Sister Mitzi Gates // Week Ten

This week was great! Christmas was amazing:) A very great first Christmas away from home!! We were busy spending the day at so many people's houses and sharing messages, It was great! But I have gotten so close to Christ this Christmas season it's amazing. The work is moving a long, a lot of our investigators were out of town for Christmas, so we haven't had much to do! Just a lot of contacting the ward members who are less active! But we're keeping busy! A funny story for this week. We had dinner at this members house and they have a son Daxton who is like 6, and we did this little activity, and the next thing I know he was asking to marry me! Everyone was cracking up! He came up and was like "Sister Gates, will you marry me?" haha that boy has my heart:) I hope all you missionaries in the ward are doing good! It's so fun to hear from you all. Keep up the good work:)

Ps. just an update on Gary Allen. He is a member of our church! His real last name is Herzberg! haha and we're going to knock his door soon!! Wahoo! 

                   Love,

               Sister Gates

This is the Horlacher family! Jake, Derk, and Julie!! Mom this is who always texts you! I seriously love this family!! She also served a mission, the parents met on their mission, he was her district leader! haha 

Their was a street named Lynn so I had to take a picture of it and send it to you Mace!! 

These are the Byerly's!! The daughter just gave the baby up for adoption and the son just got off a mission from Africa and is getting married to his sweet heart of 5 years! And the husband isn't a member and says he'll join once his dad dies!! Haha so funny family! we had Christmas dinner over there with them!

Another one with Sister Cotton!!

Thank you for all the Christmas presents!!

This is Brother and Sister St. Onge, He is the bishop and they had us over for one of our Christmas Eve Dinners! Haha She read us the story of the Night Before Christmas Cajun Style! They're quit the people! (Notice her shirt is the one i got at the goodwill for my christmas card, she really wears it though!)

Christmas Eve dinner at Eileens house! Seriously love these girls and it's always a good time here!!

This is Vickie and Chet. Chet Powers. Chet the Barber. He is the coolest guy ever!! He owns his own barber shop and loves Jesus and Heavenly Father! But he isn't a member.. well at least not yet! He's sort of an investigator! He ALWAYS wears cut off sleeves, even to work! 

We made cookies and the little turtle chocolates for everyone we went and visited!! It was fun:)

My favorite thing picture! The Nativity, the scarf from Jake, the book of mormon from grandma, and the picture of the temple covered in snow!! Thank you:)

Seriously, i'm spoiled. It was so fun to hear from everyone and to talk to you on Skype!!!!

Idk just if you wanted to see what was going on! hahah

Last monday we did the Nativity with the Bainer family! They just moved in and they're great!! They also just got baptized about a month ago! So they're new to everything! Love this family!!

Got my Christmas Eve Pajamas!!

This is Eileen and her husband Carl. They're the best! hahah

Eileen and this is her Daughter Josie. Josie is not opened to the gospel, but ever since we got here she loves us! Not the Elders.. Haha Josie is Lilly's mom. But they do so much for us:)

We spent Christmas Eve dinner with Eileen's family. The one on the left is Chet the barbers daughter, Alex, and Lilly is in the middle! Love these girls:)

This is Elder and Sister Johnson! I seriously love them. They made Christmas so special! It felt like home:)

Merry Christmas!!

Sister Mitzi Gates // Week Nine

Wahoo for the baptism that was on Saturday!! It went great! The spirit was so strong, and it was great to be apart of it. I am so lucky. After we went to lunch with Morgan and his wife Randi, and then his friend that baptized him and his wife. You could totally tell a difference in him. So we asked him how he felt, and he said that he has never been so happy or felt so good! That made my day!! That for sure makes all the hard times on my mission worth it. But also on Saturday night we were at a members home, the Harris' and it was raining, then next thing we know the alarms were going off! Haha it was a tornado warning! it was so loud and kinda scary! It was storming and so we had to hurry and get back to our apartment to take shelter. It didn't do any damage, but it was still scary! The members out here spoil us. They all get us Christmas gifts and invite us to their Christmas parties! I'll send pictures later with everyone who has given us stuff! I love this ward! I never want to leave!! haha I am already scared to leave, but next transfers aren't until January 28th so i still have a while! But i love it here! We are making slow progress on some other investigators. But It's fun!! 

We also taught Gospel Doctrine class yesterday in church, so that was fun!! haha 

I hope you all have a great Christmas and enjoy the Holiday season! I miss you all but I wouldn't want to be any where else!! Love you all:)

                                                                         Sister Gates:)

Just some of the quilts Sister Perkes had done, and she is working on the one on the wall! she went on a quilting cruise one time!! Hahah i didn't even know they had stuff like that! She is the best!! 

This is Sister Harris, yes she is in her pajamas! She was made i mad her take a picture in them. Haha but she made us a goodie basket for christmas! she always gives us homemade banana bread and chocolate treats! haha this was the night that the alarms were going off for the tornado warning!! I could sit and take with her ALL day!! 

Sister Cotton, Morgan Butler, and me! Haha we're always having a good time around them. This was right before it started! wahoo!

This is Randi and Morgan Butler! Wahoo for baptisms!! Love them!! They're the best!!

This is Sister Jones, Sister Cotton, Sister Carson, and Teresa! They were also at Sister Richey's for the Christmas visiting teaching get together!! Love these ladies!! 

This is sister Richey! She is the cutest! she had us over and gave us her family recipe book for christmas! The members spoil us!! She had the strongest testimony and is so willing to go with us to do missionary work!!

Nothing like big trucks in nashville! haha we found a guy and gave him a book of mormon right after that! and when we drove back by he was reading it! So that's exciting!! haha

SHE HAS A QUILTING MACHINE!! haha it's one where you plug it in the computer and it does it for you!! 

This is Sister Perkes! She helped do the towel thingy that Angie Langston always does!! Haha she LOVES quilting! I love her! She is great at family history work and does so much for us missionaries! I love her! haha

Sister Mitzi Gates // Week Eight

This had been a crazy week!! It snowed one day in the morning, a lot! So we had to go and and shovel the snow off of our car. So we decided to do a couple more cars while we were at it! So we did and we left pass along cards with our numbers on it, and a little message!! I love doing service. I don't know why, but it's the best! But we went back that night and the cars were there and hadn't moved and all the snow had melted away! So we did all that work for nothing, but we left the pass a long card in the cars! So hopefully something comes out of that!

We had Zone Conference this week. It was amazing! I love hearing from President and Sister Anderson!! They're amazing. It was great to feel of the Christmas spirit there. We did a white elephant gift and i got toilet paper. so that was nice! haha I just enjoyed learning more and getting that personal revelation for myself and for our investigators!! 

Also last night the community choir put on a big musical thing about Christ in Franklin. So we got a ride with sister Abernathy, Her husband is in the stake presidency and she went on a mission as well. But she talks like no other! The musical was long and i'm not really into that type of stuff.. but it was fun to experience! We were so late on curfew! haha we got home at like 11:15! but president said it was okay! 

Then on Sunday i had to give a talk in sacrament! It was great. I really did enjoy talking. Bishop asked me to talk on How being a missionary had changed your view on Christmas, and How Christmas will be different as a missionary. I just talked about how my short time on my mission i have gotten so close to Christ and Heavenly Father and gave a couple of stuff out of the Ensign. Elder Holland gave a great talk a couple years ago on his first Christmas away from home and it's EXACTLY my life. So i shared some of that. Bishop was inspired for sure. 

I just love the Christmas season and the spirit it brings along with it!! It makes me so happy. I love learning about Christ's life and all he did for us. My testimony had grown SO much. I am so blessed out here. Thanks everyone for the Christmas letters and prayers. I love this work:) Merry Christmas!!

Love, Sister Gates:)

This was Santa at the ward party! He's the real deal!! haha

We were driving down the road and all these people on bikes had lights on them and Santa was on it too! haha it was awesome!

I am spoiled with packages!! Thank you!!:)

It snowed like a couple inches as well!! It was fun to wake up to:)

Awkward................. haha:)

Hahah Merry Christmas:)

Sister Mitzi Gates // Week Seven

What a great week! I love this Christmas spirit that is in Hendersonville!! It is an amazing time of year. So this week Dan Erickson, he is still an investigator and is progressing slowly! But we had a lesson in a members home and the spirit was so strong. We talked about the word of wisdom and also about priesthood authority, we asked if he ever wants a blessing to help him stop smoking Brother Jensen could do that by priesthood authority. Then I started to cry, when I told him about how dad gave me a blessing before my bleeding ulcer and how everything was fine and I wouldn't be here on my mission without it. I was embarrassed, haha but the spirit was amazing!

This week had been great! We have a lady in our ward is shy and not very out going. But she has really taken the missionary step to a new level. She invited us over to help her go over to her neighbors to set an appointment up. She did all the talking, she said she was so scared! But after she said that it wasn't so hard, and we were so proud of her! We hope she shares it with all the members of the ward so that they see that it isn't scary or hard.

Then last night we went to this less active ladies home. Her daughter just had a baby, she's 19, and put it up for adoption and it got adopted by this cute lds family. the son just got home from a mission and they invited us over for christmas day dinner. We offered to help with her christmas decorations, so hopefully this week we go over again! But we almost didn't go over, but it all worked out and she is going to come to church, she knows she needs to, but we gave her that little extra motivation to get going! we're so excited about this work! the ward is helping alot. Referrals are the key.Sister Cotton teaches me so many things daily. I am so grateful for her. I love this work!! This week is going to be busy with all the fun Christmas activities going on! But we have transfer call this Saturday, Transfers next week. So I'm hoping I stay! I don't want to leave Hendersonville, or Sister Cotton!

Also we found out that Gary Allen lives close, Kaleb, find me the house address because we're going to knock his door!! Haha but really. The members know where he lives so we'll figure it out!

I hope you all have a great week!! I love you all so much:)

Sister Gates:)

Yes my hair is crazy, thats the natural! But this is something Macey would do, so i had to send it!! But my feet were cold so i had my wool socks and i put my nikes on to get the mail!

This is Sister Bessinger. She loves me!! haha it's funny, she thinks i look like her niece, but i don't think i do. She always has us over for lunch and orders pizza. We helped her put up her Christmas Decorations this week:)

The Zone Leaders traded us cars, we had a new car, but they needed the miles so now we have a cute 2012 Malibu chevy! We miss our Jetta WV!!

Some one keyed the Jetta!! It's okay because we traded the Zone Leaders cars that night. Rude though!!

This is Eileen Pederson, she is an investigator! She got us a cute little live tree!! Haha she's awesome and also works at wal-mart!!

We went to the shopping area, and there is this restaurant that was like this throughout the whole thing! Also they have the best shopping place there. Like a huge XXI and all the good stuff:)

Their is a big river in the grand ol opry hotel and they got water from the santa clara river!! Cool huh?

The tree's were HUGE at the hotel!!

Another big tree at the grand ol opry hotel!!

This is inside the grand ol opry hotel! They have a river, the Santa Clara river is in there!

Seriously love Tennessee:)

Made mom's pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, not as good, but hey it worked! we passed them out on Thanksgiving!!

Sister Cotton and I with Lilly decorating for Christmas:)

Lilly is the cutest. This is Eileen's Granddaughter. We helped decorate the tree:)

Taylor Swift high school, these bleachers were in a music video!!

Sister Cotton and I at the grave sight:)

Johnny Cash's grave sight. It's right next to our house! But it was fun to see!