Musings in Mongolia: Musings and more musings

Plenty of memories to muse about

It has been a while. I have been thinking about this blog and how to proceed now that our lives are not focused on Mongolia.

I will be starting a new blog, Musings in Missouri beginning mid-September. I will leave Musings in Mongolia posted on the Internet permanently.

Musings in Mongolia. This will enable those viewers whose interest is primarily all things Mongolian and help new viewers who are interested in the church in Mongolia to have access to the cultural/historical information available from our blog. Despite being home four months, the blog continues to attract 2,000 page views monthly from around the world.

From time-to-time we get news and information from Mongolia that we can update on the blog. For example, during our upcoming visit to Utah we will have opportunities to meet former missionaries and friends that served in Mongolia or who have children who are serving there. Also we also receive emails from Mongolia with news and information of interest about events in Mongolia and also church news in Mongolia.

I will be putting together a book about our mission to Mongolia and will announce its availability on Musings in Mongolia. Part of the book will be about the customs, culture and landscape of Mongolia that hopefully will have coffee table quality.

Part of this book and/or perhaps a second book will document the history of our mission to Mongolia and elaborate more on the spiritual aspects of our journey there.

Home Sweet Home

Our plans. It looks like we will be staying put for a couple of years before making ourselves available for another mission. We want a positive experience with our children and grandchildren and to build bonds before embarking on a new mission.

We find opportunities to be helpful and serve our children and their families. We continue to grow our relationships in the process.

What have we created? It can be a bit overwhelming at times.

We will be celebrating our 50^th wedding anniversary in 2016.

Going down life's path together

This is once in a lifetime chance to have this very meaningful time with friends and family.

Skyping with Tyler and April in Okinawa - four daughters and 2 granddaughters in the photo

Also our son Tyler and his family will be moving to Australia next May and naturally we want to go there and visit their family. That is a powerful incentive to travel to Australia and see another part of this world that is off the beaten path – for North-Americans that is.

We want to serve again. I will be making a concerted effort to learn Russian so I can be useful in relating to Russian speakers a gospel context. Darlene is already there.

Musings in Missouri. This blog will be about aspects of our lives that are not related to Mongolia. This will be a communication link for our family and friends.

I was also an advice columnist for the general public for 28 years. My audience was primarily Midwestern and rural.

I am not going to restart that weekly obligation of writing for the public (heavens no! – I enjoy my freedom from stress too much) but I will occasionally use the blog to make observations on relationships, culture, politics, trends, and concerns as I see changes in our world today.

We are unsettled by the rapid social changes that threaten the viability of marriage, family life and the coarseness of our culture and media making raising of children with values and character more difficult.

I will provide a link to my past writings archived at www.valfarmer.com and make available books I written to the public. I will be making major changes to my website during our visit to Utah.

I will continue to focus on my goals and define what I will do with Musings in Missouri during the next month.

In writing a blog, I discovered the power of photography in telling a story. I love photography but I am an amateur who was fortunate to have Mongolia for subject matter. Now the challenge is greater. Where do the stories and photography come from in our somewhat ordinary lives?

How about being a storm chaser?

I don’t want to be boring so who knows where this will go.

Landscaping in front of barrier on our hillside

Current living. Moving and settling in took more than a month but it is satisfying to have our routine and comfortable surroundings back. We aren't comfortable with a vagabond lifestyle. We are rooted here in Missouri once and for all.

We also like travel and adventure (in moderation). We like service. (I have been called as a marriage and family relations teacher in our local congregation