Mission Conference, a new assignment, and Madame Butterfly

Night at the Opera - Madame Butterfly

Mission Conference. Once a year a member of the Asia Area Presidency makes an official visit to train the missionaries, interview them individually and work with the members.

Mission conference excluding the Darkhan District

Elder Funk and his wife were called to the Seventy this past year. Prior to his calling as the 2^nd Counselor in the Asia Area Presidency, he served as the Mission President in India.

Pres. Benson striding into the picture - Elder Funk on the right

All the missionaries in Mongolia were brought to Ulaanbaatar except for those serving in the Darkhan District. He met with and interviewed the senior couples.  We then enjoyed a potluck dinner together in President Benson’s mission home apartment.  After dinner Elder Funk and President Benson led a special meeting on home teaching for the priesthood leaders in Ulaanbaatar.


Break for lunch

The next day was spent training young and senior missionaries, and  interviewing young missionaries.  The Asia Area Presidency mission tour concluded with a trip to Darkhan to repeat everything there for the Darkhan District and missionaries serving there. During the conference, Elder Funk mentioned that President Benson is the youngest Mission President in the church.

More than two thirds of the mission assembled

A new assignment. President Benson asked us to attend the Unur and Songino Wards in the Stake to offer them support. The Nays will begin attending the Sukhbaatar Branch along with their regular assignment in the Chingeltei Branch.

We had assumed we would finish out our mission in the Sukhbaatar Branch – we have grown close to several of the members there. We regard this as a missionary transfer where we and everyone will adjust. We will make new friends in our new assignment. We start this Sunday.

Book of Mormon reading challenge. President Benson has asked all the missionaries and members in Mongolia to read the Book of Mormon in 90 days beginning Nov. 1 and ending on January 31^st. So far we are a little ahead of schedule but it is a quick pace. The members are responding to the challenge. We enjoy the extra incentive to read the scriptures.

Medical follow up. We had some lab work done to monitor our blood sugars over the last three months and other blood work. Darlene’s diabetic condition turns out to be quite recent. It looks like she will eventually be able to control her condition with diet and exercise.

We are both on the same diet so shopping and meal preparation suddenly became a lot simpler for her. She is disciplined where I am “not so much.” My blood work showed I had made quite a bit of improvement in the past 4 months since the previous lab work was done. I think we are going to come home from our mission in healthy condition.

Elder Naef hosted by the senior couples

Elder Naef’s last hurrah! Elder Naef left this week for home. He spent the last 4 months in Baganuur where he did great work. The senior couples held a dessert social for him on his last night in Mongolia.  That afternoon there was a farewell testimony meeting for him which we missed because of teaching English. The Bensons had him over for dinner. 


Back row: Elders Wood and England, Middle row: Sisters Stewart, Wood, Gardner, England, Farmer and Elder Farmer,
Front row: Elders Tuguldor and Naef

This is a little unusual for only one missionary to leave. He was originally scheduled to leave in August but his mission was extended because of an ankle injury that required him to be treated and recuperate in the United States. He was allowed to return to Mongolia and finish his two year mission here.

English class. We have another month with our class. It has boiled down to 5 regular attendees. They are delightful and we love seeing them. This week we concluded a section on family relationships. They had gathered their personal genealogy history as a class assignment. We showed them how to enter their data on Family Tree.

We found out our last day of class with this group will be Dec. 18. We will have one new group of students to teach before our mission is over at the end of March.

The National Archives. We are on the verge of knowing what the Archives wants in order to finish a contract with them. They called on Friday to request copies of the Family Search International Contract in both English and Mongolian. We spent a week fine tuning our proposed 2014 work plan and sent that along with the contracts. Keep tuned for further developments.

Intermission at "Madame Butterfly" - the Stewarts, Nays and Darlene - the Englands were elsewhere

Madame Butterfly. Our week ended with four of the senior couples attending an operatic performance of “Madame Butterfly”. Prior to the show, we went online to review the plot line as the show was in Italian sung by Mongolian performers with Mongolian language translations on video screens off-stage both left and right of the audience. It helped a little but not much.

Curtain call

The visuals, the acting, and the voices made the show special even though we were mostly clueless other than the main plot. The “Nutcracker” is scheduled near Christmas so we may have one or two more operas to see before our time in Mongolia is over.   

The Opera House in Ulaanbaatar

Life in Mongolia, a surprising diagnosis and special events

A trip to Baganuur

 A mild winter by Mongolian standards. Winter has made a few appearances with some stiff, cold winds and some light snows. Even the Mongolians have commented that the harsh brutal weather normally associated with November isn't as bad this year.

Every week the Mongolian winter delays its dreaded arrival shortens the actual experience. This is definitely OK by us. We didn’t put too much thought into this when we volunteered for a 23 month mission that would include two winters. Now we do.

One thing is a lock however – the coal burning pollution in Ulaanbaatar is back in full force. No matter what the temperatures may be, the pollution factor is the biggest hazard we face, day in and day out. We won’t miss it a bit.

Don’t drive here. Another thing we won’t miss is the traffic congestion. We are including a link to a youtube video on driving in Ulaanbaatar for your entertainment - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3GeO7YpCjE.

It is a continual source of fascination to us as we alternately marvel at how few accidents there are and how skilled the Mongolian drivers are and the frustration (and patience) of taking “forever” to get someplace and the creative, imaginative audacity of some (I am tempted to say "most") drivers who circumvent ever known rule to driving safety and sanity and get away with it.

The only rules you can count on is “expect the unexpected” and absence of road rage – “Oh well”, in the game of right-of-way settled by inches, “He won that one but I may win the next one.”

The biggest roads hazards in Mongolia are those strangely courteous and passive drivers who violate the expectations of the hyper-aggressive norm. Women drivers are just as skilled and aggressive as men – they have to be in order to survive. 

Pedestrians are just as aggressive as the vehicles, but that is another story in the daily dance of “I was here ahead of you so deal with it”.

Cars parked in unusual places ("What I have to do is so important that it is inconsequential that my parked vehicle constitutes a major road hazard and traffic snarls") but that too is another daily story creating a “seeing is believing” experience for foreigners.

The roads are another story and how the fear of potholes supersedes the fear of a head on collision.

Having said all that, we have seen great improvement in the roads, beautification and redesigned intersections as authorities try to solve the Gordian knot of too many cars for a suddenly prosperous  Ulaanbaatar.  

A surprising diagnosis. Darlene has been struggling with her health for that past couple of months. Dr. Stewart ordered some lab tests and the results came back “Diabetis.” The diagnosis, though surprising and unwelcome, went a long way toward explaining her loss of energy and other symptoms (frequent urination) she was experiencing.

If there is anyone capable of designing and living up to a sensible diet it is Darlene. It will help that we are both on the same diet. I will benefit from this sudden change of events.

Special events this week.

Elders Bayarjargal, Standley, Torbat, Tolga, Odd and Faber with the guest "hostess" of honor

National Archives. We had a productive meeting with the National Archives regarding a contract between Family Search and the government of Mongolia for recording and digitizing Mongolian census records.

We can’t celebrate anything yet but we are getting closer and closer to our goal. We will update you with more details as they unfold.

Family History in UB and Baganuur. We had our monthly Family History training event in UB.

Refreshments afterward

Darlene helped new missionaries prepare family names for the temple and the same for members going to the Hong Kong temple this week.

Sister missionaries leaving for the Phillapine MTC and the temple  

We traveled to Baganuur (125 km east of UB) on Sunday to speak and train. It went amazingly well considering the obstacles we encountered.

We met Batbayar’s wife (see previous blog) who attended church for the first time since her husband’s baptism. The whole experience with him and his family has been heartwarming for us as we do our calling. He wants us to return and visit his home for dinner. I think we can arrange it. :)

Darlene, Orkhon, and sister form Baganuur

We did some training of the Mission Leadership Council on the relationship between missionary work and family history work. We think President Benson was pleased with the effort we put into our Power Point presentation.

We immediately saw the fruits of our efforts the very next day.  Zone leaders were using our Power Point to train missionaries in their Zone on how to incorporate family history into their work.

An early birthday party. We concluded the week with an early birthday dinner for Darlene. We invited the special elders we have come to know and love in our service in the Chingeltei meetinghouse where three branches hold their Sunday meetings.

This was originally planned as a surprise birthday party for Darlene but nothing gets past her.

Together we planned a special meal and the Elders brought cake and ice cream for milk shakes.

It was like an early Thanksgiving dinner. Somebody has taught Elder Odd how to bake a cake. Impressive! 

Two birthday celebrations, invited guests and coming up roses

Chinggis Khan holiday. We celebrated Chinggis Khan's birthday on November 4. Every year the government chooses a different date to celebrate during the month of November. All government offices were closed and most commercial businesses except for food stores and restaurants.

Again, courtesy of Dr. Stewart, we have pictures to show. 

The official ceremony consisted of the honor guard and a color guard going up the stairs of Parliament, going to a special display room and bringing out nine horse hair flags symbolic of the flags Chinggis Khan and his sons carried when they conquered Asia, Russia, India, Afghanistan, Persia, and Eastern Europe to the edge of Vienna, Austria.

The flags are then transferred to nine mounted flag bearers who then parade on the streets of Ulaanbaatar and then return to the Parliament to and repost the flags.

The only other time of the year they do this is during Nadaam when they take the flags down to the stadium and display them during the three days of Nadaam.

If some of this looks familiar, it is - because we saw and photographed the ceremony performed last July.

Prior to the ceremony with the nine flags, various people in traditional dress representing the different tribes and nobility came out and stood on the steps of Parliament. This was new from this summer.


Work and then play. Darlene worked hard afternoon on this holiday and the evening before assisting 3 young women preparing to go on their missions shortly.

They wanted to register for Family Tree and prepare family names to take with them to the temple. It was fun for her as these young women were motivated and taught her Mongolian as they worked together.  

Parliament Puje's birthday. Puje, one of our dear friends in Mongolia, celebrated her birthday by inviting three senior couples to her home. She has a wonderfully open and engaging personality and is fun to be around. She is a widow and she two adult children who live in the United States.

The meal Puje and her sister prepared for us

She has helped the senior couples in numerous ways including serving a service mission in Murun as a translator. She was with us on our temple trip to Hong Kong.

She gets her nickname because there are so many "Pujes" in the church and in Mongolia. It is the short name for Purevsuren, a common name for both men and women in Mongolia. She used to work for Parliament and knows many of the legislators there. She joined the church in 1997.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Puje

To have an official tour of Parliament, you need permission from a member of Parliament. Puje does this for all the Mission Presidents and senior couples who serve here. She partners up with the official tour guides in Parliament to explain the various works of art, displays, and government chambers in the Parliament building.

Young Single Adult devotional. The Young Single Adults in Ulaanbaatar had a Sunday evening devotional where they showed a special video presentation from the YSA conference this summer. The church was packed.

Afterward, one of the young women received a huge bouquet of roses from her boyfriend. This certainly caught her attention and that of her friends.

Feigned disappointment

Pulling off a surprise. Earlier in the day on Friday, the Stewarts invited us to go out to a restaurant to eat that night. We surprised them by taking them up the hill to a favorite Russian restaurant we discovered.

Darlene worked all afternoon on a special pulled pork BBQ dinner and banana cream pie for dessert. We made an excuse to go back to our apartment for a forgotten item and we pulled off the surprise.

We had another surprise for our English class on Halloween with special decorations and treats for our students.

Flags were flying high in Mongolia on Chinggis Khan's birthday

Family History in Khovd, Monday morning P-Day adventures



Khovd from the air

Training a new FH Consultant. We met with Altanbileg, a bilingual, young single adult. He was called to be a Family History Consultant in the Khovd Branch.

Darlene with Altanbileg

We met him in UB shortly after are arrival in Mongolia. He speaks Spanish, French and English.  He loves to practice his Spanish with me as there are few Spanish speakers around.  And vise-versa.

 Fortunately for us, he moved back to Khovd to be with his family for the summer and school year as he prepares for graduation from college.

Gankhuyag in denim coat and his 13 year old son behind him, Elders Batbileg, Khash-Erdene and Monkhsaikan (standing)

Also one of the bright English speaking missionaries, Khash-Erdene, has been assigned to Khovd. He has a delightful, outgoing personality and is a real resource to us as long as he is assigned to the Khovd area. He has already helped us register members in Darkhan earlier this summer just before he entered the mission field.

Elder Zolbayar and Branch missionary eating after completing a service project

Additional duties and hospitality. We spent  Friday night, most of the day Saturday and Sunday for a few hours after church helping Altanbileg sign members into Family Tree. We spoke in church - Darlene in Mongolian.

The Farmers, Nara and Gankhuyag

The Branch President had us and the four missionaries over for dinner on Sunday afternoon.

Standing: Elders Batbileg, Khash-Erdene, Zulbayar - in front: Gankhuyag and Elder Monkhsaikan

The Branch President Gankhhuyag and his wife Nara raise chickens, geese and turkeys in their compound.

They and their children are preparing to go to the temple in January.

The hospitality was wonderful as are the people in Khovd. They still greet foreigners with warmth and the youth and children love to practice their English.

Our Sunday dinner

This was just prior to an All-Mongolia direct broadcast to all church units by the Mission President as he and others introduced a 90 day Book of Mormon reading program to the members.

All members (including the senior couples) are being challenged to finish the Book of Mormon before the beginning of  Tsaagan Sar, a national holiday that begins with the lunar New Year, Feb. 2, 2014.

Preparation Day activity with two of the Branch Presidency and two missionaries.

Mongolia's Great Wall

We drove to the wall built by the Mongolians as a barrier against the Chinese in the 17^th century. This is Mongolia’s “Great Wall” to keep the Chinese invaders out.

It isn’t nearly as big or glamorous as the Great Wall in China but a historic monument to the spirit of the Mongolian people as they attempted to resist Chinese occupation.

Several monuments in Khovd commemorate the great leaders of this era as they revolted or led armies to preserve or restore Mongolian independence.

Paintings in Khovd Museum

Overlook. We went to an overlook of Khovd though the view was marred by early morning pollution from coal burning fires in the ger districts.

We then visited a natural springs area and the Boyant River that runs by Khovd.

Visiting the springs

On a bridge - a layer of smog in the background

Museum tour. This was followed by a visit to the Khovd provincial museum where we had a guided tour.  One of the highlights was three replicas of cave paintings located about 50 km south of Khovd. The originals have been marred by graffiti so this was special.






One of the highlights was seeing a tapestry with Mongolian family records preserved in Mongolian script.

Close up view

Khazak dining. We stopped at a Khazak café in the public market - our third meal there during our stay in Khovd  - for an early lunch.

The owners of the café are investigating the church. The food was some of the best we have eaten in Mongolia.

They cook the ribs for several hours prior to serving them – making the meat soft and delicious. And the price was right!

Outside the public market were wagon loads of cow dung for sale to heat gers in the winter

A monastery visit. On the way to the airport, we stopped at a Buddhist monastery where I was able to get a few pictures.

Symbols of Buddhist dieties - the elephant, monkey rabbit and pidgeon

Giant sheep ankle bones

Buddhist scriptures - golden scrolls

Our nomadic adventure in Mongolia is drawing to a close. On the flight back I couldn’t resist few more pictures of Western Mongolia.

Edge of Black Water Lake

This was our last training trip outside of UB for this calendar year. Maybe it will be our last big trip as we will try to preserve next year’s Family History travel budget for the missionary couple who will replace us after we leave in April.   

Notice the cultivated land near the top of the picture