Snow Patrol..

October 21, 2019

Snow Patrol..

This week was awesome, some wild stuff happened earlier in the week though. So Sweetwood broke his ankle, and he had to go to back home, so Scrimsher took his place. That means that it's just me and Suggs together in Jargalant. It's different without Scrimsher, plus we don't really know anyone in the ward now or where they live, but it's all good. The members are super helpful and when they saw Scrimsher was gone on Sunday they really came and helped us out and invited us over to their homes. It also snowed this week, kinda came out of nowhere, but I'm liking it. It doesn't snow much here, just gets cold and icy. Snow in the big city has a cool feeling. I'm hoping it comes again before it's too cold. Basically most this email is going to be about my trip to Khovd, but some other cool stuff happened too so I'll write that in too.

Teaching English has been going very well lately, the students for the most part care a lot about learning. They are putting in some real effort which is showing results already, it's super fulfilling to see this. It's become a really fun part of my day to teach English, sometimes it could get pretty hard and boring, but this year it's a lot better. We are still doing the music listening exercize, I've been using a lot more 2000's music. Whenever I play Snow Patrol they all ask me the name of the song, I'm trying to get them listening to some good music instead of rap music, so far it's been going well.

Okay so the the biggest part of the week was going to Khovd, it was one of the coolest places I've ever been. We flew out last P day and during the flight there weren't any clouds, so I could see everything and it's pretty wild how untouched this place is. I didn't see a single town below us as we went to Khovd. There is a single set of Elders out there and we went to check in on them and give them support. We got there, and the town of Khovd is super small, tucked behind a mountain, in this desert area in the middle of no where. There really is nothing around at all, it's the town and that's it. It felt very secluded from the world. We landed and got picked up by Morales and a ward member, his name is Ganhuyag, he's hilarious. He is the branch president out there. He was once in a major Mongolian gang. His conversion story is crazy. He has a big personality and he has a different accent than most people (people in Khovd all speak differently, it's like how in the south they have a different accent). We went straight to a hair cutting ceremony that a family invited Morales to, but we had to buy some gifts to give to the kid first, so we each bought a candy bar. We go into their ger and it was extremely traditional on the inside. They had the alter at the back, and the men's side and the women's side. It was very very cool to be in there. These 2 huge dudes dressed in deels were there and I tried talking to them but they didn't really have too much to say, so we sat there and ate their food they gave us. They had the whole traditional spread on the table in front of us, and gave us some blueberry juice to drink. After eating and chatting, they brought the boy and one old guy cut a piece of his hair, and then gave him the gift. The boy was only 3 years old, that is when they cut the hair. Then Ganhuyag cut his hair and gave the gift, and then they asked me to do it. So I did, and they were all surprised I knew the ins and outs of the traditions, and how to do it. After I cut the hair, they gave me a little thing of vodka, so I dipped my right ring finger in and flicked it in the air after it had alcohol on it. It's just what they do when they don't want to drink, but want to show respect. When I did this, the 2 old guys and Ganhuyag were dumbfounded that I knew to do that. The old guys said "you are more mongolian than any mongolian missionary who has been here before. You know our culture." And after that they had me sit at their table and we chatted for a long time together, they were super kind and nice guys. They asked me a lot about America and what I think about Mongolia, and how I got to speak so well (I actually still am not that good, they were just super nice people). It was very fun chatting with them and living the traditional mongolian life.

After leaving their ger, Ganhuyag took us around the town and showed us some cool places by the river. We went to a natural spring and drank some water, then headed to a small village outside the town. We talked along the way and I told him how interesting the Kazakh people are. Khovd is very close to Kazakhstan. We pulled into this town and took some pictures, then drove up to this ger in the middle of nowhere and he says "that is where so and so lives, I know him, you should visit him." He wasn't home so we drove around and he stops at another ger and honks his horn. A guy comes out and says hi, and Ganhuyag asks if he was Kazakh. He says yes, and invites us into his ger. The inside was beautiful, his wife had made all the decorations that they had up. Their family was very very nice, and we gave them a gift when we entered, and they gave us some milk and bread. We talked for a bit, then took a picture then left. It was kinda weird because we just showed up and talked and then left, but for them it was normal. Meeting them was awesome, they were so kind and humble. I ran back and gave them a $2 bill I had to show my appreciation, they were so grateful for that. This was something I won't ever forget, they were such a nice family, and they lived in the middle of nowhere, just herding their animals.

The next day, before our mutual night they planned, Gan Huyag wanted to show us this cool cave. So we get in his car and head out on a dirt road, a couple hours back into the mountains. I honestly had no idea how he knew where to go, there was no roads, or signs. We make it to the cave, asking some legit nomads for directions along the way. The cave was huge, and Ganhuyag told me a cool legend about the cave. We explored it a little, and found a small tunnel, but we didn't go down there just to be safe, Ganhuyag then told me that there is no oxygen, and a lot of animals died down there haha. But the tunnel was written about in the national ecology book. He said there were cave paintings made by the ancient Mongolians, but because its winter you cant see them. In the summer the Sun is on the north side of the sky, and shines right into the cave, it cuts through all the dust and shows the paintings. I've seen some pictures, and they look really impressive. I wish I would have been able to see some of the paintings, but I'll get that next time haha. After, we had a picnic at the black lake (Khar Us Lake). It was nice to sit and relax a bit next to the water. We then went back to the city, and set up a ping pong night for the youth and some less active members in Khovd. For this I went on a split with Dulguun, and we went to the church and played for a while, and had some people come. It was fun getting to know all the people there, it was weird though being basically the only American in the town. They just expect you to keep up with the conversation, and be like a Mongolian. It was fun though, and after ping pong we got some ramen from a little restaurant with all the people there. The other people in the restaurant were shocked when they saw an American walk in, speaking Mongolian, and hanging out with some mongolians. It was funny seeing their faces. This was basically the whole Khovd trip though, and the next morning we woke up and went to the airport, which is tiny. There is one gate in the whole thing and you go through "security" 15 minutes before you board the plane. We waited with Gan Huyag there and he had a hookup in the flight company (he knows everyone). They wanted to charge us for our bags, and so Ganhuyag tells me to talk to this guy, and he will help. This guy in a suit met me outside the airport and asked for my luggage tickets, and he just said, your luggage will be in the city on the plane haha. I went with it, and it worked out lol. Our plane got delayed and we go to the city pretty late. It was such an awesome trip though, one I will never forget. I'm glad I got to spend a few days in the real Mongolian culture.

On Monday back in UB, a family invited us over for FHE at their home. They live pretty deep in the mountains, so being up there at night, where it was quiet, was very peaceful. As we were chatting, another family in the ward showed up at the door, and we all sat there and had an FHE. They asked me to share a spiritual thought and we talked for a while about the ward and families. It was very cool to be a part of. At the end, they asked me to give a blessing to the wife of the family. It was a cool experience being able to do that. I really have fallen in love with Mongolia and the people here, there is just something about it.

So that's my week, sorry I couldn't write more, so much happened in Khovd it's hard to capture it all. It was such a cool place, with golden eagles that fly around in the same numbers as pigeons in a city.

Austin

Flying to Khovd

The Ulaanbaatar airport is so small.

Me and Quackenbush

I climbed up to look at this statue and these boys wanted a picture with me. The kids here are so awesome.

They still have Mongolian script on their signs on Khovd.

By the river in Khovd

At the hair cutting ceremony.

Meeting with the Kazakh family.

The Kazakh mom made all of the ger decorations. They were amazing.

An eagle pelt that the Kazakh family keeps in their ger. They were trying to tell me why they had it, but I couldn't understand them. Something about scripture.