Making Mission Memories in Mongolia

This week was birthday week, and I wasn't about to let J.D. enter a new decade without a little fanfare! Thanks to the help of the Horitos and Ellersicks, our fellow senior couples in the city, I was able to pull off a great surprise party. We invited all of the church employees we work with, the volunteers in our district, and the mission leaders to gather in a room and wait quietly with the lights off. Then I told J.D. that we needed to stop by and pick something up. The moment he opened the door, the lights came on, and the room erupted with cheering, shouting, and noise-makers. He had absolutely no idea! It was so much fun to see the look of surprise on his face. It may not have rivaled the grand scale of the surprise party for his 50th birthday, but it was pretty good! J.D. received thoughtful gifts and cards from everyone, but we were both especially surprised and honored by the gift from the service center: an engraved Mongolian copper dombo with matching copper bowls. It is...

Since so many of you have asked about the return of our hot water—and J.D.—I’ll start this post by saying they both returned on schedule! Yesterday was cause for celebration when we discovered that the hot water was finally back! We survived the second edition of our Siberian Showers!  As for J.D., he returned from his grand adventure on Tuesday evening. He likes to describe the trip as “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” So, let’s start with the good! To fully appreciate the good, I need to give you a little backstory about the purpose of the trip. Khuvsgul Lake is Mongolia’s largest freshwater lake and contains more than 70 percent of the country’s reserves. In recent years, the lake’s fragile ecosystem has faced increasing threats. As part of efforts to protect the lake, a remote scientific research facility was constructed nearby. The Church donated humanitarian funds to assist with the installation of solar panels and other equipment for the facility.  In appreciation for...

  Why did this week's post start with a picture of our shower head, you might ask? Well, this is currently what our shower looks like whenever we turn on the hot water: absolutely nothing! Monday marked the beginning of two weeks without hot water while the city repairs the pipes.  We may have mentioned this last year when it happened, but the water isn't just cold. It's brain-freeze, headache-inducing, straight-from-Siberia cold! But don't worry, we've developed a system. Each evening we fill the bathtub so the water can at least warm up to room temperature overnight. Then we boil enough water to make it lukewarm, hop into the tub, and pour bowl after bowl over ourselves. It's not exactly luxurious, but we've got this! We've seen Kumo Kumo stores around the city for quite a while and always wondered what a Japanese style cheesecake tasted like, so we finally decided to try one. The packaging alone felt like an event, complete with a gift bag, fancy spoo...

This week was Zone Conference week, with meetings on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. We were assigned to help provide fruits, vegetables, and paper goods for each of the three lunches. To gather everything we needed, we walked to the Bayanzurkh Market. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to take any pictures, but imagine Walmart meeting a flea market (I asked AI to help create some pictures to give somewhat of a visual).  The market is a huge building filled with small stalls and shops, each specializing in a specific type of product. We headed upstairs first in search of paper plates, napkins, and cups. Before long, we found a tiny store that seemed to sell every paper product imaginable. Paper goods were stacked from floor to ceiling and crammed into every available space. Through a combination of pointing, showing pictures, and a little help from ChatGPT, we were able to successfully communicate exactly what we needed. Next, we made our way to the fruit section, where we once again p...