September

We've been at our desks this last month except for 9 days in Mongolia. So most of the pix here are of that amazing place. 

A few faces from Mongolia. We snapped this from the car. Mongolians are mostly herdsmen and very Nomadic. We were in the capital city - Ulaanbaatar where over 50% of the population live. The rest are spread across this vast country, tending their herds. On our drive to Darkhan, we saw the most beautiful green countryside, grazing animals along the way, an eagle swooping in for a kill and the most beautiful blue sky anywhere in this world. 

Seems like the most intriguing are the old and the young. This lady was waiting at the bus stop and I asked if I could take her picture. She nodded in the affirmative, but I'm sure wondered what in the heck I was doing. I was using my ipad and it took longer than it should have to get it ready. She waited patiently. 

Another bus stop pic. Look at that cute little face. We weren't there for very long but it didn't take long to develop a love for the Mongolian people.  We were fortunate to attend a cultural event one evening with unusual musical instruments, costumes and the most amazing 'throat singing.' It was another one of those... 'I'm definitely not in Kansas anymore' moments. But as we looked around, we saw another 'American' looking young man two rows in front of us. Turns out he is from Draper, Utah!! Just visiting the country. We learned that tourism is an up and coming business in this country. Many people want to visit and see. Also mining, is big industry. Rio Tinto has a huge mining operation in the country. 

This lady was one of the first members of the church in Mongolia and was a member of the branch in the countryside where we attended on Sunday. She has a long bus ride to church every Sunday and she helps her husband who walked (sort of) with canes. A great challenge for them to get to church and there's not very many members, but they hardly ever miss. Of course hardly anyone spoke English. But when I asked by holding my camera up, she jumped right up and smiled. Then when I showed her the pic, she exclaimed dismay at her hair and smoothed it down for a 2nd go-round. Oh, we women are the same the world over. She's a treasure!

During our little trip to Darkhan to help with a Jobs\Career Workshop, we were invited to dinner in a part-member Mongolian home. Pretty humble circumstances. The local senior couple went with us. Their names - Elder\Sister Friendly. Yes, they live up to their names. This is them playing the 'sheeps ankle bones' game on the floor with some of the family. The stove is wood burning and where all dinners are prepared, including ours for the day. 

Actually this was a different family we visited who lived in a very nice ger  in UB- They're not members but were friends of our translator and agreed to have us visit so we could see their home. Very comfy... well, in a Mongolian kind of way. 

This is the cute little lady who cooked dinner for us on the wood -burning stove. She had her best dishes out and we were honored to be there.  After dinner, she and her daughters were chatting away and I so wished I could talk with them. I asked Batbayar (their son) to tell them I longed for 'girl talk' with them. They got a good laugh out of that, but understood exactly what I meant.

This is the road into the area where they live. I hope you're saying, "What road?" That's what we were saying. We had a mission car - but it was rough going. Roads in Mongolia - Oh My - don't even get us started.  We proceeded slowly and carefully.

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A cute little granddaughter enjoying dinner as well. You can see the stove behind her. We understand  the wood burning stoves keep them very warm in the wintertime but are such a hazard for little children. Burns are a problem. They also create a huge problem of air pollution in the winter.

Another beautiful Mongolian. This is the lady who invited us to see her beautiful ger, in the city. We were  right outside her door as we were leaving and I was so happy to get a picture of her cute, smiling face. She loved showing us her home and served wonderful refreshments - a kind of dried cheese and hot milk with salt added. Not Bad!

Walking on the sidewalks in UlaanBaatar - Are you saying, "What sidewalks?" Yup. We walked very carefully. Elder & Sister England ahead of Garald. They were such wonderful hosts and had our days well planned and filled up. Now when we get apps from Mongolia, we will have a definite picture of the country, the schools, and the people. Also the great challenges they face. 

On our way to the Gobi Cashmere Factory 

Pics from our tour of the Cashmere Factory. 

Touching the wool as it came out of the washer - like touching a fine mist - beautiful and soft.

Another road on our way into the very nice ger. We got out of a taxi at the top and walked down in. Garald is wondering here how cars drive in without scraping bottom.

Wow - how many people can say they've been fishing in Mongolia. Well, Garald can. Our translator, Miiga, filled up our day in Darkhan and before it was too early to visit any Universities, she had her husband take us fishing. Fortunately, they also had coats for us. It was cold. After the heat of HK, it felt kind of nice. No, we didn't catch anything, but it was fun. But that evening at dinner, our host showed us the fish he caught after we left.

Another picture inside the rather fancy ger. They had a nice tv, refrigerator, wood stove... I didn't ask where she washed dishes or where a bathroom was. We understand there's just kind of a community outhouse. Inside was very nice - the surrounding area outside - pretty dismal.

On the morning of fishing, we saw an older ger (in U.S. we'd call them a yurt - but that's not correct for here) This man was a friend of our host and invited us in for a little visit. He lives here all by himself.

Oh, I'm so sorry these are so disorganized. I'll try to do better next time. This was a monastary in UB. Chanting monks. We quietly slipped in, walked around and left. No one seemed to care or notice.

Yes... we did work on our trip. Garald here discussing a University's credentials. Miiga, on the left was our translator and the school administrator on Garald's right. Schools didn't have any frills, but they are very educationally minded people. Even in Darkhan - a small city - there were more universities than we could visit in our time there. We asked about courses, job placement, tuition fees, scholarships, internships, etc. Of course the goal of PEF is to educate young people in their home countries and then have them stay there to be leaders in their branches and wards.

One of the hallways in a school we were visiting. Most had school opening the following week, so they were working, cleaning, registering and getting ready. But all were happy to take time to talk to us.

The home where we had dinner. This is their very abundant garden. We marveled over all they can grow in their short summer seasons. Everything they fed us for dinner was from their own garden and farm. Look at the size of the cabbages. And they had 'real' tomatoes. Not like the hot house ones we see in HK. 

The church house in Darkhan were we had the Career Workshop. On our left, is Elder England, the PEF rep in Mongolia and our translator, Miiga and her husband - Batbayar. On our right is E\S Friendly. They'd been in Darkham for 6 weeks and loving it. They had their boots on - prepared for the muddy roads and a cold winter to come. 

Going into the ger we stopped at on our fishing jaunt. Notice the art deco on the door. 

The ceiling from inside the ger. They have flaps on the top that they open or close for air in the summer and keeping warmth inside in the winter.

Another view of the inside of the 'nicer' ger.

Sorting at the Cashmere Factory. Didn't look like a very fun job to me. Actually cashmere is made from combing the hair of the yak. Not very pretty in the beginning, but beautiful products at the end. 

Look at these cute sister missionaries. The gal on the left is Mongolian. Outsiders are not able to proselyte in this country unless a local person is with them. So missionaries from Mongolia, usually stay in Mongolia and serve in their own country and towns. The gal in the yellow next to her is from Eagle Mountain. The next one is from California. Then the one on the far right is from Idaho Falls. She had been there for two days and my maternal instincts kicked right in as I felt I wanted to give her a big hug and tell her she'd be fine. (I hoped) She was looking a little weary and her badge was broken, but if I was going to take a picture, she was adamant that she have her badge on, even if she had to hold it. When I asked her (sympathetically) how she and her family felt about a calling to Mongolia, she perked right up, had the greatest smile and said to me, "Oh, I'm so excited, and I couldn't be more ready. I was born to this."  Yup, I think she'll be just fine. Even in the 'wild west' of Asia. It will be tough, but she was 'born to this.' Wow - they're amazing.