Our Dear Returned Missionaries:
Always remember how much we love and respect you. You are Children of God and He, too, is very concerned about you. We are pleased that so many of you are still fully active in the Church; we pray for those of you who may be less active now and do hope that you will come back to your Savior and the Church soon.
Especially, I thank those of you who wrote to me during the past week. It is so very good to hear from you. I hope that more of you write this week. Some of you sent e-mails this week with e-mail addresses for returned missionaries that we did not have in our records. Thank you very much. We do ask that all of you send us e-mail addresses of returned missionaries that you correspond with. We still lack more than 300 e-mail addresses for our returned Mongolian missionaries. Please help us.
The Lord's work continues to go well in Mongolia but will go much better when all of the returned missionaries come back to activity and accept leadership and teaching responsibility in the branches and districts. The Lord love you and needs you.
I have recently been assigned by President Andersen to attend and be an adviser to Khan-Uul Branch. It is good to see a returned missionary, President Tsog, serving so well there. However, he needs a lot of help in all of the organizations in the branch. I will work with him to strengthen the returned missionaries there. Also, we contact all of the branch presidents in Mongolia each week to encourage them to find and strengthen returned missionaries in their branches. We are making progress, but we need your help both in always being fully active and serving in your branch or ward and in helping us find and strengthen other missionaries.
I have thought a lot about two scriptures this week that remind us of our blessings in the Gospel and our responsibility to our fellow-members. The first is Doctrine and Covenants 76:5-10. Please read this. It tell us of the blessings God has prepared for us, and in verses five and six, the Lord says: "...I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and truth unto the end. Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory." The second is, Mosiah 3:8-10.
Here, Alma tells his people before their baptism what being baptized really means. Please read this and note especially our duties to help our fellow-members in verse 9.
Please write soon. We love you. May God bless you always.
Elder Malan Jackson
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
A Garage Sale in Mongolia?
Our Dear Family:
We just returned from our meetings at the Khan-Uul Branch. They were very good. Linda and I both spoke, she on families and family history and I about how blessed we are to be members of the Church and our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters who are less-active or need help in other ways. From the scriptures I read Ephesians 3:19-21, Doctrine and Covenants 76:5-10, and Mosiah 18:7-10. Our words seemed to stir some souls in the congregation.
Both Tsegmed and Erica were at the meeting with us. Tsegmed is the artist I brought to Utah for training (he was then President of the Mongolian University of Culture) and then back again after he feel into a canyon and suffered brain trauma; we brought Erica to Utah to study, and just after she graduated from UVSC cancer developed in her brain. We arranged for brain surgery, but after the second time, the doctors said they could do no more. We brought her back with us when we came to Mongolia. She seems to be doing better now, despite her need for seizure and pain medications from the U.S.
After our meeting we saw a very precious young woman whom we brought to Utah to study when she was seventeen years old. When she graduated from UVSC, we lost track of her until we saw her on Temple Square wearing a missionary nameplate. She had gone from UVSC to BYU-Idaho and was baptized and called on a mission there. She is a bright light in her branch here.
We are now preparing dinner for the new senior couple, the Caldwells from Magna, who arrived here this week. Josh and Kim will join us also. We are roasting a chicken and will also have cooked beets, carrot salad, Mongolian meat-filled bao-tzu called boz, and whipped potatoes with chicken gravy (I actually found a electric hand beater this week. It was made in Turkey and is very good quality). We will have bottled peaches for dessert.
On Thursday of this week, we attended a zone conference (there are three zones in Ulaanbaatar and conferences were held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). I spoke about our missionary search program and asked the missionaries to strengthen their help in this effort--actually I gave the same speech in all three conferences. Being there brought good memories, especially since President Andersen referred often to his mission in Taiwan with us.
I have finally gotten agreement from both BYU-Hawaii and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology that they will meet in the spring and work out a cooperative arrangement between them. President Wheelwright at BYU-H was one of President Andersen's professors at Harvard; all of the people I am working with at the university here were in my training groups in Utah. They have not had English teachers from the Church, so I will start teaching there soon.
I have located quite a few missing missionaries this week: one of them walked into my office on Monday and asked if I was Elder Jackson. Another missionary had forwarded my weekly e-mail to him. He was converted in the Czech Republic while attending University there and called on a mission from there. He served in Roseville California and then came back to Mongolia for a few months. For the past five years he has been in Korea working in a hotel. He is anxious to be active here; too, I introduced him to the front desk manager at the Chinggis Khan Hotel (a returned missionary) and he will probably get a job there.
On Thursday morning Bat-Ulzii came to my office to see me while I was out with Jargal, the missionary from Korea. He left his number so I called him. He said he had heard I was here and wanted very much to see me. He was in my branch at the MTC. He now owns two "Mongolian Barbecues" here, patterned after the ones he saw in Utah. He wants to treat us to dinner but will be out of town this week. We will get together next week.
Yes, a garage sale in Mongolia. When we attended the election party in the clubhouse of Star Apartment, where most of the embassy personnel and wealthy business people live, I picked up a flyer advertising a garage sale yesterday. Being somewhat of an expert on garage sales, I went about an hour early and with my honorary consul ID was allowed into the compound without waiting for the 2:00 p.m. start time. I did get some good things we need, and even a copy of Porter Rockwell: A Biography. I have one at home, but it will be fun to read in this one occasionally here. I had what I wanted when they let the crowd in at 2:00. I looked out the window and thought for sure Chinggis Khan with his horde was bearing down on us. A crowd of Mongolians were truly rushing the door. I got out of the way just in time to save my neck and my treasures, but the horde were soon shoving, elbowing, kicking, and crushing the tables. I made my way to the door and walked back to our apartment, picking up our blue bucket filled with six liters of fresh milk on the way. Our elevator has been out of order for four days, so I quite wore myself out climbing the nine flights of stairs to our apartment.
It continues to cool down almost daily now. This morning it was a few degrees below zero. We hardly notice it with our warm coats on, and fortunately the little bit of snow that has fallen is melted.
We love you.
Love,
Mother and Dad
We just returned from our meetings at the Khan-Uul Branch. They were very good. Linda and I both spoke, she on families and family history and I about how blessed we are to be members of the Church and our responsibility to help our brothers and sisters who are less-active or need help in other ways. From the scriptures I read Ephesians 3:19-21, Doctrine and Covenants 76:5-10, and Mosiah 18:7-10. Our words seemed to stir some souls in the congregation.
Both Tsegmed and Erica were at the meeting with us. Tsegmed is the artist I brought to Utah for training (he was then President of the Mongolian University of Culture) and then back again after he feel into a canyon and suffered brain trauma; we brought Erica to Utah to study, and just after she graduated from UVSC cancer developed in her brain. We arranged for brain surgery, but after the second time, the doctors said they could do no more. We brought her back with us when we came to Mongolia. She seems to be doing better now, despite her need for seizure and pain medications from the U.S.
After our meeting we saw a very precious young woman whom we brought to Utah to study when she was seventeen years old. When she graduated from UVSC, we lost track of her until we saw her on Temple Square wearing a missionary nameplate. She had gone from UVSC to BYU-Idaho and was baptized and called on a mission there. She is a bright light in her branch here.
We are now preparing dinner for the new senior couple, the Caldwells from Magna, who arrived here this week. Josh and Kim will join us also. We are roasting a chicken and will also have cooked beets, carrot salad, Mongolian meat-filled bao-tzu called boz, and whipped potatoes with chicken gravy (I actually found a electric hand beater this week. It was made in Turkey and is very good quality). We will have bottled peaches for dessert.
On Thursday of this week, we attended a zone conference (there are three zones in Ulaanbaatar and conferences were held on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). I spoke about our missionary search program and asked the missionaries to strengthen their help in this effort--actually I gave the same speech in all three conferences. Being there brought good memories, especially since President Andersen referred often to his mission in Taiwan with us.
I have finally gotten agreement from both BYU-Hawaii and the Mongolian University of Science and Technology that they will meet in the spring and work out a cooperative arrangement between them. President Wheelwright at BYU-H was one of President Andersen's professors at Harvard; all of the people I am working with at the university here were in my training groups in Utah. They have not had English teachers from the Church, so I will start teaching there soon.
I have located quite a few missing missionaries this week: one of them walked into my office on Monday and asked if I was Elder Jackson. Another missionary had forwarded my weekly e-mail to him. He was converted in the Czech Republic while attending University there and called on a mission from there. He served in Roseville California and then came back to Mongolia for a few months. For the past five years he has been in Korea working in a hotel. He is anxious to be active here; too, I introduced him to the front desk manager at the Chinggis Khan Hotel (a returned missionary) and he will probably get a job there.
On Thursday morning Bat-Ulzii came to my office to see me while I was out with Jargal, the missionary from Korea. He left his number so I called him. He said he had heard I was here and wanted very much to see me. He was in my branch at the MTC. He now owns two "Mongolian Barbecues" here, patterned after the ones he saw in Utah. He wants to treat us to dinner but will be out of town this week. We will get together next week.
Yes, a garage sale in Mongolia. When we attended the election party in the clubhouse of Star Apartment, where most of the embassy personnel and wealthy business people live, I picked up a flyer advertising a garage sale yesterday. Being somewhat of an expert on garage sales, I went about an hour early and with my honorary consul ID was allowed into the compound without waiting for the 2:00 p.m. start time. I did get some good things we need, and even a copy of Porter Rockwell: A Biography. I have one at home, but it will be fun to read in this one occasionally here. I had what I wanted when they let the crowd in at 2:00. I looked out the window and thought for sure Chinggis Khan with his horde was bearing down on us. A crowd of Mongolians were truly rushing the door. I got out of the way just in time to save my neck and my treasures, but the horde were soon shoving, elbowing, kicking, and crushing the tables. I made my way to the door and walked back to our apartment, picking up our blue bucket filled with six liters of fresh milk on the way. Our elevator has been out of order for four days, so I quite wore myself out climbing the nine flights of stairs to our apartment.
It continues to cool down almost daily now. This morning it was a few degrees below zero. We hardly notice it with our warm coats on, and fortunately the little bit of snow that has fallen is melted.
We love you.
Love,
Mother and Dad
Monday, November 10, 2008
Changes Always; Family is Constant, We Love You
Our Dear, Dear Family:
Today we attended the branch that President Andersen assigned to us last week. The branch president and his wife are both returned missionaries and they have fairly good attendance at their meetings. However, the branch president is carrying most of the load in the branch. His two counselors need training; he has no Elder's quorum president, no Relief Society president, no Sunday School president, no home teachers, and very few visiting teachers. His members just do not seem to accept the fact that they, too, have responsibility for the functioning of the branch. He had no end of questions and no translated handbooks. We will be doing a lot of training; and he asked me to be Sunday School president. He asked Linda to help with family history, Relief Society, and primary. Also, he asked both of us to speak in Sacrament Meeting next Sunday. With everything else we are doing, this will make us almost too busy.
I spent most of this past week working on our returned missionary project. Unfortunately, I am not getting the help from the branches in the mission that I must have. I will call of the branch presidents again, and this time I will ask that they report by the end of November on each missionary called from their branch. My secretary has typed up all of the information we have received and I reviewed it, only to find that not only have not received much information but that some of the RM names have been dropped from our master list. I can see now that I will work on this project every day I am here and there will still be a lot to do. I have considered every possible reason I can think of for member inactivity and still cannot understand why even returned missionaries can forget their mission activity and the testimony they bore so many times in their mission field. I will stay with it; it will take a lot of work and a lot of prayer.
I talked with BYU-Hawaii President Wheelwright on the telephone on Thursday to discuss their interest in relationships with higher education in Mongolia. They have had some exchanges with the Medical University here, but this institution is not a good fit for them.
He had a lot of questions that I could answer because of my work with the colleges and universities here and said that by spring he would like me to help them set things up with the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, the university I have worked most closely with over the past twelve years. They have implemented the things I taught the university presidents I had in Utah best of all the colleges and universities here.
We were invited to an election night party by the American Embassy and watched the returns on several television sets. I was surprised at the large number of Americans there; and almost without exception they were Obama supporters. We have found, too, the the people here who are aware of American politics are very pleased with Obama's victory.
Thank you, Tamar, for calling us. It was wonderful talking with you. Also, I called James this morning and we had a fun talk. Thanks to each of you, too, who has written to us. Our e-mail's are very important to us.
The weather is still warm for this time of the year, and our friends tell us it is most unusual. Morning temperatures have not quite dropped to zero; and the days are always sunny. The few snow showers we have had melted the day we had them.
We had dinner last night with Josh and Kim in their apartment at the American School of Ulaanbaatar. The school is at the base of the mountains just south of Ulaanbaatar. This area has built up just over the past few years and is very popular because it is above the coal smoke in the Ulaanbaatar basin.
Odnyam and his wife picked us up after dinner since taxis do not ordinarily show up out there at night. They hope to go to the U.S. for two or three months (she is pregnant and would like to have her child born in California). Odnyam has a multiple-entry visa; she will apply for her visa in the morning (Monday).
Tsegmed (the artist I brought to Utah for medical treatment and who was baptized there together with his wife, Tuya) came to Sacrament meeting with us again today. He has been inactive since he returned to Mongolia, but coming to Church with us seems to be re-kindling his testimony.
We are waiting now for Sodnomdorj, his wife Yanjin, and two of their children to join us for dinner. I trained Sodnomdorj in Utah when he was president of one of the universities here; Yanjin lived with us for several months while she learned English.
AT 8:00 tonight I will go to the mission office to set apart Elder Taylor. He is the son of Sumkhuu and Chimgee, two of the very first group of people I met here in 1993. I am not quite sure how he got the name Taylor; and his little brother's English name is Robert.
Linda and I had quick lunch at the Chinese restaurant near our offices and were very pleased to meet a former ambassador to the U.S., Choinhor, and his wife. We hosted them in Utah and worked closely with him in the Mongolian Embassy in Washington. It was a very pleasant occasion.
We are both in good health but tired. We are just going to have to take more time to do all of things we have been assigned. Slow down, I guess if possible.
We love you.
Today we attended the branch that President Andersen assigned to us last week. The branch president and his wife are both returned missionaries and they have fairly good attendance at their meetings. However, the branch president is carrying most of the load in the branch. His two counselors need training; he has no Elder's quorum president, no Relief Society president, no Sunday School president, no home teachers, and very few visiting teachers. His members just do not seem to accept the fact that they, too, have responsibility for the functioning of the branch. He had no end of questions and no translated handbooks. We will be doing a lot of training; and he asked me to be Sunday School president. He asked Linda to help with family history, Relief Society, and primary. Also, he asked both of us to speak in Sacrament Meeting next Sunday. With everything else we are doing, this will make us almost too busy.
I spent most of this past week working on our returned missionary project. Unfortunately, I am not getting the help from the branches in the mission that I must have. I will call of the branch presidents again, and this time I will ask that they report by the end of November on each missionary called from their branch. My secretary has typed up all of the information we have received and I reviewed it, only to find that not only have not received much information but that some of the RM names have been dropped from our master list. I can see now that I will work on this project every day I am here and there will still be a lot to do. I have considered every possible reason I can think of for member inactivity and still cannot understand why even returned missionaries can forget their mission activity and the testimony they bore so many times in their mission field. I will stay with it; it will take a lot of work and a lot of prayer.
I talked with BYU-Hawaii President Wheelwright on the telephone on Thursday to discuss their interest in relationships with higher education in Mongolia. They have had some exchanges with the Medical University here, but this institution is not a good fit for them.
He had a lot of questions that I could answer because of my work with the colleges and universities here and said that by spring he would like me to help them set things up with the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, the university I have worked most closely with over the past twelve years. They have implemented the things I taught the university presidents I had in Utah best of all the colleges and universities here.
We were invited to an election night party by the American Embassy and watched the returns on several television sets. I was surprised at the large number of Americans there; and almost without exception they were Obama supporters. We have found, too, the the people here who are aware of American politics are very pleased with Obama's victory.
Thank you, Tamar, for calling us. It was wonderful talking with you. Also, I called James this morning and we had a fun talk. Thanks to each of you, too, who has written to us. Our e-mail's are very important to us.
The weather is still warm for this time of the year, and our friends tell us it is most unusual. Morning temperatures have not quite dropped to zero; and the days are always sunny. The few snow showers we have had melted the day we had them.
We had dinner last night with Josh and Kim in their apartment at the American School of Ulaanbaatar. The school is at the base of the mountains just south of Ulaanbaatar. This area has built up just over the past few years and is very popular because it is above the coal smoke in the Ulaanbaatar basin.
Odnyam and his wife picked us up after dinner since taxis do not ordinarily show up out there at night. They hope to go to the U.S. for two or three months (she is pregnant and would like to have her child born in California). Odnyam has a multiple-entry visa; she will apply for her visa in the morning (Monday).
Tsegmed (the artist I brought to Utah for medical treatment and who was baptized there together with his wife, Tuya) came to Sacrament meeting with us again today. He has been inactive since he returned to Mongolia, but coming to Church with us seems to be re-kindling his testimony.
We are waiting now for Sodnomdorj, his wife Yanjin, and two of their children to join us for dinner. I trained Sodnomdorj in Utah when he was president of one of the universities here; Yanjin lived with us for several months while she learned English.
AT 8:00 tonight I will go to the mission office to set apart Elder Taylor. He is the son of Sumkhuu and Chimgee, two of the very first group of people I met here in 1993. I am not quite sure how he got the name Taylor; and his little brother's English name is Robert.
Linda and I had quick lunch at the Chinese restaurant near our offices and were very pleased to meet a former ambassador to the U.S., Choinhor, and his wife. We hosted them in Utah and worked closely with him in the Mongolian Embassy in Washington. It was a very pleasant occasion.
We are both in good health but tired. We are just going to have to take more time to do all of things we have been assigned. Slow down, I guess if possible.
We love you.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Weekly Update - "To The North"
Our Dear, Dear Family:
I am writing this letter to you rather late tonight from the Kiwi Hotel in Darkhan, a city north of Ulaanbaatar.
We left Ulaanbaatar early Friday morning (Linda, Kim, Josh, and I). I was assigned by the mission president to conduct a re-convened disciplinary council for two returned missionaries in Darkhan and then to visit all five branches in the Darkhan District to implement my returned missionary search and re-activation program.
Yesterday, Friday, we drove to the Zuunhara Branch, the last thirty kilometers being on very rough dirt roads. Zuunhara is a city of about 25,000 people with branch membership being about 250 people. They rent an old hospital building there and are renovating it into a very nice chapel. The branch president is a Mongolian missionary. There are one non-Mongolian and two non-Mongolian Sisters serving there. We returned back to the main highway and drove on to about five miles from the Russian border to the Selenge Branch in the city of Sukhbaatar. Again, the branch president is an outstanding Mongolian missionary. There we met a senior couple and several American missionaries. I went over the RM program with the branch president; we delivered mail; and Linda discussed family history. Sukhbaatar is in the mountains and we saw some very beautiful scenery. We also got snowed a bit.
We returned back to Darkhan and the Kiwi Hotel last night and then I convened the disciplinary councils. Both went well. The district president, President Zorigt, is a very fine man; the branch president, President Chukka, was in my branch at the MTC. There are two branches in Darkhan; we had the council in the first branch.
It snowed during the night, and we drove the three hours to Erdenet on very slick roads. There I went over the RM program with the very strong branch president, an older man who works at the big copper mine there. We had lunch with Elder and Sister Hodges who were in the MTC with us. Erdenet is the carpet-weaving center of Mongolia. Kim bought a beautify 9 x 12 rug for their apartment. We bought a smaller one for ours. Erdenet has a beautiful red brick chapel.
Back in Darkhan, we had dinner at the Texas Steak House with Zenemedeer, and old friend from the University here whom I trained in Utah, and his wife.
Tomorrow we will go to sacrament meeting in Darkhan 2nd Branch and then return to Ulaanbaatar.
On Wednesday night of this week, we invited Tsegmed and Tuya to our apartment for dinner. They are the two artists whom we brought to Utah when Tsegmed was injured and we got free critical medical treatment for him. I asked Tsegmed to paint a picture for me similar to red one in our basement but without the lines in the sky. He did paint one, about four feet by five feet. It is framed in a gold frame. The painting itself shows a man on horseback on a ledge overlooking a valley somewhat like monument valley with a magnificent red and orange sunset.
Also this week I met another old friend, Idevkten. I helped his daughter study at UVSC. She graduated, went to BYU where she was baptized, and now works in New York. We also brought his son who had a serious cleft palate and hare lip. We found doctors and dentists to help him. He is back in Ulaanbaatar now, is married, and has a baby. Idevkten will be named Deputy Minister for The Environment and Tourist this coming week. Dawagiv, past chief of the Police Academy, whom I also trained in Utah, brought us five kinds of wheat to try for cereal and cooking. We tried one on Friday morning; it was delicious.
The Ulaanbaatar weather is still not too cold. Perhaps this winter will not be as cold as anticipated.
Both of us are doing well. Linda has enjoyed this trip very much. She seems quite rested tonight.
We love you.
Love, Dad
I am writing this letter to you rather late tonight from the Kiwi Hotel in Darkhan, a city north of Ulaanbaatar.
We left Ulaanbaatar early Friday morning (Linda, Kim, Josh, and I). I was assigned by the mission president to conduct a re-convened disciplinary council for two returned missionaries in Darkhan and then to visit all five branches in the Darkhan District to implement my returned missionary search and re-activation program.
Yesterday, Friday, we drove to the Zuunhara Branch, the last thirty kilometers being on very rough dirt roads. Zuunhara is a city of about 25,000 people with branch membership being about 250 people. They rent an old hospital building there and are renovating it into a very nice chapel. The branch president is a Mongolian missionary. There are one non-Mongolian and two non-Mongolian Sisters serving there. We returned back to the main highway and drove on to about five miles from the Russian border to the Selenge Branch in the city of Sukhbaatar. Again, the branch president is an outstanding Mongolian missionary. There we met a senior couple and several American missionaries. I went over the RM program with the branch president; we delivered mail; and Linda discussed family history. Sukhbaatar is in the mountains and we saw some very beautiful scenery. We also got snowed a bit.
We returned back to Darkhan and the Kiwi Hotel last night and then I convened the disciplinary councils. Both went well. The district president, President Zorigt, is a very fine man; the branch president, President Chukka, was in my branch at the MTC. There are two branches in Darkhan; we had the council in the first branch.
It snowed during the night, and we drove the three hours to Erdenet on very slick roads. There I went over the RM program with the very strong branch president, an older man who works at the big copper mine there. We had lunch with Elder and Sister Hodges who were in the MTC with us. Erdenet is the carpet-weaving center of Mongolia. Kim bought a beautify 9 x 12 rug for their apartment. We bought a smaller one for ours. Erdenet has a beautiful red brick chapel.
Back in Darkhan, we had dinner at the Texas Steak House with Zenemedeer, and old friend from the University here whom I trained in Utah, and his wife.
Tomorrow we will go to sacrament meeting in Darkhan 2nd Branch and then return to Ulaanbaatar.
On Wednesday night of this week, we invited Tsegmed and Tuya to our apartment for dinner. They are the two artists whom we brought to Utah when Tsegmed was injured and we got free critical medical treatment for him. I asked Tsegmed to paint a picture for me similar to red one in our basement but without the lines in the sky. He did paint one, about four feet by five feet. It is framed in a gold frame. The painting itself shows a man on horseback on a ledge overlooking a valley somewhat like monument valley with a magnificent red and orange sunset.
Also this week I met another old friend, Idevkten. I helped his daughter study at UVSC. She graduated, went to BYU where she was baptized, and now works in New York. We also brought his son who had a serious cleft palate and hare lip. We found doctors and dentists to help him. He is back in Ulaanbaatar now, is married, and has a baby. Idevkten will be named Deputy Minister for The Environment and Tourist this coming week. Dawagiv, past chief of the Police Academy, whom I also trained in Utah, brought us five kinds of wheat to try for cereal and cooking. We tried one on Friday morning; it was delicious.
The Ulaanbaatar weather is still not too cold. Perhaps this winter will not be as cold as anticipated.
Both of us are doing well. Linda has enjoyed this trip very much. She seems quite rested tonight.
We love you.
Love, Dad
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