Caйн бaйн уу!
I am so happy it is Preparation Day! This week has been crazy, and last Preparation Day was just stressful haha. I finally wrote all my thought throughout this week, so that I could write you all an organized email haha. It is crazy that I have already been here a whole two weeks! It feels like so short, but at the same time like I have been here forever haha. Seems like ages that I hugged mom, dad, and Michael goodbye. We had a devotional last Tuesday that was soso great! It was about recognizing if revalation is coming from you or from God. We all wished we could have written every word down, it was so good! Gerald N. Lund gave it. We had a great Disitrict meeting afterward. I love my District so much!!
It was fun on Wednesday to see all the new missionaries come in, weird to think more are coming tomorrow! I have many friends here, which is awesome! Haley, Nani, and Michael Marinos! So great to see them, weird to not be able to give Michael a hug though haha. One of the Elders in my District accidently hugged a girl last week. It was funny, we all tease him about it now.
So, remember our investigator Caшa? Yeah... He turned out to be one of our teacher haha. I love him though! He is such a good teacher! And he always laughes when we make dumb jokes. We all laugh so much, our Elders are HILARIOUS! I wish you could meet them!! Elder Clement is the happiest, dorkiest, funniest Elder you will ever meet. We laugh constantly about him. One time the Elders told us that they were all asleep in the middle of the night, and they heard a big bang. All of the sudden Elder Clement jumps up (he had fallen out of bed), runs to the door, opens it, and says, "WHO'S THERE!?" All while he was asleep. He thought the bang that he made was someone at the door. SO FUNNY! Remind me to reinact it better when I get home hahahaha. Ohh man.
The language is slowly getting better. I can pray and bare my testimony, very simply, but confidently. It's super awesome. On Sunday I was called up to speak (everyone one prepares a talk each week and they call you up right before you speak, without warning, so you have to be ready), I knew I would be. It went really well though! It was hard for me to only speak for 5 minutes though haha. We all know me... But the topic was Recognizing the Spirit. I bore my testimony in Mongolian after, it was scary but good. In our last meeting with Caшa, I bore my testimony for the first time, and I felt the Spirit so strong. It is so incredible to feel that even when you aren't saying much, and you are speaking a different language.
Funny story, Elder Clement was trying to show Brother Jolly what Brother Margetts taught us in Mongolian sign languge, and instead of saying super good, he said poop. I'll have to reinact that too. This Elder is just so funny. I could go on and on with hilarious things he has said.
Another funny story, my companion asked our investigator if he would kiss the Book of Mormon instead of read it haha. Ohh the joy of language mess-ups. There are so many in Mongolian! On Elder asked if my teacher had been to Hell by accident. Hahaha, ohh yes.
Our first roomies are gone, they left for Florida yesterday. Currently we are roomie-less. Which is actually really nice, we enjoy it. (: Due to the sickness of on of our old roomies, we have to take these pills so we don't get TYPE B FLU! It was super dramatic when the nurse told us about it. "Type B Flu, only found in Sisters, has infected 8 already, we have never seen it before." Our roomie litterally got put in isolation. HAHAHA, so sad but slightly humorous. So dramatic. I have actually been sick the past three days. Just a soar throat and SUPER tired, which is unplesant. Pray for me to get better!
We have two new investigators now, and will be getting two more soon. SO MANY MEETINGS, SO LITTLE TIME, SO MUCH LANGUAGE TO LEARN, SO HARD TO TEACH IN MONGOLIAN. (:
We had to move classrooms this week, that was tramatic. We miss our old room. This one is like prison, super white, and has REALLY uncomfortable desks. We can move back in a week and a half though, after they fix the AC. YIPPIE!
We met a Sister on Sunday that was so amazing. She is from Tonga and she is basically hated by her family for coming here. For some reason she got sent the Provo MTC to go to Crabiss. But she said it was her dream to see America and to see the Salt Lake temple, and she got to. She started crying to us when she talked about touching the temple door. It truly humbled me to see the happiness she felt from that and to see that through all she has been through, she is here. She says she feels at home. I have met some amazing people here. Many that have seen there first snow today at the temple, that is so fun to watch. They are always so happy. (: It reminds me to find joy in the simple things, like touching the temple door.
We have all been told MANY times by our Brach Presidency about the calaber of missionaries that are called to Mongolian. I guess that everyone always looks up to them, and they are always super obidient. That made me feel good. It also made me realize that the Lord is expecting a lot out of me, or he would not have called me to such a special place that needs stellar missionaires. I feel so blessed and grateful every day for my call. I love the people so much already. I had a really neat exprience Sunday during Relief Society. We sang "Dear to the Heart of the Shepard" and I was so touched at this verse and chorus,
"Dear the the heart of the shepard,
Dear are the lambs of his fold;
Some from the pastors are straying,
Hungry and help-less and cold.
See, the Good Shepard is seeking,
Seeking the Lambs that are lost,
Bringing them in with rejoicing,
Saved at such infinant cost.
Out in the desert they wander,
Hungry and help-less and cold;
Off to the rescue he hastens,
Bringing them back to the fold."
After singing this I had a distinct feeling of Heavenly Father telling me that this is what I am going to do for the Mongolian people. They are lost, and their spirits are cold and they don't even know it. I am going to bring them such happiness and bring them back to the fold. This brings me tears every time I read it. I had never heard this song, what an amazing song. Truly special.
THANK YOU for all the letters and packages! I love you all! I am out of time, but thank you for all your love and support. I will get back on and send a few pictures. Love you!! Sorry if I didn't have time to write you back!
Love,
Sister Ackley
