Listening and Following the Spirit

Dear Family!

Hey so this week I am using the internet from a really "yambui" internet cafe, and the keyboard is terrible.  I might tap out early on this email because half the keys don't work and are getting stuck and I am getting annoyed.  Please know that I love you all though!  This week has had its ups and downs.  We started off the week by splitting the city up. We figured that would be the most effective way to do the work efficiently so that everyone we need to reach, gets reached.  With that being said, after the split, my company and I had 0 investigators.  So, this week was a lot of visiting with less active priesthood holders, and through that, we are finding investigators.  But with everyone we found, they didn't live in our area, so we referred them onto Elder Sims and Uliziijargal. That's okay, as long as they are being reached.   

I want to share a quick story then we've got to go.

A few days ago, I really had a testimony-building experience.  My companion and I were out and about, a good 25 minutes from our apartment.  It was raining really hard, but we decided to just walk/run through the mud to an inactive member's apartment.  When we got there, we knocked and knocked and knocked. We could hear them inside, but no one ever came. After about 7 or so minutes, we just gave up and left.  As we walked back out into the rain, we thought about what we should do.  It is raining.  It is about 8:15 p.m..  We are tired.  The natural thought was just head for home, after all there really wasn't much we could do in 45 minutes.  But we really felt like we needed to keep going.  I pulled out my planner and read a specific name and address of a less active priesthood holder to my companion and we decided to go.  I didn't know WHY that person, and WHY now, but we went.   As we walked through a muddy and flooded "ger" district for about 25 minutes we finally got to the house.  A 25 or so year old man invited us in and said that the man we were looking for, his father, was not home.  We sat down with him and his sister, and just started small talking, and that led to the 1st lesson.  I really haven't spoken Mongolian that well in my entire mission life.  The son was not too receptive, but the sister, about 23 years old, was very receptive and expressed great desire to learn more.  She has committed to having us back.  But we had to pass her along to the other Elders because she is in their area.  That was kind of a bummer, but that is okay.  The important thing was that we received a message from heaven, and we followed it.  I didn't know why, and where we were going, but it worked.  The Lord knows. That is what matters. We actually had three experiences like that this week. One led to a family who have been inactive for about 6 years, who we are working with now.  The other led to a house farther than far, that didn't have the man we were looking for, but six teenage boys that we taught the 1st lesson to.  We hope to keep on teaching them. We are actually playing basketball with all of them today at 5:00.   One "was a member."  That just means he was baptized and stopped going.  They all say, "I WAS a member."   Little do they know... they ARE A MEMBER!  Haha.   We are also teaching a 68-year old women named Tumorcukh.   I will let you know how that goes with her.

So sorry to hear about those police officers who were killed last week in Vegas.  Thanks for the picture of dad and Matt.  What an emotional day it must have been.  As I was reading what you wrote about the officers and the funeral and what a great missionary moment it was, I was really touched.  I  got down on my knees and prayed for their families.  Such a sad sad story.  I love Matt and dad so much. Also, please tell Ryan and Angela thanks for the pictures from San Fran.  Looked like fun.

Well family, I know the Lord is guiding us. There is no doubt about it.  Sorry this email is so short, but this keyboard has got to go.   I am happy and healthy and grateful for that.  I am loving Choibalsan more each and every day.  I love the members and the love they have for me, an American missionary who struggles to speak their language sometimes.  Every day is humbling, and a new learning experience. 

Love you all,

Elder Harris

Great P-Day. Full fridge! This is what 80,000 toogs gets ya! Yogurt, 20 eggs, 4 peanut butters, 10 apples, and a lot of potatoes, carrots, and onions. We are set for the week!

This is a picture of the Air Traffic Controllers I teach English to at the airport. They are all great guys, and they like me. All the male airport employees are required to be trained in firefighting, just for "what if" scenarios, I assume. Cool huh, pops?

Low and behold: The Six-Month Tie Burning!

Elder Osorjamaa and I walking our behinds off! Joyously, of course! Love my Comp!