Camel Polo in front of the Chinggis Khan monument

The referee in the red coat is going over the rules

Dr. Stewart was on his way to Baganuur on a church assignment. His route took him past the Chinggis Khan monument. 

Camel polo player

Dr. Stewart has the uncanny knack of being at the right place at the right time. This happened to be the one weekend a year when Camel Polo contest was scheduled to take place in front of the Chinggis Khan monument. What better setting!

We are ready to go

The beauty and the beast - Ulzicka, Dr. Stewart's translator

He took some great shots of the camel riders, the camel polo contest and some shepherds tending their flocks. He shared these photos with me and I am sharing them with you.

Milling around before the match

Instead of a rope with a loop, Mongolian horsemen use a long pole with a loop

Mongolian shepherd tending his flock

A Mongolian shepherd tenderly caring for three little goat kids

New missionaries arrive and International Women's Day

A man and his horse-drawn cart outside of our church

Ulaanbaatar felt a little like spring most of the week with one cold day with snow flurries thrown in the mix. That day reminded us of the prairie weather in the Dakotas when the wind blows. On the other days, the heavy coats and boots came off and we donned lighter winter clothing. Finally!

View from our balcony - proof that spring has arrived

Reinforcements arrive. Six new missionaries (4 Elders and 2 Sisters) from the United States arrived in two groups. They are the first young foreign missionaries to be allowed in Mongolia in 11 months. 

Elder Muldowney (Greenie) and Elder Neuberger

We are expecting another group in early June. The seven Mongolians recently called to this mission will arrive from their two weeks at the Phillipine MTC this week to complete the missionary transfer.  

Missionaries getting ready for a transfer to new companions

It was fun to see the wonderment and excitement they bring. They are finally in their mission field and assigned to their new companions. 

Elder Odd - Od in Mongolian means "star" 

We greeted Elder Odd from Menden, Utah. It seems he was reading this blog while he was waiting to go into the MTC. He jokingly blamed his poor chemistry grade on this distraction.

These two ladies were headed in opposite directions when they stopped to chat with each other. We happened along and couldn't resist asking for their pictture.

International Women’s Day. This is a combination of Valentine and Mother’s Day in which all women are honored. It is a National holiday from work. Our English class the night before the holiday was cancelled because all women in the workplace gather and have office parties.

Women are celebrated in Mongolia

Men were frantically buying gifts, candies, flowers and cakes to take home. The next day some businesses were open but the traffic was miniscule compared to the night before when it seemed like everyone was on the road, sidewalks, or in stores.

Car dodging a cement block "cone" warning of a hole in the road in front of Millies. It gets their attention. It got ours.

Eating out. We celebrated Women's Day by taking the Englands out to eat at Millie’s – an ex-patriot restaurant that serves American food. We missed our turn to host them when they arrived in January because of our health issues. 

Baptisms at Sukhbaatar Branch

We concluded the night by going to a baptism service at our Branch. 

Dinner at Naamastes - the Englands are on the left and Richardsons are on the right

On Saturday night, we joined the Englands and the Richardsons again for a second night out at our favorite Indian restaurant, Naamaste. One survey has it rated the 3^rd best restaurant in Ulaanbaatar.We agree! We haven't found Numbers 1 or 2 yet.

The Richardsons are in their last two weeks of their 23 month Humanitarian Service mission. We will miss them for many reasons.

Half of the group at our UB consultant training meeting

Consultant training. We had a successful Family History Consultant meeting on Saturday. Elder Watson, President of the Asian Area mission, was in Ulaanbaatar for priesthood leadership training.

The other half

He took time out of his schedule to come and address our consultants with some inspirational remarks. 

Group shot of our consultants with Elder Watson in the back. Sister Farmer is flanked by Ulzicka and her mother, two our our daughter Tawny's converts when she served in Mongolia

After the meeting he posed with our group of Family History consultants and leaders. On the way to the airport that night, he told President Clark how special that experience was for him.

Ulzicka served as the translator for myself, Sister Farmer and Elder Watson

Mongolian language. Darlene is hard at it. She takes advantage of any Mongolian’s presence in her path to learn or practice a few words. 

Every spare minute

Most are thrilled (not all taxi drivers want to chat but some do) and like helping her. The Mongolian and American missionaries, cleaning ladies, translators, and the security guards are frequent targets and they like teaching her as much as she likes learning.

Impromptu Monglian lesson

20th Anniversary of the Mongolian Mission. April, our daughter-in-law, will join three of our daughters in coming to Mongolia for the 20^th year commemoration of the Mongolian mission. What a dream week that will be. We spent some time this week preparing displays for both this week’s consultant training and for a Family History open house on Friday afternoon during the 20^th Commemoration week.

We will show them the old and the new

Between now and then we will be busy with: learning Mongolian, Family History training in Erdenet, speaking in a UB branch sacrament meeting, holding two more marriage classes, teaching and finishing up one trimester of English classes with our current students, starting a new class, teaching English to the chairman of our sponsor’s company, teaching piano, training FH consultants, and working with members preparing to go to the temple on March 22. If you read this blog regularly, you will keep up with our work here.

Sukhbaatar Branch primary

A wonderful mission. We try to keep an eye out for anything cultural or unique in Mongolia and enjoy this country to its fullest. We love the discovery and adventure of being in this country. We have a sense of reward and purpose to what we are doing. 

Despite the whirlwind of activities, we feel calm, peaceful and content.The association with members, young missionaries, senior couples, little children, and English students is the best part of this mission. 

The children are irresistible

We are going to take a second run at a records acquisition project for Mongolia. That would be the cherry on the cake. Maybe better said, it would be the cake under 100 exquisite cherries. 

Terelj - a bit of heaven in Mongolia

The marriage workshop is going gangbusters!

Meeting three friendly children in a flower shop

Weather report. The weather is noticeably warmer with today being the first melting since winter began. It can be almost pleasant except when the wind blows, then we bring out the scarves, hats and gloves. We are still wearing our big down coats. We are having more sunny days. Spring is on the way.

The flower part of the flower shop

English class. We are in a groove except our attendance is more inconsistent since Tsaagan Sar. Most of it has to do with class members have work conflicts (meetings) during our English class time. The Chairman will start up his English tutoring sessions on May 14.

Map of Mongolia at the place where we teach - the glowing lights indicate locations of special telecommunication services.

We had a fun class were we delved into Mongolian genealogy with the class members. They were fascinated as their own family lines were disrupted by the communists and all their policies which weakened family and tribal identification to minimize any threats to their governance.

Small class - one student stepped out to take a cell phone call

Family history. We spent time this week straightening out problems with the new Choibalsan Family History Center, the Erdenet FH Center, the 2013 budget in coordination with the UB FHC, solving member problems with the new Family Tree program,  and planning our next consultant training for next Saturday.

 Senior couples honoring a Mongolian matriarch on Tsaagan Sar

P-Day on Friday. We finally had a relaxing day of food shopping, office supply shopping, and organizing both our home office and work office.  Saturday is a big day which sometimes turns into a 12 hour day with Darlene teaching piano, training Family History Consultants and me getting ready for the marriage workshop in the evening.

The Title of Liberty carvings - they are carved in the likeness of adult children of a senior missionary couple

New missionaries arriving. Six new American missionaries arrive tomorrow, the first ones in 11 months. It will be exciting. We will meet Elder Odd from Providence, Utah. Seven missionaries from Mongolia are currently being trained at the Missionary Training Center in the Phillipines. Two more groups of missionaries from the United States and Mongolia will begin their missions in late May or early June.

Carved nativity set

Our numbers will grow this year – finally. We lose three senior couples this spring and one replacement couple will arrive in June. It is not so promising on that front.

We are becoming acquainted (and customers) with church artists and artisans

Pleurisy. It is great to have our health back. I had a scare for about a half hour with some chest pain that was sharp and suspiciously located close to the heart. Dr. Stewart came over and diagnosed the problem as pleurisy. He prescribed Ibuprofin and sure enough the pain subsided. The symptoms are quite distinct from a heart attack but I didn't know that.

Elder (Dr.) Calvin and Sister Anne Stewart from Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada with Sister Clark

That immediate reassurance was priceless. Dr. Stewart performs a valuabe service for all the missionaries (and members) in Mongolia and we have been some of the main recipients.

Marriage workshop. We had our 3^rd marriage workshop. It was a big success. The room was filled with mostly eager, smiling young couples soaking in all the information they can. We look into their eyes and see love and concern for each other. The future of the church in Mongolia is bright with promise. What an enthusiastic audience!


Teaching relationship skills in another language - not easy but it is working

The marriage information we are presenting is translated into Mongolian and goes out to all the priesthood leaders in Mongolia plus it is posted on the popular Mongolian LDS Church Facebook page.


We are working on listening skills, softened communication by the speaker, conflict resolution and negotiation. The next workshop is on March 23rd.

There have already been a few spinoffs as one participant presented our ideas to his supervisor at a mining company and they are instituting a training program based on the principles we are teaching. This kind of human relationship information is new to Mongolia. The Russians didn’t promote or teach anything like this.

"Kick az" advice for all our granddaughters growing into young women

The Mongolian people, whether it is in the workplace or in the church, are quick on the uptake, soak in new knowledge and are quick to apply principles in new and innovative ways. I’ve haven’t seen American audiences so receptive, so open and enthusiastic.

For example, one of our English class students was so taken by how he could connect with other relatives by tracing his family history that he was already thinking of designing his own software. We reminded him that that “wheel” had already been invented. It is easy to see our value here in Mongolia when the a little bit of knowledge we share is grasped with so much enthusiasm.


Winter is almost over

Our marriage workshops take off

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.

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 20^th 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!

Tassa, Tawny (missionary in Mongolia 1998 and Mitchell),  April, Tara and Tally (not coming).

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. 

Speed dating this past summer

He reports they have had eight marriages so far come out of the conference.

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.  

Val with Tsege - the rest of the seats were subsequently filled in 

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