There is a lot to see in Mongolia |
The weather. The weather and our mood have
brightened up a bit. The snow and ice on the sidewalks are gone. There are
plenty of slippery spots here and there but Mongolians have been fairly compulsive
on good days to chip off the remaining ice.
Not all the snow is gone - two missionaries about to slide down a hill |
Families and business clean up the ice and snow as a part of getting ready for the new year (Tsaagan
Sar).
The temperatures
are now in the teens but the smoke is still prevalent in the atmosphere. Darlene made the mistake of opening our bedroom window to cool down our apartment. It wasn't long before the smoke had invaded our dwelling. Maybe this spring we'll be either too hot inside or too cold outside.
No major melting yet. It does feel a little like spring but it is the probably the contrast effect of what we have been through.
No major melting yet. It does feel a little like spring but it is the probably the contrast effect of what we have been through.
April may be coming! Not the month April but our April.
Tyler’s wife hopes to join our three daughters on a visit to Mongolia during
the 20th Anniversary celebration and reunion being planned to commemorate
the founding of the Mongolian mission. The week of April 14 – 21 will be one of
the highlights of our mission. We are
excited!
Normally
this wouldn’t happen – a mini-girls’ week out in the mission field of a senior
couple in the middle of their mission.
Our daughter Tawny’s being invited to come for her service here as a missionary,
our being here and the lure of Mongolia has proven irresistible for most of our
children.
Two families
are getting the other set of grandparents to come to help care for their children,
our son hopes to take the week off of work to manage his family, and the oldest
daughter has a reliable babysitter and her husband, Eric, enlisted to free up her time.
Our English class is doing well. Our sponsor asked us to put together
a mid-term on short notice and we complied. We are down to a faithful 10
students who will finish out this trimester of classes. The Chairman of the company
asked for private classes also but every week has been such that the demands on
his time cause cancellations. We are looking forward to getting into a groove
with him.
A visit to Sharavdemberel's home |
Our sponsor,
Sharavdemberal, invited us over for a
delayed Tsaagan Sar visit to his home without all the holiday ceremony. He and
his wife provide child care assistance for a granddaughter so she was there
also. Her presence was fun as we related to her during the visit. It was a
pleasant visit and helps cement our positive relationship with our sponsor.
Is it the foreign language or the eensy, weensy spider that is so captivating? |
Family history training. We had our monthly training meeting with the Family
History Consultants in Ulaanbaatar. The
Center Director and his staff are taking more direct responsibility for
budgeting and planning the meeting and we are there at their request to help
with the training.
Consultant training in UB |
We have a
good working relationship with Nasanbold, Orkhon and Battsey. We are a fun and
effective team. Unfortunately for us, but not for Battsey, she will be going to
BYU Hawaii in April to finish her education. She and Orkhon have made our
Family History mission a delight and have been so helpful. We will miss her.
Our UB Family History Staff: Nasanbold, Orkhon, Battsey and ourselves |
The Asian
Area has featured our collective work (Tsaagan Sar fast and fireside and our
Choibalsan visit ) to the other Asian Family History missionaries during our
weekly Skype meeting and briefed the Asian Area Presidency on our
accomplishments. All of this comes after a month of sickness so you know we had
plenty of help, divine and otherwise.
A Family History Consultant preparing a family for the temple - husband also present but not in the picture |
Our marriage class meets a need. After we arrived last July, I had a
conversation with Stake President
Odgerel about the need of the
members for advice and ideas on how to have successful marriages. Most
of the church focus in Mongolia has been on Young Single Adults and missionary
work.
The feedback
he was getting from the bishops and his own interviews was that married couples
needed more information on how to make their relationships work. He cleared my
participation in doing work in this area with President Clark.
Some, but
not enough, of the returned missionaries are marrying each other and starting
young families. The focus of the Young Single Adult
Conference last summer was on dating and courtship.
He reports they have had
eight marriages so far come out of the conference.
Speed dating this past summer |
We want more young families in Mongolia like this one |
Darlene,
myself and Alimaa, a church member and a professional trained in marriage and mental health, designed a 8 session program to strengthen marriages in Mongolia. The
inaugural workshop was the first Saturday in February and the second was this
past Saturday.
Alimaa. We had a much needed meeting with Alimaa and cemented our
plans for the remaining 7 seminars. She
and I defined our roles and planned the second session. She will translate the
handouts from here on out and they will be posted on the Internet through a
commonly used Church website. She will seriously involve herself in translating
my book during the coming year.
Alimaa - a television personality and mental health professional - is a gifted performer and presenter in front of an audience |
I am a part
of her dissertation committee and will be mentoring her in her therapy techniques
and her research project. All of this has President Clark’s approval. Part of
my missionary contribution in Mongolia will be to leave my writings on marriage
and relationships in Mongolian. Also my mentoring Alimaa will leave a trained
professional and others to carry on the work so these seminars will have a
lasting impact.
The class is a big hit. Attendance increased from 35 to
around 60. The Stake President was raving about the feedback he received and,
jokingly or otherwise, said he would be happy with 120 attending. He also said
the Stake will be videotaping the rest of the workshops.
Azaa was providing sign language for a participant |
We taught and
demonstrated effective listening skills in our second session. The next one will
focus on the role of the speaker in successful communication. I am busy trying
to figure out how to minimize my lack of Mongolian language with the delicate
topics we will be discussing. I am not used to having my communication mediated
by a third party and the cumbersome loss of meaning and connection with the
audience as a result.
Alimaa is
certainly a key as she is fluent in English, Russian and Mongolian. I will have
my own translator Tsege translating for me and Darlene. Her competence is
crucial for our success. If our success so far is an indication, maybe this can
actually work??!!!!
Mongolia - good marriages - a key to a family oriented culture |
I wish you the best with your teaching of the joy of marriage and family. It's exciting that you are able to use your experience and expertise. It was fun to see the pictures of Mandukhai (getting the sign language translation). I taught her and her brother. We spent time after each discussion playing shagai (sheep anklebone game). They were amazing at it. It's wonderful to see people strong in the gospel years later!
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