Macey Gates: 2013

Friday, December 27, 2013

Sister Macey Gates // Week Nine // "MERRY CHRISTMAS"

This week was a good week! We helped Alejandra/Jessica with her wedding we did all the painting of her gazibo and other stuff and then we were actually able to go to it on saturday! Nothing is like a temple marriage! but she just got baptized so they will get sealed next year and she cant wait! and we taught 2 lessons at the wedding haha people were just very intersted! it was way cool and they told us that they knew they had to be there for a reason. There were also alot of drunk people there too haha i feel so bad they wont remember anything about the wedding. So we did OYM(open your mouth) at a shopping mall yesterday and we were talking with these two motorcylists(not bikers we got in trouble for calling them that) haha whoops but they kept saying that they werent interested and we jsut kept talking to them and the lady started crying! she said i think this is Gods way of telling me that im not forgotten. We asked if we could give her a hug and she said no haha but we went in for it anyways and then she was like okay i really do want one! She was really glad we talked to her so that was a cool experience! We went to the ward christmas party and they do the same present thing we do with santa claus on christmas eve!! I totally at salmon night for dinner!!! and it was pretty good! i was so worried cause it was such a big piece and the smell was so bad haha but it was all good! So basically i just eat clementines like crazy!!!! I ate like 20 in 3 hours haha while we were studying. We had multizones so that was really fun and we learned so much!! We have like 3 new investigators Alexis, Abel and Leslie and i think they are so ready to hear this gospel. Some latinos start laughing cause they think its funny that we can speak to them in their own language haha Missionary life is great! So basically i just barely got hit on with this guy and he just started asking about our religion and going on dates and stuff and kept telling me im cute and i was like you have got to be kidding me!!!!!! And to top it off all the missionaries around me just laughed at me the WHOLE ENTIRE TIME they didnt even come help me out!! It was so bad so if i dont have that much time to write thats why. But other than that its been such a good week! My companion is a hoot and a half haha she is a little moocher haha she loves to wear my clothes everyday! i totally dont care and she says she doesnt have any money but she really just loves to eat the food that i get cause its good haha she told me that today and then we were going to subway for lunch and she saw i had a gift card and she was like thank you so much for lunch and im just like yeah! haha its pretty funny actually cause she just keeps telling me she likes to mooch of me and says she will try to stop but its all good! it keeps life interesting haha I love and miss you guys so much and i cant wait to talk to you guys on christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are all always in my prayers! I love you all so dang much!! and i cant wait to talk to you!!:)

Hermana Gates:)

Alejandra the girl that we helped with her wedding!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Sister Macey Gates // Week Eight

Awe this week has been quite the week hahahah so on tuesday i went on exchanges with Hermana Dicarolo and she is done with her mission in january. She is so amazing!!! So she is italian and so of course she speaks italian. She came to BYU to learn english for 2 years and then she got called on a spanish speaking mission haha it was so fun and i learned so much from her. It was a little awkward at first, but by the end we were best friends haha i love that girl. It was such a great experience and to learn so much from her. Then one of our investigators we had a lesson with him and he told us he didnt wanna be baptized on sunday cause he wasnt ready and his parents asked if we wouldnt come over anymore. It was so frustrating and i thought my companion was going to punch him. And she kept on asking him to be baptized next week and he said no everytime. So i came in and said okay jesus... Do you believe that there is a God and that he loves you. and he just sat there and i said be honest. He said no. So then i really knew that he hasnt understood anything the other hermanas have taught him and my companion didnt understand that until the next day. So we are meeting with him tonight in the neighbors home who we love! In the car though my companion said to me" where do you think you went wrong" and i said idk i guess everything. And it made me feel really bad. And then we talked it out more the next day and she realized that what i had said to him was actually the best thing for him and its just amazing what happens when you are just patient and when you let your frustration die down before you actually say anything. We learned alot about being companions then but i love that girl so dang much and she is weird sometimes like me hahah. Also Wednesday night sister goudy was like Sister Gates you got like 10 letters!! They were mostly from the ward, mitzi, callie, and you guys haha it was so fun to read them!! I needed it haha so The other night we had just gotten done eating dinner and we were so full cause we just dont stop eating sometimes haha and so then we go to teach this part member family. So we go in and they are just watching this championship soccer game of some sort so i liked it haha and we just talked with them. Then the lady put out on the table these two HUGE tamales and we look at each other and were just like you have got to be kiddin me...hahah so they were okay! The texture was definitely different and they had chicken in them and the bones of the chicken were like mixed in with it so it was interesting. We were litterally cheering eachother on to eat it secretly and we prayed every single bite that we could get it down hahaha it was so bad. And then were like can we share a message with you and they said lets sing! so we started singing a song and they were so tone deaf hahahhahah oh my heck i thought i was bad. Its so rude to say that but it took all of us to not start laughing. But it was so amazing at the same time cause they tried so hard. And then we were praying with them and the non members were like repeating what we were saying in our prayers...It was the dangdest thing hahhaha oh my heck that was quite the experience!!! But they came to church!!!! So yesterday my comp was like we should just walk around the neighborhood to talk to people if we see them. So we talk to the Goudys next door neighbor and she was super nice. Then we talked to some others and then on our way back Bro Goudy was on a walk and he comes up and says "why the heck were you talking to my neighbors, when are transfers, you do not talk to my neighbors!" And then just walked away. I dont think ive ever been more scared in my entire life. We walked back to the house and my comp just starts bauling. We went down and talked to sister Goudy to see what was going on and she said that he was just in such a bad mood and that neighbor has caused them so much trouble. She started crying and was like Bro Goudy needs to learn to forgive people and we just hugged it out and stuff and then she was like will you talk to him when he gets home? and she said that we had to keep crying so he knows that he hurt us haha so we go down to talk to him when he got home and my comp was bauling. He just told us how he hated his neighbors and what not and sister Goudy started crying. And then i was like Will you forgive us for talking your neighbors? and the said yes and sister Goudy started bauling cause he hasnt ever told anyone that he forgives them. Then we went up and studied and then we came down for dinner like still so scared haha and then Bro goudy was like super nice and just talked with us and said sorry and then when he left sister goudy was like i am so proud of you two!!!! She said the whole time we were talking to him in her head she was thinking niner niner ninnnner hahhaha she is the best!!! So basically we went through that to teach him a lesson hahha it was good haha and then this morning my comp put one shirt in the washer that i was using cause she forgot to wash it and it turned my clothes pink hahahha the joys of being on a mish!!!:) ALSO we get to skype you on christmas so you better set up an account and invite callie to come over too por favor!! We are going over to the Garcias to eat at 12 cali time and then probably skyping after so i dont know exactly what time! Be ready haha I love and miss you guys so much!! The spanish is coming slowly! Yesterday we were haveing lunch with the lopez and i understood their whole conversation. They started fighting about if angels had wings or not and how spanish is the language of the heavens hahah oh my mother hanny bannany this whole mission this is awesome!! haha I hope you guys have such a good week and i have a fun letter coming for you!! hehe anywho i love you all so much!!!

Love Hermana Gates:)

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Sister Macey Gates // Week Seven

Awe this week has been crazy!! So i got here and they did all the welcome stuff and then we got our companions! My companion is Hermana Nelson! She is the cutest thing and her spanish is so amazing. The first morning we had to get up at 5 to go teach seminary haha it was so hard but fun! It took me a long time to catch up on my sleep. Its been so hard learning spanish and i think i try to hard trying to understand everything but its been getting better each day! We have 4 investigators right now, Jesus, Miguel, and a cute family Iisdra & Antonio. Jesus is set to get baptized this sunday but we have to get all our teaching in with him and he has to come to church this sunday. We talk to him everyday and he is doing so good and loves it! We left a harvest blessing with iisdra and antonio and the spirit was so strong! We are teaching them again tonight and also jesus! Awe the work is so amazing!! And then yesterday when we were out harvesting miguel call us (we met him saturday and told him we wanted to come teach him) and he wanted us to come teach him yesterday! So we taught him the restauration. The spirit was so strong and lets just say the gift of tongues is real. I had no idea what he was saying and my companion usually teaches the lesson in a simply way and i usually just back her up, but i was able to help her and words were just flying out hahah oh my hecky it was so cool. And then we knocked on this door and this cute girl shes is 7th grade let us is and we shared a message with her and we are teaching her and her family on tuesday!! It was such a miracle to have met these investigators these past two days cause ive been getting so frustrated no one wants to listen to us, but i realized the lord prepares certain people to hear our message at certain times. The language is so hard, but my companion is awesome and corrects me and teaches me all the time and we usually just talk out our frustrations at night a learn. Its so amazing how the gospel brings so much light to people and how we get to help in that process. I love and miss you all so much!! I love it here. Its so dang hard and my head is going to explode every single night, but its awesome. It rained here the past two days! But the weather has been pretty nice! That is so crazy it snowed and im so jealous!!!! Tori i hope you get through school and i seriously cant wait to hear what you are having and you could always go with the name Macey...Its cute right??;) Hahah well i dont have that much time but i love you all so much!!!! Me gusta charlar con mi familia mucho haha fui muy animado a hablar con mis amigas y mi familia:) Nos Vemos!!

P.s. Everything happens in the lords time so dont give up and he will show you miracles!:)

Love your favorite Hermana:)

Goodbye Mexico!!

Plane ride!!

My reaction to my first popcorn! haha

Our last goodbye:(

My new companion:)

My first package:)

This is sophie the goudys dog haha mom sister goudy is just like you and NEVER stops talking hahhaha i love her to death! They are so nice to us!! I will have to get a picy with them! But their dog acts just like boston haha except sophie actualy listens!

Friday, December 6, 2013

Sister Macey Gates // Week Six // "I LEAVE TOMORROW HOLY COW!!!"

This week has been crazy awesome! Thanks giving was so amazing. We totally had a thanksgiving bowl and a bunch of boys played football and then we were the cheerleaders haha i almost touched my toes!! I was also the photographer and the boys kept on getting mad at me, but they appreciated the pictures after haha they couldnt stop looking at them. In class we just wrote thank you notes to people and we drew a flag on the white board and did the pledge of allegence haha but it felt so good!! I love america. Then we totally werent expecting a thanksgiving meal and we walked into the comidor.... and there was TURKEY, MASHED POTATOES, ROLLS, MEXICAN STUFFING, PUMPKIN PIE, AND APPLE PIE, AND THERE WERE TABLE CLOTHS ON THE TABLES. We literally started crying we were so grateful. I love american food so much, but i have learned to love corn tortillas and mexican food. Im gonna miss it. The other day, Elder Banegas was praying and me and Hermana Homer took his food haha it was the funniest thing and everyone was dying cause of his reaction. He was so confused haha and then he made a nutella sandwich and was talking to people so we put hot sauce in it haha we love doing pranks. Friday we had in field orientation and it got me so excited to go on my mission. It made me so nervous, but i really just want to get out there and bring people in to this glorious gospel. Saturday we just chilled with our boys and played with them and took lots of pictures! I am so grateful for the opportunity i had to fast yesterday cause the spirit was so strong and comforting. I almost forgot to eat last night haha but it was so comforting cause i knew it was going to be so hard to say bye to our boys in our district. I didnt think it was possible to become this close to a bunch of hooligans in this short of time haha. We all got blessings last night. I am so grateful for the priesthood because seeing those boys in that circle was like a group of angels and when i got my blessing i was so comforted by a group of angels. I was going to ask my district leader Elder Fearnley to give me one for days and then last night Elder Birch`s name couldnt get out of my head. I had Elder Birch give it to me. It was the most perfect blessing. I learned that i am being put in riverside california for a reason and its going to be hard. The lord is going to give me many trials but that i can do it, if i stay close to the spirit. My companions wont be easy, but i will be put with them for a reason. I know that my mission is going to be hard, but if thats what it takes to bring as many families as i can together to be able to live for eternity like mine, I will serve with all my heart might mind and strength. I am so excited. We woke up at 3:15 this morning to go say by to our boys at reception and everyone else that was leaving. I didnt cry!!! I am so comforted. And then we got up at 6:30 to watch the sun rise. It was so beautiful. Its just me and Hermana Homer today! We still have to go to class but it was awesome today cause our teacher could just focus on us and what we needed help with. I learned so much with just him. I love the CCM so much and the people here are amazing. I love the culture. Its time to go though and i feel prepared as i will ever be i guess haha Sunday our whole district one after another went up and bore our testimonies all in spanish. It touched my heart because seeing where we started to where we are now is absolutely a miracle. They were so willing to go up and bear their testimonies and i knew it was hard for some of them but i love those guys! Our district has something special. Today is so hard without our boys but its so peaceful haha i am so excited to go!!!! Me and Hermana Homer are giving out a Book of mormon in the airport tomorrow and we are so nervous but its one of our goals!! I cant wait to talk to you guys tomorrow!! I love you guys so much and don't ever forget it!! Thank you for your prayers i appreciate it more than anything and know that i am praying for you! I love you all! and i will talk to you soon:)

Love Hermana Gates:)