March 19, 2017

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope that everyone was able to have a good week! My week has been fun and interesting as always... haha.

So Monday I was with Sister Nelson because my companion was teaching English and so we were together that day and worked in Jargalant. That was an interesting day. I don't know that area at all really and so I wasn't much help and Sister Nelson was trying to find this person's home and we were kind of struggling. She was like I feel like such a newbie. Haha. Here we are at the end of our mission and still trying to find houses.... and then when she was asking from people for help they weren't understanding her. Gotta love how even after all this time people still can't understand our accents but on the bright side the people who are ready and actually try to listen to us do understand us. I mean I think it’s pretty cool that here we are as foreigners coming to this country to preach the gospel in their own language, to me that is pretty cool! I think sometimes people don’t quite understand that or forget that. But then you run into people and you just start talking to them and they think that your Mongolian is amazing and are so surprised that we are learning it and that we speak as well as we do for just being here as long as we have. Oh well... haha. For the most part though, people are able to understand us so that is nice :) Part of it I think just depends on the type of area you are serving in. So yea our Monday was spent getting lost in ger districts :)

Tuesday was our pday and I’ll be honest I don't remember what we did.... it got kind of messed up because my companion had to go meet with immigration so we had to move things around a bit... so not really sure what happened there:) haha

Wednesday was awful... we were supposed to go out to Baganuur and do a split with the sisters that day but I don't know what I ate but I got so sick. So we couldn't make it out there that day because a 2 hour nonstop bus ride did not sound fun at all to me that day. haha.

Thursday was a good day though. I was feeling a lot better! In the morning we went out to go visit one of our members who can't really walk. Her name is Lena. She is a sweet, we shared a scripture with her and just helped bring the spirit into her home and then we asked if she needed any help and she asked if we could go buy her some milk? but was it just any kind of milk? No it was some weird milk that we had to go find that was somewhere around her house that isn't a brand name. It like comes in a bag... I had never heard of it before but we were able to find it so that was pretty awesome! The second little store that we went into had it so we were able to find it fairly quickly. She really appreciated it because they were out of milk so she was grateful that we picked some up for her. Then we also met with Hyamtsetseg who is an RM who served in Mongolia. We were going to teach one of our new members at her house but our new member never answered so we just ended up meeting with her but turns out when we got there that her sister was also there who is a little less active and so we met with her. She has two kids who are really cute. So we shared a story with them and talked about faith. It was really good! We invited them to come to church and they said they would try and guess what! Sunday they came!! :) so that was cool. We don't really have any investigators right now. Work has been a little hard and tsagaan sar didn't help at all with that so hopefully it will pick up again! i guess we do have a couple of investigators now but none of them are progressing... but we meet with members and our new members and LA's when they can and so we stay busy by trying to meet with them.

Friday I taught my last day of English! yay glad to have that over with so that I can just focus on the work my last week! Friday night we ended up going to Baganuur and finally doing our split with the sisters. It was really fun. I was with Ulziitei and it was good getting to know her better! She is really sweet. She is new and just finishing her 12 weeks this transfer so I got to go out with her and see how she was doing. The elders, Epsinoza and Bird ( from my group) also happened to go out there that same day to do a split with the elders out there and they ended up leaving Baganuur at the same time that we did and so we sat by them on the bus and got to catch up with them a little bit. At first sister guild and I didn't have seats next to each other but this old man saw that we were trying to figure out how to sit together and he actually ended up giving his seat up so that we could sit together. It was really sweet! And then the guy behind him was talking and he was surprised when he saw we could speak Mongolian and thought it was the coolest thing ever and when we got back to the city he told the elders to make sure that they protect us. haha it was really cute. Sometimes it’s nice being a white person :) it has its perks here sometimes. lol.

Sunday was alright... the bishop called us Saturday night and was like hey so our person cancelled last minute can you two give talks tomorrow? So of course we were like suuuure.... so we ended up giving talks in our sacrament meeting yesterday... that was fun. I have given so many talks on my mission... I talked about the atonement because that is something that I have been studying this transfer a lot and it was really good. I have learned a lot about the power of the atonement and the strength that it can give us. It is such a great gift from our Heavenly Father and I don't think that we always are able to recognize it as much. It is something that we should be using every day. A gift is always better when it is used. And if we aren't using the atonement, we aren't showing our gratitude for the great gift that it is. I continue to learn new things as I study this topic and it truly has helped me be able to do all the things that have been asked of me. There is no other way that I’d be able to do it.

Another picture from Tsagaan Sar week

I hope that you all have a great week! I love you all!

Love, Sister Kerby

February 28, 2017

Hello Family and Friends,

Its Tsagaan Sar this week, one of the really big Mongolian holiday’s and so our week is really busy celebrating with families. So our p-day has kind of been spread throughout the week. haha. I am really glad that I get to be here for another Tsagaan Sar! Notsure about all the buuz that people will be giving us but at least I have learned to speak the language now and so I can tell them when I’m done or at least tell them that I will only have a couple. Anyway we actually went to our first house yesterday and visited with our less active family which was really fun! So Tsagaan Sar is pretty much the Mongolian new year and it’s a time where families really come together. It’s a total of three days but technically they make it a weeklong celebration because they have to go to all of their relatives. The first day is usually a family day where everyone goes and visits the older people. They go to their grandparent’s house and celebrate with them and pretty much eat and talk. We actually are lucky this year and have been invited to several houses for this first day. We will be going down to Unur to go to the bishop’s house that is in that area. Neither my companion nor I have served there but the bishop of Unur is a guard at the Baynzurkh church (a.k.a our mission home) which we are always at and so I have talked to him a lot and he invited us over so that will be fun. This holiday is all about having family and people over and eating and all that fun stuff. haha. They have some pretty great traditions here I think! It’s a lot of fun! Then we had a couple of people from the ward we are serving in invite us over so that will be fun! So yea this week is pretty much going to be a lot of eating... but it will be a great opportunity to get closer to our members and get to know everyone better!

So it’s been a great week, last p-day on Thursday I went on a really pretty hike and guess what we were able to find.... we found yaks! We got some pretty fun pics with them. They wouldn't let you get close enough to touch them but we got fairly close. They are pretty much cows with fluffier tails... they are really cute though. Then as we were hiking down the mountain there was this one spot that was perfect for sliding so we all took turns sliding down the mountain in our coats. The coats made it so it was slippery enough to slide.




So this week we met with our new member Anaraa (Anargul) the individual who got baptized on Christmas Eve. We ended up having a really cool lesson with her! She told us during our last lesson that she wanted to serve a mission and so we decided that this next lesson we would talk about missionary work and talk about the things that she needed to do in order to serve a mission and so I got her a notebook so that she can start writing her 42 principle book and then a mini preach my gospel so that she can start studying from it and we told her to start preparing. We spent the lesson sharing our mission experiences and bearing our testimony and helping her see if this was something she really wanted and she really does! She was really grateful because we taught her exactly what she was desiring to hear about and she was really glad that we were able to answer all of the questions that she had. So now she feels a little more prepared and understands a little bit more about it. But yea it was a really neat lesson!

This week i also went on a STL split with Sister Shreeve. She is seriously an awesome missionary. She has been in Mongolia since December 8 and so she is still pretty new to everything here. She was supposed to be here in November but because of Visa issues she couldn't come and so she ended up serving in CA for that transfer. But the great thing is that she ended up coming. She is going to bring a lot to the mission especially with her optimistic and kind personality. So yea we were in my area for the split and we went and taught a couple of different lessons and just got to know each other better

This morning Sister Guild and I got up early and we went to Zaisan in my old area (khan-uul) and we welcomed the sun. It’s another tradition that they do for Tsagaan Sar. On the first day they hike up to the top of a mountain and "welcome the sun". They throw milk and shout and literally welcome the sun of the New Year. It’s really cool. Right as it peaks over the mountain, they all begin shouting and saying prayers to welcome it. The sisters were all up at Zaisan and then the elders went on an actual mountain. Only men are allowed on the mountain because it’s a culture thing and disrespectful if women go up there so we stayed at this monument thing and welcomed the sun but there were several people there with us. Sister Breziinski brought some milk with her and so we all took turns tossing milk. We got the full cultural experience this time, nothing half way down :)

As I reflect a little bit on my mission something I have thought a lot about is what have I done? haha I’m sure that’s something that most missionaries wonder about. We have no idea the people we have touched or helped along the way because sometimes it is just through our example that we help others. Our sphere of influence is so big and can stretch so far that we don't really know who we are able to influence in our life. Which is why it is important that we are always mindful of the things we are doing. We can have such a positive impact on those around us and we can help so many without even realizing it. We can be such great examples to those around us. We are different and people recognize that and see that we have something else and they are right. We have something different. We have a purpose to our lives and because of the way we live we are able to find a great joy in life and because of how we live we are able to have that light about us and so I hope we all continue to try to show that example to those around us because we have no idea what may come because of it. We have a power to influence many as we continue to walk on the path which has been shown us. That is the great hope of this gospel and the wonderful message we get to share. That we are able to change and to improve and become better than we were yesterday. What a great gift we are given :)

Hope that you all have a great week!

Love,
Sister Kerby

February 13, 2017

Hello Everyone,

I hope that everyone has been able to have a good week! This week was really good for me. The family of three we have been teaching will be getting baptized this Saturday at 6:30pm :) I am so excited for them. They have such strong testimonies and have born their testimonies a couple of times about how ever since they came into this Church they have been able to see the changes that it has made in their life and I just think that is so cool that they are able to recognize those changes and to see the great effect that it is making in their lives at this moment. They are so much happier and you see a difference in them. They have this great countenance about them and it is so amazing being able to see that change. I think being a missionary is one of the most amazing things because you get to see firsthand the miracles that come to people’s lives through living this gospel and you are able to see the Atonement also play a part in their lives and to see the change that is able to come to them through the Atonement. I still don't understand the Atonement perfectly myself but throughout my mission I can say that little by little my testimony has grown and that I know of the great power that the Atonement holds and what it can do for us. It is truly the greatest gift we have been given.

As my mission comes to a close I am recognizing more and more little things that just make me so grateful to be a missionary at this time. I have met some amazing people here. Yesterday night we met with one of our less active families and Sister Nelson and I were together for it since our companions were teaching English together so we were companions for the day so it was her first time visiting with the family and as we began we had their 7 year old daughter Baysgalan say the opening prayer and while she was praying she said my name and asked that Heavenly Father would bless me and my family and to keep me safe and bless me with health and then thanked Heavenly Father for sending the missionaries to them so that we could meet with them. It was the sweetest prayer and so simple but it meant the world to me. To have this cute little girl praying for me was just amazing to me. It made me so grateful to be serving here and to have been able to have met her and her family. It made me realize that we truly are doing a great work here and that we do have a purpose. These little moments are what have made me so happy and realized how lucky I am to be serving in Mongolia and being able to understand the people here.

So the other week I was able to go out with the Baganuur sisters and that was so much fun! It’s the farthest out that I have been able to go from the city. The only thing out there that makes it different from the city is that there are no huge buildings. It’s like as if you went out into the suburb area back home. Also there is a lot less pollution out in Baganuur which was nice. So yea that was fun. We also saw some cool ice sculptures there. They had sculptures of the 12 months of the year where like horoscopes figures. They also had a cool slide there of ice that I went down. It was a great couple of days and it was fun being with a Mongolian companion again :) It’s been really fun having the chance to be an STL. I have learned so much from these sisters. They just all have these different qualities and talents and they all work really hard to do the best that they can and its really cool being able to work with them.

Solongo's mom got baptized. It was the most perfect baptism I have ever been to, just because it was so cool to see my trainers mom be baptized and to see how Solongo finally has a member of her immediate family that can be there with her and I just now see them with that opportunity to go to the temple and to be sealed as a family. They just need to start working on that dad :) It’s so cool though, she is this amazing new member and it has been so cool to witness the miracle of this gospel and the joy that families feel when they are doing it together. I will never forget that! This gospel is so great :)

Love, Sister Kerby

January 24, 2017

P Day

Hellllooo,

So this week... yea a lot has happened! We have had some great experiences this week! So when I first got to Sansar, I asked from the bishop to print out a list of all the ward members for us so that we could call that list and get to know the members better and so this week we were calling from that list and I saw a name that I thought would be good to call and so I called her and she said we could meet so we go to her house the next day and it turns out that when we met with her she hasn't been to church for a couple of years now. She still does those things like praying and reading the book of Mormon but she doesn't come to church but her whole family is members. All of her children served missions and all of them served in America. All of them except one are actually living in America with their families. But it was cool because the one that still lives in Mongolia ended up coming in just a little while after we had arrived and so we started talking with him. His English is amazing! He served in Ohio. He hasn't been to church in about 3 or 4 years now but he has had a couple of moments where he has thought about coming back but he just hasn't and so it’s really cool that we found him because he still is awesome, he just needs a little push to come back and so it will be great trying to help him. The only problem is that he is super busy so we hope that we will be able to meet with them again and that this isn't just one of those cool experiences that don't turn into anything. This week we also met with our family that’s investigating. The mom and the two kids are doing awesome! They are so excited to be baptized but the husband is now going to Korea next week for work and won’t be back until April!! :( but it’s okay! IT will all work out its just kind of sad now because we won't get to be here for that but we trust in the next missionaries that they will continue the work. We have just had a great week meeting with all our people :)

My last family that was baptized are now living in Unur and the Elders, one of them actually from my group Elder Malin, is currently meeting with them and was able to give a letter I wrote to them. They are doing awesome he said. and then my companion during that time that they were baptized, Ariuntungalag is now training a new missionary and that new missionary happens to be our new members niece and so she was telling Ariuntungalag about them and says that they are great members.

Other news, the long distance branch is doing great! As I called this week, they were talking to me more and they are doing good and really enjoy that I call every week to them so that they can sit in sacrament. It’s a really cool opportunity that I’ve been given to do this. Then one of them actually lives in the Gobi and because we are starting to begin visiting our people we might get the opportunity to go out there:) not sure if we can get permission to go out that far but how cool would that be? haha. There is no church at all out there and so it would be good to go visit some of the members all the way out there. The member I called said that it would be great if I came out there and she said if she was ever able to come to the city she wants to meet with me so that was really cool to hear:) ahh! Everything is great right now :)

English is going great as well! The classes are fun this year and are students are doing a lot better learning this year than they did last year. They do know that we will be leaving soon and they are really sad! They don't want us to go. They won't be putting more missionaries at our school. They are doing things differently next year. It’s changing and for the better too so that will be good.

As I have contemplated everything that has gone on. There are so many changes that have happened and yet at moments I think what has really changed. It’s really funny because it’s like we can distract ourselves with so many different thoughts of, well what have I really done? or have I really changed? And the answer is of course! It is so easy to forget that we are changing because Satan will fill our minds with thoughts that are contrary to what we hope to believe. I have found that while being on my mission our thoughts can be the most crucial thing because our thoughts become our actions, our actions become our habits and our habits become our character and our character becomes our destiny. It is interesting to think about how one little thing can influence us so much but it’s true! Our thoughts lead us to do things or even to not do things. What are our minds truly focused on? As my mission comes to an end that is something that I have been thinking about lately, that when I am focused on the work, I am a lot happier, and just like when my mission does end and also for the rest of our lives when our mind is focused on our Savior and His gospel and as we continue to live in accordance with his doctrine we will be happy. We will experience that fullness of joy that is promised to those who keep his commandments! But it is only when we are focused on those things and don't let those worldly distractions hinder our progression that we are able to do so. Of course we will have our moments of struggle for after all that is life but I have also learned on my mission that His Grace is Sufficient. For those of you who have never read this talk it is by Brad Wilcox and it is awesome! I have learned that as we rely on our Savior we will be able to receive all the help that we need. Sometimes I think we forget to truly rely on Him and that he is the one who knows us perfectly so we should be turning to Him and realizing that through his power are we able to overcome all that we face. As I have studied grace this past week I have recognized the connection between grace and hope. Hope is what allows us to believe and trust that we will be helped and that grace is the power by which we actually are able to be helped. We don't need to be everything or have everything in order to receive his help. As Elder Holland says, The First great commandment is to love God with all of our heart might mind and strength but the greatest and first eternal truth of all is that God loves us with all of His heart might mind and strength. Of this truth I testify and I know with all of my heart that God loves us. He knows us perfectly and he knows exactly what we need to do in order to receive the greatest happiness possible. He knows our needs and he wants us to receive all of his blessings. But we must first turn to him and be willing to open our hearts to all of those things so that we may truly receive all that He hath. I am so grateful for this knowledge and to be able to know I have a Heavenly Father who loved us that he sent us His only Begotten Son so that through Him we may be able to partake of His grace and receive of his strength so that we may do all things.

Well that’s it for the week! Love you all and have a great week!

Love, Sister Kerby

Part of her P Day she went to the snow.

January 10, 2017

Hello Everyone,

This week has been really good :) this past Saturday I went on a split with Sister Bottorff and it was a lot of fun. I was able to go to the Baynzurkh area and visit with her people. It was my first STL split and I loved it. Solongo (my trainer) lives in that area with her mom and her mom is an investigator and so we had the opportunity to go meet with her. It was so much fun! Solongo ended up not being home but it was fun because her mom was there and I showed her some pictures of when I was with her daughter and she just loved it. They were having family come in from "the countryside" It’s just a couple hours from the city and so they were having one of their little Mongolian party things that they do and it was a little awkward because it’s just a bunch of people there talking and we didn't know they were having this and so we are just sitting there like okay... haha. but it ended up being really cool because I asked Dolgorsuren (Solongo's mom) if we could share a scripture and so she gathered everyone and we shared Mosiah 4:9 and talked about God. It was really cool because her other family members are not members and so we were able to talk to them and teach them and then because we had a book of Mormon that we could give away, I ended up giving it to the husband of one of the wives there and he was just like all excited and asking questions about how it was different from the bible and was just like okay I will read it! Hopefully they will start meeting with the missionaries in Nalaikh. That would be awesome! I was going to get their number and pass them on to the missionaries but they said that they would go to our church that is down by where they lived on Sunday and so I said okay. It was cool because then on Sunday, Solongo ended up sitting in our ward on Sunday and was like hey I heard that you came to my house yesterday and gave my family member a book of Mormon and I was like yea, and she told me, yea he said he was going to read it, and it just made me feel happy that I had done that. I wasn't thinking much of it, I was just like yea you should take it and if you are able to please read it and meet with the missionaries down there so who knows what will come of that experience but you never know. Hopefully something does :). It was a good day. Although we ate so much, I felt like I was going to die... we literally kept getting fed house after house... haha.

Our work is going good in Sansar right now. We have some good investigators that we are working with. We were having trouble finding some less actives to meet with but we have been meeting with the members a lot more and so this week we have been able to find a lot more less actives thanks to them. The members know this area so much better than us and so I have gained a strong testimony of member missionary work and how the members can really help with the work. We actually met with one of the less actives on Monday and did a family home evening with them. Turns out the dad is a return missionary and served in the Ogden Utah mission and hasn't been to church in a while. So we are teaching his family now. So it’s him, his wife, and they have three really cute kids. The family is awesome! I’m excited that we were able to find them. They even gave us a referral of another less active woman that lives close to them and they were like go meet with her. It’s really cool how these things happen when you are trying to do the Lords work. Everything truly does just fall into place and there is such joy to be found when you get the chance to be able to help these people. It truly is amazing!

Last pday we went to this mall in han uul and went to this 3D museum and took some fun pics and then we went and rode go karts that was really fun! So even though we didn't go sledding we had a lot of fun doing those things!

Hope that you have a great week!

Love,
Sister Kerby

December 26, 2016

Kristin and her companion with on a hike in the snow.

Hello Family and Friends!

So this Christmas has been a little different this year because we weren't able to get together as a mission like we did last year with everything going on, but it was actually a really great opportunity to take a step back and to see what the meaning of Christmas actually is. This Christmas we basically went to church and then we came home and made some delicious enchiladas but then after that we went and taught a family that has been getting the lessons. They are a great family. The other week we taught them about faith and it was such a great lesson. The spirit was really strong and it was one of those lessons where it was a turning point for them and they were able to see that this was something that they really wanted. They turned to us at the end and was like we are meeting tomorrow again right?? And then they came together as a family to church for the first time Sunday. Before they had just come to the stake conference together and so this last Sunday was their first real Sunday together and it was even better because it was Christmas so it was even more special :) But yea during one of the lessons they were just saying how they are really trying and preparing right now as a family to be baptized. They told us how their life has been changed since coming into this church and it was just really cool to see them and to know that they are finally ready. Their time is now and that is just so awesome. What makes it even better is that before they were living in the city, they actually lived in the countryside and they lived right by the church and every time the mom would see it she would just get a feeling inside of her that there was something special about that church and that it was meant to be a part of their life and then they moved to the city and where do they happen to move to? They literally moved right across from the church building and that was just a sign to them that there really was something special there. Their kids were the first to really start coming and then the mom and dad joined in together and now they are all coming together. It really is awesome being a missionary and being able to see so many people’s lives change through this message that we are sharing with them. We truly are the Lords hands at this time and we are helping him in this great work. He truly does prepare the people. That is one thing I have noticed about being here is that the Lord has everything figured out. He knows the beginning to the end and all of those details in between and so we can trust in Him completely. Then we went to one of our other investigators and sang some Christmas songs to her and brought her some cookies. It was really fun and she loved it. It was just a simple but great day. You really come to appreciate the simple things and to realize how much we have been given. This season is a time to really remember what is truly important in our lives.

Have a great week!

Love, Sister Kerby

December 13, 2016

Hello Everyone,

Another good week has come and gone. It’s going by fast especially with the Christmas season upon us. We have been really busy here with different things going on in regards to meeting with our people, English splits, and just getting ready for our Zone Conference that is this Friday. Well I was right, I am currently companions with Sister Lichtenberg so that has been fun being with someone from my MTC group. She has been teaching me the people in our area and so that has been fun getting to know them. We have a couple of great people that we are working with so that has been fun! Sadly I am not in American Denj anymore. I don't know what will happen but we have another mini transfer that is happening right after Christmas because the new Mongolian missionaries will be coming back from the MTC in the Philippines so they will start their mission and hopefully some sisters will be put back in American Denj. President might have me help out the next couple of weeks in my old area but we have to talk to him about it to see if that is what he wants us to do.

We had some cool experiences this week. One of them was we were going to meet with someone in our ward and it was a new person so Sister Lichtenberg had never been to their house before and while we were walking trying to find it, there was this old man walking near us and he was blind and was coming up to a spot that was kind of icy and looked like it would be hard for him to cross so I asked sister Lichtenberg if we should help him and so we went and helped him. While we were helping him get to his building he asked us where we were going and we told him that we were going to meet with a friend but we couldn't find their house. He then asked what their building number was and we told him and he pointed us in a direction and gave us directions on how to get there. After helping we said thank you and we started following the directions he gave us. After just a couple minutes of walking we saw the building we were looking for! We were just like Woah! A blind man somehow was able to lead us to this building. It was just amazing that he knew and he was definitely blind, he couldn't even really open his eyes. It was just amazing because we were planning to go in a different direction so if we didn't stop to help him then he couldn't have helped us. We wouldn't have been able to find it, well at least in the amount of time that we did if he didn't help us. It was really cool! It’s amazing how the Lord works and how he puts people into our paths. Sometimes we first have to help someone else before we are able to receive the help we need. Sometimes it comes unexpectedly but it just goes to show that when you lose yourself and look to helping others first, the help you need will be given to you in a way that might surprise you. I think we can sometimes in the end be the blind ones and forget to see what is around us so we must open our eyes so that we may be lead to where we need to go. Just something to think about! I could probably go on and on about this but I’m going to leave it short so I can share my next story with you :)

So yesterday we had to do a crazy English split and so I ended up being with Sister Nelson after we taught English and we worked in her area which is Han-Uul which is my old area and then we went to go check some houses and one of them was one of my new members who has kind of become less active because she doesn't go to church and Sister Nelson has tried meeting with them but they won't let her in and so she took me there yesterday and we were able to see them. The grandma which was the one I was really worried about wasn't there but her grandkids were there. One of which is also a new member and the other who wanted to be baptized but with the support not being great I didn't want to baptize her when I was there. I taught her once in a while but never gave a baptismal date. Anyways so we talked to them and they tried calling the grandma to come but she never answered and so without a Gerch we couldn't meet with just them so we only talked for a little bit but I straight up asked them about their grandma and what happened. They said she was just busy with work and can't go, but they won't meet with the missionaries there and so I was just like what happened. I was worried the grandma started smoking again and that was why she wouldn't meet but that’s not it. The granddaughter said no she isn't smoking so that was good! They would tell me if she was so that made me happen. So we made an appointment on Friday to meet with them. I wrote a quick note for them giving them a chapter from the book of Mormon to read from as a family by this coming Friday so I hope they do it. They were sad to hear that I won't be there. They were like it would be cool if you two came but I said I can't because I’m in a different area but I might be able to come Monday because I’ll be with Sister Nelson again during that time so hopefully I can meet with them and figure out what happened and to just help the best way I can to at least get them started meeting missionaries again. I love them so much! Ah it hurts seeing them not coming to church. So we will see what happens. It’s in the Lords hands. I know he will help us. These splits had to happen like this for a reason for English so the fact I get to be with Sister Nelson helping in her area means that something can happen :) it’s awesome! I love the work! It’s so awesome being a missionary and seeing these different things happen! I really am loving my life right now :))

There are about 60 missionaries in this mission, about 30 elders and 30 sisters. It’s pretty even. We are all here as English teachers we just have different sponsors and so we work at different schools but it doesn't matter whether you are elder or sister. Those missionaries also include the Mongolians. We are a tiny mission.... haha. I only have 6 sisters in our zone. The rest are in the other zone.


Love you all have a great week

Sister Kerby

December 6, 2016

Hello Family and Friends,


Hope that everyone has been able to have a great week! My week definitely went by fast and it was a really good week! I was able to have a couple of great experiences that I will share later on in my letter. Well transfers are indeed upon us this week and I won't know until probably tonight the full details of what will be happening but I basically know what is happening to me because last Thursday I got a call from one of the AP's Elder Filmore and he was asking me what I had planned for the day and I told him how we had studies and then our big plan and then district meeting and he asked when our district meeting was and I told him 3:30 and then he’s like oh good can you come sit in on our MLC and I was just like umm sure... MLC is the Mission Leadership Counsel... so they had me come sit in on the meeting and then President Harper was talking to me and he was like well I guess you know why you are here and what calling you will be having in the coming transfer. So yes I have been asked to be a Sister Training Leader :) I will most likely be with Sister Lichtenberg from my group but I don’t know for sure. So that will be fun. I will probably be serving in both American Denj and Sansar Ward. It will be fun! I look forward to having this opportunity. It will be great being able to serve the sisters in an even greater form. I love the sisters here so much! I am excited to help them in any way that I can so yea that is pretty much what is going on with me this transfer. I will be an STL for the rest of my mission and train the new STL before I leave so I basically have the rest of my mission figured out. lol.

Like I mentioned earlier, this week was really good. We were able to help some of our members out this week. We went and heart attacked one of our members door and when we went to go visit her this week she was so thankful! She even put the things we made in her book that she was making and she saved them. It was so cute. We had a really good spiritual lesson with her too. We just shared some of our favorite scriptures with her and bore our testimonies and she was so grateful to us for doing that. She just cried and said how she needed that. Her husband isn't a member and he wasn't really the most friendly towards us before, but after we did that, because he had seen it and when we were leaving their house he saw us and was really friendly. He said hi and shook our hands and was really nice and asked if we were leaving or coming and when we said we were leaving he was kind of like oh okay and sounded a little disappointed. I’m telling you guys!!! It truly is the little things that we do each day that make a difference. We never know how our acts that we do will affect others around us. We didn't even think about her husband and his reaction we just wanted to do something sweet for our RS pres. and to let her know how awesome she is and how much we love her and I think that this softened his heart some. It was really cool!

Our next thing that happened was we went to go visit one of our less actives. It was really good that we visited her that day because she really needed it. She really opened up to us that day and told us a lot of problems that she was having. And so we were able to share a message of faith with her and helped her be able to feel that she isn't alone and that there are people who care about her. It made me think a lot about how much the Savior really does look after the one. Whether it’s the one Samaritan woman at the well, the one prodigal son who returned home or the one less active who felt alone and unwanted. No matter who someone may be, the one is always the most important to the Lord and he will do anything to go rescue that person and we should be willing as well to go help the one in need. I hope that we all look for opportunities for when we can help the one person that we see. We can all be a helping hand in someone’s life. I read a talk today that talked about how it isn't coincidence that we are living in the areas which we are living and where we grew up. We are here for a reason. There is a part that we play, no matter how big or small that part may be, it is a part nonetheless. I am thankful for the ways in which I have been able to be an instrument in the Lords hands. I have seen countless blessings from it and am so grateful for it! I have seen a lot of great things recently and have recognized that I am playing a part. Even being with my mini missionary has showed me how much I am helping. She has been a great example to me and I love her so much. She will be one that I contact and talk to a lot after my mission. I am grateful to have served with her. She has been a great companion and a great friend and it is funny that we have no language barrier. I communicate perfectly fine in Mongolian with her and it has been a great blessing to see that I was able to do that. In regards to the mission and the gospel there is no language barrier. I have truly seen that this transfer. She tells me all the time how much she is learning from me and the example I have been to her and I can't help but think that she has been a great help to me as well.

This is all I have time for this week and hope you have a great week! Remember the blessings! Until next week.

Sister Kerby

November 29th, 2016

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope you all had a good thanksgiving. This week was fairly good. We were able to meet with a couple of people. We have a new investigator that was a referral from the Stake President here and her name is Buynzaya. She is 26 years old, is married and has a son. She is really interested in learning about the church and so we have met with her about 3 times this week. She is great. The second time we met her we were teaching about the first vision and it was really funny because I was trying to relate it to her and so I asked her if she wanted to know the truth just like Joseph Smith and if she had the desire to ask God if this church really is true or not and she just straight up answers No! It took me by surprise because that usually isn't the answer I was expecting and I was just kind of like wait what. And I looked at my companion and was like did I ask that wrong and my companion said no you asked it right. Turns out she said no because she’s like I already feel that it is true. haha. So that was a neat experience. I’m not sure if she will be able to act on it though because she thinks a lot and is now having troubles because her religion before was shamanism and that was a family religion and this is like completely different and so she was just kind of having some internal struggle with that and now she is in the countryside so hopefully she comes back soon and we can meet with her and try to ease some of her worries. Our other investigator Bat-Erdene is doing well. He has been busy with a lot of work but on Dec 9th is when he said he will become free and we can meet with him then. I look forward to being able to teach him again because he is awesome! So yea that is about all regarding the work here. It’s going good overall and I’m enjoying this area still. :)

School is going good. I’m enjoying teaching but it’s been a little crazy this last week because I have had to be with a different companion each time because my wonderful teaching companion, Sister Nelson, got hit by a bus!! She was on an STL split and because its winter and roads are slippery. They were running to catch a bus and she slipped on some ice and the bus came and ran over her leg.... Don’t worry she is totally fine. A miracle for sure though! Her leg wasn't broken at all. Her leg should have been broken and her foot crushed but they took an x-ray and she only has a dent in her skin and her leg is just all bruised so she has to stay off her leg for 10 days! So I have just been companion floating for English. She is doing really good though and is a real trooper! I still can't believe that happened to her! Talk about getting one of those crazy mission stories! But yea she’s fine. :)

Nothing crazy has happened to me so don't worry. I only had an older man talk to me and tell me how he wanted to set me up on a date with his 26 year old son. haha. He said that he really wants me to meet him and go on a date... That was awkward and I just told him no sorry I can't do that. Other than that, not too much has happened. My mini missionary is doing good. We have had some fun together. So this is how a mini mission works for those who are curious: They are of mission age and they basically send in an application to the mission president. The mission president reviews it and then chooses the best one that will work with that companion. They are then set apart as a mini missionaries and stay with that companion until we no longer need them. So I only have a mini missionary for 3 weeks probably because transfers are on the 8th and new missionaries are coming. She is basically a real companion though and has to stay with me always. Mostly people are always wanting and willing to serve a mini mission. We just ask around the wards when we need one and then people apply. So yea that’s about it.

My companion actually just got back from Japan. She was there for 2 years studying and graduated in international relations. She is waiting for her own mission call right now and hopes to go to America after her mission she wants to go to BYU Provo so she is trying to do that. She is 21 years old and sometimes is more Japanese than Mongolian. haha. It’s been an interesting transfer for sure... lol.

During my personal study I have been studying patience, of course again, haha and I realize that having patience is basically waiting faithfully upon the Lord. It means trusting in him and his promises. The promise that one day we will receive all that we are waiting for, but as we wait for those promised blessings. It doesn't mean just sitting around letting life pass by. We are sent here to have joy. Out of all the things we are meant to do here on earth. The biggest one is to have joy and sometimes I think that we lose sight of that. Sometimes we let the worries of life get us down and we get upset or lose hope because of the smallest things that occur. But when we have patience we are letting go of our own wills and desires and giving it all to the Lord and having faith that His will is what needs to happen. So how can we align our will with His? For that is how we will truly find joy. If our wills are always differing, of course we will be upset when things don't work out, but if we learn to accept his will and his timing then we will find that joy that is promised to us in this life. Heavenly Father desires us to partake of it, we just have to be willing to accept it and part of that means humbling ourselves, being patient, having faith, and just trusting. Now I know better than anyone that patience is hard and can frankly suck at times because we have been raised in a world where we want everything when we want it and the way we want it. We are so used to being able to get things whenever and whatever we want and forget that this is not how the Lord works. For the Lord works our patience and our faith and this is why we experience certain trials in this life but it is so we may learn what the Lord wants us to learn. We forget that as we go through different things that most of the time the heavenly virtue of patience is required. But first take a step back, relax, and patiently wait and hold on to the faith that all will work together for our good. The promise of a bright tomorrow is ahead. Each day will be better and better if we choose to make it so.

I love you all and hope that you have a great week :)

Love, Sister Kerby

November 15, 2016

Hello Family and Friends,

So another good week has come and gone. I am sad to say that my companion leaves me in the morning which is why I am writing to you all today. For this week only my pday is on Monday so next week I will be back to Tuesdays. It’s just been crazy because Ariunzaya will be leaving tomorrow morning. She got her visa cleared. She has been called to the San Francisco, CA mission. So we did part of our pday today. I am truly thankful to have been able to serve with her these past couple of weeks, it has been fun and we have developed a good friendship. The mission really is a funny thing and honestly none of it has worked out like how I thought it would but it has worked out the way it needed to. I am so grateful to be here. I had a couple of neat experiences this week. On Saturday I was on an STL split with sister Lichtenberg (from my group) yea I know weird.. all of my group is getting in leadership positions... Sister Bollwinkel and Sister Nelson are companions and STLs for the other zone. It’s really cool seeing how far we have all come. But anyways so I was with sister Lichtenberg in my area and it was great! It was literally a perfect day. We met with every single person I had planned except for one but you know how the Lord works in mysterious ways? Yea this was one of those moments. So the one person who said they couldn't end up meeting with us, well, I had a backup plan and the backup was an investigator who I had met with once who I was a referral. The Baynzurkh church has an English class and I actually met her there one time and so I knew her. Anyways I had met with her once but then turned out she wasn't in my area so I passed her to the other sisters. The other sisters are our STLs and so when I was on the split I planned to show sister Lichtenberg where she lived and try to meet with her because since I passed her on a couple of months ago they haven't met with her once. They haven't been able to get a hold of her because her phone wasn't working, so me being me of course was persistent because I just love this woman so much so I remembered where her house was and showed sister Lichtenberg where she lived. When we got to her house she ended up being home and so we met with her! It was funny because she was like wow you remembered where I lived, you have good memory, and I was like yea. But seriously though that has been a huge blessing to me on my mission being able to remember like everything! haha. So we met with her and her adorable one year old little boy and shared the lesson with her. She remembered fairly well what I taught her last time and is still interested and wants to meet again. I asked about her husband and she’s not sure so I asked if the other sisters could come and explain to him about our church and she said okay so we will see what happens. It was just a great blessing that she was there and I’m glad that I didn't forget or give up on the other sisters meeting with her. So that was one blessing from this week. The other blessing is the investigator that I found when I first got here has been meeting with us more. We met with her at the beginning of this last week and I extended to her a baptismal date. So she will hopefully prepare for the 31st of December to be baptized. :) We had a great lesson with her the other day and it was cool to hear her pray at the end of the lesson. You could tell how different it was since we first met her. It was more sincere and it was just really cool to see the difference. She is changing little by little and I don't know if I recognized that as much before in someone so it was cool to be able to witness that. The work really is amazing. I have truly come to love Mongolia and the people. I love the area that I’m serving in. They make me happy. It’s just this cute little ward and the people are really great here. :) I’m trying to be the best missionary I can be for them. I have learned this transfer about how much the Savior loves each and every one of his children. He loves with such a pure love and there is no judgment in his eyes when he looks on others. It is just this pure love that is unconditional and unchanging and I am trying to learn to love in the Savior’s way. To not judge, to not think thoughts about others but to just love and see them for the way the Lord sees them. It is a true gift to be able to see that way and so I am working to develop that. The mission is a great place to learn so many things not only about how to do things but also things about yourself and areas in which you can improve and strengthen. It has been a great experience and it has gone by so fast!

Everything is going well here. Tonight I will be getting a mini missionary who I will have for the remainder of this transfer. School is going good. The students are learning although they really have no English so we are starting from the basics. I teach at the university MW 8:30 to 10:10 and then F from 10:00 to 1:30 so the hours are fairly good. It gets light here around 8 and then dark at like 5 or 6ish.

It has been neat to see the changes from when I first got here to now. It’s crazy to think that I have been over here in Mongolia a year on my mission. I am grateful for the time I have spent here. Despite it being freezing again I am staying rather warm :) I will probably get more socks and what not because it’s cold! haha. Other than that I am doing pretty good though. It truly is a great work and I love it. :)

Have a good week!

Love you,
Sister Kerby

October 25, 2016

Hello Family and Friends,

Gathering for Womens Geneal Conference

This week has been pretty good! Transfers come out tonight and so I will find out what will be happening for this next transfer soon. It is crazy to think that it has already been 9 weeks! This transfer went by so fast! I can't believe I have been with Sister Austin this long already. It’s been good though, I feel like we have been able to accomplish a lot and it has definitely been a growing opportunity for me! I have been able to learn a lot about who I am and who I want to be and I have learned about what it means to be a leader and how I totally agree with a talk given last general conference or a few general conferences ago where they said that the greatest leaders are the greatest followers for sometimes before we can lead we must follow. Jesus Christ truly is our greatest example in all things. He was the greatest follower and he became the greatest leader. He followed His Fathers will in all things and through his example we must follow him to become a leader. I thought a lot about the Saviors example and how one of His greatest attributes is Charity. I was thinking that this is an attribute that I want to strive better at developing because like how the Savior was a servant, I also desire to be a better servant. It’s not an easy thing. We just keep trying and little by little we are able to develop these. Not much really happened this week other than school and meeting with some great people :) we have had some good meetings and have found a couple of new investigators. Not for our area. haha but we found some investigators for some other missionaries :) but yea it’s been a good week and we are keeping busy while at the same time having fun and enjoying it :)

Earlier picture

So it was my companion’s birthday on Sunday and we went to a return missionaries house because he invited us over and he lives with his parents who are not members and so we met up with them and they fed us soooo much! and his mom is vegetarian. She had vegetables and fruit! It was so good and made me so happy :) haha. So yea it was her birthday so Saruul got her a frame with her last name written in Mongolian script! and he gave her this one bone game that he made which was really cool! then he comes back and he’s like I just had to get one for you too since you’re her companion so he gave me a frame with Kerby written in Mongolian script! so cool! and he gave me the
bone game as well. It was so sweet of him to do that! So yea that was really nice.

Then last Tuesday for pday we were with sister Kofoed and sister Wilcox and we decided to go to a museum and as we were trying to find it this guy approaches us and asks us if we need help. He speaks really good English and so we let him help us. He goes on to tell us that he is a fighter and famous nonetheless which we are just like sure you are... but after being with him awhile he takes us to this cool Buddhist museum with the Buddhist temples and shows us around and when we enter in, this lady looks at him and in Mongolian is saying how he looked so familiar and that she wasn't sure it was him at first and then she asks to take a picture with him! haha we were just like no way... so yea turns out he is famous and has been in a couple of Mongolian movies and owns a gym where he trains people how to fight. So yea that was pretty cool! So this famous guy spent about 3 hours with us giving a tour of the Buddhist museum which was supposed to close but the kept it open an hour later than usual for us. Then he took us another place which had a map of Mongolia and he basically told us the history of Mongolia, It was so fascinating and so much fun. haha

Today for pday we are going to this dance stadium place where they have traditional Mongolian dancing so we got permission to do that tonight! That should be fun. Wish I could send some pics but we all know what happens when I do that... haha.

Also, Bat Erdene one of our investigators who is awesome but works too much! I called him last week to see how he was doing and he said he was great. He said that his rest day might be Sunday and that if it was he would call us. So Sunday afternoon as we are heading out to church we get a call from him and he’s like hey today was my rest day so what time does church start so we told him when it started and he came! Our first investigator to come to church. it was a great feeling :) haha I know it’s nothing big but coming here to this area and literally having no investigators but being able to find people like this has been a great blessing and even though he is busy and works a lot, it is still cool that he will call us and come to church because he is that interested. You don't find people like that all the time so it was great.

School is still going great. We are using the BYU lessons that I helped create over the summer and they are working so well! The students enjoy them and they are so convenient to teach from its really great! Sister Austin doesn't use the BYU lessons because she is working at an English Lab so she basically just helps students with work they need to do and pronunciation and some conversational things so it’s really different from what I do. She enjoys it though. Most Mongolians if they have the opportunity do go to college. It’s kind of like America in that regard.

Picture from an earlier P day.

Regarding the weather... it is freezing! :( It’s officially winter and snowing. It’s cold but I survived it once and I hope to do it again :)


Well that’s about it for this week!

Love Sister Kerby

October 18, 2016

Mission Conference

Hello everyone,


Hope that everyone has been able to have a good week, if not then make sure you make this one better :) For anyone feeling stressed out or having a lot on their plate right now please take time to step back from it all and do something FUN! haha trust me it helps and makes things so much better. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in all the many things that we have to do but let’s be honest there will always be little things that we have to do or need to get done but remember to just slow down and enjoy the ride :)

So this week was pretty good. Not much to really report on. We have a lot of potential investigators that keep popping up. Sometimes they lead somewhere and other times they don’t, but that’s just missionary work. It’s exciting when it does lead somewhere though. It is actually a great opportunity being able to introduce the gospel to them for the first time so even if nothing happens, a seed is being planted and Heavenly Father was giving them a chance to be able to hear the gospel and then they had their agency and were able to choose whether or not to accept it. So yea I think a lot of seed planting has been happening this transfer which I am actually becoming okay with. That is more than some people get to do. We actually get to meet a lot of new people each day and to be even able to teach them the first lesson and introduce it is a great opportunity. Before I would get sad and disappointed whenever it didn't work out the way I wanted it to but even though I am sad about it, I don't get discouraged anymore. I just keep trying and wait for the time where it actually does work out and they are prepared to hear our message:) It truly is a great work!

Choir Practice for conference

So yea, we still haven't been able to meet with Bat Erdene. Most Mongolians work long days and they work every day. He is an electrical engineer. Not sure exactly what he does at his job each day. I just know that he is an engineer for some place. Most people I’m not quite sure why they work so much. I never really asked why the hours are so long. But they definitely work more than the 40 hours a week and sometimes their job is just far away so it takes travel time as well which is why we are like never able to meet.

I’m not sure why they stopped having us go to the secondary school to teach. We do have a couple of more classes but it’s basically the same. We are not teaching the teachers anymore. We are just teaching students. It’s been fun.

It’s getting colder here :( I pulled out my thick tights again and boots. Goodbye fall hello winter:( haha. But it’s not too bad I guess. I’m staying warm so that’s good :)

Well I hope that you have a good week!


Love, Sister Kerby

October 11. 2016

Hello Family and Friends,

Picture from a couple of P Days.
Kristin's SD Card got a virus so not
many other pictures from her anymore

Yet another week has come and gone. It was another good week and I am feeling a whole lot better this week. My cold is better and so is my stomach. For the most part I haven't eaten too much... Although the appointment we had last night was interesting. haha. We were visiting a potential investigator last night named Narandelger. It was an interesting but good lesson. Before we started she ended up going next door and grabbing some food from her mother who lives there to give to us. It was horse meat with potatoes and some flour thing. Horse meat is pretty good but then she told us to try this one part of it that she said was her favorite. After eating it I was like umm what was that? Because it tasted gross and was like dang, what did I just eat. haha. Apparently it was horse intestines... yay for that experience. My poor companion ate more of it then I did. hahaha. But she’s new and did fine :) don't worry I’m watching out for her. In fact after we left to get home it was dark and as we were walking a drunk man approached us and was messing with us. Probably the first time on my mission where I was seconds from punching someone but I didn’t. Just know we were okay and nothing happened that we couldn't handle. It happens and so I knew how to handle the situation. We were okay, and were being watched over. Then to make the night even better as we were walking home, we were walking under some trees and there were a lot of birds that were being loud and so I looked up and luckily I looked back down because I kid you not, seconds later I felt something wet hit my head... Yes. I got pooped on.... My night just kept getting better and better. But yea that was our adventure for this week.... haha. On the bright side we got a new investigator from that so that was awesome. I feel like we are finding these great people but they are so busy with work that it’s hard to meet with them. Like Bat-Erdene for example started work again and he is so busy and doesn't get home till like 9. But even though we may not meet with them a lot I do feel like we are planting a lot of seeds in this area and one day I do think something will come from that. He came from the countryside but not the far countryside. He is only about 3 hours from the city so it’s not too far so he luckily doesn't have one of those weird accents that I’ve come into contact with before. haha. I’m just trying to have a good attitude about it all and know that I’m doing my best and that it will all work out according to what the Lord has in mind. But Sister Austin and I are doing our best so that is what matters and we will and we have seen many blessings from it. Well everything else seems to be going good. Students are good and I love teaching them. I continue to work on having a positive attitude and most importantly not think about myself but to really look beyond the mirror and see those around me. I think I have been so focused on my problems and different things that are going on that I’m only looking at myself but I have been able to see other sisters having a hard time and so I have reached out to them and it makes me feel so much better. It is so important to look beyond yourself and to focus on others. That is where we can find true happiness, being in the service of our fellow brothers and sisters. I have found that I am so much happier when I’m helping someone else and so I am trying to do more of that and look for more opportunities for how I can do so. But yea it’s been a good week.

I invite you to reach out to those around you this week and to see opportunities for where you can help someone in need. Even if it’s in the smallest way. Serve each other. Serve a neighbor; Serve a spouse a sibling, a friend, a coworker. Look for a way you can help someone else and I promise it will make your day better. There is nothing like looking beyond the mirror and seeing someone in need and going to their aid.

Love you,
Sister Kerby

      Example of what the virus has done to 

                    Kristin's pictures :o(

October 4, 2016

Hello,

Our P Day spent at the Genghis Khan Monument

This week was truly a blessing, we have a new investigator who is truly awesome and has been prepared by the lord. He was a referral from some other sisters who told us he had come to church that week and then wanted to meet with the missionaries. Ended up he was in our area and so the sisters gave him to us. His name is Bat-Erdene. He is 21 years old and is in the city for work now. He told me how he used to go to church when he was little and went for about 5 years and wanted to get baptized but because he was young he needed permission and his parents wouldn't give it. So now he is grown up in the city now (was from the country) and is working and wants to become a member. We have met with him two times and just finished teaching the first lesson this past time. During the last lesson, at the end, I extended to him the baptismal invitation which he has accepted :) The spirit was really strong during that lesson and it just felt right. So I said it and he said yes :) We are planning to help him work towards baptism for the 20th of November. We have had such great lessons with him and I am truly excited for him to continue to progress like he is! We are meeting with him tonight and will teach him the plan of salvation so that will be another great lesson. The Lord truly does work in his own timetable and I am slowly beginning to understand what that means. We need to learn to accept his own timetable and stop working according to our own desires of when we want things to happen. The Lord will do it His way and His time and in the end it will turn out to be the best way possible. Sometimes it is easy to forget that, but the Lord is definitely helping me learn this lesson this transfer. We have also been able to meet with our new members and less actives this week and it has been a good week. They are doing well and I am truly coming to love them.

 P Day

This mission really has been a huge blessing for me and has changed my life. Even though that may sound cliché and most missionaries say that but it is true. I wouldn't be able to be where I am today if it wasn't for this mission. Maybe I would have been able to get here but definitely not as soon as I did by being here. The lord has strengthened me and shaped me into a better person. The mission is definitely worth going through all the difficult times but I guess that the same can be said for life as well. Life is hard no question about it, but in the end it is worth it. We will be blessed beyond our understanding as we continue on this path. And despite the hard times we face we will be able to find strength in the Lord. He will help us overcome any struggle that we face. I have gained a strong testimony of that! I am happy to have been able to serve here. I have gained a stronger testimony and have come to love the culture and people here and they help make all these hard times worth it. We will always have good days and bad days, they just come with life but those bad days just make the good days we have so much better! But it’s also how you decide to deal with those bad days that make the difference as well. How we choose to react in the circumstances we have been given can either make or break us. The easiest and best choice will always be to react with a positive attitude which of course is easier said than done but it is also in the end, the best and easiest way. Because if we have a good attitude then we can get through those hard days and if we look for the blessings in life then in the end we will be so much happier. And eventually things will be better but until that time in order to be happy we must choose it. We have a choice. We can choose to be happy. And then remember that it’s in the Lords hands. This whole plan that was created for us and the whole reason we are here, all began with a choice. The fact we have the fullness of the gospel on the earth today began with a choice by a young man who chose to pray. The choices we make affect future generations. Our choices affect our families and those around us. So choose this day to be happy. That is my goal for these coming weeks and encourage
you all to make similar goals. :)

I started school and its going great! The students are awesome this year and so it will be a good year teaching wise. I enjoy it and look forward to seeing my students. With Sister Nelson and I understanding Mongolian now we are able to understand our students better. They know we understand but we won't really speak to them in Mongolian because in order for them to learn English they need to speak it all the time so if they get used to us translating in Mongolian it won’t help them as much so we decided not to speak it.

I hope that you have a good week! Love you all and until next week!

Love Sister Kerby