Transfers came out. They came out as
we were eating cake for my birthday surrounded by my best friends Elder Cowles
and Monkhtulga. Elder Cowles was transferred out of Songino (he was there his
whole mission 7 months) and is off to Tuul which is the rich part of town. He
is still district leader and has the biggest district. Monkhtulga is leaving to
Australia in 1 week, he finally got his visa. There are 2 new missionaries
coming to Songino so he will help them until he leaves.
We had another split with the Zone
Leader this last weekend since we were the only companionship in the zone that
stayed the same. We went there Friday night and they said that our day was
filled with service tomorrow. I wish they told me beforehand because I just had
my Columbia light coat and a scarf. No hat or gloves. He then had us watch 17 Miracles.
yeah. The next day the four of us went in the 25 degree weather (15 with the
wind) and lifted a shed. A legit wood shed and moved it across the yard. It was
painful. I think we all called on God at that time to give us added strength. We
were doing it for a member who had back surgery and is in recovery. After
moving the shed we chopped wood so that he will have enough for a while. Then we
got water for him.
The way to get water in the ger
districts is this way. Randomly located around the ger district is this small
building where there is a hose and you fill up your containers with the water. The
containers they have are about 6 gallons. And they have about 3 or 4
containers. So, while 2 were cutting wood, me and Elder Lamb went down the
street to get water. We each carried 2 containers to the outpost and back to
the house. That was the first stop on our service trip.
The next stop was deep in the ger
districts on the top of this mountain. There was a member out there who is
about your guys age and has bad hip problems so she struggles to walk. She also
has a handicapped daughter who is about 16. Our service was to get her water because
she was all out. The nearest outpost was a 1/2 mile away. All downhill. it was
330 at this time. she had four 6 gallon plastic containers and a 10 gallon
metal container. The 10 gallon took 2 people to hold. There were 4 of us so 2
would be on the metal one and the other 2 would carry 2 containers at a time. So,
we started off. Her thermometer read 19 degrees. And I had no gloves and since I
had to carry 2 things I wouldn’t be able to put my hands in my pockets. So I
went anyways with the scenes from 17 Miracles in my brain. The way up was the
hardest. The 2 containers were almost more than I could lift and they didn’t
have any lids so water would splash up on me and seconds later would freeze.
About 40 minutes later we came back
to her house. We saw that a few members of the Relief Society were there
helping her with household duties. The president looked at us and said; “she
needs more water. Dump it in the big container and go and get more.” So we with
our sore and cold bodies went back out and back down. Then back up. To distract
me from my frozen hands, the 4 of us would sing hymns and I would walk 500
miles. It helped getting up the hills. We only stopped a few times. And then we
finally made it back the 2nd time. This time we ran in, dumped it, and sat down
to drink some hot water. It was about when we took our 3rd sip when the
president told us to go out a 3rd time. We looked at ourselves. All four of us
were literally covered in ice and I couldn’t feel my arms or my hands. Again, I
thought about 17 Miracles and then I looked at this helpless mother and child. Her
handicap daughter just looked at us with a smile on her face. It was then that I
decided that I would go as many times as she needed. We ended up going 4 times.
We left with smiles frozen in place at 7, went down the mountain and got on the
bus and passed out from exhaustion. We woke up Sunday with our bodies renewed,
and were able to go to church. It was a great experience out there in the
freezing cold with the coolest guys in the mission. We weren’t alone, just as
the saints weren’t alone either while crossing the plains. It was a great
experience.
Here are some photos from the ward
Halloween party.
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