Week 42- Semana Santa (Easter)

Hello everyone! 

So it hasnt been too long since i wrote last so i dont have that many updates.

But this week was Semana Santa - something that is huge in cartago because we have the catholic Basilica here. So there was a lot of reinactments and parades and what not. 

It was a great weekend of conference wasnt it? We had 9 investigators come to the sessions, so that was AMAZING. I watched some in english, but most in spanish. I loved all the talks and felt the spirit so strongly. Conference always goes by way too fast haha! It was so so interesting how almost every talk the saturday morning session was about families and marriage! I loved that. Because it really is so important! And that helps us realize what kind of marriage and family we really want in life - one that is centered around the gospel of Jesus Christ. Weve been teaching a lot of familes, and weve talked about how everything is better when you both have the same vision of life - if youre both focused on God and what He wants, you will always be on the same page. 

On sunday night Griselda came to some teaching appointments with us, and she is just such a missionary! She has such a strong testimony and i am so happy to see the change that she has gone through.

So this week we were really praying to find a family that the Lord has prepared for us to find. So we were praying very specifically that we could find a family who was ready to accept the gospel - already married, etc etc. So we did a street contact one night of a couple who was waiting for the bus, and then we called them a few days later to go visit them. So we did and the first thing we saw when we walked in was a bunch of wedding pictures!!!!! And they told us they have been in a ton of churches trying to find out what is best for them. It was hilarious because hna chatwin was just looking up to the heaven in gratitude hahaha. They got married 5 years ago, and have a son who´s 2 years old. Thats unheard of here, a couple getting married before they have kids! So the lesson went amazingly and we taught the entire restoration, which NEVEr happens the first lesson but the spirit was prompting us so strongly. And they were like, Oh yeah this makes total sense! And they said how they felt we were sent from God. And then they asked us if we wanted coffee and we said we dont drink coffee, and she said, oh yeah me either! Again hna chatwin looked up in awe hahaha it was so funny. So thats just one miracle of the week!

I dont know if ive written about Jorge and Ines, but theyre a couple who went to church for 8 MONTHS like 2 years ago, but never got baptized because they werent married. So we´re working with them on getting married! Its so cute because we gave them a big picture of the temple to remind them of what their real goal is. And we were at their house the other day and one of their friends was over, and the temple picture was right in front of the tv, and Ines took it off and showed it to her friend, and said, ¨Only the people who are married and baptized can enter here. And then they can be sealed to their family forever. Only if they are married and baptized.¨ Haha it was so cute, because we had just explained that a few days before. She wants it so bad! She cant read or write, so her husband has to read to her but she already has a strong testimony of everything! We´re talking to the lawyer to set up their wedding, and its not an easy process but we´re just gonna pray a lot and have faith that it will all work out!

Today we went to a volcano with the elders and griselda! It was fun. It costs 15 dollars for foreigners, but since we all have our resident cards it cost us 2 dollars! how awesome is that. 

Well im out of time but i hope all of you have a great week! I love this gospel and im so grateful for it.

Love you all,

Hermana Geis 

Week 41-- Another White Weekend

Hello everyone!

So this week Pday changed to today, because today we went to the TEMPLE! It was so awesome :) 

This past week, another huge miracle happened. So about when i first got to cartago, the bishop sent us a reference of an inactive family that nobody had ever visited. So we called right away and they recieved us super warmly and were way excited that we had come (i might have written about them before). Rosa and Roberto are life long members, sealed in the temple, but havent gone to church for about a year and all their kids except one are inactive. It was interesting because they showed us a bunch of photo albums and told us a bunch of stories, and basicall their whole life has revolved around the church. So we were thinking, How could you have not gone all this time?? Theres always a reason and we found out why, but it has been AMAZING because rosa and roberto have completely reactivated themselves - and that is not easy to do. Since the day we visited them, they have come every sunday and to every activity and are working towards going back to the temple. It is amazing. Rosa actually told us that whenever she has had doubts about the church, Heavenly Father has showed her that its true. She had prayed and asked God if this was really His church, and right after that we called her - so she took that as her answer again.

So anyways, the second time we visited them (probably like a month ago) the bishop went with us. And we found out that their three grandchildren, Carla (15), Adrian (12)  and Cristofer (13) were never baptized. So the bishop said, ¨they need to be baptized! How about this sunday!¨ And they were like, ¨sure!! we´re readu any day!¨ Hahaha we were laughing because it was so crazy. But we wanted to teach them first obviously and make sure they understood everything. So we visited them a few times every week and we had originally put their baptismal date for march, but we wanted to wait a few more weeks to prepare them more. But then our zone leaders called us the beginning of last week and asked us if we thought they were ready to be baptized. we prayed about it, and for some reason, we really felt like they should be baptized that week. It was funny because when hermana chatwin and i talked about it, we told each other, ¨I dont think they should be baptized this week, but the spirit is telling me that they should!¨ Haha so we really had to trust heavenly father and trust that response. So we went with them and their family and brought our ward mission leader, and we challenged them to be baptized THAT SUNDAY. And they accepted. It was a miracle.

So on sunday, the three of them got baptized :) They were SO happy it was so awesome. And the grandparents were so happy as well. I am so excited for them to start growing within the church, and i know that they will stay strong and do so much good within the church. 

So basically this month of march was amazing for our area. But hermana chatwin and i feel like we did nothing. Honestly. It was Heavenly Father. We set even higher goals for april, and we knew that that would make satan work harder - and it totally has. He is trying to break our faith but we wont let that happen. We know that the Lord is in charge and that he is preparing people for us to find.

For example, a member who used to be the ward mission leader gave us some old papers of missionaries from like 2 years ago, that had info of people they had taught. So we saw some info about a family that had been to church a bunch of times, and decided to call them. It was a miracle because they were so excited to hear from the missionaries again and let us come and visit them! So we found out that they know practically all the members in the ward, they went to church for like 6 months straight, and the only problem is that they are not married! The dad, Jorge, told us that they stopped going to church because the missionaries got transferred and then they just lost touch - that happens a lot, investigators stop progressing just because they lose touch with the missionaries or whatever other reason. They said that they talked a lot about marriage with the missionaries, but it just didnt work out back then. They said that maybe this is the time. Jorge also said that there are some things about the church that he just doesnt fully understand - so thats really the problem. Because when he understands, he will kow its true. So we are working super hard with them to explain everything and help them gain a testimony of everything. They accepted a baptismal date for the end of april, and we just have to work with them for their marriage!

So im sure lots of you have heard or seen, but the church put out a video for easter. In english it´s  ¨Because he lives¨. Ok now i just love this video. Every time i watch it it gets better. I just feel so GOOD when i watch it, and i feel so much peace and gratitude for Jesus Christ. Please go watch it if you havent yet, its like 2 minutes. And its so powerful, and personal to each one of us. 

I am just loving the mission and am grateful for every day. I have so much to improve and change, but I know that we can all change and get a little better every day. My testimony is so strong and i know that this church is true and the Christ lives. 

Oh my gosh and its general conference this weekend! Everyone better watch every session! ;) D&C 1:38.

I love you all and thank you so much for everything! pura vida!

Love, hermana geis :) 

The zone of Cartago!

With Hermana Perez at the temple!

With my "mom" and my "daughter" :) 

With Hermana Montoya!

Me and Hermana Chatwin at the temple

Temple Blooper Pic

Rosa, Roberto, the grandkids, and their son

 La familia Salas, Hna. Chatwin and I, and Brun, the member who baptized them

With Carla, Adrian, and Cristofer :) 

The old Nicoya crew :)

Week 40- More Miracles in Cartago

Hello everyone! 

So this was another crazy week with lots more miracles!

So we continued being confused about transfers until the huge mission conference on friday! Then we were told they just wanted to wait to change until friday since everyone was going to be there that day. And we found out that we did not have changes! We both really thought we were going to have changes, and everyone had been telling us we were going to have changes, so we were really surprised when we didnt. And we were wondering why we didnt. But basically we have already seen why we are both still here: Because we are going to see so many miracles together and work so hard! We have already seen so many miracles just this past weekend! But first of all, about the huge mission conference - it was awesome! We learned a lot about faith. That has been the focus of so much lately, so we know that that is something that we really have to strengthen. And lately i had been feeling like my faith has been a weekness. But i have felt it growing so much. I can truly feel that my faith is going to become inquebrantable (I dont know what that is in english). Me and my comp made faith notebooks, where you put in every scripture, quote, and spiritual experience that helps your faith grow. It really helps you understand faith and realize that it really can become so strong and unwavering. 

So in the conference Elder Duncan of the area presidency spoke, and Elder Richard J. Maines from the presidency of the 70 spoke. It was really great. And after they spoke President Wilkinson made lots of announcements about the mission. He is dividing and creating new zones (we now have 14 zones in the mission) and called 2 more assistants! Hes getting everything ready for the split! :) So exciting. And it was so so much fun to see EVERYONE. Its the last time we´ll be able to do that, because after the split i wont ever be able to see the people in the other mission :( but Hermana Perez got changed from nicoya and is now in my same zone! Haha 

So we have been teaching Griselda´s family, and they are super receptive. We went with all of them on saturday, and it was amazing because Griselda was being such a missionary! She has changed so much and i can tell she is so converted to the gospel. It was also awesome because last night we went with her, her family, and some members including our ward mission leader Jorge and his wife, and Jorge said at the end of the lesson, ¨So right now Griselda you´re going to go with the missionaries and present them to your neighbors so they can put an appointment with them.¨ Haha he was telling us that he did that with a bunch of members in his mission and that they had a ton of success from doing that. So griselda said, Okay sure! Haha so we went and it was so amazing! Because when Jorge was telling us that, we doubted that that would really work, but the people were like, Oh sure we´d love you to come visit us! And we found 3 new people and put appointments with all of them for this week. We were just in awe that it worked so well! And griselda was so confident in introducing us and inviting them. After i told her, You need to be a missionary griselda! And she just said, ¨Yeah i think i do!¨Haha which was amazing to hear because she has always said that she had no desire to do that. But she really will be amazing! 

Yesterday was stake conference! Griselda, Ginnia, and Yuleiki were all planned to get confirmed after the conference, so we were visiting them all week preparing them for that. All the people without cars met in the center of cartago to take a big bus together, and griselda and her family (yay!) came just fine. But ginnia and yuleiki were having a lot of problems. This is the miracle of the week:

So Yuleiki woke up on sunday really really sick with asthma. So ginnia was saying that they would have to go to the hospital and wouldnt be able to come. So hna Chatwin thought to send Jorge over to give her a blessing. We told Ginnia to get ready as if they would be going to church, because we knew that a miracle could happen. And ginnia just said, ¨Yeah i already told yuleiki to put a dress on.¨ Haha we love her faith!! So Jorge went over, and then he drove them over to the hospital so they could get her checked up. But guess what, as they were driving over Yuleiki already started to feel better. They still had to go to get her checked to see if everything was okay, but we were really nervous because the bus was supposed to leave at 10 30, and it would wait for no one. So at like 10 15 they were still talking to the doctor, and at 10 20 they were waiting for the results. We asked the member in charge of the bus if they could wait just a few minutes, and he said no. We were so so stressed out, because if she didnt make it she wouldnt be able to get the holy ghost that day and would have to wait a whole other week. So after kneeling down in the grass a little ways away to say a prayer, we called Jorge and explained the problem. He told us to give the phone to the guy who was in charge,and he talked to him but the guy still wouldnt budge and said they wouldnt wait even one minute after 10 30. So they all said the prayer in the bus to leave, and we were just praying so hard for a miracle. Ginnia had called and said that they were just leaving the hosptial. I cant even explain what we were feeling in those moments. And then we heard someone call the guy in charge...and then he hung up and sat down. The bishop had called him!! And said that he had to wait!! So we were so grateful and relieved, and then not even 2 minutes later, we saw Ginnia and Yuleiki at the other side of the park, hurrying over! Me and hermana chatwin just starting hugging and jumping up and down, so happy for the miracle that they were able to come so fast and just in time. This whole story might seem unimportant, but honestly it was such a miracle and such a crazy experience. Heavenly father listens and blesses us so much when we have faith! Ginnia had said that by the time they went with the doctor, her asthma was completely gone. Milagros! So griselda, ginnia, and yuleiki were all confirmed that day. As we were leaving the conference me and hna chatwin just said, ¨This is the best day ever! ¨ haha and we have been having a lot of those days, with all of these miracles we are seeing. 

Me and hna chatwin have been learning so much, and are so grateful for the lord´s hand in our lives. I just know that hes there and will always always help us. I know that i am becoming more and more converted to the gospel and im so grateful for everything. Have faith in the Lord, because he will NEVER let us down.

This week i complete ten months, even though i thought i completed 9 months just yesterday. 

Well i love you all so much! Until next week,

Hermana Geis 

With the sisters in our old district!

With Hermana Cook!

With Hermana Perez :) 

Week 39- BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!!!

 

Ok. So i really dont even know how i am going to write this email...because SO much happened!!! 

So we have been preparing Ginia and her daughter Yuleiki for baptism right, and everything went great with them. Theyre amazing and were so excited and just couldnt wait! So we werent worried about them at all.

Who we were worried about was Griselda. She has been reading and praying and has said always that she feels so good about everything, but doesnt have the desire to be baptized. So we really didnt know how to help her or what we could do to help her accept the answer from God that she had gotten. We werent able to see her at all this past week so we had just been calling her and reminding her to read and everything. 

We have felt for so long that Griselda was so ready to be baptized - it was just the fear of taking this step that has been holding her back. So we wanted her to have another baptismal interview on saturday, done by the Zone Leaders, to help her realize that she really is ready. So we had planned to have it saturday morning but Griselda ended up not coming to Cartago and the ZLs didnt want to go to her house, since its far away. So we ended up taking the bus to her house to see what was going on with her. So we read JS History and we talked to her about how shes felt about everything. She said she has felt really good but theres just something that has been holding her back, and shes been waiting for a sign from God to know that its all true. So then we read D&C 6:15, 22-23 (go read it). And then she just sat there....and said, ¨Ive been waiting so long for a sign...could it really be that feeling good is the answer?¨ we said YES. And so we asked her if she would want to have her baptismal interview again, and she said yes. We had the baptismal interview questions out and so she took the list and looked at them, and just said, ¨Estoy preparada.¨ or, ¨Im prepared.¨ We could not even believe she had said that. So then we called the ZLs and we coordinated to have griselda come to cartago and we would all meet in the church. Griselda called us later to say that she couldnt come, but we were not going to let that happen. So we told her we would go eat after to celebrate my birthday (haha) and so she finally came. Elder Toledo (who was with me in nicoya for 5 months and is now the ZL here) gave her the interview, and we were So nervous the entire time we were waiting.  Then he FINALLY came out, and he just said, ¨Do you have a baptismal form?¨ And then we just ran into the room where Griselda was and she was just crying. So we hugged and hugged and she said, ¨I got my answer.¨ I dont think i have ever felt so much joy in my life. I couldnt even believe it - we have worked so hard to help her get her answer and she finally recognized it. Of course WE didnt do a thing - it was the Lord and the Spirit. She agreed to be baptized the next day.

She later told us that elder toledo had her kneel down right there, and ask in prayer every single specific question about the church: About the Book of Mormon, if this was when she should be baptized, etc, and she said that after she asked the questions, she just started crying and couldnt stop. 

So that was the biggest miracle i have seen. It was so amazing.

So the next day, Sunday and my birthday, was amazing. The elders had a baptism before church, then Ginia and Yuleiki got baptized right after church. Ginia bore her testimony after and was crying, saying how amazing she felt. Then Griselda got baptized at 5 oclock in the afternoon (she was gonna have her baptism before church but the member who she wanted to do the baptism couldnt until that time). It was so amazing. I couldnt even believe i was seeing griselda in white, finally ready to take that step into the Church of Jesus Christ. 

So through all these amazing events, my birthday was the last thing on my mind haha but people were nice about it and all :) And i felt all your love! It is a birthday that i will NEVER forget. Full of miracles and people taking steps necearry to recieve la vida eterna! I have no doubt that they will never fall away. They are so strong, and truly converted to the restored gospel.

So after all of that me and hna chatwin were so exhausted and could barely walk haha. And to add more craziness to my birthday, that was when they were supposed to call us for changes. I was told i would be training and that hna chatwin would be leaving but then we never got the call, and then we found out the no one in the entire mission had changes! They got postponed or something, we really have no idea but we are all so confused. We have a meeting with the entire mission on friday with Elder Duncan, the area president, so we will see what happens!

So today i was reading in Alma 31, and i felt like it was talking to me! My mission is awesome and im really happy, but sometimes we just need a little comfort from the Lord. And in verses 30-33, Alma, the prophet, is just asking heavenly father to comfort him in Christ. I loved that, because even the prophet got sad and needed comfort from our heavenly father. and we can ALWAYS ask for that comfort, and he will always give it to us :)

We went to walmart yesterday. it was overwhelming. Hahaha

So a volcano is erupting in a nearby city....but no worries we are not affected!

Also i will now be writing on mondays again! Dont ask why, but its changed back to mondays. 

Ok well i love you all! Sigan adelante!

Con mucho amor, Hermana Geis

Best Birthday Ever!!  Day of Griselda's baptism :)

Best Birthday Ever!! Day of baptisms Ginia and Yuleiki!

 With ginia and yuleiki!

 Hermana Chatwin

 Griselda :)

 Birthday Package !

 Candy !

 Earrings from Alissa :)

 YW Embark Necklace

 Music CD's

 Sweater !

 The Elders' Baptism

 Ginia and Yuleiki

  Ginia, Yuleiki and the members who gave them as a reference

 Ginia, Yuleiki and Rosa, a recent convert who is her best friend

 Ginia, Yuleiki and our new ward mission leader, Jorge who baptized them

 Griselda :)

 Griselda and all her family and the members who gave her as a reference

Week 38 - The Broken Closet

Ok so this week was really really crazy.

We had a lot of disappointments, but also a lot of miracles. Let me just tell you about one of our days, that was really, really bad hahaha.

So we've been working a lot with Griselda - the 21 year old whose awesome, but does not trust in the answer she has already gotten about the church!  She says that she feels really good about everything.  So we always say," That's the spirit telling you its true!"  And she's like, "Yeah I know...¨, but she doesn't feel the desire to get baptized, or she doesn't understand it.

So anyways, we had planned to visit with her on Friday night.  She lives far away, so we always have to take the bus at 6:30, which is the last bus. So we were visiting lots of people in another area and we have to take a bus from that area to the center of Cartago first.  So we got to the center at like 6:25. So we literally RAN through all of Cartago to make it to the bus.  But when we got to the bus stop, the bus was JUST pulling away!!  We were so upset!  So we had to take a different bus that doesn't go to her house, and then take a taxi, and basically it was really stressful.

We had invited a member to come to Griselda's house (we usually meet in the house of the member, but we wanted to have it in her house) and the member brought her entire family over! So, the lesson didn't go as we had hoped, and so we went home still feeling a little stressed.

Then when we got home we found that our closet had completely collapsed and it looked like a tornado had passed through our room!  As we were trying to fix the closet, it got worse and collapsed even more.  So then we just sat down on the floor and laughed until our stomachs hurt.

So because we had no closet, Hna Chatwin and I had to go to the Mission office yesterday to get a new closet haha.  Since we were in San Jose, we went to CHILIS restaurant at a Mall nearby...let's just say we looked like we had never seen a Mall or a sit-down restaurant or American food. It was pretty amazing.  And if we hadn't had to go to the Mission office, I wouldn't have gotten a birthday package my family sent me!  Who knew that a broken closet could result in such fun things!. So yay for the broken closet :)

So anyways, the week was full of things like that haha, but we also found a lot of prepared people!  But here's the biggest miracle of all. On Sunday, we had 7 INVESTIGATORS IN CHURCH. That is the most we have ever had on our missions!  It's a lot for here haha. And we didn't go for a single one of them...each one came with a member!  It was so amazing. We both just wanted to cry of happiness in Sacrament meeting haha. Its crazy how things like that just make you so happy on the mission - because that's why we are here!  To help people come unto Christ. And it's by keeping their commitments and making those changes in their lives that they are able to do so.

This coming week, on Sunday, (my birthday!)  Gina and Yuleiki are going to be baptized!  Hna Chatwin and I always say how this is going to be the most spiritual baptism ever, because Ginia is so excited and so ready. Our District Leader said that when they were doing her baptismal interview, she just started crying because she has changed so much and is so grateful for that. She used to have a really strong character or negative attitude, bad language, and really unhappy.  Now she just has such a bright countenance and is so happy!  She's like halfway done with the Book of Mormon, is inviting her friends to learn about the Church, and is just amazing. We are so excited for her - and I've never seen anyone so excited for their baptism.

This Thursday we had a Multizone conference!  Elder Alonso, second counselor in the Area Presidency, came.  He's amazing.  He told us some crazy spiritual things and we learned a lot.  We learned a lot about faith - something that we have been trying really hard to work on. And I really believe that is why we saw miracles on Sunday!  Because we had faith and were exactly obedient.

So we have an investigator named Julia - she is so awesome. She is reading lots in the Book of Mormon and feels that i'ts true and everything, but is scared to go to another church. She had us over for dinner last night and we were talking about everything.  It turns out that all her kids were baptized in another church except for her and her husband. We asked her, why didn't you two get baptized?  And she said, I don't know, we just didn't....and we wanted to get married in a church before we get baptized (they're married, just not by a church.)

So we were like, "why haven't you gotten married by the church then?"  And she said, "I don't know, we just haven't felt it."  And then we pulled out a picture of the temple and said that it's probably because God wants you guys to get married here!!  And we explained eternal marriage and she said, ¨so we have to get baptized before we can get married here?¨ So basically we have so much hope for her and even though it may not be right now, she is definitely going to join the church one day and have an eternal family!

Ok well thank you all for all of your support!  Keep trusting in the Lord and always read the scriptures for strength. I love you all!

Zone Conference with Hrm Chatwin

Zone Conference with Sis Wilkinsen

The Broken Closet

Hermana Chatwin's Birthday

We found a Chili's Restaurant

Ribs at Chili's !!

Say What?  Chili's !!

Julia