First trip out of town

This week we had the opportunity to travel 5 hours north to visit the cities of Erdenet and Darkhan.  One of the responsibilities of the Mission Doctor is to check out the Medical facilities in the different places so he could refer missionaries with medical problems to the appropriate place.  It was very interesting.

The Defibrillator in Erdent

From the private hospital in Darkhan

Erdenet is a relatively new city, established in the 1970's when copper mining started.  The hospital came from that era and lacked most of the equipment we take for granted!  In Darkhan we were able to visit a new (9 years old) private hospital.  It had fairly new equipment and they were certainly trying to make it up to date.  We feel blessed to know we have been able to have our great Health Care in Canada all these years!

The trip was beautiful, we had a great Driver, Batbold, who has been a member of the church for about 15 years.  It takes a special talent to drive in Mongolia!!  He is also the person responsible for all the missionary apartments (similar to Croft's new calling).   It felt like we were driving down the I-15 through Montana.  There were mountains on both sides and a big wide valley in between.  There were few buildings and lots of animals, cattle, horses, sheep and goats!  The sky was blue and clear.  Some parts of the road even reminded us of Monida Pass!

Looking out our window at the office.

It dawned on me this week why most of UB is heated by hot water that runs through big pipes underground all over the city.  Their electricity is generated by coal power plants heating water and the by product - hot water - is used to heat the city.  Those plants do not cause too much pollution but all the Gers using coal and wood in little stoves create the biggest part of the problem.  We learned from a girl we met, who is here doing a Post Doctorate in Air Pollution, that UB is the second most polluted city in the world.  She thinks we should wear masks during the evening hours when it is at it's worst!!  

One of the members of our Branch came by this week to give us two big fish he had caught.  Wish we were home to have Karri or Karrin cook them up on the BBQ in Waterton!!

Yesterday we celebrated American Thanksgiving with all the other Senior Couples at the Mission Home.  They found a very expensive Turkey somewhere (they are hard to come by here) and we had all the trimmings to go with it.  We were thinking of all those Americans out there and hoping you didn't spend too much money on Black Friday.

Another great new member of our Branch,
 baptized this week, Elders Woodward and Flint.

We are THANKFUL for all our blessings and specially Family and Friends, the Church and this opportunity to serve in Mongolia.

Life is good and All is Well.

added pictures

This is the man from the University who asked Cal to talk
and the girl who was going to translate
(but he ended up doing most of it!)

Don't know what I did but here are the pictures from last time.  Technology is challenging but we are very grateful for it!

Cal and his reindeer!

Chinggis Khaan's Birthday

This week we had a day off from school because they celebrated their hero's birthday.  They used to have a national holiday on November 26, but for the first time, this year they moved it to November 14 and renamed it Chinggis Khan Day.  We do keep busy trying to plan our lessons - we have a new appreciation for all the teachers out there!!

Ever since we found out we were coming to Mongolia, Cal has been excited about seeing reindeer.  One day this week when we were coming home from classes, there was a guy with two reindeer standing on the corner.  Cal ran to the office to get his camera and we got a few pictures (for a price of course!)  They were much smaller than I had imagined.  One had scraped the velvet off his antlers but the other had not.

We had the opportunity to speak to a group of Public Health graduate students and do a presentation about Medical Care in Canada this week.  Thanks to several people (Francis Noronah, etc.) back home we were able to put together a great little section with some of the sights of Alberta and Canada.  They are always very interested and there are always a few people who want to know how to get to school in "America and Canada".

Today I was not only the Primary Pianist (yes, that's right) but I also sat at the organ for Sacrament Meeting.  You notice I said sat, not played.  The chorister showed me how to push the right buttons at the right time so I did.  They have a great organ that can play itself, you just have to know how many verses and pay attention!  That is more complicated than it sounds when you can't understand the words!

I did something and now can not get the pictures over but will try them on another post!!
We are learning lots and helping where we can.

Life is good and All is well.

Life in Ulaanbaatar - winter is here

We have had the first real snow since we came - actually about  two or three inches.  It sounds like that is about average for a snowfall.  The sidewalks get very slippery - not ice so far - but the marble tiles are extremely slippery with just a tiny dusting of snow.  Most sidewalks are smooth tiles!  I have been happy to find the spots that have not been cleared because then the snow gives a bit of traction.

We had the opportunity to go to Sukhbaatar Square and tour the Government House there.  It was so interesting to have an "English speaking" guide so we could learn some of the details.  There were even some "gold plates" from several centuries ago.  It is amazing to see what a conquest "Chinggis Khan" (apparently they don't call him Gengis Khan any more) made.  Starting this year they are having a National holiday on November 14 to celebrate his birthday!  At one point the Mongolians controlled 1/2 of the world population.

This should become my Motto!!

A tour of the National Museum was great to give us a good background on the history and people of this country.  The clothing has been amazing through the years - some very elaborate and lots pretty plain.  Some of Chinggis Khan's profound advice still has lots of relevance today!

The city is absolutely booming with construction.  It is hard to imagine where all the people will come from (with enough money to afford them) to fill all the apartment buildings that are under construction.  As you can see, there is still a lot of contrast right in the middle of UB(Ulaanbaatar).

The flag raising on Sukhbaatar Square was interesting to watch as the young soldiers in their traditional uniforms raised 6 flags in the cold - it was hard for them to tie the knots with their freezing fingers.

Our Apartment Building is cared for by an "Under the Stair" man.  He literally lives under the front set of stairs - has a small bed (cardboard with a blanket on a little wooden platform) and a hot plate.  We are not sure about bathroom facilities!  He does a great job and is often there to greet us as we come and go.  This night he was cleaning it all out.  He is standing on his bed.

Sign Language Elder

The Church is really growing here in Mongolia.  Our first week there were two women baptized and last week there were 5 baptized from three different branches.  The most touching was a sign language elder who baptized a lady with a hearing impairment.  He grasped her hands in the appropriate way, then she just crossed her arms over her chest while he signed the prayer, then he went ahead and immersed her as usual.  What faithful and devoted people there are here.  A teenage girl was baptized into our branch and already knows so much about the church - she is golden!

Our assignment as English Teachers keeps us busy.  Yesterday one of our sponsors from the Health Sciences University of Ulaanbaatar took us to immigration to get our finger prints and photos taken.  We are getting closer to being officially in the country.

Life is still good and All Is Well.

Our Work Here

Now that the first week is behind us, we are starting to figure out what our responsibilities really are.  We have scheduled Medical office hours for the Missionaries to come visit.  We see them for various illnesses just like a family practice office at home.  "Elder Stewart" also will be doing pre-misssion medicals for those from Mongolia applying to serve missions.  All Missionaries going home must have TB tests so he has done 8 of them this week for the ones going home this weekend.  They are all native Mongolians.  We give out regular Vitamins and Calcium to the missionaries serving here.

This week we visited several Hospitals, Labs and Pharmacies to figure out what is available.  There was a missionary who had very enlarged lymph nodes and there was no Lab who could do a "Mono-Spot".  Arrangements were made to have a biopsy done and sent to America to be evaluated but finally the nodes are going down and less painful so will wait and watch!  Most things are available though.

We have a wonderful translator for our Medical Office - Eeggii.  We simply could not function without her.

I am responsible for organizing the Temple trips to Hong Kong for the local members.  One group just went this week - they stay for about 7-8 days if they fly and if they go by train it takes two weeks (three days each way!)  They are devoted and eager people.  Often they will only be able to make one trip to the temple in their life time. Here is the group in Hong Kong this week.  They are able to access the Temple Patron Fund to help pay for the trip.  One Senior couple goes with each group.




Our Major assignment is to teach English.  Our sponsor is the Health Sciences University of Mongolia. We teach a first year class twice a week and a second year class once a week.  There does not seem to be a set curriculum - mainly they want to improve their spoken English.  The second year class does have an "English - BioMedical Textbook" which we will use a basis for the class.  They seem like friendly and keen students - last week we met each class and spent the time with introductions

- us to them and them to us.


This is a sweet Mongolian Sister who has returned home after serving in the
Vancouver, Canada Mission.

Life is still good and All is Well!!

We made it to Mongolia

On Monday October 22, 2012 we packed up our worldly possessions at the MTC (as you can see, there were quite a few!) and headed off on our adventure.  We flew from Salt Lake City to
 Los Angeles, to Beijing, to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.  We finally arrived on Wednesday morning at 11:00am.  The flights were great and none of them totally full so no one gave us a bad time about all our carry-ons!!  We met the other couple who were going to Mongolia at the SLC Airport - she needed a wheel chair to get through the LA Airport so we just followed along and got taken all the short back ways to our next flight- that was a blessing!  We had not realized there was an AIR China, and a China Air - two different airlines!

Arriving in Mongolia we discovered that we had greatly reduced our luggage - all four of our suitcases were still in Beijing.  We were assured they would arrive the next day so we did not even have to take them through the customs!!  We spent the night with the Mission President and wife with just what we had in our carry-ons.  And sure enough, they did arrive the next day!

This is the front door to our building

The Martins, who we were replacing, were not leaving until Friday so we did not get into our apartment until Friday afternoon.  It is just a block from the Church Building where the Medical Office, Chapel, and all the Mission Offices are located.  It is an old Russian type building with no elevators.  We are on the Third Floor and have a bedroom, kitchen, bathroom and living room.  It is comfortable and always warm - there is central heating and no thermostat.  The other Senior Couples have indicated that often you have to open your windows, even in really cold weather because your apartment can get too hot!

The Woods and Gardeners 

For the first week here, we were entertained and fed by a different couple each night.  Some took us out to eat (it sounds like they eat out a lot!), and others fed us in their apartments.  It was a blessing because we  were still rather jet lagged and unorganized.  It also gave us a chance to get to know  the other seniors on a personal basis.  We also got really well acquainted with the Gardeners - the other couple who came when we did.


The Mongolian people seem to be very friendly and kind.  We are settling in well.  It's all good!