My stories as a Sister Missionary serving in Mongolia.
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Email Address: amy.royal@myldsmail.net
Sister Amy Royal
5th Fl, LDS Church Bldg, Tokyo Stree 6
Bayanzurkh District, 1st Khoroo
Ulaanbaantar
13381
Mongolia

Friday, June 27, 2014

A Blessing in Disguise


June 27, 2014

Hi All

First off, I can’t believe Kevin is so tall! That is not cool! Kevin, stop becoming a man okay? Just hold out until I get home and then you can start growing again. The same goes with Mitty. He better still be a puppy when I get back! hahaha.
So, this week has been a crazy one! We got a new sister in our branch who has kinda been moved around from place to place. She came here a month ago from some small island next to Fiji. She was originally supposed to go to the Philippines, but she got really sick here. The doctors this week just told her that she has leprosy. That’s right. Like in the bible times. It so hard on her because she can’t go to any mission in her condition but, she is too sick to go home. Plus, she wouldn’t have the medical care at home that she needs. So, this whole week, since she got moved into our branch, I have been sitting with her and making sure that she isn’t alone. At first, I felt like it was such a burden. I’m sorry to say it, but I was being so selfish. All I could think about was "I can’t believe she is making me miss my Mongolian class for this" or "why don’t they just send her home". But as the week went on, and I witnessed how much pain she is in and yet how happy and optimistic she is, I was truly humbled. As she told me her conversion story, I realized that things were actually the other way around. Was I sacrificing class time to be with her? Yes. But I was certainly not missing out on anything. I have seen the blessings of heaven poured out on me. I have not skipped a beat with learning Mongolian. I use that time to study the scriptures and Mongolian and I understand it! And I am so blessed and humbled to get to spend time with such a worthy and dedicated missionary. She is so strong and I hope one day I can be more like her. On that note, I have a request for you mom. She has to spend most of her time in her room. She is isolated there and she is in pain most of the time. Her family is very poor and sending her things is out of the question, I am sure. So, I was wondering if you could get a little care package together for her? She says she loves candy and fruit. But no chocolate. She could probably benefit from some time wasting activities? I’m not really sure. haha like puzzles or coloring books. Is that dumb? haha I don’t know. Mom, if you could do that, I would be so grateful! But I already know that you are always so willing to serve! Let me know what you think. Her name is Sister Teirua, but you can just send it to me ;)  
So this week was a special week because all of the new Mission Presidents were here for training, which meant that all of the apostles and the prophet were here also! There was security everywhere all week and buildings were closed at random times during the day. But the upside to that was that we had great speakers for devotional! I kept hoping that the prophet would speak, but alas, I never got to see him. haha But elder Christofferson spoke to us and he was so powerful. You can just feel the spirit and power of the Lord fill the room when he walked in. He talked about the greatest thing we can do as missionaries and as people is to love. Love everyone and everything. We are never just talking to ordinary people. Our investigators aren’t just robots that are disguised as a baptismal number. They are the children of our Heavenly Father and he loves them. I am always so humbled by the trust the Lord has in me to go and be his hands and his heart out in Mongolia. Elder Christoffersen said something that hit me. He said, "The amount of trust that we have in the Lord can only ever be match by the amount of trust he has in us. Let us not disappoint Him". It is so true! Think of how much trust he puts in us each and every day! We have the freedom to choose everyday. So, let us all trust him as much as he trusts in us. He is there for all of us :) 
Finally, this week we started learning Mongolian sign language as well as continuing our language training and ESL training. So, I guess there is a large community of deaf people in Mongolia because of the vaccinations they gave everyone when they are babies. They just gave one big shot to everyone and it wasn’t very accurate and so there is a whole generation of deaf people. So it is very very likely that we will at some point teach a deaf investigator or even be called as a sign language missionary for a while. Sometimes, I feel like they are going to keep giving us new things to learn each week.... haha I get overwhelmed a lot. There is a lot that is expected of us as these young representatives of the Lord. But I know we can do it! I’ve already been blessed sooooo much! And the missionaries in my district are awesome! The elders are so young 19 and 20, but they are soooo mature. And us sisters are just awesome anyways ;) Well, I think that is all for this week! I love you all so much! Trust in your Heavenly Father. He will help and guide you if you ask! Have a good week and know that I love you all!

You da best! 

Love always, 
Sister Royal 

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