Cadence - First week of Training! - August 22, 2023

 Сайн байцгаана уу! This week was super special! First off, the Gift of Tongues is so real! Before this transfer, I was understanding the language okay (enough to do the work at a basic level). This past week, I have understood things perfectly! It's crazy how the Lord blesses you with exactly what you need if you sincerely ask for it. He will always help you do the work He asks of you. I feel so blessed to be able to finally understand people! I think the struggle I had with the language for so long before helps me empathize with my companion more too because I know exactly how hard and frustrating it is. But my comp is learning so fast and is a great listener so I love working with her.

This week I got to meet with so many of my favorite members. And surprisingly, they all remembered me! The Mongolian people are so kind. Even though I could hardly speak to them the last time I was here, I felt their love for me as we reunited. Seeing the ward branch president again was a tender mercy moment for me. He is one of my best friends and my Mongolian grandpa.

Another mini miracle this week was meeting so many cute English students. Their friend group of 5 ended up coming to mutual which was so surprising. Then, they came to a member baptism we had after mutual. Then, they showed up at church the next day! It was crazy! At the baptism, I was helping them sing along to "I am a Child of God" and it was one of the most special moments I have had here in Mongolia. Despite not knowing what the church was or who God even is, they sang "I am a Child of God" with so much conviction and it was the cutest thing ever! I felt the Spirit confirm to me that is fact is true. I know that we are all children of God, no matter our belief, circumstances, or experiences. I am so thankful for the plan He has for each of us.

English classes have unfortunately decreased in numbers. We've been getting a consistent 2 students each class. Our YSA FHE and mutual numbers have decreased a lot too since the last time I was here which makes me sad. However, this is a golden opportunity to take a dying area and build it back up again. I am excited to tackle Darkhan and put in hard work and love in order to make it the booming place it once was. Sister Quincy and I are going to work our tail off trying to find people too so that we can build our numbers in all areas of the work.

Also, exciting news: Elder Niel L. Anderson is coming to Mongolia to speak with the missionaries next week! So everyone in the mission will get the opportunity to come together for the first time ever! It will be so cool! We are also doing Zone Conference next week and as STL, I have to plan a training for that so wish me luck! It will be such a cool experience!

This week, I was studying in Moroni 7, and learned about the goodness of God. In 

Moroni 7: 13, it says:

13 But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.

I know that God is good. He gave us the key to happiness and goodness. He made a plan for us and gave us ways to follow Him by doing good. In order to do good, we must believe in Christ and follow Him. Christ's purpose on Earth was to help us live with God again. I know that if we seek to be good and seek Christ, we can live with Heavenly Father again one day. I am thankful for this life and for my Savior. This week, I invite you to seek Christ more fully in your life so that you can become good and become like Him. Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Potter 

Cadence - Goodbye new home, hello old home - August 16, 2023

 Сайн байцгаана уу! How are you all this wonderful week!

Let's just say this past week was the best week in my entire mission. Firstly, I am so thankful to have served in the best area in the entire mission. I worked with some amazing, wonderful people, and I've loved every fun, difficult, confusing, and wonderful moment. This past Saturday, we had the opportunity to host the best mutual activity ever! We took 12 cute kids up to a member's summer home (a 2 hour bus ride away) and do service for the members. We made some yummy food together, carted dirt down their driveway, played volleyball, soccer, uno, and more. We also hiked a huge hill and explored a fun forest together. I think that experience was the best experience of my life and I feel so grateful for the testimonies of all the cute youth that came. It was so hot and tiring, but they didn't complain once and just enjoyed the experience which was awesome!

I found out last Friday that I would be training, whitewashing, and be a solo STL (Sister training leader) in the countryside, so that was a lot to take in. But despite the craziness of this new transfer news, I felt at peace knowing that I can do hard things because Christ is giving me strength and because He is by my side in all aspects of the work. It is so comforting to know that He is watching out for me and helping me every step of the way. I was also blessed with the opportunity to go back to an old area of mine! I missed Darkhan a lot so I was excited to come back and train here since this was the area I was trained in too!

On Tuesday, we met the new trainees and had so many meetings on being leaders, trainers, and trainees. My trainer's name is Sister Quincy and she is the sweetest and cutest companion. I'm also keeping my streak of being comps with only 6 ft sisters haha. We hopped on the night train Tuesday night and had to lug all of our luggage up and down 8 flights of stairs and on and off the train. We were exhausted by the end but made it safely and just in time to start getting to work.

We've only been working in Darkhan for 1 day so far but there isn't much happening here right now, so I am excited to tackle it and find so many people to teach and serve. There is so much potential for growth here! Last night, we ran into a bunch of my old English students and it was like a family reunion all over again. I missed them so much and I can't wait to start working with them again! I also missed teaching in person English classes so it will be fun to finally do that again. We also met with one of my favorite members last night and I can't believe how much I missed Taniya egch. She helped me so much when I was in training so getting to see and meet with her again was such a blessing.

In my scripture study this week, I came across an amazing verse about God's plan for us. Mosiah 7:33 says:

33 But if ye will turn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all diligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage.

I thought this verse was so powerful but didn't think much of it until later in the day when we were visiting Taniya egch. At the visit, she was talking about all the struggles and trials she was going through in her life recently. Many of her family members were leaving the church, she was suffering physically with health issues, and she felt like her prayers weren't being heard or answered. Immediately, this verse came to my mind again. Sometimes, Heavenly Father will not answer our prayers right away. Sometimes, we will be left to struggle and our faith will be pushed. But this is not because God doesn't love us. He never forgets us. But Heavenly Father loves us enough to let us struggle and learn on our own. He let's us experience hard trials so that we can learn and develop trust in Him. Without the hard times, we cannot feel the greatness of the good times. I am thankful that Heavenly Father loves us enough to let us struggle. And I testify that He always hears us. He is aware of our trials. He does not leave us alone because Christ is always there to succor us. Through Christ's grace, we receive strength and support from Him and Heavenly Father. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Have a wonderful week everyone!

Love,

Sister Potter

Final Good-byes

Good-byes are hard.  REALLY hard.

After we got back from our amazing cruise, we had only a few days to say our final good-byes to friends who have become like family to us.  We will never forget the wonderful people we grew to love here in Germany.

The day before we hopped on the plane back to the states, we met all the kids' friends at the pool one last time.  We are going to miss these friends & this wonderful pool that provided hours of entertainment over the last four years.

And as our last good-bye. . . as we went to bed at the hotel on base one last time, we had a knock at the door with this amazing candy bar sign waiting for us.  Our friends, the Jacksons, have been our long-time ding-dong-ditch friends.  Every Christmas we spend the entire month of December leaving surprises on each other's doorsteps & then running away before we can get caught.  They surprised us & ding dong ditched us one last time.  I'm going to miss them.

And that was that. . . our time in Germany was done & new adventures awaited us in Utah.

Cadence - I Love American Denj - August 8, 2023

Сайн байцгаана уу 

Hi everyone! This week wasn't anything too different although we did get ghosted a lot this week. However, that is okay because we also experienced many awesome miracles this week! For starters, we found 3 new investigators to teach! And all of them came to sacrament meeting - so it was fun to show up to sacrament and see so many new faces! 

On top of that miracle, we also had the opportunity to invite one of our new investigators to be baptized! Her son was baptized into our ward last Saturday, so another miracle was being able to help her see and understand baptism through her son's example. The other cool thing about her is that she comes from a Christian background already (which never happens in Mongolia), so teaching her is super easy and fun because we can help her develop good Bible study habits and go more in depth with the lessons since she already knows the surface level things. She also helped her son answer the baptismal interview questions and asked to meet with us everyday this week so I think she's going to turn into a solid, faithful, covenant keeping member very soon!

Another miracle happened this week when we were visiting another new investigator of ours. In our previous three lessons with her, she was hesitant to pray on her own and always asked us to pray and she would follow and repeat our words. But during our last lesson, I asked her to pray to close our lesson, and she was like, "of course!" and then gave her first prayer! The first line she said was "Тэнгэрлэг Эцэг намайг сонсож байна уу?" (Heavenly Father, are you listening to me?). It was a solid, perfect prayer and it was so special to be a part of such a special moment. Her faith has grown so much since we started meeting with her and I feel so lucky to share the good news with our investigator and be a part of His work. I am so thankful to be Heavely Father's hands here in Mongolia and I know that all the miracles we see are from Him.

We also finally met with a new member we've been trying to meet with all transfer and he was by far the cutest Mongolian 10 year old I have ever met. He had the biggest cutest smile and the lesson we had with Him was so solid because he liked to participate and answer all of our questions (which never happens haha). He was also so polite and had a solid testimony of everything still even though he hasn't come to church in a while due to traveling.

We also didn't get a chance to meet many members this week because there has been a lot of unfortunate flooding in our area. In Mongolia, they don't have very good sewer systems so all the water piles up and floods like crazy. We saw a video on Facebook of a common road in our area that was so flooded with water that literal cars and busses were being washed away. So that was a hard hit on members here but we've been trying to find where help is needed. Please pray for our ward members that they will be protected and safe from the water!

English class has been going well. There isn't too much to update on there because the online class isn't super exciting haha. It is easy though and I love all of our students. Interactions are just smaller and less exciting on zoom. But we do go off on fun tangents such as talking about the new Barbie and Oppenheimer movies (which no one in Mongolia has seen for some reason). 

So this week was supposed to be transfers but we recently found out that the new incoming American missionaries don't get here until next Monday so we've extended transfers a bit. We haven't heard any transfer news yet either but I will update you next week on what happens. It should be fun but there is a 99% chance Sister Stark and I won't be companions anymore which makes me sad. I loved being her companion this transfer. We are debating about who will get to stay in this area. I really hope I get to stay but I would also be excited to leave so we will see! But I will say, this has been by far my favorite area to have served in. I love American Denj with my whole heart and am so thankful to have worked here.

Other fun stuff:

- We watched the new Puss and Boots movie for mutual...6/10 because the animation was pretty cool

- Apparantly I insulted all of Mongolia by putting tomatoe sauce on my tsuivan 

- We ate really yummy Indian food with our district this week - it was a sad final district counsel with my favorite district because two of the elders are going home this transfer

- We tried to find someone's address this week and couldn't find it at all...but we made friends with all the cute neighborhood kids along the way

- I got asked to translate for someone at a YSA Business fireside and didn't know any business terms so that was difficult

- We accidentally double booked an appointment with the same investigators as the Elders...

- Saw lots of beautiful rain storms this week! It was awesome!

- Today we went on a 5 hour hike with our district to celebrate Elder Harris and Elder Withers' last pday - it was beautiful!

- We had a zoom call with all the sisters in the mission because we are so small and wanted to help each other prep for all the new American sisters coming

This week I was studying a lot more about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which includes Faith in Jesus Christ, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. Through these 5 steps, we can effectively follow Christ and become like Him on our path back to Heavenly Father. However, before this week, I always had the mindset that we must act to have faith, repent, be baptized, and endure to the end, but the Gift of the Holy Ghost was just a gift we received from God during this process. However, this is not true. Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost requires just as much faith and action as the rest of the steps. In fact, without receiving the Holy Ghost, we cannot complete baptism. Joseph Smith once taught, “Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost”. From this study, I learned that I want to take the Gift of the Holy Ghost more seriously and really focus on remembering the covenant I made when I received the Spirit. I invite you all this week to really study and seek the Holy Ghost. Try to hear Him this week as you study about Christ, as you seek to do good, and as you seek to represent Christ as His disciple. And if you've never heard the Holy Ghost before, feel free to message me with your questions! Have a wonderful week everyone!

Love,

Sister Potter

Cadence - Race Cars, Razors, & Heat - August 1, 2023

Сайн байцгаана уу!

I've got to say, this has by far been one of the best weeks of my mission so far! We were given so many opportunities to help, serve, meet, teach, and have fun with so many wonderful people! This week also had its own very frustrating moments. And most of those frustrations had to do with the heat. Who would have thought Mongolia could be 100 degrees???

This week we did two service projects. First, we got water for Yanjansuren egch again. Except the first time we went to get her water, the well had closed for a lunch break 10 minutes before we got there. The rest of our day was swamped so we had to reschedule and come back the next day. When we went to get water the first time, we weren't sure what to do since the well was closed and we couldn't wait two hours for it to open again. However, two sweet old guys took our water jugs and started begging the workers for well water for us which was nice of them. They weren't successful, so instead they went to a nearby store and bought us two giant jugs of water and invited us to their home to ride camels, drink alcohol, and sleep in a ger. Sadly we had to decline and tried to get away as they took dozens of pictures of us haha. Thankfully we successfully got water the second time around.

We also had the opportunity to dig the foundation for Erdka's ger on top of a hill yesterday. Erdka picked us up and drove us there and lets just say it was an adventure... He got a new sound system in his car, so we blasted "Mary Did You Know" and outran two cars, who both proceeded to chase us down honking nonstop. And the roads were crazy bumpy so it felt like a thrilling roller coaster car chase!  Also it was 95 degrees outside and as we were hiking to the ger, Sister Stark and I got stung by these really spiky poisonous plants that make our skin bumpy and tinkly for a few hours. Sister Stark had it worse than I did though but we're fine now hehe. Digging the foundation was so tiring but so fun and we made some good progress this time! We also ran into someone while we were working and now she wants to start taking lessons from us so we were so excited!

We went on another fun adventure this week as we tried to visit one member's house. We thought we had the right address so we traveled far only to find out the correct address was in the opposite direction for 12 bus stops. 12 bus stops in Mongolia is A LOT (especially in the city) and we were already so late so we were feeling a little tired and overwhelmed but through it all, I just felt this peace that trying to find the house was what we needed to do. So we hopped on 3 different busses and waited for others and overall, the entire adventure took about 2 hours but we made it! The member lived in the most beautiful area I have ever seen in Mongolia, surrounded by mountains and beautiful huts. Her family was so fun to visit and they were so full of the Spirit. They lowkey reminded me of my family and it was a tender mercy getting the opportunity to spend time with them. They also had a pet turtle so that was pretty awesome. Then we got to drive home during sunset and twilight and I have never seen such a beautiful sight in my life. All the gers and bashins were lit up on the beautiful mountains and everything was so peaceful. Heavenly Father blessed us and I felt His love through that visit.

Last week, we took on some missionaries' English teaching assignments so we got to teach a class of 35 beginner students and it was the most fun English class I've ever taught! It was so stressful but so fun because everyone was so beginner but trying so hard to learn. Many of them were kids who came to class all by themselves to learn too. I loved teaching them and I miss teaching in person English class. I enjoy teaching the online advanced class too of course but there is something so special about seeing and helping people in person. I love teaching English here!

This week, we also visited one of our new members at work. She was so excited to see us that she started inviting everyone in the store she was working at to English class and church. Through that exchange, we gained two new promising investigators! It's amazing the work you can accomplish when you work with and serve the members in the ward. We also found another new investigator through the Elder's investigator who is getting baptized this weekend. This transfer has really strengthened my testimony of ministering to and working with ward members. Through their help, we can branch out and help everyone come unto Christ, which is so amazing to me! 

Other fun stuff:

- The Elders found a lint razor at one member's house and had a blast cleaning their pants mid visit

- We went biking last pday in a beautiful park

- We ate Mexican food today at a cool restaurant! Not bad but I still miss Cafe Rio and Chipotle

- Our power went out twice this week

- Our landlady wanted to take us out to lunch today but we were still in pj's so we went to a bakery in our pj's

- One English student came up to me after class and told me to "fix my Mongolian"... I love my students haha

I wanted to share a scripture I came across in my study of the Book of Mormon this week. In Ether 12, it says:

32 And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent hope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared

It never occurred to me until my mission just how important hope is in God's plan for us. Without hope, how can we accomplish all that He has in store for us? Heavenly Father wants us to look forward with hope because, through hope, we find a determination and a desire to have faith and push forward. I know that if we strengthen our hope in Christ and in His plan for us, we can create that desire we need to keep going in this life. Life is going to become difficult. This past week alone, I was faced with many challenges and difficulties. But through the hope that I had in Christ's grace for me, I felt strengthened by Christ and felt His help and support pushing me forward as I worked this week. I could not have done the things I did this week without Him by my side. I am thankful for this work and for the fulfillment and joy it has brought me. I am thankful for the relationships I have been able to make with so many wonderful people this transfer. I know that Christ lives and that He gives us strength when we need it and turn to Him. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen. I love you all and have a wonderful week! If you have questions for me, asuugaarai (please ask)!

Love,

Sister Potter

Cadence - American Denjies - July 24, 2023

Сайн байцгаана уу! I hope you are all doing well this week! I apologize for forgetting to write again last week but I will catch you all up on our adventures in this email.

To be honest, so many fun things have been happening lately but I have been terrible at writing in my journal so I am forgetting them all. I'll try and summarize some of the highlights I remember though.

First off, Sister Stark and I have hit the ground running trying to catch up in our new area. Like I mentioned before, we both got emergency transfered to this area and had to whitewash it which was a big task. But this is my third time white washing so it wasn't too bad. The only hard part has been the fact that we came to American Denj at the same time as the big Mongolian Summer Festival Naadam, meaning everyone we wanted to meet with was out of town until this past week. We are still pulling teeth trying to meet with some people but on the bright side, we have been able to successfully contact mostly everyone in the ward.

We've had some really awesome member visits recently. Last Friday, we wanted to visit this one really cute emee (grandma) so we called her and set up an appointment for 3, thinking that would give us plenty of time to teach English class at the church at 6. So we found her house at 3, knocked on her door, and low and behold she was not home. Neither of us could understand her very well on the phone either because she likes to talk super fast and loud but we figured she was on her way home. She asked to meet in an hour, so we just went to a nearby park and contacted people for an hour. Then we came back to her apartment and she still wasn't home. We called her and told her we could reschedule the visit because we didn't think we would have time to visit her and get back in time to prep and teach. Then it started pouring rain (like really really really hard) and she called and told us to wait out the rain at her apartment. We waited for her for another 30 minutes, then decided we needed to start heading to the church so we started running in the pouring rain. Then, just as we were about to get on a bus, she called again and asked us where we were. Then this guy popped out of no where and took my phone and started talking to her about where we were (side note: Mongolians are always so helpful and kind so it's completely normal for them to take the phone from you and help you get directions because they know you don't speak Mongolian very well so this wasn't shocking to us haha). Then he gave me back the phone and told us to follow Him. So we chased him in the pouring rain to the next bus stop over and finally found the member we were trying to meet. We were about to tell her again that we didn't have time to meet because we had to teach English in an hour and I don't think she understood us (or cared) because she just started pulling us along and saying "let's go to my house now!". We didn't have the heart to tell her we had to go so we got the Elders to cover English for us. Then, at her house, we had small talk for an hour. Just when we were about to share a spiritual thought with her, she told us we were going to go get water from a well for her. So we traveled a mile away to get her some water which ended up being super fun and super wet haha. Finally, we got back to her house and then she told us she was going to teach us how to make buuz and we spent the next bit of time cooking and eating. We closed off with a spiritual thought and prayer, then waited at the bus stop for an hour to get home. Overall, we spent 5 1/2 hours on this endeavor. It was such a fun experience and I learned that I am really bad at understanding the flow of member visits haha. Also during this adventure, we found blood all over the floor of her apartment's elevator so that was a little concerning.

We did an exchange this past week as well so I got to be companions with one of my young adult friends from Darkhan who just became a missionary this past transfer. We were good friends in Darkhan so it was fun to be actual mission companions for the day. She is just the cutest and she taught me so many fun new words. During that exchange, we visited another cute lady in the ward whom I love with my whole heart. She is so tiny (about 6 inches shorter than me) and just so so funny. We went over to her house and had some fun small talk. Then she made us some rice and meat stuff. She gave us huge helpings of rice and after finishing, she gave us another huge helping of plain rice. Then she gave us a double helping of plain rice each after that. I think all together we ate about 4 whole cups of rice each and we wanted to throw up. Sister Egshiglen was crying and laughing hysterically when she gave us the double helpings. But the sweet emee was just the kindest soul and I felt so lucky to have had the privilege to meet with her.

Also, a mini miracle happened for us at church this week. One of our older investigators came to church and recently we've been struggling to find her some friends in the ward because she's so old. We talked to lots of people and asked them to introduce themselves to her. Then during sacrament, this sweet emee came and sat next to her and they started chatting and long story short, they became besties. The emee convinced our investigator to actually stay for second hour of church (which has never happened before) and then they went home together in the pouring rain arm in arm. It was the cutest thing ever!

Also, we just found a new investigator! The sad thing was that some missionaries in the past had gotten her contact info because she told them she was interested in the church and then they never contacted her again. But because of the power of area book cleaning, other missionaries were able to find her and give her to us to teach. She is such a strong, faithful person already and every lesson we've had with her so far has been filled with the Spirit. I have felt the Holy Ghost so strongly this past week helping me to teach what Heavenly Father wants His children to hear. I have felt that guidance and that strength in my teaching this week and I am thankful for the power and support Heavenly Father has promised His missionaries. I feel so blessed to be here on a mission serving these people!

When we first came to American Denj, we didn't have an English teaching assignment but we were able to pick up one of another group of missionaries' assignments, so now we teach Advanced English online and it is soooo fun! The class always ends up turning into a fun discussion where we spend most of class just listening to the students and learning about their lives. They are so awesome and even though we are online, I feel so close to all our students. From time to time, we also get the chance to teach other classes when the missionaries are busy with other things during teaching nights and those are so fun to! We taught a kids class once this past week and it reminded me of my last area Enkhtaivan which made me a little homesick haha. I love teaching here in Mongolia!

Other fun things that happened this week:

- We played basketball and volleyball at a ward activity (only 5 people showed up but it was still fun)

- We also ran mutual this week and tried to pirate a movie but it didn't work

- It rained a lot this week so Mongolia started flooding again (please pray for Mongolia)

- Because it was raining after church many of the Mongolia emees wore trashbags from the church cleaning supply closet to keep them dry

- The bakery under our apartment finally opened so we get delicious treats all the time now

- We went to a fancy Chinese restaurant after district counsel

- There's a park close by our apartment so Sister Stark and I like to run there every day

- Sometimes we have been playing basketball or Frisbee with our district for exercise time at the park as well because we all live really close

- We had a sleepover with the BZ sisters and I ate watermelon for the first time in 8 months

- Our ward and two others had a combined baptism for a total of six baptisms! It was awesome!

- One of thr girls we baptized in our ward was someone I used to teach in Enkhtaivan so I was her first missionary! It was such a cool experience

This week, I had some really amazing personal studies. Lately I've been feeling very discouraged about my language abilities and at some points, I felt like this discouragement was interfering with my ability to teach by the Spirit. So I was studying a lot recently about how to improve as a missionary when I was impressed to simply open the Book of Mormon to where I was last reading and start studying from there. I started reading in Ether 12 and during my study, I came across verse 27 which struck me very powerfully:

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them

I have read this verse many times before but have never felt the Holy Ghost so strongly while studying it before. This verse humbled me a lot because I realized that I was spending a lot of time comparing my language abilities to others' abilities instead of just focusing on improving through the Lord's help and grace. I think that Heavenly Father's grace is the most precious gift and it is sufficient enough for everyone to receive it. Through the Atonement, we receive God's grace for us. But I know that it is only through Christ that we can improve with the Lord's help. I also really liked verse 4 which says:

4 Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God

I know that through faith in Christ, we can receive hope, which anchors us. This hope lays the foundation for us to lead a fulfilling and good life, full of God's grace and love. I am thankful for the hope that Christ gives me and I know that He is my Savior. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and I know that if we simply ask, we can receive answers to all the questions we have in this life through the Spirit and the scriptures. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love,

Sister Potter

Cadence - Trio Vibes, ET, and Naadam - July 11, 2023

Сайн байцгаана уу!

I'm so sorry I haven't written anything in a while. I'll add the stuff I wrote in my past two emails here and then continue on to this week's news:

Let's just say...this paast week was interesting. We had a lot of scary moments but thankfully the Spirit guided us through all the trials haha. There was one experience in particular I wanted to write about because it strengthened my testimony of the Gift of Tongues and protection of Heavenly Father. The story starts off with Sister Myers and I receiving a Facebook referral. We contacted her and she said she had some questions about Jesus. She wanted to meet right away and our other appointment fell through so we decided to meet her. We waited for her at the church for 2 hours and she kept calling us telling us she was on her way and to just wait patiently. After 2 hours the church building closed so we had to meet her outside. But we aren't allowed to proselyte in public so we called our Elders to come teach her (since one Elder in our ward is Mongolian and allowed to proselyte). They came and we gathered with our Facebook referral (she brought her whole family too) at a playground. Then Elder Unubold started teaching her about Jesus. For some reason throughout the meeting, Sister Myers, Elder Fuller, and I couldn't understand what the lady was saying. I didn't know why we couldn't understand or say anything until I realized that the Spirit was actually protecting us. The lady and her family turned out to be a group of con artists who were trying to frame the church and get money from it. Thankfully we couldn't understand or say anything so we didn't compromise ourselves and Elder Unubold carried the conversation. It was a scary experience because near the end the lady turned hysterical and started wailing about how we offended her husband (we didn't say anything) and then we found out that their son was recording us the whole time so we ran away. The Lord was protecting us though and since then we haven't heard from them since.

That all happened two weeks ago. Now on to what happened last week:

Last week was transfers! And great news! I got to stay another transfers with Sister Myers but now we have a third companion named Sister Stark. She is just the sweetest human being on the planet and I love her so much. We all work really well together and trio vibes are so fun! Sometimes it's weird being in a trio but it still works out great for us. I also became an STL with Sister Myers. We are the only STLs in the city which means we get to do exchanges with people all over the entire city! Yay!

In other fun news, we received a new Preach My Gospel and I was so excited to study it. It has wonderful resources in it about how to strengthen your personal conversion to Christ so I recommend that every member study from it. I love the shifted emphasize on teaching about our baptismal covenants. Our baptismal covenants are so important and by teaching those with more emphasis in our lessons, I think it is helping our investigators understand the importance of staying an active member after they are baptized. They are truly becoming converted to Christ and I can see the shift in PMG teachings helping them. I really love the new PMG.

English class has become soooo small recently but I'm blaming that on the fact that Mongolia's summer holiday Naadam is coming up. Everyone goes to the countryside for Nadam so it's hard to maintain a steady class here which is fine haha. Also, we officially have 5 American missionaries in this area alone which makes it kind of hard to teach English because we all want a turn teaching so we all get 10 minutes to teach haha. But more teachers also means more help for the students one on one which is nice.

Our investigators and new members are doing amazing! All of them are progressing so well and we have high hopes that many investigators will be prepared to be baptized soon. They are also so sweet and so dedicated. One investigator we were teaching was having a hard time keeping commitments and keeping the Sabbath Day holy so we had a lesson on the importance of the Sabbath Day. The next day, she came to church and she even bought a skirt for church. The effort she put in to dedicating herself to the Lord on Sundays was so inspiring to me. I love everyone in my area so much!

Other fun things that happened:

- Some English students saw us waiting for a bus in the rain so they drove us to our destination

- We got soaked in the rain and locked out of our apartment

- We made tacos!

Okay...so that was all a week ago. Now I will write about this week:

So our trio got a call last Wednesday from our mission President saying that a new Mongolian Sister who got called to England didn't get her visa in time so she was reassigned to the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar mission for the time being...meaning she needed a companion. So Sister Myers became her trainer and Sister Stark and I got shipped off to American Denj. Sisters haven't been in American Denj in several years so this was quite shocking news but we were excited! I also became a solo STL in the East zone of the city so it was a lot of new things all at once!

So on Friday, we packed all of our things and headed off to our new home in American Denj. Our move consisted of getting stuck in traffic, getting locked out of the apartment for 2 1/2 hours, waiting for a taxi for 3 hours, and dragging 5 suitcases for what felt like miles. Thankfully we became besties with this one really cute 10 year old kid who helped us hunt down a taxi. It was a tiring adventure for sure. But we made it safe and sound and kicked the elders out of their apartment haha. Also we are in the same ward as the APs (assistants to our mission President) so that can be a lot of pressure sometimes.

For district council this week, we all made a giant American breakfast together and wore our Mongolian traditional clothes. We also learned out to play this fun Mongolian dominoes game together.

Also today was the first day of Naadam, which is a big summer holiday in Mongolia! We all got to wear our deels and Sister Stark and I went to the opening Naadam ceremony this morning. There were tons of shops a markets all over the place and a few parades. Many people were wearing such cool costumes and deels. I bought a new deel last week and today I bought a traditional beaded headband and a poster with my name written in Mongol bichig. While out and about today, two old ladies stopped us and asked to take pics with us which was so fun. Naadam is a holiday celebrating Chingis Khan (Gengis Kan) so we watched a cool ceremony about him and Mongolia as a country. Lots of people were dancing and singing and riding horses and shooting arrows and wrestling. There was so much to see and do! We also ate lots of Mongolian food. The next two days will be a lot like today so it will be harder to get in touch with people and do actual missionary work but it will be fun to connect with people and the culture.

Other fun stuff thar happened this week:

- We dyed a sweet old lady's hair and did her laundry in her ger (hut)

- We dug a foundation out of the side of a mountain for this member who is building a ger there

- We made huushuur with an investigator in her ger for 5 hours yesterday

In my personal study this week, I was studying a lot about become truly converted to Christ and one scripture that I really loved was Omni 1: 26 -

26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved.

I simply love this verse so much! And I know that becoming converted is that simple! All we have to do to offer ourselves to Christ. What does that mean? It means we need to give our Will to Him. When we let Christ lead our lives, we can receive promised strength to endure to the end until the time when we will receive eternal life. Only through turning to Christ can we gain that strength, hope, power, and love. Christ is my redeemer and my Savior. I am thankful for the role that He plays in God's plan for each of us. I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen. Have a wonderful week and I apologize for the long email!

Love,

Sister Potter