From UB Cabs to Deel Deals: A Month in Mongolia

Well, another week has galloped by faster than a Mongolian horse on Naadam Day! Believe it or not, we’re coming up on a month in Mongolia—and while we haven’t mastered the language, culture, or traffic yet, we have mastered the art of looking completely lost with a smile on our faces. Progress!

The Great UB Cab Adventure

Let’s talk about Tuesday. Ah, sweet, confusing Tuesday—our first attempt at navigating the city using UB Cab, Mongolia’s charmingly unpredictable answer to Uber. Unlike Uber, which runs on GPS and vague promises, UB Cab runs on hope, landmarks, and divine intervention. We came prepared (or so we thought!) with the address of our Zone Conference written neatly in Mongolian. What we didn’t realize is that nobody in Ulaanbaatar actually uses addresses. It’s all about landmarks: “Turn left at the wrestling palace, then stop at the water building.”

Miraculously, we made it there and back—no small feat when your driver seems to be navigating by vibes and muscle memory. We’re calling it a win and giving all the credit to angels and maybe a very patient cabbie.

Zone Conference was wonderful! We were in charge of the "Clean Apartment" Awards, which meant certificates, a few fun prizes, and lots of praise for the young missionaries’ attempts at domestic glory. They also celebrated June birthdays so I was the lucky recipient of a lovely birthday card, a chocolate bar, and the traditional birthday song! 

As we have become more settled, we’ve taken up the Great Mongolian Baking Challenge. This week’s task: chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Except... there are no chocolate chips here. So, naturally, we substituted M&Ms, which melted into cheerful little sugar blobs. We hunted through multiple stores for ingredients, and in a miraculous moment of baking joy, we found Molina vanilla, just like at home. And since there are no measuring spoons here, we made do with the vanilla cap—which we’ve confirmed (via the gift of memory and maybe inspiration) is exactly one teaspoon. Voilà: missionary math at its finest!

We found measuring cups and hot pads at a kitchen store, but not a single measuring spoon. 

Without my Kitchen Aid, I had to enlist my built in stirrer!

They turned out really great! 

I never thought I would be so excited about a vanilla lid!

We think these are hot pads...they will at least work better than the dishcloth we have been using!

We went out to dinner with Elder and Sister Rose at a Chinese restaurant—it was quite fancy, but also quite an adventure. Each dish on the menu came with a glossy photo and three translations: Mongolian, Chinese, and English. The problem? None of them matched. One dish said “Fruit with yogurt,” but showed a photo of shrimp. Needless to say, we had no idea which description to believe. We picked based on prayer and gut feeling, and ended up with some beautifully presented and delicious food.

This pile of mutton and onions came on the grill with a burner underneath.  Yum!

This was pineapple chicken and came complete with the flower and matching pink sprinkles! It was also quite delicious!

Yesterday was one of those full, beautiful days that remind us why we’re here. We hosted District Council at our place—our district includes three companionships of young elders, two companionships of young sisters, and the two of us—twelve missionaries total. After the meeting, we served them spaghetti, a little taste of home that they rarely get here. One sweet sister said, “This tastes so good I want to cry!” Mission accomplished. It was a joy to have them in our home—they truly keep us young.

Afterwards, we ventured to the Black Market, a huge outdoor city market buzzing with energy. With Naadam (the country’s biggest holiday) coming in July, we were on a mission to find traditional Mongolian outfits, known as deels. The hunt was on!  Finding one in J.D.'s size was a bit like trying to find a size 13 shoe at a toddler boutique, but one lovely vendor lady was determined. Even with the language barrier, her kindness and persistence prevailed, and we each walked away with a deel we love. Victory! We’ll definitely be back—there’s so much more to explore.

For all my fabric loving friends, there was rows and rows like this of every kind of fabric you could imagine!

Today, June 1st, is Children’s Day in Mongolia—a national holiday just for kids! Unlike the U.S., where kids just get a confused look when they ask why there's no “Kid’s Day,” here it’s a full-blown celebration with toys, treats, and scooters in church! The Primary handed out gift bags, and we couldn’t resist sending our grandkids a little Amazon love with a note: “Move to Mongolia. They have a whole day just for you!”

Between the cab rides, the cookies, and the cultural curveballs, we’re also deeply grateful for the missionary work we get to do. We’ve published stories, participated in and reported on humanitarian projects, taught English classes twice a week, helped with lessons, and visited wonderful families in the ward.  It’s a rich, full life of service, and we love it.

This family we visited had the cutest kids and dog!  It was fun to see them at church today!

Whether it’s a measuring spoon miracle or a cab ride of confusion, we’re finding joy in the chaos and meaning in the messes. The Spirit is with us in every moment—sometimes loud and clear, sometimes whispering through the cap of a vanilla bottle.

 

With love from the land of blue skies, big hearts, and perfectly imperfect cookies,

Your Favorite Mongolian Missionaries