Another short and sweet

Not much has really happened to me this week or the week before. We did teach a really great lesson yesterday though. We had planned to teach Missionary Work to my new member but as soon as we walked in I felt inspired to change the lesson to Eternal Families. We talked about how eternal life without loved ones isnt quite as wonderful. As together set a goal for them to go to the temple and my companion was inspired by the holy ghost to share specific scripture that was powerful in our lesson! We have a couple of baptisms this month planned and I am finally becoming the missionary I have been trying to be! 

Humility

Well im sorry to report I was sick again. I had pneumonia last week, then my companion got it so we were down and out last week and this but we're trying to work hard.

This transfer my companion and I havnt been able to do a ton of work. For various reasons my companion and I just have not been able to meet with a lot of people and its been kinda discouraging for the both of us, but the other day we were talking about it and both of us have felt that we have learned more here, in this one transfer, then we have our entire missions. It has been a real learning experience for the both of us.

One example of what we learned is of patience and love. Both my companion and I were baptized when we were eight, but every other missionary in our district is a convert, some of only a year or two. We have, unfortunately, been very annoyed and discouraged at the imperfection of our district missionaries. I am district leader and the disobedience really got on my nerves. We worked really hard on Christ-like love and one night both of our eyes were opened. These missionaries are basically new members themselves. They are out here teaching of Christ and working on the best they can with what they have. I have, for my entire life, known I would serve a mission, and therefore have been able to prepare for many years, but these missionaries some of which have only been members for 2 years are now dealing with being a new member and being a missionary. Its an incredible example of faith and dedication, and my companion and I were humbled. Their disobedience doesn't come from a bad desire to do wrong, they're just learning. My impatience with their imperfection was shown in my own mistakes, and the fact that I have been a member my whole life. These inspiring missionaries are new members and they are doing the best they can, I was humbled when God allowed me to see that.

We have been able to learn lots of other things as well, and I although we havnt been able to do a whole lot of work, God has given us many many blessings, and helped us to grow.

Sorry thats all I can report this week, Im loving the mission, learning a lot and have one more year to help as many people as I can.

Out of cash, out of groceries...

Be jolly

New Senior Missionary Couple

Elder Groesbeck's birthday

Elder Magician

Playing a little song

ROBOT Man

Having Fun

A Rose for Elder Clement... 

Not-him?

First funny thing that happened, names can be kinda weird here. People are really superstitious. Anyways there is a guy here named Not-Him. So when I called I said "Is this Not-him?", I thought it was pretty funny!! haha.

Not much has happened this week, I was in the main city for three days because I had to do an english teacher training. It was good, I was especially glad to see the other Americans again. I get a little lonely sometimes. I am loving the work though, and its right what they say. The last year of your mission should be the best. I feel like now I am getting to the type of missionary I have wanted to be for a while now. Its finally all coming together.

An excellent talk I read this week:

 https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1989/10/learning-to-recognize-answers-to-prayer?lang=eng#watch=video

Adventure

My week has been an adventure that's all I can say. First of all SURPRISE I had a baptism!!! I have this new kinda wierd thing. Every time Ive told you that an investigator is progressing well something happens and they go bad. So I decided to not say anything and see how it went... and they got baptized. Her name is бадмаанямбуу (badmaanyambuu, said: baad-maa-nim-boe). She has been incredible!!! Her children and sister and sisters children all members but it took her a little longer to accept the gospel. When she decided to investigate the church though she didnt hold back. If she had questions she asked from her family, and her family was her support line (best way to introduce someone to the church is through family and friends), then she would confirm with us. She read everything we gave her, prayed every morning and night, read the Book of Mormon, and did everything she was supposed to. Her faith is so strong it was an inspiration just to be able to teach her. Her son (a member) was going to baptize her but the night before they called me and asked if I would do it instead, so I did my first actual baptizing of a person. It was really spiritual and a really awesome experience! I attached some pictures for you to look at. Also they are like my second family now and they feed me every time I go to their house (so dont worry momma).

ok also transfers were this week. Last transfer I was district leader, but it was of a very small district which I very much loved. This transfer I stayed District Leader but I got a lot of new missionaries and my district became the biggest in Mongolia. So I'm the District Leader of a ton of missionaries now and, ya know, got a little stress no biggie, haha. My district also has a few difficult missionaries and a few "clicky" missionaries. They dont like my companion and I right now so we are working hard to love and serve them! A little while ago, before the transfer I prayed for more confidence in my leadership abilities and a greater opportunity to get better mongolian quicker, and ya know you have to be careful what you ask for I guess cause now I'll get both but its gonna be an interesting ride! haha. Wish me luck!

As far as everything else. Its good. My new companion is a friend of mine from the city and so its been really great being with him. Im still in the same place, erdenet, so thats nice and I am really excited about this next month. Everything is looking good. Im also getting healthier! I was basically sick these entire 10 months, and just recently got feeling better. Im starting to put on some more muscle and hopefully I will gain back some of my 40 pounds Ive lost.


Alright love you all have a great week!

Mongolian New Years

So this week was whats called Sagaan Sar. Its the new lunar year. Mongolians go crazy and make tons of food!! Some families make anywhere from several hundred buuz (dumplings) to several thousand!!! We also eat sheep or goat (skin still on it just a little toasty), and lots of candy, milk, fermented milk, and fermented milk candy.

There is also a tradition of the hosts handing out alcoholic milk and juice, its not acholic per se but its pretty fermented so if you have a lot you can get drunk. The mission policy is that we are allowed to have one sip because of how offensive it is to refuse it. Even members give it out. And of course what would a mongolian holiday be without drugs. I am touching a stuff bottle to my nose. You are supposed to snort the drugs inside but if you just touch the end of the bottle to your nose they are satisfied.

(MOM IS TRYING NOT TO JUDGE HERE.... NOT LOVING THE IDEA BUT GOING WITH THE FLOW)

If you give an Elder a Bread Pan

I don't know about a mouse and cookie but if you give an elder a bread pan, he will never buy bread again! Sister Grosebeck was kind enough to give me one of her bread pans and Ive made home made bread and banana bread so far!! Oh soooo good, never buying bread again if I can help it!!!

Alright today's email is going to be a little "standing-on-a-soap-box"y because I have some things to say. First I met with my mission president this week to discuss my progress and the progress of the missionaries I am in charge of. There is one missionary that the other missionaries joked around with a lot. This person laughs at every joke and is a very happy person. I couldn't understand exactly what they were saying but one time, based on content, I understood and thought it was kinda mean. Then a couple more times I understood and thought again that they were being a little mean. I didn't understand because these are incredible, kind missionaries. When I met with the Mission President he shared with me an experience he had with this particular missionary that was the blunt of all these jokes. He said this person was from the countryside with a very very limited education, of not only the gospel, but life and school in general. He said when he met with them he encouraged them to write their testimony down. As this person struggled to write just basic sentences and as tears poured from their eyes this person was laughing. Their defense mechanism is laughing, so as these other missionaries poked fun at my missionary this person would laugh but on the inside they were crying. I cannot begin to explain how sad this made me, and then how angry. This is something I am ending today with my missionaries, but I wanted to make it a point to tell each one of you the importance of building up and not tearing down. When I was in the MTC we did a lot of negative joking between ourselves, and it began to start hurting us. We all made a goal to only say positive joking. At first it was hard, and I couldn't believe how hard it was but then as we went on it became easier and easier. And now the jokes I tell build up as well as make others laugh. There is no need for negative joking, or "in-between" joking, if its not uplifting its not positive. The picture I imagined of my missionary laughing as tears streamed from her face made me indescribably sad, and while the other missionaries didn't realize they were hurting her this much, they were. Please make it a goal to only positive joke.

Ok so in other news total so far Ive lost 45 pounds. Ive been sick pretty regularly for this last year. Today the church handed out a new booklet titled "Adjusting to Mission Life'. It listed several things that attribute to stress and the affects there of. As I read through it I realized I hit almost all the stress indicator markers. Some of the affects of  stress are weight loss, sickness, easily becomes angry, and others. I didn't realized I was stressed but I was. I want to just remind all of you of the blessing and opportunity all of you have to go to the temple and allow Heavenly Father to ease your burdens and help remove your stress. Stress was something I thought was stupid and not something that needed to be dealt with but it affects you physically as well (as you can see from my 45 pound less body, and the toilet can testify to its never ending torture. Use the resources God has given you and take time out each day to just relax and stop.

Alrighty off my soap box, cool experience that happened to me. A while ago I read a story in the Liahona that related God's commandments to a kite string. The string is what holds the kite up, if the string is gone the kite cannot stay airborn. We are the kite and God's commandments is the string. It may seem to hold us down but in reality it is what keeps us up. As I was teaching this was brought to my remembrance and I was able to teach that. Its sounds kinda small but to me it represented that God keeps His promises, as it says in the Bible:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you".

Alright those things were weighing heavily on me and felt they needed to be said. This week is great, next email will have some pretty awesome pictures due to an upcoming holiday here, prepare yourselves for awesomeness!!!

-Elder Clement

Love you all

Another short one

What happened to me this week? Not much, I got a new companion. There was a mini emergency transfer and my companion went to the city and I got a new one. He doesnt speak any English so basically besides the Senior Missionary couple here I am the only english speaker for miles and miles!! Hopefully that will allow my mongolian to get better!!

I also got a bigger area, which means the people in that area are now mine. We will most likely have at least a couple baptisms this month. I really want them to be converted, I dont care about the actual baptism because there are plenty of less-actives that have been baptized. My motto: "I dont want to baptize an ALA (assigned less active member)." I got it from my trainer. My goal is to convert not just dunk them in a tank of water.