You'll never guess what we had for dinner!

Before coming to Mongolia, we had watched a few on-line videos to learn more about the country. One video showed an international cuisine traveler experiencing how the Mongolians blow torch an entire sheep and literally cook it from the outside in. The crowning delicacy of the meal was feasting on the sheep's head which would include the tongue, the brains and the eye balls. The other night we walked into the apartment of the Baatumur family whom we home teach each month, and sitting on their coffee table was a sheep head!!

 

We've seen sheep heads torched before, but we've never been served one.  So seeing a sheep head in the middle of this table had us intrigued. After a sheep head is purchased, it is then taken home and boiled for 2 hours to make it tender. And it was! The wife, Otgontuya, seemed to have a system of how she would cut and serve this delicacy. Basically, the outer brown skin is peeled off and eaten. As you can see above, part of the skin had already been removed. We thought that the skin was very good but the best part was the upper part of the cheek. It all had a delicious smoked taste to it. Otgontuya then proceeded to remove all the meat on the outside.

 

 

The tongue was next. She just opened the mouth of the sheep wide and cut out the whole tongue and placed it on the platter and sliced it up. We both tried it and although it was a little chewy it still was good. It had a slight taste of beef liver.

 

 

The eyeballs take some work to cut out. Batumur put one whole eyeball in his mouth. The Cultures are so different, aren't they? Learning about the Mongolian culture has made our mission so fun and interesting! The other eyeball was cut up. Dan tried a small piece. It was chewy.

 

 

 

The brains were the fun part, because as Otgontuya would dig some of the brains out with the back end of a tablespoon, she would call one of the names of her young sons. They would run in and open their mouths and she would put a spoonful in. The boys would then joyfully run off to play again. It was so cute to watch them enjoy this unique dish!

By the end of the meal, which included boiled potatoes, onions and carrots, the head was picked clean.  Hmmm! Hmmm! Hmmmmm! Wish you were here. :)

 

A Joyful Evening!

Last Friday evening Brother Daasha was baptized. We met this family a few months after arriving in Mongolia. The whole family were members except the Dad. The family and many others have prayed and fasted for him that he would be baptized. He has been investigating the church for 7 years, then recently, one day he felt he needed to be baptized "now". He had one obstacle to overcome and that was to quit smoking. There is a commandment in the Church called the

Word of Wisdom which requires it's members to refrain from coffee and tea, alcohol and tobacco. Our bodies house our spirits and as we keep this commandment we are promised great blessings of health. Daash had tried to quit smoking many times and actually got down to a few cigarettes a day.

But it wasn't until he made the commitment to be baptized that the Lord helped him overcome smoking all together.  

Daasha looked so happy.  After he was baptized he bore a humble testimony of the gospel and how he had prayed for help.  

These are the Sister Missionaries that have been teaching him.

There are 7 children in the Daasha family, but one could not be there. The rest of the family each bore a sweet testimony and expressed how happy they were to see their dad baptized. The younger daughter told how happy she was that their family can all live with Heavenly Father again. The brother to the left of Daasha is President Daavka, the Branch President of Old Darkhan. 

We are grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth that help us to become more Christlike. By following the Savior, we can have peace and happiness in our lives. Life has it's challenges, but as we keep the commandments, try to do what's right and love one another, we can have joy in the journey!

Ice Carvings Mongolian Style

The following pictures are from the exhibit in Ulaanbaatar.

They also had two ice slides, one for small kids and one larger. To see a video of the large one in action see our Facebook page.

THE PICTURES BELOW ARE IN DARKHAN

THIS IS OUR FAVORITE ONE!!!!

 

They are representative of the lunar months in Mongolia. On February 19th they will celebrate Sagaan Sar (White Moon), the beginning of a new year.  That will be the year of the Sheep.

This represents Ghenggis Khan and Queen. We love winter here. It is beautiful and white with many days of blue skies and sun. It is, of course, very cold and they say it's going to get worse in January, but we dress warm with many layers and it keeps us warm. We actually can't wait to get outside because when we are all bundled up getting ready to leave, we get so hot that we have to walk out the door asap! :)
The large theater where many plays and performances take place is in the background. The Christmas Tree and ice carvings are the gathering place for the New Year's celebration. There are Ger's set up with food and hot drinks, music events. At midnight this is where the city fireworks are displayed. We arrived about 11:15p after spending the evening with the Sun Child kids Christmas party and performance. It was -24 degrees and a strong breeze--too cold to hang around, SO we didn't stay for the fireworks. We watched from our window in our apartment building. :)

We hope all of you had a wonderful New Year's and that 2015 will bring many blessings to you and your families!!