On the way to Darkhan we happened upon a herd of camels - often see sheep, goats, horses and cattle but it is not too common to see camels! There were over 100 in this herd!
Ulaanbaatar has become the Hollywood North for a while so the props are appearing near the Square.
In our apartment we use filtered water. There is a little pin on the end of the faucet and when it is pulled out the water that comes from the side spout is filtered. We use it for brushing teeth and drinking. I always think of Jane Wilde when we use the filtered water to wash our fruit and vegetables with a bit of bleach. When they served in Africa, they too washed their produce in bleach water and that was the first I had heard of such a thing!!
One of the Sisters in our branch has a big garden out by the river where there are many "community" gardens. She asked us to go out one Saturday to help harvest some of her produce. It was about a 30 minute walk from the end of the bus route. She was working on her onions that day and we helped her dig 14 gunny sacks of onions. She had been at it since 5 in the morning and we finished about 5:30 in the afternoon - a hard worker to say the least!! I think she must sell them to some of the little markets.
At the end of August we were able to travel with the Young Single Adults to a Conference that was held at the same location as the Handcart Trek. We got to experience another train ride overnight and enjoy the company of about 200 young adults. They had a great time mingling and getting to know other members from all over Mongolia. They had lots of activities including pyramid building and wrestling Mongolian style.
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| Almost looks like a Stewart Christmas pyramid! |
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| Some of the girls did the Hula for the Talent Show |
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| And the guys did the HAKA |
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| The girls participated in a cross country race |
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| In traditional Mongolian Wrestling there are not many rules, first one to touch the ground with anything but feet or hands loses! |
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| The winner always STRUTS around the flag! |
There have been two different events with cars arriving at the Chinggis Hotel across from our apartment. The first was the "Peking to Paris" vintage cars with Ulaanbaatar as one stop on the way. Now we have the MONGOL RALLY finishing here. They started in London England and arrive in UB, 10,000 miles later. These are just little cars, and the first one arrived on July 26 and the 207th one came in on September 15! They are a bit strung out!!
For our District Conference some of the men went out visiting people they had not seen for a while. The terrain is often challenging, not necessarily car friendly!!
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| They took a bit of basic food for the family |
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| Not your average "Bridge" |
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| The road was not really meant for cars! He found out the hard way! |
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| A cute little kid soaking up the sun outside his home |
We went to the "Horse Parade" there were more than 10,000 horses - a new "Guiness Record"!
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| On their way to the start of the parade |
In the "thing" category, a very interesting Dog House and "shaggy" dog!.
SOME CUTE KIDS
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One last picture - the tallest missionary in our mission and the shortest one - they were companions!!
Here with Parker and Matt and their new MONGOLIAN ties.
As you can tell there are lots of People, Places and Things!!
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| AND REMEMBER, THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM! This week's IDIOM for English class! |
Life is Good and All is Well . . .
