Blessed 33 Years Ago

As you may remember from last year, the week after Naadam is very quiet and slow. Everyone leaves the city to go camping in the countryside, and our office building, along with many businesses and government offices, was closed all week. The great thing about this mass exodus is that the traffic is wonderful! Just look at this beautiful empty street!

With almost everyone out of town, we were able to do some sightseeing and shopping, getting to our destinations in 5 to 10 minutes instead of the usual 45 to 60. One stop was the State Department Store, where we picked up a few souvenirs. It is a unique and beautiful building that has become one of Ulaanbaatar's most recognizable landmarks.

We also visited Zaisan Hill with the other senior couples. Zaisan Hill is one of Ulaanbaatar's most popular landmarks, sitting high above the city and offering spectacular views in every direction. While there, we read the prayer Elder Neal A. Maxwell gave when he dedicated Mongolia for the preaching of the gospel 33 years ago. We have read this prayer several times, but it is always more powerful to read it in the very place where those words were first spoken.  This time, one particular phrase stood out to me. Referring to the first missionaries who would arrive in Mongolia, Elder Maxwell prayed, "Bless these pioneering couples and all those missionaries who will follow. Protect them; bless them with love for the Mongolian people." I thought it was pretty amazing to realize that we were included in a blessing given 33 years ago!

We also had a fun surprise this week when we discovered that we had been "heart attacked." The missionaries decorated our door with hearts and kind notes. We love the missionaries in our district and appreciate their thoughtfulness.

Later in the week, we had the missionaries over for lunch and shared a training based on Doctrine and Covenants 33:7: "Yea, verily, verily, I say unto you, that the field is white already to harvest; wherefore, thrust in your sickles, and reap with all your might, mind, and strength." The lesson even included a hands-on demonstration of how much work it takes to use a sickle. After trying it for themselves, I think the missionaries gained a new appreciation for the imagery in that scripture and for the effort required in gathering a harvest.

It was a week filled with simple blessings: quiet streets, time with friends, meaningful moments at Zaisan Hill, and opportunities to serve alongside missionaries we have grown to love. As we reflected on Elder Maxwell's dedicatory prayer and the blessings promised to future missionaries, we felt grateful to be part of the unfolding story of the gospel in Mongolia. Thirty-three years later, those blessings are still being fulfilled.