DOG'S GOT NOTHING ON ME

Family and Friends,


A couple cool stories about the intense power of prayer. My companion and I were looking for this ALA. At first we didn't even know the area where he lived but after asking people we found out he lived kinda close to our apt. We finally find our way over to this area but we cant find his building. We look and look but nothing. We finally start knocking on doors asking if people know this guy or maybe the house but no one knows either. We are about to head back when I ask my companion if we can pray for a moment. He was a bit hesitant (we were in the middle of a building complex where many people could possibly see us, but he soon agreed. We then prayed that Heavenly Father would direct our actions as to what we should do at this time. After the prayer I asked my companion what he was feeling. He said he felt we should return to one of the houses we knocked on, and see if they are interested in hearing our message. My feelings confirmed his and we knocked on the door. The father answered the door, and my companion and I began introducing ourselves and asked if he would like to know more about our message. He indicated that he had previously went to Hawaii and had met with someone at BYU-Hawaii. He knew who we were and told us he would be interested in meeting with us. He then turned to me, and in perfect English (rare here), said he was currently entertaining guests, but would like to meet next week. We spoke a little longer, got his name and number and left, but the two blessings here are that, although we were looking for someone else the Lord knew what we should do and directed us somewhere unexpected. The other blessing is that this man speaks perfect English so the things I cant express in Mongolian I can say in English with him completely understanding. 

The other blessing dealing with prayer was when we were again looking for addresses. We were in another spot we had visited a week earlier. We had searched for the better part of an hour in this small area and could not find the place we were looking for. This area was a VERY rich part of the city and there was no one that was outside or that would open the door for two strangers. So this week we looked and looked again but could find this place. My companion was angry over some personal VISA issues he was having and he realized we didn't have the Spirit with us. So he recommended we pray, then continue to search. I agreed and offered the prayer. When we finished we both felt re-energized by the Spirit and we both felt finding this man was a possibility. We turned a corner and to my complete surprise I see the number '6' house, the exact house we were looking for!! It was right by the main entrance, we had walked by it several times the week before and today!! Upon seeing the house I screamed (I didn't mean to but I was really excited) "look, 6, its house 6!!". We both couldnt believe it. I believe the Lord provided this experience to show us how important having the Spirit is, and the sometimes forgotten power of prayer.

Alright little update on other things. Not the greeny anymore. The new missionaries have come in and its really great having them be here. I was kinda getting discouraged with where I was with the language but seeing them here and the little language they know shows me how far I have progressed. They are also all really nice and cool. Funny story about them. In the MTC as a joke I made some funny raps. One was about Preparation Day and the other two about our 2 MTC teachers' girlfriends. They were just short funny little things I made but our teachers thought they were really funny, especially the P-Day one. A few months ago I got an email from one of my teachers telling me that the new group had added lines to my rap and that I was now an MTC legend! I thought it was funny but when the new missionaries got here they started singing my songs, and I immediately loved all of them! There are 4 Elders and 2 Sisters.

Funny story.
So I've always had this theory that if a dog would run at me, instead of running away, I would run at toward it. My theory was that they probably wouldn't expect it and would probably get scared. This week I had a chance to test this theory, kinda.
My companion and I were walking in this area of Khan Uul, and we realized we walked into an alley. We kept walking though thinking maybe there was a small side street we could take. As we get closer we both hear barking from the other side of the fence and immediately two dogs come sprinting out of the gate right for us. My companion saw the dogs coming and started booking it in the other direction. When the dogs saw my companion run away they got excited and started running even faster. I didn't move though. I raised my bag, and held it over my head waiting for the dogs to get close enough to bop them one on the head. As the dogs got closer I was starting doubt the brilliance of my plan when, about 10ft away, the dogs just stopped. They kept barking but they were too scared to get any closer. My companion seeing the dogs stopped, grabbed some rocks and started throwing them at the dogs. This combined with the face that I wasn't moving was enough for the dogs to run back into the gate with their tails in between their legs. Moral of the story, dogs got nothing on me!