Dinner in Mongolia

A kind Sister invited a group to her home for dinner one night.  She lives in a small house with a Ger beside it.  It was cold, about -35C but inside the Ger it was just toasty warm.  There is small stove in the middle which burns coal and wood.

Four Sister Missionaries drinking their harum.
It is polite to hold the bowl like they are and slurp out the milk.

The darling Grandchild and the soup

She served us all the traditional courses, harum (hot milk, water and salt), Monglian bread, delicious soup with potatoes, carrots, onion, cabbage and some kind of meat, and another kind of milk(not the fermented one!) that was quite sour.

On our way we picked up some bags of coal and wood to take to her.  They sell them on the sides of the road for about a dollar a bag.  It got so warm in there that they opened the door, even though it was -35C outside.  The dog really wanted to join in the party!

The Elders were able to share the Christmas message, Luke 2, with the family.

One of her sons and a neighbour

It was a special evening and we felt honoured to have been able to share it .

Family Home Evening in our apartment.
Elder Toronto (Beijing) from the Area Seventies joined us.

There are 60 young missionaries here serving in Mongolia, so the Senior Couples got together and made  little first aid kits for all of them for Christmas.  We put in Flashlights, bandaids, money (for emergencies when they lose their wallets), etc. (even some duct tape wrapped around a pencil - that was hard to find!!).  We work with a great group of people.

This week we discovered a place to get pictures developed.  It is in the bottom of a big apartment building - a really nice little photo studio with the very best equipment - he was printing a big (24 x 48 inch) picture of some traditional men.
It had a "short" door. The owner came out to get his picture taken!

We have seen lots of missionaries this week since the 8 new ones came back from the Phillipines MTC and it was transfer weekend too.  They are just like young missionaries all over the world - eager to learn and teach and share. The American ones all teach English just like the Seniors, so they are really busy.  We taught our class "Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer" with the help of a cute downloaded U-Tube video.

Christmas is coming and we wish all of you a wonderful season.  We know the Savior loves each of us and are so grateful for His life and example.  Enjoy the season and all the moments.

Life is good and All is well.