21...

First off, happy birthday mom.  Sure love you. Thanks for putting up with me all these years. I hope you had a great day and did something fun. 

This was a pretty good week for me, we stayed pretty busy and I was able to celebrate a little for my birthday. Had a pretty sober birthday, a restaurant tried to sell me some Chiggis vodka though haha. I found some mug sarsaparilla drinks out here, so I had those instead. It was a good birthday though, and the week was great. We met with some really cool people and were able to have a baptism. Halloween was also pretty fun, we went to this place called a hot pot restaurant, I don't know if they have them in America. But you basically buy a ton of ingredients and a soup broth, and make your soup in front of you. The tables all have some hot plates built in at every seat. It was really fun, and a good way to celebrate Halloween despite the government banning it. 

English has been going really well, this week was especially was cool. The school has been celebrating its 25th anniversary, so there's always been some sort of event going on when we get there. On Wednesday we showed up to the school and it looked closed down. Police were outside not letting us or the students in for some reason. I looked down the road and it was closed off, and I saw 2 G-wagons hauling towards the school. They pull in and some guy gets out with a ton of security, and goes inside the school, and then they let us in. We taught class as normal, and then some teacher came in and told us to get ready because the guy was the speaker for parliament, and he would be visiting our class. I drew up the best outline and lesson information the school has ever seen, on the chalk board. I honestly should have taken a picture, it looked beautiful. He came in and shook our hands, and there were news crews and cameras like crazy. We spoke some mongolian to him, to flex on his translator and on him because we speak mongolian. He was shook, and the school headmaster flexed us like crazy, telling him how qualified we are and how we learned mongolian too. It was funny to me. He walked out and some of the students yelled "there goes Mongolia's biggest joke" or "that was a waste of time." I thought it was hilarious, it was just a glimpse into the politics of Mongolia. But now I can say I have met the speaker for parliament in Mongolia.

In our ward there is a young man about to go on a mission, and he wants to come out with us as much as possible. So we bring him with us to everything we do, and this week I felt so bad. We got canceled on for everything. The only thing that happened was a spontaneous meeting after church. It was fun hanging out with this young man, he's a super solid guy. We went looking for this less active youth with him one day and he helped us find the house, but unfortunately no one was home. It was a bummer we couldn't get any appointments with him, but it was still a good teaching moment. I remember when I would go out with the missionaries, so I think he still learned a lot and had a good time.

After English class I was with a Mongolian named Biguunee, I've known him my whole time here so we are pretty good friends. We went to get some stuff from the BZ and we ran into an investigator of his who they've been trying to meet with for a while. We taught him the first lesson and it went really good. He asked some extremely deep questions that I honestly couldn't really understand. So Bilguunee taught for an hour straight answering all his questions. It was really cool to see because Bilguunee said he had a lot of the same questions when he was an investigator. The guy was super nice though and told me I had good mongolian despite not understanding his questions. I hope I get to teach him again, he's a very solid guy.

On Saturday Baigalmaa got baptized. It was such a sweet experience for her and for everyone involved. She was smiling the whole time and so happy and grateful to be baptized. At her baptism only 10 people showed up, 6 of which were missionaries who taught her. So really there was not very many there, it was super small and simple. I was playing the piano and when Baigalmaa gave her testimony, I had that scripture from D&C pop in my head, the one that goes "where 2 or 3 are gathered in my name there will I be also." Even though there weren't many people there, the ones who came were all there to support someone who has found Christ. Despite the small number, everyone was there for the right reason, and because of that there was a super strong spirit there. I was talking with Cox after and he said "yeah sometimes the mission is really tough and has some pointless aspects here and there, but stuff like that (the baptism, her testimony and the spirit) makes it all worth it." That's really true, there's a lot to disagree and get frustrated about on a mission, but the moments like this, where all the work that has been put in pays off, makes it all worth the frustration and hard parts. 

On Sunday after church, a member came up to us and told us he wanted us to go with him and visit his friend who is less active. We went to his house and met him. He's a cool guy, and 100% fluent in English too. He served a mission in DC and used to be a super strong member. We talked for a quite a while and I was able to talk to him about why he went less active and everything. He said he still knows the gospel is true and can't ever deny that. He even has some church books he reads every now and again, but he said that the gossip about him after he got divorced in the church was too much so he left. He wants to go back but he can't because of the gossip and trash talking that will happen. It was a huge lesson to me on never gossiping, but I really felt sad for him. He is a super good guy, but people picked on him and now he can't go back to a place he wants to be. I'm still trying to figure out how to help him and what to say, but it's a tough situation. It was one of the best meetings I've had though, and I'm super glad I got to meet him.

That really was the week though. Doesn't seem like a lot, but there was a lot of good work going on. Love you guys

Austin

My English students. 

 The kid in our ward that is waiting for his mission call that likes to go out with us. 

 From Baigalmaa's baptism this weekend.  

Random photos that I forgot to send home from the past few months. 

 At the skating rink that we did a youth activity at.  I bought this in a sticker and put it on my hydroflask.  I thought it was funny. 

 Marujuana grows wild in Mongolia. 

 This is the knot that they use when putting up their gers.  It is self tightening.  Some Mongolians taught me how to tie it.  

Eating lunch with Elder Hill.  He is our new mission doctor. They are the nicest couple.