Mountain Living...

The week went well, although it was freezing cold. I honestly was hoping that it wouldn't get this cold before I left but I guess my hope was in vain. Sunday's high was - 5 so it was hard just being outside that day. Luckily the smoke still isn't anywhere near to how bad it was last year, but the cold is still tough. We had quite a few appointments this week which was cool. We got to meet a new investigator, and on Sunday a lady walked into church and said she was interested, so we are gonna meet her this week.

Last Wednesday I finished English and went to help a member out with his BYUH college essays. He wanted me to proof read them and make sure they were good and made sense. It brought me back to when I applied for college, it was funny to be back applying again. After that my companion and I went to a meeting with a member. He picked us up from the bus stop in his car, and drove us to his house. He literally lives on top of a mountain. We got to his house and could see the whole ger district, it was super pretty at night with all the snow. But we were deep back there. This family used to live in a ger, but during the summer the husband built them a new home right next to their ger. It's super nice on the inside and really big and warm. They were pretty excited to show it off to us. We had a really good meeting and ended up reading out of the scriptures for like 30 minutes. We shared with them the come follow me program and showed them how to use it and find it. They seemed to not know too much about it, and were stoked to hear that the church set up a curriculum for families. It was really neat to see them get excited over it. 

We had a zone conference this week as well. I thought it would be my last one, but we still have one last one right before I go. It was good, not much else to really say about that. It was fun seeing everyone there again. After zone conference, we went up to our church and met with Baigalmaa. She just got baptized so we started to teach her the new member lessons. She has a lot of questions, and that helps make the lesson a lot better and more spiritual. When we were about halfway through with teaching, our new investigator showed up a bit early for when she wanted to meet us. So we chatted with her and ended up having Baigalmaa sit in on the lesson with us. It went really good, and the new person is awesome. She met a sister missionary a while ago near a bus stop, and heard about english and our church. So last week she just walked in and said that this sister missionary gave her info about church, and she wanted to learn more. It's a pretty cool way to have found a person. But this girl we are teaching is really super prepared, and when it came down to it, she walked into church all on her own. It's cool to see there is something that draws people into the churches here. Literally 90 percent of the people I have baptized were found this way, they just came in because they felt like they should.

There was a big pre black friday sale at the cashmere company here. We showed up of course, and I honestly was expecting there to be maybe 10 other people. There was about 50 people though. They were all lined up right at the door waiting for it to open, like it was black friday in America. The door opened and everyone rushed the door so quickly. I like my cashmere, and it was super cheap, so I got in on this door rush, but by the time I made it to the sale area, people had already been digging through the bin of scarves and socks and hats like wild animals. Cashmere was literally being thrown around like it was nothing. It was crazy. Funny enough, I walked up to the sale bin, and there's 4 other missionaries digging through it for scarves. It was hilarious running into them, but we all did find some super cheap stuff to keep us warm during the winter. This week was a glimpse of the cold, and it got COLD. 

After the cashmere madhouse, I was on a split with Bilguunee, my companion was teaching english, and my school was on holiday. Bilguunee and I hauled way out to the countryside in his area, and helped chop wood for a lady. It was nice to be able to work and just not think, and use my hands again. It was almost therapeutic to be away from the city and business and just have some fun and help someone stay warm during the winter. We finished up after a few hours, and then went back to the city and I got back with my companion. We then headed over to our other investigator's house. She also lives on top of a mountain, so we got the bus stop she picked us up from before and started to climb up the hill she lives on top of. There were no street lights up here either, so it was pitch black, freezing cold, with ice and snow up to our calves. We made it to the top, and then had to cross over the front side of this mountain, and drop down into the little valley she lives in. It was crazy. Literally having to hike to people's homes while its -30 outside, it's wild. But I wouldn't trade it for anything. The lesson went really good, and her daughter who sat by with the rest of the family, paid attention most of the time to what we were teaching. After the lesson she was reading some of the pamphlets we gave her mom, and skimmed the Book of Mormon. It was cool, I don't know if anything will come from it, but who knows. 

On Saturday it started snowing really really heavy, I've never seen it snow this heavy before here. We had 2 appointments that day, and one got cancelled, so we went up to the next one. This was way up in the mountains again, so we got up there and it was dumping snow on us, and this appointment cancelled on us too when we got to the top. We enjoyed the snow for a while, and met a cute little family at the bus stop up there. The little boy who must have been 5 came and stood right next to me and stared at me for a while, and I started talking to him and he got kinda nervous. His mom thought it was hilarious though. The kids here are really the cutest in the world, I'm gonna miss being able to see them and talk with them. 

In English class we are teaching our students about Thanksgiving, and they sorta understand it lol. They were so surprised we would cook so much food, and then not eat it all. But we tried teaching them about the reason why Thanksgiving is a holiday. So we started teaching American History and they were really getting into it. They wondered why the Indians and the Pilgrims fought and didn't get along. It was pretty funny honestly. Scrimsher laughed and said that we are indoctrinating them with American Ideals. We then had them make the little turkey hand things, and write what they are grateful for. Some of them were really heartfelt and it kinda hit me. They don't really have much, so the things that are important to them are the things that really matter in life, and that got me thinking a lot about what is important to me. It's a good thing to think about every now and then. 

That's really it, we have a ton of work now which is a huge blessing. I feel like we are running a million miles an hour between english and church lessons. It's a good feeling. Love you guys.

Austin

Notice the "Feels Like" temperature.  So cold!

 The member family we met with.  They are the ones that built the new house.  They were so proud of it.  

 Pictures from my birthday last week.  

 Dog meat that they sell on the streets.  It is so cheap so a lot of people eat it.  It costs about $.30 per kilo. 

This is the eatery at the college I teach at.  This picture is only amusing to me.  The tray piled high with those hot dog looking things is a college staple here.  The students will eat about three or four for lunch because they are so cheap.  They always prepare two or three trays each day.