From Mongolia to Palau: A Season of Change
Just as I sat down to write this week’s blog, an email arrived with news that stopped us in our tracks: our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, had passed away at the age of 101. As we tried to process this tender moment, instructions from our area communication team came quickly with details on how to post the announcement in the Mongolian newsroom.
Translation is always one of our biggest challenges, as Mongolian isn’t a widely used language. Still, within minutes we had pictures uploaded, translation requests sent out, and soon the official news story will be available for the Mongolian Saints to read. I’m grateful we can play even a small role in helping important news reach the people here.
Earlier this week, we had an unexpected adventure of a different sort. On Monday, as we opened our apartment door to head to the office, we walked right into a ladder. Thankfully, the workers weren’t on it! We tried to hurry downstairs to get out of their way, but they stopped us, trying to explain something. With our limited ability to communicate, we called Jay from the office for help. It turns out they were installing new fiber internet and needed access to finish the job inside our apartment. So back inside we went, where we got to witness the finer technicalities of drilling through a doorframe and running fiber along the ceiling—secured periodically with hot glue! Not exactly the method we were expecting, but it worked---TIM!
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| Notice the glue gun in his hand |
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| And the glue spot holding the fiber in place...it's not too bad as it almost just looks like the seam in the wallpaper! |
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Another piece of news came this week that affects our mission plans. When we first received our call, we were told we’d need to leave Mongolia after six months due to local tax laws. Well, month five is here, and our travel plans have arrived. On October 27 we’ll head to Guam for a few days, and then on October 31, we’ll continue on to Palau for six months before returning to Mongolia for our final stretch of service. We are deeply sad to leave the wonderful people we’ve grown to love here—but not too sad about spending winter on the beach! We’ll continue our Mongolia work remotely while also seeking new ways to serve in Palau.
With that move on the horizon, we realized we needed some clothes and shoes more suitable for warmer weather. Ordering through Amazon was a bit of an experiment—shipping costs are a far cry from the free Prime shipping back home, and addresses here are notoriously tricky. To our surprise, the package arrived in just over a week! A small miracle, really.
And finally, a sweet update from home: the “Cousin Crew” competed in a triathlon relay yesterday. Carson swam, Corbin biked, and Kara ran. They each finished strong, and the team took 2nd place! Though we missed being there in person, we loved receiving photos and videos of their big accomplishment. Way to go, Cousin Crew—we’re so proud of you!
On Sunday Shauna turned on her Tablet for something else and bam - A tribute to the life of President Nelson. I then got my laptop on and there is was. President Nelson had died at 10 pm Utah time on Saturday night. Our youngest daughter called us for verification and yes President Nelson had died the night before. At 101 age of life Our beloved Profit President Nelson had passed away Sat about 10 pm. A parade of kids, grandkids, members of his Presidency, and Members of the Q of the 12. I was hoping he would live to be here for the dedication of the SLC Temple. But, instead his successor 1st Counselor Dallin Oaks the now senior Apostle will be the next President. He was President of BYU when I was there and later when Shauna was there. Oaks has learned by the side of President Nelson as his first counselor. What a great way to learn. Oaks was very athletic during his BYU Presidency years. He was Cosmo the year before I arrived in 1973. I chatted with him on a few topics in walks from locations to his office. On some Saturdays when I was in the Richards PE building for Pick me up Basketball games, President Oaks would often appear. I would call his over and he played very well. He was very limber back then. As he lived with his wife and kids on the BYU campus, he attended church in a Ward just south of campus. When Shauna and I lived next to campus in a small apartment we were in his ward. We called it the nearly dead newly wed Ward. Hugh Nibley taught Gospel Doctrine there.
ReplyDeleteAs for Palau, it has an interesting history. I remember it for a WWII battle where Marines had to take the island for a stepping stone to Guam. Those scars are gone. Let us know about it once you get there. Yes warm for the winter. From what I see on Google Earth there is one major town that is the capital and a lot of small I will call hamlets or villages. The small villages remind me of small villages on the island of Okinawa. But you will know far more after you get there.