6 Months

Hey mom,

This week was pretty good. Highlight of the week was getting to eat camel meat. Yeah, you read that right, camel meat. It was pretty good, and the guy said he would cook me anything I want, so I told him to make me the weirdest food he knows of so I am so stoked. Oh and also we had to step in and save this old man from this drunk guy, it's a pretty crazy story, don't drink kids. 

Tuesday: So today was my 6 month mark which is really crazy. It feels like I haven't been out that long, but I sorta have. I also finished an entire tube of chapstick. Its the one I've been using since mine got stolen from me at the Jon Bellion concert (ask kylie for details, it was tragic). So today I went to get some matching Mongolian shirts for Kylie and I and sadly none of them fit, and they were stitched kinda funny, so I didnt get them, but I found a lady who will make me some really nice ones for cheaper. So that rocked. Then I picked up my package from my family which was super funny. I saw the cut box of fruit snacks and I totally thought that you ate the fruit snacks and put the box in there haha. Also thanks for the boots, they are super nice and hold up in the rain. Then we went to our apartment and I felt like I should call this family, the dad is not a member but the mom is, that's usually the story for everyone here which is super sad. And I called her and she picked up which is a first. We scheduled and appointment but it fell through sadly. But at least we contacted her.

Wednesday: We went to meet Batbileg and literally just as we were pulling up to the church to meet him he called and said he is busy and cannot meet, so we rescheduled for Friday. Then we hungout with some elders the rest of the day. We visited this monastery that was super cool. Buddhism is so crazy different, its really interesting to learn about. So I spun the golden metal things for good luck and we took off. We had a meeting with our ward mission leader that night and it went good. He didn't have anyone for us to meet with but it was still good language practice. 

Thursday: We had district meeting which was really fun. Then we helped some elders set up for the English class at the church, and we just chatted for a long time. No one really has any work right now, so we are all in the same boat about feeling productive and all. We are all wishing we could tract. Tracting would be super nice, it may not be productive, but at least it's missionary work. We go days and days without even doing any legit missionary work which is tough.  We headed back to our apartment and we ran into some elders so we got dinner with them and then went to bed after that. 

Friday: So Batbileg said he is busy again and cant meet so his baptism date had to be pushed back another week. But as long as he gets baptized thats all that matters. He's still doing good, he comes to church every week which is awesome. That's the hardest thing for people. Then we just spent the rest of the day with other elders really doing nothing. 

Saturday: It started pouring again which was super nice. We met up with some elders and then we had our meeting with this member that was super good. He lives in this ger and quick info on gers. They don't have beds, they just sleep on the ground and eat on the ground. They roll out blankets and eat and sleep like that. But this guy is awesome, he just got back from the temple with his wife and kid. And he told me all about weird mongolian food. He fed us this camel meat which was awesome haha. And he told me that if I want to have sheep head or eyeball or horse meat he will cook it up lol. So it's going to be awesome, I can't wait. Then on the way home the drunk guys on the bus went at it, full on fighting, so we had to step in and make sure they didn't kill each other which was interesting. Crazy people. 

Sunday: Sunday was good, church is always a nice break. It's finally a day where we can actually do missionary stuff. We had this guy come to church who wants the lessons which is way cool. He said he feels really good when he listens to the church people speak so he's gonna do great. Then after church we headed over to Elder Ogden's house to celebrate his birthday with some other people. It was a good time. Fun to see everyone again. 

Sorry for my boring week!! Thanks for everything! love you all

Love,

Austin

 Spinning at the Monastary for good luck

  Carved stones at the Monastery.  They were carved in 800 AD. Pretty neat.

 Beautiful views of the city.

 This is the neighborhood where we met with the family that fed us camel.

 My dinner.  You just carve the meat off with the knife that they give you.  The camel was in the noodle dish.

The art on the inside of the ger is always like this.  It's super cool.