English Teaching

It has been a stretch for us to do our English Teaching.  Now we have a book with an outline for both classes but it seems to get a bit boring to just do the exercises. We always try to think up some other interesting activities to go along with the material.  Our assignment is supposed to be to teach Conversational English so our aim is always to try to get them talking in English!!

All the students at the BioMedical University take an English Class, ours seem to be some of the better speakers.  They have lots of programs to promote the learning of English.  In fact there is an ETC Club.  (English Training Club).  This week they have posted an English Typing Competition and last week there was an "English Singing Competition".  It was a big event with 25 competitors each singing a song in English.  We were asked to be one of the judges or to find one from our friends!  Now that would have been a stretch but we got our translator to represent us.  She has a great musical background having won singing competitions herself and being an expert pianist.

The Judges

There were three judges, Ulziika, an American who teaches English at the school and a famous Mongolian composer.  The participants were judged based on choice of song, suitability to their voice, singing ability, costume or dress, and English pronunciation.  Each judge had cards and raised their number for every song.  It was a challenging assignment to be a judge (sure glad we delegated)!!  After they had all performed, the top seven were chosen and then each sang again, with a different song.  It was a three hour night but very interesting!  There were numbers from Rap to Romance and everything in between.

The winner and our sponsors

One thing we did not expect to attend in Mongolia was a High School Alumni Basketball tournament. Last night Ulziika invited us to go to her old High School (a Japanese School) to watch some games.
She played and so did her brother.  The girls games were two 6 minute halves and the guys were two 8 minute halves.  It was fun to go and see that Basketball is much the same world over!

This weekend we are watching Conference - all the sessions are broadcast at the Church with them dubbed in Mongolian in the Chapel and shown in English in another room.  It is great to hear all the messages and realize that no matter where you are in the world, we all face the same kinds of challenges!  We are grateful for the opportunity to be some of the "wave of missionaries" serving through out the world.

Life is Good and All Is Well!!
(I had done this a week and a half ago but it did not get posted!  Lots has happened since then.)  

 

Easter Snow

On Sunday we had the most  snow of the year.  The Missionaries who have been here two winters said it is the most at one time they have seen.  It snowed about 4 or 5 inches and was the kind of snow we get at home in the spring - fluffy with bigger snow flakes and quite wet.  When we came out of Church the sky was beautiful blue, the ground was white and it was quiet.  It turned out that it was "No Car Day".  There were people walking down the middle of Tokyo Street,  kids on sleds and even bikers in big groups.  That just does not happen on a normal day with so many cars and buses on busy, noisy streets!  It was great to have Easter, "No Car Day" and the big snow on the same day.

Easter is not celebrated here in Mongolia at all.  We saw no evidence of it anywhere.  At the Church we had a very professional concert Sunday night put on by the Institute Choir.  There are about 60 members mostly young people with a very talented director.  They did a beautiful presentation of the Easter message with narration in both Mongolian and English and music, some pieces in English and some in Mongolian.

The Japanese Prime Minister visited UB last week so we got lots of chances to see the Mongolian Police out in full force.  He and his party stayed at the Chinggis Khan Hotel just across the street so several times the whole street was blocked off and police were stationed every 100 feet on both sides of the road for miles!

View from our window in the snow - police doing their duty

There have been several missionaries with major health challenges this past week so we have spent lots of time working with them.  One of the side benefits is that we get to know them well, feed them and encourage them!  We are always reminiscent of those who helped Brian out so much when he had his face surgery in Germany.  We were so grateful for them and their service to him! 

We think spring is coming and look forward to seeing the green countryside!

We appreciate your love and support .

Life is Good and All is Well!!

Happy Birthday

It was Calvin's 68th Birthday last week and he celebrated in style.

Sister Wood made a delicious chocolate cake with chocolate pudding, cherries and whipped cream.

 We had lots of the staff here in the building come by for good wishes. Ulziikaa, our translator, decorated our office, door and got a big cake for the second party!!

Getting older isn't so bad after all!!

Life is Good and All is Well!!

The Country Side

Last week one of our assignments was to go with the office couple to Baganar.  It is about 2 hours east of UB.  Just like all Missions in the Church, we are starting to get more missionaries so they needed to open another apartment there for a new pair of Sister Missionaries.  We delivered beds, a little washing machine, dishes, rice cooker, shelves, pots and pans, rack for drying clothes, garbage cans, etc.  Crofts will understand all that since they are the ones finding new apartments in the Canada Calgary Mission!
When we got there, the people were still painting, cleaning, putting up some wall paper and working on all the wiring!!  These young Mongolian Missionaries are hard workers and so dedicated.  That group had two baptisms scheduled for this weekend.

We had been asked to see a young girl who has a growth on her eyelid while we were there.

Sis Wood with a "little" eagle 

We went on "Women's Day" since the offices were closed for the Holiday.  On the way we got to see some great sights.  The people whose heritage is from Kazakstan (most live in the far western province of Mongolia), hunt with eagles.  Along the road there is a man with his eagles and camels for people like us to see.  Of course, we stopped.  Two hump camels are a lot easier to ride than One hump ones.

The Chinggis Khann Statue is located along the road. We stopped again and watched as there was a Camel Polo Competition just getting started.  Cal was in his glory taking pictures!! 

The referee

The statue is about 131 feet high on a 33 foot base.  (The tallest and largest equestrian statue in the world - there are always records to be claimed!)  Inside there are two museums, a huge Mongolian boot and a big open area. For 2000 tugs ($1.50), they dressed us up and let us wander around and take our own pictures.

 All the women who visited that day got a red rose for Women's Day.

Just to give the perspective of the size
of the Boot we are standing in
front of for the picture!

The tiny black specs on the horse's mane are the people standing up there.  The detail is amazing and he holds a "golden" sword.  His other sword has the head of an eagle for the handle.

The view when standing on the mane.

There were lots of animals along the way.  We got all excited when we saw the real Mongolian Cowboy with his rope.  They catch the animal by draping the loop over it's head.  Sometimes I think they get pulled off their horse since they can't use the saddle horn for an anchor!!  

 Jack Hicken and Brian Dudley might appreciate this.

There are so many people with medical problems.  We are kept very busy helping them find the right care and places to go for treatment.  It is fun to work with the missionaries because they are all so enthusiastic and eager and sincere about their work.  

We really appreciate our English Students, they are amazing working in their second language!  

We are not so amazing!!

Life is good and All is Well 

Some Things We Have Learned

During the past few weeks we have had the opportunity to attend several meetings and have heard some great talks.  One of the Area Authorities, Elder Toronto, a 45ish lawyer from Beijing, came to visit.  His talk to the Young Single Adults really was clear and to the point.  He said he would share two messages from the scriptures.

The first was about Lot's wife.  They were commanded to leave the wickedness of Sodom and Gommorah and NOT LOOK BACK.  As they left, she looked back and was turned to a pillar of salt.

He told us that we all have things in our lives that we regret or could have done differently but if we truly repent and then move forward, our lives will be blessed.  Leave the past behind you and look to the future.   "Don't look back, MOVE FORWARD".

The second was the parable of the Talents.  Talents were money.  The Master gave his first servant five talents for safe keeping, the second, two talents and the third one talent.  When he returned, he found that the first servant had used his 5 talents and gained five more.  The second had worked with his two talents and gained two more.  The third servant had been afraid and to protect the talent, buried it in the ground.  The Master then gave each of the first two servants not only the original talents, but also those they had gained.  The Master was not happy with the last servant and took away the one talent.  Elder Toronto's message was "DO NOT BE AFRAID".  Take all the opportunities that are before you and make the very best of them.

What great messages for all of us, both young and old, "MOVE FORWARD and DON'T BE AFRAID". 

One of the speakers at the District Conference last week was a newly called Branch President .  He is about thirty.  He told a bit about his background.  He had been active in the Church but then had become less active.  He worked hard, made some good money, bought a fancy car, and had some friends that maybe were not the best.  He was working for a mining company in the desert.  Sometimes they would go at night and rob gold from the sights of other mining companies.  They were called "Ninjas" - that is the word that got translated for us. One night his group got caught by another group and had to flee for their lives.  He ran far and fast and paused on top of a high hill and prayed.  He promised Father in Heaven that if his life was saved, he would  turn his life around and serve faithfully. He managed to escape and did indeed make a very positive change.  A few months  ago he and his little family were able to go to Hong Kong to attend the temple and be sealed for eternity.  Now he is serving as Branch President.  He was a wonderful example of one who realized the error of his ways, repented and has now moved forward!

President Clark gave the example of the "Little Red Hen".  As we all know, she asked for help at many stages of her project but until the very last, when the bread was ready, no one was willing to help.  So it is in life, we need to put our efforts into the work as we go.  The Home Teaching assignments, cleaning the Church, visiting a shut-in, preparing a lesson, befriending someone who is lonely are all little steps on the way to Eternal Life.  We cannot expect to just drop into Heaven without some work along the way!


We want all of you to know that we are indeed here doing more than just being tourists!!  (although we sure have seen lots of interesting things!!)  We are English Teachers, Mission Medical workers and doing anything else that we are asked to do.  We serve in the Bayanzurkh Branch and love the people of Mongolia.  We keep good track of the Missionaries and get to attend lots of Baptisms.

The Senior Sisters did the Hula -
 one of them had 4 MuuMuu's to share!

Last Week we had a Hawaiian Party for several people who are leaving.  Our Translator Eeggii and another girl are going to BYUHawaii on IWork scholarships, one senior couple is going home and their translator is going to Idaho.














It was fun, I thought of Marilyn Peterson and Linda Gedlaman while we prepared.  It was like old times getting some cute decorations and food ready!!   

Note the interesting center pieces - a potato island with a carrot topped by green pepper palm tree!!



Life is good and all is well!!!

A long month

This has been the month to celebrate Tsagaan Sar (White or New Moon).  It could rival Christmas at home with cleaning, cooking, shopping and in all ways preparing for the celebration.  It follows the lunar calendar and signifies the end of a hard winter.  Bituun is the day before the New Moon and is spent cleaning the whole home (which is often a Ger) and then everyone eating until past full.  It is thought that if you are hungry when Tsagaan Sar starts, you will be hungry all year!

Cal in his deel and great fur hat,
with his new friend!!

The first day of Tsagaan Sar begins with the men climbing a nearby mountain in time to greet the sun and follow some of their other traditions.  Cal, along with some of the other missionaries, made the climb up Chingelti Mountain and had a fantastic time.  When they left, the computer said it was -35C, feeling like -43C.  He wore his new Deel (a long mongolian coat) and was not cold.  He commented that it certainly did cut down his stride length!!  They joined some others around a fire and got great shots of the sun coming up over the valley.  The smoke from the Gers made a surreal picture.

On their way down they saw a little girl outside her Ger and went to see if they could take a picture.  The rest of her family came out all dressed in their traditional clothes, were happy to have some photos taken and then invited them in for a real Tsagaan Sar meal.  It was a once in a lifetime chance for a camera happy Canadian!!

The man of the house cutting off some pieces of mutton from the whole sheep.
Their Ger was all decorated for the holiday.

That night we were able to go with some of the missionaries on the bus about 45 minutes from UB to visit one of the families in our Branch.  Visiting there, we discovered that it was the family of a girl suffering from Epilepsy who we had been trying to find.  There are no coincidences!!  We really are blessed as missionaries.  We left the Ger and headed to the highway to catch a bus back to UB.  Someone then told us that there were no more buses because they quit early on Tsagaan Sar.  It was about 8:15, dark and -35C.  There we were, 9 of us standing on the edge of the highway.  No taxis were coming until finally one, but the elders turned down his offer for a ride for some of us because he wanted 2000 tugs ($1.50 Cdn) each and they thought that was too much!    After about 25 minutes we noticed a few of the missionaries huddled in a group and praying.  Within 5 minutes here came a "meeker".  That is a 12 passenger little van with a few extra benches.  They have no hesitations to pile in as many people as are willing to try and just charge 1000 tugs.  In we went and had our first ride in a "meeker", 23 of us for a 45 minute ride!!  We felt blessed because it was cold!!

When we got back to our apartment, the whole day seemed to be unreal. It is hard to imagine we are really here in "Outer Mongolia", climbing a mountain at sunrise, visiting in two different Gers, eating "buuz" and other traditional food, finding someone we had been looking for, standing on the highway in the dark almost freezing to death and riding in a meeker!!

The missionaries put on a great talent show for the second day of Tsagaan Sar - it was amazing how much ability there is in this group of missionaries.  At least three of the American Elders are gifted pianists (keep practicing all you grandsons!!).  The Mongolians did several traditional songs and dances, they had a big fan dance and spelled out LDS, and even President Clark gave a rendition of "I tot I taw a Puddy Tat".  One of the funniest was Sister England's ballad of "Sly Sam".  It was funny in English but the funny part was watching  Elder Stranski try to translate it into Mongolian - I think it lost a bit in the translation!!

Some of the mountain climbers a bit better dressed

We had several invitations to go to different homes for the holiday.  One was to visit Sister Ichinkhand, one of the first members in Mongolia.  She is now ninety and each year invites all the Senior couples to her apartment for dinner.  She was one who helped translate the Book of Mormon into Mongolian.  She is the Matriarch of 4 generations of members of the Church.  Her Grandson is the Stake President.  Her friend Puji helped  us to communicate!  At each house we were served mutton, salads (always potato and sometimes others), rice pudding, and of course many "buuz".  They are steamed dumpling things - flour dough with meat inside - mutton or beef usually and some fat and a bit of spice.  Some of the missionaries claimed to have eaten over 150 during the week and several paid the price by being sick!!   Where ever you go there is always a bowl of candy ready to be eaten.

We have had more computer issues, thus the delay in reporting but things are looking up and we bought a new Sony one.  Apple is not very common in Mongolia!! (so not much servicing available!)

Life is good and All is Well

Murun

This weekend we flew to Murun for another Branch Conference.  Murun is about 600km to the northwest of UB.  Once again we were able to see the empty spaces, lots of mountains with a few valleys in between.  It appears that anywhere that there is a bit of flat land they have planted wheat or barley.  It is all pretty remote!





Next week is Tsagaan Sar, one of the biggest holidays of the year in Mongolia.  It means New or White Moon.  Everyone cleans their house, they buy many presents, and prepare much food.  It is a time to visit all their relatives, starting with the oldest on the first day and then others for the next two days.  The main food  that they make is "buuz", meat filled dumplings.  Most families make 1000, some in our English class said their families were making 3000! The "Butt of a Sheep" is placed on the table for the guests to eat when they visit.  It is steamed and considered a delicacy.  We have been invited to a home on one of the nights of Tsagaan Sar so it should be interesting to see the celebration.

We visited an older sister whose two children had come from UB to help her get ready for Tsagaan Sar.  Her grandkids were helping too.  They had a sheep thawing out in the kitchen, meat is cheaper in the "country side" so they were getting it ready to take back to UB.

They had a good start - on a lot of "Buuz"!

An Expert tutor -
she made them look like little sea-shells

On Saturday we visited a family who were in the midst of making their buuz.  I tried my hand but definitely did not have quite the right touch to get it sealed just right!

Even the kids help

The mother in the home was a seamstress - she works at home because she has a disabled daughter.

She uses a hand cranked sewing machine (I have seen treadle machines but never one that was turned by hand.)  She turns the crank with her right hand while guiding the fabric with her left hand.  She was making several deels, (the long Mongolian coat).  Her work was beautiful!

Last week we had a pleasant surprise when we were teaching our English Class.  Several times a student came to the door and said something about teachers but we couldn't understand their English!!

A fireworks kind of candle!

The kids made their own shirts!

Finally one came in the class and then one of our students explained that it was teacher appreciation day and there was a get-together happening that they wanted us to attend!!  The kids from the "English Training Club" had made lunch and were having a party for the teachers, complete with a cute program.  

We arrived in time for the cake and a couple of 

Musical numbers - one a song that was done in 

perfect English.

The group of teachers and ETC students

Life goes on and is Good, All is Well!!