Here are 8 of the 9 members of the Dasha Family. We enjoyed dinner with them in their Ger last week and we invited them, plus our interpreter, Nyam-Od to our apartment for dinner this Sunday after General Conference. One of their daughters was working that day. We served an all American meal. We had a lettuce salad with tomato, cucumber and red peppers. Also Pork Tenderloin, (that was tough as a boot as is all Mongolian meat even after marinating it!), mashed potatoes which they devoured, carrots and 3 1/2 loaves of Debbie's homemade French Bread. For dessert we served fresh apple crisp with ice cream, a big hit!
All are members except Brother Dasha and of course, the youngest child. Bro. Dasha has been investigating for two years. Can't seem to kick the smoking habit, but we committed him to stop for three weeks and get baptized and receive the Holy Ghost to give him the strength to quit for good. This is another wonderful family we have had the pleasure to meet and get to know.
The Mongolian people have fairly big families. It is fun to visit them in their Gers. The children basically sit quietly listening intently to the conversations that the adults are having. The moms and the teenage daughters are busy preparing food to serve. We have seen a few times the moms and daughters laboriously rolling out the dough in large perfect circles. After allowing the dough to dry, they then cut the dough into perfect beautiful strips to throw into a huge pot of boiling soup. The soup is usually made of mutton or beef, carrots, potatoes, cabbage and a little salt, and some type of bouillon.
Below is another sister, Sister Borolzoi cutting noodles. She works 7 days a week in a restaurant, 8am to 7pm, then comes home and fixes dinner. She is also 3 months pregnant.
Below, the Borolzoi family is teaching us how to play the traditional "Ankle Bones" game. There are many variations to the game. They are the actual ankle bones from sheep, hence the name!
Here is the whole Borolzoi family--
I (Debbie) had the privilege of touring Darkhan with the Toronto Family from Beijing! Elder Toronto, who is in the Area Seventy Presidency, came to Darkhan along with the Mission President and one of his counselors, to do some Priesthood Leadership training.
We first went to this Buddhist Temple that is located in Old Darkhan, but it was closed. We were allowed to walk around the premises and take some pictures.
This is Sister Toronto and just 2 of their children. The family is so awesome and fun to be around! We took them to Sun Child Orphanage where they got to meet some of the children and see some of the staff perform traditional Mongolian instrumentals and throat singing. They bought some "ankle bones" while they were here. For lunch they wanted to try some traditional Mongolian food so we took them out for, of course--Hosherr and Boadz!!
In the evening we joined the brethren for dinner at the hotel. We were joined by President Doko (Next to Dan) and President Soko (In the orange sweater) of the District Presidency of which Dan is the 2nd Counselor.
At the beginning of this blog we mentioned General Conference. Below is a link to all the wonderful talks if you would like to listen to them! One of my favorites is, Be Meek and Lowly of Heart. One of Dan's favorites is, Do We Know What We Have? This past weekend the two Darkhan branches broadcasted it in Mongolian. It's pretty amazing how one week after General Conference, here in this little corner of the world, the people have the blessing of receiving it in their own language!!
We are so very thankful for all your encouraging comments and your prayers. May God bless you and your families! With love, Dan and Debbie
