She left her home and entered Mongolia not knowing what to expect. The language, culture, and landscape was entirely unfamiliar to her; however, by the time she left she couldn’t wait to return.
“When I got there, I realized how little I actually knew,” Math teacher Tawny Kesner said. “But we were still always [involved] in the culture.”
Because of Mongolia’s strict religious policies they were required to teach English to be granted access to enter the country. Her Mongolian companion also knew little English so she often had to use her actions to communicate as they both learned each other’s languages.
“Learning a language is such a good experience but it’s pretty intense,” Kesner said. “All of our communication was just acting it out at first, but by the end of our time period, we were super close.”
One of her most memorable experiences there was helping a Mongolian woman. She and others in her missionary spent several hours working to build floors for them. The woman there talked about how the woman who lived there viewed Mrs. Kesner as her American daughter. Despite having to work so hard that experience was extremely meaningful to her because she got the opportunity to assist someone from an entirely different culture.
“We just had this impression that we should go check on them,” said. “And they’re like, ‘Oh, we just prayed that the missionaries would come, and here you are’.”
For the first six months of her time there she felt extremely homesick and unsure that she could adjust. Because she didn’t know the language very well she felt like it was very difficult to express her thoughts and feelings which was challenging.
“Anytime you’re not busy, then it’s easy to get homesick,” said. “If you’re going to travel somewhere and live in another country, have things that you need to do to stay busy.”
The living conditions differ drastically from what she was used to including inconsistent heat and water along with personally slaughtering sheep at the home.
“Sometimes the water wouldn’t work,” Kesner said. “There’s just some things that were kind of tricky.”
Mongolia provided her with a new appreciation of what she has and despite living in a small apartment for several years with her husband after being back in the United States. She was able to appreciate it because of the experience Mongolia provided her with.
“I realize you can be happy without a lot of money,” Kesner said. “I think it just helps me understand, just to not be so materialistic.”
Despite having to adapt and face several challenges this one year experience has made a significant impact on the rest of her life.
“I just had a really coming of age type experience there, I felt like I just really grew up and learned a lot,” Kesner said. “It was such an impactful time for me.”
