Hermana Amy Geis: 2015-11-29

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