Week 76- Oh Hermanos Adios, Pues Adios

Well everyone, this is it. The last email I will write as a full time missionary. :(

This week was really good.

On Tuesday, William and Manfred got baptized :) It was awesome. They were so ready and so excited. Their Dad, Mauricio, says that he feels really close to getting baptized, but not yet. We know that he will be able to take that step very soon, because he is so ready. On Sunday when they got confirmed as members of the Church their mom Angela was just crying - she was basically crying the whole Sacrament meeting. When we were at their house one night she said, ¨It was meant to be these two sisters. We have lived here for 8 years and I have always wanted the missionaries to come visit us, and they never have. These two sisters were the ones who finally came.¨  I know that I went to Guapiles so that Ii could meet them. They are going to be an eternal family when they all go to the Temple to get sealed.

The rest of the week we were just really trying to give it our all and find people. On Saturday we had a Ward activity where we watched "Meet the Mormons" in the Chapel and ate pizza!  And then all of us missionaries got together to eat cake. The cake said ¨18 meses¨ on it because it was the day that the Hermana in the other Ward and I completed 18 months!  That was a fun day :) It felt a little weird to say that I have been here now for 18 months. I just tried to thank God the whole day for allowing me to make it this far. 

Sunday was the most rewarding day. I got to sing in Sacrament meeting "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and give my testimony. And after church, it was the most successful Sunday we've had!  We were super busy alllll day and we found some awesome new people. I was so sad when we were putting new appointments and I knew that I wasn't going to be there. But I am excited to hear about their progress!

So this week in District meeting I was asked to teach about something that I've learned on the mission. And obviously there are so many things. So I was pondering about what is the most important thing I have learned, and this came to me: We Can Change.  On my mission, I learned about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have always believed that the Church is true - that's never been hard for me to believe. But I have never truly understood the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I never truly understood that through faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end, we could be saved. I now know without a doubt that I can make it back to live with Heavenly Father and my family through this gospel. I now know that because of Jesus Christ and what He did for us, we can CHANGE. We can change every day of our lives. We can overcome our weaknesses and become more like him. Before my mission, I felt like change was impossible, and that it was impossible to make it to the kingdom of God. Now I have that hope and that faith that I will make it, if I want to. If we want to change and have eternal life, we can. But only if we want to. We can't just go through the motions, we have to WANT it. We have to WANT to be like Christ and change and be better. And if we have that desire and are humble, God will make it happen for us. If we give our entire souls to God, he will make it happen. 

Thank you for all of the support that all of you have given me for these past 18 months. It's such a sacred experience and all of you have been a part of it by supporting me and helping me. I know that this is the Church of Jesus Christ, the exact Church that He organized when He was on the earth. If any of you have doubts, pray to God and ask Him what is true. Read the Book of Mormon. Be grateful for everything that you have. And never give up - keep on fighting and enduring to the end, because everything is worth it. 

Yo se que esta es la iglesia verdadera de Jesucristo. Yo se que el libro de mormon es verdadero. Yo se que Jesucristo es nuestro salvador y que solament por medio de El podamos ser salvos. Yo se que tenemos un profeta y 12 apostoles en quienes siempre podemos confiar. Yo se que las familias puedan ser eternas por medio de los templos. Yo se que cada uno de nosotros podemos entrar en el reino de Dios por medio del evangelio. Yo amo este evangelio y esta iglesia y estoy tan agradecida ser parte de ella.

Les amo.

Hermana Amy Geis

The district

At a hotel for Thanksgiving lunch!

Thanksgiving lunch

What my comp did for me on my 18 months!

A member made this for me!!!

At the ward activity

Our cake

Week 74- "I think I'm almost ready to be baptized

hello everyone! 

Well this week was super crazy.

On Tuesday we were supposed to go with Angela and Mauricio and their family, but we were it by a torrential downpour and nobody could take us up to where they live :( so it was super super sad. And guess what, Mauricio started the job that we didn't want him to take on Wednesday :( We were so sad to hear that. We are hoping that he decided to take something else so that he can keep being with his family and going to church.

So we went with Angela and her kids on Thursday and we asked them how they were and if they had any questions, and Manfred (9 years old) said, ¨I think I'm almost ready to be baptized.¨ Haha we were so happy when he said that, it was the cutest thing. And William, the 18 year old, said the same. So we were so happy for them. On Saturday they had their baptismal interviews and they both passed. They're supposed to get baptized this coming Saturday, but if Mauricio is working that day we´re gonna do it during the week sometime. We are sooo excited for them! :) And what makes me so happy is that William wants to serve a mission. It will be amazing to see all the lives that HE will be able to change when he goes. They're a great family.

We visited Luisa on Saturday night and she was having a bunch of doubts again because of her Pastor telling her things and what not....so we just have to keep reminding her that God has already given her her answer and that she needs to trust in that.

It was Stake Conference this weekend so we invited her to that, and she was like, ¨No I need to go to the other church!  I haven't gone for weeks!¨ And she was just refusing to go, and then all of the sudden she says to Abigail, ¨Lets go to the Conference.¨ Hahaha oh Luisa...

Something funny that happened at the Stake Conference: Latinos are not known for their musical abilities, and to close, the Stake choir sang ¨Oh Creatures of Our God and King.¨ When I heard that they were gonna sing that, I was just like, oh no....because that is not an easy song to sing, especially as a Latin choir...

So anyways they were singing and my companion was LAUGHING, and I was like, Hermana stop laughing!  And she said, ¨Its Luisa!!¨  And Luisa was literally laughing because of the choir´s singing hahaha and this is a 75 year old lady. And Luisa said to my comp, ¨Don't blame me!¨ And then later she said, ¨I wasn't laughing at the choir, I was just laughing because I remembered something.¨ Hahaha Luisa is hilarious, she's like our own grandma.

Well I don't really have that much more to write because I was sick for about three days this week :( On Friday I couldn't even get out of my bed. The nurse thought it was dengue fever, which is a sickness caused by mosquito bites but we don't think that it's that anymore. My companion thinks that it's her fault because she was telling me that I need to put goals and stuff for when I get home, and then I got sick. Hahaha who knows what it is. But the work must go on!

Well I hope you all have a great week :)

Love you all! Thank you all for your support.

Hermana geis

Week 73- Obedience Brings Blessings

Hello Everyone!

So I thought that my last transfer would be a little slower than the rest, but no...this is the fastest transfer of my whole mission...

This week was a little harder than the rest, just because we had some ¨bad luck.¨ Even though I know that bad luck really doesn't exist, everything happens for a reason!

There's a scripture in Hebrews that I LOVE, that basically says that without suffering, we cannot become perfect. So I am grateful for trials, because they are what shape and mold me.

On Friday we had the Leadership Council for the mission. I always love those meetings, but I was kind of dreading it because it was my last one :( I couldn't believe it. And what's worse, I had to give my last testimony - they always have those who are leaving give their testimony during their last meeting. I really couldn't believe it. It's bad, because it still hasn't hit me that I'll be leaving soon. Like at all. I am SO GLAD you guys are coming here mom and dad, because if I had to go home right away I don't think I would be able to handle it haha.

So we've been working with Luisa, right, and something crazy happened this week.

She told us that she was definitely going to go to church on Sunday so that she could see what it was like (because she just went to General Conference) and see how she felt there. So we called her on Saturday and she said that she didn't know if they would be able to go to church with us because the Pastor of her church had just called them and told them that Abigail was going to get baptized the next day!!!!!  We were like, This cannot be happening. So we were just praying so hard that we would be able to help them understand.

So we went over that night and we watched the movie of The Restoration. Afterwards, we testified SO directly and powerfully about the Restoration and the authority to baptize, and everything else. But they were not budging. They just did not want to accept what they were feeling from the Spirit. So we were just inviting and testifying, and then all of the sudden Luisa turns to Abigail and says, ¨Lets go tomorrow!¨  We were like, wait really?  And guess what...they totally came with us to church!  That was a miracle, for them to not do what the Pastor said and come with us!!  And guess what else, they totally loved it!!  Luisa said that she got her answer, that this is the true church. And when we asked her how she felt she said, ¨The best thing about all this was meeting you two. I will never forget about you two, and what you have done for us.¨  That was amazing to hear that.

Angela and Mauricio and their kids are progressing great. We visited them on Thursday and had a very spiritual lesson with them. We talked about baptism and about their date. William (their 18 year old son) said that one day when he was reading the Book of Mormon, he felt something different...he said he couldn't explain what he felt, but he accepted that as his answer that everything was true. Mauricio said that he wanted to be baptized, but he just got a job that would make him work every weekend. Of course. He said that that is the last thing he wants - he wants to be with his family, and he wants to be able to continue in the church. And if he takes this job, he won't be able to do either of those. So we invited him to pray about it, and that we would ask everyone we know about job openings. He said that he didn't even care if it paid a lot less, he just wanted something else.

So yesterday they weren't able to go to church because William got sick. But we were able to meet up with them in the church that night to talk for a bit. We read 3 Nephi 11, and talked about following Christ and having an eternal family- Angela said that she has been asking God for them to be able to follow Him as a family, and then she started crying. Her husband and kids all got close to her to comfort her. She said that all she wanted was to have her family all together in church.

Then Mauricio brought up the job situation. I had shared an experience about someone quitting a job that made them work on Sunday, and then getting a way better job like a week later that only worked during the week. He said that he really pondered about that, but said that it was a lot harder to think like that when you have a family that you have to take care of. So we talked about faith. We talked about how faith is taking a step in the dark - leaping into the unknown when you really have no idea what's going to happen next. Because if we knew exactly what was going to happen, or if he knew that someone was going to offer him a better job the next day, it would not require faith, it would not require trust in God. He said that God has always provided for them - so we said, ¨if you don't take this job so that you can follow God, do you really think he is going to let your family suffer?¨ No. he wont.

I have been reading soo much in the scriptures about obedience, and how god blesses us. What I've learned about it is amazing. If we are exactly obedient to the commandments, God will not let us fall. He will provide for us. 1 Nephi 3:17, Mosiah 2:22, and the story about the 2000 stripling warriors - all these teach us that principle. So we are just praying so hard that Mauricio will make the right decision. I have no doubt that he can get another job - so really we are just praying that he can make that decision.

So I hope we can all remember that, that we need to put God first. If we take steps of faith and give everything to him, He will bless us more than we can even imagine. A member shared something cool with us: Sometimes we think we are living off the blessings of God. But sometimes we are living off the mercies of God. He always loves us and always gives us tender mercies, even when we are not obedient. It is when we are obedient that we receive the real Blessings from Him.

I love you all! Hope you all have a great week! Thank you for your support and emails! :)

Love, Hermana Geis 

With Pres. and Sister Hayes

Luisa and Abigail at church

My favorite fruit!

Week 72- Hermana House Inspections???

Hey everyone,

So this week we did divisions again. I went to the area next to ours with Hermana Herrera, who is also being trained. Her companion Hermana Bratt ends with me and went to my area with my companion. I was there for all of Tuesday and all of Wednesday, and it went really well. We found some great people.

A cool experience: We went to a house of a family that the Hermanas have been teaching, and they couldn't receive us so their neighbor who was with them came out to tell us that. So we asked if we could share something with her, and she said, "No thanks, I already have a church."  And then we explained how our message is for everyone and that it is centered on Jesus Christ.   And she just looked at us not interested...so we asked,  "Can we just share a quick message with you and your family?"  And she said, Okay why not. So we went in her house next door and her daughter was there with her.  The lesson went really well and she totally accepted the challenge to be baptized and is super interested. Haha so that just shows us that we can't give up too easily!

On Thursday we had a Zone Conference with President Hayes and his family, and a couple who are in charge of the health of the missionaries in Central America. We learned a lot from President, about how we can progress more. He talked about how we are on a staircase to get to God, and we have to figure out where we are on the staircase and what is holding us back from taking the next step. Like they said in conference, "What do I lack to progress?" I really like that. It's really hard to accept what we are lacking and to change it, but I love that we CAN change, and progress always. His wife talked a lot about the little things that can help us have the spirit more, like eating right (the couple in charge of the health talked A TON about eating right) and having a clean house. We're gonna start having house inspections, but the fun part is that I have to inspect the houses of all the Hermanas. Haha 

We were able to find a ton of new investigators again this week, I was just in awe at how much the Lord was helping us find people to teach. But now we need to focus on working with the members, so that we can help these people progress and get more references from the members. Go out with the missionaries people and help them out!

Today for Pday we went hiking :) so fun! 

Well times up, but thank you all for everything! Love you all!!
Hermana Geis

Zone Conference

With Hermana Pena

P Day Hike!