Happy New Year to My Dear Friends! (This is a similar emai to another one I sent. I am writing emails to different groups of people and may repeat myself---sorry.)
What an incredible experience we have had at the MTC! The spirit is so strong and manifest in many ways. I wish I could convey the love, dedication, hard work and genuine caring that is evident everywhere from the missionaries to the teachers to the volunteers and office staff. I am filled with awe and gratitude to be among these men and women.
There are 1,700 young elders and sisters and 83 senior missionaries (3 single sisters and 40 couples). One of the highlights has been getting to know many of these people. How interesting and varied their lives are.
We were supposed to leave Monday but my visa has not arrived. Larry's is here but there was some problem with mine. We are extremely disappointed but we know the Lord is aware of our situation. Almost all the senior couples have departed for their missions...there were only 5 couples at dinner last night. We spoke to the Director of Senior Missionaries and he asked us to begin taking the Office Couple Training beginning Monday morning.
Back to the beginning: We arrived last Monday morning in a blizzard and felt blessed to arrive safely. Angela and her kids drove us down and dropped us off. We were met by young elders who unoladed our bags, opened the doors for us and showed us where to register. From there we dropped off our bags in our room and went immediately to Orientation. Everything was soooooo organized. We didn't stop for the rest of the day except to eat. We returned that night to unpack and study our assignment for the next day.
Our teachers are incredible. We begin each morning being taught by someone our age. He is funny, direct, wise and he understands senior missionaries. I always leave feeling uplifted. For the rest of the morning we have Brother Herman who is 26 years old. Our training for the entire week is Preach My Gospel----nothing else. Even though none of the senior missionaries were called on a proselyting mission, we were all instructed our first obligation is to "Proclaim the gospel and bring people to Christ." Back to Brother Herman, he understands the spirit and how people are converted. I loved learning from him. We had the following format every morning: Direct teaching from Brother Herman, role play teaching an investigator, debrief our experience. We repeated this again. I dislike role playing greatly, but it was the most powerful learning tool during this week. I felt the teaching/learning experiences here are the best in the world. After lunch we had a 23 year old brother who taught us until dinner...more role playing.
After dinner on Tuesday we had a devotional from Elder Antony Perkins of the Seventy.
Saturday we went to the Mt. Timp temple (Provo Temple was closed).
Can you imagine the spirit you would feel from 1,700 full time young elders/sisters? Well, that is what we feel here everyday.!! There is no place like it on earth! We feel like the luckiest couple to be a small part of this.
We are amazed at the variety of senior missionary opportunites: Preserving historical records in Houston, digitizing books in SLC, helping young adults take online college classes in Albania, tutor failing college students at BYU Hawaii, office couple in Las Vegas, sewing costumes, and stay at home missionaries. There is a pilot project for seniors serving full time missions and staying in their own homes---these are proselyting missionaries and we have 8 couples on this pilot project. These seniors are all from Cedar City or St. George. Couples don't have the stress of what to do with their homes, it saves the couple and the church money, and couples serve in a place and culture they understand.
I know this email is way too long but I want to give you just a little info about our experience here.
I feel so blessed to have your influence in my life. You have each been a blessing and a strength to me. You have added to my testimony and you have added to my happiness. I can't thank you enough for your friendship.
The MTC is the best! The church is true!
Love,
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