January 28, 2020

Hi all!

I am so truly blessed! This week had some ups and downs but I am very happy:) I just love sister Goodwin! She is such a personality and we just laugh all the time! I am thankful to be her trainer. She just has so much courage and really cares about people and the work. She felt prompted to ask Glen to be baptized on the 15th of Feb. and so she did it. And he said YES. We almost got dropped by our friend Darlene because she was going through some hard times, but then that sweet girl bore just the most pure and heartfelt testimony and she decided to keep meeting with us. She came to church the next day and had the most amazing time. She felt the spirit so strongly and she told us later that she related to all the talks and things that were said. The members love her and the way she was talking with them, it just felt like she was a member already! It brought so much joy to our little hearts. Oh my goodness! 

We also stopped by this guy named Mark. He was taught a year ago and said that he would like it if we came back. Sister Goodwin seems to form connections with everybody. On several occasions, she has said exactly what someone else needed to hear, or shared an experience that relates so perfectly to that person. I can already see how the Lord has placed her in certain people's lives to bless them. It is always easier to see that in others. I hope that I will be able to look back and see how I touched others' lives for good as well. 

On kind of a lower note, we came out of a lesson to find our car had been hit... hit and run. My door doesn't open very well because of the dent. But other than that, it still drives fine. For some reason, whenever something great happens or is about to happen, (like Glen getting put on date) Satan attacks my car! It happened the week before I left on my mission too! I had like 3 flat tires! Maybe Heavenly father is hinting that I need to be a bit more car savvy. Anyways, it doesn't matter too much. Thank goodness car insurance is a thing haha.

Man, I just love this area. The members here are such kind and good hearted people and I am grateful to know them. It's going to be really hard to say goodbye! And not just to them, but to this lifestyle. I love being a missionary. It's hard but I love it! I think about going home and get a little nervous sometimes because for 18 months, I have had a purpose. When I go home I'll have to find a new one. I have been focusing a lot on my blessing and trying to figure out what the next steps are in my life. I have hope for everything that is to come. If there is one thing that my mission taught me, it's that God loves his children. I know that he is not going to leave me to fend for myself. He has taught me how to seek him these last 18 months. That is the greatest gift I could have asked for. I know what it feels like when he speaks to me. I can recognize his hand in my life. I can feel the spirit guiding me. I am so grateful for that.

I really do love my Savior so much. I understand better than I ever have what his Atonement truly means. I am so grateful to know him personally. I love him.

I hope that all of you can feel how much he loves you. 

Have a great week!

Sister Bates

January 21, 2020

Hi everybody!

This is the first week of my last transfer. Oh how time flies... I picked up my cute new trainee from the airport last Thursday and these last few days have been a ball! We get along really well and laugh all the time! She is from Raymond and is just such an amazing missionary already! I already have so much love for her!

This week was the THIRD week in a row that church was canceled due to weather. Oh my heck. All I want to do is take the sacrament and see the members!! But we did visit a member this week who said something really wise. There is a reason why we are supposed to be making church more home centered. There are times coming in the near future where it is going to be harder to get to church, so we better know well how to have a spiritually uplifting experience in our own homes, when outside sources prevent it from happening. I am grateful for modern day revelation. I love President Nelson and his wisdom and kindness. I am already really looking forward to General Conference this upcoming April. 

We had a really great lesson with our friend Sylvia. We showed her the Rome Italy temple tour and she absolutely loved it. And then the moment came. 2 days out in the field people and my sweet little greenie asked Sylvia if she wanted to be baptized and she said yes!!! I was SO proud of sister Goodwin! That was not planned. She simply felt a prompting and followed it. We walked out of there on cloud 9! Now, she hasn't picked a solid date yet, so she is not officially on date but, it is something that she wants to work toward. I love Sylvia so very much. She is a sweet daughter of God and I just know he loves her so much. We also had a nice lesson with Carol and she told us that she wants to come to church! We really hope she does.

This week after sister Livingstone left was a bit slower because like everybody and their dog has been sick! Most of the people we are teaching have been and a lot of the members too. So we did a lot of knocking and pass bys. Not the most fun, but it's part of the work!

Sorry there is not much more to report. But I am happy and healthy and loving the mission and my new comp!

I know that the church is true. Christ lives and loves us. This mission experience has taught me more than I bargained for and I am forever grateful to my Heavenly Father for that. I know that he loves his children, because I have felt it so many times, for so many people, myself included.

I love you all!

Love sister Bates

January 15, 2020

Hi everyone! So this week was incredibly crazy because we go transfer boards and guess what? I am training! again!! I am so excited! Her name is sister Goodwin and I will be picking her up from the airport tomorrow. I am so excited!! Sister Livingstone will also be training! AND she is moving back to Montreal! She is actually going to be serving in an area that she has served in already which is cool! We were more than a little sad that we weren't staying together for my last transfer.. But we both know that Lord knows what he is doing. I can't believe that I am going to be bringing a sweet new sister missionary into her first transfer while on my final one. I think it will be good though, because I will have to work super hard! It will be good to have a lot of distractions, because I know that the inevitable is coming... My MTC comp is going home tomorrow too.. If that isn't weird, I don't know what is. 

Anyway, we had a really up and down week.. Lots of emotions! Sister Livingstone had to go and say her goodbyes to so many people and needless to say, there were a lot of tears. I am not looking forward to that... There are so many people here that I love so dearly who are going to make this extremely hard to leave... What I good problem to have.

We had lessons with almost all of our friends. In fact, we had a really good lesson with Phil! I love it when they go so smoothly like it really needed to happen. We teach so many lessons that we never see the fruits of. But sometimes I have lessons or encounters with people where the spirit tells me, wow, that really needed to happen. I love that. We taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and he loved it and believed it. I am watching his heart and mind open and expand to truths he never knew before. I have been thinking about that a lot this week. the book of Mormon contains truths and insights that we need! Discovering that the Book of Mormon is true opens us up to a universe of beautiful information far beyond those pages. Because if the book is true, then Joseph Smith comes with it. And so do all the prophets who have ever lived to testify of it too. That is a LOT of revelation friends. And it all comes back to that little blue book. I know that it's true. The fruits that have come from it far surpass any doubt that Satan could put in my mind. I have had too many experiences to ever doubt that book. 

We also had a sweet sweet lesson with probably my favorite member. She has such a tender and calm spirit and shares just the most beautiful and heartfelt testimonies with us. Some of my most spiritual confirmations and experiences have happened in her home. Nothing ever grand or glorious, but I have just had the spirit testify to me with a lot of power of a lot of things there. We always leave feeling edified and I just really want my future home to feel like hers.

Man! It just hit me again how much I love being a missionary! It is so hard! But it is so good! I am going to miss it a lot... I know that this church is true. And I know that it is lead by a living prophet. I can't imagine what my life would be like without the restoration. It would be unrecognizable. I am grateful for who Christ has helped me to become. I love him so very much, more than I ever thought possible and I am thankful for the time I have been given to serve him. It is so short... I want to make this last transfer one of miracles and obedience. Please pray for me and my new greenie. I believe in the power of faith. I love you all so much and hope the week treats you well!

much love!

Sister Bates

January 7, 2020

Another great week:) 

This Sunday was a bit odd because we got a bad snow storm the night before and so church got canceled. Kind of a bummer because Brian was all ready to come again! Next week for sure. But because the roads were so bad, our district leader counseled us to stay off of them. So we stayed inside... literally all day except for when we went out for 2 minutes to take out the recycling. Not because we needed to, but because we were literally going crazy... we called everyone we could, cleaned out our areabook, and did a bunch of other busy work. We also went through all of our ensigns and cut out all the pictures of Jesus and put them up on the wall. We literally covered an entire wall people. But it looks really cool! Also our bathtub had a leak under it apparently and it kind of flooded the poor lady downstairs... so she and our landlord came and knocked on our door to tell us when the plumber was coming and it was really weird. I have very seldom had anyone knock on MY door as a missionary! I'm always the knocker not the knockee! So that weirded us both out lol. 

Last night was incredibly cool! We went to visit this cute family that the sisters had met on exchanges and we officially picked them up! Also we stopped by this cute old lady named Marlene and picked her up too! She met us right in and we helped her put a puzzle together while we talked. She was super funny. I love cute old ladies. They are the majority of my friends at this point and I love it:) so that's 5 people in one night!! It was awesome! Things are moving along and the work is progressing in Greenwood! It feels so good to see the fruits of our labors and to see how the Lord has used me and my companion as instruments in his hands.

We weren't able to see Darlene because she got sick with the same flu that seems to be getting everyone else sick! But we are really excited to teach her the Plan of Salvation!
I'm super excited because this time next week I will know where I am going to be for my last transfer. C'est vraiment fou... I can't believe the end is coming so quickly! This transfer had FLOWN by! So I can only imagine what next transfer is going to look like. Sister Livingstone and I aren't sure what's gonna happen. Because everybody knows where I'm going in 6 weeks, but she has just one more transfer than me so if she stays here next transfer, shes probably going to die here. That's a little bit sad because we both miss French, but at the same time, I dont think I could get back into it now. I've gone too long without speaking it and it would take me a whole transfer just to get comfortable again! So I am thinking that I will end my mission here in Greenwood. I would really love that. This place and these people have my heart.
I am so grateful that the Lord called me on this mission. It has taught me exactly what I needed and more. I have been reflecting over the past year a lot. I am changed. When I compare who I am now to who I was then, it makes me grateful for all of the hardships and all of the blessings. I have also been thinking a lot about the future for obvious reasons! I am so excited to take it on with the new tools I have now. 

I love being a missionary so much. I love serving my God. I know Christ lives and that this is his church on the earth I love you all! Have a great week!
Sister Bates