Dear Family,
Wow, we just barely got back from our weekend trip to Murun. We just pulled in here to UB at about 5 pm on Tuesday evening. Boy was it fun. So we pulled out of UB at 7 am Saturday
morning, and headed to Murun. On the way up there, since Elder Bilguun
and I didn't eat breakfast due to an empty fridge, we starved. Our
mission driver/secretary/everything-
We
pulled into Murun around 5 at night and Elder McHam, who serves up
there, and I were able to go meet with a little family who were
potential investigators and invite them to church......and they came on Sunday! That night we all spent the night up in Murun and went to church Sunday
morning. That little branch of the church is really something special.
I have been so blessed to travel the countryside and spend Sundays
across this beautiful Mongolian country. They met in this old
Russian-style apartment building, more or less, on the first floor where
it looks like a store should be. It was small with just three rooms,
but they sure do fill it up with tons of priesthood brethren and women
and children. President Benson called a new Branch President during
Sacrament Meeting. The new Branch President is Buyanbat, who is a
missionary I served with. He just got married to another sister
missionary who I served with named Zaya. They are young and now are
leading a Branch. Sunday
night we headed up to the Ger camp next to Hovsgol Lake. The drive was
beautiful but it was dark by the time we got there so we could not see
the lake. We pulled in and the local family that runs it asked us if we
wanted a Ger or a little baishen (shack house). The Mongolian elders
were not too excited about staying in a ger because they know how cold
it would get, but obviously I had to put my foot down and make an
executive decision and say the ger is where we are staying! HaHa.
Luckily, they understood that this would be mine and Elder McHam's
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and they complied! So we got settled in
and got the fire going and then dinnertime came in the main little
cabin dining hall of the ger camp. They made us some great food! But
they had this jam.....Oh my! This jam! It just might change your life
just hearing about it from this email. I took a picture of it! Words
cannot do it justice, but I will try to explain this jam to you. It
comes from a wild berry up in the mountains around Hovsgol Lake. This
wonderful blessed Sister who owns the place and is a less-active member
with her husband, well she makes this jam. It is just two ingredients,
wild berry and sugar, that's it. Manna from Heaven! So President stays
at this place every time he comes up here because it is like $25 a
night, but usually less. They were closed, but since it was President
who was ordering a stay for a night, they opened and let us stay there.
So needless to say, he knew about the jam. He was talking all about it
on the way up, and he did not lie. Needless to say, it was heavenly.
So we put the jam in this hot drink called "hyaram." Hyaram is boiling
hot water that has milk added to it. We just pretty much drank it up.
She also made hushuur. President and I sat by each other and just
downed like three glass bowls of it that night, then we even took some
leftovers of it to our ger for the night with hot water to mix it in for
drinking purposes.
After
we finished dinner, President had a quick little fireside in our ger
where he talked about how to be a real man. Brother Bayarjav and his
wife Suvdaa shared how the church changed their lives in 2002 and their
conversion stories. Then President had Brother Batbold share about what
being a real man means. President Benson says that Batbold is the most
honorable, man he has ever met. I learned that being a man means #1,
being true to your covenants and #2, being trustworthy. Batbold shared
about how his 20 years of service for the Mission has changed his life
and how missionaries have the best opportunity to change their lives and
others. He talked about how he only has to be asked to do something one
time and he does it without a reminder from anyone else and how he has
lost trust and faith in some missionaries because they were not true to
their word. I really learned a lot about being trustworthy and true to
my word, and the importance of someone believing in you rather than them
just loving you.
Well
as we were getting ready to go to bed, Elder McHam and I went down to
the lake real fast and got about three glasses of fresh lake water
(right from the lake) and just enjoyed the purest water you will ever
drink. It was literally amazing. If I wouldn't have told you that it
was lake water you would have thought it was bottled Aquafina from
Costco! No lie. After drinking the water, we rushed back to the ger
and got the fire going. We had to be up and ready at 6:45 a.m. to see the sunrise with President so we set the alarm for about 6:20 just to be sure. Well during the night, boy did it get cold! At 2:00 a.m. the fire burned out, and Elder McHam took his turn to make the fire. Again at 4:00 a.m.,
it died out again and I got up to build it that time. It took about 10
minutes to get it going again since I was just starting with ashes, a
few logs, and my mouth breathing air into the furnace. The fire got
ripping again and it kept us warm for the rest of the night.
Well at 6:28 a.m.,
President swung open the door to our ger as we were just getting
dressed and was really impressed that we were both up and awake getting
ready before 6:30!
He thought it was hilarious that we both just looked at him, kind of
in a daze, and said nothing when he walked in. We were both just so
tired from being up during the night to keep the fire going! We got in
the car, headed up to a mountain and watched the most beautiful sunrise
over the lake. It was FREEZING! Easily 30 below zero with the wind
chill. We stayed up there, took in the scenery, sang "High on a Mountain
Top" in Mongolian, and headed back down for more Jam, oops I mean
breakfast! Well, we downed like three more bowls of jam and then got to
spend a few minutes down by the water before we left. I drank some
more water and took in the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be there
with my companion and Mission President, then we headed on back to
Erdenet for the night. We worked there for the rest of the night with
Elder Browning, Elder Kettley, Elder Memmott, Elder Buyanbadrah, and
Sister Bolor Erdene and Sister Harker. It was fun and I was able to
meet my companion's mom and family again at the church in Erdenet. Only
in Mongolia do you get to meet your companion's family with your
companion and it is okay! Well we got up, President came over and did
some studies at the place we stayed at with some Elders, and we were off
again back to UB. The best things about riding in the car with
President Benson for a long time is just hearing stories about his life.
He truly is a great man. I love him. He is a great example to me. He
is loved by all and is such an honest, smart man. No one has a better
mission president than I do! I mean he is only 36! Also, we get to eat
great food with him!! :)
President
shared with us a lot about being an RM, keeping covenants and being
active in all the activities being an RM has to offer. He talked a lot
to me about skill sets and acquiring skills. His boss that hired him as
an attorney right out of college was in San Diego. He then sent him to
Singapore after five years to run a huge real estate focused law group
in Asia with a new firm owned by a Stake President in San Diego. He
chose President Benson to run the entire operation, an area of law that
he wasn't even trained in as a Attorney. President is a patent lawyer,
remember. President was shocked and asked why him? Yes he knew
Mongolian and Chinese, so he could converse with the foreign executives
and what not. But plenty of attorneys who have experience in real
estate, could have done that.
Well he told President that he does not hire skill sets, he hires
people he trusts then teaches them the skill sets. I found that very
profound. A man's word is everything. He told me to just acquire skill
sets like I have been, and the job/profession will find me. I need to
be proactive in looking, but acquiring skill sets will provide the road
for any job, if I am trustworthy and can solve problems
instead of creating them. Brother Harper shared tons of insight from
his years as a President of a large potato factory in Ruppert, Idaho.
He hired a 25-year old guy to be the new president just because he was
trustworthy and solved problems. I really enjoyed talking for hours
with these two men that I respect so much.
Well we are home now. I will never forget this past week. We now have to train the 13 new missionaries tomorrow
on a lot of things, like the ins and outs of our mission, and how to be
good missionaries, etc. President trains them on obedience for an hour
and brings on the heat. Elder Huckvale will train the trainers. Then
we have a Zone training tomorrow
night. Elder Huckvale is my Zone leader, so it is always a blast and a
special opportunity to learn from him. I love this country and these
people.
I love you guys,
Elder Marc Harris
All of us missionaries at sunrise with President Benson at Khuvsgul Lake.
My companion and I at sunrise with President Benson at Khuvsgul Lake.
President and I at Khuvsgul Lake at Sunrise.
This old
Russian-style apartment building doubles as the LDS church building in
Murun. The church is on the first floor where it looks like a store
should be. It was small with just three rooms, but they sure do fill it
up with tons of priesthood brethren and women and children. President
Benson called a new Branch President during Sacrament Meeting. The
new Branch President is Buyanbat, who is a missionary I served with. He
just got married to another sister missionary who I served with named
Zaya.
Elder McHam and I spending the night in our ger!
Had to get the fire going. It was COLD!
Ger camp next to Khuvsgul Lake.
This is the JAM I’m talking about in my email. This wonderful blessed Sister who owns the place where we stayed makes this jam. It is just two ingredients, wild berries and sugar, that's it! Manna from Heaven!
We put
the jam in this hot drink called "hyaram." Hyaram is boiling hot water
that has milk added to it. We just pretty much drank it up.
My companion, Elder Bilguun, and I down at Khuvsgul Lake before we left.
Khuvsgul Lake.
Khuvsgul Lake.
(Here is Khuvsgul Lake is on a Goggle map. You can also see where Murun is in relation to Ulaanbaatar.)
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