The one where they got COVID ... quarantine round 2

 Hey y'all!! 

This week both so much happened and not much happened. Or maybe it just felt that way because we never left our house :) I apologize this one might be a little long ... lo siento 

Sooo two Saturdays ago we came home and were eating dinner and I found out I couldn't smell... my companion tried to get me to smell cumin and sadly no matter how many times I tried to smell it I could not. Kinda surreal when your nose is completely clear and you just cant get a whiff of anything. So because that is a sure symptom of COVID we got tested Sunday morning, which in my unpopular opinion wasn't even that bad :) #tendermercy We waited for our results on Monday and came to find out mine came out negative and Hna Webb's came out positive?? Haha that was a plot twist. She then promptly lost her sense of both smell and taste on Monday which did confirm that she probably did have it. But idk why my test was negative?? We called the mission nurse and she told us that we had to quarantine from the outside world and also from each other. Now normally that would have been no big deal, except it is a little hard to be a missionary when you can't get very close to your companion haha. But we survived somehow. Not going to lie, it wasn't my favorite having to be quarantined to our bedroom and wear a mask 24/7 but eventually the nurse said we didn't have to social distance from each other as neither of us showed any other symptoms #tendermercy 

Even though the trials of this week were different than anything I've ever gone through as a missionary, we were actually able to see several other small miracles in the work and our lives! Here are just a few in no particular order...

1. We didn't infect any other missionary in our zone or member in our ward that we had visited while we unknowingly had COVID!! I don't know who was more relieved, us or our mission President, when the tests of the sisters we live with and many other missionaries came back negative!! We still have no idea where we got the virus...

2. NOTHING, not even COVID, can stop the Lord's work from moving forward!! With the extra quarantine time, were able to use Facebook more than I have ever before in order to find new people to teach and keep communication with the friends we have already been teaching! We found 6 new people to teach without ever leaving our apartment by calling formers and using Facebook! I have never been more grateful for technology! 

3. Our members were super supportive and caring for us when they found out we had COVID. We felt awful for having it during Thanksgiving dinner when we saw a lot of our members but all the families were so forgiving and more worried about us and how we felt. Many brought us food and I was just filled with love and gratitude for the members of this ward. Small acts of service from members really can mean the world to a missionary!! So if you haven't reached out to the missionaries in your ward in a while, do it!! Acts of kindness from members can mean the world to a missionary!! 

4. More unity in hard times!! The sisters we live with have been so so sweet to Hna Webb and I and have been cooking for us (because we are not allowed in the kitchen haha) and been so so positive even though we put them in quarantine as well. Hna Webb has been an amazing companion as well and I am so grateful for her!! 

5. We got to hear from AN APOSTLE OF THE LORD!! For weeks our mission has been preparing to hear from Elder Renlund on Friday for a special devotional on zoom but sadly him and his wife got sick. So instead President Ballard had 15 minutes free in his schedule and used that time to speak to us!! But his 15 minutes free actually turned into an hour as he kept speaking to our mission and receiving revelation for us!! His address was centered on the glorious message we share which is the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. My appreciation and love for the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and our beloved Savior Jesus Christ was deepened as President Ballard testified so boldly and simply. He emphasized how we need to deepen the personal conversion we have to the gospel within ourselves first in order to be able help those we teach be converted and FEEL the joy and importance of our message!!

6. My personal conversion and testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father's love has deepened immensely this week. Jesus Christ is the reason that I came out on a mission and He is the reason I will stay when it is not easy. This week was not easy. But I know that it was what I needed in order to see all these blessings and deepen my conversion to Jesus Christ. I know He is my Savior and Redeemer and He loves me! He loves every single one of us so much that He was willing to pay the price for our sins. I know that Heavenly Father has a PERFECT plan for every single one of us and gives us trials because He loves us! 

I am also SO grateful that tomorrow we will be allowed to go back to "somewhat normal" missionary work haha. I think we've seen the sun a total of 3x this past week :) so I'm excited to get out of our quarantine even if we are pretty limited to what we can do. The Lord's work will move forward no matter the circumstances we are facing!! One of my favorite scriptures I studied this week in D&C 68:6 says "Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come." Let us all be of good cheer during this Christmas season and trust in God as we commemorate the birth of our Savior!! Hope you all have a great week!! 

Con amor, 

Hna Tate 

We got nicknamed "the sickies" in our zone haha. Had to pull out our matching masks this week 

Wouldn't want to be quarantined with anyone else!!

Never have I ever used more hand sanitizer in my life than this past week :) 

Thanks mom for sending some in every package lol