Stuff

Well, we've had some interesting times lately. Two of our senior couples returned home after having served faithful missions. Those things happen. Unfortunately, only one of them has been replaced, thus far. Not enough senior couples -- and not enough senior couples willing to come to Mongolia!

But then we had two more senior couples whose missions ended rather unexpectedly, due to health issues. Now we are REALLY shorthanded! Any seniors out there who would like to serve?! We wouldn't mind twisting your arm a bit, if we need to! The work load is getting rather intense here, right now!

Again, we would encourage anyone who may read this, to prepare to serve as senior missionaries when the time comes. And it doesn't matter what your age is now, it is never too earlier to begin preparations. Set it is as a goal and start preparing right now. As you contemplate the possibility, you may by surprised at the number of things you can do even at an early age, to prepare for that kind of service.

And trust us. You are DESPERATELY needed just about anywhere in the world!

Part 2.

They turned the power off for a while a couple of days ago. So we only had the power back up that the Church building has, which is limited but certainly is helpful. But, when it came time for one of our English classes,the only light was in the hallway. So . . .


Then, we thought you might like to see Mongolia's version of a 'Jumbo Super Market'! Here, it is just a name they have seen somewhere. It doesn't seem to have any particular meaning.
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Fall is here!

Well, it seems awfully early but fall has come to Mongolia! As you can see, the leaves are turning in the mountains and, at least temporarily, it is quite pretty. And the mornings are getting downright brisk, too! Supposed to be down around freezing -- or below -- for the next couple of nights.

Don't know if we are fully ready for the change just yet. Winters tend to be a bit long and cold here! But they also tend to be a bit slower in the work load department. That part might be somewhat welcome! This summer has been a bit brutal at times!

This is Trelj National Park again, but this time we stopped along the way and had a bit of fun working with this eagle. Eagles are plentiful here in Mongolia but they seem to be a bit different than the types we are familiar with in the U.S.



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On this latest little trip to the mountains we were with our area visitors from Hong Kong (Elder and Sister Gibbons -- actually they were the reason for the trip), and we talked Elder Gibbons into riding a camel. And low and behold, he and Elder Caldwell ended up having a camel race back to the finish line! It was sort of fun! Never raced on a camel before! (the two ladies wouldn't have anything to do with this one!)

Oh, and Elder Caldwell, of course, won!
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Vegetables!!

The Church is encouraging the members here to grow their own vegetables, if at all possible. The results would be significant for these folks. With incomes below $3000 per year (U.S.), growing their own vegetables would be a definite help with the family budget.

But they are not used to the concept here. The growing season is quite short and it has been assumed that some vegetables (i.e. tomatoes, peppers, etc.) could not be grown here, anyway. And there are other problems so not much effort as been made. But several have caught the vision as the Church as increased it’s encouragement and helped make available the means for them to do so by providing such things as seeds and a few other supplies.

Chinbaatar (whose family, you might remember, we accompanied to the Hong Kong temple to be sealed earlier this year – see older post) has really gone over the top! He not only grows most of the vegetables which his family eats, but is also making some decent money selling what he grows!

If you look closely at this first photo, you will not only see some really impressive looking cucumber plants, but you may also note that he has managed to build a nice little greenhouse to grow them in, thus elongating his growing season.

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And then there’s the cabbage! Those are some really nice looking plants!

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They insisted that we have a bit of dinner with them and much of what we ate was out of their garden. Also pictured are Elder and Sister Gibbons from Hong Kong who are visiting with Sister Caldwell and I. They are our area leaders.

And, of course, where there is food, the full time Elders seem to always just happen to drop in! This is Elder Snow and Elder Bigler. We think they look a lot alike!

Chinbaatar is doing a lot to encourage other members to grow vegetable gardens. Elder Caldwell is working with the youth in the Nalaikh branch to really push the branch members to start preparing ground now and making ready for next spring. It will be interesting to see how many jump on board next year!
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13th Century Park - Conclusion

The actual count of camps in this area is said to have been twelve. Only 7 have been restored. The last three of the seven camps we visited were arguably the most interesting – the Shaman (or religious)
Camp, the Winter Camp and the King’s Palace. We’ll continue our recount of our visit to these camps, in the order in which they occurred.


Camp number 6: The Shaman Camp.

Though not overly religious himself (being, none-the-less, a self proclaimed Shaman), Changgis Khan did insist on religious tolerance. The territories he conquered were allowed to worship in any way they preferred, without hindrance. Religious worship was also a significant part of the activities found in his encampment.

In this headquarters grouping of camps at 13th Century, the Shaman Camp was the center of religious activity and practice. The circular area seen in the second photo is where rites and ceremonies took place for the camp. The sharply pointed horizontal poles banding the boundary of the circle, were thought to keep out bad spirits.

Several styles of gers were provided here, each serving a unique and specific purpose. From among those pictured (and a couple not seen in the picture), we’ll briefly describe a couple which we found most poignant and interesting. In fact, we found some things we thought were down right surprising! The pictures will likely speak much for themselves.

It is likely that you will be as fascinated by what you see here, as we were when we saw it. No, these are not pictures which we brought with us of native American artifacts . The first is actually a historical Mongolian robe, used in religious ceremonies, as are the drum and the headdress in the following picture. Just the same, we have seen nearly exact duplicates of these articles among our some of own Navajo tribes in the States, as no doubt have many of you.



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Now note the ancient ‘Mongolian ger' in picture 5. Look familiar to anyone?


All of this, we are certain, is only coincidence. Or not.

There’s more.

The last ger we visited in this camp, was for males only. And as our guide was a dedicated Shaman, our female visitors were not allowed inside. When the men entered, we found a fairly simple area for praying and religious rites. I called it, the Priesthood Ger!

One of our good Mongolian friends has told us that there are a small handful of Mongolian words which just happen to be exactly the same as found in the Navajo language. We mentioned in a previous post that we had seen a Mongolian musical number performed at a local theater in which the participants were dressed in those same Navajo looking robes and the dance looked and sounded as though it had been taken directly from a Navajo song book! More coincidence.

There are those native Mongolians who are convinced that there is a direct connection between themselves and the Lamanites found in the Americas. Who are we to argue!

Camp number 6 was the Winter Camp or Winter Palace. This one was not open on the day we visited. But these structures can be found all over Mongolia. It is a place for them to bring their livestock during the winter for protection and control.

We have no idea why they are referred to as a Winter “Palace”.

Camp 7 was the final camp and was the one Chenggis ruled from. This was really impressive simply because of it’s size and grandeur.

The large ger in the middle is, of course, the King Ger. The largest of any ger we have seen and certainly the largest at this camp, it was indeed amazing. Note the double doors as one enters the ger.

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It was late in the afternoon by the time we arrived here and food was very much on our mind. So they sat us down (all the way down, you will note!) to a mostly traditional Mongolian meal. At first, I thought there wasn’t nearly enough food for our group. But not to worry! After about the fourth course, we were pretty stuffed!

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After lunch, we couldn’t resist a little ‘make believe.’ What do you think? Elder Caldwell as Chenggis Khan and Sister Caldwell as the misses! Ok, so we make better missionaries – we hope!

You can get a better idea of the scope of this thing from the panorama shot. Makes one think that one might actually be able to live in a ger, after all! Bish (not)! Still no indoor plumbing! But it is amazing that this huge ger still breaks down into component parts and was transported whenever they felt a need!

And remember, you can click on the photos to see an enlargement.

Someday we’ll know about the connection between Mongolian and ancient America. We’re betting it will be fascinating!
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A special experience

Just had to create a quick little post about a special experience we have had.

Despite very busy schedules, we have committed ourselves to invite missionaries into our home to teach investigators whenever we can make time. The mission president has recently asked that they teach in homes as much as possible, rather than at the church.

And we have had the pleasure of having a number of such opportunities over the past couple of months. Elder McMurtrey has brought some of his investigators to our home and he has become one of those we have gotten fairly close to. He has told us that he really likes coming to our apartment. He said that our place really feels like home to him and that he enjoys coming here. That made us feel pretty good! He is a zone leader in UB and is one of many really great Elders we have gotten to know here. And his companion, Elder Adartseren, is a really good one, too! And, of course, they really like it when we invite them to dinner!

The two of them have been bringing a couple of investigators to our home for a while now. One of them, Ulsiibayaruun Uranboler, was baptized last night and she asked if I would perform her baptism. Most seniors may go their entire mission without having that opportunity. So, I felt very grateful for this one.


I even learned the baptism prayer in Mongolian. She was quite surprised when she found out I was doing the prayer in here native language! I was, shall we say, a bit nervous! But it went ok and others said they could even understand most of it!

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Thought you might find it interesting to see the Mongolian version of the baptismal prayer! At least as close as we could get our computer to type it!


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A couple of days ago, the new District Young Men’s Presidency went to a place about 80 kilometers from here, called “13th Century” as a way to help us get to know each other. 13th Century is an area where they have found artifacts left from seven camps occupied during the days of Chinggis Khan. It has been fascinating to learn about him while we have been here.
Chinggis Khan was very intelligent and thorough. This 13th Century park has recreated the area of his encampments here in Mongolia.

He was the first to organize the Mongolian people who had previously pretty much kept to themselves in separate tribes. He brought them to this area and set up these different camps, each having it's own purpose and each about .5 to 1.0 km apart. We visited all seven camps.

Camp #1 was the guard camp, set at the entrance to the area and intended to, well, guard. Anyone who wanted to enter the camp, would enter here – at least theoretically. It was also here that training was held for the soldiers. The structure underneath the larger ger is where training took place during the winter. If you look close enough you will see animal statues on top of the poles. Each represent a different tribe.

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Next, was the Craft Camp (Camp #2). As Chinggis Khan conquered an area, he would bring the best artisans and craftsmen back to this camp and would quickly adopt any new and advantageous abilities the conquered people possessed. The advantages of doing so would be obvious.

Everything in the way of supplies that were needed to be made, were created here, including tools, containers, gers, etc. A variety of wild animals were also kept in this camp (wolves, eagles, etc.).

There was one master craftsman with as many laborers as he needed in order to get the work done.

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Camp #3 was the Education camp. In one of the conquered territories, they took a highly educated man and brought him to this camp. It was under Chinggis’ rule, that the first Mongolian written language was developed. They would also bring children to this camp to receive formal educational training.

The main ger in this educational complex was larger than a normal ger, as you can see from the inside panorama. Not too bad, really but it still lacks indoor plumbing!

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Camp #4 was the Nomad camp. Here, all of the livestock was cared for. That
included horses, goats, sheep, yaks, camels.

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Oh! Did I say camels?! I did! And, of course, we had to ride them while we were there! So here’s the part you are all really wanting to see! Sister Caldwell riding a camel! By the way, most of the high pitched screeching in this one, is NOT the camel!

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Way to go Sister Caldwell!!

Around the perimeter of the camp, these towers were built to monitor the wind. The construction is such that wind produces sound as it blows through the top part of the tower. Differing sounds would tell them the direction and strength of the wind.

Next post: We finish our visit to the 13th Century with some surprises you’re not going to want to miss, including more on the Mongolian/American connection!
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