Hey Family,

Sain uu! Soo much has happened and these emails hardly do it justice.... more than anything I can't believe about all the changes going on outside of Mongolia (moving/missions/marriages). Who is Brittany marrying?! Crazy. You'll also have to let me know where Sister Brunsdale is serving, she'll be an incredible missionary. Right now more than anything I'm having office withdrawals, I keep feeling like I'm on a companionship exchange and that this is just a temporary thing. I have learned so much this past 6 months! I loved what Elder Mickelson said about helping with transfers. He will learn so much about the process of receiving revelation in the next few months. I want to do everything perfectly and sometimes lack that godly patience that I need- but more than anything I have seen my mission setting apart blessing and so many other promises from the Lord fulfilled in these last few months as I have been supported and strengthened beyond my capacity through Him. Working with President Clark and the other leaders of the church/mission have been incredible!

So Monday... last preparation day with Elder Neuberger. We went to the Zakh to buy some more fabric for Elder Neuberger's deel and with the leftover money we had bough Mongolian belts and ping pong paddles (every church building here has a table and members here are GOOD!). More than anything it was fun to be walking around chatting with my comp. Then we went to the office and suddenly preparation day was over! The office tends to do that, lots of work pops up. But I was able to do some great language study that day translating some interviews. Later on that night we went to Bro. Purev and Sister Nyamsuren's house and taught them how to hold a family home evening. It was a great night! I've said this before but every time I'm over at their house it feels like I'm at home. The Spirit is there and their desire to now live and follow the Gospel is growing each day! I knew that night that I wouldn't be meeting with them regularly anymore and that was hard for me, but I know it's right.

Tuesday we had district meeting, President Clark had a few calls to make to Hong Kong and so we went to our own district meeting rather than attending with him and Sister Clark. It was great to be with the district and it is amazing to see how Elder Neuberger and Elder Boyd (the two "new" missionaries in our district) are progressing in Mongolian. They seem so much farther ahead than where we were at after our first transfer. Tuesday we started wrapping things up in the office (cleaning/organizing) and did that until I had to teach English at 6.

Wednesday and Thursday were crazy! We spent almost half a day ordering/buying plane tickets and doing a lot of financial and logistical prep for transfers. We sent off an Elder Bayarjargal Thursday morning to be the new branch president in Bulgan and so his companion, Elder Stranski stayed the night with us (which turned into a tuna bacon sandwich fest). I love transfer week. Game time for the assistants! So Wednesday we had our battle plan and notified the zones and districts. Then starting Thursday morning we began to run missionaries out to the bus stop and airport or send them by taxi where possible. Elder Neuberger is a stud and was super patient with all the companionship splits and changes that were required for that. Realizing that I wouldn't be serving with Elder Neuberger hit me on these days. He has had a truly unique and challenging first 12 weeks in the mission and now I am excited to see him dive into doing the work 24/7, but sad that I couldn't be there with him! But he couldn't have gotten a better companion than Elder Bayartsogt! He's also only been on a mission since August but has charity and patience and a desire to serve unlike any other missionary! Their going to love Khailaast. Other than that, today the cafe across the street (Us Ug) started serving aarts! Yeah! We talked about aarts over Christmas so I won't describe it again but it's been nice having it back (restaurants only serve it in the winter). Sooo good.....

Friday we welcomed 3 new missionaries from the Manilla MTC! Originally the plan was to go pick them up around 1:30 but because of weather problems in UB (smoke I think), the plan was delayed and didn't get in 'til about 9. So Elder Neuberger was out teaching most of the day and I was with Elder Myagmardorj (the other assistant) training him about the duties of the office. Being a split companionship as assistants was super tricky and I would have really loved a transfer to work with Elder Myagmardorj- he's an incredible Elder. Now that he and Elder Huff are a companionship the will take things and run with it. We had a missionary that came in by bus at midnight and went to pick him up. I don't know how anyone (including myself before the mission) can survive on anything but the 10:30 to 6:30 schedule!

Saturday started early with a 5:45 run to the airport to take an Elder to Khovd. Did a lot of driving and moving people and luggage around this day! This was the official transfer day, and with the MTC Elder and Sisters behind on their orientation we did a lot of their training this day as well. So Elder Huff and Elder Myagmardorj went up to the mission home for training and I manned the transfer from the mission office with temporary companions as my new companion, Elder Quinton, taught English. Then I translated the departing missionaries interviews and because of a lack of drivers and car space we took machine #2 with a few Elders to Zaisan and read the dedicatory prayer with the Clarks and the new missionaries. The original plan was then to ditch the office for good and get out to Selbe with Elder Quinton, but then a few of the new missionaries and their trainers had problems getting out Elder Myagmardorj and I helped them while Elder Huff and Quinton went to our appointments. So we got to my new home through the bags in, planned, and went to bed.

Now Selbe! I'm in the city center, so it's west of Sansar, surrounded by apartments and "high-risers," not one ger in the whole area... so the dynamics of this ward are a little different. Sunday I LOVED personal and companionship study and love even more that my study is now going to be consistent. Enjoyed a lot of pondering and recording my impressions in a new study journal I got. Then we headed off to church! Where in what's called the Old Central Building and it was a great great day! Met investigators/members/ and the Bishop- this is going to be a great transfer! The Elder's Quorum teacher is a "ex-patriot" (what the members call foreigners) named Jared who is out here working at the Oyu Tolgoi mine headquarters (a Rio Tinto project). So I'll be able to keep translating on Sundays in sacrament and for his lessons which I was really excited about. After Church we got to go around the area a bit until the fireside for departing/arriving missionaries at 6:30. This was an especially exciting fireside because the Church's website was released in Mongolian!!!! To show the new site we recruited a Brother Tserennyam, a member of the Church's Mongolian Media Committee who is studying at BYU Hawaii. So Elder Huff and I arranged a presentation that he would give over a web conference at the fireside; he ran the computer and I worked the translation for President and the senior couples. Our missions translation receiver was in a mission car that got in a wreck so I fought the receiver for the whole fireside trying to keep the static and noise down so those listening could enjoy and understand the testimonies/presentation. We ordered a new transmitter but for some reason it isn't connecting with the headsets and so I got super flustered/bugged at junk technology. This is something that I would have done before my mission but has rarely happened on my mission... but don't worry this story has a good morale to it. Now of course this doesn't help my translation and so the whole process was self destructive in that way. I had prayed at the beginning of the fireside that everything would work out and my translation could be a benefit to others and at the time it seemed like that wasn't happening at all. Then after the presentation President Clark said a few closing words and I,(still flustered) translated. I got down and told Elder Myagmardorj "that was terrible." I love Elder Myagmardorj, super straight forward and he responded in a honest but loving way, telling me to get over it. I had done what I needed to do, everyone understood and I should have a little faith in myself. Just what I needed! As I thought about this throughout the night it was so clear that everything, especially the presentation, had gone almost flawlessly; and though the translator wasn't crystal clear everything worked great. I'm not perfect in the language but I was promised in my setting apart that I would be able to express myself clearly in the mission language and I have seen that blessing over and over. So I was blessed with a change of perspective and it was a great blessing to me.

There are so many other things that I wish I could throw in but to close I'd like to share a favorite scripture, Galations 4:7

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.

We are blessed, as members of this Church, to have such a close relationship with our Heavenly Father that comes with a knowledge of Him through the restoration! It literally changes our perspective and purpose in worshiping and following Him.

Khairtai Shuu! I know I didn't write a ton about Elder Quinton today, but I'll write a bunch about him next week. Have fun moving!

Elder Jolley