Our Last Days in Mongolia

The bathroom in Don's hospital room. The Song Do Hospital is privately owned by Koreans. The doctor Don had was Mongolian and very attentive to his case. This was probaby the best in the country, in fact. Don had ultrasounds, CT scans, bloodwork and an x-ray. We are not sure what antibiotics were given to him to treat his diagnosed acute pancreatitis, but we feel it did help enormously. For pain, Don took percocet given him by the mission doctor, Elder Eliason. In fact, it saved him a lot of discomfort.

It was clean but it wasn't the height of comfort. This was Don's cot for 5 nights in the Ulaanbaatar Song Do Hospital where he was treated for acute pancreatitis. Neither the head nor the feet of this bed could be propped up. He had no bedside table so we used a chair.

There is a little refridgerator in the corner and there was a TV which showed Fox News from about 1AM to 7AM. Believe me, we did little sleeping in this "hotel."

I stayed with Don in the hospital and slept on this hard table-like bed. Being almost 62, it was hard on my bones!!

A playground across the street from the hospital gone to weeds. The Mongolians don't seem to understand that if the keep grass mowed, it grows thicker and looks so much better. Landscaping is not one of their fortes.

Picture taken from 6th floor of Song Do Hospital looking across at the construction of the new government building. Sooty haze in horizon.

This picture is taken from the 6th floor of the Song Do Hospital window. In the foreground, the only five-star hotel in town can be seen, while in the background can be seen the sooty horizon from the ger districts. We are told that in the winter there is terrible pollution caused by burning coal by people living in the gers.

Memories of Mongolia

Elder and Sister Lasson are playing "anklebones." This is a common game played by Mongolians showing their creativity and use of resources. These little bones are ankle bones from sheep. They clean them up and play games with them. I was actually given an ankle bone set by my dear friend, Megaa as a going away gift. I am looking forward teaching my grandchildren how to play. I think they will like it!!

These are two girls walking arm in arm along the street. I have no idea who they are but wanted to record this social behavior. There are a couple of reasons for walking arm-in-arm: first, the sidewalks and walkways in dire need of repair and in most cases are dangerous; and secondly, in the winter the sidewalks are icy and slippery and the girls can help each other stay on their feet. All women are very comfortable walking together and there is no a perverted thought in so doing.

Don is with Battar, a city councilman we were privleged to tutor every day. They are standing in Suhkbaatar Square in the city of Ulaambaatar. Battar is trying to learn English so he can pass an English proficency test in November. Learning English is the desire of almost every Mongolian. Having this skill will enable them to get better jobs and have more opportunities to move forward in the world.

Here we are with our interpreter, Nasaa at the ARP meeting on Tuesday night - the last night we participated in any of our missionary assignments. At midnight on this night Don got vilolently sick and so our mission came to an end.

One of the assignments we had was to attend the Addiction Recovery Program class held every Tuesday evening. We had to have an interpreter, shown here on the right, our darling Nasaanjargle. She met an Elder Porter in the Provo MTC. He was on his way to Mongolia and she was on her way to Indiana. Now that they are home from their missions, Elder Porter "came calling" on Nasaa in Mongolia, proposed and they are waiting for the necessary immigration paperwork so she can go to America to marry him. We love Nasaa!! She is such a lovely person with a pure heart. Elder Porter is a very lucky fellow!!

On the left is Sister , the ARP class leader. She is very skilled at listening and giving advice and explaining how the twelve steps can change lives.

The Spirit of the Lord shines from their eyes. These are sister missionaries from Mongolia to Mongolia. There are about 120 missionaries in the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission. Of those, only seven are from America. There are 900 returned missionaries - the highest rate of returned missionaries to members in the world! They are wonderful people and we were blessed to be with them, if even for a little while.

Ulaanbaatar city buses. They pack them in! We never got brave enough to try the bus. However, we did stand on the side of the street with our hand out, waited for someone to stop and give us a lift for 1,000 Ts. It was a bargain! There are taxis in town, but any ole person behind the wheel would do as well. Something we would never think of doing in the States!!

The Nobel and Great Ones

I want to write about the senior couples Don and I were privileged to know in Mongolia. Every couple has left retirement and children and grandchildren to go work using their skills, abilities and effort at building up the Kingdom of God on earth. Their vision is clear and the faith is steady and strong.

They truly are “…other choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in the fullness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day work… I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God. Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to came forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.” Doctrine and Covenants 138:53-55

Elder and Sister Powell are from the Provo area. Having taught junior high school for 35 years, Elder Powell and his wife are responsible for the English teaching by the American missionaries. Mongolia prohibits the proselyting of religion especially by outsiders. Americans are allowed into the country only as “English teachers.” The Powells have spent endless hours organizing material in the English library in the Bayanzurkh church building. Drawers of work pages and shelves of reference materials organized for easy access by all English teachers. Many of the young returned missionaries want to attend BYU-Hawaii. In order to do that, they must pass the Michigan English test. The Powells have made available not only materials but classes to prepare them to pass the test.

The day we arrived in Mongolia, Elder Powell was asked to step in as the acting mission president in Pres. Mecham’s absence. He had served as the secretary in the mission presidency. Dealing with missionaries in Mongolia has unique challenges. These young people are called, set-apart fulltime missionaries laboring in their hometown – with their non-member moms, dads and girlfriends 10 minutes away. Many of the 120 missionaries were actually called and were serving in other missions in the world, then “recalled” to come back to Mongolia to finish out their missions when the government of Mongolia kicked out all the American elders and sisters who had been serving there. It seems that the Americans hadn’t taken the English teaching seriously and weren’t, in many cases, doing it so they kicked them out! This happened within the past year. Then the unexpected challenge of having Pres. Mecham leave, these young men and women’s commitment was challenged. Our leaving has left the mission shorthanded. Simply stated, it’s been tough on the mission. President Powell has done a remarkable job under these very difficult circumstances.

Sister Powell welcomed us with a housewarming gift of a jar of Jiff peanut butter and a loaf of her homemade bread.. We leaned quickly that this was a sweet and generous gift! While Elder Powell was being “President Powell,” she was keeping things running smoothly in the English department which duties they formerly carried out together. As I pointed out before, a lot rests on English teaching. Every American missionary teaches English, including the doctor! The Mongolian government has made it clear why they think we’re there and it isn’t to share the gospel.

I can’t help but wonder if he and Sister Powell weren’t given “lessons in the world of spirits” to deal with this. They truly are “noble and great.”

Mongolia is Elder and Sister Eliason’s second mission. They first were called and served as the medical doctor in Chile which included 13 missions. Now Elder Eliason is the mission doctor for Mongolia, the only mission in the world with its very own doctor. He took good care of Don when he got so sick. Elder Eliason had become acquainted with a good Mongolian doctor in the Ulaanbaatar SongDo Hospital and knew that was where Don needed to go to be treated. Elder Eliason conferred with and gave suggestions to the doctor so that Don would receive the best care possible. Then as the diagnosis was made that Don had acute pancreatitis, Elder Eliason was in contact with stateside doctors asking for opinions and advice to make sure the best decisions were made in Don’s behalf. We owe a great deal to Elder Eliason, appreciating and admirig his calm, sure demeanor and thorough care.

Elder Eliason keeps the young elders and sisters healthy advising them about exercise, healthy eating and safe drinking water. He has had to deal with emergency surgery and accidents. At one point he accompanied a senior missionary home who’d had a heart attack. He is serving as a doctor and paying for the privilege, supporting himself and his wife on their mission. Talk about selfless!

Sister Eliason’s duties are directing Family History and organizing temple trips. Mongolia really needs its own temple. One of the qualifications for a temple is that the people need to have 50,000 names ready for temple work. The nearest temple for the Mongolian people is Hong Kong, an expensive three-day train trip away. Sister Eliason organizes a temple trip every quarter and has something to do with temple preparation classes.

In addition to all this, she and Elder Eliason teach English in the special medical schools, their primary role according to their visas. They carry out assignments in their branch when Elder Eliason does home teaching every Sunday evening at 7:30 and Sister Eliason plays the organ for sacrament meetings and has several other branch assignments. It is amazing what people will do when they believe there is a prophet of God on earth!! They go anywhere and do all they can to build up Zion!

Elder and Sister Clark are from Tallahassee, Florida. They served their first mission to Mongolia, went home for six months and decided to return to Mongolia again. They run the Perpetual Education Fund and Returned Missionary Office in the Ulaanbaatar. They love the young people and the young people love them! The Clarks love Mongolia and find joy every day in their missionary work. They are a joy to be around! Elder Clark has a hard time saying the unusual Mongolian names so he gives them nicknames. They don’t seem to mind at all but, coming from Elder Clark, consider their nickname a term of endearment.

The Clarks have covered the walls of the returned missionary office with pictures of all who have completed their missions by year. They know their names and when and where they served and what they are up to now that they are home.

Sister Clark is the social leader for the senior missionaries, organizing potluck dinners and other get-togethers. Senior missionaries enjoy one another and will be lifelong friends. Besides that, she helped organize a service project making baby quilts, knit caps and ties for new mothers. Twenty-five or 30 warm, new tied quilts made with adorable baby fabric in soft colors with a knit cap and ties to keep the quilts around the babies in winter were made in a joint effort by the youth and young single adults. Because they had no quilt frames, the young men kept the quilts taut by holding the corners while the young women tied them. The Young Single Adult women sewed the edges and made the ties. A quilt with a baby’s knit cap and a tie were put in individual bags and taken to a maternity hospital. One of the new fathers had his baby wrapped in a towel the day the quilts were delivered. Can you imagine the joy of wrapping his new baby in one of those beautiful baby quilts?!

There are a couple of stories Sister Clark told me about Elder Clark which I enjoyed hearing. The first is about a young Mongolian boy who was going to school at one of the medical schools in Ulaanbaatar. He joined the Church and developed a desire to go on a mission. But he had to get a release from his school in order to go. Elder and Sister Clark went to the school to speak with the school officials about releasing the young man so he could serve a fulltime mission for the Church. Elder Clark explained how that the young man would return more prepared to study, he would learn people skills which would benefit him in the medical profession and that he would most likely learn the English language – all excellent reasons to let the boy go on a mission. Then the school official asked the Clarks if “their organization” was the one which provided the wheel chairs. Elder Clark responded that it was. The school official said his school could use some wheel chairs. Elder Clark asked how many could they use? About a hundred was the reply. Elder Clark assured him he’d ask about it. Apparently, the wheel chairs were provided and the boy has been on a mission in the Washington D.C area for about a year. Elder Clark refers to the young missionary as “Elder Cha-Ching” because it was a big price to ay to get him on a mission.

The second story I enjoyed about Elder Clark was concerning a lady’s coat. Upstairs in the furthest corner of the 5^th floor is a storage room. Besides some food storage, in this room one can find everything to outfit a missionary including garments, shirts, ties and coats. These items have been left behind for the use of anyone who may need them. It seems that Sister Clark, while on her first mission, saw a coat she needed to get her through the harsh Mongolian winter. It was full-length with a hood which had fur around the edge. Indeed it was a coat made to shield someone from the severe cold Mongolian winters and Sister Clark took it. Elder Clark named the coat “Fifi.” She wore the coat throughout her mission. As she was preparing to leave her mission, Sister Clark gave the coat back. After all, they were heading back to balmy Florida and had no use for an extreme weather coat there. Once they decided to return to Mongolia, Sister Clark had to buy new winter clothing again since she had left most of her clothes in Mongolia for sisters to use. But she had trouble finding a new coat to buy. Once back in Mongolia, she looked for “Fifi.” Come to find out, “Fifi” had been borrowed by Sister Anderson who is serving north near the Siberian boarder of Mongolia and is making good use of the coat.

While I was there, Sister Clark did find another very warm coat which she borrowed. I wonder if Elder Clark will name it?

Elder and Sister Lasson have the responsibility to lend humanitarian aid to the people of Mongolia. Elder Lasson is a retired civil engineer in a country where those skills have been of great value to the people. Besides making it possible for hundreds of wheel chairs to come into the country, he and Sister Lasson have labored to make possible the building of “dump tanks” which supply clean drinking water to several ger districts in Mongolia. They have organized neonatal training to prevent infant mortality in the country. Theirs is a remarkable, gospel-in-action service which has lifted the very well-being of Mongolians whose life expectancy is sixty. I encourage you to read about their experiences in their own words by reading their blog at www.makingmemoriesinmongolia.blogspot.com

Elder Lasson is a counselor in the mission presidency. Sister Lasson works in Primary in their assigned branch. Of all the adventures they have, out of necessity, driving in Mongolia is something Elder Lasson does well – and that’s saying something! Mongolians have to be the world’s best drivers and the scariest!! Elder Lasson goes with the flow and truly falls into the “best driver” category. When we first got to Mongolia, Elder Lasson took us on a tour of the town. We felt his love of Mongolia and his excitement for the work going on there. In the short time they have spent on their mission, the Lassons have accomplished great things to lift and improve the lives of the Mongolian people. They are “doers of the word” who have put into action their faith in the Lord and His plan. What a joy it has been to rub shoulders with these magnificent people!

Elder and Sister Ford came to Mongolia a couple of weeks after us. Their assignment is to run the mission office. Sister Ford told me she never wanted to be a secretary. Wow, the Lord knows how to challenge us! The mission has been without an office couple for several months. The Fords have been a great blessing. Their main concern in the very short time they have been in Mongolia has been to get a grip on the office and make it function smoothly. Like the other couples, they put in long hours every day getting it done. As time goes by they will get involved with a branch and have callings which will strengthen the Church. They have already begun teaching an English class on Thursday nights at the chapel. Their latest class was attended by nearly 60 people!

Elder Ford established and ran a greenhouse in Colorado where they produced millions of pounds of tomatoes and shipped them all over the country. I wonder how this will play into his mission in frigid Mongolia!! No doubt about it, Mongolia could use tomatoes – and celery and lettuce and other vegetables.

There are two other couples, both Andersons, who live some distance from the city. They work in outlying area where they give support to the Church and teach English classes. We never met these couples but heard about their roles giving stability and strength to the Church and communities.

We saw with our eyes and heard with our ears and felt with our hearts these great missionaries called to serve in Mongolia. What an honor to have been among them and to be considered a part of them though it was such a short time. These are noble and great people doing noble and great work among the Mongolians.

Steven Covey wrote of missionaries, “In the mission field you experienced a quality of spiritual and service life, likely unknown to you before. Many of you felt after leaving home that you had left the Garden of Eden and gone out into the ‘lone and dreary world.’ But gradually, as the months passed and through the divine process of missionary work, study and prayer, your heart and your world changed from a physical, social, self-centered one to a spiritual one where all of your energies and enthusiasms and time became focused on one grand goal – that of bringing souls to the Lord and His Restored Church and Gospel.

“This is why to a great degree you felt far more wrenched on leaving the mission field than you did on initially leaving home. Your heart had changed and so had your world, and you felt you were truly leaving the Garden of Eden to go back into the ‘lone and dreary world.’”

We know the feeling!!

Meridian Magazine Article

Sister Lasson's mother who is in her 80s was accompanied to Mongolia by her visiting teacher, Dian Thomas. Sister Thomas wrote about their experience in Mongolia for the Meridian Magazine. You can read the article by going to

http://www.ldsmag.com/lds-church-updates/article/6459?ac=1

Ziason and the Zok

Ziason is a high hill on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar where Elder Neal A. Maxwell and the first missionary couples went on April 15, 1993 to dedicate the land of Mongolia for the preaching of the gospel. There is an enormous memorial to the Russians at the top. From the top you can see the great city and ger districts. It's quite beautiful. The day we were there was September 19th, a Saturday and it was freezing cold. We went with Elder and Sister Ford who had just arrived in Mongolia and LJ and Hannah Nielson, a former missionary to Mongolia and his bride who were here in Mongolia on an internship. Because LJ speaks Mongolian fluently, we were able to get around and enjoy the day with his help. Besides his languae skills, we just plain enjoyed his company. It was a very fun day. Besides Ziason, we also went to the zok - a huge open market often referred to as "the black market."

This is a bride and groom making a climb to the top of Ziason we think to get married. However, all a couple needs to do to be married is to register, pay a fee and wala, they are legally and lawfully wed - a residue of the old Soviet influence.

On the inside of the ring-like structure is a huge mosaque showing the friendship the Russians showed to the Mongolians. Elder Carter and I are here with Elder and Sister Ford with the city in the background.

From Ziason looking down on a shrine to Buddha. Mongolia is a Buddhist nation.

The ascent up to Ziason. There were a zillion stairs, the wind was freezing cold, but we made the trek and enjoyed the time we had there. LJ helped us get taxis and arranged for them to wait for us while we hiked around and got pictures then they took us back to town where we got lunch and did some more exploring.

Anyone for levis?? This is part of the "black market" in Ulaanbaatar.

Don bought this Russian looking hat. Looks rather dashing, don't you think!

Elder Ford looking for a winter coat.

There are plenty to choose from!!

LJ trying on another dashing hat. Wonder how it looks?? Not to worry the sellers provide a mirror so you can have a look. They'll even hold it for you!!

District Conference - Sunday, September 19, 2010

After getting better from Chinggis Khan’s revenge, Sunday evening from 4 to 6PM we attended the District Conference meeting at Royal Opera House. It was a very nice setting. One of the branches was asked to furnish a choir. All the girls were dressed in the same dress and the boys in ties and vests. Singing “I Believe in Christ” accompanied by a piano and cello, they sounded like an angel choir. Mongolians sing just beautifully! The little girl on the cello played “How Great Thou Art” as a solo during the meeting. It was stirring.

I marvel how the Spirit of the Lord teaches people truth to honest hearts. These people ARE Latter-day Saints. They struggle, they strive, they fall and they keep trying just like Latter-day Saints I’ve known everywhere else we’ve lived. The District President, his counselor and a member of the high council spoke to us. Their talks were honest and encouraging, expressing how the gospel has changed their lives and that they have received many blessings since joining the Church. One spoke about how important it is to do simple acts of kindness and service – beautiful talk! They all bore witness of Joseph Smith and the Restoration, and each testified that we are led by a prophet of God today who is President Monson.

In my heart I wondered how they know this and made changes in their lives to conform to the teachings of a Church from so far away, from a different country, and from a different culture. But then I realized that people of the scriptures believed in a Christ who WOULD come but hadn’t yet come during their mortal lives. One way or the other faith is the key, and having exercised faith having the Holy Ghost stamp it upon one’s heart. And it’s that simple formula: “We believe the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sin; and fourth, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Our interpreter was a former missionary to Mongolia who is here for a visit. I can’t get over the number of missionaries who come back for a visit. I’ve met three in the two weeks I’ve been here. This young man served here at the same time as Caleb Larsen and remembered him. He understood Mongolian and was picking it up again pretty well.

Two young women who will soon leave to serve missions bore their testimonies to us. One is bound for Japan and the other will be going to San Bernardino, California. When they complete their missions they will add to the army of over NINE HUNDRED returned Mongolian missionaries. This country has the greatest number of returned missionaries per capita in the world!! And they are great young people!! They desire to go forward with their educations, they all strive to improve their English and they want to get married and contribute to the Church, establish strong families and help Mongolia. It is a wonder!!

Alma said, "For because of the word which he has imparted unto me, behold many have been born of God, and have tasted as I have tasted, and have seen eye to eye as I have seen; therefore they do know of these things of which I have spoken, as I do know; and the knowledge which I have is of God." (Alma 36:26)

We learned that things are not so good for Sister Mecham, the mission president’s wife. When they did surgery, cancer was found in her lymph nodes. She will have to go through chemotherapy which means they will be gone for a long time. We ask why. Why were they called when certainly the Lord knew how this would play out. This has to be an Abrahamic experience in which Sister Mecham showed the Lord she was willing to do anything He asked her to do.

In the meantime, Elder Powell is acting as president. Don and I have decided to call him “President Powell” because the young missionaries need that example and he deserves our support and respect. President Powell spoke at conference following a talk by his wife. He said, “I wish you could all have an angel for a wife like I have. But you can’t have her, she’s mine.” Everyone chuckled. Then he warned us that he’d be sharing a personal experience. He recounted how his first wife got cancer eight years ago. Each time before going to the doctor, he and his wife prayed together. He said their prayers were always simple, “Heavenly Father, please bless us with good news today.” And they would feel a great peace and warm feeling in their hearts and they knew things would be all right. They continued to pray for good news before every doctor’s visit, but each visit never brought good news. Finally, the doctors told them it would not be long until she would experience death. They were a little confused because of the sweet, comforting peace which had come to them every time they prayed. Finally, Pres. Powell’s wife recognized the message Heavenly Father kept sending them. The message was that Heavenly Father loved them and was in charge and they were not to fear. After a long battle with cancer, she passed away.

Pres. Powell said he didn’t think he could ever be happy again - until he could be with his wife again. He felt such great loss and loneliness. Then he met up with one of his wife’s dear friends. She had suffered a terrible divorce and had raised her three daughters alone. Pres. Powell asked her to dinner. From what we were told, he asked her soon after their first date if she’d like to go on a mission with him. She said she would. They knew they’d have to be married in order to go so they got married. He told everyone how that he knows that Heavenly Father loves him and us all. He said he is is happy again. They celebrated their first wedding anniversary last April!!

“The arm of the Lord has been revealed…” and the Lord knew this good man would be needed here in Mongolia at this time. Don doesn’t think Pres. Mecham will be returning due to the condition of his wife. The Lord alone knows. But Pres. Powell is here, now, giving his best effort to lead and strengthen the mission. I think this is a story about “five loaves and two little fish” and what the Lord can do with them.

Chinggis Khan Revenge

Montezuma has no corner on the "revenge." I ought to know! I had the Chinggis Khan's revenge starting Thursday night through Saturday and it was ugly!! Just let me say that I never throw-up - even with morning sickness, I never threw-up. Steele stomach!! But this hit me and I purged, and purged and purged. Afterward, I got better. It's over. Two days though and I thought I was going to die in Mongolia without seeing my children again. Don gave me a blessing and really think that the throwing-up was in answer to that blessing. It was the only way Heavenly Father could get it out of my system. It worked. Other than feeling heavy and lifeless, like I'd been run over by a Mac truck, I got better!!

We had invited a government official to come to dinner along with his little family including his wife and two children. We had also invited a young American couple, the Nielsons, to come. LJ Neilson speaks Mongolian and is here for a bank internship during his off-track semester from BYU-Idaho. He served his mission here in 2006. Now he brought his bride back to his old missionary stomping grounds. Hannah, his wife, works in the mission office helping out and teaching music skills. Hannah will continue teaching our government official English after we leave for Darkhan at the end of September.

Saturday, after Don had failed to get in touch with our man, Bat-Tur, and when I knew I was incapable of cooking, I told Don to call Hannah and ask her come cook. She did. I stayed in bed and they all had a nice meal and good visit.

Just For Gracie!!

Hi Gracie,

This is Grandpa with Elmo in New York City last summer. I've been meaning to send it to you. We love Elmo but most of all

we love Gracie!!

HeHeHeHeHe!

Bisous!!

The BZ Building

The BZ Building in Ulaanbaatar is so named for the street on which it is located - Bayanzurkh. Really it’s more like “A thru Z” because it is a multipurpose building and used around the clock. In fact, it has a 24-7 guard!! It’s like a beehive – there are people here from 6 AM to 10PM daily. Three units of the Church, a Stake, the Mongolian Mission offices, and the Mission President’s residence are housed in this building and it’s one of the brightest, cleanest and most well built buildings in all of Mongolia. Six stories (including a basement), this 40,000 square foot building has it all including a rarity – an elevator!

The 5^th Floor is the Mission President’s residence and a sisters’ dorm for incoming and outgoing missionary sisters. President and Sister Mecham haven’t been here for about a month because she is being treated for breast cancer. Soon after arriving in Mongolia, Sister Mecham discovered a lump and went to America to have it checked out. Once cancer was diagnosed, President Mecham was instructed to go be with her. It is a stage two cancer and she will have surgery and radiation treatments. They are hopeful that it will all work out and plan to be gone for about three months.

The 4^th floor houses the mission offices including Elder and Sister Eliason’s medical room and the elders’ dorm. Elder Eliason is a retired physician. The Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission is the only mission in the world with its own doctor. Before coming here to Mongolia, the Eliason’s, parents of ten children, served a mission in South America where he supervised the medical services for three countries. The English library and classroom are also on this floor supervised by Elder and Sister Powell. Elder Powell taught school for about 35+ years before retiring. He and his wife have prepared curriculum and organized material used for teaching English, the official reason why we’re all here in Mongolia. At the moment, however, Elder Powell is the acting president of the mission while Pres. Mecham is out of country.

The 3d floor houses the stake, the patriarch’s office and the high council room. There is another huge classroom on this floor, which is used for Sunday School Classes, Relief Society, Mission Staff Meetings, and a daily seminary class.

Classrooms and the ward and branch offices take up the 2^nd floor. Here, young people together for their weekly Young Men/Young Women meeting. On Sunday these rooms are used for Primary and other classes.

That 24 hour guard sits on the 1st floor which is the entrance floor of the building. The chapel and overflow, baptismal font and room, and the humanitarian projects offices are located on this floor. Every Friday evening has been set aside for baptisms. Baptismal services begin in the chapel and everyone moves to the baptismal font room where we squeeze in for the ordinance then move back to the chapel. If, by chance, there are no baptisms, a fireside is held. The baptismal room is a busy place. Tuesday thru Thursday English classes are held here. Don and I had our first class last Thursday evening attended by 35 people. The Clarks class on Wednesday had about 45. They said they have had to seat people in the hall at times when over 60 people have come to learn English.

The basement floor includes a computer lab where students can take BYU-Hawaii classes on-line. The Career Center and PEF offices, which are run by Elder and Sister Clark are here too. Pres. Odgerel’s day job is overseeing the Seminaries and Institutes. His office and his secretary’s office are also here in the basement. There is a huge classroom which is used Tuesday through Thursday for various Institute classes including the Doctrine and Covenants, and Marriage classes. The Young Single Adults attend them all. We’ve seen it filled with 67 students!! One day earlier this week, the tables here were filled with baby quilts and sewing machines. The youth tied the quilts and the YSA would hem them. The quilts will go to a birthing center for new mothers who can’t afford quilts for their newborns. There is a small kitchen room useful for socials as well.

It's a wonderful building, dedicated to the work of the Lord. "By their fruits shall ye know them." Latter-day Saints here love the gospel, the Restoration and the activities of the Kingdom. It is a joy to be a part of this. But the one building these people are praying for is a temple. They have to have 20,000 members and have 50,000 temple ready names in order to qualify for a temple. They are half way there!! With over a thousand baptisms a year, a temple is within reach. Hallelujia Mongolia!!

YSAs Dancing!!

The young man has been home from his mission for less than a month. He served in Signapore where he learned English from his American companions. He is glad to be home and is looking forward to dating and finding his "eternal companion." He's just a darling fellow!!
This is Brother Jay dancing. He, too, has just been released from a mission to America. He was just hired to work in the mission offices here in Mongolia. His dad is in the branch presidency in Darkhan and Don will be working with him there. We had dinner with his mom and dad last week. They don't speak a lot of English but Jay's dad introduced his mom as "my honey."

These young Mongolians love to be together. They spend all their time with each other. Here they are on a Saturday evening for three hours at a church dance. Cutest thing - they were given instruction in a waltz to the music of "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us and we love Him, yes, we love Him." The dance was lovely and seemed somehow to fit the music and the lyrics.

Grand Grandchildren!!

and their moms and dads and aunts and uncles!! How we love our family!!

Our First Baptism

Every Friday evening here there is a baptism. Tonight we attended baptisms for seven people. There were at least 200 people in attendance. We had a returned missionary sit behind us and interpret for us. Most weeks there are many more but because of various circumstances this was a small number to be baptized.

We sang "Count Your Many Blessings," and "The Spirit of God" with all these wonderful Mongolian brothers and sisters. They can sing!! We sang the hymns in English while they sang in Mongolian.

Exactly like everywhere else in the world, this meeting included a talk on baptism and a talk on the gift of the Holy Ghost. Two sisters gave those talks and they were wonderful!!

Then everyone walked to the baptismal room and squeezed in to watch the ordinances performed. All dressed in white, it was stone still when the baptismal prayer was said. Remarkable - exactly the same as it's done anywhere else in the world with one exception: After the baptisms, we gathered once again in the chapel where we heard each of the people who had just been baptized bear their testimony. Wonderful!! This ought to be the standard everywhere else in the world. They were not at all shy or embarrassed and bore sweet, pure testimonies of what they have come to know is true.

We are just thrilled to be here in Mongolia serving the Lord and some of His children here. These are sweet, dear people who are new and fresh in the gospel it has become the center of their lives.

Ulaanbaatar - an interesting capital city!!

We are in Mongolia!! Arrived here on Sept. 6, 2010 - a Monday. Today marks our 4th day. Everyone has been wonderful, but we have come to learn that everyone is very busy with their own responsibilities and really have no time to entertain us. We have tried to do a lot of observation and are at the point where we are making our own way. We will not be allowed to go up to Darkhan until we are registered with our sponsor and that will be in about two more weeks.

In the meantime, we have been asked to give personal, one-on-one English lessons to a government official who is going to take an English test soon and wants to be tutored. We will spend an hour and a half daily teaching him. We are a bit nervous but anxious to jump in and get our feet wet!

Tuesday night we were the senior couple atttending the ARP meeting. Wow! What a great experience. There were 25 people there - mostly non-members. They all shared openly the battles they are trying to overcome. The Church manual has been translated into Mongolian which is read and discussed. The teacher speaks only Mongolian and we had a translator who sat behind us and whispered in our ear what the teacher and participants were talking about. There was much said about Heavenly Father and his help. Many were recognized for their progress and changes. There was one man who is a bit obnoxious and took away from the meeting. We will most likely attend again next week and Don has decided to have a talk with him before the meeting to set some ground rules. The meeting is held every Tuesday night. Many of the same folks have attended for a while and expressed how much they have benefited from the meetings.

We observed an English class taught at the same meetinghouse on Wednesday night. This meeting has been ongoing for a couple of years. The Clarks, a senior couple, teach the class which is a free offering open to the public. Because it is taught in a chapel, they are a little more free to bring up gospel principles although they are careful to maintain the purpose. Last night, they had the class members read from the family enrichment manual (FHE) about what a happy home is. They read aloud and asked questions and discussed the ideas. Each of the participants volunteered to introduce themselves using a guide of statements they had to finish with their own information. There was a police detective, an OB-GYN doctor, legal people, construction engineers and others. They ranged in age from 16 to 47. The one thing they had in common was that they came to learn to speak English better.

We can see why people get interested in the gospel by participating in these kinds of classes. They are in the chapel, they feel the Spirit of the Lord, the teachers enjoy being with them and try to help them reach their goals.

People do all kinds of things for a living including mopping stairwells, picking up trash or whatever. These people are very ambitious and willing to work rather than getting a handout. We were told that people live in the manholes and there is a lady who lives under our stairs in our building. We were also told that doctors here are paid less than a translator. Things are very different here.

We live in an apartment building. Our apartment is on the 4th floor. There is no elevator. There are 69 steps to reach our door. We are comfortable and happy to have our apartment, which is an interesting subject for a future blog.

Traffic here is like something out of Indiana Jones!! Policemen stand in mid-intersections and blow their whistles non-stop. Good thing they use their hands and twirl a baton to SHOW who goes where because they whistle at everyone but it could be anyone! Drivers need two hands to drive - one hand the steer and the other hand to honk their horn! There are no rules of the road. Oh, I guess there is one rule, don't bump into another car. They miraculously keep that rule pretty well!!

Krisitn is home

Kristin is home from the mission field. She has been so sick even in the MTC she started to have a problem with her teeth which she ultimately had to have oral surgery for in the mission field. At the same time she developed ulcers and a hiatle hernia and was incapacitated by constant pain and other complications. It got so bad her mission president gave her the green light to call Don and me whenever she wanted to. She had tests done and they ruled out gall bladder, and pancreas trouble. She finally had an upper GI done in Virginia during which they found the stomach problems.

The Saturday before we were to fly to Mongolia, she called us early in the morning in terrible pain and crying. We had been in touch every day for the week previous and we kept thinking things would improve. On this Saturday morning I told her to call her doctor AND I called the doctor. Of course, we got an on-call doctor, an associate of the doctor who had been caring for her, who told her to take percocet over the weekend OR go to a different ER for a "second opinion" because he believed she had been misdiagnosed. I wasn't happy with his response at all. She had been sick for 5 weeks.

Her mission president told Kristin's companion that their major job was to get her well so they hadn't been getting much work done. (I can't think of anything worse than being sick or having a sick companion in the mission field.) She was given a companion from Heaven!! She was so supportive and understanding. I talked to her, Sister Stoehr, several times because I wanted to know her take on the situation. Sister Stoehr reassured me that Kristin was sick, no doubt about it.

So here we were preparing to fly to Mongolia the next day, but felt we had to do something about Kristin's situation. We went to see the MTC President but were referred to the MTC District President (equivalent to a Stake President) for some advice and direction. It was a draining day!! Ultimately the decision was made to have Kristin come home and for us to put off our flight to Mongolia for two weeks and meet her in Las Vegas. Which is what we did.

We got Kristin last Tuesday night, Aug. 24th, took her to see a stake president who released her as a missionary. She cried the entire time. It was so difficult! The next day we got her in to see a gastrologist and he put her on Nexium (Travis swears by Nexium) and told her to come back in two weeks. Over the next three days, she got somewhat better. She has been able to sleep a little better every night. Every day gets a little better. It will take time for her to feel like she doesn't have a time bomb ready to explode.

Travis believes she has exactly what he has spent the last 4 years battling. He talked to me for a least an hour from the MTC and then he talked to Kristin too and we all think they have the same problem which is overactive acid with a hiatle hernia. He told me he thought he was going to die - so did Kristin, but of course you don't die from this you just think you will. He will help her learn what, when and how to eat.

In the 7 days we've had her home, she has had 5 bad days and we have seen for ourselves that she could not function as a missionary in this condition.

There is a silver lining in this story. It seems that Don and I did not have our ESL certificate (teaching English as a second language) and would have been sent back from Mongolia had we actually flown there. According to Bro. Peterson, they wouldn't have let us out of the airport in Mongolia. So now we will fly back to Provo and attend a one-day training on Friday, Sept. 3rd, get the certification and fly out of SLC on Saturday night, Sept. 4th and arrive in Mongolia Sept. 6th, Monday morning.

We aren't sure what to expect about Kristin. She needs to get better. I am praying that OUR diagnosis is correct in which case it will take her a few months to settle down. If it turns out to be something different - like a complication due to her gastric bypass, then we'll have to take it as it comes. In the meantime, she is with family and has a doctor without the stress and responsibilities of a mission. She has applied for a 10-hour a week job at Deseret Book Store. We hope she can get it together.

We are hugely disappointed that she was not able to experience the great joy and satisfaction of serving a fulltime mission. Even though she was not feeling good, she had wonderful experiences as she shared the gospel and in the two areas she served, people were baptized! What a shame that it came to this end!! I don't understand why things happen as they do. I hope that at some point in the future we will see and understand why this all turned out this way.