Warm Weather Is Here

Teresa & I want to thank those people who were praying for us this past week. Teresa & I started the week very stressed & tired because the week started with temperatures of -10 Celsius, strong winds & snow. Seven full months of winter & we had enough. We are also having fun with our new family member for the next 4 months, Bonnie the dog. She is a partially trained, 4 yr. old mutt that weights around 10-12 kg. The past couple of weeks have been a little stressful because Mittens (our Mongolian cat) really was not happy that a dog has joined the family. After a few good fights where Mittens came out on top they are peacefully living together.  

Tuesday was a day that I like to remember because it is how Teresa, the kids & I like our home to be. Throughout the day we had 20 people in our home at different times (Mongolians, Americans, Indians (from India of course), Dutch, Singaporean, Canadians, British.) Mongolians have joked with us that our home is the "Mayich Internet Cafe", but after Tuesday we can add shower house also. Friends of ours had just returned from home, in Europe & needed a shower because their apartment shower was being repaired. We taught (school), entertained, gave counsel, fed (other missionaries), studied (Mongolian), related (hung out), played & lead a bible study all in one day. It was very tiring, but we were happy because God is using us & our home.

Later in the week the temperatures have risen to what we would call at home as a normal Spring, +10 +15 Celsius. The kids are so excited & have been going outside to play in our buildings small field, playground & sandbox 3-4 times a day. Although Spring in Mongolia is very windy. Mongolians think it is the worst season because of the dust & sand storms that blow up in an instant. It could be perfectly calm, beautiful sunny day & out of nowhere winds of 30-70 km/h full of dust & sand blow through. I laugh because I have been caught in a couple of them thus far this Spring & have kept my mouth closed during, but when it's finished feel the sand in between my teeth & on my tongue. When the kids get a bath after coming in the water changes from a clear bluish colour to a charcoal grey/black.If you are on the surrounding mountians you can see the wall (0-150 meter) wall of brown sand/dust storm slowly moving into the city. Many start in the Gobi Desert, end in Northern China & can move as far as North Korea (Mongolians have said.) They can be (have been in) bad ones where you cannot see 3 meters in front of you because there is so much sand/dust.

Here during a light sand/dust storm & after it has passed:

We ended the week waking up to a text message that our (non-Christian) language instructors father had passed away. Please pray for her family. Teresa & my best friend/other Mongolian instructor (a Christian) will be going to the hospital/morgue at 1st, then I will be going to the cemetery for the 4 hour funeral lead by a Buddhist lama. Please pray for me as this will be my 1st funeral of this type & that I will be sensitive to the Spirits leading while there. God is working in & through us with this family knowing our relationship is going to be long term. She has told me that Teresa & I are her friends & she cares for Kiel & Esme as if they were her own.