Week 3! (mtc)

Bonjour mon amies et famille! This has been such a great week! On Tuesday, my companion soeur Nelson and I had are first TRC. It's where we teach actual member volunteers in French. It was stressful. But we taught two lessons and there was a noticeable difference between the first and the second. During the second lesson, I felt the impression to just stop and listen. (I had been going through what I was going to say next in my head.) When I began to just listen to what he was saying, I was able to feel the spirit. When I felt prompted to speak, it was from the heart and it flowed smoothly. Le don de langues (gift of tongues) is real. I understand so much more than I ever thought possible in two and a half weeks. That being said, I have a LOT to work and improve on! But I know that the Lord blesses those on His errand. (Thank goodness for that!) I had the most amazing opportunity to host last Wednesday. There were 450 new missionaries coming i. It was incredible. I lead some new sisters around, showed them where everything was, and helped them transition in. It was hard work because we had to carry all of the luggage up the stairs. And let me tell ya, sisters DO NOT pack light. And most of my girls were on the fourth floor. By the end of it all I was absolutely exhausted. And yet, I felt so much love for these new missionaries. I loved having the opportunity to serve and comfort them. It was just like when I arrived at the MTC. It was so hard to believe that exactly two weeks ago, to the minute, that was me! I have grown so much since then. It feels like I have been here forever. days feel like weeks, and weeks feel like days. Time is paradox when you're a missionary..... Fun story, I sang in the choir this last Thursday for our devotional and got on the monitor like 4 times. The speaker was amazing. Brent H Nielson, from the seventy. He asked a very powerful question: Do you want to be part of something majestic? Do you want to be part of something great? This (missionary work) is it. It is the most powerful movement on the earth today. I am so grateful to be a missionary! I love the spirit of service that I get to feel ever day! I love my purpose. I love the spirit. And I love my Savior. I took part in a role play in front of my district yesterday and was able to testify of the power in the Book of Mormon. I never fail to be amazed at the power the spirit brings to me despite my weaknesses and worries. The spirit gives me power far beyond my own. I am so grateful for that gift. This Sunday, my collague (companion) and I get to teach relief society. I am so excited! Our topic is enduring to the end. Planning for this lesson has been such a joy. My testimony has been strengthened. I feel very strongly that there is always something better that we as members can be doing to stay closer to Christ. If we have something that is not necessarily bad, but not necessarily good, we should work on just letting go of it. We can't keep just one hand on the iron rod forever. If one hand is holding to the rod and the other hand is holding on to something else, we will never be able to feel the full joy of the gospel. More pressingly, when the storms come, (and they will) we should already be clinging tightly to the rod. Not only that, but being close to Christ brings a grater joy than anything else in this world. I love the safety and clarity this gospel brings. I just can't deny that it is true. The more I learn, the more I know that. I love my savior so much. He is the reason. I hope everything is going great with you all! I love receiving your emails and hearing about how things are going in the real world. I love you all so much! Love, soeur Bates<3

Week 2! (mtc)

Bonjour mon amies! My oh my, what a week it has been! I am just loving it here at the MTC. I'll probably say this every time but the spirit is just so strong here. I can't even believe it. Also time is such a weird thing here. They say the days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like days... They're totally right! Sometimes I marvel at all of the things I accomplish in one day. It's all because of the spirit. So one of the coolest things that happened this week was on Tuesday, we got to hear from Elder Christofferson and his wife. They came here and broadcast it live to all of the other MTCs. I sang in the choir. There was something truly heavenly about being surrounded by 900 voices in unison. We sang Joseph Smith's first prayer. Anyway, elder Christofferson talked about a new thing the church is going to be pushing. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will no longer support the word Mormon in the context of using it as a shortened way to say LDS. He told us that Heavenly father was not pleased at all that the name he gave to this church has not been used. He actually called us to repentance! I thought that that was absolutely incredible! He also said something that stood out to me: Mormon the prophet is heartbroken when we use his name instead of Christ's name. So the church is going to be discontinuing "I'm a Mormon" and "Mormon.org" anything that was meant to have Christ's name in it. He said, "It's an impossible feat to attempt to do this, but the Lord wants it done, so we're going to do it!" Wow right? My companion soeur Nelson and I have taught lessons to "investigators" (now they're calling them "friends of the church") all in French. Never in a million years would I ever expect that I could ever do that! But I truly do see so much growth in myself even in one day. I can understand and my sentences are becoming more substantial. It's truly incredible. Le don de langue (the gift of tongues) is so real. I had had quite a hard time the first week with the language, but I have a testimony that the Lord always blesses those who are on his errand with strength beyond their own. I am an example of that. I know that I still have a long way to go and i'm probably going to plateau a million more times, but to bring just one soul unto Christ makes it all worth is to me. Knowing my purpose as a missionary has made everything so much clearer. Every little thing I do is for the people I teach. I sleep so that I can be alert to teach them, I eat so that I can have the energy and strength to teach them. I struggle with learning this crazy language so that I can speak what they need to hear. It's ALL for them. The moment I opened my call, I felt a love for these people I haven't even met and that love hasn't decreased. In fact I have felt it grow so much. I hope that all is going well with all of you! Much love! Love, soeur Bates

First two days!

Bonjour famille! My goodness it has been a super crazy 48 hours! I honestly feel like I've been here for weeks. The spirit here is unlike anything I have ever felt before. It so strong and it is everywhere. My scripture study has been so amazing and the spirit is just incredible. My companion, soeur Nelson is absolutely wonderful. She is from Pitsburg Pennsylvania. She has such a strong testimony of this gospel an isn't afraid to share it. She is just a fun extroverted person and she brings it out of me. We laugh all the time and work so well with each other. I really don't think I could have asked for a better companion here in the MTC. Also, fun fact she is already fluent in Spanish but is learning French here at the MTC too. My whole district is so cool. I am rooming with five lovely sisters, soeur Allen, soeur Weeks, soeur Roberts and of course soeur Nelson. The three of them are farther ahead in French than than sister Nelson and I so the language has already proven to be frustrating for us, but I keep telling myself not to compare my linguistic ability with others because in six months, we'll all be on the same level. There are also eight other elders in my district. Each one of us are going to Montreal so it's nice that we will know each other before we get out into the field. Right now, I am working hard to memorize gospel words and phrases. Then tomorrow we will try our first hand at teaching an "investigator" We will introduce ourselves and ask few questions, testify, and close with a prayer all in French. Pray for me! As frustrated as I feel sometimes, I know that I am receiving tons of help with the language. There is no way I could memorize all that I did in the last 48 hours had it not been the spirit helping me. It is truly amazing. I attended a lot of workshops here too. My favorite meeting was when they brought actual investigators from off the BYU campus. They talked to us about what they were looking or and questions they had not just about the gospel, but the questions and concerns of their lives. As brand new missionaries, we were able to teach and testify to them about the truth of this gospel. It was cool to look at things from their perspective, first hand. I was brought to tears by the love that I felt for these people that I have never even met. I am seeing everyone as a child of God and it is the most beautiful way to look at this world. I wish that I had made a habit of it in my youth. I would have been able to love others more freely, despite their weaknesses. As you know, I'm not usually the one that speaks when there is crowd, but I felt a strong impression to say something to one of the investigators, a girl named, Chel. I had no idea what I was going to say, but I opened my mouth and I can truly say that it was filled. I was just able to testify that Christ is the reason for the joy in my life and his love is for everyone, including her. One thing that has really shocked me while I have been here is my confidence. It has never been in my nature to be excited to be around a bunch of people, or to be excited to meet people for. But here I honestly am! I was nervous up until I stepped out of the car and my host sister came to meet me and take me away. I didn't even feel sad when they swept me away. I felt safe and happy to be here. Still do! And I mean I was still pretty nervous, but I do feel like I have been given courage beyond myself. So even though it's still scary to me, I actually have the want and desire to do things like, speak up in class, and say hi to people, and other things like that. It seems like such a small thing, but for me this is pretty revolutionary! I feel like I am finally becoming the best version of me. they to do that is with the spirit's help. There is no other way to gain this kind of confidence, this quickly, and I am so excited to grow more. I know that hard times will come and that this French thing will probably frustrate me to tears. But I know the end result and that gives me comfort. So crazy story! While I was sitting in one of the workshops they asked us to turn around and speak with the person in front or behind. Lo and behold elder Groves (Marshal Groves) turns around! What a small world! We just so happened to come in on the same day. I have also run into elder Sego, and sister Pickering. I have yet to see sister Riplinger, but I hope I can before she heads out. I am having wonderful time here. The food is great. Everyone is friendly and kind. The spirit is immense. It feels like breathing clean air for the first time in my life, and it never goes away, it's just always here. Last evening we met with our district leaders. Brother Francis interviewed me (just to get to know me) and I shared with him my concerns about leaving my family. He told me something that has given me comfort. He told me that Heavenly Father blesses the families of those who serve as long as they are serving wholeheartedly and giving everything that have to the work. "Hold him accountable to that promise" he said and I surely intend to hold up my end of the bargain, because I know that he will hold up his. Don't worry about me at all. I have never felt so safe. I love this work and I am so grateful to be a part of it. I love my Savior. He is THE reason why I am here. I love you guys SO much and I can't wait to hear about how everything is going. You're always in my prayers and in my heart. Love, Soeur Bates Ps, here are some pictures mom!<3

Here safe!

Hey mama! Hey family! They're letting us send a quick email to say that I arrived here safely. This place is amazing! Everyone is so kind. I just met my companion sister Nelson. Everyone says welcome and my class seems really cool. Duolingo doesn't come close to what is up on the board on day one here, so hopefully the spirit helps me because French seems crazy! Anyways I know I only talked to you an hour ago, but I love you! I am safe and I love this place already! Love Sister Bates! PS, will you please froward this to the rest of the family, and then send me all of their emails too?