Happy New Year!

This week is Lunar New Year. People all over Asia are celebrating. Here in Mongolia it's called Tsagaan Sar--White Month. It started on Sunday and will carry on through Tuesday or Wednesday. It's amazing to see Mongolians get ready for it. This is the most important holiday of the year. It's like Christmas for them. For a couple weeks ahead of time, you can see Mongolians outside beating their rugs, crowding into the market to buy POUNDS of meat and gifts, getting out their dehls (traditional clothes), and getting ready for the general mayhem of the holiday. The first day of the holiday is mainly for the family and the next few days is for friends. You visit houses, eat tons of botz (a meat dumpling which they'll make a couple thousand of), drink gallons of salty milk tea, receive gifts (the host family gives out gifts to all visitors), and move onto the next house. It's a great time to visit and see family and friends you might not see the rest of the year.
I had the privilege of visiting the small town of Zunghara. Myself and four of my teammates went Sunday morning on the train--a three hour trip. We visited our small church and then spent the afternoon visiting the homes of the church members and then raced back for the evening train to head back home. It was a very long day but rewarding to have spent time fellowshipping with teammates and new friends. Since I had no school on Monday and Tuesday because of the holiday, I was able to visit some homes of a few friends here in Darhan. At the end of the day, I am tired but blessed to have been able to be welcomed into the homes and lives of people I have the privilege to call not only friends but family in Christ.