We are IN Mongolia!!!

God answers prayer!
We made it safely!!! Thank you for your prayers! The airport did have a few questions about Eli's name not matching his passport, but after viewing our adoption paperwork the airport staff put their stamp of approval on his tickets so that we had no more problems the rest of the way! Also, Eli slept about 10 hours of the 12 hour trip to Beijing and then another 8 hours at the hotel a couple hours later! God answered our prayers...the kids slept a lot and Eli's name was not a problem!

An Angel in Disguise?
When we arrived to the airport in China we were really tired and not sure where to go. We couldn't find anyone who spoke enough English to understand our question, "Can we leave the airport to get a hotel without a VISA? " We had a 14 hour layover and we couldn't find a lounge or anywhere to rest. The hotel reservation line was a mile long and I was getting a bit too cranky and lacking patience to stand in a long line. I prayed God would give us the patience we needed and that he would lead the way. Finally, we found a Starbucks near baggage claim (after having to go through customs and get on the train...) We decided to sit there and rest a while and regain some energy before searching again for someone to give us some direction. Averi began praying that someone would know English to tell us where to go. A Chinese guy sat down next to us and Larry asked him the time. He answered in great English! Then he overheard us talking about our situation and he said, " You need a hotel? I work for a hotel. I can make you a reservation." He looked at our passports and said, "No problem! You can stay one night in the city." He made us a reservation, escorted us and took our carry on luggage to the shuttle for us and reserved a free shuttle to bring us back in the morning! AND we never had to wait in that long line!! After a wonderful night of rest we went back to the airport to catch our flight to Mongolia.

Beautiful Countryside and Glimpses of Fulfilled Promises
We arrived at 10:30 in the morning so we got to see the country as we flew overhead. Wow!!! What an amazing sight of mountains as far as the eye can see!

Mongolia is beautiful! We are in love with the terrain! The mountains are soooo green, which almost never happens here! God sent lots of rain last month...glimpses of his promises being fulfilled! "The desolate land will become like the Garden of Eden." Our hope and prayer is that the hearts of the people would become fertile!!! The harvest is plentiful!!!

Pictures soon to come
Sorry-the internet is so slow that it won't let me upload pictures right now but we will get on again soon! We head up to Darhan today to drop off our luggage in our apartment and then go to live in the ger with our host family for one week. Then we go to field forum for a week and then back to the ger. Thank you for your continued prayers!