April 18, 2025, 9am MDT
Annick Gelweiss of Sudbury, Ontario, does not wear a missionary name tag, but wears a comparative jersey. And you can’t see it, but she says she will never take it off.
“I’m on the Lord’s team,” Gervey said. “And I want to wear his jersey forever.”
Gerweiss, a member of the Sudbury Ward in Sudbury Ontario shares of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is pleased to take even more similarity. As a member of his team, she devotes her life to becoming an All-Star. Following repeated invitations from President Russell M. Nelson to “gather Israel,” Gerweiss introduced thousands of people to the restored churches and handed over 400 copies of the Book of Mormon.
At her furious pace, she may hit 500 by the time you finish reading her story.
At 39, Gervais always wanted to do his job. She just didn’t know where to start. “For most of my life, I was lost, just searching and searching,” Gervais said.
She grew up in a different faith, but by her name alone she doesn’t remember that Jesus Christ is the topic of her family. “We didn’t talk about Jesus.”
As a teenager, Gerbeis was desperate for her spiritual foundation, but her curiosity and exploration rarely paid off. “I was always too outgoing, too big, too much. I was a firecracker and always questioning everything.”
To her friends and teachers, Gervais seemed to have it all. She was the captain of the basketball and volleyball teams. She was always involved, served and volunteered. But she fought war in voices of darkness, loneliness and despair. “It cried out to me,” she said. “I was ugly, stupid, no one loved me, and I said I should just disappear.”
She began to question the meaning of life more than ever before. If God was real, why did he make her have him?
In Grade 11, she was ready to give up life, love and faith, and she heard a clear and powerful voice. This time, the voices did not generate doubt, but offered hope. “Annick, you cannot give up. You are for greatness. I have a plan for you.” Gervais felt as he heard the words from head to toe.
Soon, at just 17 years old, with just $200 in her dreams and pocket, she left home for college and began a fierce search of this promised plan. “The day I heard that my beloved voice had sparked a journey,” she said. “Long things. Something messy. Something beautiful.”
Over the next season of her life, Gervais finally began to find the answer. “One night, my roommate Sarah began to tell me about this guy called me yes, which means he told me who he is, what he did, how he died for us.
With a smile, Sarah added, “Yeah, I think he’s coming for you.”
Gervais admits that life didn’t come to be instantly easy. She kept making mistakes and felt broken. But she couldn’t shake up what she felt. “I was drawn to Jesus.”
Amidst the chaos of 2020, her search took more urgency. “I went to the church and tried to find the place I belonged to, but nothing felt right.” It wasn’t until she reconnected with her old, trusted friend, Aaron Walsh, who was a member of the church.
“I hadn’t seen him in years,” she said. “But I reached out and let him say he was there. He mourned with me, and he heard, and he became a true friend in one of my darkest times.”
Gervais asked him a question. “Where are the Prophets? The Bible is full of them. Do you not have them today? Did you think God has never changed?”
Then came the questions that changed the eternal course of her life. “I called him and said, ‘Aaron, I need a book for our day.’ ”
“There,” he said. “It’s the Book of Mormon.”
A few days later, Walsh and his wife handed Guerbes a copy of herself. “That was the moment when everything changed,” Gervais said. “At the time, I didn’t realize that the books I had were the answers to all my questions.
Her research and preparation took time, but she now knew her Lord’s plan. “I was ready,” she said. “I’ll do anything to join the team of Jesus Christ. I wanted a jersey. I wanted to play for the best team I’ve ever had.
Guerbe was baptized on February 27th, 2021. “The moment I came out of the water, all my anger disappeared. I felt this incredible peace.
Like everyone else, her journey since baptism has not been perfect. She believes she is struggling to stop regular research into books that have started it all. “I stopped reading the Book of Mormon, which led to me not to pray regularly or go to church,” Gervey said. She added that whenever she feels she is slipping, it is the Book of Mormon that brings her back into the game.
Hearing and feeling the invitation of President Nelson to “collect Israel on both sides of the veil,” Gervey went to the temple and devoted himself to missionary work. “President Nelson said gathering Israel should be our number one priority, and I took that to heart.”
Gervais says the invitation, coupled with her love for the Book of Mormon, encouraged her to hand out 400 copies of these in person and by mail. “I want to be Lord’s starting lineup. We all can do. We’re here to bring Israel together and help our brothers and sisters get home.”
For those who are experiencing the mental lull as she did, Gervais offers simple and pure advice. “If you feel discouraged, stuck and confused, I know what you need to do – read the Book of Mormon. But don’t skim, dig in.
And like Annick Gervais, you might get a jersey.
