Rickety – Page 44 – Mostly about Utah

Missionary Dan Email #8 from Choibalsan, Mongolia

December 20, 2009 by rickety Leave a Comment

Choibalsan sunset

The party looked really fun. The house looks really good too. It makes you look really rich. I haven’t seen something like that in forever. The pizza looks really good too. I like pizza.

So this week my mini missionary and I had a good week. He had been inactive for about six years or so and just barely started coming back to church. We took the opportunity for him to serve a mini mission to strengthen his testimony and get him on a mission as well. He was lots of fun to work with and had great desire to learn. The change I saw in him was incredible. Last week he was sad and not confident looking. By the end of this week he was smiling and laughing all the time. It was a great experience for both of us.

My new companion is my old companion Od Bayar. I was really surprised that I’d be with him again. He is full of energy. We worked well together so I figure president wants us together again. I am excited to be with him again, next to my trainer he is my favorite companion. He comes today by airplane.

Last week I also relearned the sign language alphabet. I learned it before, way back in my first transfer like my second day in Mongolia. I couldn’t really learn sign language well then because I didn’t know Mongolian even. Now I am picking it up fast. It is way fun to learn and really cool to talk to deaf people. They have a special spirit about them. So I’m going to keep learning, they have a class that we go to learn. I want to get good so I’m going to work hard at it.

So I can call at 6:30 pm. That will work fine. The call is limited to 40 minutes. Yes, my apartment is big, there is a kitchen, bathroom, living room, and bedroom. I wear my coat, no I’m not cold. The church is close to my house. Choibalsan is great and I love being here. OK, that answers a few of those questions. Merry Christmas!

Love Elder Willoughby.

Presented have been portions of an email from Elder Daniel Willoughby serving in the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission. If anyone wishes to send Daniel a message, write it in the comments and I will make sure he receives it.
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Nativity Scene at Temple Square

December 18, 2009 by rickety 2 Comments

Update: Temple Square is open 9am – 9pm daily. The lights can be viewed from Friday, Nov. 25, 2011 through Sunday, Jan. 1, 2012.

Manger at Temple Square during photowalk

Nativity scene at Temple Square during a photowalk

My brother Mike took part in the Holiday Light Clinic and Temple Square Photowalk last night. His photograph is of the largest of several nativity scenes that sits beneath a star directly east of the Salt Lake Temple.

Writes LDS Newsroom:

In an annual tradition to mark this most Christian of holidays, the switch was flipped the day after Thanksgiving on a glittering display of light and color on Temple Square and on the nearby plazas of the Church.

The largest Nativity scene, directly east of the Salt Lake Temple, is a display featuring lifelike figures of Joseph, Mary and the Christ child in a stable, with shepherds tending their flocks nearby and wise men following the star to Bethlehem.

Accompanying this Nativity scene is a soundtrack relating the biblical account of the holy night and songs by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir with brief remarks by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, who speaks of Latter-day Saints’ love for Jesus Christ.

Mike said that 141 people took part in the light clinic and photowalk. See more of Mike’s Temple Square photoshoot.
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Five 2010 Predictions

December 18, 2009 by rickety 2 Comments

The Crystal Ball. J.W. Waterhouse.

Only one of my five predictions for 2009 succeeded. I predict in 2010 that I will do better.

1. The Dow will drop below 6,750 FAILED

In October 2006 the Dow Jones industrial average crossed over the 12,000 mark briefly for the first time in its 112-year history. On 9 March 2009 the Dow Jones industrial average lost 80 points, or 1.2%, to end at 6,547.05, its lowest point since 15 April 1997.

2. Gas will go above $4 a gallon FAILED

The price of gas here in Kaysville, Utah is currently $2.47 a gallon. It is not unrealistic for gas to go over $4 a gallon next summer. I’m glad I run on CNG.

3. Republicans will gain 40 seats in the House SUCCEEDED

A more realistic prediction would be a gain of 20 to 30 seats but I am optimistic for a net gain of 40 or more seats.

4. Gold will drop below $750 an ounce FAILED

Since 1968 the price of gold on the open market has ranged widely, from a low of $252.90 an ounce on 21 June 1999, to a high of $1,023.50 an ounce on 17 March 2008. Indexed for inflation, the 1980 high of $850 an ounce would equate to a price of around $2,400 in 2007 US dollars. Gold passed $1,200 an ounce on 2 December 2009 but has dropped into the $1,100 range since. It is time for further declines.

5. Utah unemployment will drop to 5% FAILED

Currently the Utah unemployment rate is 6.3%. My prediction of 5% or less is optimistic but achievable considering the positive business climate, the need for services from a growing population, and a fiscally responsible state government.

More Predictions

My predictions are rather bold so I do not expect all of them to succeed. What do you think? Which ones are sure to fail or will any succeed? Do you have any predictions for 2010? If you have blogged about them consider putting a link to your post(s) in the comments.

Check out these predictions:

8 Predictions for SEO in 2010
Oscars 2010 Predictions – Early Oscar Predictions 2010
10 Apple Predictions for 2010
Earth2Tech Predictions: 5 Biggest Hurdles for 2010

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Aurora Eliminates Paparazzi Camera

December 17, 2009 by rickety Leave a Comment

Aurora, my granddaughter, endures her grandparents taking photograph after photograph and the occasional video. Aurora finally got sick of me videoing her. She took out my camera faster than her grandpaparazzi could say, “Smile!”

If you cannot see the video click here.
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Kaysville City Council Thanks Mayor Neka Roundy

December 15, 2009 by rickety 9 Comments

Gil Miller presents Neka Roundy with a plaque sporting a gavel and citation

Two of my sons, Paul and Jake, were headed out the door for the Kaysville City Council Meeting. They invited me to come along, so I did. I asked Paul why he was going to a council meeting. He said he always goes to council meetings — when he doesn’t go to Institute. Which would be once, maybe twice a year when class is not held.

The agenda, item one, simply said “Opening”. That turned out to be an opening prayer by Councilman Lynn Galbraith. I always wonder if a prayer will be said as the practice seems to have been driven out of public gatherings over the years. After the pledge of allegiance the spotlight was on Dr. Clark B. Rampton who presented his Orthodontics Practice at the invitation of the council. This is the same business that straightened out all five of my children’s teeth.

One thing I like to do at meetings is to pay close attention to what is said. I learn a lot that way. At the same time, I am observing human behavior. Who gets angry, who is persuasive, what agenda items take up the most time, who is helpful, which people put off decisions, and so on. I find it all very interesting.

Next up was a citizen who was quite irate about his cul-de-sac not being plowed after the last snow storm. He wanted the council to have a snow policy. They said they responded to each storm depending on several factors. So the citizen became more irate. But with some carefully worded and empathetic responses by councilmen and the mayor-elect, he calmed somewhat. He didn’t get what he wanted — a very specific list of streets and the order in which they would be ploughed, but he did get a commitment for the city to look at his situation.

There were other items of business but no more irate Kaysvillians. Near the end of the meeting, under item 8, “Council Member reports”, gifts of appreciation were given to outgoing Councilman Lynn Galbraith and Mayor Neka Roundy. Neka’s plaque read:

Neka F. Roundy
Kaysville City Mayor
2006 – 2010
Kaysville City Councilmember
2000 – 2006

Snow plowing still an issue in Kaysville
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Will Coal Power Climate Studies Supercomputer?

December 14, 2009 by rickety Leave a Comment

NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center

The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) will build a new climate studies supercomputer. NCAR is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado but a new $66 million facility that will house the supercomputer will be built in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The primary reason is cheap electricity. In Wyoming for an industrial user the price is 5.16 cents per kilowatt hour. In Colorado it is 6.89 cents per kilowatt hour. This makes a big difference when you will be running one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers, consisting of more than 100,000 processors. It will be 20 times more powerful than the current NCAR computer.

The overall project is called the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC), encompassing the design and construction of a world class center for high performance scientific computing in the atmospheric and related geosciences. Says NWSC:

Our goal is to build a world class scientific supercomputing facility that does not compromise on energy efficiency or sustainability, and that is adaptable to the ever-changing landscape of high-performance computing.

In 2007, Wyoming’s electricity generation was 45,633,000 megawatt hours. 43,127,000 megawatt hours came from coal and 1,484,000 megawatt hours from renewables. Coal generates 94.5% of Wyoming’s electricity and renewables 3.25%.

I wonder how much of Wyoming’s cheap coal will power the new climate studies supercomputer?

Wyoming gets supercomputer for climate studies
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Mongolian Moments #6

December 14, 2009 by rickety 2 Comments

This cartoon was made from a suggestion by Daniel. It is interesting that the names all look the same too. At least to one not acquainted with the language. I wonder what our English names look like to Mongolians. What with all those named Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, and Brown. And what about the multitudes called James, John, Robert, Michael, and William. And the girls are no better with Mary, Patricia, Linda, Barbara, and Elizabeth.

Click on comic strip for larger image. Created using Strip Generator. See all the comics on the Comics Page.

Missionary Dan Email #7 from Choibalsan, Mongolia

December 14, 2009 by rickety Leave a Comment

Missionaries and branch missionaries at Choibalsan sign

Thanks Mom for reminding me to answer your questions. I totally forgot that there was any. There is no need to feel like you’re rambling because I really like reading what’s going on.

I got my package on December 10th. So my companion and I opened the first ten days together. We had lots of fun guessing with the scriptures. I got the tuna fish right. I even guessed it was Starkist brand or whatever its called, I can’t remember now. Thanks again.

I know that we will be calling on Christmas day for y‘all, so for me it will be the day after. It is ridiculously cheap to call from here to America. It is $2.50 for about a 3 hour phone card. Speaking of cheap the yellow jacket I modeled in the pictures was about $2.50 too. Tell me next week what time you’d like me to call and that’s when I will. Probably in the evening is best from 6 to 9 pm your time. Of course the phone call is limited to about 30 minutes so have some good questions ready.

The weather is getting colder. The thermometer I got is way cool. There is one slight problem though. It only goes to 0 degrees F. The other day it was 2 degrees. I haven’t needed to wear my big coat yet so it really isn’t that cold. As I was talking to my investigator yesterday he said right now it’s warm outside and later it will get much colder. He laughed at me when I asked if he was serious. So my thermometer won’t be able to measure the temperature here in a bit but that’s OK, it is cool to see when it is below -20 degrees C.

President Andersen wasn’t able to come here. The night before he was going to leave some problems came up. With some missionaries running away (which happens a lot so it wasn’t the main reason) and the visa problems he had to stay to attend some meetings. I’ll say a little about that later or when I call. I was able to have a phone interview with him. He said I will be staying here in Choibalsan and will most likely get a Mongolian companion. So that was exciting to hear, I really like being here.

Baptism of Munkhtushig (center)

The assistants, Sister Andersen, and the new couple that will be staying in Choibalsan came. The old couple left with my companion really early Saturday morning. We had zone conference which was way different as there are only 8 missionaries out here. We cooked up some chili for all of us to eat and it turned out way good. In the picture I’m frying up the meat.

Right now I have a mini missionary for my companion. He is actually my new member who was baptized last summer. He is 21 and preparing to go on a mission when he reaches his member year mark. I really like doing work with him and he could almost be a missionary right now. Mongolian missionaries have tons of opportunities to prepare for their missions so they come out really prepared and ready. I’ll get my new companion next week at transfers.

The 12 year old is my recent baptism and the other is the one baptized Friday. It was Elder Armstrong’s very last day of doing missionary work and he was able to see Munkhtushig get baptized. Surprisingly to me he asked me to baptize him. It was great. On Sunday he received the Holy Ghost and as he was receiving it I felt a warm burning feeling. It was neat to recognize that was him receiving the Holy Ghost to help and guide him in his life. I know there is great power that comes from the priesthood and it greatly blesses our lives.

Anyway I’m out of time for today. Thanks for all the emails.

Love Elder Willoughby.

Daniel wearing his new yellow jacket

Elder Armstrong and Daniel

Daniel preparing chili for zone conference

Elder Armstrong (left) and Daniel (right) and the baptism of Jargal Caikan

Elder Armstrong (left) and Daniel (right) at the baptism of Jargal Caikan

Daniel opening his Christmas packages

Elder Armstrong opening days one to ten

Christmas Letter 2009

December 7, 2009 by jill 15 Comments

Merry Christmas from Rick and Jill

Hi Friends and Family,

Here is our second Christmas blog post. We will send to friends and family the URL to this page with their Christmas cards. It has been a very busy year and here are a few highlights:

Steven and Adelaide had a baby girl, Aurora, born in February. They just bought their first home in Layton. It was good timing as they announced the arrival of baby number two due June 26th.

Jill, Kent, Susan, Melissa, Shauna, Scott, Connor and Ashley took our dad on a trip to Nevada’s Virginia City to ride the historic steam-engine on the Virginia and Truckee Railroad. Some of us went on a river raft trip while the others rode across Lake Tahoe on the Emerald Bay Sightseeing Cruise.

Sarah and Derek moved to Keller, Texas. Rick, Paul and Jill drove down to visit in March. We enjoyed the sights in Dallas and Fort Worth and Rick published a book about the historic water park there. Jill flew down in October to help Bryson celebrate his first birthday. We enjoyed a mini vacation visiting the Alamo in San Antonio.

Adelaide graduated in May with a Bachelor’s degree in English. She managed to finish school while being pregnant and having a baby so they graduated together.

Daniel is serving in the Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia mission and has helped construct a ger, taught English, and helped baptize the good people there.

Aurora starred in “All Things Bright And Beautiful”

Paul is graduating this month in Computer Engineering from the University of Utah. He hopes to work at Hill Air Force Base or maybe stay where he is, working for Avalon Care Centers. Jake is studying in the same field and will graduate in May.

And Jake went skydiving.

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas,

Rick and Jill

Rick, Jill, Steven, Adelaide, Aurora, Paul, Sarah, Bryson, Jake, and Derek at Alexandra's wedding.