Third Week in...

Hey Family! Okay, so I've got a quick 30 minutes to write and send some pictures... but tonight at about 8 I'll be able to come back and finish up... so I'll send some more info and pics! I'll also try and email all the kids as well. I loved all the emails! I printed them off so I'll be able to read them in depth throughout the week!

First off a couple of interesting things about the work: About a week and a half ago we had a service project that involved all the missionaries in UB. An organization asked that we would push wheelchairs for people, but we didn't know what else we would do. Turns out we were apart of a demonstration! Has to be one of the strangest service projects I'll do here! We started and the Wrestlers Palace (you all should google earth UB for a better explanation! My apartment building is just east of the Wrestlers Palace) and pushed patrons over to Cuxbaatar Square which is where the Mongolian government buildings are located. They were protesting the lack of disabled accessibility because of the lack of side walks, public transportation, accommodations, etc. So we took up one lane of the main road and marched our way in! Again, never thought I'd be doing that. Then we gathered everyone into a circle, there were a couple of speeches given, and then we left and I didn't think much more of it. But turns out we made the news! There's some bias against the church here and so there was a segment on church volunteers in the demonstration, and I guess I was on part of it... ha ha, so that was a great way to end off the week.

Remember those markets that we saw on the Mongolian "bizarre foods" episode? I was able to visit those this week; and saw a bunch of the more "exotic" Mongolian cuisine, even that brain jello stuff... but I decided for now I better not eat. I had some hiram (which is heated milk with salt, everyone drinks it here and it's offered at almost every house we visit) that I knew as I was drinking it, it wasn't the freshest batch, so my stomachs been going a bit crazy this last couple of days. I know Elder Reeve and Elder Wilson felt pretty nasty this last week or so and so far I've been pretty blessed health wise; other than that the food is sitting fine with me!

Again, I don't know the order of the pictures I'm sending, but I've included some really cool ones of the city and will send the rest tonight! The huge glass building is the Chiinges Xhaan Hotel, which is close by the Church office building in UB, which I also am sending you a pic of. Send the other pics tonight and some more info, but after a lot of patience and prayer my companionship is improving a ton and the last couple of days have been great!

Love you all! Elder Jolley

Ryan with his companion, Elder Amgalan

Overlooking a ger community in Ulaanbaatar

More of Ryan's mission apartment — sleeping quarters.

Breaking into a new pattern

Hey Family!

Ah I love email day! I am already going to apologize because I won't be able to email back to the individual emails all the way because of time- but don't stop writing them! Seriously, I've been missing the different perspectives and hearing from each of you every week and so I'll do my best to do the same.

Oh this week.... It's been a week of growth for me and so I'm incredibly grateful for all the stretching! Early last week the "honeymoon phase" of coming to Mongolia wore off- I woke up one morning and thought to myself "This bites. I can't communicate with people, speaking is a constant challenge, and I there's no food in my apartment." It was the weirdest morning I've had on my mission. Don't think I'm hating it and I want to go home! This has been a great growth experience and that is why I share that. I had a good day of working hard but couldn't shake the negativity in the back of my mind. I knew I had to shake myself out of this stage and so I dove into the Book of Mormon for a fresh perspective. If we stay caught in the rut of our problems nothing good will come of it, and I wanted out of this fast. I have been frustrated because of my own abilities, my own weaknesses, and there's a huge problem with that. All "my" statements and not taking into account the role of Christ! Moroni 10 speaks of being perfected "in Christ" and salvation coming through him. I love that phrase that it is in Christ that we do these things. The same applies for the areas that we struggle with. So I have been doing all I can to prepare and put forth my best effort, than placing that before the Lord and asking him to fill the gap, and as I have done that with sincerity and faith I am able to teach, communicate, and do His work better!

As far as news this week, we have been able to teach a lot of lessons and I'm enjoying getting to know and from that develop a love for the people we're teaching. On Wednesday I hope to hear about my English sponsor and arrange a meeting to figure out what I'll actually be doing! I am waiting on my registration with the government and so after that the ball will start rolling with that.

This week I had legit Kraft Mac n Cheese! And these German Cornflakes! Ah man it was the best, now that I've settled into the apartment and know what's available the food at home has improved a ton, I'm hoping to try out a few of your recipes Mom in the next week or so. We don't eat with members a ton but when we do the food has been great! I'm beginning to develop a taste for the hiram (milk, salt drink) and the hard curdled milk candy- being in the city the food isn't crazy but I still get to experience the Mongol food! I'm sending a few pictures and when I figure out a better way to send photos I'll add more. I was loving hearing about your week! And especially the photos, everyone looks so much older, I can't believe it! I've gotta go, but I love you guys, think about you all the time and can't wait to here from you again!

Elder Jolley

(A little extra...) More pictures. I've got a few more minutes while they load so I'll pack some info in. Elder Amgalan (my companion) is from Darhan and has been on his mission now for just over a year (his mission began June of 2009). I'm trying to learn more about him, but he's a great trainer! Loves Micheal Jackson, the show "Naruto" or something like that, an anime show. (haha). He's great with people though and carries the conversational part of our work. Our situation is different because the other American's have companions that speak English and Elder Amgalan has only basic vocab and random phrases so communication is difficult sometimes. But I've been very grateful for him carrying our companionship so much! It has to be hard having the companion that doesn't speak much and doesn't really know what's going on (me) and I rely on his expertise a lot!

Elder Tyler Mickelson, Elder Jolley and Elder Tyler Helvey (August, before Ryan left the MTC)

Ryan's study area in his mission apartment in Ulaanbaatar

Elder Jolley with Ulaanbaatar in the background

The First Week in a New Land...

Cain Baitsgaan yy?

Thank you for the great email! It's nice to hear how things are going for you all, keep that up please! Hmm.... my first week in Mongolia.... Incredible!! I love change so my brain is having a sensory overload right now! I emailed you on the Thursday that I arrived; and the rest of that day was registration/arrival stuff until about 8, we were pretty hashed and so a shower and sleep was beautiful! We met up with Elder Wilson and his new companion (Axthagch Eatgeth (I'll try and make the Mongolian words as easy to pronounce as possible, but English characters don't do it justice))- it felt like I hadn't seen him in years!

On Friday we went to Tsighsen (a Russian Monument built on a hill above UB) with the AP's and President Mecham and read the dedication prayer (given by Neal A. Maxwell at that same spot). This was to be our first day of actual missionary work and so we started it off right! You'll have to look up the prayer and read it for yourselves ya? After we were assigned our trainers!! My new companion is Axlagch Amagthan! He's been serving here for a little over a year and it's been great following his example- he has a real dedication to the rules and works hard ( I was worried about the dreaded slacker trainer) and so I've loved seeing his zeal for the work! Right now his stomach is having some issues that the Church doctor can't figure out and he's having some pains but still truckin... again what a stud. Keep him in your prayers, I hope we can find a solution tomorrow. After that it was back to my new apartment to unpack a bit. Hmm... my apartment... I'll have to take pictures because that will describe it better. Mom, you would have a heart attack! But it's good living compared to a lot of people here and so I'm very grateful for that. I'm settled in now, but as you now know I'm missing a pillow and a few other things which I'm hoping to pick up today.

I've been adjusting a lot faster that I thought and that's really helped me be productive this first few days- the Lord's been blessing me a ton! I haven't felt any jet lag, Elder Wilson was uber sick about 4 days after arriving and I have felt great! I'm so wiped out that when I get back home sleeps super easy! Going from the MTC cafeteria to Mongolia has probably been the biggest change. Since my companion isn't feeling well our eating schedules been super off. And in Mongolia, there's no difference in foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For breakfast, meat, potatoes, rice, bread, grease. Repeat for the other two meals. I had a daydream today about eating peaches.... no joke! I love all of that food of course, but that 24/7 is cain bish, so I'm really trying to make sure I have variety in my diet and so far it's been going pretty good.

I haven't met with my sponser yet, but I'll be teaching for some organization called the Instruction Federation. The hours vary according to the sponsor. For Example: Elder Huff will be teaching for about 6 hours a week, Elder Reeve for 1, and Elder Wilson and I will be teaching for 14 hours a week. We knew it wouldn't be the full 40, but it was still nice to hear some details on that. Our sponsors give us a couple of weeks to adjust before we begin teaching so I probably won't begin for another two weeks or so. Hopefully I will meet with them this week and learn some details on who and what I am supposed to teach. Elder Reeve and Wilson have met with their sponsors and now are starting to build their "curriculum" ( haa... oh man), so I hope to have that chance too.

Language wise, hmm that's a tough one. It's so refreshing now to hear and speak English! I can teach, I can have simple conversation and I'm finding out that I know a lot more than I thought which is great! But I'm finding out that it's all about comprehension and context. Some people's accents are so different to me that my brain can't register what they're saying! So I smile and laugh like I know what's going on and hang on! And if I know what we're talking about I can guess what I don't know, but otherwise I'm totally lost! But I'm learning fast and the "immersion" in the language is great. BRAYD, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Odds are I won't be able to email ya before your actual birthday, but I love ya, and hope you have a great day. 18!! It blows my mind.... in your next email I wanna hear how it was aight?

I've got to wrap it up, I'm a slow emailer so my companion is just pacing behind me! But I wanted to share a few things in closing. First off, about the scripture study challenge. Our Area Presidency visited Sunday and re-stressed what I've already been thinking a lot about, the power that comes from scripture study! Elder Pratt discussed with the branch about the challenges of having a ton of kids at different stages, and trying to nail down a individual and family reading time. Sounds familiar no? It may be waking up earlier, it may be always not leaving the house for the night until it's read, but it's amazing the power that comes from that study, not to mention the blessings that follow! That's partly why I asked you all during the call to read and set a goal, without that we cannot see our improvement and show the Lord our efforts. I think that's the main reason that we set goals as missionaries, in this we are blessed by God- and without a doubt why, can see the blessing!

I've gotta go, and there's a hundred more things I could write about, so I hope to be able to write more next time. I love you all and can't wait to hear from you again!

Elder Jolley

Arrived Safe and Sound

Received this email this morning from Ryan (notice the legitimate Mongolian... no more me trying to piece the language together!) :

сайн ъайцгаан уу?

Greetings from монгол! It's 4:39 here and I'm running on straight adrenaline rush- what a day! First off, sorry for the quick exit last night... or a week ago? My concept of time has been completely shifted. The plane was boarding and I was getting glared at by my two companions. The flight was great, it's been way too long since I've been on a plane, between that and sleeping for a good part of the LA to Beijing made it a really quick trip, and it still blows my mind that I'm half a world away from you all. The whole flight was a great time to read the Book of Mormon and Jesus the Christ so it helped me really keep a focus on the task at hand. You asked how I felt about the trip. Just amazingly excited, I couldn't believe that I was actually going to Mongolia finally! We've been talking about this one for 8 months now people! Met with President Mecham just barely, how great it was to see him again! Keep him and Sister Mecham in your prayers, he carries an incredible responsibility and it has to be difficult without his companion.

A little bit about the trip, LA was a really short delay so we didn't get to do much there besides check in and then board the plane. We arrived in Beijing at 3:40 pm your time, 5 am there. It is a massive, high tech place, and there was NO one there! So it took off any culture shock we would've felt there, if anything the Air China flight from LA was the Chinese experience for this trip. Tried using a payphone to call you all, but all 3 of us had no idea how to get a call through to the states, so apologies on that one. Enjoyed a tasty breakfast of eggs and bacon at a pizza hut (I know right?) then we were on an Air China flight to Mongolia!

Since arriving it has been orientation, orientation, and a lot of starry-eyed American missionaries walking around UB. I ATE MONGOLIAN FOOD! At a legit гуанз (kinda like a cafe in America, slightly Betos style... so I loved it!) Ate some ъууз (delish meat dumplings) and цойван (about as close of a Mongolian food experience that we had pre-mission, noodles with meat and peppers)... delish. Now I'm off to do who knows what, hopefully I will meet my companion, we'll stay at the mission home tonight and I'll be in my apartment tomorrow! I love you all and wish you were here seeing this! It really is a world that we have no idea about- it hasn't fully hit me yet, but l am seeing lots of things, that you can't live here and not be changed by. It is incredible! I love you all and will send you some pics in my next P Day- which are Mondays here. хайртай шүү!

Ахлагч жолий

This extra little addition we received this morning as well from Elder and Sister Powell (one of the senior couples serving there also. Jeff knows Sister Powell from working at Covey Leadership!)

Hello Jeff, I am happy to report that your son arrived safely in Mongolia this afternoon. It was so fun to meet him. He looks so much like you. He is a very "strapp'n" young man. He looks very confident and seems happy to be here. You should be very proud of him.

We talked to him about the organization where he will be teaching English. He has one of the harder assignments. His sponsor is Instruction Federation. They are a government agency and he will be teaching 14 hours a week. We will keep you posted about his progress. Let us know if you have any questions. It will be so fun to work with him.

Sincerely, Elder and Sister Powell

It's Time!

I received a call from Ryan yesterday afternoon from the MTC. There was much excitement in his voice. "Mom, our visas came! I am so excited!" Not only did his come, but Elder Huff's and Elder Reeve's as well. They all will be able to leave together. They leave today, Wednesday August 31st!

Ryan's plan was to finish up some packing (although he says he's been living out of his suitcase for the last week or so) and finalize details there. The three of them are to meet at the MTC Travel Office at 6:30 this evening. From there they will travel to the airport and get checked in. They will take the 9:45 flight to Los Angeles. From there they will have a 12 hour flight to Beijing, China and then a 2 1/2 hour flight to Ulaanbaatar (he was unsure of any layovers when we spoke, but we'll get further details from him). After they are checked in, Ryan will be able to call home this evening to talk with us. We are all excited to hear from him and visit for a while until he departs. What a blessing and tender mercy from the Lord that these visas are here for these amazing Elders who are so ready and anxious to go and serve their Heavenly Father and the beautiful people of Mongolia. The adventure begins!


This evenings phone call follow-up:
Our call tonight was awesome! We got to talk with Ryan for over an hour (which went by way too quickly). He sounds awesome and is excited and ready to go. It was so nice to just be able to chat and hear about each others happenings. He does have a couple of layovers— a 3 hour in Los Angeles and a 2 hour one in Beijing. Lots of love expressed and we wished him well and look forward to hearing from him when he arrives.

August 28th Letter Update

миний гэр бүи

What an interesting week it's been for all of us! I have dreaded this week since I first arrived here... "Visa Delay"... dun, dun, dun! I did not want to be that missionary and so when we found out about our visas not being on time, I was amazed that I was already at 12 weeks, but why would the next week be bad? I still get to prepare, I have a great new companionship and the Lord knows what's best! I was surprised then to be at this stage and still loving it and made the choice a few weeks ago to always keep it that way — and it's been a great week! On Monday, with Elder Wilson leaving the next day, we had the infamous "mission culture day!" I'll have to send some of the pictures, but it was awesome! We watched clips from Brother Cannons and Brother Margett's mission - saw pictures, learned more about the day-to-day life, wore a дээл (traditional Mongolian dress) and saw a bunch of other things that they brought back from Mongolia. It was incredible and re-excited us for our going to Mongolia! I'm pretty well packed up as of now and so we are just waiting for the visas to come. No new updates yet and we are trying to not annoy the travel office with our questions. On the other hand though, we don't hear anything unless we go ask ourselves. Both occasions when Elder Wilson received his visa and his travel plans they had been unable to contact him before our visit and so we were completely unaware. So we'll see what surprises we get this next week!

Thanks for the update on the family Book of Mormon reading, really make sure you all keep up with that, especially altogether! It is a guaranteed promise of strength and blessings that we can always use. Just like with our bodies, yesterday's meal is not enough to sustain today's needs. It is the same with our scripture reading. Thank you all for your prayers and support and know that you are in my prayers too!

Aхлагч жолий

August 26th email update

Hey Mom and Family,

What a week! I know things have been super busy at home and so I hope that things have started to slow down a bit now that schools back in business. How is everyone doing with teachers/classes and such? I'm officially on "Visa Delay" status now and this last Wednesday was the start of my 13th MTC week. In the last couple of weeks as I was thinking about being here longer I decided to, whatever the situation became, to approach my next few weeks with an attitude of growth- to see what the Lord wants me to learn while I am still here at the MTC, rather than get "trunky" to leave as it's said here. And how great of an opportunity that's been! It's been a week of great study and improvement so far and I've been able to see more of the Lord's blessings as I've put forth that effort. How grateful I am for that!

Thank you for the screen shot and pictures! From your last letters it sounds like Sky's about done with his eagle and Brayden isn't too far behind- cain bain! Also, again thanks a ton for the package and all the Scotharoos- I have half a bag left but took a fast from them the last few days (ha!) because I was pounding them down!

With Elder Wilson gone now I have become a threesome companionship with Elder Reeve and Elder Huff. I was curious to see how we would do and very prayerful that we could continue being a strong companionship! The threesome companionship is infamous for having problems and I've been praying that I could be a blessing to these Elders rather than causing a "third wheel." And now, with some work and prayer on all of our parts, we are continuing to do well and strengthen our unity. Tuesday night we had another awesome devotional and Jeffrey R. Holland was our speaker for that night! He is incredibly passionate about missionary work and it was an awesome experience! In my letter I'll include some of the highlights, but that was icing on the cake for this week! We're going to go check in with the travel office tomorrow and see if there is any new word on the visa's, the guesstimate is around the 3oth of August- we'll see what happens and I'll let you know as soon as I hear- if you promise to answer the phone! Ha ha. I love you all and am excited to hear from you again!

Elder Jolley