Ah man, I love email time! It almost didn't happen today, but I had a chance to jump on a computer, don't know how long I'll be so I'm gonna have to be quick! The cold is coming to Mongolia! We had a little bit of snow a few days ago and it's dropped from the summer temperatures ever since. The clothes I brought with me right now are doing great at keeping the cold out and I think next week the American Elders and I will hit up the "Zaak" and get our winter gear figured out. Again, thank you so much for the emails. I started printing them off and I love reading them, especially the Spiritual insights! A couple of things about this week:
I hit the 110 page mark in my journal! That's right! I've been trying to be super diligent in recording my thoughts and also the events and I thought you'd all get a kick out of that, that's at least double the pages I have ever done before!
For service this week we continued our project of digging a "noith" hole for a new member who lives out in the ger district, we're at 2 meters deep and still 1 more to go! We've hit coal, trash, sheep bones, and the old Russian power lines.... so that keeps it interesting. With transfers coming up I'll be getting new zone leaders (and that means roommates), one of which will be one of the old American missionaries, Elder Cardinal. He's a great example and I'm excited to have him as a roommate. As far as sponsor/English teaching updates, I haven't heard anything yet... but I'm going to start preparing my lessons and so I'm ready for whatever happens.
I echo what you wrote about conference, I'm way excited! It's a little weird for me... I love our conference tradition and the opportunity to go Priesthood especially with the family and I'll be going solo for the next little while. I realized that today and if it was for anything else I'd be sorry to be missing out! I'll be able to hear conference in English, but I'm pretty sure I'll hear it a week late so I'll be excited to hear your reactions to the sessions a week early. I also had the opportunity to give a blessing this week and it reminded me of the incredible privilege that the Lord gives us to hold His priesthood. Dad, Brayden, and Skyler- remember that! There is nothing more satisfying than feeling ready and worthy to serve and act in the name of the Lord. I felt that especially this week and wanted to share that with you.
I'm sorry I've got to go, I don't have half as much time as I usually would tonight, so my plans of getting emails out to other friends and family are going to have to wait til next week. Also, I have some pictures I'll send next week that you'll like... I was going to in this email but that'll have to what too. And to the kids, thanks for the emails!
Thanks so much guys! I love you all like crazy and look forward to every opportunity to communicate with you. Gotta go, but have a great week!
Elder Jolley
Monday, September 27, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Questions anyone??
We thought it might be fun to gather a bunch of questions or whatever that anyone might have and send it to Elder Jolley to have him answer about his mission, Mongolia, the food, etc. Please post any questions or comments in the "comments" and we will put them together to send to him. Once we receive his answers back, we will post the questions and answers together for everyone to view!
Monday, September 20, 2010
More to share
Hey hey! It's dark and early for you on Monday morning, and it's late and dark for me here on Monday evening! Again sorry if I missed you guys! Our family home evening activities at the Church started late and so we were held up a bit.... Let me know how Brayden's procedure goes next week for sure!
Okay answer time! Kendyl.. don't worry, I haven't eaten brain jello since Sunday... ha ha just kidding! Besides the staple foods of bowds, tsoivan, khiram, and khosher, I eat pretty regular stuff! We've found some Skippy PB, Mac and Cheese, and a few other American goods, but also lots of soups and such. We so far haven't really eaten out with other people a ton lately so we have a lot of control over our eating. I can't remember if I already wrote this, but my stomachs been a little out of whack this last few days but that's been getting better throughout the day and hopefully doesn't affect the work tomorrow!
Mom, the building I took a picture in front of was this random shot that I found while looking for an investigators house. It was right next to an apartment building that we thought they lived in, but it turned out that they lived in a ger that was on the abandoned property! The other pictures with the huge ger and such are at this museum place that we found behind the said abandoned building... biggest ger in the world and the other picture has gotta be the first ever Winnabago! Sorry for the extra concern, I have a pillow. We went to the Bayanzurkh building where they keep lots of extra missionary apartment essentials, so I picked up a pillow and two down blankets! Ha! I'm sleepin' almost as good as I did in my old bed, and whatever this bed lacks is forgotten because I'm dog tired when I hit the pillow. I've also been working on cleansing the apartment. I'm going to clean the bathroom and the shower this week and try not to pick up a worm of some sort, haha. But it's been nice to clean up the place a bit, I still can't trust most of the stuff in here and I miss having a squeaky clean house! So kids don't complain when Mom has you clean, it's better than not having been cleaned in months and you can't go anywhere without shoes!
As far as Google Earth, look up the Chinggis Khaan Hotel in UB, it's huge! If your looking at it from the sky the Bayanzurkh Church Building will be to the left after a field. Then keep going left (aerial view) and you go over an intersection, then a huge round building with an orange-ish roof, that's the Wrestlers Palace. Then if you'll scroll south there will be a white apartment building, I live there! As for the hot water were fine, I hear it is sometimes shut off but we haven't had that yet, so s'all good.
Couple of things that the Carters (a new senior couple) wanted me to share with you that will help you all out! Send packages through the U.S. Postal system in a flat rate box, I guess up to 20 lbs it's about 44 bucks which I hear is pretty cheap and it's the most reliable out here. Also I guess Dear Elder can do pouch mail and I'll need to confirm what the time is for Utah to UB but pouch mail comes every week! Don't think I need a bunch of letters right now or anything, I'm doing great!
A quick scripture a rediscovered this week and really liked- Check out Ether 4:11-12, it's a great reminder on spiritual witnesses and it was one of those " Hey.... I need to mark those verses!" moments. After all the scripture citing issues we've been having I'm worried I've got it wrong! Ha so check that I got the verses right. Dad, I loved your email and your insights on trusting the Lord. I think we get in a rut sometimes with the problem and it causes us to forget how much we are allowing the Lord to be apart of our lives. Because He's the one that's always reaching out to us, sometimes our direction needs to be fine tuned. I was noticing that same thing with my teaching. I was caught in a rut of teaching based on my language knowledge for a few days and really felt like my words we're lacking the Spirit that it could have. What if that random person I meet, in that moment, that is their opportunity to accept the Gospel at that time, and I am not prepared and they go on there way! It's very humbling, and though I know the Lord will bring to pass what needs to happen, I still never want to bring that about. That has been helping me improve my teaching, and as I pray to the Lord that He will take what little I know, my effort, and then make up the difference, my teaching has improved; because I remembered how I really can have success (see Moroni 10:32-33). And you are doing the same thing with your circumstances, and I know without a doubt that the Lord will make up the difference, no matter the challenge!
Brayd- nice work on the Senior pic! Most kids can't get the glasses through without getting them taken away- EPIC! How's the social aspect of things? And I want to keep hearing about your missionary prep moments and thoughts, share away! Sky man! I'm excited for our duo gaming to resume when I get back- thanks a ton for the email bud! I wanna hear about the Life of Skyler a bit more though, whats been happening with friends and school and things? Love ya bud and thanks again for the emails! I'm sorry my replies have to be so short. Kendyl- VP! Congrats! I did the same thing in 6th grade and I loved it! Thank you for your love and concern, and send me more family/random pictures! You look all grown up and lady-like I can't believe it. Andraya, thanks for the email! You've got to slow down and stop making so many friends okay? Ha ha just kidding. I have the picture you drew in our last letter up on my wall, thanks again! Can I get another? Get on the iPad or something and I'll print it off here!
Thanks for the support, it really helps me to stay positive and working hard and I know that I have received many blessings because of your prayers. I see them and I thank you for them! You're in my prayers throughout the day and I can see the Lord blessing us. I wish you could all see this city, they have so little and yet are so happy. I know everyone who experiences life outside the States says this... but we really don't know how incredibly blessed we are, and it makes me angry at myself for being selfish at times. The Book of Mormon states over and over that those who are following the Lord freely give to those who don't, and because of that they are blessed in an abundance! I challenge you to look for opportunities to do that, all of you throughout the week, and let me know what happens okay? I won't always have the opportunity to be on for this long, the English sponsor email really helped me out today, but I will get some more cool pics for next week... Take care!
Elder Jolley
P.S. Book of Mormon reading... where we at?
Elder Jolley and Elder Amgalan
Okay answer time! Kendyl.. don't worry, I haven't eaten brain jello since Sunday... ha ha just kidding! Besides the staple foods of bowds, tsoivan, khiram, and khosher, I eat pretty regular stuff! We've found some Skippy PB, Mac and Cheese, and a few other American goods, but also lots of soups and such. We so far haven't really eaten out with other people a ton lately so we have a lot of control over our eating. I can't remember if I already wrote this, but my stomachs been a little out of whack this last few days but that's been getting better throughout the day and hopefully doesn't affect the work tomorrow!
Mom, the building I took a picture in front of was this random shot that I found while looking for an investigators house. It was right next to an apartment building that we thought they lived in, but it turned out that they lived in a ger that was on the abandoned property! The other pictures with the huge ger and such are at this museum place that we found behind the said abandoned building... biggest ger in the world and the other picture has gotta be the first ever Winnabago! Sorry for the extra concern, I have a pillow. We went to the Bayanzurkh building where they keep lots of extra missionary apartment essentials, so I picked up a pillow and two down blankets! Ha! I'm sleepin' almost as good as I did in my old bed, and whatever this bed lacks is forgotten because I'm dog tired when I hit the pillow. I've also been working on cleansing the apartment. I'm going to clean the bathroom and the shower this week and try not to pick up a worm of some sort, haha. But it's been nice to clean up the place a bit, I still can't trust most of the stuff in here and I miss having a squeaky clean house! So kids don't complain when Mom has you clean, it's better than not having been cleaned in months and you can't go anywhere without shoes!
As far as Google Earth, look up the Chinggis Khaan Hotel in UB, it's huge! If your looking at it from the sky the Bayanzurkh Church Building will be to the left after a field. Then keep going left (aerial view) and you go over an intersection, then a huge round building with an orange-ish roof, that's the Wrestlers Palace. Then if you'll scroll south there will be a white apartment building, I live there! As for the hot water were fine, I hear it is sometimes shut off but we haven't had that yet, so s'all good.
Bayanzurkh LDS Church Building (top) • The Chinggis Hotel (bottom)
Couple of things that the Carters (a new senior couple) wanted me to share with you that will help you all out! Send packages through the U.S. Postal system in a flat rate box, I guess up to 20 lbs it's about 44 bucks which I hear is pretty cheap and it's the most reliable out here. Also I guess Dear Elder can do pouch mail and I'll need to confirm what the time is for Utah to UB but pouch mail comes every week! Don't think I need a bunch of letters right now or anything, I'm doing great!
A quick scripture a rediscovered this week and really liked- Check out Ether 4:11-12, it's a great reminder on spiritual witnesses and it was one of those " Hey.... I need to mark those verses!" moments. After all the scripture citing issues we've been having I'm worried I've got it wrong! Ha so check that I got the verses right. Dad, I loved your email and your insights on trusting the Lord. I think we get in a rut sometimes with the problem and it causes us to forget how much we are allowing the Lord to be apart of our lives. Because He's the one that's always reaching out to us, sometimes our direction needs to be fine tuned. I was noticing that same thing with my teaching. I was caught in a rut of teaching based on my language knowledge for a few days and really felt like my words we're lacking the Spirit that it could have. What if that random person I meet, in that moment, that is their opportunity to accept the Gospel at that time, and I am not prepared and they go on there way! It's very humbling, and though I know the Lord will bring to pass what needs to happen, I still never want to bring that about. That has been helping me improve my teaching, and as I pray to the Lord that He will take what little I know, my effort, and then make up the difference, my teaching has improved; because I remembered how I really can have success (see Moroni 10:32-33). And you are doing the same thing with your circumstances, and I know without a doubt that the Lord will make up the difference, no matter the challenge!
Brayd- nice work on the Senior pic! Most kids can't get the glasses through without getting them taken away- EPIC! How's the social aspect of things? And I want to keep hearing about your missionary prep moments and thoughts, share away! Sky man! I'm excited for our duo gaming to resume when I get back- thanks a ton for the email bud! I wanna hear about the Life of Skyler a bit more though, whats been happening with friends and school and things? Love ya bud and thanks again for the emails! I'm sorry my replies have to be so short. Kendyl- VP! Congrats! I did the same thing in 6th grade and I loved it! Thank you for your love and concern, and send me more family/random pictures! You look all grown up and lady-like I can't believe it. Andraya, thanks for the email! You've got to slow down and stop making so many friends okay? Ha ha just kidding. I have the picture you drew in our last letter up on my wall, thanks again! Can I get another? Get on the iPad or something and I'll print it off here!
Thanks for the support, it really helps me to stay positive and working hard and I know that I have received many blessings because of your prayers. I see them and I thank you for them! You're in my prayers throughout the day and I can see the Lord blessing us. I wish you could all see this city, they have so little and yet are so happy. I know everyone who experiences life outside the States says this... but we really don't know how incredibly blessed we are, and it makes me angry at myself for being selfish at times. The Book of Mormon states over and over that those who are following the Lord freely give to those who don't, and because of that they are blessed in an abundance! I challenge you to look for opportunities to do that, all of you throughout the week, and let me know what happens okay? I won't always have the opportunity to be on for this long, the English sponsor email really helped me out today, but I will get some more cool pics for next week... Take care!
Elder Jolley
P.S. Book of Mormon reading... where we at?
Elder Jolley and Elder Amgalan
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Third Week in...
Hey Family! Okay, so I've got a quick 30 minutes to write and send some pictures... but tonight at about 8 I'll be able to come back and finish up... so I'll send some more info and pics! I'll also try and email all the kids as well. I loved all the emails! I printed them off so I'll be able to read them in depth throughout the week!First off a couple of interesting things about the work: About a week and a half ago we had a service project that involved all the missionaries in UB. An organization asked that we would push wheelchairs for people, but we didn't know what else we would do. Turns out we were apart of a demonstration! Has to be one of the strangest service projects I'll do here! We started and the Wrestlers Palace (you all should google earth UB for a better explanation! My apartment building is just east of the Wrestlers Palace) and pushed patrons over to Cuxbaatar Square which is where the Mongolian government buildings are located. They were protesting the lack of disabled accessibility because of the lack of side walks, public transportation, accommodations, etc. So we took up one lane of the main road and marched our way in! Again, never thought I'd be doing that. Then we gathered everyone into a circle, there were a couple of speeches given, and then we left and I didn't think much more of it. But turns out we made the news! There's some bias against the church here and so there was a segment on church volunteers in the demonstration, and I guess I was on part of it... ha ha, so that was a great way to end off the week.
Remember those markets that we saw on the Mongolian "bizarre foods" episode? I was able to visit those this week; and saw a bunch of the more "exotic" Mongolian cuisine, even that brain jello stuff... but I decided for now I better not eat. I had some hiram (which is heated milk with salt, everyone drinks it here and it's offered at almost every house we visit) that I knew as I was drinking it, it wasn't the freshest batch, so my stomachs been going a bit crazy this last couple of days. I know Elder Reeve and Elder Wilson felt pretty nasty this last week or so and so far I've been pretty blessed health wise; other than that the food is sitting fine with me!
Again, I don't know the order of the pictures I'm sending, but I've included some really cool ones of the city and will send the rest tonight! The huge glass building is the Chiinges Xhaan Hotel, which is close by the Church office building in UB, which I also am sending you a pic of. Send the other pics tonight and some more info, but after a lot of patience and prayer my companionship is improving a ton and the last couple of days have been great!
Love you all! Elder Jolley
Ryan with his companion, Elder Amgalan
Overlooking a ger community in Ulaanbaatar
More of Ryan's mission apartment — sleeping quarters.Sunday, September 12, 2010
Breaking into a new pattern
Hey Family!
Ah I love email day! I am already going to apologize because I won't be able to email back to the individual emails all the way because of time- but don't stop writing them! Seriously, I've been missing the different perspectives and hearing from each of you every week and so I'll do my best to do the same.
Oh this week.... It's been a week of growth for me and so I'm incredibly grateful for all the stretching! Early last week the "honeymoon phase" of coming to Mongolia wore off- I woke up one morning and thought to myself "This bites. I can't communicate with people, speaking is a constant challenge, and I there's no food in my apartment." It was the weirdest morning I've had on my mission. Don't think I'm hating it and I want to go home! This has been a great growth experience and that is why I share that. I had a good day of working hard but couldn't shake the negativity in the back of my mind. I knew I had to shake myself out of this stage and so I dove into the Book of Mormon for a fresh perspective. If we stay caught in the rut of our problems nothing good will come of it, and I wanted out of this fast. I have been frustrated because of my own abilities, my own weaknesses, and there's a huge problem with that. All "my" statements and not taking into account the role of Christ! Moroni 10 speaks of being perfected "in Christ" and salvation coming through him. I love that phrase that it is in Christ that we do these things. The same applies for the areas that we struggle with. So I have been doing all I can to prepare and put forth my best effort, than placing that before the Lord and asking him to fill the gap, and as I have done that with sincerity and faith I am able to teach, communicate, and do His work better!
As far as news this week, we have been able to teach a lot of lessons and I'm enjoying getting to know and from that develop a love for the people we're teaching. On Wednesday I hope to hear about my English sponsor and arrange a meeting to figure out what I'll actually be doing! I am waiting on my registration with the government and so after that the ball will start rolling with that.
This week I had legit Kraft Mac n Cheese! And these German Cornflakes! Ah man it was the best, now that I've settled into the apartment and know what's available the food at home has improved a ton, I'm hoping to try out a few of your recipes Mom in the next week or so. We don't eat with members a ton but when we do the food has been great! I'm beginning to develop a taste for the hiram (milk, salt drink) and the hard curdled milk candy- being in the city the food isn't crazy but I still get to experience the Mongol food! I'm sending a few pictures and when I figure out a better way to send photos I'll add more. I was loving hearing about your week! And especially the photos, everyone looks so much older, I can't believe it! I've gotta go, but I love you guys, think about you all the time and can't wait to here from you again!
Elder Jolley
(A little extra...) More pictures. I've got a few more minutes while they load so I'll pack some info in. Elder Amgalan (my companion) is from Darhan and has been on his mission now for just over a year (his mission began June of 2009). I'm trying to learn more about him, but he's a great trainer! Loves Micheal Jackson, the show "Naruto" or something like that, an anime show. (haha). He's great with people though and carries the conversational part of our work. Our situation is different because the other American's have companions that speak English and Elder Amgalan has only basic vocab and random phrases so communication is difficult sometimes. But I've been very grateful for him carrying our companionship so much! It has to be hard having the companion that doesn't speak much and doesn't really know what's going on (me) and I rely on his expertise a lot!
Elder Tyler Mickelson, Elder Jolley and Elder Tyler Helvey (August, before Ryan left the MTC)
Ryan's study area in his mission apartment in Ulaanbaatar
Elder Jolley with Ulaanbaatar in the background
Ah I love email day! I am already going to apologize because I won't be able to email back to the individual emails all the way because of time- but don't stop writing them! Seriously, I've been missing the different perspectives and hearing from each of you every week and so I'll do my best to do the same.
Oh this week.... It's been a week of growth for me and so I'm incredibly grateful for all the stretching! Early last week the "honeymoon phase" of coming to Mongolia wore off- I woke up one morning and thought to myself "This bites. I can't communicate with people, speaking is a constant challenge, and I there's no food in my apartment." It was the weirdest morning I've had on my mission. Don't think I'm hating it and I want to go home! This has been a great growth experience and that is why I share that. I had a good day of working hard but couldn't shake the negativity in the back of my mind. I knew I had to shake myself out of this stage and so I dove into the Book of Mormon for a fresh perspective. If we stay caught in the rut of our problems nothing good will come of it, and I wanted out of this fast. I have been frustrated because of my own abilities, my own weaknesses, and there's a huge problem with that. All "my" statements and not taking into account the role of Christ! Moroni 10 speaks of being perfected "in Christ" and salvation coming through him. I love that phrase that it is in Christ that we do these things. The same applies for the areas that we struggle with. So I have been doing all I can to prepare and put forth my best effort, than placing that before the Lord and asking him to fill the gap, and as I have done that with sincerity and faith I am able to teach, communicate, and do His work better!
As far as news this week, we have been able to teach a lot of lessons and I'm enjoying getting to know and from that develop a love for the people we're teaching. On Wednesday I hope to hear about my English sponsor and arrange a meeting to figure out what I'll actually be doing! I am waiting on my registration with the government and so after that the ball will start rolling with that.
This week I had legit Kraft Mac n Cheese! And these German Cornflakes! Ah man it was the best, now that I've settled into the apartment and know what's available the food at home has improved a ton, I'm hoping to try out a few of your recipes Mom in the next week or so. We don't eat with members a ton but when we do the food has been great! I'm beginning to develop a taste for the hiram (milk, salt drink) and the hard curdled milk candy- being in the city the food isn't crazy but I still get to experience the Mongol food! I'm sending a few pictures and when I figure out a better way to send photos I'll add more. I was loving hearing about your week! And especially the photos, everyone looks so much older, I can't believe it! I've gotta go, but I love you guys, think about you all the time and can't wait to here from you again!
Elder Jolley
(A little extra...) More pictures. I've got a few more minutes while they load so I'll pack some info in. Elder Amgalan (my companion) is from Darhan and has been on his mission now for just over a year (his mission began June of 2009). I'm trying to learn more about him, but he's a great trainer! Loves Micheal Jackson, the show "Naruto" or something like that, an anime show. (haha). He's great with people though and carries the conversational part of our work. Our situation is different because the other American's have companions that speak English and Elder Amgalan has only basic vocab and random phrases so communication is difficult sometimes. But I've been very grateful for him carrying our companionship so much! It has to be hard having the companion that doesn't speak much and doesn't really know what's going on (me) and I rely on his expertise a lot!
Elder Tyler Mickelson, Elder Jolley and Elder Tyler Helvey (August, before Ryan left the MTC)
Ryan's study area in his mission apartment in Ulaanbaatar
Elder Jolley with Ulaanbaatar in the backgroundMonday, September 6, 2010
The First Week in a New Land...
Cain Baitsgaan yy?
Thank you for the great email! It's nice to hear how things are going for you all, keep that up please! Hmm.... my first week in Mongolia.... Incredible!! I love change so my brain is having a sensory overload right now! I emailed you on the Thursday that I arrived; and the rest of that day was registration/arrival stuff until about 8, we were pretty hashed and so a shower and sleep was beautiful! We met up with Elder Wilson and his new companion (Axthagch Eatgeth (I'll try and make the Mongolian words as easy to pronounce as possible, but English characters don't do it justice))- it felt like I hadn't seen him in years!
On Friday we went to Tsighsen (a Russian Monument built on a hill above UB) with the AP's and President Mecham and read the dedication prayer (given by Neal A. Maxwell at that same spot). This was to be our first day of actual missionary work and so we started it off right! You'll have to look up the prayer and read it for yourselves ya? After we were assigned our trainers!! My new companion is Axlagch Amagthan! He's been serving here for a little over a year and it's been great following his example- he has a real dedication to the rules and works hard ( I was worried about the dreaded slacker trainer) and so I've loved seeing his zeal for the work! Right now his stomach is having some issues that the Church doctor can't figure out and he's having some pains but still truckin... again what a stud. Keep him in your prayers, I hope we can find a solution tomorrow. After that it was back to my new apartment to unpack a bit. Hmm... my apartment... I'll have to take pictures because that will describe it better. Mom, you would have a heart attack! But it's good living compared to a lot of people here and so I'm very grateful for that. I'm settled in now, but as you now know I'm missing a pillow and a few other things which I'm hoping to pick up today.
I've been adjusting a lot faster that I thought and that's really helped me be productive this first few days- the Lord's been blessing me a ton! I haven't felt any jet lag, Elder Wilson was uber sick about 4 days after arriving and I have felt great! I'm so wiped out that when I get back home sleeps super easy! Going from the MTC cafeteria to Mongolia has probably been the biggest change. Since my companion isn't feeling well our eating schedules been super off. And in Mongolia, there's no difference in foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For breakfast, meat, potatoes, rice, bread, grease. Repeat for the other two meals. I had a daydream today about eating peaches.... no joke! I love all of that food of course, but that 24/7 is cain bish, so I'm really trying to make sure I have variety in my diet and so far it's been going pretty good.
I haven't met with my sponser yet, but I'll be teaching for some organization called the Instruction Federation. The hours vary according to the sponsor. For Example: Elder Huff will be teaching for about 6 hours a week, Elder Reeve for 1, and Elder Wilson and I will be teaching for 14 hours a week. We knew it wouldn't be the full 40, but it was still nice to hear some details on that. Our sponsors give us a couple of weeks to adjust before we begin teaching so I probably won't begin for another two weeks or so. Hopefully I will meet with them this week and learn some details on who and what I am supposed to teach. Elder Reeve and Wilson have met with their sponsors and now are starting to build their "curriculum" ( haa... oh man), so I hope to have that chance too.
Language wise, hmm that's a tough one. It's so refreshing now to hear and speak English! I can teach, I can have simple conversation and I'm finding out that I know a lot more than I thought which is great! But I'm finding out that it's all about comprehension and context. Some people's accents are so different to me that my brain can't register what they're saying! So I smile and laugh like I know what's going on and hang on! And if I know what we're talking about I can guess what I don't know, but otherwise I'm totally lost! But I'm learning fast and the "immersion" in the language is great. BRAYD, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Odds are I won't be able to email ya before your actual birthday, but I love ya, and hope you have a great day. 18!! It blows my mind.... in your next email I wanna hear how it was aight?
I've got to wrap it up, I'm a slow emailer so my companion is just pacing behind me! But I wanted to share a few things in closing. First off, about the scripture study challenge. Our Area Presidency visited Sunday and re-stressed what I've already been thinking a lot about, the power that comes from scripture study! Elder Pratt discussed with the branch about the challenges of having a ton of kids at different stages, and trying to nail down a individual and family reading time. Sounds familiar no? It may be waking up earlier, it may be always not leaving the house for the night until it's read, but it's amazing the power that comes from that study, not to mention the blessings that follow! That's partly why I asked you all during the call to read and set a goal, without that we cannot see our improvement and show the Lord our efforts. I think that's the main reason that we set goals as missionaries, in this we are blessed by God- and without a doubt why, can see the blessing!
I've gotta go, and there's a hundred more things I could write about, so I hope to be able to write more next time. I love you all and can't wait to hear from you again!
Elder Jolley
Thank you for the great email! It's nice to hear how things are going for you all, keep that up please! Hmm.... my first week in Mongolia.... Incredible!! I love change so my brain is having a sensory overload right now! I emailed you on the Thursday that I arrived; and the rest of that day was registration/arrival stuff until about 8, we were pretty hashed and so a shower and sleep was beautiful! We met up with Elder Wilson and his new companion (Axthagch Eatgeth (I'll try and make the Mongolian words as easy to pronounce as possible, but English characters don't do it justice))- it felt like I hadn't seen him in years!
On Friday we went to Tsighsen (a Russian Monument built on a hill above UB) with the AP's and President Mecham and read the dedication prayer (given by Neal A. Maxwell at that same spot). This was to be our first day of actual missionary work and so we started it off right! You'll have to look up the prayer and read it for yourselves ya? After we were assigned our trainers!! My new companion is Axlagch Amagthan! He's been serving here for a little over a year and it's been great following his example- he has a real dedication to the rules and works hard ( I was worried about the dreaded slacker trainer) and so I've loved seeing his zeal for the work! Right now his stomach is having some issues that the Church doctor can't figure out and he's having some pains but still truckin... again what a stud. Keep him in your prayers, I hope we can find a solution tomorrow. After that it was back to my new apartment to unpack a bit. Hmm... my apartment... I'll have to take pictures because that will describe it better. Mom, you would have a heart attack! But it's good living compared to a lot of people here and so I'm very grateful for that. I'm settled in now, but as you now know I'm missing a pillow and a few other things which I'm hoping to pick up today.
I've been adjusting a lot faster that I thought and that's really helped me be productive this first few days- the Lord's been blessing me a ton! I haven't felt any jet lag, Elder Wilson was uber sick about 4 days after arriving and I have felt great! I'm so wiped out that when I get back home sleeps super easy! Going from the MTC cafeteria to Mongolia has probably been the biggest change. Since my companion isn't feeling well our eating schedules been super off. And in Mongolia, there's no difference in foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For breakfast, meat, potatoes, rice, bread, grease. Repeat for the other two meals. I had a daydream today about eating peaches.... no joke! I love all of that food of course, but that 24/7 is cain bish, so I'm really trying to make sure I have variety in my diet and so far it's been going pretty good.
I haven't met with my sponser yet, but I'll be teaching for some organization called the Instruction Federation. The hours vary according to the sponsor. For Example: Elder Huff will be teaching for about 6 hours a week, Elder Reeve for 1, and Elder Wilson and I will be teaching for 14 hours a week. We knew it wouldn't be the full 40, but it was still nice to hear some details on that. Our sponsors give us a couple of weeks to adjust before we begin teaching so I probably won't begin for another two weeks or so. Hopefully I will meet with them this week and learn some details on who and what I am supposed to teach. Elder Reeve and Wilson have met with their sponsors and now are starting to build their "curriculum" ( haa... oh man), so I hope to have that chance too.
Language wise, hmm that's a tough one. It's so refreshing now to hear and speak English! I can teach, I can have simple conversation and I'm finding out that I know a lot more than I thought which is great! But I'm finding out that it's all about comprehension and context. Some people's accents are so different to me that my brain can't register what they're saying! So I smile and laugh like I know what's going on and hang on! And if I know what we're talking about I can guess what I don't know, but otherwise I'm totally lost! But I'm learning fast and the "immersion" in the language is great. BRAYD, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Odds are I won't be able to email ya before your actual birthday, but I love ya, and hope you have a great day. 18!! It blows my mind.... in your next email I wanna hear how it was aight?
I've got to wrap it up, I'm a slow emailer so my companion is just pacing behind me! But I wanted to share a few things in closing. First off, about the scripture study challenge. Our Area Presidency visited Sunday and re-stressed what I've already been thinking a lot about, the power that comes from scripture study! Elder Pratt discussed with the branch about the challenges of having a ton of kids at different stages, and trying to nail down a individual and family reading time. Sounds familiar no? It may be waking up earlier, it may be always not leaving the house for the night until it's read, but it's amazing the power that comes from that study, not to mention the blessings that follow! That's partly why I asked you all during the call to read and set a goal, without that we cannot see our improvement and show the Lord our efforts. I think that's the main reason that we set goals as missionaries, in this we are blessed by God- and without a doubt why, can see the blessing!
I've gotta go, and there's a hundred more things I could write about, so I hope to be able to write more next time. I love you all and can't wait to hear from you again!
Elder Jolley
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Arrived Safe and Sound
Received this email this morning from Ryan (notice the legitimate Mongolian... no more me trying to piece the language together!) :
сайн ъайцгаан уу?
Greetings from монгол! It's 4:39 here and I'm running on straight adrenaline rush- what a day! First off, sorry for the quick exit last night... or a week ago? My concept of time has been completely shifted. The plane was boarding and I was getting glared at by my two companions. The flight was great, it's been way too long since I've been on a plane, between that and sleeping for a good part of the LA to Beijing made it a really quick trip, and it still blows my mind that I'm half a world away from you all. The whole flight was a great time to read the Book of Mormon and Jesus the Christ so it helped me really keep a focus on the task at hand. You asked how I felt about the trip. Just amazingly excited, I couldn't believe that I was actually going to Mongolia finally! We've been talking about this one for 8 months now people! Met with President Mecham just barely, how great it was to see him again! Keep him and Sister Mecham in your prayers, he carries an incredible responsibility and it has to be difficult without his companion.
A little bit about the trip, LA was a really short delay so we didn't get to do much there besides check in and then board the plane. We arrived in Beijing at 3:40 pm your time, 5 am there. It is a massive, high tech place, and there was NO one there! So it took off any culture shock we would've felt there, if anything the Air China flight from LA was the Chinese experience for this trip. Tried using a payphone to call you all, but all 3 of us had no idea how to get a call through to the states, so apologies on that one. Enjoyed a tasty breakfast of eggs and bacon at a pizza hut (I know right?) then we were on an Air China flight to Mongolia!
Since arriving it has been orientation, orientation, and a lot of starry-eyed American missionaries walking around UB. I ATE MONGOLIAN FOOD! At a legit гуанз (kinda like a cafe in America, slightly Betos style... so I loved it!) Ate some ъууз (delish meat dumplings) and цойван (about as close of a Mongolian food experience that we had pre-mission, noodles with meat and peppers)... delish. Now I'm off to do who knows what, hopefully I will meet my companion, we'll stay at the mission home tonight and I'll be in my apartment tomorrow! I love you all and wish you were here seeing this! It really is a world that we have no idea about- it hasn't fully hit me yet, but l am seeing lots of things, that you can't live here and not be changed by. It is incredible! I love you all and will send you some pics in my next P Day- which are Mondays here. хайртай шүү!
Ахлагч жолий
This extra little addition we received this morning as well from Elder and Sister Powell (one of the senior couples serving there also. Jeff knows Sister Powell from working at Covey Leadership!)
Hello Jeff, I am happy to report that your son arrived safely in Mongolia this afternoon. It was so fun to meet him. He looks so much like you. He is a very "strapp'n" young man. He looks very confident and seems happy to be here. You should be very proud of him.
We talked to him about the organization where he will be teaching English. He has one of the harder assignments. His sponsor is Instruction Federation. They are a government agency and he will be teaching 14 hours a week. We will keep you posted about his progress. Let us know if you have any questions. It will be so fun to work with him.
Sincerely, Elder and Sister Powell
сайн ъайцгаан уу?
Greetings from монгол! It's 4:39 here and I'm running on straight adrenaline rush- what a day! First off, sorry for the quick exit last night... or a week ago? My concept of time has been completely shifted. The plane was boarding and I was getting glared at by my two companions. The flight was great, it's been way too long since I've been on a plane, between that and sleeping for a good part of the LA to Beijing made it a really quick trip, and it still blows my mind that I'm half a world away from you all. The whole flight was a great time to read the Book of Mormon and Jesus the Christ so it helped me really keep a focus on the task at hand. You asked how I felt about the trip. Just amazingly excited, I couldn't believe that I was actually going to Mongolia finally! We've been talking about this one for 8 months now people! Met with President Mecham just barely, how great it was to see him again! Keep him and Sister Mecham in your prayers, he carries an incredible responsibility and it has to be difficult without his companion.
A little bit about the trip, LA was a really short delay so we didn't get to do much there besides check in and then board the plane. We arrived in Beijing at 3:40 pm your time, 5 am there. It is a massive, high tech place, and there was NO one there! So it took off any culture shock we would've felt there, if anything the Air China flight from LA was the Chinese experience for this trip. Tried using a payphone to call you all, but all 3 of us had no idea how to get a call through to the states, so apologies on that one. Enjoyed a tasty breakfast of eggs and bacon at a pizza hut (I know right?) then we were on an Air China flight to Mongolia!
Since arriving it has been orientation, orientation, and a lot of starry-eyed American missionaries walking around UB. I ATE MONGOLIAN FOOD! At a legit гуанз (kinda like a cafe in America, slightly Betos style... so I loved it!) Ate some ъууз (delish meat dumplings) and цойван (about as close of a Mongolian food experience that we had pre-mission, noodles with meat and peppers)... delish. Now I'm off to do who knows what, hopefully I will meet my companion, we'll stay at the mission home tonight and I'll be in my apartment tomorrow! I love you all and wish you were here seeing this! It really is a world that we have no idea about- it hasn't fully hit me yet, but l am seeing lots of things, that you can't live here and not be changed by. It is incredible! I love you all and will send you some pics in my next P Day- which are Mondays here. хайртай шүү!
Ахлагч жолий
This extra little addition we received this morning as well from Elder and Sister Powell (one of the senior couples serving there also. Jeff knows Sister Powell from working at Covey Leadership!)
Hello Jeff, I am happy to report that your son arrived safely in Mongolia this afternoon. It was so fun to meet him. He looks so much like you. He is a very "strapp'n" young man. He looks very confident and seems happy to be here. You should be very proud of him.
We talked to him about the organization where he will be teaching English. He has one of the harder assignments. His sponsor is Instruction Federation. They are a government agency and he will be teaching 14 hours a week. We will keep you posted about his progress. Let us know if you have any questions. It will be so fun to work with him.
Sincerely, Elder and Sister Powell
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