Hey Family!

What a good week, on both ends! I love reading your emails (yes, I'm going to keep saying this) and especially this weeks were exciting- here I sit in Mongolia and I still feel like a part of things back at home, thank you all for that! I didn't lay out any of what I wanted to write, so I'll try to get it all in and still get a couple other emails out. I had the opportunity on Friday to baptize an investigator that the Sister missionaries in our ward taught, and so I've included some pictures of that. It was a really cool experience. The sister I baptized name is бурэнжаргал, жабхлан is the man also in baptismal whites, he's a new member and was baptized a week or so after I got here. He baptized дариймаа, the other 3 in the picture are their missionaries and relative that's also a member (grey jacket). Elder ганболд runs the baptismal services and we were finishing making the plans for that when he remembers that бурэнжаргал asked that I baptize her, this is around lunchtime. So my first baptism in Mongolia was kind of a surprise. As I've been thinking about my investigators, I plan on not baptizing them so that way they'll have that bond with a member that lives here in Mongolia and won't be leaving, but a request is a request. I still feel grateful to be a part of that ordinance, it makes me grateful to witness God's love for His children and after all the change that an investigator experiences, giving up an old way of life to accept the Gospel, the blessing of Baptism and receiving the Holy Ghost stands out all the more. I'm learning to find joy through the accomplishments of others rather than my own, and that change is a slow process, but I felt that especially Friday night. Afterwords some people met to congratulate the new members and we all bore our testimonies and I sat in the back and soaked up the joy as I was thinking about that!

The package came. Thank you guys a ton, it took legit self control to wait to get back to the apartment to open it! But it was fun to get stuff from home. The missionaries in my apartment had never eaten candy corn before and it was really cool for them! I am starting to make a list of some simple things that I know they'd really like, so in the next couple emails can I include that in the next package you send? I know they'd love it!

The teaching we've had the last few weeks has been a lot of growth for me! Where Ахлагч Амгалан was really big on the senior/junior companion relationship, Ахлагч Ганболд is having me step up and do a lot more in our companionship which I've loved! It's all unplanned as far as when, so sometimes I start lessons, the transitions are random, and I work the phone, and it's really helping my language come along being unplanned like that. It's how a companionship will work and I like the extra responsibility there! His English is really good, but he hasn't had the practice in a while so we speak Mongolian out of the apartment and inside I speak English to him. He's got an really sarcastic (almost Elder Jensen like) kind of humor, so our personalities really click well. He's not a big fan of the English teaching though, so I handle that one solo. The teaching is coming a lot easier and it's cool to get to know my students more as my Mongolian and their English improves. Mom, you asked about the food. My companion loves everything so I make American and He makes Mongolian. I've been Americanizing my breakfast here, usually I eat oatmeal, eggs, or toast and fruit (I've got canned peaches.... ya!). I miss constant cereal from home, but it's pricey here so I stick to the cheaper stuff (some times cereal is 5000 төгрөг when a bag of oatmeal is only 500 төгрөг, and milk is about 1200 төгрөг per liter). Everything is so cheap here! That meal you saw in the picture last week cost me 2600 төгрөг, just 2 bucks! When I see a meal for 5000+ I don't want to fork out that kind of cash, then I realize how cheap that still is. It's going to be crazy when I get back to the States and everything's so pricey! About the кола (Coke), definitely agree on the caffeine and sugar, but кола is a great killer of bacteria and it's everywhere! So if we eat risky хоол at someone's гэр that's a great way to "neutralize" any sickness worries! But I limit myself to 2 a week, 1 for pleasure and then 1 if I eat something I'm worried about, which hasn't happened too much yet. I live in a better off area so the food is alright. I did eat my first гэдис бууз, бууз are the meat dumpling things, but stuffed with liver meat called гэдис бууз- and it wasn't too bad and it was a break from mutton. I'm getting a solid 3 meals a day and still working to get more veggies and fruits in my meals- I'm going to go get some food after email time for the apartment.

Happy Halloween guys, I hope you have a great week! More than anything remember to think about other people. Our natural tendencies are away from the tendencies of our spirits. Our spiritual tendencies point to God and in that we find happiness (Moses 1:39, 2 Nephi 2:27, Mosiah 2:41 and lots of other scriptures). SO our natural tendencies to look to ourselves lead us away from being happy and I would say satisfied with our position in life (not to be confused with complacency). Keep that outward focus, especially with those who need to feel the joy of the Gospel. We have so many in our lives that we don't help while we have the Gospel that will bless their lives!

Ахлагч Райн Жолий

Editors note: Ryan's pictures didn't upload correctly on his end, so no pictures to show. Hopefully they will come through next week and I'll add them in!