July emails

July 27 2009

Our Dear, Dear Family:

This has been a very busy and even stressful week. Linda continues to be almost swamped with family history work, and a sister called to help her seems to have abandoned the work. Fortunately another very dependable and intelligent sister is helping her. She gets tired but is still excited about what she is accomplishing.

My work with returned missionaries is progressing well and we have our final lists in the hands of our stake, ward, district, and branch leaders. Now we will just have to follow up with each leader each week to keep them reminded to work with their inactive returned missionaries.

We are having some problems with registration of the Church and some of our branches with the national and city governments. They have conducted an inspection of all churches in Mongolia and claim that we have not complied with all of their requirements in some of our branches. In Erdenet, a four and one-half drive north of Ulaanbaatar, they delivered a decree to the branch that informed them that they had ten days to comply or our Church activities there must cease. I had some of my friends in the national government and in the provincial government next to Erdenet call the Erdenet government and make an appointment for us to talk with them. The assistant to the member of parliament in the neighboring province is a classmate of the secretary, and he went with us. The chairman is on vacation, so we met with the secretary of the city committee. She claimed our case is serious because there was no registration in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The head of our service center was with me and had copies of our registration for those years. The city government has evidently lost them. The secretary agreed we could meet on Sunday, 7/26, but that we could hold no more activities until after the committee meets on August 6th. Our service center director will try to meet with the chairman before then and be there for the meeting of the full committee. I am attempting to get help from my friends in top positions in the national and Ulaanbaatar City governments to help us here.

The weather is still cool and we continue to get some rain. It is very comfortable and we will continue to enjoy this interim between spring and the coming winter.

We enjoyed a most unusual experience on Saturday: the sister of the president of the branch we previously advised came to Mongolia to marry a man she was engaged to in Spain where she has been living. Both wanted something more than the wedding chapel wedding or a hotel wedding, so they made arrangements for a Chiingis Khaan period wedding at what is called the Thirteenth Century Center out in the mountains about two hours east of Ulaanbaatar. The place itself is fascinating. When we arrived there, we drove through huge stone gateways guarded by soldiers in ancient leather armor and helmets. Then our first stop was at the "learning center."
The gers in the whole area are the ancient type with heavy felt covers and no white canvas. They have some painting on them. At the learning center there were several gers interspersed among the most unusual rock formations. We were taken to the main ger where we were told about their ancient teaching and were presented with antique paper with our names written in traditional script.

From the learning center we drove to the crafts center. Again, there were several gers placed most aesthetically among the rock formations. In these gers craftsmen and women were hand working tools, clothing, armor, weapons, etc., from natural materials for the tribe. Again we were invited into the largest of the gers and shown their crafts and how they made them. Their work with bone was especially interesting. And, it was here that we met the bride and groom, Amarjargal and Raphael. Both were dressed in beautiful modern dels (long gowns) and hats.

We were then driven to the shaman center, where hundreds of ten inch poles had been laid in a circle with sharpened points outward and about three feet above the ground. They were tightly roped together and their was a tree covered with their ceremonial blue scarves in the very center. Surrounding this circle of sharpened poles were a number of traditional gers from different parts of Mongolia. We were taken inside and shown the many colored hand-sewn carpets, animal skins, and other typical family possessions. They even had the "ger" of the reindeer people in the far north of Mongolia. Their ger is shaped exactly like a Native American teepee.
The only difference is that the poles are covered with bark and felt instead of skins. I asked our guide what the reindeer people called their ger. She said "Tipi."

The bride was in the largest of the gers there in an ancient and beautiful del. She said she was waiting for her groom to come and get her. Very shortly the groom rode up on a horse with six other "soldiers," all of them in the ancient armor and hat. Each carried a sword. They came to the bride's ger, and after they drank mare's milk and concluded some simple ceremonies, they took the bride down to their horses where they also had a very beautiful horse for the bride. She was helped onto this horse and they rode away toward the khan's huge ger about two miles away. As they left, the female shaman tossed fermented mares milk upward in several directions.

We followed the horses to the great ger and inside it. The bride and groom were directed to a huge carved and fur covered throne where they sat together. The family of the bride sat at a low table in front of the throne; other guests sat at low tables on either side. The inside of the ger was beautifully decorated with colored carpets, furs, and paintings. The bride's father officially gave her to the groom and then the feast began. The attendants were all in ancient clothing and their service was impeccable.

During the feast we had entertainment by two young women, one play the morinhor (horsehead fiddle) and the other a long stringed instrument like a zither. Then a young man sang traditonal love songs. Inside that beautiful ger, the experience was very much like being with Chinggis Khan himself.

After the inside ceremony, they attendants entertained the wedding group outside with wrestling, archery, and horseback riding. The large ger sat at the base of the huge rock formations at the top of the mountain and without any obstruction we could see over twenty miles in three directions--a green valley with scattered gers and low, grass-covered hills.

It was an amazing experience.

All is well here; we pray always for your well-being and happiness.
Love, Mother and Dad



July 20 2009

Our Dear, Dear Family:

Last week is almost like a blur as I try to write to you. It was busy and complicated. We did get a lot done; but it was just too busy. I do think I can remember the highlights to share with you.

It has been good during the week to talk to some of you. We tried to call all of you but could not find some of you. We love you and miss you so much. Half our mission has gone by already. I am sure will will be quite ready to come home when we finish the remaining months.

I do not remember if I told you last week that a good friend from the branch we previously advised brought the director for the Mongolian paralympic games to my office to see what we could do to help. My new assistant, Batchimeg, and I were soon members of the committee, and I agreed to purchase the gold, silver and bronze medals. I reported this to President Andersen and got permission that the name of the Church be engraved in Mongolian on the back of all of the medals. They brought the medals to show us today. They are beautifullly done and do have the name of the Church engraved prominently on the back of each. This is a great opportunity for the Church to help with a very worthwhile event; and the publicity we will get will be very good for us. And, besides, this fun.

On Friday I delivered our report of all returned missionaries to President Andersen. He was very pleased and said that he would send it to the area presidency as a model for other missions in working with their returned missionaries. Of the total of 660 returned Mongolian Missionaries, we have 402 living in Mongolia. Of these 59% are active. This percentage has risen from about 45% before we started our effort to reactive the inactive ones. There are 198 in the U.S.; 21 in Korea; 8 in Japan; and a one or more in Sweden, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Italy, Germany, England, Australia, Austria, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Switzerland.

With the help of a committee set up by Stan's acting provost at Utah State University, we finalized plans, got visas, purchased plane tickets, and arranged medical insurance for the group of six students being sent to Logan by the Mongolian Government for eight weeks' of English study. They are exceptional students; and the preparations at USU are excellent.

We had the heaviest rain storm I have ever seen in Mongolia here on Friday. The streets were raging rivers and the thunder and lightning were sensational. I had to walk to the office from our apartment during the worst of the storm. It was almost fun.

Church attendance in our branch was way down last week due to the national holiday; but yesterday it was back up to almost normal. Our leadership is still young in the Gospel but are learning and doing quite well--especially for Mongolia.

We love you.
Love, Mother and Dad

Emails 3/16/09 - 7/12/09

July 12 2009

Our Dear, Dear Family:

Tamar and Becki arrived here last Monday after having had a wonderful time in Hong Kong, Xiamen, and Beijing. Sheldon Poon's brother and his wife are serving a mission in the Hong Kong temple and they told Tamar that Sheldon is in Beijing and made contact with him for them. He had his assistant drive them to the great wall, forbidden city, summer palace, and other interesting places. Our friend Professor Ke also looked after them and treated them to a wonderful Peking duck dinner. In Xiamen many old friends looked after them and treated them. Tamar visited most of the places we knew when we lived on Gulangyu Island.

Here in Mongolia we took them to Bulgan Province where we have many friends and have helped with many projects. We stayed in a ger camp for three nights, had a very good meeting with the governor and other top officials, enjoyed an late evening lamb and vegetable barbecue in the mountains, took supplies I had collected to the provincial hospital, and shopped together with our friends Enkhee and Bolormaa and a group of four visitors from Idaho whom I introduced to the province several years ago. A special experience was the governor inviting us to open our Church in his capital city. He said he would even find a good place for the chapel.

We also showed them most of the city of Ulaanbaatar and spent hours at the black market and state department store. We also had some very good meals--Mongolian, American, and European.

The national holiday, Naadam, is underway and we went together to the opening ceremony. As always it was a spectacular traditional event: pageantry, horse parades, dancing, singing, and wrestling. It rained much of the time, but a friend in parliament had gotten seats for us under the covered grandstand.

We had hoped Becki and Tamar could go with us to Sacrament Meeting yesterday, but their travel agent had messed up their itinerary and they had to leave at 10:00 a.m. instead of 6:00 p.m.

I have had the stitches removed from my nose and the biopsy has come back to the surgeon. One of the two growths removed was malignant; however, the surgeon feels that she removed all of it. I still have a very red nose but it appears smaller than it used to be.

It is the rainy season here now and the countryside and mountains are beautifully green. I enjoy the rain; and the temperature is in the seventies and low eighties. It is really very comfortable.

We have read of the excess rain in Utah, and I read on the Utah news this morning that the moisture has ruined the first crop of alfalfa. I do not recall that every happening in Utah before.

I have finished my master list of returned missionaries but still have more than forty that no one can find. I will find them, but it will take quite a bit of time.
We are bringing many of the formerly inactive back to activity.

Today I am meeting with a government representative to hopefully finalize arrangements for a group of six hand-picked students to go to USU to study English for eight weeks. All of them have intermediate English already. A former missionary from Utah who served here until earlier this year is back for a visit, and he will meet with us today and help them there.

We love hearing from you. Please do write often.
Love, Dad and Mother

July 4 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

Happy Fourth of July! We even celebrated here. Our missionaries did a lot of preparation for the celebration and took care of most of the details at the party. The senior couples prepared about 200 pounds of potato salad. The party was held at the Star Apartments, a gated community where diplomats and wealthy businessmen live. The U.S. ambassador spoke; we had lots of food; and the Asia Marine Band played patriotic songs. It was not quite like home, but it was good.

Yesterday (Saturday), morning before we went to the celebration, i had two suspicious growths removed from my nose by a very skilled plastic surgeon (and it cost only about $30). She fears malignancy in the larger one (she removed about a centimeter section of my nose). She did a nice job of sewing me back together with six stitches. I have felt very little pain; but I sure look funny with my nose bandaged. I would prefer surgery where it does not show.

I continue to meet student whom I took to UVSC to study who have moved back to Mongolia or come for visits. Many of them joined the Church there. A very sweet young woman, Maya, came to my office this week with here three beautiful children (and she is expecting her fourth). She married an American and lives in Provo.

We have had a couple of good rain storms here and some cold Siberian wind. It really does not feel like July yet. The forecast, though, shows warmer weather and rain during the next couple of weeks.

We have kept in touch with Tamar and Becki by email. They had a wonderful time in Hong Kong and Xiamen and are now in Beijing. In addition to my old friend Professor Ke making arrangments there, Sheldon Poon (who has run a travel business out of Salt Lake and now has businesses in China) met them at the Beijing airport and took them to their hotel. He will also have his drive be their guide and take them to the best places in Beijing. They arrive here tomorrow (Monday) at about noon. We will meet them at the airport and then the governor of a province where I have done a lot of humanitarian work will send his SUV to take us to his province in the north. We will stay in a ger at a camp near the capitol of the province, Bulgan City, and then drive through the province to see other friends. We will spend one more night in a ger before returning to Ulaanbaatar on the 9th. We will see the sights in Ulaanbaatar on the 10th and then will be hosted by government officials in celebrating their national day, Naadam, on the 11th. They will go to Church with us on Sunday the 11th and then we will take them to the airport that evening at about 5:00 to leave at 6:00. They will be back in Salt Lake that same day.

Josh and Kim sold us their soy milk maker before they left and we have not drunk cow's milk since. We make the soy milk by simply putting soaked soy beans in the machine, adding sugar and water, and turning it on. I usually make several quarts each time. It is very good and very easy to make. When I finish, I only have to remove the pulp from the machine and clean it.

My secretary, Dashka, leaves for the U.S. on the 15th, so again I will have a new person helping me. Her name is Batchimeg. She was the first missionary to serve from Mongolia and I helped her study at UVSC. She is a very intelligent and pleasant person and will be a big help to me.

We now know where almost all of th 660-plus returned missionaries who have served from Mongolia, and have reports from the branch presidents and bishops as to their activity status. We are concentrating on reactivating the returned missionaries here. I will soon have a final list of missionaries in other countries. We do have almost 500 email addresses now and I write an email to them each Monday. Many are coming back to activity with our encouragement and the work in the wards and branches.

Both of us got new reading glasses this week. Linda had had prescription glasses before but needed new ones. I have just been using magnifying reading glasses from Wal Mart. The optometrist who helped is is an old friend from 1993 and has been with us in Utah. She is the top eye doctor in Mongolia and has the most modern equipment. For the firs time ever, she told me how much worse my right eye is than my left and made wonderful reading glasses for me. Linda also has good glasses now. She would not let us pay her. She said it was her gift to us.

We are both in good health. We walk quite a bit but do need to do more planned exercise. I walk two or three miles each Saturday to the Black Market and back. I enjoy the excitement of the place and occasionally find a nice, small antique to buy.We do hope that the family part goes well on Sunday.

Thanks to all of you for staying close and getting together while we are not there.

We love you. We pray for you constantly.
Love, Mother and Dad

June 29 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

We have been quite busy catching up on all our work that piled up while we were in Hong Kong. Finally, today (Monday) we seem to be to where we can take care of new work and problems. It is good to be back here. The weather is cool and feels especially good after the hot humid weather in Hong Kong.

Josh and Kim left on Thursday last week. It has been good seeing them once or twice a week. We will miss them. Becki and Tamar arrive here on July 6th. We have a good experience planned for them.

The group of top officials in the Secretariat of parliament I helped go to Utah for training returned back here last week. They were overwhelmed with the friendliness of the people and the training the received. Both Church Hosting and the legislature treated them royally. This will be a good thing not only for the Mongolian legislature but for the Church here. I was also asked by a former ambassador to the U.S. to help arrange eight weeks of English training at a university in Utah for six top students hand-picked to be leaders in the government. UVU would do nothing, so I called Stan Albrecht and he directed one of his vice-provosts to help us. They are setting up the program now. This will be an on-going program each summer.

We have been assigned to advise a different branch now that the stake has been created, the Byanzurk Branch. This branch meets in our headquarters building and is only a ten minute walk from our apartment. We attended the meetings yesterday and I met with the branch president. I knew him at the MTC in provo. He is a strong leader. The branch we were in before, Khan-Uul is now a ward, and missionary couples are not assigned to wards.

I keep working on my RM projects; Linda is busier than ever with her family history programs. We both enjoy our work a lot. We just need a bit more energy to do all we would like.

We love you. You are in our prayers always.
Dad and Mother

P.S. We enjoyed very much talking to so many of you on Skype during the week.


June 25 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

We returned two days ago from our ten-day trip to the Hong Kong Temple with a group of Mongolian Saints. I am sorry we could not write to you. The Temple patron housing has been torn down and new buildings are under construction. So, we were in two apartments with our group. These temporary quarters did not have internet access.

Our trip to Hong Kong went well. We flew through Beijing and the group of members went by train -- three and one-half days each way. We made a direct connection on the way to Hong Kong so did not have a visa. We had to stay overnight on our way back, so we got a visa in Hong Kong. Too, on our return, the temperature check of all passengers for possible swine flu turned up one culprit on your plane. So with no explanation, we were held on the plan for about two hours while a doctor and what looked like a SWAT team in white body uniforms and white headgear with gas masks examined the man and finally drug him off. Then they told us that we might be quarantined for seven days. As we stepped of the skyway, remote thermometers indicated that all of the non-Chinese had fevers. So, again, we were herded into a makeshift examination room and our temperature was taken again. Finally, we made it to our hotel. We were up at 4:15 to catch our plane at 7:30 a.m. We arrived back in Ulaanbaatar before 10:00 a.m.

Joshua and Kim left yesterday our time and are most probably in Orem now. They will stay at the Crandall's until Kim finds a job.They hope it will be soon so that that they will know where to buy their home and where Josh should register for school. We did have the afternoon and evening with them before they left and are grateful we had the past year here with them.

It snowed in Ulaanbaatar while we were gone and got cold enough to freeze the cucumbers in my balcony garden. The tomatoes do not look too healthy, but I think they will make it.

We are both quite tired and glad to be back to our own apartment and our own bed. We slept on paper-thin mattresses on bunk beds in Hong Kong. The memory foam on our queen size bed will be a real treat.

We love you. I will write more on Monday.
Love, Dad and Mother

June 7 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

We have enjoyed so very much talking with some of you on the telephone during the past week; and we plan to talk with more of you in the next few days. We love you and miss you more each day.

The big event of the past week was the organization of our first stake in Mongolia, the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia West Stake. Also the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia East District was reorganized. The man who has been our district president in the Ulaanbaatar District as called as stake president. They retained his first counselor and the president of Khan-Uul Branch, where we have been senior couple advisers, was called as second counselor. They also organized the high council and called bishops for five of the six wards in the stake. A patriarch will also be called later. Our visiting authorities, who conducted the business in the meetings and spoke to us, were Elder Hallstrom, now president of the Asia Area and soon to be one of the seven presidents of the Seventy. The other was an area Seventy from Taiwan, Elder Chung. We had a priesthood meeting Saturday afternoon and a general meeting in the evening. Both of these meetings were in our headquarters building chapel. The main session on Sunday was in the National Cultural Center. We had about 1500 of our members in attendance. The meetings were very wonderful and very spiritual. Especially Elder Hallstrom taught the members so much about the priesthood and keys of the priesthood. President and Sister Andersen, some of our members. and some of the new high councilmen also bore very strong testimonies.

Josh and Kim came to our apartment about noon and Saturday and went home late last night. We attended the conference meetings together; had our meals together; and talked a lot. It was fun being with them. We are going to try to have some time on Tuesday since we leave for the Hong Kong temple on Wednesday and return the day before they leave Mongolia. They are quite busy now finishing up their school responsibilities and packing their shipment home.

I have been very busy this week trying to get everything ready for the parliament group and the security college students to go to Utah for their training programs. The parliament group will be there only a week and want mostly go get training from the staff of the Utah legislature on how to better organize parliamentary meetings and standing committee meetings here. The security group will consist of six students who have graduated from their academy and are going to Utah to improve their English.

Linda continues to make important strides in her family history work. She has a new assistant, Batchimeg, who was the first missionary sent out from Mongolia and whom I helped study at UVSC. She is an outstanding woman and a very special help for Linda.

I continue my work with the returned missionary program and am getting closer to knowing where all 660 of the returned missionaries are and their activity status. We also continue to see more and more of them come back to activity through what my secretary and I are doing, what the branch presidents (and now bishops) are doing, and with the help of other returned missionaries.

We are still having early spring weather: it has rained quite a bit during the week. Some days the rain was hard and quite cold with a Siberian wind.

We are grateful for our apartment. It is comfortable and stays pleasantly warm. My garden, though small, is doing well. I have tomatoes about an inch in diameter a lot of blossoms. The spinach and lettuce will probably be ready for a good salad when we return from Hong Kong.

We love you.
Love, Mother and Dad


May 31 2009

Our Dear, Dear FamilY;

We truly appreciate the letters we have received from some of you during the week; and it has been fun talking to some of you as well. We have tried to call others as well but have not found you at home..

We have had a good and very busy week. I continue my returned missionary project with some very good successes. My main concern is the the branch presidents and other members just do not feel a responsibility to help other stay active or become active. I guess it is much like this everywhere; but I do hope we can teach the members here to be more concerned about each other. Linda spends every minute of her working time on family history and is getting a lot done. She works closely with the National Archives and the Civil Records Office. President Andersen has told the members that when we have 50,000 names ready for temple work we will be considered for a temple in Mongolia. Some of the members are catching this vision.

We have been advising Khan-Uul Branch which meets in the Central Chapel several miles from our apartment. This branch will become part of the new stake and the wards in the stake will not have senior couple advisers. So President Andersen has asked us to advise the Byanzurkh Branch. This branch meets in the chapel in the headquarters building and is only a ten minute walk from our apartment. The chapel is beautiful, not unlike a chapel back home.

Last week I met with a former Mongolian ambassador whom I hosted in Utah and took to Fremont and the Navajo Reservation. He is a very good friend and we did have a good talk. Also he asked me to do four things for him: arrange for the top graduates of their security academy to go to Utah to study English for eight week (an annual program funded by the U. S. government); find SWAT clothing manufactured in Utah; find a sister city for his home city of Choibalsan; and help his daughter who will graduate from a university in Maryland this month find a hotel management job. Thank you, Andrew, for helping with some of these; and I do have contacts to help with the others.

The Utah Consular Corps is helping me arrange the visit of the parliamentary group to Utah; also Church hosting is involved. It was a lot easier to do these things when I was in Utah, but the project is going well. I hope the group have their visas this week.

Yesterday, the driver of a dear friend, Dr. Basaankhuu, meet us right after our church meetings and took us to her summer home for lunch. The home is in the mountains about 20 miles north of Ulaanbaatar and is built in a pine and birch forest. It was beautiful, quite, and clean. They have remodeled the house since I was their many years ago. Now most of the interior is knotty pine--very beautiful. We had an excellent lunch, and I enjoyed my conversation with her husband who has retired from government and was at one time ambassador to Laos.

Last night we had our monthly senior couples family home evening. We all taught part of the lesson from the Teaching of Joseph Smith. It was a pleasant evening and we had a good carrot cake for dessert.

I set my potted tomato plants out on our balcony this morning. Some of them are three feet tall. I will watch the weather forecasts carefully. I could probably still drop down to freezing here.

We are doing well. The only thing we really need is a cure for mid-day fatigue.

We love you.
Love, Dad and Mother

May 24 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

This has been a very busy but good week. Getting older did not help, but I really do not feel much difference. Really, it would be better if I could start going back the other way. I think I am in good health for 74 years; but I just do not quite have the energy I had when I was a young 60. Thanks to all of you for remembering my birthday and sending greetings. We did celebrate, too. On the evening of my birthday we had Josh and Kim and our artist friends, Tsegmed and Tuya, to our apartment for dinner. It was fun being together. Tsegmed gave me a beautiful painting; Tuya brought a bought a lovely lilies.

Kim had a telephone interview on Friday with the staff at a junior high in Heber City. It is a job she would really like; and she feels that the interview went well. Please pray with us that she will get the job.

Yesterday was the presidential election here and the democratic candidate won with 60% of the votes. The people were totally tired of the corruption of the old president, a member of what they call the reform party (the old communist party). His corruption was unprecedented: just before the election I tried to suppress an article in an international magazine that reported that his wife has US$1.6 billion in Swiss bank accounts. I hope the reform party majority in parliament does not hinder the new president's making some important changes here.

I have been appointed an official adviser to parliament and am currently helping them with training in public affairs and the organizing of parliament and committee meetings. I am working with the Utah consular corps to arrange training for them with the Utah Legislative offices for a week in June.

A very special sister who I took to Utah and who was baptized there got brain cancer shortly after she graduated from UVSC. We arranged two surgeries for her, but the doctors we worked with finally decided nothing more could be done. She came back to Mongolia with us. They expected her to live another three months; she has lived for almost ten and has been able to go to Church meetings with us. Last week, however, her sister and brother had to put her in hospice. We have visited her twice and will visit her again today. It is so hard to see here suffer; but she has never complained and has maintained her sense of humor. I asked her on Thursday if I could bring anything to her. She said: "A good big man."

Thursday evening we enjoyed Mongolian barbecue at a restaurant with a well-known judge I have worked with to help him prepare for one year of international law training at BYU. He has taken a special English class and we have arranged for an American who was formerly a missionary here to tutor him. Passing the Test of English as a Foreign Language will still be a challenge for him. I hope he can pass the test; it would be a blessing for him and for the Church here for him to study at BYU

The weather continues to be difficult here: we have had 82 degrees some afternoon with it still freezing in the morning. The forecast still calls for rain, but we do not get it. It is very dry here and we are getting the smoke from nearby wild fires.

We read of the earthquake in Mexico City. It will be interesting to read what Cameron writes about it.

Linda is over her flu now except for an evening and morning cough. We are both in good health and very grateful for this.

We love you.
Mother and Dad

May 17 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

This has been a good week with the highlight being a returned missionary conference on Saturday. There were about 125 returned missionaries in attendance. President Andersen talked about the formation of the new stake (which has now been moved from May 26th to June 7th), about a site for our stake center. a new branch building we have rented for the branch we advise, and the future hope of a temple here. Our district president, his first counselor, and a missionary who returned from the U.S. the day before also spoke to us. The talks were all excellent and very inspiring for our returned missionaries. I taught one of four break-out sessions (we rotated all of the group through these seminars). My subject was: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and his Righteous and all these things shall be added unto you." We enjoyed a good lunch of fruit, salad, and hamburgers prepared by two of our returned missionary sisters.

We read on KSL online of Governor Hunstman's appointment as ambassador to China. This will be a great blessing for China and the Church there. His grandmother was mother's missionary companion in North Carolina. And in Taiwan he was a companion to Elder Anthony Perkins, our Asia Area President.

We spent quite a bit of time with Josh and Kim this week: they spent Friday night and Saturday at our apartment; we had lunch with them in their apartment at the American School on Sunday.
They are beginning their packing to return home and are very anxious to be back in Utah with you.

We had snow Saturday morning and the forecast is for 83 degrees tomorrow afternoon. I guess it just depends on the way the wind is blowing.

I continue to search for and work with our returned missionaries every day. We are reactivating many, and I help them with school, work, and any other problem I can help with. We have some very strong young men and women among them who most certainly will be a great strength in our new stake. Too, though, we have too many who are inactive. We are trying to get more help in the branches to work with them.

Tsegmed and his wife Tuya, who painted many of the paintings in her home are coming to dinner at our apartment on my birthday. They were both baptized in Utah but were inactive until we came here last year. Tsegmed goes to Sacrament Meeting with me almost every Sunday; Tuya is not active yet. We will encourage her again on Wednesday.

Linda seems to finally be over her flu, so now both of us are feeling quite well. We keep very busy and get tired more easily than we would like. Maybe I should not have a birthday on
Wednesday.

We love you.
Mother and Dad


May 12 2009
Just a day late.

I am better now and back to work. The cold/flu really went to my
lungs (which are bad). Now I am fully recovered - Thank Goodness for
the Lord's blessings!

I didn't get much accomplished this week because of the flu, but there
are several exciting advancements in the FH work.

1. It seems, or so we have been told, and we are investigating,
that the local library has a record of the census records from 1950
onward. It is much less expensive to search them there than in the
Central Archives. There are also many more years of census records
available than we were led to believe. Oyuna is checking this out.
Sister Hansen is coming from the U.S. and Oyuna is going to help her
with some research and will be investigating some good research
places, methods, etc.

2. We, Moogie, one of the Assistants, has created a form for
both the Central Archives [which they have already filled out and
faxed back to us]; and she is typing up in an excell program another
form that will accurately track which civil records (ex: birth,
death, etc.) are available in which Aimaks and for which years.

3. We want to be able to teach, with proven "steps", how to do
research here in Mongolia, what is available, cost, etc. so that the
members and specifically, the consultants, can advise and assist "how
to do Family History research in Mongolia".

4. We have called a new FH Assistant who will probably be
sustained at District Conference to help us. We will let her do the
"ground work", etc. in research. She is sharp, been in the States for
5 years and has excellent English. When we have a system worked out,
we will have the new Bishops, and Branch Presidents call, on a special
assignment (as you suggested), FH Researchers to help the ward/branch
members do their FH.

5. Bachimeg has volunteered to help type up the census records
available that we were not aware of (from an old book which belongs to
her father) I memtioned it in my last report.

6. We are investigating advertising in the newspaper for old
history books to buy. Danny wants us to look for them: family
histories, records, etc. What do you think? We don't have the
budget, but I'll ask Danny if he is interested.

7. As soon as Bachimeg finishes typing up the census record, she
has offered to help us with Facebook. I want to get it going. Quite
a few people have already indicated an interest. Pujee has translated
information on Descendant Research which I would like to post on
Facebook and create links to various other research helps and
FamilySearch.org.

Guess that's about all the news. We had the new couple, the Stevens
over for dinner tonight. They are really special. We will enjoy
them.

Hope you and Sister Andersen are doing well. We certainly love and
admire you both so very much. Thanks again for making this mission
call possible.

I must admit, I have slowed down a little bit and the world looks more
rosy. I take a little nap at noon now.

I know that the gospel is true and am grateful to be able to be a
member while I am on this earthly journey. I am grateeful for the
scriptures and love to read them, a modern-day prophet and all the
wonderful blessings of being a child of God and the opportunity of
getting to know my Eldest Brother, Jesus better.

Love, Sister Linda Lou Jackson

May 11 2009

Our Dear, Dear Family:

It has been wonderful this week to talk to some of your and to receive e-mail's from others. Joe downloaded Skype on his computer, and after a conversation or two, he got a videocam. The new laptop I bought in Hong Kong has a built-in microphone, built-in speakers, and a built-in "crystal eye" videocam. It was fun seeing Joe and his family while we talked with them. I would suggest all of you try this. Skype to Skype is free and it is a great way to keep in touch.

A member of the Asia Region Presidency, former Taipei mission president, Anthony Perkins, has been here this week. Thursday night we had a social night with him and his wife, President and Sister Andersen, and the other senior couples. We attended a Mongolian traditional cultural show. It was very good and featured the best throat singer I have heard here. After the show we had a pot luck dinner at the mission home.

My assistant and I are truly buried in our returned missionary program. We try very hard to work with the branch presidents, but they just cannot seem to catch the spirit of it. It takes endless follow-up to get information from them. It is even more difficult to motivate them to help reactivate inactive returned missionaries. But, we are making progress. During the past few months we have seen at least twenty-five inactive returned missionaries come back to activity. I have met two returned Sisters who work in the country side with no branch of the church anywhere nearby. Both are now praying, reading the scriptures, and attending Church meetings when at all possible because of my weekly Monday e-mail's to 450 of our 650 returned missionaries (we have about 650 returned Mongolian missionaries now and we get new e-mail's almost every day. One of the Sisters told me that "your e-mail's have made me realize just how much the Gospel really means to me." It is hard work but times like this make it worth the work and worry.

We continue to have a typical Utah spring here: cold, hot, snow, rain, and lots of wind. The forecast, though, promises temperatures up to eighty degrees within a week. My tomatoes and cucumbers are still on the window will inside our apartment; but I noticed yesterday that my lettuce and spinach are coming up in my grow box on the balcony. Too, we have cosmos, marigolds, and blackberries, all of which I bought already started, in bloom on the balcony.

Josh, Kim, and I went to the black market on Saturday and had no end of fun. Josh bought a few very nice rock specimens. The man he buys from has become a good friend, and when they finished haggling and Josh paid him, he put a few other specimens in the bag free. Kim bought a Mongolian god mask and a lovely sutra; I bought an antique Tibetan bracelet for Linda for Mother's Day and a few larger pots for my tomatoes and cucumbers for myself.

I wanted to get this letter typed early this morning (Monday) but am finally getting to it now (6:00 p.m.). We have had returned missionaries in our office much of the day. I bring my laptop to the office each Monday to write my returned missionary letter, my report to the mission president, and my letter to you. My secretary is busy on the desk top computer I bought here working on
our returned missionary records all day every week day.

We love you. Our prayers are with you always.
Mother and Dad

May 2 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

We have thought about you so very much this week. We love you; we miss you. Only for this purpose of serving the Lord would we be away from you for so long, so far away. We have talked with some of you during the week and it has been very special for us.

We were informed this past week that the First President has approved the organization of the first stake in Mongolia on May 24th. It will be in the west part of Ulaanbaatar and include five branches. The remainder of the branches in Ulaanbaatar will remain in the new Ulaanbaatar East District.

This has been a hard week for Linda. She has been quite ill with a serious infection: sore throat, fever, cough, and general misery all over. She has been in bed most of the time but came back to work today (Monday) for half the day. She is doing quite well now and will recover gradually if she will not try to do too much too soon. I am certain that not being able to take care of her family history responsibilities has been more difficult for her than her illness. She is totally dedicated to this work and is doing marvelous things for Mongolia.

As usual, my week was spent mostly with returned missionary research, telephone calls, e-mail's, visits, long conversations in my office, and counseling for education, work, and other things. We still have not found all of them, but we have the momentum now to hopefully complete our records and get the help we need from the branch leaders.

I think it is spring here, but I am not sure! The temperature today has been about 80 degrees; some forecasts call for snow next week. We have had almost no :moisture since we arrived last August. I doubt there has been even half an inch. The country is very dry; the mountains have fared a bit better with some snow.

I could probably know it is spring without even looking at a calendar or looking at the weather. I just feel inside myself that the time has come to plant a garden; but planting a garden here is a bit different than planting at home. My garden is on our 6 x 10 foot balcony. I have hauled soil and sand up four flights of stairs in a bucket and luckily found some good compost at a Korean nursery. I have mixed all of this together in my 5 x 5 grow box (built out of junk lumber someone had left on our balcony) and put some of it in large pots about fifteen inches in diameter.
I know have one pot planted with marigold plants about four inches high; another with cosmos flowers about a foot high; and another with five blackberry bushes about eighteen inches high.
I have three more large pots to fill. I will plant tomatoes, bok choi, and beets in the pots. The grow box is for spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, and green onions. We will train the cucumbers to grow up the trellis on the edges of our balcony. We will probably have blackberries everywhere. I bought six tomato plants that I still have in smaller pots on the inside of our window sill. They were four inches tall ten days ago; they are over a foot tall now. I also have two cucumber plants in pots inside. They are over a foot tall now. I planted a few tomato seeds in a small pot. They are up about an inch now. We could have a nice crop of vegetables if all goes well'

Our area president, former Taiwan mission president, Mike Perkins, will be here for a conference and mission tour this weekend. Also, the senior missionaries will enjoy a night of entertainment and good food with him and Sister Perkins.

We love you so very much. Our prayers are with you always.
Love Mother and Dad


May 2 2009
Good Morning, President Andersen,

I thought I would get an early report to you. The last couple of months my mind has been churning with questions and ways to provide the 50,000 names we need to apply for the Mongolian temple. I now have firmly in mind a solution to the quest. With your indulgence, I will present it to you.

There are two major hurtles: 1. We will not be on the new system until about the first of 2010

2. Names submitted to Hong Kong must be in the old format of Temple Ready until they go on the new.familysearch

For those Saints going to Hong Kong for the rest of this year will use the Temple Ready submission format. For those missionaries going to the Manilla Temple we will use the new.familysearch.org format (I will sign in for them so that the records can be recorded in their name). I will sign in for them and have them identify the 3 family names they want to do themselves and create a FOR for them + their own endowment. The rest of the family names we will process in new.famiysearch.org and print out a FOR for them and file under their branch and add to the TEMPLE POOL.

Salt Lake City is working on a template for Mongolia that will have a Romanized name under their Mongolian name. This will be useful for future generations who may not have learned Mongolian Cyrillic. We will enter their name in this format : /TRIBE(name)/ Father's name Given name -This is the same format and order that is on their National Identification Card everyone over 18 years of age must carry with them at all times. I have corresponded with Steve Tsai on this and he and SLC have approved this format. Oyuna showed you, for your approval, our new Family Group Sheet with these changes. Thank you for your approval. We are trying to make the forms as easy and complete for the Mongolian Saints as possible.

In the meantime we will put Mongolian Cyrillic keyboard stickers on the new computers and the Saints can use their Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet, which they are more familiar with, to record their information. They can also enter the dates in their familiar format and the PAF program will automatically convert it into a PAF acceptable format. When using the Temple Ready format, we will enter Mongolia in the place and then in the source we will put the full place name.

We have put out a request for all members to come in to enter their information in the computers. We got a call from Uunar that a couple has 50 names and want to add them to the 50,000 total. They cannot go to the tempIe for several years so I will GEDCOM their information into new.familysearch and then print out a sheet to do temple work in the future (FOR) and file it under the branch name for future use. These saints only want to reserve several names for them to do in a couple of years. I can select them out, print them for them to use in the future and file their FOR for them under their Branch. By signing on for this couple, I can identify their FOR's with their name.

We are calling 2 additional assistants to the Family History Center. Our goal is to be open 6 days a week so that the Saints can have access to the FHCenter at their convenience. We feel that their being able to come in during the week and Saturdays, and being able to use their Mongolian Cyrillic alphabet will encourage them to start building up the goal of 50,000 names for our Mongolian Temple.

I can GEDCOM out the names they personally want to do and then let their other names be added to the TEMPLE GOAL PROJECT and filed properly under their branch.

I have figured out how to GEDCOM a file written in their Mongolian Cyrillic into new.familysearch successfully. All of the information is fully transmitted!

We will be visiting the National Archives next week with a form we have formated which should identify which Aimaks have what census records. We are workiing with Danny on this. Next week we hope to be able to do the same with the Civic/Civil Records. We have figured out a form to have them record this information on.

If you have suggestions or requests, please let me know. My mind is constantly trying to figure out how to further the Family History work here in Mongolia. I love the work and love the challenge. I am grateful for the supportive assistants I have been blessed with and your continued support.

Sincerely, SIster Linda Lou Jackson

April 20 2009
We were just informed today that the First Presidency has approved the organization of the first stake in Mongolia. This will take place on May 24th.


April 26 2009

Our Dear, Dear Family:

We appreciate very much the email's we have gotten from some of you this week. Too, it has been good to talk to some of the family on Skype.

Congratulations to Joe on his call as Deacon's quorum adviser. We're proud of you, Joe and know that you will do a very good job. This another reason you have four boys--to prepare for a quorum of boys about as full of life as yours are.

Our week has been very much the usual routine. I wish it could change more for me; but I know I will be looking for and helping reactivate returned missionaries until the day I leave to come home. Linda's family history programs offer more variety and more direct contact with people. She enjoys this and does a very good job.

I enjoy working directly with the young full-time missionaries in teaching and reactivating returned missionaries. They are so enthusiastic and dedicated. I have tried to remember more details of my mission in Hong Kong. I wish I had the energy and enthusiasm now that I had then.

We are surprised by the weather here: it is 66 degrees outside right now and the temperature is forecast to be in the high '70's by the end of the week. Forecasted snow and rain have not come. We do have cold winds though.

On Wednesday night we had a nice Chinese dinner with Josh and Kim as guests of an old returned missionary friend, Odnyam. We do not go out to eat very much. Too often we get bad food; and getting there and back is always a hassle. It took Odnyam more than an hour to pick us and Josh and Kim up and then get to the restaurant. I doubt the whole ride was more than five miles.

We enjoyed very good meetings in Khan-Uul Branch today. In sacrament meeting the main topics were taken from general conference talks, and mostly about the atonement.
Sunday School and Priesthood lessons were well taught. The Priesthood meeting teacher is a returned missionary and taught a very good lesson on family. I am always impressed with the strength and knowledge of our strong members; and I guess our inactivity rate is no worse than anywhere else in the world.

Josh and Kim spent the afternoon with us. How we wished the rest of you could have been here, too.

Today, Debbie, one of the missionaries in our branch, Elder Avilla, whose parents are from Mexico, said his best friend is in the Mexico City North Mission. Ask Cam to watch for Elder Fonseca Urrutia.

We love all of you so very much. We pray for you always.
Love, Mother and Dad

April 18 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

Our thanks to all of you who helped this past weekend with the sprinkler system and other work in Fremont. We are very grateful for this and know that all of the work you are doing there will make it so much enjoyable for us when we return home. Thank you.

I am looking out the window at a very light snowfall. There is barely enough to cover the unpaved areas. This is the first moisture we have had in several weeks. I doubt we have had an inch of snow in Ulaanbaatar all winter. Of course, there is more in the mountains and in the north of the country.

We watched General Conference by DVD at the mission home yesterday and will go there again today to watch the Sunday sessions. It is very special for us to have this blessing here. I was especially impressed with the call to "provident living" and the counsel for all of us to take care of our fellow-men who need our help.

Our weeks are generally very much the same. Linda is in her office eight hours or so helping members with their family history; I am in mine about the same amount of time mostly continuing our returned missionary search and and reactivation activities. Both of us do teach English twice a week: Linda at the State Archives; I at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. This week I lectured at the U.S. information center in the Ulaanbaatar City library and wrote an article on my work with the transformation of higher education in Mongolia. It will be published next month.

Josh and Kim were with us at the conference meeting yesterday and then spent a couple of hours at our apartment. They are beginning their preparations to return to Utah in June. Kim has sent applications to many schools in Utah for an art teacher's job but has nothing definite yet. Josh plans to get back into UVU and finish his degree in geological mapping.

We will soon have been here for nine months. It has gone by quite rapidly; the hardest part of it has been being away from all of you. We will be home in fourteen months.

We love you. We pray for you always.
Love, Mother and Dad

April 13 2009

Our Dear, Dear Family:

It has been good talking with some of you this week; we would like to have talked to others but just could not seem to find you at home. We do hope that you had a wonderful Easter weekend. Hows we wish we could have been with you. We both spoke about meaning of Easter and he atonement in our branch sacrament meeting.

This has been a busy week for us. In addition to our family history and returned missionary work, we have had our preparation and teaching of our English classes. Linda teaches twice a week at the National Archives; I teach twice weekly at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology. We both enjoy the teaching, but it does take a lot of time and work.

I began a new returned Mongolian missionary class this past week. I have only six in the class, but they are exceptional young people. The classes will get bigger in the future future: we have only about thirty foreign missionaries now among our total missionary force of over 150.

I regularly meet my former UVSC students now, and most of them have high position in government, education, business, and banking. One of them is the top producer and actor of Mongoian movies. He played Chinggis Khaan in the BBC documentary about Chinggis Khaan. I was pleasantly surprised to see his photo on a large billboard a couple of days ago advertising an entertainment magazine. Too, I see many of the university officials I brought to Utah for training. One of them, Boldbaatar, directs the Mongolian Center for the Advancement of Higher Education. He is publishing a report on the transformation of higher education in Mongolia and asked that I write one section for him regarding my role in the change.

We are well settled in our apartment now. It is comfortable; and Linda especially likes the closeness to the Church building.

It is typical spring here now: this afternoon it has been above fifty degrees; snow is forecast for Saturday. Sounds like Utah doesn't it?

Once a month the senior couples have a family home evening at one of our apartments. Last night we met at the apartment of the mission doctor and all gave part of a lesson from the Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Our main topic was the resurrection and atonement. It was a pleasant evening.

I have been very busy today with visiting returned missionaries, writing my weekly report to the President, sending my weekly report to all returned missionaries, and trying to keep up on many other projects. We finally had a late lunch and did not get to the shopping we have been going to do for a week or more.

Health-wise we are doing well. My arm is improving daily. Our only problem is getting tired too easily. I am sure it has nothing to do with age.

We love you. Please write to us. We treasure your letters.
Love, Mother and Dad

April 7 2009
Dear Beloved Family and Siblings,

Just an update from my weekly report to our Mission President to keep you informed. Sorry I am so busy to write long letters. We are going 90 miles an hour here and only 15 months left to complete our ambitious plans.

We've had a wonderful weekend traveling to Seleng and Darhan to present TRIBE firesides there. Oyuna traveled with us and we taught all of the consultants in Seleng and Darhan also. Our other two consultants traveled to Erdenet and Zunhara to present a TRIBE fireside to those branches. Both of the firesides I participated in were great! The saints are so excited about identifying their correct TRIBE name. I actually could not believe their excitement!

Salt Lake is considering the possibility of using the TRIBE name as the last name. Then they would use their given name as their first name and their father's name as their middle name. I'll let you know what they decide. However you will probably be notified before me.

Last week we tested using Mongolian in PAF instead of English. It transfers OK to the new.familysearch, but we are still working out using it with Temple Ready. Steve Tsai is going to test it again tomorrow. It would be such a blessing if the saints here could input their information in Mongolian instead of English, especially since most of them don't know English. It is a slow "hunt and peck" method for them. I hope this final testing works or we can find a way for it to work!

We requested that the formica desk be extended in our FH Center and that has been completed. We are ready now for the 4 new computers. We are ready to "fly". At the conference in Darhan Sunday night, Oyuna suggested that as soon as they have just 15 names they submit them to the temple for their ordinance work. We will then teach them how to do descendant research, which the Church now advocates for those members who have a difficult time researching further back on their ancestral line. We are also still working on perfecting the protocol for research at the National Archives and the Civil/Civic Records.

There is great harmony and love in our Family History Center and I can feel the spirit very strongly. I am grateful to the Lord for blessing this work so much. It is slow, but we will keep it steady with the Lord's help.

I still do not have the form to request the Family History Center be moved from Darhan to Erdenet. Where can I obtain it. I really want to see this accomplished ASAP. Please direct me.

We have moved into the Payne's apartment and almost have found a place for everything and I can almost remember where I have put things. We are enjoying this apartment more than the other one already. Our rent was raised $100.00 from what we were told and the fridge is duck-taped together (which I hope will be improved!) Otherwise we are very pleased with our new living arrangements. There are other small concerns which we have mentioned to Batbold and I trust he will take care of promptly. He is so efficient!

We so appreciated his and the missionaries help with the move!!!

I am thrilled with this opportunity to serve the Lord and greatly indebted to both you and the Lord for the opportunity! I know the gospel is true. I read my scriptures daily and pray earnestly for the Lord's spirit to guide and direct me as I help to facilitate the growth of the Family History work here in Mongolia. By the way, Oyuna is a "Gold Mine". I have seldom known someone so dedicated and capable in a Church responsibility as her!

I will keep you informed on the progress the Family History Center makes in the future!

Love, Sister Linda Lou Jackson

April 6 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

We spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday at three branches in the far north of Mongolia, Selenge, Darkhan I, and Darkhan II. I was the drive, Linda and her assistant, Oyuna, went there to teach family history, Josh went along to hunt rocks, and Kim went for the ride. Linda and Oyuna taught basic family history and trained the branch family history consultants. They also taught the people how to find their own tribe names. Chinggis Khaan named tribes in the various areas of Mongolia, but most people do not know their tribe name. The Russians did not allow the Mongolians to have a surname; but with the tribe name, they can trace their ancestors at libraries and archives. It was exciting to see how grateful they are for this help.

We are moved into our different apartment now; and with our paintings on the wall and carpets on the floor (and endless cleaning) it is almost like home. I bought a new carpet this weekend in a city near the best carpet factory in Mongolia. It is 7'x9', burgundy with oriental designs. It really dresses up our living room. This apartment is more like a home: we actually have separate rooms for the kitchen, office, living room, and bedroom. It is nearer our offices and just across from the largest hotel in Ulaanbaatar, the Chinggis Khaan.

Tamar sent us photos of the work they have done in Fremont. It is beautiful and fits in with the theme of the house very well. Thank you Tamar Les.

Today we have just posted over 300 photos of returned missionaries on cork boards in our office. We have more than 100 still to post as soon as the other cork boards I ordered arrive here. When people come to my office, the first thing they do is to look at the photos. They recognize people and are helping us to find them. Also, we are finalizing our list of returned missionaries so will know for certain, with input from branch presidents, which branch missionaries are in and which we have to keep looking for.

It is spring here and I hope it stays. The temperature this afternoon should reach 50 degrees.

We enjoy the letters from Cameron that Debbie forwards to us. He is a good missionary. The only way it could be better is if he were here with us.

We love all of you very much.
Love, Mother and Dad

March 30 2009
Our Dear, Dear Family:

Spring is still trying to come to Mongolia but without much success. Spring weather here is much like in Utah: sunny one day and snowy the next. The difference is that we get less now an much colder winds.

We have packed to move from our apartment in the new building to a "senior" apartment in an old Russian complex near the headquarters building. The previous couple moved out today and the owner is supposed to complete all necessary painting and repairs today. We are mostly packed, but it appears that it will be Thursday before we move. The Elders in the branch we advise have volunteered to help with the move. The apartment will be comfortable after we do some re-decorating and cleaning.

Linda and her family history assistants rode with a Monglian member of the mission presidency to Darkhan (about four hours distant) to train the family history director and consultants in that district. It snowed most of the time and they had quite bad roads. The mission cars are all relatively new Land Cruisers, so they made the trip with no trouble.
Linda was worn out, though, when they returned home. I stayed home to do our packing.

On Friday night we attending the wedding dinner of a returned Mongolian sister and a German man who lived in the U.S. many years. He is an attorney and financier and quite wealthy. It is good marriage for both of them. The dinner was in a restaurant he partially owns; the food was German and very good.

I baptized a young woman on Friday night who has been in our singles family home evening group. It was a special and spiritual experience.

One of our returned missionaries came to the office today and said that since had had been very successful in his business he wanted to do more than pay tithing back to the Church. Together we decided it would be a great blessing to many people to offer scholarships to study in Mongolian universities to newly-released missionaries. He will help five or six this year.

We held a press conference on Thursday in the press room of one of the popular TV stations here. There were reporters there from TV, newspapers, and national radio. We spoke mostly of our humanitarian work but also introduced the Church quite specifically. One project was quite special: the sisters in the Ulaanbaatar District prepared over 200 new-born kits with handmade clothing and handmade quilts to take to hospitals for poorer families. We spoke also of our wheelchair project and well-drilling project.

We appreciate very much hearing from you. Please write often.
Love, Mother and Dad