Week 4: Та бол тагтаа

Hey everybody! This week has been great even though things are starting to become repetitive. But there's always something new if you look hard enough for it. Ours happened to be a devotional with Elder Holland which was amazing. But first let me start off with Friday. 

Friday was by far not one of my best days here at the MTC. We had class at 8:30 and I was so tired. I didn't talk at all during class and struggled to stay awake and learn the language. I'm pretty sure my teacher noticed because she had us take a break and run around. I definitely woke up more after that and the day went on a lot better. The next day was amazing. Elder Scrimsher and I were teaching our fake investigator and the lesson was surprisingly going very well. We were actually understanding her a little bit and we served her by "getting her water from the well." When we finished our lesson, she sat us down and asked us how well we think we did. We told her we thought we did pretty well and she surprised us by saying that this was the best lesson we had taught so far. My companion and I felt so proud and made sure to thank Heavenly Father. He had definitely helped us with the language and the spirit. I now try to make every lesson similar to that one and even better. 

So each week we plan the following week and when I got to planning this previous Sunday, I realized it was my mom's birthday. So I want to give a shout out to my mom and hope you had a great birthday! I'm so glad that you're my mom! And on top of that, Elder Scrimsher and I taught a lesson in district meeting on the Christlike Attributes. It was such a neat lesson and I learned so much about Christ. As a district we have a Christlike attribute that we focus on and this week has been obedience. It has definitely been a hard one with going to bed on time but we have made it a special effort and have seen progress. Then later that night Elder Scrimsher, Elder Rife, and I watched the Character of Christ by Elder Bednar. It was super nice to hear it again and afterwards the three of us popped open some apple cider and had a little goodbye party for Elder Rife because he was leaving the next morning. And that next day was hard because Elder Rife and I had become close friends and I hope I can see him after our missions. But it got better because later that day our teacher decided to teach us cursive in Mongolian and we all learned how to sign our names. They look so cool and I'm definitely going to be using it in the future. Then on Wednesday we had TRC and welcomed in the new missionaries. TRC is when volunteers come into the MTC and you teach them a twenty minute lesson. Our lesson went well and it was nice because they taught us some more Mongolian afterwards. After that we welcomed in the new elders and sisters into our district and I happened to see Elder Bedont and Elder Herrod. I'll have to send some pictures with them later. 

So the highlight of my week by far was having Elder Holland come Tuesday night and speaking at the devotional. He taught a lot on us being the missionaries that we are expected to be. He told us to give 24/24 months on our mission and not 12/24. But the thing that hit me the most is when he told us that the church perceives us as perfect. He told a story of how a teacher asked the people in his class who they thought was perfect. Everyone of course said Jesus Christ, but one also mentioned the missionaries. Elder Holland being himself, slammed the hammer down on us to never ruin that image. He told us how frustrated he gets with missionaries when they fall away from the church after their missions and then gets frustrated with himself  because he wonders what more he could have done. It was really touching to see how much he cares about us and it just makes me want to become and even better missionary. 

It's so hard when you are welcoming in new elders and realize that they go out into the mission field before you do. It's also really hard when you have a hard day with the language, are distracted, don't feel the spirit as strongly as you wan't, and are just struggling. But then you see that one tender mercy. That one blessing. That one small miracle that you think wouldn't happen and all of a sudden you feel like you're on fire. The spirit is as strong as ever, you can actually understand parts of the language, and you feel like nothing can stop you. I'm grateful when Heavenly Father gives me those days. But I've also learned to be grateful for the days that are horrible because those are the days that help me learn and grow. Those are the days that really change me. And if I let them change me, I will become the missionary and individual that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want me to be. I love this gospel and know that it is true. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that if you pray to God and ask if it is true, then He will give you an answer. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for our sins and died on the cross so we can return back with Him to Heavenly Father. I know that Joseph Smith did see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and restored His church on the earth. I know that Heavenly Father put us here on earth to learn and grow, but to also make us happy.

I love all of you and hope you all had a great week. Good luck with this upcoming one, too.

This is your Mighty Mongol reporting at the MTC,

Elder Ogden

 

Week 3: Fish Bone

Hey everyone! I just want to thank all of you for your Dear Elders, packages, and letters! It means a lot and just brightens my day when I hear from you guys and the outside world. 

So to begin with, Elder Walton (McRae's cousin) just got here and happens to be in my zone! He's really chill and talk about Arizona sometimes. Anyways, there are definitely days when the language is hard and you feeling like giving up. But then there are days when you feel like Mongolian is coming easier to you and you can actually recall sentences and words. Elder Scrimsher and I have been getting better at teaching fake investigators. We used to just write everything in Mongolian and then read it off to them, but then we realized it never really brought in the spirit. So we decided to jump into the unknown and rely more on the spirit. It was definitely harder and shorter at first, but now we are starting to get the hang of it. It's such a blessing to know that Heavenly Father is always right there helping us and all we have to do is turn towards Him and lean on Him. 

Let's just say Sunday came with a couple surprises. Elder Scrimsher and I were walking down the hall to prepare the sacrament when the first counselor in the branch presidency pulled us aside and called us to be the zone leaders! I was shocked because we had only been in the MTC two and a half weeks and now we are going to be the zone leaders for seven more! So that was crazy and then we learned that we would be having Elder Rife join our companionship since his companions left the MTC. He's actually going to leave in a week to the Belgium Netherlands mission and it's been fun having him with us. He's an awesome guy and really funny. 

So speaking of Elder Rife, we were all eating dinner and Elder Rife swallowed part of a fish bone in his salmon. It wasn't that bad but it was stuck in his throat so we decided to go to the health center to check them out. I guess things are serious around here because they send us straight to the ER at the Utah Valley hospital to check him out. And this also happened to be the same hospital that my friend Ethan and I went to when we got in a car crash so it brought back a lot of memories. But it was so weird to leave the MTC into the outside world! The three of us felt like we were escaping the prison we had volunteered to be kept at and didn't know what to do! When we were in the hospital, we literally followed Elder Rife everywhere because we are his companions. That's what we are supposed to do and a lot of people were giving us weird looks hahaha. And then Elder Rife's sister happened to be his nurse! She was super happy to see him and they took pictures together. So we actually happened to stay at the hospital for three hours just for them to tell us that it was just a scratch. But hey we weren't complaining because we got a taste of the outside world and Elder Scrimsher and I practiced a lot of Mongolian. Let's just say it was a success and now I'm starting to wonder if Elder Rife was just faking it to see his sister hahaha. 

Like always, this week was a pretty spiritual week. For the first time I actually felt the spirit while teaching a lesson in Mongolian. I told our fake investigator that I felt it and he said he felt something too. Then the sisters wanted blessings on Sunday and one of them happened to ask me to give them one. It was such a neat experience and I felt the spirit super strongly while me and all of the elders in my district stood in that circle to give her a blessing. My branch president later taught us that we need to strive to be worthy of the priesthood so if someone needs a blessing at any time, we can say, "I can do it." It was so amazing to hear that and a big testimony builder for all of us. I'm so glad I am where I am today and thank my Heavenly Father for everything He has given me. And to be honest, sometimes I don't know when I wake up in the morning if I will have a good day or a bad one. But whether it is easy or hard, I put all of my trust in the Lord and His timing because He knows what's best for me. A lot of the time I put my head down to grind through the hard tasks that are given to me, but I always keep my eyes looking up, staying positive and looking at everything that Heavenly Father has given me. 

I love you guys so much and hope you all have a great week!

-Ахлагч Ogden

 

Week 2: Battsagaan Xaan

Сайн байна уу!? Энэ бол Ахлагч Огдэн! That means how's it going this is Elder Ogden! Anyways, thanks for all of the letters, packages, and dear elders! It makes my day when I get them.

Answers to your questions. The food is awesome. I try to stay healthy by eating salad and fruit every meal. For exercise I do 3 sets of pushups, crunches, and pull ups a day and then finish it off by playing volleyball. My teachers are awesome. There's Battsagaan and Der Bletter and they are so kind, spiritual, and helpful. Der Bletter is a girl by the way. She served in Mongolia a few years ago and Battsagaan is from Mongolia. His name means firm white holy man. My Branch President is awesome and has a lot of good insights. He's also pretty cheesy and it's funny. This morning and last Thursday we did endowment sessions in the Provo temple and I always love going there. Probably the highlight of my day. On p-days we go to the temple, email and do laundry, then hangout and do other things we need to do. Sunday’s are awesome! Felt the spirit super strong and bore my testimony.

P-day was pretty nice but for some reason I didn't like it a whole lot. Probably because I'm used to being productive 24/7 and not having anything to do felt like a waste of time. But it was a nice break and I was glad to get back into the swing of things later that night. Then on Friday we were at dinner and the sisters in our zone were asking volunteers to teach a fake investigator in front of all of the new missionaries coming in. So my companion Elder Scrimsher decided to volunteer us, but I wasn’t done eating my ice cream. He explained to me that someone taught him to always volunteer first for anything. I could see it meant something to him, so now I always support him when he volunteers us for things, even if I have to risk not eating any ice cream. haha.

Next big thing we had was fast Sunday and testimony meeting in sacrament meeting. I'm not sure if I mentioned it in my last email, but me and Elder Scrimsher got called to be the sacrament coordinators. All we really do is prepare the sacrament and call people to bless and pass. So in testimony meeting I was ready to give my testimony in Mongolian until the Branch President told us to only bare them in English. I was a little frustrated because I wanted to practice my Mongolian but I decided to bare mine in English anyways. I talked about how I was excited to get called to Mongolia because I would be learning a crazy language. Well Heavenly Father taught me something else. I need to want to learn Mongolian not because it would be cool, but because it will help me bring other people unto Christ. So every time I'm learning Mongolian and get discouraged, I just keep in mind that this is for the people in Mongolia and I get back to work. 

After sacrament meeting we went to priesthood and me and Elder Scrimsher had the lesson on the Creation and the Fall. It was a good lesson but I learned a lot from the first counselor in the Branch Presidency. He said, "Average is the best of the worst and the worst of the best." He made me realize that I don't want to settle, but to always be trying my hardest in everything I do all the time. I know I will be blessed with miracles if I get through those headaches and times when I just want to sleep and instead memorize a few more Mongolian words and read one more chapter in my scriptures. 

So Monday through Wednesday were about the same. We have exercise in the morning where you can workout and play volleyball and basketball. I like playing volleyball more because there is more people involved which makes it more fun. Then after exercise we get ready and have personal, companion, and language study along with lunch. Personal study I usually read my scripture and write a talk, companion study we plan lessons, and language study I have been memorizing a prayer and my missionary purpose in Mongolian. I was so excited and grateful when I was able to say a prayer in Mongolian without any flashcards because I feel like I'm getting somewhere. Then we go to class and teach lessons in Mongolian and learn. It is pretty nerve-racking but also so exciting at the same time. The hardest part is answering their questions because they usually speak kind of fast and use words we haven't heard yet. So thank goodness for sign language! When they see that we have no clue what they are saying, they have pity and start to use hand motions to help our understanding. 

Alright, so the purpose of my subject title for this email is part of a funny story. One of our teachers names is Battsagaan and he is Mongolian. We love him so much and started to call him Battsagaan Xaan which means King Battsagaan. Our district (usually just me actually) salutes him every time he wants us to do something or enters the classroom. It's so funny because he gets all embarrassed. So we actually also met two elders from the capital of Mongolia that are going to Pittsburgh. They have been teaching us Mongolian and taught us how to call someone old. They know Battsagaan and told us to call him old. We then told Battsagaan that he was old in Mongolian and he just rolled his eyes hahaha. 

Anyways, I love all of you guys so much and hope you guys are all doing well in your lives. Remember that our Heavenly Father loves us and knows what's best for us.

-Ахлагч Ogden

One Week down, idk how many more to go

Hey everyone!

Before I get into my main email, I just want to let everyone know that our district is having a competition for who can get the most packages, letters, and Dear Elders. I'm at 13 points so it'd be great if you could help me out haha. 

So it was a crazy first day. You walk into the MTC having no clue of what you're doing and the whole time other elders and sisters are screaming into your face, "Welcome to the MTC!" You're in full shock so thank goodness there's an elder there to help you guide you to your room, and then your class. Once you get to class there a bunch of new elders and sisters who are in the same predicament as you, and it was awesome because my whole district is so nice and awesome. Then a teacher walks in and starts speaking straight up Mongolian and we are all looking at each other thinking, "What in the world is he saying?!" At least they use hand motions to get what they want to say across. So, you could say I'm learning Mongolian and MSL (Mongolian Sign Language). 

 Then we get paired up with companions. My companion is Elder Scrimsher and at first I wasn't sure what he was like because he was pretty quiet. But now we are best friends and enjoy a lot of laughs and spiritual moments together. He played on defense in soccer in high school, is really good at the language, and volunteers for anything and I love it. Something funny that Elder Scrimsher did was this morning we all woke up to the lights already on and Elder Scrimsher getting ready. None of us had heard the alarm go off and we were really confused. We asked our district leader Elder Cox what time it was. He said it was 2:00 in the morning! We all yelled at Elder Scrimsher as he was busting up laughing. Aparrently he had a dream that an alarm went off which caused him to wake up and think it was morning. It was super funny and we give him a hard time. Also we are also known as "The Power Companionship" in our district and fist bump whenever we do something right, which isn't a lot hahaha. But we are getting better.

The district and zone are so awesome. We mess around a little but focus mainly on trying to learn the language and feeling the Spirit. We would get discouraged because we weren't learning the language as fast as we wanted to. But then we would notice that we had only been there a few days and realized how far we had gotten. I for sure know that the Lord has been blessing us with the gift of tongues because we are already teaching first investigators and we are actually getting a sense for what they're saying and are able to reply. It's awesome! 

So the first night and second day were by far the hardest. We would recall funny moments that seemed to have happened weeks ago and then realize it was just earlier that day. I of course missed family and friends, but know this is where I want and need to be. So, I just put my head down and got to work. Also it helped to be able to talk to my district and realize that everyone is in the same boat. The language is probably the hardest thing and sometimes in the middle of class I just sit back and say to myself, "Elder Ogden, what in the world are you doing here?" I would start to freak out but then say a silent prayer and feel the spirit. Then I would remember 1 Nephi 3:7 ,"I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them, that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." Then I would go back to learning and know that Heavenly Father will help me if I obey Him and do my best. 

When the first Sunday rolled around, I realized that our schedule was packed. But it didn't matter because in priesthood meeting we were learning about having exact obedience and I felt the spirit so strongly. Then we went over how the 2,000 stripling warriors had so much faith that none of them died and all of them were injured. Literally that whole meeting the spirit was there so strong and I now have a strong desire to obey with exactness no matter what anyone else says.  And then we went and watched the "Character of Christ" by Elder Bednar and that hit me so much too to be looking outward instead of in. I realized I had been praying to learn Mongolian for me, but I soon realized that I needed to pray to learn it so when I go to Mongolia I'll be able to bring the people unto Christ in their language. It was a super special experience but it wasn't over then. Our whole district ended up joining choir and we were going to sing "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" at Tuesday's devotional. When we sang it I felt the Spirit so strong but it wasn't until we watched a video that I started to tear up. The part in the video that hit me the most was Joseph Smith raising his right hand to restore the LDS church and then seeing Presidents Monson, Eyring, and Uchtdorf raising their right hands in general conference. My testimony for prophets and missionary work grew so much that day and I'm so happy to be here. 

It has been hard at times. Sometimes I feel like I'm just getting knocked down on the ground throughout the days. But I know I want to be here. Our Heavenly Father has called missionaries to go out and bring everyone unto Christ. He has blessed my life so much and the least I can do is give Him two years of my life so I can help Him save other lives. I know this church is true and that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ love all of us. Sometimes we might get discouraged but I know if we obey Him with exactness and pray, study our scriptures, go to church, and do our best, then he will bless us and we will receive miracles. 

Love,

Ахлагч (Elder) Ogden