Sister Sarah Bottorff: Week 38 - Blessings are real

Hey! I feel like I blinked and the week was over! Where did it go?

I stayed super busy all week! On Monday we had choir practice and then went to Kentucky Fried Chicken. It was a blast!! I love singing in the choir, and I love KFC. Maybe I love KFC a little more than I should … but oh well. Then we had family home evening with an amazing member. We talked about prayer and drew pictures of us praying. Turns out I'm not a great artist, but that's ok! :)

Tuesday was crazy and it felt like 2 days. We woke up super early and my Mongolian companion got ready and we took her to the church. Then, we picked up another Mongolian sister who would work with us that day. We worked in her area, and I was just amazed at how fun it was and how wonderful her people were. That day we met with five people and all of the meetings went so well. People were praying so sincerely. They had amazing questions. And I just loved it! We had so much fun working together!

On Wednesday, our Mongolian companion went off with other sisters, and I was kinda wondering how life would be from then on. Just Sister Guild and me. But it's been great! Wednesday we had a mission conference. Elder Funk of the Quorum of the Seventy came and talked to us, and we had amazing instruction all day long. Sister Harper (our mission president’s wife) talked about staying positive and not fueling Satan's fires of self doubt. All of the talks were so good! I had fun, too, seeing all of my friends! I love the missionaries here! :) After the conference, we had one meeting with an investigator family. They are doing so well! We taught about Joseph Smith, and I'm pretty sure they understood us! The lesson was really spiritual. I'm so grateful for that lesson. And they accepted the invitation to be baptized! It won't be for a while, but they are so good and willing!

On Thursday we did our weekly plan and met with a super nice ward member and her new-member daughter. They are both wonderful. We shared a really simple scripture about how God will help us in our lives if we pray and keep His commandments. And it turned into an amazing discussion about how we feel God helping us and what blessings we've received in hard times. I'm so grateful for the testimony of others. It makes me so happy to hear countless stories about how God truly loves us and knows us individually.

Friday was our first day of English for this school year. We are doing a lab, so 750 freshmen at the university are required to come for 10 hours during the course of the semester to get help. And other students can come, too, just to practice speaking. The day was packed. We started at noon and didn't have a break until 5:30 when the librarians were closing the library for the night. I worked with tons of students. We practiced saying medical words. That's not my forte, but by the end of the day, I was saying all sorts of new and long words with ease. We practiced pronunciation and where to place the emphasis on the words. It was fun! And some of the people wanted to be my Facebook friend and get my phone number haha. One of the girls kept quizzing me on her name. And then as she left, she said, "Remember my name! Don't forget me!" Haha - she's so cute! Most of the freshmen are 17 and they just got here to UB about 2 weeks ago. I introduced myself and said I was 24 and their jaws dropped and they were like, "waohhhh..." haha - I wasn't sure how to take it.

On Saturday I went on a split with my STL (trainer), Sister Hawkins. She worked in this ward, so I got a lot of help. I learned a lot about the area, so that was really good. We also had fun going around and trying to meet with people. Only one of the appointments actually came through, but we still got a lot done by learning how to get to people's houses. We also had fun and got some ice cream and pizza for dinner. It ended up being a great day!

Yesterday was good, too! I still understand very little at church, but I decided to not let it stress me out. And church was MUCH more enjoyable. I'm trying to focus more on the positive, and it makes my life so much happier! It's amazing what a good attitude can do! After church we made lunch and studied and then we taught an investigator. The lesson was so good! It didn't go as planned, but the whole family was involved. And the Spirit was there. And we left feeling so happy.

I just love that even though I am doing hard things, I have been feeling such a sense of peace. I'm not alone. I have a great companion. I have amazing support here in Mongolia. I have great support in America, too! :) And most importantly, I have a loving Heavenly Father who WANTS me to succeed. And He's not leaving me! I love this work! I hope you are all doing so well! Love you!

Sister Bottorff