District Conference

We had District Conference today. There were 850 people in attendance, and that was without any children under age 16. We are still under quarantine and children under age 16 are not allowed out in public gatherings. If they had been with us, we would have filled up the auditorium that has to be rented for Conferences. None of the church buildings, even as large as they all are, are big enough to hold all the members for conference. We really enjoyed it. The Church is TRUE, even this far from home! We had 94 baptisms during April. Here, the Branch Presidents and Elders Quorum Presidents make sure that every member in the ward are checked on every month. The missionaries contact every less active member at least once a week, that's why we have 6 missionaries serving in our Branch. We don't have home and visiting teaching the way it is in the states. The Relief Society President is responsible to see that every sister is visited or checked on personally. The people are still learning. Many do not have the resources or time to do these things. So the missionaries fill in where needed. It's been a beautiful sunshiney day here in UB. We even have flowers now. And some of the seeds we planted are coming up.

Spring has finally sprung!

Can you believe these flowers? Especially the green ones. And, the bee in the pink ones? It was a wonderful, sunny day today, shortsleeve weather. We strolled around the neighborhood and took pictures of everything that was blooming. We are enjoying watching all the people come out of their apartments to visit. We have made several friends, even though we don't understand a lot of what is being said, they know that we care about them and want to be their friends. These are the nicest, friendliest people we've ever been around. Wish all of you could be here. People actually are coming out of the apartments and sitting on the benches, planting and watering flowers, getting sunshine, strolling their babies. The children are playing badminton and hopscotch. We are really enjoying this. Love you all dearly.

A typical day in Mongolia

First is on the way to English class. We did the registration and certification cards for Dr. Ludlow, with the Swanson Foundation teaching CPR Classes at Shasteen Hospital today. One of Dad and I in a self portrait. We were standing in front of a mirror and took this one. Dad and Arika posing like the painting. (isn't that sweet?). Out front of the hospital. We stopped to have lunch on the way back to the office.....FRIED CHICKEN. First we've found in Mongolia. We found this older couple in traditional dress on the street. Aren't they beautiful people? Also, us crossing the street. You really have to suck it in and watch for car mirrors. When you cross the stree there, you can only get half way, wait, and then go again. Really gives you an adrenalin rush! Love it!

What we eat...

Hi Everybody: Lisa asked what kinds of things we eat. Much of our food comes from China and Korea. Much of it comes from eastern Europe. Dad's favorite thing of the week is wigor, which is a salad mixture and it comes from Poland. Made of celery, carrots, peppers & pickles. Mine is peach juice. The milk here is DE-licious. It comes from China. We have to pay 2,000T for one quart, which is about $1.72, which would make one gallon about $6.00. So we drink it very slowly.... We have a little food storage as you can see. We went downtown to the post office to mail letters to family and friends, and did a little walking around. One of the pics are of some of our friends from church. We've had a great week. Hope all is well at home. We had dinner tonight with Pres and Sister Andersen who hosted all the senior couples and Elder and Sister Garn, General Authority from Hong Kong. They told about all the wonderful things that are happening in China and other Asian countries. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. People find that it brings great happiness into their lives. It also is bringing great blessings into so many peoples lives here in this part of the world. It's wonderful to be able to watch it close up and to be a small part of it.

Happy Children

Can you see how happy these children are? They find play wherever they can. The building in the background of one...that says Hyyncnee Delthgoor is a grocery store. They are everywhere. Just little buildings with food to buy inside. Everybody and their grandma runs one. We can always move to Mongolia and open a grocery :)

A Day in the Life of a Mongolian Ger Child.

Fetching water is an everyday experience for Mongolian children who live in the ger districts. This is just one of many water kiosks where they can go to buy water, then pull it home in carts or carry if they are big enough. These children are fortunate, they do not live in steep places. We've been in places that would be difficult for the most physically fit adult to get water back to their homes.

Habitat for Humanity

Thought you might like to see these houses that bHabitat for Humanity built in Mongolia. Nice, very small, but nice. The well was built by Deseret International Charities for this community. Love ya.

A few pictures from this week

Here a few pics you might like to have. The girls who are with me were baptized recently. The church building is one near the train station, another of Dad and I in front of the Parliament Bldg. We had just been to a 4 hour meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister and several other organizations, and another across the street from theParliament Bldg at the park.

More pics

Here are some pics from today. Dad and Arika and Iwent to take care of some business and met these two elders who will be going home from their missions tonight. One was an AP in the office. We're still loving it here, but missing you guys.

more pics from last post

BRRRRR

This is what it looked like when we got up this AM. We love this place! We've decided that we really love living in a cold climate. We went to teach at the Post Office and when we got back home and on the way to the office, some construction workers walked by carrying roses, and one of them gave me one. That was so sweet and very unexpected. It made my day. When I got to work, I gave it to Arika and made her day. Don't you love to pass things along? We love you all so much.