Mongolia Mission Week 14 - A Tale of Stalled Taxis and a Missed Train

 Mongolia Mission Week 14

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).

Just for fun, here is a picture of our quiet city at night.

This is the view as we march down the hill from our
apartment. 

We left you hanging last week with having sent our young friends to the city for "transfers" when they got assigned new companions. Bryant Higginbotham came back with Dylan McWhorter, who replaced Jackson Abbott. Dylan is a wonderful young man, and we are exited to have him here in Sainshand. Ally Taylor returned with Rylee Tierney, who came from us fresh from the MTC. She is incredible and hit the ground running. She's willing to try the food, speak the language, and serve wherever and however needed. We love her already! She replaced Sister Narantungalag, our native Mongolian, whom we will love forever. 

These young people inspire us with their dedication. They have committed themselves wholeheartedly to their work and maintain positive attitudes and faith even when life is challenging. Plus, they're fun human beings.

Welcome dinner at a local diner with real Mongolian 
food and pizza. (The fried liver and onions is great!)

This week we had to go to the capital for John to take the driver's license test. It's not offered in English in Sainshand, so we took the 12 hour overnight train to Ulaanbaatar for the test. Know the song from Encanto, "We Don't Talk About Bruno?" John says we don't talk about the driver's license exam. He failed the test, like most people who take it. While the test is only 20 questions, they are pulled from a pool of 800. And he didn't remember some things, like how far from your car you should put an emergency road marker if you break down in a rural area. Maybe next time! We went into this understanding that most people, especially foreigners, have to take the test multiple times.

Early in the morning the moon was huge and the
landscape was beautiful from the train.

We were excited to see mountains on the way - next
to this little town out in the middle of nowhere.

We had some fun exploring the city.

Because cashmere goats are raised in this country, there are many cashmere stores in the city; cashmere is light and WARM for wearing in this climate. We found and entertained ourselves for quite awhile in a cashmere factory store. Their "1 + 1" (buy one, get one) end of season pricing was effective, as we kept having an odd number of items and had to keep looking for more free ones.

We found Chinggis Khan still questing for expansion. 
So glad he had his dog along.

Hard Rock Cafe for our birthdays. It was time
for us to find American food.

We found a pizza vending machine from
Paris. Didn't try it-

Once it gets to 14 degrees, Kathy sheds her coat.
Must be the new cashmere shirt.

Very neighborly his and hers stalls in a bathroom.
This isn't unusual.

Wandered through a door on the street and found a large hall
with about 100 jewelry sellers and about that many customers!

We went to a modern mall where some stores only sell reindeer
boots. The walls are lined with boots; each one has a
different fit even within the same size. Notice his cashmere vest!

A huge challenge is Ulaanbaatar is the traffic. We found an unofficial taxi for the ride back to the mission home after our shopping excursion, but after a while decided we could walk faster. We feared missing our train. After we arranged for the driver to pick us up at the mission home to take us to the train station, we walked the 2.2 km to the mission home, took our luggage downstairs, and checked back with him. He had only moved .2 km during that time! 

So we got a different taxi and spent the next 1.5 hours getting almost nowhere. When it was evident we would miss the train, he had him turn around and take us back. It only took 10 minutes to return us to the mission home. So we had an unplanned night in the capital and a ride home on the train the next day.

Since Saturday morning was an unplanned day, we went out on the town again. At the town center, Sukbaatar Square, we found an unexpected surprise: amazing ice sculptures. One looked like a playground with steps and an ice slide. We bet it was fast - and cold!! The ox/yak team pulling a ger on a cart was impressive. And there were several gers made of ice. Of course, nothing much was melting.

Rather than being packed up and transported on
camels, this ger is being pulled on a wagon by cattle.

And it has a special seat inside.

Statue of Chinggas Khan outside the 
Parliament building

We visited the National Museum and learned so much about the history of Mongolia. One of the most interesting exhibits was the traditional clothing styles from different groups in Mongolia. 

Many women's outfits had head/hair ornamentation,
including this one with ornate clips to hold the hair
in a flat arch. 

These people created beautiful ways to carry chopsticks,
flint and steel, and toiletries (including a tongue
scraper) 

We learned about S. Zorig, one of the principle leaders in overthrowing communism in 1989-1990 and ushering in democracy without violence. He was assassinated  in October 1998, 3 days before becoming the Prime Minister.

It felt very clear as we stood there in the quiet museum and took in the exhibits about these amazing events that this country has a special role to play in this part of the world, just as Elder Maxwell prophesied in his dedicatory prayer for the land.

We successfully returned to Sainshand, leaving the traffic and smog behind. We really appreciate our home in the country. It suits a couple who left a town of 200 in Utah to come to Mongolia. In the meantime, we're learning a lot.

Mongolia Mission Week 13 - Fasten Your Seat Belts

 Mongolia Mission Week 13

Our hope with this blog is to share highlights with our family and friends about our exciting opportunities and awesome responsibilities as missionaries. 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 thought after the first few weeks we'd be settled in and not have as much to share. Well, that's not the case. It's been quite a week. Again.

We love these little Mandarin oranges.
They're pretty small, but this is the 
smallest we've seen.

We had a baptism last weekend in our congregation. Besides the six of us assigned here as English teaching volunteers, there are basically two families that make up our group (congregation). There are also several boys between 7 and 11 and a few teenage girls, most converts of less than a year.  The teenagers and kids that we see the most don't have any other members in their families. This week an 8-year old was baptized. He is supported in the gospel by his 10-year old brother. They are such impressive boys - coming to church faithfully every week and staying for the whole 2 hours! They know and love the Gospel and are just plain inspiring. When they're not being squirrely little boys.

Our new convert bore his testimony -
both at his baptism and also in our 
fast and testimony meeting.

This is the baptismal font. It's in the church kitchen.

The next day (Sunday) we had our sacrament meeting. Our new member was confirmed as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost, and given a special blessing, just like other members around the world. That day in church, the only adults were the six of us English teachers in Sainshand. Six boys and 2 teenage girls also attended. It was our monthly fast and testimony meeting and had very few lags. We had great testimonies from these young men and women and a few of us adults. It was a wonderful meeting! The Church is in its infancy in Sainshand, which has only had a congregation for a year, and it is amazing to feel the Spirit and be part of it. These kids are the future of the church; it's clear they will be prepared to be leaders. 

For those of you who are wondering, we are still dancing three nights a week - sometimes. It depends on what other things are going on. It's great exercise and also keeps us very humble as we try to keep up and negotiate the language barrier. But this week we left early on Monday as we were invited to learn how to make buuz: a type of dumpling that is the national food of Mongolia, particularly popular during holidays such as Lunar New Year.

Our friend, Molly, invited us to her home to teach us
to make buuz with her family. Her two kids are in our
English classes at the church.

Buuz are formed, then steamed in a large pot.
The weird looking ones were Kathy's.

Delicious! We made some with seasoned
goat and some with seasoned vegetables.

Molly is going back to Taiwan to continue work on a master's degree. She's spent some time in the US and mentioned liking lasagne, so we made some and invited her and her family to dinner. This is actually tricky to make here. There isn't ricotta cheese. Or lasagne noodles, or most other things we needed. But we found a skinny, lasagne-like noodle in the store (one inch wide!), made a white sauce instead of ricotta (which is actually an authentic Italian thing), etc. And we had brought back ground beef and parmesan cheese from the more cosmopolitan capital. It all worked out and was delicious. 

Molly's family brought a centuries-old game called "shagai," or "ankle." You play different versions of this game by rolling the ankle bones from sheep or goats like dice. The bones each land on one of their 4 sides representing a horse, camel, sheep, or goat. These are the main "cattle" traditionally raised in Mongolia. The differences in the sides of bone are a little bit hard for us foreigners to recognize. It was so much fun, and they gave us a set of bones as a gift. We need a lot of practice.

We played on a towel so the bones
wouldn't wander too far.

 

Thursday we sent our 4 young English teachers to the city. It was "transfer week," where changes take place in assignments. This happens every six weeks. We senior couples never get moved. The young ones don't know what will happen with their assignments until the day before, and then, if either of the pair changes, both go to the city to meet and bring back a new companion. Jackson Abbott and Sister Narantungaleg are leaving. Stay tuned next week for that news. We went for a meat platter feast together for one last meal before they left on the overnight train. 

Many restaurants offer this type of dining.

This platter had sausage, pork, mutton, beef,

 and 3 kinds of chicken. Plus potatoes and salad. 

All this for less than $38 USD.

We'll be sad to split up! But these two have important
work to do elsewhere.

Then, on Friday, we went to another Camel Festival! Last week's was a small one in the village we told you all about, Saikhanduulan. This one was more like the county fair version. It was hosted by and for our province, Dornogobi (East Gobi), with all the other cities/villages invited. They honored all the winners from the other areas. What a party. We weren't there for any races or polo, but visited some of the gers each group set up and saw the parade of camels and an opening performance with music and dancing that was amazing. 

Alice, our special friend from our school, was our 
host. We and the local Peace Corps volunteer English
teachers were honored by a chance to go to the festival.

We and Alice were welcomed by our friend, Amgaa,
the governor of Saikhanduulan.

We were treated to a lovely lunch in the Sainshand Ger,
complete with nice, warm soup. We love the carvings in
these gers.

It's hard to see, but the open space
is a big stage for dancers. Couples
were doing nice formations with a
variety of steps and tempos.

There were singers on a stage
and dancers performing below the
stage. Drones in the sky and news
cameras took in the festival.

Many of the dancers were teens
who took their parts very seriously. 

We feel so blessed to get to know the wonderful people of Mongolia and to get a glimpse of their cultures and traditions! Fasten your seat belts, because we have some great experiences to share. But, more importantly, because the Lord's work in Mongolia is taking off. The Lord is preparing people in Sainshand to experience the joy that comes from learning His gospel. Soon there will be a temple in Mongolia. Mongolia's time has come for an outpouring of blessings from God!! 

We personally have experienced the joy of knowing His plan of salvation, the blessings that come from making and keeping covenants with Him. In case you can't tell, we love sharing our experiences with other people. And When Apostle Elder Holland visited Mongolia in 2011, he told the missionaries, "The answer to every problem in life, whatever the question . . . is the Atonement of Jesus Christ--the doctrine of Christ, the gospel of Christ . . . If you believe that, you will change . . . your history, you will change Mongolia's history, and you will change the world's history" ("Elder Holland Instructs Mongolian Saints, Missionaries," ChurchofJesusChrist.org.) It's happening. 

Mongolia Mission Week 12 - The camel festival

 Mongolia Mission Week 12

Our hope with this blog is to share highlights with our family and friends about our exciting opportunities and awesome responsibilities as missionaries. 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).

Yes, that's us on the camels

Molly, the friend who told us about the dances and the dance class that we are attending, also told us about a camel festival that includes camel races and camel polo at a nearby village, Saikhandulaan.  Nearby is relative. It's 59 miles away but about 2 hours by car!

We had a hard time figuring how to get there, as there didn't seem to be a bus or train option. The mission president decided to take a P-day (recreational day) to go see the festival and offered us a ride, but we didn't want to take up his precious time with his family. Molly decided to go and ended up arranging a ride for the three of us with a friend of one of her friends, if we helped with the petrol. We got picked up about 9 am and headed to Saikhandulaan. About two miles down the road from Sainshand, the driver turned off onto a dirt road. Well, tracks in the desert. And bumped along in his Hyundai for two hours. Now we understand why there is no taxi, train, or bus.

The road was mostly just tracks to follow,
 but some of it was "divided highway."
(There's another track to the left.)

And there were a couple of interchanges

You need to know that this looked much different on Google Maps:

Looks like a decent road, right?
Can you image what the light gray lines
would be like?

Roadside attractions

Another attraction - an 'ovoo'. Travelers are supposed 

to stop to ask the spirits for a good trip. You add a rock 

to the pile, make your request, and circle the cairn 

clockwise three times. Some people leave birdseed, 

because leaving food for animals brings good luck.

Road hazards.

And finally we see that we are 
approaching the village of Saikhandulaan.

Once we got there, we went into a warming ger (know as a yurt in other countries). Nice, warm, and friendly. These have wood frames with a small wood or coal stove in the center. The huge bowl was made of pieces of a hard bread, we think. It was filled with white curd (dried yoghurt curd) and a few sugar cubes. To the left is a bowl of assorted candies. And the bottles have a hot water/camel milk mixture which is served in the disposable cups. The governor's wife graciously served us. This drink was not fermented according to tradition because the governor is a member of our church. He travels back to Sainshend for the weekends. The people he works with really admire him and the fact that he does not smoke or drink.

Back row: David, Danny, and Sister Namgur (mission president's 
family); Kathy; Zaya (village governor's wife); and Molly, our friend/guide.
Front row: President Namgur, Amgaa (village governor), and John.

You can see the door, clear vinyl roof center, stove pipe,
and all the roof staves.

Beautiful carvings on the staves.

Carvings on the center support posts.

Small cookstove and heater combo.

Meanwhile, outside the ger, restless natives.

So you know what a traditional outhouse has to offer.

We watched a camel race. This is 6 km long, so we watched it start, drove alongside the race with a bunch of other cars, then hurried to the finish line to watch them cross. It was much warmer that way and such fun!

Of course, an ambulance escorts the race.

We took several videos at the festival. Click on the link if you'd like to see snippets of camel racing and camel polo:

Camel festival videos

The governor and his wife hosted a lunch for us and the mission president's family in his office. It was a delicious spread of potatoes, carrots, bread, meat, pickles, etc., served on a platter in the middle of the table for everyone to eat from. What a feast!!

We watched the festival opening ceremonies and met some of the locals and other visitors.

One of the pictures on the wall in the ger was a picture of some petroglyphs. A local man (a minor government official who incidentally was related to Molly, and neither of them had ever met each other before!) said they were nearby. We jumped in two cars so he could lead us out to see them. It was a surreal, amazing, and frigid experience. We didn't even get stuck in the snowdrifts in the Hyundai. 

Then it was time for camel polo. We were told this sport was invented right in here Saikhandulaan. The first trial match was played on February 18, 2002. It's impressive to see them hit the ball while riding a camel. We didn't last long. We were pretty much icicles by then.

We were offered a quick ride on a camel, which was great. And then it was time to depart for home.

Here's another link to our videos from the festival, including the camel race, camel polo, and our camel riding experience.

Camel festival videos

The night before we left to go to the festival, the mission president and his wife conducted an impromptu fireside for our Seminary students during their Seminary time. There are 5 teens in our group; 4 are recent converts. Seminary happens 2 nights a week for teens to participate in regular scripture study. These kids were excited to see the president, who knows and interacts with all of them. Several received their official temple recommends from him that night. It hurts our hearts that they are being so faithful and so willing and don't know if they will have a chance to even go to a temple any time in the near future. In the US, we took for granted the opportunities to take our youth to participate in sacred, peaceful, testimony-building temple experiences. We eagerly await the day when ground will be broken (hopefully this spring) for the announced Mongolian temple. In the meantime, we are all preparing the way.

We still feel so very blessed to be called to serve in this mysterious (to Americans), wonderful, place filled with amazing people and traditions.