Sain uu?

Amar bain uu? Thanks for the great Easter Pics! Everyone in Mongolia, of course, looks Mongolian and there aren't many foreigners so pictures from home looks "foreign" now, kinda funny! But grass, trees, white people, you just don't see much! Today we've had a little bit of rain and it's been sunny and warm all week! I'm itching to lose the suit coat, but my companions not going for it yet. We've been blessed this week and I've felt the blessing of the privilege we have to preach of Jesus Christ and His Atonement as we celebrated that this last week. I was thinking about it this week and I've been in Sansar for almost 7 of the 8 months I've been here and I've become really tight with the ward. Before I was the new Elder that couldn't speak much, but now I get to help and influence and I'm very grateful for that!

Monday and Tuesday- Preparation Day we spent most of the day trying to get new mattresses for the apartment, but it ended up falling through, so we're trying for that again today! Tuesday, after district meeting, we were asked by the Bishop to go give a priesthood blessing to the daughter (non member) of a member of the ward and she has become our new investigator. She had met with the missionaries over a year ago and we met with her again the following Saturday. After that, good ole English at the New West Hotel. I like the people, but the atmosphere there is everything a missionary tries to steer clear from so I'm glad it's only 2 nights a week!

Wednesday- We had a full day of work and ended it off having dinner at a member's house, Sister Toya. She's awesome, a stalwart saint shuu dee. She was baptized about 10 years ago and has incredible faith and a desire to serve the Lord. Her less active daughter and family were also there and we are going to try to continue to meet with them as well. We read Mosiah 4 together and it allowed this sister and her family to realize the changes they need to make and that comes through "boldly declaring repentance" as Doctrine and Covenants says.

Thursday- I started something to hopefully bring more unity to our district- studying English together. Everyone here wants to learn English and I hope that by teaching and studying with them we will become more united. All of our missionaries are great, but we've got a few rifts and such that need to be forgiven to really be united. So I'll be teaching them 1 or 2 days a week and hope that that will help out!

Friday- Our investigator Unursaikhan was baptized! I sent 2 pictures of the baptism, but it was a night that he has been long awaiting. Unursaikhan is 24, has a bad kidney so he cannot work, but has a desire to serve and help others and he will be a great example to the ward! Also, we had an investigator that we were meeting with back in January come back from the countryside and hope to start meeting with him again. The countryside goes like this- you start to meet with an investigator (always the good ones), and then one day they up and head off to the countryside and you usually don't see them again! There's still a bit of the nomadic side in everyone I guess because moves here are very sudden and not a big deal.

Saturday and Sunday- A couple of weeks ago our investigator Bayarmunkh was baptized and we've been meeting with his family ever since. As we taught the Plan of Salvation to them last night we had an great discussion about the Atonement. Bayarmunkh's dad, Erdenemunkh, believes in God and Jesus Christ and is now attending another church, but had never heard of the Atonement before. I realized why the Apostles and Prophets make such an emphasis of this doctrine now, it had never even been mentioned to this man before! I felt blessed and grateful to explain the Atonement of Jesus Christ to Erdenemunkh and his family on the day that we celebrate Christ's resurrection. I had my testimony confirmed that truly without Christ's Atonement this Plan has no value, no power in our lives. Read Isaiah 61:1 or Luke 4:18- I want to tell you how grateful I am for our Savior. Truly with Him we can do all things! I feel that in Mongolia more than ever before. And because of His Gospel we have the opportunity to live together forever. It just doesn't get better than that! As we taught the Atonement to that family I was able to testify that they could also have this opportunity! So Happy Easter, love you guys!

Elder Jolley

Unursaikhan's baptism pictures

Xooi Sain uu?

A big shout out from UB! To make up for my lame emails the last couple of weeks I'm going to try and pack in as much of what happened this week in this email! I'll go day by day this email:

Monday- Elder Zolthbayar messed up his back playing basketball at the Bayanzurkh building (while running) and that cut short our Preparation Plans, it was all we could do to get food before heading home. So this weeks been tough for him in the moving around sense of things, but he's been good about keeping things as regular as possible! I put in a good plug for exercise and he's been doing stretches and back exercises so this won't happen again, now things are almost back to normal. So that night I took the house by storm and gave it a good cleaning. As of last Monday things have been either really warm or warm and really windy! It hasn't rained much, just windy and dusty.

Tuesday- We had district meeting and English two hours after and so the day flies by really quick. We met a man named Batjargal, a 45 or so year old man who lives in our area but has been attending the Khailaast ward for the last month or so and began meeting with him. He has a desire to increase his faith and loves the idea of commitments (can't ask for anything more!) and I look forward to continual meetings with him. In the 7 months since arriving in Mongolia almost 6 of them have been in Sansar and I'm really adapted to the "city life" (I may be getting soft), as well as the area and the ward! Also, on the 7th my work visa expired (not my main visa, just a work permit) and am in the process of getting that renewed. To be in Mongolia you must have a visa, work visa, and country residency visa, so to make things less simple! I talked with the mission office but haven't received any word on how that's going yet.

Wednesday- Almost the whole day was spent in Conferences and meetings with 2 of the Church History Department Historians! You should ask Uncle Jeff if he knows them, they deal with a lot of the stuff that he does (granite vault operations and such), a Brother Turley and Nielson. The missionaries had a special conference from 1-3 and then a Fireside for the stake from 6-8. President Clark, Elder Byambasuren, Huff, Tuvshinbayar, Elthbeg, and I sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" in the missionary conference and I also received the assignment to conduct the music. Failed as a conductor so I won't be volunteering for that anytime soon! But as long as your arms still moving your good right? Most importantly the musical number went well and that started the conference off on a high note for us. The missionary conference was an opportunity for missionaries to ask any questions they had regarding Church History, then the Fireside was a presentation on the early history of the Church. I ended up missing out on the Fireside to go on splits with Elder Huff to meet with an Indian family, in Mongolia, who speak English.... who would've thought! I love being with the "old" MTC district though and we've all grown tight in this last year or so.

Thursday- Not cleaning day! Ha ha, but we did have to teach English and so that with our weekly planning session took up most of the day. We did get the call that we would be doing transfers with our zone leaders on Saturday.

Friday- Our investigator, Unursaikhan, finished his last lesson, and we called and set up his baptismal interview! He was interviewed on Saturday and will be baptized this following Friday. Then at 9:00 we met up with the Zone Leaders, Elder Elthbeg and Elder Zolthbayar headed to Sansar and Elder Tuvshinbayar and I to Enkhtaivan, on the other side of the city.

Saturday- A great day! Elder Tuvshinbayar and I got up, played some 1 on 1 for exercise, had a great companionship study, and headed off to work! Elder Tuvshinbayar and I had a great day and I hope to have the opportunity to serve with him someday. I wrote this about our companionship exchange in my letter to President Clark:

"Way back in October, while on companion exchanges with Elder Cardinal (then my zone leader) and I met with a less active member who was struggling to quite smoking, Brother Battsengel. I ran in to him last Tuesday at the Bayanzurkh Building, but did not remember him right at first... but he remembered me and the visit Elder Cardinal and I had payed him. From our conversation I gathered that he had not been meeting with the missionaries for some time and he was going to the addiction recovery class... so as of yet no success with quitting smoking. After talking for a while he asked me to come and visit him the next time I was in Enkhtaivan (which I was sure would be a long time later), but I got his information and promised to meet with him. Receiving the call about our Saturday companion split, I had not yet registered this as an opportunity to meet with Brother Battsengel. Elder Tuvshinbayar and I started the day, and after finishing study, we headed out to work, but after two appointments fell through (including our back up plans), we took a few minutes on the street to re evaluate our plan. I had the thought to call Brother Battsengel, and we soon made arrangements to meet him. After meeting with him we had the chance to learn more about his life and current standings, certain trials had left this man reeling and wondering what to do to overcome. We discussed Mosiah 18:9, and he agreed to begin attending church and to continue meeting with Elder Tuvshinbayar and Elbeg. This Gospel brings a power to change and a hope that brings light into the darkest of circumstances! I was very grateful for the Lord in blessing us with this opportunity and I received a reconfirmation of this as I was studying from Romans 8 this morning."

Great Day! Sunday was rush hour x 3 with Church and finding investigators. In Mongolia new potential investigators come on their own to our Sacrament meeting each week, so we find lots of new investigators there. Love the work, love you guys! Thanks Dad, Mom, and Xuuxduud!

Elder Jolley

Hey!

It blows my mind how quickly each week flies by and how much things are changing back at home. We're just coming off the General Conference Feast 2011 and now I'm on the edge of my seat for the May Ensign- there's a ton to study! Then this week we have an amazing opportunity coming up, the Area Presidency and Church Historians are coming to UB on Wednesday and we have a special conference about the history of the Church here in Mongolia. And we're performing a musical number "Joseph Smith's First Prayer," there are 6 of us, Elder Huff, Elder Tuvshinbayar, Elder Elthbeg, President Clark, Elder Byambasuren, and I. It's going to be a great conference and I'll make sure to let you know how it goes! We also started meeting with Bayarmunkhs parents and we taught the message of the Restoration, it was an incredible night and I have great hopes for that family.

Okay about your talk.... I wish like crazy I had my study journal and more time... this hour is always a crazy rush and so I hope that I will be able to convey my thoughts and help you in your preparation. Romans 8 (the whole chapter, but especially verses 34-39) speaks about what will separate us from Christ. Nothing but our own actions and deeds separate us from the peace of the Gospel and it's blessings through sin. When this happens, because we have separated ourselves from God, it is not He who has left us but it is us that has distanced ourselves from Him. That's what makes repentance so incredible and crucial to our growth. God gives us a way to cleanse ourselves from our mistakes and to "deny ourselves of all ungodliness." And from my experience as a missionary, it is a way that we can grow in our love and trust of Heavenly Father, and it is a practice we need to constantly apply in order to succeed in this life. Some of the investigators we meet with cannot seem to progress, and it is usually because they have not felt the love and change that comes through the power of the Atonement as we repent. While on the other hand, those who take advantage of this opportunity immediately enjoy the blessings of peace. There are no disadvantages to repentance! Waiting does nothing but prolong our own suffering, and since repentance doesn't benefit God in any way it is in our best interest to act quickly. We are meeting with a man that became a member of the Church almost 12 years ago, served an honorable full time mission, but since then has fallen into "unforbidden paths." We meet with him, he feels like going to Church again, and recognizes the lack of joy in his life that he once had. But will not commit to make the changes necessary. Until he will repent nothing can change, it's like what Alma says about rejecting the light we have received, it is taken away from us. Contrast that with a new member we have that constantly looks for ways to draw closer to God and feel His love through repentance, it leads him to feel his Fathers love in all that he does.

Sorry, times out and I've got to go, but I hope that helps and let me know how your talk goes! Elder Zolthbayar has had a couple of hard weeks as he has been overcoming some personal questions and concerns and it's an opportunity for me to learn to love, serve, and be patient. I am excited to again focus 100% on the work, but I continue to understand better the growth opportunities that the Lord gives us are specifically intended for us, and will ultimately lead to blessings and opportunities that we cannot, at the time, qualify for. I'm so grateful for that! Love you guys!

Elder Jolley

PS We had a couple of fun district activities with some of the Senior Couples and the Bishop, here's some pictures...

Family sain yy!

This week you'll have pictures coming your way! It's been a week of highs and lows, but as always the work is amazing- if only things could always revolve around that! Thanks for the pictures from home too. First off, our investigator Bayarmunkh was baptized! I sent a picture of him in his baptism whites, his member cousin (on the left of Bayarmunkh), and the rest of his family... who as of tonight will be our new investigators! They attended his baptism and have agreed to meet with us, their dad is going to another Church in town, but the 2 kids have been meeting with us for about a week or so. I mentioned last week that the Elder Pickett and Davis headed home, there's a picture from their fireside that I threw in as well. Elder Zolthbayar and I are coming up on a half transfer together, we'll be together for a full transfer or so, it's been a very up and down this week. He's had some doctrinal questions, faith trying experiences and it's been tough that way. One of the sisters grandpa is very sick, and she requested to head home to be able to see him. Before I guess that was allowed but President is saying no... and so that's been tough for him and deciding if that is really what God wants. Anyways, it's been hard on the work that way and on our companionship, but I'm hoping things improve. I don't know the details on Conference yet, but I'm ready for the spiritual feast coming up! I've been reading a lot out of 2 Nephi 9 this week and studying up on the Atonement, then on Friday I had an amazing opportunity to see the Atonement in action. After the baptism I was asked to translate an interview with President Clark (first time), it was out of the blue but an experience that confirmed the things I had been studying. No details of course, but the Atonement of our Savior gives us an escape from guilt and burdens that we cannot overcome on our own. And as soon as someone catches a hold of that hope, believes in the promise that Christ has given, you can see the light begin to return! It was the highlight of my week to see the power of the Atonement in action. I love you guys, this Gospel, if we will allow it, will bless and change our lives!

Elder Jolley

Bayarmunkh's baptism

Elder Jolley and Elder Zolthbayar studying

Elder Pickett, Elder Wilson, Elder Jolley
Elder Reeves, Elder Huff, Elder Davis

Elder Pickett and Elder Jolley