"...Don't forget about the Mongolian Sisters"

My Dearest Family and Friends,

 

I suppose I will start out with the story that inspired the subject of this email. On Tuesday night, our sister training leaders finally stopped by to meet Sister Ackley and I. No, they're not new, they just finally realized that we exist! On Wednesday night they stopped by the classroom and invited us to come to a Sister meeting later that night. After the opening prayer, the meeting began something like this. "Our first item of business is to remind you all that there are two Mongolian Sisters in our zone. Don't forget about the Mongolians!" The funniest part about this entire experience is that we have been here longer than they have. It was slightly awkward in the moment, but since the meeting they have all been very friendly--something we have not experienced before. We're still getting used to all of the Polynesian love!

 

Since last Sunday was Fast Sunday we got to experience something new--mission conference. Mission conference is similar to stake conference. It was two hours long, and the MTC presidency and their wives were the main speakers. There were a couple of key ideas that stood out to me. 1) "We are all children of God. This knowledge brings a love that is greater than all negative thoughts." I have been trying to remember this principle in my daily interactions with my district, zone, teachers, and fellow missionaries. 2) As missionaries we are called to "rescue" people. Our Savior Jesus Christ has "rescued" all of us through the atonement, and it is now our job to share that knowledge and "rescue" others.

 

Mongolian is coming along well. This week we started a game called "Real Mongolian." The purpose of the game is to get us to speak Mongolian as much as possible throughout the day. Each night we vote, and receive points accordingly. Last night I took the lead--not that I'm becoming slightly competitive and was secretly thrilled at this, or anything! :) Yesterday, I had several "light bulb" moments during class. Things are finally clicking in my mind which makes me feel good. Sister Ackley and I continue to use few notes in our lessons. The Elders (one in particular) continue to wonder how we can give 20-30 minute lessons without them. We may not use complex sentences like Preach My Gospel, but we've found that we know a lot of words and we can easily create simple sentences without notes. This week we also started learning the Mongolian National Anthem. I love it! I strongly encourage you all to look it up on YouTube. Type in "Mongolian National Anthem" and watch the one with the little kids. We sing it everywhere gym, the shower, our residence hall, outside, inside. You get the idea. The tune is very catchy, and I feel extremely Mongolian when I sing it!

 

I have had several requests for the MTC menu on a typical day. I recorded this on Wednesday, which slightly screws up the results because it is an ice cream day, but you'll get the idea!!

Breakfast: French toast sticks, Cream of Wheat, fruit, Chocolate Milk (I usually eat a bagel, and hot cereal. The only time I eat anything different is when french toast is available!)

Lunch: Cheese Manacoti, and a mixed vegetable blend. ICE CREAM!!

Dinner: Steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, roll, and a salad. ICE CREAM!!

 

This week we got a new District Leader: Elder Clement. Also, I have been deemed the district "scriptorian." I've never really noticed this before, but I am very good at remembering scriptures references. Elder Hayter always used to ask, "Where is the scripture...?" Now he specifically asks me, since I'm the only one that ever answered him anway. He is always very impressed with my knowledge and this week he even asked me if I sat down for hours and memorized scripture references. Not that I remember.... Kind of funny though. We have been enjoying the great outdoors during gym time. We walk across the street to the field, and for some reason it's usually just our district that shows up at our assigned time. Kind of nice, but it's difficult to play volleyball with just five of us. We heard that this is the week we will begin our ESL training. I'm not sure how that will work exactly, but it's good that we're finally beginning that. Time is flying by, and we'll be in Mongolia before we know it. Still no news on our visas, but they usually don't tell you ahead of time if they have arrived or not. We continue to pray that everything works out as planned!

 

I love you all!

 

Sister Magleby