Random Pictures

This is a random place we found when we were tracting. Pretty flowers~!

This is my Mimi. She is very old and in a care center. She is just the sweetest lady.

This is our FHE treat at a members house who are going to be the mission president for Sacramento Cali! We watched a talk by Holland in their Egyptian theater.. it was AWESOME!

Happy St. Patty's Day 2014!

Conference Weekend!!

I can't believe it's Tuesday again.. Well this week has been packed full of wonderful things!

Events:

At District meeting, Sister Allen and I were in charge for a bit and played a game using scriptures. It was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. 

On Thursday, we had zone conference! President and Sister Hiers talked about principles and patterns which was really good and then the AP's did a role play which was super helpful. As a missionary, you are constantly learning. It is CRAZY. There's so much to learn in such little time! Oh and there's a new rule now in our mission that we can only talk to people in the mission on Facebook. Sister Allen and I haven't been on a lot recently and it's great! Facebook is a big distraction sometimes and a temptation as well. So just note! If you want to talk to me, WRITE ME A LETTER OR EMAIL! 

On Friday, we helped move someone's stuff into their house with a ton of missionaries. I helped carry a dresser and felt pretty good about myself :) I'm strong! 

On Saturday..... GENERAL CONFERENCE!!! To sum the experience up: We left early so weren't able to listen to the morning session (bummer I know, I heard it was fantastic and President Monson talked about the youth celebration in AZ! Whoop whoop! Now every time I say where I'm from.. they talk about it haha). We got there and had to eat lunch really quick and then get to the conference center. Then, their translator radio thingumabobs stopped working so we had to go get different ones and then THOSE stopped working towards the end. HOWEVER, I think Bianca and Xochilt had a great time. We gave them little notebooks that say General Conference Notes on it and they took more notes than I thought they would! I really likes Richard G Scott's talk about how converts need to know God loves them perfectly and how we need to help them understand that. I also loved W Craig Zwick's talk. He shared the story about his wife jumping out of the semi truck with thier son because she thought they were going to die and she just wanted to save him! I loved that he talked about putting yourself in the other's shoes and the see through their eyes to eliminate miscommunication. 

 I'm so excited to read all the talks and be able to get more out of them. How amazing is it that we get to hear modern scripture! We are so blessed to have the resources and materials that we do. Sometimes we take them for granted, but my challenge for you all is to not! PLLLLEASE read the talk by D. Todd Christofferson called The Blessing of Scripture from April 2010. It is so easy to access this and you can even listen to it as you get ready in the morning. 

People:

Eli- We stopped by not expecting to have a lesson because they had family over but they eventually all left. We started to talk and came to find out that he isn't very interested. He doesn't want to be "a Mormon" and doesn't understand why he needs to worship God to have happiness. It was really sad to see his lack of faith and especially the fact that he is struggling but tries to not show it. We will be meeting with him tonight.

Darcy! We are teaching a 12 year old girl who is in Burch Creek's area but they wanted Sisters instead of Elders. We 2 really great lessons with her but haven't invited her to baptism yet. She has lots of questions but hasn't come out with any yet. 

Logan- Still unable to meet with him. When we went to his apartment, his buddy answered the door with a beer in hand and said he was sick. Then he said, well actually he was my D.D. for last night, but then got in a fight and got sucker punched in the face and so I'm taking care of him. We left and held in our laughter till we were out of hearing. Gotta love mission stories :P 

Brother O'Dell- This is the man who just got married and we just started teaching! We have him set to be baptized April 26th! The lesson was just amazing. He is so sincere and ready. He misses the blessings of the priesthood and going to the temple. Although his baptism doesn't count for our numbers, I don't really care. He is a son of God and is coming back to the fold. I'm just happy I can be apart of it and to see their family so happy. :) it was a very sweet and spiritual lesson. 

Well I think that's all I'll share this week! I want you all to know that I know, this is Christ's true gospel. It has blessed me in so many ways and brought me so much peace and happiness. Do not wait to find out if it is true or to strengthen your testimony. DO IT NOW. Have the missionaries come to your home, feast upon the words of Christ, and do what you know is right. I promise you, as a representative of Jesus Christ, that as do, the Holy Ghost testify to you that it is true. 

Love you all. Thank you for all your love and support. 

Sister Gietz

5 Months Out!

HELLO!!! This week has been absolutely crazy and awesome. We did the most random things, laughed really hard, had some great lessons taught to us and taught some as well. There's seriously way too much that happened this week so you only get a little taste of this insane week.

We went on exchanges this week and Sis Allen got to be with my Grandma (Sis. Campbell who is Sis. Kuwahara's mom) and I went to Pleasant Valley with Sis Ingram. We had 4 lessons right after another and it was crazy! I learned a lot of new tricks and skills about teaching which will help me to spice up my lessons.

Saturday, we had a District Companion Study. It was on the Atonement and absolutely was one of the most spiritual experiences so far in the mission. We talked about our fav. scripture on the Atonement and then watched a Mormon Message called None Were With Him. It was pretty touching and a great reminder but then we did an activity. We went into a room, sat down, and looked up at the chalkboard. Written on the board were words such as: Pizza, Pens, Home, Friends, Family, Scriptures, Prayer, Priesthood, Prophets, Sacrament, Holy Ghost, and Jesus Christ. We were asked to imagine this was our life on the board and we had to go up, one at a time, and erase something from our life. The room was silent and the beginning of the activity was easy but when it came down to the last few words, it was rather difficult. We sat for a while looking up at the board as someone debated which to erase. When Jesus Christ was erased, my heart dropped. It was painful and to think without Him, we'd have nothing! After the activity, and elder said, "Do you really live your life this way? Do you spend your time thinking more about the things that aren't important as to the things that are?" It hit me hard that there are some things that I can be doing much better in my life and as a missionary. Let's just say... I cried pretty hard. Haha it was an amazing experience and I challenge you all to do it individually or with your family! 

After that, we went to a wedding at the Hill Air Force Base! Oh, I guess I never told you about that.. Well, they are kinda less active and the husband isn't a member anymore but wants to be! We decided to volunteer to help with the reception and made some posters and such for decorations. We also helped out at the reception which was really fun! Their bishop came and talked to us and told us that we need to re-baptize Brother O'dell! So that will probably be happening soon!

When the reception was done, we met up with our ZL's to get things situated... Note: This day was CRAZY. Well we finally ended up being able to go with their investigator to the General Women's Conference in Salt Lake!!!! We had such a great time even though we were late. She really enjoyed having us and invited us to her baptism this coming Saturday. Haha we are going to General Conference for the afternoon session with Bianca and then will race home to go to the baptism. We also have to sing now too! 

OKAY, story of the week. On Sunday, we went to Bianca's ward and saw that she wasn't there but that Xochilt's husband was. Sister Allen went to go talk to him while I talked with others. When she sat down next to me, she told me why they weren't there. Xochilt's little boy, Kye, was hit by a car and was in critical condition but being taken care of at home. We were shocked and our hearts ached for them. Later, we were given a pie and decided we would go over and give it to them. When we got there, another little family was there giving their love. Sis Allen explained to Bianca that we would put his name on the prayer roll at the temple and keep him in our prayers. Then, Xochilt asked if we would like to see him. Sister Allen and I looked at each other unsure, but said yes. We went upstairs and saw laying on the bed with a splint and all... their DOG!! Sister Allen and I looked at each other and so many things were said to each other telepathically. HAHAHA! When we left the house we about died laughing. We just took pie for a dog.... HILARIOUS. 

Well that's all that I will share for this week! Hope y'all are doing great and I love you SOOOOOO much! 

Love, Sister Gietz

Utah Ogden Mission!!

So.. Hello! This week has gone by so fast and so slow. Mission time is so weird... Anyways! We had some interesting experiences this week!

So Tuesday night, we had a lesson with Elijah. He's 17 and is currently living with his grandparents for a reason or two. He is just the most interesting minded kid, it blows me away! We taught him about the Restoration and it was going so good! The spirit was strong and he even cried a bit about wanting to be like his grandparents. We were leaving him with a Book of Mormon and he misunderstood what Sis Allen meant and started to read his homework right then. Dang it. Then... I made a terrible mistake. I asked the grandparents to bare their testimony on the 1st vision... Why did I do that?! The lesson became a whole hour and 15 mins!!! :( ahhhh! The spirit kind of stepped outside and I could tell the information they were spiting out was confusing him. That was an exhausting lesson emotionally and spiritually. Good thing we went to bed afterwards! 

We got together with our zone and boy is it different! We have 4 new Elders and 1 new Sister. One of the Zone Leaders is from England! Shout out to my brother Conner! :) I love being able to serve with so many different people from all over, even though a lot of the missionaries in this mission are from Arizona haha we have 4 just in our zone :P it's awesome. But anywho! It is going to be the best transfer ever! I'm really excited and looking forward to the new changes (which there are a lot but I wont get into them). 

This week seemed to be cancel your lesson with the missionaries week because we had sooooo many! Unacceptable. One Wed. we had all 4 cancel... So we stayed at the Relief Society Birthday Party and it was so fun! We played Minute to Win it games and Sister Allen and I won one of them!!! It made us happy and so did the food :) 

We had a lesson with Bianca about the Restoration again but really focused on helping her to understand the authority of the priesthood. It was a phenomenal lesson and the spirit was really intense. I showed her a quick video ad on General Conference and her eyes literally sparkled. She was amazed. Then, I asked her to go to conference with us. She was so excited and her cousin was even more excited! It was really fun to see how excited they were to be able to have this opportunity. Xochilt (pronounced: So-chi)(her cousin) has never been to conference and so we pulled some strings.. and All 4 of us are going to the Saturday afternoon session of conference!!! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! :) hopefully we can finally set a baptismal date for Bianca afterwards and that Xochilt and her husband will be more prepared to go to the temple again! What an exciting work to be involved in. Thank goodness for me Spanish speaking companion! Oh and just a fun fact.. A Spanish and English companionship is called Zebra. Cool right? 

Also! We taught a new guy named Logan who's from Montana and is almost done with his Microbiology degree.. or something along that science stuff. He had the lesson outside on a bench because we didn't have another sister with us. The lesson went.. okay. Haha not our best but he agreed to meet with us again. I know we'll do better next time, it's just a matter of better preparation! I gave him a talk to read because he had said he didn't think Mormons were Christians and he doesn't agree that we are to become like God. The talk I gave him is by Dallin H. Oaks called Apostasy and Restoration from the 1995 general conference. READ IT. 

One last thing I want to share is about an experience I had on Sunday. The Gailey family FINALLY came to church. Lexi ( turing 9 this summer ) can't get baptized until she starts coming to church more. So we went into the Chapel a little late and they saw us. We sat on the back row and one by one they came to sit with us. :) it was a precious time for me to finally see them at church and to be with them. Lexi rested her head against my arm and her little sister sat in my lap because there was no room. It was a tender mercy that Heavenly Father sent to me because I dearly miss my beautiful nieces and nephews. I'm so grateful for my family and families all over who are wanting the best for those they love. I KNOW that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the best way for us to have a strong and loving family. I KNOW that we are literally children of God and that he loves us more than we can comprehend. I'm thankful for Jesus Christ who has shown us the way to eternal life and eternal joy as well as has made it possible! The family is precious and sacred. And Satan knows that. That's why it is so important to keep our families safe by living the gospel. 

I love you all and hope you know you are in my prayers. I'm so grateful for each and everyone of you :) 

Love, Sister Gietz

I'm STAYING!!!

One more transfer here baby! Woohoo! I shrieked like a little girl when they announced it this morning... I'm just so EXCITED!!! I still have so much work to do still and it's great because we're gaining member trust and getting better at teaching! Okay okay okay so we had a GREAT week! Made lots of contacts, teaching new people and having a great time.

We had Ian's baptism and it was amazing. The Spirit was so strong. His fellowship gave a spotlight and Ian started to cry. He is so scared about the surgery that will happen today and he will need the strength of the Holy Ghost during this hard time. I wish I could put into words how amazing it was but I can't. He was confirmed on Sunday and ordained to be a Deacon! Sister Kuwahara even came and surprised us all! We hugged and cried and it was just so fun. 

So Sister Allen has been sick! We bummed it one day because she was so out of it. We went to the doc and they just said it's a virus and there was nothing they could do... So she just has to tough it out. It's so sad though because her voice is shot and she sounds awful.. I've been getting a sore throat but we are downing Emergen-c packets like crazy trying to fight it off. Well the morning that she slept in, Lindsay came over (Gladwell's daughter) and had breakfast. I told her I was going to have a lesson with her and she said okay! We had a good talk about the 1st vision but then we got distracted and started talking about other stuff. I will bring her back though! I'm determined. 

We just had some interesting experiences this week.. 

I talked to a friend from high school on Facebook and came to find out that he's atheist and believes in Evolution. Man was that sad and an eye-opener. 

Then, we were out going to referrals and I stopped at a house we hadn't gone to in awhile. Turns out, we hadn't gone there at all. They welcomed us in (LDS obviously) and started talking to us. They called to their kids to come meet us and I heard the name "Marin". I asked, "Did you just say Marin?" They said yes! I was like.. What?! That's my name! How do you spell it? M-A-R-I-N. I have NEVER met another person with my name and spelling. Apparently, it's a Swiss name! So we were about to leave and then I saw some stuff... I will send pictures. Weapons of all kinds were throughout the house. Knights with armor were equipped and in the corners of the rooms. IT WAS BIZEERK. He's a martial art teacher and has trained some pretty pro people. They are really interesting and have an interesting story haha I wish I could share it all. He offered to train us on a P-day but it would have to be at night, they've done it with other missionaries in Texas so we will see. He has Bow-staff skills and Numb-chucks.. and lots of other skills. We were laughing when we left and quoting Napoleon Dynamite with all his skills :) it was even more funny when Sister Allen's laugh was deep and hoarse. I think I'm having too much fun out here... 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! We had dinner at our mission president's councilor's house. It was so awesome. The kitchen and dining table looked like the holiday threw up on everything. GREEN GREEN GREEN. We had most of our zone and some other missionaries there and just laughed and talked. We had a green Tres Leches cake that tasted like Lucky Charms cereal. Greatest St. Patrick's Party I've gone to... and probably the only one I've gone to haha       

Overall, great week! Love you all! 

Sister Gietz                                                                                                                                                 

Zoom Zoom! Transfers Next Week!!!

Time is flying! This transfer came super fast and I hope I get to stay in my area one last transfer! So lets see.. What happened this week?

Well! I forced a lesson on Wyatt (10 yr old) because his mom was getting in the tub, we had fellowship and our STL there, and I was going to have a lesson!! He stopped the video game that he was absorbed in (looked familiar..) and taught him and 3 of his friends about prophets. We left smelling like smoke for the rest of the day but I was satisfied :) 

So our STL (sister training leader) ,Sister Hawes, came on a very good day. We were busy busy busy with 5 lessons and a dinner that made me check the date because I could have sworn it was Thanksgiving dinner. 

We had a Companion study with our District leader and another elder which was super fun and.. surprising. Sister Allen and I role played a lesson we were going to have that night with Brother Trujillo on the Law of Chastity. The spirit was for sure helping us and I can't believe we got through the whole thing the way we did. We had never taught it together and we were super nervous to teach Elders about it... Haha but we were all pretty shocked at how well it went! The lesson it's self went different but still pretty good :) he's golden but not.. We set up an interview with the President to see what he will have to do to be baptized. Exciting stuff! 

Ian is getting baptized this week! Woooooo! Finally! We're really excited and hope that everything goes well with it as well as the surgery he will have next week. 

Bianca is doing well but I'm pretty out of the loop because of my lack of Spanish skills... Haha but we are finding what we need to focus on and such. She came with us to the Zone Leader's baptism which was great! I think she felt the spirit :) we're excited! She is adorable and her cousin is enjoying the lessons too. We're working on helping them get back to the temple as well. 

We went to the Family History Center with Brother Graham for like 2-3 hours.. I thought my brain was going to explode! He has TONS of work to do and that stuff is mind-boggling. I was impressed with the little lady helping us and her reasoning for certain things. We were able to find some of his aunts and uncles and hopefully can do the work for them soon! We also had FHE with him at the Whiteside's home and it was super fun :) he talked about taking care of the physical heart and then we talked about taking care of the spiritual heart. We had lots of fun with everyone and they did too! Brother Graham has some YouTube videos on his surgery stuff if you're interested in seeing that and hearing him talk haha unfortunately, I don't know what it's called. 

We had Elder Stevenson (A senior missionary that works at the cannery) take us out to dinner and it was so fun! He was super cute and was like, "I have permission from President Hiers that I can take you out!" Imagine it in a cute old man voice :) 

It's official.. I survived daylight savings. It was a killer though. We may or may not have crashed during lunch on Sunday haha but afterwards we felt much better! 

Well that's all I can really think of! We just took a major crazy hike up a mountain with no trail with some Elders. Of course it was their idea... Haha it was intense and my legs are screaming at me but it was super fun. It was a little snowy but not too freezing... Probably because it was a work our for all of us haha! 

Hope y'all have a great week! Love ya so much! 

Sister Gietz

4 MONTHS And Still Kickin' It

So todaaay we went to the Logan Temple with a lot of missionaries in our zone because one of our ZL's gets released Saturday! I don't have a ton of time so this may be a little short.. Sorry!

Wow... Well last week feels like 3 weeks ago. Time seems slow but fast at the same time, mission time is crazy. We've has the mosty bi-polar weather here and it's driving my nuts. One day it is Spring and so beautiful we are having a picnic and then the next it's raining and the most gloomy day of my life. Today was a bit of both thankfully. It was a little scary for us as we drove the hour long drive to Logan as rain turned to snow and we were speeding down the canyon trying to catch up to the Elders we were following. But on the way back there was white clouds and a beautiful blue sky. We were definitely protected today! Tender Mercy! 

So update on people:

Ian: His surgery is planned for the 19th this month. His mom text us last night and informed us that her parents would be coming the week before and so Ian will probably be able to get baptized! WOOOOHOOOO! I feel bad that he has to have this surgery but it's a blessing that his Grandpa can come to Utah and perform that service for him. So cool :) I have to keep praying it will happen though! 

Mario Trujillo: Not much has changed with him. He keeps putting other things over church and so it's been hard for him to progress but I think he's getting there. He recognizes the difference the scriptures and praying make in his life and so one day he'll come around to being committed. He is so sweet though. He told me a while ago that something I said to him changed his life. This last lesson he brought it up again but disclosed who said it as he told the fellowship. THEN, he gave me a present for my birthday! An adorable jar of honey :) isn't he sweet?! Haha

Bianca: She is doing great! We are just taking it slow with her but she is SO ready. It's great because our last lesson we had, Bianca's cousin opened up and told us that her and her husband weren't married in the Temple and that she lost the Spirit. But when we come over, she feels that and wants it back in her life. They all have been coming to church and it has just been so amazing to see. I just wish I knew Spanish... Why didn't I take Spanish in high school?!! Dang it. 

We've been meeting with some new people this week but I'll wait till next week to talk about them. I don't know them very well yet. One of the ward missionaries is doing this new tactic he made up and it has been pretty successful... He takes someone with him, knocks on everyone's door, tells them about earthquake preparedness and keeping the family safe. Then, he introduces to them a DVD that we have called "Together Forever". He explains a little about it, gets their contact info and then gives it to us. He got 8 out of 10 to accept! One was even the Evangelist guy that we met and I gave the Family Proclamation to the World pamphlet to! Speaking of which..

I had a really bad day this week. Everything was going fine and we were so excited to go meet this new family that wanted to hear more. WRONG. They wanted US to hear more. The hard thing about being in Utah.. Anti-Mormons. They are just so lost and confused, you feel sorry for them. It took me some recovering to do but I'm happy with the way I handled it. I pretty much told them that we have strong testimonies of this gospel, that we are here to teach and not to bible bash or anything like that. I said if they wanted to learn more that we would come back but otherwise we weren't. He seemed kinda disappointed but agreed to have me back. The wife even forgot some of the questions she had that made her leave the church.. That boggles me. I pray that this next meeting will not damper my day like it did this last one but that it will be helpful for them and for us as well. Please pray for us? Sister Allen has never dealt with this before and I've only had a little experience with it. So we shall see!!! 

Oh, and I had my 1st Zone Blitz! Super fun! So the zone gets together in someone's area and everyone gets a new companion! Then, we get a list of names and address to go tract and see if they are interested! We had one say yes! Victory! 

Well, in all I had an amazing week. Glad to hear so many wonderful things about the Gilbert Temple!! 

 I wish I could share all the fun and funny little things that happen but there's just not time! But I will tell you, we were dog rescuers yesterday. Haha you can see a pic on FB. I was just praying that he didn't have an "accident" in the car..  

Love you!! 

Sister Gietz