December 24, 2006 - Phone Call from Mongolia

Sister Johnson/Cheryl called us on Christmas Eve (Washington, D.C. time), which was Christmas morning (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia time). Some highlights of the conversation:

She was warm in her 7^th floor apartment. She and Sister Hunt have a spacious apartment. She sleeps on a futon with 3 camel hair blankets, but she doesn't need them all to stay warm. The elevator barely holds 3 people and stops at the 6^th and higher floors, but not the 7^th floor. The food labels are in Russian.

She had been to the Black Market on Saturday and purchased a winter coat and a "del" which is a traditional, full length costume-hers is green with flowers and a bright blue belt. They have to be very careful about pickpockets. On Christmas Day, the missionaries had dinner at a Korean restaurant, and every one was wearing their dels.

Their work area is north of UB -- "up the mountain" in a ger area. Gers are the round huts that have a wooden frame with felt insulation and a white covering. You can get a feel for the gers around UB on Google Earth. They are the little white dots.

Missionaries in Mongolia include 5 American sisters; a total of 20 sisters; about 12 couples; and about 100 total.

They travel by bus or taxi-a 15 minute taxi ride costs about 50 cents.