Monday, September 12, 2016

September 12th - Puzzle for Days

Hello family,

Well it sounds like y'all had a great week! I still can't believe that
Kylee is in college! That just blows my mind! Haha I'm so happy for
her though! And that's so great that y'all got to see the boys! Man I
just miss family time so much! Can't wait to see everyone again! And
y'all got to see the Motts! Wow, what a great time! How are they?
Where are the boys staying? Oh and mom, I totally believe it's
freezing up there already! Haha remember when we went?
We had to bring out our gloves! Lol

I can't wait to get to go back though! Speaking of weather, it's been
pretty cold here in the morning and nights too! It's actually freezing
and I want to wear tights but then in the afternoon it's soooo hot and
we are melting! Haha and riding bikes just adds to the heat! So that's
that lol.

So anyway, this week went by so fast! Monday we had a nice relaxing
pday. We went and got a hair trim then we went grocery shopping.
After, we came home and had pizza and watched the other side of
heaven. It's like the only movie we can watch as missionaries besides
the restoration hahah. Then that night all of our appointments
cancelled... Yay:( so we walked around, but luckily it was a really
nice night!

Tuesday, omg it was pouring!!!!!!! And we had an appointment that
morning that we had to get to and we had to bike. Oh gosh it was
crazy! I can't even explain it well enough but we got to the
appointment and I felt like I just got out of the shower. It was
awful. E let us in and she was like oh no what happened haha. Then
we had another lesson with her where she basically just kept reading
different bible verses to us. It wasn't the best lesson but she keeps
saying she wants to learn more so we hoping she will really open up.
Later that day we had a lesson with a lady in our Ward and she usually
has a puzzle she is working on and we sometimes get lucky and find a
puzzle piece to put in. Well I go to the bathroom and when I come out
Sister Hibbard is begging her to let us barrow a puzzle to work on at
home. Here I am thinking that I hate puzzles and that they take way to
long and that we have no time to do it! But sister Hibbard insisted
haha. For dinner we went to the S home, I sent a picture of them
before sister Foster left. They are the cutest family, I love them!
They have a daughter serving in Houston and then Tuesday morning their
second daughter, Kenzie went on her mission to California. Well they
still wanted to feed us even though they just said good bye! We felt
so loved by them, it was just the sweetest! Love that family.

Definitely feels like home there. That evening we had a few lessons
but one lesson we had with a family in the Ward was so fun! They are
just a really sweet nice family and we just really enjoyed spending
time with them. Haha and omg the dad was hilarious, we were talking
about his daughters boyfriend and how he wasn't a member and the dad
looks at us in the eyes and with all seriousness says, "I promise you
a baptism" hahaha. We all were dying, but hey I hope he's serious
because this Ward needs some excitement for missionary work! So after
that we went home and planned and then worked on our puzzle for a
little.

Day 1: puzzle border done.

Wednesday morning we wrote thank you notes, which takes so much longer
than you would think haha. Oh and it's still raining btw. Then for our
lunch break we literally spent the whole hour working on the puzzle.
Also it's a beauty and the beast puzzle haha. Dinner that night, holy
cow. It was not my favorite. We were served our dinner which is always
awful because we like to be in control of how much food we eat. Well
anyway, she served us and she gave us each a mountain of Mexican rice
and a whole half of a chicken. It was so much food and we weren't even
hungry. Then when we were about done with our dinner, we had a little
bit of rice and chicken left and she says, "back where I lived we
didn't waste any of our food." Awkward... So we made ourselves finish
and we felt so sick! It was not a fun time lol.

Day 2: got some more puzzle done before bed.

Thursday was zone conference with President and Sister McAteer and
another missionary zone. It was fun! I love zone conference so much!
It's always fun seeing some other missionaries, although I didn't get
to see any of my old companions besides sister Foster. But it was
still good. Learned a lot and the spirit was so strong! The meeting
was so long hahah from 9-4! But it was worth it! And I sent y'all a
picture with Elder and Sister Burgoyne! I la la love them!!!! They are
done with their missions October 17th which is so sad because they are
literally like my mission grandparents. They have helped me so
much!!!! But it's cool because they said we can come visit/stay with
them in Utah:) yay!

Day 3: came home that night and did a lot of the puzzle haha, btw it's
750 pieces.

Friday, we did a lot more of the puzzle for lunch and it's really
kicking out butt because it's so hard!!! Nothing too exciting happened
though.

Day 4: we are super frustrated because this puzzle seems to be growing
in size! Lol

Saturday was the stake day of service so we went to the church and
organized cans for two different food banks. It was a lot of fun! Then
we had a few lessons but our dinner cancelled so we ate at home with
penny, she made us stake and potatoes which was really good. And while
we ate, we puzzled hahaha. But by this point we were so annoyed
because it was getting down to the hard parts that we kept putting off
so called the lady who let us barrow it and she came to help us work
on it because we were stress sweating over this stupid puzzle haha.
Thank goodness she came though because she helped so much! She's just
so good at puzzles! After our dinner hour though we still weren't done
but we had to go to work, we went tracting (knocking doors) for a few
hours. When we got home for the night we went back to working on our
puzzle but before long we had to go to bed and the puzzle was so close
to being done like maybe 20 pieces.

Day 5: t minus 20 pieces left

Sunday we had Ward council early in the morning but we got up to
finish the puzzle while we ate breakfast Haha.

Day 6: puzzle complete!!!!:)

Then at church we had a RM speak in sacrament meeting. So that was
cool. After church we had a lesson with a recent convert at a members
house and it was so good! But what was really exciting is that a
chickfila opens up this week and the members agreed to go get us
some (it's slightly out of our area so we can't go there on our own)
anyway I'm so pumped!!!! It's been 11 months since I've had chickfila
(MY 11 MONTH IS ON THE 14th WOOT WOOT!!!!) so we are super duper
excited for chicky, I've missed it sooooo much!!! Members are the
best!!!!! :)

Well that was my week!
So happy to see pictures of the trip and the boys! You have no idea
how much I love them!!!!!
I love y'all way more, to the moon and back;)
And miss you guys always!!!
Don't forget to remember me!!!

"Have faith, have hope, live like His Son, help others on their way."

Xoxo
Sister Batey

The infamous puzzle.

McKenzee on her adult bike...and Sister Hibbard.

Sister Hibbard, McKenzee and Sister & Elder Burgoyne.

Sister Hibbard and McKenzee.


Monday, September 5, 2016

September 5th, 2016

Hello hello,

Well congratulations Kazdan and Jenna! Wow I can't believe you guys
are married! Lol welcome to the family though! I'm excited to meet
Jenna and her daughter! I'm hoping y'all told her about me? Haha
And hey I'm so glad you guys got the shed built! The garage looks so
great!!!! I'm so impressed!!! Wait so those movie theater chairs look
so nice! Where did they build that one? What movie did y'all go see?
Man I really miss watching movies! Haha
Omg I honestly can't believe that Kylee is starting college next week!
And I, so jealous that she is going to BYUI!!! I just love that place
and hope she has a great time:)

Well this week was just like all my other weeks! Lol we were able to
visit with a lot less actives! Oh and we found 2 new investigators!
Heck yeah! Omg and I also saw sister Finn on Monday!!!!!:) we were at
the mall in old navy and I hear my name and turn and I see sister Finn
running at me! Lol it was so exciting to see her again! It has been
soooo long!

Alright so anyway, Monday night we had lessons back to back which is
bomb :) and we were able to get rides so no biking :) then Tuesday we
had our lesson with E, and everything went fine dad. Haha sorry
you were so nervous and sorry I couldn't write you earlier! Sister P
works at Costco from 4am-1pm and so by the time we get home at 9:30pm
she is already fast asleep. And some days we just don't see her
because we are out and in appointments all day. So it's a hit or miss.
But yes, the lesson went well. She had a lot of questions and we did
our best to answer them. She had a lot of scriptures in the bible she
read to us and asked us our thoughts. Kind of strange, not sure how
much she understands the bible. Hopefully she will be more open in the
future!

But also, just an FYI... I meet random strangers every single day and
I try and go into their home to share a message with them. I literally
do that everyday. Haha, that's what a mission is. But don't worry
because I am protected. The Lord watches over his servants :)

Wednesday we had a few lessons and we also were able to do some
service. A member lady who is a librarian at an elementary school
asked us to come help her set up the library by stacking books and so
that was a lot of fun! I so enjoyed being back at an elementary
school. It's just such a fun environment and I've missed going and
seeing all my little kiddos. So that was a lot of fun :)

Thursday we had district meeting and Sister Hibbard and I of course
biked their. Oh man we were dying. By the time we got there we were
all hot and slightly sweating and it's always so awkward because we
are the only ones who bike to the stake center for our meeting and
when we walk in it's always like, "oh hi boys, don't mind the sweat,
just biked 25 minutes while y'all drove" haha then they had us
give the restoration. And the prayers and a training. It was like the
sister Batey and Hibbard show. You would think elders on a mission
would be slightly mature but NO. Haha, I pray they will before its
time for them to go home. Lol

For dinner Thursday night we went to a bbq place with a family in the
Ward and it was BOMB! It smelt like Texas and they had Texas flags, it
almost felt like home ๐Ÿ˜ I loved it so much! But sadly when we came out
it was raining and well we were on our bikes and it was like
Washington slapped me in the face hahaha. So that night we were biking
around and we were just soaking wet. Lol it was pretty funny.
Oh and then I was able to hold a hedgehog, it was so exciting!!!
People here in Washington have so many weird pets!!! But it's fun!
Friday was sister Hibbards year mark and so I decorated the kitchen
for her to help celebrate for her :) it turned out really cute, I was
pretty proud of myself. Then for lunch we went to red robin and it was
so good, we split a burger and omg it was amazing๐Ÿ˜‹ then Friday night
we had lessons back to back to back. And they were all sooooo good!!!!
We met with T and J and they are new investigators now and we
brought a member with us, Sister M and the spirit in this lesson
was sooooo strong! We taught the restoration and it was just an
amazing lesson:) so please keep them in your prayers!!!! Oh it was
just beautiful!

Saturday, nothing to exciting! I saw a boob again... I feel like I've
seen more on my mission than ever before haha. This was during a
lesson too, it was so awkward hahah. #missionarylife lol
Then Sunday night we went and visited with two different lady's and
omg it just hit me how blessed I am!!!! These lady's are both
struggling in their separate ways but they are both living in such sad
conditions. One lady is wondering whether to pay rent or to buy food
and it breaks my heart but also makes me realize how seriously blessed
I am. Dad and mom I am just so thankful for y'all giving me the life I
have. I'm so lucky that I didn't have to wonder if I would eat each
night and wonder if I would have a roof over my head. Thank you for
all the hard work y'all did to provide such a wonderful life for me
and our family. I just can't express how grateful I am and how much it
means to me. Y'all rock and I'll love y'all forever!!!!❤️

Well sorry this is later than usual. Been a busy day, went to get my
hair trimmed, it's pretty dead. Then grocery shopping. Now I'm home
chilling in my blanket:)
How was the lake? How is the Ward doing? Anything new and exciting in
San Antonio? How is school going for everyone?

Oh also, got the package mom๐Ÿ˜˜ thank you tons! Although... Mom the
clothes you sent me... Well first off none of those are MINE... Which
means none of them fit.... And honestly I couldn't wear any of them
with a skirt if I wanted too lol.... How come you don't send me my
cute clothes??;) like the cute maroon shirt with the ruffles at the
end I got before my mission? Please send me my cute clothes and not
the ones that you and Kylee don't want! Speaking of, I know Kylee is
about to go to Idaho and I'd prefer if she doesn't take all my clothes
because when I get home I won't have any hahah. So that's my request
lol.

Well I miss you all so much!!!!!
And I love y'all to the moon and back!!!
Have a great week and I hope to see lots of pictures of Kylees
apartment and of the trip up there and of the boys! I'm so jealous you
guys get to see them!!

Have the best week ever:)
Also I would LOVE LOVE LOVE, to hear from each of you today!!!!!๐Ÿ˜˜

"Have faith, have hope, live like His Son, help others on their way."

Xoxo
Sister Batey

McKenzee and a Hedgehog.

Sister Hibbard and McKenzee with the Hedgehog.

Smiles on their faces even though it's pouring
outside and they get to ride their bikes.