Welcome, Sister Orkhon!!

We had the wonderful and fun privilege of meeting Sister Orkhon (Onon's sister) at the airport on Tuesday afternoon. And, since the MTC told us it was too late in the day to actually process her into the MTC (though she certainly could have stayed there), we decided to keep her until Wednesday morning! We had a blast!

First, we took her to the Conference Center and a Brother Dubois took us on a special tour. And guess what? He had actually visited Ulaanbaatar a few years back! Go figure!

Then we went to the Salt Lake Temple and Sister Orkhon did baptisms for the dead. She kept repeat, "My dream has come true!"

After the temple, we took her to dinner at the Lion House. You know, the home that Brigham Young used to live in. It has been converted to a museum and restuarant. Dinner was wonderful!

Finally, we went to our home where she stayed for the night. The next morning we finally (and somewhat begrudgingly!) took her to Provo and let her start her mission!

She will be a VERY good missionary! And we think her brother helped her learn even better English than when we were still in Mongolia!
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Home Sweet Home!

It is . . . strange being home, in some ways. It is good, of course. But we miss things in Mongolia, too. Somehow, though very busy, things seemed a bit simpler there.

But we are moving ahead here and have started working in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. That, too, is different than the years we worked in the Salt Lake Temple. And we feel really guilty, sometimes, to have half a dozen temples within easy reach, knowing our Mongolian friends would give much just to have one within a days journey. Hopefully, it will not be too much longer . . .

Neil Diamond

'Nough said!!
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The End of a Great Experience

We have spent much of the day saying goodbye's, it seems. Then we had a surprise farewell party sprung on us this afternoon. Everyone in the mission offices came to wish us well and to say goodbye.

Then, tonight we attended an addiction recovery class which is directed by our good friends, Elder and Sister Powell. It is humbling to see these good people who want so badly to be free of their difficult problem as they come together to help each other.

At 9:45 tomorrow morning, we will meet with President Mecham for a moment to kneel in pray before we depart. Then, he will drive us to the airport and we will be on our way shortly there after. Then, at about 7:45 that same night, we will be reunited with our family. Only an 8 hour trip (not counting the 13 hours or so we gain enroute)!

See some of ya' tomorrow! The rest of ya' will have to wait a couple of days!
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Almost Time To Go

Been an interesting couple of days. Been saying a lot of goodbyes.

Saturday night, we attended our farewell party from the senior couples. It was a fun night with a great potluch dinner. And we played a couple of games -- something the seniors enjoy doing. One was a Mongolian ankle bone game and the other as a game called 'Dork'. Sister Caldwell won one of the ankle bone games and I won the Dork game (keep your comments to yourself, ya' all!)!

Then today, we bid a final farewell to our Nalaikh Branch. The first picture is of Sister Caldwell as all her Primary bid her a goodbye. She has grown to love those children and they her, as well. She will be missed there.

Then they held a little going away part for us. They moved all of the chairs over along the wall (this is one of those phase one buildings where the large area serves as Chapel, Cultural Hall, etc.) sang a few songs, read a poem or two and then gave us these wonderful gifts shown in the picture.

This seemed to sort of make it a bit more final for us. We left feeling a bit more empty, as we headed back to Ulaanbaatar and our apartment. We had been able to sort of ignore the going end to our experience, what with all the work it has been taking to get things ready for us to go. But today . . .

Only two and a half days now before we will be on that outbound airplane. We are going to miss much, not the least of which will be the missionaries (old and young) we have worked with, cried with, laughed with, fed and grown to love.

But we haven't lost sight of the good things, either. We are really anxious to see our children, grandchildren, freinds and neighbors. It will be good to see them again.

We will arrive Wednesday night and they already have us scheduled to speak in our ward on Sunday.

Boy, they don't give a body much time to rest in this Church!!
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A Bit Melancholy

We are feeling a bit melancholy lately. Everyday seems to bring a new "last" - our last Staff Meeting, our last English Class, our last shopping trip, etc.

We also attended our final farewell dinner and fireside. The dinner is held in the mission presidents home (top floor of the mission home) followed by the fireside in the Chapel.  Ours comes a week early, being combined with that of four Elders whose mission ends today (Wednesday). Those four, the Mission President, his wife and ourselves are in the picture.

The picture was taken just after dinner in President and Sister Mecham's appartment. Each of these four Elders means something special to us. Starting on the back left is President Mecham. Then Elder Stephenson and Elder Sherwood whom we were in the MTC with in Provo in 2008. We have known them a long time and they are excellent Elders, both finishing their missions by by helping in the office.

Next is Elder Onon. We attended the Hong Kong Temple with his mother and sister. He had been serving in the Ogden Utah Mission, but one of those who was asked to return to Mongolia to help here as he finished his misison. He speaks excellent English (the reason we needed him) and has been a terrific help here. Oh, and his sister is the one who will begin serving a mission next month. In the Ogden Utah Mission !

Elder Batbold is on the end. He had been serving in the Singapore Mission. While there, he learned Chinese and, with the help of his companion, taught himself English while he was at it!  His twin sister is Batchimeg who served a mission in Australia at the same time that our good friends Dave and Robyn Osborn did.  It's a small world! Their father and Batchimeg's baby are also in the picture. If you look closely Dave and Robyn you might be able to see that their father is wearing a Shedaisy hat!

We are really anxious to return home to see our family. But we wish we didn't have to say goodbye to all of our wonderful new friends here!