Mongolia Mission Week 47 - Our Almost Pumpkin Spice Week

 Mongolia Mission Week 47

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 thought you'd enjoy seeing what we observed outside a local market (across from the church) this week - a truckload of camels! 

It turns out it doesn't take a big truck to haul camels. You just haul them kneeling. 

There were eight camels in that truck!

The Stillwaughs, who served here and left just before we arrived last year, posted this picture of snow in Sainshand on October 1, 2024.

But this year we happily enjoyed
78 degrees on October 1.

The precious and really warm part of our week happened when Kathy delivered official Young Women jewelry to the girls in our group. None of our young women at church had ever received their Young Women necklaces. We hadn't even thought about it. In fact, the girls didn't even know the necklaces existed until they saw Sister Gainer wearing hers and we realized they all should have one, too. 

We got some during our last trip to the city, so Kathy presented them one night at the end of their Seminary class, along with a document she created (and faithful Elder Jonan translated) explaining the symbolism. The gemstone represents, among other personal interpretations, that they are lights to those around them. The temple represents that they are focused on the importance of living worthily to attend the temple and receive all the blessings of temple ordinances. 

The girls were so excited they clapped
their hands. Then immediately
began snapping pictures.

 

It was wonderful to be a part of the excitement!

It was such a simple thing, yet it was a tender reminder to all of us that the Lord loves His children and that we can all benefit from the amazing resources of the church, even when we are at "the ends of the earth" (D&C 109:23). Every one of these girls is a special daughter of God. We can feel it. These teenage girls, who are typical teenage girls in many ways, have testimonies and divine potential that set them apart. We can see and feel it.

This week Sister Tierney was back for a day as an STL (Sister Trainer Leader)! It's been a minute since she was here as a green, new missionary doing her best to learn the language. And Sister Morton, her awesome companion, was with her to spend the day in Sainshand with our sisters! We invited the four sisters over to eat hamburgers for lunch. Since we haven't found hamburger buns, John made some, complete with sesame seeds on top. They turned out so fluffy and good.  

Her young friends were delighted to see
Sister Tierney again!

They had to show her our bulletin board
of activities that we've held. It's a real
focal point in our church.

What we didn't know was that the Zone Leaders were on the train, too. They also spent the day in Sainshand. We went for a chicken and pizza dinner with the 4 elders.

We're feasting with Elders McFarlane, Johnson, 
Godfrey, and Jonan.

The 8 young people had a great day meeting and talking to people and told us they experienced miracles. It was an uplifting day for people who sometimes struggle to find anyone who wants to talk to them.

Besides hamburger buns, we created more offerings from Roses' bakery this week. We made a chocolate meringue pie to share, but since we don't have a pie plate, we improvised - we have a 9" deep casserole dish sort of thing. Good thing it's a deep dish, because it was needed.

Being American, we felt we needed to pay homage to the season by making pumpkin spice baked goods. So for the pumpkin part of the week, you have to know that cans of pumpkin are not available here. We can find red kuri squash, however, which is similar to a pumpkin. We made it into a puree which became pumpkin chocolate chunk (no chips in Sainshand) cookies for Young Men and Young Women.

It also became pumpkin cinnamon rolls (You just add pureed pumpkin in lieu of mashed potatoes to the bread dough for a fluffy texture). Of course we roasted pumpkin seeds, too.

It was all an appropriate enough celebration of fall, whose days are numbered. Then one night we went to dinner at a restaurant on a hill that overlooks Sainshand. Our mission president recently reinforced the need for senior couples to have date nights. So, we were obedient. After dinner, we walked around the hotel to enjoy the mild temperatures.

One of the "ger districts" between the hill and
the downtown area.

 

We even got the moon to line up with
the post of a local ovoo by the restaurant.

An ovoo is something we see frequently. Ovoos perform a variety of functions, from navigational landmarking to shamanistic sites for ritualistic offerings. When you stop at one, some people believe you are supposed to walk around it three times and add a rock to the pile. People add scarves, birdseed, sweets, or money as offerings, often wishing for good luck.

We drive past this ovoo when we go to the capital.
 It's a smaller pile of rocks but heavily decorated
with colorful scarves.

Last week we shared what a crazy busy day Thursday was. This week was entirely different. It was Teachers Week. On one day of the week, the seniors teach the classes in the school and may also have teachers and school administrators as pupils. Our school classes were cancelled one day due to a teachers' talent show, a two day event spilling into the weekend where teachers from all over the province come to town to showcase their talents. 

We only saw a little each day, but we were blown away by the skills these teachers have developed and were willing to showcase. Beautiful regional costumes, with music and dancing to rival any we've seen in other performances. (Even throat singing!) 

These are teachers!

This instrument looks like a small bow
but has a taut string he's holding to the side.
Something spins on the string, making 
a soft musical tone.

Many of the performances seemed to be traditional songs and dances. This last picture is from a song that told a story of a beautiful cycle of life that we could follow even without English translation. A woman came to the front of the stage and portrayed that she was pregnant, left and came back with a baby, then came back with a rambunctious little boy, then with an accomplished young man, then with that young man carrying her on his shoulders. They portrayed such a beautiful respect for motherhood and for appreciating mothers. It was a very spiritual moment and represents a culture with some great priorities. 

It's a privilege to be a part of it all and see how other people choose to honor mothers as well as teachers. We have benefitted from learning about this culture.