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.