December 4, 2018

Bonjour Family! This has been my favorite week in the mission! I`m serious, it was so so good! December 1st was the worldwide day of service and it was just glorious! We were driving to visit an amie when i locked eyes with a girl walking down the street. I knew we had to pull over and talk to her. The thing with that, is usually when we turn the block, park, and try to find them, they have already disappeared.. It`s bizzare haha. But i felt so good about this one. we parked the car in record speed and jumped out and ran. It was timed way too perfectly, we met her exactly at the corner and stopped her! Her name is Joyeuse (Joyful) How cute is that!? We told her about our message and she gave us her address and said that we could come back on Friday! It was a miracle. Truly. After that we felt very inspired to go visit a woman in the ward named Lana. We just asked her if we could clean her house and she said yes! we swept and mopped and made the beds and it was so much fun! She gave us a loaf of bread for our help. That was a sweet little miracle too because just that morning we ran out of bread which was a bummer beacuse we couldnt buy any more until today. And of all the things she could have given us, she gave us bread... It reminded me just how much God is in the detials of our lives. The bread was a small thing, but sometimes he gives us those miracles to remind us that he is there and he is aware and looking for oppertunities to bless us. Earlier that last week we did what is called a drop pass by for Rachelle. She is awesome and I love her but getting appointments with her has been nearly impossible. So we were going to pass by her and if she wasn`t there or ready, then we would drop her, but if she was and we felt inspired to keep her, then we would. When we got there, she had fogotten about our appointment and said this would have to be our last meeting beacuse she would be really busy from here on out. She told us that she could only give us 5 minutes. We said okay! we showed her this video called heavenly father, earthly father (its beautiful, i would highly reccomend you watch it) she loved it beacuse it showed her the true nature of god. After that, she told us that no, she needed to see us again. she told us to call her on the 16th and she would make time to see us. that was crazy because she told us her schedule with starting school and a new job, and it was a valid excuse, she literally has no time now. but i know that the lord consecrates our time when we put him first. she also told us that as soon as we walked in, she realized that her prayer was answered. Our last visit, (almost a month ago) we invited her to pray and ask god if he was there and if he was really her father. she said she prayed all week and got her answer. she also asked him to help her to get her life together. that next week she got a new job and started school. She realized that was him helping her do that. She is changing. she is seeing the Lord in her life, and it is beautiful. One of the most beautiful things this week was that Annick passed her interview and she is getting baptized on the 8th of Dec. We are beyond excited and so so happy that she has made this decision and is following through! I realized this week what i wanted my own personal mission vision to be. It is in 3 nephi 17:20 when Christ tells the people he taught "and now, my joy is full" Sometimes i will be sitting in a lesson teaching people that I have so much love for, or someone I love will understand a gospel principle, or ill see them change and grow and i just can`t explain the joy i feel. Christ truly said it best. "my joy is full" everytime i think my joy cant get any fuller, He allows my heart to grow more and it fills up with more and more joy. I love these people with all of my heart. I truly do. I love this work beacuse it is allowing me to feel love and joy that i have never before experienced. I know that this is truly the Lord`s work. I love Him. I hope all of you are doing well and finding joy in your lives. Love, soeur Bates