18 Months Out...

This week went really well, we got really lucky and were able to get some new investigators this week. I also got 18 months out which is crazy to me. Sometimes it really feels like I've been here for a few years but overall time has flown by, it's really weird to think how soon I will be home. It's really exciting to think about going back home but I'm really going to miss Mongolia a lot. I still got a while though so I'm not gonna stress it too much. It's still wild that I'm this far in. It goes quick.

This week was honestly one of the best yet. We got a call from Sister Puje from the  Bayangol Ward and she told us she had a family for us to meet with. She came and picked us up from our house and we rode with her to the ger districts and met with this mother and young daughter in their ger. It was my first time in a ger in a while, I was in the center of the city for a good 3 months so it was really cool to be back in a ger. We chatted with them a while and eventually taught the first lesson to them. It was really helpful to have Sister Puje there to clarify what we don't say exactly right or what we didn't describe enough. At the end of the lesson the mom started talking and said that she felt this feeling inside her, but she thought it was just her. So I shared that scripture from 3rd Nephi about the Nephites not recognizing the voice from heaven and how sometimes the spirit works like that. Then Puje gave a whole conversion story about how she thought everything was just her too but eventually she had to accept the reality that it wasn't. It hit the mom really hard and after explaining that she was very excited to learn more and read the scriptures. She and her daughter are very prepared, it's cool to see how God has people ready for the gospel. After the meeting we ate lunch with Puje her house. She cooked some awesome Mexican food, it reminded me of America again. 

This week we went on split with some of the district leaders and I was back with Perry. It was an awesome day. We met with this investigator of his who also lives in a ger but it's very traditional. They had shaman drums and some feather talismans around their ger. It looked really cool on the inside. It looked like the image in your head when you think of a Mongolian ger. They also followed the customs and traditions more than anyone I've met. It was really cool to be a part of and see what traditional Mongolia is like. We taught them a lesson on the plan of salvation and she really liked it. It just went really well. The Spirit was definitely there. It still is really interesting to me how willing to accept our teachings the people are here. The traditional beliefs are pretty close to some of the basic doctrine, so they just easily go along with it. It's pretty cool. It was really sweet to be putting the work back in with Perry again though. He's a great guy. 

Mutual this week was really packed, it was great to see everyone back there. We taught a good little lesson during the opening part and then played some ping pong. A few non members showed up who we made good friends with at English class. It was fun to chat with and see them again. One girl who usually shows up (she's not a member) said she is preparing for the SAT so she can go to America. We helped her and explained some of the questions to her she had on her practice tests. It was cool to be able to help someone out in a different way than what people think we normally do. I was on a split with Scrimsher the next day and we met back up with her and helped her some more. Thinking of taking the SAT stressed us out again lol. We were really glad that at least that part of our life is behind us. 

At the English class this week I ran into some people from Sukhbaatar ward. The two young girls I helped teach showed up and when they saw me they still called me хэцүү нэр which means "difficult name." They were pretty stoked to see me again and it was awesome to see them still going to church and happy. Just a really cool little coincidence. 

So probably the best part of the week was Myagmarsuren's baptism. It was probably the best baptismal experience of my mission. He had his father in law, who just got back from the temple, baptize him. They were both so happy and his wife was stoked. There was just a cool feeling around the whole thing. When he gave his testimony he choked up a little bit. It was pretty cool to see how much he felt it. It was an awesome experience. 

Love you guys. 

Austin

Ava, these macarons are for you.  They were delicious. 

 Cool painting in a  senior couples house. 

 The get where we visited the new family. 

 Apartment views.

 Lonely ger in the middle of the city. 

 Inside the ger where we were teaching.  Notice the shaman drums. 

 Baptism