My birthday week!

I'm 20 now!!! woohoo! That's exciting, but it was definitely a different birthday than I've ever had before. For my birthday, I taught English and visited people, but luckily I got to me some of my favorite investigators.

Because of the weird times there is light here in Mongolia, all summer we woke up at 7:00 and went to sleep at 11, but starting this week it was back to normal missionary schedule... 6:00 wake up and 10:30 go to sleep. It's been a bit of a struggle in adjustment, but we've been doing it! 

School and seminary have started here. And aren't we lucky, our first day of the new missionary times, we were asked to teach seminary and being the awesome missionaries we are, we woke up at 5:30 to get there at 6:10 to start at 6:30... we were EXHAUSTED but, it was an awesome lesson about the plan of salvation. AND almost all of our teenage investigators are going to seminary!!! They rock!! And they are so cute; they keep telling us all the things they are learning. The people here are so hungry for learning and it's such a great example to me. Back home, we take seminary for granted and many people don't want to go, but here is an entirely different story! It's amazing!

On Wednesday, one of the members here turned 17 (she is awesome and is our witness for lessons all the time!), so the senior couple here threw us a combined birthday party, complete with balloons, a sign, cake, and the cutest young women around, haha. It was great!

Our investigators N & B will get their marriage certificate today or tomorrow!!! Ted nar mundag shuu!! They have had their lessons done since before I came here, but didn’t have a certificate, and so we would meet weekly and read the Book of Mormon or review lessons. They are awesome and so faithful. We met with them last night and had the most amazing lesson. We have planned their baptism for the end of this month and I can't wait!

One of the members here, who I just love, was in the hospital this week and got some sort of stomach surgery, so we went and visited. It was so sad to see the conditions of the hospitals here. Even my Mongolian comp said it’s like a horror movie. But the member is doing great and loved having us visit her.

Another member family (the one with the daughter who turned 17) had us over to make me soiven for my birthday and trust me I was full! That was probably the best but the biggest plate of it that I've ever eaten!! But it was nice to still have a family meal for my birthday :) And I got to help the kids with their English and math homework--- so fun and adorable!

Everyone here was so kind and remembered my birthday, so I wasn't missing home. I had the party, the dinner, the young women in one of our branches gave me a friendship necklace/bracelet, a whole district in UB called me and sang to me, Sis Hill (senior couple) gave me a cookie making kit, at exactly 6:30am on my birthday our ZL's called and sang to me, our DL's texted me happy birthday message, my comp made me pancakes and stuck a match in them to blow out, a few other missionaries in UB called or texted me to wish me a happy birthday, and a few people gave me some very sweet cards :) All in all, it was an awesome mission birthday, and I’ll celebrate again when the package from home finally gets here :)

This week, we will go to UB again for mission conference. An Area Seventy (senior church leader) is coming as well so that should be cool. I'm excited to go to the city... you start to miss some things... the other missionaries, mammuu yogurt, mail, etc :)

We all have to prepare a talk on a certain talk from general conference about the Sabbath day, and while I've been studying it, I've learned something new and awesome! God is always blessing us, right? And He asks so little from us (such as tithing), then gives so much more back (more blessings). Well, the Sabbath day is the same as tithing, we give a small portion of what we have (in this case one day of the week) to the Lord, and in return promises amazing blessings; 3 Nephi 24:10, D&C 59:16, and Mosiah 2:41... read them and learn, it's AMAZING! God truly loves us!

Well, that's all for now I think. But I love you all, miss ya! Keep me updated on everything!

 hairtai shuu! ta nar shuu! Bi ta nar canaj bn!