THE BABIES NEEDED BLANKETS

Life is speeding past so quickly. Our ward at home did a project to collect and send some hearing aids. We had a big problem getting them and had to pay some customs on them but we finally got them and we were able to share them with several people in our community. We have changed the lives of several people in the area where we serve.

Several months ago we visited the local hospital and we were given a royal tour of the maternity ward. We were impressed with the dedication of the nurses and attendants, considering what they must work with. They have very old Russian beds and equipment and what they have is falling apart but they manage to keep it in some repair as best they can and they deliver several hundred babies each month.  The saddest thing was to watch the dads and family at the end of the hall. They are only allowed to look into the hall of the ward through a small slit of a window in a door on the landing of a stairwell. They take turns looking through the slit, looking to see when their wife goes into the hall on her way to delivery. The delivery room was old and the 4 delivery chairs, all in the same room, were over 35 year old simple frames that the mom climbed onto and when the baby came, it was put on a homemade wooden table to be cleaned and wrapped.

We were told that they had an immediate need for baby blankets and caps because the government had decided that the baby blankets that they were using were not safe (we assumed that they must have used some kind of animal hair for batting) and they must throw them all out. We told them that we would see what we could do and we set about asking the various church groups for help. One of the brothers in our small branch came up with a way to provide about 20 quilts that were hand done but they were hand tied and the hospital said that the ties were not good for the new babies. We tried several other avenues for help from America and had several offers for help but there were many obstacles such as shipping, customs, etc. (We have a friend who had a load of coats donated for an immediate need from America. It took months to get here and then got held up in customs. They had to pay several hundred dollars to have them released.) We finally decided to just make them so with the help of our wonderful mission doctor and his wife we purchased the material and set up a Saturday Branch Activity. Surprisingly, we had many wonderful Sisters show up early to help and they worked through the day and into the evening making wonderful quilts.

We delivered 50 beautiful baby quilts to the hospital at a ceremony that was great. We were blessed to be able to work with the local sisters and get closer to them and to serve the community.

Our ward back at home was willing to provide the blankets but we decided that, after our friends coat fiasco, we would go ahead and take care of it locally.

We did feel that our home ward might be able to help with some baby caps and they agreed to have several sisters knit some caps. They finished them and sent them in a small box which simply passed through customs unnoticed (we think they had an angel place a cloak of invisibility over them) and they arrived in just over a week with no customs charge . When we delivered them to the hospital the nurses went right into the babies room and put some on the babies and took pictures with them. The caps and the babies were so cute.

 We are so grateful for the opportunity that we have to be here in Mongolia doing a very small part in the Work of The Lord. There is much to do, but like filling a bucket one drop at a time, each drip makes a difference and the ripples extend outward forever. 














We started offering Zumba in our church during the Summer and it is something that they really enjoy. Sister Hill broke her arm and messed up her knee so she hasn't been able to partisipate but we still put it on every week. Here is a video of a few of the people dancing at zumba.

OK, I'LL CONTINUE THE MONGOLIAN BLOG

OK, today is October 17, 2014 and I haven't posted anything since July. I know that most have given up looking at our blog but maybe I can keep it for a memory book. I posted on Facebook a few weeks ago that I wasn't going to write in my blog anymore but a few people encouraged me to continue and I know that I should write things down so I'll try to keep it up a little better.
We can't believe that we have been in Mongolia for nearly a year already.(Actually 10 months but the time is flying fast)  We were in a mission conference a few weeks ago and Elder Black of the 70's said "The days are long but the weeks are fast" and that is so true.
So much has happened since my last post that it will be hard to remember it all and take the time to get it all down.In August, I was at a district training in Darkhan and I got a call from Sister Hill. She had fallen and was in pain. I called the Erdenet Elders and asked them to check on her and help her get to a doctor and I thought I would go on with the training and then speak in Selang as a High Councilmen the next day. Deni called again and said that the Dr said that her shoulder was dislocated and probably broken but they couldn't tell for sure until the hospital could X-ray it when they opened at 4:00. Could I come back to Erdenet NOW please. I caught a taxi back and got there in time to go to the hospital for the x-ray. We met with the Dr and were told that the shoulder was dislocated and the bone was broken right where it goes into the socket. She would need surgery with pins and it couldn't be done in Erdenet. Deni was in quite a bit of pain as we considered our options of how to best get to Ulanbaatar. The Hand of The Lord was with us as we started the journey of healing. UB is about 6 - 8 hours by taxi or bus (depending upon road construction going on at the time) or an all night trip on the train. She couldn't lay down and any movement was painful but we had to travel. It turned out that Dr and Sister Lewis were in Darkhan (2 hours) and were leaving on Sunday for UB and had room in their SUV for us. We left first thing Sunday morning in a Taxi for Darkhan. The bouncing of the taxi was hard on Deni and the pain made her nauseated but we got to Darkhan in time to attend Sacrament Meeting in our New Darkhan Branch. (Deni stayed out in the car and rested). The road to UB was rough and she had to fight the nausea but we drove straight to the new hospital to see what could be done on Sunday evening. Turned out, nothing could be done on Sunday evening. We stayed at the mission home and Monday morning we went to another hospital for x-rays and consultation. We decided that if she needed surgery we would fly to Hong Kong because there really weren't any good options in Mongolia. The x-ray Dr said that the new x-rays showed that the arm was no longer displaced but that it probably would need surgery. We decided to get another opinion and sent the x-rays to specialists in SLC. It took a few days to get the results and consult with the SLC experts but the results were worth the wait. They said that the arm should heal fine on its own and that they no longer recommend casting it but she did need to work with a Good Physical Therapist. Dr Lewis said that might be a problem since he had been looking for a PT and there really weren't any in Mongolia...Oh, wait. This morning he got a call from an Elder asking if anyone needed a PT because there were 2 PT's here in UB from the US doing training for 2 days and they were available to help anyone if needed. Dr Lewis told them that he didn't know of anyone and forgot about it....Until now. He contacted the PT and made arrangements for them to meet us later that evening. They came to the Dr's office in the mission home and it turned out that Ken Brown had 35 years experience specializing in ... Shoulders. Coincidence?? Only in Mongolia for 2 days, specialist in shoulder injuries, willing to continue to work with Deni via Skype. I know The Lord loves us and watches out for us. 
We left that evening by bus for Erdenet. That was a mistake. We planned to take the train but we were concerned that Deni couldn't really lie down comfortably and we wanted to get home as quickly as possible. On the train you can get up and walk around. There is a bathroom right there. You can sleep and enjoy the view, etc. On the bus we were squeezed in and no place to move and with construction it took over 8 hours. We made it home safely and were grateful to be home. 
Deni's arm has healed quickly. We went back to UB a few weeks ago for a follow-up x-ray and they said that the break had healed completely. With the regular help of the PT she is getting more movement in her shoulder and the pain is less. She is able to use the are more and more each day. After all of the trauma with her shoulder slowed down, she realized that when she fell, she not only banged her shoulder but she had fallen on her knee which wanted some attention as soon as possible. She has been working on that also and is slowly healing that too. 
Before the injury we had been planning to move from our apartment. We have been looking for several months and many members and people from the Children's Palace where we work have been looking for us and with us. We would tell them that we were spoiled and wanted something newer with american type kitchen, bedroom, etc. They would tell us that they found the perfect place and we would go with them to see it. All of them were in old Russian apartment buildings often with no kitchen cabinets or no bed. They were furnished but many Mongolians don't sleep in a bed. They use a mat on the floor. 
We got discouraged looking but a new building was being built near our church and our work and every time we would walk past it, Sister Hill would say "I want to live there". There were a few new buildings around town so I decided to put together a sign in Mongolian reading "Mature American couple looking for a fully furnished apartment to rent for 1 year" and I put our translators phone number on it. I went around and put them at the entrance to the newer buildings. By the next day the building maintenance had taken down all of the signs but we still got several calls and one of them was from the owner of an apartment in the new building where we wanted to live. We looked, we liked, we moved. We have been in our new apartment, overlooking our church, for about a month now and we really love it. Once again, The Lord's Hand has been present in helping us find and move and we are so grateful for our comfortable new apartment. We are so blessed. 
We are grateful for the friends and family who we hear from and for those who we don't get to hear from. We are grateful to get to serve in Mongolia and for all of the lessons that we are blessed to be learning. Thank you for following us. We love to hear from you.