Сайн Байцгаана уу! Sain baitsgaana uu!
Сонин сайхан юу байна даа? Saikhan yu bn daa?
Hi everyone! So much has happened in the past week! Firstly, we finished up our stay at the MTC and took off for Mongolia last Tuesday. We were on a plane for around 27 hours and our travel time took over 30! It was a very long two days for sure. Thankfully we were able to stop and get some Panda Express and Cafe Rio at the airport. I missed real food haha. We also had a connecting flight in Korea which was super cool, although we didnt get to stay long to look around because our connection was cut very tight because of flight delays. Airplane food is not the greatest but Korean Airlines fed us some wonderful dinner.
After what felt like an eternity, we finally landed in Mongolia! There are SO MANY beautiful mountains and hills here. They're all covered in beautiful snown and ice. Mongolia is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been too and I feel so lucky to be here. Right when we stepped out of the airport, my nostrils froze! Slowly, ice crystals began to form on my eyelashes and eyebrows too! I can't even begin to describe how cold it is here. When we landed, it was around -17 C, which isn't even the coldest it can get. It's so fun! Thankfully the cold hasn't been too much of a problem for me yet, except my hands will occasionally feel like they are going to fall off if I don't wear my bulky gloves and shove my hands in my coat pockets. It's all part of the fun!
Jay, our Mission President's assistant and bishop drove us to meet with our mission president. We ate a lovely homemade dinner with their family, and then we had to rush to the mission home for a late night devotional. The mission home was only 2.3 km away but with the traffic Ulaanbaatar, it took us almost 1 1/2 hours to drive there! The traffic here is so bad and there aren't any traffic laws. You just drive and hope you don't get hit or hit anyone. That goes for pedestrians too. Honking is the equivalent of signaling with your blinker here. It is definitely a mad house for sure, but such an adventure. At the devotional, our mtc district bore our testimonies in Mongolian, and then we heard from 3 sisters who were finishing up their missions here. After that, we were all rushed to bed because none of us had gotten any decent sleep in 30+ hours.
The next day, we went to the medical center to complete some medical tests and get our blood drawn. Then we had a meeting with our mission president, who explained all the details about being on a mission here. He taught us about how to avoid pick-pocketing (which is a huge problem here), how to stay healthyand wear masks with the air pollution (which is also a huge problem here), and a lot more that i hardley remember. Then we got to meet our trainers! Sister Burgess is my trainer and she is literally the sweetest human being on the planet! I love her so much and we have become such good friends in such a short time. She and I are so similar and we get along so well. We also love to cook together so we've been making some really good food lately and I couldn't be happier. She inspires me to be a better missionary every day and she is a great example to me. I am so thankful for her!
One amazing miracle happened to us on our first day: When we were moving, we couldn't find our new apartment because the instructions given to us weren't super clear, so we were stuck outside for a really long time. I didn't have a big Mongolian winter coat yet, so I was slowly freezing to death. Sister Burgess and I were also lugging around 5 suitcases and our bags, so we couldn't go into any buildings to camp out. Our phone was at 2% so we didn't know what to do. We decided to pray for help. As soon as we did, Sister Burgess got the idea to call two Elders in our area and see if they could find us and help us. We called them super quick before the phone died, told them where we were, and hoped for the best. And 5 minutes later, they found us and took us to the apartment, which was way further away than we thought. It was such a blessing! I know that prayer is a powerful tool God has given us. Through prayer, He can and will help us. I am so thankful for Heavenly Father's love and care for all of us!
We were assigned to serve in the Unur area, which covers parts of the city Ulaanbaatar and parts of the outskirts in the ger districts. We are whitewashing since Sister Burgess has never been to this area either, so we've been doing a lot of member contacting this week. We met our ward on Sunday and I love everyone so very much! We had the priviledge of bearing our tesimonies for them in sacrament and I am now the ward pianist since no one else in the ward can play. Also, many of the members in the ward speak a little english, which is really helpful. I still do my best to only speak Mongolian to them. Mongolian is so hard to understand, but I have been learning so much in the time that I've been here. I am so thankful for this opportunity!
This week, we were able to teach 4 different investigators and newly baptized members about God, the Plan of Salvation, the Book of Mormon, and prayer. We do a lot more teaching than I thought we would considering we are not allowed to proselyte, because we get so many referrals in this area which is amazing. One amazing grandma we visited yesterday fed us some amazing Tsoivan and Hiram (milk tea). Hiram is basically boiled water, milk, and salt mixed together. It's definitely something I am still getting used to. But the sweet grandma was so passionate about the Book of Mormon and she had such a strong testimony. I love her so much!
Other fun things we've done: we've made friends with a cute dog outside our apartment named Stormtrooper. We also went shopping for a bigger coat and got groceries at a really cool store right next to our apartment. We taught one English class so far and reenacted A Christmas Carol for our students, which was chaotic and fun. We also had to chase 3 buses last night because we finished up a member visit late. Chases buses is hard when there is ice all over the ground haha.
So many wonderful things have happened this week and I can't even begin to describe it all. It's been an adventure for sure. I'm loving ever minute of it. One scripture that stood out to me in personal study this week was Alma 34: 32.
32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors
I love this scripture because it directly lays out our purpose here on Earth. I know that if we strive to prepare to meet God by following His commandments and His Son Jesus Christ, then we will live a fulfilling and joyful life here on Earth. Following Christ has blessed my life in more ways than I can count. I have felt God's love for me, and I know He has a plan for each one of you. Trust Him as you follow Him, and I promise you that you will feel His love and the joy He has for your life. I love you all and hope you all have wonderful weeks! If you have any questions for me, please let me know!
Sister Potter
No comments:
Post a Comment