Week 5 (2/9/16) Pictures 

Blue sweater and light blue tie day (1)

Blue sweater and light blue tie day (2)

Blue sweater and light blue tie day (3)

Elder Christensen

Elder Ostler (Hmong Speaking)

Elder Taylor(left) & Elder Lewis(right) (Hmong Speaking)

Sister Hansen's Hair beard

Treats from Deb-Deb

With Elder Bringhurst (Singapore)

Sunday Selfie

Week 5 (2/9/16)

Elder Christensen Had to go to the Orthodontist yesterday and it was pretty rad, getting to leave the MTC. They also gave us slushies?!?! That was unexpected, but quite awesome!

Week 5

My zone is comprised of:

5- Hmong Speaking elders going to California and Wisconsin/Minnesota

5- Thai Missionaries 1 Elder (my companion) and 4 sisters. All going to Thailand

7- Cambodian 3 elders and 4 sisters. Going to Cambodia

3- Vietnamese speaking elders going to Texas and California

9- Mongolians obviously

Elder Christensen is pretty great he is awesomely clean, which is really great when there are 6 people in a room, while the other 4 are not so tidy... oh well. 

Classes are long and we work all day. Every day is like Sunday, 3 hours of church ha, try 24/7. It's great.

My teachers said that they spend a lot of service time digging new pit toilets. Sounds like fun...

Last Tuesday Elder Zwick of the 70 spoke on prayer. We need to pray fervently and frequently, really give our hearts to God in prayer really understanding that He will answer you. I know that God Answers the sincere prayer, those who are willing to follow his answer. 

Can someone find me the quote about "that which we persist in doing becomes easier, not because the nature of the thing is easier..."

(Parental Note: Heber J. Grant often quoted Ralph Waldi Emerson...

“That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased.”)

We will start our online ESL training in either 1 or 2 weeks hopefully I'll find out who my sponsor is soon! That will be super exciting!!!

With The most Love,

Ахлагч Jonathan Wilding

 ...

(Letter to the parents)

To me an Idea was (Mongolian grammar for "I had an idea"): When you have the missionaries to dinner ask them give a brief message on a missionary discussion. That was something that would have helped me when growing up cause I wasn't really sure what the commandments were, and definitely did not know what the Doctrine of Christ was, and what that meant to me... It could help Thomas, also going over those things during FHE would be really good. I know that it is really important and will bless the whole family. Teaching the simple, eternal truths of Christ's Gospel is beneficial to everyone. 

Package from home

Dad,

thank you so much for the book, it is my most prized possession I love it so much and look through it every day! I can't wait to start adding to it :)

"the book"

package from Kate

Mom, 

Thank you for your cards at the beginning they meant a lot :) I need to finish writing my letters to you all. I sent one off to Rick and LJ just so you don't worry. Mary Kate sent me stamps for the time being.

Something heartwarming that I realized yesterday is you now have two sons on missions.

Love your son,

Ахлагч Jonathan Wilding

Week 4 Pictures

My new companion, Elder Christensen (going to Thailand!)

Waiting to host arriving new missionaries.

Waiting to host (part 2)

Week 4 - So Time Doesn't Exist (or something like that)

The first three days at the MTC were without a doubt the longest days of my life. They felt like weeks. Now as I approach my month mark, time is getting weirder. Every day is both an eternity and the blink of an eye. When I look back to last Tuesday, I can't even believe that what feels like a lifetime ago was only a week.

Last Tuesday's devotional was given by Elder Hallstrom, I sang in the Choir "Hurrah for Israel". Something that I thought of during his talk though was, We are who we want to be. We don't have to look behind us to find who we are, but should instead look ahead. Who do we want to be, what are we willing to become? That is who we are. In this world Jesus Christ is our example, Look unto Christ, Try to be like Jesus. D&C 6:35-37: 

 35 Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sin no more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you.

Through the atonement of Christ we can change our natures, and be forgiven of our sins

 36 Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.

Look to Christ as your example

 37 Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful,keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. Amen.

Be faithful and keep His commandments

God Has a plan for us That I know. I was split from my triple companionship and am now companions with Elder Christensen, he's going to Thailand. This is a fantastic opportunity! and a significant change. 

Dad's note: (I managed to catch him before his computer time was up, but while waiting I thought "Perhaps Sister Hansen has posted information which might explain." Thank you, Sister Hansen.)


What???!!?!! You can't just drop a bomb like that with no additional info. Swapping companions in the MTC is unusual. But swapping to be with someone not in your language group ... I've never heard of.
Also, sister Bringhurst said she saw you (your back as you walked away) while dropping off Austin. Did you get to be his host?


Response: Elder Christensen's companions were in a group of old Thai Missionaries that left on Monday, and because I was in a 3 person companionship, the Branch president reassigned me to be his new companion. He's from Wyoming.
Also I've seen Elder Bringhurst several times, but missed hosting him by just a couple of minutes.


==========

Still Dad's note: I hope the Hansen's don't mind, but I'm going to "borrow" a portion from Sister Hansen's blog this week. jenniferhansenmongolia.blogspot.com

"We also had to say goodbye to our dear friend's the Thai's. About half our zone did their time and said "so-long" to the MTC at 2:30 Monday morning. It was so sad and exciting at the same time, and weird to think that that will be us in a few short weeks. We will be getting a new delivery of about 10 Thai missionaries, along with a Malay and an Indonesian within the next month. So now it's our job to welcome them and show them the ropes of the MTC, instead of the other way around! Our zone is very different and special because each district is learning such a difficult language. Our zone consists of all the weird Asian languages that people don't really ever think of, like Cambodian, Laotian, Vietnamese, Malay, etc. We really all lean on each other for support and have become very close friends.

This is something from like my first week at the MTC that I forgot to tell you about. When Neil L. Anderson was here speaking at a devotional, he was telling about the " A Savior Is Born" campaign video that was shared worldwide. He told us that the video was viewed by 54.5 million people. The language it was most viewed in was Spanish, at 28 million views. He went on to list the other highest ranking languages the video was viewed at. Would anyone ever guess that the 5th language most viewed was Mongolian!! What. My companion turned to me and said "Our people are prepared!!" Tender mercies. I don't know how that is even possible, where there are only 3 million people total in Mongolia, and probably less than half have access to the internet. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

On the topic of Mongolia, the people have been praying fervently for a new stake in Mongolia. There is currently only one, but they are so close to having another, and this is very important to the church and the people. If there is 2 or 3 more stakes, it may even be a possibility for a temple to be built someday. Can you imagine all the blessings this would bring to that country? God already has a very special place in his heart for Mongolia."

Week 3 - Pictures

Elder Heacock Elder Garcia Elder Wilding

It snowed overnight

me, elder Christensen, elder Young

our lesson planning in english ( we spend the rest of the time preparing our mongolian)

Our Teacher Higgs Ax (Brother Higgs), Elder Urness, Elder Cowles, Me, Elder Heacock,
front – Sister Olsen, Elder Garcia, Sister Guild, Sister Hansen, Sister Bottorff

Planning for P-Day

Sister Hansen, elder Heacock(preping a stellar priesthood lesson on the atonement)

Sunday morning studying L2R elder Urness, Elder Garcia, Sister Olsen, Sister Guild, Sister Bottorff, Sister Hansen

The dictionary is $217 in america but only  ₮18,800 == $8 in Mongolia Which is Ridiculous

Week 3

Сонин Сайхан Юу Байн Вэ?

whats new and weird?

My Mongolian has made huge strides this week! In our lessons with our investigators I prepare only a little bit of vocab to refresh my mind of what I want to say, rather than having a prepared script! This is fantastic, we are starting to actually be able to listen to the needs of our investigators and help them come closer to Christ!

The Holy Ghost is always present here! It is an incredible feeling. 

Last Wednesday I got to host new missionaries! It was really fun! I met an Elder Anderson going to New York, Utica Mission! We get to host tomorrow as well! Hopefully I can find and Host Elder Austin Bringhurst!!! 

I've been loving the letters and they're always appreciated! I'm working on hand writing some letters back. 

I've gotten bored of the MTC Food and have begun eating less so that I can fit in my suits for two years. haha I've been eating to the pain recently. 

I've started to plan better and am trying really hard to use my time as best as I can. I have taken on the nickname of Төлөвлөгөө батаар - Plan warrior (bataar is a common name meaning warrior... Ulaanbaatar - Red warrior). I know that the lord blesses us with all the time we need to accomplish the tasks he sets before us. And as we plan better we can better use His time and be prompted on the best ways to accomplish the tasks and trials of life.

On Sunday's devotional Stephen B. Allen Spoke and it was really great! He talked about where is our heart? As missionaries, are we fully here? I finally got the courage to get up and give a response to questions that he asked, like why am I here on a mission. I am here to invite others to come closer to God who is our Father in Heaven, and to help them to know for themselves that He does love each of us and that He knows us personally, just as a real father does.

-Ахлагч Jonathan Wilding 

Some things I forgot:
My ESL teaching training will begin in a couple of weeks. There is an online course portion for a couple of weeks then we will do a practical learning and observing and teaching portion for the last couple of weeks before we leave to Mongolia. Dad it turns out that the next batch of Mongolian Missionaries will be doing the online portion  before they come, so we just missed it. I'm super excited about helping the Mongolian people to learn English. What a valuable skill to have to help them progress in life!