Mongolian Alphabet

Hello there ya'll--that's right, I feel like I want to be in the warm South today:) I wish!

Today in Church Dad and I felt like we were back in the day--several children on their knees, coloring Christmas pictures I'd printed for them. 

It all started when the previous Mission President asked us to help the bishop's wife with her children--two, ages 4 & 6, and she has a small baby. I started bringing coloring pages and it at least helped the 6 year old girl be quieter--she's a cutie but likes to TALK--loud and a lot!  She's very smart and colors well, so she enjoys being by us--after the Sacrament.  That was the original plan, but she often sits by us from the beginning in eager anticipation of coloring:)  The 4 yr old boy doesn't care for coloring and tends to wander around--most of the children are allowed to do this and it's very disrupting to the Spirit and to hearing our translator and keeping our minds on what's being taught. 

ANYWAYS...word spread and today we had 5 kids coloring--it's good I brought plenty of pictures. The 6 yr old girl was born and lived in Hawaii for 5ish years so speaks excellent English.  She's learning Mongolian in school so on the back of her picture she wrote lots of the Mongolian alphabet--so I could "take it home and learn Mongolian."  She said she knows I can do it and she gave me this picture and alphabet because she loves me:)  Ahhhh :)

We had a good Sunday today--hope you all have one, too:) 

We love you and are so grateful for each one of you!

Love, Grandpa & Grandma

Pictures:

Mongolian alphabet

hoof we found on our small veranda--gift from up stairs:)

Missionaries at ZC---white elephant time

Christmas picture

my cute little friend & her baby sister

 

 

 

Terrible amd Miraculous Event

This week we had a terrible and miraculous event take place in the mission.  Two sister missionaries were running to the bus stop trying to catch the next bus, which was coming down the street.  As the bus got along side the sisters, Sister Nelson slipped and fell and her left leg and her right foot went under the bus.  The bus went right up and over her leg and foot.  The pain was terrible.  When she arrived at the hospital by ambulance they found out she had no broken bones, no broken blood vessels.  These buses are huge.  They carry 50 to 100 people packed in like sardines. After removing her shoe and leggings they could see a 10" tire track on the shin side of her leg right above her foot.  She is doing great, she has some slight bruising on her left leg and right foot. With the size and weight of the bus her leg and foot should have been smashed flat.  Since the tire ran over the shin side of her left leg, that means her left foot had to of been upright between the dual wheels. Sister Nelson is from Sally's town, Colorado Springs. Everyone here is humbled and grateful that Sister Nelson has been so blessed.

Over my life time I have seen several times when God has intervened and blessed someone.  Sister Pritchard in Ireland when a bomb blew out all the windows in a large department store, where hundreds of people were seriously hurt from flying glass, and she was unharmed because the window she was standing in front of was unbroken.  The only unbroken window in the whole store.  Alan, when he flew through a window when a mission van of nine people crashed traveling 60 miles an hour.  Brady, when he was choking and turning blue with a piece of candy stuck in his throat.  Brady, when given a priesthood blessing and he immediately began to get better when he was in serious trouble with his kidney's malfunctioning.  Karamine, on at least two occasions while carrying babies during pregnancy. Claire and her sweet spirit and healed body still with us here on earth.  Sylvia, on several occasions when her life was being threatened with serious heart issues. She actually would have died several times without God intervening to help and bless her. These are just a few of the numerous times we have seen God come to someone's aid and the impossible happened.  There are many other times when God did not intervene.  It is hard to sort out why God blesses on one occasion and does not heal on another; nevertheless, we are grateful when he has heard our prayers and provided a blessing.  

Big Deal

We sure wish you would send all the Global Warming our way.  A lot of people are worried and complaining about climate change throughout the world.  Well, here in Mongolia we are having a cold snap, a week of 20 below zero, with even a couple of days 30 below, and it is only the middle of November!  When you look for winter clothes the selection is different than home. Gloves and socks come in camel, yak, wool, and horse.  Hats come in felt (wool), mink, yak, and rabbit. Coats come in down, mink, rabbit, wool, yak, goat (cashmere).  Boots come with camel, yak, and wool linings inside and reindeer and goat out. We saw a man with a mink hat the other day at the bus stop that was as big as a small bushel basket.

From this letter and last weeks letter you can see what is on our minds -Winter in Mongolia.  Mongolia is down wind from Siberia.  Siberia generates the cold and then blows it over Mongolia.  In the winter you do not have to check the forecast or the temperature.  Just put everything you have on and hope it's enough.  We have been told that Camels can take the winter cold better than any other animal. When you touch them you find out they have a fur coat that is 4 inches thick. It doesn't look like it but they are heavily insulated.  Yaks look like they are covered with 6 inches of long fur, which they probably are.  Just imagine a cow with a fur coat that hangs clear down to the ground and you have a yak.  We were also surprised to learn that the one animal that has a very hard time in the winter in Mongolia is sheep.  All this makes for a very interesting world. The meat consumption goes up in the winter, especially meat with lots of fat.

We bid out a water station this week.  It looks like we will be doing 4 more water stations before we return home in May.  We will be having a big meeting with the National Rehabilitation Center to bring several hundred (500) wheel chairs to Mongolia next spring.  We are also meeting with the National Federation of the Deaf to consider helping them develop and print a National Sign Language for Mongolia.  We are doing good and hope we are making a difference.

We are so grateful that we have this Gospel. Living it makes us so truly happy.   We pray for you all every day. 

How many pairs of tights do you wear?

Dear Family,

While you are enjoying the warm weather we are hoovering around zero every day.  I thought I would tell you what the missionaries wear to keep warm.  Some missions do not allow the missionaries to go out when it is, like, ten below or colder.  In this mission it is just the way of life, everyday, so they learn to dress appropriately.

Elder's will wear 1-2 pair of thermals, slacks, shirt, sweater, 2-3 pairs of socks, and wool lined boots.  A large coat with hood, a beanie (or fur lined hat) ear muffs, scarf, mask--required because of smoky air--, two pair of gloves (preferably mittens) and they will pull the hood up over the beanie with only a small hole to look through.

Sisters will wear 2-4 pairs of tights or leggings, blouse, skirt, sweater, pair of wool or yak socks over the 4 pair of tights, wool lined boots with goat or reindeer fur on the outside, a large coat or maybe two coats with hood, a beanie, ear muffs, scarf, mask, two pairs of mittens, and they too will pull the hood up so that there is only a small lookout hole.  

As you can imagine it is a major operation to get all this on and off several times a day.  October is over so that means one month of winter has passed.

This Gospel is wonderful!  We love it so very much.  It allows us to be truly happy and forget ourselves and go to work.

We are doing great!

Traveling

This week we had three closing ceremonies.  We traveled to Darkhan, Erdenet, and Murun.  DIC paid for four crosswalks in Darkhan.  They had 17 pedestrian fatalities last year so we partnered with them to improve the safety in the city.  In Erdenet we completed a project with the Anti-Drug Rehab Program of Erdenet. They made 14,000 building blocks this summer with the equipment we furnished them. They are helping fathers overcome their addictions and obtain employable skills. They are also repairing school desks, building wooden stools, and wood geir doors. In Murun we provided a large stove and a large cooker for the 11th Kindergarten.  As we met with each of these organizations we met some wonderful people which were very grateful for the little bit of help DIC provided.  

Also, our two dentists have now gone home.  Their service in Choibalsan was simply fabulous.  They completed dental hygiene training in 26 secondary schools and 24 kindergartens.  They also examined 800 children and preformed dental procedures on 540.  They brought with them $4000.00 dollars worth of dental supplies and donated what they did not use to the Dental Clinic in Choibalsan.  The city is asking them to return next year.  

As you can see we are busy.  We are having experiences that will never be forgotten.  Each of these projects we complete usually has a miracle or two or they would not happen.

Pictures:

--stool made by rehab center

--things DIC bought for rehab center

--Mongolian copper mines

--plaque given to DIC by kindergarten

--snowy roads--big truck slipped off 

--Siberian Larch pine trees--needles turn orange and fall off in winter

 

 

Adventure

Well this week we had quite an adventure.  We learned why cars have a scuba! We drove to Khovd.  It was a 37 hour ride in a Land Cruiser in three days.  We went there to investigate a well request. The road was paved for the first 6 hours then 400 kilometers of dirt.  After 200 kilometers we ran into a river about 100 yards wide.  No bridge.  The river had spread itself out into 5 sections so it was shallower than other parts.  There were 10 geirs (yurts) and tractors on our side. These geirs were for the people to stay in if they need a place to stay, for the people working the river, and a place to cook and buy food.  For those vehicles not high enough to drive across the river the tractor pulled them across.  We drove into the river, following a tractor, pulling a truck.  The water covered the top of our tires. We went across one part of the river then drove up the middle of the river a ways then turned and went across the rest of the river.  On the other side there were geirs lined up doing the same thing as on the other side of the river.  The water comes up into the engine compartment of many the cars so some of the cars have to dry out before the engine will start again.  We were told by our driver that this is a common way to cross a river in Mongolia.  We were in part of the Gobi Desert. After crossing the river we drove another 200 kilometers before we found civilization again. We will never forget our river crossing.  We had to do it again on the way back.  We think we will do the well. The people sure need it.  There are 3000 people in the soum (area) and only one working well and the water does not test good.  So we are going to try and get a new well with good water.  

We also watched conference this weekend.  Conference was great! 

We're so grateful for these voices of wisdom that guide our thinking and actions.

Both the Dentists we invited arrived this week.  They brought with them 3 suit cases of donated dental supplies ($3,500.00 worth).  Four months ago when we started this it seemed impossible.  Little miracles kept happening and now it is a reality.  The Governor of Choibalsan met us and treated all of us to a wonderful dinner and the next morning we found out he had also paid for our motel room.  After we met with the Hospital Administration they were so excited with the dental supplies and the dentist's knowledge and abilities that they changed what they were going to have the dentists do.  They were going to teach hygiene in the schools (15,000 students) and provide free dental service to the poor and needy children.  They are still going to do that but they are also going to provide training for the 9 dentists in the Province that serve 70,000 people. As you can see we are in way over our heads but we just keep going and heaven keeps helping us and miracles keep happening one after another.

Some of you know one of the dentists, Clyde Larsen, from Price.  He was in the college stake presidency with President Harrison.  Sally and Andy probably remember him.  Clyde will be in Choibalsan for 6 weeks.  It will cost these dentists $3-5,000 each to come and do humanitarian service.  We are amazed at the many generous people we have met.  People really can be amazing and do a tremendous amount of good which is very humbling to see and be a part of.

Pictures

--We visited this Chinggis Khan Statue--it's famous here and HUGE!

--Our friend, Nara, invited us to her geir for a BD dinner--her's and mine. This cake says Maynes:)

--then we had FHE with her, and her niece and nephews

--horses...uh, excuse me:)

--Fall is here!

Zuunkhaara

We took the train to Zuunkhaara to check on a well building DIC is building.  On the way we saw something that amazed us.  The grassy countryside almost looks like a huge golf course because so many flocks and herds keep the grass trimmed back. Because there is a fence along the railroad right of way, to keep the animals off the tracks, the grass grows taller -2 feet.  Farmers, by hand, are cutting this grass and raking it into piles. They then load it on trucks with pitch forks.  We saw these huge loads of grass on trucks.  The load is so big it almost buries the truck.  They take 16 foot long boards and put them cross-ways on the truck bed so that it makes the bed 16 feet wide and 20 feet long.  They then throw the grass up to someone on the pile who tramps it in place.  The pile looks to be 10 feet tall.  It is huge!  This is something out of American history, which I imagine Grandpa Maynes and Daw and Christensen did to harvest hay in the early 1900's.  It was an amazing sight.

We also had a closing ceremony at the Chingeltei Handicapped Association. They were so.........o grateful and appreciative.  We purchased sewing machines and sewing supplies for them: also origami supplies.  They've trained about 150 handicapped people, so that they can find employment with new skills. The things they are making are beautiful:  Slippers, wall hangings, shoes, pillow cases, cards, small stuffed animals, scarfs, etc.  They made all the prizes for the Mongolian Paralympics.  We are attaching pictures.  The embroidering, all done by machines, was amazing and beautiful.

 

 

FAT

This week we went to Choibalsan, which is on the Eastern edge of Mongolia.  We conducted 3 closing ceremonies for our water stations (pictures attached).  We had the following in attendance:  People from the Province Governor's Office, the Choibalsan City Mayor's office, the building inspectors, the city engineers, the contractor, the Branch President, the Relief Society President, and about 100 people that will use the water station to obtain their water.  They were very appreciative.  It makes you feel like you are doing some good.  

School will start this next week and our young volunteer teachers (missionaries) will be using the new digital lessons which some of our missionaries created this summer. 

We are doing good.  We get plenty of meat and some vegetables when we eat out. We try to eat lots of fruits and vegetables when we cook/eat at home. So we are getting fat! Can you imagine Laurie and Alan obese?  

Oh, and we went to a Mongolian musical performance Saturday and saw a contortionist, a really good orchestra, dancing and singing!  

Love, Alan & Laurie

Beautiful Country

This week was quite an adventure.  Grandma stayed in UB working on our English booklets that we are trying to get done in the next two weeks and I went to XAHX (pronounced: Haunk).  XAHX is a town of 3000 people up above the largest lake in Mongolia by the Russian border.  To get there it is an 11 hour drive, thru Darkhan, Erdenet & Murun to the Lake and then another 8 hour drive along the mountain around the lake to the town.  It had been raining for two days prior to our arrival and it rained again the night we arrived at the Geir Camp at the bottom edge of the lake, so the road was impassible.  We then started hunting a boat that could take us there, 140 kilometers (90 miles).  We found a man that used to be a province councilman that was from XAHX and he offered to take us, if we would pay for the gasoline.  It costs $350 for the gas and so four of us were going to head across the lake:  me, my translator, the councilman, and his boat driver; then the immigration Colonel from Murun decided he wanted to come, so two hours later (noon) 5 of us set off across the lake.  The lake is crystal clear with no fish.  The ice is 3-4 feet thick in the winter, which is too thick, and on the lake too long, for fish to live.  After a gasoline-smelling, bucking-water-slapping 3 hour boat ride we arrived in XAHX.  The city Governor and a few others met us and took us to lunch. We then took a tour of the three water stations they are requesting help with. Then back to the boat, another bucking-bronco boat ride across the lake, ending with an hour long rain and wind storm just before dark to finishing the journey.   It is beautiful country, very remote. The mountain separating Mongolia and Siberia was covered with snow. It is always covered with snow.  We saw some reindeer, yaks, and the normal herds of sheep, goats, horses, and cows. Along the countryside numerous little stands are selling horse milk to tourists and passersby.  We obviously learned a lot. We have decide to build the requested water stations so we will be going back a few times next spring. 

An interesting side note:  It is so remote and difficult to get to that in the months of January-March they drive (and of course slip and slide) in cars, trucks, and semi-trucks across the lake.  They can make it in two hours.  The big trucks take their cab doors off so that if the truck breaks thru the ice they can get out.  Every once in a while a truck goes thru the ice.  There might be another boat ride or around the lake jeep ride for us but no rides in a wheeled vehicle across the ice for us, even if it is 4 feet thick!

Other than the above adventure it was a normal week working as humanitarian missionaries in Mongolia.

BYU-H

Hello Family,

We haven't had any adventures this week--at least not too big of ones:)  I went to a couple of lessons with 2 sets of Sisters--both were about 45 minutes out of the city on a hot bus!  But, the lessons were very good and the investigators both accepted a baptism date.  The Sisters were elated, to say the least.  

We gave the Michigan Test (an English Test-vocabulary, reading comprehension, & grammar) last week--once on Wednesday evening and then again on Saturday morning.  The students are really nervous, as well they should be because it's a hard test--even for dad and I.  Yes, we took a practice test and did pretty good, but it was no cake walk:)  We'll send the tests to BYU-H on Monday and they'll correct them and email us the scores.  The students need to get 75 in order to pass, so they can go to BYU-H on the I-work Program.  

We have at least 2 District Mtgs at our apartment each week--it's nice to talk about the Gospel in English:)  It reminds us of why we're all here--to help others come unto Christ.

 

 

Count your many bessings

We flew to Choibalsan this week to check on our 4 water stations that are being built there and to finish arranging the details for the two dentists we are bringing to Mongolia.  We are attaching some pictures.  The four water stations will supply water for about 2400 people.  

We have another class starting Monday for Mongolian English Teachers.  They love our classes.  Four of the missionaries teach them--divided into two separate classes. 

We are doing good other than it is really warm here, probably just like it is in where you all live. 

We spoke in church in Choibalsan.  A five minute talk is a ten minute talk because we have to have a translator.  A translator is like a painter.  A good painter makes a carpenter into a good carpenter, and a good translator makes a speaker into a good speaker:)

This is Laurie--In Relief Society, the teacher turned the last 10 minutes over to Sister Harper--the new mission President's wife--and me.  They wanted us to teach them something.  Well, she's learning Mongolian, but still can't communicate real well, so we told them about our families:)  They thought it was cool that we each have so many children and Gkids:)  We think it's wonderful, too!

Pres Harper was interviewing and calling a new branch president. After announcing that in Sacrament meeting, nothing else had been planned, so...the 4 of us spoke.  We had been given some advance notice, which was good:)

It's Sunday night and we're back in UB.  We keep on keeping on:)