Happy Anniversary!!

It's our 40th wedding anniversary today! It difficult to believe that 40 years have passed by already! I remember many years ago of looking forward to the time when we would retire and serve a mission together. Now we are looking back and wondering where it has all gone!

The Lord has been very good to us, blessing us with wonderful children and their spouses (there isn't one we would trade away!) and fantastic grandchildren, a wonderful opportunity to serve in a place we had not even imagined and Eternity to look forward to!

I (obviously) had some flowers delivered yesterday. Forty red roses, one for each year, really well arranged. One thing they are here is very artistic. And I knew Melba would not be expecting them a day early -- and it would be more fun to have them delivered at the office. She was surprised!

It is Saturday here and we plan to do several things today -- shopping, out to dinner, a movie (we'll come back to the apartment and watch one of our favorites -- Hello Dolly!). That is, of course, unless we need to adjust should a missionary need arise. We are flexible!

It is cloudy and rainy today. Feels and smells really good! The high is supposed to be 61 degrees -- at the end of June! It has been an unusually wet June in Ulaanbaatar, just like in Utah!

To our children especially, if you look close in this picture, you'll see some of the things we have done to our living room.

Well, I've got breakfast to fix while Sister Caldwell is relaxing in the tub. It took us most of an hour to heat enough water, using every pan we could find. You see, every summer the hot water is turned off for two or three weeks. Wouldn't you know it would happen at anniversary time!
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Our Missionaries

I know this isn't the followup on the apartment we said we would be doing but we wanted to share an experience we have had with some of our Elders.

Often the Elders and Sisters will call and ask if they can bring an investigator to our apartment to teach them a discussion. We received such a request yesterday afternoon. They needed a place to teach a young lady so we said, "Sure, come on over." And we ran home to get things ready.

When they came, they had with them one of our students from our Tuesday afternoon English discussion group (it's not really a class, just an opportunity for them to practice their English). The one circled is the young lady referred to. We talk about all sorts of things in that group and it has been rather fun. And we have had about three of them who have or soon will join the Church.

The three of them came and had a good Gospel discussion, even though Sister Caldwell and I could not understand much of it. When they finished, we told the Elders that we had a small package waiting for us at the Office Building and if they would pick it up when they escorted this young lady back there and return with it, we would feed them dinner (we had planned to do so anyway, but thought we might as well get something out of it, too!).

While they were gone, we fixed up a batch of tacos and nachos. We also had a bowl of left over 'Suddenly Salad' in the fridge (you know that pasta stuff out of a box) which we needed to finish off. So we put that on the table, too. Missionaries will eat anything!

Soon, the expected knock came at the door. Sister Caldwell opened the door to indeed find our two Elders. However, it wasn't just the two of them, mind you, but she found four of them standing there! Yup! It seems that two others had gotten wind that something good might be going on and sort of invited themselves!

Well, we set out what we had, blessed it and dinner was on. And they were incredible to watch! Soon, the taco meat and the tortilla chips were gone. So they started making tacos with whatever was left. A little bit of taco cheese in a taco shell and they were happy! Leftover lettuce and a tomato or two was good, too! Oh, and have you ever tried a Suddenly Salad taco? These Elders did! And in about the time Sister Caldwell and I managed to down one taco each, the rest of the meal had vanished! A professional magician would have been proud!

When they finished, there wasn't even a scrap left on the table (see pic - wait, I think I see a little piece of lettuce there)! We watched for a few more minutes, certain that one of them would soon pick up a bowl and start licking it!

The missionaries insist that they like the local fare of Mongolian food. Be that as it may, when we set them down to good a old American dinner, it sure disappears in a real hurry!

It is always a fun time around here when we invite the missionaries to dinner!
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