40 degrees yahoo

Well, this week we were liberated:  It has warmed up enough to take off the thermals, stop using the scarfs, gloves, and heavy coats.  Wow, it was so nice to feel free.  We still wear lighter coats but 40-45 degrees is marvelous. 

The immigration folks are checking everybody very carefully.  We have to have our alien card, a copy of our passport and immigration papers with us at all times.  And guess what, they showed up at our door. They were really nice but they checked everything and asked a lot of questions. 

We are training the new American missionaries to teach English.  It is amazing to see so many Mongolians come to the English classes that are held in the church buildings.  We make them fun, they participate a lot.  We try to have them talking 50 to 70 percent of the class time.  We help them understand the words and pronounce them correctly, then they repeat after us 3 or 4 times, and then again 3-4 times with a partner.  When we are out on the streets or on a bus the elementary kids love to try and talk to us in English.  They are so proud of themselves when they say "hi," or "how are you,"  or |"what is your name."  They get our names a lot better than we get their names.  Here are some of the most common names: Batbold, Baatar, Osomajamaa, Aydibold, Nomuna, Undraa, Pujae, Khungarsol.  All these names have been shortened so that we can say them.  Their full name is something like Baatarazakhuraa.  They only have one name, no last names. 

We are doing good and staying busy. We are very grateful to be here in Mongolia at this time. We feel it a privilege and a blessing. We love this Gospel and it's wonderful to see it spreading throughout the world.

Gardening

We have been looking up how many weeks before planting do you, or should you, start the following in the house:

Tomatoes

Peppers

Cucumbers

Cantaloupe

Squash

Pumpkin

Strawberries

Cabbage

Broccoli

Cauliflower

You can see gardening is on our minds.  We will have 16 branches doing gardening projects this year.  Each branch has 5-12 families that are poor and needy that will try gardening to help supplement their meat, fat, and noodle diet, with vegetables.  There are other families already gardening that we do not need to help.  The things they like to grow here are:  Potatoes, carrots, beats, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  Some people try other things like melons, squash, pumpkins, cabbage, and strawberries. They grow a berry here that they make juice out of.  It tastes very good and is classified as a super food.  You should read up on it--Sea Buckthorn.  We think you will find it very interesting.  Many of those that garden have to haul their water in a water cart for the family's daily water needs and also to grow a garden. 

We have 30 requests from various organizations, we have translated and investigated, that have asked for help:  Schools, hospitals, handicapped programs, prisons, universities, kindergartens, rehab centers, cities, towns, providences, and immigration offices.  We have selected some to help this year and we have selected some that we will reject.  The need is so great and we cannot do everything for everyone.  It is painful to have to tell people we are unable to help them this year.  It is both sweet and bitter when we tell people we can help some but not all.  We try to help where it will help them to help themselves and become self-reliant.  Example:  We are going to help a kindergarten with new fixtures in the restrooms.  So our question is, if we purchase these items for you can you install them.  We do not want the new fixtures sitting around because they are not capable enough to get them installed and working; however, we also want them to have some skin in the game and help themselves.  So this is our current challenge.

This is what we have been doing this week.  

Grandma (Carol) Maynes has consented to give us 100 quilts to hand out to poor and needy as we are out and about. We are trying to get them shipped for free with the new mission president's shipping container.  

We are doing good.  We love this Gospel; we have true happiness as we live the principles and keep our covenants. We are so grateful that living this Gospel has taught us self-reliance and for goodly parents who also taught us this

Eagle Hunter

Dear all,

We have been working, trying to get gardening projects put together.  We have seen lots of the country, towns, and people and we have been in lots of homes.  We think living conditions in the countryside are much like it was when our moms and dads were kids.  No inside plumbing, an outhouse, a one or two room house, the people scrounging a living for themselves out of mother nature.  They make everything from scratch.  They have a berry here in Mongolia that they really like.  They make juice out of it, Sea Buckthorn.  I looked it up on google.  It is very good and considered by many to be a superfood with lots of vitamins.  The members of the church are so faithful.  It is very impressive.  In a town called Khovd the branch president picks up ten students in his small SUV every morning for seminary.  Most of the early morning seminary teachers we have met are 18-20 year olds and they do a great job.  We visited a number of places that have made a request for help: A university, a prison, a kindergarten, water stations, a few hospitals, handicap programs, an immigration office, etc. 

We went to an Eagle Hunter's Festival yesterday.  The men were dressed up in Mongolian traditional outfits: Fur Coats, hats, leggings, boots. They were each on their horse with their eagle on their arm.  They had contests where each hunter and his eagle would compete.  The hunter would ride 200 yards away while someone else held his eagle.  He then would call to his eagle and off his eagle would go and land 300 yards away on his masters arm.  Most did superbly, however once in a while an eagle would take off and land somewhere else.  It was very interesting!  They are Golden Eagles.  There were about 20 eagle hunters, each with their eagle and horse, at the completion.  The horses are a little smaller than our horses.  They have shaggy coats and the rider rides further up towards the front than we do.  The horse, rider, and eagle all get along nicely and have a majestic look about them as they are riding along with the eagle on the riders arm and his wings part way stretched out.  We will send some pictures in a day or two.