Sister Sarah Bottorff: Week 3

This week has pretty much flown by! Which is a miracle in and of itself!

After I emailed last, we went to the temple and enjoyed a heavenly meal at the temple cafeteria! Tilapia and potatoes! I felt like I was home eating a home cooked meal! Then, we headed to choir practice and devotional. The choir sang "Consider The Lilies." I love that song. It talks about Christ's love for us and how He knows every small detail in our lives and is there to help us along our paths. Look it up if you've never heard it! I think the Mormon Tabernacle Choir does the best arrangement! :) Before the meeting started, the choir director shared a beautiful experience he had when his four year old son was diagnosed with Leukemia. It really touched me as he shared that he and his son and his family felt the love of Jesus Christ carrying their burdens as they struggled. His son passed away peacefully at 4, and the director said that the song Consider the Lilies is the perfect song to describe the peace he felt after his son passed. I was so touched by the story and know that Christ is there to lift us, even in the hardest times.

On Wednesday, I made a zillion flashcards. If only they turned to dollar bills...I'd be rich! Then, we hosted missionaries! That meant I got to go to the curb and welcome new missionaries entering the MTC! I took them to get their name badge, books, dropped off their luggage in their rooms, and took them to their new classroom. It was a great experience! I loved seeing the new missionaries as they said goodbye to their families knowing that the service they would be doing would be worth the separation. It reminded me of how wonderful my family and friends are! I am grateful every day for the support I receive. I can feel it!! Hosting took a little longer than expected, but right after we hosted, we went to the worldwide missionary broadcast. Church leaders in Salt Lake did a big training broadcast on the different aspects of missionary work and helping others come to Christ. Elder Clayton spoke, and it was great to see him, even if it was just on the projector screen!

Thursday was great! We had a man from the BYU English Learning Center (ELC) come in and talk about how we will be teaching English in Mongolia. We will take online classes at the MTC and do some training in the ELC in March. An organization will sponsor our visa, and that will determine where I will teach. So I guess I could be in a school or a post office or at the department of labor. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a school! :) I miss the sweet kids at my school every day, and I really want to be in another school! I'm excited to be a part of such a wonderful service to the people of Mongolia!!

Friday was awesome because I learned "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes" in Mongolian! It's the fastest I've ever learned 8 words! I got the package from mom (thank you!!) and overdosed on gummy bears. Totally worth it.

On Saturday, we taught lessons called TRC (aka teaching members of the Church a spiritual message in Mongolian...I have literally no idea what it stands for...). We taught 2 really nice people a lesson on faith, hope, and charity. We asked a lot of questions. I understood about 10% of what they said, but they seemed to like the lesson! :) It was funny because in one of the lessons, we were speaking Mongolian and going along with an awesome discussion (at least from what I understood)! So then I went to say (in Mongolian) that Charity is the pure love of Christ. I opened my mouth to speak and I literally said the word "Charity" in English, followed by the rest of the sentence in Mongolian. I didn't even realize I said any English until after the sentence. We all got a good laugh! :) We had class afterward and studied a ton. We are learning 1-2 grammar principles every day.

Sunday, as always, is my favorite! All the sister missionaries gathered for a Sisters Conference, which was awesome! From what I could tell, about half of the missionaries at the MTC are sisters!! We learned from two great women about how powerful the Book Of Mormon is and how it really does bring us closer to Christ. Church was also centered on the power of the Book of Mormon. I met with my Branch President (the leader over our congregation of about 30 missionaries) and it is always good to meet with someone who has wisdom and a big perspective. He told me that God knows Mongolian, and He wants me to learn it. Through His love and mercy, I have actually learned a lot, and will continue to know the things I need to know. I know that is true. We went on the temple walk, ran into one of our Mongolian teachers, and then headed to choir. The choir is singing a song called "Hurrah for Israel". It is powerful!! I'll write down the lyrics tonight when we sing it! :) We had a Sunday night devotional with the head of the missionary department about how we need to serve with all our hearts. We all did a little evaluation of where our hearts are, and it was such a powerful message about being engaged in the work without distraction.

Yesterday was great because I got letters and a package! :) Thank you!!! We had class, as always, and taught a new person, who is our teacher, Brother Standley. He is pretending to be a man he taught in Mongolia. It has been such a wonderful experience to teach him about Christ.

My Mongolian is kinda coming along! I am trying to learn all I can! It is sounding more and more normal, and I find myself thinking random words in Mongolian! It's not like I'm thinking in Mongolian, but knowing that the words are somewhere in my brain is helpful! We do flashcards all day err day. It seems like this week has been better than ever! There's still a LOOOONG way to go, but I'm seeing progress and finding myself less frustrated with myself!

Also, I have been playing volleyball during gym time every day, and I'm actually improving! They say language really improves in the 3rd or 4th week, and I guess the same is true with volleyball! :)

I hope everyone is doing well! I love all the letters and updates! Love you!

Sister Bottorff