Week 33- Waterfalls and homemade cookies

Hello everyone!
I have lots to write today. Lots has happened!
So first of all, remember Floribeth? The awesome member who´s husband, Melivin, who`s like 80 got baptized like two months ago. Well he passed away :( He has been really sick, and he passed away last week. It was so sad to hear that. So we and a group of members from the branch took a car up to where they live, which is kinda far away for the funeral on wednesday. Floribeth is so strong, and we love her so much. She has been helping Melvin so much by teaching him about the gospel and always being there for them. You could tell she was really affected by his passing but is very strong and knows that she´ll see him again. She wanted to have a little ceremony for him at her house and so I got to give a talk. I was really nervous because there was like 200 people sitting outside of her house and i just stood in front and basically shouted my talk. But i felt the spirit so strongly. I talked about eternal life and how death is not the end. It was a very cool experience to be able to testify to everyone there about life after death. It was hard to see the family going through such a hard time. But they will see Melvin again.

So hermana perez and I had a really cool experience this week. We were trying to find the house of a contact we had made so we could have a lesson with him. We had the basic direction but we couldnt find his house anywhere. We were asking everybody if they knew him and everyone sent us to another place and another and i was thinking, we are wasting so much time! Why cant we find him! So we went to one house that someone else sent us to, and he had no idea who the guy we were looking for was. So we asked him if he knew anyone else that we could visit and share our message with. He said that there was a really poor family who lived close. So we went to where he said they lived and it was on the other side of what used to be a river. And it did not look easy to get over there - you have to like go down the hill and then climb up the other side. We didnt know if anyone was even home, but something was telling us to go over there. So we did, and we could tell they were very poor. The house is only wood, with a couch and chairs outside and a bunch of things on the ground outside. And they werent home! But i knew that we didnt go over there for nothing. I saw a little desk outside of the house, and decided to leave a pamphlet there, even though we have never done that haha. I pulled out a pamphlet for the plan of salvation, wrote our names and number on the back, and wrote on the front, ´¨Hola! Vamos a pasar otro dia :)¨ ("Hello! We will come back another day!" Haha! So we left that there and left. A few days later we were in the same area and we saw that they were home! They were outside of their house.We were a little hesitant, because its not a regular house where you can casually walk up to it and start talking to them - we have to go down the hill and climb up, and theyre the only house over there haha. So we yelled hola to them, and the mom yelled back, ¨Are you the ones who came here the other day?¨ ¨Si!¨ Then she laughed and said, ¨Come on over!¨ Haha so we excitedly went over and they very warmly recieved us! They said they had even read the pamphlet. AND they used to meet with the missionaries and have gone to the church once! And theyre a complete family! Who knows if they are married but we are going to pray that they are!! So basically, I know without a doubt that everything happens for a reason. If we didnt go to each house that wrongly sent us to other houses until we met the guy who gave us the reference, we NEVER would have found that family. Everything happens for a reason, every person crosses our path for a reason, and we recieve every prompting for a reason. So follow the spirit!

Thats something me and hermana perez have been focusing a lot on lately - relying on the spirit. Every time we dont know where to go or what we should do, we stop, no matter where we are, and say a prayer. I love being able to depend more on heavenly father and the holy ghost to guide us, because they know a lot more than we do.

yesterday was a good day! We went to some waterfalls with the members Vivian and Jose, who live farther away. It was so pretty, and seriously so relaxing to just sit and listen to the waterfalls. then we came home and bought a bunch of ingredients to make mom´s chocolate chip cookies!!!!! I was in heaven making those things. It was not easy finding the ingredients (like at all) or measuring the ingredients but they miraculously turned out! And i was so excited to just eat the cookie dough. It tasted like home! I explained to hna perez and marielos (we went to her house to make them) that that is the american thing to do - eat cookie dough. Haha they loved it! it was so cute, because in the closing prayer marielos said, ¨Thank you that hna geis could be connected with her mom by making her cookies¨ haha! it was so fun! first time ive eaten chocolate chip cookies in 8 months!

We bought a blender yesterday. thats a big deal. We bought a bunch of fruits and greens and are going to makes smoothies in the mornings! yay!!

This sunday i gave a talk about studying the scriptures. I was excited to talk about that because that is something that i have gained a really strong testimony about. I talked about lehis vision, and about the 3 different types of people in his dream that try to ge to the tree of life. the first group, doesnt even tough the iron rod, or the scriptures. The second group gets to the tree but then listens to the people of the world instead of the scriptures. and the third group does something different: They are CONSTANTLY holding onto the iron rod, or the word of god. Constantly is the key word. We need to constantly read the scriptures to be able to endure to the end and to come to know our heavenly father and jesus christ more. its the only way. (go read 1 nephi chapter 8) This morning, i was studying the plan of salvation and i was reading all of the scriptures that explain that doctrine. Something amazing happened. Although i didnt completely understand all of the scriptures specifically, my understanding of the plan of salvation greatly increased. Everything made more sense and i really understood fully why we are here and why we need to depend completely on Jesus Christ to return to our Heavenly Father. Even though the scriptures didnt say the exact words to explain it to me, just the act of reading the scriptures brought the spirit, which is what really taught me and helped me understand. I know that reading the scriptures will bring so much light into our lives! If we really dedicate time to them and read them every day, with real intent and a desire to learn.

Another cool thing that happened: A member gave us a reference of a worker of a shoestore. They didint even know their name, but they felt like they should tell us to go visit her. So we did, and she is awesome and is so grateful for us coming to visit her and help her grow closer to god. Moral of the story: you never know who is ready to accept the gospel! These members gave us the reference of someone they dont even know who they met in the shoestore...never doubt the impressions you get for who could be ready to accept the gospel!

A chicken entered our house this morning and left a present in our bathroom. the problems of living in nicoya...

Well thank you to everyone for your support and i love you all lots!

Love, Hermana geis 

Going to the waterfalls

The waterfalls!

With Vivian and Jose

Baking away

Takes like home!

Mom's cookies!!

Jakeline's first time wearing a skirt to church! Love her :)

Switching name tags :)

Week 32- Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith!

Hello everyone!!
Well i have lots to write today.
So this past week was good, but i also got really really sick! We ate dinner with a member tuesday night, and the next day i was throwing up all day. But it was the first time i really got sick on my mission so im lucky! My stomach is still a little iffy but its all good. 

One night a bunch of our appointments had fallen and I didnt really know where we should go. So we decided to say a pray to know where to go. We said the prayer, and then my comp felt like we should go down this one street. So we started walking to the street and there was a lady outside with her dog. We started talking with her and then she all the sudden says, ¨So when do you want to come visit me?¨ My jaw dropped and i just looked at my comp because i wasnt sure i had understood correctly. Haha after a bunch of rejection to meet someone like that was so awesome! And we did go back with her, and she is awesome. Her name is Elieth and lives with her daughter and her daughters husband. They all accepted a baptismal date. She cant go to church right now because she works every sunday, but she said that she has already talked to her boss to switch her free day to sunday! People never do that haha. She has a ton of faith, and she always says, I know that I will be able to go to church. Its awesome to see her desire and her faith that it will happen. So i am very grateful for prayer - and moments like that remind me that we are not alone here. I love knowing that i can always pray to heavenly father to ask for direction. And he gives us direction when we ask. I think we forget that way too often. Hes there, so ask Him for help! :) 

We have been working with a family who lives an hour away from here in bus - we met them in the house of Marielos, the less active member. The dads name is Ismael, and has 3 daughters and a son. His son, Minor, is a leader in another church, and i seriously love talking to him. Because he knows so much about the bible and everything and he is so willing to learn more and accept these things. Minor is reading the book of mormon and praying as well as ismael. Ismael and his three daughters came to church on sunday! It was a miracle. And then after church we met at Marieloss house to have a lesson. And he had brought a typed up document of all the questions he wanted to ask us about the Book of Mormon, with biblical references and everything. I loved it haha, because there is an answer to every question and every doubt! :) Its so fun really. And something really cool happen - his mom committed suicide when he was a baby and he really wants to know if there is hope for her to be saved. So a scripture came to my mind in the book of mormon and i read it, and he said ¨ok thats really interesting....but i would want to see a scripture that says that in the bible.¨ and guess what. I had written a cross reference at the side of the scripture, of a scripture in the bible that talks about the same thing. I NEVER write cross references. You can look through my entire book of mormon, and there is not one cross reference written, except for that one. And i had done that like a week before, and i remember doing it, thinking, hey that might come in handy in the future. The spirit had prompted me to write the reference, and i didnt even know it. If i hadnt written the reference, nothing bad would have happened. But i was able to answer his question in the exact moment that he needed it. So never doubt the thoughts or promptings you get - sometimes the spirit speaks in our own voice.

So yeah weve been working with ismael and minor, a lot over the phone because they live so far away, and they have said something really interesting. They say, ¨If the Book of Mormon is true, it changes everything.¨ They have lived their whole life being strong in another church and believing certain things, and they say that if the book of mormon is true, it will change everything and it wont be easy. That is so true. The Book of Mormon is not just a nice book that we can read to learn about God. It changes everything. It proves that we have the restored gospel here on earth, and that there is one true church of Jesus Christ. I love that they said that, because they realize the importance of it. They are realizing that there is more truth out there. And hearing them say this made me realize that its not easy for people to accept everything, because they realize that theyve lived their whole lives without the whole truth. But with that realization comes the joy that they have now found the whole truth. Everytime we answer a question or clear up a doubt, theyre always like, Ohhh that makes a lot of sense. Haha i love it. BUT, sooner or later they have to stop asking questions about the little details and have faith in the answer God will give them. Because there can always be thousands of questions about the church, and the book of Mormon, etc etc. But if we have recieved an answer from the Holy Ghost that its true, nothing else will matter. Thats what helps me - if i ever have a doubt that pops into my head or if something doesnt make sense, I stop, and remember that I have received and answer from the Holy Ghost that its true. Thats all that matters. And thats when faith is necessary. As pres Uchtdorf said, ¨Doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.¨

Yesterday we met a family whos daughter is named Amy...when she said her name i just gasped. It was the first time ive heard my name in my mission! haha :)

Oh and we had an activity on friday night with the branch and it was SO FUN. Sooo many people came it was a miracle! And we had so much fun :) it was like a relay, they were divided up in groups and had to do a puzzle, then ran to another room to do another activity, etc etc. It was way fun and lots of investigators came too!
Oh and we had branch conference on sunday! it was so good. and guess what....94 PEOPLE WERE IN THE CHAPEL. We have been having like 50 people. We actually had to get up and set up more chairs in the front so people could sit. I was on cloud 9. 

Well i love you all a lot! And i hope you all have an amazing week. Thanks for everything :)
Looove, Hermana Geis

I bought Denis and Fernanda the Book of Mormon for kids picture book and i had to take a pic of them reading it together :)

Our refrigerio (refreshment) for the activity

The activity!

Week 31- El Tiempo Se Va Demasiado Rapido! (Time is going by too fast!)

Hello everyone!

Honestly these weeks are flying by. I cant even believe that we are already halfway done with January basically. Its almost scary how fast the time goes by! Time has never gone so fast, I keep thinking about how in High School the year would just drag on haha but not here! 

This week a lot happened and it went by super fast.

On Thursday we had Zone Conference, and then after that we did divisions with the Sister Training Leaders (or Hermanas especialistas). Hna Carrera came to Nicoya with me and Hermana Perez stayed in Liberia. It went well! It was interesting because Hermana Perez and I both realized the things that we do really well together - and of course things we can improve on. But yeah, I'm grateful for my companion! :) We've already planned a Disneyland trip in a few years ;)

Yesterday for Pday we got up super early to go on a hike with the Elders and Maria and Stuart. Its a famous hike here in Nicoya (maybe because its the only one) but its super steep and high! And Maria is in a wheel chair right...so the Elders and Stuart pushed/carried her the whole way! It was not easy but we all made it! And it was super pretty at the top. We could see allll of Nicoya.

After that we went grocery shopping and then went to Vivian and Jose's house, the one we went to for Christmas eve that we have to take a bus to get to. We made pizza and then later went to a river! It was really pretty. So it was a full day but a lot of fun! We are realizing that we have the rest of our lives to rest and sleep, so why waste a Pday just resting?! Haha ;) we want to do all we can!

We are working really hard to find a lot of new investigators. And we have found a ton! We just have to work hard with them so that they can progress. Getting people to church is not easy, even when they have nothing else to do. So we are going to work more with the members, because that is the key to everything.

We've been working a lot with Letty, who was going to be baptized in December. We have had so many spiritual experiences with her and she has always said, Yo voy a bautizarme ya! Always super excited and what not. Well, she's been going through a lot of trials lately, and instead of turning to the Lord to help her, she has turned away. She says that she's the only one who can get through her trials, but that's not true!  We NEED the Lord to help us, we can't get through anything alone. It's been hard because we can see her heart hardening and there's nothing we can do about it. She doesn't believe that if she puts the Lord first, He will bless her.
She doesn't believe that no matter how much we testify of it. So everyone, let your trials soften you, instead of harden you. We can either be humbled or hardened, as it says several times in the Book of Mormon. This life is a time of trials and tests so we are going to be tried. And we can only get through our trials with the Lord by our side. And he will always be there if we ask him to be.

Well thank you for all of the support, I got some more Christmas cards at our last Zone Conference last week.  I just loved getting all of them - Grandma Joanie, Stephen & Jessica, Alissa & Jordan and the Fallentines, Kirbys, Stohs, Wilkes - your families are just beautiful! And to the RB Young Women again, thank you :) I love you all!)

Have a great week!! 
Love, Hermana Geis

Hiking up the mountain (The Elders carrying Maria)

Hermana Perez and her stick!

View of Nicoya

Week 30- Feliz Ano Nuevo! (Happy New Year!)

Feliz ano nuevo everyone!
It is so weird that it is 2015. 2014 seemed to just disappear because i left for my mission halfway through it! And its cool because almost ALL of 2015 (minus december, so weird) will be dedicated to serving the Lord. And 2015 will be the fastest year of my life, im betting. So yeah its super weird to think about!

So it is really really hot over here. Luckily, there´s a lot of wind too. But they say in February-April, its like miserably hot. No wind, just sun and heat. People say they just dont even leave their houses cause its so hot. Haha so good thing ill leave right before that comes! (unless i end up serving my whole mission in nicoya, who knows ;) ) Haha.

This past week was good! We are working hard! One night, I think it was saturday, I was the most tired i have ever been in my mission. My body was just aching and I was so tired. After we got home and after planning for the next day, I went to bed and fell asleep in like 2 minutes, or so said my companion haha. But being tired is good! Because it means we are trying to give it our all!
We found a lot of new investigators last week - 16! Its always hard to know if we should continue with some or not, because a lot of people here will talk with anyone of any religion to ^escuchar la palabra de Dios^ but they dont really want to act or do anything about it. So we just have to keep praying to find the people who are really prepared and who are ready to accept the restored gospel.
Theres a member here who we just LOVE who always helps us with missionary work who´s named Heidy. Shes awesome. One of her daughters is married in the temple (her daughter is Geiry, wife of our ward mission leader who i sent a pic of a couple of weeks ago), but her other daughter is inactive. Her name is Angee. We talked with her a really long time ago, and she was super closed off about everything. But weve been talking with her just normally when we go to visit Heidy and everything, and then we started to teach a friend of Heidy, Danilo (the son of the member who doesnt remember being baptized haha) in their house so Angee started listening. And in one lesson, Angee´s boyfriend Arturo was there so we started teaching them all the restoration. And basically Angee expressed a lot of doubts that she has about prophets and what not, and her boyfriend whos not a member started like clearing up her doubts! Haha it was perfect! And then when he had questions, she would answer them! And then she started to express all these things that she really likes about the church. So it was really great. But she kept on saying she has doubts about Joseph smith. And i asked her, Do you know the whole story about joseph smith? And she admitted that she really didnt know anything. So last night we went over and we watched the Restoration movie with her and danilo (arturo couldnt come). It was so good. Afterwards she said that she wants the movie! And we committed her to read the book of mormon - she said that she hasnt even ever read it - so theres the problem! So we are really excited about her. Ive never seen some really get reactivated here, so ive always felt discouraged about reactivation. But she is really progressing.
I seriously love watching that movie. That movie really helped me with my own testimony of the restored gospel. So many people died for the gospel, and for the Book of Mormon, so we need to be grateful. And we need to read the book that so many people died for. And pray about it! I promise you´ll get the answer if you read it, and really pray about it, believing that God will give you an answer.

A funny thing that happened this week: We were looking for someone with the lovely directions of costa rica (aka going to each house asking if they know the person) And we yelled buenas (how we knock doors here) in front of one house and someone yelled back buenas but i couldnt see them. Then they did it again, and i could not figure out where they were. And then my comp said, its the parrot!! Haha i really have never heard a real talking parrot before! And they totally sound like people! Its the weirdest thing

Another funny thing: we started visiting some people on a new street and there are like 20 dogs that want to kill us every time we walk down the street. so we have to get big tree branches to fight them off as we walk down the street.

So we have started to have meals with members on sunday afternoons! I am so glad we started to do that! Because theres never been a list that goes around in relief society like in the states haha, but the new elder here suggested doing that for sunday afternoons so thats what we´re gonna do. We had our first meal on sunday and it was so fun! It reminded me of all the times we´ve had the missionaries at our house for dinner. Im excited to go with the different members and gain more of their trust and strengthen them as well, and get them excited for missionary work. 

We went to the beach yesterday for Pday and it was awesome as always. The beach just makes me so happy. And we ate at a vegan restaurant - when we have the option of healthy food we take it! 

Well times up so i hope everyone has an amazing week! I love you all! happy new year!
Love, Hermana Geis :) 

Marielos making our casserole type thing

Our casserole got a little burned but it was still good!

With Marta, a member

With Marta and Nolasco (he's the first counselor to the branch)

With Marielos and the card we gave her

Christmas breakfast

A perfect pic of my family!

Visiting Dayton and Yerlan on Christmas. Thy gave us gifts!

Yerlan gave me a stuffed bear! His name is Felpy, apparently.

They framed the Christmas card we gave them hahaha.

Our New Year's Day dinner at Heidy's!

With Maria, a recent convert of the Elders

The branch Christmas activity. They gave us food first

The branch Christmas activity

The branch Christmas activity

The Christmas party

Vivian's backyard leading up to her mom's house

The snowman cake!

With the family who threw the Christmas party

Marisol, neighbor and cook, heating up tamales for Christmas

Making pizza with Vivian, a member

At the beach with Maria

A live sand dollar.  I didn't even know they could be live! They were all over the beach.

Me and Maria

Maria and her baby

Almost 2015!

Well I hope that everyone had a very merry christmas! :) It was good here!! 

So like I said earlier everyone celebrates the 24th here instead of the 25th. So on the 24th we took a bus to a members house that lives a little further away for a christmas party that they were having with some of their neighbors. We helped set up and make the pizza and it was fun! But wow they had sooo many sweets there and they waited until the very end to give us the actual pizza...haha ohh ticos.
After that we came back and visited a member family who gave us tamales to eat later, and then we went with Marielos to make some food! We werent very hungry haha but we made this casserole type thing - something veryyy different from normal costa rican food! 

On Christmas morning we got up and opened presents :) It was fun!! It was amazing to get american candy mom...And i absolutely LOVED getting letters from so many of you! Cathy and Brooke, Heather and Chris, Emeli, RB Young Women, Maya, Lizzy, thank you so much! I looved reading what you all wrote to me. And thank you soo much to my little cousins for drawing those beautiful pictures for me! :) Then we made some pancakes for breakfast, then did studies, then left to visit a few people but we were not very focused because we were about to talk to our families! Haha we were both so nervous. And of course it was SO AWESOME to talk to you fam! Hard to say bye, but afterwards I just felt peace because I was able to see that youre all still there and havent changed too much without me ;) But really that was a comfort to see. After talking we visited some other people and thats about it! Oh and dad, the funniest thing ever: Presidente and Guiselle said, Your dad has such a perfect accent! Muy claro. He sounds like hes been living and working here in Costa Rica! Hahaha so good job dad! :)

It was weird to have Christmas end because Ill only have one christmas in the mission and its already over! its so weird. The time is going by way too fast.

So yeah this past week was good. We are working hard and trying to find the people who are prepared! 

Heres a funny story: So we found this old lady, whos the mom of a guy who weve been teaching who has a really good friend in the church. She said that she used to go to church with her brother and really liked it but has been going to another church. So we taught her, she accepted a baptismal date, and came to church ALL by herself last sunday! And its like really hard for her to walk and everything. So we were super excited about her. And then we found out....shes already a member! Hahaha. President solis looked her up and pretty much her whole family is baptized. And she doesnt even remember. Hahaha. But her son who was the reference from a member isnt a member and we are teaching him so theres an opportunity! Haha

Well anyways sorry there wasnt much to say but i love you all!! And hope you all have a very happy new year! cant believe its going to be 2015!
Love, Hermana Geis :) 

Thank you cousins!!

Feliz Navidad!!!

Hello everyone! 

This week has been crazy, like always. We went to san jose tuesday night, and went to the temple wednesday morning :) It was great of course. After the temple we went to a chapel to have a christmas lunch! And it was SO AMERICAN it was great. Turkey, mashed potatoes, salad, i was in heaven. After we ate Presidente wilkinson showed us some christmas music videos that were awesome and gave a devotional. And he told us something absolutely amazing:

He said that he had recieved news that morning from the First Presidency. And then he told us through tears, that we are going to have two missions in Costa Rica. Everyone just gasped, and cheered, and cried. Tears were literally streaming down my cheeks. Why? Because President has always said that thats been his goal for costa rica and all of the blessings the people here would get with double the missionaries in every area. It is amazing that this is happening. And i feel so honored to be able to even be here when that happens. Quentin L Cook said that if there would be any new mission in the world in this next year, it would be costa rica. The Lord is looking down on costa rica and blessing us so much. The mission is going to split in June! San Jose East and San Jose West - they told us the zones that will be in each one and the two missions will literally be so different!! He said that an apostle is going to assign each current missionary to one of the two missions - so its like getting another mission call! Haha ;) but really it is so amazing. 

We have been really working hard here in Nicoya. Ive been really tired haha but with more determination! Satan is working hard here as well, and he always puts things in peoples minds to confuse them and literally it has been hard. All we can do at times is stop and pray, asking the Lord to take the wheel and help us out. Because the Lord knows the people a lot better than we do, and knows exactly what they are thinking. 

So we have 5 baptisms this weekend. Letty and Mariam, Genesis who is Jakeline and Gustavo´s daughter who just turned 8, and Dayton and Yerlan. And let me tell you satan is working hard on every one of them. But I know without a doubt that God is more powerful, and that he can do anything if we have faith in him. Faith is literally the key to everything on the mission. And i was studying faith today and learned something new. We always say that we have faith that something will happen. But Faith is to believe in Jesus Christ, that he is our savior and redeemer. Hope is different. Hope is believing that that the things we hope for will come to pass. Its believing that Christ will fulfill his promises to us. So faith must always be centered in Jesus Christ - after we have faith in HIM, we can have hope that all things will work out in the end, because of him. 

It does not feel like christmas at all!! Haha its so weird. I cant believe tomorrow is christmas eve. Its weird because the people celebrate christmas on the 24th...some people understand that the 25th is actually christmas but other people when we ask what theyre going to do on the 25th theyre like, What about the 25th? Thats just a regular day. Haha its so weird. We are going with a couple of families on the 24th - both members that live far away. And then we are going to visit other investigators and what not.On the 25th we are going to make breakfast for ourselves (pancakes woohoo!) and then talk to the fam (woohoo!) and then i have no idea what! But it will be a great day :) 

There are trucks that always drive buy with speakers on them announcing the food they have to sell and we flagged one down and bought watermelons and pineapples the other day...we felt pretty cool. Local ticas! 

Tonight is the christmas activity with the branch - we´re having a dinner and i think thats all but it should be fun!

I have been feeling very grateful lately. Grateful to be here in Costa Rica, grateful to be a missionary. The time really does go by too fast.
I love you all, and i hope you all have a very very merry christmas.
Feliz Navidad from Costa Rica :)

LOVE, Hermana Geis 

At the temple!

Got to see Hermana Montoya at the Christmas Devotional

Fruit :)

Week 27- Casi Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas...Almost!)

Hello Everyone!

I cannot even believe christmas is next week. Like not at all. It is so weird. 

We bought a christmas tree! Hehe that was fun. And decorated it with what we could afford hahaha. Im excited to pass christmas here and focus on the birth of Jesus Christ with my comp and the members and everyone else.

This week was a little more difficult. We had lotsss of lessons, but almost every new person we found was super hard and rejected us haha. Its hard because we explain everything, and they agree with literally everything, but dont want to act on anything. Mostly because of their religious tradition - not beliefs, but tradition. We were talking to one lady and she was like, Ive been catholic my whole life. I really like the christian churches and dont really like the catholic church, but my family doesnt want to go to other churches so ill just keep going to the catholic. Like what....we have free agency so that we can be happy and choose for ourselves! But for lots of people its hard to stand up to their family and break tradition, as many converts know. 

Our investigator, Letty, is doing great. We had a great experience with her this week. At the end of the lesson we all knelt down and had her offer the prayer, with the specific question of whether or not these things are true. We told her before to stay kneeling with her eyes closed for a few moments after the prayer, to really listen to the spirit. So she did, for a good amount of time. Then she finally opened her eyes, and said that her heart was beating como nuna antes - like never before. :) 

We did the same thing last night, because she doesnt know whether or not her daughter mariam should get baptized the same day - her ex husband doesnt want it to happen. So we prayed with that question and stayed quiet after again, and i did not even want to open my eyes. I felt such peace and love. I was getting a response right along with her - that these things are true. Missionaries grow and progress right along with the investigators.

The time is going by so fast. the weeks fly by, the months fly by, and before you know it the year has flown by! We really need to live one day at a time, and enjoy every day. We have been talking about goals, and how we cant say, oh ill complete that goal tomorrow, or the next week. because before you know it the month is over and you never completed the goal. We have to think in TODAY, because each day is important. 

So we are going to san jose today, staying the night, and then we get to go to the temple tomorrow! Yay! Then after we have a christmas lunch. Im super excited!

I hope you are all enjoying the christmas break and can all spend some extra time with your families. Families are so important and we should never take them for granted! God loves you all and wants to bless you all so much - just have a little more faith and a little more trust in him, and exercise your faith. One thing i like that ive learned is that when we pray, we are exercising our faith. Because we are talking to someone we cant see. When we read the scriptures, we exercise our faith, because we are showing the lord that we believe they are true or can learn something, or will be blessed by reading them. when we go to church we are exercising our faith because we are showing god that we believe we will be blessed by keeping that commandment. So exercise your faith! :) 

I love you all! Have a great week! :)

Love, Hermana Amy Geis :) 

with the familia torres that i love :) (members)

Our tree! Haha

With the familia torres that I love :) (members)