I Believe in a Thing Called Love

Week 8: July 13-19

This week was BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!!!  Monday was the usual play sports (P-day) and make the Elders cry of embarrassment day.  That is what Giers do!
The best part of the day was when we received the call that Jairo could be baptized.  I was in unbelief.  He had been waiting to hear back from the first presidency since March and this weekend he will finally be baptized.  I have never meet someone who wanted something so badly.  When we went to  his house to talk with him and help him plan his baptism he said, "wow, you guys are like wedding planners except it is for a baptism."  That is why sister missionaries are the best.  This will be the first baptism of my mission.  I will send photos.
This week we met with Martin, 4 times I think.  He was the guy who wanted to stop meeting with us because he had decided he hated Joseph Smith.  But this week during a lesson he randomly said, "you know I may have been too hard on JS"...umm, yes!   It was a miracle that he has had a change of heart.  After one of the lessons we were talking about the area we cover and he was surprised that we are being sent to a sketchy area because it is dangerous.  He said he would be our body guard any time we wanted and he is about 6'5" and around 300lbs so we might take him up on the offer!
We met another investigator, Greg.   We meet with him 4 times this week.  At the beginning of the week he was telling us stuff like I smoke, drink cuss and I am who I am and I am not ever going to change.  Later in the week he was a different guy.  He told us that he had stopped smoking and wanted to stop doing drugs...he continued telling us how amazing he feels when he comes to meet with us and how his dad has seen a change in him since he started the missionary discussions.  He was very thankful and told us we were the nicest people he has ever met.
This week I have finally learned to truly love my investigators.  Even though it is sometimes hard to get through to them and they are stubborn sometimes on purpose.  I know they are all children of God.  I can't even begin to describe the changes I have seen in them over the past week.  When we told Greg about the Celestial Kingdom, he immediately said "He was going there!"
On Friday we went to the temple which is always a great experience.
Saturday, was zone training and they lesson was on how to teach like angels.   Afterwards sister F and I went to teach an investigator the lesson on the Restoration of the Gospel .  When he was saying the closing prayer, he literally said, "thank you for sending me these beautiful angels to teach me."  Pretty amazing!   We have been visiting a lady who has been less active in the church for nearly 20 years.  But we have built a great relationship with her.  We bring snacks for each other at church.  She always brings me dried mangos - she already knows me well.  She is a dealer at Aria.

The Church is True!   I miss you!

Love, Sister Kaila Gier

7/11

July 13, 2015

 Monday I made tortilla soup like I told you and it was so good! I can actually cook now! And it was finally under 100 degrees this week so it wasn't too hot to eat soup... although I guess for most people 90 degrees is still too hot. oh well it was tasty!

Wednesday I drove down to the mission office with my mini missionary (everyone thinks that we are twins or sisters. I'll send a picture of her later) to pick up my new companion. We don't know who it is when we get there. we all sit in the chapel and then president calls both names of the companionship and they stand up, look at each other and give each other a hug. When I was holding the door open for the new sisters and welcoming them, one of the sister said "You have a very German name!" Haha at least someone can tell why Gier is pronounced differently!

Anyway... that German sister... is my companion!!! She was happy to hear that I had so much German blood in me! And we have a theory that we are both competitive because of our German ancestors. (we are about to kick some Elder's butts in laser tag today!) Sister Fingerle is my companion's name and we get along wonderfully! This weekend we were eating dinner and she said "I feel like I've met you before" and I had that same feeling! Maybe we were friends before we came to this earth or something. She is very organized and we work really well together! And she loves her German chocolate! She teaches me new words all the time and speaks English really well cause they have to learn it in school. She told me that Gier means "envy" in German... maybe that's why everyone wants to be a Gier! 

Martin, our investigator who kinda dropped us last sunday cause he thought that Jospeh smith was the root of all evil, showed up to institute on Wednesday! And by talking with him afterwards we convinced him to meet with us again! In this lesson that we had with him I was very direct and upfront and I was trying to think of ways to get him to read the book of mormon so I told him "I DARE you to prove me wrong by reading to Book of Mormon and finding something false about it!! and I never lose so you better search really hard!!" My companion just laughed!! Haha

Sister Sandoval (I write S bacause its faster) has been transfers to Lake Havasu in AZ. She is going to MELT!! But she only has 9 months left of her mission. 

Pictures are awesome! But overall I'm good cause I have walmart and I'm still in the USA. 

Sister Gier and Fingerle

FOURTH OF JULY

This week was something else!  Monday, we woke up early and drove to the edge of our area where there are no buildings and took pictures as we watched the sunrise.
One of our investigators, Martin, that we had asked if he wanted to be baptized called us and told us that he wanted to be baptized on the 18th!  It was a miracle.  Now I will be busy teaching him all the lessons before he gets baptized.  We were told that on Saturday we would be receiving transfers and that President Snow emailed me and mentioned he has something special planned for me the next few transfers...  Most likely Sister S will be transferred so we have been organizing our records.  She has had such a great relationship with the ward so everyone is sad that she will be leaving.  As a missionary you learn to love your investigators so much.  Sister S will be sad to leave the area.
Wednesday, we taught Martin...he had a lot of questions about Joseph Smith.  We encouraged him to continue reading the Book of Mormon and gain a testimony of the gospel and everything else would fall into place.  It finally RAINED!  The silhouette of the mountains that the lightening caused was gorgeous!
Thursday we had mid-12 week so I had to drive to Paradise.  We taught Martin in the evening.  He asked if they had alcoholic drinks in Heaven.  I said, "no", and he said, "Man that is what the other sisters were telling me!  But if they do, I'll buy you a drink when we get up to Heaven!"  I think he still is missing the spirit!
Having members come out with the missionaries is so helpful.  When you get the chance go out with the missionaries and I promise you, you will be uplifted!
Saturday, we went to the park and helped people set up for their parties and they invited us to come back later.  It is cool to see the disposition of the people change from when we started helping them until when we said goodbye.  It is because we had the Spirit with us.
We caught the end of the 4th of July choir concert at the stake center.  Later in the evening we were walking in our neighborhood and there were many people shooting off fireworks.
So.. the moment we you been waiting for...I am staying in the North Star young single adult ward and I will be training a new missionary.  I've only been here 6 weeks.  I'm not done with my training yet!
This is such a humbling and encouraging assignment.  God and President Snow must have a lot of faith in me.
Sunday, Martin told us he was no longer interested in learning about the gospel.  So sad.  But everyone has their agency.
I am grateful to live in this country and to serve my mission to better the country.  I am thankful for the members in the ward and in the church.  I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and lived an honorable life.  I know that God has called Thomas S. Monson to be the prophet on earth today.  I know that Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world and the Son of God.  I know that we are children to our Heavenly Father and he wears and answers our prayers through the Holy Ghost.  I know that the Book of Mormon is the work of God and is has greatly blessed my life and made me the person I am today - a daughter of our loving Heavenly Father.  I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Love, 

Sister Gier

HOT IN HERRE

On Monday, we played laser tag.  Missionaries can play for free.  It was awesome!  And of course, I held the Gier name well.  Elder Riley (from OK) actually had the most points so he won but since we were on the same team all is well.
In the evening we tried visiting one of our investigators named Rei, but he was not there but his brother was and said, "Hey, I know you guys go around praising God, but can I get your number?" HAHAHA!   Umm sorry, we don't do that!
On Tuesday, we spoke with a guy about the For Strength of Youth standards and read scriptures with him.  I love the standards!   I think it is awesome that they are for everyone not just the youth.
For dinner, a member took us our to Famous Daves.  Yes, I ate my entire dinner.  And the member who took us was amazed that I could eat so much and made me take his leftovers home with me.  This member is incredible.  He was in jail for 5 years but you could never tell now.  He is living the gospel of Jesus Christ and has such a light about him!
Tuesday we street contacted a lady who was wearing underwear on her head! So that was different.
I love the members in the ward they are so nice.
It was 117 degrees on Thursday!
We stopped by a members house Friday evening, she had lost her job earlier that day. Even though it was sad, she was able to come to church on Sunday and found a better job.  God works in mysterious ways.
Today was hard emotionally and physically.   So sister S and I read inspirational quotes.
Saturday was much better!  We got slushes at 7-11 - that is probably why. And we had a planning meeting so we were out of the heat.
Sunday was insane. We had so many investigators and less actives at church is was hard to keep up with all of them.  But that is a good thing.  We taught one investigator about the Atonement and the power it has on us.  There was not a dry eye in the room.  A member had dinner for us and served a cherry dessert just like cranberry salad from Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Brighter Than Sunshine

We randomly had District Counsel on Tuesday, and we talked about being urgent and desperate.  meaning - no need to take heed of danger and being bold.  i shared my thoughts on how the Lord is hastening his work.  What if we knew the lord was coming tomorrow?  How much ore would we work?  How much greater would we testify?  Ezk 33:16
We had a lesson with a guy named Maistro.  God has prepared him so much! He has had a rough life; his dad died when he was 10, his brother has been in jail 3 times because he is part of a gang, and Maistros's friend was shot in the head a few weeks ago and is in a coma.  He told us the world is bad and he knows it is going to end cause "only hell is this hot outside"!  He said he wanted to change his life so we committed him to baptism and he accepted.  When sister Sandoval started to explain the first visio, " I saw a pillar of light..." He turned to me and said, "that was God!"  It was very powerful.  At the end he was grateful we came to visit him or else he would have gotten in trouble on the streets.
The homes around here are insulated in styrofoam.  Since when was styrofoam part of the story of the 3 Little Pigs??
We had a service project on Friday at the Food bank.
I saw a shooting star!!
Sunday was Father's Day.  Dad, I love you and hope you received my card.
Overall a good week!

Get Your Shine On

June 22, 2015
Thursday was my first exchange and I was with Sister Robinson, who is from Texas.  She went to BYU for a year before coming out on her mission.  She 'hit' her year mark before coming the day of exchanges.
We had District counsel in the morning and then had lunch at In and Out.  I love this zone and district!  They feel like family to me.
Sister Robinson and I knocked on this grumpy man's door who had just woken up and was in his underwear...Awarkward!!!
Later in the day we had a lesson with a lady named Kim.  And then with a guy named Cando.  He is from the West Indies and it was rough the gift of tongues that I could understand him through his accent.  His step son came outside and realized we were missionaries, he was so excited.  It turns out he had been taught all the discussions by missionaries before but his parents had sent him to live with his grandma for a while so the missionaries had lost track of him.  Timing is everything, now he can be baptized and be an example to his family.
We visited another man who as I was shaking his hand to say goodbye to him, he looked at me and said, "your eyes"!  "They are bright!  They shine like the sun! Don't you see that?!"  I realized he could see the spirit of God in me.  It was a really powerful experience.
Being a missionary is cool.  You don't just help the people who are in your path but we help those who are trying to keep holding onto the iron rod, the word of God, as tightly as they can!
Saturday was my one month mark, 17 to go!  We are keeping really busy.  Oh, one day a lady accidentally sprayed us with her hose!  Haha, and she would not take a pass along card.
I know God places us where we need to be even if we can't always quite see the reason behind it.

On Our Way

June 15, 2015

We met a real life false prophet.  At first it seemed like he thought he was Jesus but later he told us he was a prophet of Jesus.   And he asked if we recognized who he was.   I think I will recognize Jesus when he comes.  Some of the thoughts I had while he was talking were: "Will I recognize Christ?", "what is Sis S thinking?", "is this guy on drugs?",  "how long is this guy going to talk for?" and then I wanted to add an "Amen Brotha!" at the end but I did not.
We helped a lady pack up her house.  She has a big heart but is a hoarder.  she has been trying to move for weeks but still needs more help.  At institute we discussed the difference between sin and transgression.  I challenge you to find the difference!
We tried to meet with a less active member but met with his mother and grandmother.  When said a prayer before leaving them.  Immediately at the end of the prayer, the grandma in her poor English said that the mom needs to get baptized like in the Bible.  Heck yeah Grandma!

June 8, 2015

On our first P-day, we went to the $.99 store for groceries.  Haha it is amazing what you can find! (kinda sketchy)  Every Monday, our whole zone gets together to play sports.  I guess word got around that I have hops so all of the Elders wanted me on their team when we played volleyball.  We played basketball and I made a 3-point shot and everyone thought I was so cool!  So I am holding up there Gier name here.  The we played a game that is like ultimate frisbee but with a football.  It was fun but I ran a wall...like literally a wall.  I was trying to tag someone and I guess I was running faster than I thought or the wall was closer than I thought, but I tagged them!   It hurt.  For lunch we got creative and had black bean-mango-lettuce wraps and we sautéed canned chicken with ramen noodles.  It was seriously good.
This week was insane.  Within 24 hours we taught 5 new investigators the Restoration and 4 have baptismal dates.  One of the investigators, Tyler, but we call him Team Jesus because he wore a hat that said "team Jesus" on it because "he knew the spiritual sisters were coming over".  Haha.  God has blessed greatly!  I know I could not do it without the many prayers everyone is sending my way.  I am so thankful to be doing God's work.

Sisters Gier and Sandoval at the Las Vegas Temple