Monday, November 6, 2023

Cadence - 4 areas in 4 transfers - November 2, 2023

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So from my title you can probably gather that I moved again...yep I left Choibalsan after one transfer which is unheard of because that area is known for its missionaries staying excessively long. My comp will begin her 4th transfer there now. I feel bad because she was so convinced she was going to leave so we visited all of her favorite families and investigators the week before so she could say goodbye. Oh well. Now I am back in the city in the northern part called Jargalant. My new companion's name is Sister Tims and she is so cute and awesome! She just finished her training too so this will be a fun transfer full of learning. We also found out we will share an apartment with the Sukhbaatar sisters so the four of us have been having fun together! Also my old companion Sister Myers shares an apartment with us which has been a blast!

Sorry I haven't written in a few weeks. Honestly mission life has gotten so busy lately and I've been having to prep for going back to school some pdays (I can't believe I have to think about that now 😅). But I promise I'll be more consistent with my emails again now. In the past couple of weeks, we've been able to have a mission tour which was super fun! We learned a lot of great things from Elder McCune about improving the work here in Mongolia. He taught us about how to better work with members so this transfer, we are really going to focus on that.

Also, last week in Choibalsan, we threw a big Halloween Party for our ward. It was lowkey the most stressful thing I've ever done in my whole life because we had to figure out how to feed 100 people with barely any ward funds- also we did not use the funds ourselves because that is not allowed. We made a leader go buy everything for us. Yet it was still stressful planning it all. We settled on making tuna sandwiches and cookies for our party because that's honestly all we could afford. The day of the party, we went straight to the church and spent 5 hours prepping for the party. This included making 200 cookies, 100 sandwiches, preping games for the party, and making decorations for it all. It was a lot of work but the sweet youth in Choibalsan helped us out so much with making decorations. They were all for putting everything together to make the church look spooky. The day of the party, we discovered that it's actually illegal to throw Halloween parties in Mongolia because parents don't like how spooky and devilish it can be but we still did the party because яах вэ? Many of the people who came were English students so it was fun to be able to build relationships between them and members.

Honestly, when I left Choibalsan I was so sad. I really wanted to stay and keep up what we had going. We were working with some of the best people I've ever met here in Mongolia and they were so ready to be converted to Christ. But I am excited for the adventures that await us here in Jargalant. Like I said earlier, my comp is straight out of training and our ward just gained Elders this transfer as well so we're all kind of new. This means we don't know much about the area but we are excited to hit the ground running! I'm also super happy to be back in the city where I can meet all my old friends from previous areas. It's been a party so far!
Also we teach lots of English here! We teach at a middle school for 3 hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday on top of church classes. The middle schoolers are so cute and anywhere from 9-14 years old. The school is like a private school so the kids are really invested in learning English and actually want to talk to us. I love it!

This week, I was speed reading the Book of Mormon and came across Alma 37, which is a great chapter. One of the things Alma teaches his son, Helaman, which is found in verse 34 really stood out to me. He taught:

34 Teach them to never be weary of good works, but to be meek and lowly in heart; for such shall find rest to their souls.

I loved this verse and found so much comfort in it. First, I found it interesting how the Lord wants us to never be weary of good works, and in order to do that, we must be meek. If we are willing to love and serve our neighbor and put aside our pride, the Lord promises that we will find rest. Sometimes I serve people on the mission and it becomes super tiring for me. But despite how physically tiring service can be, Heavenly Father can always promise us spiritual rest from our labors. I have felt rest through Him over the course of my mission. I have felt His strength when I physically needed it and all the while felt peace and joy in the work I have done. I am thankful for His plan for me and thankful for this work. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Potter










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