Making Mission Memories in Mongolia

As we begin our last full week on our mission, we have mixed feelings about leaving. This past week, we found ourselves noticing several times how quickly the opportunities to do ordinary things are running out. We will only do laundry one more time. JD will only change his contacts one more time. Even grocery shopping now includes thoughts about how much food we will need before we leave. We think about the hugs that will be waiting for us at the airport and the beautiful reunion with family that lies ahead. At the same time, we are already thinking about the people we will miss, the opportunity to spend our days fully focused on serving others and the Lord, and the beautiful lands of Mongolia and the Micronesia Guam Mission. September 24th will definitely be a bittersweet day. As our time draws to a close, we are slowly turning over our responsibilities, so this week was a little slower than usual. We did have one last trip to the ATM to withdraw rent money. In case you were wonderin...

This week was Zone Conference week, with conferences on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday—our last ones! We provided fruit salad, a veggie tray, and cookies to go along with their lunch, which the missionaries greatly appreciated. The meetings were held in a different church building that we weren’t familiar with. When we asked the missionaries if it would be safe to leave our food in the refrigerator overnight, they assured us it would be fine. They must have had just a tiny bit of doubt, however, because when we arrived the next morning, we found the refrigerator taped shut with a Stay Away sign on it! It gave us a good laugh. Since this was our last Zone Conference, we were invited to share our departing testimonies with the zone. It was definitely bittersweet. After spending so much time with these missionaries and watching them grow, serve, and share the gospel, saying goodbye makes us realize just how much these young people have become a part of our lives. We mentioned early in our...

 This week we received the green light to move back into our East Mission office space. That meant lots of moving, unpacking, and organizing—all things I love to do! Here are some before and after pictures of the office area.  I forgot to take “before” pictures of the supply rooms I organized, but it is so satisfying to see the end results. It’s looking good! We also did our regular weekly service at the homeless shelter. We catch a cab with the Ellersicks to get there and back, and it has always worked out well, especially since we call for the “comfort cab.”  This week, however, our cab happened to have a console in the middle of the back seat, which made things a little squishy! Even though we couldn’t communicate with the driver, we still had fun trying to communicate and sharing a few laughs along the way. We had another crepe breakfast followed by District Council at our home this week. We have loved having these wonderful young volunteers in our home over the past ...

Yesterday, we attended an Interfaith Gathering at Dashchoilin Monastery. Before the event, we toured the monastery grounds and visited a small museum. Some of the highlights included an enormous Buddha statue, what is said to be the world's largest rosary carved from a single piece of wood, and a mask for Buddhist ritual ceremonies that looked remarkably like J.D. (see photo). At long last, we've discovered why J.D. seems to be revered everywhere we go!  On a more serious note, it is always uplifting and productive when people of different faiths come together to work toward common goals. Before J.D.'s birthday, one of the missionaries in our district asked what he wanted as a gift. J.D. jokingly replied that he would love a Diet Coke because, in Mongolia, we've only ever been able to find Coke Zero. The missionary wasn't able to locate one before his birthday, but this week he stopped by with none other than a Diet Coke that he had found in a small American import ...

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...