Week 54

Hello Everyone! 

As usual, I had a wonderful week! This area has been a bit slow, but Sister Zitting and I came up with a really great plan, and we're about to shut it down!

We had Zone Conference this week and the theme was diligence! It was definitely a call to repentance! I learned many things about diligence! I learned that the Lord expects diligence. When we are diligent we will feel joy and satisfaction! One sister in our mission expressed her joy after a long day of working with diligence! She said "I earned my pillow that night!" I felt a renewed desire to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength! All week as I have reflected on zone conference, one truth kept coming to my mind. The only opinion that matters of you is the Lord's!

In my life, anytime I have heard something negative about myself, that is the first truth I cling to, but the Lord knows me and that He is proud of me. Have we ever looked at it from the latter? When we are being praised by man, do we still ask the Lord His opinion of ourselves? I think often times when we are receiving positive feedback from the world, we become prideful. We think that we can do whatever we want and the world will still think that we are a good person. 

In 2 Nephi 13:9 it says "The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and doth declare their sin to be even as Sodom, and they cannot hide it. Wo unto their souls, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves." 

We may be able to fool the world with our actions and our countenance, but we will never fool the Lord. 

I am thankful for the marvelous gift of repentance. I am thankful that we have daily access to it. Jesus Christ's gospel is so hopeful! 

I would invite all of you to conduct inventory with yourself. Ask the Lord if he is pleased with you and repent and change and become more like Him!

I love you all! Have a great week!

Sister Gish

Sister Gish on exchanges with Sister Anderson

Sister Gish and Sister Zitting doing service at a cemetery

Sister Gish on exchanges with Sister Zobrist

Zone Conference 

Week 53: Sister Gish Hits Her One Year Mark!

Hello! Where do I even begin? I have been a missionary for an entire year. This has been the absolute fastest year of my life! It has been the happiest, saddest, most fun, and difficult year of my life. Mostly it has been refining. Refining and sacred. I am so in love with my mission and I wouldn't trade it for anything in this world. These past 53 weeks have shaped me for the better, and I consider myself so blessed to have another 6 months to serve the Lord. Thank you for all the letters and prayers! They mean more than you know!  

On Wednesday I went on exchanges with Hermana Barnum. She is such a cutie! She is just so kind and loving! I love going on exchanges with Hermanas and hearing them pray in Spanish. Even though I have no clue what they are saying, I can always feel the spirit so strongly!

Thursday was my year mark and we celebrated by doing lots of service! It was great! We helped Jeri make cake truffles and we helped Sister Hanson with her storage unit. We also went to dinner with Jeri that night! She is so fun! She keeps me laughing!

We had a lesson with a lady named Dakota this week. We met her on car fast day. She said that she and her husband have gone to a few churches in Greeley, but none of them felt right. We taught her the restoration and she was really open to everything we shared! We are meeting with her this upcoming week, so hopefully we can help her make it to church.

Poor Sister Zitting lost her original nametag on Wednesday! We searched high and low and retraced our steps from the day before. She found it in the couch cushion later that night.

We had Stake Conference this weekend! Elder Spencer R Griffin of the Seventy presided. It was amazing! I think my favorite part was when one of the members of the temple presidency spoke. He testified that Jesus Christ has walked the halls of every temple. We had a lesson with Chris! He said that he has been so happy since he got baptized! I'm so proud of him!

Yesterday, I went on exchanges with Sister Green! I can't believe it has been 6 months since we've been companions! That girl has grown leaps and bounds, so it was so special to reunite with her for the day! She is a wonderful example to me of patience and following God's will! Our day was filled with contacting, service, and reminiscing about our time in Lander and Dubois! 

One of the main things that has been reaffirmed on my mission is that "charity never faileth." Love is at the center of this work. Elder De Feo put it perfectly in his last conference address. "Love indeed is the true sign of every true disciple of Jesus Christ." Faith, hope, charity and love are often associated with each other. One day, Christ will return to this earth and we will no longer need to have faith or hope because we will see Him. However, our charity will endure forever, and that is why it never fails. I invite you to try to develop more pure charity! It comes through prayer and service to others. When we serve Heavenly Father's children, it gives us a small glimpse of the love He has for them and for us. It is such a special feeling!

I love you all!

Sister Gish

Sister Gish hit her one year mark!

Sister Gish and Hermana Barnum

Sister Gish and Sister Green reunited on exchanges

Sister Gish and Sister Zitting

Week 52: Happy Birthday Sister Gish!

Hello! Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday! It was so special!

On Thursday, we went to lunch with the Smith's! They are just the sweetest! We also had district meeting and we set goals and plans! The beginning of a transfer gets me so hype because I just want to bring the whole world closer to Jesus Christ! 

Friday was my birthday and it was the BEST! Sister Zitting was so sneaky and made sure my day was extra special! She blind folded me and took me back to our apartment where Sister Walker and Sister Anderson decorated it so cute! Heather Tanner delivered a cake for me from nothing bundt cakes! So yummy! It was definitely one for the books! 

Today we got to go to the temple! It was the first time I've been since the MTC! I love the temple and the peace that is felt there! I am thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. 

I will end with a quote by Bruce C Hafen. He said "I once wondered if those who refuse to repent but who then satisfy the law of justice by paying for their own sins are then worthy to enter the celestial kingdom. The answer is no. The entrance requirements for celestial life are simply higher than merely satisfying the law of justice. For that reason, paying for our sins will not bear the same fruit as repenting of our sins. Justice is a law of balance and order and it must be satisfied, either through our payment or His. But if we decline the Savior’s invitation to let him carry our sins, and then satisfy justice by ourselves, we will not yet have experienced the complete rehabilitation that can occur through a combination of divine assistance and genuine repentance. Working together, those forces have the power permanently to change our hearts and our lives, preparing us for celestial life”

I hope we can all allow the Savior to carry our burdens. We don't have to got through trials alone! 

I love you all! 

Sister Gish

Happy Birthday Sister Gish!

Sister Gish's Birthday Party!

Sister Gish's birthday gift from Sister Zitting

Sister Gish and Sister Zitting doing service

Sister Gish, Sister Zitting, and Regan

Lunch with the Smiths

Krispy Kreme delivery girls!

Greeley Zone

Sister Gish met up with Heather Tanner, an old friend from Tulsa!

Temple Trip!

Week 51

Hello Everyone! I had another amazing week! It was really busy!

Last Tuesday we had district P-day! That was really fun! We played baseball. I hit a couple dingers, but I probably won't be making a career out of it. We had dinner with Laura! She is simply amazing! I love spending time with her! We got ice cream and we showed her the video "The Will of God." Every time we meet with her I leave more spiritually uplifted. 

We met with Cassidy this week. I stand in awe of how ready she is. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She has all of her favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon written down. Every time we would share one with her she would reply "Oh yeah! That one's on my list!" I'm so excited for her baptism! 

We had Missionary Leadership Council on Thursday. We discussed the topic of diligence and read about it in the Book of Mormon. It is amazing how when people are truly converted to the gospel, they will strive to diligently share it with others. The sons of Mosiah are amazing examples of diligence! I love in Mosiah 28:3 how they were so converted to the gospel, they couldn't bear that any human soul should not hear it. Then they went out and served 14 year missions! That evening we took the McMurrays their spike ball and we got to visit with them for a little bit! I just love them!

Saturday was car fast! We didn't Tract all day because we had a baptism! Yay! It has been such a treat to teach Chris! As he has accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I have seen a change in him! He is a much more happy and confident person! We had dinner with Bishop Williams that night! We did scripture chases with his family and we came across a verse in 3 Nephi 24:2-3. This scripture talks about the second coming of the Savior. It says that Christ shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver" Bishop Williams then explained that you can know when silver is purified when you can see you reflection in it. I hope that one day when I stand before Christ, that he will be able to see his reflection in me!

Yesterday we said goodbye to Sister Kehoe! Having her in our companionship has been amazing! She is a brilliant missionary and I know she will continue to change lives in New Zealand, just as she has changed mine. We took her to the mission home to meet with President McMurray one last time! Then President McMurray gave us the mission card and said we could get some Krispy Kreme while we were in Denver. We wouldn't want to disobey our mission president, so we gladly took it. Ben and Brena are a couple of my fave people here in Greeley and they drove us to Denver! We had a blast with them! We played corn hole at the airport with them and they took us to dinner! To say we are spoiled in this ward would be an understatement! 

I hope everyone has a great week! I love you all so much! 

Sister Gish

Sister Zitting, Sister Gish, and Sister Kehoe at Chris's baptism!

Sister Gish and Sister Zitting

Sister Gish and a few other sister missionary had the opportunity to do some cleaning in the Colorado Ft Collins Temple

Sister Gish and Sister Zitting playing corn hole with Brena and Ben