Week 46- Trust in the Lord

Hello everyone!! 

So this week was good, a little more stressful than usual, which is not good! Because we should not be stressed on the Lords errand! But it happens...thats when we just have to remember that the Lord is in charge and that He will take over if we do all that we can. 

So last week on wednesday, we had the trainers meeting and breakfast. President has a meeting with all the new trainers, and then everyone goes to his house to eat breakfast. then they have a big reveal where the trainer goes to the middle of the room, not knowing who their comp is going to be, and then president announces who they will be training. Its pretty exciting haha. But it was pretty funny because obviously me and hna castro have been together for two weeks...so i was the first one called to the middle haha. So anways the meeting was reallyyy good. President reminded us of the importance of our assignment and gave us some really good advice. So i left feeling motivated and ready to improve!

The next day, thursday, President Wilkinson came to cartago to have an interview with one of our investigators so they could get baptized - jason. It went really well. We have been preparing him and his mom yesenia right? And they have been way excited about everything. But Yesenia just got the opportunity to work on sundays. So we were talking about the sabbath day and faith and how if we do exactly what God wants even if we dont understand it, he will bless us. We testified so strongly and even shared an experience of a member who got offered a job that she LOVED, but they said she had to work on sundays. So she quit the job without hesitation, and was without work. Then the next week they called her and offered her an even better job with higher pay and everything, and only had to work monday to friday. So we were trying to help her understand the concept of faith and trust, and she understood everything, but in the end always said, ¨But i have to go to that job.¨ So it was very frusterating. But President said to us that she is just starting in the gospel, and is like a baby learning to walk - her faith is not so strong yet. So that really changed my perspective. We just have to help her realize that God will not let her suffer if she keeps His commandments.
That is one thing i have learned that i will never doubt: If we do EXACTLY what the Lord wants, even if we are scared or if it isnt logical, or the world is telling us to do something else, He will bless us. He will give us everything we need.

We are teaching another awesome family Marvin and Maritza and their two daughters. I think i wrote a little about them last time. They are just so excited about everything we share and have so much faith, i love it. They say that they have been looking for the truth and feel like they are really finding it. I cant wait to see their progression and what the Lord has in store for them.

Well things are always crazy but great! Time is flying by sooo much. Cant even believe it. 

I love you all - thank you for your prayers and support. Que Dios les bendiga.

Hermana Amy Geis :) 

Week 45

Hello Everyone!

This week was kinda crazy like always.

We had our multizone conference on Tuesday with President Wilkinson and it was really good. He taught us how to plan better lessons. And thats not just saying, we´re gonna read this scripture and explain this part...its planning with the investigators are going to do in the lesson. Planning what questions to ask, what to tell them to look for, how to capture their attention, when to use what examples, etc etc etc. Basically he said that all of that ¨cuesta.¨ Or in other words, it is really hard. And it requires a lot of patience and energy - he says that planning a lesson like that is a lot harder than walking around knocking doors all day. And its true! But we have been trying to do it :) its really awesome planning that way. Because its a lot easier to have spiritual experiences with the people that way and that is how they are going to become converted to the gospel. 

So ive realized that we do not have success in the areas close to our house so we have been traveling more. So a lot of buses, but a lot of prepared people as well. Weve found some great families in an are that i had never really gone before. We were actually in the home of one family and the wife Angie went outside for a minute to talk to a neighbor, and then she came in and told us, ¨My neighbor asked if you guys could go visit them.¨ So we went right after haha and they are AWESOME. We had an awesome lesson explaining how Christ organized his church and how we have the same church today. The wife Maritza said that she feels as if she is searching for the truth and hasnt found it yet. We told her that she doesnt have to search any longer, because God sent us to her. 

So things are going great, always trying to improve and do more of what the Lord asks of us. I hope you can all push a little harder everyday to do what the Lord wants, and not what we want. Im so grateful for Christ and for what He did for us, and for all that we can accomplish with His help.

Thank you all for your support - Les quiero mucho!

Con mucho amor, 

Hermana geis 

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Week 44- Happiness Through Trials

Hellooo everyone!

So this week was good! Its interesting that i can say that because really this week was not as successful as any other week haha. But I dont feel discouraged at all. There were days where no one let us in or no one was home, and I wasnt affected at all. I was happy. Thats a complete miracle. I couldnt be more grateful for Heavenly Father blessing me that way.

We have been working a lot with Jorge and Ines - the couple who went to church for several months like two years ago and who arent married. So we have been trying to help Jorge see the importance of marriage so that they could get baptized, but something at the back of my mind was always telling me that something else was the problem. And this week we found out what it was. He doesnt believe in the Book of Mormon at all. He thinks that it is just a book that Joseph Smith wrote and made up. So basically we have been studying a ton to prepare to teach him and help him understand and see the truthfulness of the book. But the thing is if he never prays with a sincere heart to ask if its true, he will NEVER get the answer and he will never know. So we went with him twice this week to talk only about the book of mormon - to read it, and talk about the importance of praying with the specific question of whether or not it is true. So the last time we went we read a bunch of scriptures that we AWESOME (like 2 Nephi 29). And he kept on saying things like, ¨Yeah that makes a lot of sense...but...¨ and always put another doubt in there. I felt the spirit so strongly, but he was just so unwilling to accept it. At one point he said that hes wondered why he is here and hes asked God to send him a sign to tell him his purpose and all these things. Then i said, ¨Have you ever wondered why God has sent so many missionaries to you?¨ And he just sat there thinking, and then said, ¨Yeah that could be it...¨ and we testified that God has been trying to tell him what the truth is over and over again but he hasnt been willing to accept it. So we invited him to pray with the specific question, of whether or not all of this was true, and then we left. As we were walking outside i said to my comp, ¨I feel mad, frusterated, dissappointed....but i also feel really really happy. Know why? Because i know that these things are true. Ive never known so much in my life.¨ 

Seriously, studying for this man has made my testimony rock hard. I am SO extremely happy because i feel like i am becoming truly converted to the gospel. That is the only thing i wanted from my mission - to become converted. And ive never had such a surety of these things.

Just this week i have noticed how much ive changed. And i really know why im here. To invite people to come unto Christ. If they dont want to, we wont force them. We are here to invite. And if they dont accept it they are losing the best joy and peace that they could have.

Im here because I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Im here for them. And i know that this church is the exact church that Jesus Christ established, and that he is in charge. I know that the Book of Mormon is true, without a doubt. And that is the key to everything. We were watching a video the other day of Jeffrey R Holland talking about the Book of mormon, the talk is called Safety for the Soul. He says, ¨In this I stand with my own great-grandfather, who said simply enough, “No wicked man could write such a book as this; and no good man would write it, unless it were true and he were commanded of God to do so.”¨I testify of his words.

Oh and also we have two baptisms this week! Yesenia, who was a reference from a member from another ward, she is amazing! and Cesar. Cesar talked with the missionaries a long time ago and has always been iffy about the church. But he let us come and visit him this week and he said that he has been listening to conference talks, listening to hymns, and reading the book of mormon. He said, ¨If i didnt know all of this were true, i wouldnt have let you guys come over.¨ So that was awesome!! 

Well im so grateful for all of you and i hope you all seguir adelante and keep the faith. I love you all!

Que Dios les bendiga,

Hermana Geis 

With Hermana Castro!

Sunset! 

practicing door contacting in district meeting (it was pretty hilarious)

Week 43- What Just Happened?!?

Hello everyone!

So this was thee craziest/weirdedst week of my mission.

Literally one hour after i wrote you all last week, the assistants called us. They told us that we would be having emergency changes!!! They told hermana chatwin that she would be leaving the next day to Concepcion, an area thats about a half hour from here in Cartago. We were in a store when they called so i didnt hear what they said, but i could tell what they told her. When she hung up the phone, i was just like, ¨No hermana! I dont want to know!!!¨ But sadly she was getting changed :( and i was told that i would be training!! But they didnt know if my future comp would be coming in one week, or three weeks. Haha so it was a little confusing. so the next day hna chatwin left for her area and one of the hermanas in that area, Hna Canales from honduras, came with me, because they are in a trio there. We didnt know how long we would be together, but we figured it would be for just a week. So then even more craziness happened, because the next day (Wednesday) hna canales´ zone was going to the temple! So i got to go again!!! And hna chatwin got to go too, because thats her new zone. And then on thursday, their zone had a multizone conference with president. So we had to go to that too. So me and hna chatwin were really glad we still got to see each other lots haha but it was sad not being in my area!! But it was still a good week and we still got a lot done. But i was feeling an extreme amount of stress just because of the change and not exactly knowing what was going on. So i really just had to trust in the Lord. I have felt my relationship and testimony of the Savior grow so much and im so grateful for that. It is a lot more personal now, and although ive always known He exists and is there, I really know even more now and feel his presence a lot more in my life. I know that He is there. So im very grateful for that.

So today we went to the office early and i picked up mi hija! And saw hna chatwin again haha, because she was there to pick up hna canales. My new comp is Hermana Castro, and she is actually from costa rica! :) And i love her already. Shes way sweet. Im excited! Im way excited to train again because i know that i am going to learn so much.

So we have been working a lot with an hermana named Yesenia. A few weeks ago a member from another ward in our stake called us, and gave us her name as a reference! She said that her husband had just left her, and she felt like she was really ready to accept the gospel. So we went! And she is awesome. She has accepted everything and she and her two kids went to conference last week! But they went with the member in the other ward who gave them as a reference. One of her sons, Jason, was there the first time we went over but we didnt think much of him because he didnt seem interested. But we found out that he had come all the way from San Jose just to hear us, and he watched the conference online and has been reading the book of mormon!! And him and yesenia came to church yesterday :) they really liked it. And we had a family home evening with some members who live by them last night and it went really well. Im so excited for them! I just know that her and all of her kids will be baptized. Yesenia is the only one who has been to church twice, and her three kids only once. So we might wait until the first week of may so that they can all get baptized together. but we´ll see what happens!

Weve also been working with a mom, Lorena and her two kids. Theyve all been to church twice! And they want to be baptized, but her husband is not very supportive about it. We just hope that they can be brave enough to take this step despite what he might say.
Well i am super excited to work this week. Cartago is full of miracles and i am so excited to see even more. I will definitely need to trust in the Lord even more, because when i start thinking about all that we need to do i get a little overwhelmed. But i know that if we are being obedient and doing all that we can, the Lord will take charge and help us complete with his will.

Well i love you all! Always be grateful for what you have! Have a great week :) 

At the temple a second time! 

After our last district meeting together!

With Hermana Castro :)

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 :)