Spring is Springing in Mongolia

Hi everyone :)

 

Good Morning From Mongolia. It is warming up only 25 degrees

 

So, this week had been pretty uneventful. My companion and me both got really sick and spent a lot of time at home this week. BUT, yesterday we were both feeling better and ready to get to work. After church, we went on a split and met with a lot of our investigators to try and make up for this week. I mean, we were on a roll! After we got back together, we decided to meet with someone close by before we went home to plan. But, literally no one was home! So, we decided to go try and find one of our new members, a cute little 11 year old boy named Tumurhuu. We went to his house and his mom told him he was nearby playing outside with his friends. So, we went to go find him to see if we could pull him away for a little bit to meet. But, the opposite happened... haha. We found him at a close by park, playing with some other kids from the neighborhood. Before we could even tell him our proposition, he and all of his friends ran up to us and told us to play with them. We kindly refused, thinking we might have better things to do. But as the kids kept begging, I just couldn’t resist. They even start using their limited English saying "very fun." "you play?" hahaha.

So, we made a deal that if we played for a little bit, Tumurhuu would come home and meet with us. We ended up playing this fun game of tag where the person is blindfolded and had to catch someone. We were playing for not even 5 minutes when some of the parents came over to see who these weird Americans were playing with their kids. But, before they could ask, they started playing with us too! It was so fun. After we played, we talked with all of the kids and introduced ourselves. The parents were talking to us too. There was one kid, named Erdene-belig (he’s the one in the picture) kept following me around. He then told me to bend down and he whispered in my ear. He asked how he could see me again. So, I told him that if he wanted to, he could come to church with his friend and we could meet there. Tumurhuu then came over and started explaining church to him. Little Erdene said he wanted to, but his grandma wouldn’t like it. Before I could say anything, Tumurhuu told him he needed to pray. He then gave him a quick run down on how to pray and promised him if he prayed and asked God, his grandma would let him go to church. He then said, "I have a lot of pamphlets at home that I'll give to you". It was the cutest missionary experience I’ve ever seen. And it reaffirmed my testimony that every member can be a missionary.

It was such a wonderful moment. I love the people here in Mongolia. I love meeting people from all different backgrounds and knowing that we have at least one thing in common: we are all human!

Work is good here. I’m glad I sounded happy in my last email because I am so happy! Work is just really great :) This week, our little family of investigators came to church! And their little girl (Huuslen) still calls us everyday just to talk and tell us that she is reading from the BOM. haha. So so cute Also, this Sunday was our little new members birthday (a ten year old boy named Ariunbold) and I really wanted to make it special for him because his family is kind of rough and I wasn’t sure if they would do something for him. So, we picked him up at his house and sang a birthday song to him. He was so happy and cute! And I gave him some yummy chocolate and Spiderman stickers and a note. And while we were at church, I saw him keep looking at him stickers and then re-reading the note. haha. I seriously love him. And the best part is, before I came he was pretty inactive. And then I came into the area and I just feel like I have a connection with him. And I know he feels the same way. You would love him. He’s the sweetest in the world! When we come back to Mongolia together, we'll visit his house :)

That’s my life. I just do work work work. Let me tell you our schedule: We wake up and leave the house by 8 so that we can get to my comps kindergarten by 9. We teach from 9-12 and then grab something to eat from a store and head out to meet with people. Then, at 5 I teach my English and then we go home and study from 7-10. haha. There is literally NO time for anything. And we go on splits every Wednesday with ward missionaries because we have too many people to meet with and not enough time. But, even though its kind of stressful, we count our blessings because we know we are living every missionaries dream. I mean, we are too busy because we have too many awesome people to meet with? Yeah, I’ll take that over the alternative any day.

And I miss you a lot. But, mom just told me that we have 6 more Sundays until we get to Skype with each other again sooooo..... purty good :) And then after that, just 6 months! Crazy right??

This week has been great. I’m just really happy here. And spring is on the verge of springing! haha I feel it! Can you believe its already almost April?? That’s crazy. But time flies when your having fun :) I love you!

Love,

Sister Royal

Also, I got a letter in the mail from both grandpa and Aunt Deb. Please tell them thank you for me!!!!!

Pictures:

1) The cutest little boy ever! 

 

2) Our fun game we played 

 

3) These kids are the cutest :)

 
 

4) This family is THE BEST. They taught us how to make Hushuur. The little girl with
 glasses is great and going to get baptized in May. 

5) Mongolian Rural Life

I Am Loving Mongolia

March 15, 2015

March 15, 2015

This was a ward activity where we learned tradition Mongolian dance. The Mongolian people are so kind and there are some faithful saints here.

Ok everyone. I have a total of 10 min to right this email. So get ready for the most condensed email ever! haha. I have so much to say! Anyways, this week has been great! I’ve official been in the khan uul area for 2 weeks and I finally feel like I’ve got the hang of it now. I love my companion sooo much. But the poor girl has no sense of direction. Which made this week the most stressful and fun week of my life. We've spent lots of days being lost and seen lots of really really nice Mongolians who are willing to go out of their way to help us find our way. I have fallen more and more in love with the Mongolian people because of the kindness complete strangers have shown to the two lost foreigners on the side of the road ;) haha. Also, I finally feel like I have gotten to know all of our people now. And I love them! I just feel a connection with them here!

Thanks for the little quote you sent me! I just love the general authorities! haha. Also, mom, I just can’t tell you how much I am falling in love with this work! I’m just so happy! I feel a connection with these people I’m working with. Before, I loved my investigators and new members. I loved them a lot. But I always felt like my comp could do a better job or that my help was just kind of generic. But coming here, for the first time I felt special. Like It’s my words and my actions that are meant to help some of these people. And it makes me realize (finally...hahaha) why the heck I was called to crazy Mongolia. Because If I can just help Ariunbold get to church or Tserma get baptized, it will all be worth it. You know? Mom, I’m just sooooo happy :)

To answer your questions, no Mongolia doesn’t celebrate daylight savings.. I don’t think at least! haha. I live in a nice apartment in the nice place of the city called Ziasan. My new ward is the pretty rich area and where all the Americans live. It’s like the Scottsdale of UB. So I’m pretty lucky :) I love you dad :) Keep on keepin on!

This week, we really felt the need to meet with a LA man named Batmunkh who hasn’t come to church in years. We had no idea where his house was or his situation. But the spirit prompted us and we followed. So, we found his house and to our surprise, he has the cutest little family in the world! We sat down with His wife and his children and taught them about God, something they didn’t know much about. And Although it has been at least 10 years since Batmunhk has come to church, he started to remember things and he gave his testimony to his family about the truthfulness of the gospel. And the family asked us to come back! It was such a miracle. And the best part it, their little daughter, Huslen, calls us almost every night to tell her about her day and to let us know that they prayed as a family. It was truly a miracle.

This week, we also met with a member family who just moved into our ward. They are such a special family with lots of cute little girls. And the mom started making huushuur, a yummy Mongolian meal and sister Overson and I realized we have no idea how to make it. So, we asked if we could help. In order to make the meal, you have to fold the dough in a really special way: and naturally, I was the worst at it! But it was so fun. The whole family gathered around the table and made huushuur together and laughed and my bad huushuur making skills :) it was a happy moment.

Family and friends, I can’t tell you how happy I am! Mongolia is such a special place and these are such special people! I miss you all, but I’m so happy for the time I have to spend with and learn with these people :) The church is so true and miracles happen everyday! We just have to look for it :)

Love you!

Sister Royal

Sain uu everyone!

March 8, 2015

Sain uu everyone!

Well, I hope everyone’s week has been a good one. I hear that spring has hit Arizona. Well, at least it’s warming up somewhere... haha. I’ve learned this week that I was so wrong in thinking that Mongolian spring would be a step up from Mongolian winter. Because its not! This week has been the coldest week I think I’ve ever had! And to make it worse, the wind blows like crazy now. It’s a good think I wear lots of tights, because there is no hope in keeping my skirt down! haha. Anyways, despite the cold winter, this week has been full of great moments! I'll start from the beginning:

The night I heard about the transfer, I was so excited I was getting transferred I couldn’t even think about the fact that we were going to have to speak Mongolian. haha. And then, we got to the church; made the transfer and bam... it hit me. Oh my gosh, I’m the senior comp... in Mongolian! I have had lots of feelings of inadequacy this week, especially because my comp has only been in this area for 6 weeks so we don’t know that area well... at all! It’s been such a stressful but soooooo fun time calling people and trying to find their houses in the middle of these crazy ger districts. haha. I’ve actually quite enjoyed it. My comp actually has really good Mongolian (way better than I was after 3 months in the country) So, we've been making do. She is 22 and she is such a good listener! Sometimes, it will be quite or I’ll be feeling a little sad or overwhelmed and she comes up with the most random question to ask me and it lifts my mood. She’s just what I need :)

The new area is pretty great! At church yesterday, we found 2 new investigators, which is great! We teach lots of English, but with the little time we have, we meet with some great people! Yeah, sometimes it feels weird to be the one who has to make decisions. haha. I forget that as I senior comp, she looks to me for answers... and sometimes I have no idea what to do. But I fake it till a make it and it seems to work out pretty well. haha. It’s actually kind of fun :) We get a long really well.

Here are some highlights of my week:

1) Returning to my favorite kindergarten in the world! When I fist came to Mongolia, my trainer Sister Magleby taught English as a cute little kindergarten. Those times were some of the most fun times of my mission. And, as luck would have it, my new companion works at the same kindergarten! So, 5 months later, I got to return to that place a see all of my favorite kids and teachers again! And what better is I could actually communicate with them this time ;) haha. I am thoroughly convinced that there is nothing cuter than Mongolian kids!

2) This week, we have spent a lot of time getting used to the area. My comp has only been in the area for six weeks before me, so in a lot of ways, we are kind of whitewashing the area. It’s been really fun and stressful trying to get our way around and consequently, we haven’t had a lot of time to meet with people. So, every meeting meant so much to us. One night, we were heading over to meet with one of our investigators when she suddenly cancelled on us. We were so sad because we didn’t have enough time to travel anywhere else to meet with someone. So, I asked my companion if there was a member who lived close to the area. She told me that an old grandma lived just in the floor below us. Although it was kind of late and we weren’t sure if she was even home, I felt a strong need to meet with her. So, we knocked on her door. As we walked in, the grandma burst into tears. That morning, she woke up and her sight was gone. She had been laying in bed all day praying that someone would come by to visit her. We sat down with her, prayed with her, read her a scripture and then called someone from our ward to help her out. We sat for almost an hour just holding her hand. As I sat there, my heart was filled with gratitude that we were burned by our investigator. It is so interesting how the Lord works. Of course, being stood up by an investigator is never fun. But, it is through that experience that we were able to bless the life of someone who truly needed it. I’m so grateful that the Lord knows our plans better than I do :)

3) So, now that I am together with an American, we have made a goal to improve our Mongolian . We thought for a while what our plan would be and we came up with the idea to speak English when we are home and to only speak Mongolian when we are out of the house. At first, I was a little apprehensive... lets be honest, I enjoy speaking my native tongue. But as we have been trying it, it has brought more blessing and funny experiences that I could have imagined. So, I just want you to imagine this: being a Mongolian seeing two Americans trying to speak to each other in what I like to call Monglish (mostly Mongolian with an English word here or there if we don’t know the word) lets just say, we've gotten lots of funny looks, laughed at, and had lots of people come up to us and talk to us. It’s actually been so fun! There have been many times just in this week where on the bus or in a taxi, people hear us and ask us what we are doing here in Mongolia. Although I can’t straight up talk about the church, we have invited many people to come to our English classes we teach at the church. Again, I’ve been reminded this week that the Lord works in mysterious ways.

Well, that’s my week in a nutshell! I’m sure there are lots of other things that I forgot, but this will have to do. Our weeks are full of miracles; we just have to look for them :) I hope you all have a good week! Love you all! Hairtai shvv!

Love,

Sister Royal

A Test of my Mongolian Knowledge

Dear Family and Friends,  March 1, 2015

 So, this week has been full of changes! First, I hit my half way mark this week! Nine more months! Does it feel like it’s gone by fast for you? Second, transfers came out this week and I got a new companion and a new area! I was so sad to leave Bayanzurkh, but, I had been there for about 5 months, so its nice to have a change! I’m now in the Han uul area. It’s in the center of the city and it is also the area where a lot of international people live. Our ward has a translator who translates everything into English (not me thank goodness haha) and we even get to teach a few lessons in English! It’s actually really weird! haha. My companion is Sister Overson, a cute sister who came to Mongolia about 3 months ago. She is also from Arizona (Gilbert area) and I think you should be friends with her family :) Her moms name is Amanda Overson. Sister Overson is amazing! She is so smart! She knows WAY more Mongolian than I knew when I was here three months! I’m so excited to learn from one another and work REALLY hard on our Mongolian. haha cause we need it ;) Also, sister Overson's English Class is the same as Sister Magleby (my trainer) So, I get to go back to the cute kindergarten that I loved so much when I first got here! It’s going to be great!

One of my favorite pass times as a missionary is reading or listening to Conference talks! I remember how before my mission, it was a rare occasion if I would pick up the Ensign. Well, those days are no more. I can’t wait for each month when the new Liahona comes out. haha. I’m a changed woman! And yes, I’ve had to give 2 talks so far and 1 talk over the phone (they have an over the phone sacrament meeting so people in the country side can have church). It was scary (duhh) but I just kind of treated it like teaching a lesson and I’m getting pretty used to teaching lessons so its not too bad. Mongolian is coming along. I’m not going to say I know everything or even that I’m fluent, but, I’ve gotten to the point where I can teach all the lessons and I’m not afraid to change things up or modify things according to the spirit. With transfers this week I’m with sister Overson, who came to Mongolia only 3 months ago. So, I guess this will be the biggest test of my language, to see if two Americans speaking Mongolian can navigate the city on our own. haha.

I hope you all have a great week :) Everyone, make sure to spoil my mom for me on her birthday! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Royal

 Sister Overson and I celebrating my halfway mark with oreo shakes and big plan :)