January 12 2009

Our Dear, Dear Family:

It was wonderful talking with so many of you this week. It does, however, make us a bit homesick hearing your voices and not being able to see you and talk with you longer.

The past week has not been too good for me: the flu I caught over two months ago just keeps hanging on. Finally, on Thursday I just could not get going, so I stayed in the apartment and did not go out at all until this morning (Monday). Linda came to the apartment late morning on Thursday with President Andersen and Elder Andersen, our mission doctor. They gave me a blessing and later Linda brought home an antibiotic that Dr.Andersen prescribed. I felt good enough to come to the office this morning and have been quite busy. I do not know, though, if I will make it through the whole day.

Linda and her three staff members put together a fireside for last night about tribes in Mongolia. Each person does belong to a specific tribe, must most Mongolians do not know their tribe name. Knowing their tribe name will help immensely with their family history since all Mongolians take their father's given name as their surname: so no continuity in surnames. Linda learned about this a month or two ago and found a book with all of the tribes and their locations. She also visited the National Archives and Civil Records Office for more help. Hundreds of members and non-members came to the fireside last night. It was a total success. I am truly proud of what she has done with this project and with all she is doing in family history. The Family History director for Asia even came up from Hong Kong for the fireside.

The days I was in the office last week I spent mostly with the returned missionary project. We are making good progress in finding and re-activating missionaries but still have a long way to go. I have gotten reports from all of the branch presidents in Mongolia, from active returned missionaries, from BYU-Hawaii, and from BYU-Provo. No one has fully accurate records, including the Mission. This will be a continued effort for me throughout our entire mission.

The weather continues to be unseasonably warm with morning temperatures thirty below or so, and afternoons getting up to zero.

We love you. Thank you for the letters you write to us.

Love, Mother and Dad