January 15, 2019

Salut a tous! What a week! The best part was definitely that SOPHIANNE GOT BAPTIZED! Oh mon do! It was such a sweet and powerful experience! Her whole family came to support her and were very touched by the service. It was a little unorthadox because she asked elder Bills to give a talk on the Restoration so that her family could hear the first missionary lesson. What a cool idea!! They were super into it too! I love that she changed things up like that. I think it left a powerful influence on her family. We hope that they will want to follow her soon. When she received the holy ghost it was one of the most spiritual things i have witnessed. She cried. The gift of the holy ghost was one of the most powerful things to her. When we taught her. it really touched her heart and she wanted it more than anything. I am so happy that she has allowed herself to receive this into her life. The gratest joy she has ever known will surely follow. We also had a really amazing lesson with one of my favorite people, Rachelle. We taught her the Gospel of Jesus Christ and drew it out like a path. Baptism is the gate. She looked at it for a long time and said, so i need to get baptized then huh? She told us that she would think about it and we invited her to pray about it. She is also becoming more open with us. She used to tell us that she was too busy, but now she said that we can come visit any day. She has a very sensative spirit and really recognizes the holy ghost. She has made so much progress and I pray that she will continue to do so. There is so much joy that comes from this gospel. I just want everyone to have that! We had a really fun exchange this week too. It was a busy day! Those are the best ones! We found a super cute little family who was really interested! They let us come in and share a video. People here are often really surprised when we tell them how old we are and why were here. I think it really softens a lot of hearts. (Sometimes not though haha!) It really strengthens my testimony of this work. Why in the world would so many youth leave everything behind to tell people about Christ if they didn`t believe it with all their hearts. Its why im here! I am so blessed to be here. I am learning so much about so much! I love working with all of these wonderful people that i wouldnt have met any other way! I hope that you are all doing well. I so appreciate your prayers. They are definitely felt. I love you all! Love, soeur Bates