Sister Sarah Bottorff: Week 30 - Playing in the mud :)

Hey! This week was another good one!

So after I emailed last week, we shopped and then went home to do laundry and get some stuff done. And that night and the next day I realized the xuushuur was not a good idea. It tasted sooo good, but then I got sick. Not deathly sick, but I stayed home all the next day to recover. We had to cancel all of our plans, which is never fun, but I had to.

So Wednesday was much better! My companion is now trying to get me to read less from a paper and just teach. I have papers I can use that have everything written down. Sentence by sentence. So it's easy to just read. But for two of our lessons I had to say other things and I only wrote down notes in English to help me remember what to say and which direction to go. Sometimes I forget and just freeze. But then a miracle happened! When I asked my companion later that night what I said wrong, she said, "Nothing. I was sitting there waiting for you to make a mistake, but you said everything grammatically correct. And the Spirit was strong. Don't change anything!!" I could have cried because I was so happy! In the grand scheme of things, it's really small, and I know I have a long way to go, but it was a moment I've been waiting for this whole time! :) Also, at that perfect lesson, I ate marmot for dinner. Yum.

On Thursday we planned and then had a district meeting. And I always love district meeting. I shared that we always need to remember our missionary purpose to help others. And sometimes it just means that we need to go out of our way to help do little acts of service. That's what the Savior would do, and that's what we are truly here to do. I'm trying to make the guiding question in my life, "would the Savior do this if He were here?" And then I try to act. It doesn't matter if it's what we planned. Sometimes it's the unplanned things we find in our path that make all the difference to ourselves and others. We also had mutual with 4 young women, and they made Angry Birds bookmarks. They are so cute! The girls and the bookmarks! :)

Friday was so fun! We taught lessons and visited many people. We planned for lots of different people than the people we ended up visiting, but it turned out so well! I love being in people's homes and feeling of their spirit. We are working a lot with the members right now to help them in any way we can. And I love it!

Saturday we did some service, and I got my hands really dirty! We helped some ward members build a house! It's made of dirt and water. They make dirt blocks and then stack them and seal it with mud. So we had a blast! And it felt so good to help! We went home and showered and had a meeting with the branch president and then went to the Branch President's house and ate more marmot for dinner. Good times. I seriously never can predict what I'll be eating...

Yesterday was another good day! We had church, and the relief society lesson was about eating healthy. And they got on a tangent about weird foods people eat in China. And I couldn't help but chuckle as I heard them saying things like, "It's so weird that they eat this and that" knowing that, coming from America, it seems so weird that they eat certain foods. Ahh culture is so fun! :) We also met with our two grandmas, who are doing so well, and a cute member family yesterday.

It's so fun to be busy and help people, even in small ways. I love being able to give, and it helps me to let go of my problems and focus on others. I think that must have been such a help to the Savior when He was on the Earth. His life was not easy, but He spent His time giving and serving, and that must have made all the hard times worth it. I know that's how it is for me.

I love you all and hope you are so happy!

Love,

Sister Bottorff