September 24, 2019

Hi everyone! This was a good week, more challenging than the past few but that's okay👌🏻 We did a lot of knocking Haha! But we had some really great lessons. We were able to meet with Paul, our neighbor. We had a super spiritual lesson with him. He has such a desire to learn more! It's incredible! We taught him the restoration and he just thought it was the most amazing thing ever. We also had a Book of Mormon referral. His name is Zac and he was just really curious about it. So we dropped by and gave him a copy and he was really excited to start reading it! It was awesome and refreshing to see so many people this week that had that fire and curiosity. That's how everything starts. Before Joseph Smith became the prophet of the restoration, he was just a kid with a question. We also have been trying this thing where we ask a member to pick a street in our map, then we go and knock that street. We did that with sister Kempton and we found a guy named Draven who was curious to learn more. Sister Kempton was so excited that we found someone on the street she chose! We asked her to write her testimony in a copy of the Book of Mormon and then we will take it to him next week. Members are the best! When members get actively involved in missionary work, miracles happen. We have also been visiting the Mullens a lot. Sister Mullen is a member but her husband is not. They are awesome:) They had us over for dinner and made us German food. Oh man it was so good. We have been working with Brother Mullen. He is so funny. He doesn't have an interest in learning more about God, but I know that the Lord is working on him. I felt that a lot this week. That there are lots of people that the Lord is preparing. More than we think. I think I forgot that promise for a while but the Lord reminded me this week that no soul is forgotten to him. Every person is so precious and he is preparing each one. I am excited to see those people come into the flock when their time is right. I really do know that the field is white and that there are people ready right now. I can't wait until we find them. Nothing brings me more joy than seeing people's lives compmetely change as they come unto Christ. It is the most beautiful thing to me. I know that this is his church. I know he leads it. I know he is leading this work too. I am grateful to be in the ranks!:) I love you all!! Love sister Bates

September 17, 2019

Hello, hello! This week was a very fun one! We have decided that the best way to win the hearts of these old maritimers is to get really involved with the community. So, that is exactly what we did! We volunteered at the Lions Club and did a lot of service for individuals. We also went to this music jam with a couple of our friends. It was SO much fun! We were the only ones there under the age of 65, but man those people knew their way around a guitar and fiddle! I don't know how this happened, but somehow they got me and my companion to get up there and sing. Soo we sang Onward Christian Soldiers and Battle Hymn of the Republic and they loved it haha! It opened the door to a lot of people asking what church we were from. It was really so amazing. We also got involved with this graveyard activity that a member was putting on, so we got to do a family History booth. Lots of people were very interested in that! Ooh also, the sisters in Annapolis Royal got taken out so we took over their area. We went to their branch last Sunday. It was teensy! But the people are so strong. There are a total of 2 young women there so we want to really start working with them. They're awesome. There was a corn boil at the church this week and it was a lot of fun. I really like being in a branch. It's easier for me to remember fewer names haha. I have such a deep love for the members already. They are so special and they have hearts of gold. The work is slower here, but we are plenty busy. We are teaching a few really awesome people, but they are not really progressing now. We hope to find some that are super soon! Well sorry this one's so short! I am so happy here! Life is lovely and the work is moving forward! I know that Christ is at the head of this church. I can see him in the details every day, and it is magnificent to see. I love you all! Love, sister Bates

September 10, 2019

Hi everyone! This was quite an eventful week! We went down to Monteal for MLC. It was so spiritually uplifting and powerful! Elder Haynie from the 70 came and spoke to us. He really opened my eyes! We are to start doing missionary work smarter, more creatively, and with a greater focus on following the spirit. It was so cool and I'm so excited to start applying all of the things I learned! We also went on exchanges with the Laurier sisters, sister Remington and sister Moore. It was the best!! I hope I get the chance to serve on the island, but if not, I have a lot of sight seeing to do when I come back to visit! There was so much to see and just not enough time! Although, Haha, we did get more time than we expected. Our flight got canceled because while we were gone hurricane Dorian struck Nova Scotia! So we got to spend more time in the city😁 But when we got back to Nova Scotia we found a lot of trees on the ground and our power has been out for a couple days so that hasn't been great... You don't appreciate electricity until it's gone. Haha. So we have been eating out a lot. Luckily our senior couple, the Butlers, are Angel's sent from above and let us use their shower. They also have us water and dinner. Thank goodness because we were NOT prepared! Anyways back to Montreal. It was a lot of fun to be back in YSA again. We had some absolutely incredible lessons! The Laurier sisters are teaching some super amazing people. I can't say enough about them. They are such consecrated missionaries and you can tell by the way the teach. I remember when sister Remington first came into the field. Her and her trainer stayed with us in our apartment in Quebec. I knew even then she was going to be an STL. It is just so cool to see how much has changed in a year. Back then I could have never imagined the places I would go, people I would meet, and person I would become. It has been the refiners fire for sure! But I wouldn't change a thing. It's hard to explain how grateful I am for my mission. So many beautiful lessons learned. So much closer to my Savior. I would give up everything just to know him. I love you all! Love, sister Bates

September 3, 2019

Bonjour everyone:) Well, I am here in Nova Scotia! It is so very different from what I am used to as a missionary and I love every minute so far. The people here are some of the kindest people I have ever met. They are down to earth and real and they don't get weirded out when you try to talk to them like they do in the city sometimes haha. I have missed the down home feel. It feels like home in a lot of ways! My companion sister Clark is just the best! She is a beautiful singer and theater major so my days are filled with beautiful music and it is just the greatest. She showed me the beautiful seashore and the cute quaint little towns in our area. I love the peacefulness of the place. It has been cool to experiences all sorts of varieties of cultures and different ways of living. I love them all. We went knocking in the boonies so that was a lot of fun! I never thought I would be tracting on dirt roads, but there ya go! My first night it down-poured! We got drenched but it was worth it because just before, we had such an amazing lesson with a young man named Laurids. He is what they call a whufer...woofer?? (I'll be honest I have no idea how to spell it.. I had never heard of one before my mission...) But basically what they do, is go from farm to farm and just work for the host family that lives there for a month or so. Then, they get transferred to the next one! So it's a lot like missionary work in that way haha. Anyways he is from Germany and he is so amazing. He is such a truth seeker. His questions are some of the most sincere and honest questions I have ever heard. He thinks so deeply. It is amazing. We also had a lesson with a man who actually lives in the building across from us named Paul. He talks to us from his balcony a lot haha. He had a question about baptisms for the dead and so we went over and ended up teaching him about the restoration. he was amazed by it and was so excited to read in the Book of Mormon. He is a truth seeker too. I have found that there are a lot of those here. At church I met a lady that said that she probably knew my dad and probably had him over for dinner but she couldn't remember because it was so long ago. But she was living in Halifax the same time that he would have been there. I hope I can find more people that may have known him. Needless to say I am SO excited to go on exchanges in Halifax because then I will be walking the same streets that he walked. I can't wait. This work is so true and it is so beautiful. There is so much hope and joy from the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope that life is treating you all well. Thank you all so much for your love and prayers and kind words. I love you all!! Love, sister Bates