My issue actually turned out to be a bug with switching between build mode and live mode and had nothing to do with the scenarios at all — my game glitched when coming out of build mode, and though I could give Nova tasks and she would complete them, my goals were no longer visible. Rebooting the game only fixes it temporarily, and I've had it happen several more times with other households when I tried to complete a task or aspiration that required me to buy something. My goals also disappear upon starting a new hangout event, though again rebooting the game fixes it temporarily.