This is Elder and Sister Lee and us doing some sightseeing.  The Lees came from Hong Kong to train us on PEF and ERS for the week.  It has been a full and busy week even though we had the week off from our English classes.  We learned a lot from the Lees and were so thankful to have them come here for us.

                                                               
 This is a statue we saw while sightseeing.  There was a special event going on that day so we did not get to go up close or go inside the building.  Maybe we will get to go back another time when we can.

 We did get to show the Lees some Mongolian animals though.  A steer...

                                          a yak......

 and some camels.  These were in the city at a display advertizing for a traditional Mongolian live show out in the countryside.

 On Saturday we held a reverse MTC.  These young missionaries were all being released to return home after faithfully fulfilling their missions.  Here they are receiving the Career Workshop training.  There were 14 Mongolian missionaries.  There was also two American missionaries going home but they are not required to attend this training.

 Here are all 14 missionaries at the end of the career workshop with us and our secretary, Miigaa.  Miigaa teaches the class in Mongolian for us.  Tonight we attended the farewell fireside for the 16 young missionaries and the 4 couples that are returning home soon.  The young ones immediately and the couples beginning in a couple of weeks til the first of May.  They all bore their testimonies and the room was filled with the Spirit.  It was wonderful!!

 This was a little visitor we had at the office.  He is about 2 years old and is dressed in traditional Mongolian dress.

 And it was not all work at the office all the time.  Elder Shrope found time to play a little soccor with another little visitor to our floor in the office building.  This little one was not afraid of us or bashful at all.  He even threw the ball to me once.

 This is Elder Jolley from Utah.  I put this picture in so his Mom could see how good he is looking.  At a meeting the other night, he translated for us and he speaks like a native Mongolian!  He is trying to give us some helps in learning to sing the hymns in Mongolian.  We shall see how we do!

And then we just had to include this little guy--our first insect!  We had not seen a single bug of any kind here until  Monday when we found this little guy in our bathtub.  He was so small that at first I thought it was a piece of lent.  It must be Spring!!

 Tuesday evening we went to the home of our secretary/translator, Miigaa, to see her baby.  This is her with her husband, Batbayar, and their son.

 This is little Munkh-Uils.  Munkh means eternity.  He is such a sweet little baby.  He was premature but is doing great.

 On Saturday we went to Nalaikh for an Elder's quorum activity.  First they cleaned some of the ice from the driveway.  Here the 2nd counselor in the branch presidency is removing icicles from the overhangs.

 Tom is helping cleanup where a couple of dogs had gotten into the trash.

 It is spring and so now instead of ice, you have to watch for cow patties on the sidewalks around the chapel!

 After we finished at the building, we went to the countryside to visit a family.  We saw many things along the way.  Here were horses, camels, goats and sheep.

 Here were some very large camels resting.  Their riders were also sitting on the ground resting.

 This "cowboy" was herding his goats and sheep along side the road.

 And this guy had two eagles.  This one with his wings out had just landed on the man's arm.  What a site right beside the road!

 This is a village of summer homes as we were coming down into a valley.  A lot of city people have these homes that they come to in the summer to get out of the city.

 We are crossing this old wooden bridge.  At least it didn't sway or creak!

 This is the ger the family we visited lives in.  They take care of a little camp ground that is open in the summer.  As you can see, they do have a disc.

 This is the mother of the family we visited in what could be called the kitchen.  The ger only has one room.

 This is the wood burning stove that is in the center of the room.  All other furnishings except for a table is positioned around the outer edge of the room.  We sat on the two daybeds that were there.

 This is the roof of the ger.  Some of the center windows can be opened to let in fresh air.  It started snowing while we were there and the window had to closed.  It was cold outside but very cozy inside.

 The stove is not only used for heat, but this large metal dish fits into the hole on the top of the stove for cooking.  She is cooking meat, onions, and peppers.  The blue barrel behind her is their water.  They dish it out as needed.  They do not have running water in the ger.

 These are the two little girls that live in the ger.  They had been out sledding with the sister missionaries.  The little one even took Tom by the hand and had him pull her sled to the top of the hill so she could ride down.   They do not speak English.

 These are some relatives of the family that were visiting too.  The baby is about three months old.  This is how they dress their little ones inside.  When they take him out, they add a sweater and snowsuit, so thick that he cannot move.

 At church we have a translator.  Her name is Buyannemekh.  She is sweet.  She wants to go on a mission someday in the near future.  She is a university student.  She helps us to know what is being said in our meetings, and lets the members know what we say.  We are so glad to have her.

This young man is Naranbaatar.  He is in the teacher's quorum and is a very special young man.  He has one leg that is shorter than the other, yet he walks to church every week.  He is always there early, sometimes as much as an hour or two, to set up the sacrament and put out hymnbooks and other things.  He is also there early every Monday for FHE and helps do anything that is needed. 

Tuesday was International Woman's Day.  I received candy from our translator at the branch and roses from our office translator, Miigaa, and her husband.  They also call it Mother's Day here.  Since it is a holiday there was no school and no office work that day. 

Several of us senior couples went to lunch to celebrate Women's Day at a very American cafe.  It was very nice and reasonably priced.  We will definitely go there again!
I also called my Mom on Skype to wish her a happy Mongolian Mother's Day.  I got to talk to her and see her at the same time.  She also got to see me which thrilled her.  It really meant a great deal to both of us because it was the last time we would get to see or speak to each other.  My mother passed away this morning at 1:38 Florida time.  This is a very sad time but I am comforted knowing that not only is she with my Dad again, but that I will see them both again someday.  That is what the Lord's plan is all about and it gives such great comfort to have that knowledge.  Of course I still cried many tears on Tom's shoulder. Mom lived a long life and was well loved by her family.  I will miss her until we are together again.

 This week at school they had an assembly celebrating the International Organization of Friendship.  Many of the students were dressed in traditional clothing from their native countries.  The two girls here are a couple of our students.

 These students were singing a Korean song.  All of the older students in the back come to our English class.

 Here they are playing a game similar to our "jacks", only they use candy instead of jacks and a object such as a key chain to throw instead of a ball.  They throw the object in the air and try to scoop up candy in their hand and catch the object in the same hand.  If they catch it, they get to keep the candy they scooped up.  The boy and girl in front our our students.  We did not get to see the whole assembly because it lasted longer than we had expected and our driver was waiting outside to take us back to the office.  We would loved to have seen the whole assembly!

 This is how those living in the countryside and outskirts of the city get their water.  This guy is pulling a cart with a water barrel on it that he has filled at the well and is taking home. They also get their wood or coal for their heat the same way.  Some have to walk a long way through the snow and ice to get it.

 This is a load of wood on a truck.  They pile it as high as they can and then drive it wherever it needs to go.  It does not seem very secure.

And this is how they haul hay.  Sometimes it is stacked even higher!  It doesn't look too sturdy but so far we have not seen any lost hay anywhere along the road!
On Thursday night Tom and I taught an Eternal Marriage class on communication in marriage. We had about 25 in attendance.  Since most do not speak English, we had a translator.  We had a couple in the class that are deaf and they had a sign language translator also.   Then on Saturday we taught a class on the temple to a group of missionaries that just returned from the MTC in Manila.  These are all Mongolian missionaries so again we had to have a translator.  But both classes went well and the students seemed happy with what we taught.
Tonight I made my first chocolate chip cookies since we have been here.  I did not have any chocolate chips so I chopped up a couple of Hershey bars.  I also did not have brown sugar so I made some with white sugar and molasses. The cookies came out pretty good, just a little crispier than at home.  They are for FHE tomorrow night at Nalaikh branch.  I hope the people will like them.