Those comics were way funny dad! I showed the one about Atlanta with Elder Weaver from my group. He laughed hard too. I like to say to someone who doesn’t recognize the name of a Mongolian person… you know the one with black hair and brown eyes. Of course everyone has that color so you get a good pity laugh. Also I think the one about eating goat’s stomach could get a little laugh too.

You may be wondering what all the money is in the picture. Well I had this brilliant idea came to me so I decided to do it. I took out the money in my savings account and exchanged it into Mongolian bills. I figure that when the exchange rate is better I can then exchange it back and get some good profit. Good idea eh? Well it would have been a good idea seven months ago because the exchange rate was 1.8 then but now it is 1.5. [Rickety note: What really happened is a banker allowed Daniel a few minutes with the cash to take the picture]

Missionary Work

This week we have plenty of time to do just missionary work. It was great! We met with lots of people and our investigators are progressing great. They think the church may be open again, but they don’t know for sure when. So like last week we went to all the church member’s houses for sacrament. This week we were able to administer it 10 times to 47 people. We started early at 8:30am, trying to catch our less active member before she went to work, but we missed her, just barely. Every other appointment went according to plan and we were busy the whole day. It wasn’t nearly exhausting as last week for some reason. I think because we had already experienced it. I shared the same spiritual thought 10 times. That was actually a really good experience. It was 3 Nephi 27:21. I asked, “What did the Lord want you to do?” I think that’s translated right. We got many answers but few said that the things Christ did He wants us to do as well. So it was a good teaching moment. I felt the spirit strongly and it helped me adapt the lesson to what the people needed to hear.

We made horse pizza last night too. I say that because the meat we used was horse. It was really tasty. Can’t say it tastes much different than beef, but I will anyway. Basically the thought that runs through my mind when I eat horse meat is, “Hey this isn’t beef… it tastes like horse.” I don’t know how else to describe it. So I had pizza for the first time in awhile.

We taught English at the church right before the church got closed. We also teach at the Red Cross center, or we are going to start teaching there. There haven’t been any English sittings allowed really so we haven’t taught. We just have been busy doing missionary work. I know it is Heavenly Father’s work and He is helping us every day. He lives and loves us very much. Thanks for the emails and support.

To Mom

The things that helped me prepare for a mission the most were the small and simple things we are taught to do every week and day. Scripture study, prayer, attending church, and opportunities to serve others. I am happy that I always liked going to church. I can’t really remember a day when I wanted to stay home and not go. I learned that from Dad and your example of always going yourselves. Also I don’t know how you taught me, or where I learned it from, but the discipline to wake up every morning is very helpful. I just remember always waking up myself with my alarm for school every day, and giving me that responsibility early was probably a good idea. That seems to be a struggle for some missionaries.

After turning 18 years old, going to mission prep class each week really helped. It made me want to go and got me excited about it. I learned a lot from there, especially how I like to take notes from teachers in that kind of setting, as in the MTC there is tons of things to take notes on.
Other important preparation was just the fact that I knew Dad and you loved me and always wanted to help. Sharing of your testimony and love for the gospel were all things that influenced me to get ready to serve a mission.

To Dad

I really like the comic idea. Those are really funny. I really like your character too. It looks just like you. I’ll usually send everything that I think is funny home. If I have some really good ideas I’ll send them your way.

Love Elder Willoughby.

Presented have been portions of an email from Elder Daniel Willoughby serving in the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission. If anyone wishes to send Daniel a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.

Well I am here in Choibalsan. It is wonderful and I love it already. We actually have cars here. I attached a picture of our car. It works very good, but we walk most of the time. The other picture is the sunrise when we went out for a little walk to see the river in the morning with my district.

The day after I got here we went walking around. It felt very peaceful and quiet. I knew that was probably because there are few cars and no buses, but it felt so very different. Completely different… I wondered why… Then I realized. There are no mountains here. It is completely flat. That was a great discovery! Afterward we continued walking around. While walking, I felt like some burden had been lifted off my back. I was so relaxed and felt so good. I thought about why I felt that way the entire day. I couldn’t accept that just because I came here some burden would be gone from my back. Then I realized… I wasn’t wearing my backpack. Ha ha. That was funny. My backpack came later with my luggage by truck. It really isn’t that heavy either.

Missionary Work

My companion is Elder Armstrong. He is from Hawaii and is 26 years old. This is his last half transfer. He goes home in December. He is a good companion and we get along really good. We have quite a few investigators that are progressing rapidly. It was fun to meet everyone. We had a wonderful experience when we taught an investigator that had met with my companion before, but had just returned from the country side. We taught her the first lesson and asked her how it made her feel. She said she felt feelings of peace and comfort. That made me feel very happy and thankful. Also when we asked her if she had any questions she asked one after another after another. She told us that she had been reading the Book of Mormon while she had been in the country side. That was one of the best things she could have said. After resolving the questions she set her baptismal date.

This whole week the church hasn’t been allowed to hold any sort of meeting at the church. The government isn’t allowing it because of the swine flu or what’s it called. So we have had lots more time to go out and meet people for about the next week or two. This Sunday there wasn’t any Sacrament Meeting at church, so all the elders in my district were given permission to take the sacrament to all members in our area. I think every elder in the mission did the same thing actually. It was a good experience. We gathered members that lived close to each other and administered the sacrament eight times to probably forty people. I felt really good to be able to give people the chance to renew their covenants, but at the same time I’m glad we don’t always go to everyone’s house to give them the sacrament. I felt the spirit strongly as we prepared and blessed the sacrament. I know that it is a very important ordinance and covenant that we make.

It was strange on Tuesday it was really warm. We didn’t even wear coats. Then Wednesday it got freezing. Well not that cold actually just around a mere -15 degrees F. That was only in the evening though. It hasn’t been that cold lately. When the wind blows it pierces your skin etc. If I am wearing enough clothes and my coat it doesn’t affect me much though. I am excited for when my eye lashes will start to have ice on them and all that good stuff. That comes in December and January when it is around -35 degrees F. My companion said you can’t tell the difference between -20 and -40. It is just plain cold. Anyway I need to get going. Thanks for the pictures Dad!

To Mom

Congratulations on losing all that weight. I still weigh what I did when I left. A while ago I was 175 pounds, but then I dropped right back down to 165. It is impossible to gain weight here. I am surprised I still weigh the same. My apartment is the same. It has rooms and walls. We have a cleaner that comes once a week. That was exciting to find out. She is a member that has been to the temple. So for the first time in my life since I was eight years old someone else is going to do my laundry. That’s cool. Ummm…. Things that I need. I need a new watch battery CR2016. That would be really cool to get. Nothing else that I can think of. Thanks Mom, I love you!

Thanks for the love and support.

Love Elder Willoughby.

Presented have been portions of an email from Elder Daniel Willoughby serving in the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission. If anyone wishes to send Daniel a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.