January 11, 2008 - Hey, It's Cold Here!

Hey! It’s cold here! It’s been hanging out around -35 degrees Celsius for the last little bit, and the big buzz around Selenge is that next week it’s going to get down to -50. Yakh uu? [-35 degree Celsius = -31 degree Fahrenheit; -50 degree Celsius = -58 degree Fahrenheit; converting temperatures] The Thuesons (missionary couple in Selenge) have already vowed that they’re not stepping foot outside the house next week. (Un)fortunately the young missionaries don’t have the option of taking the week off. I’m pretty excited actually. I know, I’m insane, but it’s going to be awesome. Sister Bayarmaa and I are planning on raiding the zakh today and stocking up on warm clothes.

The Selenge Sisters’ work is just zooming along here. We’ve got an investigator going in for her baptismal interview tomorrow. Her name is Burentsetseg. She is the little sister of a woman who was baptized right before we got here, Burensaikhan -- who runs the store in our building, and we always stop by to chat and sometimes share a scripture. Okay, let’s be honest, and we also usually grab some candy and juice while we’re at it. Right now I’m into Bounty. I was into Snickers, but then Snickers and I had a little run-in a few weeks ago. I’m pretty much over it, but the hurt is still there, and I just haven’t been able to buy one since.

Anyway, Burentsetseg is good. She faces the same problem that many members of the church in Mongolia face: persecution from friends. Christianity is still a fairly new thing here in Mongolia and a lot of people still don’t really understand what it is. It doesn’t help that there are also a lot of crazies here like a group of girls a few years ago that killed themselves because they thought they would live again in three days, all in the name of Christianity. Burentsetseg’s family and friends are making it really hard for her to change, but at the same time it is strengthening her testimony.

The most important thing is that she loves the Book of Mormon. She hated it at first because she couldn’t understand the older language, and she just couldn’t get herself to read it. One day she was trying to read the chapter we gave her at work while the kids were sleeping (she’s a preschool teacher), and once again the language was just frustrating her. She was near the point of tears and decided to pray for help. She prayed her heart out that she would be able to understand and then started to read again but to no avail. Later that night, however, she went back to the chapter, and she was able to understand it! Not only did she understand it, but she liked it! It began to be delicious unto her, if you know what I mean. She grabbed her yellow highlighter and highlighted practically the whole chapter. Ever since then she has been reading it like mad. It’s been kinda hard teaching the lessons we’ve prepared because she wants to spend the whole time discussing her homework.

Last Monday night we had FHE in a sweet, sweet, round, felt ger. To quote South Pacific, “There is nothing like a ger! Nothing in the world.” We were meeting with a part-member family whose father is just now preparing for baptism. The sisters were put in charge of snack and game, which Elder Gantugs informed us of the night beforehand. We barely had enough time to whip up a carrot cake and shove it in the oven before running downstairs to meet with Burensaikhan in her sister’s store. We had to get up and leave twice during the lesson, once to take it out of the oven to cool and again to grab the cake before running off to FHE with Burensaikhan in tow.

For the game I decided to go with the good ol’ Johnson family staple Hide the Thimble, daanch thimble baigaagui. We used a little figurine of a Mongolian wrestler instead. It’s still a fun game, but when you play in a round ger, it goes a little too quick. No matter where you step it’s pretty much in the general direction of the object. Anyway, it was fun.

We’re also doing a lot more work with the members now. I really love this branch already, and I hope I get to stay here until…until...gyahhh...cc-can’t...s-s-say it...THE END! AH! Yes, the end is in sight, but maybe not as close as all y’all are thinking. My official release date would have been April 4th, but I’m extending until May. There. Now you have it. Mark your calenders. Start planning your trips to DC for the summer. Just don’t tell me about it…

Aaaaaand now I’m depressed. Happy p-day e’rebody. :\