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!!