Hey Family!

Wow. What a week for some of us (nuguu Elder Jolley jr)! I haven't been able to get an email out to him so I need to drop him a line this week, and I smile because I know that the first transfer is where the Lord shapes His missionaries! So bring on the character building experiences! To start off this email I'll give you a rundown of the pictures:

This first picture you'll have to share with the Neubergers.... a classic missionary moment. Elder Neuberger was not used to the "fill-it-yourself" washing machines and last preparation day the water filled up and over! We got it before anything serious happened and I snapped a sweet shot for his family back at home.

The second picture... Thanksgiving dinner. Elder Neuberger and I had two rounds of English teaching on Thursday and between that and office work we had little to no time for food- so we did our Thanksgiving in the morning. We had apple crisp with ice cream, and then "steakon" and eggs with chocolate milk. Delish.

The third picture, the highlight of my week, was Brother Ganbold's baptism. His family was there (who are also preparing to be baptized), along with Brother Ganzorig and his family- Brother Ganbold's friend and new member. I was really impressed how Brother Ganbold viewed his baptism with the respect that a baptism deserves. He was in his white shirt, early, very reverent and thoughtful about the whole event. This symbolizes a lot of changes in his life that have taken place in only a few short months and it was an incredible night! We're going to have a family home evening with them tonight where we're going to be talking about The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

The fourth picture is with Elder Neuberger, Brother Jiguur and I burning the midnight oil in the office. President Clark spent the weekend in Darkhan reorganizing the district presidency and on Friday night after the baptism we prepared some training materials for the District Conference on Sunday. So after a great baptism the three of us ordered some Mr. Pizza (hadn't eaten all day), turned on some Mormon Tabernacle Choir and got to work. Brother Jiguur is our mission office secretary and served a mission in Hawaii- he's great to have in the office!

Also, talked to the Fords today about Skype- we're on. What if I were to call you guys on Christmas Day in the evening like we did last year? That would be Monday morning for us, and the Fords said that would work out fine. I know we're working two missionaries this Christmas so I'll take whatever time- just let me know what works best! I had a ton more that I wanted to write... but as per normal the preparation day has slipped away from us, so here's a little from what I shared with the President Clark (we just made an unexpected stop in at a wedding with President and Sister Clark!).

It's been a great week for the work in Sansar! I feel like we've really been able to gain the Bishop's trust this last week and show him that we're not just office Elders, but we love the ward and want to serve them! We've had the opportunity to speak in sacrament and work with the ward leaders a lot and I see them taking an initiative to improve the ward- and we are more than happy to be helping them in any way we can! What can I say about Elder Neuberger? He's great! Because of English teaching and such we've fallen a little behind on our companionship study program and are working to find a way for our companionship to be the most effective with the situations we are placed in! We all know about those who "teach exceptions" and I'm trying to not have any in our companionship.

The investigators we have now are truly amazing! Almost all have connections to the Church through family and close friends and we are working toward their lasting conversion as we strive to teach with the Spirit! The referrals and contacts keep pouring in and I feel overwhelmed but happy with all the prepared people there are here! I wish that I could meet with all of them, and I worry that some prepared people are not receiving the Gospel only because their missionaries. But, I know as we work our hardest the Lord will guide us to be doing what He would have us do. "Shall we not go on in so great a cause?"

I love being apart of this work, I love being a missionary, and I'm grateful for the incredible opportunities that the Lord has given us through His gospel. I testify that it is true. Love you all!

Elder Jolley