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