Called to Serve

Called to Serve

Saturday, January 24, 2015

Week 32- Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith!

Hello everyone!!
Well i have lots to write today.
So this past week was good, but i also got really really sick! We ate dinner with a member tuesday night, and the next day i was throwing up all day. But it was the first time i really got sick on my mission so im lucky! My stomach is still a little iffy but its all good. 
One night a bunch of our appointments had fallen and I didnt really know where we should go. So we decided to say a pray to know where to go. We said the prayer, and then my comp felt like we should go down this one street. So we started walking to the street and there was a lady outside with her dog. We started talking with her and then she all the sudden says, ¨So when do you want to come visit me?¨ My jaw dropped and i just looked at my comp because i wasnt sure i had understood correctly. Haha after a bunch of rejection to meet someone like that was so awesome! And we did go back with her, and she is awesome. Her name is Elieth and lives with her daughter and her daughters husband. They all accepted a baptismal date. She cant go to church right now because she works every sunday, but she said that she has already talked to her boss to switch her free day to sunday! People never do that haha. She has a ton of faith, and she always says, I know that I will be able to go to church. Its awesome to see her desire and her faith that it will happen. So i am very grateful for prayer - and moments like that remind me that we are not alone here. I love knowing that i can always pray to heavenly father to ask for direction. And he gives us direction when we ask. I think we forget that way too often. Hes there, so ask Him for help! :) 

We have been working with a family who lives an hour away from here in bus - we met them in the house of Marielos, the less active member. The dads name is Ismael, and has 3 daughters and a son. His son, Minor, is a leader in another church, and i seriously love talking to him. Because he knows so much about the bible and everything and he is so willing to learn more and accept these things. Minor is reading the book of mormon and praying as well as ismael. Ismael and his three daughters came to church on sunday! It was a miracle. And then after church we met at Marieloss house to have a lesson. And he had brought a typed up document of all the questions he wanted to ask us about the Book of Mormon, with biblical references and everything. I loved it haha, because there is an answer to every question and every doubt! :) Its so fun really. And something really cool happen - his mom committed suicide when he was a baby and he really wants to know if there is hope for her to be saved. So a scripture came to my mind in the book of mormon and i read it, and he said ¨ok thats really interesting....but i would want to see a scripture that says that in the bible.¨ and guess what. I had written a cross reference at the side of the scripture, of a scripture in the bible that talks about the same thing. I NEVER write cross references. You can look through my entire book of mormon, and there is not one cross reference written, except for that one. And i had done that like a week before, and i remember doing it, thinking, hey that might come in handy in the future. The spirit had prompted me to write the reference, and i didnt even know it. If i hadnt written the reference, nothing bad would have happened. But i was able to answer his question in the exact moment that he needed it. So never doubt the thoughts or promptings you get - sometimes the spirit speaks in our own voice.
So yeah weve been working with ismael and minor, a lot over the phone because they live so far away, and they have said something really interesting. They say, ¨If the Book of Mormon is true, it changes everything.¨ They have lived their whole life being strong in another church and believing certain things, and they say that if the book of mormon is true, it will change everything and it wont be easy. That is so true. The Book of Mormon is not just a nice book that we can read to learn about God. It changes everything. It proves that we have the restored gospel here on earth, and that there is one true church of Jesus Christ. I love that they said that, because they realize the importance of it. They are realizing that there is more truth out there. And hearing them say this made me realize that its not easy for people to accept everything, because they realize that theyve lived their whole lives without the whole truth. But with that realization comes the joy that they have now found the whole truth. Everytime we answer a question or clear up a doubt, theyre always like, Ohhh that makes a lot of sense. Haha i love it. BUT, sooner or later they have to stop asking questions about the little details and have faith in the answer God will give them. Because there can always be thousands of questions about the church, and the book of Mormon, etc etc. But if we have recieved an answer from the Holy Ghost that its true, nothing else will matter. Thats what helps me - if i ever have a doubt that pops into my head or if something doesnt make sense, I stop, and remember that I have received and answer from the Holy Ghost that its true. Thats all that matters. And thats when faith is necessary. As pres Uchtdorf said, ¨Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.¨
Yesterday we met a family whos daughter is named Amy...when she said her name i just gasped. It was the first time ive heard my name in my mission! haha :)
Oh and we had an activity on friday night with the branch and it was SO FUN. Sooo many people came it was a miracle! And we had so much fun :) it was like a relay, they were divided up in groups and had to do a puzzle, then ran to another room to do another activity, etc etc. It was way fun and lots of investigators came too!
Oh and we had branch conference on sunday! it was so good. and guess what....94 PEOPLE WERE IN THE CHAPEL. We have been having like 50 people. We actually had to get up and set up more chairs in the front so people could sit. I was on cloud 9. 
Well i love you all a lot! And i hope you all have an amazing week. Thanks for everything :)
Looove, Hermana Geis

I bought Denis and Fernanda the Book of Mormon for kids picture book and i had to take a pic of them reading it together :)

Our refrigerio (refreshment) for the activity

The activity!