Humanitarian - Page 1

Some of you may have seen this story in the Church News. Perhaps we can add a few more details.

The Relief Society here in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia and surrounding cities, got together one Saturday afternoon a few weeks ago to put together some newborn kits. The biggest part of the project was the making of 500 baby quilts. Quite a project. And they did it all in one day!
These were given to local hospitals who, in turn, gave them to mom's as their babies were born. Most here have nothing to wrap their babies in when they take them home.

The brother sitting in the first picture is President Odegerel, president of the Ulaanbaatar District (the mission field equivalent of a Stake). He is quite a character but is also one who is eager to learn as much as he can as quickly as he can about the Gospel and how to run a district.


You can see the room full of sisters behind Elder and Sister Caldwell and in the following picture. That room also doubles as the chapel. There were also sisters in the basement area and in a room on the third floor - just about anywhere we could find space to put them. They put in a long day, but got everything pretty much done before it was over.

And believe it or not, they were done by about 5 o'clock! They had quite an assembly line going, including a 'quality inspection' area to make certain everything was finished properly.



And this was the final result as all the quilts were stacked at the front of the chapel when they were completed. We've never seen so many quilts in our lives!





This is a couple of the Elders hauling loads of blankets to be stored in a closet until they could be taken to the hospitals.




We've also included a picture of the racks of little socks we dried in our apartment after washing them. These were purchased for the new born kits, but it was felt prudent to wash them, not knowing where they had been before we got them.


Next: Wheelchairs, Volume 1.

Hodge Podge

Easter is fast approaching and we wanted to thank everyone who has sent us little tidbits for Easter. Easter is not exactly a well known holiday here, even among the members. For one thing, we will be watching delayed General Conference on Easter weekend. The difference in times prevents us from watching it live (i.e. sessions are held while we are asleep here). Having some fun reminders is fun. But we will always remember the reason for which we have this particular holiday and will always be very grateful for a Savior who was willing to suffer so much so that we would not have to and then made the Resurrection possible.

How do you like Sister Caldwell's new boots? Stylin' huh? Just couldn't resist showing them to ya' all!

They are rubber and should be really great in the rainy season just ahead of us. 'Course we understand that we have to get through the windy season first. The one that blows the Gobi to us so we don't have to go see it!


And last but not least, we are packing for Hong Kong now. We leave Thursday night at midnight (about 10 am your time) and fly to Hong Kong to be with the group being sent from the mission to go to the Temple. There will be 24 of us total. Some have sacrificed much to be able to go. There will be families sealed together, one young couple just getting married and a few just going to receive their endowments. Should be quite a trip.

We will not have internet access there and thus will be silent for a couple of weeks. But when we get back, we will have much to share! But we will have to mix all of that with a series we hope to post about the humanitarian efforts being made by the Church here. There are some wonderful and fun things to share, in that regard. We hope to post the first of that series before we leave for Hong Kong.

Chow!