Mongolia Mission Weeks 51 & 52 - The Miracle of the Broken Water Line

Mongolia Mission Week 51

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). 

You'll have to wait for the miracle. First, more Halloween. So, in our last post we reported on the Halloween party we had at the church for our Family Home Evening. It was a week early, but worked well for everyone, we think.

We've asked several adults and kids here about Halloween. The answer is always the same: "It's not really celebrated in Mongolia - except for a few kids." And that seems to be the truth. Not much candy in the stores focused on Halloween. Certainly not the tons of candy and gift bags of goodies for the trick-or-treat aspect of the Lunar New Year holiday. 

But we were prepared, in spite of the fact that we had class that night. We were home during much of the day on Halloween and had a few sporadic visits from a few kids. Some had a little face paint, but there were no elaborate costumes. And they definitely didn't know to say "trick or treat." But they got a treat, just like they expected. Here are the winners of the best dressed trick-or-treaters:

Most kids came carrying grocery bags or gift
bags - 2 gift bags if both were very small-

The teachers in Mongolia were on strike for three weeks. Mongolian law requires anyone who's striking to be at their place of work for the entire work day but to not do any work. So that must have been tedious. From what we understand, they got a 50% increase. They had asked for double their salaries and thought that was reasonable because they only make about $400 USD/month as starting pay - not really a livable salary, even here. So they had some success. But rumor has it that now there will be no winter break, since there is a mandatory number of school days in a school year. 

We were not teaching in the schools this during the strike, but we still taught at the church, at the medical school, and we picked up two more online classes of Mongolian missionaries, so we kept busy. And we are slowly growing our winter IELTS advanced English class. These new classes take extra preparation, so it was a good time for those opportunities to come along while we had a break from the public school classes.

For our Young Men and Young Women activity, we learned how to crochet. This was popular with both the boys and the girls. We had some chess and other games set up, just in case. And cookie decorating. This was also a hit, even though the frosting made the cookies too sweet for many of the kids.

Our English student friend agreed to come teach
everyone crocheting.

Round sugar cookies and bowls of frosting.
Cookie cutters are non-existent here.

Due to a special request, and to show how cool an old couple can be, we made chocolate chip cookies in the shape of "6-7" for the activity. (If you haven't heard of the 6-7 craze, you are missing out on a worldwide trend. Look it up. Kids have silly fun saying "6-7" and doing a juggling/shrugging motion. Just recently, dictionary.com named 6-7 the word of the year! As though a number can be a word....) The kids were delighted about the cookies, and they got broken up and eaten within minutes!

At the start of the 2nd week of this report, 5 professors from the English Language Center at Brigham Young University came to Mongolia for their yearly conferences for Mongolian English teachers. There were conferences held in Ulaanbaatar, Erdenet, and for the first time, Sainshand. Kathy introduced the visiting professors who taught the sessions in Sainshand. She also helped gather information about the teachers' needs while the conference was being planned. About 80 Mongolian teachers from the province attended the sessions, and they received great instruction. So many schools would love to have volunteer English teachers, and there are so few of us to go around!

We helped present certificates after the conference.

Meanwhile, across the street at the Polytechnic College (a school for high school age and some older people; students are admitted based on test scores), our elders were introduced to a room full of students. The elders are going to teach a self-reliance course there for Deseret International Charities (DIC). The class is called "Education for Better Work." DIC, the charity arm in Mongolia of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is the organization that we English teachers are part of in our service here. It is contributing to miracles in this country.

The elders got to explain about the class and let students
 know there were only 12 slots available this session

The Director of the College took us on a tour of the entire facility. It's very impressive what they have been able to do with sparse finances. Many types of vocational classes are taught: automotive classes fit their engine models and classroom spaces in a garage where they also work on cars; little seeds grow under lights around administrative desks in a horticultural area before they graduate to greenhouses elsewhere. There's a room full of sewing machines and older women enrolled in a year-long free sewing class. There are graphic arts classes where students wear special aprons to protect themselves from radiation from computer monitors.

Apparently teachers sometimes spend weekends remodeling classrooms and hallways to upgrade the buildings at the Polytechnic College, and they donate their time to do it. We were told that students have built sections of the school as part of their learning experiences.  The director also showed us a pool table she bought with her own money so the teachers would have a place to spend spare time. She said it has improved some drinking problems. She really cares about her students and her staff.

John got to try his hand at a backhoe simulator.

We saw projects students make as souvenirs for tourists. We also went into the school's museum they've started. It includes several pretty impressive welding art projects.

Elsewhere, we looked out a window to find a practical but curious use of blocks to support a car.

This is our view of the super moon from Mongolia. But, unlike our friends at home, we've seen no Northern Lights!

On Saturday, we participated in a tree planting project. We were joined by the faculty of the Polytechnic College; once again they were doing service and had a large group of adults out in the bitter wind planting hundreds of small trees and bushes. DIC provides trees for many reforestation efforts across the country. 

From left to right: Elder Johnson, Sister Fish, Sister Veile,
Elder and Sister Rose, and Elder Paul

The Polytechnic College had a large group of volunteers,
including the director. This is just part of the group.

But Elder Johnson stepped into a ditch and, in a freak misstep, rolled his ankle. He and Kathy both heard the loud pop. It earned him a trip to the local hospital for x-rays and casting, and then a trip to the capital for further tests. 

He did get to ride in a wheelchair that had been donated by DIC, which also donates, food, medical supplies, and recently, the Chromebook computers we reported on a few weeks ago. 

Ironic that a DIC volunteer got to
ride in a wheelchair donated by DIC.

Now, as promised, the miracle of the broken water line. On Sunday afternoon we were in the kitchen making dinner for Sister Veile's birthday when we heard a sound that was not right. We both rushed to the bathroom to find the water supply line to our toilet had burst and water was spraying everywhere. We felt so blessed and so grateful. Why? It truly was a miracle because were were at home. Had this happened while we were teaching, or at church, or in the city (we left for Ulaanbaatar the next day), it would have been a major water disaster for several floors of our apartment building! Look for the blessings in the challenges of your life!

Have no fear. The birthday celebration
still got to happen!

This week is the end of the first year of our mission, and we pause to reflect about the blessings, challenges, experiences, and miracles we have been witness to. We feel so blessed - we record at least one miracle every day in our journals. 

We see miracles in: 

• Teachers who teach a large number of crowded classes without much pay.
• Polytechnic faculty who care about their facility, their students, and their country.
• Young volunteers who serve with us and give their all to serve their Lord. 
• The fact that we are even here. We have made such good friends and have learned so much. 
• The way being paved to have a temple in this country. 
• The good health we've enjoyed. 
• The Spirit touching people and teaching them that they are children of God.
• Sunday meetings feeding the souls of the people who attend.

We could go on. And when we have slow times - like the lowest sacrament meeting attendance since we've been here - we stand back and wait for the miracles. Apostles of the Lord have promised miracles in this country and have told us to expect them. Growth will come. In the Lord's time and in the Lord's way. We just have to do our best with what we've been given and keep trying.