August 28, 2019

Hey all! This week was incredible! We got transfer boards Sunday night and I am headed to Greenwood Nova Scotia!!! I am beyond excited and so so humbled. It is so close to some of the areas where my dad served in his mission! I will be an STL still and with Sister Clark. I met her once at MLC and so it's super cool that I get to be her comp now! This was the area that Sister Newman just came from so we are basically switching areas now haha! I am so excited! I know that it is going to be a completely different dynamic. This is a small town and now I am used to the city. That will take some getting used to, but I am up for the challenge! I hope and pray that while I am there in that beautiful part of Canada that I will meet people that may have remembered my dad. There is a power in connectivity. I just can't help but think that there can't be a coincidence that I get to serve in his areas 25 years later. I trust the Lord has a plan and knows what he is doing. I am excited to see this whole thing plays out. We also gave away so many copies of the Book of Mormon this week. I got to tell this girl all about it and she was super interested. I read a verse from it and she said that it sounded familiar to her. People are definitely being prepared to receive the fullness of the gospel. We had some great luck finding! I met this super sweet girl who was happy to talk. We were having a good conversation, but her bus pulled up, so I only had time to give a card. I didn't think much of it, but then she texted us!! That almost never happens! She is just so cute! I hope that she stays interested and they are able to teach her. Sister Newman got talking with this other super cute girl named Gloria. She has SO much potential. She accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and said that she was super excited to read it. We also had a great couple of lessons with my favorite person, Jen. We had a super spiritual experience with her last night. She asked me to say the closing prayer and she said after that she felt the spirit so strongly. She said that she had never felt anything that strong before. It was so amazing to witness her feeling the spirit testify of God's love for her. It is such a real thing. His love is personal and healing. There are so many soulsick people in the world that need to feel his love. It really does change people and it really does bring lasting joy. I am a witness of that. The church is true because Christ is at the head. I love him. and I love all of you! I hope you all have a great week! Next week I will be in Nova Scotia, and I can't contain my excitement! love, sister Bates

August 20, 2019

Hello tout le monde! Another great week in Ottawa! I hit my year mark this last week which was nutso! I can't believe that this at this time a year ago I was in the MTC learning French. Those were such good days. I used to think that it was so hard. Haha, now I really understand what frustration and heartache feel like. But now I also understand more profoundly what true joy and peace feel like. That kind of joy is worth the frustration. That being said, this week was a bit frustrating in the sense that we have not had anyone to teach in a very long time. Lots of people and lessons fell through and it was disheartening. But we are working hard and trying our best which is all that matters to the Lord. On the bright side, we got to go to Ottawa Mission, a homeless shelter to help volunteer. That is like my favorite place ever. I love volunteering there! We also met with a member named Millie. She bought us Arby's and totally made my day Haha! Transfers are coming up and I am not sure what to expect. I have been having feelings that I might leave Ottawa. I don't know though. It's all up to the Lord. I do feel like there are people out there just waiting for us to find them. But in the meantime, I am being changed. We had a really cool 8:59 miracle last Saturday. We got on this bus on the way home and I ended up sitting by this super cute girl named Mary. We started talking about being a missionary and she said that she had met elders like 2 years ago but had never been taught. I gave her a card that showed her how she could download the Book of Mormon and she was like oh cool. And then my stellar companion, who was sitting across from her, was like "Hey, would you like a physical copy?" she whipped it out of her bag and gave it to her. It was awesome. I showed her Moroni 10:3-5 right there on the bus and she said that it was written so clearly and so powerfully. She said that she was so excited to read it! We were also able to get her number and we hope to meet with her again this week! It was so amazing! The work is moving forward. I think faster than we imagine. He is working in the hearts of people, and they are being prepared for a great and beautiful change. I love this work! (I know I say that every time, but it's true, sooo..!) Most of all, I love my Savior, so very much! You all are fantastic! I love you dearly! Love, Sister Bates

August 12, 2019

Hello everyone! OK, this week was just so great! We did a lot of finding as usual. I don't know why but some days are just a lot better than other days. Last Friday I felt like I was on fire! I talked to everyone! None of them were particularly interested, but that's okay! I felt so good at the end of the day because I really gave it my all. There is really no better feeling than that, even if seemingly nothing comes out of it. We went on exchanges this week as well. I got to be with my baby sister Atwood! It was so much fun to be with her again! We were able to do a lot of bus contacting and she did such a great job! This girl is fearless! She had so many good conversations with people! She has grown so so much and it was just so cool to see! We have also been working really hard with members. Last night a miracle happened. Sister Cloud has us over for dinner every Sunday. She is such an amazing member missionary! Always looking for opportunities to share the gospel. She has been working with her granddaughter for a very long time. But these last few weeks, she has begun to listen. We talked with her at a couple of baptisms that happened last week and we have been kind of teaching her when she is visiting her grandma. But last night after dinner we were having a spiritual thought and all of us were just bearing our testimonies and out of the blue, she said, "I want to be baptized this Saturday." Oh my goodness we were all freaking out so much! Everyone was crying! We taught her about the gospel of Jesus Christ and we will be teaching her the rest of the lessons this week. Her date should be next Saturday so she has more time to get ready. She is just so excited! She called us and asked us to say the prayers and is already planning everything! She bore the most powerful testimony to us about how she feels the spirit when she is with her grandma and when she prays and when she goes to church. She said that it feels like a power that she has never felt before. She said that there are just too many reasons why she knows that this is the right path for her to take. All of it makes sense. All of the doctrine is so clear. And she has felt the truth of it for herself by the spirit. We are just so so excited to keep working with her! She is elect and golden and so so prepared! All thanks to her sweet grandma, who never gave up on her and always stood as a good example. That is how people's hearts change. I am so grateful for my mission! I have seen so many people change. Myself included. I am so grateful to be an instrument to the Lord. I can see how he is using me and I can see how he is changing and refining me. I love my Savior and I know him well. Nothing is more wonderful and rewarding than knowing him. I would give up all I have just to know him. "But the Master comes, and the thoughtless crowd never can quite understand the worth of a soul, and the change that is wrought, by the touch of the Master's hand." ~Myra Brooks Welch I love you all so very much! Love, sister Bates

August 6, 2019

Hello everyone! Another awesome busy week! We had exchanges this week and I was able to go with sister Fonseca! She is a doll! She is so awesome and so all in. I felt like she was the STL and I was the one going on exchanges haha! She is just so good! She is called Spanish speaking, so I was able to go to a pass off lesson from the elders with a cute lady named Lulu. She doesn't speak any English so the whole lesson was in Spanish! I was surprised at how much I was able to understand just because it is similar to french in some ways. That was cool and a real gift of tongues miracle haha! I was impressed by how powerfully sister Fonseca and elder Petit bore testimony. I couldn't understand much of it, but my spirit sure could! The language of the spirit is such an amazing thing. My mission has really proved to be the best way to practice and be enveloped in the language of the spirit. I am so grateful for this opportunity. Christ really has so much love for us. And the spirit is the means by which we feel it. We had such a cool experience with a bible referral. There was a lady named Belinda that wanted a bible, but we didn't have time to deliver it on Sunday, so we asked if she would be able to come to the church and pick it up. She told us that she would be there at 1 (which is when our church starts...) But she didn't come until like 1:15 which was the middle of sacrament meeting. So we texted her and told her to come inside and that we would come out of our meeting in a few minutes. So after Sacrament meeting, we booked it outa there! After a few minutes of searching, we found her in the foyer with the riverside elders. They were teaching her about the book of mormon. They are so stellar!!! She was like "I have my kids waiting for me in the car, but I want to make time next week to come to this church"... AHHHH It was so incredible! I am so grateful for those elders that were so on top of it and so focused on their purpose as missionaries to teach in every possible situation. That is how miracles come to be. We have a lot of hope for her. These bible referrals have caused us to have a lot of super cool experiences! I just love being a missionary so so much. I love the people I meet instantly. I hope that never goes away. I just love being a missionary. I just truly do! This work is true! This church is true! And I love it with all my heart! I hope that everything is going super great with all of you! I love you all dearly! Love, sister Bates