This Friday we took a two day trip to the countryside.  We drove for about three hours with open scenery like this.  We saw hundreds of horses, cows, sheep, and goats.  Also we saw some pigs and a herd of yak.

 There were miles of farmland where wheat and hay had been harvested.

 This was the gas station in one of the small towns we passed through.  One pump, and the restrooms are outhouses.  I decided I did not have to use one that bad!

 This cow was right outside the entrance to our hotel in Erdenet.  I walked right up to it and it just completely ignored me and kept munching the grass.  And to show you the contrast there is here, the hotel room we had was quite nice with king size bed, overstuffed sofa and chair with a matching settee, and all the other amenities of a nice hotel room and yet there were cows in the front of it.

 Elder Shrope had to do a financial audit in a little town called Bulgan.  It is a cute little place nestled in a valley surrounded by mountains.  The branch is so small that these two young full time Elders are also the branch presidency.

 Elder and Sister Gledhill went with us because the audit needed two signatures.  These missionaries are very valiant young men.  The one in the red tie was in our first temple class that we taught here.

 This is October and she is standing beside the portable baptism font they use in Bulgan.  They do not have a chapel and meet in a rented building.  October was along on our trip as our translator.  She is a returned missionary and served in Australia.

 This was a metal statue at the entry to the industrial area in Darkhan, another city we visited on Saturday.  He stands about thirty feet high.  The clouds were getting dark as we arrived but we had good weather the whole trip.

 This is Marta and her family.  Marta is the one with the big smile in the black shirt sitting behind her Dad.  They were the first family baptized in Darkhan.  Marta served her mission in the Czech Republic and is trying to go to BYU Idaho in the spring.  Her father did the translation of the temple ceremony into Mongolian.  He is writing a book of the history of the Church in Darkhan.  This family is also told about in Elder Groberg's book, "Anywhere, Anytime."

They are very loving and wonderful people and we really enjoyed visiting them and hearing their stories.  We are looking forward to reading his book.