Photo Update

I promised last week that I would try to send a photo today, so here it is.  That's my companion, Elder Pappenfuss on the left, our newest member and her husband (who is already a Church member), and me.

Our mission scripture is 3 Nephi 5:13.  I have it memorized in Mongolian, Russian, and English.

"Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the son of God.  I have been called of him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life."

The Mongolian people are God's people, just like any other people on the earth, and it's a privilege to be here to help them find everlasting life.

Bacon

My companion and I found a person in the local market that had imported a bunch of bacon from Hungary.  I told her that it was Americans' favorite meat!  I hope that didn't make her raise the price on it before we bought it, but I cooked up the bacon along with some eggs and toast one morning.  We had a real breakfast!  It was great.

We had a baptism this week, the wife of a returned missionary.  They asked me to perform the baptism, which was very nice. Our weather is nice and warm, despite some snow over the weekend.

Easter isn't really celebrated in Mongolia, but we did enjoy a nice meal at a member's home.  The celebrations don't matter as much as the reason for the day.  I am grateful for the Savior's Atonement and love to see people in Mongolia accept it.

General Conference

We have to wait a week to see General Conference until it can be translated from English into Mongolian, but we watched it this weekend.  I look forward to studying it out more, but I liked it.

I remember one talk about educating our desires.  I once saw a photo of some graffiti that declared "Never regret anything because at one time it was exactly what you wanted."  But this assumes that wanting something somehow makes it okay or better than something else.  Yet as rational beings and as children of God, we have the ability to stop and think when we want something and, to the best of our ability, consider whether it will lead us ultimately to good or to bad.  And if we realize a desire or pattern of desires that does not agree with God's commandments or we can otherwise see it might bring us down a bad path, we can over time change and remove that desire.

It's a simple reminder to use the example of a donut.  If we see one and want to eat it, we can also take a moment to consider that tomorrow the "joy" of eating that donut will have gone away, but the poor nutrition of that donut will remain with us in negative ways.  Realizing that, we can also realize we don't really want it, and we can avoid eating it.  It's a good skill to develop.

I really liked President Eyring's talk about being a priesthood hero and Elder Oaks talk about the priesthood.  There were other talks I liked, of course, but I need to study them more.

Good Week

We had transfers this week, but I stayed in the Sansar Branch as zone leader with my companion, Elder Papenfuss.  He's been in this area since he came to Mongolia 7 months ago.

We taught a good number of quality lessons this week and were blessed to have 6 investigators come to Church Sunday!

The weather has been wonderful, and we have even been able to walk around in just suit coats sometimes.

When things go well, I think about how important it is to make sure I try as hard as when things don't go well.  The Nephites would always grow so much when they were humbled, and they would fall so much when they grew prideful.  Imagine if they had maintained their spiritual growth the whole time they were being prospered as well.

This week, I came across Ecclesiastes 12:8-13:
"Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity.
And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs.
The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.
The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies, which are given from one shepherd.
And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man."

To me, this talks about the excessive words of the "wise," which I take as talking about unimportant little doctrines.  In response to endless analysis of doctrine, the preacher says we should remember the big picture, the only one that matters: Fear God and keep the commandments.  Fearing God is to respect, worship, honor, obey, trust...all of those things.  If we do these things, we will become more perfect and we will love God better.

Have a great week!

Catching Up

Some weeks just aren't all that exciting to write about, and so why would I take your precious time?  But now it's time to catch up...

First if all, my family's Christmas box finally arrived!  Just in time for Easter, I guess.

Our stake had some boundaries re-aligned this month, with some branches made into wards and some wards into branches--all in order to help every unit grow stronger and larger. So, I'm still the zone leader and haven't moved but am now serving in another branch.  It's called Sansar.  So I left the smallest branch, which became the biggest, and went to the biggest ward, which became one of the smaller branches.

One of the changes for me is that we have been serving in areas where most people live in the ger (yurt) district, and this branch is more in the city.  Everyone lives in apartments.  No more slippery mountains for a while.

Anyway, we met one of the members who told us her conversion story.  She had been in some hard times and wanted some peace in her life, so she called the information hotline number and asked about nearby Christian churches.  They gave her two church locations near her house; one of them was ours.  When she came to our Church building, she thought it was so nice she decided that it must be the one.  And she joined the Church!  I've heard of member referral converts, tracting converts, converts who randomly walked into Church, but never conversion by operator!

We are meeting new people and doing a lot of follow-up visits, but things still fall through sometimes.  We keep trying and hoping.  I realize all I can really do is focus on being the best missionary I can be.  The Lord knows how to save His children.  All I have to do is be suitable to help where needed.

We met a man from Poland recently.  Actually, he came to us, and so I think he has sincere desire to learn.  It's hard for him to keep appointments, and he has some opposition at home, but the man is a nice fellow and I hope we can help him.

So, that's missionary work in Mongolia for now.  The weather is getting a little warmer, and that makes us all happy.

Stake Conference

Well, I got my voice back and am healthy again.

There were some changes in stake conference this week, where two branches were combined and one ward was made into two branches to better balance out the stake and the district.  The goal is to create three stakes and begin the work to qualify for a temple in Mongolia.  That is a great goal that would help so many people who otherwise have to make an expensive trip to Hong Kong to attend the temple.  It will take a lot of work, but it can happen!

A Still More Glorious Dawn

A Still More Glorious Dawn Awaits
By Joshua Sims

As I peer into the clear black sky,

The moon sits there ponderously--

A white crown perched on a black,
Profoundly black sea.

And I consider that mammoth globe,
Which circles us so endlessly,

Yet appears to be no more

Than a disk in the sky.

Imagine, then, all that lies beyond,

The hosts of stars countlessly

To light our night from the depths

Of infinite space.

There's so much more than we realize,

Waiting there beyond our reach.

Outside our familiar home,

Our terrestrial globe.

What glory, laud and honor lies here,
And gleams so bright--but temporally

Is naught but a spot in the scheme 

Of Infinite things.

"A still more glorious dawn awaits,
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise.

A Morning filled with
One thousand billion suns."*

When all there is to inherit comes
To those who served faithfully

That Lord who created our earth

And all that's beyond.

How many lives were spent and sold
For prizes that pass fleetingly

Enjoyed for but our life's day
And lost in the night.

It profiteth not to buy the world

And much less Wales for the price of the soul;
For what jewel can match in cost

Our infinite worth?

For should an empire span coast to coast
And even then beyond the sea,

It can't surpass the bounds
Of this Earth, its grave.

That joy and treasure that fills the soul
And quenches thirst eternally

Appears still at times to our earth
But a star in the deep.

How can that reward set aside for us

Outshining gold incomp'rably

Be valued but dross and exchanged
For pyrite of iron?

The pottage bought, the birthrights sold, 

The glee had so expensively,

The Empires of Dirt won and lost
Defy all recount.

And though when reckoned in such terms

The issue is mind-boggling,

How soon this perspective is lost 

For us on the earth!

Our world, in form, a bulging orb,

Is flat as far as we can see,

Not to mention the stars, 

Spots of white on a pitch black relief.

The sun has greeted every morn,

Yet man took ages to perceive

The sun's sheer magnitude and that earth turns

To show us each dawn.

"A still more glorious dawn awaits,
Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise.

A Morning filled with
one thousand billion suns!"

And all that became of our mortal world,

The things we gained and gave up here,

Will be lost in the break of that great
Millennial day.

And how can we give mammon any care
When we see our Great Redeemer there,

Life restored, faith fulfilled,

And returned to Him Who gave life!

Then all the world's wrongs shall be cast away,

And we shall live Eternally,

Each new day of our life

A still more Glorious Dawn.

*Quote attributed to Carl Sagan.