Welcome to the Krazy Kingdom: Cadence Update

Сайн Бацгаана уу!

Guess who got their visas this week? My entire district! So we will all get to fly to Mongolia together next Tuesday! We also got our travel itineraries and lets just say, our flight is going to be маш хэцүү (very difficult). We will fly from Salt Lake to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to South Korea, and finally, from South Korea to Mongolia. Our total travel time will be over 30 hours and our flight from Atlanta to South Korea will be about 16 hours straight. Thankfully, the mission rules for Mongolia have relaxed a bit, so we are now allowed to bring our scriptures and mongolian grammar notes with us on the plane, so I can study those during the flights. We won't have any phones though, so I'm nervous about traveling and getting lost with no way to contact anyone. Either way, the Lord will be guiding and protecting us every step of the way, so I am letting my trust overpower my fear. Sadly, we still can't wear our nametags on the plane since the Mongolian government does not want us to be affiliated as "missionaries." Also, our visas are sponsored by Deseret Charities, which means we will be able to teach "pop-up" English classes in the countryside of Mongolia. I'm sure many of us will also be working in the capital city Улаанбаатар too, but it is exciting that we will get to travel to so many places and help so many people.

In other news, we got to celebrate Thanksgiving this week at the MTC! Everyone did such a wonderful job to make the holiday a special one for us missionaries. I am thankful to President and Sister Porter and to all the volunteers who helped make the day so eventful! We opened the day with a special devotional given by Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve. They asked me to give the closing prayer for the devotional, so I got to sit on the stand behind him, which was such a cool experience! He and his wife both shined with the light of Christ, and I felt the Spirit so strongly in that meeting. Elder Cook taught us the importance of gratitude and taught us about the 4 things missionaries should focus on loving in order to be successful:

1. Our companions

2. The people we are called to teach

3. Our Mission President and his wife

4. Jesus Christ

He explained that when we focus on loving these people, our missions will become easier and we will be more focused on our missionary purpose - therefore, we will become better missionaries. I know that having gratitude can give us a more open and Christlike perspective on life. Gratitude can help us overcome the trials we face and can cure our sadness. I am so thankful for the gospel and for Christ's apostles who share hopeful messages to all of God's children!

Then we ate Thanksgiving dinner with our district, and honestly, the food was really good! We were all surprised at how tasty and filling the food was. It was fun to unite more with our district, and we all felt at peace as we spent the day together as a family.

After that, we watched "Ephraim's Rescue" which turned out to be a very inspiring pioneer movie. I cried about 7 times while we watched because of the inspiring hardships the pioneers went through at that time. I strive to have the amount of faith they had when they crossed the plains with their families. It made me even more thankful for the opportunities and conveniences I have today, and I know I have been blessed so much by Heavenly Father!

Then we had the opportunity to participate in a large scale service project. We worked with a baptist charity to package over 300,000 meals for people in need. We gathered in assembly lines to package everything and jammed out to the church youth music for 2 hours. Sister Vick and I had a dance party the whole time, and overall our joy was so full.

To close the wonderful events of the day, we had a special musical devotional put on by Jon Schmit from the Piano Guys. He played many of his famous songs including "Waterfall," "Can't Help Falling in Love with You" and "Silent Night." He asked us to sing along to Silent Night at the close of the devotional, and I have never felt the Spirit more strongly in my life. Silent Night is my favorite Christmas song and it reminded me of home, so I began to feel homesick. But as soon as that homesickness started settling in, I felt the Spirit comfort me with warmth and peace, and I instantly knew that, despite missing my family, everything would be okay. It was a tender mercy and I am so grateful for Heavenly Father, who knows my thoughts and is looking out for me. I know that He knows each one of you as well and that He will help you when you are in need. He loves you so much!

Also, they finally lit up the Christmas lights at the MTC! They looked so beautiful and I felt the Spirit again as we walked through all of them. It was honestly such a spiritually empowering week and my testimony has grown so much because of it! Something about light brightening the darkness makes me so happy. Christ is our light. He brightens our darkest times and He gives us hope when we are struggling. There were several times this week where I struggled, whether with the language, with others, or with myself, and in those times where I was feeling at my lowest, I would come across a scripture in my personal study or receive an answer to my prayers that would remind me of Christ's love for me. I know that Heavenly Father was looking out for me this week through continuously reminding me why I'm here and why I can have hope in His Son. Through Christ, we overcome anything because He will guide us by His light. I truly know this and I hope you all know this as well. The joy I have felt at the MTC testifies of this. Please seek this joy by learning more about the Savior and becoming like Him.

Yesterday, I had to say goodbye to my favorite teacher, Sister Enktuvshin (Энхтүвшин Эгч). I have never met someone with so much joy and love for others. She has helped me feel God's love and I wish I could express just how immensely she has changed my life. She has taught me so much, not just about the language, but also about how to be a true disciple of Christ. I love her so much and it was one of the hardest goodbyes I've ever had to give. Today, we also had our last MTC class ever, which was so sad! I didn't realize how much I was going to miss the MTC until today. It has been a blessing for sure.

Other fun things that happened this week:

- We met a Samoan, a French, a Belgian, and a Hawaiian Elder this week at lunch. They tried jello for the first time and they were the sweetest human beings ever!

- We also ran into two Mongolians who work here at the MTC and didn't understand anything they were saying to us, but we just nodded and responded with маш гоё, баярлалаа, сайн!

- I learned that I can still do a handstand

- Sister Vick and I have been running together most mornings, and my endurance has improved a ton

- Our district has been here longer than any other missionaries at the MTC so we are the true OG missionaries

- The next email I send out will be from Mongolia! How cool is that??

Overall it was a wonderful week and I apologize again for the long email. I'll end with a verse that stood out to me this week:

Alma 32: 35 - 36

35 O then, is not this real? I say unto you, Yea, because it is light; and whatsoever is light, is good, because it is discernible, therefore ye must know that it is good; and now behold, after ye have tasted this light is your knowledge perfect?

36 Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither must ye lay aside your faith, for ye have only exercised your faith to plant the seed that ye might try the experiment to know if the seed was good.

I testify that Christ is our light. He is discernable amidst the darkness of the world and He shines brighter than any temptation. When we look to Him, we can discern between what is good and what is bad. We must also continue to practice our faith and strengthen it every day in order to help it grow. I didn't understand how to strengthen my faith until I started diligently studying the scriptures every day at the MTC. I promise you that daily scripture study can help you nourish your faith in Christ. I invite you to study the Book of Mormon everyday this week. I hope you all continue to do well and have wonderful weeks!

Love,

Sister Potter