Sister Sarah Bottorff: Week 66

This week was an adventure! And after all this time I'm back in my area. But that didn't happen until Saturday/Sunday.

Tuesday was really fun! We had an appointment in the middle of the day in Unur, my first area, and I got to see some of my old people! Well, they're not old. They are just in my old area J But then we had a birthday party for Sister Mason. It was a real party! Since there were only 10 sister missionaries in UB at the time, we were all able to be together! We don't have enough parties, I think, but I'm pretty sure we will do more. We sang happy birthday using Kazoos and ate tacos and cake! A good time was had by all!

On Wednesday we taught English. We taught English on Friday, too. Both days were pretty slow, so I got to catch up on writing in my journal. Thank goodness. I've actually written an entry for every day of my mission so far, and I've finished my second journal. I'm pretty proud of myself since journaling has never been my strong point. The students who did come to English were really cute! They love playing the game Headbanz and talking about life. They are so young and fun to be around. They come in and stay for one hour. We work on vocabulary from their book for 30 minutes and then they choose how they want to spend the last 30 minutes. We all got a good laugh when the vocab word was "flatulence." I just said it and it didn't register. But then Sister Austin and Sister Wilcox started laughing and then it was all over. It's a good thing I still have another 4 months here to mature....

Thursday we went to Songino and Unur and taught lessons, hiked mountains, ate bread at people's houses, and made terriyaki chicken. I'd say it was a successful day. Some kids we passed by on our way home from a grandma's house were so cute. I wanted to give them hugs, but their mom probably would have thought that was weird. But what can you do? Most people here think I'm weird no matter what I do. We also found out our new companions were coming from the US! We were told that they'd arrive on Friday morning and we would pick them up on Saturday.

On Friday. since we found out our companions were coming, we prepped for that! We got groceries and cleaned and did some planning for next week! And I’m not gonna lie - we got a little nervous. But then we went to a baptism for Sister Wilcox's former investigator in a former ward, and it was so fun! Our new companions came in with the Harpers, so we got to meet. We were all put at ease the second we introduced ourselves. We didn't know, then, who we'd train, but we instantly loved them all!

Saturday was so fun! We did a series of trainings with our new companions. There was pizza and brownies and ice cream, so I'd say it was a great success. The longer I'm here, the better I eat! It's great! :) And the trainings were great, too. There were good reminders that I've forgotten since I was in training and super jet lagged. So now I think I understand this mission so much better! It's about time I guess. We got my companion's things to our house and then headed to a district meeting. Two elders from her MTC group are in our district. It was a really good meeting – we talked about finding people to teach. We have to find people. After basically not being in my ward for a week and having our 2 investigators get baptized and cutting down from two wards to one, I have to find some new people.

Sister Tillemann-Dick is my new companion! She's from Denver! And she's so fun and willing to jump in and work hard! We get along really well, and I'm excited to work with her! She's so nice! I'm looking forward to this transfer! We already have a strong companionship. And the ward is excited to help us! And we are going to have fun and eat a lot of cookies together. So I'd say I'm set!

Yesterday at church was really fun! My new companion and I were asked to share our testimonies in sacrament meeting. My companion did great! She got up there and boldly talked about how she was so excited to be here and excited to serve. I wouldn't have had the courage to talk and be so confident when I first got here. The people in my ward loved it! I got up and asked if we could visit all of their houses. Then the bishop got up and encouraged everyone to have us over. And it was announced not once, but twice, in Relief Society, that the members need to help us and have us over and help us find investigators. The ward is pumped! And we have a full calendar for this week. I'm so excited!

I hope everyone is happy and healthy! I can't wait to watch general conference next week! We'll watch in English and I can't wait! :) I love you all!

Sister Bottorff