I Have Now Been Here for Just Over a Month

Hi everybody hope life is going great.  I have been here for awhile now, longer than a lot of the missionaries that come to the MTC.  Mongolian is hard but gets better and easier to both write and speak everyday.  On Wednesday our teacher Sister Largin was in such a great mood that she gave us some Mongolian candy, and talked about the mission for 2 hours it was so awesome.  She talked about some of her coolest and scariest moments on the mission. She talked about how the taxi's work in Mongolia.  So if you hold your hand up when someone drives by they will stop and give you kinda whatever rate they want and you can either bargain or say never mind and move on.  This whole time she is speaking English which is so crazy since we have barely heard her speak it before.  She was just so excited to tell us.  She told us about the food how it is very fatty and oily which I am not looking forward to.  She said you need to eat the food they give you because it means everything to them when you do.  The missionaries are their favorite and we need to be considerate.  I have now completed the first portion of my English teacher training.  Next week on Monday I get to start going to BYU to observe and teach the foreign student there.  I can't wait for a change in scenery.  I have been able to have so many spiritual experiences since I have been here.  On Tuesday for the devotional we listened to a member of the presidency of the 70.  He had a lot of things to say and it really made me realize why I am here.  We then had a district devotional review after and everyone had great testimonies and the spirit was so strong.  I feel like I am growing closer to my Heavenly Father everyday here as I diligently read and pray about the scriptures.  Conference is this weekend I can't wait we finally don't have to go to class or do anything with Mongolian for a little while.  I also had the opportunity to watch the funeral for Elder Richard G. Scott which was also a very powerful spiritual experience.  Life here gets repetitive, as does the food, but I wouldn't change any of the experienced I have had for anything.  I love all of you and the support I have received, it means so much to me.  I miss everybody but I know 2 years is such a short time compared to eternity.  I am grateful for my companion and my roomates they are so awesome and we have so much fun together.  From everything I have heard from a lot of people Mongolia is one of the most unique missions and I am so glad to be a part of it.  I can't wait for the experiences I will have, and hopefully I can touch the hearts of a lot of people while I am there.  Hope everyone has a good week, I will talk to you again next week.

Love,

Elder Bird