The Baatars of Sukhbaatar‏

Any week with significant change tends to make it seem way longer as you look back on it and this week was full of it.  Beginning with the hour and a half meeting with my group and the president to figure out what's going to happen this upcoming summer.  The best part being having the entire group in the room at the same time (group hug did ensue).  Just looking around the room and seeing how far each of us has come and what we've all accomplished in the last year and a half was awesome.  I have so much love and respect for each one of them.

The rest of the week got pretty hectic.  With the sisters gone on Wednesday we tried our best to visit with as many people as we could before we were off on our own.  Wednesday night we had dinner with the Richardsons who are leaving this week and are the last senior couple that were here before my group. (sidebar: had green beans for the first time in 16 months).  Sister Bolortuya shared an awesome  spiritual though on becoming meek and submissive like a little child.  She shared an experience of hers when she was meeting with a woman whose child was around two years old. The child ended up being scolded by the mother and treated a bit harshly until she began to cry. Remarkably several minutes later the young daughter was able to laugh and play with the mother as if nothing had happened.  As a demonstration for how we are to forgive forget and move passed obstacles and difficult times she then likened it too our relationship with our Heavenly Father.  As we struggle through difficulty and trial its rather easy to cast a steely glance toward Heaven and wonder why me.  But if we can look up with the same meekness as little children and accept what has happened, and rejoice in what we have been given, how better off will we be.  Sister Bolortuya is amazing and definitely a loss for the mission.

This Thursday was the missionary fireside.  The first one ever not on a Sunday which was a cause for a little concern as to whether or not people would be able to make it.  The turn out ended up being great and due to technical difficulties each member of our group took a different senior couple and translated the meeting for them.  It was fun looking around smiling at each other at the things that were tough to translate and that which was easier.  Elder Lloyd kept leaning over and making side comments which was fantastic.

Friday left us with our first day on our own and had us moving to our new apartment (the sisters old one).  Luckily it was the next building over so it wasn't too bad and the sisters left it immaculate.  Never seen a  cleaner apartment.

We've struggled a bit mostly in just the finding of the houses in our new area. All of the gers get grouped in what I guess you could call neighborhoods, where all the gers have the same street name with different numbers.  What we didn't know was that some of the neighborhoods in our area differed only by a T on the end.  Also ger khoroolols have never been know for there trustiness in numbering.  As in, 234, 235, 236, 576.  Either way we are having a blast as we go about it and we have already had a number of successful meetings with investigators including one with a branch missionary that I don't have time to describe right now but it was awesome!

This Saturday and Sunday was district conference where Elder Boyd and I assisted in the translation. There were a dozen good talks of course not the least of which being President Clark's three.  I'm pretty sure one of them was impromptu.  How does he speak so well?

 

Elder Muldowney has to go to immigration tomorrow so we'll figure out his English this week. 

Running out of time..

 

Have a fantastic week.

Love,

 

Elder Neuberger

 

Editor's Note: Travis has been asked to stay a little longer, so his return is now tentatively scheduled for Aug 22