You Gotta Know When to Hold Them, Know When to Fold Them...

What's up mom,

This week was pretty good, the festival of manly sports was this week and it was so freaking cool. I want to bring Easton here and have us compete. It's on the bucket list. But it was good, it rained a lot which is fun, so the roads have been flooded pretty much the whole time haha. Plus like 75% of the city left to the countryside so there was no traffic and no people so it felt very weird being alone in this city. So because of that, we had literally no work this week, it was expected though. Everyone calls this week our P week haha. But it was fun, all the american elders came in to the city, and when we get together some trouble gets caused. I'll explain more in the email

Tuesday: So it was monsooning, and I mean that in all the sense of the word. I could barely see out my window. So all the elders met up at the internet place because 1) there is air conditioning and 2) it's dry. We met there, and then headed to the AP's apartment. But on the bus to the internet place, this girl who I was standing by, spoke to me in perfect English and said "hey, can I talk to you?" "what are you doing in mongolia?" So I said that I am an english teacher and she said "well what do you do in the summer?" and I said "we work for our church in the summers and times we don't teach" and she goes "You are church people!!! My mom and I have been trying to go to church!! Can we get your number? We will come to church when we get back from the countryside!" So that was pretty awesome. Then she said "you and your friend should come with my mom and I to the countryside, we have a resort with some gers there that you can stay in, just bring your own food, and we can float the river and fish" and it was literally the hardest thing to say no to haha. I miss camping so much. But it was a really cool thing to get a Potential Investigator from a bus. Pretty neat if you ask me. But we waited at the AP's house for Pickering and Garcia to come in from the village, and when they got there, we headed over to the square to see the Pre Naadam (the holiday) events. It was pretty cool, these  Mongolians rode in on their horses, right into the square, and they got off, and walked up into the building (pretty much the White House) and did their thing, came back, mounted up and stormed off like they were going to battle. It was honestly super cool. It would have been a sight to see the old mongolians take off into battle. It's very cool that they still have the same traditions today, as they did back then. Then Pickering looks at me and says "hey man, I'm starving. You like Indian food?" So we got some Indian Food in Asia. Yeah dad, try to top that foodie moment. It was so flipping good. Then we walked back through the square because they lit it all up at night and it was pretty fun. 

Wednesday: So today was Naadam. It was so freaking cool. So the first thing you do is go to the square in the morning, and watch the Mongolian military ride back in on their horses, and pick up their flags (they are made to resemble Ghengis Khan and his generals). They pick them up and then march down to the stadium on their horses. So everyone follows them on foot. We watched the opening ceremony which was pretty cool. It was very different. They had a lot of Shaman stuff which was really interesting to watch, it's so cool being in a culture that is so completely untouched. I don't know, it just made me really grateful to be here. No where else in the world do you get to be in a place that is so untouched by other cultures. After the opening ceremony we went outside the stadium and they had a carnival and it was super fun. Plus the only thing they eat here is hushuur. Its like a meat bread thing. It's pretty good. So we got some hushuur and played the carnival games. I found the bar hang thing and I gave it a go and I made it to 1 minute and you have to get to 2 minutes to win the money. But holy freak it was hard. Then right after me this old man comes up and makes it to 2 minutes without even breaking a sweat, and I say to him "how did you do that?" and hes like "im a mechanic, ive been bending scrap metal my whole life" He legit had popeye for-arms. It's a free hanging bar, i'ts on ball bearings and it's 1 and a half inches thick. It's super tough. No American could do it, even the ones who work out everyday. I'll step it up next year. see if Easton could even hang on for a minute on our pull up bar downstairs right now. I'm serious. Then we went right across the path to the dice game. How it works is these people have a box with 2 dice in it, and the lid is closed. They shake it and you pick whichever side you think is higher, and you put down money and if you get it right you win your money back, plus they give you what you bet. Then we watched some archery competitions which is so cool. They are 75 meters back and they are hitting things the size of toilet paper rolls. It's pretty fun to watch. I did a poor job of explaining it, but it was super fun. 

Thursday: So we didn't do much, I had my interview with president which was good. Then we helped some elders teach this lady. She was super nice, she made us some super good soup. That was really all we did. 

Friday: Today we had to do some paperwork for the long distance branch and that took a good chunk of time from our day. We just had to remake the ward directory. Then we met up with Scrimsher because he had nothing going on this week either. We went around and found some fun stores, bought some fancy soaps. And when we got dinner, this drunk guy came up to Scrimsher and I and started talking to us, so we just chatted with him and he said "my mom owns this restaurant, and I run it. You two are eating for free from now on." So he payed for our meal which was super nice. Love drunk guys. That was really the day too. 

Saturday: We had district meeting which was a good time. Everyone was asking me to describe the plots of the movies I saw right before I left haha. We had a lesson too with our PI too. So he came to the church and we started teaching him, and then in the middle of the lesson he said “I will just read the pamphlet later, I want to hear you (talking to me) play the piano" It was pretty frustrating, I finally felt really comfortable talking in Mongolian to people, and he doesn't want the lessons. But I just sat down and played a super short thing, and then he said "we should hangout right now." So he really just wants friends and not the lessons. So that's a bummer. We always had a odd feeling about him, I guess that was confirmed to us today. 

Sunday: We did virtual branch again which went well, then church was good. They had a family speak that just got back from the temple (the closest one is in Hong Kong). It was really cool to hear how much they loved and cherish the temple. I think we take them for granted back in the states. 

But this week was good! It was really fun with Naadam, it was good to see Garcia again and cause some ruckus with him. Love you all!

No clue as to who she is, but it's pretty cool.

This is how the men dress to compete.

 The parade around the stadium  Complete with camels. 

 Ava I found your yak!

 Look at the far right of the photo.  They have these little baskets that the little kids ride in on the yak. 

Shaman stuff.  I have no clue what is going on. 

 Archery competition. 

The stadium where the festival was held

 Outside the stadium

 The women all get these fancy hats to match their deals.  It's pretty cool.  Like the Kentucky Derby. 

 Bar hanging competition.  They kept telling me to hold my feet up. 

 The square at night

 The morning of Naadam.  Getting the flags. 

 Marching to the stadium

Pre Naadam stuff

 Inside the stadium

Elders Crofts, Scrimsher, Stoney, Schofield, Lambert, Reynolds, and Rand in our Mongolian shirts

 Everyone walking to the stadium

 More walking to the stadium

So this ice cream is literally called "Soviets." haha

 Elders Pickering (the blonde) and Stoney. They are fun guys. 

Just a light monsoon rain

Archery Competition

There are no weight classes here. They just wrestle out on the grass.  This is their most legit tournament all year long.  It's like classic brother wrestling.  It's fun to watch.

I'm coming home with a wrestlers outfit for us Easton.  Also they come out like an eagle.  They think the eagles are the most powerful animals. 

They love their horses here.  They ride them around all day long.  I recorded this for Grandpa Brent.  I thought he would like it. 

Shaman stuff. Really interesting.

Bar hanging competition.  It's like festivus on steroids.  

Warrior parade to the stadium

How we entertain ourselves.