August 8, 2016

Hello,


Well not much really happened this week. As I mentioned before, the work is going well and I am enjoying serving in Han-Uul. Enkhbaatar and his family are doing okay, we have been able to stop by and talk to them for a little bit but we haven't been able to meet twice a week like we planned. We will still visit when we can and try to meet with them but I honestly don't think they are ready right now and that’s okay. The fact that they still meet with us when they can is great! They are just busy with work and have different things going on. When this becomes more of a priority for them it will happen. Right now it’s in God's hands. They are doing good though and I’m excited to meet with them when they are free. The new family that got baptized is of course doing great! They want us to come over like every day. haha. They are awesome, golden members. It has been fun seeing them, they still have that bright look and happiness around them and its great seeing them! They have great ward support and continue to do well. As for the RM's family we haven’t had much luck unfortunately but we keep trying! We call almost every day to see if we can meet, probably annoying but oh well. If he really wanted to he could tell us no. I talked to his wife and she has said that he is just busy with work and when he comes home he is tired and doesn't want to meet. However he does enjoy meeting with the missionaries. The desire is there we just have to keep tying! Eventually we will meet with him and then we just have to keep it up and keep working with him each week and he will be good. It’s always getting in the door that’s the hardest. Which is funny because everyone in Mongolia is welcoming and even if they don't know you they will invite you in. haha

Any ways my companion and I are doing well. My companion is a great missionary and she works well. I love her despite her sometimes craziness. haha

So... now for the crazy weird interesting story for this week..... you guys won't believe what happened to me. I am still shocked that it did. Any ways so Sister Ariuntungalag and I go to teach one of our lessons to our investigator, and while we are sitting on her couch something gets in my eye and it really hurts and I can't get it out. My companion can’t see it but our investigator apparently sees something. Then my companion and her are talking and she tells my companion something but then my companion tells her to do it. Our investigator comes over and sits in front of me and tells me not to move or close my eyes. I’m not really sure what is going on at this point. I didn't understand everything that she said. Anyways I thought she was going to use her hand to get it out or something but no... she grabs my eye lid, I think she is just looking for it but NO she goes and LICKS my eyeball!!!!! I kid you not, this happened. I had someone lick my eyeball. It was so weird and I was so shocked. I couldn't believe that just happened... The best part is that she didn't even get whatever was hurting out... but I told her it was fine because there was no way I was letting her do that again. haha but yea that was fun.... Never thought in a million years that would ever happen, haha ah man... gotta love the mission and experiences like this. Here I thought I had seen a little of things and witnessed some weird stuff but apparently I haven't seen it all! haha yay

Well that is about all for today....

Love you and have a good week,
Sister Kerby

August 1, 2016

Hello,

This has been a great week! I have been out almost a year on my mission and I feel like I am just now beginning to understand what it means to be a missionary and the joy that comes from being in the service of God. I know it seems like it has been a rollercoaster for me while being here and it is true. It has been a rollercoaster with a lot of ups and downs, but I am just beginning to realize how much I truly do love it here. I am finally starting to love the ward I am serving in and I am truly beginning to love the people that I am serving. Before, I talked about how I wanted to leave this ward because I have been here so long and want to serve somewhere else, but as I was teaching and meeting investigators and members this week, I realized how much I truly don't want to leave this ward. I have been blessed to serve in this ward as long as I have and I don't want to leave. I would be happy to stay here the rest of my mission. Now in saying that, I am sure that this transfer I will probably be transferred. haha. Isn't that how it works? But I won't be surprised if I am and that makes me sad. This week I was able to have a really great experience. The one family I was teaching, the Enhbaatar's family, I was able to meet with them this week. Sister Ruu and I were teaching them but then we switched wards and so I couldn't meet them anymore. Then the other sisters met with them but then they stopped meeting with them. Then I moved back into their area because I cover both wards now and I tried calling them but they never picked up. A member told us that they weren't interested anymore and that every time they saw our phone number they would ignore it and not want to pick up. Me being me though was like heck no, I am going to teach this family so I kept calling and kept trying and a couple of times we just stopped by their house but they were never there. This week however we just straight went to their home and they were there! They were surprised to see me and didn't know I was back in the area. They welcomed us in their house and we were able to set up an appointment and I was able to tell them how much I missed them and they were really happy that I was back to teach them. We decided that we would try to meet with them at least twice a week and would re set their baptismal date and they agreed to it! I am so happy for this family, I loved them and I am so glad to be able to teach them again. I know that I was supposed to be serving in this area. Before I couldn't quite understand why I have been here for so long but now I am starting to see a piece of heavenly fathers plan and how he uses us all to accomplish his purposes.

Earlier picture of  Kristin's area

 Most of the time we have no idea and can’t understand all that he does, but we can trust that he knows and that everything will work out how it needs to. Sometimes we just need to stay faithful and true to who we are and what we have been called to do and stay strong and keep working hard and diligent and the lord will bless us. Maybe not in the way we expect or how we want but it will be exactly what we need. :) And sometimes we will have mountains in our life that no matter how much faith we have or how hard we try, they can't be moved. Sometimes I think this is because Heavenly Father wants us to climb this mountain because the experiences we have on the way up will be exactly what we need to help us become who we need to be. And just
think when we get to the top of that mountain, how much sweeter it will taste to us because of all that we went through to get there and it will be much better than if we just had the faith and it was moved just like that. Sometimes we need to go through the hard times in order to recognize the joy afterwards and be able to see the difference that happened. I am truly thankful for all the experiences I have had while climbing this mountain called a mission. I have learned a lot and am thankful for it. I know at the end of my mission when I reach the top, I will be able to look down and see how far I have come. I know the same goes for everyone. When you get to the top of each journey you have had in this life you will be able to look back and see all that you have learned. And when we reach the top of the mountain of this life we will look down and see how much we have changed and we will have a better understanding then of why some things happened then we do now. Sometimes as we are climbing up the mountain we can't see the entire picture. We can't see the top because it is still quite a ways ahead and when we look down we just see the rocks and bumps and how hard it was to get to the spot we are in the moment. Sometimes we have to wait until we get to the top where our perspective will be changed and we will then be able to see the greatness that has come to pass from our journey we had trodden.

One of the Mountains she has already climbed. :o)

We have been given a great gift in this life. We have been given the knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. How do we use that knowledge we have been given and how often do we express gratitude for this great gift? Even though this life is not always easy, we have been given this great gift to help us overcome any challenges we face. This gospel will help us reach the top of any mountain we have to overcome. What a great blessing that is! And along our journey we must also help others reach the tops of their mountains. We are all in this together and must help one another get to the top and taste of the sweetness, for how much better will it be if we have others to share in this great joy with.

I hope that you all have a good week and that you are able to do all the things that you need to.

Love, Sister Kerby

So we saw this cute puppy in our area one day! 

We had a fly problem in our apartment so we had to buy one of these... it was awful..

Oh my goodness then we saw this huge monster of a bug outside of our
apartment building! It was nasty!!!! They do have creepy bugs in Mongolia!!

July 25, 2016

Hello,

We did have our baptism :)and it was amazing! I seriously am so thankful for this family! We actually had a great lesson with them about two days before they were baptized and it helped show me that the work we do here, We may never be able to see the blessings that come from it but it doesn't mean that they won't come. This family is great but for me it was also my hardest family. Why? Well I felt like I wasn't really doing much to help them. Every lesson I taught I thought they can't understand me and I’m probably not even teaching or saying anything that will help them. Plus I also have a really hard time understanding this family. Most of our investigators I understand fairly well but for the life of me I could not understand them. I still have trouble understanding sometimes. haha. But after this lesson, I bore my testimony to them and I told them how proud I was of them and that they were following the right path and that they were going to be great members. Of course right after I started bearing my testimony I started crying and I shared with them how much I loved them and how great their family was and the wife started crying as well. The spirit was so strong, I will never forget this moment. I told them how much their father in heaven loved them and how much their savior did and that Heavenly Father only wants us to try our best. I told them that I know they probably don't understand me sometimes but I love them and have been glad to get to know them. 

It was funny, right after I said that, they were both like no! We understand you perfectly and you speak very well. They showed me that they did understand me and it made me realize that we never really know what we say will help someone. You don’t need to be fluent or anything in order to love someone. They will be able to feel it and the Lord has helped a lot in this work. We have both been edified as the D and C scripture says and we have both understood one another. Not always perfectly but it doesn't matter if it wasn't perfect. We were able to communicate just fine and love was there and that is most important. After the baptism, before we left, Bayrjawhlan came up to us and asked how much would a trip cost to go to America to go to the temple. We weren't sure but we told him that the closest one to them is Hong Kong and that we would find out for him and that our next meeting we can create a plan for them. They already want to start saving so that they can go to the temple as a family! They truly know the importance and their next goal! It is so exciting to see! They really were a prepared family! I am excited for them! It was a great day!

On the other hand a crazy funny story happened to me.... As we were teaching a lesson, at the end of it this man tried to kiss me!! Yea we were teaching our investigators and this grandmas son was there who isn't a member and he was a little drunk which I wasn't quite sure of at the time if he was but anyways at the end he asked for my hand and I gave it to him thinking he was shaking it goodbye.. NOPE! He pulled me down in front of him and then asked if he could kiss me. Of course I couldn't understand what he was saying at first but he kept getting closer to me and I had to back up each time. But he kept asking me. Everyone in the room was saying you can’t and I’m just like what the heck is going on! I don't understand anything except everyone is saying boloogvi! haha so of course I answer saying that and I finally look to my companion and I’m like what the heck is going on and she was like he is asking to kiss you. Finally understanding, I pull my hand away stood up, told him no and told my companion that we are leaving. hahah so yea that was fun..... Plenty of stories like that have happened to me but I’ll tell you about that later.... haha

I’m with sister Hawkins the group ahead of me for English. And the other two sisters helping with reviewing is sister Bollwinkel and sister Ulsen :) Communication with BYU is through skype when we discuss the English program and how it’s coming along. We only spend 12 hours a week for English and the rest is for teaching the gospel so we are busy like 24/7. We don’t have a lot of free time on our hands so we never have to ask okay what do we do now so that is nice.

Have a good week! Look for the blessings in your own life; you never know what you may find and how much to see you have been blessed!

                                                                                                Love, Sister Kerby

July 18, 2016

July 11, 2016

Hello,

I hope that everyone has been able to have a good week! This week was pretty good! Elder Maynes asked me a couple weeks ago to help out with English during the summer and help review the BYU lessons that have been sent to us from them so I have been working on that along with meeting people. It has been fun and I enjoy being a part of it. We are reviewing these lessons to be taught not only in Mongolia but they will be used for the whole Asian Continent and will help in getting missionaries into areas that are not allowing them right now so it has been cool being a part of that work. We were able to skype with Jessica McGovern who is at BYU and works at the ELC the English learning center at BYU. Elder Maynes invited me to the meeting to share some of my ideas and thoughts that I stated in a previous meeting so he asked me to share them with her so that she could make some changes at BYU that will help the future missionaries coming here more. I am happy to be helping out with the lessons. Basically they are having a group, about 4 us review all of the lessons and make it nice and look good and that it makes sense to be prepared to teach this coming school year and then to be sent back to BYU to be prepared to use in other countries. Elder Maynes put me in charge of creating the booklet that will go along with the power points. It will be a book that explains all the activities and basically the teacher’s manual so yea that is what I have been working on! We were trying to figure out a more efficient way to train the missionaries and help prepare them more for what they will be doing here in Mongolia. They are making a lot of changes and keep improving it so it is really cool to already see how much it has changed since I came out here!

The work is going well! Bayrjawhlan and his family are doing great! We are actually meeting with them tonight and then we just have a few lessons left and their interview should be Saturday or Sunday and then they can be baptized next week! I am so excited for them. I just think about how their little boy is now going to have the chance to grow up in the gospel and to be able to receive blessings that he wouldn't have been able to have before. He is going to be able to have a father who holds the priesthood and as I thought about that, I thought about what a huge blessing that has been for me to have a worthy father who holds the priesthood and how important that is. Even though our other investigators are not doing so great right now, at least we are able to have this family who makes us be able to see that this is what our work is all about. It is about finding the one family who will listen and have their hearts changed. I am grateful for them and I love that family so much!

It was Naadam this week which is why I couldn't email yesterday. None of the internet places were open and so today we are at the mission home and they said we could email here which is nice because we don't have to pay this time:) haha. But yea you should look up Naadam if you are interested in learning more about it. It is just a really fun holiday celebrating Mongolia and their own freedom and that kind of thing. We were able to find tickets and go to the Stadium where we watched the opening ceremony and some Mongolian wrestling and then afterwards we went and did some shopping. They had little tents set up which kind of reminded me of the Del Mar fair a little. They had all this food and things to buy. I didn’t get any food though, my companion and I were way too sketched out about it and we had just gotten sick that Saturday night from a member feeding us so we didn't want a repeat of that! haha. But yea it was a lot of fun and we had a good time.

July 18, 2016

Well this week has been great and we were able to get a lot of work done which is always good, right? haha

This week was really cool because I was able to experience a great blessing. So on Tuesday of this last week, my companion and I had a small disagreement and were going to teach a lesson in our farthest area and the lesson wasn't the best and didn't go well and so I was dreading the next lesson that we were heading towards but as we were walking to this next lesson, my companion was walking ahead of me and I was a little behind and we walked past this woman and her two little kids carrying water. Now they live in a ger district so there is no plumbing or anything like that. They have to go get their own water in these huge barrels and bring it home so I know that what they were trying to roll on this little cart thing was difficult for them and they kind of looked like they were struggling. I thought about helping but didn't say anything and we kept walking past them. I looked behind at them again and got the feeling, you need to help them. But me being me I was stubborn, not happy and didn't want too. Anyways, the second time I looked back I was like no we need to stop and help so I let go of what I was feeling and stopped my companion and told her that we need to help them. We walked back and asked them if they need help and they said yes. We started walking with them and helped them carry the heavy load and the mom asked us, "What kind of people are you?" and asked "Are you Church people?" My companion then said yes and we started talking a little and getting to know her. Then once we got to her house we explained how we were missionaries and asked if she was interested in learning about our church and guess what! She said YES! So the next day we set up an appointment with her and we taught her family. She has two daughters that are 9 and 13. Her husband was at work but our next lesson we plan to teach him as well. We were able to get another family just by helping with this act of service. At the end of the lesson we invited her to come to church and guess what! They all came to church! This was such a huge blessing and made me realize what can come when you let go of yourself, stop focusing on your own problems and turn to others in love and service. Even if this family doesn't get baptized (I hope they do) but if they don't, I am happy knowing that I made the decision to let go of pride and to serve them. We wouldn't have been able to meet them and they wouldn't have heard this gospel if we didn't take the moment to step out of ourselves and serve. I am glad that I listened to the prompting that the holy ghost was giving me and for the loud voice in my head that told me to stop and go help them. It was a voice of quiet urgency and to me this lets me know that this family is ready. We were able to teach them a great lesson and it was really cool to see the mom be so excited and think that everything we shared with them was so cool!

But yea that is the miracle for this week :)

One more thing! I have a baptism this coming Saturday!!! Bayrjawhlan and his wife will be getting baptized! their baptismal interview was yesterday and it went well! So yay!!!

Anyways that is all! Have an awesome week!

Sister Kerby

This picture shows what these past 3 days have been like! We have had to walk everywhere because the roads were closed for this special conference going on! It was annoying because it made working hard and a lot of people were told to go to the countryside because of it so a lot of people were gone! but yea sorry I didn't take a lot of pics this week! Nothing to cool to really see this week! haha

June 20, 2016

Hello,


Well this week was really good. Not much happened this past week, it was just a good week for missionary work. We were able to meet with quite a few people so that was fun! I feel really lucky being able to be in this mission because we are able to teach so many people and I know that all missions are definitely not like that so that fact that I get to have about 10 lessons each week between our investigators and less actives/new members is really awesome! The work really is going good in our area right now. It is crazy to think that I have been in Han-Uul for about 5 months now. I have been able to learn a lot since being here especially about myself. Yes, we were supposed to have a baptism this week but we had to push it back a couple of weeks because we weren't able to finish all of the lessons in time for them to get an interview but it’s okay. We didn't want to rush the lessons. We would rather take our time and help them understand then teach it really fast so that they could get baptized on the date we said. When we told them it would be a couple more weeks they were fine with it too. They really are great and I have been blessed being able to teach them and see how they have changed from when we first started meeting and then be able to see where they are now. I consider that a huge blessing. Not many people get to see those moments on their mission. I have been able to teach them from the beginning so it is really cool. Our other investigators are doing pretty well. With summer approaching a lot of them are busy and a lot of people go to the countryside for work and to be with family and some people go to relax and get away from the city so hopefully with that happening it won’t be as crazy in the city anymore. The other big thing this week is transfers. It will be interesting to see where I go but I am just trying to keep in mind that where ever I am, it will be where the Lord needs me. I am just excited for this next transfer because Nadaam is coming up in July! That month is going to be so fun! It is just like Tsagaan Sar but I think it will be better because first of all it will be warm. haha. Plus they have a lot of activities that go on during this time so that will be fun! I also have my deel now so I will be able to wear that for Nadaam :)

Just to let you know, I didn't get sick this week :) I was healthy so that was good. It was probably the first week in a while that I felt good so that was nice. haha. Bowling was a lot of fun! It was a great day out with the other sisters. We had a lot of fun! Although when we got there we ordered a pizza, it looked good in the picture but it was so gross! They put this weird meat on it, then it had corn, green olives, and it was just gross. I was really disappointed L Never again... I have learned that when it comes to Mongolia don't buy pizza or cake here because every time you will just be disappointed. haha it’s alright I don't need those things anyways

I have had some great experiences being here, I really am blessed. I sometimes forget how lucky I am especially since I’m here every day and so I get used to it and forget what a special opportunity it is to be here. Well that is it for this week. Hope you guys have a great week! Everyone stay healthy. Love you all!

                         Love,

                         Sister Kerby

June 13, 2016

Hello

Hope everyone is doing well! I hope you were all able to have a good week!

So everyone was asking about my birthday... Well it was going to be a perfect day. We had it all planned out, we were going to do our big plan and then we were going to meet with 2 people in the evening. One of them was with our awesome investigator families and Dulguun was going to show me how to make this Mongolian meal and I was so excited! But did we do any of that... no... :( Instead I had to spend my day in bed because I was really sick. My stomach was really hurting and so we stayed home. I ended up getting a health blessing though from our Doctor and that helped. By the next day I felt a lot better but I wasn't able to eat much at all really. But it’s okay today will be fun. We are planning to go down to our area and go to the mall and then we are going to go bowling! So that will be fun! I haven't bowled in over 9 months! haha I am really excited. I am going with Sister Lichtenberg and Sister Tao and so it will be the four of us.

This was a good week... interesting but good.... This week I was able to find out that I am going to be really awkward when I get home. Why and how do I know that? Well when Tungaa and I were going home from a lesson. We got to the bus stop and ran into this guy and he saw us and he said hi to me and so I said hi back and then he asked where I was from and I said CA and then asked him and he was from Jamaica and then our bus came and we left but then when we got off at our next bus stop we saw him again! It was so weird and he was like hey what are you doing? So we told him and then I asked him why he was in Mongolia. turns out he is a professional football player and then he asked me where I was studying and told him I wasn’t a student but an English teacher since I can't tell people I’m a missionary and he thought that was really cool. He was like so how can I contact you if I want to hang out with you.... so I of course was like well I have a company phone and it isn't a number that I can just give out. I didn't know what to do... I’m like I’m a missionary and this guy is hitting on me. haha. But yea that was fun.

But what was even better was while we were also on the bus that day. We were standing next to this guy who kept looking at us and then a seat opened up and he told me to go sit so I did and then he asked my companion something and she just shook her head and laughed. I asked her what he said and she just told me she would explain later. Come to find out the guy and asked her if she was my daughter! It was so weird! That means he thought I was like 35! Mongolia is aging me you guys like no joke. haha. oh well... but yea those were my two awkward experiences this week!

Then we had our district meeting and Sister Bollwinkel made a cake for me:) It was cute.

Then yesterday I gave two talks. One in the long distance branch where we have to call everyone and then talk on the phone and then one in my own ward. People who live in the real countryside don’t have a church building so in order to have sacrament we call them and then they listen to us. It was interesting and kind of cool though. Elder Toronto from the Seventy came to the khan-uul ward and was their while we gave our talks. then he shared a really great little thought with us. It was really cool and I was able to meet him.

Then my companion since you asked about her is serving in Mongolia so she is an actually missionary. She is my companion for the rest of this transfer. Sister Roo is serving back in her old area Unur. Tungaa came from the countryside to the city. Well this is all I have time for! Have a good week!

Love,

Sister Kerby

June 7, 2016

Hello!

I hope that everyone was able to have a great week! I was asked to teach English at the Mission Home during the summer. During the English Conference that we had, we passed around a sign-up sheet for those who were interested to do a class during the summer where we would train them how to teach English. So I was chosen to be one of those teachers. However, when Monday actually came, we were expecting a lot more people to come. However not many showed up and so Sister Nelson and I don't have to teach English anymore. So, since we had that happen, it just messed with our Pday and then we weren't able to do it. I am kind of glad though cause now I don't have to worry about teaching English during the summer, so I can just do missionary work :) Plus I now have a higher chance of being able to go to the countryside so that made me happy. If I was teaching at the Baynzurkh I wouldn't be able to do that so now my chances increased! But yea that is why I didn't have pday until today. 

Also, I got a new companion! Yup it isn't even transfers yet but there was a mini transfer that

happened and so for the next 2 weeks, I have Ariuntungalag for my companion, and yes she is a Mongolian in case you didn't guess. haha. Who knows, maybe Sister Ruu is going to be my only American companion for my whole mission! But I am only with her until the 24th because then we have actual transfers that will happen. Who knows though, maybe I will end up staying with her for the summer but I don't know. She is really cute. She is just this tiny little Mongolian. She is funny because she doesn't like the sun or walking. So she complains about that sometimes but I am just like well you are a missionary and so you have to. haha but she is good, we get along pretty well so I am happy about that.

 

         we painted some hands which were free and it was to           express  your inner thoughts

Lets see other news... we haven't had hot water for the past 3 weeks now. It has been freezing water and so what we have to do in order to shower is to boil pots and then mix it with cold water to make it warm water and that is pretty much how we have to shower... yea not the funest thing in the world but I am getting pretty good at it! haha. You guys would be proud to see me now :)

I also did some service with Sister Lichtenberg today. That was fun. My companion wanted to sleep for pday today and then sister Lichtenberg’s companion was sick and since we live in the same apartment we got permission to do a split so I was able to go up to Jargalant area with Sister L and do the service project with her. It was fun. We just helped an older lady change her ger from a winter one to a spring one :) We basically covered her ger in plastic and then scotch taped it. lol. It was a lot of fun, we then put the cover on the ger which is a light tarpish thing and then tied this rope around the whole thing. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed spending time with her. 

We also had another service opportunity. As Tungaa and I were walking through our area after a meeting, we ran into a lady who had this huge bag of cans and plastic bottles that she was collecting to recycle and so we helped her put those in her bag and since it was really heavy and she needed a cart to pull it all and her husband ended up being sick, she had a long way to carry it and so we took some time to help her. It was a lot of fun and a great opportunity. We got to know her and we will probably meet with her and her husband this week. Yay for a PI! :) Opportunities really are everywhere :) As we were taking the cans we also ran into some adorable puppies which of course I had to take pics with! They were so cute! It was a good week!

Well that is about it! I love you all and hope you have a great week :)

This was Children's Day

Love, Sister Kerby