Holboo is a such a great young man. He is at almost every service project and is a hard worker and is always so happy. He will make a great missionary, and this branch will really miss him!
Moar Mongolians don't own wheelbarrows so they use pieces of plastic, cloth or boards to transport their debris. These weeds were headed to the burn barrel! (Sister G., Oyuntuya and E. Gantogtah)
Me and Munkhtuya! She is a truly beautiful woman--inside and out!
Elder Bataa turning over the last shovels full of dirt and the garden was done!
Quite the crew!
And a job well done!
The next project was for President Damdindorj, the president of the Choibalsan Branch. This is one great family. He has a bad leg and walks with a cane (it's amazing he doesn't fall and break his neck on the ice in the winter), but he doesn't let that slow him down. His wive, Suvdaa, has also fed us many times and we have spent many FHE's at their home. They are a great family. President D. was not there the day we did service, but we worked on weed removal back of their house and worked on the greenhouse. We were helped by Oyuntuya, the Elders and Ganhuleg, who is a young man soon to go on a mission and who had training in building construction. His skills were invaluable!
The work crew minus Elder Groesbeck who was taking the picture.
I guess they didn't want the old folks on the roof of the greenhouse, (probably a good idea) so we put ourselves to work cleaning out the weeds behind the house. These are some tools we used. The rake worked well, but the sickle was dull and didn't work. We found it in the weeds!
The young guys did a great job on the greenhouse--especially Ganhuleg!
The weather was perfect for such a project--the continual Choibalsan breeze was much appreciated!
Suvdaa made us lunch. Here she is frying huushuur on a coal fired stove and they were so good. She also made us some lazy man buuz, which is buuz in a long piece instead of individual pieces. She's a wonderful lady!
The next service was for Bayarsaikhan, the 1st counselor in the Branch Presidency. He lives a ways out of town and we took a meeker--the first one we have had since leaving Murun. It was kind of fun. We walked to the Zax where we caught the meeker and then got off on the main road and walked some more. It was also a great day for service and for a good walk! He needed his garden prepared for planting--and he had a huge garden! At least an acre--or so it seemed, but probably not that big. Anyway, this time we had Turbot, the Elders, Oyuntuya and one other young man from the branch who was in the meeker and just decided to join us for this project. It was a good thing we had lots of help because we would never have finished without all the working hands. They fixed lunch for us afterwards and we were so excited to be back in a ger. This is the first one we have been in since leaving Murun and they are just plain cool!
This is only one side of his garden. The other side is equally as big or bigger! It's a huge garden considering they don't have water on the property (which no one does) and the water has to be hauled from a public water house which was probably 1/3 mile from their house!
The young ones dug up the ground and then us older ones, with the help of the young guys, broke up the clods and raked out the weeds. It wasn't hard work, just a little tedious!
Turbot is waiting for his mission call and is an amazing young man for only being almost 18. He serves as the YM President and a branch clerk and goes to school full time. We call him "Turbo" because he hardly ever walks anywhere--he is always running and is so happy to be serving. This is another young one the branch will really miss when he goes on his mission!
Oyuntuya, our translator, has her mission call and will be leaving to serve in the UB Mongolia mission on May 21. We have enjoyed working with her. She is a trained English teacher and so has been very helpful in our English classes. She shines when she teaches and the students respond so well to her. She is such a tiny thing--we kid her about needing to carry something heavy so the Choibalsan winds don't blow her away!
We really enjoyed working with this wonderful crew! If there's a job to do, these are the ones to call. Mongolians are hard workers and stick to the job until it is finished.
Bayarsaikhan and his wife and one of his daughters. The baby was asleep in the house. Most gers have fences around them, but this one doesn't yet. We were a little surprised! He had such a huge garden, I hope he can keep the animals and kids out of it once it starts to produce.
The next service opportunity was to help Togooch, or the chief grandmother as she is called in the branch, take down her ger from the winter. She moves into a small one-room house for the summer. The room is probably about 18 x 24. She is probably about 75 and lives by herself. This was a hard project for me--not because the work was hard, but because of her living conditions and having so few possessions. But she is a very happy woman and doesn't seem to mind how she lives or that she has to work so hard at her age.
We started by moving everything (a bed, two cabinets, an old couch and a frig) out of the ger. Then we totally took the thing apart. This is Oyuntuya taking down the interior fabric which serves as wall paper for the ger.
Then all the poles in the roof are removed (I think there are something like 81 of them) and placed on the wagon and wrapped in the felt and other outer pieces.
Elder and Sister G, Elder Bataa, Togooch, Elder Gantogtah, Oyuntuya, Turbat and Holboo.
You can see some of the walls in the background of this next picture.
This is the center piece that holds everything together. The top holes are openings through which the stove pipe goes and are also used to ventilate the ger. The windows are glass and can be opened and closed or covered and uncovered using ropes. Alan is holding the piece upside down. Oyuntuya is holding it the way it would be used.
It made a great way to take a picture. This is the work crew--again the Elders, Bataa and Gantagtah, Holboo, Torbat and Oyuntuya.
The companions!
It was a great service opportunity and she so needed the help. Not sure how she ever would have done it herself. It is so much fun serving with and for others! Although, this was a hard one for me, I'm glad we did it and just Togooch can stay healthy and happy for a few more years!
The last service project in Choibalsan was for Horloo. We were going to help her with her garden, but the day was do windy that she wouldn't let us do it. So we visited with her and, when the wind finally slowed down a little, we helped her plant 6 berry bushes.
Gansukh, Holboo and Elder Gantogtoh preparing the ground for planting. The ground really has no rocks and is quite sandy and easy to dig.
LaNice and Horloo planting what we think are Seabuckthorn bushes. These bushes produce a berry that is turned into a juice drink. We had this juice for breakfast almost every morning--hot in the wintertime and cold in the summer! It was delicious and something we will miss when we go back home.
Elder Gantogtoh and Bataa making sure the bushes have enough water to get a good start!
A job well done! Those there left to right. Elder Gantogtoh, Alan, Holboo, Oyuntuya, Elder Bataa, Gansukh, Horloo and LaNice.
Horloo is building a new house beside her old one. Some of the walls are made of these empty vodka bottles that are placed in cement. Very creative! She's quite the lady. She has two boys who live with her-Munkhbat and Batmunkh--and several older children. She's a recent convert and very strong in the church.
It was really windy that day! And sort of cold too! But mostly the wind was a problem because it blows so much sand and dirt!
We will really miss this sweet sister and her family. We visited her often and she took good care of us. Her house had such a low ceiling that Gansukh could not stand up straight in it. He's such a character and thought this picture was really funny!
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