A few more favorites

At the top of Zaison Hill

The hill overlooks the  city of Ulaan Bataar. Since it was quite snowy, so we couldn't see as much. But it was still a great view.

Dad was part of the snow clearing crew.

They stayed a few steps ahead of the crowd that was making its way up the hill.

It warmed my heart to see this.

Hearing the Mongolian Church members sing "High on a Mountain Top" was amazing. 

It brought tears. 

20 years ago to the very hour of this meeting, Neil A. Maxwell dedicated Mongolia for the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His dedicatory prayer was replayed over loudspeaker. At that time there were 2 members of the church and 3 investigators present. Now there are more than 10,000 members of the church in Mongolia! 10 percent have served missions. Wow!

Being a part of this experience was another favorite memory for me. The Spirit was strong on that hill, in spite of my nearly frozen feet! I chose my footwear with more thought and care after that day. 

At the bottom of Zaison Hill-

Big Buddha in the background

Cashmere Factory tour

Oyun is wearing that blue cashmere in the form of an adorable hat.

Mongolians like to make the peace sign I've noticed. :)

I bought no cashmere. Too expensive!

Riding camels with my sister

Awesome!

Tawny's turn

We got to visit this sweet little girl named Ariuuna and bring her a few gifts and groceries.

Isn't she beautiful?

Opening a care package

Ariuuna loves her family, and she wanted to show us her family albums. She made sure to tell us how she was related to each person. 

Her dad died when she was only 1 year old. The family (mother and three daughters) has had a hard time of it since then. They actually had to build this home on their own. I can't imagine it.

Ariuuna tried on a dress that we brought her. 

Thanks again, Girls Scouts and Faith in God Girls! She loved the clothes and thought this dress was so pretty. Nara Thompson sponsors this sweet girl. I'm so glad!

Mom, sister, and Ariuuna

They are doing their best in such a tough situation. That mom works so hard to give what she can to her daughters. This situation is so much better than that of Gan-Ochir.

She grabbed Tawny's hand and walked with her to the fence. 

Tawny loved it. What a lovely little girl.

Mongolian children at another home visit

 Tawny had to chase this little guy around the ger for this picture.

Cute, right?

Inside their ger

These girls were getting water for their families. There is no indoor plumbing in the gers.

We often saw children doing this job. Can you imagine getting water in -40 degrees?

Running water- another blessing I take for granted.

Song and Dance and Contortionism

Mongolian Throat Singing

I don't know how to describe this well, so I went to Wikipedia.

It's one of the weirdest things I've ever heard.

This unique type of singing involves the production of two distinctively audible pitches at the same time, including a low pedal note, or drone, derived from the fundamental frequency of the vocal cord vibrations, and higher melodic notes that result when the singer's mouth acts as a filter, selecting one note at a time from among the drone's natural overtone series pitches.

Trust me, it's awesome. Search it on YouTube. You'll be amazed.

He is accompanied by a traditional Mongolian instrument called the horse-head fiddle, or morin khuur.

She is strong! She held each of these poses for a long time.

Amazing, but slightly hard to watch

Sheep and goats galore!

As we were leaving 13th Century we saw this cute little girl climbing over the fence into this pen. She was so cute that we stopped to take a picture. The mother then invited us into the pen to play with their lambs and baby goats. They were just a few days old and so adorable. We got to hold them and pet them. It was so fun! This is definitely one of my top ten memories of Mongolia!

So many!!

Tara was so bugged when she saw her cone head in these pictures.

Goat kisses tickle :)

They were so nice to let us do this. It looks like they were amused by our reactions.

Dad and a sweet little goat

A bunch of them were sucking on my tan gloves. I think I reminded them of their mamas.

So strange to see and horse and a motorcycle parked in front of a ger...

Stepping back into the 13th Century

The Thirteen Century

We went to the countryside to see a place where tourists experience how the Mongolian tribe people lived at the the time of Genghis Khan. (Chinggis) We were probably the first tourists of the season. It was still so cold! These people still live in the old way with a few little 21st century additions, like cell phones and motorcycles.  We brought Janger along and he taught us about how the Mongolianslived. We visited a guards' camp, education camp, craftsman camp, and the King's ger. (I think I'm missing one) It was amazing!

 What a view!

Mom and Dad holding a Mongolian child 

My sisters are tough!

I make an acceptable Chinggis, don't you think?

I haven't played dress-up for years.

Playing with Jangar's phone

Dad 

A Mongol dog joined our picture. Perfect.

This Mongol dog is responsible for protecting the flock against wolves while the shepherd is away. I heard they are pretty tough, but this one also had a gentle side and insisted on getting petted. He leaned into us, practically knocking us over- just a little hint. I love how furry he is! For surviving Mongolian winters. :)

They served us an authentic meal

The Queen and King's robes

A nice big ger for Chinggis

More dress-up