Name: Michael Goodman
BYU employee since... my family and I returned from our mission in Thailand in 2000.
My job at BYU is… to teach singles how to find exultant ecstasy in eternal marriage, to teach men and women how to be full time ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ and to teach of Christ and Him crucified.
Currently I’m working on… too many things to count... I want to be the very best at helping others come to Christ that I can be. Two scholarly projects I'm also working on are what I hope will be the largest longitudinal study of families and faith in the world and also a history of the LDS Church in Thailand. Finally... I'm working on staying alive: dealing with a bit of cancer at the moment.
My favorite lecture to teach is… the Savior's ability to completely, totally change our lives and bring ultimate joy through His atonement and the Holy Spirit.
I never teach a class without… starting with prayer and smiling at my students.
Three things I’m really into right now… my wife (but that is not simply right now), my children (see last ellipses) and life (yea, you get it).
I knew I wanted to be a religion professor when… I converted to the gospel as a young adult and saw the amazing power of the gospel completely change people's lives on my first mission in Thailand.
The gospel ...changed the way I view... marriage ...because... it showed me the passion and joy that could exist even in a world filled with shattered relationships and broken hearts.
When I have 30 minutes of free time, you can find me… 30 minutes is too short. Give me a bit more and you'll find me riding my motorcycle or my bike, canyoneering, snow-caving, weightlifting, dating my sweetheart, camping, reading, watching a play, tickling my granddaughters, hiking... yep – just living.
My advice to incoming freshman is… Carpe diem. Don't live your life in such a way as to look back regretting that you simply survived.
My favorite memory at BYU was when… I realized I would be able to spend the rest of my career loving my students and studying the most important issues in existence.
My favorite joke is… the one that makes me laugh today.
