April 24th, 2017

So this week has been pretty crazy and busy. 

 

And I cannot believe that this next week is my LAST WEEK AS A MISSIONARY! Woah!!!! I will literally be home next week!!!! AHHHHHHH I'm so pumped but I'm also so nervous!!!! Haha. Some moments it feels real and others it still seems like it's not going to happen. Lol. I'm just trying to stay focused and enjoy it! :) 

So here's to my last week!!!! 

 

Anyway, so Monday night we went to our branch presidents house for a meeting and I guess there was some communication issues because they ended up having dinner prepared for us! Which might not be weird to y'all but Monday nights we feed ourselves so we had already eaten dinner and I was not hungry at all. Lol. And plus they made chili, and I've come a long way with food from where I use to be, but I still hate beans and so chili has never been my favorite. I can't stand it, so I had to eat it quick and I basically swallowed it whole haha. 

 

Tuesday we had to go get our oil changed and our tires rotated for our car. Again it was boring because they didn't have complimentary popcorn haha. Then we went to have lunch with some other missionaries. Nothing too fancy. 

 

When we finally got to cathlamet we went to an investigators house, S, and tried visiting with her for a little bit. It was pretty crazy though because she was all over the place. Literally. She was moving all around her house doing random things. Eventually she had us help her hang up her clothes because they were all over her house. Then we tried to help her match her socks haha. Which was basically impossible because she had boxes and boxes of unmatched dirty socks. It was gross haha. 

 

Wednesday was my very last district Meeting. It was so weird! But also good. Haha I had to give a training about the things I've learned on my mission so it was nice to be able to reflect on things that I've learned out here. So that was fun for me. 

 

Afterwards we went to get ice cream with one of the Spanish sister missionaries because she celebrated her year mark and I told her it's important to celebrate so we went to get some ice cream. I enjoyed being with some other sisters. 

 

Then we went to cathlamet and we went to a clothing bank. So I've never heard of something like that before but apparently it's like a Goodwill. So what happens is people in the town donate their clothes to this place, it's held at the seventh day Adventist church, and then us volunteers get to go through the bags and bags and bags of clothes and decide if they are worth keeping. We hung up the good clothes and had to throw away anything that was dirty or had holes. You'd be surprised how gross some of the clothes are that people donate. I felt so dirty afterwards lol. But it was a lot of fun to help out. We've been really looking for service opportunities in cathlamet so we were happy to finally find an opportunity! 

 

Thursday night for dinner we went to a family in our branch, the K family. They are such an awesome family. There are 8 kids in this family, ranging from 3 years old to a boy on his mission. They are such a cute family! The mom is from Africa and so we had African food for dinner! It was so good! It was literally like a party since there was so many people. Haha it kind of reminded me home with so many people running around. It was nice! 

 

Then that night we drove to woodland to sleep over with another set of sisters so in the morning we didn't have to drive as far to get to Vancouver to go to the temple. 

 

Friday morning the departing missionaries met at the mission office and then president and Sister McAteer drove us in the big white marshmallow van to the temple. And omg it was a gorgeous day! The weather was so perfect, it was warm and sunny! It was an amazing day to go to the temple. And it just felt so great to be in the temple. It was a little sad to be going there for my last time as a missionary but I really enjoyed my time there. And it was so much fun to be with Sister Nilson and Sister Mortenson. After the session we got to go eat lunch in the cafeteria and that was a lot of fun. The food was great! 

 

After that we started driving home and we got stuck in pretty bad traffic so we just got to hang out and talk and it was fun. The one elder that was with us gave someone in their car a Book of Mormon. It was pretty funny. I'll send home the video of him doing it. 

 

Then we really weren't ready to go back haha and so we convinced President and Sister McAteer to take us to the mission office so we could have ice cream. Haha it was so funny because he told us he caves to peer pressure so we just kept begging him to do it. It was a nice break. Then he told us that he is slowly preparing us to have more and more fun. Hahah it was so sweet of him.

 

After that we went back to the mission office and I had my departing interview with President McAteer. We pretty much just talked about my future and the things that I've learned. It felt like a normal'ish interview except that it was my last one. Haha. 

Still so weird that I'm having all my last things. And now I'm on my last week. Ahhh! 

 

Saturday night we had a stake Chuukese party. In Longview we have a pretty big Chuukese population. It's a type of people and a lot of them are moving to Washington and they aren't feeling very welcomed because of the culture difference and so we had a party to welcome them and it was such a great turn out. We decorated it all amazing like an island. It was fun. They had fish and shrimp and a bunch of food. The fish was so good! I have to say that I really enjoy fish since being on my mission. If it's done right! Haha 

 

Sunday I got asked to give a talk next week. Haha so my last Sunday, pretty much my last day I have to give a talk. Lol. But it should be pretty easy. It's over 1 Nephi 3:7. And it doesn't have to be very long. I just can't believe that next Sunday is my last. So crazy!!! I also can't believe that I can say next week I will be HOME! Woop woop:) 

 

So we just got back from our hike. It was pouring the whole entire time but it was really pretty. I'm soaking wet. And just really grateful to be warm and dry hahah. 

I'll send y'all some pictures! 

 

Well I don't even know how I made it to this point in my mission where I will be coming home so soon. I'm so thankful for all that I've been able to accomplish and for all the things that I've learned. My advice this week would be to never give up. Ever. Keep holding on you amazing things will happen, I promise. Heavenly Father promises to bless us and He always keeps His promise. 

 

I'm so grateful for temples and the spirit that it there. I know that the temples are the house of the Lord. I know that the priesthood is on the earth again and that it is Gods power to help and bless us. 

 

I know that missionary work is hard but it's also possible with His help, it's His work after all. I also know that there is so much to learn on a mission and that missions make good people better and that they give us the opportunity to see miracles everyday. I'm so thankful for the last 18 months and 10 days. I love my mission. I love my family. I love this gospel. I love my Savior. And I love my Heavenly Father. 

 

See y'all soon! (What the heck! Haha) 

LOVE AND MISS YALL TONS!!!! 

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

Xoxo

Sister Batey

 

Kenzee and the departing missionaries at the Portland Temple.

Kenzee and the other missionaries at the Chuukese party.

 

The sisters serving cake...

Hiking in the rain...

Party time...

Kenzee by the river...

 

 

 

April 17th, 2017

Again I'm so sorry about last week! I'm gonna try and give y'all an update on last week and then this week as well:)

 

Last weeks letter:)

 

So holy cow! On the 14th I hit my 18 MONTH MARK! Repeat, 18 MONTHS!!!!! Where has the time gone?!? Time is such a bizarre thing. I'm literally shocked and slightly freaked out. Haha Mostly about the reality that one day I won't be a missionary(one day really soon) and I won't be apart of the mission. There's this amazing unity that comes, almost like a family feeling where you are just connected to these people that you hardly know. You just instantly become your own kind of family with the missionaries and it's sad that it'll all just be a memory so soon. Wow. I seriously can't even begin to express how much I love my mission and how much I've learned and grown. Like really, so much! Coming out on a mission was so hard. Staying on my mission was even harder. But I have seriously had the most amazing time. I just love my mission with all my heart! It's the best thing ever!!!! 

 

Okay but anyway, let me give you the highlights of two weeks ago! 

 

So not a whole lot happens in cathlamet. We drive a ton. Haha and it rains just about everyday. We try and find people to stop by but there isn't a lot of people in the town. To be exact there is about 532 people in the town of cathlamet. You guys only 532 people! I graduated with almost twice that!!! Can't you believe it?! Hah I still can't. It's so freaking tiny. Lol 

 

So two Thursdays ago, (the 13th) we had a zone service project. We went to a community house in Longview and it's this really old place for homeless people to live. It's not much but it gives them a room and bed. So they are trying to remodel and so us missionaries were asked to help. So part of our many jobs were to take about 50 mattresses and move them downstairs. Pretty sure to the dumpster but not sure. They told us to put on masks and gloves because the man was pretty sure they had bed bugs... so that was awesome. These mattresses were so old and gross (some wet) it was just so dirty. So after that we were asked to rip up the old carpet. This carpet is really similar to the church carpet, the only difference is it's about a million years old, and it's so dirty and worn out that it's all matted and literally stuck to the wood underneath it. It was intense work getting it to pull apart. We had to pull so hard. Eventually the elders had to get rope, cut holes in the carpet, and tie the rope to the carpet to rip it up. It was so tough! Lol. Oh and we had to do like 3 floors of this plus stairs. After that little task we needed to paint the walls! It was pretty crazy, there was about 20 of us missionaries painting so it got done pretty fast. It was fun! 

 

Friday the 14th, my 18 month, we went on exchanges with Sister Carrisoza and Sister Proctor. I went to St. Helens with Sister Carrisoza and it was so much fun! Oh it felt so good to be back in St. Helens. It literally felt like coming home! I was so happy to be back! Plus it was so pretty and sunny! It was great! But as great as it was, I had moments where I was freaked out to be back. Ahah it was weird. We went to a few lessons with people that I have been teaching for months so it was good to see them again. But it felt weird without Sister Proctor. And it was the cutest thing, when we went to the apartment in St. Helens, they made me a cute 18 month banner and sang me happy birthday and got me some of my favorite yogurt with a candle. It was so sweet! Haha I loved it! Then we got some Starbucks and we went to mod pizza. It was so much fun! I think I sent y'all the videos!? 

 

Then for dinner we went to the A family! They are a cute older couple from St. Helens 1st Ward. It was so good to see them again. And it was great because I was able to surprise them! It was so priceless to see the people's faces when I walked into their house! Haha I really enjoyed being back. 

 

I also think it was really healthy for me to go back because I was able to see that everything wasn't as perfect as my mind was making it look like. So I was really grateful that president let me go back. 

 

So then Saturday afternoon we exchanged back and Sister Babcock and I got to go to dinner with Sister S! It was seriously so great to see her! We went to Applebee's and caught up on life. I seriously always love seeing her! Then the Longview stake had stake conference Saturday night so Sister S came to that with us! It was fun to have her there. Oh and the missionaries had to sing in the choir that night haha. So she was able to be there for that! It was great:) well maybe not the singing part haha. 

 

Sunday was Easter! :) it was a good day! The weather was nice for the most part and the spirit was really strong. After stake conference we had a lunch appointment which consisted of ham and potatoes. Then we went to another family in our branch and we had burgers with them and watched the little ones do an Easter egg hunt. Then we went to another dinner appointment and had ham and potatoes again. Boy was I sick. Haha I was literally so full I thought I was gonna pop. Haha but we were grateful to be with members that day. It gave us something to do:) 

 

Then Monday we went to the beach with my old Zone, again President gave me permission to go. B drove us which was so much fun to see her and catch up! She is literally the best for always being so willing to drive us. 

 

So the beach was so cool! It was raining the whole time(surprise surprise) haha and it was freezing but it was gorgeous! I really loved being there. We went to haystack rock which was really fun. Then we just walked all around the beach. I was looking for something cool to bring back and I almost died when I found a shark tooth. I almost cried of joy. But to my disappointed when I showed B she informed me it was not a shark tooth but part of a sand dollar or something. Haha I kept it anyway;) 

 

So when we finally got back to the car we had all looked like we had just come out of the shower. Literally, we were all soaking wet and it was hilarious. So since we were right next to a restaurant, MO's, we decided to go and get some famous clam chowder. And it was so good!!!! Haha definitely recommend it. So we were able to dry off a little bit while we were there but not much. But at least we were able to get some warm food in us. It was so fun! 

 

So that's why I ran out of time last Monday. I'm so sorry! 

But hopefully this letter helps catch you up on my life! Didn't miss much:) 

Xoxo

Sister Batey

 

Kenzee at the beach...

Hope that's hot chocolate...

Yeah...the suns out.

McKenzee and her last companions...

Kenzee and B

Kenzee and her Zone at the beach.

 

April 10th, 2017

Hello family! 

 

Well this week was crazy and hard. 

 

I'm not a big fan of being emergency transferred. I really do miss St. Helens. So now I'm in Cathlamet and boy is it small!!! 

 

We live in Longview and then drive 30 minutes to get to our area! It's a pretty drive just a little scary and narrow. And at night when it's raining I feel like we are driving down into a black hole haha. It's intense! 

 

Alright so let me tell y'all about my branch, or as much as I can remember. Our church building is TINY! Basically it's a hallway with a few classrooms. Our chapel is about the size of a relief society room. It has those accordion walls so you can make it smaller. So sacrament meeting it's all open. 2nd hr we divide it in half for Sunday school, and for 3rd hour we divide it in 4ths. In relief society we had 10 lady's. Including us. The relief society president gave the lesson and it just blew my mind because there was no one! Lol. Oh and I counted and there was only 27 cars in the parking lot, again including our car. I'm guessing about 40 people came to church, including kids. So so so strange! 

 

The town is also VERY SMALL! 2 restaurants. No stop light. 1 gas station. And there are only 3 streets for what is considered, "in town Cathlamet". And I thought La Center was small. That's considered city in Cathlamet! It's crazy. Very much an adjustment. Lol. I miss the city so much!!! 

 

Okay so let me tell you about my week. 

 

Monday was just so hard. It was my last day in St. Helens with Sister Carrisoza and Sister Proctor and I had to pack. My stomach was in knots all day. It was really sad. And we were told at 6 the other sisters would be at our apartment to do the switch so I was dreading 6 o'clock. Well 6 o'clock came and the tone just turned into somber. We were all so sad but no one was really saying anything. The other sisters came and we started to say our goodbyes and it was so sad! 2 weeks isn't enough time! Tears were shed and then I loaded my stuff and we left. Took us about an hour and a half to drive to our apartment. We got there and I started semi unpacking. Didn't really do much except the necessities lol. I'm not about to pack and unpack to pack again. So everything is still pretty much in my suitcases. The nice thing about this new apartment is that there is an extra bedroom. So I put all my suitcases and stuff in that room and use it as my closet and what not. Haha. It's a mess but I'm trying to get things ready so it works. 

 

So my new companion, her name is Sister Babcock. She is from Eugene, OR. Has a lot of health issues so she needed to stay close to home. She is 20 I believe. She went to University of Oregon for a semester before her mission. She's the oldest of 4 I think. She's pretty tall, as you can tell haha. Oh and she's been out 7 months. This is her 2nd area and she is pretty new to the area too, so we are basically whitewashing it. It's been rough but we are trying! 

 

Tuesday we had Zone Conference with half the mission. It was a really good meeting. Plus I got to see Sister Carrisoza and Sister Proctor:) haha so our goodbyes the day before we're short lived haha. But it was much needed on my part. So I'm glad I was able to see them. The meeting was really good and the beginning of it I felt was for me going home. I really enjoyed it and was grateful for the guidance. 

 

But I was also really nervous because I had to give my departing testimony at the end of the meeting so the whole day I was freaking out because I had no time to think about what I wanted to say because of all the craziness with the emergency transfer. I was the second one to bare my testimony and it was really crazy! Every transfer I listen to these missionaries who are going home give there testimonies and it was really weird that it was my turn to give mine. Hopefully I made since haha, I was a little scatterbrained! Lol

 

So Tuesday night was actually the first time we went to Cathlamet so it was pretty weird. We had dinner with a couple and they were sweet. But lol, we had a lesson with a man named Bob, and when we walked into his trailer he was wearing these tiny tiny white shorts (bob is a big man) and they were all bunched up and from first glance I thought they were just white underwear! Omg I was dying the whole lesson. It was so gross! Haha plus he pretty much just talks the whole lesson so it was rough. 

 

Wednesday morning we have song practice with the zone of missionaries. Apparently the missionaries are singing at stake conference which will be this Sunday. Kind of weird but should be good. So I had to learn a song real quick because now I'm in the choir. Haha it's weird but I'm glad I'm not alone lol. 

 

Wednesday night we had two more lessons with some less actives in the area which were pretty good. Trying to get to know everyone is a little crazy, especially when I know I'll only meet with them like 3 more times. It's weird. And I hate when they ask me how long I've been out. I hate telling people I'm almost done. I try and avoid the question haha. But speaking of, YOU GUYS MY 18 MONTH IS ON FRIDAY!!!!!!!!! WOW WOW WOW🎉🎉🎉 

 

Anyway, we don't have a lot of teaching going on here. The town is so small that we don't go tracting because everyone already knows who we are. And the past missionaries have been tracting for years because there really isn't much work to do. We are really trying to find things to do, so if anyone has any good ideas, let me know:) 

 

Thursday was a long day because we didn't have much to do. So we were trying to find people to meet and such. Did a whole lot of driving that day! 

 

Friday we had weekly planning, which basically consisted of me trying to get to know the area. lol I asked a million questions haha. 

 

Then we found some wigs in the closet and took some pictures in them haha. I'm really trying to have some fun, so I have to do weird things with Sister Babcock to get her talking and loosen her up. 

 

Friday night though we went on exchanges with the STLs. I went to Rainier with Sister Grant. It was kind of nice because I've been in that area on exchanges before so it was more familiar than Cathlamet. Lol. Anyway, so I spent the night in Rainier and then all day Saturday I was in there area. It was fun. We had a lesson where we put someone on date. It was really cool! Then after wards we went to the stake center (and just FYI, so I'm now in Rainier, OR. Back in the stake where I just came from) so we went to the stake center for a stake service project they were doing and it was such a tender Mercy because I got to see two people from St. Helens:) oh I was so happy to see familiar people again! Definitely a blessing! 

 

Then the rest of the exchange was fun because we got to watch a church movie with a less active they are teaching. It was the Testaments. Such a good movie! Made me cry haha. You should watch it! It was kinda weird watching the movie though because I felt like I should be doing something else. Hopefully I'm not always like that and I will be able to enjoy movies when I get home. Lol

 

Then we went and helped one of their investigators get ready for prom! lol she's 17, her name is angel, and she wanted some help. So it was kinda fun. Kind of weird though because it was such a normal person thing to do. Lol. I'll send you pictures of what she looked like. She could of used a jacket but oh well. Hahah. I did her nails and her makeup and it was fun, but I honestly had no idea what I was doing. Lol

 

Sunday, I pretty much already told y'all about church. Haha it was crazy. Trying to learn the people, which shouldn't be too hard since it's so small. But we will see. Apparently from looking on the dinner calendar we eat dinner with the same people every week. lol should be interesting. 

 

Well today we will be going to a member of the mission presidency's house for pday. Apparently he has a big house with lots of games and things to do so it should be fun. I'm hoping lol. I will have wifi, so please email me:) I need it! 

 

This week I've been focusing a lot in the spirit. And it was cool because in Relief society we had a lesson about listening to the whispering of the spirit. It was such a good lesson. I'm trying to put into my head that all of this is happening because of the spirit whispering to president and I'm also trying to trust that Heavenly Father needs me hear. It's hard but it's doable. I'm praying a lot and turning my will to his. I want y'all to know that I still love this gospel and it's still true even when things happen and you feel like you've fallen down. Get back up and trust God. Everything will be alright in the end, if it's not alright, it's not the end! 

 

I miss you all TONS!!!!

And I love y'all to the moon and back!!!! 

Don't forget about me;) especially on Friday:) lol

 

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

 

Xoxo

Sister Batey

 

This group of Sister Missionaries will all be going home May 2nd!!

McKenzee and her new companion, Sister Babcock.

 

April 3rd, 2017

Hello! 

 

So it's been a crazy week! Ahh, my mind is going a mile a minute and I'm currently sick to my stomach thinking about what is going to happen tonight. 

 

Alright so let me explain. It was a great week, it was sunny and warm this week, we were busy, things were good, that is until Friday night about 6:45. We get a call from President McAteer, and it's usually never a good thing when president calls so we were all freaking out. And well our nightmares came true.... he told us that another sister in Cathlamet got in a preventable car wreck... she ran into a guard rail... no one was hurt but she lost her driving privileges for the rest of her mission and now I have to go be the driver... Definitely not how I wanted the last 4 weeks of my mission to look like. It's just so hard because things were going good here. 

 

Okay so now I'll briefly tell you about my week. Today is going to be so crazy for me! I have to finish packing my stuff. And it's really hard because I haven't had to pack my bags my whole mission! So I'm pretty much really confused with how to pack and what to do. It's hard! Lol. So I'm stressed out making sure I don't forget anything also trying to get the sisters prepared to take over my area and it's just crazy.  But I'll still be on my email so don't think I'm too busy to email! 

 

Tuesday morning we had zone meeting in rainier so we drove down there and it was a pretty good meeting. Just super weird because it was my last zone meeting. So sad that everything is starting to be my last. Ahhh so scary! 

 

Anyway, after the meeting we went to our lesson we set up with C. This time her daughter, A, was there and it was so great! I'm so sad I won't get to go back anymore! :/

 

Okay but we got to know them a little bit then we started talking about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the things she was saying she was looking for lined up perfectly with things that the gospel has. It was really amazing! The spirit was so strong and it just felt so right! It was awesome! Both C and A are so golden! I'm really looking forward to hearing how they will do! 

 

After that lesson we had community meals and of course it was so fun! I seriously just love going there! The people are just so nice and friendly and they love giving us compliments haha. I never leave feeling sad! Lol, it's the best place! When I get home I want to find a place like that! 

 

After that we went to ARP with our peeps! And K ended up coming which was so huge! She hasn't come yet even though I invite her but Tuesday she was there and she said she wanted to make me proud! Haha it was just so cute! I was really happy to see her there! 

 

Wednesday nothing much happened, we had a few appointments and such. Oh but that night we went to this lady's house and she realigned me! It was the coolest thing ever! My whole back got fixed and my neck, she even did my ears! Lol it honestly felt so good! Everything was just popping and I loved it! Apparently all that she did to me would cost a normal person like $140 something and she did it to us for free! It was so nice!!! Ahhh I want to get aligned everyday! Lol

 

Thursday we made something for a lady who is trying to quit smoking. We decorated her empty cigarette box with pictures of Christ and then we put rolled up paper in it with scriptures and inspirational quotes to try and help her! She really loved it and it was fun to make! 

 

Then after we had a lesson with K and it was awesome. Showed her the new restoration video and she loved it! I always enjoy lessons with her! Then we went to community meals and it was fun, as always:) 

 

Friday was the day that we got the bad news phone call. And then since then we have been scrambling trying to let everyone know what is happening and tell people goodbye. It's been crazy. And really really sad. So many people have been crying and it's literally breaking my heart! I was not ready to leave! 

 

K watched general Conference with us at Brother O's house on Sunday afternoon and she loved it! And there was one talk that was so perfect for her! It was great! 

 

Oh and I forgot after the Saturday afternoon session of general Conference we had a doterra party thing with a lady in the 2nd Ward and it was so much fun! Literally I love doterra and when I get home y'all are gonna love it too! Haha it's my favorite thing ever! 

 

Anyway, Conference was so great! So many good speakers and the spirit was so strong! So sad that this was my last one on the mission! I literally count down the days! Haha. I love it! 

 

Definitely know that this is the lords church with His prophet and was so thankful that we were able to hear the prophet speak to us! Love him and love this gospel! 

 

Still really sad that I have to leave, trying to work past it, trying to put my trust in God, it will be a work in progress though. I'll give an update next week!

 

Oh and before I forget, tomorrow we are having a zone conference, which will be good because then I will get to see Sister Proctor and Sister Carrisoza. But it's sad because it's my LAST zone Conference, which means I have to give my departing testimony in front of the whole mission!!!! Oh man I'm real sad and nervous and every other emotion! Missions go by way fast! Can't believe I'm down to my last month. To anyone thinking about a mission, DO IT! It's literally the best thing ever! I can't even put into words how much it has blessed me and how much I love it! 

 

Also the new Easter initiative is out, and it's literally bomb! So everyone go and watch it!!!!! I love my Savior and I know He lives! 

 

Miss y'all TONS!

Love y'all to the moon and back!!!! 

Don't forget to remember me;) I'll be home soon:)

 

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

Xoxo

Sister Batey

 

The trio...

Service and then some ducks.

Who does that look like?

McKenzee found her street...and of course they spelled it wrong.

Coming home soon...