Wow! It seems like
it's been forever since I emailed last!
So much has happened!!
On Tuesday, after emailing, my companion and I had to get
some blood work done for our visas. We
took a little field trip to the health center across the street and felt like
rebels! :) It was fun to get out and walk a little bit! Then we went to the temple and had a lovely
time! :) After that, we went to dinner
and choir practice where we practiced one last time before we performed in the
devotional that night. Elder Neil L.
Anderson was the keynote speaker. It was
amazing to sit at the feet of one of the Lord's modern day apostles. As he walked in, the entire MTC was singing
"I'll go where you want me to go" and there was such power!
On Wednesday, we had a pretty typical day with a bunch of
language study, but in the afternoon, our Mongolian class was invited to a
teacher training. A bunch of the
language teachers had a seminar, and our class was able to be the example. Our teacher was a big wig on campus, and she
taught us so much about how we can represent Jesus Christ. That is our goal. Her class was just what I needed for a
pick-me-up!
On Thursday, we started the day with service. Sister Hansen and I mopped all of the bathrooms
in the women's residence halls. It was
fun to serve together and not have to think much. (Sometimes I feel like my brain will explode
with all of the information I am receiving!)
In Mongolian language class, we went over the past/present/future tenses. I made a goal to become more fluent in
reading, which after working at Scott, I value much more than ever! I felt like a first grader again, taking
literally 20 minutes to sound out one verse of scripture. But I look forward to the day that I can read
quickly, and I know that with practice it will come! We ended the evening teaching a Mongolian
native. We didn't know all of the words,
but the Holy Ghost was there to fill in the gaps.
Friday was pretty typical.
I was super bummed I couldn't be at Jordan's wedding, but I felt like I
was there in spirit! I made a language
plan and saw Elder Goolsby in the dinner line.
We had a great chat about Mongolian vs. Russian, and how excited he was
to go to the Ukraine. The day ended on a
SUPER high note when I was asked to say the closing prayer in our language
class. I said it TOTALLY IN MONGOLIAN!!
It wasn't one that I had rehearsed (which I had done a lot previously just so I
knew what I was doing.) It was straight
from the heart, and there was no English!
I was so excited and grateful for the improvements I have made.
Saturday was funny because we found out the woman we were
teaching from Mongolia is actually our new language teacher!! I have learned SO
much from her because listening to a native is different than our
teachers. But I'm glad to be able to
make that adjustment now before I get to Mongolia. She said my Mongolian has improved! We memorized words and phrases together. At the end of each day, we have about an hour
to write in our journals and get ready for bed.
It is coveted time. But on
Saturday, the four girls in my room (all going to Mongolia) had a super fun
time talking. We bonded. And I love and
respect them so much more after our deep conversation!
Sunday was AMAZING!!!
We started out studying. Sister
Hansen and I were asked to teach Relief Society (the class for all the women in
the congregation), so we prepared that.
Then, every Sunday, each person in the congregation is supposed to
prepare a 3-5 minute talk to share and then translate later in case we need to
use it in Mongolia. We had some extra
time before church was going to start, so we sang songs. Then, after the sacrament was passed, the
person conducting the meeting said, "and now we will hear from Sister
Bottorff...and 2 others.) I thought for
SURE I'd be off the hook, but I wasn't.
So I got up and gave a talk. It
went pretty well. And then I gave the
closing prayer in Sacrament Meeting. It
was kind of the Sister Bottorff show.
But I laughed and figure I'll be off the hook for doing anything else
the rest of the 10 weeks! :)
Then, we did the temple walk, and met up with a Sister going
to Temple Square. She is from Mongolia,
and we love her. She left on Monday. :(
We will miss her! Then, we had choir
practice and the devotional. SISTER
JANICE KAPP PERRY was the keynote speaker!
She was inspiring! It was amazing
to sit at the feet of someone who wrote songs that brought me closer to Christ
as a child. And then we all sang the
songs she wrote. I could hardly sing at
all because I was so happy!
Monday was great! We
have a new person to teach, which happens to be our teacher, so the pressure is
on. We prepared a ton and I learned lots
of new phrases! Dinner was also awesome
because they had Chick-Fil-A catered! It
was like heaven!
Today has been fun!
We have just done laundry so far! Its so nice to have a day off! :)
I am looking forward to tomorrow because I get to host new
missionaries coming in. I get to pick
them up off the curb and show them around.
I'll be sure to let them get a last hug and picture with everyone
dropping them off! :)
Another funny story was someone at dinner was making
characters of everyone. He asked for a
nickname for my character, and Elder Wilding said "RObottorff!" It was so funny! So he's been calling me ROBottorff! hahaha
I hope this wasn’t too long!
I love everyone! And I love
hearing from you! I hope you are doing
well!!!!
Love,
Sister Bottorff
Mongolian nametags of the Zone.
Sister Bottorff going to have her blood work done.
Mongonian Sisters with a Sister from Mongolia who is headed to Temple Square.
Chick-Fil-A!
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