April 18, 2016

So this week was good. I will start off by just talking about my area. I am not in the countryside despite what the pics may look like. I am still in the city, my area is just about 40 minutes by bus from the city so we go out to areas that are less populated with buildings and it is more of just communities with the ger type buildings. Yea the ger is just one big room; they eat sleep and do everything in just that one area. It is sad sometimes because when we teach, they basically have us sit on the nice couch/bed that they have which is what they sleep on but there is nowhere else to sit and that is just how it is and they don't mind and they want us to sit there. They then will sit on the stools and we sit in a nice circle and just teach them. It is a lot of fun and I love teaching in ger's. I am realizing this week how much I do love the people and how much I am going to miss living here. My mission is going by way too fast and I try not to think about it but it is also hard not to think about it. haha.

So this week I was reading in Philippians 2 and verse 7 it talks about how Christ took the form of a servant while on Earth. Out of all the things that he could take, he decided to be a servant. The Son of God, The Almighty, took the most humbling form while on Earth and it just made me start thinking about What form will I take? I also would encourage you all to think about this as well. What form will you take? Who do you want to be? Who will you be? We have all been blessed with certain gifts and abilities while on this Earth and we all need to develop them and use them in ways that our Heavenly Father needs us to. If you aren't sure what you have been given or not sure how to use your talents then I encourage you to think about it. Because first of all, there are many talents that we have all been given that sometimes we aren't always aware of but as you think about it, you will find what they are. Secondly, how can you use the talents? Well pray about it. Try to think of ways that you can use what you have been given. There are so many ways that we can use them to serve others and help lift others up. I was giving a spiritual thought in our district meeting and I came across D&C 18:17-18 and it says "Ye are little children and not yet understood how great the blessings the Father hath in his own hands prepared for you. Ye cannot bear all things but be of good cheer for I will lead you along, The kingdom is yours and blessings thereof are yours and the riches of eternity are your." Isn’t that so great? We have so much to look forward to in this life and the life to come. We have no idea what he has in store for us but whatever it is. It is going to be great! So don't worry, as we continue to do our best, there are great blessings that await us!

Heavenly Father loves you better than anyone. There is no one who loves you more than Him. I just wanted to remind you all of that. He knows you better than anyone as well. As we rely on him, we are strengthened and will be able to feel of his love that he has for us because we are indeed loved by him.

So this week we taught a great lesson while I was on a split with Sister Tao and it was to one of her investigators. We were teaching the restoration and the book of Mormon. Afterwards I bore my testimony and it was the strongest most powerful testimony that I have ever born and I felt the spirit so strongly during it and one of the people we were teaching started crying. We were teaching an RM and her husband who wasn't a member and so I was focused on her husband while I was speaking because what I had to say was for him. So she was crying because it reminded her of her mission and she said she just felt the spirit so strongly. We all did. It was perfect and amazing. I knew the Holy Ghost was helping me in that moment and giving me the words to say and I just said them. Nothing else mattered but what I was bearing witness to and testifying of. I just wanted him to feel of the love we had for both of them and how we knew it was true and that he could as well. It was such a great lesson and it made up for the fact that before we taught I had to eat buuz (the dumpling things) that were filled with intestines..... yea those were not good at all.... but we were able to have a great experience and you are right. Look for the little moments in our life that make is so wonderful and remember those as you go through the hard times. They will lift you up and you will be able to push forward!

I hope that you all have a great week!

LOVE YOU,
Sister Kerby

April 4, 2016

So everyone is talking about Conference! I am so excited to be able to see it! We have to wait until they translate it in Mongolian but this week they should finish and so we will spend Saturday and Sunday watching it! Let me tell you I am so excited to hear it! I can't believe it is already Conference again! I just heard it in the MTC and now I have the opportunity to hear it again! It just shows how fast time flies!

Okay so I remembered my planner :) Thank goodness! I cannot live without that thing! So the scriptures I wanted to share with you all from last week were John 14: 18, 27. These are so simple yet powerful. They remind me of when I say my testimony in Mongolian and even though it is really simple at times. I know with all my heart that what I am saying is true and that is what makes it powerful. Most of the things we say, no matter how simple they may seem, can make a bigger impact then we know. When we truly believe what we teach and what we say, it doesn't matter how it sounds, it is the feeling we bring and the Spirit that is able to testify of those things that matters.

The Lord tells us in these scriptures, "Peace I give unto you, let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid." And he says comfort I will give you. I will come to you. Our Father in Heaven is always there for us and as this last week was Easter, we had the opportunity to remember our Savior and all that he has done for us and the miracle it is that we are able to live again and for all eternity not only with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ but also our families. What greater gift is there? So even though we have hard times in our lives.... it's okay because we have something even greater to look forward to. Sometimes we forget how small the amount of time is that we actually spend here on Earth. This is the most important time because here is how we learn and are able to become as our Heavenly Father but it is only a small fraction compared to what we will have after this life. We have so much to look forward to so we can't get caught up in all our hardships that we face right now. We just have to keep going forward, focus on what we have been blessed with and remember where our end goal actually is. Our goal is Exaltation and so all that we face right now is so tiny compared to the reward and blessings we will receive later as long as we are worthy and obey the commandments we have been given.

As I have been here, I have had a lot of experiences where I am just kind of like what the heck, why is this happening to me? But I know that during each of those times, I was given exactly what I needed to keep going. I have been extremely blessed on my mission and have been able to see a lot of great things and meet a lot of people. They are what make it all worth it. When I teach these wonderful people, that is when I am most happy. Seeing their faces as they hear this doctrine for the first time is something that I will never forget. Our Zone Conference was this weekend and Sister Benson, our Presidents wife, shared about how she worked at the English Learning Center back in Provo and there were some Mongolians there and she was there when they got the Book of Mormon for the first time. "She saw their faces as they opened this book for the first time in their life and started reading it and how happy and joyful they were and how they treated it like a special gift from God." How often do we treat the Book of Mormon as this special gift from God? Do we take the time to read it and study it each day? Even if we have read it multiple times, there are still new things we can learn from it. Coming here and seeing this people and how they treat the book of Mormon reminds me of how special it really is. The church is still really new here. The book of Mormon has only been here for about 10 years now. What a great blessing that we have been able to have this for our whole life.

We also had a fun experience this week being able to play some basketball with some kids while we waited to teach their families because they weren’t home yet. It was so fun! I can definitely cross that off my list :) Playing basketball in these old run down playgrounds with Mongolian kids! What could be better? I love them so much. Anyways we had a great lesson with them and as we were teaching, our new members older brother was there with his wife and kid and so we taught them and shared Alma 7 with them! It was great. The husband wants to learn more about our church and was very curious since his grandma and younger brothers always talk about this church and so he wants to know why it is so great! We are planning to meet with him this week! I am excited! This could be our family :) Anyways, this is all I have time for! I love you all and have a great week!

love,

Sister Kerby

March 28, 2016

Happy Easter Everyone!

I hope that you are all able to have a good week and that as this week is Easter, you all remember its true meaning and remember our Savior and what he has done for us all! So this week was hard mostly because we were so busy and weren't able to teach a lot of people which makes me sad! We had some crazy things happen, I had to move. So I am no longer living with Sister Bollwinkel anymore:( It was a glorious 3 days together and then we got the news from President Benson that everyone has to be moved. So I am now living in the Bayanzurkh District with Sister Roo, Sister Harker and Sister Tau and we are living in a super nice apartment right now! It is great! We even have a real washing machine! I never knew how grateful I would be to have one of those again! haha. So anyways I am sad but it is all good. We live right across from the mission home now so that is nice but we still are serving in Han-Uul so it is hard trying to travel back and forth but we will make it work! It is going to be a great transfer still and even though I can tell it will be a hard one, we are going to have a lot of experiences here and it will be great! But they always say if it’s not hard then it’s not worth it:)

Before I forget to answer this, Hairtai shvv, literally translates to with love and then shvv is literally an exclamation point (!). haha.

So even though this week was hard, we were able to have a great lesson on Saturday! Sister Tau and I had to go on a split while Sister Harker trained Sister Roo to be a sister training leader and so we went to Enkhtaiwan area which is where Sister Tau serves and we visited her investigators. It was really great! We visited one less active who was a RM (returned missionary)and she has a family. But her husband isn’t a member so that just made it hard for her and which is part of the reason she fell away. She still believes in God and knows what she needs to do in order to come back. She just isn't doing it! Which is frustrating but we are determined to help her :) We had a neat experience with her. She was talking about how she has had a lot of trials and that there are so many temptations in the world and it makes this life really hard and so i had the prompting to share the scripture in D&C when Joseph is in liberty jail and he is just wondering where God is in all of this and the Lord says unto him bear all your afflictions with patience and all those experiences will be for your good and then verse 9 talks about how you should fear not for God will be with you forever and always. Anyways it was perfect for her but i could remember which section it was. I totally blanked. but she had already gotten her D&C book out and when she opened it she had seen a letter that she had written to herself inside that talked about her testimony and how if she ever fell away to remember this one verse D&C 10:5 and she just started crying and opened up to us about everything. It was such a special moment and I was grateful that even though i couldn't remember the verse, she found exactly what she needed to hear. If i didn't get the feeling to share that verse with her then she wouldn't have seen that letter so it was just a testimony builder for me that as we follow through with any prompting or feeling we receive then what needs to happen will happen even if it doesn't quite turn out the way you thought it would, it turns out the way that it needs to. So this was my neat experience for the week!

This morning Sister Harker and I went to a lesson but they weren’t home, but there was this cool little buddhist town so we went and looked around and took pics of it so here are some of them!

I love you all, until next week,

Sister K

   

March 24, 2016

This week was GREAT! So as you know transfers came! I couldn't be more happier! So Sister de Ruyter and I are still companions and still serving in Han- Uul but we have a new addition to our apartment now! Sister BOLLWINKEL and Sister JENSEN are now living with us! Yes I know I am soooo lucky! I get to live with two sisters from my MTC group! It is great! Not gonna lie though it was slightly weird waking up the next morning because we have bunk beds in our apartment and Sister B was sleeping in the top bunk and it was totally flashback to MTC time! It was weird. I am so excited though! This is going to be a great transfer and it is actually longer than the last transfers so I am happy about that. It is 7 weeks instead of 6 so not a big difference but it’s great. Sister de Ruyter is also the new Sister Training Leader so that will make this transfer fun. I will be going on lots of exchanges so it will be fun.

Let’s see I feel like so much has happened this week! Sister Roo and I had to go down to Unur area this last weekend because she had an activity that she needed to help out with. Unur is her last ward that she lived in and it happens to be the ward that shares the church building with my old ward so I was able to go visit Songino area last weekend! I was so happy and what made it even better was that I was able to run into Tuguldur while at the church building! He is doing so great! He is still strong as ever and meeting with the missionaries and going to church every Sunday and overall just a really active boy. He goes to all the activities and everything! His dad still hasn't given him permission to be baptized but he just has a year until he will turn 18! It will be cool because, Tuguldur could end up being my very last baptism that I see before I go home! This would make me so happy to be able to see this! When I saw him on Saturday he was so shocked! haha. He couldn't believe I was there and it took him a minute to process that I was actually back. Sadly I didn't get to talk to him very long but it was good to see him! I want to get permission from President to write him letters just to make sure that he stays on the right path and continues to be reading and praying. Pretty much my own little follow up and just so I can continue to encourage him :)

Also we had a fun experience with a drunk man. We were in Chingiis Khan Square and we were doing an exchange so four of us (all Americans) were waiting for 2 other sisters to show up before we could switch and this guy who was bothering Sister Harker and Sister Tau before we even got there shows up again and starts talking to us and wanting to take our picture. We get up and start walking away and he just follows us! We start walking around the square and he just keeps following and talking to us. He gets really close to us so we just start speed walking and somehow he keeps up with us! Everyone around us is just laughing at this whole thing and we walk around the square twice before bayartsetseg finally shows up and just straight up asks the guy what are you doing? And he’s like I just wanted their picture. and all of us were just like yea... that’s not all you wanted. It was ridiculous.... Let’s just say this week was interesting!

It has been great here though. I am really feeling happier here and it is starting to feel like home. We had a great lesson the other night with one of our investigators named Sainchimeg. We were reading from 1 Nephi with her and as we were reading, she brought up some other things with needing a job and praying for one. Sister Roo and I just bore our testimony to her and shared with her how this gospel has brought so many blessings to us and how they are not always big. Sometimes they are small but they end up being just what we need. We shared with her how we all have a plan for ourselves and how there are things that we want but sometimes it doesn’t always align with what Heavenly Father has planned for us but that doesn't matter because whatever he has planned is better than anything that we could have planned for our self. He knows us and He loves us so much. He knows us better than we know ourselves and he knows exactly what will make us happy. So even if things don't always work out the way we think, Heavenly Father does have a plan and we can trust that it will be just what we need. The Spirit was so strong during this lesson. Both Sister Roo and I talked about it afterwards and we could tell that Sainchimeg also felt it. She may not have known exactly what it was but we know she felt it. It was a great experience and I truly love moments like these on my mission. It makes everything worth it. I am so thankful to be here and I can never thank my Heavenly Father enough for the opportunity to serve here and be given the experiences that I have received!

This is when we went to a kazak party! One of our members invited us to it! It was so fun! We ate way too much, it was like tsagaan sar all over again but Kazak style. haha. It was great :) they celebrate something regarding the sun and they do this for 3 days where they invite family and friends over and just eat. It’s pretty great :)

Sister Roo and I tried making a pie for p day and well as you can see kind of failed.... and yes those are stroop waffles! This is the closest thing that comes to those delicious Dutch treats in Mongolia but hey we will take it!

I love you all so much!!! Have a great week.

hairtai shvv,

Sister Kerby

March 14, 2016

Sain Batsgana uu! Happy Pi Day! Sister de Ruyter and I are planning to make some pie! Are you? haha

Dinosaur Museum, actual dinosaur bones found in Mongolia

So this week has been interesting... It definitely had its ups and downs but don't worry the end of the week has gotten a lot better!

I guess I will start off answering the questions :) Sister Nelson and I got permission from the APs/President because this was becoming a weekly thing. Every Tuesday (at least for this transfer) we are companions after we teach English and we are in my area. We teach my investigators and then she stays the night and then we teach English on Wednesday from 8 to 2 and then after that we go back to our actual companions. It is fun being able to teach with her! Sister Roo has been out for 6 months now so she is not that much older than I am mission wise. Yea she teaches a lot like I do, we work really well together. I love her so much! I am really sad that transfers are coming up this week! We have them on Saturday so she may not be my companion this next transfer. We have only been together 3 weeks too :( I say we might not be together because this week is when all the new missionaries come!!! Crazy huh? The new American missionaries will be here on Saturday so we find out Friday whether or not we will be together. Sister Roo and Ii are really hoping that we stay together! None of the missionaries use a car here. It is way too crazy of a place to drive here. It wouldn't be very safe to have missionaries driving, probably lots of accidents would happen. Imagine how they drive in India, that pretty much describes what it is like driving here. There are maybe about 30 missionaries in the city right now and the rest are in the countryside. Well the city is Ulaanbaatar, that is where we are all serving when I say city but it is divided up into districts within Ulaanbaatar. So I am in han-uul district and sister B is in Bayanzurkh district which is like 25 minutes from me so it’s all the city of Ulaanbaatar, just different districts. It is a little hard to explain in emial. haha but hopefully that helps. I wouldn't say that I am ahead. She actually speaks fairly well and maybe a little better than me but I can understand people. I understand what people are saying a lot better and to me that is more important.

So our investigators are doing great! As you saw last week we had another baptism. Her name wasBadamgarav and she was 61 years old! She had such an amazing story! So she was struggling with smoking and she was smoking about 2 packs a day, but when we started meeting with her and we got her a priesthood blessing and then she only started smoking 2 cigarettes a day. Then we told her in order to be baptized she needed to stop all together. The first time she was interviewed the DL found out that she had smoked once that week and so we had to postpone. This really opened her eyes and she realized that she needed to quit. She really wanted to be baptized and so she prayed for help and she said the Book of Mormon gave her strength and now she has quit all together and she was able to get baptized last week! It was so amazing and I was so proud of her! This just shows me the power that is given to people when they ask for it! The Lord does answer prayers and he does help us accomplish the things that we need to! As 1 Ne 3:7 says, the Lord prepares a way. The Lord has asked us to do many hard things in our life but even though he requires us to do some of these things, he always prepares a way for us so that we may accomplish the things that he asks us to do. I know without a doubt that this is true! He does give us the ability to do everything that we need to. As I said last week, the Lord qualifies us to do His work! I am so thankful for this gospel and for the joy it not only brings to my life but the joy I have been able to see it bring to my investigators lives. I know that we are able to find true happiness through this gospel and it is only in obeying the commandments that God has given us that we truly can have joy in this life. As President Monson said, Our Heavenly Father created us and so he knows us perfectly. He knows what we need to do and what we need to have in order to be truly happy in this life. I know this to be true with all my heart.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love, Sister Kerby

The boy is ganhuu, he is our investigators little brother! Cute right? :)

March 7, 2016

Where do I even begin?

I guess I will start by answering your questions... The language is still coming along.... I understand a lot more but I still have a lot of trouble speaking it. Some days are better than others. Some days I will have a great lesson and then the next day I will feel like I don't know this language at all. haha. I know that I have grown a lot in this area, somewhat in the language, but mostly in just having to learn how everything works. This area I have felt like I am really learning how to be a missionary especially since my former companions did most of the work before and Sister de Ruyter doesn't know the area very well yet so I have had to take the lead with some things but it has been good for me. The Lord probably new that I needed to have this experience so I am grateful for the opportunity that he has given me to lead and do more than I thought I could. It is funny how the Lord truly does qualify us in the callings that He has given us. No matter how inadequate we may feel in a position we have been assigned to, that doesn't matter because the Lord always qualifies those whom he calls.

Oh. so Sister de Ruyter's former companions were mini missionaries so near the end of last transfer she was with a trio, Bayartsetseg and Otgonbileg which is why I had a feeling that when my companion left I would be put with Sister de Ruyter since she was in a trio. It all worked out though which is great! I am thankful that out of all the sisters I was put with Sis Roo! We both consider ourselves very lucky!

Yea our water boiler and air filter are now officially working again!

So this week Sister Nelson and I had a cool experience. So since we teach on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, with Sister Roo's teaching schedule also being around the same time we decided it would be easiest if we just did a 24 hour exchange that day so Sister Nelson and I became companions for teaching and then she spent the night at our apartment so that we could just go straight to class the next day. It worked perfectly. So we were working in my area on Tuesday and went to go teach one of my investigators and his family. Now you know how Sister Nelson and I are from the same group so we were terrified of course and it was scary but guess what! It ended up being a great lesson. It actually testified to me how much it really doesn't matter that we don't know the language well. We were teaching the family about God and our lesson wasn't perfect but we showed how much we loved them and through what we knew, we shared how important our message was. And also how simple it is. Our message is simply that God is our loving Heavenly Father and he has given us a plan so that we can be happy. Part of that plan is families and through families we are supported and we help each other so that we can return to our Father in Heaven. After we shared our message the father actually asked us when we can meet again! I didn't even have to ask them! He wanted to meet with us. All they want to know is the truth. It doesn't matter if we can't speak well, they just want to know more! It was such a blessing being able to realize that. Despite our shortcomings and weaknesses, the Lord's work continues to move on!

This gospel truly is such a great blessing! How lucky we are to be able to have this! I am so thankful for this knowledge and for the opportunity I have to continue to learn more and help not only others come unto Christ but also myself as well!

I love you all and hope that you have a great week! Remember that the Lord will qualify you in all that He asks you to do. Never fear that you can't do it. He knows your personality and all that you have to offer. He knows us so much better than we know ourselves so just trust in Him.

Love, Sister Kerby

"Only in Mongolia does it finally get warm enough that it snows!"



Send us some of your San Diego weather please! haha.

Also another funny thing that happened...
"When your taxi driver has 'What does the fox say?' as his ringtone" It was so funny. All of the sudden his phone goes off and we hear cat goes meow, dog goes woof.... hahaha 

love ya

February 29, 2016

Snu!

So to answer your questions from last week! Our schedule is just like any other missionaries. We are out until 9pm teaching and if we are teaching a lesson then we just have to be home by 9:30. It doesn't really matter if it is cold outside, we still have to go out and meet people. Even though it can be freezing at times, it really isn't that bad. We are able to do it. We don't go door to door. We can't do any of that. When we aren't teaching English then we teach our investigators, new members, less actives, or we go visit the members. So basically our studies are from 8 to 11 because we also have an hour for language and then we eat lunch and then we are able to start our day and the people I listed previously are how we fill our days. We have a lot of people to teach here especially in our ward right now. We are serving in the Han-Uul Ward and there is so much potential here! We are both so excited!

 

Sis Roo & Sis Kerby

So I am sure you are wondering who my new companion is.... So Sister de Ruyter (aka Sister Roo) is my new companion! I am so happy! She is awesome! She is the one in that picture that I sent home before who lived in the apartment with us when I was in Songino. She is from LA and guess what she is also DUTCH! I couldn't remember if I told you that before! But yea she is dutch and her family even makes those muisjes that we love so much! It is seriously perfect! We actually just made toast with cheese and jam on it this morning!! How great is that?! All my past companions thought I was so weird and thought it was gross that I did that! But Sister Roo understands:) She knows whats good! Anyways, I love her and I know this is going to be a great rest of the transfer. I am just sad that I only got her for half the transfer because this coming transfer is when the new missionaries called to Mongolia from America are coming so she probably will be training so I will most likely get a new companion. Sister Bollwinkel and I were talking though and were saying how awesome it would be for us to be companions this next transfer! It will be weird not being the new missionaries anymore but I am excited to see the new missionaries.

So this week was really hard, but even though it was hard, it actually ended up being the best week ever! Sister Roo and I have been able to grow a lot being together. I think that this companionship was exactly what both of us needed at this time. We have already, cried together, laughed together, been weird together, but most importantly we have been able to support each other. She is a great missionary and I look forward to the things that I am going to learn from her.

 

I realized this week that I am truly okay with where I am at right now. I keep having this perfect image of who I want to be in my head that it makes it really hard for me when I realize I am not perfect. It is so frustrating when we want so badly to be the best and then we end up falling short somewhere along the line. But this week I realized that I don't need to be perfect, I just need to keep trying and not give up. We had an experience this week that helped us realize that we can do this. Our first lessons that we taught together were AWFUL! haha like they were bad. We were both trying to figure out how the other one taught and try to know when we were passing it to each other. We had some awkward silences and our last lesson we both didn't even understand what Badamgarav was saying to us. It was hard. We are each other’s first American Companion so we are used to when we don't understand our companion will jump in and help us and talk to them and then after we would be able to hear about it. Sooo with us... that didn't happen. haha. I laugh about it now but during the time is sucked and we were both just like what are we doing?! It was really hard but then on Saturday we were teaching Battumur a new member and his grandma, badamgarav, (the same lady) and this lesson ended up being great. It was just like the scripture in D&C that talks about how both understand one another and walk away edified. It wasn't a perfect lesson of course. We didn't say everything perfectly BUT they understood us and even helped us with our pronunciation at times. It was actually funny because sister Roo was trying to say purpose in Mongolian and she couldn't say it and they kept trying to help her but she eventually got it. It just made me realize that we will never be perfect at the language but we are going to be able to at least teach the gospel and that is the most important thing. We taught that lesson simply and it ended up being the best lesson ever.

This experience was definitely one of those assurances from the Lord. Just like in Alma 58:10-11 when they talked about assurances. This was one of those moments. He was showing us that we really can do this! I am so thankful for the experiences that I am having here and for all that I have been able to learn here. Even though it can be hard at times, to me the experiences and things I have witnessed have made it all worth it. Last week we had two baptisms and this week we have badamgarav getting baptized. Getting our investigators to this point is what it is all about. We are helping bring them closer to their Savior and there truly is no better work than that.

I wish I could send my pictures that I took but of course the computer that I am at, the USB port doesn't work so I will have to send them next week!

I hope you are all doing well! I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Kerby

Oh I am also going to be sending an "Only in Mongolia..." every week so you can look forward to that:) Sister Roo and I decided to start this!

"Only in Mongolia would your water boiler get so hot that it ended up melting to the power cord!!"

Yes this happened to us this week and it sucked:( It was our only one so we had to go to the store and buy a new one. Plus our air filter broke and we are still waiting for that to be fixed. Let's just say it has been a fun couple of days. haha. I look forward to our many more adventures together!