October 12, 2009

Hello Family!! thanks for the e-mails, I love hearing from you and you all sound good! I’m glad the new house is coming together and that dad got to go back to the operating room, you all sound good and are in my prayers too! Things are good here, it was an interesting week, my companion's legs started really hurting, so we weren't able to do much work. I want to take a moment and say how amazing all the Mongolian missionaries are. Many of them are the only members in their families, and many of their families have rejected them for believing in Jesus Christ. Their families don't understand missions or what they are doing, don't write to them or support them, but they still come on missions and serve so well! many are serving a few minutes away from their homes, it is like me serving in Provo Utah or down the street from you all, but they serve so well! they have learned so much about the gospel in just a year or two, and are powerful and selfless teachers, I have learned so much from them :) there are about 40-50 mongolian sisters, we have the most sisters of any mission other than temple square!! there are 5 of us sisters from America right now and 6 more on the way :) so back to my companion, we weren't sure what to do, I taught English but we weren't able to go anywhere else, she decided she wanted to finish her mission 3 months early so we met with the mission president and doctor several times, and things were all set for her to be released, but then she decided she wanted to finish her mission!! she is going back to work in the office and I am getting a new companion today :) I got to be good friends with sister Nemaa, I am really glad she will still be at the office :) My new companion doesn't know the area either, so we still don't know the area or members, but now we can learn. Hopefully this week we will be able to work a lot :)
oh and we moved to a new apartment, haha, our other one was really expensive so we had one hour notice, and then moved everything to a close by apartment two elders had been living in. We cleaned our old apartment for several hours, then came home to our new place and cleaned up after the elders haha ;) I washed dishes for 3 hours ;) but our new place is nice too and will be good :)
conference was amazing!!! we watched it with the American missionaries at the mission home, and it was soooo good! Elder Holland's testimony was unlike anything I have ever heard from conference, and each 2 hour session seemed like 30 minutes, it’s funny when I was young I never would have thought that I would wish conference was longer, ;) it was really good and really helpful.
I think that is all for now, this starting from scratch in an area is interesting, and the language is a challenge as always, but it is coming ;) So I am well, it is not too cold yet, I think there is still some Alaskan in me because even when my Mongolian companions are cold I am not. I actually kinda like the cold air :) I love you all, hope you are well and thanks again for everything!!! sister mansfield