Meet Kayla Mary Shrope.  She was born April 21, 2011 in Sweden.  She weighed 10 pounds 7 ounces and was 22.5 inches long.  She is our 12th grandchild and our 5th granddaughter.  We feel so blessed to have her join our family.

 Here is Kayla with her proud papa, Sam.  It seems he makes a comfortable sleeping place for her!

 This is Elder Shrope on my computer at the office.  Friday we were helping a young returned sister missionary with job hunting by letting her take an online test for a company.  It would only work on his computer because mine has an older Windows on it.  She worked on it from noon to 7:00 pm and then came back on Sat. morning for a couple of hours to finish. 

 To celebrate Easter, the four senior couples that are still here went out to dinner Sat. evening.  This is Elder and Sister Ford, Elder and Sister Clark, us, and Elder and Sister Lasson.  The Lassons go home in two weeks.  President and Sister Clark are out in the country taking care of some business so they were not with us.

 This restaurant we were at is also a little museum of Mongolian history.  This was a display of some ancient guns.

They also had this ger set up in the restaurant near our table.  This shows how they frame a ger. 

 And this shows the inside of the ger.

 Elder Shrope also got a picture of this map showing some of the movements of the armies of Chinggis Khaan.  Then he was informed that they did not allow pictures to be taken of the displays, so he did not get any of the ancient tools or the saddles.

This is me relaxing on Sunday watching the video, He Is Risen, and then listening to Elder Holland talk on the Atonement on lds.org.  They do not celebrate Easter here, so this was my Easter celebration.  I also baked us a small canned ham for our Easter dinner.  It has been a very nice day.  Happy Easter Everyone!

We had a great find this week.  Miigaa, our translator at the office, took us to a new American goods store.  We found Kirkland chicken and beef!!  We bought some for us and some of the other couples had us pick some up for them too.  When you find something like this, you buy it because you never know when you will find it again.  We also bought some pineapple tidbits.  It is the first time I have seen them or the beef since we have been here.  Tom also bought some small Pillsbury brownie mixes.  I made him a pan tonight and they were good.  Funny how we take finding these foods back home for granted.  They cost more here, but it is worth it to have something you are used to.
We also had the first rain since we have been here the other night.  It rained while we were sleeping, so we didn't see it.  But we woke to find puddles in the streets and on the pavement.  The ground sure can use the moisture.  It is very dry and dusty and when the winds blow, which is almost every day, it blows dust everywhere.  We can't wait to see everything when it is green and looking alive!
Last Monday we taught a FHE on dating.  It was interesting trying to get these young people to respond.  They mostly just giggled.  We have one full-time Elder that loves to talk.  He was not afraid to discuss his thoughts on dating or the warnings his mother had given him about girls and dating.  I do not know what we discuss tomorrow night but I am sure it will be fun!

 It is a lot warmer now most of the time.  This is what the ski resort looks like, the only things that are still white are the ski runs.  And I think that it is artifical snow on them.  We still have very cool winds that come from Siberia so we cannot go without our coats but we have been able to have our windows open for fresh air in the apartment.

This is Elder Shrope's potato plant he is growing.  Since it is spring, we are going to try and grow some vegetables in pots.  Some of the other couples are going to try their hands at growing too.  This potato may just end up being a pretty houseplant.  We will see.

We drove out to Nalaikh hospital Thursday evening to see Sister Baldersaikhan.  She is the sister missionary that returned home last Saturday from Washington, DC.  On Monday, she had emergency surgery for her appendix.  They had given her a spinal tap, and when we were there she was still not able to get up.  But glad to report that she is doing better now and should be able to go home tomorrow.

This weekend we, along with the other couples and some of the Elders, watched conference in President and Sister Clark's apartment.  We have to wait until it is recorded and put on a dvd, so we are a week late viewing it.  It was great and so inspirational!  We loved the talk given by Elder Scott on eternal companions and families.  I shed a few tears during that talk.  We also were moved by Elder Holland's remarks about President Monson.  There was something for everyone in the talks given and I could find things for me in every one of the talks.  We are truly blessed to be members of this Church and to have such inspired leaders!

The other event of this week was the other night when our passports and driver's licenses were returned.  Of course the passports have been canceled and we have new ones.  The man wanted $200 and was given $40, so he gave everything except Elder Shrope's CA driver's license.  Elder Wilson and I got ours though.  I think Elder Shrope's is due to be renewed as soon as we get home anyway.

No pictures this week.  It has been a busy week in the office.  We gave the pre-Michigan test on three different days.  It is an English proficiency test.  The students that wish to go to BYU-Hawaii have to pass it before they can enroll there.  Unfortunately, most did not pass.  The pre-test is free but the real test costs so we have encouraged them to take the pretest as many times as they need to pass before taking the real one.  We are also going to see where their weaknesses are and then make up study packets teaching those topics for them to use to prepare before taking it again. 
Monday when we got to FHE out at the Nalaikh branch, there was no one to let us into the building.  We had several members there and they were content to wait instead of just going home.  We waited for about 40 minutes and then the Elders came running with their groceries that had just bought.  But we had a wonderful meeting.  One sister shared when she had gone to the US to visit her daughter and her family.  She had gone to the Mesa Temple but did not speak any English and did not know what to do.  A young Elder helped her and she had a wonderful experience there.  She was saying that we should all be nice and helpful to all people as this young man was to her.  What a true message!
And then I got a stomache bug of some sort Friday afternoon and was up all that night.  Saturday I stayed in the apartment all day and slept.  Tom had to drive a sister missionary that just returned from her mission to Washington, DC that morning  and her parents out to her home in Nalaikh.  Then he returned to the office in time to give the real Michigan test to 4 students who decided to take it.
We went to Church this morning but left right after Sunday school because I started feeling weak.  But I am feeling better this evening and finally have some food in my system.  I just keep reminding myself 'that this to shall pass!'