Week 75 (7/29/19): "When the Spirit says Panda, but God says no."

"Pretty sure they're on the same team..."

This week was good- stressful, but good. We probably spent 6-10 hours coordinating rides and lessons. But everything worked out so well!

Probably the best thing this week was Matty's baptism yesterday. We saw him every day this week, which took a lot of organizing, but it really helped him finish getting ready. He was SO prepared! He asked us for the baptismal interview questions so he could go through them to be prepared. (Elder Curtis was so nervous to give his first baptismal interview! Even more nervous than Matty was! He couldn't even write his name correctly on the baptism report!) The bishop said it was one of the largest turnouts they've had. Matty's brother Ben came down to baptize him and made it so easy on us! He figured out jumpsuits before we even had a chance to talk with them! It was nice to finally meet Ben in person. I can see where Matty gets his personality from (he wants to be just like his brother!)

I am very proud of myself. I am on track to finish the Old Testament this week. That's been one of my goals my whole mission. So that's been my "light reading". I've learned a lot, like don't forget the Lord, trust the Lord and an angel will destroy your enemies, and that whoever organized the Old Testament must have been on something because a lot of those books are not in chronological order. But in all seriousness, I got to know a people who didn't truly know the Savior and watched as their lives fell apart. They lived the law, but they didn't know Christ in a personal way. I still have a ways to go,l but I'm grateful that I have grown a personal relationship with the Savior. He has my back and helps me through everything and anything. He has become more real to me and has become my personal Redeemer and Friend when I had no one else. I kind of had my own Liberty Jail experience and I'm grateful to look back and see Him there and know that He will work all experiences for my good and will never leave me.

Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

Week 74 (7/22/19): "I will sing to you in the key of off, in which I do all my singing."

The quote this week is from Scout camp from Dad. I liked it so much, I figured I'd use it.

This will be a shorter email, since there is still lots to do today.

We saw some awesome miracles this week!

On Wednesday, we got written permission for Mattie to be baptized! And we figured out why his mom isn't active. So his baptism is next Sunday! His brother is coming down from Manteca to baptize him! Saturday night is the ward barbecue, the biggest event of the year for this ward, which brings all the less actives and a lot of nonmember friends. So it is going to be a great weekend!

Another miracle- one of the many days we didn't have a car, we took a couple hours to call all the potential people to teach with phone numbers and one person who did't pick up when we called  called us back! And he was so excited when we said we were the missionaries and he invited us over at a set time!! It was awesome!

But we have a lot of good things set up for this week, lots of lessons with Mattie with members and some rides out to Waterford. It should be a crazy, but amazing week!

Sister Cate

Week 73 (7/8/19): "I'm going to go repent his diaper." (sent July 8)

The full quote is "So we just learned about how repentance means change, so I'm going to go repent his diaper." We died laughing!

The 4th of July was fun. We went to a barbecue with a family in the ward, and they live kind of on top of a hill by the river. The nice thing was that because they were on a hill, they overlooked a neighboring town with a lot of illegal fireworks, so we got to watch more fireworks than we otherwise would have been able to.

This will be really short because I have some college stuff to figure out, but I wanted to share one cool experience from this week. So one of the people we were teaching is super excited to be baptized, but his parents are less active, so they have kind of been avoiding us, and we kind of lost contact with him. But because his mom is recovering, he will be staying the next couple weeks with one of his brothers in Manteca, which is out of our mission, but it's his only active family member, so we're going to do a video chat lesson tonight! While he's with his brother, he's going to get the support he needs, so we are super excited for him to be able to make more progress!

Now to go do grown-up stuff...
Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

Week 70 (6/24/19): "I need you. And bring your huaracha."

One of the things I did not think about before leaving was that I would have to kill my own spiders. It has taken a while, but I finally discovered the best instrument for spider assassination- a huaracha. These are the Mexican sandals, and besides being super comfortable and one of the few sandals we can wear (they have to be closed heel and toe), they are very effective spider killers. I think it's Huarachas at least 10- Spiders 0. That doesn't mean I don't wish Dad could take care of them for me, but I feel like you truly become an adult when you kill your own spiders.

My biggest achievement this week was that this morning, I finished going through Preach My Gospel and finding all the changes! I'm sure I missed some, but the final count was 1434. That's crazy! It's been interesting seeing all the little changes, including what they changed investigator to (there wasn't one specific phrase), the fact that doctrines is now doctrine, and all the things that are completely new. It has been mind boggling to see just how exact they have been. And how inspired it is. It's not that it wasn't before, because it totally was, but it has been updated for our days. And I love all the insights to be gained from what they have changed.

Sister Penrod sang at the adult session of stake conference on Saturday night, and she did an amazing job! She is a vocal performance major, so she is seriously good. She sang an arrangement of Nearer My God to Thee, and it brought the Spirit so strongly! It was just heavenly.

Quick question for each of you- what ideas for ministering do you have? Please send me any ideas you have so we can help those who haven't done ministering because they just don't know how! Thanks!

Tune in next week for the updated results of Huarachas vs Spiders!

Sister Cate

Week 68 (6/10/19): "You could go into the wilderness together!"

This week has been so awesome! The biggest miracle was that there is a family in the ward where the dad removed all their records without asking the wife, so the wife and kids got rebaptized recently, but he still won't always let them come to church. Well, we went to meet them earlier this week and it turns out that he works in the exact field that I want to go into- 3D printing! So we were able to connect with him, and while he was busy this weekend, he let his wife and daughter come to church and was actually upset that they couldn't have us over! We talked to the wife yesterday and it has been such a miracle to her that God cares enough about her family to send a 3D printer obsessed missionary to the area (and whitewashing it two transfers in a row!) And for me, it's amazing to know that God knows exactly where He needs me.

But we went to Yosemite today, so I have no time, so that's all for today!

Sister Cate

Week 65 (5/20/19): "So which are we sending to Jerusalem and which to Guam?"

So I was crazy busy last Monday because I got transferred! And I'm training another two transfer missionary! Her name is Sister Penrod, and she is absolutely amazing! She is actually related to the Penrods in first ward! She hasn't been to the MTC, but she is totally pre-trained. I really don't have all that much to do.  The fun thing is that we both have ADHD, so if you can picture that... She's a vocal performance major, so we are going to have fun using music to share the gospel!

The ward here is absolutely amazing! They are so willing to help us and have been so welcoming. And it is so nice to have a church building in my area again. It makes such a huge difference. Plus I have access to a piano again.

We have seen some cool miracles. We were standing outside someone's house praying before going up to the house and she drove up! And so we got to have a good conversation with her! And yesterday, we were outside trying to contact someone and some members walked up to their house and invited us in, and it was exactly what we needed.

Well, I'm going to go and maybe play some more piano. I'm loving that I can play more often!!

Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

Week 63 (5/6/19): "We wait for the ceiling to cave in..."

Okay, this will be really short. But a couple miracles from this week.

We helped a man find his mother's death record. It was even more amazing because we'd tried to teach him about a month ago, but he never really talked when we met with him before. But we started talking about family history and he totally opened up, and we're going back Tuesday! We are super excited!

Then today we went to Doller Tree and one of the people we're teaching came in and said hi to us! She recently got a new job and we hadn't been able to figure out her work schedule. But we were able to set up an appointment and find out when she's available! It was totally a miracle!

Anyways, back to figuring out classes...

Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

Week 62 (4/29/19): "The road of life is paved with flat squirrels..."

"... who couldn't make up their minds."

I'd heard this a while ago, but refound it this week.

But on a more spiritual note- "Only God can turn our mistakes into miracles."

We have had some amazing miracles this week. Where do I even begin? First, there's Crystal. She was a Book of Mormon request we got 2 weeks ago, and she is so prepared! We have met with her a couple times, and she wants to come closer to God in her life, and she is so receptive to the Spirit. We invited her to church, and to have a chapel tour on Saturday night. So Saturday, we go to get the building ready and the doors are all unlocked. (Turns out, there was a funeral a little earlier.) So we go in and get the chapel ready, set up a couple sacrament trays to explain the sacrament to them, open the baptismal font doors, and open the doors to the Relief Society room and the Young Women's room. As we go to leave, there is a man in the Primary room. Luckily the elders showed up, so we went in and asked what he was doing, and he said he had come in to pray. So I asked, "If you don't mind me asking, why did you want to come in and pray?" And from there, he asked what made our church different, so we explained about authority and modern prophets and the Book of Mormon. Then we offered to take him on a chapel tour! We went into the chapel and explained the sacrament to him, and he said he felt so good he wanted to cry. He even said, "Maybe I'll end up being a Latter-Day Saint." There is no way it was a coincidence that the one time the building is left unlocked (that never happens), we have set up for a church tour, and he walks in. It was so cool! The Spirit was so strong!

Also, we met a former who had been through a lot since last meeting with missionaries, but she is so prepared and wants to come closer to God! We are so excited! Plus, she lives in one of the outlying towns and she has not one, but two cars!! So she can help bring people to church!! Huge answer to prayers!

Probably the best moment of the week though was yesterday. The senior couple are leaving this week, and there is a family who they have worked with for a long time (close to a year) but who live pretty far out. It's a single mom and her six kids, and they don't have a car, so getting them to church is really hard. I think they've come (just the mom and mahbe one or two kids) once. So we met them on Saturday and just really wanted to surprise the Brandts by helping them get to church, since it would mean a lot for them to be able to see this family at church one last time before they left. They are so ready to get baptized, they just need to get to church! So we talked to our ward mission leader, since he has an SUV that would fit all of them, and he drove all the way out and brought them to church! They walked in during the sacrament hymn, and it was the best moment of my whole week. They were so surprised! And they just started crying. And afterwards, Sister Brandt just came up to me and gave me a huge hug. It was so cool to be able to do that for them.

It was just such a good week. The work is picking up, and we are seeing so many miracles!!! Life is good!

Sister Cate

Week 61 (4/22/19): "That one must be a teenager snail."

We had such a good week! It started off with a Book of Mormon request last Monday! We went and she was so excited to read the Book of Mormon!! She said she would take notes and everything! She is so prepared! And while we were there, there was a girl who was over at her house who came up and said that she'd read from the Book of Mormon before and gone to church with her Grandpa Ray! So we talked to her for a bit and determined that her grandpa is a member in the English ward! So we went by the next day and they are absolutely amazing! They are totally on board with having a Reedley branch, and are willing to help us reactivate people and get them to church! It is awesome!

I had a really cool insight this week. One of the ritual foods of Passover is the bitter herbs, which one of my religion professors said is like horseradish. So you put the horseradish in your mouth, and of course it kind of burns, and then you eat a piece of the matzah, the unleavened bread, and it draws all the bitterness out. And it reminded me that the Bread of Life can draw the bitterness of sin out of us.

Also, an abuelito gave us boquetes of roses on Saturday! They are gorgeous!

Have a great week!
Sister Cate

(There were a ridiculous amount of snails at this one house! It was awesome!!)

Week 60 (4/15/19): "No, not the plan of slavery! No thank you!"

This will be super short this week, since I've been figuring out college stuff, so time is short.

Biggest thing from this week- So a while ago, I put a free Bible on Facebook Marketplace, and last Tuesday, a man named Ushindi from Oakland (originally from Tanzania) messaged me asking if it was still available. So I asked if missionaries there could bring it, and he said yes! Then we talked for a while, since it took a while to get in contact with the missionaries there, and by the time we got in contact with the missionaries in Oakland, he had downloaded the Book of Mormon app (and changed the language to Swahili) and had started reading and loved it, had read some from ComeuntoChrist.org, and wanted to go to church! He is seriously so prepared and wants to know more! It has been so cool to talk with him and see his excitement for Jesus Christ and his desire to find the true church.

Also, we'd been praying for a family of 6, and we found a family of 6!! It was such a miracle!!

Love you, bye!!
Sister Cate

Week 58 (4/8/19):"This is why we argue- you like prime numbers."

This week has been awesome! And so is Hermana Sepulveda. Yesterday, someone we're teaching said that she's going to go far in the church (since she was so lovingly bold and had such a powerful witness and such a good knowledge of the gospel) and I totally agree with the principle of what he said. She has such an enthusiasm for the work and such faith. It has been such a strength to me.

Together, we've seen the vision for Dinuba- that within 18 months, there will be a ward in Reedley (like you told Elder Farnsworth) and so we are going to see huge growth. Me being me, I ran the numbers, and we need ~210 more members, which means that between us and Reedley, we need 12 new members a month. Which is really just two families. But it's cool to see how because we see the vision, that doesn't seem that daunting. We know that this is what needs to happen to realize the Lord's vision for this area, so we fully trust that it's going to happen!

On Saturday, we watched Conference with a less active sister, and she talked about how when the elders came over (we're working together), she just felt so much peace the rest of the night. And then after conference, she said that she's wants to find out for herself if this is actually true! She's totally coming back, and bringing her 3 unbaptized sons with her!

Another cool miracle, we watched Conference with a member family (mainly the hermana) yesterday morning, and that was the session Elder Christofferson spoke. It really hit her that she could hear an apostle of the Lord speak to her in her own language. And it was such a miracle that the one session of conference we were there (and they hadn't watched it on Saturday) was when Elder Christofferson spoke. Heavenly Father knew that this hermana needed that.

We met a really cool man this week. We were about to knock on his neighbor's door when he called us over and asked us about the plan of salvation. And we talked to him for about an hour, then an hour and a half (about the word of wisdom), and we're going back again tonight! He lost a bunch of his family about a year ago, and he really wants to know more!

There's been so much that's been happening, I can't remember everything. But it's been a really good week!
Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

Week 54 (3/25/19): "She's sick, and her turtle's blind."

Alternate title- "I can't be transferred. I have bonzai to plant."

But I picked the title I did because it is kind of fitting for this week. I took becoming as a little child to a new level this week. I was sick for most of the week, and when I get sick, I don't normally show symptoms, I just sleep. So I spent 3 solid days keeping the same schedule as a baby- sleeping, waking up to eat, being up for maybe an hour, then going back to sleep. But by Sunday I was able to be up for 7 1/2 hours straight, so I'm hoping to be back to normal by tomorrow. But I promise, I'm taking good care of myself, and I'm feeling a lot better.

We had a really cool miracle this week! We had an absolutely amazing lesson with someone named Marta, whose daughter we'd met a few days ago. We talked with her for a while about the Book of Mormon, she loved the First Vision, and wants to know for herself that this is the true church! While we were talking to her, she asked us for her own copy of the Book of Mormon before we even offered it! That never happens. And we invited her to be baptized once she knows it's true,  and she said yes! The Spirit was so strong!

Other than that, I have read the Olt Testament some as I've been in bed (Heavenly Father is helping me work on my goals!) and the main message I've gotten is don't forget the Lord! Seriously, that's the cause of most of their problems. And it made me think how that's the same for us. When we forget the Lord, when we start worshipping other things and putting them first in our lives, like work or sports or even school, that's when we have trouble. But when we remember Him, He causes walls to fall and kill 27,000 of our enemies. (See 1 Kings 20:30, or just the whole chapter)

Well, have a great week, and don't forget the Lord!
Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

Week 52 (3/11/19): "So the opposite of chaos is waffle."

This week was fun! We got to give our first training as sister training leaders, and we had a lot of fun with it. We were giving a training on teaching to people's needs, so we had people shoot nerf guns at a target in 3 different ways- blindfolded, facing the back and then turning and shooting, and then just regularly aiming. Then we talked about how it's the same way with teaching to needs- if you're not teaching to needs, it won't impact them as much, and it's like you're not aiming. So that was fun!

Oh, funny story from this week- last Monday, we had to go down to Hanford, and we had to take our car in because we'd gotten a flat tire. So at the end of preparation day, we called to check to make sure we could pick our car up and they said that the rim had bent, so it wouldn't be ready until the next day. So after a lot of phone calls trying to figure out how we were getting back to Dinuba, Hermana Harris' aunt gave us a ride. (Her aunt lives in the mission, about 45 minutes from Dinuba.) And we were going to have exchanges, but that didn't happen until later in the week. In the moment it was kind of stressful, but now we just laugh! Especially because all our stuff for exchanges was in our car, so the elders got that for us, and then we had to get the spare key to our apartment from our district leader, since we'd given them all our keys!

It has been a good week, crazy, but good!
Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

Week 51 (2/25/19): 🎶"A green bean, a green bean, I'll be a green bean for him!"🎶

Okay, this will be super short...

We had SUCH a cool experience this week! Heavenly Father totally changed all our plans on us! On Saturday, we were determining who would go with who on our first exchanges, and so we made a decision and prayed about it and got conflicting answers. We had previously decided and prayed about exchange dates and times and had gotten the answer that Heavenly Father trusted our judgement, and honestly, that was a necessary step in the process of receiving revelation, but we knew there was a change He needed us to make. And after an hour and a half of discussing and praying, we had changed a bunch of our plans, but they were so much better and much more what the Sisters need than before! And I don't think we could have jumped straight there, we needed to start with the plans we made before, then make changes. It was cool to see how the revelation came line upon line, a little at a time. We would change one little thing, then realize another little change was needed until we knew the Lord's will in full. I also learned that revelation comes as we truly seek for it. As we really tried to find out the will of God, He gave it to us, but only when we really wanted it. And there one point where we both felt like we needed to be in our area, instead of what we'd planned, and now we have a meeting with the Brandts to discuss some of the less actives in the English ward who are actually Spanish. So that was really cool!

Love you bye!

Sister Cate

Week 50 (2/18/19): "I'll do what You want me to do Lord, I swear! But are You sure??"

Well, transfers are this week, but I'm staying put with Sister Harris, which I'm super excited about. Partially because that means I don't have to pack again, but also because I love being here in Dinuba and Selma. The people are just so loving, and I love learning Spanish more.

We started teaching a couple really cool people this week! We read from the Book of Mormon with them, and they loved it! And someone Sister Harris taught the first time she was here moved back to Selma, so we met up with him, and he wants us to come back!! So we'll go see him tonight!

One really cool miracle from this week- yesterday at church, there was a family who is moving and it was their last Sunday. In talking with the mom, I learned that they were moving to Raleigh, NC (and she didn't know before that I was from Virginia.) So I was able to tell her how much I love the east coast, how amazing it is, how loving the people are, how excited their new ward will be to have a big family like theirs move in, and just how good of a place it is. At the end, she told me that she'd been really worried because they'd never been out east before, so she didn't really know what she was getting into, and that I was exactly the help she needed. I love when Heavenly Father uses me to help someone else like that. It is the greatest feeling in the world.

And talking with my family this morning was the best! It was so much fun to see their faces, and to be able to have a conversation with them. And I got to message with Rachel this morning, which made my heart happy!

Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

The fishtail the elder did last week

Week 49 (2/11/19): "I'm being attacked! I'm an endangered species!"

So this week was pretty much moving. So we moved from Kingsburg to Dinuba last weekend, and then the English elders moved into the Kingsburg apartment, and the Spanish elders moved into the English elders' old apartment. And at first we were told that we had about 30 days, but then they got back to us and told us we had a week. To get everyone moved. So we worked together and we did it! We still need to clean out the Spanish elders' old apartment, but other than that, everything is done.


Today we're going up to the Sequoias, so last night some other sisters slept over at our apartment. It was really fun. And in preparation, we fit 2 mattresses in our car. They were memory foam, so we folded them in half and stuffed them in. And then getting them out again was fun.


Also, we get to go to the temple tomorrow!! I am so excited to be able to feel the peace there and help a bunch of people return to live with Heavenly Father!! (You know, in a different way than normal...)


Love you, bye!
Sister Cate

Going to see the Sequoias

with Hermana Oso

The huaraches I got a couple weeks ago. They're super comfy! 

And an elder did a fishtail in my hair on Sunday, since it was giving me grief. He has 4 younger sisters, so he's had lots of practice.

Me in a blanket fort I made

Week 48 (2/4/19): "Were you at least winning the staring contest with your burrito?"

Alternate title- "You don't have to be a rocket scientist- oh wait, we have one." 

(One of the elders in our district is going into aerospace engineering.)

We now live in Dinuba! Our new apartment is so nice. There is tons of natural light in the morning, it has a dishwasher, and we got a bunch of really nice furniture from some apartments that had just been closed in the Modesto area. We pulled in all the elders in our district to help us move, and so it went pretty quickly. 

There was also some lightning to welcome us to Dinuba! It was awesome! I forgot how much I'd missed lightning. 

Anyways, talk to you next week! 

Love you, bye! 

Sister Cate

Week 47 (1/28/19): "We need to call this number. Someone needs their kumquat tree picked."

 I have not had a normal week since getting here. I actually got to go to Relief Society yesterday (I've played piano in Primary the last two weeks and played in sacrament meeting yesterday). And then this week, we have a doctor's appointment, zone conference, and moving. Oh yeah, so for the past couple transfers, the Sisters have been covering Dinuba, but have been living in Kingsburg, about 20 minutes away. But last week, they finally got us an apartment in Dinuba! So we're moving in this weekend. It will be so nice to finally live in our area. So yeah, normal's not a thing here. But that's okay. 

Last Monday, we played a rather epic game of Monopoly as a district. One of the elders had found and bought Fresno-opoly. It became a 3 (sort of 4) way partnership versus a 2 way merge. After finding a way to transfer all your assets to the other members of the partnership whenever you were abut to be bankrupted, the partnership eventually won. 

Anyways, talk to you next week!

Love you, bye!

Sister Cate

Week 46 (1/21/19): "And then I just like tackled the goat."

Brought to you by Elder Cook.

"Do different sized eggs come from different sized chickens?" We also had a conversation about feeding Venus fly traps uranium. He is the comic relief in our district.

The past 48 hours have been crazy. The senior couple got in an accident on Saturday night, and they had an elder with them. Everyone is okay, mainly just super sore and a couple sprained ankles, but they did go to the hospital to be checked out and make sure nothing was broken. So we thought we might have to bring the senior couple home from the hospital in the middle of the night, and of course we couldn't sleep until we knew everyone was okay for sure. Apparently my way of coping with things like that is to clean and organize everything and sing Primary songs for hours. But our supply closet is super organized now! 

Other than that, not much out of the ordinary happened. We've been working on inviting more people to be baptized and not being afraid to do so. So we try to invite every contact to be baptized, partially because then the Spirit can testify to them that this is the step they need to take, but partially because for me, I just need to do it a bunch of times. Part of what made it scary for me was fear of rejection, but I've come to realize that our purpose is to harvest, and if we don't invite them, they aren't going to have the opportunity to come closer to Jesus Christ. So if they say no, okay, they aren't ready yet, but at least I gave them the opportunity. So we have had some people say no, but we've also had a lot say yes, when they know this is true, they will be baptized. And I think that helps keep that end (which is really a beginning) in mind, so we can help them truly progress. We've gotten a couple weird responses, like "I made an oath with God not to be baptized in any religion." I may have responded with "I don't think God will hold you to that." But we committed him to read the whole Book of Mormon and promised that if he did, he would know for himself without a doubt that it was true. 

Also, there was one time we went to do finding time in Selma and so we went to an apartment complex, and we knocked one building, and went to go to the next, turned a corner, and saw the elders' bikes! It was pretty funny! Also, I gave my first talk in Spanish yesterday, and they asked me like 5 minutes before sacrament meeting started. But the gift of tongues is real!

Also, Sister Sarah Porter (from our stake back home) is in Sister Smith's MTC district!! That is so cool!

Let me know how the cookies challenge from last week went!

Love you, bye!

Sister Cate 

We found the elders' bikes...

I found Buena Vista!!

I may have marked Moroni 10:3-5 in about 115 Book of Mormons

Week 45 (1/14/19): "Cookies are a tool of missionary work."

Seriously, cookies get you in so many doors. So your challenge for this week, should you choose to accept it, is to make cookies and choose a couple names from the ward directory you don't recognize and take them cookies. It seriously works wonders. 

So this week has been fun. I have never used so much Spanish in my life, so it is a huge growing experience. I think I caught about half of sacrament meeting. And then I got to play the piano for Primary, which was so fun! But there were definitely times when we were talking with someone and I caught so little of it. Also, food should be its own love language. The people here love to feed us. Seriously, they don't give you an option, you must eat. It's a good thing we do so much biking. 

We have done more biking than ever in my life. We were going to try to bike to Dinuba (15 miles), but Sister Harris' bike got a flat tire. And we redid our math and determined that we can drive to the closest part of Dinuba, park, and bike everywhere else. But we were willing to bike it! (Well, I'm not sure if I could have actually made it, especially with the bike I was on, but I was willing to try! I have since gotten a bike that is the right height.) And I didn't get my skirt caught in the chain at all this week, so that was a plus. 

We got a super amazing referral from sisters in the Los Angeles Visitor's Center! They called us and told us that they'd taught him twice and he wanted us to come visit and teach him more and bring him a copy of the Book of Mormon! And so the sister I was talking to wanted to set up a group chat on Facebook, so she asked my name so she could find me on Facebook, and we had a mutual friend, and I asked how she knew Sister Molina, and it turns out she trained one of my best friends from college! I think the other missionaries there were laughing at us a little bit, but it was seriously a tender mercy for me. 

It's been such a blessing to be here thus far. I absolutely love it here, and I know this is where God needs me. 

Love you, bye! 

Sister Cate

Week 44 (1/7/19): "You have the gift of being a graceful crier."

Or "I need to get more Spanish nametags!"

I am getting transferred... It's hard to leave Chowchilla. I feel like I left my family once at the airport, and I'm having to again. Fasting and crying do not go together well. I cried through most of church yesterday and ended up with a headache. Sister Hinckley was right. It's so much better to laugh than cry. 

But I'm going to Selma, and I'll be in the Spanish branch! So it's going to be a whole new adventure! It's going to be fun!

Other than that, Sister Walker and I took turns being sick, so we were inside a lot. But Heavenly Father took care of the work for us!

Love you, bye!

Sister Cate

Week 43 (1/1/19): How do moms do this?

This week, mainly since Friday, has been absolutely crazy! So Friday morning, I finally reached the point where I decided that I should probably get my ear infection checked out, because my double ear infection from a month and a half ago had come back, so I figured I'd better be safe. We tried to call both mission nurses twice each, but neither of them picked up. We tried to set up an appointment, but the doctor wasn't going to be in until next Wednesday, so we were trying to figure out what to do. Finally, we called Sister Mackay to ask her opinion, since we couldn't get ahold of the mission nurses. We talked to her for a bit, and right before hanging up, she said that President Mackay was actually on the phone with the MTC talking about Sister Smith and wanted to talk to us after he finished the phone call. He then tells us that Sister Smith's mission call has been assigned and that they wanted her to go straight to the MTC on January 2nd, without going home, and that her actual envelope wouldn't get here until Monday or Tuesday, so they were going to send him the PDF and he'd print it off for her to open up, so we'd probably be going down to Fresno to open it. Well, a couple minutes later, he calls back, and says that the MTC called back and said that she'd need to go home to get some other clothes, but that she'd still go into the MTC on the 2nd. So actually, she'd be going home Saturday morning. So we worked on packing, and then we went down to Fresno and she opened her mission call!She's going to the Colorado Fort Collins Mission!!!!! 

So then Saturday morning, we went down to Fresno again, and her dad came and picked her up. I feel like I kind of understand what it was like for my mom when she sent me off on my mission. It seriously felt like I was sending my own daughter off on a mission. How do moms do this? But I am super excited for her! She is going to do amazing things. The Fort Collins mission is super lucky! 

Heavenly Father has really had a hand in our week. And most of it came because I got a double ear infection. 

Firstly, I was trying to finish the Book of Mormon like President Nelson asked, but I still had a lot left, but President Nelson promised that if we would try, Heavenly Father would provide a way. And then I got an ear infection, so I had to put in medicated eardrops and lay on my side for a while. For both ears. So while I was laying in bed with eardrops in, I read the Book of Mormon, and I was able to finish last night. 

Another huge miracle from this week was that we got a referral from some sisters in Washington who met someone who had literally been praying for another book of scripture! They taught her the Restoration and she absolutely loved it and she wants to be baptized!! We were trying to figure out how to contact her because all we had was an address, but we didn't have the miles to make it out to her house. We decided to get a member to drive us out there and we would at least leave a note. We were about to contact someone to ask for a ride when the Washington Sisters texted, saying that she had emailed them her number, so they gave us the number and let us know that she was still in Washington. The Lord provides. We were both sick by that point (I passed a cold on to Sister Walker), so we couldn't really go about the work very much, so the Lord did it for us. 

I hope you take time this year to notice all the miracles in your life. The Lord loves us! 

Sister Cate

Week 42 (12/24/18): Pants!

We went to the zoo this morning, so I wore jeans for the first time in ages. Also, we can wear dress slacks. Still not sure how I feel about that. 

The highlight of this week was that Lexie got baptized on Saturday! It was amazing. She was so excited, and her mom was just thrilled! Baptisms are the greatest. The Spirit is so strong! And of course, the week right before a baptism is crazy. Lexie's whole family was sick early in the week, and we got sick in the middle of the week (it wasn't bad, just exhausted). But everything works out in the Lord's work! 

And now I have to run off to help get some last minute packages to the other sisters in our zone, but I hope you take the time tonight and tomorrow to remember Jesus Christ and His life and the miracle it is! 

Love you, bye!

Sister Cate 

Week 41 (12/17/18): I'm dreaming of a white Christmas...

President Mackay asked all of us to pray for a white Christmas- for someone to be dressed in white! And Lexie is getting baptized on Satuday!! I'm so excited! It has been so cool to see her change, even though she's only 9. The gospel of Jesus Christ truly does bless everyone! 

Also, we got another flat tire. For those counting, that is the third one I've had with this car (I've had this car my entire mission.) But it was kind of a tender mercy that it happened when it did, because we had to drive up to Modesto, about 1.5 hours away, and so if it hadn't gone flat when it did, it might have happened while we were driving to Modesto, which at 75mph would have been bad. So we got the spare on and took it in the next morning, got a ride to Modesto with the senior couple, and picked it up when we got back. It worked out so well. God was definitely looking out for us! 

Really cool story- a couple months ago, we visited a less active family and they shared with us that he had a court case coming up where his ex was trying to raise his child support, and it was already over $1000 a month. Well, I was prompted to extend the promise that if they would come back to church, the court case would go well and his child support would not go up. Fast forward to last week, the house they're renting had a couple water pipes burst, and they still haven't been fixed, so they're looking into buying their own. But last year, because his child support was so high, they were only able to qualify for a certain amount for a loan. However, they had the court case this week, and his child support went from over $1000 to $300, which is a huge miracle in and of itself, and also now they'll qualify for a bigger loan so they can actually get their own home. It was such a testimony builder for me! God really does fulfill his promises. And it's amazing to be an authorized representative of Jesus Christ and to be able to make promises that come from God! 

To be perfectly honest, when I first got the prompting, I was really surprised, but it came again, so I extended the promise to them. Can you imagine if I hadn't listened to it? I definitely learned that whenever the Spirit tells you to do something, you do it! In the same vein, last night, Sister Smith said we needed to visit another less active family. I've tried to talk to them for a long time, without luck, but we went, and the dad got home right after we got there and we were able to talk to him for a long time and figure out how to get his daughters, who are recent converts, to church! Huge miracle! 

If this hadn't already gotten so long, I'd tell you all about how much I love Jacob 5, but I'll let you read it for yourself. I found an article that really helps explain it, so I'd suggest using that to help you understand it. I have such a testimony of this chapter! 

https://www.lds.org/ensign/1988/08/the-tame-and-wild-olive-trees-an-allegory-of-our-saviors-love?lang=eng

Have a great week, and don't forget to invite people to the special Sacrament meeting on the 23rd! 

Love you, bye! 

Sister Cate

Week 40 (12/10/18): "I'm trying really hard not to break the reindeer's neck."

How to describe this past week? I have texted a ridiculous amount of people, we've had more set appointments than ever, and Sister Walker and Sister Smith laugh a lot (usually at night because they're overtired). 

One of the most exciting things has been that I've actually been kind of understanding Isaiah! Where I'm at, Isaiah has been passing on a message to King Ahaz, king of Judah. The background is that the kingdoms of Syria and Ephraim formed an alliance to fight against Assyria, and they want the kingdom of Judah to join the alliance. Initially, King Ahaz says no. So Syria and Ephraim decide to force Judah to join by threatening to attack them if they don't join the alliance. Isaiah tells King Ahaz that the Lord says not to join the alliance, but to trust God. Multiple times. Yet what does King Ahaz do? He joins the alliance. And Assyria destroys the kingdom of Judah, getting all the way to Jerusalem. By then, Judah had a new king, Hezekiah, who trusts in God. And then overnight, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers are killed by an angel of the Lord. So, as Sister Smith put it, "The moral of the story is that if you trust in the Lord, an angel will kill your enemies." 

Have a great week and trust in God!

Love you, bye!

Sister Cate