Hermana Amy Geis

Monday, September 28, 2015

Week 67- The Only Way to True Happiness is Giving it All to the Lord

Hello everyone!

So this was a super crazy week....

On Tuesday night we had to go to San Jose to stay over night there, because we were going to the temple on Wednesday! But before we left on Tuesday it just started POURING rain. it was crazy. I will attach a picture.

So we got up suuper early on Wednesday and got to go to the Temple with President Hayes, his wife, and two other zones. It was so awesome. I had never felt the spirit so strong, probably in my entire life. And it was awesome to have President there with us as well. Then after the Temple as a Zone we went to San Jose and ate and then walked around San Jose and bought some souvenirs!

So after getting back to our area Wednesday night, I ended up not even being able to walk on my ankle basically...so those next two days I had to rest it, and we only went to the most important appointments. Which really stinks, because of course, all appointments are important. Then on Friday we went to San Jose again to finally see a doctor, and he found that I do have damaged ligaments/tendons and some liquid in my ankle. So he prescribed some insoles for me and we will see what happens! :)

On Saturday, we had a baptism! The granddaughter of a recent convert got baptized. Her name is Keydelin. she was terrified of the water, and for that reason didn't want to get baptized. But she got over her fear and is now a member of the Church of Jesus Christ :) After the baptism we had an activity with the Relief Society. A talent show! So I got to sing and play la guitarra! it always feels good to do that. Then we watched the General Women's Conference.

Today we had the monthly check up with all the trainers and new missionaries. It was great. And then we got to eat American food which is always awesome.

So this week we are going to work extremely hard. Something President told us today was that when we don't want to work, we have to work even harder. When we don't want to pray, pray harder. Its so true. At the beginning of my mission it was always tough to give up my desires. I went out to work, but didn't really want to. I think that happens with every missionary. But then I learned to give it all up and do it because God wanted me to do it. That's when our desires become His desires. There's a talked called The Fourth Missionary, that talks about the type of missionary that is the most happy and gets the most out of his mission. The talk says that there are days when he doesn't want to go out, and there are days when he gets discouraged. But he goes out anyway. But he doesn't go out resenting it, deep down wanting to do something else or be somewhere else. He does it because ¨it is the only intelligent thing to do.¨ Maybe this doesn't make sense to you, but I love that lesson! We must do what God wants not just because it's our duty, and we can't be hating it the whole time, really wanting to do something else. We must do what God wants because we know that that is the only way to true happiness and salvation.

Well everyone have a great week! I love you all!

Hermana Geis

With Hermana Pena

Yummy food made by President Hayes!

Pouring Rain...

Eating our favorite fruit--mamon chino

River

We bought these dresses in Gringo Alley! All of the elders call them our "multi-use dresses". They say we can use them as sheets,curtains, chair coverings etc...hahaha :)

At McDonalds

With Hermana

Keydelin and her family

With Keydelin

At Subway!!

The funniest secretaries ever-- Elder Nielson and Elder Nelson

Almost all of our zone: Zona Atlantica!

With some members

In Gringo Alley!!

With Hermana Moon and Hermana Chatwin :) We saw them at the office on Friday because they were getting some residency stuff done

Back with mi hija!!

Monday, September 21, 2015

Week 66- He is in Charge

Hello everyone!
So this week was good! We really focused on finding this week. Like a ton of finding. And we found a lot of people!! We just need to find more of the people who are ready to accept the gospel.

A missionary who used to be here gave us a bunch of references of people she used to visit, so we called a bunch of them. And one of them is named Luisa. Shes in her late sixties probably, and her son is a member! But hasnt gone to church for years. And she lives with her granddaughter, Abigail, whos like 10. She we get to their house and the first thing they do is bring out the book of mormon. I was like, what?! And they said that they read it all the time. Hahaha so crazy! Shes gone to a couple different churches, and right now goes to a baptist church. But as we were talking about the Restoration of the gospel, she said, ¨Well with my age, i really get myself thinking, Am i in the true church? Because i really dont know!¨ So then we just told her to read, and pray. The second time we visited her she read a lot and prayed, but said that she hadnt gotten her answer yet. So we asked her how she felt as she read, and she said really good. So then we read Galations 5:22, to help her realize that they spirit has been talking to her through her feelings, and telling her that this is all true. So she keeps on reading and praying and we are really excited for her progress. :)

Yesterday something pretty cool happened. We were really struggling with having lessons yesterday and no one was home and we were like, why is this happening! Haha. In the afternoon we felt to talk to some people that were sitting outside their house. One of the ladies was really nice and said we could share something another day. we didnt ask to share something right then because we were looking for a different family, but after leaving i asked myself, ¨Should we have asked to teach them right then?¨ but when we passed by later they werent there anymore. So the day passed on and it was kinda late, and we had about 20 minutes to spare until the bus came. So we were standing on the sidewalk and the house in front of us had their door open, and i just pointed to the house and said, ¨Lets go talk to them!¨ So we did, and a lady came out and we asked if we could share something. She said, ¨Im the one that you talked to in that other house earlier today!¨ Haha i was like are you serious!! God really wanted us to teach her! So she let us in and found out that she met with the missionaries like a year and a half ago, for a really long time, and her family loved it when they came over. So we are hoping that this time she is ready to fully accept the gospel :)

This week we also did divisions! Hermana Herrera, from Mexico, who also has 3 weeks in the mission like my companion came here with me. Its always fun to mix things up and do divisions.

This week we get to go to the temple :) President Hayes wanted us to go this week so that we can prepare ourselves for general conference on the 3rd and 4th of october. I cant believe that its already time for general conference!

Well i hope you all have a great week and that you always trust in God! Because He is in charge! And he was a wonderful plan for each and every one of us, if we are willing to be obedient and give everything to him :)

Love you all!

Hermana geis

p.s. the sky is like black right now because of rain clouds....we are not excited for what is about to come...

On divisions with Hermana Herrera

Pretty Guaplies

A bridge we cross haha

Hermana Pena completed 1 month in the mission!

Monday, September 14, 2015

Week 65- A Microwave!!!

Hello everyone!

So this week was good :)

Its been raining a lot, we even had to buy some little rain boots. I didn't have any last year so these help a lot! But luckily when there have been complete downpours we´ve been in someone´s house.

We´ve been continuing to get to know the area. We found a lot of new investigators this week! Not all of them are super interested, but there are some who were complete miracles!

Something that we have been practicing this week is following the spirit. One thing i love about missionary work is following the Spirit - if I don't know what to do, all I have to do is say a little prayer and then see what the spirit tells me! Or the spirit will just tell me where to go as we are walking. Like getting a feeling to go to one house, or who to visit first, etc etc. I love it because it doesn't have to be logical - its just about what we feel!

We saw a lot of that last week. For example yesterday we had an appointment to visit a member, and we were in this one big area and were about to go with the member, but we were wondering if we should try to contact a reference that we had gotten that lived in the other direction. So my comp asked, ¨what do you feel?¨ and we had walked A TON that day and were super tired, but I felt that we should go contact the reference, even though we didn't even know exactly where she lived. So we went to find her, and she received us and accepted a baptismal date.

Another hilarious thing that happened. We were in a neighborhood for the first time and were trying to find some inactive members. We walked past a house with a bunch of people inside and my comp said, ¨we should contact that house!¨ and so we said we would on the way back. So on the way back we passed and I was like, ¨ok we gotta contact it if you felt like we should!¨ so we got their attention (here in Costa Rica you yell ¨upe¨ or ¨buenas¨ to ¨knock the door¨) and we were trying to figure out how we could start the conversation. so I was like, ¨do you know a....umm....Edwin? that lives around here?¨ which was the first name that popped into my head. And the guy was like, ¨umm just a sec.¨ And then this old man comes out and said, ¨Edwin who? whats his last name?¨ and we said we didn't know his last name. And then he said, ¨Well I'm Edwin! Who sent you here?¨ Hahaha. It was pretty hilarious. So he said we could come back and teach his family.

Today on the bus to San Jose I got to teach a preacher of another church about the Book of Mormon. It was pretty cool. It's funny because it was the only empty seat in the whole bus when I got on, and he said that before he got on the bus he felt that a young person who knew about God was going to sit next to him...haha

WE GOT A MICROWAVE THIS WEEK. Another miracle. ;) I haven't had a microwave for 15 months! It makes live so much easier!

Time is going by so fast! I cant believe it! I'm so grateful to be here on the Lord´s Errand. I know the Lord is with us and guiding us! I feel very happy - a little stressed at times when I start to think about all we need to do, but then I just take a breath and feel calm again.

The church is true and Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation - He, and obedience to His commandments.

I love you all!!

Hermana Geis

Rain boots!

Rain!

Making cookies in the office while our companions were getting fingerprints for their visas!

The cookie sheet didn't fit in the oven hahaha

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Week 64 - In the Rain Forest

Hello everyone!

So, changes happened.

We got to the office on Wednesday for transfers, and no one knew where they were going or who they would be with.

So I found out, finally, that I would be going to Guapiles, in Zona Atlantica! When I found that out I was jumping up and down sooo excited! That is exactly where I wanted to go! And I got my new companion, fresh from Columbia! So I'll end my mission training her, if nothing changes :)

Here in Guapiles, it is hot, humid, rainy - super tropical. It is like a different world from Cartago. I can't even believe how different the places are here in such a small country. I've been a little homesick for Cartago! Guapiles reminds me a lot of my first area here though.

So we got here Wednesday night and since we`re opening the area we have been visiting alllll of the members that we can - and we have seen so much miracles from that! At almost every house there has been a nonmember we`ve been able to meet and teach, and we have received about 20 references in the past few days. So we are super excited about the Ward here and everything. The members are sooo nice and are so willing to help us out and invite us over. It's funny because one of the counselors of the Bishop told us that in this Ward the key really is getting along with the members - if you can do that, you have a ton of success. So that is what we`re trying to do. Trying to help them see us as representatives of Jesus Christ who want to serve and work hard.

It was awesome because on Sunday, a member took us in his car to go around our area to see where all the members live. So that helped a lot. We drove to an area pretty far away, and it was like we were driving through a rain forest. It was so awesome.

I'm still a Sister Trainer Leader for the Zone so there is a lot to do. Whenever I start worrying about all the things we have to do, I just have to keep telling myself to trust completely in the Lord. If we are obedient and do what we are supposed to do, he`ll help us through everything. He`ll take charge and help us have success.

Today for a Zone activity we went to a zoo type thing haha. A really cool part was a butterfly tunnel. We were in a tunnel thing and there were a bunch of huge butterflies flying around!

Anyways, thank you all for everything, I'll write more next week!

I love you all so much!

hermana Geis :)

Saying goodbye to Hermana Moon :(

My new comp. Hermana Pena!

The Trainers Meeting with our new comps

Lunch

Saying goodbye to Hermana Chatwin

Leadership Meeting

Pres and Sister Hayes' daughter

Butterflies being born!

At the zoo

Passion fruit :)

Week 63 - Transfers to ??

Ok so this week was a little loco.

So I got crutches, so that my ankle could heal faster and so I could stop wearing the boot haha. But the crutches were killinng me. And we realized that it's because crutches aren't made to be used by people who walk as much as we do.

So I was just extremely discouraged that this was affecting things, and we talked to President Hayes and his wife and they said that they were going to send me to the office - to be in a trio with the nurse and her comp, so that I could rest up and get better. I was like, Please no!!! I can't go to the office, I need to be out visiting people!! But President told me that I had to, so that I could heal faster and then get out visiting people. So I was super upset about that, and was in denial that I would really be going to the office.

Then on Friday morning, President´s wife, Sister Hayes called me and said that they wanted me to train, so they said that if I was willing to rest until changes, which are this Wednesday, I could train and not go to the office! So I was like, Ok I will totally rest if that's the case!! So they said that I could go into the office so I wouldn't be tempted to visit people in Cartago, or I could stay with members in Cartago. So we coordinated so that I could stay with members here in Cartago.

They sent a mini missionary here to work with Hermana moon! How crazy is that. So yeah, I have to stay in allll day with Graciela, who is super awesome and like a big sister, but its super weird to be in all day. I hadn't rested for 15 months. And so now I feel more tired, and have no appetite because I'm used to walking all day, haha its super weird.

So they called today to tell me that I will be training. But that means that I'll either be opening an area, or whitewashing the area (when they take out the missionaries in the area and put two new ones in). So I'm nervous, because I have no idea where I'll be going, but excited! But it is weird that this is how I will be ending my mission - training, in a new area. Time is going to fly by even faster than it already has.

So on Saturday, ANDREA GOT BAPTIZED!!!! :) Can you believe it? The reference from Utah. The one who decided to stop receiving us. But God always wins. And she got baptized! She was soo excited she couldn't even wait. And it was such a special day. Lots of people came to the baptism, Hermana Moon and I got to sing a hymn and made her cry, and she was just so happy. It was beautiful!

Yesterday at church, I said bye to everyone :( It was sad. But also really happy, because I realized how much I really loved these people! The Bishop asked who he could talk to to have me stay in Cartago. Hahaha. I love Cartago so much! It was especially hard to say bye to the recent converts, and Ginnia, Gleny, and Andrea were all crying. But it was awesome to be able to say that I would be back in December to visit them at the end of my mission.

Anyways I'm so grateful for all the opportunities that I've gotten on my mission, and for all that I've learned. I love the gospel and the church and all of you!

Thanks for everything!

hermana Geis :)