Road Trip

Tuesday, our day started at 4:30 AM and went until 10:30 PM and included an 810 km day trip by car to Darkhan and Erdenet which are in the northern part of Mongolia. Wednesday, was another long day, about 14 hours. Today, has been a long one as well. We just got home from the office at 8:30 pm. We hope to be able to slow down soon. We are working on a special project, trying to get the Perpetual Education Fund working smoothly for Mongolia. We can see some improvement! We have another meeting tomorrow afternoon, to give reports and make assignments, and after that, things should run a lot smoother. We thoroughly enjoyed being able to go north on Tuesday. It was the first time that we have actually left the city since we've been here. We left UB at 6:30 AM, using one of the Mission vehicles (Toyota Land Rover), with the Chief Financial Officer to travel to Darkhan and Erdenet. Dad drove for the first time since we left Utah. He has a lifetime Mongolian Driver License. After we had been on the road for about an hour, it started to snow. It was swirling across the highway (yes, highway! much to our surprise the roads to both cities were hard surface!) At one point we could only see the middle of the highway. It was really getting quite nerve wracking for me. We were thankful for the blowing wind which was keeping the majority blown off the road. On the way up, we saw a man laying beside the road with a sheet over him. He had been killed and the police were investigating. It was awful to see his boots sticking out from under the cover. All of the land is open range and you really have to be careful of animals. They roam anywhere and everywhere. We had to stop several times for them to cross the road. And several times, they were being driven across the road by men on horseback. There were herds of horses, sheep and goats, and cows. The cows here have long hair. They must be mixed with Yaks. We finally got to Darkhan and the snow in the city and on the streets was about a foot deep. There are very few places along the road to use the toilet...outhouses. We stopped at one place and the outhouse was way out back of the service station and I would have had to wade foot deep snow with no visible trail to follow. I decided that I could hold it. It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it. We finally got to Darkhan and went to the Church and used their facilities. The church buildings here are fantastic.. It looks like Utah or Idaho. We took care of our business at the bank, met the District President and gave him the DVD copies of Conference. We have conference here a week late, so it can be translated into Mongolian, and shipped. We hand carried Darkhan and Erdenet their copies. We also had English copies for the English speaking missionaries. We had a picnic, we brought beans, bread, cheese, fruit juice, with us, it's very hard to find a place to eat that you can trust. By that time, the sun was shining so brightly that the roads were dry and we decided that it was okay to try to drive to Erdenet. It is at a higher altitude and over the highest point in northern Mongolia. The trip there was wonderful. We had been told that the roads were bad and that they would be slippery. We had no trouble at all and no slipping. It was kind of scary coming home. We didn't get back to UB till about 10 pm. The animals were the biggest problem. They are everywhere and you have to drive slowly and watch for them. The horses run across the road right in front of you. We found a very nice toilet coming home. We made a mental note not to forget where it was. It had running water and real toilets for the women. The men's side only had holes in the ground. It was really an adventure to get out of town and do something different. We loved the excitement of it, and plan to do it again, next time at a slower pace. We are loving it here. We hope that we are making a difference for somebody. We try to watch out for the young missionaries. We still take their pictures and email them home to their parents. The other day we ran into an elder whose grandmother lives near Brewton AL and goes to church with Suzi and Carl. We took his pic and emailed it to his mother. She put it on his website. It is http://www.elderbyrd.com/ Check it out. We love you all with all our hearts. We miss you terribly. We wouldn't be away from you for this long for any other reason than serving a full time mission. We are so grateful to be able to be here. We appreciate so very much all that you are doing to help each other and all that some of you have done to make our experience here a little more bearable, in terms of getting some of the things that we have been spoiled with in America, such as 3x5 cards, Breathe Right strips, simple black papermate pens that dad is so addicted to for the office, peanut butter crackers, fiber tablets, mini-legal pads, etc. You just don't realize how blessed you are to live in a land where you can ride down the street and eat at so many places that you can count on the food not to make you sick, and that tastes familiar. We have found one place that has food that is almost familiar and that did not make one of us sick. We usually eat at home and all of the meat we eat is canned. Mongolia imports 80% of their foods. A typical meal at home for us is Beef from Brazil, Potatoes from Russia, Peas & Carrots from several places in Europe, Bread from Mongolia, Milk from China, Olives from Spain, Honey from Germany, Jam from Indonesia, etc......We found this Walnut powder drink that is really delicious, kind of like hot chocolate, but not chocolatey. We miss you so much, and are committed for the next 16 months to stay put. So, the only way that I can know that you are alright is to hear from you. Please write to us. We pray for all of you every day and ask the Lord to bless you in whatever way you need to be blessed and to protect you and all of the grandchildren from harm and danger. We feel so helpless at times, and the only comfort that we receive is to know that you belonged to Heavenly Father before you came to be a part of our family. And, that He loves you much more than we are capable of in this state of our existence; and we love you with all our soul. Please take care of yourselves and each other, and let us hear from you. Love you forever, Mom and Dad And...please send pics as often as you can.