Week 13 (5/28/18): I've been sent to take a lasagna out of someone's oven

Totally not joking. I can now say that I've been sent to take a lasagna out of someone's oven. We didn't actually get to talk to the mom, but we came in and I noticed that the oven was beeping, so I asked if it needed to be taken out, and it did. I think we'll go back later. 

On Friday, I had a raging headache and was a little bit nauseous. I think it may have been a very mild migraine. So we asked if I could get a blessing. After one of the elder's x-ray finished, they met us at the stake center, and we talked for a little while. Of course it was exactly the same room as we had met with you in. But then one of the elders gave me a blessing (I was too out of it to choose, so one of the zone leaders asked him to) and while it wasn't flowery or complex, he said everything I needed to hear. Not that I was surprised, but it was so clearly God talking to me. And things have been better since then. 

I had a really cool insight while reading the scriptures this week. I was reading in Helaman 8 and 9, and I noticed something I'd never noticed before. The background for this story is that Nephi is a prophet, but the people aren't listening to him, at all. A group there ask for a sign, and he tells them that their chief judge (head of the government) has been killed and that his brother killed him. So this group of people, which includes a bunch of other judges, sends 5 men to go find out if this is true. These five men get there, and when they find that the chief judge actually is dead, they realize that Nephi actually is a prophet. They also realize that the things he'd said would happen if they didn't change their ways really would happen, and they were terrified to the point that they fell to the ground. Well, the servants had gone out to gather the people after the chief judge was stabbed, and when the people gathered, they assumed these five men were the murderers, saying that God had smitten them so they couldn't escape. As if. 

So these five men are thrown in prison. The next day, the chief judge is buried, and only after the burial does the group who sent them remember that they never came back, so they start asking around. Finally, they put it together that they were thrown in prison. So the group goes, confirms that they aren't the murderers, and they're freed. Then the group starts accusing Nephi, the prophet, of conspiring with someone. They then put Nephi in prison, and then he tells them how to catch the brother, giving them the exact steps they'll need. The group then does this, figures out that the brother is guilty and Nephi wasn't involved, so after he was proved guilty, Nephi and the five men are released. 

Catch that? In both verses 18 and 38 (of chapter 9) it says that the five men were released. That means they were put back in prison! And in verse 18, we figure out why. After they were released, they defend the prophet when the group starts accusing him. So they're thrown back in prison. I can only imagine what these men were thinking. "First, we finally believe the prophet, and we're thrown in jail. And then, when we defend the prophet, we're thrown back in jail. Really, God? We finally changed our ways, and we are back in prison." I don't know how long they were in prison, but I assume it was a couple hours at the very least. But in verse 39, we learn that they became missionaries, and people were converted by the testimonies they gained while they were in prison. It says that they didn't just gain a testimony in prison, but that they were converted. I'm sure part of that was the first time they were in prison, but I imagine a lot of that conversion came when they stayed true to what they believed, even after being thrown back in prison. So when we're going through hard times, that's when we become truly converted to God. 

Oh, we went to the ramate (Spanish flea market) in Hanford today, and it was fun. And then we got ice cream. That's a single scoop! 

Also, last time, I stopped counting after I reached a thousand. We got more supplies this week, and I'm up to about 400 again... I will never forget this phone number as long as I live.

Love you tons! 

Sister Cate

Week 12 (5/21/18): "We don't have time to go to the hospital today"

This email will be fairly short. We went to the Sequoias, so we have almost no time left. 

We did a fair amount of family history, and I made a lot of progress! I have been working on one specific person for over a year, and I finally was able to find her birth record, and from that confirm her parents and find her grandparents and so on. I also found an additional sister. So that was an amazing experience. I felt like the family was finally complete. And going to the temple was amazing too. It always is, but it was exactly what I needed this week. 

The Sequoias today were fun. Sister Grammer had fun running ahead and climbing on all the rocks. I'm just glad she didn't fall. We are way too busy today to make a trip to the hospital. I took a number of pictures. It was nice to get out of the city and just enjoy some quiet up in the mountains. Plus it was cold enough that I got to wear my hoodie, which is always a plus. 

Love you tons! 

Sister Cate

Week 11 (5/14/18): "We're dressing more and more like Lamanites every day."

This week was a week of firsts. I went to a funeral for the first time (I'm almost 20 and I'd never been to a funeral. I've been very blessed to have very few deaths of people I know. But it was a little awkward because I'd never met the woman whose funeral it was.) I painted a ceiling for the first time. Someone said, "Sister, you're supposed to paint the walls, not yourself!" Getting paint out of hair is a pain. 

And as always, the tender mercies. The gift of tongues is real. We met this amazing Hispanic woman while tracting, and she was fairly receptive to our message. The tender mercy was that I was actually able to speak Spanish fairly well, so she could understand me just fine, and we even came back the next day to bring her a Book of Mormon. And she spoke so fast. I had such a hard time keeping up. But I understood the important things. It's been amazing to see that when I need to use my Spanish, it just flows, but when I'm not talking to someone who actually needs me to speak Spanish, I really have to focus on it. The gift of tongues is real! 

This next one may seem fairly small, but it was huge to me. This week, we went over to the house of someone in the ward with our recent convert, Stefania, so she could Skype her family in China to get some information about her grandparents and great-grandparents so she could try to work on family history so she could take some family names to the temple this upcoming weekend. First of all, the member paid for the Skype call, all 35 cents of it, though she expected it to cost more. But while Stefania is talking to her grandparents, Sister McDonald, the member, gave us each a Ghiradelli chocolate square. It was the Intensely Dark Sea Salt Soiree variety. And there was no way she could have known that just a couple nights before, I'd been having a really hard time and I'd just wanted some decent dark chocolate with almonds, since that is my mom's favorite, so that is what we always had around. And then not two days later, Sister McDonald hands me almost exactly what I wanted, good chocolate with almonds (and my mom loves sea salt chocolate too, so she really would have loved it). And there is no way that she could have known that that was exactly what I needed to tell me that God was aware of me. I am so grateful for the tender mercies God gives me. 

And of course, Skyping with my family was amazing. It was so good to see their faces and hear their voices. And the baby gerbils were cute. 

I get to go to the temple twice this upcoming week, once with my zone and once with our ward, because Stefania is going to the temple!!! But I'm so excited to be in the House of the Lord again!

Love you tons!!!

Sister Cate

Painting is messy. 

My mom loves me. She picked all the purple jellybeans out for me. And she remembered the barrettes I'd wanted months ago. 

Week 10 (5/7/18): "We're in the Empire Strikes Back phase of the plan."

Said by the Bishop in Ward Council. (Referring to the Plan of Salvation.) 

This week's been pretty good. It's gone by very quickly. 

First, tender mercies from this week. The last three days have been so full of tender mercies. On Saturday night, I met someone new from the ward, (her maiden name is Jennifer Barber) and when I said that my family was from San Jose, she asked if I knew Vincent Cate, and that's my uncle!! She gave me a big hug (which I really needed) and said that my Uncle Vince was one of her best friends from high school! Then we talked for a while about my family and what had happened since she left high school (a long time ago). 

Then yesterday, Sister Vazquez asked us as we were leaving church, "How's your dinner calendar looking? Do you have dinner tonight?" And we didn't have dinner. Then she said that she'd made an extra casserole, so we had dinner, which was a huge miracle, since I'd been praying that someone would sign up for tonight, and I'd gotten this peaceful reassurance that it would be fine. So after getting the calendar back without someone signing up, I was wondering how the Lord was going to make this work, but He did. And she doesn't normally ask us that. 

Then last night, we stopped by this former, and she said, "I'd been wondering where you were." She'd been sort of dropped by the sisters before Sister Hicks and Sister Grammer, and she kind of got lost when they were doubled in. But we've sort of picked her up again. We're going to send her a scripture every day, or every week at least. 

The coolest was probably when we were tracting yesterday, and we met this lady named Valerie who welcomed us in. She had all these pictures of Jesus up in her house, and she told us her story of how she came to know God, and it was so cool. She really had a testimony of the power of God and prayer in specific. She was actually cleaning when we came because she had surgery this morning, and we invited her to receive a blessing. She said yes, and the elders were there in less than 10 minutes! It was really cool, and we're planning on checking in on her in about a week. 

Then we also met a Spanish family, and talked to them for a bit (the gift of tongues is real!) and we talked about how Jesus Christ is the center of the Plan of Salvation. Then we gave them a Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and the dad was reading it as we drove away!!

So we've gotten very familiar with the car repair shop. We've gotten two flat tires in two weeks. One part of our area has a lot of nails and screws that have fallen out of truck beds. It's bad. So thank you Dad for teaching me how to change a tire! 

Love you tons! 

Becca

Week 9 (4/30/18): The Great Frijoles Fiasco

No, you're not getting that story. But looking back, it was kind of funny. 

Okay, this week's letter will be short. 

There was one really big miracle this week. The background is that about a week and a half ago, we tried to see a sister in the ward and while she wasn't there, we met the landlady who was cleaning the apartment next to her. We talked for a while and she gave us her card. We left it at the house one of our investigators is staying at after no one answered the door. We stopped by there a few days ago, and Sandra, the woman who lets him stay there, asked us if we were the ones who left the card and told us that she got the apartment! (The house is being sold out from under them, so they are all getting kicked out.) And then we were able to talk for a while, and we have an excuse to keep seeing her! She's sat in on lessons before, so maybe she'd be willing to listen to more as we help her move. So that was a huge miracle.

So my talk went okay. I had to go after two amazing talks and a musical number, so I feel like in comparison, it wasn't that great, but that's okay. But our recent convert of only 2 weeks gave a talk, and it was probably the best talk I've ever heard. Though I may be biased. It totally didn't seem like she had only been baptized for 2 weeks. It was crazy how she has changed. I loved it. It was a miracle that I didn't cry. (No seriously, I prayed beforehand that I wouldn't cry, and I didn't. And the special musical number was I'll Find You My Friend!) 

Oh, if anyone wants to read my talk, let me know and I'll send you the typed up version next week. 

Love you tons! 

Sister Cate

I've written our phone number on around 500 materials. I will never forget this phone number. 

And an edit I made from a picture taken while trying to get one for my Facebook profile picture. 

Week 8 (4/23/18): Four Ponies of the Apocalypse

The title this week is from probably my favorite street contact. We're walking down a street and this guy in a wheelchair just starts talking to us about the Four Ponies of the Apocalypse, the precursors to the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse. He said Donald Trump was one, but I can't remember which. Never a dull moment. 

The other potential title for this week was "I can now say I've prayed over a flashlight. And it was healed." Prayer works. 

We had a lot of tender mercies this week. First, on Thursday, as we went to get back into our car after working on the Area Book at the church, we noticed that one of our tires was flat. Upon further inspection, there was a fairly large screw in our tire. So we called Elder Noyes and got permission to go get it fixed, and then stopped by a gas station to fill it up so we didn't have to worry about getting there and it damaging the rim of the tire. We went inside to get quarters to start the air machine, and the man working said that he'd turn it on for us and not charge us. But we're so grateful we noticed it when it was first starting to go flat so that it was a fairly easy fix and it didn't cause any other problems. 

The other big tender mercy was after exchanges on Wednesday. I stayed in Visalia with Sister Burnside and on Thursday morning, she left me a note with some words of encouragement. In that note, she suggested I read her mission scripture, which was Doctrine and Covenants 68:6. There is no way she could have known, but that is my mission scripture too, because it was the Lord's promise to me during the roughest part of the time I had to wait before being able to serve. It was just amazing to be able to have that message from the Lord that even though I'm having some difficulties, He is aware of me and will help me bear testimony of Him. 

Our ward has really welcomed our recent convert Stefania into the ward. This week she went to the YSA FHE and to a Priest/Laurel activity and to Yosemite with a family in the ward. It's amazing to see how the Lord looks out for each of us. So yes, if you want to help the missionaries, fellowship the investigators and recent converts. It makes such a difference! 

Oh, they want us to be friends with as many members as we can on Facebook, so they can comment on our posts and like and share them. So friend me! My new account is Rebecca Cate. I have had fun making some really cool edits with pictures I've taken and gotten off of lds.org. 

One thing that I've started doing after listening to President Nelson's conference talk again is having a notebook and pen right beside me when saying my personal prayers so I can write down the revelation I've received, and it has made such a difference! Elder Richard G. Scott said, "Knowledge carefully recorded is knowledge available in time of need. Spiritually sensitive information should be kept in a sacred place that communicates to the Lord how you treasure it. That practice enhances the likelihood of your receiving further light" and "Inspiration carefully recorded shows God that His communications are sacred to us. Recording will also enhance our ability to recall revelation." And it is amazing how much inspiration I've received as I've shown the Lord that I value the answers I receive. So I would invite you to try praying with a notebook and a pen handy so that you can write down the inspiration the Lord wants to give you. 

Love you tons! 

Sister Cate

PS Oh, also, I get to give a talk next Sunday. And while I like doing the preparation, I hate actually giving the talk. So please pray for me. 

Week 7 (4/16/18): We Boil the Bishop

Alternate titles for this week were: 

"I thought the baptism of fire was supposed to come after" 

Apparently my name is Sister Gate

Stefania got baptized!!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited for her. The baptism was good, though a little eventful. You may have guessed, but we accidentally made the water too hot. Normally you have the opposite problem. Anyways, everything went smoothly until we went to do the actual baptism, and the bishop stepped in and said, "That's hot!" So she came back out, we had the talk on the Holy Ghost and the welcome to the Young Women's, and Bishop added cold water to the font. After that, it was fine, and we had the baptism. 

The confirmation was amazing. She was given some awesome promises, and I really felt the Spirit. We get to go to the temple on May 17th, since we get to go every other transfer, and then we have a ward temple trip that Stefania is going to go to on May 19th. So we'll get to go to the temple twice in three days!! 

We had exchanges this Wednesday, so I went with Sister Decker to Porterville, and we had some pretty amazing experiences. We taught 9 lessons. At least, I think it was 9. It may have been 7. In any case, it was a ridiculous amount. We did family history work with a recent convert couple, taught a bunch of lessons about the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation, and contacted a couple of potentials. After dinner was when we really had some miracles, as if we hadn't already had tons. We stopped by a less active member's house and ended up talking to his daughter, who isn't a member. We taught her the Restoration and she was fascinated by it. For her, it was mind-blowing to think that there is a living prophet and that God has given more scripture. I seriously hope she continues being interested in the church. Then we went to a less active couple's house, fully expecting not to be able to talk to them, since they always cancel on the missionaries, or aren't there. But when we drove up, we saw the dad and his two sons playing basketball. So we started talking to us, they invited us onto the porch, and we just got to know them for a while. The dad is a convert, and while he hasn't been coming to church, he and his wife, who is also a convert, still have the goal to be sealed in the temple. Then he asked us if we had a lesson we wanted to share with them. We hadn't expected to get that far, but we shared the Restoration, and the boys absolutely loved it! Oh, the boys haven't been baptized. So hopefully they'll come back to church and the two boys will be baptized and they'll go to the temple and be sealed! The Spirit was so strong!! 

And then John Paul is just amazing. I got to teach him with Sister Ferrell a couple times, and he has the most amazing story. It's definitely been rocky for him, but he wants to go to the temple. He has such a strong testimony and has seen God's hand in his life so much. 

Oh, apparently lots of people read my nametag as Sister Gate. I've stopped correcting people. It happened in the MTC too, so I'm fairly used to it by now. 

On Thursday we got smartphones, and it's the best thing ever. We have Gospel Library and LDS tools, and the LDS Media Library. That one may be my favorite, since it makes it possible for us to show videos during lessons. That will help us so much, since it can reach people more than we can sometimes. And we have a couple people who talk so much that we can't really get a lesson in, and interrupting them with a video might get the lesson on track. And we can send people videos and websites in texts! Because there are many people who we can't reliably see in person, this gives us a way to still help them progress. 

So I am on Facebook, and you can send me a friend request, but I may ignore it. But then you can follow me and see my posts. And if you like or share them, that's an awesome missionary opportunity! 

Love you tons!

Sister Cate

Stefania's baptism