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

September 19, 2016

Hello family and friends,

So I figured I would start by telling you that I am feeling a lot better this week! After 4 days of feeling like I was dying I am a lot better now :) My stomach still hurts whenever I eat and I will probably have that the rest of my mission and hopefully it will get better when I get home but for now that is something I will just have to handle.
I have been doing okay. Because I was sick like this for 4 days, it made work really hard this week and it was a struggle but by the end of the week I was feeling a lot better and yesterday I rededicated myself. We had a really cool zone conference on Wednesday where President Funk from the Asian area presidency came to speak to us and he shared a lot of great insights with us. It was something I really needed to help me keep going strong. Right now the work is hard and we have no investigators at the moment. The one cool PI that we met with the other week isn't interested anymore. We met 3 times and then she told us that she doesn't want to meet anymore. So yea we don’t have any investigators but it’s okay, we are meeting with new members and less actives and I am looking for every opportunity to find people we can teach. I have a lot of cool experiences where I have gotten to be an example and to help others. I may not have the best work right now but I am trying my best and that is enough. The lord will bless us in our efforts. This is the Lords work and as long as I’m trying my best and being diligent, the lord will bless us in our efforts. It’s been a big learning experience for me. I love it here and I want to make these last 6 months to be great so I am going to try to do that! Ahh missions.... they really are crazy rollercoasters. haha.

Picture from previous outing

As for English, yes its suppose to start this week but I haven't heard anything. We have asked about it but they haven't said anything regarding it so I’m just going to wait. Sister Austin teaches at a medical university, so it’s a lot nicer! They are doing a new thing called an English Lab. Way too much to explain over email so ask when I get home :)

The long distance branch is doing well. It could be better, not many people are sitting in sacrament like before but it’s okay. We call them every week to see if they need any help and then we call to see if they will be able to sit in on sacrament meeting Sunday so we contact them each week about it.

Yes, today I went back and held the falcon this time. He put it on my shoulder! It was so sweet :) I wish I could send pics but my sd card has a virus and I don't know how to fix it. I hope it’s okay, it will be a shame to lose all those pics. But yea not much I can do about it. It was awesome though. Pujee the owner of the birds like loves me. haha. I got a pic with him that I will try to send later, hopefully when my sd card is fixed. Anyways he let me hold his birds for free and he gave Sister Bollwinkel, Sister Austin, and Sister Ulsen discounts because they were my friends. But he let me hold his eagle again and then he put the falcon on my shoulder and I got some sweet pics of that and he let me pet his falcon. Then I got cool pics on the camel again. except this time he had the camel stand up, I didn't ride it because we aren't allowed but he stood up and it was kinda scary but really cool so I got cool pics of that then he let me just hold the camel by the reins and I got a couple of fun selfies. haha. It was really awesome. I will try to send pics next week. But yea if we do plan to come back here during the summer, I will take you there and introduce you to Pujee :) he’s really nice.

Another outing

One more cool story! So I ran into an old member from Songino and I asked him about Tulguldur! My first investigator when I got here! Remember him? Anyways, turns out he moved but guess where he moved to! MY AREA! So I am going to try to get his information and meet with him! I will keep you updated on that! It was awesome :) I would love to teach him again! I would consider that a huge blessing! But yea that’s it for this week!

Love you all :) have a great week
Sister Kerby

September 12, 2016

Hello,

Well it’s been a busy and long week! It has gone by really fast and I can't believe it is Monday again already. Well things are going fairly well. I’ve been sick as well this past week so it has made it really hard. I had a cold but then I don't know from what but I got super sick last night. It wasn't fun... My body is not the same anymore. It has been hard and has made the weeks long. I am still working hard though. The area is getting a little better. I am starting to find my way around a bit better too. We don't have a lot of investigators here, like pretty much none. But we had a cool experience this last Thursday. We had a last minute lesson with a member and it turns out that her sister was here. Now her sister came to church this past Sunday but when I talked to her she didn't seem too interested and she wasn’t understanding me very well. Anyways on Thursday she happened to be at her sister’s house and I’ll be honest I didn't want to really talk to her. Mostly because I was like she doesn't understand me this is hard and she wasn't really interested but after talking to the member a little bit more I finally decided that I really needed to talk to her sister. I asked about when she went to church how did she liked it and she was just like I don't know. So then I asked if she would be interested in

talking to us and meeting with us one time so we could teach her a lesson about our church and she said yes, so then I noticed we had time so then I was like well can we teach you right now and she said okay. So we taught the first lesson to her. She wasn't understanding well. Like not just because of our language but she also didn't even understand her sister when she explained it. haha. Everything is just new to her. She has no religious background whatsoever so that is why she wasn't understanding. So yea it was cool, we were able to find another investigator from just being bold and asking. It was a cool experience. We are meeting with her again tonight so we will see how that goes. :)

Pictures of  Kristin's new area

As for the long distance branch, that is going pretty well. Sister Austin and I gave talks last week for it! The Senior couple is in charge of finding people to give talks for it. So yea that was good. They don't meet in a building or anything. This happens in their phone. They are so far from a church building because they live far out in the countryside and so that is why they call in. If they have priesthood holders in their home and have received permission, then they can bless the sacrament in their home and partake of it that way. But yea it’s just a regular sacrament meeting, they are just on the phone while it is happening. It is interesting.

Well everything else is going pretty good. My companion is doing well! Sorry not much to really report this week. I’m still not feeling a 100 percent so I’m not exactly sure what to write about because I can't really remember what happened. haha. Right now we are basically just meeting with less actives and new members and I really love them so even though the work doesn't seem like a whole lot. We are able to meet some great people here and it’s been good!

Spiders do exist here!!! Ahh!
(I'm surprised Kristin got this close to the spider, kinda proud of her. :o)

I’m glad that you were able to pull some off from the senior couple site; it was a lot of fun. We got together for our year mark :)                 No, Sister B and Sister Nelson aren't in my zone anymore but we got permission from president to go on our hike. It was fun! Sister Kofoed is in my zone now though which is fun because I haven't seen a lot of her on my mission so I’ve gotten to know her a lot better. She is also training so we have been a good support for one another and can talk about everything.

Well hope you all and have a good week!

Love,
Sister Kerby

September 5, 2016

Hello,

Well another week has gone by and it has been good. I love the new area, the members, investigators, and just everyone! It has been great! I am still getting used to the area and still don't really know where anything is but it’s going well. I am finding it and doing my best and so far it is working out pretty well I think :) Don’t ask me why it’s called American Denj. haha. I have no idea. Denj is hill in Mongolian and that’s about all I know regarding the name. Things are good with the companion. No.... she hasn't been here a transfer, she just came this transfer. I picked her up her second day in Mongolia so she has officially been in Mongolia a week now. Things are going well, she is great and really sweet. Although she can be sarcastic and sassy... so pretty much just like me. It has been fun, she keeps me from getting too stressed so that’s good :) haah just kidding, I actually don't really get that stressed. Things are going great and I am really loving my mission. As for the long distance branch... I wasn't in charge of it before like I am now. I only participated in the long distance branch meaning I gave a talk for it once. Now I am in charge of calling all the people and seeing who can sit in on the sacrament. It’s been fun. The people who sit in for it are throughout all of Mongolia so it’s cool speaking to other people who are living in a totally different province.

A trip to the Mongolian  Countryside

The work is going well. I haven’t been able to meet with the one family who gave us the nuts. We have been busy and meeting with others but we plan to meet with them this week. Yea they were pine nuts and they were really good! Let’s see nothing too exciting happened. We have just been meeting the members and getting to know them and then we have had a couple of lessons with less actives and some new members so it’s been fun. My poor companion had no idea what went on during these lessons. haha it just brought me back to when I first got here and couldn't understand anything. IT’s been kind of cool though because I have been able to see how far I have come. Man, it is really great here. I just love it! I am truly happy, it’s been a great experience.

School will be starting on the 15th of September. Don’t really know what to expect for it. They are making a lot of changes when it comes to English so it’s pretty cool to see. It’s one of those things where I will just have to tell you about it after the mission. it’s too hard to explain it all on an email.

I am planning on going next week with sister Bollwinkel and taking my companion to the big birds again to do something cool :) so maybe I’ll get a picture with the falcon this time :) hehe. I apparently don't have enough cool pics with the birds of prey so I need more.


Have a good week!

Love, Sister Kerby

Other Pictures of Our Outing. 

Elder Sutphin, Sisters Bollwinkel, Austin, Kerby Wilcox, Nelson & Bennett
Sister Olsen, Sutphin & Kofoed

August 29, 2016

Hello,

Well transfers happened. I was very surprised to hear what happened, I wasn't expecting it. So.... I’M

TRAINING! haha yaaay.... and I am WHITE WASHING! yaaay.... haha. So I have a new companion and a new area which I have never even seen. I am serving in American Denj now and I am also in a new zone. I have always been in the east zone but now I’m in the west zone. So I don't really know this area too well but it’s alright. We are surviving and doing well. Actually it has been great! Sister Austin is my new companion and she is really nice. She is from Utah... and is 19 years old. We kind of have the same sense of humor so it will be fun. She is nice and I look forward to getting to know her better. Being in American Denj, we are also now in charge of the Long Distance Branch so the elders and us hold the sacrament meeting for them and call them each week to see if they can sit in the sacrament meeting or not. This is all done through the phones so it is fun getting it all together! I’m excited to help out with that. Sunday was good, we were able to meet the members and get to know the ward better. We went to the ward council because they invited us to it so we were able to

get to know the leadership which was nice. Then we had actual church and it went well. We actually got a couple of new investigators that came to church for the first time and said they might be interested and so we will meet them this week and see. But something really cool happened last night. So Sunday night I was calling people and trying to meet with them. I went on a split with sister Nelson for about an hour and a half so she could kind of show me the area on Friday and so from that I knew where like 3 people lived so Sunday night I tried calling those people but of course they didn't pick up so I decided to call other people. One of our investigators with a baptismal date picked up and said that she was "cleaning nuts" haha but that we could come over. I had no idea where this lady lived but I looked at the teaching record and saw the "address" and so I was able to find a bus to take us up there but I had no idea where to get off and so I was asking everyone and so from that I was able to find the bus stop that I needed to get off at. When we got off I had no idea where to go so I called our investigator and her husband picked up and I asked him if he could meet us at the bus stop and he asked if a Mongolian person was there to talk to and I’m just like nope. And so he’s like okay I’m leaving now. When we met him the first thing he asked was like why do you have so many switches? He didn't understand why new missionaries would come. He’s like you are like the third ones that we have had so I tried explaining that it happens every 6 weeks and that we are just called to serve in different areas sometimes. I asked him if he was a member but he’s like no. I’m Buddhist and then started talking about how he knew about Christ and the cross and that he has read the bible some and talked about Adam and Eve and Eve being created by Adams rib and how they ate the fruit because they were tempted by Satan and that kind of thing but that’s about all he knew. But he said his daughters and wife have freedom and agency to take the lessons if they want to. He said it didn't matter; he wants them to take them. Then we finally got to their house and they were literally cleaning nuts like they said. The husband used to be in construction but work stopped and so he hasn't been able to get new work so he has been going up to the mountain and getting pine nuts from the trees and then he brings them down and they clean

them and take all the dirt of and wood pieces from the tree that came off because they sell for more money so I offered to help them clean and they were really happy about that so we helped them clean nuts and I just talked to them and got to know them. They have 4 daughters and then she is pregnant with a son who is due in December. She has been an investigator for 3 years and she heard about the church because her husband’s sister ended up being a member and actually most of his family is. She liked that it was a family centered church and the husband made a comment and was like I’m Buddhist but my family can believe in Christ and he’s like Bolno te? Which is like that’s okay right? That’s allowed right? And so I told him its allowed but just like his wife said we are a family church and I told him it would be so much better if they were all members. The wife knew we had to be home at a certain time and so after about 30 minutes of talking and serving them we had to leave but it was great getting to know them and just helping out. We prepared a scrip but I felt like we shouldn't share it. I just wanted to get to know them. and before we left she told us come back tomorrow or the next day and we will have a cool lesson and we will get to know you better and hear your lesson and the family will sit. I then looked at the husband and was like will you all sit including you and he said okay! He then took us down to the bus stop and we were talking again. And this is where the true blessing happened. As we were talking he was saying how he wants his daughters to be members and to serve missions. He said this is such a nice church and everyone is always so happy and full of joy and nice and he wants his kids to have this. He said we don't smoke and we don't drink. It’s a good church but it’s hard for him. I told him that it would be much better if he was a member with them and that he could bless his family by doing so. I said that he could be an example for them and show them the right way. Before we left I asked him about his wife. She has been getting the lessons right and he said yes. Then I asked if he ever sat in the lessons and he said no. He said he would go outside and smoke. I then told him that this gospel is such a blessing and I asked him if he would take the lessons and if he would sit in with his wife and hear them. He said he doesn't know, he has work and what not. So I asked if he is home will he just sit, listen and see and find out for himself what we have to offer. AND HE SAID YES :) It was so awesome! It was seriously the best night ever! I understood everything they said and they understood me. They said I speak Mongolian really well and were impressed and so it was a huge blessing. Heavenly Father was helping me that night. This guy is ready to hear this message. I can just feel it! I hope he will be there next time! It was a great experience and gave me the confidence I needed. I felt like I can do this! I love them so much already! I have been praying to love this ward and I already do! Love is the key to everything. It is the driving force that leads to action. When we love others we want the best for them and will do anything for them. We do things that we don't normally do so that we can help them. The work is GREAT!

I hope you all have a good week! Love ya! Enjoy the pics :)

Sister K

My Old District

Genghis Khan Memorial

August 22, 2016

Hello Everyone,

Picture for Zone Conference

Well it has been a great week! Transfers are actually going to be this week so I will let you know next Monday what happens! I have a feeling that I will finally be leaving Han-Uul area but honestly who knows. haha. I could be here for the next 9 weeks. It’s going to be winter soon. It is already starting to get colder and I think it will start to be winter really soon which makes me a little sad but oh well! It was nice having the sun for a little while at least! But yea like I said it was a good week! Unfortunately we weren't able to meet with Dulguun. He was busy with work, we really aren't sure what to do about him other than just keep trying to meet with him and then hopefully one day he will realize how important this is. As for Enkhbaatar's family they came to church again this Sunday so it was good to see them! The work is going alright right now. I don't really have much to say. My companion got sick so we weren't able to do a whole lot. So this letter might be short. I need to start keeping track of things that happen so i can tell you more things. The lady who we helped with the water has been really busy so right now she isn't too interested. I think once winter hits there will be a lot more people able to meet with us. Right now everyone is in the countryside or at their summer house.

I was reading President Monson’s talk and I love the poem which talked about the man who had a candle and how he came across another man whose candle was out and so he gave him some of his light. Then when times got hard and trials came this man’s way, his light burned out but then came this same man who had given him of his light and he was able to restore his candle to its burning flame. We too must always be prepared to light another’s candle whose light has gone out. We must be doing all that we need to do for when those times come, we will be ready to share what we have. Whether it is our smile, our time, our service, whatever we need to give in order to reignite that flame that burned out. As we do this, our light will continue to shine and continue to burn before those around us and they will see it.

I won't send pictures unless there is time to go to another internet place because the one we are at won’t read my drive. Anyways, you will be sad I didn't send pictures because today I got some really cool pics! My companion and I went to the huge Chiingis Khan statue which is in Nalaikh, the closest we can get to what the countryside is and guess what we did before we went to this giant statue!!!! I also got to hold a golden eagle, an eagle owl, and a vulture, and I got to sit on a camel!!!! It was so awesome! It didn't even cost that much because I can speak Mongolian and was just talking to the guy that owns them and he was impressed that I spoke so well and so he only made me pay 4000 toigrogs which is about 2 dollars in American money! It was so nice of him. It seriously made my day! It was the best pday I’ve had by far! When I go back and you guys come with me, I will take you there. What was even cooler was this guy believed in God and went to a different church and so we asked him if he would be interested in hearing about our church and sitting in a lesson and he said yes! So we passed him to the Nalaikh elders to meet with. It was a good and fun pday :) Hopefully if not today, I will send you the pics next week :)) This was just a reminder to me that there are little moments that we can always take an advantage to share the gospel because you never know who is interested! We just need to open our mouths and invite.

Have a good week!

Picture Taken at the Beginning of Spring

Another Picture Taken Earlier

Sister Kerby