A Rainy Week

 I was walking home after a long day of pretty much 0 success. The sky looked like it was painted on and the sun was setting. People were just walking around, doing their thing and it hit me like a wall. I love this place.

 A fun time was had by all at the district picnict. About 120 people attended.

 It was a beautiful day.

 Mud everywhere. Look at my shoes! I need a pair of rubber boots like my companion.

 Almost all roads are dirt. This makes for a mess when it rains.

 Some of the cute children at the picnic.

A view of the town. Do you notice the colors of blue, green, and brown in all these pictures. The colors here in Mongolia.

August 10, 2014

Hello Loved Ones,

This week has been great! I am finally getting the hang of things as far as schedule goes. Oh, and I love Mongolia! I’m sure I’ve said it before, but I think it was kind of a lie before. But, the other day, I was walking home after a long day of pretty much 0 success. The sky looked like it was painted on and the sun was setting. People were just walking around, doing their thing and it hit me like a wall. I love this place. I love how different it is. I love the people. I love the ger districts. I love everything about it. I see crazy and different things every day and I think to myself, this should be weird to me. But, It isn’t. It’s wonderful. Sorry fam bam, but I don’t think I ever want to leave this place ;) haha. This week was a rainy week! No one told me how much it rains in Mongolia. But it has probably rained more than it has been sunny in my experience of two weeks. And when it rains, the roads (which are almost all dirt anyways) get soooooo muddy. I sent a picture of it to you, along with my muddy feet. It was so hard walking through the mud, so sister Magleby made it into a game and it was actually really fun. I kept loosing my shoes in the mud and we would laugh and laugh about it.

This week was a pretty slow week as far as missionary work goes. No one wants to meet with us! They are all joining this Korean church.. haha for reals. I think they must be feeding them or something. But we are learning how to be persistent. I know that as I love these people as much as I possibly can, they will know the truth. The ward picnic was a blast! I was so scared to go the night before because I literally understand no more than 20% of what any given person is saying to me. Sometimes my comp and I laugh so hard because people will talk to me and I know they are asking me a question, but I don’t know what it is, so I just say yes. I always say yes. haha. I’m probably giving a lot of false information... oh well :) Anyways, I was scared, but it was so fun! Everyone is so loving and kind to me. The old ladies of the ward have taken my in as their pet of sorts. With everything I say they always laugh and grab my hand as if I’m saying something ridiculous. You would think it would be annoying, but it’s so wonderful. I don’t care what I say, as long as they know that I love them and they know that the Lord loves them, I will be happy. The only times Americans are allowed to wear nametags are in the church building. That’s it. And in Darkhan, sometimes we don’t even do that because the immigration is pretty tight here. The Mongolian Missionaries can always wear their nametag though. I’m jealous. haha. At that picnic, I almost didn’t feel like a missionary because we were wearing pants and no nametags. It kind of makes me sad. But it’s ok.

So, we have this one inactive member that we have really been working on this week. He never goes to church because he has started drinking again and he doesn’t feel worthy to go to church or even to pray. I though about him a lot this week as I studied and I have come to the realization of the power of forgiveness. We have all made mistakes and we always will. That is just the nature of who we are. But, that is the beauty of the atonement of Jesus Christ. The lord doesn’t expect us to be perfect in order to go to church. In the case of our less active he doesn’t have to become totally sober before he starts praying again. All we have to do is try and desire to change. The lord looks upon our weaknesses with mercy. Always. And he will make up the difference. That doesn’t mean it isn’t going to be hard though. In the book of Enos in the Book of Mormon, we read about his story with repentance. And he says it was a wrestle. But, the joy he felt afterwards was even more than his guilt he felt before. I’m so grateful for the atonement in my life and that it gives me hope for my weaknesses.

Well, I sure do love and miss you all! Know that I think about you always and that I always feel your love and prayers! xoxox

Love,

Sister Royal