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