Mongolia Mission Week 45 - Can It Get Any More Amazing?

 Mongolia Mission Week 45

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). 

What an amazing week - we know we always say that, but this one really was!

On Monday we were innocently sitting at home on a video call with our family (About every two weeks we enjoy a video call with all of our children and grandchildren who are available. We so love and appreciate these calls and the chance to catch up with them!). Anyway, we were about to finish when we got a local call saying, "Are you coming?" 

Of course! What can we say? Sometimes there are breakdowns in communication, but we all do our best. We hurried to an event where Deseret International Charities (DIC, the charity for whom we volunteer as English teachers) was distributing 238 Chromebook computers to 17 local schools in remote soums (villages) in our area. It's another phase of a larger project where a total of 3000 laptops will be or have been distributed throughout the country. We also got to tour the area in a local school where DIC provided funding for a counseling room.

Of course cute Mongolian dancers were part of the event!

With an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ in Mongolia, we drove to Ulaanbaatar for meetings later in the week. We had time to go with Rottweilers to the House of Mercy, a food shelter sponsored by the Catholic church, to provide some help with lunch. It was a tender experience. We met volunteers from Australia who happened to be there that day, too. 

That night we attended a packed devotional in a stake center. The devotional was open to everyone in the country but was preceded by Elder Andersen meeting with local government and civic leaders. In both meetings he shared information about the proposed temple and site and showed renderings of what the temple interior will look like. The design will include features inspired by local architecture (like gers) and meaningful Mongolian symbols. It will incorporate local visual traditions in a house of worship where worthy members will participate in sacred ordinances that can only be performed in temples.

Elder Andersen commended the audience members who are the converts Elder Maxwell talked about in his 1993 dedicatory prayer for Mongolia, people who are the foundation of the Gospel in this country. "Let us be determined to prepare ourselves and share with others, that when it [the temple] is dedicated we will be ready to receive it," said Elder Andersen.

And then he moved on to the real reason for the temple - preparing people for the Second Coming of Christ. "It will be breathtaking," is how Elder Andersen described that day. He referred us to his remarks in April of 2015 ("Thy Kingdom Come"), where he weaves together scriptures that prophesy about Christ's return. To hear Elder Andersen say he has "a sure and certain witness of Jesus Christ" was a thrilling experience.

People are so excited that they will have a House
of the Lord in this country where they can be sealed
together as families for eternity!

Elder Andersen asked choir members (and Sister Kunz) to hold up renderings of the temple interior.

On Friday, we attended a meeting including all the Mongolian missionaries and DIC volunteers. It's the only time all the mission zones gather together in person at the same time - when an apostle visits. We heard from President and Sister Kunz, Elder and Sister Esplin (the Asia North Area president and wife), and Elder and Sister Andersen. Such powerful, wonderful, and spiritual messages about Christ and about miracles that have already been a part of the process of having a temple in Mongolia. We feel so blessed to have been able to participate and receive these messages. 

Our entire mission posing for a picture while waiting for the apostle. We sang
"We Thank Thee, Oh God, for a Prophet" as he and his wife entered the room.

On Friday we also had to hurry back to Sainshand for more excitement. Our choice friend, Temuulen, was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Saturday. He is a wonderful young man who has been taking lessons, considering, and praying about this decision. He knows that God has a plan for him and will help and bless him throughout his life!

Temmulen with his dad and sister who attended his baptism

But the week wasn't over yet. Because there was another festival going on. The Dornogobi province was putting on the first ever Heavenly Noble Festival (or maybe Knives in the Sky, depending on which translation you use for the title), out near the famous Khamariin Khiid monastery and energy center in the middle of the Gobi. This was a two day festival celebrating the life and works of Danzanravjaa, the famous monk, teacher, composer, and poet who founded Khamariin Khiid. We made it out for a few hours on Saturday afternoon.

We actually walked on the kind of sand you picture when you think of desert, instead of the coarse, gritty sand people constantly sweep off the streets and sidewalks of our town. We visited the gers of 17 soums (villages) where each group showed off cool antiques and cultural practices. We saw herbs and mushrooms people use for health, how to make ropes out of camel hair or leather strips, the processes of making curd and airag (the traditional Mongolian drink made from fermented mares' milk), etc. People were so happy to share their culture. We met many friends, some new and some old.

This man showed a collection of antique arrowheads.
Each tribe had their own design. Some whistled.

Sister Fish watched Sister Gainer practice
traditional Mongolian script, a beautiful art.

Elder Johnson took a turn with a
horsehead fiddle.

We saw some very enthusiastic performers.
This one used a string of bones for percussion .

The festival was so spread out we couldn't get it all
in one picture.

A lighted gate in the desert

To the delight of these young people, we came upon 
a small herd of camels on the way to the festival. 

We can't believe the amazing blessings this week held! And there's more to come!