Final taste of Mongolian culture, Nauryz, down to the wire activities

Dashchoylin Monastery (photograph by Karl Shuler)

 Dashchoylin monastery.  Elder Stewart, Ulziika and ourselves visited the Dashchoylin monastery. There were three main worship centers. 

Photography was not permitted inside. We were able to watch a full-fledged Buddhist ceremonial worship service. 

It was everything you would expect and more – clanging cymbals, drums, gongs, and other percussion sounds interspersed between or over the constant din of chanting prayers. We watched for about 20 minutes and then they started a ceremony.

A group of four monks donned ceremonial shawls and stood under a special canopy. There was a ritual of layering sand/dirt and money on trays and then offering a small portion of the dirt to each of the chanting monks offering ritual prayers while seated along two rows flanking the center aisle. 

Note the symbol on the chest of the Buddha. Hitler adopted this Mongolian symbol and reversed it to form the infamous swasticka

Ten of the 30 or so worshipers who had their own special prayer service off to one side joined the main ceremony by grasping on to a rope stringing from the canopy to the end of the center aisle.

The monks then removed their shawls and took the canopy to its normal resting spot. The worshipers went to the front the altar and bowed and prayed to the many images of Buddhist gods. Some of them then went and offered fresh, crisp money to the chanting monks. 

We described this ceremony to our English class and they were familiar with what we had watched. This was an other-worldly Mongolian/Tibetan Buddhist experience we won’t forget.

Celebrating Kazakh Nauryz. This is a special Kazakh Muslim holiday that goes back to about 100 B.C.  It is quite similar to how Tsaagan Car is celebrated in Mongolia. 

There was a mixture of Mongolian and Kazakh dancers and singers performing

 

There was a parade of Kazakh young men and women in traditional costumes

Happy to be there

Naurzyz is a celebration of a renewal and spring for having survived the harsh winter with their flocks and animal stock intact. It is a time for cleaning, merry-making, family visits, friendship and love. Wars and fights should stop.

Front row seating for the children and the elderly

About 10 percent of Mongolia’s population is Kazakh with the majority in Bayan-Ulgii Province. A lot of Kazakhs have come to Ulaanbaatar for education and work. 

Percussion band

The government sponsors a public celebration for the Kazakh community on the day before Nauryz to promote good relationships between the Mongols and the Kazakhs. 

From my backstage location, I had the best view

There was a special cultural program at Sukhbaatar Square with Kazakh music, dancing, and Kazakh crafts for sale. 

Last chance to hold an eagle in Mongolia

Up close and personal with another eagle

Darlene had a last minute phone call for asking for help on Family History so she couldn’t join me.

Here are photos of some of the program I was able to see. 

Wrestlers about to demonstrate their take down moves

 

In Mongolia, they love wrestling almost as much as basketball

 

Or is it boxing?

 

Dress up day for Kazakh children

 

AK treated me to hamburger and fries

I was doing some photography when a friend from the Unur Ward pulled me aside. He goes by AK, is at least 6’ 8”, speaks great English, and interprets for us at church. He is Kazakh and was on the organizing committee for Kazakh celebration. 



He showed me a museum that had been set up for the day. The artist J. Oilan was exhibiting his work. There was also a display of a new Buddha Maidar being constructed and to be completed in Ulaanbaatar by 2025.
 

Mock up of the Maidar buddha and setting

The head of Maidar is already completed and on display

 

Улaaн цaxирмаа - 2012

Khovskul sea - 2012

Then we went to have cheeseburgers at the Central Tower which overlooks Sukhbaatar Square. 

Kazakh festivities from above



AK took a picture of his American style-hamburger

Other happenings. We celebrated Elder Stewart’s birthday with a cake and birthday wishes.

A very young 69 - he is hard to keep up with

Elder Palmer drew two sketches and gave them to him as a birthday present.

We had our last English class on Thursday. 

Our last hurrah in the classroom

A few of the students hung around afterward and wanted their picture taken with me.

Part of our after class "Shoot the bull" group

A visit to Ukraine Nara's home. Ukraine Nara (called that because she served a mission to the Ukraine and to distinguish her from all of the other Naras in the church) invited us, the Stewarts, Moogie and her friend to her home for a meal. Great visit and food!

We’ve been cleaning, packing and weighing suitcases. We have two suitcases weighing 50 lbs. each packed and ready to go.
 

Scenes you don't expect to see in Mongolia

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

We’ve got our presentation to the National Archives ready to go. I’ll discuss how it went in our next blog. I am making a Status of Family History in Mongolia report for President Benson prior to our departure. 

Wait a minute, this is Mongolia, isn't it?

 

So much to do, so little time - plus a lot of visiting

Time to be set free

The pace is quickening. Even though we teach one English class a week, this past week has been extremely busy. 

Next to the last class

We are getting a lot done so our last week in Mongolia won’t feel so pressured. We hope.

The eight of the nine treasures of Mongolia taken from the Day in the Life of Mongolia will be inserted between the text of what is to follow.

The nine treasures of Mongolia are interspersed at intervals along this famous painting, "A Day in the Life of Mongolia" displayed in the Parliament building.

Getting ready to go. We are cleaning out our apartment and our office, trying to decide what should go, what is trash and what should stay.

Treasure number one

We have one suitcase packed out of four. We are planning to stretch our food and our money so we don’t wind up with an excess of foodstuffs or Mongolian money when it is time to go.

Treasure number two

In our office we are scanning important files and organizing them for whoever takes our place. The trash bins are filling up. 

Treasure number three

I have finished up a few writing projects for the Mission President and have one more major one left to do. I am feeling better as I get each one done.

Treasure number four

Darlene has finished her last day of piano teaching and we have one last English class to go this Thursday.

Ulziika doing training



Family History Training. We had one final training meeting with the Ulaanbaatar staff and Family History Consultants.

The rest of our UB Consultants

 Darlene has experienced a rush of members seeking her out her expertise with Family Tree. 



Darlene, Puujee, and Ulziika up front and center

She puts her whole heart in it and she will miss helping the members once we leave. It is rewarding for her as she solves difficult problems and experiences the gratitude of the members who seeing her work so hard for them. She has one more Saturday of "hands on" training for those who wish to attend.

Archives contract. We are making one last push for the Archives contract before we leave. In all likelihood the process will linger on after we go but we are hoping against hope that the contract will be signed while we are still here.

We have had some remarkable blessings as we prepare a highly professional presentation for the National Archives this coming week. Puujee is handling the relationships with the Archives leaders while we lay the groundwork for giving them everything they would like to see from us.

Places in the world where Family Search has active acquisition projects. We want to add Mongolia to the list.



We’ve been discreetly quiet about this process and what we are doing. Hopefully we will be telling a story with a happy ending soon.  



Dissertation adviser.  Alimaa is also in the middle of working with her committee on finishing her dissertation research. I am trying to help her over the last few hurdles she needs to clear. 

Alimaa and her 17 year old sister Nomin

Our meetings are taking place with greater frequency. It re-awakens stressful feelings as I have flashbacks to the days when I had to understand statistics, research methods, and describe the results and implications of the research. 



Treasure number five

Alimaa's research has to do with Mongolian personality structure and how Mongolians compare to other cultures, particularly those from East Asian countries.

  

Alimaa will be publishing my marriage book she is translating into Mongolian sometime later this spring and summer. It looks like I might be in Mongolia in one form or another for a long time to come.

Treasure number six

Marriage help in Mongolia. The Stake President took me aside and thanked me for bringing something new to Mongolia. He said they used to feel they had the battle won when they got all the young singles in the church married to each other in the temple.

Now they realize they need to pay attention to providing help, support, and information to married couples. Counseling and improving listening and conflict resolution skills are new to this culture. 

This doesn’t mean there weren’t any problems. It does mean that everyone was on their own when it came to solving them.

To make things worse, Mongolians, for all their extraversion and outward social skills in the public arena, are intensely private about their personal and family lives. There is a lot of silent suffering as long festering problems grow and grow until they burst into view with little anybody can do to help.  

Treasure number seven
Imagine our surprise to see a couple of foreigners in the picture. Actually this work has its own title, "Twenty-two months in the life of Mongolia". The artist is Tugtsbaatar, a returned missionary who lives in Erdenet.

Treasure number eight
A close examination will reveal the presence of our three daughters in front of
Turtle Rock when they came to visit us in Mongolia.  

Visiting families of missionaries.  We and the other senior couples received an assignment to visit the families of Mongolian missionaries who had been called to serve in Mongolia during the past six months.

We met Elder Saruul in Choibalsan. Here we are being hosted by Chimgee, the Family History Center Director in Choibalsan.

Here we are being hosted by Elder Saruul's parents and sister. Notice anything similar between this picture and the one above.  Quite the coincidence!

Elder Saruul

 These visits have gone extremely well for all the senior couples. We visited with four families and each visit felt like a Tsaagan Sar visit. 

Elder Ulziijargal's family - 16 of 18 members of his extended family are members of the church.

Elder Ulziijargal

Elder Ulziijargal was one of the group of Elders that visited the art museum with us

The food and hospitality were generous, warm and certainly ample in terms of the wonderful meals and visits we experienced.

Elder Murat's family

Elder Murat

We would later see the missionaries and they felt cared for and appreciative that their families were getting attention and support. 

Sister Mungundulgun's family

Sister Mungundulgun

It has drawn everyone closer together including us with them. Some of the missionaries come from part or non-member families so our visits provide a vital communication link for the Mission President.

Goodbye to our friends. We also had a farewell meal with Puje – our dear friend from day one in this mission. Puje has a winning personality and a great sense of humor. 

 
She is leaving about 10 days before us for a month-long trip to Canada. 

We won’t get to say goodbye when we leave.

We don't like it either

She had us over for a farewell meal with Elder and Sister Gardner. We will miss her and so many others when we depart Mongolia. Some of these friendships will continue despite the great distances between ourselves.

The Gardners and ourselves - we knew each other back in South Dakota eons ago

We are filling up our dinner schedule for the last week of our mission. I’m sure these kinds of emotions will intensify as we draw to the end. Whether we are sad or happy or both, one thing is for sure, we will be well fed.

Time to go home and see our family - 7 children and 27 grandchildren