Sain Baitsgaana uu!
So sorry I didn't send out an email last week. Last week, we had transfer news and the end of Mongolia's week long celebration so things were pretty busy and we had to get so many things done haha. But there is so much to update you all on this week!
Firstly, two weeks ago we celebrated Tsagaan Sar - Mongolia's week long "Thanksgiving/Christmas" celebration. We visited over 30 people's houses in 4 days and ate soooooo much food. I never want to eat food again haha. It was so fun to experience such an amazing part of the culture here. At every house, there are a bunch of rituals and traditions you must do to pay respect to the houses that you visit. For example, at every house, you must eat from the family's bread tower, boiled lamb, and rice bowl before you eat any of the food they make for you. Every house has these things set out on their tables for the entire week. I'm pretty sure every american missionary here got sick from eating week-old left-out lamb meat but it was still fun haha. At every house, we also зогслох, which is the traditional Tsagaan Sar greeting. The younger person greets the older person by grasping their elbows and kissing their cheeks. We also have to say a bunch of phrases and I'm still not quite sure what they mean but someone explained that they have to do with feeling peace and happiness. Also, at every house, the oldest household husband and wife pass around pots of tobacco and it is tradition to short the tobacco. But, since we are missionaries and we follow the Word of Wisdom, our Mission President just told us to pretend to short the pots haha. It was a little scary because I was nervous about accidentally snorting it but we were fine. I got a lot of practice haha.
After all of these greetings and rituals, you are allowed to relax and feast with the family. Every house serves buuz (dumplings) during Tsagaan Sar. Our Mission President warned us to not have buuz eating competitions because in the past, Elders have tried to eat hundreds and gotten really really sick. It's difficult to pace yourself and not eat too many when you visit 7-9 houses each day, especially because every house serves you around 50 buuz. At the beginning of Tsagaan Sar, I thought that eating 5 buuz at each house would be a polite amount to eat...then after eating 50 buuz in two days I realized that was the biggest mistake. I ended up throwing up everything for a whole day straight and that was not my favorite. I felt bad for my companion because she had to miss out on celebrating for one day because I couldn't walk without puking. But the Priesthood's power is amazing and after receiving a blessing, I immediately started to recover. I was able to visit people again the next day and eat buuz again the day after that. Sadly, my stomach still hasn't fully recovered so eating can be difficult for me sometimes, but I know that having patience and through Heavenly Father's help, I will be back to normal again soon.
Feasting with the members was so fun though because you get to talk to so many people for hours and sing songs with them and simply have a good time. At a few of the houses we visited, other members were also invited so we would have 5 or 6 families and all the missionaries together to celebrate. It was so chaotic and amazing. My favorite part was singing all the traditional Tsagaan Sar songs with the members. Along with buuz, members would also serve us so many different kinds of pickle salads, finger foods, candy, soda, boiled yogurt, milk tea, and bread. At the end of every visit, it is tradition to exchange gifts. Missionaries are not allowed to give gifts but the members can give the missionaries gifts - so I received so many socks, journals, candy bars, and even money! One of my favorite Mongolian children gave me his hat for Tsagaan Sar which was really really sweet. I love his family a lot and sadly they moved to the Gobi Desert this past week, so it was fun being able to spend a lot of time with them before they left.
So that was my brief summary of Tsagaan Sar. So many more things happened but it's too much to describe so for now, that will suffice. If you have any questions though, I am happy to answer haha. Now, last Pday, we received transfer news and....I'm staying in Darkhan! And I got a new companion. Her name is Sister Munktsetseg and she is the sweetest human being on the planet! Her English is pretty decent (a little better than my Mongolian), so we can communicate decently haha. And she has taught me so much about being a missionary already. Sadly, this is her last transfer of the mission, so I want to make it her best transfer so she can finish off strong!
Before transfers, we had a lot of conflict with figuring out who was moving around and meeting with who for transfers (it's really difficult in the countryside because every companionship is 2-15 hours away from each other) so Sister Vick and her companion ended up staying with us for a few days. During that time, we did a short exchange and I got to be comps with Sister Vick from the MTC! It was the best day of my mission by far! We learned so many things and it was so difficult because we were both used to our native companions doing all the taxi communications for us, but the Lord powered us through. We also had an amazing lesson with one of my new investigators about God. We all felt the Spirit so strongly and so many tears were shed. The Lord blessed us with the Gift of Tongues because we could speak to and understand our investigator enough for her to understand. It was so amazing and I learned so much from the experience. And Sister Vick and I are like the same person so we worked really well together haha.
Then, during transfers, my old companion and I had to go all the way back to Ulaanbaatar, so we rode the 7 hour train ride during the night. The train is always so fun because it reminds me of Hogwarts! And with all the snow finally melting in Mongolia, I could actually see the land and it was so beautiful!
It was fun to be back in the city again, even if it was only for one day. I got to see my mission mom Sister Burgess again. That might have been the last time I would see her because this is also her last transfer so that was pretty sad. I also got to see some of my old MTC district members and I got to meet the new American missionaries that just arrived! After eating lunch with a bunch of the missionaries, I headed back to Darkhan with my new comp and two other sisters and we made it at around 4 am, set an alarm for 2 hours, then woke up to get started working again. I have never felt so tired in my whole life haha. It was rough but so fun. Also, we also got an American Elder in our ward now so I am not the only American anymore! Now we get to split up English classes and he helps me understand so much when we have meetings with our branch president haha.
Recently our work has been really, really slow, and I am not used to this pace. However, I am trying to have patience and trust that this is part of the Lord's plan for this area. We have a baptism coming up within a week though! It will be my first mission baptism! And we have two golden investigators right now who are progressing well and were also invited to be baptized. Also, I am so thankful to be staying in Darkhan because I love my English students so much! They are all so happy that I am staying too and now we are planning a party for English class this week haha.
Sorry this is such a long email. So many wonderful things have been happening and I just wanted to share them all with you. I hope you guys are doing well and I wanted to close with a scripture - D&C 45: 3-5 says:
3 Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before Him -
4 Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
5 Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life
I know that Jesus Christ is our advocate. An advocate is a person who puts a case on someone else's behalf. Christ does this for us! Because He experienced the Atonement, He knows our situation and what we are going through. He knows the struggles we have been given and he knows the pain we will feel. So He can perfectly empathize with us and He understands us when we say we are trying our best. All Heavenly Father wants is for us to try our best and Christ will make up the difference. And Christ can advocate for us and can truly testify that we tried our best because He knows us.
In the October 2011 General Conference, Elder Uchtdorf taught: "No matter where you live, no matter how humble your circumstances, how meager your employment, how limited your abilities, how ordinary your appearance, or how little your calling in the Church may appear to you, you are not invisible to your Heavenly Father. He loves you. He knows your humble heart and your acts of love and kindness. Together, they form a lasting testimony of your fidelity and faith."
I know that if you simply put forth your best effort to follow Christ and your Father in Heaven, they will make up the difference and they will be so proud of all that you have accomplished. They love you so much and Christ will advocate for you after all that you put forth. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
Love,
Sister Potter
P.S. I hit 3 months in Mongolia this past week!
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