Road Less Traveled

This week we are on a big gardening trip.  We will be on this trip for another 9 days.  The unemployment is very high in Mongolia so gardening is one thing that tremendously helps those willing to garden.  A small green house helps because the growing season is so short and they usually get a cold day or two in the summer which can freeze their crop. Right now we are in Murun which is up by the Russian/Siberian border.  There is a large lake, Khuvsgul, that is frozen over which they use as a 260 mile long road in the winter to save miles.  Trucks, cars, and motorcycles all making their own road across the lake.  Yes, we have seen people on motorcycles in -10 below weather racing along all bundled up.  Three on a bike bundled up with hats, coats, boots, and scarves, makes for a very interesting sight.  This is not something we are interested in trying.  As you travel along in the countryside there seems to be nothing but miles and miles of snow covered plains and rolling hills, and then you will see some sheep, goats, horses, cattle, and maybe a yack or a camel and then you will see a herder out in the cold walking or riding a horse and then you spot a Ger out in the middle of no where, no electricity, no store or town for miles.  The harsh condition these people live in and survive in is amazing to us. We stayed by the lake in a cabin.  They fed us well.  The water they needed to cook was obtained by chopping a hole through 3 feet of ice and carrying it back to the kitchen in buckets. No running water and an outhouse were our experiences. We found a Mongolian dish we really like, it is called golash: Meat, potatoes, carrots, onions all mixed and cooked together kind of like our stew.  Also, they have a small wild blueberry they make jam and a fruit drink out of which we find very delicious.  The active members have such great faith, they are very friendly.  We went to an early morning seminary class that was supposed to start at 6:30, it started at 6:29 with 10 of 11 students present, the eleventh showed up a few minutes late.  After seminary they have to make their own way to their various schools; walk, take a bus, or a taxi (at -10 degrees to -40 degrees), we call this faithfulness!  

Who wants to ride a camel?

Above zero = warm weather

Some of this past week we had warmer weather--above zero:)  It felt so much warmer that we didn't wear our hats or our very warm socks.  We did wear our very warm coats, and our thermals however:) But, today the weather is back to -10.  They say it won't really start warming up, a little, until the end of March. 

Tuesday through Thursday was a National Holiday here in Mongolia--Tsagaan Sar, or white month/lunar month because it's the first new moon of the new year. During this 3 days people visit family member's homes and eat traditional food--montone bodts (round meat dumplings), potato salad, carrot salad, cabbage salad, lamb meat, curd and candy. When you enter the house the oldest person is sitting at the head of the table, wearing a hat and a special shawl.  Each person entering greets them in a special way, and we're also wearing hats. When we're done eating we tell them how good the food was--"mush ahmt-ta bella".  We only went to 5 homes and ate enough bodts to last awhile:) When you leave a home the host gives you a present--chocolate candy bars, money, lotion, whatever they want.  Then we say, "biyerthla (thank you). 

The Relief Societies love to make quilts because they are in such great need.  The Mongolian women love to sew bright colored dresses. We will try and attach some pictures.  We'll be going on a trip this next 2 weeks, all over Mongolia.  We'll be checking out the member's gardening projects and how we can help this years projects be more effective.  No snow plows, some dirt roads, and a few airplane rides out into the wild countryside of Mongolia:  Zuunkharaa, Seleng, Darkhan, Erdenet, Murun, Khovd, Choibalsan, Nalaikh, Sukhbaatar, Unur, Selbe, Jargalant, Khan-uul.

Somehow They survive

Thursday and Friday we went to Darkhan and Erdenet to attend a Deseret International Charities' closing.  These two cities are North of Ulaanbaatar up towards Siberia, 7 hours away.  We donated 3 delivery beds, 1 C-Section bed, 2 neonatal resuscitation units, and 1 fetal monitor.  The local Relief Society also made 45 blankets to be given out to mothers and new born babies.  The hospital and staff were very grateful.  The equipment they have been using is very old and out dated.  There were about twenty people from the hospital that came to thank us.  The 4 doctors showed us the new equipment and how it works.  The church is amazing.  We can't do everything so we choose things we think will help the most people.  This hospital is a regional hospital that delivers most of the babies in a large geographical area.  We will attach some pictures.  We are busy and we think we are doing some good and blessing some lives. 

As we drove up North we went through some Geir Districts.  The poverty in these Geir Districts is unimaginable.  They somehow survive.  One of the biggest expenses for the poor people is to buy bags of lump coal or wood to heat their Geir's.  They raise their own food: milk, meat, and curd and mix this with some flour or rice. They eat everything, the head, the tail, all the insides including the intestines.  We saw lots of herds: Goats, Cattle, Sheep, a two humped Camel, and occasionally we would see a lone herder out walking or riding a horse, out in the middle of nowhere, in the -15 degree weather. 

The gospel brings peace and happiness; it also answers the questions the Mongolian people have always had in their hearts and minds. Buddhism left them empty and communism left them confused and troubled. The restored gospel gives the people purpose and therefore lifts them out of poverty.  It is a long process, even taking a generation or two, but it slowly happens.

pictures

Hong Kong

We flew to Hong Kong on Tuesday to get our visa's.  We returned back to Mongolia last Friday night--it's a 4 1/2 hour flight. We spent 3 days in Hong Kong getting our visa's so now we can stay in Mongolia. Yeah!  While in Hong Kong we enjoyed the 68 degree weather because we heard it was 30 below zero in Mongolia:)  Sure enough, when our driver/friend, Jigor, picked us up at the airport, we were sure glad he brought our big, warm coats, which we had left with him because we didn't need them in Hong Kong.  We did take our soft, fluffy down coats with us, which was good, because it was cool and rainy there. 

We are so proud of ourselves--we took the underground train, which is what they call the subway in Hong Kong--to the temple, all by ourselves!  We had to take three different trains.  One of the couple missionaries wrote down step by step directions for us because we needed to change trains so many times. The subways are stacked on top of each other so they can be three subways deep and they go across the harbor and under the ocean.  There are high rise buildings everywhere.  We saw some window washers lowering themselves over the side washing windows and then we noticed that most of the high rise building had a small crane, like the one Grandpa and Brady used to build the cabin. They wheel the crane on the flat roof to the edge of the building and then lower themselves over and wash away, 30 to 75 floors and hundreds of windows.  Money in Hong Kong is $7 to one of ours, so a $4 hamburger cost $28, but in Mongolia the same hamburger cost, 8,000$ Tugrug (Toogrick). Putting your brain around all that is a little daunting.   We actually got tired of Chinese food and were glad to get back in Mongolia.  The food is different in Mongolia but not as different as Chinese. We went to McDonalds in Hong Kong it sure was good.  Never thought we would say that about McDonalds. The temple was wonderful spiritual high for us, we were in a session with a zone of Hong Kong missionaries. We love you all and pray for you every single day.

- 30 Below

This week was around -30 below most of the week.  We bundle up and do not stay out in the cold too long so we are doing fine.  January and February are the driest months of the year in Mongolia.  We see so many fur coats, hats, and boots. So I started asking questions.  The best boots are sheep skin/wool inside and reindeer skin/fur outside. Everyone wears boots. Mink is lite and very warm so women like mink coats. The men like mink hats.  We have 5-6 projects we are working on: bedding for a hospital up by Siberia, a well house water station for a GER District,  wheel chairs, gardening, and supplies and equipment for a school.  Everywhere you turn there is a great need. We can not do everything so we pick and choose according to how many people will be helped and will our help move them along to become more self-reliant.  We are meeting with Egee to help him overcome his alcohol addiction. The Russians brought vodka to Mongolia and it is a real problem. About 1/4 of a grocery store is alcohol.  Egee told us this week that when he was in the communist party he felt troubled and confused, when he tried being a Buddhist he felt nothing. He said he felt empty; however, when he meets with us he feels warm, even, hot, and he feels peace, hope and happiness. We are going to Hong Kong this week to get our visa's. We have found a Mongolian food that we really like it is call khuushuur.  They are a small meat pie that is cooked in a fry pan and they are very good. We went to a musical program.  Mongolian throat singing and Mongolian instruments. It was excellent