Earthquakes & Hurricanes!

Hola mama!!

So good to hear from you! It sounds like everyone is doing so well! Im so happy. :) Oh man! My comp and I didn´t feel anything during the night of the earthquake. I think it was because we were so tired and also because we sleep in hammocks hahah. But some of the members in our ward said that they were up at midnight and they felt the shake. It really startled the people here in Merida because it shouldn´t have hit this far but everything is okay. No one has been hurt. It´s super interesting to hear all that has been going on here in Mexico, Florida and Texas. Thats so exciting to hear about the little softball tournament dedicated to children who have cancer. What a cool experience that must have been for Kdog. I love that little girl! Im so proud of how far she´s come and everything she has accomplished. She´s so tough! I saw the video of her catching too! She has been progressing so well. :) 

Ricardo has been progressing so well! I seriously feel so humbled to be teaching him because he is so prepared to receive the gospel. My companion and I are still so amazed at how well he understands the message, how well he hears and reads. He´s 87 years old! He is a chosen one! The other day we went to visit him and he was like, "I have so many questions for you two! You have to tell me about these people nephi, Lehi and alma because the bible doesn´t talk about them!" and then he started talking about the Mayan people how well it makes sense that the stories in the Book of Mormon are true and the people are real. He went to church with us again yesterday and loved it! We´ve seen a great change in him. His eyes are shining brighter and he´s been smiling so much more. You can tell that the gospel is changing him. I LOVE that part of being a missionary!!! to see these great changes in these people!

My companion and I set up an activity with the YW-YM in our ward. We had a great turnout! ALL of the teens went! The first part of our acitivty, they helped us search the less actives in our ward and invite them to church.. "la rescate!" and then we played the tree of life scavenger hunt. Its been so great seeing the change in the ward. Little by little its growing. :) the teens are getting more and more excited to help us out and go on visits. 

I love this scripture!! "Be not ye therefore like unto them, for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of before ye ask him." -3 Nephi 13:8. Heavenly Father truly knows each of us perfectly! He knows what we need in our lives! So why is it necessary to ask him for blessings in our prayers? Because we are showing our faith towards him. When we pray and ask we are showing Him that we know He lives and that He is real and that He has all the power to do anything He wants. We are showing Him our love and devotion and our willingness to obey Him. We must always remember to pray to Him daily. But not only asking for blessings but to thank Him for all that we have in our lives. He has given us EVERYTHING. He is our Loving Father in Heaven. 

Oh mom! I received the Christmas letter that grandma Gates sent me hahaha. Will you tell her thank you, please?? 

There´s so much to be looking forward to here in the mission! We have a baptism coming up, general conference, more activities planned out for our ward. Things are going so well! Im so grateful to be working in this great work! Its been an amazing experience. We are continueing to search and find the chosen children of God here in this area. God will always be preparing his children to receive the gospel. We just have to be good hunters and fishers and search for them! I hope you all are doing well and are truly happy. Thank you for your love and support! I love you guys!! Have the best week. :)

Con amor, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1) Vicky and Elias!! They are the funniest little kids who LOVE to play with their action figures hahaha.

2) Family home Evening witht the Orozco Family!

3) Hermana Leticias birthday!

4) Cool street paintings

5) Hanging out with the Young Women!!

6) La plaza Sendero!! Viva Mexico! This week we will be celebrating the Independance of Mexico!! 

It's such a privilege to be a missionary!

Hola Mama!!

Sounds like you all had a great weekend! Im so glad things are going well and that you are all happy. Its so fun to hear what everyone is up to. So many things are happening and changing at home but its all good stuff! Im so happy and grateful that you guys have been watched over and protected in these 16 months i´ve been gone. I pray that the Lord will continue to bless you guys and strengthen you guys. He loves you all so much.

This week was a great one! We were kept busy! On Tuesday we had some more divisions with some sisters from another área. This time, one of the sisters came to our área to work with me! Her name is Hermana Rodríguez, she´s from Mexico city. She is the humblest, softspoken sister. She has such a pure heart and a true love for this góspel. Almost all of the appointments we had that day fell but we were able to do a lot of contacting on the streets and in the homes. It was a very productive day! I learned a lot from this sister. :)

Well with the family we found, they called us and told us that they would be moving and so we wont be able to teach them anymore... so we are really sad about that because they could´ve really progressed but this is the the Lords work and He has the better plans! BUT we have another investigator who is progressing really well. His name is Ricardo and he is an older man. He doesn´t walk very well so he uses a Wheel chair. He came with us to church yesterday and absolutely loved it! He loved hearing the testimonies of the members of the Ward and told us that he felt the peace that he was searching. :) After the meeting he asked if he could receive a blessing of peace and health. After he told us that the momento the men put their hands on his head he felt a rush of Gods love go through him. He said it was something so powerful and has never experienced it before in his life. I know the priesthood is REAL! I´ve seen so many miracles here in the mission from worthy priesthood holders using the power of God. It heals us and strengthens us. Im so grateful for a dad and two brothers who are worthy to hold the priesthood. Its one of the biggest ways God has showed us His love for us here on earth. :) Ricardo has a baptism date for September 23rd!

We met with another investigator this week. Her name is Shirley and half of her family is LDS and the other half is catholic. She is a Little nervous for baptism because she´s afraid of what her sisters (who are catholic) might think of her. The lesson that we had was so powerful! We talked about the authority of God and how essential baptism is in our lives. Baptism is the first covenant we make with God and its the covenant that opens the doors of the heavens. Through baptism we can return to live with our Heavenly Father again. Shirly accepted a baptism date for the 30th of September. She has so many desires to know the truth. Finding and helping Gods children here in Merida is wonderful! Its such a privilage to be a missionary. I love it! I love seeing these people change and receive the blessings of the góspel. Its such a special moment in my life!! I love you all! Thank you for your love and support. I hope you continue to have good health and safety. I pray for you every day. Have a safe week and I´ll talk to you next week!

Con amor, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1) Loani, Marycruz, Hermana Rodríguez and I! We had a Little Family night with this wonderful family! It was a lot of fun. :)

2) Hermana Marycruz eating a "chicken sándwich" hahahah

3) Hermana Morales, hermana chacon and I!

4) We ate this whole cake hahahah.

Rain is a good thing!

Hola mama!!

What a week! Every week goes by faster and faster! Its so great to hear from you. Thats so awesome to hear that the ring is getting made. You´ll have to send me pictures of it! That is so exciting!!! I will be gaining another sister! Thats awesome to hear about Ri, im sure he´s excited to start school next week! Sounds like the girls and Reg and Had are doing good! It´s so fun to catch up on the week and hear what you guys have been up to.

This week was a good one! My companion and I found a family to teach! We are so excited! Fransisco and Natalie are their names and they have a little girl named Sofie. The sisters have visited them before but its been awhile! They lost a child about 3 years ago and love the idea of families being together forever. We are so excited to help them understand more about the Plan of Salvation and the special promises that God has given us. We will be meeting with them this Wednesday! Please pray for this family that they will continue to be receptive to our message. :)

IT RAINED A LOT!! The rain is so good. Because every day its hot hot hot and humid. and so when it rains we take advantage of it. This week we had a miracle with the rain. It was 8 at night and one of our appointments fell through. The rain started getting heavier and heavier and we didn´t have anywhere to take cover ha. We thought of a contact that we made and decided to visit this sister. It was kind of a do or die moment because it was raining so hard. I was praying in my heart that she would be home and let us in! We got to the home of the sister and she opened the door seeing that we were outside and said, "well, I dont have time to listen but you can come in my home to dry off a little" HA bueno! We entered her home and sat down and she left the room for about 10 minutes... we felt really weird because we didn´t know what to do. hahah but finally, She entered in the room again and started asking us questions about the church and we were able to teach her about the restoration. She got super interested and told us that she wanted to know more and more! Her name is Lidio!! She´s awesome! We are excited to see her progression as well

We had the best missionary activity this week with the missionaries in our District. We each took a game and invited the members in our ward, investigators and the people off the street! The church was filled with teenagers and investigators. It was awesome! It was a great experience being with so many wonderful people and coming together as one. My comp and I are planning more activities we can do as a ward. Any ideas?? 

Things are going great! Im really happy right now. There´s so much to be grateful for and Im just enjoying my time as a fulltime missionary. This work is so precious to me!  I love being a missionary! I love you guys and am so grateful for each one of you. I hope you have a good safe week! I hope you can all see the blessings, miracles and tender mercies in your lives. God loves you. He knows your perfectly. Keep choosing the right and He will bless you! Have the best week!! Les amo muchisimo!!!!! :)

con amor, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1) Giving service with Hna milita!

2) My companion  

3) Our activity with the ward members. :)
4) Studying in the park!

Grateful

Hey mom!!!!

Sounds like things are going really good at home and everyone is settling into a routine with school and work again. Im glad the Little girls are liking school! They are great students! Thats awesome Ri was able to come home and spend some time with you guys. Thats so cool you guys were able to watch Madie play on TV. I'm excited to get to know her and watch her play soccer too!

Another week in the misión! Holy cow the time is flying by. I love the misión! THis week was a busy one, thats for sure! I traveled to two different áreas to go on divisions with some sisters. It was super awesome. On Tuesday and went to Vergel with Hermana Herrera. It was awesome being her companion for the day. We were able to help some of investigators out and put baptismal dates. The people in Vergel are super receptive to our message. They are so willing to learn more. Im excited to hear about their progression in the góspel. On Friday I went to Industrial! (my old área haha) with Hermana Cordova. It was a Little weird being back in Industrial for the day but it was good. I saw some of my old investigators and we were able to find more to teach! We also got permission to go to the temple with our convert bryan and have a lesson with him about the temples. It was awesome! Those divisions are so much fun. You learn so much from each sister missionary. :)

Hermana Morales and I were able to get a lot down this week in our área too! We found a lot of less actives who hadn´t been visited in awhile and found some new people to teach! It was a pretty successful week. There is so much work here to do in Brisas. I know that there are so many of Gods children who are prepared to be baptized. My companion and I have really been giving it our all trying to talk to as many people as we can. All we can do as missionaries is share what we know to be true! Each person has their agency to receive our message or not. We cant forcé something that they dont want in their lives. The Lords work is hard but perfect. I know that as we continue to listen to Him and do His will he will direct us where we need to go and what we need to do.

Thank you for all of your love and support! Im so grateful for you!! If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know!!! :) I hope you have a great week, love you!

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1) Divisions with Hermana Herrera!

2) At the temple with bryan and hermana cordova!

3) Hermana Morales and I. :) She´s an awesome companion!

I love being a missionary!!

Hola Mama!!!

Como estas? Como le fue su semana?? It sounds like you guys are doing good and staying busy. Holy cow, so crazy to hear that school has finally started. How is everyone feeling about that?? ha! that is so crazy Ken is starting at Lava Ridge and that Pres is in HIGH SCHOOL. Seriously when did they grow up?? I cant believe how fast time is flying by. I hope they had a good first day of school. :) They look so cute in their first day of school pictures! Thats so cool Ri got to see pres at BYU last week. Sounds like he had a good birthday and is excited to be back in Utah. Thats so fun you all got to go to the conference. 

This week was a good! It sure went by super fast! To answer your question.. all was well here in the peninsula ha! A few days this week it rained super hard and was super windy but we were safe. It felt so good outside though. Merida needed to cool down a little bit. It´s so hot right now! 

Bryan got baptized! It was so special! My companion and I were able to go because the ward in Brisas shares the church with the ward in Industrial. If only I could tell you how special his baptism service was. So many of his friends from EFY went and his family and a lot of the members went to support him. He shared his testimony and it was so powerful. It was really funny, he was like, "I never imagined going to EFY and becoming a mormon this summer. Im so happy to be a member of this church. I feel so clean!" Bryan is a really special person and im so excited for him.

We had a leadership meeting this week with President and Hermana Ruiz. It went great! We talked a lot about purifying ourselves as missionaries and being more consecrated to the work and to the Lord. It was super awesome. We also talked about the atonement and repentance and how we can help the other missionaries fulfill their callings and responsibilities. I love the insights that president gave us. I know that he truly does hold the keys for this mission and is an inspired instrument in Gods hands. 

This week was a good one and I cant believe how fast it went by! Im so happy and there´s so much to look forward to in these coming weeks. I love being a missionary and helping others and sharing the gospel. Its such a special time in my life and im so grateful for this opportunity. Thank you for your love and support! I hope you guys have a wonderful week!! Be safe. Love you!!!

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

) our relief society activity!

2) Bryans baptism!! 

3) We had a water balloon war as a zone. it was so much fun haha!

Busy week!

Hey mom!!

Wow this week was so great/crazy! So much has happened! I dont even know where to start hahah. First off, my companion has been really sick this week so we were at the clinic for 3 days.. but she´s doing better! The doctor gave her some medicine and a diet so she should be getting better soon. :) 

Transfer week!! I got transfered! Im in my new area, Brisas with Hermana Morales as a Sister Training Leader! Im super excited! We are in charge of the sisters in two zones so its going to be awesome doing divisions, getting to know the other sisters and going to the leadership conferences with President Ruiz and Hermana Ruiz. Im so grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow and become the missionary/person that God intends for me to be. I have so much to learn and do! Its going to be a great transfer! 

Our 16 year old investigator in Indutrial! Bryans baptism is this Saturday! He is soo prepared. He has been going to church and has wanted to get baptized for 3 years but has been so nervous to do so. When he talked to his mom about getting baptized she started to cry! She is so excited for him and is gonna come to Merida this Saturday to see him get baptized. The lessons that we gave him this week were so fun. He knew pracitically everything so we just had to go over everything quick so that he could understand the doctrine better. 

Yesterday we had 7 investigators at church! It was AMAZING! My companion and I were completely filled with so much joy. God has been so good to us. Despite that Hermana Cordova was sick, we were able to see so many miracles with investigators and less actives going to church! It was a great/crazy week! :) haha!!

You guys sound so good!! I cant believe school is going to start next week! I feel like this summer passed by so fast! Thats so excited Macey and Cole got married and that Kaleb leaves tomorrow for his mission!! Tell them congrats for me please. Thats so fun you guys celebrated Granmdas birthday this week. She´s awesome! Sounds like she had a good day. :) I cant believe reg and Had have been married for 2 years! I feel like they got married yesterday! time flies by! I love them so much and im so glad they had a good anniversary. 

Oh mom, it sounds like you guys are going so good!! Im so happy! I love you guys so much and am sooo happy you are doing well. I hope you have a wonderful week and enjoy the last week of summer! Be safe and talk to you next week! :)

Con amor, hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1)Hermana Cordova!! Last day as companions!

2)Hermana Bair goes home this week! She is such a great missionary and so fun to be around!

3)Our zone!! Zona Brisas! The sister in the middle is going home this transfer!

4) I know we look really scary in this photo but there is a sister in our ward who painted us some pictures! 

Things are going great!

Hey mom!!!

So good to hear from you!! Sounds like you guys are doing so good!! Im so glad! Sounds like you had a fun busy week this week. Thats so awesome you were able to go to Boston with dad and madie to see Ri! I bet you guys really enjoyed your trip and seeing riley again. :) I love the pictures you sent, thats so cool you were able to go to fenway park. Lucky! Also, Im so happy to hear that Kens treatment went well. She is such a strong little girl, im so proud of her and how far she´s come with her treatments. She really does inspire me! Oh man, I love Hermana Terry! She is so awesome. Everytime we saw each other we always talked about good ol St. George. You´ll definitely have to meet up with her. She´s the best! :) So crazy Kaleb is heading out soon! Maybe I´ll see him here down in Mexico. ;) Please tell him good luck and welcome to Mexico! Viva Mexico! haha! I love hearing about you guys. Thanks for always informing me on everything, it makes me so happy to know you guys are all doing good. :) 

This week was a good one! Seriously flew by!!! I think one of the biggest highlights this week was sacrament meeting yesterday. ahh it was so good. The spirit was so strong. This past week was EFY for all of the teenagers here in Merida and Campeche and yesterday during sacrament meeting we listened to all the testimonies of the teenagers that attended. Their testimonies were so powerful. Each one of them said that their testimonies had been strengthened so much and that they plan on serving missions. Each one of them! Even one who isnt a member! ... miracle story.. before the meeting started we were greeting the members as they were walking in and one of the sisters in the ward has her nephew staying with her for a few weeks and he´s not a member. He went to EFY with his cousins and told us that he wants to get baptized because he wants to serve a mission like us. Hes 16 years old! So after we write today we´re gonna go visit him and put a baptism date! It was awesome! 

Another highlight was our stake acitivity "Discovering Family History"! It was so awesome! The members put together a museum of their family history like photos, letters, chairs, things that their ancestors made.. there were lessons on how you could find your ancestors.. there were videos and little crafts.. and at the end about 20 of the members danced the "Jarana"! The dance from the Yucatan! ahhh it was the best! It was like seeing a tuacahn show. haha. no, but it was so great. I love the culture here in Merida. I cant wait for you guys to come down and experience it for yourselves. Its so beautiful! A lot of our investigators and less actives who we are working with were able to come and they absolutely loved it. It was a great activity!! 

This week, as a zone we also went to the temple with our investigators and recent converts to have a lesson with the Temple President. Here in our mission, President Ruiz gave us permission to take our investigators to the temple and have a lesson inside the temple in the waiting room. It was so special! The Temple President talked about the temple and families and our invesitagators really loved it. You can always count on to feel the spirit when you´re in the Temple. The presence of the lord is always there. Its His home and He dwells there. Which I want to invite you guys to go to the temple this week. Now that all of you can enter, go as a family and do baptisms. Doing the work for those who have passed on is SO important. There are children of God waiting for people to do their work here on earth so that they can progress and live with God again. Its a great missionary opporutnity. :)

Things are going great! Im super happy and am enjoying every moment here in the mission. Its so special. I love Merida! I love being a missonary. Im so grateful for you guys. Thank you for your support and love. It means so much to me! I hope you have a wonderful week! Please be safe! Talk to you next week. :)

Love, Hermana Gates

#kickitkdog

1 &2) The temple!!!

3) Sister Olivares! She´s my "sister" in the mission!!