INTO the River and Through the Woods!

We didn’t make it to “Grandma’s house” but it’s not Thanksgiving, either.  We went to Terlege with not a person in site.  Mongolia is so big and one of the best parts is not having to look very hard to find a pristine place all to yourselves.  It was a beautiful day with perfect weather and the scenery was stunning!  Sister Benson’s parents, her brother and his wife came to visit.  Every six months, Sister Benson’s mother comes to watch their kids while they go to an Asian Mission President’s training so her family turned it into their summer vacation.   They wanted to spend Tuesday out in the country-side and they asked the office staff and all of us seniors to tag along.  The mission has three Land Cruisers but we only used two and we rented a small bus to transport the masses.  Once we arrived in the valley, the Land Cruisers veered off the road and started across the fields and around the trees.  Oh…a river up ahead—no problem!  Wait…what about the bus?  The bus driver bravely followed and we all held our breath as it’s tires started to spin-out in the middle of the river.  We could hear all the smooth stones rolling under the tires but the bus driver persisted and we slowly moved forward to the other side.  We continued to cross smaller rivers with more ease and we finally arrived at a beautiful spot right next to the largest river we’d already crossed.  We set up the table, unpacked the food, and went to follow the exploring children.  It’s always fun to see the Benson kids outside and running around since they spend so much time up on the fifth floor of the Bayanzurkh Building.  They climbed trees, went wadding, and played with sticks in the fire like good little pyromaniacs!  (Too bad there are no marshmallows here!)  The rest of us joined in to some extent but we also watched the HORKHOG (silent K) being prepared.  Batbold is known for making the potato, carrot and meat feast.  He brought marinated meat (most often it is mutton but since he was cooking for mostly Americans, he went with beef) and built the fire.  While he was doing that, the younger Mongolian men went wadding in very cold river to find good flat rocks, at the river’s bottom, to heat in the fire and then put inside the pot to help cook the horkhog.  We were so busy that time went by quickly and before we knew it, our “picnic”—Mongolian style—was ready.  We brought salads and desserts and it was the best Mongolian picnic that we’ve experienced so far.  The meat was so tender, the veggies were tasty, and the salad was crisp and cold.  After eating, it’s usual to pull out the card games and see the men go off to wrestle but there was too much American influence so we visited and then packed up to get various people back for work, meetings, and classes to teach.

Then the next day, we met at Round Table Pizza with all the young missionaries  to celebrate their scripture marathon success.  The pizza place actually closed down to the public and the young people ate and were in heaven.  Afterwards, we left in small groups–a large one would cause attention–and walked to a small theater to be entertained by traditional Mongolian instruments, singing, and dancing.  Their instruments are so different from ours and a good throat singer is quite amazing as they sing in long, low chortling sounds with a very high melody if you listen closely–amazing!  Afterwards, everyone went their different ways to get to their apartments and we walked and walked to get back home.  We had part of the Benson’s family with us and they really enjoyed the evening and it was nice to visit with them and get to know them a bit more on the long walk home.

We also had an English Conference on Thursday morning.  Elder and Sister Taylor have had some of the newest missionaries helping them create powerpoint lessons from our approved materials.  The goal has been to create a plan that can be taught without much preparation but with lots of varied activities that will appeal to all English Language Learners.  They have streamlined it so the missionaries can have more gospel-teaching time yet still be effective English teachers.  We will try it at the Ministry of Labor because a beginning learner, whether a child or an adult, still needs to learn the basics of the language.  We are looking forward to using it!  The Taylors are leaving to go back to Provo, Utah for three months.  Their only daughter is getting married and they are going to be working with the English Language Center at BYU to help them better prepare the missionaries who are coming to Mongolia.  We will miss them but will carry on with the three remaining couples.  Hey…anyone want to come and join us???

We received the word that the Ministry of Labor has changed hands AGAIN!  However, it is good news because the previous director, who was very supportive of English learning, is back in charge!  We were told to be patient because they need time to put everything in place.  Of course, we have the time so waiting is easy and we’re plenty busy without it!

Since we’ve been in charge of DIC, the charity arm of the church, we’ve been communicating with another senior couple in Hong Kong, Doug and Lucinda Johnson, from Iowa.  They have helped us understand and get projects approved for Mongolian.  This past week, they were asked to relocate to East Timor.  Never heard of it???  In 2002, it became an island nation in Indonesia.  It is one of only two predominantly Christian nations in Southeast Asia (the other one is the Philippines).  There are no members, no missionaries, THEY are it!  They are being asked to do charity work to help the people who mostly live in poverty–they will walk the streets and offer DIC help.  The country has oil, coffee, cinnamon and cocoa but in small quantities.  Imagine their church service on Sundays—“I spoke last week, so it’s your turn to speak this week.”  Yes, it is the two of them but they are in East Timor to make a big difference for the inhabitance.  They will still answer our questions and we’ll get to see how their lives have changed.

Elder Francom left on Thursday for an adventure.  He flew up to Choibalsan to do a church audit.  Notice, I mentioned that he FLEW!  Last year he and Batbold drove up there and after about twelve hours of bumping and swerving, the thought of flying was hard to pass up.  The work he is doing only takes a few hours but the flight schedules determine when he’ll be returning–Sunday evening is the first and only returning flight.   He’ll hang out with the two Elders up there, take them out to dinner, and try to teach the newer one how to keep good records for the next audit—he has the time so he might as well take advantage of it.

Well, it’s Sunday morning and here I am getting back to the blog so I can quickly post it.  While Elder Francom was having his adventure I was having mine with the Young Adults of the Stake and District.  We didn’t arrive home until very late and it was just too late to even think about posting a blog.  It was one of the best but worst days for both Rick and myself, and we’re both glad to be back together and moving forward with a long Sunday.  Oh, sometimes we truly wonder what we are doing way over here but the joys really do outweigh the negative times.  (FOUR weeks without HOT water and counting…)  We are grateful to serve and we have learned so much about service and the joy it brings to our lives.  We are blessed to have a family back home who is so willing to provide service to others in our stead.  Our hearts are filled with love for them and we hope they feel it.  We love serving and we appreciate those who serve at home while we are unable to be there.

May we all find opportunities to serve others and feel the joy that it brings to our lives.

Love,

Elder & Sister Francom

Grandma with twin granddaghter

Mom with other twin

LOOK…a 12 year old playing for Sacrament Meeting!

People always want to take their pic with you???

Summer carnival behind Skye Supermarket

Baby enjoying Farmer’s Market

Working on river behind Skye Supermarket

Traveling up the hill to home is always such an adventure! Maybe it’s a cause of water issues???

Farmer’s Market behind Skye Supermarket

Mongolian Facts…and a Few More Things!

Of course, there are many ways that Mongolia is vastly different from America–the food, the history, and the culture in general.  To be specific, if you were Mongolian you would…

• Have 3 million people living in the country
• Live in a country 2.25 the size of Texas
• Die 11 years sooner.
• Be 4 time more likely to die in infancy
• Make 89% less money
• Be 23% more likely to be unemployed
• Spend 97% less money on health care
• Use 90% less electricity
• Consume 88% less oil
• Be 15% less likely to have access to improved drinking water
• Be 81% less likely to be in prison
• Be 97% more likely to be murdered
• Be 83% less likely to have HIV/AIDS
• Have 56% more babies.
• Be 97% more likely to be below the poverty line

Another way Mongolia is different is the humongous amount of high-rise apartment buildings.  They certainly have that skill down!  They seem to be sprouting up wherever there is a small plot of land.  They usually have office space on the ground floor and then lots of dwelling levels above that.  Our building has twelve floors but there are many others that are much taller.  One of the unique things here is the individual apartment outside doors.  They make us feel very safe as the key turns and the tumblers roll and roll as the dead-bolts go into the walls.  These dead-bolts go in on the top, bottom, and the side of the door opposite the hinges.  Also, when you shut the door, it automatically locks—you have no choice.  When we were given the keys (one for each of us) to our apartment, the owner told us we’d have to buy a new door if we lost any of the keys.  Well…we decided we’d be careful, for sure!  Some of us have an extra key that stays in the mission office and others only have the two for the married seniors.  As you can guess, we are very human and sometimes do dumb things and lock ourselves out.  From experience, it can be a long wait to get the right people to come and assist if you don’t have a spare key over in the mission office.  Last Saturday, the Taylors went out the door and locked their keys inside before realizing what they had done.  After running their errand they found a couple ropes in the mission office and this is the outcome.  The men lowered Tom Taylor down and the women went out and took pictures.  Of course, all the play on the playground came to a halt as Elder Taylor was smoothly lowered, tapped the screen (it rolls up like a blind) with his toe, and slid smoothly through the opened window.  All of a sudden we were all so glad he lived on the second floor and was being lowered from the third floor.  We were glad it all ended well.  We worried that it might set a poor example for the younger missionaries but when they found out they told us that they had done it more times than we wanted to know about.  They said it’s better than trying to get Batbold (over all the apartments) to bring a key and then listen to his lecture!  If any of you are returned missionaries, you probably know about this enough to chuckle and remember your own antics on your missions!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

The rest of the week was full.  We approved many PEF Loans as students get ready to head back to school.  We have one DIC Projects that is almost completed and many more lined up.  However, there is a limit to what we can do with our workload.  The Michigan Test Prep Class continues and we’re bribing them with American candy if they bring their homework back–bribery has it’s place!  We’re also asking them to read English books to increase their vocabulary instead of memorizing one-thousand words and their definitions.  We’ve also helped individuals who need papers edited or need practice as they head out for an important job interview.  Probably the most exciting news is that ALL of the Self-Reliance Groups can begin because we finally, one year later, have all the materials translated into Mongolian!  We’re finding that it’s now a game of managing the groups and finding enough facilitators.  We feel like it’s all “growing pains” that are well worth it.

One of our Self-Reliance Groups in High Council Room

So, we grow, we stretch, and we hope we never have to climb through windows!  We’re grateful for all that we’ve been asked to do to move the Lord’s work forward.  We know that missionary work can come in many forms and we appreciate all that is happening as our family and many friends add to the work.  May we all be blessed in our service and may our hearts turn towards our Savior and the importance of His Atonement in our lives.

Thanks for caring to read…and hide a house key outside so you don’t have to answer to the likes of Batbold!!!

Love,

Elder & Sister Francom

Oh, new carpet tiles in the basement!

New…Old! Hope they replace it all!

Monks…Missionaries…and More!

So…who is crazy enough to set their alarm for 5:30 am on a Saturday morning to walk all the way to Sukhbaatar Square to watch ONE-THOUSAND MONKS praying, chanting, and doing spiritual readings?  WE ARE!!!  We read in the local newspaper—English version—that it was happening so all of us seniors went to take a look.  It was the 380^th anniversary of the birth of Mongolia’s first Bogd Undur Gegeen (no typos!) so Mongolia was celebrating Danshig Naadam for two days.  The goal of this event was to pray for aging healthily, for things to go as planned, and world peace.  There were supposed to be “melted butter crafts”—too bad we missed that part!  The organizers were in hopes that this event would revive Buddhist traditions and give everyone a chance to promote culture and traditions to the public.  It was amazing to see so many Mongolians at this early morning hour.  As the chanting and readings were being performed, many had their eyes closed, their hands in a prayer position under their chin and at certain times they rocked back and forth or made big circles with their hands.  Other people just sat there and “people watched.”  We were standing next to the fence but noticed so many shorter people behind us that we bowed out and finally walked home.  We can lose interest quickly if all we hear is, “Blah-blah-blah-blah-blah!”  However, if anyone ever asks, we can say we’ve been with 1,000 Monks!

Ceremony at Sukhbaatar Square–the gathering of 1,000 Munks

Hearing is enough?

After that, we had a Sukhbaatar Branch Picnic on our Saturday schedule and had to hurry to the church to ride a bus out to the “country-side” with all the members.  There was quite a crowd—about 120 people!  We went last year and we knew we’d come a long ways since then because we were much more relaxed now that we knew most of the crowd.  Again, the tents went up and children started napping.  We were assigned groups and rotated through three different game centers and then the men prepared “Horhokh”–potatoes, onions, cabbage, and sheep in big metal pots with a few hot rock from the fire thrown in.  Then they placed the big pots on the fire, took their shirts off and proceeded to wrestle!  The women and children were living in their own world of caring for children, visiting, and playing cards.  It was a great time but we felt the urgency to leave after awhile–we had other things to do with our day.  However, there wasn’t one person at that park who seemed to have a care in the world—they were truly loving every minute of it!  We finally loaded the bus and arrived home that evening.  Some who had driven cars, still lounged and enjoyed the beautiful summer’s evening.  I guess we need to learn to be more “carefree”!!!

Off the bus to enjoy the country-side.

Women and babies

Playground…

Smile???

Jumping rope!

Mixing with the country-side regulars!

Talents–anytime, anyplace!

Wonderful branch members.

Silly Elders!

Oops…spelled it wrong so we’ll send it to a non-English speaking place!

Relaxing…out of the sunlight!

Elders and Sisters have been all abuzz because we had transfers this week with two new American missionaries arriving to join in the shuffle.  There were also five Mongolian missionaries leaving to go home.  One of these was Elder Ur-nuur.  He had been serving in our Sukhbaatar Branch for about the past ten months and he was a very hard worker.  We wanted to have him for dinner one last time.  The Harpers joined us and I fixed lasagna, his favorite.  We had a very enjoyable night as he shared some of his favorites–we’re so glad he was a very fluent English speaker.  The following night, we took four Elders out to dinner at one of our favorite places that they frequently walk by.  They were so excited to eat out—not something they do too often since it’s not in their food budget.  It was fun to treat them to a night out and even more fun not to have to cook for this crowd!

Testimony Meeting at Benson’s.

Pink sister is going home to Sukhbaatar Branch! We’ll see her oftenand her mother is an awesome member!!!

“We love eating out!”

“Tommy, I’m gonna cut out your gizzard!”

On the Self-Reliance/DIC front, we’ve had another DIC Humanitarian Project approved so the recipients can begin the work.  We’ve finished an English version of a 12-week group called “My Job Search” down in the Self-Reliance Center and we actually had three people get jobs and not able to attend the entire course—success!  We’re also teaching another Michigan Test prep class but we’ve changed it up a bit.  Hey…by the time we get this down it will be time to leave but hopefully the next PEF couple can carry on where we left off.

Water is still a big issue.  Oh, we have water–most of the time–but we haven’t had HOT water for about two weeks.  When we try to complain to others they look at us and nonchalantly say, “Oh, we haven’t had hot water for the past month.”  Then, they go on their way–no big deal.  So, we’ve decided that HOT water is not a necessity in Mongolia.  In fact, it is valued for heating apartments in the winter and that’s about all!  So…we’re not sure when we will get it back.  Our washing machine heats it’s own water so that’s not a problem and there is no such thing as dishwashers here.  A “spit-bath” is scheduled for days of no water and a “puddle-bath” is for heating water and mixing in enough cold water to make it “just right.”  In fact, it’s been so long since we’ve had hot water that Elder Francom decided that “puddle-baths” are really no big deal anymore!

Read carefully–this is what we chuckle at when translation almost makes it!

Solving water problem after dinner…

As we attended a baptism in our branch on Friday night, I was reminded of a quote from Robert L. Millet that recently read.  “Make wise and effective use of the days in which you live on earth, for how one spends eternity will be inextricably linked to how we spent our time in this life.”  The new convert was 35-40 years old, had just married his wife a few days before and had stopped an eighteen year habit of smoking and drinking so he could be worthy to join the church.  After his baptism, he bore a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and Christ being at the center of his life.  He has completely changed his life and we were all touched by his sincere words as he expressed his love for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  May we all follow his example and review our lives and how we can better change now so our future will be brighter than we can imagine.

Love,

Elder & Sister Francom

Church lawn mower sitting idling…

He’d rather use a large hedge trimmer???

Swastika and Star of David together??? Goes against everything we learned about!

 

“Deported” to Mongolia???

Our eight-year-old grandson, Carter knows all things, GARFIELD!  So, we weren’t surprised when brought he this to our attention this week…yes, among all the bad, horrible, unspeakable catastrophes in our lives, being “deported to Mongolia” might be among them.  But on the other hand, it might be one of the most fantastic, stupendous, awesome blessings in our lives, too!  I guess it’s all in attitude and experiences.  More negative than hair on fire or attacked by woodchucks or locusts are the lack of HOT water, common language, and inconsiderate driverss.  Thank goodness we choose to see it as an amazing blessing that we are experiencing, instead.  So we remember that we’re grateful for water (no matter the temperature), fantastic fruits and vegetables, good people who try to help bridge the language barrier, and wonderful ways to communicate with our family at home.  So, we might laugh a bit at this cartoon but if you all knew Mongolia like we know it, you might want to be “deported” right here…or  to many other places.  AND…we’re sure that these places might be just as great if you gave them a chance, too.  The world is an amazing planet full of kind and caring people because we are all children of our Heavenly Father who watches over all of us…ALWAYS!!!

On Monday President Benson took all the Elders on a fun day of training with activities up at Telege which is about an hour up in the mountains—“Out in the country-side” as Mongolians would say.  On Wednesday, the Sisters did the same thing.  The weather was beautiful!  The missionaries trained one another and then the President took his turn.  Afterwards, we had activities that illustrated some of their points.  Eggs were really delicate new members that needed to be treated with TLC (tender loving care) so they could feel secure.  Teamwork was illustrated by many who gathered around a rod and with one-fingered help from everyone, they lowered it to the ground.  And finally, they lashed poles together to form a tower that was strong enough to hold any team together (and provided a place for converts—I mean eggs—to be tested).  We’re proud to announce that the Sisters out-did the Elders by a ginormous margin!  What a fun day of learning!

Marrianne with a new crown for her golden hair!

Bella looking so beautiful!

Oh look! Mongolia has a Moroni…kind of!

Lashing the poles…

No…don’t raise it…LOWER it!

Another group and their protected converts (eggs)!

Ger Camp in Terlege

President Benson in training mode.

Puje pretending to be a grandmother!

Even the “old” can learn!

We are excited to announce that we received the scores from the latest Michigan Test and we think our weekly classes are helping.  We had four people pass with a score above 75% and we had about six who were so very close—like 74, 72, 71.  Even though these scores are so close to passing, BYUHawaii holds a very strict cut-off at 75.  We’re starting another round and tweaking some of our activities with high hopes for a new group.  We have 20 students at BYUHawaii right now and President Odgerel hopes to see 60 students there soon.  We won’t be discouraged!

One day, a beautiful young woman came into our office and asked for help.  I recognized her from our Michigan Test Prep Class from the day before.  She was enrolled in a BYUH online class and wanted some help with her writing.  Her assignment was to write about the most difficult time of her life.  As I started helping her I realized who she was and was in awe of her beautiful spirit.  She and her husband were able to go to Utah to study.   They lived in Murray.  Her husband went to the gym one day, experienced cardiac arrest, and laid in the Intermountain Medical Center without hope of recovering.  It is Mongolian tradition that only parents can decide what to do with a body since they were the givers of life.  His family rush from Mongolia to his side and, on Easter Sunday, decided to remove the life-support machines with the help of his sweet wife.  All the Mongolian saints were abuzz about it–so young, so much in their future, so hard to see this happen.  So, here I sat with the hardest paper she had ever written.  We talked, we shed a few tears, and we finally edited and wrote what she wanted to express.  Her English is very good since living in America but she was one of the few that almost passed the Michigan Test and she is determined.  Oh, we are just as determined to open new doors of success for her.  She has a great life ahead of her and it would be wonderful if she could do it in Hawaii!

We hope we pass on the right spirit about Mongolia.  Yes, it frustrates us at times but we live in an imperfect world with imperfect people–President Uchtdorf said it so well in a recent talk.  We enjoy the love we feel from these people and are amazed at how the older people seem to try so hard to communicate with us.  Oh wait…maybe that’s because we’re “older” too!  We love them all!  So, when you get frustrated with members in America, remember that we are all imperfect in our own ways!  BUT…so perfect in so many ways!!!

Take care of one another on your road to perfection!

Love,

Elder & Sister Francom

Produce from the Garden Projecct–bottled onions in pickle jars! Good in soups I hear!

These teeny strawberries had the most magnificent flavor@ Good raspberries and mushrooms, too!

BONE SOUP anyone?

Grass is good in planters!

Maybe this is the reason we haven’t had HOT water?

 

Cookie Monsters

We found a new drink–raisin water!

Ger decked out for our lunch.

Elder Francom took kids on a hike–wild flowers can be picked here!

One egg..5 papers..tape!

Kids being kids and climbing to help!

Sister Bat-Orshich with another idea…

Food…Such Good Food!!!

As most of you are aware of by now, the Self-Reliance Center is in the basement of the Bayanzurkh Building.  Most of the action in the mission, in any given day, takes place up on the 4^th floor where the mission office is as well as the doctor’s office and English language library.  Sometimes, we feel left out of all the action and other times, we’re so glad we work where it’s quiet and we can accomplish a bit more.  One day, a young lady was ushered into our office and Elder Francom struck up a conversation with her (I go up to the 4th floor and get Mongolian lessons from Puje, along with Kim Harper).  Our office was probably the closest place for a Mongolian to find English speakers.  She was from Switzerland and spoke French, German, and English.  She has been up in Erdenet camping for the past week with eight others.  She loves Mongolia because the land is so beautiful and she has found the people to be so friendly—she hopes to come back again.  All her friends went shopping and she decided to find a Christian church instead.  The hotel sent her here!  She is Protestant and is not looking for a new religion but was willing to listen a bit.  When I returned, we took her to the Service Center on the third floor where we knew of a Mongolian who had spent several years in Switzerland.  They had a few things in common and then we went into the Distribution Center and bought her a Book of Mormon.  We suggested it would be great reading material on her long flight home the following day!  She was a sweet person and we hope we planted a seed or two as we visited with her about our church.

On Thursday night, President Benson asked all the senior sisters to fix a nice dinner for thirty men who were coming to a Priesthood Leadership Meeting.  We had lots of ideas—all centered around MEAT—and in the end we went with hearty beef stew, or “Mongolian soup” as it is known by the locals.  We bought a big 9 kg hunk of meat, potatoes, onions, and carrots.  We also bought all the fixings for a big vegetable salad (they LOVE cucumbers) and you’re never wrong if you make chocolate cake for dessert.  We washed, peeled and cut forever (it seemed) and put it all into our four crockpots and let it simmer all day long.  That evening, we set the room up and waited.  Before long the meeting was over and the men swarmed the room ready to eat.  Before we knew it, they were taking TWO dinner plates—one for Mongolian soup and the other for the salad.  They piled both high and went and sat down.  Of course, they returned for seconds and then started bringing containers and plates so they could “take this delicious food” home to share!  Obviously we made too much food but they also had fewer in number than expected.  Some even took several small plates of cake.  Oh, these people can eat!!!  However, after cleaning up, we all went away knowing that we had succeeded in our assignment from President Benson because he wanted it to be a nice dinner for these church leaders.

Speaking of eating…we fed four Elders this week.  I made a BIG lasagna because I know how they eat and by the time Elder Francom went back for seconds, all he could do was scrape a little sauce from the bottom of the pan–it was gone!  It was Elder Huckvale’s birthday and he came last year on his birthday so we made it two in a row.  He’s a great missionary who was in our language group at the MTC last year.  He’s from Idaho and loves wolves.

Hungry missionaries

Light them…Sing…Blow!!!

We also went and saw a wonderful family in their apartment this week.  Muugii and Muggi are really Munkhtsetseg and Munkhbaatar but they both have the same nickname and have just welcomes a baby boy as their first child.  They told us his name but it just isn’t possible to remember it…sorry!  Muggi (female) was the translator for the Nays, the DIC couple, until last November when the Nays returned home.  Her husband, Muggi, and she also just passed the Michigan Test in March and have been accepted to BYUHawaii this fall.  Now, they have to pass the biggest hurdle—getting three visas to America.  The powers-that-be seem to easily turn down anyone who might be a flight risk.  We hope to see them leave this fall.  When we called to see if we could visit (we had gifts to give) we told them we wouldn’t be staying for dinner.  Well, you don’t tell Mongolians to NOT FIX FOOD!  We were served a feast of a variety of salads—cucumber and pineapple, tomato and ??? (very good!), and potato salad.  AND, of course, buuz—lots of them!  Oh so much food and we were getting up to leave when Muggi’s mother brought in more warm buuz and we had to sit and “enjoy” warm ones.  Oh…too much!!  What a wonderful family and this new baby is dearly loved.

Muggi, Muggi, baby and sister

A very nice visit!

Our request of NO FOOD! Very yummy salads!

We’ve had a lot of rain lately which brings cooler weather.  Summers are not as hot as in Utah so we’ve seen lots of days in the 60’s and August is just beginning.  Rain usually isn’t too much of a bother unless you live in a place where walking is your main mode of transportation.  Of course, potholes make great puddles as well as all the uneven sidewalks and we try to navigate the best we can but we’re a bit wet even with an umbrella.  We keep thinking about all of you back home that just jump in the car without caring about weather.  Nice thoughts that will keep for the future!

ANOTHER blustery day!

We are grateful to be serving a mission.  We are aware of all the blessing of living in America but we also see that all people everywhere strive for the same things–love of family, nutritious food, adequate clothing, and a good place to call home.  Of course, living the gospel and feeling loved by our Heavenly Father is paramount, too.  These good people here work so hard for so little that we are truly humbled so much of the time.  It makes us stop and count our blessing.

Thanks for being another wonderful blessing in our lives!

Love,

Elder & Sister Francom

Building steps at our apartment building.

 

New steps…but where do they lead???