Temple

Hey mom!!!

How are you doing?? Another great week here in Caucel! Things are going great! My companion and I have 4 baptisms this week so hopefully they go well. :) This is the last week of this transfer and then Im done with my training! WHAT. Holy cow these 12 weeks of training went by soooo fast. Im hoping I dont change companions because we have had a lot of success in this area.... but we´ll see! I´ll go wherever the Lord needs me to go!

Sounds like this week was a busy one for you guys! First off, that article was awesome! (Were you and dad one the front page hahaha?!) But seriously thats really nice of whoever wrote it. Our family has been blessed by such wonderful neighbors and family and friends. Here in Merida its a tid bit different. The people here dont know who their neighbors are and it just makes me feel so blessed to know practically all of our neighbors. SO BLESSED. 

It´s true about Kens hair. I remember talking to you in the hospital and we thought she would lose all of it within the first three weeks.... but it´s been a long time.. It´s truly a miracle she still has so much. Is liz still one of her nurses? Is she in the same room and everything? Thats fun you spent grandma Gates´ birthday in Pine Valley. I love that place! I bet Preslees video was cute! Oh yeah! Your talk was soo good! I read it over and over and over again. It encourages me! That is so nice that the guy visiting Jenni did that for you and our family! It makes me want to be that type of person. 

So my companion and I had the opportunity to go to the temple this week!! We´re really lucky because the bishop in the ward we´re serving in is friends with our mission president and he gave us permission to go to the temple everytime with our ward. :) The Mérida temple is beautiful! Such a great experience! 

I have another quote that I love. Hahah.. be prepared for a load of quotes every Monday. This quote was in the General Priesthood Session, April 2016. "Your ability to lead does not come from and outgoing personality, motivational skills or even a talent for public speaking. It comes from your commitment to follow Jesus Christ. It comes from your desire to be, in Abrahams words, ´A greater follower of righteousness.´ If you can do that- even if you aren´t perfect at it, but you´re trying- then you are a leader." In my life I´ve had many many many great leaders! I´ve been blessed to have had the opportunity to learn from them. I think the greatest leaders i´ve associated with are those that follow Jesus Christ and keep all of the commandments and serve other people. It´s the best way to lead! I encourage you all to be good leaders! 

Thanks for all that you do for me mom. I have been soooo blessed with the best mom and dad and family. I hope you guys are doing well and are enjoying life. Always remember to read your scriptures, go to the temple, church and pray everyday. Always put family first! (which i know you do) I hope you have a wonderful week! LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1st Baptism!!

MOM!!!!

How are you doing?? Its so good to hear from you. yes! I got the package thank you thank you thank you! I
haven't opened it yet because we´re still in centro but im so grateful that its here! Thanks to Amanda and Mason. Im so sad that I didn´t get to see them but maybe thats a good thing hahaha. Thats awesome Ken got to go to school! Mrs. T is the best. She´s gonna love her this year! Thats way exciting that college is starting for Reg and Had today. I kind of miss college a little bit. It was a fun time hah! When does Riley start school? Thats awesome Pres is staying busy with school and soccer. I remember those high school days running from school to cheer to softball. Those days were so fun. She´s a busy girl!!

Im so proud of you mom! I bet your talk went great!! (Ps.... I really like those new dresses hahaha). You should send me your talk so I can read it!! Thats awesome that the whole family was there to support you. You´re the best mom! Hahaha when is Riley going to learn to shut off all of the lights? ;) shhhheeeshh hahahhaha.

You and Kenn travel a lot to PC! I guess I never realized how much time it actually takes with all of her treatments and everything. Poor thing! No bueno. But seriously its amazing that her body is fighting so hard. I know Im not there in the flesh and you probably dont tell me everything that actually goes on but it sounds like she´s doing good. And from all of the photos you send me it looks like she still has a lot of hair! Thats pretty amazing! hahahhaha that is so funny about the cable guy! Mexico is a beautiful place so I can see why he´d say it! ;)

Okay so YES! Hermana Yasmines baptism was great!! But very stressful! Lots of opposition, but we wont get into that hahah. It was such a cool experience for me. After she was baptized, my comp and I went to go see her and HOLY COW the spirit was so strong. She was glowing! She was soo happy and felt so good. I had goosebumps. It was awesome. She´ll be comfirmed the next time she´s able to come to church. :) We are so happy for her!! So listen. We had this one investigator who wasn´t progressing. and when that happens you pretty much have to stop teaching them. It´s really sad. I dont like "dropping" investigators. But wait. Yesterday at church, the Elders´ in the other ward came up to my companion and I and said that this investigator went to their sacrament with his girlfriend. WHAT. So we found him in the church and he told us and that he wants us to start teaching him again.!! AHHH. OKAY!! We are so excited to start teaching him again. He really has the desire to change and we are going to do all that we can to help him. Im so excited!

I was reading in the Liahona the other day and came across this quote by Elder Mervyn B Arnold in April General Conference 2016. "Elder Patania explained that, while we must be organized in our councils, quorums, auxiliaries, and even as individuals, we must not delay going to the rescue. Sometimes many weeks pass as we talk about hot to help families or individuals who are in special need. We deliberate about who will visit them and the approach to take. Meanwhile, our lost brother and sisters continue needing and something even calling and pleading for help. We must not delay." I love this!!! Here in caucel there are tons of less actives that we visit. Each person has a different story. A different trial. We all go through different things. Its mine and my companions job right now to find these people and to help them and be there for them as they are going through these difficult times. I know Im only 19 and dont know that much but I do know the importance of finding our lost brother and sisters and "rescueing" them. I have learned so much from these people and Im so grateful. I challenge you all this week to think of someone you think might need "saving" and go and "rescue" them. I promise you, you will be blessed by doing this. You will be blessed and you will be sooo much happier. Dont delay this time serve your brothers and sisters!

Caucel is great. The members are great. My companion is great. Im so happy to be here! I lovvvvvee this gospel. It´s seriously a privilage to be a missionary right now. Im very happy. I learn something new everyday! I hope and pray that you are all doing good. Always remember to read your scripture, pray everyday and go to the temple often. (You should start a family temple night or something). But seriously. It´s so important to do these things everyday.

I LOVE you soooo much! Talk to you next week. Be safe and choose the right.

Love, Hermana Gates
#kickitkdog

1, 2, 3)Making tamales!
4)Baptism photo!
5)One of the members in our ward has a racoon as a pet hahahah

Baby Rats!

Hey mom!!

HAHHAAH golden child. Thats right. ;) Yeah its probably a good thing you didnt hear anything about the Hurricane.. You would´ve probably been freaking out.. ha. I dont have very many mosquito bites! I think those first few weeks were the worst but now its good. The blisters too. I dont have very many. Thank you for sending the Moleskin. It helps! I haven´t seen Mason or Amanda! I dont think they´ve found the mission office. 

Thats so cool Ken got to facetime her class! Mrs. T is the best. Tell her I say hi! :) Thats way crazy that school started. Here, school doesn´t start until the 28th! It sounds like Pres is doing great with soccer! Thats so fun she got to play varsity! Addie said she was going to try to watch her games before she leaves so Im glad she was able to do that!

I had my first interview with President Ruiz this week and it was so great. I truly believe missionaries are sent to their mission presidents not just the place. He is so nice and treats all of the missionaries like his own. Its great. He´s been to St. George too so we talked about how beautiful it is and whatnot. He´s great! I love Hermana Ruiz too! She´s the best. She wants me to talk to the latino missionaries in english to see if they are actually studying english during language study... and then after I talk to them I have to send her a message on how well they speak and then she will tell President. Hahah it will be fun! It´s kind of a little secret duty because she doesnt want anyone to know. So thats kind of fun hahah. 

Hermana Yasmines´ baptism is tomorrow!! Ahh she´s so great. Before writing you guys today we visited with her and she is so ready and so excited. She knows that the church is true! We went over some of the baptism questions and she truly understands everything. We are so excited for her. She told us that she wants to find a new job so she wont have to work on Sundays anymore!(YAYAYA) So, tomorrow is the day. Funny story, last week my companion and I visited with her again and she was in the kitchen cooking so we were talking to her in her kitchen... until all of a sudden my companion sees these little pink things squirming around on her counter. ha. We asked her what they were and she said they were BABY MICE. Baby mice mom hahah. She found them in her room! WHAT hahahahha. It was so funny but so weird at the same time. I have pictures so Ill send them!

We were invited to a mission call opening this week. One of the young men in our ward got his call and wanted us to go so we did. It was so cool. It was a little tender mercy for me. It reminded me of when I opened my call and how I felt after I knew I´d be serving in Merida. It´s an amazing feeling knowing that we are called to where we are supposed to be called. I love Merida! Things are going so great here! I love being a missionary and being a representative of Jesus Christ. No better calling for me right now. I have been so blessed! Thank you for the email! Its always so great to hear how you and everyone else is doing. I love you and hope you have the best week! Be safe!! 

Le quiero MUCHO!!!

Con amor, 

Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1)Sunset on sunday!

2)Pozole! 

3)Baby rations!

First Week of School!!

HEYYYY MOM. And family and Friends. :)

   This week flew by! How is everyone doing?? So good to hear from you! It sounds like this week was busy and fun! Ha! Im so glad you are doing well. Im glad you got my letters! I´ve met some great missionaries here and they were so excited to send off those letters when they got home. Im glad they didnt forget hahah.

   Thats a Little scary ken had an allergic reaction.. yikes! no bueno. Im glad she has such great doctors and nurses taking care of her. Of course she was telling them sorry. Typical Ken. ;) I remember when the doctor said she had leukemia and thats all she could say was how sorry she was. Keep reminding her that it isnt her fault! Thats just the way God created her body! All of the medical stuff thats going on is super intresting. Seriously how grateful are we to have such great technology, medicine and doctors right now in this time of our lives. We are so blessed! So so blessed. Our Heavenly Father has given us so much.

    Thats so fun Nate and Clint stopped by to see Ken. Those two are a riot. It was so much fun hanging out with both of them in high school. Im glad they are looking after Ken! Reggie and Hadlis house is so cute!!! Ahh even in good ol Santa Clara. Thats a dream. Thats so fun that they are so close! Will they be attending the 1st Ward or 5th Ward?

    I am so excited for Addie to start her mission! Thats awesome you were able to attend her farewell. Gracias for sending a package with Mason and Amanda!!! You are the best!

    SO this week was great! I dont know if you Heard but their was supposed to be a hurricane here. Our bishop and Ward members were sending out texts saying it was going to be super dangerous. But as the days went on we just had a lot of rain. My companion and I dont know a whole lot of what happened but it didnt come to Merida which is a good thing!

    MIRACLE THIS WEEK. Let me tell ya about our Golden Investigator Yasmine. Ah. She´s the best. She understands everything and is keeping all of her commnittments and just really has the desire to be baptized. The only problem is attending church because she Works most Sundays. Its ways sad because in order to be baptized our investigators need to attend church 5 times and pay their tithing. She´s attended church 4 times and so she would have to wait another month to be baptized. My companion and I totally felt like she was ready so we talked to our distirct leader and he said she could get baptized next week as long as she pays her tithing everytime she receives money and attends church when she doesnt have work. AHAHHH.WE WERE SO EXCITED. Prayers answered!!! Telling Yasmine was the best part. When we told her she could get baptized we all started to cry. The Spirit was sooo strong. This work is real!!! My first baptism in my mission is next week and Im so happy.

   So my companion and I have a pet lizard and cockroach. They only like to come out at night time which is super fun. AHHHH. I hate it. We dont know how to get them out of our house. There is no way im ever going to touch the lizard.. ha.. The cockroach.. yeah we try to use our shoes to smash but this Little bugger is so fast and likes to hide from us. HHAHA. Its great.

   I hope you all know how much our Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of you! He know you personally. We are created in His exact same image. He has eyes to see us, ears to hear us, a mouth to talk to us, and a heart to love us! I encourage you all to communicate with Him everyday. He wants us to talk to Him. I know that this work is all for the Lord. We all have the potential to become who he wants and needs us to become. It requires work but thats okay! Thats why we are here on the earth!!! I hope you all feel the love of God. Always turn to Him. He has given us SOOOO much. Family. We are so blessed. I truly am so blessed to have you all in my life. I hope you have a wonderful week. Remember who you are. Choose the Right. Be safe. Talk to you next week!! LOVE YOU.

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1) Hermana Guerras birthday!!

2) My zone!!

3) One of the hermanas in my zone is from El Salvador and made us all breakfast!

4) Favorite aisle in the grocery store haha. Cereal. All day everyday. :)

5) This is a bolis. FLAVOR: Corn... hahahah. Its like ice cream. I love the mango bolis but this one was a Little interesting hahaa. My compaion wanted it so I gave it to her to eat... haha.

Western Regional 12U CHAMPIONS!!!

Hey mom!!!!

So good to hear from you this week! Things are seriously so great! I love my new companion. We get along so well and she teaches me something new everyday. We have had a lot of success this week. Yes, Im still living in my purple house hahah. It´s great, I love it. Yeah... never again will I be able to eat cow stomach... ayyy....

WOW!! That is seriously so cool that the 12U team won! Im so happy for all of them! Hard work pays off and those girls definitely took it to them. That´s fun you guys go to go down to San Bernadino again. Thats sweet that Ken got to recite the little league pledge. Im so happy that girl is getting taken care of. She has many prayers coming her way from Mexico!! I remember last year hahaha. Im glad they got those seats up with their names on them! I bet it was cool for Reg to see all of that again! Brings back so many good memories. I hope Ryker and Chads team does well! Tell them and the girls good luck for me!

It sounds like you and Ken will be kept busy with all her treatments coming up. Atleast they have fun activities at Primary Childrens Hospital. :) Hahah.. She has a lot going on in her body but I know she´s doing all that she can to kick out the cancer. That will be hard not being able to start 5th grade with all of her friends, but she´ll be back with them soon I know it! That´s so crazy school will be starting soon... wow.. time is seriously flying by right now. Does Pres have her school schedule yet? MOM dont ever feel like you´re jipping us! We dont know what its like to have a child go through something like this. I know you´re doing your absolute best to fit everyones needs. You are a FANTASTIC mom and I hope to be half the mom you are to me! You have set a high bar haha! 

That is so crazy Clint is home!! Ahh tell him welcome home for me, por favor! That will be nice to have Riley closer to home! It sounds like he´s doing good in Duluth! Im glad hes doing well with pitching. Thats my brother. :) That would be cool for you guys to travel to Oregon for those games. Seriously such a pretty state!

This week was great! Like I said I´ve learned so much from my companion!! We have 5 almost 7 investigators with a baptismal date and it´s the greatest. Im soo happy! We are teaching 4 teenagers right now who are so awesome. We had a lesson with them on Saturday and I could feel the spirit so strong! It was so great. The other day my comanion and I decided to visit and old investigator and as we were talking to her she said that she would like to learn more about the gospel and be baptized! WHAT?¡ Okay!!! We were seriously so happy. Im finally seeing  progress in missionary work here in Caucel. Its a blessing! I just hope and pray that everything continues to go well. It´s the best feeling to see these people light up when they receive an answer to a question they´ve been asking for awhile. 

It´s moments like these where I just know that the chruch is true! The truth is the truth. There are no doubts. God has created a perfect plan for all of us and all he asks us to do is follow Him and obey all of His commandments. By doing so we have the great opportunity to live with Him and our families for eternity!! I hope you are all doing well. Keep striving to be better. Thats what life is for!! Thanks for all that you do for me mom. You are the greatest!!!!! I hope you have a fantastic week.Talk to you next week. :) Love you!

Con amor, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

Kennadi's 11th Birthday!

Hola hola hola mama!!!

Como esta?? This week sure went by fast!! Im so glad Ken was able to play softball last week. Seriously Im grinning ear to ear right now. My sister rocks!! (and the rest of my family :)) I am seriously so grateful for Primary Childrens Hospital. They are taking such good care of Kennadi and you guys and it means the world to me knowing that they are treating you all like family. Please tell the doctors and nurses thank you for me! It brings me a lot of comfort knowing they are doing everything they can for Kennadi. Im so glad she had a fun birthday! It sounds way fun to me :) Cant believe she´s 11 years old. Is that movie the one about the dogs who can talk and stuff? The one we all wanted to see? hahaha. buy it. por favor. I´ve been wondering about the fire in Pine Valley! I was going to ask you and dad about it. Im glad its settling down though. Pine Valley is sooo beautiful. Is Miss sheila not teaching dance anymore?? Tell her I say hi next time you see her. I hope everything is going good for her! That sacrament meeting sounds remarkable in Pine Valley. It´s so true. We all have fires in our lives. One thing that I´ve come to know is that its how we face these fires. It´s all about our attitudes. We need to have faith and stay close to Heavenly Father and he will put out the fires. Fires are a way of cleansing. We are strengthened and can become cleaner. Thank you for updating me on PV! Is Ken able to take the sacrament? Do people come to our house to give it to her? If they dont, ask them to. The sacrament is the most important thing that we do at church. :) Everytime I partake of the sacrament I am filled with sooo much love and joy for my savior. He is my best friend! (and so are you!)

Question: am I not in the family photo of you guys with your shirts? hahahahah. I want to be... hahaha. That is so cool you guys are getting interviewed. I love my family! You guys are seriously the greatest humans on this planet. So loving and caring and have SO much faith!!!

Lake Powell!! So fun! Pres should go. That will be fun for her!! Sometimes I feel like im at Lake Powell because of the heat. I am as close as I can get to the sun right now. Everytime we go to meetings the Elders always say that everytime they see me I get darker and darker hahah. Is dad and Kenn going to San Bernadino as well? Or just you haha? That is so crazy that they play on the same field as the boys! That will be interesting for you guys I feel like! You are so used to baseball being at that ball park. I love San Bernadino trips. Brings back good memories. Crazy.. last year Jake Akins returned home from his mission and we saw him there for the first time! This last year went by so fast!

I GOT BOTH OF THE PACKAGES!!! GRACIAS GRACIAS GRACIAS!! I was soo excited! My companion and I were at our district meeting and one of the Elders said I had received a package. Boy was I stoked. When I got the package you could tell people opened it up but I feel like everything that you sent was in there. I took a picture to show you what made it! But seriously thank you sooo much. The blessings from Elder Holland and your letters meant the world to me and made me feel good! And the #kickitkdog shirts are so comfy. And cliff bars. Mom you know me so well. I love cliff bars. There aren´t any here and so when I saw those I was so happy hahahah. 

Okay so this week was great! It was filled with contacting all of the members and menos activos in our barrio. My companion and I worked really hard! hahha our bodies are so sore from walking everywhere, but its so great! Im so grateful for a body to take me to all the places I need to go! Our area is pretty big and we had a 7 page list so we were super busy every hour of the day and Im so happy about that. Days are so much better when we have a purpose when we work. 

So funny story. After a great lesson, our investigator offered us some water. She gave my comp and I a pitcher filled with water and cups and walked back into the kitchen. So this investigator has a dog and my companion was petting it. I poured some water in the cup but spilled a little bit on the floor. I needed a rag so I asked my companion (while doing hand signals as well) Como se dice esta? She thought I was asking how do you say petting the dog? So she told me. So I went to our investigator and asked Tiene un "pet the dog" (en español) and they both started to crack up. I was so confused until my companion finally told me what I had said. It was her fault ;) hahaha nahh but it was super funny. They she told me how to say "do you have a rag". Anyways. It was super hilarious. One of those "had to be there moments". 

Cool story: (sorry this email is so long) My companion and I were contacting on the streets and there was a lady that I knew we needed to talk to. So we stopped her and offered her one of the pamphlets we give out and she told us that right before, she was on the bus and prayed to our Heavenly Father asking what is the truth! What is her purpose! WHAT! Goose bumps ALL OVER. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth!!!! Heavenly Father is so good. He places certain people in our lives for a reason. Its kind of sad though because we asked if we could come visit her and teach her more but she didnt want to give us her address. So hopefully she reads the pamphlet and feels something! And I hope we see her again in Caucel. 

Things are going good here in Caucel! Im doing great! Im so grateful to be here right now. You all know that, but seriously. So happy to be here. God is good. Im so grateful to be doing His work here on earth. It´s hard but very rewarding. Something that I always think of 24 hours a day is if what Im doing right now is something Jesus Christ would be doing. Am I using my time wisely? Im a representative of Jesus Christ so I need to do my best to make sure Im doing everything I can do to represent Him correctly. It helps me be more obedient and feel closer to Heavenly Father. I challenge you and whoever reads this to always ask yourself if you´re using your time wisely. For example, visiting grandparents, spending time with family, serving people who are in need. We have been blessed with so much and we should help others and serve others every single day. Thats what Christ would do. I LOVE YOU SOOOO MUCH. I hope you and the rest of the fam has a fantastic week. You guys are the best. Talk to you next week!!! 

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1) YAY! SUPER STOKED I GOT MY PACKAGE! GRACIAS!!

2 & 3) Whenever we visit this one family in our ward they ALWAYS make us limonada. Its sooo good. haha. 

4) Representing the toughest girl I know!!!

=

All-Stars Week!

MOM!

Wow, sounds like a lot is going on at home!! So glad you are all doing good! This week flew by! First off.... KENNADI. Happy Birthday on the 13th!! I love you so much and I hope you have a great birthday!! I LOVED the pictures you sent me! The family pictures with you all wearing the tshirts are soo cute. I showed my companion and she loved them. Thanks for sending me those! Ahhh Hunucma. Hahaha... so I like being in Caucel where theres no trees. Because when there´s no trees there´s no mosquitos. Ya know what I mean? haha. It was a really great experience traveling to the pueblo and teaching with a different companion because I learned a lot! I´m so grateful! When we got there it started to pour so the rain washed off my repellent and I got eated alive by mosquitos. It wasn´t very fun.. ahh. But now they dont itch so im good! At times I feel like im in Lake Powell! haha. Question: When is the gates family going to Lake Powell? Meghan Brindley has not found me yet. I´ve actually been in Centro every day this week for meetings and I check the offices each time to see if any packages have arrived and I haven´t recieved anything yet.. So i dont know.. How long will she be in Merida? Do you know what areas she will be in? We are about 30 minutes away from the mission office. Yeah the mission office is right in Centro. And no, no sign of the package you sent me 3 weeks ago.

Okay So I talked to Elder Tingy and he said that this notary signature was for you to take over my account? Why dont I just give you my password to my account and you can access the MACU account on your iphone and transfer my money from that? It would be so much easier I feel like. So I can still own it and we wont have to go through this process haha. Tell Lonne and Nancy thank you for the money!! That is so nice of them!

Hermana Terry has been serving for 6 1/2 months, I believe. 

I dont really get all of the counts that you talk about with Kennadi but it sounds like they are good!! Im glad!! I hope and pray that she continues to get better. That is seriously so awesome that she got to play softball. Im sooo happy! She is such a fighter and the strongest girl I know, thats for sure. We live in the best place in the world. The community is seriously so amazing. We are all just one big happy family!

So this week we had meetings on Thursday and Friday in Brisas. This meeting was about the 8 principles and we did TONS of practices.. hmm. my favorite... hahahaha not... BUT I learned so much from the other missionaries and presidente! Im so grateful for each one of them. We were out of our areas all those two days so we didn´t get to teach people in Caucel which I was really bummed about. I dont like meetings that much. I just want to work hahah.. Esta bien though! 

Before I forget... MOM. So the other day my companion brought up POPs in Costa Rica!! Remember Pops?? The ice cream shops? Ahh man I told her when I travel to Costa Rica after the mission we are going to pops hahah.

With the lessons we did have this week, they went really great! We taught one of our progressing investigators about the Plan of Salvation and it was so great! She understood everything and is so interested in the gospel, it´s amazing. Ahhh. Seriously the moments we have with our investigators where the spirit is so strong are seriously the best. I cant help but feel comforted knowing that im supposed to be here right now in Merida. I LOVE THIS WORK. Its hard. but its oh so good. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!! Thanks for all that you do for me!! Talk to you next week. :)

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

Happy 4th of July!

HEY MOM!!!

Happy 4th of July! I totally forgot it was the 4th of July today. I guess that's what happens when you´re in a different country! When I got to the mission office today, one of the Elders was wearing an american flag tie and that's when I remembered haha. I hope you´re having a good forth! Caucel is nice area. Nicer than most. Its actually the hottest area in the mission becuase there are NO TREES. haha. Esta bien! Tomorrow I go on an exchange to a place called Hunucma. Is filled with trees so I'm excited haha. YAY finally shade. The members here make fun of me because I'm burnt. Dont worry I use sunscreen! So when we were in centro I saw tons of bus´ like the ones we rode in in Costa Rica and I thought of Meghan Brindley. I was looking for her but I didnt see her. Hopefully she finds the Mission office and drops it off there. And no sign of the package yet... Hopefully it makes it!! Thank you for sending all of those things to me! You're the best. And I havent heard anything about the pants for the sisters.. I dont know if I'd like them... I wouldn't really feel like a missionary, ya know? So we´ll see what president says! That's so fun that you guys will be spending the forth up north! I'm sure you guys will make many memories!!! It sounds like everyone is doing good! How are you doing with everything?? I continue to pray for you and each person in our family every day!! 

Life in the mission field is great! On Wednesday we met the new mission president of Merida! It was sad to say goodbye to Presidente Garcia and Hermana Garcia but I'm excited for these new ones. They are so nice! Presidente Ruiz has been the translator for the apostles and prophets whenever they come to Mexico so thats cool! He's super awesome and so is his wife! 

I met a sister missionary here is also from St. George!! Ahh tender mercy! Her name is Katelyn Terry. She is cousins to Ivy Wittwer & Kyleigh Wittwer so thats super cool! She´s way nice. 

Past couple days I've slept on the tile floor because it gets so hot here and the hammock has been super uncomfortable lately. Its fun hahaha. So listen... the other day my comp and I were walking in the streets and I heard that one whistling song by the Scorpions!! haha made me think of you guys and uncle Todd! Everytime we hear songs that we know we plug our ears because it is so tempting to sing to them haha. So funny though!

On Saturday my comp and I went to clean the church with the bishop and members. As we were finishing up cleaning there was this lady who walked in and wanted to talk to us! You could tell she was stressed out and overwhelmed so we sat her down and listened to her and told her about the gospel! It was so awesome! It was amazing to bear her my testimony of the atonement. She is golden. We are going to continue to teach her. The Lord truly does send people our way when we are keeping his commandments and staying diligent everyday!! 

Ahhhhh.. you have no idea how much I love this gospel. I LOVE IT. I have blisters all of my feet, mosquito bites all over my legs, sun burned head to toe but I am SO HAPPY!  I truly believe that is because I have the opportunity to be a representative of my Savior Jesus Christ. There´s no better calling for me right now! Seriously I love you so much mom!!! Thank you for everything you do for me and the family. You are so strong. I hope you have a safe 4th of July. It can be kind of crazy in Park city! haha.... Have a great week!!

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1) This is Hermana Terry. She is from St. George!

2) Jesus (member) me and my companion!

3) Mayan book of mormon!! Im learning some mayan here so that's cool!

4) Streets of centro!! Merida is seriously SO BEAUTIFUL!!!! 

6)......and I officially completed 2 months. WHAT?!!! Time is flying.

Wasabi

Hey Mama!!!

So good to hear from you! So to answer your questions! 1) We have tables and two chairs for studying and whatnot. We also use those for breakfast. 2) Ummm I mean our bathroom is a lot nicer than some that are here in Merida. Its really small but Its a bathroom so im grateful! Our Kitchen is nice. We only have a microwave, fridge and little portable stove. 3) For breakfast we just have cereal and fruit! There´s not a whole lot of time to cook anything. Im loving froot loops hahah. 4) So for food. We eat after we exercise in the morning which is between 7-8. At 2 we eat with members and thats pretty much it hahah. When we get home for planning at 9 Ill have some fruit. But thats all as far as food goes. Pretty simple!

Yeah, I met up with Elder Tingy. Hopefully I signed everything correctly! My talk during the zone conference went really well! I was definitely the newby! I wasn´t very scared. Presidente came up to me after saying I speak like an apostle hahaha. I might have been too direct with my thoughts hahaha. Yeah it was all in spanish. I saw Hermana Wolfgramm at the conference which was sooo nice. I love her!! She is seriously the best and shes doing so great in her area! Im so happy for her.

The mosquitos are the worst! Ill send you a picture of my legs. They are covered with mosquito bites! My companion said that its only bad with the rainy season. So when it gets even hotter there will be less mosquitos hahah. Yes.. Its gonna get a whole lot hotter! I haven´t heard anything about the package yet.. so hopefully it gets here soon! 

Every new person I meet here asks if im related to Bill Gates. HAHA. NOPE!! I tell them he´s my uncle... Our investigators are seriously the best! They are so much fun! I love having lessons with them because they are all super interested in what we are teaching them and are liking it a lot. Theres no better than feeling than helping them learn about the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Its fun to see the change in their lives! I love them all a lot.

People stare at me here all the time. Im the only blonder hair blue eyed girl and it sometimes makes me feel a little uncomfortable hahahah. And whenever we have a lesson we ask the investigator who they would like to say the prayer and they always choose me... I think they want to see if I can actually speak their language. ha. ha. ha. JK

I LOVE MERIDA SO MUCH!! Im meeting so many incredible people and they are seriously the best. I love sharing what I know to be true. This gospel has shaped me into the person I am today. Without.. I dont know where I´d be! Its brought me so much happiness and joy, peace and comfort. Im so crazy blessed. Well I love you and I hope you have a wonderful week! Thanks for everything Mom!!!!

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1) my favorite thing that ive eaten here so far.. the sushi.. get this. the sushi restraunt is called "wasabi"

2) the sunsets are the best!

3) I hate mosquitos. ahhhh. 

Happy Fathers Day!

HEY!!!

So good to hear from you!! Mom you always miss my calls hahahah. It´s okay, I understand. Remember when you forgot to email me? It´s probably a good thing that you didnt answer the phone. I´d probably start crying which neither of us want! ha!

Yes! My bag made it safely here. It got to the mission home at like 6 Monday night. Everything was in it so I was super happy about that. Merida is so great! Im in an are called Caucel. It so HOT. Seriously. I go to bed sweating, wake up sweating and go throughout the day sweating. It´s great hahah. That´s why we have hammocks because we´d probably die of heat. (Dont worry, I shower every morning and night haha) So the hammocks... they are so difficult to sleep in! They´re fun to hang and lounge around in, but when the hammock is the only "furniture" you have, it can be kind of hard. But im so grateful! Im grateful for the opportunity to experience sleeping in a hammock for 18 months. There is a certain way you´re supposed to sleep in it. Every night before I go to bed I swing on it hahaha. It´s fun. My compañera probably thinks im crazy. My compañera is AWESOME. Heavenly Father answers prayers! She is SO patient!! She knows a little bit of english so its a little easier figuring out how to say things. Everyone knows her in Caucel so Im trying to be like her hahah. We are a lot a like! Except she is a lot more experienced and speaks perfect spanish. ;)

Elder Tingy called me today. He told me about the credit card stuff and he´s going to bring a paper for me to sign tomorrow at the conference! So yeah. Multizone conference tomorrow. Guess who will be speaking in it? YOUR daughter hahahahah. Yeah. There are a couple more missionaries speaking but I am by far the greenest of the green. So I´ll let you know how that goes! My comp said she´ll help me with my spanish. Bless her heart. 

Hayden left a couple days ago! So have Riley ask him for the pictures! That is so fun you went to Tahiti Village. Im glad you guys are doing fun things!! PF chang? Ah. Im going to find the PF changs here in Merida to rub that in your faces. JK. No time for that hahah. Thats crazy Kaz and easton get home and sadie leaves!! AHHH so weird!!! So exciting!! 

So the other day my companion and I went to a members house to help her clen her house! She has two little girls who are so cute! Anyways, they started singing the "Jonny jonny, yes papa.. eating sugar, no papa" song!!! I IMMEDIETALY THOUGHT OF KEN AND AVERY. hahaha. That song....

Mosquitos are the worst here. I´ve been attacked multiple times. Im using the permetherin stuff and it´s helping but when it wears off, its terrible. I also have tons of blisters on my feet from walking. So if you have a remedy for getting rid of blisters, im all ears! 

So the people here kiss all that time! Every time we greet someone or leave we kiss eachother (On the cheek of course) At first I was weirded out by it, but now its so normal.. its weird hahaha. I dont know. There  are some investigators and members here who want to learn english! So Ive been teaching them! It´s great!! Yesterday in one of our lessons I sang a hymn in english. By myself. Its so funny because no one knows what im saying. It´s great.

Things are great here in Merida! My companñera and I are going to work really hard to meet all of our goals! We have a few new investigators with a baptism date so thats exciting. I love it here. I miss you guys so much but I´m so grateful for this opportunity to serve!! I hope you have an awesome week!!! Love you!!

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog
1) a street in caucel!

2) my costa rican compañera and me
3) My hammock is the green/purple one!!

Merida ~ Ready or not.. Here comes Hermana Gates!

Hola MOM!

Hello from Mérida!!!! Yes, I finally made it. One of my bags didn´t though! Ha so I´m really hoping that will come soon. Presidente Garcia and his wife are the best! Seriously they make you feel right at home. They picked us up from the airport and drove us to their house and made us breakfast. We took pictures, got our hamocks and I got my new companion! Oh my goodness I love her so much. She has been out a year and is seriously, so helpful. She´s wanting to learn english so we are going to be helping each other out. Presidente says she is very disciplined and knows her ways. She´s so nice. I feel like Im going to grow A LOT these next 6 weeks because of her. And yes!! So funny. I´ve known Elder Nysetvold for a couple weeks now!! It´s so funny though because when we were in the airport today we made the connection with Mark! So yeah. I know him. He´s great. Also, I met Hayden Nielsens brother! We got a picture on his camera and he said he was going to send it Ri! Merida is so beautiful. I love it so much. BUT it is so stinkin hot! Ha! It´s great. I cant wait to finally get to my area though. We´ve been in the city all day today. Did you get my voicemail message? Presidente said we could call home so I called you but you didn´t answer!

You and dad just need to buy a plane so you don´t have to keep driving on I-15... nahhh jk. It sounds like Ken is doing great!! Im a proud hermana. 

YES. Jacqueline Rodriguez was my maestra!! I told her to send you those pictures!! Did Jacobo Lara send you pictures too? He´s my otro maestro. I told him to send you some as well. 

So there is this latina who will be serving in St. George Utah!! Her name is hermana Avila. She is a sweetheart. I gave her your number so if she ever needed anything she could contact you hahaha. I hope thats okay. She left the CCM today too so she should be in St. George very soon!!

There´s not much to say! Im just happy to finally be in Mérida. I know that there are going to be some difficult times but it all depends on my attitude!! I´m going to make the BEST of this experience. AHHH. I seriously cant believe im here. I hope you have a wonderful week!!! Love you!!

Love, Hermana Gates

Almost week 5!!

MAMA!! y MI FAMILIA!

Hahaha don´t even worry! I had time to read the email right before I left the lab so we´re good!! My missionary scripture is Alma 37:40! So our "investigador" is actually our teacher but the cool part is, is that when we´re in a lesson it TOTALLY feels like she´s a real investigador. I forget she´s my teacher for the 20-25 minutes we´re with her. It´s amazing! I seriously love it here soooo much :) I love my companions, I love my leaders, I just LOVE the CCM. I cant believe I only have one more P-day here and then I´m off to Mérida. It blows my mind. Oh I´m jealous you will be going to Pine Valley a lot this summer. Please drink as much Pine Valley water for me as you can haha! That is so awesome to get the family pictures done now! You will need to send me the pictures once you get them!!! Mom... if you take Jazzy, you´re gonna have to take Gunner ;) When does Riley head out to Minnesota? Tell that kid to email me haha. I´m so happy that Pres decided to play soccer this year!! I know she wont regret it. She´s such a great athlete. I will check out the blessing..(Also will you make sure when you send out these emails that you take out like personal stuff? And also tell pres to use the ones that you send out to put them on the blog... You know haha.. appropriate stuff ha) 

So question!! Are we related to a Suzie Ann Gates?? Will you go look on family history to check for me? On Sunday we watched this movie about the first sister missionaries and they were talking about a Suzie Ann Gates and they were saying how she was one of the best public speakers (for sisters) back in those days in Salt Lake City. Sooo will you do that for me please? During our Relief Society meeting on Sunday we talked about the family and how we NEED to defend the family. It just made me think of you guys! Definitley in a good way haha. But you guys are just so important to me that I would do anything for any of you. And it makes me want to defend families here in Mexico. Families are essential and part of Gods plan. He created families so that we can learn and grow and help each other. WOW I LOVE YOU GUYS. We also went to the visitors center today because the temple is closed and we watched a video on families. Once again I thought of you guys. They were all hiking and doing things that we do and it just made me realize how LUCKY I am to have you all!! Mom, I talk about you all the time to my hermanas. We talk about you too, dad. ;)  But mom you are my best friend!! You are so incredible and I hope to be just like you when I´m older. 

So in one of our lessons last week I was sitting in between my companions. I was talking to our investigador until I felt Hermana Wolfgramm hit my head... THERE WAS A BIG BUG CRAWLING ON ME HAHA.... So anyways I thought she got it off... apparentely it crawled on over onto my other side, and once again I was talking to the investigator and Hermana Felioiaga hit me with one of her books right on the shoulder! And she kept hitting me because the bug wasnt coming off! It was so dang funny! Our investigator was trying to so hard to not laugh. It was the funniest thing ever. Something ALWAYS happens in our lessons!! HOWEVER, This week our lessons have been so great. We dont use little script cards to help us out with the language anymore and it is a blessing. The spirit is the real teacher. We´re just the mouths. 

So I´ve been sick the past couple days. I´m super congested, coughing and it´s a little hard to breathe sometimes. ha. I think it was because a couple nights ago it was storming like crazy. Thundering, lightening, pouring rain, it was intense. We seriously ran from our classroom to our casa which is across campus because the lightening was right out of the gates of the MTC. It gets really cold here when it rains so I think thats why I got sick. Esta bien! If I´m still feeling the same I will go to the clinic here in the CCM to get some medication. 

Mom, will you save and print off mine and kens emails, please? I want to keep them! We always watch atonement videos here in the CCM and I always think about Ken! I just know our Savior is carrying her, me and you guys throughout the whole process of cancer. He´s so amazing and how lucky are we to call him our brother? Also have you sent off the package yet? Can you send me a slip for my skirts? If not its okay but it would be much appreicated. :) Also send the package to my mission por favor.

I love life. I leave the CCM in a week in a half! WHAT. Where has the time gone? I´m nervous to get out into the field but I cant wait. It´s going to be an amazing experience. I cant wait to FINALLY meet the people in Mérida. Anyways, I love you sooo much!! Thanks for all that you do. You are the greatest person ever! Love you! Talk to you next week!!

Love, Hermana Gates

ps... I love those pictures! Keep the pictures coming, they are the greatest :)

Week 3!

MOM!! (and whoever reads this)

It´s so great to hear how everything is going at home! It´s so weird to think that there are things happening at home while I´m here, but I wouldn´t change it for the world! I love being out here!! I just told Hermana Wolfgramm that you said we look like an oreo and she LAUGHED so hard!! Ha she said that we´ll take an oreo picture and send it to you. I can´t beleive aunt Helens house is gone! Those pictures were crazy!! That is so awesome that Melody and Rhonda took pictures of Kennadi. That´s way nice of them! Ahh I miss my softball family! It makes me so happy that they have been so sweet to Ken. That´s hilarious that she didnt think she threw a good pitch. She´s a Gates haha. That ER trip sounds scary! I hope she´s doing better!! I bet things are a little chaotic with the change, but I know that you guys are all going to make it through! It´s just a great learning experience for us all. Don´t forget to put the Lord first in EVERYTHING. He wants to help you guys, but you HAVE to do things to show him that you have faith and love Him with your whole heart. Will you send me pictures of Jazzy and Gunner? My companions want to see what they look like hahahaha.... AHH Wendy Bassos cheesecake <3 Only cheesecake I like. Thanks for all of the pictures! Im not able to watch any of the videos because I cant download them. But the Pictures are awesome!! Thats so fun you go to see Riley up north. That´s awesome Reg and Had live so close now. I´m sure that´s been a huge blessing for you guys!! 

CCM is the best! Everyday we play volleyball with the Latinos and they are so hilarious. We are all best friends now. It´s so funny. They teach us spanish and it´s so great! Hermana Feiloaiga cant really see that good so a couple days ago one of the nurses here took us out of the CCM and we drove to an eye doctor to get her eyes checked! It was kind of scary because we were on the streets of Mexico and everyone was looking at us but I knew we were protected. :) It was kind of cool being out of the CCM though. Not everyone gets to leave this place ha! But I was definitely happy to be back! 

On Tuesday we had a devotional and my district and I sang in the choir! Such a cool experience! We sang the EFY medley! You know how much I love the spanish version so I was stoked when I found out we would be singing that song. I love all the devotionals we have. They are always so uplifting!

Oh yeah... Hermana Feiloaiga said that Ken is my look alike! and she also said that when she has a family of her own she wants to have one just like my family! I´ve showed her a couple pictures and she said we all look so happy and look like we really love each other! I told her we do hahah! Hermana Wolfgramm said pres looks so pretty and mature. I said, "I know!!!!" And they cant get over how pretty you are mom! They think you just a natural beautiful lady! I agree 100%

This week our favorite district left the CCM! My district was so sad! We would always at breakfast, lunch, dinner, sacrament meeting, devotionals... EVERYTHING with each other! We already planned on meeting up in St. George and having the Hermanas stay at our house and Elders stay at one of the Elders house in the other district after our missions!! I told them we could all go to Grandmas cabin in Pine Valley :) 

I freeze everyday here!! My district always makes fun of me for it. You would think that I´d be hot everyday but NOPE. I´m always cold!! Also, so I taught my companions some ab workouts and we do them everynight! I told them that you do like 500 sit ups everyday and Hermana Wolfgramm said, "Tell your mom that you are getting us into shape!" HAHAHAHA. Mi compañeras make me laugh so hard. We always have the best times with each other. 

So we started this thing called TRC where you teach someone outside of the CCM. We did this yesterday and we were all a little bit nervous! When we got to the Heber J Grant building they told us that since we had so many volunteers we would teach by ourselves the first lesson and then after we would teach as a companionship the second lesson! I was actually pretty excited! It´s fun getting to know people and asking them questions in Spanish. My spanish isn´t very good, but the lady I was teaching said she could understand me! That´s all I need!! But the lesson went really well! I taught the lady about the book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and it was just super awesome. The second lesson with my companions was the BEST though. There is a reason we have companions!!! The spirit was so strong in the second lesson. We were all in tears and I felt so much love and gratitude for my Father in Heaven. It was a growing experience for me and my companions.  

I feel like there is a whole lot more that I´m missing, but I don´t have very much time left to email!! I hope you guys know how much I love you and look up to you!! I cant tell you enough, ALWAYS PUT THE LORD FIRST IN EVERYTHING. He is always there to help you! He loves you all so much. Thanks for the love and support and prayers. I feel them! Have a wonderful week!! Love you all.

Love, Hermana Gates

Hola!

Mi familia!!!

Im so excited to email you guys! It was awesome to talk to you on Sunday. All of the missionaries couldnt stop smiling because we were soooo happy :) Well, i have some sad news... Hermana Rowle (The american companion who lives in Utah) had to go home to fix some things. I was really sad to see her go, but she says she is going to come back out in the mission field as soon as she can :) So yes. That means I am now in a trio! My companion Hermana Wolfgramm (shes tongan) and then my other compañera Hermana Feiloaiga (She is Samoan)!! I love them so much! They make me laugh so hard. Weve had so many good times here at the CCM. The Mexico CCM is BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, I always forget Im in Mexico because I dont really notice whats outside of the really tall fences that covers the CCM. Im actually really grateful for that. Yes, I see Elder Thorkelson everyday. We got a picture so I will send it to you after I send this email. I did get the package, but i havent gotten the letter yet. When did you send it? The food is okay. Like I said during our phone call, I really like the salad bar and fruit. The meat scares me sometimes.. but its fine! Ken! You are such a champ! Im so proud to call you my sister :) Kick that cancer out!! Thats so cool she got to play bingo over the TV. That sounds fun haha. Im glad Winston got to visit her again!! Love that dog. Im sure it made her really happy Youll have to send me a video of her pitching the first pitch at the BYU baseball game! She has so many people who love her! I feel so comforted being out here, knowing that you guys are all doing so well. Its so funny. When i was in high school taking spanish I would ALWAYS get headaches after class. I havent gotten a headache yet, its been a week and everyone speaks spanish 24/7. Blessings from the Lord!! Language classes are so great. Nuestra teachers know how to make the classes fun y entertaining. We get to go outside a lot to study el Libro de Mormón which Im VERY happy about. Teaching lessons in español es difficult. Ive realized these last couple days that it is impossible to teach without the Spirit. Gift of tongues is real. When me y mi compañeras have the Spirit we are able to teach and understand our investigadors. Its amazing. Our investigador Jorge said he would read the book of Momon and come to church with us and we are very happy about that. I know how to testify and pray in spanish. Sometimes i forget how to say prayers in english! haahah.. I really have to think about it. BUT I LOVE IT!! Its weird thinking that ive only been here for a week.. I feel like ive been here forever. haha. I cant wait to get to Mérida. One of counselors of the CCMs wife is the sister of my mission persidents wife. Does that make sense? HA I hope so. Its hot!! and not that humid. Kind of reminds me of St. George. We walk everywhere which im so happy about. Its prepping me for Merida. But.. they say Merida is 10 times hotter and SUPER humid. We went to the temple today! The temple is huge. It has escalators in it. So cool. But not that importante. The importante part is that I felt at home when we were doing a session. The temple is seriously the House of the Lord. They gave us headphones so we could hear everything in English. So that was nice. But the temple is very pretty!! It totally stands out here in Mexico. Hopefully we get to go a couple more times before I leave the CCM. FAMILY!! Go to the temple! It will bring you so much peace and happiness. You WILL feel at home :) That is my challenge to you for this week... :)Anyways, I dont want to make this email drag out forever, but I want you guys to know that I am SO happy!! Seriously. Things are going so good right now, and I know that Lord is looking after me and you guys at home. He loves us so much. We are so blessed to have the knowledge of the Gospel. WELL! Love you guys! Talk to you next week!

Love, Hermana Gates