He sees the end from the beginning

Our awesome young women :)

Sisters Barlow, Graham, Ward, House, Duffin, Whitlock and I - Love them all!

Went on an exchange with Sister Graham and the neighbors of a member had a super cute puppy!

:)

Temple Terrace missionaries with Brother Engebretsen our ward mission leader. :)

Hello everyone,

The church is true and the work is His! I'm looking forward to making
the most of the week with His help. None of it is possible without
Him. I'm grateful for the love of my Savior. I'm grateful that He
accepts me weaknesses and all. Through Him I know that those
weaknesses can be made strong.

This week was a good one. I got to go on my last exchange. :) It was
great. I love being able to share the gospel. It really does bring
happiness. Penny is going to do baptisms at the temple this week! We
are so excited for her! She's so excited too and she got her recommend
yesterday! We are looking forward to having FHE with her and a member
family tonight. :)

I'm so grateful for the many experiences I've had here. They have
helped shape me and change me. I know the Lord had a plan for me here
in Florida and also has a plan for my future. He always sees so much
more in us then we see in ourselves.

I know the gospel is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that the
church was restored with the priesthood power of God. Living the
principles of the gospel and partaking of the ordinances are how we
can return to live with our Father. I know The Book of Mormon is not
just an ordinary book. It a book given to us by God. As we read and
study and pray we can receive personal revelation about our lives. We
can receive a witness for ourselves of the truth.

I am so grateful for all your love and support. I'm grateful we can
all help each other return to where we came from. It's not an easy
journey, but it is worth every step.

I love you! I'm praying for you!

Sister Gessel

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy
paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

Sister Slawson and I! Such a tender mercy that I got to see her this week!

"Hearken unto these words and believe in Christ..." 2 Nephi 33:10

Celebrating 18 months as a missionary on Thursday! (Gotta love Chick-Fil-A haha)

Planning my life...well at least I've got a lot of ideas!! Haha

All kinds of things grow in Florida.

Hi all!

There are always so many things to share and I never know where to start. :)

I think mainly I'd like to share a miracle! We've spent a lot of time
working online on Mormon.org this past week and we've seen a lot of
miracles as we share the Book of Mormon with people. We picked up a
chat that had been sitting there for 2 minutes. Usually they get
picked up right away so it was a little unusual. It turned out to be a
young girl who wanted to learn more about how to join the church. She
said she always felt peaceful when she talked to members or read the
Book of Mormon and wanted to learn about how to join. She had sent in
a request to meet with missionaries and so we just helped answer some
questions and encourage her and thank her for her courage and faith.
She said she was from Utah and that she knew a lot of members, etc.
The conversation was ending and I felt like I needed to ask her what
part of Utah she was from and I told her I was from Layton. She
messaged back and said she was from Layton too and lived right by
Northridge (the high school my brother went to and the one my little
sister will go to this fall)! It turns out she goes to school at North
Layton (the junior high I taught at) and knows my best friend Ashlee
who teaches there! She had her as a teacher in 7th grade. It was such
a miracle. I offered to go to church with her when I get home so she
can be more comfortable and she was really excited. I am so excited
and so grateful to the Lord. He knows my heart and sent an incredible
tender mercy that I didn't expect at all. Let me tell you, the Lord is
so good to us. He knows us. He knows things that we need, often before
we even know we need them or we didn't even know how to say what we
needed. It really blows my mind. I'm so grateful He has a plan and
that he sent me all the way to Florida to meet his girl from my
hometown who I likely would have never met otherwise. I can't wait for
her journey in the church to start. She has so much potential. The
church is true!

Love you all! Keep the faith! Keep listening to/reading the Book of Mormon!

Sister Gessel

It helps if you put the blade in before you start blending... :)

This week in Florida

Cleaning the car!

If you know me you know I'm semi-obsessed with the Ensign. I pick them up whenever I find a new one and bring back the old ones. I love the stories in them! Imagine my surprise when I opened up and found the Bott's! Haha. Gotta love it!

Hi all!

All is well here in Florida. :) We have a new sister this week!
Straight from Pocatello, Idaho! Her name is Sister Barlow and Sister
Graham is training her. She's great. Change is always exciting. We
will miss Sister Neibaur! But she's going down to my old area -
Sarasota! I'm excited for her. :)

I keep trying to think about what I want to share and there's always
too much. I think the thing I keep learning this week is to just
cherish the moment. Be in it, live it. God has a plan for you. It's
good to think about the future and to plan for it, but it's also
important to be fully engaged in whatever it is you are doing right
then. It takes a lot of discipline, but the thing I keep learning
about discipline is how satisfying it is. When you really commit to
change something no matter how small it is, when you keep that
commitment it really does bring satisfaction and joy. Change is real.
It's possible and it's worth it.

My companion and I have decided to listen to all of the Book of Mormon
before the end of the transfer! So we listen during meals, while
driving in the car, etc. It's a great way to get immersed in the Book
of Mormon throughout the day and remember what you've been studying.
Would you like to join us in in this challenge? I can promise it will
be worth it! As a small bonus it doesn't even take up a ton of space
to download. If you haven't read much recently or have been feeling
the need for a closer relationship with God, reading and applying the
Book of Mormon to you life can make a difference.

I love the basic principles of the gospel. I'm so grateful for them.
As we follow those simple truths we will be led right. There is peace
and safety in following God's commandments. This I know.

I love you all! I am grateful for you! Keep the faith and work hard!

Sister Gessel

The sisters :)

Penny's Baptism!

Ward summer party with a giant water slide :)

Penny and her family! Her grandson Sean came from North Carolina to baptize her. :) It was all amazing. :)

The sisters!

Love you,

Sister GesselHi everyone!

This week has been great. :) I love the 4th of July. It was great to
spend it with some of the members here in Temple Terrace. We also
found out today that I get to finish here! I'm really excited about
that. :)

Penny was baptized on Saturday! It was the best day! We also were able
to go to a baptism for a man named Kent! He has an amazing story.
Penny's family was able to come for her baptism and it meant the world
to her. Now half her family are members! She's not a woman of many
words, especially in groups of people, but you could just see and feel
how happy she was. It was a spirit filled day. I'm so grateful the
Lord led us to her when the time was right. He truly does work
miracles! And next year she'll be able to be sealed to her husband and
family!

District picture :) Elder Williams (yellow tie) is Amanda Williams
brother! Crazy huh?

Progress

Hi everyone!

Just a few thoughts today. :) Sometimes it can be really hard to see your progress and see how you're changing. This past week during weekly planning before we got too far into it we spent time talking about all the good things that had happened the past week and the progress that had been made. I loved it. As I've been reflecting on change and progress I just can't help but be grateful that change is part of life and that it's part of His plan for us. Change is scary and sometimes it can be disheartening when it seems like we're not improving as fast as we'd like or we let fear get in the way. But the Lord is willing to help us where we are at, as long as we are willing to act and to keep going. 

I love seeing the changes and the progress that people are making. I know that the gospel can truly bless lives. We just started working with a woman and her husband. She is a member and her husband isn't. They came to church for the first time in a long time yesterday. Sacrament meeting seemed like it was made specifically just for them. I hope that they will take the gospel back into their lives and let it change them. I look at her life right now and I see that she isn't happy, that she's guarded and that she's afraid. I know the gospel can do wonders, I know it can bring happiness, but I know I can't force her to change or to accept it back into her life. I know that the Spirit wants to guide her and that the scriptures can help answer her questions. I know all of this is true, because it's made a difference for me. I can find answers to my questions in the scriptures and I've found so much peace by living the gospel. I know that I still have changes to make and that I'm no where near perfect. I just pray that we can both open our hearts and change to become who He needs us and wants us to be. 

We have seen such amazing progress in Penny. She is more confident in her gospel knowledge and knowing that she can do this. She has also picked a baptismal date! She wanted to have her family come down from North Carolina. She was visiting this week and this picked a date - July 8th it is! :) We are so excited for her!

Also, Grace has made exciting progress! We've skyped her a few times this week and she told us she was going to a club for her friends birthday party. She knows about the word of wisdom even though we haven't had the lesson yet and she told us a little about her experience. She said she was excited to go to the party because she hadn't seen her friends for a while and it had been a bit of a tough week, etc. So she went and then the sisters there in England texted her inviting her to a movie night at the church. So she went, assuming that it would be a new, popular movie. Naturally, it wasn't, and it ended up being The Testaments, one of my favorite church movies! :) She ended up staying for the whole thing. She said it was really cheesy and she was bored, but I think deep down she liked it or she wouldn't have stayed. After the movie ended she left and since it wasn't very late at night she decided to go back to the party. She did and she stayed for quite a while. Her fiance was there too, but he wasn't drinking because he's preparing for baptism too. She said she did drink some because she hadn't had the lesson yet, but that she drank a lot less than she usually does. But she asked us, "Why did I feel so bad when I went back to the party?" She said that before she went to the church she'd been fine at the party, but after she went back she had these bad feelings and she knew that she shouldn't be there. She knew she shouldn't be around the drinking and the drugs. She just wanted to know why she felt such a difference! We were able to explain a little more about the spirit and how all good things come from God and evil things come from the devil. Anyway, the spirit is working with her. As much as she likes us to think that she's not making changes or progressing, she really is. It's exciting to see. Slowly but surely!

We get to go to the temple this week and we are so excited! :) If you get a chance to go this week, please do! 

Love you all! Have an amazing week and don't forget that the Lord loves you and will help you become your best self!

Sister Gessel

Week of miracles :)

Hi everyone!

This week has been so good! I feel like I say that every week, but good things just keep happening! Every day in my journal starts out, "today was good." Haha, I must admit, Sunday was more than good, it was AMAZING! :) 

We said goodbye to 3 members of our district this week, but we're got 2 other great missionaries. Our district also happens to be our ward, so here's all the missionaries that were in Temple Terrace. :) 

This is Grace!! She is the young lady in England we've been teaching over Skype! We just love her! We've skyped a few times this week and she's so eager to learn! She just learned the word of wisdom this week and though she said it was too much to ask for an English person to give up tea, she did so on Sunday, along with coffee and energy drinks! Were so proud of her! She is so prepared for the gospel! She has a 2 year old son and she's engaged to get married. Her fiancé is in another part of England and they were skyping this week and she said, "I've got something to tell you...I'm meeting with the Mormons." He says, "No way, me too!" Can you believe it

?!??!?! We couldn't, but it sounds like it's true! He wants to baptize her after he gets baptized! The gospel is true and God is so good! The Book of Mormon changes lives! I think many of us can relate, that when really good things happen, often there are really hard trials that go along with it. Grace isn't alone in this, so please keep her in your prayers. Her little boy collapsed this week and he will be hospitalized for the next few months receiving treatment. He's stable right now, but it's hard for little ones to fight everything. Thank you! We know the Lord will bless this family as they learn the truth! 

This is Helen! She is a new convert! She is moving to Cali this week and we are super sad, but it is in her best interests. She has grown so much and just grown to be a part of the ward. She is always the first one to greet you and give you a big hug! She bore such a beautiful testimony yesterday of her the gospel has blessed her life and how she's sharing it with her family. It was amazing. We hope and pray that she will be blessed to continue to grow in California. 

This is such a beautiful powerful video about eternal families. I know there are prophets on the earth today!

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2016-11-0001-elder-dale-g-renlund?cid=HP_TH_1-6-2017_dPFD_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-C_&lang=eng

Let me tell you, this week has been one of miracles! I alluded to the fact that Sunday was amazing and it truly was. So many people that we as missionaries have been teaching and finding were able to come to church. The ward really reached out and blessed their lives. I love these people! It's amazing how much you can love people in such a short time! Testimony meeting was filled with the spirit. I love hearing testimonies of the Savior and how the gospel has been a blessing. One testimony that stuck out to me was about how much service Briggs blesses. One member said that the more inconvenient the service is, the more blessings come. When we are not just checking off a box, but serving with our hearts the Lord blesses us and those we help so much! I want to apply that this week. To look for little things I can do to stretch and help make a difference. 

The Lord loves us, He knows us, this is His church. He suffered and died for us so we can be clean! It's been raining a lot so I've been thinking, "I like to look for rainbows, whenever there is rain, and ponder on the beauty of an earth made clean again. I want my life to be as clean as earth right after rain. I want to be the best I can and live with God again." 

Love you, 

Sister Gessel

P.s. Will you join me this week and look for little ways to serve above and beyond? 

Happy Mother's Day!

This is from our zone activity last Monday.

So many tender mercies from all he missionaries here by the mission office!

Me and Hermana Whitlock

Us and the YSA sisters after a service project

This past week has been fantastic! We've seen so many miracles in our area and online! The work is moving forward! No unhallowed hand shall stop the work. The scripture we're memorizing this week is Hebrews 11:1, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Through faith there can be so many miracles.

Penny and her grandson Tommy came to church yesterday! Tommy and his wife Kristen were baptized last October. Tommy is mostly blind due to an incident last summer and he's spent a few weeks in New York training with a guide dog! Now he's got a beautiful black lab named Partner. :) Penny is doing well and we will be seeing her tonight!

As I've been working online I have been amazed at how many amazing resources there are available on LDS.org! There are SO many! From military.lds.org to scripturestories.lds.org, families.lds.org, LDS.org/topics (this is our favorite find of the week! So cool! It has a ton of topics and then includes a description, scriptures, conferences talks, videos, etc. all on the subject! Basically the best resource ever if you're researching or writing a talk!), mentalhealth.lds.org, discover.mormon.org, jesuschrist.mormon.org, mormonandgay.lds.org, history.lds.org. The list goes on and on! If you haven't checked some of them out please take a minute and do!

Anyway, thank you all for all you do! Keep up the good work and don't forget you're loved!

Sister Gessel

Hello everyone,

I have been reflecting back on the many women who have touched my life
and shaped me into who I am today. I am so grateful for their love and
Christlike service. So many of them have no idea how much they
influenced me simply by being there, by caring and by listening. I'm
so grateful for my mom! And my grandma! And my sisters! Thank you all
for who you are!

As you know we get to call our families on Mother's day! It was great
to see the faces and hear the voices of those I love! I love you!