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