Mongolia Mission Week 29 - Mongolia - known as "the land of the eternal blue sky"

Mongolia Mission Week 29

Our hope with this blog is to share highlights with our family and friends about our exciting opportunities and awesome responsibilities in Mongolia. It's an impossible task, though, because it's hard to condense everything into a few words and pictures. So ask us individually if you'd like to know more about anything! You can contact us by email (jrose219@gmail.com or krose213@gmail.com), Facebook messenger, or you can text Kathy's phone (515-537-3273). 

We'll just start with WOW. We shared recently how Sainshand was spruced up this spring. But Mongolia itself is sprucing up. A couple of trips to the city ago, John was struck with an idea that all the dry, dead stuff we drove past might actually turn green. What is yellow might once have been green, he suggested. And it's true! The steppe is turning green! As we drive to the capital now we also see lots of babies: goats, lambs, and horses. Even a yellow bloom or two and a few clusters of a small purple flower that looks like an iris. All beneath an amazingly big sky.

How can we but reflect on the scripture from the Book of Mormon where a prophet is trying to convince a non-believer that there is a God. "....all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." Alma 30:44. Indeed, this much beauty and variety could not have happened by chance.

It might not look all that green to some of you, but remember
that we live in the Gobi.

This is so exciting when all we've seen for months
is sand and dry grass.

Another exciting event for us was a coincidental/maybe not coincidental meeting. John and Scott Scovel worked on a large project together as American Express employees over 20 years ago, when John was based in Salt Lake City and Scott was in New York City. They've each gone down separate paths over the years but stayed in touch. Scott recently reached out to tell us that he and his girlfriend, Winsome, would be visiting Mongolia in May. It turned out to be the week of our Zone Conference when we had come to Ulaanbaatar anyway!

We were able to meet up with Scott and Winsome one night for dinner and to attend a cultural experience of music, dance, and dress. Click here to hear some examples we heard of Mongolian throat singing and to see some of the characteristic shoulder-shaking dance moves, Buddhist mask dancing, and a picture of a guy playing a percussion piece made of ankle bones. We failed to take a picture with Scott and Winsome, which is so sad! 

Traditional instruments included a horse head fiddle
which features a carved horse head at the top and
includes notes sometimes played with fingers
underneath the strings on the neck of the instrument.

The performance included a contortionist and
 claimed that contortionism began in Mongolia.

It turns out there was a group of 44 global business students from Brigham Young University (BYU) attending that night. They are on a month long trip to various countries in Asia.

One of the students in the group was Alex Schefer, who was one of the first to serve in Sainshand when English volunteers first went there a year and a half ago. We had met him when he worked as a translator in the MTC in Provo back in November, so it was a treat and a reunion to see him again, too!

Zone Conference was great, as usual!

We presented cleaning awards again

This Zone Conference was unique; President Namgur and his family are completing their three years of service in Mongolia at the end of June, and we may not see them again before they leave. They are amazing and inspirational and have sacrificed a lot for their service here. We love and appreciate all they do for the missionaries and English volunteers who serve in Mongolia. 

In an emotional ending to the conference, Namgurs
received gifts from the zone.

Between David's visit and Zone Conference, the two of us slipped out of the city. Senior couples are encouraged to participate in cultural activities. We couldn't think of a better way than to experience the countryside of another part of Mongolia. So we enjoyed the steppe and found a couple of very cultural experiences.

Good thing we had a driver and a guide who knew 
where to go!

Visited and ate with a nomadic family

Our hostess made rolls as she sat on the edge of a 
bed by the stove. These rolls were then steamed.
The horse tapestry lined the interior wall of the ger.

Mutton soup and fried flatbread. 

Gers can be assembled and disassembled within hours,
depending on how many people help. These are stiff
pieces of leather, not screws holding the framework together.

Made friends with a Bankhar dog, the 
dog breed of Mongolia.

Herded sheep and goats in a landscape that goes on
forever. Nomads herd on horseback, by motorcycle,
by car, or by ATV.

So hard not to keep these two!

We slept in our own ger, complete with a stove (and
plenty of dried sheep dung) in case we got cold.

Our ger had its own sink, furnished with water carried 
in from a well. The floor is linoleum laid on the ground. 

The family, two of their three dogs, and our guide,
President Adiyabold. Notice the solar panel for the ger.

 President Adiyabold is the president of the second stake in Mongolia (a stake is a geographic collection of congregations in the Church, generally consisting of 3000-5000 people).  He co-owns a tour company that caters to English-speaking people, for which we were grateful. Click here if you'd like information about his company.

One educational tidbit we gained was seeing and learning about the Przewalski or Takhi horse. Native to Mongolia, and named for a Russian explorer who discovered and described them in the 1800s, these horses were declared extinct in the wild in the 1960s. In the 1990s, 84 were airlifted from European zoos into Hustai National Park in Mongolia in a repopulation attempt. There are now about 1000 - a real success story. 

They are genetically different from domestic horse and cannot be tamed. (Mustangs, considered wild in America, are feral horses, not naturally wild.) Because Przewalskis are wild and their hierarchies are not selected by humans, the stallions fight for ownership of their harems. We got close enough to hear some of that.

Przewalski horses are all the same color and
have some striping on their back legs. We didn't
get close enough to actually see the stripes.

We always hit the museums to continue our quest
to learn as much about Mongolia as we can! These
clay figurines were found in a tomb.

The oldest monastery in Mongolia

We had to go in search of sand dunes. Our part of 
the Gobi doesn't actually have sand dunes. And what
a sky!

After zone conference, we headed back home to Sainshand. The potholes have always done a good job of keeping us awake on the road and giving us bursts of adrenalin as we dodge them and the other cars and trucks also dodging them. 

The roads to the capital were not good for alignments. 

We're sure we got extra points for dodging trucks
 and potholes both at once!

We also went joy-riding over places actively being
repaired

But workers are filling (some of) them right now, so the ride home was not quite as exciting. Except for a car fire which closed the road. Not a problem. We all just drove out over the steppe, like the nomads do. 

On the way home there were great improvements!

One of our big takeaways is that this world is a marvelous place with many wonderful people doing interesting things, and there's no one "right" way to make music, make a living, or feed your family. Nomads have been roaming this area for centuries, finding ways to adapt, succeed, and be happy. We're glad to catch a glimpse of other ways than our own. And we thoroughly enjoyed the peaceful feeling of a land that is open as far as eyes can see, and nights when you can see stars upon stars upon stars. Indeed, there is a God.

Mongolia Mission Week 28 - Family visit - touristing!

Mongolia Mission Week 28

Our hope with this blog is to share highlights with our family and friends about our exciting opportunities and awesome responsibilities in Mongolia. It's an impossible task, though, because it's hard to condense everything into a few words and pictures. So ask us individually if you'd like to know more about anything! You can contact us by email (jrose219@gmail.com or krose213@gmail.com), Facebook messenger, or you can text Kathy's phone (515-537-3273). 

This was a different week than normal for us. Kathy's brother, David Sanders, lives in Hong Kong and came to visit for a couple of days. So we drove to meet him in Ulaanbaatar. It was wonderful to see him and show off a tiny bit of Mongolia - meaning the Ulaanbaatar area. We had a wonderful couple of days visiting sites and eating delicious food. Here is a sample of what we saw and did:

Arrival at the (tiny) airport in Ulaanbaatar

First we took him to a market that spans several acres, selling everything from ornately carved wooden chests or flooring for your ger to antique snuff bottles to children's toys. One seller almost had John convinced to buy a new suit for $80.

Roofs covering the market 

In this market you can buy any type and
color of clothing, from traditional to modern.

And for his first Mongolian experience - Indian food!

The Saturday David was here was unique because Ulaanbaatar was hosting an international marathon. When we left to pick him up at his hotel that morning, something very strange was happening in the street in front of the mission home. No cars. A kid was zooming down the street on an electric scooter, and the rest of the street was wet and completely empty. What? The main streets around the marathon area were closed and freshly cleaned. Other streets around the marathon area included walkers, bikers, scooters, etc. taking advantage of the empty street while they could. 

Peace Avenue, the main street of Ulaanbaatar,
uncharacteristically quiet.

Sukhbaatar Square (named after a famous warrior who helped the Mongolians kick China out of their country in the early 20th century), was the finish line and was so busy!

We pretty much had the Chinggis Khan
Museum to ourselves. This sculpture is
covered with gold, which demonstrates the
esteem Mongolians have for Chinggis Khan.

We visited Gandan Monastery, which has the tallest indoor standing Buddha in the world at 85 feet tall.

Avalokitesvara, or Chenrezik in Tibetan;
Mongolian Buddhism came from Tibet.

We also went to Zaisan Hill, which sports a WWII memorial for allied Soviet and Mongolian soldiers; it was erected during the time when Mongolia was under Soviet socialism. It provides a beautiful view of the city. 

It's also where Apostle Neal A. Maxwell dedicated Mongolia for the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in 1993, after socialism ended and Mongolian-run democracy began. It's a dedication and blessing with great meaning to us in its prophetic insights and promises. In it, Elder Maxwell prayed, "Though we can see Mongolia's capital, Ulaambaatar, in the distance, Father, we know we cannot see far away. We are comforted that Thou seest all things at all times." God does. And we're excited to see His plan as it unfolds. For instance, Elder Maxwell said, in that prayer, that the new converts would "shape the future of the church in Mongolia." They have. We have seen it. The leaders of this church in this nation are inspiringly strong, committed converts. 

Another line from the dedicatory prayer that we love is "May it also be the case that the winds of freedom will never cease to blow in Mongolia. Preserve and protect the independence of Mongolia regardless of the moves made on the great checkerboard of the nations." He blessed the country to be a beacon light to other nations, which is sorely needed in this part of the world and in these troubled times. 

Zaisan Hill had a pretty clear view of the city that day.

We walked in a relatively new park Rio Tinto sponsored. Rio Tinto owns a major copper mine here. The park has 40,000 trees and a huge Mongolian flag that flies on the tallest flagpole in Mongolia. The flagpole is as big as Kathy's arm span. 

More delicious food together - we always search for places we can walk to so we can avoid traffic jams. Kathy's pork knuckle provided several meals worth of leftovers - once she pulled off the thick layer of fat. Fat is prized and enjoyed by most Mongolians, but we tend to take it off.

We also went, with a guide, out to the Chinggis Khan horse statue, just outside of Ulaanbaatar. It's amazing - 7 stories to the viewing platform. Good thing our apartment is on the 6th floor so we are used to steps! (No, it never gets easier!) David was glad to see some of the countryside and the herds of animals in the rapidly greening steppe. 

After a great weekend, we took David to the airport and he returned to his real world. We appreciate all our family so much. We love and miss every one of them. They are in our prayers. We so appreciate the technology that allows us to email, video, and chat with loved ones all over the world!

There is one other American senior couple in the mission. The Rottweilers came in early May, and we finally got to meet them when we went to the city for David's visit. They serve as Asia North Area Communications Specialists, covering Mongolia, South Korea, Japan, and Guam/Micronesia and are based in Mongolia for the first six months. It was great to meet them! 

While we were in the city we went exploring with them to a couple of stores we'd heard about. First was Amtat, which has quite a few imported foods but in large quantities - gallons of canned jalapeños, a kilogram package of cream cheese, and a package of chocolate melting wafers that must have weighed 10 kilos. It was priced at nearly 1,000,000 tugriks or about $275! (We had to get the cream cheese because a kilo is certainly better than none!) Then we went to B&B Butcher, which has a great selection of nicely cut, wrapped, and presented meats. They also had American imported foods like cereals, cake mixes, and gravy mixes. Ah, the treasures of the big city! But we paid for our adventure by spending more than an hour navigating traffic on the city streets!

Since by then we were hungry, we went to a Chinese restaurant together - we had been there before on recommendations from other senior couples, and it's very good. We wanted to introduce Rottweilers to it. The menu is pages and pages long with descriptions of each dish in 3 languages, plus a picture. But the descriptions never agree.

The moment of truth - Rottweilers examining
their order. One language described this dish
as "dry-fried pork," one as "dry-fried chicken."
It turned out to be chicken in a puffy, seasoned coating.

Because of traffic delays, it was after 8 pm when we arrived. We waited 10 minutes for a table. It took us a while to figure out what we wanted to order, especially with all the laughing at translation discrepancies. But after an hour wait, John went with Google Translate to ask if our food was coming. They told him "10 minutes." (We think they actually lost our order.) In about 15 minutes some of our dishes arrived. The last one came as we had finished eating. But everything really was delicious - what wouldn't be delicious at 10 pm!! It was about 11 pm before we all got back to our apartments. Don't tell our District Leaders! 

 When people go adventuring with us, there's no telling what will happen-

Mongolia Mission Week 27 - It's a Whole New World (or at least a new Sainshand)

 

Mongolia Mission Week 27

Our hope with this blog is to share highlights with our family and friends about our exciting opportunities and awesome responsibilities in Mongolia. It's an impossible task, though, because it's hard to condense everything into a few words and pictures. So ask us individually if you'd like to know more about anything! You can contact us by email (jrose219@gmail.com or krose213@gmail.com), Facebook messenger, or you can text Kathy's phone (515-537-3273). 

Our city went through some big changes in the last couple of weeks. Street sweepers and bench painters were everywhere. Even all the glass panels surrounding bus stops got polished. We thought that Sainshand must get really serious every spring about sprucing up and were so impressed. Then a couple of friends laughed about it and told us it was because the Prime Minister was coming to town for some meetings. 

Very acrobatic cleanup and fixup

Street sweepers

Tree trimming 

Hole digging for watering around the roots

Painting the bridge took several days.

Repair and sprucing up the signage.

Scraping the desert off our walk down the hill

Change of subject. We get by pretty well using Google Translate. But you really can't always trust it. Often we have to just laugh. For example, we recently used the camera function on a menu, only to find that one of the options was "Roasted Cow Disease." That's appealing!! The Meat Collection (assorted meats) and and Chicken Collection translated fine, but whatever the title was for a platter of beef brisket didn't translate well. We didn't order it, by the way.

This is what Google Translate revealed on the menu.

We also did a Google Translate on one of the hymns in our hymnbook. It's a song called, "Now Let Us Rejoice" but the hymn in the Mongolian hymnbook, "Бүгд хөгжилдөн баясъя" becomes "Let's All Have Fun" when put through Google. But truly, our goal is to find and feel joy. The most joyful people we know live in the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is joyful when we understand our Heavenly Father's plan and know that His children (all of us) can be guided around obstacles and tempting choices that will result in a loss of joy and peace. The title and song lyrics are actually talking about rejoicing in the knowledge of the gospel, which we also do!

Even when the power is out. When we came to Mongolia - and especially to Sainshand - we expected unreliable power or frequent outages, but we've been pleasantly surprised. We reported a few weeks ago about a scheduled outage that lasted for 20 hours. This weekend was another planned outage for upgrades for 14 hours each day on Saturday and Sunday (6 am until 8 pm). We knew in advance, planned for appropriate meals (cold cereal, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, etc.) It's light from 5 am until at least 8 pm at night, so we all went about our normal activities and did fine - Mutual activity followed by cleaning the church, and Sunday meetings were all as normal - except that instead of an electric organ we had cell phone accompaniment for our songs.

For the youth activity we made modeling
clay creations and played games.

There was so much creativity - There's
even a figure of Jesus!

For dinner Saturday, we were invited to a member's house for a service project and buuz (dumpling) making and eating. They have a wood cook stove, so that was a nice dinner without electricity. Having a wood stove can be a real blessing.

Making buuz and filling the steamer

Then, for Sunday dinner, the six of us assigned to Sainshand all gathered in our apartment, where we had found a butane camp stove, thanks to the Stillwaughs, the senior couple who lived in the apartment before us. We heated water for ramen and ate side dishes we had prepared in advance. It was a delightful evening as we discussed special happenings in Sainshand.

Grateful that there is a small stove on the balcony!

Thinking ahead, we had put whipping cream
in a little cooler, but neglected to think 
about needing electricity to whip it-

The Sisters peeled eggs for deviled eggs.

Enjoying our dinner together by the light of the window.

It was a wonderful weekend! We have a renewed sense of gratitude for electricity, but learned that we can accomplish all we need to and have a great time doing it, even when the power is out. The elders and their muscles made perfectly whipped cream! And we all had fun, just like the hymn suggested. We know that our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ want us all to be happy; they are cheering us on every step of the way, and we can feel their love if we look for it.