June 18, 2019

Salut!! Another great week here in Ottawa! We had a lot of spiritually uplifting things happen. We had our last zone conference with president and sister Phillips yesterday. Man, it was a bawl fest... I look up to them so so much and I can't even express the gratitude I have for the opportunity I have had to serve under them. They have changed my life forever. The mission merge officially takes place on the first of July. I feel so excited! My mission is going to be HUGE. It will cover three different time zones! We also had a great stake conference the Sunday before. It was wonderful! It was my first one in English since I have been here! So that was wonderful. We and the zone leaders and had the great opportunity to sit in at a meeting with elder Bennet, an area 70. He was incredible! I felt a bit out of place, but I learned so much! It was cool to hear him speak the next day too. One amazing thing that happened this week was that we got to visit Jen! Jen is the cousin to brother Montreuil in Quebec. So I knew her from my first area when she would come to visit! It was so cool to see her! We had a fun time catching up and had a super spiritual discussion. It was powerful and we were all crying! Other than that, this week was full of visiting all of the other district's district councils which is always fun! We did a lot of service! I got to work in a soup kitchen! I have never done that before and it was a lot of fun! I love the feeling of being in an industrial kitchen. It makes me really want to have my own one day!;) We also helped out with, Bishop's storehouse. That was super cool! I am always surprised and impressed with the organization of the church. We are planners and doers! We set up the gym just like a store and then went and helped the people to get their groceries. It made me so happy. We had a super awesome lesson with this cute girl named Amanda. She came to the church and we gave her a chapel tour and taught her the restoration. Somehow she convinced me and sister Johnson to sing I Am A Child of God. She was touched by it. She is so sweet and has great potential and a lot of faith! I love this place. I had a lot of very sweet experiences this week at zone conference. I gained a greater witness than I have ever felt before of God's love. I know that I am his child. I know that all he does is to help me. I know that he knows me perfectly. I know that I have the potential to be like him. I know that he will help me do that. I just know. I love you all so very much. Keep on keeping on! Much love, Sister Bates