Sunday, December 26, 2010

Dear Family,

Man I loved speaking with you this week! I was wondering how it would feel after not speaking for six months (not awkward, but just different), but it felt like I'd never left and I can't tell you how much I loved that opportunity and look forward to Mother's Day! I'm super short on time today so I apologize in advance for the short email, I hope my extra Skype time will make up for it and I'll be back on a regular schedule next week. Plus, I just finished the DVD, so all my videos and pictures will be coming your way.

A little bit about my new companion Elder Batjargal, he's the best! He's truly been a blessing for me this last couple of days, I feel like we've already served a transfer together. We get along really we'll and I'm bummed that he'll be leaving on Wednesday, and evidently my new companion (not a mini missionary), we'll be here Wednesday morning. Elder Batjargal will have a trip to the Phillipines MTC when he serves his mission, but lots of pre missionaries will serve with the Elders in preparation for that, and that's exactly what my companion is doing. He's 22 right now, joined the Church 2 years ago! He's a ridiculous dancer from what I here and has been to Russia and China for some traditional Mongolian dance tours or something.... Other than our difference in dance ability (ha ha) we have a lot in common.

To close I want to share a very powerful scripture that I've heard a lot about this Christmas season, D&C 76:22-23. Our Savior is the greatest gift we have ever, or will ever receive! Look at all the blessings that come from accepting, having faith, and following Him. I am so grateful for the trust He places in me, it makes me strive to improve and I see such love in those times. His Atonement can truly change us, there is no way we can be truly happy until we come unto Him. I love you guys, hope you have a great week!

Elder Jolley


The Mongolian missionaries, including President and Sister Clark (4th couple from the left on the 2nd row) and the senior couples. Ryan is in the center area, about 3rd row to the top. (picture courtesy of Elder and Sister Powell)

Editors note: We had the sweet opportunity to skype with Ryan on Christmas night. He looks healthy, happy and is loving the work. It was a very cherished time for both us and him! As his sister Kendyl said after we got off with him... "Mom, he is glowing with the spirit."

Friday, December 24, 2010

Yay!! One more day until we get to talk with Ryan! We can hardly wait. He will call in via Skype at 7 pm. : ) If anyone has a message or question or whatever for us to pass along to him, please feel free to post in the comments and we will be sure to pass them along to him. Merry Christmas!!

Monday, December 20, 2010

Dear Family,

Христийн мэндэлсний байр хургеэ!!! Merry Christmas! A cooked goose for everyone! I can't tell you how stoked I am for Sunday/Saturday and I'm going to save some of the events of this week until the call. With that password good to go, I'll be on about 10 o'clock or so, so 7 your time. YEAH! I did link to the blog last week, thanks for that. It was гайхалтай (amazing)! Thanks for all the work you do there Mom. A certain package did arrive this week, actually a few. Thanks to everyone for the Christmas love! Especially thanks for doing such a great job of getting gifts/stockings for the rest of the Elders. They don't know what's coming, but they know that you sent them gifts and are very grateful and excited- especially Elder Ganbolthd for his new wallet (I hear about it almost daily)! Nothing has been opened yet so no worries there. I'm including the pictures of my last Preparation Day, Elder Wilson, Reeve, and I made some delish pizza! Notice the chub that Elder Wilson and I are sporting. Hmmm.... we're workin' on it. Also I'm sending the pictures of Эрдэнэцэцэг's baptism, I'll talk about that in a sec, what a great night! Transfers are coming this Thursday, and I'm anxious to see what happens.... I love it here in Chingeltei, but of course whatever happens is where I'm supposed to be and that's always exciting. I'll find out on Thursday where I'll be so I'll let you know Saturday. Also, I just barely met the Clarks! I've been hoping all week to meet them, I am amazed at their confidence, their friendliness, and how well they've already adjusted here! Truly the Lord qualifies whom He calls. And President Clark is definitely qualified- he knows 6 languages and has already hired a private Mongolian tutor I guess... I'm glad I've got a head start!

Elder Wilson and Elder Jolley with their "delish pizza!"

Эрдэнэцэцэг's baptism

Hmmmm.... this computer is freezing on me like crazy and I've lost a ton of time.... so I'm going to have to cut my email at that. But I want to share with you a scripture from the Bible that I found and really loved this week. Ezekiel 34:11-13. I love the way it describes our Good Shepard and how He feels about us.

Love you all, I'm sorry this is a short email but I'll fill the rest in on Saturday. Merry Christmas!

Ахлагч Райн Жолий

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Dear Family,

It's been a week of a lot of cool experiences and.... Cold! The weather is finally starting to act "normal" here and a legit Mongolian winter is on it's way! Remember that thing we always heard before I left about buying coats in Mongolia was better because the stuff at home wouldn't cut it? Lies! Nothing too special about the way we dress for winter, just lots and lots of layers! Of course right now it's not too bad, but when the sun goes down you really start to feel it. But the fun is yet to come! This week also marked the official 6 months since being set apart as a missionary! I still can't believe that I've been a missionary for 6 months and how fast the time is flying by. I sent Dad an email about Skyping for Christmas so let me know if that time works and if there's anything else I can do on my end, but I'm crazy excited to be able to see you guys for Christmas, and I feel incredibly blessed to be always in contact with home and with you!

We have an official arrival date for President Clark. He and his wife will be here 2:30 in the afternoon on Wednesday! We've been sending our weekly emails to him since receiving his call and now I'm excited to finally meet him... and have a permanent mission president! I don't know if they fully realize how much of a blessing their arrival will be to this mission. But I'm very impressed at the Lord's timing in all of this and very grateful for President Powell and his wife. Did I mention before that Sister Powell knows a lot of the Jolley's? She knows you too Dad. From the Covey days I think... but I was talking with Sister Powell this week.

I don't have a ton of time today, but I want to share a couple of really big things that have happened this week. First, Erdentsetseg had her baptismal interview on Sunday and will be getting baptized this week! We've been meeting with her every other day or so and she is ready! Also, we found a family last week that had previously met with the missionaries, have been meeting with them ever since and the father Lxawgsuren and his son Chinguun (I'll type the Mongolian names next week) committed to be baptized on the 21st of January! They have been taught a lot of the lessons and have a great understanding of the Gospel. The dad has a bit of a drinking problem and that will probably be our biggest concern in helping him to prepare for baptism. It's something that will take a lot of the Lord's help and I'll talk about his progress in later emails. I extended the commitment to be baptized to them and realized how much of a change that truly is in their lives and I'm excited for the opportunity to continue to meet with them. A half-transfer is coming up, I think on the 25th, and I really hope that I will stay in Chingeltei! I love the people here, the ward, and the progress that has been made. We'll see what happens! One thing that has really stood out to me this last few weeks is the power of reading the scriptures with investigators! We've been focusing on shorter, more frequent visits, with some visits reading a chapter from the Book of Mormon and then discussing what we learn. There has been more understanding and blessings that have come, both to us the missionaries and to the investigators as Elder Mungunsor and I have done this! Nephi says this about reading from the scriptures:

And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold
fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction. (1 Nephi 15:24).

I love this scripture and I know that by making a better effort to read from the Scriptures we can feel an increased influence of the Spirit come into our lives.

I'm excited to here back from you, and for the Christmas call! Time flies eh? I love you guys!

Elder Jolley

Monday, December 6, 2010

Сайн Бацгаана уу?

Hey! To start off, the Thanksgiving package came... thanks you guys! You already heard about my "traditional" Thanksgiving dinner, but I was on the alert after your email last week, the package came on Friday and was, as always, an awesome way to end off the night! I don't know whether to eat the stuffing or frame it it's so beautiful!! It probably won't make it through the week.... more than the food though I loved all of your letters! Thank you for your testimonies, and thanks especially to Sky-guy and his camp out analogy. I've been studying the Plan of Salvation alot and it gave me a really cool perspective on what I had been studying! Because of time I'll forward as my spiritual thought the email I sent to Elder Mickelson, it's related towards missionary work, but applies to every task that the Lord gives us. Our Area President, Elder Carl B. Pratt of the Seventy, is here this week for a mission tour and we had an incredible Zone Conference with him and Sister Pratt. I wish I could scan my notes and send them with this email, pure revelation! I had the chance Saturday night to interview with him (my first interview on my mission) and that was the highlight of my week, a great spiritual experience!

This week Elder Мөнгөнцор and I, with English teaching, taught 26 lessons and I loved being busy just with teaching! We did very little finding this week keeping up with all the teaching appointments. We're also preparing 2 investigators to be baptized, one on the 17th, and another on the 31st of December and we meet with them often. One is a 9 year old girl named Урангоо. Her sister and brother are members, but the rest of her family is not and comes to Church every week and her older sister (an RM) is a really great example to her! Эрдэнэцэцэг is 18, has been investigating the Church for over 6 months, and has been passed around a ton with missionaries transferring to and from the area, but with all the change is still attending Church and just needs to have the lessons retaught, and then she's ready for baptism. I'm feeling the responsibility right now to really make sure we prepare these 2 the best we can to be strong members of the Church and it's really helped our lesson planning be more specific having taught everything ourselves and being able to gauge their understanding.

Now I want to share about Saturday, Zone Conference with Elder Pratt! Friday night our Zone Leaders called and said we had a "surprise" Zone Conference the next morning from 8 to 2 and then interviews with Elder Pratt that night. Sister Pratt is an incredibly enthusiastic speaker and she kept telling the translator off for not expressing enough feeling! Ha ha, I loved it. Most of her remarks are in the email I'll forward, but she shared an awesome talk based off Elder McConkie's "Gospel Teaching and Learning" talk from last Conference. Go read that again this week, an incredible talk! She shared one thing that I had never thought of before... we read the Scriptures to learn to recognize the VOICE of the Savior and how He and the Father work among the children of men. We read from Ether 2 where the Lord spake with the Brother of Jared for 3 hours. Sister Pratt then asked, "When was the last time you spoke with the Lord for that long?" She then related that we have 2 hours of study, personal and companionship, where if we will read from the Scriptures we can learn to recognize the voice of the Lord, a.k.a. speak with Him each day. I had never thought of scripture study in this way and I was excited to share that with you all- make sure, aside from your prayers, that you are taking the time to speak with the Lord, personally and especially as a family!! We all can better learn to recognize His voice. Elder Pratt's remarks were all focused on the great commandment to love one another. I left his notes at my apartment and don't want to botch his words trying to say them myself... so I'll share them later. But we read from John 13-17, the Saviors "Upper Room" address and I loved how much he taught from the scriptures rather than just speaking. Those would also be a great few chapters to read this week (hint hint).

About the Christmas call, I'm going to try and get the final "okay" on skype this week, I'm 90% sure it's fine, but for the final word I may have to wait until President Clark arrives. Speaking of which, the expected arrival time right now is the 17th of December!! Yeah!! I'm excited for him to be here. What you can do now though is set up a skype account for me, that would be all I think we would need to do. Then you can send me the password and I'll get on that way. If I can I'll get all the final details worked out and report back next week. Thanks you guys, I hope you're especially enjoying this Christmas season, it really is a time where everyone seems to be happier, forgive easier, and focus on what's really important. I think of you all the time and strive to serve as an example for the future Jolley missionaries and to live up to the great blessing of the family that I have!

Love, Elder Jolley
Ахлагч Жолий

Ахлагч Мөнгөнцор and Ахлагч Жолий

Elders in my district (also my roommates), my companion Elder Мөнгөнсор (glasses), Elder Нямбаяр (white shirt), and Elder Мягмардорж (green shirt), great Elders! (this was the missing pic from last week)

Spiritual Thought from Zone Conference: This week our Area President Carl B. Pratt visited and took an Mission Tour, and he and his wife held a Zone Conference on Saturday. All I can say is incredible! Because of time I'll quickly sum up what they said, but later on check out the scriptures behind it in Nephi 17 and Ether 2. Nephi gets a specific assignment from the Lord, to build the boat. Nephi's incredible so he knows that it will require all of his effort (heart, might, mind, and strength) to complete the assignment and asks the Lord where he can go to find ore to make the tools. The Lord provides him with the materials but allows him to do the work! The Lord has also given us a specific, incredible task! Like Nephi, the Lord will show us where the ore is, but we will have to create the tools ourselves to accomplish the work. The ore is the Scriptures, Preach My Gospel, and etc. But that is just the raw material. Through our own effort, study, and time we will develop the tools to bring others to a "promised land." I loved that analogy and you can do the same study with the Brother of Jared.It helped me to remember how great of an honor it is that the Lord will entrust us to handle difficult tasks, that at the time we may not feel qualified for. But if the Lord gave us the assignment, how much hope that gives that we can succeed!

Ахлагч Жолий