. (Sorry to rub it in Cory… I just admire you so much more that you had to do your laundry on a rock.) But anyways- it’s kinda run down… but so are most places here I find. And oh man- that’s a whole other story in and of itself, which I will get to.

But, I’ll back up a little bit- sorry I didn’t call again in between flights. That was intense- all 8 of us RAN to get to our connecting flight. Detroit was ridiculous. But we got some crazy looks, it was so awesome. Could you imagine?! 7 boys all in suits and ties and nametags running after this crazy girl in a skirt and a pillow that’s stuffed to the bring and a waterbottle in her mouth. Wearing two jackets. It was intense. I feel kind of bad because I made them run after me- but honestly…. we had 20 minutes to get to our connecting flight and it was on the opposite end of the airport. I swear some people have no sense of urgency. Anyways- I learned my lesson though, I NEED to stay with my companions always. hahaha long story short- our flight was delayed, so that was definately a blessing from heaven or else we wouldn’t have made it.

Ok- so that was the trip out here. And then Pres and Sis Bulloch and the APs greeted us and took us out to PIZZA. It’s famous here- but honestly… everyone says it’s super good and you’ll “never go back” to other pizza. I felt like it was WAY greasy. But- it was still good, and super nice of them. And I spent the night in the mission home, which was a really nice home. The church doesn’t mess around. I’ll tell you what.

Alright- back to the good stuff. SO, We’ve been teaching like mad here. Watertown is seriously on FIRE. (Kind of an oxy moron huh?!) lol but yeah- Sister Livermore and her past companions did some work, that’s for sure. But she was telling me that they were in the middle of “purging” or dropping investigators that weren’t progressing when I came out here. But honestly, we haven’t dropped any. In fact, I don’t know if it’s normal just I just barely got here- but every single day we’ve seen miracles. LITERALLY miracles. It’s amazing. In four days, we have three new investigators and they are all golden. It was really cool- yesterday we had some time and an appointment didn’t show up, so we decided to do some tracting. We prayed and then silently looked at the map and picked three streets each, and then told each other which streets we picked. We both picked the same street named Pratt. SO, we were like… alright, pratt it is! So, we were knocking doors and there were quite a bit of rude people, but some nice. Then we get to this one door and we meet this lady named Melissa. She immediately invites us in and tells us that she’s out here stationed with the army and is from Florida. (There’s tons of Army people here… almost half the ward is in the Army, so there’s lots of moms without their husbands and like 5 kids running around. It’s pretty crazy. AND tons of marital problems which they all share OH SO openly. hahaha) Anyways- back to the story. So she invites us in and we start to teach her just a little bit. I talked about the atonement and about prayer and asked her if she ever felt an answer to any prayers in the past and she told us “not until today.” She felt like we were her answer to prayer! She ended up having to go- but wanted us to come back that night to teach her. SHE’s amazing. MAN- I’m so pumped to teach her!!! Also, there’s this guy named James Smith. He’s on fire too- we met him on the street OYMing (Open Your Mouth) just contacting pretty much… and we set up a time to teach him. He came with a list of questions and his bible and wants to know more- he seems so cool.

Anyways- sorry that was probably boring to read cuz you don’t know those people. But, it was just so neat to see the lord work in those lessons teaching people we just barely met. It’s really exciting! I’ll tell you what though- there have been some really weird experiences here already. We went to teach this lady and we show up and she’s barely got any clothes on, her boyfriend is shirtless..etc. SO, we asked her if it was a bad time and of course she said no. So, we tried to teach her- but the spirit wasn’t super strong. Plus, there were four cats, and a huge dog roaming around in this one room apt really. The couch,bed,tv, everything was all in the same room. Kinda funny. Another guy we’re teaching is a chain smoker and in the course of 45 minutes smoked 4 cigarrettes. I could barely breathe. But, he’s a way cool guy and definately wants to get baptized. We’re just hoping he wants to stick to the no-smoking program we have.

I’ll be honest, everyone told me that a mission would be hard and I kinda just nodded my head and thought to myself, how hard can it be? And I’ve done hard things…. but I’ve NEVER done anything this hard. It’s emotionally so up and down, but then I knelt down and asked heavenly father for help and the very next thing that happened was a miracle. Like Melissa. Yesterday was a hard day- sundays can be hard. But then we found melissa, and it made it all worth it. It’s really cool to introduce yourself as a representative of Jesus Christ. What a neat priviledge.

Love, Sis Goettsche

Ps here’s my address 717 Lansing St, Watertown, NY 13601

Well hello there my dearest family-

How are you?! Holy cow… I feel so blessed right now it’s not even funny. Thank you so so so so much for the support and love. Honestly, I feel it and it’s amazing how the lord is really watching out for me here. Momatha, thank you so much for the Valentines package. Sheesh me-geesh. I LOVED it. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! It’s so perfect because I can fill those little baggies up with the hugs and kisses you gave me and give them to my district and the other sisters on my floor for Valentines day, so it was wonderful. And thank you so much for the tapes and the contacts too- I’m wearing my ONE contact. haha.. so I promise you it wasn’t a waste of money. And hey- hopefully the computer works today so you can get all of my email and I won’t have to just type for like 10 minutes like I did before.

Ok- so I’ll answer your questions now Yes, I have been singing in the choir and it’s been wonderful! I was even zoomed up on on the big screen! ha- it was hard not to laugh when I saw my face just BAM right there. But, it was really cool– we sang for when Elder Hinckley came to talk to us for a tuesday devotional. (Pres. Hinckley’s son) And they talk just like eachother! It was like listening to a younger President Hinckley and it made me so happy. But, anyways- that devotional was amazing and he talked about how to avoid the “groundhog day” syndrome of the mission. Because, we basically do the same thing, every day… all day. Ha- so it was really nice to hear from him, and for sure inspiring! Next question you asked: The food here is surprisingly alright. They have a salad bar and then every day they have a “salad of the day” and they make different kinds of salads, and that line seems to always be the shortest, so it works out great. Also- there’s no endless ice cream which is nice for my waist line. BUT, on wednesdays and sundays they have Creamery ice cream with all the toppings in the world….. wooo baby. I try to watch my portions, but you know me- I love chocolate. But, yeah the food is just fine- I feel ok- it’s just the desserts that can kill me if I’m not careful. And no, I told her I didn’t want to the flu shot- so I didn’t have to get any other shot than the tetanus one, which is was nice. And yes, I ran into Jessica felt! Just barely… a week ago… coming away from the mail room. It was way coincidental- but I’m really glad I got to see her. She seems really happy. It’s kinda funny… my companions both seem to think that I know “everyone” because I talk to a lot of teachers here. It’s really funny how I know more teachers than i do missionaries. But, I’m also seeing a few sisters that I’ve known from efy and from freshman year, so that’s nice. But yeah- I guess my rep of “knowing everyone” won’t escape me until I’m in NY. haha Lets see, my back and neck are doing just fine. I consider it a blessing because the beds are really stiff here AND I’m sitting in a desk for literally all day… so it’s a big blessing, and I’d say only one of the many that I’ve noticed here. And my clothes are working out just fine. I succombed and bought an ugly jodi dress mom! ha…. it’s funny. But, hey- why not right? it’ll be great in the hot, humid summer. And the most unusual thing here has been……. hmmm not being able to touch. I’m quite a touchy person and man, I have to just not shake hands, hug, or even touch someone’s arm. It can send the wrong message if i even accidentally brush up against an elder. SO, that’s an adjustment. to say the least. BUT, I’m all over my companions and give them hugs after our companion prayers and kisses on the cheek. Ha- they think I’m crazy.

So, anyways- I hope that answers some of your questions. The MTC has been wonderful so far. Honestly, Cory wasn’t joking when he said it’s such an amazingly spiritual place. I keep looking for those angels that walk the halls- and ones that I’ve noticed have been the missionaries. It’s amazing how heavenly father really pours out his spirit to his missionaries. Yesterday we had fast and testimony meeting and I hadn’t felt the spirit that strong since a testimony mtg from efy. It was amazing. Also, last night we watched the Joseph Smith movie and the spirit hit me SO strong. WOW- it was like I watching it for the very first time, and I’ve seen that movie dozens of times. But, it’s really incredible the sacrifice and the trials that Joseph Smith went through to bring the restored gospel to the earth. A year and half of my time is nothing compared to the hardships that the early saints of the church had to endure. It’s truly amazing. Yesterday we had interviews with our branch president too and I was kinda telling him a little bit of my up and down feelings again of before I came out here… with dating and all that. He asked if I had someone at home…. yada yada and it was really nice- he just stopped and said, Sister Goettsche, I have such a good feeling when I’m around you. You bring the spirit with you wherever you go and it’s illuminating. I have no doubt that God is aware of who you are and is going to bless you beyond your comprehension for serving him. And at that moment, a wave of the spirit flooded my body and the thought came to me that there’s no better place to be, and no better timing for me to be here. It was a tender mercy from the lord. And I have seen MANY. Just being here not even two weeks yet, and yet I feel closer to the Lord than I have ever before. I keep looking at my name tag and everytime i see Jesus Christ is bold letters, I tear up a bit. I can’t look at it for too long cuz then I get distracted with how much I love my Savior and I’m so grateful for this incredible opportunity to represent him. MAN.

K- One more thing and then I’ll shush it… haha but teaching this week has been amazing. Here we do a lot of “role playing” with other missionaries, playing investigators, etc. and also teaching volunteers from BYU and the community. And this past week- I was a lot more bold than i had been ever before! It was awesome. I even showed my “investigator” how to pray and we knelt down right there and prayed and I was straight forward and told her that my expectation of her meeting with us is that she WILL feel the truthfulness of what I’m saying and she will Want to be baptized. No beating around the bush. She will want to be baptized. And the spirit was really strong. I know heavenly father wants his children baptized in his TRUE church, and it’s my responsibitily to bring them that message.

Alright, the time is up- but I love you all so very much!! thank you also Daddy O for your email. I loved it! Thank you so so so so so much for your prayers and support. I can feel it here. I hope you have the greatest week in the world!!!

LOVE ALWAYS, Your Sister Goettsche

Hello family!!!

Well, let me just start off by saying that I’ve only got about 10 minutes to write this because we’re allowed 30 minutes and the computer just lost the past email that I wrote to you…. but don’t you worry… I’ll write you a letter as well and tell you so much more. But, I wanted to say thank you so so so so so so much for the little notes and for the package mommy and for the letter too!!! I loved it!! SO much!!Thank you so so so much. It really made such a difference in my week. So, thanks again! And I really like the watch too- it’s great You know my style oh so well. And I really love those pictures too- so thanks so much.

Thank you again for dropping me off, it was so great to have you BOTH there. So thanks dad especially for that, I know you had to get work off…. so thank you

Anyways- I’ve got such limited time but I’ll try to tell you as much as I can. I’m in a tri-panionship with Sister Dunn and Sister Bluth. They both are really sweet girls and we’re getting along pretty well I think:) My district is huge with 11 missionaries. 8 Elders and 3 Sisters. Most of the elders are going to utica and Sister bluth and another elder are going to new jersey and sister Dunn is going to Canada. We’re all getting along really well, so it’s nice! My zone is with elders and sisters that are going to New Zealand and Michigan and Iowa. Pretty crazy… also can I just say that WOW. I have a new found respect for return missionaries. Holy cow, this is by far the hardest thing I’ve done before. Biggest change and steepest learning curve. EVER. But, today is so much better than even three days ago- I’ve had some really sweet tender mercies from the lord letting me know that this is where I need to be right now, so I can rest easy on the fact that Heavenly father wants me here and that it was truly satan trying his bestest to get me to not come. Geez he worked hard. But The lord always wins! I’ve just got to say that I LOVE my name tag too! IT’s amazing to say that I have been sent from the lord to represent him. Full-time. That IS my purpose. TO invite others to come unto christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel through faith in jesus christ,and his atonement, baptism, repentance, recieveing the gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. That’s my whole reason for being here. that’s it- that’s all I’m doing. pretty cool.

Ok- it’s starting to beep at me, that I’m almost up. Silly computer. I promise you I’ll write you so much more today and tell you a lot more. By the way- they don’t even let you get adjusted here before they throw you right into things. haha- my second day I was calling people up on the phone and talking to them. the third day, we were teaching. And I have a new calling… they called me as coordinating sister- which is kinda like the zone leader (basically the Relief society pres) but for the sisters. So, I’m over all the sisters in the zone… basically I just watch out for them and help them, interview, etc. So, it’s nice to feel like I have some responsibilty, but they didn’t even let me get settled first. haha– that’s how it is here though.

Anyways, I’m going to write you so much more but in letter form. I’ve got to go- but thanks again for all the letters and packages. It’s amazing how much that means SO much. I love you very very much and I’ll talk to you soon!!

Love Always, Sister Goettsche
P.s. they really stress the whole ’sister’ and ‘elder’ title…. it’s no longer Cambria. that’s for sure. I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!

Hello everyone!! I report to the Provo MTC on wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 1:00pm. It’s crazy how it’s already here! I’m really excited and I can’t wait to keep in touch with everyone. You can come on here to read my letters if you’d like… I think it’s just easier that way. Here’s my address at the MTC (the one that I have so far) :

Sister Cambria Goettsche

New York Utica Mission

Provo MTC

2005 N 900 E

Provo, UT 84604

Thanks again for all of the love and support that I feel from friends and family. I love you all so much!

Love, Sister Cambam thank you mam’ aka Sister G. or properly will be known as Sister Goettsche