How can I connect to my MongoDB based on this Boilerplate?

I've got a working app that I'm trying to assimilate into a Boilerplate. I'm thinking we're poised on the threshold of great things, but I'm stuck at the section where I've got to instantiate my Mongodb connection.

Here's the "index.js" code:

const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const util = require('util');

// config should be imported before importing any other file
const config = require('./config/config');
const app = require('./config/express');

const debug = require('debug')('express-mongoose-es6-rest-api:index');

// make bluebird default Promise
Promise = require('bluebird'); // eslint-disable-line no-global-assign

// plugin bluebird promise in mongoose
mongoose.Promise = Promise;

[b]// connect to mongo db
const mongoUri = config.mongo.host;
mongoose.connect(mongoUri, { server: { socketOptions: { keepAlive: 1 } } });
mongoose.connection.on('error', () => {
  throw new Error(`unable to connect to database: ${mongoUri}`);
});[/b]

// print mongoose logs in dev env
if (config.mongooseDebug) {
  mongoose.set('debug', (collectionName, method, query, doc) => {
    debug(`${collectionName}.${method}`, util.inspect(query, false, 20), doc);
  });
}

// module.parent check is required to support mocha watch
// src: https://github.com/mochajs/mocha/issues/1912
if (!module.parent) {
  // listen on port config.port
  app.listen(config.port, () => {
    console.info(`server started on port ${config.port} (${config.env})`); // eslint-disable-line no-console
  });
}

module.exports = app;

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The part that I've got in bold is what's throwing the error.

Here's the config file:

const Joi = require('joi');

// require and configure dotenv, will load vars in .env in PROCESS.ENV
require('dotenv').config();

// define validation for all the env vars
const envVarsSchema = Joi.object({
  NODE_ENV: Joi.string()
    .allow(['development', 'production', 'test', 'provision'])
    .default('development'),
  PORT: Joi.number()
    .default(4040),
  MONGOOSE_DEBUG: Joi.boolean()
    .when('NODE_ENV', {
      is: Joi.string().equal('development'),
      then: Joi.boolean().default(true),
      otherwise: Joi.boolean().default(false)
    }),
  JWT_SECRET: Joi.string().required()
    .description('JWT Secret required to sign'),
  MONGO_HOST: Joi.string().required()
    .description('Mongo DB host url'),
  MONGO_PORT: Joi.number()
    .default(27017)
}).unknown()
  .required();

const { error, value: envVars } = Joi.validate(process.env, envVarsSchema);
if (error) {
  throw new Error(`Config validation error: ${error.message}`);
}

const config = {
  env: envVars.NODE_ENV,
  port: envVars.PORT,
  mongooseDebug: envVars.MONGOOSE_DEBUG,
  jwtSecret: envVars.JWT_SECRET,
  mongo: {
    host: envVars.MONGO_HOST,
    port: envVars.MONGO_PORT
  }
};

module.exports = config;

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...and here's the .env file that's been modified in the name of discretion:

NODE_ENV=development
PORT=4040
JWT_SECRET=something really secure
[b]MONGO_HOST=mongodb+srv://georgejones:creativepassword@cinderella-qhxnz.mongodb.net/smokinaccount[/b]
MONGO_PORT=27017

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The part that's in bold is a carry over from a tutorial that I worked through. This particular boilerplate has this instead for the MONGO_HOST:

NODE_ENV=development
PORT=4040
JWT_SECRET=somethingreallysecure
MONGO_HOST=mongodb://localhost/express-mongoose-es6-rest-api-development
MONGO_PORT=27017

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Now, when I try to run things using my MONGO_HOST value, I get this error:

Error: Invalid mongodb uri. Must begin with "mongodb://"

Not sure how that would look based on the way I've learned it initially.

What do you think?

I'm new to the MERN stack. The syntax that I used to connect to my Mongodb has my credentials embedded in the URL. Not sure how this particular dynamic is supposed to work...