Week 15

​I feel like i just wrote two days ago! This week went by very fast. We´re already in week four of this transfer, and my comp goes home after this transfer! Only like two and a half weeks left with her!! So sad!

So it has been storming like crazy over here. We get soaking wet, even with our big umbrellas. Its true what they say - the umbrellas are just to help you see. Oh my gosh i have never seen thunder and lightning like this. A few days ago it was insane - the lightning was so close that the thunder happened at the same time as we saw the flash. It was scary! The thunder sounds fake, and like shakes everything! Theres a crazy storm right now and we heard people like scream outside when the thunder clapped hahaha.

On tuesday we got soaking wet and went to go visit a less active, Marielos, the one who always gives us food and who we always help make pastries. She made us wear her skirts and let ours dry haha and she gave us hot chocolate! I was so happy. I´ll attach a pic.

That night we had a lesson with a new couple, William and Jenni, at a members house named Cyndi. We visited her a while ago and asked her who the first name was that popped into her head of a friend that needs the gospel. She said, Jenni! So she had the idea to invite jenni and her husband over for us to help them all with their english - they have a big oral test coming up - and then share a message with them. So they came over, and theyre actually really good with their english! It was so fun just talking to them in english. They are seriously hilarious, we were laughing all night. And then we shared a message and cyndi started crying saying how much she loves them and wants them to be a united family. And basically it was amazing and a miracle! They invited us over to their house on friday. So we went and they fed us dinner (with no rice - i felt like i was in america) and they are just super nice. They want to take us to a national park or something on a pday. Her husband had to leave before we could have a lesson, but we taught her and we´ll have to see what happens - she has some doubts but i know with the help of cyndi she can feel the spirit and the truthfulness of this gospel.

So on wednesday we had divisions! I went up to Santa Cruz, and i was with Hermana Garcia again. It stressed me out to leave our investigators haha but it ended up being really refreshing to be in a new area and experience new things. I was there until friday morning. We taught some really hard hearted people. It was exhausting! With one lady, we offered her a book of mormon and shes like, no way i dont want that. Its crazy because she was like, Yeah i know the bible is missing a lot and has been changed a lot but oh well we´ll work with what weve got. I was like, we have the book of mormon to fill in those missing pieces and it is such a blessing! Why would you not want that?? So i thought of some scriptures that talk about how just because God wrote his word in one book, doesnt mean he cant write more in another (i cant remember where it was) and i just asked her to read one verse, but she kept reading out loud until the end of the chapter hahaha. She totally loved it. But yeah divisions was fun!
Theenn i got really sick. The flu or a really bad cold or something. Im getting better though! The elders gave me a blessing and my neighbor made me really yummy soup today :) its my favorite costa rican meal! and she knows i love it haha. 

Well time is going by super fast! We have a baptism set for the 27th with a golden investigator named Dinia. Pray for her! :)

Thank you for all the prayers and i just love you all!

Hermana Geis :)

Costa Rican rain!

Drinking hot chocolate and wearing Marielo's skirt haha

Drinking coconut juice with Hermana Garcia

Tarantula!

           

3 Months Down!!

Hello everyone! How are you all :)

This week was a little crazy again!

On monday night we had noche de hogar. It was super fun! We gave a message about the holy ghost, and then played a charades game. I love seeing the branch all having fun and bonding together. It was crazy because the power went out that night at like 6 30 in like the whole city - it was COMPLETELY dark - we were in like a remote neighborhood. No light anyywhere. It was so weird. Bonus to that was that I got to see a ton of fireflies! I was so happy.

Tuesday we had the multi zone conference in san jose. got up at 2 am, left at 3, and then got to the office and we were there from 8 am to 3 pm. President talked to us about how he wants everything to double. Its scary hearing that because we really have to give it our all, which isnt easy. I really need to work on forgetting myself and focusing everything on this work, specifically in nicoya right now. We got back late that night (dont worry i got subway before we left ;))

So long story short, Mariela and Andres did not get married. It was extremely dissappointing. We texted them tuesday making sure everything was set and they said that they werent going to get married because they didnt have enough money. We went to talk to them the next day and we said we would make the desserts and help them out with that - they said okay and everything was fine. Not even 10 minutes after we left their house, mariela texted us saying that andres told her he loved someone else and was kicking her out of the house and that she was leaving in the morning. We were like, what?? What on earth happened? We were so confused. The next day we went to visit them, and andres was acting totally normal and we were so confused. Then we started to talk about what happened and if they still wanted to be an eternal family - Mariela said she wants to be with her kids and nothing else. Apparantly they have had problems and she doesnt want to marry him when she cant trust him. We left very disapointed, i was emotionally exhausted. They were so close to the gospel and Satan completely attacked them. But, I know that God has a plan and we did all that we could to help them. Maybe its just not their time.They both know the church is true and we are hoping that one day they will take the steps necessary to receive all of the blessings from it.

The elders still had their wedding on saturday though! It was so nice. A young couple, the girl is in a wheelchair because she cant walk. When the lawyer told them to make a promise to each other they could barely talk because they were both crying. It was so special. They got baptized after, and I gave a talk about the holy ghost. It was so cool to see all that. They invited us over to their house that night for dinner too! So sweet.

We´ve been trying to work really hard to find the people that are really prepared to accept the gospel. We have found a lot of new people to teach, and we hope that we can really help them progress. I have been continuing to try and follow the spirit! one cool experience: We went to buy snacks in a store, and then a little while after we left i realized i left something in the store! Without hesitation i said, well i guess the Lord wants us to go back there for some reason! So we went back, got what i left, and then prayed to know where we should go. I felt prompted to go to a specific house, but nothing happened. We waited a while for someone to answer, but no one did. So we left, and then there was a dad walking with his little girl. We started to talk to him and he said we can come over and teach him and his family! Im so excited! We really are trying to find families and future leadership for the branch and we found one! We´ll be visiting him this week.

Theres this one street where we know pretty much everyone on it haha and we´re going over to Fernanda´s house to watch the Restoration movie! We bought popcorn yay :) we´re doing this for Evelio, her grandpa. He loves reading the book of mormon and doesnt question anything but I think hes just scared to change. This movie honestly helped me so much and gave me a very strong testimony of the restoration so im hoping it will do the same for him.
The book of mormon is such a blessing. We are lucky to have it and I invite each of you to share it with someone you know. Everyone who reads the book of mormon with a real intent will be converted, so theres no need to be afraid to share it.

I love you all a lot! Keep your faith and be strong! Thanks for everything,
hermana Geis :) 

my lunch! (when we get veggies we PILE them on haha)

the wedding

Almost Three Months!

Helloo!

This week i hit my three month mark. Weird right?

This week was a little disappointing at times, just because a lot of people arent progressing. Its really sad to see that.
One thing that I have come to have a very strong testimony of is following the promptings of the spirit. We allwaayys need to follow the spirit. I have always had problems figuring out what are my thoughts, and what are promptings of the Holy Ghost. And as Elder Bednar has said, it doesnt matter! If there is any possibilty a thought is from the holy ghost, we need to follow that thought. I have been really trying to do that. Even when i dont want to haha or when it doesnt make sense to me. One cool experience was last night. We had talked to a lady outside of her house the night before and she wasnt very interested, but I felt like we should go visit her. So we went over, and they looked like they were getting ready for bed so we didnt talk to them - but the people next door were outside! Now backtrack - we talked to a girl named Elisabeth about a month or so ago in this next house and she was super great, but every time we went back to her house no one was home. But i kept on thinking about her and wanted to visit her. Since we tried so many times i forgot about her - if we didnt pass by last night i wouldnt have talked to her again! She came out and is super interested and we have an appointment with her on wednesday! She said that she had been out of town helping her dad, and she was waiting for us to call her because she didnt have our number! So the spirit works in mysterious ways. I needed to go try to visit the other girl so that we could talk to elisabeth.

Something else really special happend last night. We had visited a lady a few days ago, and she was a little doubtful about everything, but we went back last night to see how she was. She said that she read the pamphlet about the restoration and she said, I did not like it. She began to tell us why she didnt like it and all these things...it was really sad to see that. My comp was getting kind of flustered and contention was building up so I offered to say a prayer to leave. It was so weird - i felt nothing but pure love for this woman. Shes a daughter of god and is just trying to do whats right! She wasnt trying to be rude, she was sincerely concerned for our salvation (hahaha). But honestly i felt the spirit so strongly during the prayer and she was sincerely grateful for the prayer and ended up saying, maybe one day ill go to your church to learn more. Im grateful for that experience! Because I know that God loves her so much and contention does no good for anyone.

So we have the wedding of Mariela and Andres on Saturday! Woohoo! And guess what. They asked me and my comp to be the witnesses of the wedding haha. So thats cool! Were going to try to have food after the wedding. And we still need to make cinnamon rolls this week!! They said they dont need us to do that but i feel so bad, i think they really do need the help. We had to push their baptism back because they didnt go to church :( But he said the closing prayer in our lesson last night, and it was amazing. He asked God to help them get married and eventually go to the temple. Wow. :)

Weve been working with a girl named Crystel. She totally knows the Book of Mormon is true. The last time we visited her, in the words of my comp, There was a light in her eyes. She totally knows. But she doesnt want to pray and ask if its really true, because she says shes afraid to receive the answer that its true - that would mean she has to change, and that shes been in the wrong church her whole life. We are trying to help her, and hopefully shell find the courage to change her life for the gospel :)

Here are some funny experiences for the week: we were at a taco place, and everything here is deep fried. I saw that they had a burrito and i was so excited! but they fry that too. so i was like, Can i have it not fried? They look at me like i was crazy. Hahaha but they gave it to me not fried and it was delicious! seriously though who fries a burrito! ;)

Also, we were at a members house and she gave us empanadas! but they werent soft of course. they were deep fried (you should have seen all the oil she used) and inside was cheese and sugar. Sugar?? My tastebuds were so confused.
Tomorrow we go to San Jose at three in the morning for a conference! We will talk about how to better teach, and also a doctor is going to talk to us about our health. Apparrantly a lot of people are getting sick - especially hermanas. But no worries I am healthy :D

Well i love you all a lot. Have the best week, and trust in the lord. Thanks for everything :)

Love,

Hermana Geis :)

         Eating ice cream out of a bag! :)

Week 12-- Transfers

Hola!

Well, transfers happened. I have 6 weeks left in my training, so me and Hermana Montoya had no doubt we were both staying. But no...Hna Montoya got transferred! She was bawling...so sad :( She loves nicoya! Has been here for 6 months. So yeah we were shocked! They called us Sunday night to tell us she´d be leaving the next day (thats how they do it here) so she said goodbye to who she wanted to that night and then packed up all her things. We left early the next morning to Santa Cruz, where other hermanas in our district are. Montoya left from there with other hermanas getting changed (it was pretty sad) and I stayed with another hermana. It was nice because I just got to relax in the apartment for a little bit! But my new companion got on the bus super late to come here, so i ended up having to go to Libera (2 hours away) to pick her up! And then we finally made it back to Nicoya at like 8 at night where our lovely neighbor fed us as she always does :) (our lunch cook) My new comp is Hermana Burningham from Highland Utah. She is ending her mission in 6 weeks! Which means i´ll get another comp in 6 weeks haha so weird! Its funny because every gringa missionary I´ve talked to has only had latina companions, and i´ve only had gringa companions!

So last monday we had noche de hogar with the ward! It went well, we ate yummy homemade pizza :) and David came with alejandra! That was a miracle let me just say. We´re going to do noche de hogar every other week, so that will be great.

We are working with a couple, Mariela and Andres, who are my age! They accepted a date to get married and later baptized!! :) Theyre great. We stopped visiting them a while ago because we didnt think they were progressing, but when we started again they were very accepting and they actually asked us to come and teach them more frequently - we were like, um, we would love to!! haha. It was cool because Andres said that he received his answer about the Book of Mormon through his grandmother who passed away - we wanted to ask what he meant but didnt pry haha. He meant like through a dream or something. Cool right? Its because she has accepted the gospel and his waiting for him to take his step on earth to help her receive the blessings of the gospel :) So awesome. But yes they are getting marriedaugust 30th :D they have a baby girl and she just told us she´s pregnant! So its way good they are getting married :) Then theyll get baptized on september 7th. It worked out really well because we have to find a lawyer to do the wedding, and theres a lawyer in san jose who´s a member and does it for a lot cheaper, but he only comes if theres two or more weddings - luckily the elders here are also having a wedding that day!! Un milagro! So that will be great. They dont have a lot of money, so we are going to make cinnamon rolls with Marielos to sell and raise money. Its a lot of work but the hermanas before me did that for another wedding and they raised a good amount. Please pray that it will all work out okay! Haha :) 

Dia de las madres was on friday - happy costa rican mothers day mom! We made some cards for some of the moms we visit. Also on sunday after church, the branch president served us all a mothers day lunch! It felt so good for them to do something like that without us being in charge - woohoo rama de nicoya! 

The weeks are going by real fast. Im almost to my three month mark! It seems little when you think about how much you have to go, but i really dont think about it that way. I think about how i already have 3 of the months down! Thats crazy. I only have this short time to use the authority of a set apart missionary to preach the gospel. When i think about that i feel a lot of responsibility which is scary, but I know that with the Lords help, and only with his help, I can do it. I have so many family and friends who have served, are serving, or are going to serve and thinking about all of you gives me strength and comfort :) Im so grateful for my family and the blessing we have to be an eternal family. I see so many broken families who dont have the gospel and wow, i am so lucky. And im so grateful for everyone who has helped me stay strong in the gospel - yw leaders, bishops, friends, etc etc. Seriously thank you.

well, all for now :) love you all! have a great week! pray always!

hermana geis :) 

        drinking out of a bag at noche de hogar! (They say only in costa rica)

              ​hermana montoya saying goodbye to denis, fernanda, and evelio

                 Weird fruit

              Happy mother's day mom!!!! :) :)

Week 11

Hola everyone! 

This week was pretty eventful! Im  just going to tell you about some experiences that I had.

So we had intercambios this week with other pair of hermanas  in our  district. Hermana Garcia came  here to nicoya, and my comp Hermana Montoya went up to Santa Cruz with the other Hermana. Hna Garcia has been out for 6 months and served a mini mission (5 months) in her country, Honduras, before coming to Costa Rica. I learned a lot from her! She got here at 7 am on Thursday, stayed the night, and then left Friday morning.  We had a lot of success that day! One thing she taught me was to alllways follow the spirit - if a scripture or experience pops into my head during a lesson, I need to share it. I really like that, because I always have ideas pop into  my head during lessons but dont always share them. 

One really cool experience happened that day. We were with Fernanda and her family, and her mom Cyndi  loves us coming and is very receptive but doesnt have the desire to go to church or get baptized. We taught them about following the prophet, and after we ended the lesson with a  prayer and everything, Hna Garcia asked her why she hasnt taken the step of getting baptized. Cyndi said she´s  kind of waiting for a sign as an  answer that she should. Then Garcia pulled out a scripturein Galatians that says that the  fruits of the spirit are joy, happiness, peace, etc -- Cyndi has said that she´s felt all of that, so that was perfect for her to hear. Then we challenged her to pray again for an answer of if this church is true. I felt the prompting to invite her to kneel and  pray right now, with all of us together. But we had already said a closing prayer! So I was like, nahh  i wont we can do that next time...but then  I thought, no! Why not now. So as Hna Garcia was getting up to leave, i asked, ´Hermana Cyndi, could you offer a prayer right now, kneeling, with that specific question of whether you should get baptized and if this church is true?¨And surprisingly she was more than happy to do so. The spirit was very strong. After we left, Hna Garcia said that she had felt the same prompting to  invite Cyndi to do that! So that was cool.

The rain storms have started! They are crazy. Crazy thunder and lightning!! And the people here have tin roofs, so when it rains hard during a lesson no one can hear a thing. We were with new investigators that same day, and there was a crazy  storm. It even started hailing!! Apparantly that happens here!  Hna garcia was literally shouting  the invitation to be baptized to them - and they couldnt even hear it. That was really frusterating- Satan will do anything to prevent people from accepting the gospel.

We  had another lesson with Alejandra and David! We talked about the restoration. It went soo well. It was raining really hard so we all scooted our chairs really close together to hear each other haha. And guess what.....David accepted the invitation to be baptized!!!!! For september 20th. He said, ¨Do you think I´ll be ready by then?¨Thats  awesome that he asked that because that means he has the desire. Now they just need to get married. He didnt come to church, so  we´ll see if he´ll make the effort to come next week.
On Sunday afternoon we went over  to their house for their two year old son´s birthday celebration! It was so fun, we ate arroz con pollo, ice cream cones and cake, and there was a pinata and everything haha. We felt so special to be invited :) And we know practically everyone on their street (and teach a lot of them) so that was fun. I´ll send pics!

We had a ¨noche de hermanamiento¨ on friday night at the church, and it was way fun! last time, two people came,so this  time was a lot better haha there were like 15 people there. We shared a message and then played a game - everyone took off their shoes, put them in a pile, and divided into teams. We all went outside the room, and whoever´s team got all their shoes on first won. So simple and yet so fun. Haha its funny because it was mostly older people and a couple kids, and then us and the elders. Such a random group and yet we bonded together! Tonight we´re having a noche de hogar at someones house and I so excited! The relief society sisters are making pizzas, we´ll have a message,  and then play a game. This is so great because our little branch really needs to bond.

Here´s a funny story: we were talking to a guy on the street and he was talking about his family and how he just lives with his kids.  He said something like, ¨A lot of people think its the men who fall but this time it was the woman!¨ meaning that she left him. But he used a verb that apparently can also mean to die, and my comp only heard that word and so she was like, ¨I know that you will see your wife again!¨ And he  was  like, ¨No i dont want to see her again!¨ hahaha oh gosh...and it was the native speaker that made the mistake! ;)

I was with some kids that we´re teaching and they were all begging me to tell them my first name. Haha it was too funny. And they were asking in that Dominican way that made me think of you family hahaha. I told  them it started with an A and they were guessing all these spanish names...its super weird because they really have never heard my name before most likely - it will probably sound so weird to them! Heck it sounds weird to me now! Haha i told them i´d tell them before i leave!

well everyone, thanks for your love, prayers, and support. I love you all :) Pray every day, read the book of mormon, and trust in the Lord rather than in yourself. Have a great week!

Hermana geis :)

                            Alejandra, David, and their son Diron!

Week 10

Hi everyone! This week was loco.

Last thursday we had zone conference and President Wilkinson (mission president) came to talk to us. He wants a stake in our zone! And he gave us very detailed instructions on how it will be done. He wants to turn every branch into a ward! Except for our branch...we were really sad about that haha. Its just too small. But we are going to work really hard to help it grow. Our goal is to find future priesthood holders and families who are ready to accept the gospel.

This week has been kind of full of rejection. Lots of appointments falling through, people avoiding us, no one wanting to listen. But in last weeks email mom talked about looking for miracles. So thats what I´ve been trying to do. And here are some really great things that are happening:

The family that got married and baptized the first weekend I was here is doing amazing. Jacqueline is SO strong and is truly converted. She loves the song Families Can Be Together Forever, and loves to talk about the temple. She actually asked us if she could come with us to visit an investigator and asked us to talk about temples. It was amazing. I am so happy for her. They are totally going to get sealed in a year! And I will be able to go! :) 

One cool thing: someone called US to go visit them!! Haha a guy wants us to come teach him and his wife, he even gave us a topic to teach! Woohoo!

One funny thing: we were walking trying to find the house of a gringo that we met (i´ll take any chance to teach in english hehe) and this old lady comes out of a house behind us and says, "Hello! Come in!" Haha we were like, uhh what?? Okay! Haha so we went in and she gave us a snack and talked to us for a while. She used to rent out a house to some sister missionaries so she wanted to talk to us! She doesnt really want to learn about the gospel haha but hey we´ll try!

One really sad thing that happened this week was with Freddy and Shirley. They were all set to come to church, and we called them in the morning and said they were coming, and they never showed up. So we visited that night to talk to them about what they want from our visits and what they are willing to do. Unfortunately, they are not willing to take action to change. Shirley is afraid of people judging her, so she wont take the step of faith and be baptized. Freddy totally has the desire, he just wont put church above his work. That lesson with them was exhausting - i walked out of there with the biggest headache. All we could say was, we have done our part, now you have to do yours. I told them that we´re not there to invite people to come to church. We´re there to make changes in their lives and make the sacred covenant of baptism. Me and hermana Montoya are really sad about them. But I guess its just no their time. And there are other people who are prepared who we need to find!
Another thing happened with Rita: We went to visit her to have kind of the same conversation - she has not been progressing at all. She told us that she is moving to San Jose - and we could not be happier about that. Why? Because she cannot progress here. She is in a really bad relationship and doesnt feel safe here, so she´s moving in with her family in San Jose. We are seriously so happy for her. When we said how happy we were to get to know her she started crying. I just hope she can progress over there and always feel god´s love for her.

Yesterday was our monthly checkup for new missionaries! We went to san jose (3 AM) and President talked to us mostly about being exactly obedient. Im happy to say that obedience is really important to me and my companion but we can always improve and be even more exactly obedient. We then had lunch at his house - burritos! But with no rice and beans to give us a break haha. I saw people from the MTC so that was way fun! Then we walked around San Jose and looked at the souvenir stuff to buy. And I got subway for dinner so score! Oh and i washed my hands at Presidents house and it was hot water and I freaked out. I had forgotten what that felt like hahaha

One thing that really affected me this week was in Alma 1:46. It says that the preacher is no better than the hearer, the teacher is no better than the learner. That hit me very hard. Im not better than the people I teach and I know that I have to learn just as much as they do! 

Well thats all for now, thank you so much for the support and love! I love you all!!! 

hermana Geis :)



Making Chorreadas - a tortilla made only out of corn. You churn up the corn and then it turns into a batter and you cook it like a pancake. They are AMAZING!

                                    Marielos frying the corn batter

                             me churning corn to make chorreadas!

         the finished product of the chorreada! (half eaten)

               our primary class that we taught on sunday! fernanda and her brother denis

Happy Two Months!!

Guess what everyone! Its my mission birthday today (July 28th)!! Haha I have been on my mission for exactly two months. Woohoo! Mission birthdays are fun - my companion even made me a card haha. And since today is Pday we went to the beach! Woohoo! It was fun. And we ate at a yummy mexican restaurant. Believe it or not mexican food is very different than costa rica food haha so it was nice. It was fun because we went to Samara Beach which is very touristy, so I got to speak english to people haha.

I actually got to speak english a lot this week because of the fair in Nicoya. Lots of tourists in town. The 25th is like their fourth of july, so their was a parade and fireworks and lots of people in the park. It was crazy! It made me miss the fourth of july haha!

Speaking of English, I´m teaching people english! Im teaching one less active member in the branch, and a couple other people want me to teach them. I love it! It´s so much fun for me. But English is hard so hopefully im teaching them right haha. Theres a few people who want me to teach them piano as well! And i dont know why because i mess up enough when i play during church hahaha for real. But hey we´ll see how that goes.

This week was good but harder than others because not a lot of people wanted to talk to us! We get close to no referrals from members, so we went out knocking on doors a lot (knocking on doors hear means standing outside their gate and yelling hola or buenas or upe haha). Not a lot of success there, which isnt surprising because they key is getting referrals from members. The members just dont trust us yet apparantly! But we´re working on that :) so yeah everyone go give the missionaries a refferral! 

Its been hard to get our investigators to come to church. One couple we´re teaching, Shirley and Freddy, have a lot of potential. Freddy reads the Book of Mormon and really wants to get baptized. But, he works every sunday as a soccor referee. We didnt know what to do about that until we found out he´s the manager and can easily get it off - but he wont! His wife Shirley has anxiety and its hard to get her to come. She´ll flat out tell us that she wont come because she´s lazy. Its interesting. Its just disappointing because they´re a very rare couple - they dont drink coffee or alchohol or anything, and they have been married for 35 years! That is unheard of here. So its just frusterating to see them throw away this opportunity to accept the gospel by not coming to church. Its crazy how much I have realized how important church is. Its important that we go every sunday, for all three hours. Because its showing we´re willing to keep the commandments and sacfrifice our time for the Lord. Thats definitely something i´ve learned, because I definitely had days when I didnt want to go or had a bad attitude at church. So stay strong everyone :) 

I also got to make a comida tipica this week! Chorreadas - a tortilla made only out of corn. You churn up the corn and then it turns into a batter and you cook it like a pancake. They are AMAZING. I´ll send pics.

Well i love you all and thank you for everything!! 
Love, Hermana Geis :)