My district with member family. Daniel second left.

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s tenth email from 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.

I always enjoy Dad’s sense of humor. I need to learn how to translate it into Mongolian. :) You did well on your talk Dad. Not bad for such an old man. [Rickety note: Referring to me as “old man” started when I danced around energetically one morning and said to Daniel, “Not bad for an old man.”] Thanks for all the letters and updates about what everyone is up to. It will be exciting for Mom to get her carpet finally. Ha ha. Dad is a good man Mom, he does good work.

Thank you Mom for all the things you taught me. I’m getting better at cooking rice. My first time I cooked rice here, I put way too much water in and it was overflowing. On Tuesday, I made some rice, potato, meat mixture that my companion taught me how to make. I knew it didn’t taste good but everyone in my district ate it. I almost laughed that they ate it, but then decided not to. I liked it. My companion is really good at cooking and he teaches me how to make things. I really respect that about him. He is a great cook.

Missionary Work

We had many changes over transfers. My companion and I stayed together, we were excited about that. There was a lot more American missionaries transferred to our branch. We got a new district leader. He interviewed Mongon Od on Sunday and he passed. We are excited to baptize him this Friday. My companion has been working with him for a long time. He is a good investigator. The Mongolians are really good people. I love working with them.

We talked to a man yesterday. He asked, “Do you really believe that Christ appeared to the American people?”
“Yes I do, the book of Mormon is true.” I replied.
He said, “I believe that God created things, but I don’t believe in the golden plates.”
He had met with missionaries before but because of work had to stop investigating. He will with time know of the truth. It will bring great peace to his life.

Mongolian Culture Observations

The greatest thing about Mongolians is that most of them are still nomadic. We had a great first lesson with Ehx Tabah and his father. We went back three days later to see if we could teach them again and they had moved to the country side. There ger was gone. They simply pack up their house and move in one day. We had a good referral from our investigator and wanted to teach her, but my companion said she was leaving to the country side the next day.

There is so many grocery stores around. They go and buy what they need that day. I think the concept of saving food for a couple of days is still new to my companion. It’s awesome that this part of their culture is still alive. It makes them wonderful missionaries, transfers are simply a part of their normal life. Packing up and moving really quickly is what a lot of the culture does anyway. I am in no way an expert on their culture, just simple observations.

To Mom

Yes I got your postcard, thank you. It makes me happy that Andrew [Steinicke] got my letter as well. I haven’t received a package yet. Keep up the good work. I love you.

P.S. My camera card has all sorts of viruses so I won’t be able to send pictures until I figure out how to get rid of them.

Love, Elder Willoughby

Related Posts

List of Daniel’s missionary posts.

Daniel (left) with companion (right) and Mongon Od

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s eighth email from 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.

Thanks for all the pictures. They are really good to see. I am grateful to hear that everyone is doing well.

Missionary Work

The work here is moving at lightning speed. My companion and I are still running some days to keep up with the busy schedule. We have more referrals than we can contact at the moment. We have an investigator that asked when she can be baptized. Erdenmohx knows that the Book of Mormon is true and has such great desire. We held a fast to help her family accept the Church and not be so against it. Yesterday at church she said her family was OK with the Church. The Lord has greatly blessed us.

Mongon Od, our investigator, came with us to the fireside yesterday. The fireside was so full that maybe 30 people were standing with every seat filled. It was quite the site to see. They are incredible! After the fireside he said he wanted to serve a mission. We will work with him to get baptism first. :)

The Mongolian members are truly amazing. It is hard to imagine that the Church has only been here for 16 years. My branch has 130 members that attend almost every Sunday. All of them are so welcoming to those joining the Church. They are so good at doing their best to magnify their callings. The members are so faithful. For some they have to travel a long way to get to church. I am always learning things from them.

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Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s seventh email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission.

Daniel in Ulaanbaatar

Hello Family

Looks like the trip [to Texas] was fun. Thanks for the pictures. I planned on sending some today but I still have to figure out why my card reader won’t read my chip. Next week I’ll have it fixed. :) [In] all the pictures everyone looks really happy.

Congratulations Byron! It is really exciting that you were called to the same country as your dad. It seems to be a bit warmer [in Argentina] than here probably. Spanish is a good language. I don’t mind not being able to speak it. The Mongolian language is great. The Mongolians speak their language with perfection so everyone is always correcting me. It is a really good way to learn. I have been really blessed to learn the language quickly. I’m starting to understand people when I talk to them.

English Class

My schedule was switched around to a school closer to me now. I am working with the school to get times to teach. On Saturday they were asking me if the material they had for 6th graders was hard enough. I searched deep into my mind and tried to remember what English grammar I was learning in 6th grade but not much to my surprise I couldn’t remember. I said, “I don’t know… looks good…” My classes are great and they talk to me in English. I am trying to learn their names. They like to learn songs from American bands. Today I’m going to prepare more lessons so I can be a better teacher. I am still learning what to do.

Missionary Work

This week my companion and I were very busy. We spent a lot of time teaching. We were blessed with many new investigators. Erden Monx is amazing. She came to watch a baptism before we even taught the first lesson. During church she was taking notes like crazy, writing almost every word and scripture the teacher was saying, and even introduced herself. I was doing my best to give her the scriptures we were reading, but she was helping me more than I was helping her.

Our other investigator, Naram Dorj, my companion was calling to come to church. My companion asked him where he was and he said he was at the church. My companion asked, “Which church?” He said, “Yours.” We both laughed and thanked the Lord for blessing us. He went to church early because he had work at the meeting time. He stayed halfway through the meeting and went late to work. He has three kids which came too. His kids sat on the front row and were well behaved. Insanely well behaved.

Hepgyy came to church as well. She is getting ready to be baptized. She has come to church three times already.

The branch has made huge improvements from since I first got here. They are all getting so good at teaching investigators and asking questions.

To Jake

I have found that the best way to learn is by doing. A concept doesn’t stick until I put it into use. The church is very young here. They are all working towards getting a stake and they just barely got the Doctrine and Covenants awhile ago.

To Mom

Thanks for the great letter Mom.

Love, Elder Willoughby

If anyone wishes to ask Daniel a question or to send him a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s sixth email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission.

Daniel’s district with members

It sounds like the family is doing great. Great job on the talks, Sarah and Derek, you both have always been good at that kind of thing. It looks everyone is staying busy and happy. :) We are still here as English teachers for our Visas but we are able to talk to people openly about the church. My companion and I still ask about their family and things as we have found that is more effective in getting a referral

This week has been crazy busy. If I didn’t have the Lord’s help it would have been very hard to do. My English classes have increased to 10 hours a week. On Tuesday I teach for 4 hours. We have to run sometimes in order to be on time. I taught probably 6 different classes this week. At one school they have me teach many different levels of English. I don’t teach grammar, the government wants me to get the people speaking English. So depending on how well the class is at introducing themselves I then adjust my lesson accordingly. Most of my students are my around 16-18 years old right now. They are sometimes not very interested in speaking English. So I put a lot of energy in being very energetic and smiling. After awhile they are chatting away in English — it is great! :)

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Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s fifth email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission.

Elder Daniel Willoughby in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Thanks family for all the great things you sent me. I really enjoyed the pictures. Looks like you are staying busy. Thanks Dad for the great example you were to me. I love you. Thanks Mom for always telling me what’s happening. It is always fun to get updates. Thanks for teaching me how to clean. Could you send me some recipes, maybe?

I’m going to start cooking more. This week was very busy. English class was great. My class are all about 16. They all stand up when I come in and I say, “Sit.” :) They show good respect. The Lord blessed me with an idea to get them involved and they were speaking a lot of English. This next week I have been given three more classes. Some I think will be older, college students. I’ll get to plan my lessons some time today. It’s very busy, it’s wonderful. I am learning so quickly and so much. I’m going to learn as I go along and trust in the Lord.

The Mongolians are very kind and considerate. The Lord has blessed Altangerel and I so much. We have witnessed His wonderful work go on this week at a rapid pace. I will try to express the great things that have happened this week. The Lord has truly blessed me. We were able to receive many referrals this week through talking to people on the street. The Mongolians are very receptive to the Message and I am almost every time blessed with someone who will listen to me every time.

We were able to visit two less actives. Batgerel said he would quit smoking tomorrow after he felt the Holy Ghost. Xerlen, his brother is the Assistant to the President. The spirit gave me the words to say and this Sunday he came back to church and received a calling. The branch has made so many improvements. The sacrament meeting was so quiet that people all around turned off their cell phones because they didn’t want to disturb the peaceful feeling. I could not stop smiling and I still constantly do. It is the best feeling when we’re worthy to have the Holy Ghost in our companionship. We had three investigators come to church by simply calling them. Mongoh Od I think ran to church because he was out of breath when I talked to him. He is a great investigator. Purebbat came with his two children and contributed to the lesson. During priesthood meeting, the branch president was asking questions like, “Does the Elder’s Quorum secretary need to have the Melchizedek priesthood?” They are all so willing to improve the branch and it was this week that the Lord did marvelous works for them. The branch is now holding weekly activities.

Altangerel and Daniel at church

Many Mongolians are doing great things. I am very happy to have watched the Lord use me as His instrument. He knows exactly what people need to hear. He has spoken fluent Mongolian to many to where they are astonished. I know that it was the Holy Ghost and the Lord using our companionship. I was able to go on an exchange with my district leader Saturday. He taught me some great ways to plan lessons. We also were blessed with the opportunity to meet with the branch president where Elder Wright was able to teach him everything he had prepared for the transfer in one meeting. The Holy Ghost was there and made the time very effective. I am constantly given words to say that spark their interest. I am humbled by such a great blessing it is when the Lord uses me.

To Jake: Thank you so much for the thoughts. I wrote it down and will reflect on it. I have seen that when I have faith the Lord does amazing things. He first tests our faith, then if we remain faithful through the trials, light always follows. Great blessings. He lives, I know he does and this is God’s work. I have no doubt of what He can do for His children that He loves.

To Kelsey: Happy birthday this Friday! I sent a letter, I have no idea how long it will take. Keep smiling and working as best you can. Kelsey, you have great talent and will be so wonderful. Enjoy your getting older. :)

Love, Elder Willoughby

If anyone wishes to ask Daniel a question or to send him a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.

Related Posts

List of Daniel’s missionary posts.

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s fourth email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission.

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Ulaanbaatar at Dawn

Thanks Steven for sending the pictures. Baby Aurora looks great! It is great to see how the gospel has blessed our family so much.

Happy Birthday DAD!!! I’m sure you still look good for how old you’re getting. :)

Thanks Paul for teaching me so much, and Jake the things you told me are very true principles. Meeting with Clay Frandsen so much before coming was a really good thing for me. All that I learned in mission prep class is starting to make sense.

I am doing great! I feel like I’ve learned a month’s time of information in one week. Has it really been one week? This mission is absolutely amazing. I am in Ulaanbataar Central area. This week was Tsagaan Sar. It is basically the Mongolian’s Christmas. Many Mongolians are busy during this time so President Andersen had us visit members and teach them about family history. The members here are awesome. We ate at probably ten members houses this week. Lots and lots of potato salad kind of thing and buuz — some kind of dumpling with meat in it. I loved the food it was great. There was also lots of candy! Yum. :) They also gave us gifts and I got to wear Mongolian traditional clothing. It was really cool to see such a difference in culture. I really enjoyed it and really respect Mongolian culture. I don’t know all about it yet but I’m learning so quickly.

All mail goes to the mission home with the address Sister Andersen gave out. I received a letter from Andrew Steinicke. I really honestly do not need anything and I actually have way too much stuff already. My Mongolian companion I respect a lot. He has so little yet serves diligently and has great knowledge of the gospel.

This mission is so different from Atlanta. We have ALA, PMF, and investigators. ALA is a less active. We have nine that we visit as often as we can. When they come back to church we get another one. We also visit part member families and strengthen them. President Andersen was told to strengthen the members here. Along with doing those we also get referrals like crazy from members and from the street by talking to people. I have been so blessed with the gift of tongues and with the Lord’s help am able to talk to Mongolians and get referrals now (address, phone number).

I was able to bear my testimony in sacrament meeting again. Afterwards some people said they felt something. I know it was the Holy Ghost giving me the words to say to help the Mongolians.

The Mongolians are very loving people. So willing to accept the gospel. So full of faith. I have yet to see an investigator who wouldn’t pray. When we shared scriptures with members they get all their kids and have each one read from it. They are excited about the gospel. It is a such a good thing. It makes me happy. They show us pictures of their families. Talk about their missions. It’s so impressive. They always love to see pictures of my family and are so interested in them. Families are a great blessing.

Truly this is the truth. I have no doubt of it. My knowledge of the gospel has increased so rapidly. I will humbly learn as much as I can to be the best instrument in His hands.

Thanks Mom and Dad. I love you a lot and I realize how much you’ve done for me now. Dad I will forever be grateful for your example of dedication to the Church. I love you Dad.

Steven, Paul, and Jake you’ve been a great example to me and I’d be nowhere without you. Thanks for being great brothers. Sarah thanks for being a great sister. You taught me a lot growing up and I am grateful. You maybe should have taught me how to spell better. :)

To MTC teachers: My respect for all of you has grown a lot. Cannon Ax I saw your picture in a member’s photo album. Thanks again for your hard work.

To Jake: I found that the way to measure faith is by hope and charity. And without charity…faith and hope are useless.

Love, Elder Willoughby

If anyone wishes to ask Daniel a question or to send him a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.

Presented here are portions of Elder Daniel Willoughby’s third email from the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission.

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Zaisan Hill, Mongolia. Daniel third from left.

Everyone looks great with the new baby! Congratulations!

Wow! Mongolia is truly incredible! The plane ride was really short — I was able to study a lot and also sleep. When we arrived at the mission home after some driving we instantly were thrown into the work here. It was a dream come true to see how organized this mission is. I feel like I have a million things to learn and it’s just what I’ve always wanted. Elder Weaver and I were even able to be in a new member lesson on Friday the day we got off the plane. We were so jet lagged — I love the feeling — it was such a challenge to pay attention. Reminded me of track. I was able to contribute a bit to the lesson.

The weather is warming up. We spent two hours in the Black market. It was freezing but I bought a coat and Mongolian traditional clothes. I am perfectly warm now. :) So far it’s has been amazing to see this country.

The people are incredible. We are allowed to walk up to people and talk to them about our church. Some missionaries said they don’t know what that one rule was about, the “they have to ask you why you are here” kind of thing. They are so, so receptive to the Gospel. The AP’s get 15 referrals for 20 contacted people. Our first day they took us out to start talking to people. I jumped at the opportunity. The Mongolians understand me! I just need to learn more words so I can talk more to them. I mostly said I came from America because Christ’s church helped my family and I know it can help yours. There is so much work to do here. The members are amazing, in the classes they teach about praying about the Book of Mormon and gaining a testimony.

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President and Sister Andersen very kindly sent these emails to update us on Daniel.

Daniel with President and Sister Andersen

Sister Andersen Email

After a long wait the “January Group” of foreign missionaries have arrived in Mongolia. You should have received an email from your son or daughter on Friday to let you know that they are here. In a meeting held Saturday morning the ten missionaries were paired with their trainers. Since then they have scattered to their various locations of service throughout Mongolia.

Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns. You can use this email address or my husband’s.

Sister Andersen

President Andersen Email

22 February 2009

Dear Brother and Sister Willoughby,

I was excited to greet your son at the airport on February 19th. He looked tired after the long flight but was grateful to finally be here in Mongolia to begin his Mongolia missionary service. I know he has had excellent preparation in the MTC for his assignment here.

Your son will grow during his missionary service, both spiritually and emotionally. The Mongolian people are extremely kind and love to associate with our foreign missionaries. They have a deep desire to learn English. He will develop a taste for the local food and with reasonable care, it is safe to eat. He will develop a love for the Mongolian people and will develop a sincere desire to have them come unto Christ and be baptized into His Church. He will have many wonderful experiences to relate to you when he returns home at the end of his mission.

I had the opportunity of interviewing your son on February 20th. He was full of enthusiasm for the work. I feel assured that he will be an excellent representative of the Lord. We will do our best to ensure that your son has a fulfilling experience while serving here. Letters will be very important to him and I would encourage you to write weekly. You should also expect a weekly correspondence from him. Please let us know if you are not receiving regular mail.

Sister Andersen and I are committed to missionary service and have strong testimonies of the Restoration of the Gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. We love the Lord and we love these missionaries and our greatest desire is to see them succeed. Thank you for sharing your son with us and for your continued support in this great missionary effort. The attached photos were taken at Zaisan Hill overlooking Ulaanbaatar and the mission home on February 20th.

Sincerely,
President D. Allen Andersen

Related Posts

List of Daniel’s missionary posts.