Sain Uu!

Hey family, thanks for the great emails and pictures! I can't believe it's approaching fall, I felt like we just did this, no? Anyways, it's been a great week here and I want to fill you in on a bit of what's been going on:

Monday and Tuesday were great last days in Khailaast. We visited with Nergui and his family to finish Tuesday night off and then moved out early Wednesday morning. Elder Verdusco is still in Khailaast, with my old Zone Leader Elder Mungunsukh. And ever since then it's been a rush!

Elder Verdusco and Elder Jolley with Nergui and his family

Being in Sansar now I have 2 lives, the office life and the work. The goal is to be able to manage both and then get more lessons taught than hours in the office, and so far we've done well. It's fun to see my new members here, to see lots of familiar faces and now to keep meeting with old and new investigators. My new companion is a complete stud of a missionary and I couldn't be more excited to be with him. He started his mission in may of last year and so we're similar that way, and has been an Assistant for almost 3 months. He's an intense basketball player so we hit up a couple hours of b-ball for Preparation Day today, just an all around great Elder! I am grateful that the Lord keeps blessing me with amazing companions and I'm excited to serve together.

Elder Tuvshinbayar and Elder Jolley in the Countryside

Plus, I went to the countryside! First time I've been out of Ulaanbaatar since coming last September and so I was pretty excited. We were in Zuun Kharaa, a little town north of UB, about a 3 hour car drive. Elder Tuvshinbayar (my new companion), President Clark, Sister Clark, and I sat in the Zuun Kharaa sacrament meeting, and we went as translators. Elder Tuvshinbayar translated for Sister Clark, and I translated for President Clark. Let's just say it worked but I'm anxious to improve! Also, I'm getting my Mongolian drivers license here in the next 10 days or so, with Elder Wilson gone and Elder Tuvshinbayar license-less we're taxing everyone around and it will be a great help to the work once that comes. We now live literally right next to the Bayanzurkh Building (which also means the mission office) in an apartment that the Sansar sisters used to live in- I sent pictures it's a beauty!

The new apartment in Sansar

The biggest difference this week has been again teaching with a Mongolian companion, I'm glad now to be the worst Mongolian speaker in the companionship!

We've got a lot of great things coming up in this next month that I'll be more prepared to fill you guys in on next week, but we're preparing for our new Asia Area Presidency Member, Elder Gerrit W. Gong, to come for a mission tour, as well as a few other trips to branches in the countryside. I also ran into (Elder) Brother Cardinal today, who's back in town for a 10 day visit- man time sure flies! I love you guys, hoped you liked my countryside pictures and such, talk to you next week!

Love, Elder Jolley

Few extra pictures:

The finishing up of the outhouse dig—a good 3 meters down!
Elder Verdusco and Elder Jolley

The open house at the Chingeltei Meetinghouse

Sain uu

Happy Monday Family (too bad you guys don't have a Preparation Day, it makes Monday's a lot cooler). Elder Verdusco and I have had a great day! Cleaned the house and started our packing preparations for this Wednesday. We've really loved this apartment so almost sad to be leaving it. But transfers! I'm going back to Sansar, and Elder Verdusco will be staying in Khailaast. Elder Verdusco's new companion is one of the Elders in our district, Elder Mungunsukh (he's our zone leader) and will now be covering the whole Khailaast area (instead of 4 Elders and 2 Sisters we're gaining 2 more Sisters and losing 2 Elders). But he's really excited and I'm excited that he'll still be able to keep working with our investigators. This time in Sansar will be different from my last 2 transfers there because I'll be serving as President's Assistant with Elder Tuvshinbayar. But going to Sansar feels like coming home and I'm excited to return! I'll be taking Elder Wilson's place (between him and I, one of us has been in Sansar since we came in last September) and he and Elder Huff will be training the 2 new American missionaries coming on Wednesday, Elder Titensor and Woodward. So lot's of big changes happening!

I found out by being invited last minute to the mission's zone counsel last Tuesday. At the time I had no idea what I was doing, I was just told to sit in- we spent the afternoon in the Mission President's home discussing the new training plan for missionaries (which is starting this month, Brayden's going to be able to get this training in the field). Anyways, after a spiritual feast, discussing the needs and upcoming events of our mission, I found out that I would be coming to Sansar again. Also, Elder Carl B. Pratt has just been released from our Area Presidency and Elder Gerrit W. Gong has been called to fill in, he will be coming for a mission tour in September! So I've known most of the last week, but the transfer call didn't come until Saturday so Elder Verdusco was plotting and guessing throughout the week what was happening! He's excited for his new companion and it will be good for him to really dive into the language 24/7 being with a Mongolian companion. I'm very excited for Elder Verdusco, to not only have seen his progress in the last few months together but now to see him take off! Ever since Tuesday I've been grateful for the trust that the Lord and President Clark have put in me and I'm excited now to learn the ropes. My new companion is awesome! He started his mission a month before me and I've worked with him a little bit on companion exchanges, just a good, solid Elder. He and I will have the opportunity to work with President Clark, as well as our responsibility over the Sansar ward. So I'll have a lot to fill in next week as I get my feet wet! This next transfer will bring a lot of changes, but I'm so grateful for the time I have to be a servant of the Lord in this part of the field! I've taken the initiative to re-read Preach My Gospel cover to cover this week and it's strengthened my testimony in the power of this book! With the Book of Mormon there's no other book that we should know more in order to be a instrument in the hand of the Lord (shout out to Dad and Brayden- start reading in cover to cover with me and we'll share spiritual insights!). To close I'll share a scripture:

By faith ^aAbel offered unto God a more excellent ^bsacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

By faith ^aEnoch was ^btranslated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this ^ctestimony, that he pleased God.

But without ^afaith it is impossible to please him: for he that ^bcometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a ^crewarder of them that ^ddiligently ^eseek him.

Hebrews 11:4-6. We must have a knowledge that our path is pleasing before God in order to develop that faith of power! Joseph Smith once said that " a religion that doesn't require the sacrifice of all things never has the power necessary unto life and salvation"(paraphrasing, shuu dee). But it is through our own sacrifice that we gain a witness that we are on the Lord's path, and that confidence will bring increased faith in our lives and increased power to follow Him. So, choose something in your daily life that keeps you back from more fully feeling the Lord's love- and make that sacrifice and I promise that you will feel that your sacrifice is pleasing unto God by an increase of faith and His blessings!

Xairtai shuu ger bul min ee

Elder Ryan Jolley

P.S. The pictures that I sent need a little explaination. Remember that outhouse hole we started digging a while back? Well we finally finished it off this week, a good 3 meter dug out by the time we were done! The other is Brother Munkhbaatar and his daughter Enkhmunkh, a less active family Elder Verdusco and I have been working with these last few months.

Sain Uu Guys!

To start off, no transfers this week! They've been put off until the 10th of August so I'll give you the rundown next week! But I'm grateful for another week with Elder Verdusco and the Khailaast Branch. Tomorrow is Elder Verdusco's 20th birthday so that's cool I get to be apart of that- I think we'll go spread the Gospel! For next week would you all find his email address from my emails and send him a quick shout out? Thanks! Anyways, we'll be finding out about transfers on the 6th so we'll see what happens. When I was first in Mongolia people would always talk about the "best areas," but we all know that's a lie and so I'll be good with whatever happens.

Like you guys, we've had some crazy weather this week- marble sized hail one day and blazing hot the next! Elder Verdusco and I were up in a place called Suragch on Saturday, going between appointments and from the other end of the valley we hear a roar of hail on tin roofs, so we run for cover at a nearby well as hail starts coming down. But the break from the "heat" is way nice. After the hail stopped we headed over to our investigator Brother Nergui to find his house completely soaked! Thinking there would be nice weather all day he was re- roofing his baishin (brick house) and the storm hit while everything was off! So we spent a little while helping them seal up a room with a temporary styrofoam roof and a brick stove to hopefully dry things up before it got dark. This day we had planned to commit Nergui to follow the Word of Wisdom, and after getting the fire set up and drying everything off a bit we all sat around the stove and taught our lesson. I had been praying that day that he would feel the Spirit and accept our commitment. He accepted! It was a unique and very spiritual lesson and love seeing the excitement he has toward his own baptism (he was joking that his house was baptized that night!).

Other than that we had a two day open house at our Chingeltei Meetinghouse and spent most of the 2 days introducing people to the Church of Jesus Christ as we walked around the building. Our Church building is right above a main bus stop and so most people have seen it, but many don't think they're allowed in! So we had missionaries outside the Church inviting others to come and see and the rest of us inside being tour guides. People we're impressed at the contrast of our Church building from the rest of the outside world. We truly are blessed to have a place to go weekly that is dedicated to the Lord and His purposes. I'm so grateful for this Gospel, it stands in stark contrast to the rest of the world because it is truth from heaven, the pathway of happiness that leads to eternal life! Ta nar xairtai shuu!

Elder Jolley

Elder Verdusco and Elder Jolley

Hey Family,

Sain baitsaana uu! It sounds like Trek was a blast and now I can't believe we're on the countdown to fall.... time flies! Next week I'll hit the 3 month mark since Elder Verdusco and I have been companions, what a fast 3 months it's been! It is completely different from the experience I had training Elder Zolbayar and I feel like I've learned more from him than I've been able to teach. Now I feel he's pullin' at the ropes to get out and try out the things we've been working on - not to mention how much better his Mongolian will be with a native companion. But I'm loving our time together while we've got it! Transfers were supposed to be this Saturday, but have now been postponed until the 10 of August. I'm almost positive we'll be getting new companions then.

We've got a couple of investigators now that we are now beginning to see their "transformation" as they exercise their faith in Christ to follow His commandments. I love this stage because these types of actions bring change into their lives! Especially seeing our investigators Nergui and his son Gansukh making the commitments together, establishing prayer and scripture as habits each day. So half of my mind is working for our investigators and the other half our branch. Summer everyone goes to the countryside and so our attendance at Church is all over the board and so progress is slow right now, but we're establishing "celestial principles" in this branch that will bring strength and unity in the long run!

Okay about your question in your last email: my opinion gel inserts would be fine. What's happened is the inserts that are in my shoes right now are going south and I know that Elders in the past have picked up gel inserts and just put them on top and it all worked out. So I'm thinking that's the best way? Also there's a black bound study journal (the one I sent back from the MTC) that I've been wanting to use again- please send that too! And that covers all needs on my part, fill any remaining space with "things from home," that can be treats or what not, just "familiar" things from home! I've found all other needs here so no worries.

As the year mark in Mongolia gets closer (almost 1 month away!) I'm just trying to figure out where the times going? There's still lots and lots that I want to accomplish and do and am grateful that the Lord expects His saints to constantly seek to be better! His plan is so perfect and I am grateful for the peace and direction it continues to give me in my life. Joseph Smith said that "... by constant labor we were able to maintain a comfortable living..." and I strive to continue to be constant with the Lord, to let Him know that I can be trusted to do His will. So.... onward! I love what Elder Paul Johnson said in the last General Conference about being "more than conquerors" through Christ (see Romans 8). Elder Johnson stated that at the end of this life we don't want someone to simply say, "well.... you're done," but rather, "well done my good and faithful servant."

Love you all tons!

Elder Jolley

Sain uu Family,

It's been a crazy week on both ends! Glad to hear that Paka's okay and it's been exciting to read about all the changes that are going on at home.

As you know I've been training Elder Verdusco since the beginning of May and we are coming up on 3 months this next week- which will most likely mean transfers for 1 of us. It's been a strange couple of months having the same "culture" at home, something I haven't had since coming to Mongolia. But I am missing the constant Mongolian speaking, right now I'd be fine forgetting English (til I get on the plane) and just going 100% Mongolian! Anyways, transfers are on the 30th so I'll be letting you know what happens.

I've been studying lately about purifying our hearts to be able to work by the Spirit more freely. I feel like you when you said that you sometimes don't know how the Lord puts up with us, by our natures here on earth we have so much that goes against our "divine nature" and I'm working on ridding those out to be more effectively guided by the Spirit. I really like what Paul said in Acts 9:14 about purifying our hearts through the blood of Christ (my computer won't load lds.org to paste the verse but I'm pretty sure that's right). Take a moment to read that verse! If you read from the chapter Paul is discussing the Law of Moses being fulfilled through the Atonement of Christ. I think we all rely on "dead works" sometimes rather than really applying the sacrifice of our Savior like we can and should.

Other than that I'm feeling good, loving the work, and so grateful for all the many blessings that the Lord so freely gives us!

Elder Jolley

Hey Family!

Happy Naadam! We're right in the middle of the biggest holiday here in Mongolia and so all the internet centers are closed! So we saw this one up and wanted to say we're all alive and well, but that means we've got no time for a good email today. We had a little bit of Naadam celebration as a Preparation Day activity, but other than that we're trying to keep this week as normal as possible as far as the work goes.

Monday we went about 45 minutes out of the city and had a Mongolian kharkhag- where you cook a sheep inside a metal can with hot rocks (check out my picture), a great day with all the missionaries. I'll explain more next week because of time, but the pictures I sent should help.



The work is great. Elder Verdusco has had a lot of great experiences this last couple of weeks with the new family that we found (Brother Nergui and his family), and Nergui and his son have committed to be baptized on the 12th of August! The end of July will mark 3 months since Elder Verdusco and I became companions and so he may be getting a new companion in this next couple of weeks, but man I'm grateful to be his trainer! He's an awesome missionary and has come miles in the last few months. I'm grateful for a great family, for your faith and zeal for the Gospel! Hebrews 10:35-38.

Love,
Elder Jolley

Za.... Sain uu!

First I have to do a few shout outs... Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad (pretend that was in last weeks email! my bad) Happy 4th of July and Happy Birthday Kendyl! It's a b-e-a-utiful day in UB and our 4th of July is about to kick off. We rounded up a pigskin and so Elder Verdusco, some Elders and I are going to go chuck that around for a while and get some grub. Some of the simple joys in life ya? This week Elder Verdusco and I have been focusing on getting more lessons in (now that Elder Verdusco's not teaching English) and finding new investigators and both were a success! We have been blessed to find two families who I am very excited to continue meeting with! Also, I've been reading from the New Testament and studying the lives of Christ's apostles, about their faithful missionary service, and what they did to invite the Spirit into their work. It's been an amazing help to me as I've studied this week! I also found a great reminder in Acts I want to share with you (Acts 5:28-42):

28 Saying, Did not we straitly ^acommand you that ye should not teach in this ^bname? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s ^cblood upon us.

29 ¶Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to ^aobey God rather than men.

30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and ^ahanged on a tree.

31 Him hath God exalted ^awith his right hand to be a ^bPrince and a ^cSaviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and ^dforgiveness of sins.

32 And we are his ^awitnesses of these things; and so is also the ^bHoly Ghost, whom God hath ^cgiven to them that obey him.

33 ¶When they heard that, they were ^acut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.

34 Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named ^aGamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space;

35 And said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men.

36 For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as ^aobeyed him, were scattered, and brought to nought.

37 After this man rose up Judas of Galilee in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed.

38 And now I say unto you, ^aRefrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of ^bmen, it will come to nought:

39 But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; ^alest haply ye be found even to ^bfight against God.

40 And to him they agreed: and when they had called the apostles, and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.

41 ¶And they departed from the presence of the council, ^arejoicing that they were counted worthy to ^bsuffer ^cshame for his ^dname.

42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and ^apreach Jesus Christ.

There's a hundred things we can learn from this passage it's incredible! Besides Peter's powerful testimony, notice what the Pharisee in vs. 35-39, by following God's commandments we are promised that we cannot be overthrown, or we will be "conquerors through Him." There aren't many promises that we can put our trust in as this one and how grateful I am a Father in Heaven that will not only guide us, but give us the assurance that it is by Him that we are led!

Not going to lie gang.... not in the writing mood right now (so I pasted the scripture), I'll make a deal with you, we'll all write really good emails next week ya? Let me know how the trip was, don't be shy (Brayden kept it super slim this week because he thought he'd throw my mind off the work!). I love you guys, have a great week!

Ахлагч Райн Жолий