Feels More Like Winter...

This week has been good, it's actually been pretty chilly. All the trees have turned yellow, and the weather is pretty crisp. But it snows like every other day so it feels like winter, not fall haha. But it's nice, I just hope this weather stays around for a while and it doesn't get too cold too fast. But this week was pretty full. Between English splits and appointments our days were pretty packed. This week though a line from a Dawes song (shoutout to Peter) came to mind, "you can judge the whole world on the sparkle that you think it lacks...... but when my times comes." So enjoy life, it's not always fun and games, sometimes it's tough and boring, but that's life. So when your time comes, just love life. Enjoy all that it has. Right now I am halfway across the world, living in the craziest country in the world. There's a lot to be enjoyed about that. But here is what happened this week:

Tuesday: So not much happened, but something really cool did that I want to tell you about. It may not seem like a big thing to you all, but God was definitely helping us out. So Myadag didn't come to church last Sunday, and we didn't know where she was, and we needed to meet with her. But her phone wasnt working, and we had no way to get in contact with her. So we were just hoping that somehow we could get in touch with her, but so far it seemed like nothing was going to work. Then all of the sudden out of the blue, she texted us from an entirely new phone number. As if she knew we were trying to get in touch with her. She got a new phone she said, so somehow she got our number and got in touch with us. May not seem big, but it was huge to us.

Wednesday: I found out that from now one, at least this transfer, I teach on Wednesdays as well as Fridays. I'm super stoked, teaching is probably my favorite thing here. The students are super funny and witty, and I get to meet a lot of new, cool people. But I'll get to that in a minute. So first, because of English splits, Perry and I split in the morning. So I was with Ponton for a while. When school started we got to class, and we taught a brand new class that we have never seen before. So we had everyone introduce themselves and tell us where they are from. Most people aren't even from UB, they are from all over the country, most of the time from little nomadic villages in the middle of no where. One girl in my class said she is from Khovd. Which is near Khasakstan. So it's super far away. And she doesn't look Mongolian at all, and in Khovd there are a lot of Kasakh people who live as nomads. We are pretty sure she is Kasakh, which is pretty sweet. They are a super rare tribe of people and they follow some really ancient traditions. You should look them up, it's pretty interesting. Then after teaching we got dinner, then had a meeting with Chuka and Oiyunanden, and we brought Rand and Garcia with us (they were together because of English). It was really strange. So first off, we get to their ger and Chuka told us to meet outside because the dad was inside and drunk. But he comes out, sees us, and invites us in and wants to talk religion with us. He goes on and on about sin and some really crazy stuff for like 45 minutes to us. So we just sat there, and tried to understand what he was saying, but it was so wack it was difficult to piece it all together. So after he stopped talking, Rand leans over and says "Schofield go." So i just say how we are going to teach a short lesson to Oiyunanden and then I just give this lecture lesson to her in like 5 minutes about one part of the Plan of Salvation, I gave her the pamphlet and told Chuka and her to read it, and then we got out of there. It was a super weird situation. But thats how things go sometimes here, if there is ever a drunk in the home, things rarely ever go correctly. And that was the day, it was an interesting way to finish it.

Thursday: Today we had district meeting in the morning. So I made a pizooki, and we went to the BZ. It was a fun meeting, we just introduced ourselves. We have 2 brand new people in our district so it helps to get to know each other. After that Perry and I went to help Sweetwood and his trainee teach a lesson. We met with this teenage girl and she is so freaking smart. She goes to seminary, so she pretty much taught us the lesson. She would explain things to us in such depth and it took so much out of me to understand her the whole time. It was probably a 90 minute lesson and afterwards I thought I just ran a marathon my brain was so tired. But it went well. Then we got some food from a little place next to the church and we were going to meet with Huslenzaya, but she got busy so we weren't able to meet with them which was kinda frustrating, they just cancelled last minute. But it was okay. Then we took a bus back to our apartment, and it got soooooo cold. Winter is going to kill me.

Friday: Fridays are now crazy. I teach and Perry teaches twice. So in the morning Ponton and I got together and then we went to teach. Teaching was so much fun. Honestly, it's my favorite thing. I think I said that already, but yeah, its awesome. Near the end of class a few students asked me "can we listen to a song?" So I said "well yeah I dont see why not." So they hooked up to the sub in the classroom and played this K-Pop song by this band called Blackpink and not gonna lie, it was super good haha, I think its called ddu du ddu du. Asia is taking its toll on me, their culture is too much. I've converted. So everyone was up and dancing and it was so funny. It was just a super good time, so class was awesome. Then I got with Jesperson and we had to meet up with some elders to go to a lesson with them. Jesperson's and I's companions teach together Friday nights. So we were together and we met with this person who I met with once, but she doesn't live in our ward, so we passed her on. But the meeting with her went awesome. She said when Rand and I came over last time she felt super good and it was "very very very peaceful and cool." Which was pretty heartwarming, Rand and I were super wasted that day, we had 5 other things we had to do, and it was everything we had left in that lesson. I dont know, just a huge miracle she felt that. So the lesson went really well. She prayed and said she felt that same feeling again, so shes' on the right path. It's really cool so be part of someone gaining a testimony. Also it freaking blizzarded this night. The weather here is so odd.

Saturday: So we had a ward activity, we were going to go to the countryside and have a bbq and have a great time, but because it snowed and got cold (not really that cold) they moved it to just at the church. It was still quite the party. We helped set up and they played christmas music. That was funny, I thought early Christmas music was just an American thing, but it's here too haha. And they had TONS of food. I actually have never seen this quantity of food since I've been here. We had Oiyunanden come and she had a great time. Myadag was there too (she's like the best member now, I wouldn't be surprised if she serves a mission) So we just talked with everyone and it was such a fun time. Afterwards we cleaned up the church with the ward and went back to our apartment. We didn't have much else to do, so we got some lunch and met up with Cox and Lambert and hungout with them. I also ripped my pants, yeah my nice American Eagle pants. So I sewed them up and we had some super fun times that night. 

Sunday: Church went pretty good. Tons of people there. More than I've ever seen come to church before. So we set up quite a bit of appointments, so this week should be busy, fingers crossed. Then we had a dinner appointment with this part member family. It was super fun, the dad isn't a member but he's super fun to talk to and very friendly. I talked to him about France and history, he knows a lot about it. And he told me about learning languages and college. It was pretty fun. So they cooked us some food and we had a great time. Then we went back to our apartment and went to bed.

Monday: Started the day by shopping and getting some groceries, oh and also it's October now. That blows my mind. Around this time last year I was going to a concert with Kylie, Nate and Will. And now Will is on a mission and Nate is married and Kylie is a junior in college. Time flies, pretty nuts. But after shopping we got some lunch with some other elders and then we headed up to the church to meet Huslenzayas mom. We need her signature for the baptism record. So we brought Rand and Garcia with us (their comps teach english together) and we went to the church, and the lady never showed up. So we just stayed there for a few hours and played the piano and then Perry and I went to our next appointment. It was with this member, and she makes the best huushur on the planet. No joke. So we met with her, and this other member was there, and he said he would bring his younger sibling to church on sunday, so fingers crossed. That would be someone we could teach. And that was really the day. Pretty chill. 

So this week was pretty good. Kinda weird at some points, but good. Thanks to Peter for showing me quality music when I was home. Remember to enjoy life at all points. It makes everything much more enjoyable, and you'll be happier. So stay positive. Love you all. 

Austin

So funny story. This was last P-day. I saw this fur coat and I was like "I have to try that on" so I went over and this Italian girl and her boyfriend saw me and she laughed so hard. Honestly I've never seen someone laugh harder. So I just rocked it, and the boyfriend came over and took a picture with me. Then Cox put them on and everyone was laughing at us. We felt so rich just wearing them.

 Map of the city, it's pretty sweet. 

 Floor -1 This was in an apartment where we went to meet some members.  We thought it was funny. 

 My new language study. Magic Tree House books in Mongolian.  It's super helpful. Thought the girls would get a kick out of this. 

Normal stuff. They weld on the streets too. Just right in front of people. The best part is they never have welding masks or anything. They just suck it up and close their eyes and do it by feel. Real man style. But yeah, OSHA doesn't exist here. I love it. 

Ward Party.  They love their Coke. 

There were these tiny oranges at the ward party, Crofts ate them whole and we thought it was hilarious. haha