Making Mission Memories in Mongolia

As I sat down to download pictures in anticipation of writing this week’s blog post, I realized I only had two photos — both taken for the new missionary orientation slideshow. Since they pretty much represent our entire week, that’s all you get! We’ve settled into a steady routine of getting to the office around 8:00 or 8:30 each morning and staying until 5:30 or 6:00 in the evening. There has been no shortage of work to do. Because we arrived near the end of the month, J.D.’s first major task was reconciling all the credit cards — and when I say all, I mean hundreds of submitted receipts matched to card charges. This includes about 25 fuel cards, 7 island cards, 2 mission office cards, and 2 mission leadership cards. It was a daunting project, but after him working on it alone all week, we tackled it together on Friday and are nearly finished! Next on the agenda is improving the process to make next month’s reconciliation a little smoother. Meanwhile, I’ve been diving into the comp...

Wow—what a whirlwind of a week! On Monday, just before leaving Palau, we held District Cleaning Awards. After completing unannounced apartment inspections the week before, I was relieved (and impressed!) to find that none of them were disgusting. The missionaries truly earned their awards. Early Tuesday morning— very early—we flew out at 2:00 a.m. and arrived in Guam around 5:00 a.m. Another senior couple, the Dungans, graciously met us at the airport and took us to our home away from home… away from home… away from home—Palau, Mongolia, and Sierra Vista included! This apartment is the first one we’ve lived in that had previously been occupied by other senior couples. Our previous two assignments required us to start completely from scratch, so it was a new experience to search for kitchen items rather than buying and placing everything ourselves. Thankfully, the apartment has everything we need and is very comfortable. After unpacking, we grabbed a few hours of sleep before heading ...

Wednesday was HUMP DAY for our mission!  🐪 January 21 marked exactly nine months since we said goodbye to friends and family and began the adventure of a lifetime. This reminded us of this famous commercial ! 🤣 Some days feel long, but when we stop and reflect, it’s amazing to realize that our mission is already half over . Time truly is flying by, and we can’t wait to see what new adventures the second half of our mission will bring! Speaking of adventures… we have BREAKING NEWS! Due to a medical emergency involving the current office missionaries, we’ve been given a temporary change of assignment . We’ll be leaving tomorrow for Guam to serve in the mission office as mission secretary and finance manager . We’re not sure exactly how long this assignment will last—possibly three to four weeks —but we’re grateful for the opportunity to step in and help where we’re needed most. We’ll definitely miss the beautiful people of Palau while we’re gone, and we’re looking forwar...

Big news on Palau this week! We had a very successful meeting with the President of the Republic of Palau, President Whipps. Joining us were Elder Kim from the Area Presidency, along with Brett Child and Jun Ochaia from the Church’s Area Humanitarian Department. Together, we had a thoughtful and productive conversation about the history of the Church in Palau—nearly 50 years strong, dating back to 1978—the humanitarian efforts already in place, and ways we might help support and further President Whipps’ vision for the people of Palau. This type of meeting was right up J.D.’s alley, and he truly knocked it out of the park. In the days following, we’ve already begun meeting with schools to prepare donations and are exploring additional humanitarian projects focused on social services in Palau, including a women’s shelter and prison ministry.  Here is a link to the story we wrote about the visit .  We got exciting news that it will be syndicated on the Headquarters Newsroom on ...

This week I had the opportunity to experience a day—well, really two days —in the life of a young missionary. Sister Jensen traveled to Guam for leadership training, which left her companions, Sister Liutai and Sister Terabwena, without a driver. So I happily stepped in! We spent our time visiting friends, teaching lessons, extending invitations, and knocking on doors to find new friends. Along the way, I encountered plenty of free-roaming chickens and dogs (none of them mean—but you don’t know that when they’re barking at you!), collected more than a few bug bites, saw some very humble homes, and met some truly wonderful people. Those two days gave me a deeper appreciation for what young missionaries do day in and day out for 18–24 months. It isn’t easy work. It’s hot and tiring, and it often comes with rejection and disappointment. Yet they give it their all every single day because they want to share the joy of the gospel with others. And when that sacrifice leads someone to accept...

Happy New Year to all our friends and family! As we look back on 2025, our hearts are full. We have felt so many blessings this past year and are excited—and curious—to see what 2026 has in store for us. J.D. and I rang in the new year with a rousing game of Skip-Bo before counting down to midnight (yes, we did stay up that late!). Even better, we received the sweetest New Year’s wishes from home—there’s nothing quite like hearing from loved ones when you’re far away. This week we also hosted another successful radio show, focusing on the parables of the Ten Virgins, the Talents, and the Sheep and the Goats from Matthew chapter 25. We truly hope these messages bring a bit of light and joy to the people of Palau. We especially enjoy preparing for the broadcasts with the young missionaries—it’s a fun mix of learning, practicing, and lots of laughter along the way. Here is the link to this week's show.   Yesterday we attended a wonderful island conference with President and Sis...

I’m not going to lie— this past week was HARD . Being so far from family during the holidays stirred up a lot of feelings. Thinking about all the traditions, the laughter, and the time together we were missing back home sometimes felt overwhelming. There were moments when I just wanted to stay in bed and cry. Missing family doesn’t magically disappear just because you’re serving somewhere meaningful—it still hurts. But in the middle of those heavy moments, I learned something important. When I shifted my focus from what I was missing to what we could do for others, life didn’t feel quite so hard. One small moment made a big difference. While playing pickleball one evening, we noticed our friend Lik wasn’t wearing shoes. After asking around, we learned he had blown out his shoes earlier and hadn’t replaced them. So we picked him up and took him to look for new ones. When he found the perfect pair—and we were able to buy them for him—the joy on his face was priceless. Something as sim...