Five-Hoof Chili and Family Marathons

This week was zone conferences, and once again we had the opportunity to help celebrate birthdays and present cleaning awards. We also assisted another senior couple, the Horitos, with the lunch they prepared for the missionaries. They always come up with such creative ideas, and this week’s theme was “Nomad” or “5-Hoof Chili,” featuring meat from Mongolia’s five main animals—horse, cow, camel, goat, and sheep. They put together a wonderful meal, complete with a beautiful fruit charcuterie board and a variety of fresh vegetables.

An interesting tidbit about Elder Horito...He and J.D. served in the same mission in Japan at the same time!  They didn't ever serve together but knew of each other.  

We were also invited to attend a career fair at Royal University in Selenge. With our backgrounds in education and higher education, we were warmly welcomed and recognized at the event. Prior to the fair, we had the chance to meet with the university leadership and offered our support in any way that might be helpful. This is part of our ongoing government relations efforts—building meaningful relationships with key community and government leaders.

This young lady played the horse head fiddle for the event.  We are told it is very rare for women to play this instrument so it was especially impressive.  

Yesterday was the Ulaanbaatar Marathon, a day we remember vividly from a year ago. We had only been in the country a few weeks when we woke up one morning to find the normally busy, noisy streets completely empty. At the time, we had no idea what was happening, but soon learned that all traffic had been closed for the marathon. This year, we were looking forward to it. The contrast is striking—what is usually bumper-to-bumper traffic filled with honking horns transforms into peaceful streets where families gather, children ride bikes and scooters, and others roller skate. We went out for a walk to enjoy the atmosphere and happened to see a group of runners finishing the race. It was a beautiful day. 

Every other year, youth from our church have the opportunity to attend an FSY (For the Strength of Youth) Conference in their regions—a week filled with faith-building activities and meaningful connections. This year, it was scheduled to take place in Mongolia at the end of June. However, the location reserved for the 500 youth tragically had a fire last week that burned several buildings. Because facilities that can accommodate that many participants are limited, it is uncertain whether the conference will still be held. In a show of support, a group of church members went out today to offer service in the cleanup efforts.  We went to take pictures and conduct interviews and will write a story soon.  

And one last bit of exciting news...our church has been invited by the US Embassy to sing at a 250-year celebration event in the main government square in Ulaanbaatar.  I was asked to find an arrangement of America the Beautiful to sing and then we will sing a Mongolian song.  We expect to have over 200 members singing....it should be quite an event.  Although small groups have been practicing, tonight was the first combined practice and it sounded great!  More to come on this great event! 

As we look back on this week, we are reminded how varied and meaningful this experience continues to be—from conferences and community events to unexpected opportunities to serve. It is a blessing to be here, to serve, and to witness the goodness and resilience of the people around us.