Almost Halfway

Today is day 24 @ the MTC! It is so weird to think that I have been here over 3 weeks now! Tuesday will be our halfway mark in the MTC... then it's all downhill from there... except not. The MTC is great! It's fun to meet missionaries from all over the world doing the same thing I am! I've also been learning all kinds of phrases in different languages. It's great to have a set schedule with so much time to learn and grow as a person and as a missionary, although I'm done with MTC food!

Saturday, we taught at the TRC for the first time. It was such a cool experience! The Mongolian TRC is very different from the English TRC. In the Mongolian TRC, they aren't role-playing, they are just being themselves. It is more for practice talking in Mongolian than teaching in Mongolian. We get assigned a room, and we don't know who we will be talking with. Our first room was a Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission RM (return missionary) named Isaac. He was very nice and helped us out if we couldn't think of the words or the phrasing. We talked about where he was from (Wilsonville!!!!! what a small world!), where he's studying, his mission, our favorite scriptures, and we bore our testimonies in Mongolian. We were nervous, but the 20 minutes flew by! After Isaac, we went to a different room where we talked with Josh who is also a Mongolia RM! At this point, I was more comfortable, so we were able to just chat and the words seemed to flow. We shared scriptures, and chatted about life, and so on! It was so amazing! #thoughtididntknowmongolian #butido

Sunday was our first normal Sunday here (we had fast Sunday and then general conference). Missionaries come prepared to speak a 5 minute talk on a designated topic. They will announce two speakers from the pulpit, and they are followed by a visiting. Sunday was about Faith in Jesus Christ. The branch president stands up to announce the speakers, and of course I was the first one. I honestly don't remember much of what I said, but I know that I shared some thoughts from Hebrews 11 (that chapter talks about the faith ancient people in the scriptures had), and bore my testimony in Mongolian.

BYU Men's Chorus came and performed on Sunday! They were so great! They did some awesome numbers! After they finished, I got to talk to some friends from my old ward that are in it, so that made my day! #shoutoutto171and172wards

We have taught a few more lessons to our progressing investigators, Choka and HapaaHbaaTap (naranbatar in english), and it is going great. I made a goal to not bring written out sentences into lessons, so all I take is a note card with some words, and a note card with our plan... then I put it together myself. Overall, I think I can say what I need to say and they understand. The spirit is strong and we are really good at bearing our testimonies in Mongolian, so thats good. I've also started only saying my prayers in Mongolian, it is so powerful! There is something about praying in this language that just speaks to my heart... if that makes sense.

Elder Zwick of the 70  and his wife spoke on Tuesday, and they said so much that I just loved!!!! It is so special being able to learn from General authorities on a weekly basis here at the MTC. We are so incredibly lucky! Also, it SNOWED on Wednesday... and for real! What is that about?! It is the middle of April!

This week, our district started a wall of no return. We write English words on sticky notes if we know them in Mongolian and put them on the wall. We can no longer say these words, and if we do then we have to carry this big heavy rock we found. It's been a good way to transition and to watch what we are saying. It's definitely gotten a lot of attention around the MTC though. Everyone asks us why in the world are we carrying around a big rock... and then we try and explain, but a lot of the words we want to use we can't say anymore, so that makes things difficult, haha.

Our beloved Mongolian sister left this week for her mission :( BUT, we also got a new sister from Mongolia in our branch, and we are getting another one next week!!!! It's so fun to get to know these girls and talk to them in Mongolian and about Mongolia! I seriously love this people and the language!

I am constantly amazed by how much I am learning. I love my companion and my district and my branch! Our teachers are fantastic! Life is great! I love being a missionary and I love this Gospel!!

All the missionaries going to Mongolia

Temple walk is the best!

Snow in April?

My desk in my room.