Mongolia Mission Week 15 - Unexpected Adventures are the Best!

Mongolia Mission Week 15

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 never tire of the beautiful sunsets here. This time, we were able to capture a sunrise on our way to teach English at the school near us. Spring is coming!

Due to our missed train last week, we missed the Mutual Valentine's Party at church on February 15th. This was a big deal for us because we had a youth actually plan and execute it. Our church has such an inspired program for the youth. They learn how to lead, how to minister, how to teach, and how to develop their divine potential as daughters and sons of God. They learn to feel Christ's love for us all and to turn to Him. 

We've been feeling very strongly that, since there are so many teens in our group, they need to benefit from the Lord's program in whatever ways we can make it happen. We have learned a lot as we have had to listen carefully to the Spirit to work with the teens and find ways to interact with them. We never know from one week to the next who will be there, which determines what our focus needs to be. Some weeks work miraculously well. Others not so well. But we know the Lord is in charge and that things are happening on His timeline.

For this activity, lots of youth came to decorate Valentine envelopes and write notes for each other. The girl planning it wanted to include the younger kids to show them love. They all enjoyed spending time together. We are sorry to have missed it, but the amazing elders and sisters did a great job of facilitating the activity.

Spending serious effort making Valentines.

On Saturday, February 22, we had another party at the church, this time because in our small group, 7 of us have birthdays in February. No better reason to have fun together. It was pot luck treats and a talent show. Just about everybody participated, and it was so much fun!

Part of our decorating crew.

This was an inflatable decoration with no way to 
inflate it. A nonmember boy took a mechanical pencil
apart to create a small enough tube to accomplish the task!

Two new member girls taught the elders and sisters
a Mongolian dance to perform for the talent show.

Our sweet girls in their traditional shirts.

Almost everyone who attended participated 
in some way: dancing popular dances or singing
traditional or popular songs karaoke-style.

We also finished celebrating our birthdays with dinner together at home. Mostly with things we had brought back from the city, as we couldn't find them locally, like salmon and whipping cream.

Check out our dessert we made in the desert.

John posing for his birthday with a broken
cane someone left in our hallway. 

He may be old, but he hasn't given up on finding
a store that sells caulking so he can improve our tub!

The most fun we have is the unexpected adventures. We were walking around one day and noticed what looked like tailgating going on in a parking lot. Of course we had to check it out. It turned out to be not only a lot of parked cars, but also trucks selling racks of frozen sheep for upcoming holiday feasts! We had wandered into a bazaar for people who wanted to stock up on clothing, food, and traditional necessities for the Lunar New Year celebration.

The furry rear end is left on all the sheep
carcasses.

There was also activity inside the building, which is one of the largest in Sainshand. When we checked it out, we found more meat, various kinds of pickles (probably homemade since the bottles looked like they were being reused), and household goods. When we walked in the main auditorium, the one where the New Year's children's performance was held, we noticed the signature smell of Mongolian aaruul, a dried milk curd. There were so many tables and vendors selling different shapes and sizes of curd! Aaruul was a major food for Mongol warriors: non-perishable, light weight, and nutritious. People need a lot of it for the Lunar New Year celebration. Vendors were also selling gee, which is the richest part of butter and used in hot drinks, We also found camel milk in large bottles. This is prized, especially when it ferments.

There were so many people buying curd that we 
could barely move.

Some of the many types of curd.

In the building next door, vendors had everything from
harnesses to jewelry, belts, clothing, hats, etc.

Wood craft projects (one of these came home with us).

Hats to go with the traditional wear

More hats, and fancy bags to carry stuff in, like your
snuff bottle. 

Head pieces for women and girls

More traditional hats, and traditional clothing (deels)
with fur lining for winter celebrations. 

We found full length deels and also traditional shirts,
which are called tsamts.

And outside, someone selling ornate chests.

We continue to feel so blessed to serve and teach in Mongolia. The people are wonderful; the culture is amazing. We are learning so much - except for not much Mongolian language - and love the people we meet and the people we serve with. We feel the Lord's love and blessings in our lives every single day!