Mongolia or Bust

Hello! And welcome to Ulanbaatar, Mongolia. Brandon is SUPER happy to be here. This picture was actually taken at the site of one of many BIG Buddha's that we saw while on vacation to beautiful Ulanbaatar and Hong Kong. I could have posted a picture of the Buddha, but it wasn't as fun to look at as this picture of Brandon looking so FINE!

Can we say HOORAY for PIZZA! I think it was the third day we spent in Mongolia that we finally hit the local pizza joint. It was fantastic pizza. You all should know that as a family we pretty much agree that local food is a try it once affair. We don't try to like whatever is typical in whatever country we visit. Fermented mare's milk is great for Mongolians, but not for Americans who live on Diet Coke and like their milk pasteurized. We did try a regular mongolian restaraunt, and though it was good, we opted to not make a habit of it. We did, however, have the honor and opportunity to be invited to Bataar's house (Bataar is sitting at the back table next to Chris) for dinner with his family. Bataar is a great friend to my grandparents (also seated at the back table on the far left) and he was our driver while we were there. His wife and daughter, and daughter-in-law, made us the most wonderful meal the last night we were there. There was enough food to feed 60 people! Oh, did I mention they cooked the whole meal on a wood burning stove in a tiny closet? AMAZING people, those Mongolians.

This was taken outside the church we attended on our first morning there. It was really fun, but different to have everyone looking at us, like we were the strange looking ones who need an interpreter. It was very touching to listen to the people talk about the gospel because it is all so new to all of them. The church is very young in Mongolia.
Oh, don't I look like a sister missionary?

Notice the two figures in the painting who look just like my grandparents. The soccer scene is painted on the side of a container that is kept outside their former apartment (from their LDS missions in Mongolia). They had bought the container during their first mission to store medical supplies they were having shipped over. Someone finally decided it was ugly, and decided to decorate it, and commemmorate (sp?) Grandma and Grandpa at the same time. I'd say they did a pretty good job.