Hi Everbody!
This week has been an interesting week especially since it has been filled with many ups and downs usually concerning Mongolian. We taught the third lesson again at the TRC and me and Sister Adams felt that it didn't go very well. No one felt prepared for the lesson since we had so many things going on that week. We had to observe an English class and then teach we then had to host for the new missionaries and so many other things were happening. Me and Sis. Adams had also tried a new way of studying. We tried to just study the vocabulary needed and not write out sentences so that we weren't memorizing a script. So that way we could practice making sentences in our head based on the vocabulary. That is a lot harder than it sounds and by Thursday we were very stressed. So we wrote down some sentences on Thursday and started memorizing.
All the volunteers ended up being male which for some reason is more intimadating since they aren't as nice to us beginners. We ended up teaching someone who teaches English to the Mongolians here. His name is Brother Gaberial. We asked a lot of questions about "how was church?" and "if he had questions from last week's lesson?" but of course we didn't understand anything he said and he had to repeat it a zillion times. Sometimes we just moved on and pretended that we understood. He said something about having to work instead of going to church and we never understood what he was saying about last week's lesson. I think I only understood the work thing was he used alot of hand motions. He asked alot of questions throughout the lesson especially about Repentance. I could only catch a few words of what he said and sometimes I didn't catch anything. I would always have to turn to my companion who caught on quicker and she would answer. I leave for Mongolia in four weeks and I can't even talk to people let alone understand them! In two weeks we are going to talk nothing but Mongolian!! We tried that for an hour and it is sooo hard! I don't know in vocabulary, only gospel vocabulary. I want to try and study other vocabulary more but I'm always preparing for my lesson. And half the time I forget the lesson we just taught because we move onto another lesson. I still have no idea how I'm going to become a returned missionary speaker from my present situation with Mongolian.
Anyways, back to the TRC. Later that night we ran into Bro. Gaberial as his class was out bearing their testimonies. We were outside doing language study. He came and talked to us about how we felt the lesson went. We said that we didn't feel that great about it. He then asked us how we measure our performances or the lessons. I don't remember what we said but he said that it is determined by the presence of the Holy Ghost. He said that as an investigator he could feel that we cared about him and wanted him to understand. He could feel the Spirit as we bore our testimonies in broken Mongolian and when we asked him to pray. It was very uplifting to get some feedback from the investigator. We just need to keep the focus that the investigator is what matters and if they feel the spirit.
We finally had an Apostle come speak at our devotional. We had Richard G. Scott, one of my favorites. He talked about feeling and following the promptings of the spirit. He gave us many examples from his life where following the spirit has saved his life. He also talked about prayer and how we shouldn't take that special privilege to talk to our Heavenly Father for granted. He blessed us as missionaries to have the gift of tongues and that we would be protected while we served. It was wonderful to hear his testimony of the living Christ and that he knows that he lives and loves all of us.
Here are some quotes and scriptures for the week:
"If you have struggles in your life don't, don't ever think that there is something wrong with you. Seeing your weaknesses means that you are moving closer to God" -Gordon B. Hinckley
"Those who bring sunshine to others cannot keep it from themselves"
"If you ever have negative feelings towards anyone try to remember their testimonies and their love for the Savior." -my district leader, Elder Burns
The Church is true and keep the faith!
Sister Sumsion
Friday, August 28
Tuesday, August 25
Half Way Through the MTC!
Hi everybody!
This week has been great! We started our English teaching training. In Mongolia, in order to obtain a visa, the missionaries have to teach english 12 hours a week. So this week we got about four hours of training and observed some of the ESL classes. The teacher in the class then assigned us a topic to teach the class. In the class we are in, (me, my companion and two other sisters) there were four Elders, one from Chile, one from the Marshal Islands, one from Honduras and one from Mainland China. So the Elders got a lot of one on one time practicing with us. I was paired up with the Chinese Elder and I asked about him how he joined the church. He said, in is very broken English, that a cousin introduced him to the church and he travelled to Hong Kong to be baptized. He has been a member for two years and his parents are not members. There are 10 people that are members in a small southern town in China. I was amazed that there are any members in China. He said that they don't have any church buildings but they meet at someone's house to have sacrament. Someday that mission will open up and it will be amazing! He is going to England on his mission. We taught the elders this week how to bear their testimonies in English and it was a great experience. I'm excited to teach English in Mongolia.
So this week at the RC our district set a goal to get 7 referrals, so to send missionaries to someone's house. Usually we have a hard time getting people to pick up there phones and we usually just get answering machines. But today we had a ton of inbound calls! When we got to the RC, the teacher who helps us out told us to hurry and get on the phone because inbound calls were coming in like crazy! Almost everyone calling was wanting a free Bible, so some of our Bible commercials must of been playing. After an 1 1/2 we had 41 referrals!! I don't know how we did it but it was a wonderful experience. I think we have become bolder in what we say and in bearing our testimonies of the church to people.
I talked to one lady who called in for a bible. After getting her information I asked her what prompted her to get a bible. Usually they just say, "I say the commercial and I need a new one." But this 50 year old lady said that her grandmother had died two years ago and it had really humbled her. She was now going back to God. Before I finish the story, I had told myself that I would ask or say anything that popped into my head because I always had a hard time thinking of things to say that's why I think I'm shy. So the first thought that popped into my head was to ask her if she misses her Grandma. I was a little afraid of asking that question because it sounds nosy but I asked it anyway. The lady said that she missed her grandmother so much and that she was really close to her. It was really hard on her to lose her grandma. I then testified to her how we believe that families can be together forever after death. I then asked her how that would make her feel if that was possible. She said that that would be wonderful! She loved her grandma and would love to see her again and live with her forever. I then mentioned the BofM and how it testifies of Jesus Christ and how it is companions with the Bible. I asked her if she would be interested. She said that she would love to learn more about different religions. I told her that missionaries in her area can come drop the Bible off, give her a Book of Mormon and tell her all about how families can be together forever. She seemed really excited and appriecative about it. It was wonderful to have that experience and to learn more about how to ask good questions and to listen to the promptings of the spirit. But I also talked to some really nice people who were really religious and seemed like they would be golden contacts but they weren't interested at the time. They told me that they could be interested in a few months.
Some funny translations from Mongolian is sugar. If it is directly translated from Monglian it means "Sandy Candy". If box is directly translated from Monglian it means "Love time". That made sense to us missionaries because we love our packages!
We had a great experience teaching at the TRC this week. We had so many volunteers that they had to pair up. I taught the girl I met at the capital when I went up there to help the Mongolian deligation. At one point I said in Mongolian, "We do remember the pre-mortal life." They played around with us and said "You remember the pre-mortal life because we don't." I then realized my mistake and corrected how I conjucated the verb. It was quite funny. But they asked a lot of questions and made it seem really real.
Sister Marta just graduated and is no longer teaching us. Sad day!
The church is true!
Sister Sumsion
This week has been great! We started our English teaching training. In Mongolia, in order to obtain a visa, the missionaries have to teach english 12 hours a week. So this week we got about four hours of training and observed some of the ESL classes. The teacher in the class then assigned us a topic to teach the class. In the class we are in, (me, my companion and two other sisters) there were four Elders, one from Chile, one from the Marshal Islands, one from Honduras and one from Mainland China. So the Elders got a lot of one on one time practicing with us. I was paired up with the Chinese Elder and I asked about him how he joined the church. He said, in is very broken English, that a cousin introduced him to the church and he travelled to Hong Kong to be baptized. He has been a member for two years and his parents are not members. There are 10 people that are members in a small southern town in China. I was amazed that there are any members in China. He said that they don't have any church buildings but they meet at someone's house to have sacrament. Someday that mission will open up and it will be amazing! He is going to England on his mission. We taught the elders this week how to bear their testimonies in English and it was a great experience. I'm excited to teach English in Mongolia.
So this week at the RC our district set a goal to get 7 referrals, so to send missionaries to someone's house. Usually we have a hard time getting people to pick up there phones and we usually just get answering machines. But today we had a ton of inbound calls! When we got to the RC, the teacher who helps us out told us to hurry and get on the phone because inbound calls were coming in like crazy! Almost everyone calling was wanting a free Bible, so some of our Bible commercials must of been playing. After an 1 1/2 we had 41 referrals!! I don't know how we did it but it was a wonderful experience. I think we have become bolder in what we say and in bearing our testimonies of the church to people.
I talked to one lady who called in for a bible. After getting her information I asked her what prompted her to get a bible. Usually they just say, "I say the commercial and I need a new one." But this 50 year old lady said that her grandmother had died two years ago and it had really humbled her. She was now going back to God. Before I finish the story, I had told myself that I would ask or say anything that popped into my head because I always had a hard time thinking of things to say that's why I think I'm shy. So the first thought that popped into my head was to ask her if she misses her Grandma. I was a little afraid of asking that question because it sounds nosy but I asked it anyway. The lady said that she missed her grandmother so much and that she was really close to her. It was really hard on her to lose her grandma. I then testified to her how we believe that families can be together forever after death. I then asked her how that would make her feel if that was possible. She said that that would be wonderful! She loved her grandma and would love to see her again and live with her forever. I then mentioned the BofM and how it testifies of Jesus Christ and how it is companions with the Bible. I asked her if she would be interested. She said that she would love to learn more about different religions. I told her that missionaries in her area can come drop the Bible off, give her a Book of Mormon and tell her all about how families can be together forever. She seemed really excited and appriecative about it. It was wonderful to have that experience and to learn more about how to ask good questions and to listen to the promptings of the spirit. But I also talked to some really nice people who were really religious and seemed like they would be golden contacts but they weren't interested at the time. They told me that they could be interested in a few months.
Some funny translations from Mongolian is sugar. If it is directly translated from Monglian it means "Sandy Candy". If box is directly translated from Monglian it means "Love time". That made sense to us missionaries because we love our packages!
We had a great experience teaching at the TRC this week. We had so many volunteers that they had to pair up. I taught the girl I met at the capital when I went up there to help the Mongolian deligation. At one point I said in Mongolian, "We do remember the pre-mortal life." They played around with us and said "You remember the pre-mortal life because we don't." I then realized my mistake and corrected how I conjucated the verb. It was quite funny. But they asked a lot of questions and made it seem really real.
Sister Marta just graduated and is no longer teaching us. Sad day!
The church is true!
Sister Sumsion
Thursday, August 13
Amber's 5th Week in MTC - I'm so excited to go to Mongolia!
Hi everybody!
This week has been really good especially when we taught the second lesson again at the TRC. We had switched sections from the week before so we had to use new vocabulary and learn different gospel subjects. This week me and my companion decided to focus more on the investigator, even though they were returned missionaries. We decided to try and make it as really as an experience as possible. So we prepared scriptures and questions that we could ask. We also resolved to bear testimony throughout the whole lesson. I also resolved to change my attitude about it and not think about my lack of language ability and to focus on the needs of the investigator. So before we started teaching we asked her about the first lesson and if she had any questions and then if she had read 3 Nephi 11 which we had committed to her to read. She started asking us questions which made it seem more like we were really teaching someone. But she had to talk slowly and had to do a little hand motions to help us figure out what she was saying in Mongolian. After we figured out what she was saying we wanted so badly to answer her but our language skills are lacking. We comminicated with her in our broken Mongolian. We taught her the lesson and her read scriptures that applied and then we would ask her if she understood, even though we knew if she had questions we would have to work really hard to understand. That lesson was an amazing experience! We could feel the Spirit even though we were slow in speaking and our language skills were poor. It comes to show that the investigator is the real focus of your work.
So Brother Cannon, our teacher, on vacation this past week to Mongolia. He came back with stories about the work there and the mission, and the mission president. It made our class so excited to go! We learned that we can openly say that we are missionaries so we don't have to wait for someone to ask us what we do. There are five companionships that are tracting everyday to see how it goes and the mission president has found that it has been really successful. The mission president has three programs: 10 contacts a day-where we will share a short message with someone on the street and ask if we can teach more, and then inviting the investigators and members to share the gospel with people they know and then each companionship is given five inactive families to visit everyweek. Because of that inactive families who are visited 300-500 more members have been coming to church. Also, over the past few years there has been 500-800 baptisms a year. There is at least one baptism every weekend at each baptismal font available. They predict that in 7 years there will be a temple. There are six American sisters there, so we are going to double it! Some other interesting facts are that 98% of Mongolian people can read and write. Mongolian women are very career oriented and very educated. My mongolian teacher (a woman) says that the Mongolian women are carrying Mongolia.
So all the stories that Brother Cannon was telling us was making us so excited! The only thing that scares me is the language. I know I won't be prepared when it comes for us to leave and I feel that I will struggle with the language in Mongolia. The grammar is pretty simple after you get use to the sentence structure but the pronounciation is the killer! I have a heard time speaking English somedays. I'm afraid that my quiet nature will keep me from speaking because I will say it wrong. It's going to be a goal of mine and my companion and Sister Marta have been very supportive and willing to help me overcome that weakness.
Quote of the day:
Neal A. Maxwell- "The more we adjust to this world, the less we are adjusted for the next world."
Scripture: Mosiah 7:33
The church is true and keep the faith!
Sister Sumsion
This week has been really good especially when we taught the second lesson again at the TRC. We had switched sections from the week before so we had to use new vocabulary and learn different gospel subjects. This week me and my companion decided to focus more on the investigator, even though they were returned missionaries. We decided to try and make it as really as an experience as possible. So we prepared scriptures and questions that we could ask. We also resolved to bear testimony throughout the whole lesson. I also resolved to change my attitude about it and not think about my lack of language ability and to focus on the needs of the investigator. So before we started teaching we asked her about the first lesson and if she had any questions and then if she had read 3 Nephi 11 which we had committed to her to read. She started asking us questions which made it seem more like we were really teaching someone. But she had to talk slowly and had to do a little hand motions to help us figure out what she was saying in Mongolian. After we figured out what she was saying we wanted so badly to answer her but our language skills are lacking. We comminicated with her in our broken Mongolian. We taught her the lesson and her read scriptures that applied and then we would ask her if she understood, even though we knew if she had questions we would have to work really hard to understand. That lesson was an amazing experience! We could feel the Spirit even though we were slow in speaking and our language skills were poor. It comes to show that the investigator is the real focus of your work.
So Brother Cannon, our teacher, on vacation this past week to Mongolia. He came back with stories about the work there and the mission, and the mission president. It made our class so excited to go! We learned that we can openly say that we are missionaries so we don't have to wait for someone to ask us what we do. There are five companionships that are tracting everyday to see how it goes and the mission president has found that it has been really successful. The mission president has three programs: 10 contacts a day-where we will share a short message with someone on the street and ask if we can teach more, and then inviting the investigators and members to share the gospel with people they know and then each companionship is given five inactive families to visit everyweek. Because of that inactive families who are visited 300-500 more members have been coming to church. Also, over the past few years there has been 500-800 baptisms a year. There is at least one baptism every weekend at each baptismal font available. They predict that in 7 years there will be a temple. There are six American sisters there, so we are going to double it! Some other interesting facts are that 98% of Mongolian people can read and write. Mongolian women are very career oriented and very educated. My mongolian teacher (a woman) says that the Mongolian women are carrying Mongolia.
So all the stories that Brother Cannon was telling us was making us so excited! The only thing that scares me is the language. I know I won't be prepared when it comes for us to leave and I feel that I will struggle with the language in Mongolia. The grammar is pretty simple after you get use to the sentence structure but the pronounciation is the killer! I have a heard time speaking English somedays. I'm afraid that my quiet nature will keep me from speaking because I will say it wrong. It's going to be a goal of mine and my companion and Sister Marta have been very supportive and willing to help me overcome that weakness.
Quote of the day:
Neal A. Maxwell- "The more we adjust to this world, the less we are adjusted for the next world."
Scripture: Mosiah 7:33
The church is true and keep the faith!
Sister Sumsion
Tuesday, August 11
1 Month - Mongolian is killing me!
Hi!!!
I can't believe that I've been here a month already. It feels like I've been here forever but then it feels like I just barely got here. We're starting to feel like the oldies of the MTC. Everytime we see new missionaries we think that they so cute. We say, "Oh, how cute the newbies!!" And then we smile at how lost they look there because we felt the same way.
This week has been going pretty well. Last Friday we taught in Mongolian to a volunteer. It was tough and not pretty. We spoke in primary langauge which made us feel quite foolish because our vocabulary is really limited. It was really slow going too. Me and my companion didn't even get through the entire lesson in 30 minutes, that's how slow it was. Memorizing and speeching the language is very difficult since the alphabet isn't even close to the english language so you can't really accociate mongolian words with english words.
This week at the RC was an amazing experience!!! Our district goal was to get 8 referrals in 1hr 45 minutes. Which means we send missionaries to someone's house. My goal was to bear testimony to at least five people. I also asked the Lord to let me get at least one referral during the time I was at the MTC. The Lord pleased me five minutes later with an inbound call from a man who saw one of the Church's commercials. He was calling to order a free Bible but he really wanted to talk about finding happiness in this life. The man sounded really depressed and was on the verge of tears while I was talking to him. I told him that God loved him and was mindful of his trials and tribulations. I told him that since Christ suffered and felt our pains he knows exactly what we are going through. I told him that this gospel has brought me happiness and peace during my times of need.
I asked him if he wanted the missionaries to come to his house, deliver the Bible and teach him about becoming happier. He thanked me while holding back tears. I prayed so hard last night that the missionaries will be able to get a hold of him and to help this man. I'm so grateful for being born into this gospel and for the joy it brings me.
So that was one referral and then the Lord blessed me again. I was making outbound calls and seeing if people had received their orders. Before I started, I decided to be creative when talking to people so it didn't sound like a script. I chose a scripture (Alma 7:11-12) and decided to read that to people who had ordered the Bible. People who order the Bible aren't really interested in the gospel they just want the free Bible. So I decided to read that scripture and try to get them to accept the Book of Mormon. Well, after figuring out a plan I started calling people. A called a lady in Ohio who had ordered the Bible. I asked her if she had received it and she said, "YES! I love the Bible." Not to sterotype but it was a nice, black woman. I then asked her if I could share a short message about Christ and to read her a scripture. I didn't tell her where the scripture was from until after reading it and then I bore my testimony of Christ and his Atonement. I asked her if she had heard of the BofM. She said that she had. But she didn't sound like she held anything against it. So I asked her if she would like a copy. She said, "Sure, I like learning about other religions." I asked her if she would like the missionaries to bring her a copy and share a message about Christ with her. She tried to give me an excuse of "I have four dogs and they don't like strangers." I wasn't going to let her get away that easily. So I said, "Well, we can send them over anyway and see if the dogs like the Elders." I know, it was pretty lame. But she said okay. It was really easy to talk to her and I didn't feel like a saleman but a friend talking to her over the phone. She talked about some missionaries she had met a few years ago. I asked, "Were they nice to you?" "Oh, yes, very nice." she said. "Good, they better be." We talked for a few more minutes before we hung up. Man, I felt so good!! I had boldly bore my testimony and boldly extended her an invitation. I felt so grateful for the Lord once again. I love being apart of missionary work!
My teacher Sister Marta from Mongolia is very blunt which is good for me. The class was doing individual interviews with her about how we were doing. Me and her talked about me being more quite in class and how I was trying to get over it because it is really hard to teach people the gospel when you won't speak to them. She asked me to try to extend myself in gospel discussions and during Monoglian class. Well, we went back to the class and started to do a short lesson from PMG. Usually she asks for thoughts and feelings about the lesson she shares but usually she controls the lesson so she bears her testimony and shares experiences. But this day, we read the section from PMG and then she said. "Sister Sumsion is going to lead our discussion today." My head popped up from what I was reading. Man, she doesn't lose anytime trying to get me to speak more. The sisters said I handled it beautifully but I felt a little uncomfortable but not too nervous. I'm so grateful for her and her diligence to make me better. If she keeps this up then I'll be talking to the whole world when I come back from my mission.
The church is true and remember to keep the faith.
Love, Sister Sumsion
I can't believe that I've been here a month already. It feels like I've been here forever but then it feels like I just barely got here. We're starting to feel like the oldies of the MTC. Everytime we see new missionaries we think that they so cute. We say, "Oh, how cute the newbies!!" And then we smile at how lost they look there because we felt the same way.
This week has been going pretty well. Last Friday we taught in Mongolian to a volunteer. It was tough and not pretty. We spoke in primary langauge which made us feel quite foolish because our vocabulary is really limited. It was really slow going too. Me and my companion didn't even get through the entire lesson in 30 minutes, that's how slow it was. Memorizing and speeching the language is very difficult since the alphabet isn't even close to the english language so you can't really accociate mongolian words with english words.
This week at the RC was an amazing experience!!! Our district goal was to get 8 referrals in 1hr 45 minutes. Which means we send missionaries to someone's house. My goal was to bear testimony to at least five people. I also asked the Lord to let me get at least one referral during the time I was at the MTC. The Lord pleased me five minutes later with an inbound call from a man who saw one of the Church's commercials. He was calling to order a free Bible but he really wanted to talk about finding happiness in this life. The man sounded really depressed and was on the verge of tears while I was talking to him. I told him that God loved him and was mindful of his trials and tribulations. I told him that since Christ suffered and felt our pains he knows exactly what we are going through. I told him that this gospel has brought me happiness and peace during my times of need.
I asked him if he wanted the missionaries to come to his house, deliver the Bible and teach him about becoming happier. He thanked me while holding back tears. I prayed so hard last night that the missionaries will be able to get a hold of him and to help this man. I'm so grateful for being born into this gospel and for the joy it brings me.
So that was one referral and then the Lord blessed me again. I was making outbound calls and seeing if people had received their orders. Before I started, I decided to be creative when talking to people so it didn't sound like a script. I chose a scripture (Alma 7:11-12) and decided to read that to people who had ordered the Bible. People who order the Bible aren't really interested in the gospel they just want the free Bible. So I decided to read that scripture and try to get them to accept the Book of Mormon. Well, after figuring out a plan I started calling people. A called a lady in Ohio who had ordered the Bible. I asked her if she had received it and she said, "YES! I love the Bible." Not to sterotype but it was a nice, black woman. I then asked her if I could share a short message about Christ and to read her a scripture. I didn't tell her where the scripture was from until after reading it and then I bore my testimony of Christ and his Atonement. I asked her if she had heard of the BofM. She said that she had. But she didn't sound like she held anything against it. So I asked her if she would like a copy. She said, "Sure, I like learning about other religions." I asked her if she would like the missionaries to bring her a copy and share a message about Christ with her. She tried to give me an excuse of "I have four dogs and they don't like strangers." I wasn't going to let her get away that easily. So I said, "Well, we can send them over anyway and see if the dogs like the Elders." I know, it was pretty lame. But she said okay. It was really easy to talk to her and I didn't feel like a saleman but a friend talking to her over the phone. She talked about some missionaries she had met a few years ago. I asked, "Were they nice to you?" "Oh, yes, very nice." she said. "Good, they better be." We talked for a few more minutes before we hung up. Man, I felt so good!! I had boldly bore my testimony and boldly extended her an invitation. I felt so grateful for the Lord once again. I love being apart of missionary work!
My teacher Sister Marta from Mongolia is very blunt which is good for me. The class was doing individual interviews with her about how we were doing. Me and her talked about me being more quite in class and how I was trying to get over it because it is really hard to teach people the gospel when you won't speak to them. She asked me to try to extend myself in gospel discussions and during Monoglian class. Well, we went back to the class and started to do a short lesson from PMG. Usually she asks for thoughts and feelings about the lesson she shares but usually she controls the lesson so she bears her testimony and shares experiences. But this day, we read the section from PMG and then she said. "Sister Sumsion is going to lead our discussion today." My head popped up from what I was reading. Man, she doesn't lose anytime trying to get me to speak more. The sisters said I handled it beautifully but I felt a little uncomfortable but not too nervous. I'm so grateful for her and her diligence to make me better. If she keeps this up then I'll be talking to the whole world when I come back from my mission.
The church is true and remember to keep the faith.
Love, Sister Sumsion
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