Week 25- Happy Thanksgiving!

Hellooo everyone
So yeah they changed our writing day. Pday ends a little early now on mondays, and our whole district writes together on tuesdays after our district meeting. Its a little difficult to find 10 computers to use all together but hey it will work out!

So this week was crazy just like the rest! ;) 

On tuesday we went to San Jose for the Multizone conference. It was really good. We have a goal of 200 converts this month - and its going great. President was in Panama the past week for a conference with all of the mission presidents in central america, and everyone wanted to talk to him to figure out what is happening in costa rica because there is so much success happening here! God has prepared his children and wants the church to grow here. So thats awesome.

He used an example during the conference about how we cant stop working when we think everything is going well...and guess what he used....the Utah football game when the guy dropped the ball before the touchdown!!! Hahaha. He was like, this is the best football team in the world, (hes from utah and is a utes fan) but they made a mistake! haha so he told us to not drop the ball before making it to the end zone. It was funny because an elder had to explain american football to the latinos before we watched the clip. 

Sooo with our miracle family! So much has happened haha. Basically the parents have a lot of problems :( but Jerson is going strong! He is pumped to get baptized and wants to serve a mission and everything. One day when we were with him this week, he said that he hadnt gotten an answer yet to know if the church was true. So we asked him what he was expecting to recieve as an answer. he said some sort of sign - which is what many people wait for. But we explained what it says in Galatians 5:22 - the fruits of the spirit are hope, love, faith, peace, etc. And we get our answer through the spirit. So then he stopped for a minute and said....then i think i got my answer. :) So we are preparing him for this saturday.

On Sunday we had the primary program! Soooo different from the states of course, but wow the spirit was so strong :) There were around 10 kids, and each gave a little talk and we sang some songs together. It was so adorable because two of the kids were Fabricio and Denis - Denis is the brother of Fernanda (the 10 year old girl who got baptized in july) who hasnt wanted to get baptized and Fabricio is a ten year old boy who asks us everytime we visit him when he can get baptized hahaha. hes hilarious, he knows pretty much everything about the church, and asked us when he can go to the temple and everything haha. Fabricios talk was about baptism which made me laugh haha. So we got the idea to invite Fabricio and Denis to be baptized this saturday as well!!! We went last night to talk to their parents. We had a good experience with Fabricios mom - we have been teaching her but is very strong in another church. she said that she would let Fabricio get baptized, but she wants to talk to the dad about it. So we are praying very hard about that - thats all we can do! And then we went to Denis and a miracle happened. He has never had the desire to get baptized, because hes been nervous about it. We went last night and talked to him about it and his mom said she would let him, but she didnt think he was ready or had the desire. So she told him, Denis, say yes or no. And he stopped for a minute...and then looked up and with a big smile on his face said, ¨Si yo quiero!!!¨ Haha we were seriously so happy. So this weekend will be a special one. Please pray that everything will go well!!

So im trying to teach hermana perez english right? I tried praying in english yesterday and it was a mess...hahaha i was translating from spanish into english and could not even do it

Last night we had a family home evening with some members, Fabian, and another recent convert couple of the elders. We watched a video about the restoration and ate empanadas (the weird ones with cheese and sugar but its okay). I just love the video of the restoration - because thats why im here! Because this is the restored church. We challenged each one of them, including the members, to read the book of mormon that night and pray to know if it was true. I have done that here on the mission even - and when i did it a while ago, i felt such peace and warmth in my heart. God will always give us the same response, that yes its true. So I invite each one of you to do the same - read the book of mormon, and after pray to ask if its true. You will recieve the confirmation that it is, if you ask with faith, not doubting that God will answer you.

I realized this week that I really need to change. And guess what, change is possible. But not just to change our behavior - we can change our nature. A lot of the times we think the opposite - we say, ¨Thats just the way i am. I cant change that. So i will accept my weaknesses and get along.¨ No! It is necessary to recognize our weaknesses and accept that we have them, but we do not have to live with them forever. We can change. You know why? Because that is exactly why Jesus Christ suffered and died for us. He didnt do that for nothing - he did that so we could overcome our weaknesses. If we think we cant change our nature, we are saying that Jesus Christ and his Atonement cant save us. So have faith! I was praying about overcoming my weaknesses this week, and a sentence came into my mind: Christ suffered so I could overcome my weaknesses. Its true. We can change completely. We can change our nature. Only, however, if we depend on the Lord and give ourselves to him. And we can do that! Its not impossible!

So thank you all for everything! I hope you all have an amazing week :)

Oh yeah and happy thanksgiving! So weird! ill have to celebrate somehow. i bought some sweet potatoes to make that day because they remind me of the casserole we eat at thanksgiving...hahaha 

Love you!

Hermana Geis :)