Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween!!!!

How is life in the 210? Things are very wet here in the 360;) lol

So last Monday we had family home evening with the S family. Both
of the parents served missions and we spent a while talking about each
of our missions and how the missionary work in the ward is going. They
gave us some information about different families in the ward who we
don't know and also gave us a few names of people to stop by which was
a huge blessing, because we really need all the referrals we can get!

Then on Tuesday we had a super cool experience!! We had district
meeting on Tuesday morning which was at the stake center, and
afterwards we started biking to an appointment with a less active that
we are teaching. We had biked 2 miles or so and we got to a red light
and Sister Hibbard checked our phone and.....our appointment
cancelled. Just 15 minutes beforehand, which is always rough. So we
biked a little further and pulled over at the entrance to a
neighborhood to figure out what to do next. As we were on our phone
texting this lady back, a man pulls up in a red car, rolls down his
window, and yells out "Are you the Mormon missionaries?! From Utah?"
We said yes we are the Mormon missionaries but no we are not from
Utah, and as we are talking to him another car pulls up behind him and
starts honking at him to keep driving, so he says "Hold on! I'll turn
around!" He pulls out onto the main road and makes a u-turn and comes
back, pulls over, and gets out to talk to us. His name was J and he
started asking us all about our missions - what we do, how we pay for
it, how long it is, what our schedule is like, etc. He asked where our
church building was and then started taking about the Portland temple.
He said he's been there before because he used to drive a delivery
truck down there, and he talked about how special it is and how he
knows that not just any person walking down the street can go in
there. Then he goes "You girls are going to get married in there
aren't you? You're going to make a couple men real happy some day."
And he was just the cutest old man ever. He works on Sunday but he
said he's going to take a day off to come check out our church and he
also said he wants to come so he can tell our Bishop about how awesome
we are haha. We talked for about 20-30 minutes! Let me tell ya, no one
ever pulls over and talks to us like that, especially someone so
nice!! That just doesn't happen! We found out what street he lived on
and we told him we would come by and gave him our card. It was really
cool and just such perfect timing for us to be stopped on that street
at that time. God doesn't do random :)

On Wednesday it rained a TON. We had planned to go out to the farthest
part of our area, so we started biking over there and as soon as we
got to the neighborhood it just started POURING rain. It was
definitely the wettest day on our bikes so far. We got lost and
couldn't find the house that we were looking for, but we did find a
new less active family that moved into the ward. We helped them move
in a month or so ago, but their records haven't been moved over and
their house wasn't done being built yet so we hadn't thought about
going to see them. So we stopped by and the wife was home, and we
discovered that they have 3 dogs who loooove to bark and each of us
got nipped on the hand! And then we were sitting on her couch and the
dog was literally just barking in our faces...I just wanted to kick
them so bad haha. The lady didn't even try to calm them down she just
talked right over them and proceeded to tell us about how she is an
atheist and disagrees with everything that the church teaches. She
said she just wants to debate with us. It was a little contentious and
she was pretty closed off to what we had to say so we just left and
were thankful that we could be inside for a few minutes while it was
pouring outside. It was definitely an interesting experience for sure.
Lol

Friday we had our Ward chili cook off and trunk or treat! It was a lot
of fun and we even had a handful of less active families come which
was so great! Oh and since its Halloween we wanted to do something fun
but we aren't allowed to dress up so we decided to be missionaries,
more specifically elders! Haha it was so funny! But also slightly
awkward! Lol

Saturday P made a mess mowing the lawn and it was really wet and
clumpy and looked awful and so in the morning we did service by
racking the grass clumps and omg they were so full of water we could
just squeeze the grass clumps and water would just run out. Hahah it
was gross.

Sunday night we had a great miracle!!!!:) we had a goal this week to
find 2 new investigators and Sunday night we were knocking doors and
we found this family who's said they are interested and we are going
back on Friday to teach them!!!:) we are so excited! It was much
needed and came at the right time!!!
Well currently we are carving pumpkins for Halloween and it's just so
fun! I hope you all have a very happy Halloween? What are yalls plans?
Well I'm so grateful for this gospel. I love my Savior and I know He
lives. I love the Book of Mormon and know it's true and know that we
can learn so much from it. I know prayers are answered and I pray for
you guys everyday.
I love y'all to the moon and back and miss you guys TONS!
Have the best week ever!:)

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

Oh and don't forget to remember me;)
Xoxo
Sister Batey

The sun is trying to poke through...

Fall colors and all smiles...

and then of course...rain...

and more rain...but the smiles are still there...

With some kiddos after the Trunk or Treat fall festival.

 

The sisters "elders" costumes...

Milk...it does a body good.

 



October 24th, 2016

Hey, what up, hello!

So great to hear from you guys!!!!! I hope that things are going well
down in good ole Texas! Man do I miss that place! And from the looks
of it, it still looks like y'all are getting nice weather! How lucky!
Haha it's cold and rainy up here in the Couve! Lol

In fact, Monday night we were out riding our bikes after pday and it
was just pouring so hard and my skirt was soaking wet, I sent you a
picture of my skirt and the water line. It was freezing!

Tuesday we had interviews with President McAteer, it was good but
short. He is a cute little old man. Oh and he's kinda deaf. So he had
me say a prayer before we began the interview and when I said amen he
just sat there leaning forward and didn't say anything. Haha then he
opens his eyes and looks at me and chuckles. He said he has a real
hard time hearing girl voices! Haha so that was funny!

Then after our interviews I asked Sister McAteer if she wanted to ride
my bike so she could know what it feels like to ride in a skirt. Haha
she was real cute!

That night we had a relief society activity and it was real fun! The
theme was " This little piggy" so we talked about this little piggy
went to the market, which we talked about finances and saving money.
Then this little piggy stayed home, a lady talked about making her
home centered on Christ. This little piggy had roast beef, a lady
talked about having family meals. And this little piggy had none, we
talked about 72 hour kits. It was a really awesome activity! We also
had soup and salad and it was just so great to learn all about that
stuff because the more I learn the better! Haha I took plenty of
notes:)

Wednesday morning we went to a lady's house to do service. She's an
older lady and she wanted to teach us how to make bracelets. But these
aren't just any bracelets, they are very hard and the beads are itty
bitty and you have to do all these loops and things. Anyway, it's
TOUGH! Well she's telling what to do each step and I'm worried I'll
mess up so I ask her twice what to do to make sure and so I do exactly
what she says and literally every time I messed up. And so she would
look at it and say, "I don't know what you did but you messed up big
time". Like what in the world?! Haha I was dying because I did exactly
what she told me to do! And Sister Hibbard was doing so good! Like she
just someone knew what to do and she was on like step 9 while I was on
2... Anyway the lady kept telling sister Hibbard that she was a
natural beader while I wasn't Hahaha. It was pretty awful!

But then for lunch on Wednesday Sister Finn & Sister Michaud came
over!!!!:) I was soooo happy! It was so so so great to catch up with
them! I just miss them both so much! And it's so great because they
are companions now!

Thursday we had our district meeting and of course I gave a training
and also did the restoration with Sister Hibbard. Hahah but then after
our meeting we went to Sister T's house and did some service with
her. We started making quilts with her And it was a lot of fun! Sister
Hibbard is making a baby quilt for her sister who is pregnant and I am
trying to make a quilt for me because she had some extra fabric that I
really liked. I'm just so excited because I love quilts! Does grandma
Irene quilt? I think after my mission I'm gonna be a quilter;) lol

Saturday we went on exchanges with our STLs. I went to the Felida Ward
with Sister Twitchell. And it was just so weird being in Felida because
it boarders Hazel Dell and it just make me miss Hazel Dell and
the people even more than I already do! But it was a good exchange
because I was in a car for a change!!!:) so that was fun! Haha Sister
Twitchell is really nice too and She's from New Mexico. But it was
good getting back to Sister Hibbard. I just love her! Oh I forgot to
mention. Friday night before we switched companions we were out
tracting and biking in the rain and we were just really wet and cold
and it was just hilarious because we just kept singing random songs to
make the time pass and then we sang a song to penny lady and she asked
us if we knew who sang it and we didn't and she said Garfunkel and we
started laughing so hard because we've never heard that name. She told
us to ask our parents, so here I am asking, have you heard of him?
Sunday, same old same old. We had a meeting with our Ward mission
leader and the Ward missionaries and in the Ward mission leaders house
they already have a Christmas tree up! Hahah can you believe that?!
It's crazy!

So this morning, I got to see B!!!!:) she came over and gave us
massages and chat and it was just the best thing ever!!!! I just love
her! Oh and also it's currently raining and very dark outside. Haha
just thought you'd like to know;)

Well I'm so thankful for this gospel. It means so much to me and I am
so blessed to be out here doing the lords work! This week look for an
opportunity to share your testimony of Christ. You never know who it
could impact!

I miss you guys so much and love y'all to the moon and back!
I hope y'all have the best week ever:)
Don't forget to remember me:)

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

Xoxo
Sister Batey

B came to do massages!

McKenzee's former companions and current companion.

P and McKenzee.

Riding bikes in the rain doesn't help the skirts.

Beautiful fall day...



My Mission...how far I've come...

I wrote this for a lady in the mission. She asked me to write about my
experience because she knows how hard it was in the beginning and she
knows how far I've come. She read it at a conference for new
missionaries and then our mission president emailed me and said thank
you! Kind of a big deal!:)
Hope you enjoy:)

I came on a mission not fully understanding what Heavenly Father had
in store for me. I thought a mission would be a great experience for
me; I could have some cool mission stories to tell people, I could
teach a few families, I could take some awesome pictures, and if I was
lucky I could lead someone to baptism. But what I didn't know was how
hard the journey would be.

I got to the MTC and had a great time. Although I felt inadequate, I
learned so much and I felt the spirit so strongly and had a great
desire to serve Heavenly Fathers children.

When I got to Washington I was still excited but very nervous.
Transfer meeting came and went and I met my trainer and then goodbyes
were said. We drove to our area and then reality started setting in.
Here I was, alone with this stranger. Knowing no body, being
completely thrown into a strange place doing things I've never done
before, such as knocking on strangers doors, waking up at 6:30 every
morning, and backing out my companion. I was completely out of my
element and started focusing on all the hard things which allowed
Satan and his doubts to enter my mind. I started thinking what the
point of all this was. Then I made up my mind that I wasn't needed
here and I wanted to go home. Satan had me convinced that I wasn't
important and I should just take the easy way out and leave. It
sounded so good to me- to go back home to people who I already knew&
to go back to the familiar ways of life.

I reached my breaking point and in my head I had everything planned to
leave. But I went to talk to some wonderful office missionaries who
wouldn't let me quit. They saw the light when I was completely in the
dark. They helped me realize that I was important and that I couldn't
let Satan win. I started fasting and was told to give it a few more
days. So I did.

Then I met with President Taylor and he helped me so much. He
committed me to pray for the desire to be a missionary. And I've been
praying for the desire every day since. He also read to me Doctrine
and Covenants 84:88 which talks about angles being there to bear me
up. And I know that they have. I couldn't have been able to make it
without them and the loving help from so many others.

One day at a time is all it takes. Give it one day. If you can get
through one day you can make it through another. And then another and
another. Then before you know it a year has passed and you look back
at so many amazing experiences that have shaped you into who you are.

I know I have.

I can't imagine where I'd be if I went home. I can't imagine my life
without all the amazing people I've come to love. I'm changed because
of the things I've learned. I've gained such a deep love and testimony
of my Savior because of the love I feel as I serve those here in
Washington. The best decision I made was to come on my mission. The
second best decision I made was when I decided to love my mission.

And I really do love it. I know that everyday isn't easy but each day
there is something to learn. I'm so grateful for the opportunity I
have to serve. When things get hard just remember to give it another
day, and then another. Don't give up. Heavenly Father hasn't given up
on you and neither should you!

Xoxo
Sister Batey

October 17th, 2016

Hello hello,

So I really wish I had the time to write an amazing letter this week
but it's been so busy and hectic today that it probably won't happen
so please don't hate me... Lol

Well holy cow, this year I've officially been on my mission for a
year!!!!!! Holla lol

I honestly can't believe it! This year has been the most amazing thing
of my life! I've learned so much and I just feel so blessed to be out
here! Missions are the very best!!! I've truly come to know who I am
and also who my Savior is. I know there is a God in heaven who loves
me enough to send His Son to be born in a lowly manger, live a life of
intense trial, and be resurrected and atone for my sins so that I
could have happiness and hope. I know that God loves us so much and
let's us experience trials so that we can learn from them and become
better and stronger. And He doesn't expect us to go through anything
alone. Jesus Christ is there to walk the path with us. I know that the
Book of Mormon is the word of God and another book of scripture that
helps us grow closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I love it
and I love this gospel. It means so much to me and I'm so HAPPY to be
out here doing the Lords work, rain or shine(mostly rain;)). I'm so so
grateful that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to be an instrument in
His hands so that I can be the one to share the gospel with His
children. This gospel changes lives. It's changed mine and I couldn't
be happier with who I am today. I'm so thankful for my family and the
support they give me. I count you guys twice when I count my
blessings. Just know that there is hope for everyone because of our
Savior and His atonement. It's such a BLESSING! God is so good:)

So that's just a little of my thoughts and feelings right now. Maybe
next week I'll have a more restful pday and I can collect my
thoughts:)
So this week was GREAT! Monday night we had a lesson with our new
investigator, T, on Monday night and it was a great lesson! We put
him on date for baptism in November and we are so excited!!! So that
was awesome!
Tuesday we went to the dr for my ears and we got them all cleaned out
and so now they feel so much better:) oh and the S family took us to the
dr and then afterwards we went to chickfila:) yay, it was so great!!!
I just love that place and I love chickfila!!!!
Wednesday we basically just biked ALL DAY in the RAIN! Haha we were
pretty wet! It was actually raining everyday so I was wet everyday
hahah.
Friday was my one year and it was the bomb!!!!! I woke up and sister
Hibbard decorated the kitchen for my one year:) then she made us
cinnamon rolls for breakfast 😋 then she surprised me and had a member
bring us Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch:) omg I was SO HAPPY!!!!! It was
so great!!!! Then for dinner we went to the S family and they convinced
me to burn a shirt HaHaha. It was just an old plain shirt that I don't
love anymore. It was mine mom so don't worry! Haha I'm glad you like
the video:)
Saturday we got to stay inside for half the day because of the storm
but then it calmed down so we went back outside to work but it was
still so windy!!!! But we met a lot of nice people so that was good!
Sunday we went walking in the rainy mist for 3 hrs so that was lame
hahah. But it wasn't too bad!!!

Well I'm sorry I don't have more time! I will be better next week;)

I miss you guys so much and love y'all to the moon and back!
Have the best week ever and don't forget to remember me:)

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

Xoxo
Sister Batey

Smiles on a sunny morning.

The zone having a bowl-a-thon.

Kenzee in Nehalem.

1 year this past week!!

All smiles...

 



October 10th, 2016

Hi guys,

This week was so wet! Haha literally. It rained about everyday and
especially Sunday! Omg I felt like we were biking in the middle of a
tsunami lol. We were completely drenched from head to toe! It looked
like we had jumped in the shower with our clothes on. So before our
dinner appointment we stopped at a members house and they let us throw
our clothes in the dryer for a little bit. It was so funny but also
slightly overwhelming haha. Although after dinner we had to bike a
long ways again so we just got soaking met again. I learned that my
rain coat I've been using isn't actually a rain coat haha. As in its
not as water resistant as I thought. The rain went right through! I
just wish I could explain how awful it was lol. The rain was so cold
and the wind was so strong that it felt like we were getting pelted
with ice chips while biking! What an adventure!!!

But seriously I was so wet and I need some more rain gear! I was
soaked to the bone! What should I do? I'm gonna need a rain coat that
actually keeps the water out!

So rewind to Tuesday. That morning we went to have someone in the Ward
check on our bikes because they have been giving us some trouble. And
well what do ya know, Sister Hibbards bike was totaled and so all week
we've been looking for a replacement bike, but no worries, we found
one:) that's the picture that was on Facebook! The Lowders brought us
a new bike for her!

Tuesday night we had dinner with the lady I was telling you guys about
and she made roast and potatoes ad the food was surprisingly not
awful. We just ignored the mountain of dirty dishes coming out of her
sink. Lol but half way through dinner her big pit bull dog came and
peed right next to me! It was so disgusting and the smell was so
strong and awful. I was gagging hard core. Oh man, our eyes were
watering and it was so bad!

Wednesday night we went out to eat dinner with the R family!!!!:)
it was so much fun!!!! And it was just a dream come true to see them!
:) we loved it and we love them!

Thursday night we had a lesson with one of our new investigators and
we had it IN THE RAIN! We literally stood outside while it pouring. It
was so weird. I really don't love the rain. I've decided that I'm
getting enough rain to last me the rest of my life!

Friday and Saturday were pretty boring. And then Sunday was when we
got dumped on. Hahah.
So that was basically our week. Lots of biking in the rain. Haha

Well I've been reading in Alma this week about missionary work and I
just know how important it is! It can seriously change people's lives!
Just think if you were the one who said you would share the gospel
with them one day and you missed your opportunity. I can't imagine
that! So please! Open your mouth and share the gospel with someone!
It's so important and can bring SO MUCH JOY!!!!:)

I miss y'all TONS and LOVE YALL to the moon and back!!!!!
Have the best week ever!

P.s. IVE BEEN OUT A YEAR THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!! 🎉🎊💥
P.p.s. I get to meet Elder Neil L. Anderson this weekend!!!!!!!!😃

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

Don't forget to remember me;)

Xoxo
Sister Batey

All smiles not to have to ride bikes...

Dinner with the R family.

Sister Hibbard got a new bike.

Fun in the caves from last week.

October 3rd, 2016

Hi family & friends!!!

I just LOVE MY MISSION! Life is oh so good out here in Washington :)
This week has been one of the most exciting, funniest, craziest,
fastest, weeks! (if those are even words lol)
I just love it so much and I'm just happy out here doing the Lords
work! And oh my heck conference was just so GREAT! I really loved all
the talks so much! The spirit was so strong, and mom you've got to
watch Saturday session it was definitely my favorite!!!! All about
missionary work:)

Aww man, so I'm really sorry that this is so late! We have like no
time today because we went on a hike today and then grocery shopping
and everything else, it just takes a lot longer and so I'm rushing to
write this! Wish I had more time to go into detail because it was
honestly a great week!

Anyway, this week we found 3 new investigators which was so great
because we lost a lot of the people we were teaching due to the
boundary change. Our Ward got cut by 40% and we didn't get anyone
added so that has been a big shot we've been dealing with. But it was
great to be able to find some more people! Hopefully we can keep
finding those who are ready:) oh and also we put 2 people on
date!!!!:) we were so pumped! They are siblings and their parents are
less active and we are trying to bring them back as well. R is 11
and T is 9 and they are such cute kids. Although it's sad because
they are no longer in our Ward so we have to hand them over to the
elders, but it's still good and exciting for them:)

Wednesday was such a crazy day! As a zone we had a service project
hauling logs of wood from one house to another house and it was so
tiring! So first we loaded up a huge uhaul full of the wood which took
about  an hour and a half then we drove down the road to unload it for
a member of the elders Ward and that look about an hour and a half. I
thought I was gonna pass out. Haha by arm load of wood kept getting
smaller and smaller because it was so heavy. And we were carrying
about 25 pounds of wood at a time. Needless to say I was DYING that
night! My arms were throbbing with pain! It was intense! But we felt
very accomplished haha.

After that though (same day) we went to help a less active clean her
house/organize and OH. MY. LANTA. I thought I was gonna throw up. It
was the most disgusting thing ever. So we were helping her go through
baskets and baskets of clothes and get ride of some and what not. Well
one of the laundry baskets we were going through was pretty tall and
as we kept getting further down in the basket the stronger the awful
smell got (back story: they moved into the apartments in like march
and they just threw these baskets into their closet and this is the
first time she is going through them) so a lot of these clothes were
still dirty, and it was very gross! And about half way we see a
plastic bag and it absolutely STINKS! Stink isn't even a strong enough
word for how awful it smelt. And the lady reaches in and pulls it out
to see what it was and IT WAS A FREAKING BAG OF POOP! It was still
moist and squishy and I just about lost it and was dry heaving! Then
she just put it into her garbage and went and got another basket of
clothes! You guys, she had a freaking bag of poop in these clothes in
her closet since MARCH!!!!!  I honestly have no words. I just so
appreciate mom and how clean she is. It makes me want to get ride of
any clutter and extra crap I have so that something like that will
never happen! Boy were me and sister Hibbard so disgusted! And the
rest of her apartment is just filthy! It's the worse thing ever going
over. And the best part is we get to eat dinner with her tomorrow
night 😅 PLEASE PRAY FOR US.... We are a bit terrified hahah.

Later that week we helped P clean out the fridge and we were still
so much in shock from her place that we just wanted to throw
everything away, it was pretty funny looking back now. Haha
Oh and then P's granddaughter, H slept over and so we were
able to spend a little time with her and she is just SO CUTE! I just
miss little kids so much! Can't want to see all my babies when I get
home:) oh btw I LOVE all the pictures and videos of all the kids!
Makes me so happy!!!!

Oh and YES me and Sister Hibbard get to stay together and we are SO
EXCITED!!!!  It's like a dream come true and we feel so lucky and
blessed! I absolutely love her and and so happy to stay another
transfer!

Another thing, fall is upon us which means rain so we've been doing
work in the rain and on our bikes in the rain and it's less than
exciting but life is still awesome, just gives us another thing to
laugh about!

HOLY COW, can you believe I've almost been out a year this month?!? I
CANT!!!! Where did the time go?!?!?

Oh and from the pictures you can see we got to hold baby bunnies, THEY
WERE ONLY 2 DAY OLD! Theirs eyes weren't even open yet!!!! THEY ARE
THE CUTEST THING EVER!!!!! 😍🐰

So the hike today was GREAT! It was so much fun and I just loved it!
We went into a cave and it was so BLACK and DARK! Without our lights I
couldn't even see my hand in front of my eyes. So crazy but we had
such a good time! It just took so long. We walked and walked for
hours! But it was great!

Well I'm sorry this letter is so fast, just know I MISS YALL AND LOVE
YALL TO THE MOON AND BACK😘

Don't forget to remember me:)

Xoxo
Sister Batey

McKenzee and her zone went hiking.

Sister Hibbard, McKenzee and P.

Not sure what's going on here.

McKenzee and Sister Okerland.

Mommy bunny and baby bunny.

McKenzee loves kids...

Pre hike picture...it was all smiles.



September 26th, 2016

Hey y'all,

What a week. It has been so fast and so full of crazy!
Last night for example, we had a meeting with 2 other wards in the
stake for some boundary changes. We lost 40% of our Ward and 80% of
our teaching pool. It's been really rough and especially since we
found out last week what was happening but we weren't able to tell
anyone. So we've been really stressed about that. Oh and now we are
living outside of our new Ward boundary(P is now in a new Ward)
and it is going to take about 25 minutes to bike to the beginning of
our new Ward everyday. Yay:/ so that happened just last night and is
in effect now. Although president said to just keep teaching the same
people we have been because he wants to ease into the change which is
good for us. It's gonna suck when we do loose all the people because
we will have to start over with our teaching pool... Pray for us to
find more people to teach:)

Okay now rewind to last Tuesday. Tuesday morning we went to the doctor
because our mission president asked us all to get flu shots. Let me
tell you it was not fun. Haha still not a big fan of shots. But
afterward we got chickfila again and we were so happy:) after the
doctor we had a few appointments and such. But omg for dinner!!! So we
went to our bishops house for dinner and they are such a sweet family.
He has 5 little girls all under the age of 9, it's crazy but they are
all totally adorable girls:) but so bishop and his family they breed
and raise rabbits and then every so often they eat them! Well this is
fascinating to me and I've been wanting to try rabbit since I found
out they do this so Tuesday night they feed us rabbit fettuccine
Alfredo! And omg it was so good! It tasted just like chicken😋🐰 hahah
but omg while we were there we looked at their rabbits and they
decided it was time for some more rabbits and so they put two rabbits
together in a cage and they had us(even their young daughters) watch
these rabbits reproduce!!! Lol it was soooo crazy and omg one of the
little girls (they have no clue what's going on) yells out, "giddy up
cowgirl" oh my lanta we were dying😂😂😂

Wednesday was a super busy day and we had lessons back to back which
was so nice! I love when we are so busy!

Thursday we had district meeting and of course yours truly had to give
a training lol. Luckily we got a ride to the church! Then after our
meeting we had a lunch with a bunch of the missionaries and we were
the only sisters and let me just tell you, elders are so weird haha.
We felt like we were surrounded by a bunch of aliens! Lol.

Later we had a lesson with a less active lady and when we got out we
weren't feeling to great but we decided we would keep working and we
knocked on this lady's house and she was so nice! We had a really good
conversation with her and she gave us each a banana muffin and they
were so GOOD! We both were so happy:) then for dinner we went to this
older couples house and they are adorable and they made us
thanksgiving dinner. No literally we walk in and they tell us they
made thanksgiving for us since they probably won't have us over on the
actual day. Hahah it was pretty funny. And they really did have
turkey, stuffing, salad, green beans, rolls. It was really good! After
dinner we went to get ice cream with Elder and Sister Burgoyne! They
are the senior couple who work in the office and the cutest people
ever. I love them so much! Oh and they finish their mission in October
so it's like our last chance to see them. It was a lot of fun!

Saturday we went to red robin for lunch with B and it was so much
fun to see her again! Just like the way it use to be! It was great!

Then we went to help one of our investigators pack up their house
because they are moving.  Then was the general woman's session of
general conference and it was so good!!!!! Mom did you watch it? I
love it and I love conference! I'm so excited for it coming up next
week:) and after me and sister Hibbard had a little heart to heart, it
was real sweet. I just love her! She's so great! I really hope we get
to stay together! Transfers are next week and if we get transferred we
will be getting letters on Friday or Saturday!:( so hopefully no
letters for us!

Sunday was the primary program for the Nehalem Ward too and they
did a cute job. Omg their was this one point where this class got up and
before the kids speak the teach is suppose to say something but this
little boy gets up and starts talking and the teacher looks at him and
says, hey I was suppose to go first and the little boy(probably like
5) grabs the mic and moves it over to his face and taps it to make
sure it works. Hahah it was hilarious!

Then Sunday night we went to dinner with a family in the Ward and they
are so awesome! We were just laughing so hard and had such a good time!
Oh and the father is a HUGE Oregon duck fan and so of course I tell him
about dad and how he is probably their number one fan and he starts freaking
out. Hahah he was so excited and now he calls me little ducky. Hahah it
was so funny.
 
Well I've been studying a lot in the Book of Mormon and I've just
really come to appreciate all the amazing lessons and stories. There
is so much to learn from it and it just makes me so happy every time I
do. This morning I was in Alma 8 and it was talking about Alma
teaching a group of people and they threw him out of their city and as
was so sad that these people were so wicked and then the same angle
that appeared to him earlier in the Book of Mormon came to him again
and told him to go back and try again! And what does alma do? He goes
back, speedily! Isn't that amazing!? I love that fact that he didn't
try to argue with the angle or he didn't say okay let me give it a few
days, no he went back right away. Then because of his obedience he was
blessed and met amulek  and they went out teaching the people
together. I just love this story because it shows how obedience is so
important and that when we obey Heavenly Father we can be blessed!!!

And I absolutely know that is true. Heavenly Father is mindful of His
children and He wants to bless us, and when we obey Him we show our
love for Him, and he is more willing to pour out blessings. I love
this gospel. I know my Savior lives. I know that we have a Prophet
today. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. And I love my
mission! Even when days are hard there is something good to be found:)
 
Well I miss you guys more and more, it's always so great to hear from y'all:)
I LOVE YALL TO THE MOON AND BACK❤️
Don't forget to remember me;)
 
"Have faith, have hope, live like His Son, help others on their way."
 
Xoxo
Sister Batey

 McKenzee and Sister Hibbard

 

On their bikes.

With muffins on a nice sunny day.

 With B!!

I think this girl is going...why am I in this picture??

Another infamous puzzle completed.

 

September 19th, 2016

Hey, what up, hello,

Well this week I hit 11 months! How crazy is that? It seems unreal!
And this week just zoomed right by! Honestly I feel like yesterday was
Tuesday! We have been so so busy and dealing with so much craziness
this week! It's been kind of a stressful week to be honest!

We went to these members and they have a daughter in
the young single adult Ward and so they always invite the sisters in
the YSA Ward to come and they always make us breakfast which is the
best of both worlds because Sister Finn is over that Ward so I was
able to see her!!!!!!:) it was so exciting because I haven't seen her
in so long! It was awesome:) Tuesday night we had to make cookies for
our meeting the next morning lol. The elders begged us to
Wednesday we had Zone meeting and it was really good! I love these
kind of meetings! Although they had me give a spiritual thought and I
was so nervous!!!! But it went okay as far as I could tell. It's just
so nerve wracking because it's in front of like 25 missionaries,
mostly elders haha. Oh well. During lunch we all ate together and we
played a card game, mafia which was a lot of fun haha. Then we had a
lesson with our investigator Erica which went alright, keep praying
for her:)

For dinner that night we ate at the M's, and that's where we were
holding the cat with the two blonde little girls. They are adorable.
Thursday was amazing because a member in our Ward brought us
CHICKFILA😋 we almost cried of happiness! Lol a new chickfila just
opened right by B but since it's out of our Ward boundaries we
couldn't go but we had a sweet family that brought us some. It was
GREAT! It has been 11 months without it and I was just sooooo happy:)
but we ate that right before dinner, but at the time we didn't really
care because it's chickfila!!!! But then when we got to dinner we had
to eat so much and I thought my stomach was gonna explode!!!!!! Hahah
I was soooo full!!!! Then we had another lady we are working with that
we had to go help with. That took a while. Then we went and knocked on
some doors! Lol #missionlife

Friday we had exchanges with our STLs and I went to the Felida Ward
with Sister okerlund, hence the pictures with her lol. Also Felida is
RIGHT next to Hazel Dell so it was almost as if I was back in the
Dell! It was so great but also so strange because I've been in this
little area for so long! I've missed Hazel Dell so much! I just wanted
to go see all my people! But anyway, so first thing we did when we
exchanged was go see some people they had been teaching, and they live
in some trailer park and so we walk over and meet this guy and he's
standing their with all of his friends (smoking) and there is this
black guy and we start talking to him and we ask if he goes to church
and he told us yes but at the liquor store. Then we ask him if he
believes in Christ and then he stands up and lifts up his shirt to
reveal his whole chest and shows us a bullet wound mark right about
his nipple.... Awkward... Oh man me and sister okerlund literally
don't move. We just stand still and I stop breathing because I'm
freaking out at what he's gonna do next, he then proceeded to tell us
how of course he believes because he wouldn't be alive today if he
wasn't real. Thank goodness that didn't go another direction! Haha

Then after that we had dinner then a lesson. But wow the lesson we had
did not go as expected and the member that came with us was crying
when we left. We felt so bad but the lady we were teaching just went
crazy. It was a pretty crazy experience. She just wanted to talk about
war and politics.

Friday morning (still on exchanges) we went to a baptism for a child
in the Ward who just turned 8 and our job was to show the restoration
video while him and his dad were changing. So we do a whole test run
out in the hall before the baptism starts and everything worked.
Perfect. Then the baptism starts and he gets baptized and now it's our
turn to show the video so we go up and set everything up and nothing.
The video does not work! We were freaking out because it literally
JUST WORKED! Haha so then the bishop gets up and asks us to talk about
the restoration and share our testimonies. So here I am in this Ward I
don't know and I'm having to make up the time that the video was
suppose to be shown. I thought I would be nervous but honestly it
wasn't as bad as I thought! Thank goodness hah.

Then we went and help a lady in their Ward pack. She lives in a trailer as
well and is some what of a hoarder and so that was an adventure! Hahah 

Then we exchange back. Oh and I forgot to mention that it's raining buckets!
Luckily I was in a car most of the day but poor sister Hibbard was in
the rain all day on her bike. We are just not ready for the rain and
bikes. It's NOT FUN!


Omg I forgot to tell you guys we started another puzzle! Sister
Hibbard loves them and P bought us a 1000 piece puzzle so we have
been working on that since Thursday! Haha

Then Saturday night we had a Ward mission activity. We invited some
families we've been working with and we roasted some marshmallows. It
was a lot of fun!

Sunday we found out that 3 wards in our stake are getting boundary
changes and our Ward is one of the 3 wards so we are freaking out to
see what is gonna happen to our Ward.

Well I hope you all have the best week ever!
I miss you guys so much and love you guys to the moon and back!!!!
Don't forget to remember me! ;)

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

Xoxo
Sister Batey