Sorry for the late email!

Sorry for the late email! I have not had one free moment since I arrived in Mongolia! You heard a bit about Sunday from Bottorff's letter. Monday was exhausting, and I got pretty sick from combination jet-lag, pollution, bad smells, and long car rides in crazy asian traffic. But I was finally able to meet my trainer! Her name is Sister Gardener, from St.George, Utah, and she finishes in only 3 months! So I could possibly be her last companion. She is so kind and patient, and I hope to learn a lot from her.

Sister Gardener (picture borrowed from Sister Harker's blog)

We are right in the middle of the city, near the office, and live in one of the nicest apartments in Mongolia! Unfortunately, our area does not cover any of the ger districts, so I was grateful to have visited a couple on Sunday with our host sisters. They are so beautiful! But I'm excited to get to know the city more and learn to navigate and maneuver like the Mongolians.

Riding from airport to office (picture borrowed from Sister Bottorff's blog)

Yesterday we were able to go on a little hike to a place called Zaison, which is on top of a hill and is where Mongolia was dedicated as a mission. It was so cool to be high enough to see the whole city and the ger districts up on the hillsides. We prayed and read the dedicatory prayer by Neal. A Maxwell, which is so beautiful. (Can probably be found online) We discussed how much the Lord has been invested in the church in Mongolia, far before Chingis Khan, and how Mongolia can be found in the saving of the natural branches of Israel as recorded in Jacob 5 in the Book of Mormon. We also studied the end of the chapter how the Lord has called choice servants to gather those branches and bring them back together. (That's us) It was so nice.

New Arrivals - Hike to Mount Zaisan

Mongolia is really cool. I'm still getting use to the smells, and am not completely over my jet-lag yet, but I am so excited to meet the people and slowly be able to communicate with them. Last night I taught my first English class in Mongolia! Not at my school, but at the church. There was probably 40 people that showed up! It was so cool! We will be teaching in the church Tuesday and Thursday nights for the next 3 weeks as training before I go to my school. I really like teaching! I met a lot of really great people that I hope to get to know more.

It's been a great first week! I'm very excited to learn and grow and love Mongolia.

байртай
Ханьсэн Эгч

P.S. So the internet cafe I'm at doesn't have USB ports, so we'll try somewhere new on Monday so I can send pictures. Sorry about that.

As soon as we made it through immigration and left the airport, there was so many people and it smelled bad and immediately a man in my face saying "Taxi? Taxi?!" and I got so nervous and didn't know what to do, then another man came from the side and said "This way sister. Welcome to Mongolia." Immediately peace and relief washed over me and I knew I had made it and all was well- and all has been well since!

Glad to hear all is well! I really opened the "Welcome to Mongolia" package finally. I'm kind of regretting not having you send the snacks anyway. I still have lots, but they won't last long in Mongolia. Oh well.