Hey Everybody hope you have had a great week I know I have.  This was week 2 of the BYU ELC experience.  It is so nice to get away from the MTC and just be at a University again.  Don't get me wrong I like the MTC, but a break is always nice.  On Monday we got to teach a class for 65 minutes it was a lot of fun.  We taught the Class called Foundations Prep and it is the most beginning level English learners the ELC has. They were such a fun group to teach.  We had one lady named Carol from Argentina.  2 from South Korea they are actually a husband and wife which was fun.  1 man from Mexico and man was he funny.  1 man from Paraguay he came late so we did not get to ask him as much about himself. 1 man from Haiti and man was he a character he really made the class fun.  1 man from Brazil he was really cool as well.  It was a small class only 7 students but it was so much fun to teach.  Then just Yesterday we got to watch the video of ourselves teaching and receive feedback from one of the professors at the ELC.  It was a great experience and I think both me and my companion learned a lot.  We then got to do what the ELC calls English for Lunch, where half of the student body comes and they do activities and have fun so they can practice their English skills it was as lot of fun.  We were the first group to teach so all next week we just get to observe other classes which is so much fun.  I will have a picture of all of us at the ELC with our instructors coming soon. 

            I am learning so much here at the MTC and can't believe I am leaving here so soon.  I am starting to get really excited and a little bit scared.  I have never had so many spiritual experiences at one time.  I have grown so much here, but know it is gonna be a completely different world out there.  My teachers have told us about a lot of the unique stuff about Mongolia.  They showed us pictures of the holidays there and what they do.  They showed us a lot of pictures of the different food they eat there.  We also got to see some of the clothing from there as you saw from my picture I sent of Elder Espinoza.  I can't wait it is gonna be such an adventure.  They tell us all the time how it will be a humbling experience when we see the poverty over there.  I can't wait to serve the Lord and his Children over in Mongolia.  

             Sounds like everyone is doing well.  I want to thank everyone for their support and letting me know things are going in their lives.  I want to wish Carter my little cousin a happy birthday.  I miss so much him coming to my house and us hanging out together.  I hope everyone has a good week and I will talk with you again next Friday.  Love you all!!

Love,

Elder Bird              

        

district leader

One more thing I forgot last night I got assigned to be District leader woooo!!  I am honored they had faith in me to be a leader and hope I can be an example to those I serve.

9 weeks is long but I wouldn't trade the experiences for nothing

Hey everybody how are you doing?  I hope all is well.  I love all of you and the support you have given me so far on my mission.  Well to start Monday was our first day at BYU ELC.  It was so much fun to get off campus for 4 hrs and observe and plan lessons.  The foreign students that are there to learn english are so funny and fun to be around.  I can't believe how humble they are and how much they have given up to be here and learn English.  We get to do these things called talk abouts where we go around for like 40 min and just talk to the students about whatever so they can practice their english skills.  The picture I sent of those two sisters was my first time doing a talk about.  They told me about where they are from and their first experience watching conference in english. This Monday me and my companion are teaching our first English class, to the class called foundations prep.  Which means they are the most beginner students at the ELC.  I can't wait it has been so much fun observing it will be even better teaching.  They don't let us eat anything outside the MTC which is a bummer.  The ELC is over by the Football field at BYU so there really isn't anywhere close to eat anyway.  Me and my companion have been teaching our investigators and we have one committed to baptism, even though they are our teachers the experience is a lot the same.  Mongolian is coming we are getting pretty good at teaching lessons, we haven't learned how to do a lot else so I guess if I get lost in mongolia I will be able to teach people the gospel but not be able to ask how to get to my apartment from here jk.  Let me just say conference was amazing I learned so much.  My absolute favorite talk was Elder Jeffery R. Holland's about mothers.  He opened my eyes and made me realize how much my mom does love me and I should never take that for granted.  I love you so much mom and I hope you know that.  I also enjoyed Elder Bednars talk on how important prophets and apostles are.  They are older and have had more life experience for a reason, they have been our age before, but we have not been theirs.  I loved hearing from the Prophet especially the talk he gave during Priesthood session.  He said we need to follow the commandments, strait to the point.  It is so important for our lives and our salvation to do so, it is also a way we show our faith.  I learned so much from our apostles and prophets and hope I can apply everything I learned to my mission.  I also liked the talk by, I can't think of his name because I don't have my notes.  He talked about how him and his family started ponderizing scriptures.  I think it is so cool and I am gonna start doing that every week.  I just wanted to let everyone know that I have a testimony of the restored Gospel.  I have testimony that God the Father and His son Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith.  I also know that Heavenly Father loves each and everyone of us and wants only the best for us.  We need to follow the teachings of the prophet and keep the commandments so we can be worthy of the holy spirit.  I love all of you so much and hope you have a great week.

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