Humanitarian Efforts - Page 3

There are no pictures with this Post. None are needed. This is a very touching story, having to do with yet another humanitarian program being conducted by the Church here. Read on.


Another area in which the Church has been able to provide significant blessing to the people of Mongolia, has been in offering a program for addiction recovery. This program seems to attract mostly nonmembers but has touched many lives and many of those participants have eventually accepted the Gospel. Elder and Sister Hitchmough (originally from Canada), have been directing that program for the past 18 months or so but will soon be returning to their home in Canada.

At our weekly staff meeting yesterday, Elder Hitchmough gave his customary report of their efforts – as did all of us. First, he reported on the work being done as we all teach English (another area the Hitchmough’s have responsibility for). Then, he reported on the addiction recovery program.

He told us about the most recent meeting they had just held for addicts. Twenty seven gathered at this particular session - a full group and then some. It was also the last meeting for this particular series – a sort of graduation, if you will. It came time to start and he closed the door and began the meeting.

Within a few minutes, there came a knock at the door. Elder Hitchmough opened the door to find three men looking at him. He described them as large men who were swaying and smelling heavily of alcohol - obviously intoxicated. He wondered if he should let them in and then thought, ‘I’m not big enough to stop these guys anyway!’ and he opened the door.

They sat down in the room, and the instructor (a local Mongolian resident - someone who speaks the language must, of course, do the actual teaching here) started the normal process of having everyone tell about themselves and how they were doing. As she came to the first of the three intoxicated men, he was fast asleep and Elder Hitchmough found himself hoping that the instructor might just pass him by. She didn’t. She woke him and asked him to tell about himself.

He said his name was Batbold and kind of drifted off again. She paused for a moment but finally moved on to the next person. However, before that next participant could begin, Batbold raised his hand and asked for another chance to speak.

He explained that he was ‘ . . a member of this church’ but that he was having a very difficult time and needed help. He broke down in tears as he shared some of his feelings and what had brought him there.

The three were not sitting together but the second of the three men was already in tears as he explained that he was brother to the first man. He introduced himself as Batbaatar explaining that he too was a member of the Church. He, too, pleaded for help.

The third man was also a member of the Church. In fact, he told them that he had once been a branch president. He could barely remember the good feelings the Gospel had brought him (the touch of the Spirit) before this addiction had overtaken him, but he wanted those feelings back again. He, too, asked for help.

After the three men had first entered the room and sat down, Elder Hitchmough had begun writing notes as fast as he could, detailing information about these three new participants. As things settled for a moment, he looked at the paper he had hastily grabbed and on which he had been writing. He hadn't had time to pay much attention to what was on that paper, but found that it was the poem, “The Touch of the Master’s Hand.” (Elder Hitchmough was having difficulty by this time in finishing his story.)

He shared the portion of that poem that happened to be right next to his notes:

“And many a man with life out of tune
All battered with bourbon and gin
Is auctioned cheap to a thoughtless crowd
Much like the old violin.

“A mess of pottage, a glass of wine,
A game and he travels on
He is going once, he is going twice,
He is going and almost gone.

[There was about a two minute pause here as Elder Hitchmough fought to gain control of his emotions again]

“But the Master comes
And the foolish crowd never can quite understand
The worth of a soul and the change that is wrought
By the touch of the Master’s hand.”
. . . . . . . . Myro Brooks Welch


Some things seem more worth sharing than others.
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The First Mongolian Stake!

It was announced earlier today that the first Stake would soon be organized in Mongolia! That is wonderful news! The area now covered by the Ulaanbaatar District, will be split and become Ulaanbaatar East District and the Ulaanbaatar Stake.

It is difficult to envision all that this type of change entails. A new Stake Center will need to be built (a site has been selected); there are no High Priests in a District, so many who are now Elders will have to be ordained High Priests so that positions in Bishoprics, a Stake Presidency and an entire High Council can all be filled; and Stake leaders will also have to be called for the youth, Primary and Relief Society organizations.

Mission field areas also have no Patriarchs so a Patriarch will soon be ordained. Anyone in this mission will them be able to receive Patriarchal Blessings through him - something only young missionaries called from here to serve in areas of the world where Patriarchs, already exist have been able to receive until now. This Patriarch will potentially be a VERY busy man for awhile!

It also opens the door just a little bit wider to the possibility of a temple being built here in the near future.

The Church is growing in Mongolia!

Hong Kong - Part 4

Thought we had best work on finishing our Hong Kong trip report.

Following the wonderful experiences we had in the temple all week, we had some additional time to do a little bit of sightseeing. The group left Sunday morning after an early Sacrament Meeting arranged just for us. Their original departure date had been Monday, but they made some changes so that they could spend a little more time in Beijing as they made train connections there.

Our flight didn't leave until Tuesday morning, so we ended up with a day all to ourselves. Elder and Sister Gibbons (our area leaders over Employment who work out of Hong Kong where the area offices are) offered to take us to see a few things at the south end of Hong Kong Island -- a market called Stanley Market (one of the better known markets in Hong Kong) and Aberdeen, where there are lots of ships and small boats.

On the map, it looks farther than it is from Hong Kong harbor on the north of the island, to Stanley. You just take the bus straight through the mountain (there is a tunnel of course!) and you're there. The area is slightly less populated and very nice. We passed a place called 'Ocean Park'. We understand that it has an amusement area as well as an aquarium - the kind of place we would have liked to visit, had time allowed. Guess we'll have to come back some day!

Stanley market is quite a place. Again, the talent and artistry of these people are amazing. This is a discount type market but they have some wonderful treasures of art of various kinds as well as the expected tourist type trinkets. We could have spent most of a day there (and a lot of money!) if time had allowed. As it was, we did buy a couple of nice little souvenirs and had a good time looking around.

It is a very pretty area, as you can see.

This reminded Elder Caldwell very much of where he grew up as a child. The Puget Sound area of Washington state and the open ocean a few miles further west are very much like this area. Very green (a result of the ocean and the resulting moisture it brings) and the wonderful smell from the ocean breeze! The ocean seems to be a very relaxing place, for some reason.

Oh, one additional picture. We just couldn't pass this up! Some of the restrooms in China are like the ones we found here at Stanley. Look closely. Yup! No 'sit down' facility such as we are so used to. One just sort of 'squats' as you hang on to the railing! Very nicely finished, mind you! Just a bit different than we are used to! Sister Caldwell just couldn't stop laughing when she found these!

Next time: Aberdeen - a fascinating look at life 'on' the water as well as 'water life'.

Conference Time - For Us!

Elder Caldwell: This weekend was conference time for us. Ya, we know. A little bit late. The mission president decided that it might be best to delay conference an additional week to avoid clashing with Easter. The saints here are having difficulty assimilating that concept and it was felt that it would be better for them to have last week strictly for Easter. Unfortunately, it was never mentioned in the branch we attended.

Just the same, we had a wonderful conference weekend yesterday and today! I had been somewhat curious about how it would be to see conference after the fact. We are somewhat spoiled to have always been able to see it as it happened. But it wasn't very much different as a recording! We really enjoyed it.

In fact, there are some advantages. When we found a talk we especially liked, we could either replay it immediately, or download the written version immediately, for further reading and study -- or both. No waiting for nearly a week for them to appear on the internet!

Personally, I found several of the talks that must have been written with just myself in mind. How did they know? I've really got some changing to do now! Two of the talks I particularly enjoyed was the wonderful and powerful remarks by Elder Holland concerning the Savior (which we know has since been made used by the Church to make a wonderful video -- see the Church website or Mormon Messages on the web). I don't know that I have ever heard a more powerful testimony of what the Savior has provided for us. That is one talk I intend to study closely.

I also enjoyed Elder Pearson's remarks in the Saturday afternoon session. Another talk to be closely studied.

Then there was President Monson's opening remarks, and Elder José A. Teixeira of the Seventy. And also . . . . ok so I liked them all!

Oh, and one more thing. The weather also doesn't seem to differentiate between the real thing and a recording. It snowed today, just like at real conference!

Sister Caldwell: I think we all have our favorite speakers, and sometimes our favorite topics. I don't think anyone could disagree Jeffery R. Holland's talk was very touching and inspiring.

One talk that really caused me to think was given by Henry B. Eyring. Close to the end of his talk he referred us to Alma 34. Alma is teaching the people to have faith, humble themselves, repent and pray. He then asked these "poor" people to go out and serve the needy (like, who did he think they were?) He actually asked them to give to others what they were hoping he would promise to give to them.

Being here in Mongolia has been quite an experience. We are seeing some of the truly poor of the world, but as they accept the gospel, they are so willing and even anxious to give to others what they are hoping the Lord might have chosen to bless them with. Now where does that leave us "wealthy" Americans? I think in that one short example I felt new direction and determination to serve and bless the "needy and the naked, and visit the sick and afflicted."

I also enjoyed the messages about attending the temple. Some were directed at the sacrifice it takes to get to the temple. We are seeing that first hand. It has caused us to appreciate and remember how much we love the blessings of the temple. I hope I will never take that blessing for granted.

Beyond the messages we enjoyed so much, I think we learned how much we appreciate the technology that has allowed us to be able to view conference at all. I think we are learning to appreciate a lot of things over here.

Humanitarian - Page 2

Thought we should take a short break from our Hong Kong report and finish what we started nearly a month ago, reporting on the humanitarian efforts of the Church here in Mongolia.

The Church manufacturers a simple but very effective wheelchair and ships thousands of them all around the world. A few hundred of them make there way here to Mongolia.

It is heart wrenching to see the plight of some of the people here. The number of birth defects is higher than we see in the U.S. In addition, men will become intoxicated during the cold winter, and a few of them will pass out while walking around town afterward and they will lay there in the cold. Sometimes, before anyone finds them, one or more of their limbs will be frozen and require amputation.

The results are a higher than usual demand for wheelchairs. But even local hospitals often have a shortage of wheelchairs. It is not unusual for patients who are discharged from a hospital, to be carried out fireman style to a waiting vehicle because the hospital has no wheelchair with which to help them to that vehicle.

The Church has assisted in many of these circumstances by donating wheelchairs to individuals as well as to local hospitals.



These pictures are of some of the individuals who have received those wheelchairs.

You can see the difference it made in the first individual pictured. Having little or no mobility and being totally dependent on someone else to carry you, can be disheartening. You can see his countenance as he came to see if he could have a wheelchair. He had an old racers wheelchair which someone had thrown away and which no longer had any tires and did not work very well at all. Then you can see the difference when he received one. He choose to dress and clean himself up as shown in the second picture.





The next gentleman's reaction tends to tell it's own story. He is, obviously, an older gentleman and the men here do not often show much emotion. But even this older gentleman could not hold back the emotions. What you can not see, is that the front of his Dell (i.e. the purplish robe) is wet with his tears.





The third and fourth pictures sort of speaks for itself, we think. These people are very grateful for what the Church is doing here. We are very grateful that we have the opportunity to be part of it. Our assignment is not directly with these humanitarian projects, but we help whenever we can and are grateful to be part of a team which helps in so many ways. The Church is becoming quite well known here as programs such as these continue to lift and bless lives.




The Church also drills fresh water wells in areas where they are needed. People in some outlying areas use whatever water supply they have available. Some of those sources you and I would never consider using for anything, let alone for drinking.

Any given well that is dug will supply water for a large number of people living in gers in the area. They then use containers (usually five gallon jugs) to carry water back to their ger for the family to use. Some have carts, others make their way back the best way they can.

Such are just some of the uses made of our fast offering funds. It is very gratifying to see so many people be helped here by the efforts made by members of this Church.

Some parts of our mission experience are particularly satisfying.

Hong Kong - Part 3

We were fortunate enough to be able to see a few of the sights while we visited Hong Kong. This is a Buddhist Temple we found not too far from patron housing. We had noticed it as we traveled from housing to a nearby shopping center. And, since the temple was the purpose of our visit to Hong Kong, we thought we might include this one!



This temple, like the one we visited in Korea, is not particularly large but is quite ornate. We have been amazed at the artistry that we see in some of these places. It is really beautiful.

We don't know much about this structure. No one was there to answer questions. But it appeared that it is a temple which is still in use in prayer by Buddhist Monk's. And it is well cared for and in good condition.




It sits on the side of a hill, overlooking a couple of apartment buildings and the shopping area we frequented for food and supplies called Lok Fu. The hillside area

it is located on is a park, of which there are quite a few in Hong Kong. Though crowded for space, they seem to be committed to maintaining quite of bit of 'green' space through out the city, even to the point of planting trees and shrubs on top of many of the buildings.

There are a number of these kinds of temples around Hong Kong but this is the only one we were able to visit.