Sister Mitzi Gates // Week Five

What a week! This last week went by so fast!! So we have our first investigator who committed to be baptized on December 7th!! We're so excited. The Lord works in mysterious ways I've decided!! But as long as you're doing the lords plan and not your own, you'll be in good hands!! I wen't on my first exchange this week with sister Knecht.She's a Spanish speaking sister so the lessons were in Spanish. yeah I was so lost. They would speak English sometimes but most of it was in Spanish! So Macey I'm excited for you!! Haha but it was a great experience. I've started to pick up running because the people feed us way to much down here and theirs no such thing as portion control! So in the mornings we run, it feels so good! I really enjoy it, but my companion isn't a fan, so we run as long as she wants to. Which isn't that far. But the work is speeding up. the members are so willing to help with this amazing work!! They're all so willing to go out, or to talk to a friend about it, or let us hold lessons in their home. Which is great, it brings the spirit! I also am in the same ward as Tosch Trumans family so that's exciting to know someone! They invited us over for thanksgiving, along with the whole ward. So we are just going to go around and share a message about gratitude. We are at the end of the month so we don't have very many miles left on the car, so we're going to have to be careful of who we go to! But we had a lesson with Morgan Butler, who loves baseball and so we get along very well. haha he has a baseball room and said on our p day he'd take us to a Vanderbelt game in February!! I was all for it! Hopefully I'm still in this area! But anyways, when the tornado warning happened last week, we decided to hurry and go to their house, and they let us in and we set a time to have lunch and share a message. So we had brunch and shared the first lesson, and we committed him to baptism!! the spirit was so strong. the Elders have been working on him for a while, but then they had marriage problems so they stopped taking the discussions. So it's a miracle!! I am so grateful that I am here, in Hendersonville, on my mission, having the opportunity to be apart of this great work!! I am so grateful for all the support I've gotten and prayers. But I love this work!! I'm beyond lucky!

Love Sister Gates:)

My wall of fame! Haha it makes it feel a little more like home!!

They have a street named after me;) so naturally i had to get a picture!! haha

The greenie package from the Gublers!! So cute!

Went on an exchange with Sister Knecht!

So this is our investigator Eileen.. and my companion can fit a whole cupcake in her mouth at one time!!

Sister Mitzi Gates // Week Four

Wow what a week! The days go by so slow but the week went by pretty fast. So after I emailed last week I had my first break down and bawled. I miss home and everyone!! But I am doing a lot better. Still miss you all but wouldn't want to be anywhere else! Well I learned I just need to get lost in the work. It has really helped me this week. Having personal study has been so fun for me. I am learning so much and it's great to talk to Sister Cotton about it and hear her side. But on Tuesday night I went to my first bible study.... oh wow. It's crazy!! The people are very friendly but they tell me all these stories how God had came to them and all this stuff and it seriously wore me out. It was so weird. But it made for a good story! We went with one of our investigators and her family. Eileen Pederson she's this old 72 year old lady who wants to be baptized but her family is holding her back. So we're trying to get on the good side with her family and work our way in. Wednesday we had a Zone Conference in Lebanon. Brother Pino of the 70 came and spoke to us. It's all about members and missionaries!! Everything is centered around it. This work is so real and the members need to realize that they have so much they can do to help with the work! So Thursday we had a ward member and she came with us and all of our plans fell through. Like it was so embarrassing to have her drive us all over and them all fall through. But we know that if we're doing what we should we'll be blessed. So on Friday the same thing happened. We tried the referrals that bishop gave us. And it was at night when we saw a mini van at this less active members house and so we were excited because a family was there! So this old lady opens the door and I just start laughing!! I couldn't stop and get the words out. I was laughing because we had been trying all day and we thought this would be it and it was this old lady. It was so funny and embarrassing! We got to go to the adult session of conference this weekend (stake) and it was so good! guess what is was all about? members and missionaries!! seriously it's a big deal! So get working with the missionaries in any way you can family! Yesterday was also Stake Conference and we brought Dan Erickson out investigator to church and he likes it. We're meeting again on Wednesday. But then we were going around looking at referrals and we went to this active families house and the sister of the wife is not a member and has 4 kids and we invited them to church this Sunday and just little miracles took place yesterday! It was great that we didn't have another off day. Also we almost didn't get to go to conference because their was a tornado warming. But it got really bad last night. and the zone leaders called and said get back to your apartments. So we were heading back and had this idea to go visit an investigator we haven't been able to get with. So we had the excuse to "take shelter" so they let us in. they're so nice and now we're having lunch with them on Friday and sharing the first lesson again. It was great!!

I love this work and i'm so excited to share it with more people! I can feel the prayers working. So thank you! I love you all so much!!!

Love, Sister Gates:) 

Jake's Christmas present I sent off today before coming to email!!

So there was a tornado warning and so we had to take shelter, but we decided to go to an investigators home! It was successful because we haven't been able to get with them. We're having lunch with them on Friday and teaching the first lesson and got yogurt covered pretzels out of it! The lord works in funny ways;)

Sister Cotton and I! It was raining all day...

Miss May! Cutest old lady ever. She's 92 and loves to talk about her and her husband when they first met! She's my favorite:)

It snowed while we were getting ready in the morning:) Ugh winter!

Our cute little place... nothing like home!

Transfer day where I met sister Cotton. the girl in the pink is the grandma to all these girls! haha

My train of luggage at the airport in Salt Lake! haha everyone thought it was the best thing ever!

Sister Ellis and I on the way to the Salt Lake airport!

The last temple walk on Sunday with my MTC district!

Last temple walk at the MTC!

Cute sister ellis helped me pack my suit cases... it was a big ordeal!!

The district with Sister Tovar!

The district with Brother Gleason and Sister Donaldson!

MTC basic world map picture!!

Sister Ellis and I on our last P day at the MTC:)

*Some of these pictures are from last week since she was traveling and wasn't able to email home!

Sister Mitzi Gates // Week Three

It's been great! I love Nashville. I'm actually serving in Hendersonville. It's a good place. a lot of the families out here are broken, and i have never had such a strong testimony of families in my life. I have never appreciated my family more than now. I LOVE YOU ALL!! But the plane ride was good, we stayed then night at the mission home and had dinner and a testimony meeting. Woke up and we had a big meeting with everyone. Then we opened up a letter kind of like a mission call and we read it in front of everyone of where we would be serving and with who. My companion is Sister Cotton. Cute girl from DC. She has been out 3 months. We are white washing. that means they put us in an area where they took out the elders and we start from scratch. They have never had sisters in this area ever before. So it's a big deal. But it's so hard to white wash because we start from nothing. we have been going around and visiting the ward members, and investigators and everyone we can. It's hard. the wards are like 6 by 8 miles. CRAZY! I miss how everyone is Mormon and our ward is like on one road. haha but it keeps us busy. A LOT of inactive families. But the ward members feed us dinner every night. so thats nice! it gets dark at like 4:30 so that makes the evening long. Its hard work. I haven't broke down crying, but i for sure tear up a lot... i miss my family more than anything. I feel like i'm getting no where but we are. This sunday we already had 2 investigators come to church with us and thats a big deal! the ward doesn't know how to act with sisters so it's a little hard right now. but they are so into missionary work! it's amazing!!!! it's great really. we had dinner with a recent convert who went through the temple last month and we were talking and she just farted and we were like what the heck? and she was like well i'm an old lady and a southern bell, so whoops! We started to laugh! welcome to the south!! we get a lot a lot of doors slammed in our faces. so many people preach to us about their gospel and we just have to take it. This tuesday were going to a bible study class with one of our investigators so that should be interesting. It's getting cold. I wear as many layers as I can. we have a full time car but we still go tracking. It's hard work. But i just want everyone to know what true happiness is. it's good because we can build off of their faith of Jesus Christ, but some are so stuck in their ways. I love this work and wouldn't want to be any where else. But it's dang hard and very frustrating. this week was really hard. but I have never prayed so much in my life we pray over EVERYTHING!! it's really crazy. But i love you all so much. Thanks for the support and keep the prayers up, each one is needed!! LOVE YOU!!

 

Sister, Gates!

What the sign?

Yay for fall in Nashville!

How amazing is that? That's like our theme for our mission! Now that is motivation!! Makes me excited!!

Seriously I love it!! There are lakes everywhere!! Notice the nice houses on one side and the trailer homes on the other haha.

Sister Mitzi Gates // Week Two

Mitzi flew to Nashville this week so we didn't actually get an email from her. We got to talk to her on the phone though and it was so great. We loved being able to talk to her. She sounds so happy and is doing really well. One of the girls in our old ward ran into her at the airport and sent some pictures to us. we appreciated it so much! It was good to see her smiling face! She arrived in Nashville safely, and we can't wait to hear how her first week in Nashville has gone!

Sister Mitzi Gates // Week One

It's going so great!! I love this work!! Even though we are stuck in a classroom for more than 8 hours a day... it's great!! The food is nasty. I can't wait to eat some real food! haha Me and my companion are the Sister Training Leaders! So the new missionaries that come in today we give them a tour, give them a lesson, and get to know them! I can't believe it's been one week, but it also has felt like FOREVER! The days go by sooo slow, and the week goes by fast!! My companion calls the bugs the Box Elder bugs, i don't know.. but they're nasty! Not our friends though. But we have our teacher as an investigator, they act. So Brother Gleason is Everett, and then we have a real investigator Sarah May Jenkins. She's from Tennessee. We had our second lesson with her yesterday. The first time we met with her we talked about quilting for a good 30-45 minutes and we only have an hour to meet with them. Haha my companion was like okay... and i was just talking to her about all her quilts and everything! it's really important to connect with them!! and we did:) Then the second lesson we talked about the plan of salvation because she also told us that she has had a lot of deaths in her family. She lost her only child at 2 and a half months old. and her mom died. and a lot of others deaths. So we decided the plan of salvation was what she needed! Talking about her 2 and a half month old baby that only made it that long, i had the impression to talk about Cameron... I started to cry, and the spirit was so strong, and i just bore my testimony knowing that we can live with them again and how important it is to make the right decisions to see them again. She just kept saying i have a special place in my heart for you and your parents. I know Cameron and Grandpa are helping me SOOO much!! Sometimes i say things and i'm like did that really come out of my mouth, and i'm known at the mtc for my personal stories and I don't know how i even think about half of them!! But i can feel them helping me constantly. We are going to the temple at 1:15 today and so i'm very excited!! My companion is a sweetheart, she has taught me so much!! it's crazy! Even though she may be a little nerdy, i wouldn't want to be with anyone else!! I see Sarah Henderson a lot here!! It's so great:) I don't think you know the other people, remember the Slators that lived by us in Sweet Spring? Well their daughter that is in a grade older than me came in the same time as me and i always see her. Also a kid that is from Hurricane and is Levi's friend is here too! Then a couple other boys from school. My favorite part about the mtc is knowing that everyone is here for the same reason. I am SO grateful to be part of this great work! I love it!! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else but here:) I haven't even had a break down or anything!! I miss you guys soooo much! the Dear Elders help a lot. I mean I cry when i feel the spirit because i am my moms child!! Haha but it's great!! Yesterday it was cold when we woke up and so i left my basketball shorts on, i went to class and just had my skirt over them. i didn't even know!!! I went to cross my legs and was like what the heck? hahah yeah i left my basketball shorts on under my skirt!! Also during gym we play 4 square... be proud mom and dad! I am doing well there!!;) haha i also called Everett, our investigator, Brother Gleason because thats his real name and i just got confused, I don't know! but we all laughed!! It took a minute to get the spirit back during the lesson!! Devotional nights are my favorite. Yesterday night we had Brother Godoy from the 70 come and speak to us!! I love it!! It's hard work here, but again I am so glad i've had the support from you and our family!! Thank you:) I love you soooo much!! I look at my picture book almost every night!! One week down, a lot more to go!!

Love, Sister Gates:)

Me and sister ellis the first day:)

Me, Sister Ellis, Sister Gonvsalves, and Sister Peel! Yes, she does have a brother named Orange it's his real name!!!!

I think she gets sick of taking pictures with me!! but the leaves are my favorite!!!:)

Sister Gonsalves is a convert at age 14 and asked me to braid her hair!! Love her!

Our Schedule!

Sister Gonalsaves and I at the temple on Sunday!! Love her:)

I see Sarah a lot! this was on our sunday walk to the temple!! Love her:)

back left to right

Elder Openshaw, Elder Wilkenson, Elder Keys, and Elder Barton

Sister Ellis, me, Sister Gonsalves, and Sister Peel

The protester when we came back from our Sunday walk around the temple!! Crazy!! Welcome to the real world!!

At the temple again.

The stupid bugs that sleep with us and are all over our room!! Good thing I have a good companion who helps me!! 

Look familiar Jake?! hahah I had to take one by it too:) this is today... we got luck and our scheduled time to do laundry was at 6:30 UGH!

Me and Sister Ellis!! Hahah she's the best!! 

Sister Peel and I!!

LOVE the package and dear elders and letter!!! THANK YOU! I love you:)

LOVE THE LEAVES!!!

Yeah I learned the hard way you can't wear yoga pants.... so it's a good thing I brought Jakes basketball shorts!! haha Thanks Jake:) This is gym time!