Hey Living Stones!

This week has been very busy, full of missionary ups and downs. We're really seeing what it's like to live in another country and become part of this church. We feel grafted in and have the heartbeat of this family.

Monday, the youth took a trip to the River. We packed 22 people into a micro and down for about 30 minutes to the river. (It was the closest thing to a day at Lake Michigan that we'll have). We set up our own camp by building a tent, making tea, and warming up lunch. Then we played in the river for about an hour. It has a pretty strong current in parts. Throughout the day we played a Bible trivia game, worshiped, played volleyball and soccer, and swam. The Mongolians put on sunscreen and stayed in the shade, while we Americans enjoyed the sun and the tan that came with it. Finally around 6:30 we went back home.

Tuesday we spent the day at the Kocke's. We made spaghetti for their family. We spent the rest of the evening asking questions about missionary life. Pastor Mark and Miss Ginny told us their testimony again, but in more detail, as it relates to missions. The conversation finally began to lighten, but something happened. Pastor Mark called Deggi, our Mongolian teacher, and heard some sad news. Her dad had just passed about 30 minutes prior. The church has been reaching out and ministering to him for years, and they are not sure where he was with the Lord. Needless to say, language lessons were out on pause this week. We all prayed for her much this week.

Wednesday morning we got to talk with some of the Living Stones Family: some of the youth and Pastors Dick, Susie, Jon, Brock, Alissa, and Matt. It was a happy time to see the people we love and those who have poured into us for years. It was difficult to talk as a group because we only had one pair of headphones and one personal microphone for all five of us, but everyone did get their chance to share and hear them. We'll hopefully be connecting with the youth this Tuesday night. In the evening, we had our usual mens' and womens' meetings.

Thursday night, we girls had our fun time with their youth girls. We had a dance party. We taught them the Electric Slide, the Casper Slide, and two portions of dances we've done before; the girls loved it. They asked it we could dance more often.

A few prayer requests: some of us have been having difficulty sleeping again. We were accustomed to it for a while, but now have been waking up every few hours. Some of us have had some odd (not serious) illnesses lately too. Please pray for grace and health as we are in our last 4 weeks of being here.

Well everyone, that was the week of the interns. We love and miss you all and will be excited to reunite with you in a month from today!

Grace and Peace,
-Caitlin (for the team)

Greetings to all in the United States:

We are all doing amazing!  We have reached the halfway point!  The weather has been really nice - some rainy days, but mostly sunny and warm.  God's grace and strength has been our backbone on this trip, keeping the team unified and in step with one another.  We keep falling more in love with the people here.  Our cell groups have been fun to watch and pour into, because there we see their hearts open up without restraint.  They are so precious.  God is really blessing them here.

On Mondays, the interns have been invited to spend time with the Kockes.  Last Monday we made homemade pizza.  It was so good!  Miss Ginny is an amazing cook, and everything she cooks tastes great.  After dinner, we played a Bible Trivia game, which got competitive and interesting.  Pastor Mark excels at this game.  Next week is our day to make dinner for the Kockes in return.

Thursday night we had a youth girls get-together night.  This is our time to get to know the girls and is evangelistic, in that the girls are encouraged to bring their friends out to meet the Americans and have fun.  We played musical chairs, which the girls loved.  Bagi, Pastor Mark's oldest adopted daughter, won every game!  Then we tried teaching them charades, but somehow, some things got lost in translation.  But overall, the night was a huge success.  Next week we will be teaching the girls some of Harvest's dances.

Friday night, we all watched Facing the Giants.  What an ecouraging movie!  It just moved up on our list of favorite movies all the way to number one.  The Holy Spirit moved through that movie and touched our hearts.  The way that God was immersed in everything in their lives was amazing.  Grant Taylor talked to Brock saying that he was the most influential person on their team.  If he didn't give his all, the whole team would follow his example, and give less than 100%.  It's like how the Mongolian youth look up to us.  If we do not give our all, they will not give their all.  We're looking forward to the next time we get to watch it again.

This weekend celebrates the national holiday, Narram, which is Mongolia's Independence Day.  They do sports during this time inside the stadium, such as horse racing, archery, and wrestling.  Outside, there are gers set up as booths, much like a fair.  They sell hosher, pork skewers, and beef skewers.  If you're brave, you can also buy the milk tea.  The time of Narram means that that everyone goes on holiday and gets together for family time.  The church youth group will get together for an outing on Monday in the countryside, where hopefully the weather will be nice, and we will be able to go swimming in the river.

We ask for your continuous prayers to surround us.  God is so faithful to us.  Be blessed in your week.  Until next week, goodbye from the interns!

-Kelly (for the team)